These Flies Are Mad! by Charitha Marni

Hey y’all! Long time no see? To keep with the theme of my last blog, I’ll also say greetings to my mom who is definitely reading this. Hey mom! Anyway, it’s been a few weeks since I started the TRIP now and I have to say, I’m loving it. I just submitted my first experimental plan this past Sunday (2/23/20) and I’m SO excited to start conducting my independent experiment. My experiment is most likely going to be about the effects of caffeine and overcrowding on fruit fly aggression. I haven’t definitively planned my project yet, but for the time being, that’s what I’ll be researching.

I got interested in this topic because I live pretty close to Philly, a city in which a majority of the population lives under the poverty line, and where overcrowding is not uncommon in certain areas. Philly also has a high crime rate and since I’m in the Philly area quite often, I wanted to see how this crime rate could be brought down. I figured that maybe by stressing my flies by overcrowding them, which may increase their aggression levels, and then testing caffeine on them to see if it would reduce their aggression levels, I could possibly find a cheap and feasible solution to the problem in Philly. I may only be 16, but you’re never too young to solve a problem, right?

I’ve also made some amazing friends at TRIP. I guess you could say that spending four hours together EVERY SATURDAY has brought us pretty close. I mentioned in my last blog that I was very excited to meet like-minded people and I think it’s safe to say that that goal has been achieved. Though I’m spending four hours of my Saturdays to work with fruit flies and learn about science (something a normal person wouldn’t necessarily consider relaxing during the weekend), it doesn’t even feel like I’m working because of all of the laughs I share with my classmates and our instructors, Dr. Purdy and Dr. Gardiner. Ugh, cheesy I know. On a lighter note, Dr. Purdy introduced me to an axolotl a few weeks ago and I have to say, that’s the coolest thing I did in February.

Overall, I’m really loving the program and I wouldn’t trade my time on Saturdays for anything else. See y’all in the next blog. Stay nerdy :)