Mamiko Niwa

I am an undergraduate student majoring in computer science at the University of Arizona. I came to the United States from Japan in 1998. My hometown faces the Pacific Ocean, so it was hard for me to adjust to the climate in Tucson at the beginning. But I am becoming more and more familiar with the climate here as I live here longer, and now I enjoy hiking - even in the summer! Sabino Canyon and Picacho Peak are the ones I like to visit. Sometimes I miss eating seafood, but when that happens, I go to 'Sushi-Ten', which is my favorite Japanese restaurant in Tucson.

I started to work at Strausfeld Lab as I got accepted into the Undergraduate Biological Research Program (UBRP) in May of 2000. I chose to work in this lab because I was interested in learning and memory, and the way it works. I am currently working on the distribution of octopamine in the brains of honeybee and cockroach under the supervision of Dr. Irina Sinakevitch . Octopamine is a neuroactive substance found in invertebrates, and has an important role in sensory arousal, learning and memory. The main purpose is to show homology in the proto-cerebral region between the honeybee and the cockroach by examining the organization of octopaminergic systems.

Please click here for poster.