Summer 2015 HHMI Fellows and Projects (HHMI Fellows in bold)

Andrew Mah. Testing Conflicting Phylogenetic Hypotheses That May Reclassify Key Innovations in Spider Evolution using Non-traditional Silk Genes. Mentor: Dr. Nadia Ayoub

Jeremy Miller. Differential Gene Expression According to Extrinsic Factors in The Common House Spider, Parasteatoda tepidariorum. Mentor: Dr. Nadia Ayoub

Melina Knabe and Kate Sarfert. Sex-Differences in Diet-Induced Cognitive Impairment. Mentor: Dr. Sarah Blythe

Bradleigh Navalsky. Determining the Origin of Orconectes punctimanus in the Virginia Appalachian Mountains. Mentor: Dr. Paul Cabe

Aristide Shingiro. Comparing stress-strain models to predict failure of 4-feet Very high strength concrete beam. Mentor: Dr. Kacie D'Alessandro

Anna Alexander, Shlomo Honig and Sydney Lundquist. The Effect of Bison Grazing on Soil Microbes in Yellowstone National Park and Subsequent Impacts on Migration Patterns. Mentor: Dr. Bill Hamilton

Steven Allen, Candler Clawson, and Leslie dela Cruz. The introduction of early snacking leads to obesity in developing female rats. Mentor: Dr. Helen I'Anson

Karen Villarroel. Investigating Non-Functional rRNA Decay Under Ultraviolet Stress Conditions. Mentor: Dr. Fref LaRiviere

Victor Y. Yu. Identification of Novel NRD Factors in S. cerevisiae. Mentor: Dr. Fred LaRiviere

Saumya Patel. Phenotypic sex reversal in an alien snake, the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis). Mentor: Dr. Rocky Parker

Haley Roland. Development of Dendrites of Taste Neurons in the Hamster Nucleus of the Solitary Tract. Mentor: Dr. Robert E. Stewart

Veronika Pogrebna, Jacob Roberts, Tyra Barrett, and Joseph Wu. Effects of Obesity and Neuronal Disruptions on Cycling and Reproductive Signaling. Mentor: Dr. Natalia Toporikova

Mallory Stephensen. Describing Cadmium Sulfide Degradation in Paintings by Louise Herreshoff through Multispectral Imaging, pXRF, FORS, and Infrared Fluorescence Imaging to Guide Conservation Efforts. Mentor: Dr. Erich Uffelman

Matthew Bryson and Timothy Holder. Organophosphate Pesticides' Impact on the Cytoarchitecture of the Cholinergic Nervous System in Xenopus laevis. Mentor: Dr. Fiona Watson

Elizabeth McDonald and Kyle Turpin. A Good Time to Die: Quantifying Live Cell Death in Yeast Using Confocal Microscopy. Mentor: Dr. Gregg Whitworth