Stadler Lab at the 2025 Rice Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

The Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (OURI) at Rice University hosts the Rice Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium each year to highlight the research and creative work of undergraduate students from Rice and beyond!

This summer, two teams from the Stadler Lab shared their projects at the symposium:
Celeste (Undergraduate Researcher) presented her work with Elizabeth (2nd-Year PhD Student).
Vicki (Undergraduate Researcher) presented her work with Maddie (3rd-Year PhD Student).
Ankhi (Undergraduate Researcher) presented her project with Lily (3rd-Year PhD Student).
Their presentations showcased ongoing efforts in environmental engineering and microbiology, reflecting the lab’s commitment to collaborative, hands-on research.

Researcher: Celeste and Elizabeth
Title: Constructing a lytic phage containing an RNA-barcoding genetic circuit to monitor host range in microbial community.
Abstract: Bacteriophages play a crucial role in the environment by sculpting microbiome composition and regulating microbial behaviors. Currently, our understanding of phage host range, particularly lytic phages, and their transduction rules remain limited. RNA-addressable modification (RAM) is a new synthetic biology tool that is poised to overcome these challenges by allowing the detection of phage host range in microbial communities. This project will be to construct a RAM-containing T7 and compare this phage’s barcoding efficiency and host range against other RAM construct-containing T7 phages.

Researcher: Vicki and Maddie
Title: Stress signals in the sewers: optimizing detection of biomarkers in wastewater samples
Abstract: Wastewater contains excreted biomarkers that reflect physiological responses to stressors and can provide insight into community health. This project focused on monitoring four biomarkers indicative of chemical and non-chemical stress exposures: (1) 8-iso-PGF2ɑ, a marker of oxidative stress; (2) tetrahydrocortisol, a metabolite of the stress hormone cortisol; (3) salbutamol, an inhaler drug used to assess air pollution exposure; and (4) cotinine, a nicotine metabolite. We optimized pre-treatment and solid-phase extraction (SPE) methods to maximize recovery. Nylon and mixed cellulose ester (MCE) filters yielded comparable concentrations, but MCE filters allowed for faster processing. Hydrophilic-lipophilic balance SPE cartridges produced equal or higher biomarker recovery than mixed-mode cation exchange cartridges across all targets. We also optimized β-glucuronidase treatment for deconjugation by testing enzyme concentrations and incubation times. A parallel experiment showed that biomarker degradation during incubation was minimal. Together, these results improve the accuracy and efficiency of quantifying stress-related biomarkers in wastewater.

Researcher: Ankhi and Lily
In an effort to promote accessibility and consistency in assay development for our wastewater monitoring program, we developed a standard operating procedure for PCR assay design and validation. This project is in part a collaboration with Dr. Michael Wang and the Treangen lab, who provided training and developed Python pipelines for primer alignment and validation. Ankhi Banerjee, an undergraduate research assistant in the Stadler and Treangen labs, developed a MongoDB database to house and publish designed assays and associated validation documentation.