John Mann

Originally uploaded by Meredith Durmowicz

Biology senior John Mann is shown here working with the fruit flies he is studying to learn more about muscle development. He is doing his senior capstone research with biology faculty member Dr. Andy Kreuz, trying to determine the location of a mutation that causes flies to be flightless.

Originally uploaded by Meredith Durmowicz

Junior Andy Vallade recently presented his fall research to visitors at the 12th Annual Fall Research and Internship Poster Session. Andy worked with biology faculty member Joe Matanoski, studying invasive species at the Soldier’s Delight Nature Area. His work has implications for the management of these species and the preservation of the endogenous species in the area.

Kristyna Hnizda – Fall 2009

Originally uploaded by Meredith Durmowicz

Hearing is what biology senior Kristyna Hnizda studied for her research capstone in Dr. David Ryugo’s laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. Kristyna worked to map the pathways between neurons in the rat brain that are activated upon stimulus with sound waves. The work will result in a tool that can be used in the field and give important insights into hearing and deafness.

Fall 2009 Science and Math Capstone Students

Originally uploaded by Meredith Durmowicz

Over 50 students presented their research and internship work from the Fall 2009 semester at the 12th Annual Fall Research and Internship Poster Session today. The biology, chemistry and math students included senior capstone students, sophomore and junior research and internship students and Summer Science Scholar Research Program students. University faculty and staff, fellow students, mentors and family members came to see the presentations, which focused on topics as wide-ranging as virology research, developing marketing tools for laundry detergent and dermatology.

Dr. Andy Kreuz

Originally uploaded by Meredith Durmowicz

Dr. Andy Kreuz recently took some of his work to the National Drosophila Conference in a poster presentation. The poster, entitled “Analysis of mutants in Strn-mlck and CG1776, two Drosophila myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) genes” described work he and his students have done in collaboration with Dr. Amanda Simcox’s laboratory at Ohio State University. One of Dr. Kreuz’s former students and biology alumnus Rafael Acosta was a co-author on the poster, which included work he did as part of his senior research capstone.

Jillian Kline

Originally uploaded by Meredith Durmowicz

Junior biology major Jillian Kline is studying the metabolism of yeast using different sugars as energy sources this semester. She’s working with Dr. Hildy Sanders in an independent research course. Jillian is shown here analyzing data from microarray experiments in which she can determine the expression of every gene in the yeast genome, and compare the levels of gene expression when the yeast is grown under differing conditions.

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Originally uploaded by Meredith Durmowicz

Biology senior Rachel Bullock is shown here presenting her senior capstone poster at the May poster session. She worked with chemistry faculty member Dr. Tracey Mason, studying crosslinks in DNA and how they are repaired. The work has implications in cancer treatment, because many of the current chemotherapy drugs cause cross-links in DNA and cancer cells develop resistance to these drugs by repairing the crosslinks and continuing to divide.

IMG_0278

Originally uploaded by Meredith Durmowicz

Jinaya Beatty (BIO ‘09) is shown here in front of her senior capstone poster at the May poster session. She completed her research in the laboratory of Dr. Andrei Medvedev at the University of Maryland Medical School, where she studied the function of Toll-like receptors in the recognition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, by the immune system.

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Originally uploaded by Meredith Durmowicz

Biology senior Stephanie Bryson completed her senior capstone research with biology faculty member Dr. Susan Youngren. Stephanie and Dr. Youngren studied the genetics of the Tobiano coat pattern in horses. Tobiano horses must exhibit a very specific pattern of white spots in order to be registered as Tobiano. Stephanie studied mutations in the KIT gene, which are responsible for the patterning.

Biology senior Laura Dize presented her work with biology faculty member, Dr. Wendy Kimber, at the recent Science and Math Spring Research and Internship Poster Session. Laura studied gene expression patterns in mouse embryonic stem cells. The overall goal of the work is to determine which genes play a role in early differentiation and development.