Academic Year Research Projects
Anyone interested in conducting research in the biology department in the SPRING MUST:
- attend the mandatory meeting on Oct. 13, 4 pm, CNS 1st floor foyer.
- get three faculty signatures on the registration form.
Registration Forms are due by 1:00 Friday, November 4.
- Reminder: signed forms MUST be turned in to the department by this date
- The last day to add this the last day of add/drop.
- Leave the Override Form for the professor's signature with Nancy Pierce, CNS 161.
The following are projects being conducted by students for Research in Biology (BIOL-30200-xx*). There are both academic year and summer research opportunities available. (Note: projects may change without notice.)
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MARINA CAILLAUD (section 8) Spring 2012 Projects
- Study by qPCR the expression of candidate genes identified as upregulated/dowregulated in the presence of Bisphenol A (BPA) in a Microarray analysis carried out in 2010
- Characterize the phenotype of C. elegans mutants for genes involved in chromatin remodeling in the presence/absence of BPA
- Study the trans-generational (G0 to G10) effects of BPA on (i) the worm’s phenotype, and (ii) gene expression at candidate loci found to be upregulated/downregulated in the presence of BPA
ED CLUETT (section 6) Spring 2012 Projects
- Mechanisms and pathways of cholesterol transport inside cells
- Effect of the cholesterol environment on protein function and its relation to diseases: NPC1 and processing of Amyloid Precursor Protein
- Lab activities for high school biology classes
DAVE GONDEK (section 10) Spring 2012 Projects
- Compare via in silico identification virulence factors which are unique to chlamydia species and allow for host adaptation
- Create chlamydia virulence factors fusion with fluorescent proteins via in vitro moleculer cloning
- Contrast spatial and temporal regulation of chlamydia virulence factors via in vivo over expression during infection and "immunity".
- Develop hybrid chlamydia strains for in vivo screening of increased/decreased host specificity
JEAN HARDWICK (section 3) Fall 2011; on sabbatical in Spring 2012
- Regulation of parasympathetic neurons
MAKI INADA (section 13) Spring & Summer 2012 Projects
- Using a genome-wide microarray-based approach, identify and characterize novel genes regulated by splicing coupled to mRNA decay
- Identify conserved cis-regulatory sequences important for changes in splicing
- Examine the role of kinases in gene regulation
- Study the effects of co-transcriptional recruitment of regulatory factors on gene control
LEANN KANDA (section 11) Spring 2012 Projects
- Personality in dwarf hamsters
- Captive and wild behaviors in chipmunks
- Amphibian migration: conservation and population monitoring
- South Hill animal census, including the new wetlands
PETER MELCHER (section 9) 2011-12 Projects
- To determine the degree of plasticity in leaf shape and fitness in trees growing across large latitudinal gradients to evaluate how climate change will alter forest composition
- Investigating how the environment impacts intracanopy leaf shape and hydraulic design
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Evaluating how wounding of plant hydraulics impacts leaf fitness
ANDY SMITH (section 5) Spring 2012 Projects
- Using biochemical and mechanical experiments to characterize the cross-linking mechanism of gel-based biological glues
- Identifying factors that control the mechanical properties of biological glues
BRUCE SMITH (section 1) 2011-12 Projects
- Pheromone communication in water mites
- Mating behavior: female choice and male-male competition in water mites
- Predator / prey interactions: how environmental conditions influence predation success, how color, size, etc. influences prey choice
- Photopositive response of invertebrates: spectral sensitivities, sensitivity to polarized light, use of behavioral traps for sampling aquatic communities (last-mentioned is a field-based project, only possible in the summer or fall).
- Does the level of dissolved oxygen influence rates of development in the tritonymphal resting stage.
Also Summer research at Queen's Univ. Biological Station in Canada
SUSAN SWENSEN (section 2) Spring 2012 Projects
- Evolutionary history of plants and insect parasites
- Projects in sustainability science
IAN WOODS (section 12) Spring & Summer 2012 Projects
- Clone a gene expressed in somatosensory neurons. Carefully document the spatial and temporal characteristics of its expression. Overexpress the gene product via mRNA injection to assess its effects on somatosensory development.
- Make a line of transgenic fish that inducibly overexpresses a gene. Analyze the effect of overexpression on development or behavior, especially with regard to somatosensation.
- Make a transgenic line that expresses a reporter gene (eg GFP) in a specific neuronal cell type. Via live imaging of transgenic animals, examine the dynamics of this cell type as it develops and connects with the rest of the nervous system.
- Analyze the phenotype of a mutation in a gene expressed in somatosensory neurons.
- Plan, develop, build, and test equipment and software necessary to measure and analyze anxiety behaviors in larval zebrafish.
