Biology Honors Students

Twenty-five Biology majors graduating in May, 2012 are candidates to receive Research Commendation, Honors, or Highest Honors.  These students are currently writing theses on their undergraduate research and will present their findings at the John K. Koeppe Undergraduate Research Symposium on March 30.  This page lists these students and their mentoring teams, which include the research advisor (the faculty member under whose supervise the research was conducted) and possibly a research mentor (a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow that directly supervised the student) and a Biology sponsor (for most projects done outside of the Department of Biology).  Clicking on a student’s name will open that student’s individual page, which includes a more detailed description of their research project.

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Name	Thesis Title
Will Bradford Faculty Advisor: Dr. Alan Jones Research Mentor: Dr. Daisuke Urano	The Evolution and Regulation of Self-activating G-alphas in Trichomonas vaginalis
Adam Buckholz Faculty Advisor: Dr. Alan Jones Research Mentor: Dr. Daisuke Urano	Comparative Genomics and Biochemical Analyses Reveal Mechanism and Residue Dependence for Activation in Trichomonas vaginalis Heterotrimeric G proteins
Ana Corcimaru Faculty Advisor: Dr. Oscar Alzate Biology Sponsor: Dr. Kelly Hogan	Analysis of Differentially Expressed APOE Blood Protein Isoforms as Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease
Josh Dilley Faculty Advisor: Dr. Karin Pfennig	The Effect of Spea bombifrons Density on Hybridization
Rebecca Flint Faculty Advisor: Dr. Sandra Kim Biology Sponsor: Dr. Corey Johnson	Characterization of Mucosally-Adherent Escherichia coli in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients
Kaiwen Guo Faculty Advisor: Dr. Yisong Wan Biology Sponsor: Dr. Greg Matera	Effects of the Inhibition of mTor by Rapamycin on Differentiation of Th-9 Helper T-cells
Brena Haughey Faculty Advisor: Dr. Greg Copenhaver Research Mentor: Dr. Yujin Sun	Quantifying Gene Conversions in Fluorescently-Tagged Arabidopsis thaliana Pollen Tetrads
Devin Holland Faculty Advisor: Dr. Jeff Sekelsky Research Mentor: Kathryn Kohl	A Test of the Hypothesis that Drosophila MEI-218 Evolved to Fill the Functional Niche of MSH4–MSH5 in Meiotic Recombination
Rashi Kabra Faculty Advisor: Dr. Victoria Bautch Research Mentor: Erich Kushner	The Impact of Centrosome Over-Duplication on Tumor Vessel Development
Jessica Little Faculty Advisor: Dr. Mark Wightman Research Mentor: Dr. Zoe McElligott	Characterizing the Dynamics of Norepinephrine and Dopamine in Anxiety and Addiction
Alex Loehr Faculty Advisor: Dr. Jeff Dangl Research Mentor: Dr. Eui-Hwan Chung	RIN4 in the Arabidopsis Immune Response
Will Morrel Faculty Advisor: Dr. Marcey Waters Research Mentor: Kaiulani Houston Biology Sponsor: Dr. Kevin Slep	Utilizing β-Hairpin Protectides to Build Long-Lived Reporters of Akt Activity
Jeff Morrison Faculty Advisor: Dr. James Faber Research Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Lucitti	VEGF Pathway and the Development of the Collateral Circulation
Frank Mu Faculty Advisor: Dr. Mark Peifer Research Mentor: Dr. John Poulton	Determining the mechanism of APC’s cytoskeletal function in the Drosophila embryo
Laura Murphy Faculty Advisor: Dr. William Kim Research Mentor: Dr. Janet Leung Biology Sponsor: Dr. Al Baldwin	The Role of PBRM1 and VHL Mutation in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma
Timothy Palpant Faculty Advisor: Dr. Jason D. Lieb Research Mentor: Colin R. Lickwar	Precise Nucleosome Spacing is Regulated by the High Mobility Group Proteins Nhp6a and Nhp6b in S. cerevisiae
Derek Pinkerton Faculty Advisor: Dr. Kevin Slep Research Mentor: Lauren Slevin	Characterization of Plk4's C-terminal Polo Box Domain
Cody A. Rigsbee Faculty Advisor: Dr. Lee M. Graves	The Role of Lyn Kinase in Human Cytomegalovirus Infection
Lindsay Ross Faculty Advisor: Dr. Karin Pfennig	The Occurrence of Introgression in Spadefoot Toads at Different Pond Depths
Spencer Scheidt Faculty Advisor: Dr. Allen Hurlburt	Range Expansion and Population Dynamics of an Invasive Species, The Eurasian Collared-Dove
Erin Spence Faculty Advisor: Dr. Victoria Bautch Research Mentor: Dr. John Chappell	The Role of VEGF and Flt-1 in Blood Vessel Formation in the Mouse Allantois
Joshua J. Thompson Faculty Advisor: Dr. Andrew Dudley Research Mentor: Jim Dunleavey Biology Sponsor: Dr. Greg Matera	Functional Role of PECAM in Tumor Angiogenesis and Vascular Mimicry
Connie J. Tran Faculty Advisor: Dr. Victoria Bautch Research Mentor: Dr. Sophie Dal-Pra	Gαi-Mediated Signaling in Blood Vessel Morphogenesis
Briana K. Whitaker Faculty Advisor: Dr. Charles Mitchell Research Mentor: Megan Rúa	Host Nutrient Status Stimulates Viral Pathogen Production
Kevin Wood Faculty Advisor: Dr. Mark Wightman Research Mentor: Anna Belle	In Vivo Cerebral Blood Flow Modulation by Serotonin and Histamine in the Substantia Nigra and Nucleus Accumbens