Many scientists model biological processes with the study of mice, rats, and even flies, but snails have been especially useful to Dr. Maurine Neiman. She has been a professor of gender, women’s, and sexuality studies and biology at the University of Iowa since 2008.
Neiman’s lab is dedicated to bridging biology and gender studies. More importantly, it seeks to answer questions, using snails, about something universal yet still elusive to humans: sex.
“The question we’re asking is: why is sex so common? Sex is the fundamental component of organisms and diversity,” Neiman said. “Just imagine a world without sex. All these colors, actions, noises, sounds are produced by and for sex, for organisms to mate with each other.”
Neiman’s lab works predominantly with Potamopyrgus antipodarum, a freshwater snail native to New Zealand. This species became the subject of her question because it reproduces sexually and asexually with wide ploidy-level variation, or different numbers of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell.
Collecting the snails involves extensive travel and requires special precautions.
“We go out to a lake for the entirety of a day and genetically and ecologically characterize populations. Snails are knocked off of rocks and other aquatic spaces,” Neiman said.
These snails are also invasive, requiring her to develop meticulous protocols and receive a permit from the state of Iowa. There are several layers of precaution in the lab. However, even with years of focused work, an answer to Neiman’s “big sexy question” is hard to find.
RELATED: IC City Council candidates discuss connection with UI students, sustainability
“There is no big sexy answer,” Neiman said. “If you study sex or sexes in nature, there are no simple answers. You can barely have a concrete handle on its complexity.”
Knowing this makes the rigor of the snail sex lab even more impressive. With over 27 people on their mailing list, dubbed Snail Mail, they have scientists and students making strides towards understanding sex every day.
International Ph.D. candidate Alejandra Garcia Lopez is heavily involved in this effort.
“When I started my Ph.D., focused on the New Zealand mud snail P. antipodarum, I noticed that most of the papers I read had at least one author from the snail lab, very frequently Dr. Neiman herself,” Garcia Lopez said.
After an email exchange with her, Lopez was able to bring her research in Vigo, Spain, to the UI for several months. She has since created fond memories.
“The lab meetings are safe, supportive spaces. Sometimes, someone even brings homemade treats. I also really enjoyed being part of the monthly Scientweens outreach events at the library with elementary school kids,” she said.
Beyond research, the lab focuses on cultivating scientific and cultural enrichment in Iowa City. Scientweens is just one example, but the lab manager and fourth-year student Winnie Gavin has been grateful to experience more.
As lab manager, Gavin takes on the role of maintaining snail environments, feeding them, and training new members. She thinks of herself as a mentor in science communication.
“The lab prioritizes science communication in a way other labs don’t,” Gavin said. “With posters even just in Biology Building East, we make sure that our figures make sense and our text is minimized so that science is readable and accessible within the community. Our goal is to connect people interested in our lab.”
This overwhelmingly positive atmosphere is rooted in Neiman’s emphasis on perspective. Biology is quite literally the study of diversity within organisms and life, and to better understand it, there must be variation in the people studying it.
“Diversity of the scientists is critical to science. For example, until women were involved as scientists, it was believed women were passive recipients of mating. We know now this is not true among many populations, but that is thanks to the perspective of women against male scientists,” Neiman said. “Diverse groups do better science.”