The End of TRIP (The puns are all taken) by Kaiden Ramessur

​Hello everyone! As you could probably guess, our independent projects have finished, the symposium went amazingly, and all of us TRIPsters have kept in touch. TRIP (specifically my independent project) will be something to remember forever. It’s truly the first step of my journey into the world of science, and it showed me what I (and my peers) could accomplish when we put our minds to it.

---

​My independent project was about measuring changes in decision making and risk taking in adult flies when affected by artificial light sleep deprivation & whether melatonin could ameliorate potential responses. Due to there not really being a specific “risk taking” assay, I had to look through all the available assays in order to see if any fit. After some deliberation, I spun the centrophobism assay to measure risk taking (the more time spent in center, the riskier the flies chose to be). 

​My initial hypothesis was that the sleep-deprived flies would take less risks, (less sleep would lead to less energy, so the sleep deprived flies would conserve that energy by not taking risks), and melatonin would bring results back to control levels by allowing the flies to get more sleep. In the end, the results showed that all artificial light-overexposed flies exhibited more risk taking (especially combined with melatonin). This could have been due to impaired decision-making abilities making the flies not be able to judge risk, and when combined with melatonin, the extreme difference in external 24/7 harsh light and internal circadian rhythm also may have caused cognitive impairment. 

---

In conclusion, TRIP as a whole was truly a transformative experience. I learned about thorough scientific reasoning, I was hands-on with the scientific method, and I created my own experiment to test my own hypothesis. It really was the perfect start on my journey into the realm of science, and it gave me a great base to grow from. I am truly thankful to the TRIP instructors, coordinators, the TAs, and my peers for all of their support.