Past Honors Theses
2015
Investigations into the Effects of Chaperone Proteins on a Drosophila Model of Machado-Joseph Disease (Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3)
By: Addison Hicks
Advisor: John Warrick
Investigating Intracellular Symbiont Dynamics in Sponge: Symbiodinium Relationships
By: Tyler Heist
Advisor: Malcolm Hill
Effects of altered regulation of Synaptotagmin 1 in a Drosophila model of Machado-Joseph Disease
By: Rachel Pearcy
Advisor: John Warrick
Long-Term Effects of Reproduction on Spinophilin Concentration in the Brain
By: Nora Tocheny
Advisor: Craig Kinsley
Neurological Changes of Motherhood: Behavior, Anatomy, and Transcriptional Regulation
By: Shannon Weber
Advisor: Craig Kinsley
2014
Comparing two methods for quantifying cold tolerance in Mimulus
By: Clifford J. Smith
Advisor: Carrie Wu
Host-specialization of Bartonella in flea vectors collected from black-tailed prairie dogs
By: Mark D. Massaro
Advisor: Jory Brinkerhoff
The Effects of Polysubstituted Pyrrole JG-03-14 on Murine Macrophage Activity
By: Clarke P. Lewis
Advisor: Krista Stenger
2013
Vesicular Monoamine Transporter-1 Polymorphisms: Association with Neuropsychiatric Disorders
By: Maggie Nelson
Advisor: Dr. Krista Stenger
Differential gene expression by Cliona varians during the uptake of zooxanthellar symbionts
By: Kristen Peterson (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. April Hill
Potent Mutagens Have Positive and Negative Effects on Viral Fitness of Reovirus in vitro
By: Jennie Altman (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Eugene Wu
Monolayer-protected nanoparticle doped xerogels as functional components of amperometric glucose biosensors
By: Michael Freeman
Advisor: Dr. Michael Leopold
Identifying Possible Regulators of Ded1, a DEAD-box ATPase Protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
By: Lisa Faye Fronek (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Paula Lessem
Synthesis of 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine triphosphate analogues and investigations into the promutagen potential of 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine
By: Michael Ghio
Advisor: Dr. Michelle Hamm
Characterizing the role of High Affinity Iron Acquisition System HemR/HemTUV in Sodalis glossinidius
By: Gili Marie Hrusa Castillo (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Laura Runyen-Janecky
Adenovirus Type 5 Virions Asymmetrically Lose Icosahedral Structure at Low pHs of Endosomes
By: Jennifer Jarboe
Advisor: Dr. Eugene Wu
The inner workings of the DNA copying nanomachine: Kinetics studies of DNA polymerase I from the thermophilic bacterium Rhodothermus marinus
By: Emily Kornberg
Advisor: Dr. Eugene Wu
Investigation into the mutagenic potential of 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine (OdG) using using KF- and pol b
By: Emily McFadden
Advisor: Dr. Michelle Hamm
Identifying the Machinery for Epigenetic Regulation at the Dawn of Metazoa
By: Deborah Pohlmann (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. April Hill
Studying gene regulatory programs using the freshwater sponge, Ephydatia muelleri: The evolution of the Pax/Six network and the Wnt pathway
By: Dora Posfai (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. April Hill
Characterization of neurosteroid binding to the amino terminal domain of GluN2B, a specific N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit
By: Ryan Roark
Advisor: Dr. Lisa Gentile
α-Adrenergic Receptor Expression and Regulation on the Surface of Macrophages
By: Lindsey Templeton
Advisor: Dr. Krista Stenger
Growth and Behavior of Bacterial-Feeding Soil Nematodes
By: Bryan Zielinski (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Amy Treonis
2012
Exploring the Role of Sonic Hedgehog in the Lymph Heart Development of Xenopus laevis
By Laura Barry (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Gary Radice
Determining the Role of Methionines in the Activity and Subunit Interactions of Glyoxysomal Malate Dehydrogenase
By Farren Billue
Advisor: Dr. Ellis Bell
The relationship between live coral and macroalgae in South Caicos as influenced by herbivorous fishes
By Sarah Byce
Advisor: Dr. Paula Lessem
Probing Subunit Interactions in 3-Phosphoglycerate Dehydrogenase
By Bradley Falk ((Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Ellis Bell
A Study of the Catalytic Reaction Mechanism of Malate Dehydrogenase using Quantum Mechanics and Molecular Dynamics Tools
By Hugo Guterres
Advisor: Dr. Ellis Bell
Homology Model and Targeted Mutagenesis Identify Critical Residues for Arachidonic Acid Inhibition of Kv4 Channels
By Robby Heler
Advisor: Dr. Linda Boland
Characterizing The Role Of The Sit And Hemolysin Proteins In High Affinity Iron Acquisition In The Tsetse Symbiont Sodalis glossinidius
By Kaitlin Markoja (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Laura Runyen-Janecky
The Up‐Regulation of Superoxide Dismutase‐1 (SOD1) Influences Neurodegeneration in a Drosophila Model of Machado‐Joseph Disease (MJD)
By Sallie McLean McSwain (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. John Warrick
Determination of the Atomic Resolution Structure of a DNA Polymerase I Isolated from Rhodothermus marinus
By Natalie Ommatage (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Eugene Wu
Elucidation of the Pax/Six gene regulatory network in Ephydatia muelleri
