Biology Department

2014 Senior Thesis Titles

(CLASS OF 2014: If your thesis abstract is not currently included on this page and you would like it to be, please follow this link.)

  • Macroinvertebrate Diversity in the Reed College Canyon by Jennifer Rose Balmagia

  • Brooding Females: The Role of Dopamine in Maternal Care in Astatotilapia burtoni by Nisa Melek Beceriklisoy

  • Nitrogen Fixation in the Biological Soil Crusts of Eastern Oregon by Scott Joseph Breitenstein – Abstract

  • The Isolated Xenopus Laevis Brain as a Model for the Exploration of the Off-Target, Central Nervous System Effects of Mefloquine by Alison Leila Nouri Chalker

  • Host Lipid Mobilization by Parasitoid Wasp Venom by Natalie Field Cowan

  • Virus-like Particles in the Venom of Parasitoid Wasps by Daniel Sithylemenkat Dashevsky

  • The neuronal basis for sex-specific vocalizations in the Aquatic frog Xenopus laevis: possible roles for testosterone in regulating the NR2 subunit identity in N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors by Sydney Elise Dent

  • PerC Enhances Oxidative Stress Response in Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli by Karen Marie Dewey

  • Modularity and Adaptation: Nova-mediated RNA processing and functional synaptic organization by Nathan Alexander Eisenberg

  • Using Bacteriophages to Clear Bacterial Biofilms by Jennifer Marie Farrell

  • Characterization of Xenopus laevis Shelterin Complex: Interaction of TRF1 and PinX1 by Smith Isa Freeman

  • The Effect of Porcine Zona Pellucida Immunocontraception on Feral Horse Behavior: A Study of Mare Fidelity on Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland by Emily C.R. Gastelum

  • Assessment of the cumulative natural and anthropogenic threats to Columbia River Basin salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha using Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch criteria with implications for management by Alaïa Victoria Giglio

  • The Effects of Antimalarial Drugs on the Vocal Central Pattern Generator in the Frog, Xenopus laevis by Matthew Paul Keeslar

  • Understanding the Mechanism of ler Regulation by PerC by Augustus Mallett Kilgore

  • Hydrophobicity of the Ler Linker is Necessary for Transcriptional Activation by Abraham Yoav Leiser

  • A Search for Nuclear Phylogeographic Markers in Delphinium Nuttallii by Ellen Rebecca Levkoy – Abstract

  • Examination of Stress Tolerance and Nitrogen Fixation in Medicago truncatula by Miranda Lyons-Cohen

  • Objective Crosstalk: The interaction between method and diversity using the 16S rRNA gene of symbiotic cyanobacteria by Erin Elizabeth Warren McAllester, Environmental Studies-Biology

  • Trypanosomatid Parasitism Activates Conserved Innate Immune Response, Visualized for the First Time in a Drosophila Host by Sara Yin-Ling Post

  • Investigating the Link between Gluthione-S-Transferase Activity and Nitrogenase Activity in Red Alder (Alnus Rubra Bong) and Bitterbrush (Purshia Tridentata) by Desmond Rgwaringesu

  • Searching for the neural rhythmogenesis of Xenopus laevis' vocal communication necessitates troubleshooting by Patrick Scott Sadil – Abstract

  • Mechanistic Basis of Maternal Behavior in a Cichlid Fish by Hannah Curtin Schaupp

  • The Role of CPSF-73 in Splicing of the Terminal Intron of FOS pre-mRNA by Kevin Wolf Schmidt

  • Characterization of Telomerase Products in Xenopus laevis Tissue Extracts by Erin Michelle Sheffels – Abstract

  • Racing the red queen: An examination of the effects of parasitoid wasp infection on Drosophila melanogaster homologous recombination by Shelly Anne Skolfield

  • Female Sex Steroids Alter Subcellular Localization of Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor ÀB Ligand (Rankl) in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells by Molly Jane Spilka - Abstract

  • The Genetic Basis of the Floral Color Transition in the Divergence of Delphinium leucophaeum and Delphinium nuttallii by Kimberly Anne Stanton

  • Effects of the herbicide diuron on multiple life stages of Bombina orientalis: implications for pesticide use and amphibian conservation by Taylor Rose Stinchcomb, Environmental Studies, Biology – Abstract

  • R2R3-MYB Discovery in Delphinium nuttallii by Ryan Joseph Streur

  • Zinc Metal Competition and Oxidative Stress by Poornima Subramanian

  • Retinoic Acid Signaling and Retinal Stem Cell Behavior in the Zebrafish Ciliary Marginal Zone by Amanuel Melesse Tafessu - Abstract

  • The Role of Extrinsic and Intrinsic Cues in Rescue of Retinal Stem Cell Proliferation and Differentiation in Zebrafish by Ingrid Veronica Tower

  • Pot1, Tpp1, and Telomerase in Xenopus laevis by Joshua Alexander Urrutia

  • Inhibition of Telomerase and the PCR by 3xPinX1 by Nicole Susan Valentine

  • Activity of glutathione-ascorbate cycle enzymes in the cycad-cyanobacterial symbiosis by Eric William Van Baak

  • Spatial and Temporal Organization of Neurogenesis in the Zebrafish Retina by Ulagammai Venkat

  • Newly Formed Neurons in Adult Cichlids by Katherine Michaela Voorhees

  • Inhibition of transcription of the apoptotic gene EGR1 by the bromodomain protein Brd4 by William Nelson Voss

  • Dorsal-ventral patterning and cell proliferation in the vertebrate retina by Audrey Miller Williams

  • Sigma E-Dependent Pathway Mediates Inhibition of LEE Virulence by Zinc by Yuan Xue

  • The Search for an Ideal SERM: Towards the Design and Synthesis of a Novel Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator by Rachel G. C. Yahn

  • Enhanced Drought Tolerance in vtc2-transgenic Poplars by Phoebe Allegra Long Young