{"id":31615,"date":"2026-03-02T20:34:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T20:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/160-news\/?p=31615"},"modified":"2026-09-18T14:02:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T14:02:03","slug":"the-science-behind-smell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/","title":{"rendered":"The science behind smell"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Science, Smells, and Scientific &quot;Besties&quot;\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Igd6JmQzq5Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Meet Edgar Orellana Reyes and Abbie Deeth (aka Gail)\u2014a research duo at Macalester who prove that high-level science is better with a \u201cbestie\u201d by your side. The two worked in the lab of Professor Michelle Tong, Neuroscience, through Macalester\u2019s Collaborative Summer Research Grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While they\u2019ve been \u201clocked at the hip\u201d since they met, they bring two very different (but complementary) vibes to the lab:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Edgar: One of the most cool and collected scientists you\u2019ll meet.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Abbie (Gail): A high-energy optimist who keeps the lab\u2019s spirit high.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are they studying? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The team is diving deep into the world of perineuronal nets. These are specialized structures that extend around neurons. Specifically, they are investigating how these nets affect our ability to smell and discriminate between different scents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Deeth puts it, she\u2019s learned to take a step back and accept that the results will be what they\u2019re going to be. Between mounting slices onto slides and peering through microscopes, these two are having the time of their lives. In their words: \u201cWe should be celebrities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At Mac, research isn&#8217;t just about chasing a specific result; it\u2019s about the process. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":875,"featured_media":31629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[132,677],"class_list":["post-31615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","tag-neuroscience","tag-student-research-and-creativity","mediatype-videos"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 5.0.2.1 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At Mac, research isn&#039;t just about chasing a specific result; it\u2019s about the process.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dhawthor\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO Pro (AIOSEO) 5.0.2.1\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News -\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The science behind smell - News\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At Mac, research isn&#039;t just about chasing a specific result; it\u2019s about the process.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-02T20:34:50+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-18T14:02:03+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The science behind smell - News\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"At Mac, research isn&#039;t just about chasing a specific result; it\u2019s about the process.\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BlogPosting\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/the-science-behind-smell\\\/#blogposting\",\"name\":\"The science behind smell - News\",\"headline\":\"The science behind smell\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/dhawthor\\\/#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/653\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/science-of-smell.jpg\",\"width\":1744,\"height\":982,\"caption\":\"Student uses a pipette to draw liquid from a container\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-02T20:34:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-18T14:02:03+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/the-science-behind-smell\\\/#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/the-science-behind-smell\\\/#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"Academics, Neuroscience, Student Research, Videos\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/the-science-behind-smell\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/category\\\/academics\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Academics\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/category\\\/academics\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Academics\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/category\\\/academics\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/the-science-behind-smell\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"The science behind smell\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/the-science-behind-smell\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The science behind smell\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/category\\\/academics\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Academics\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/dhawthor\\\/#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/dhawthor\\\/\",\"name\":\"dhawthor\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/the-science-behind-smell\\\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/the-science-behind-smell\\\/\",\"name\":\"The science behind smell - News\",\"description\":\"At Mac, research isn't just about chasing a specific result; it\\u2019s about the process.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/the-science-behind-smell\\\/#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/dhawthor\\\/#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/dhawthor\\\/#author\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/653\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/science-of-smell.jpg\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/the-science-behind-smell\\\/#mainImage\",\"width\":1744,\"height\":982,\"caption\":\"Student uses a pipette to draw liquid from a container\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/the-science-behind-smell\\\/#mainImage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-02T20:34:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-18T14:02:03+00:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"News\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.macalester.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro -->\r\n\t\t<title>The science behind smell - News<\/title>\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"The science behind smell - News","description":"At Mac, research isn't just about chasing a specific result; it\u2019s about the process.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/#blogposting","name":"The science behind smell - News","headline":"The science behind smell","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/author\/dhawthor\/#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2026\/03\/science-of-smell.jpg","width":1744,"height":982,"caption":"Student uses a pipette to draw liquid from a container"},"datePublished":"2026-03-02T20:34:50+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-18T14:02:03+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/#webpage"},"articleSection":"Academics, Neuroscience, Student Research, Videos"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/category\/academics\/#listItem","name":"Academics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/category\/academics\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Academics","item":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/category\/academics\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/#listItem","name":"The science behind smell"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/#listItem","position":3,"name":"The science behind smell","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/category\/academics\/#listItem","name":"Academics"}}]},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"News","url":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/author\/dhawthor\/#author","url":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/author\/dhawthor\/","name":"dhawthor"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/","name":"The science behind smell - News","description":"At Mac, research isn't just about chasing a specific result; it\u2019s about the process.","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/author\/dhawthor\/#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/author\/dhawthor\/#author"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/653\/2026\/03\/science-of-smell.jpg","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/#mainImage","width":1744,"height":982,"caption":"Student uses a pipette to draw liquid from a container"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/#mainImage"},"datePublished":"2026-03-02T20:34:50+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-18T14:02:03+00:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/","name":"News","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/#organization"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"News -","og:type":"article","og:title":"The science behind smell - News","og:description":"At Mac, research isn't just about chasing a specific result; it\u2019s about the process.","og:url":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/the-science-behind-smell\/","article:published_time":"2026-03-02T20:34:50+00:00","article:modified_time":"2026-09-18T14:02:03+00:00","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:title":"The science behind smell - News","twitter:description":"At Mac, research isn't just about chasing a specific result; it\u2019s about the process."},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"31615","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":{"focus":{"keyphrase":"","score":0,"analysis":{"keyphraseInTitle":{"score":0,"maxScore":9,"error":1}}},"additional":[]},"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":"","og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"BlogPosting","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":"-1","robots_max_videopreview":"-1","robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":"default","local_seo":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"open_ai":"{\"title\":{\"suggestions\":[],\"usage\":0},\"description\":{\"suggestions\":[],\"usage\":0}}","created":"2026-03-13 20:28:06","updated":"2026-10-09 23:00:35","focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null,"ai":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"seo_analyzer_scan_date":"2026-10-09 23:00:35"},"fields":{"main_feature_story":"","custom_image":false,"custom_link_url":"","custom_feature_title":"","custom_feature_caption":"","custom_markup":"","custom_markup_link":"","custom_markup_title":"","custom_markup_caption":"","byline":"","article_type":[2],"post_thumbnail_style":"text","flickr_photoset_id":"","youtube_id":"","square_thumbnail":false,"press_downloads":false,"press_photos":false,"story_title":"","story_caption":"","rotations":false,"maps":false,"marker_title":"","marker_text":"","geographic_location":false,"feature_embed":"","news_icon_name":"","image_options":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/875"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31615"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33459,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31615\/revisions\/33459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}