By Anna Rued (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Advisor: Dr. April Hill
The Role of Histidines in Neurosteroid Binding of NMDA GluN2B and D Subunits
By Sarah Rhoads (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Lisa Gentile
Trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate-mediated additions to acetals, nitrones, and aminals
By Chelsea Safran (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Wade Downey
Characterization of Achromobactin Iron Acquisition in Sodalis glossinidius
By Caitlin Lee Smith (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Laura Runyen-Janecky
The Optimization of a One-Pot Heteroconjugate Addition-Oxidation-Diels-Alder Reaction
By Christina Vivelo
Advisor: Dr. Wade Downey
Characterizing the role of Pax and Six in an emerging model system, the freshwater sponge, E. muelleri
By Ian P. Winters (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. April Hill
The Linkage Between Citrate and pH Regulation of Malate Dehydrogenase and Protein Folding
By Helen Yanta (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Ellis Bell
2011
Characterization of Microbial Community Structure in the Octocoral Leptogorgia virgulata
By Blair E. Armistead (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Roni Kingsley
Role of Potential Virulence and Antivirulence Genes in Shigella flexneri Pathogenicity
By Dana Katharine Bartlett (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Laura Runyen-Janecky
Studies into the mutagenic potential of the DNA lesion 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanasine with various DNA
By Kelly Crowley (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Michelle Hamm
Investigation of subunit interactions in glyoxysomal malate dehydrogenase using engineered cysteine residues.
By Mary Drake (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Ellis Bell
The Pax/Six gene regulatory network in a basal animal
By Siyu Serena Ding (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. April Hill
Xenopus laevis transgenic lines and their use in the study of lymph heart musculature development
By Diana M. Filtz (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Gary Radice
From the Florida Keys to the Great Barrier Reef: exploring the feeding ecology of tropical marine sponges
By Andrew Massaro (Biology)
Primary Advisor: Dr. Malcolm Hill
Secondary Advisors: Dr. Jeremy Weisz and Dr. Nicole Webster
Investigating the Trophic Ecology of Fungal-feeding Nematodes
By Megan Riley (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Amy Treonis
Determination of CREB binding protein levels and an examination of proteomic profiles in the drosophila model of the human neurodegenerative disease Spinocerebellar ataxia type III / Machado-Joseph disease / by Andrew Lawrence Simmelink.
By: Andrew Lawrence Simmelink (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Adviser: Dr. John M. Warrick
Investigation of CREB Binding Protein as a Potential Therapy in and the Creation of a Novel Proteomic Profile for Human Neurodegenerative Disease Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type III / Machado-Joseph Disease
By Brian James Sorace (Biology)
Adviser: Dr. John M. Warrick
AqK2P: A Previously Unstudied Sponge Potassium Channel
By Gregory D. Wells (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Linda Boland
2010
The effect of polysubstituted pyrrole compounds on the imflammatory response
By Lauren Folgosa (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Krista Stenger
Homology modeling provides insight into the evolution of allostery of glutamate deydrogenase
Virzhiniya Lekova (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Ellis Bell
Cognitive styles and underlying mechanisms of expertise processing
By Emily M. Ruzich (Biology)
Advisor Dr. Cindy Bukach
The Role of NtrBC and Nac in Shigella Virulence
By T. Jordan Walter (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Laura Runyen-Janecky
Characterization of the Secondary Structure of Kinesin Light Chain Tetratricopeptide Repeats
By Meredith Weck (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Lisa Gentile
2009
Developing a novel basal animal model for use in exploring the development of early sensory systems
By Elizabeth Danka (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. April Hill
Phenotypic Analysis of Genetic Regulatory Response to Oxidative Stress in Shigella flexneri
By Aaron Daugherty (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Laura Runyen-Janecky
Analysis of cp23S domain V to assess zooxanthellar diversity among clionaid sponges from Caribbean and Pacific reefs
By Ashley McQuillin (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Malcolm Hill
A gene encoding an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase interacts with the HOX gene regulator pal-1
By Leah Milazzo (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Scott Knight
Determining Archaeal Species Diversity in Death Valley Soils
By Archana Durga Narla (Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Amy Treonis
The application of vinylogous iminium salt derivatives to the efficient syntheses of Ningalin B, Rigidin C, and bioactive analogs
By Elizabeth Rieck (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Adrenergic receptor expression on RAW264.7 macrophages
By Lindsay Ward (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Advisor: Dr. Krista Stenger