Sun Lee and Jocelyn Keener

Research in the Peruvian Rainforest

Sun Lee's journal

Jocelyn Keener's journal

Sun Lee ’09, April 2007
Two weeks in the Amazonian rainforest? Hardly an experience that I considered within my comfort zone, expenses paid or not. But I was curious. I dropped in on a lecture, I ended up staying, and now, the class that I almost didn’t take has become my favorite.

Prior to the trip, the class was run by various exciting lecturers who taught us ethnobotany, some general botany, and fun, rainforest-related material. These lectures prepared us for our rainforest expedition, the purpose of which was to collect plant samples that would yield useful endophytic compounds. Endophytes are microorganisms that live symbiotically with the plant, and scientists hope that if these microbes help fight disease or parasitic infections in their host, they might be coaxed into conferring similar benefits on humans or crops.

As we busied ourselves with ethnobotanical histories, the trip sneaked up on us, and before we knew it, we were on the bus to JFK. The flight, for me, was a sleepless one. Having never been to South America, let alone a tropical rainforest, I spent the night excited and anxious. On arrival, I was a bit overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of Peru. Even with familiar McDonald’s restaurants and cellular phone billboards, the atmosphere was definitely not like home.

After a day in Lima, we began our journey of two flights and a five-hour canoe ride to our rainforest lodge. The accommodations were much more comfortable than any of us had expected, and the food was excellent. Despite the unexpected “luxury,” we definitely were in the middle of the jungle, and we began our exploration of it the next morning.

The thing about the rainforest is that it is overwhelmingly green, and without an expert eye, seemingly uniform. We were very fortunate to have with us one of the most amazing people that I have ever met, Percy Nunez, our resident botanist, affectionately dubbed Yoda by my classmates. We could pick up a leaf, show it to him, and within seconds have the genus and species of the plant. It was under his guidance that we navigated through the forest and collected our samples. I think all of us would agree that not much would have gotten done if Percy had not been there for us.

For nearly a week, our days were spent in the forest collecting, and our nights processing samples. This left little time for anything else, but we still managed to find time to have fun, socialize, and squeeze in a game of hearts with Professor Strobel.

The five days in the jungle flew and dragged by at the same time. It was certainly difficult to be in such a strange and trying environment, but at the same time, there was so much new and interesting wildlife to see. The overall experience was amazing, and so “hands on.” It was eye-opening to practice science beyond the confines of a lab bench.

After the jungle portion of the trip, we returned to civilization and spent some time exploring Peru. One of my favorite aspects of this trip was that it combined science with exposure and appreciation of foreign history and culture. We visited native Amazonian tribes and Incan ruins, including Machu Picchu, and toured cultural cities, like Lima and Cusco, which deepened our sense of the world at large. The trip was an absolute perfect blend of science and culture, fabulously planned. We all had an amazing time.

Now that we are back, we have the bulk of our work ahead of us. We just finished putting our stem samples on plates to see if microorganisms will grow, and future weeks will probably have us developing and researching assays that we can run on our isolated microbes. The entire class has committed to continuing this work over the summer, and for many of us, the project will determine our majors or become the basis of our senior essays.

Thanks to this experience, I’m planning to declare a major in molecular biology and biochemistry. My time in Peru will definitely stand out as an example of what has made my Yale education a great one.

Joceleyn Keehner ’09, April 2007

Rain Forest Expedition and Laboratory (MB&B 230), a class where you got to go to the Peruvian rainforest, collect plant samples, and do research on those plant samples over the summer—it seemed too good to be true, but I shopped the class and filled out the application. The professors, Scott Strobel and Carol Bascom-Slack, seemed really interesting and approachable. I was so excited when I received the email telling me that I was in the class! Not only did I get to go to the rainforest, but I also get to do my own research. We are looking for endophytes: tiny fungi and bacteria that live within plant tissue and that produce compounds that are often beneficial to the host plant. There is great unexplored potential in the field of endophyte research-potential for antibiotics, anti-fungals, insecticides, and even cancer drugs from these symbiotic organisms.

In the weeks leading up to our spring break trip to Peru, we tried to prepare ourselves for life and work in the jungle. We listened attentively to a series of guest lecturers, including Joe Kane, author of Savages, and the feisty Mark Moffett. From Kane, we learned about the native peoples of Ecuador (our original intended destination) and their exploitation by big oil companies, and we learned about ants and the danger of ant bites from Moffett.

Nothing prepared me for the untamed beauty of the Amazon. We arrived in Lima on March 13, and the next morning we woke up early and took a flight to Cusco. At the Cusco airport we met up with Percy Nunez, our rainforest guru. Percy can name almost any plant—on our trip, the only plant he couldn't name he remembered seeing on a website and gave us the URL. He was our Yoda. We flew to Puerto Maldonado, and took a five-hour motorized canoe ride up the Madre de Dios River to the Heath River, and finally reached our first destination, the Heath River Lodge. We were in the jungle.

The next three days, we listened to Percy describing the medical uses of plants, collected our plant samples, and at night, made voucher specimens. We cut up the stems of the plants and put them in Ziploc bags to be processed in our lab upon return, and then we pressed the leaves and flowers of plants in plant presses in an attempt to dry and preserve them. This was somewhat futile because nothing dries in the rainforest. Walking through the jungle and looking at species of plants that had likely been there for thousands or millions of years was truly something extraordinary. It's such a complex ecosystem, with a seemingly infinite variety of species of plants and animals. I'm really lucky that I got to see it.

After our three days at the Heath River lodge, we took another five-hour boat ride upriver (in a torrential downpour this time) to Lake Sandoval and the Sandoval Lake Lodge. We had to walk two miles in the pouring rain on a path that was under a foot of water and mud. Then we took another boat across the lake before finally arriving, wet and tired, at our destination. We stayed two days at Sandoval and went on many boat rides, where we saw caimans and different species of birds, bats, and otters. On a jungle walk, we saw a fer de lance snake, one of the most deadly snakes in the world. I loved every minute of it—if I could go back there now, I would in a heartbeat.

We left Sandoval, and Puerto Maldonado and flew to Cusco. That was a definite climate shift. Before the air had been humid and almost alive; now it became dry and thin. In Cusco, we saw Incan ruins and learned about the history of that civilization. We traveled to the sacred valley of the Incas and the next day we took a train ride to Machu Picchu (it means “old mountain”). Words cannot describe the majestic beauty of that place, it literally and figuratively took my breath away (the altitude is pretty high there). We climbed Waynu Picchu (“new mountain”) and had a view of the Andes that was nothing short of spectacular. The mountains looked like great green beasts rising out of the land. After Machu Picchu, we returned to Cusco for the night. We then flew to Lima for the last day and a half before flying home to New York.

Our plant samples made it through customs safely, and now we are in the process of culturing them for endophytic fungi and bacteria. The hope is that something will grow that produces a compound, be it an anti-biotic, or an enzyme that will help humanity in some way. The theory is that endophytes act in a similar manner to gut bacterium in humans and aid the plant. This aid can come in the form of anti-fungals which prevent rot from developing on the host plant. Other endophytic compound offer antibacterial benefits. Perhaps there is an endophyte that makes insecticide compounds that protect the plant from being eaten by certain insects and thus could be used in agriculture. The possibilities are endless and exciting. Right now we are busy researching bioassays to test for potential effects of endophytes and culturing the endophytes themselves. I have some growth on a few of my plates, and I am really excited to see what these microbes can do. The future of pharmacology could be found in these microorganisms, and I am looking forward to my upcoming summer of research.