Biology Department

2015 Senior Thesis Titles

(CLASS OF 2015: If your thesis abstract is not currently included on this page and you would like it to be, please follow this link.)

  • The effects of mouthbrooding on brood size, growth, and mobile behaviors in Astatotilapia burtoni by Emily Craig Agan

  • Climate change and the forests of the Pacific Northwest by Alejandro Anasal

  • A comparison of genome-guided and de novo RNA-seq analysis for non-genomic model organisms: A test case in cichlid fish by Melissa Yokoe Ashbaugh

  • Bad mothers make for bad neighbors: The intersection of social and maternal behaviors in mouth-brooding Astatotilapia burtoni by Christina Lord Barrett

  • The discovery of a new flavonoid regulating MYB in Delphinium nuttallii and Delphinium leucophaeum by Conrad James Barry

  • Effect of retinal ganglion cell input on growth in the Zebrafish optic tectum by Reid Pearl Bondurant

  • NMDARs as potential regulators of the Xenopus laevis vocal circuit by Alexandra Kate Bray  - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • Sublethal effects of a common herbicide, Atrazine, on amphibian (Bombina orientalis) growth and development under environmentally relevant conditions by Claire Diane Brumbaugh-Smith

  • Effects of collagen 15a 1b knockdown on stem cell behavior in the ciliary marginal zone by Alison Elizabeth Bryant - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • Testing Drosophilia self-medication using ethanol against parasitoid wasp infection by Robin Alexis Byron - Abstract

  • The role of Hfq in the reduction of virulence in EPEC by Zinc by Margaret Elaine Cheney

  • The role of chemical signals in the establishment of a cycad-cyanobacterial symbiosis by Hannah Laurel Youngsun Choi

  • Exploring the effects of siRNA induced knockdown of CPSF73 on CCND1 splicing by Matthew Putnam Durant

  • Biofertilizer potential of Oregon cyanbacterial strains by Adriana Taline Escobedo-Land - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • Cellular energy allocation and phenotypic response to hypoxia in the aquatic crustacean Daphnia magna by Rachel Giulia Fox - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • Investigation of a method to identify the mechanism of PerC's action on Ler by Jonathan Graham Gerhart

  • Genome size variation and transposable element proliferation in three lines of Capsicum annuum (Solanaceae) by Kathryn Hunter Halloran

  • Trypanosomatids in Drosophila and the effects of infection on adult fly fitness by Ivy Ellen Hellickson

  • Watch and learn: Transitive inference and female mate choice in a species of African cichlid fish by Emmeline Sophie Hill - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • Retinoic acid signaling and retinal ganglion cell neurogenesis in the developing Zebrafish by Wilson Hunter Horner - Abstract - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • The 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic: A synthetic review of the history, biology, and public health consequences of Ebola in West Africa by Jolie Dava Kaner

  • Post-translational modifications of a-tubulin by Agnes Kim

  • Patterns of genome dominance, gene loss, and silencing in the Allotetraploid soybean Glycine dolichocarpa by Maxwell Thomas Peter Koenig

  • Where the wild things are: Diversity and distribution of small mammals in the Reed College Canyon by Jacob Benjamin Kraus

  • Dose-dependence of off-target effects of antimalarials in the Xenopus laevis vocal central pattern generator by Alexandria Bryn Mariani - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • Zinc as an antibacterial agent by Jennilyn Marie Seton Nelson

  • Regulation of sexually differentiated vocal behavior via androgen receptor expression in the CNS of the South African clawed frog Xenopus laevis by Ha V. Nguyen - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • Whole-transcriptome analysis of the PerC regulon identifies novel niche-adaptive mechanisms in enteropathogenic Escherichia coli by Jossef Fleck Osborn - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • Cyclical feelings: Effects of Continuous hormonal contraception on stress behavior and circulating hormones in a mouse model by Elizabeth Ann Pekarskaya - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • Structural characteristics of the PinX1 telomerase inhibitory domain by Richard Harvey Posert - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • Is there interaction between xPinx1 and xTERT in the Xenopus laevis shelterin complex? By James Emiliano Reed

  • Relative expression of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae acetyltransferase genes ATF1 and ATF2 predict the profile of select acetate esters in fermented products by Sarah Jennifer Resnick

  • Effects of invasive English ivy (Hedera helix) on soil microflora by Jacob Merritt Robertson - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • Neuropeptide activity in sex-role conventional and sex-role reversed Julidochromis by Christine Rose Schmidt - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • Rethinking transposon dynamics of the germline and soma: from transposition to silencing by Michael Joon Song

  • The evolution of predation-induced plastic responses in Bombina orientalis tadpoles by Audrey Ellen Spaeth

  • Investigating large conductance calcium-activated potassium channel contribution to neural rhythemogenesis in the vocal central pattern generator by Jason Tyler Swinderman - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • The effects of the anti-malarial drug Mefloquine on NMDA receptors in the vocal central pattern generator of Xenopus laevis by Aashis Thapa - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)

  • Altering Ler linker hydrophobicity diminishes regulatory activity by Jules Bailey Weinstein - Abstract - (This study was funded in part by a grant from the Reed College Biology Undergraduate Research Program)