Biology Commons^™

Risk Assessment Of Blackbird Mine, Eli Caldwell

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

The risk assessment process involves identifying and characterizing hazards, determining dose-response relationships, and assessing possible exposures to toxins in order to inform risk management. The goal of this project was to complete the steps of a risk assessment and develop a perspective on risk management. Data collected from publicly available databases, scholarly articles, and targeted sources were used to perform a risk assessment for Blackbird Mine. Social, economic, political, and/or legal perspectives were considered when determining the best risk management approaches.

Risk Assessment Of Pcb Exposure From Mvp In Southwest, Va, Elizabeth Garri

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

The risk assessment process involves identifying and characterizing hazards, determining dose-response relationships, and assessing possible exposures to toxins in order to inform risk management. The goal of this project was to complete the steps of a risk assessment and develop a perspective on risk management. Data collected from publicly available databases, scholarly articles, and targeted sources were used to perform a risk assessment for PCB exposure from MVP in Southwest Virginia. Social, economic, political, and/or legal perspectives were considered when determining the best risk management approaches.

Risk Assessment Of Anaconda Copper Mine, Kelly Jarratt

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

The risk assessment process involves identifying and characterizing hazards, determining dose-response relationships, and assessing possible exposures to toxins in order to inform risk management. The goal of this project was to complete the steps of a risk assessment and develop a perspective on risk management. Data collected from publicly available databases, scholarly articles, and targeted sources were used to perform a risk assessment for Anaconda Copper Mine. Social, economic, political, and/or legal perspectives were considered when determining the best risk management approaches.

Risk Assessment Of Bear Creek Sediments, Rebekah Godfrey

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

The risk assessment process involves identifying and characterizing hazards, determining dose-response relationships, and assessing possible exposures to toxins in order to inform risk management. The goal of this project was to complete the steps of a risk assessment and develop a perspective on risk management. Data collected from publicly available databases, scholarly articles, and targeted sources were used to perform a risk assessment for Bear Creek Sediments. Social, economic, political, and/or legal perspectives were considered when determining the best risk management approaches.

Risk Assessment Of Yellow Pine Mining Area, Noel Preece

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

The risk assessment process involves identifying and characterizing hazards, determining dose-response relationships, and assessing possible exposures to toxins in order to inform risk management. The goal of this project was to complete the steps of a risk assessment and develop a perspective on risk management. Data collected from publicly available databases, scholarly articles, and targeted sources were used to perform a risk assessment for Yellow Pine Mining Area. Social, economic, political, and/or legal perspectives were considered when determining the best risk management approaches.

Risk Assessment Of Devil's Swamp Lake, Jocelyn Price

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

The risk assessment process involves identifying and characterizing hazards, determining dose-response relationships, and assessing possible exposures to toxins in order to inform risk management. The goal of this project was to complete the steps of a risk assessment and develop a perspective on risk management. Data collected from publicly available databases, scholarly articles, and targeted sources were used to perform a risk assessment for Devil's Swamp Lake. Social, economic, political, and/or legal perspectives were considered when determining the best risk management approaches.

Microbial Diversity Of Rural And Urban Soil At Different Depths On Longwood University's Campus, Kristen Dobek, Madalyn Cook

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Microbial diversity is the range of various kinds of bacteria. The purpose of this experimental research was to determine the complex diversity of bacteria among soil samples at two locations on Longwood University's campus. The study found that there was a higher microbial diversity in the rural soil sample location compared to the urban soil sample location.

The Effect Of Distance From Habitat Fragmentation On Biodiversity Of Invertebrates, Diego Sifuentes, Coleman Taylor

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Habitat fragmentation happens when human interaction causes an organism's environment to emerge in discontinuities in their habitat. This leads to degradation and disrupts the ecosystem as a whole. This experiment will try to answer the question if habitat fragmentation is still prevalent on invertebrates at a further range. This will be achieved by setting two sites with pitfall traps on both sides on the fragmentation and then a third site will be added at the same distance from the first two sites. It is hypothesized that there will be a less abundance of invertebrates on sites A and B while …

The Process Of Isolating, Purifying, And Analyzing The Gfp Gene From The Pglo Plasmid, And Transforming And Expressing Gfp In E. Coli Cells., Kailyn Westbrook

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

The aim of this project was to isolate, amplify, and purify the GFP gene from the pGLO plasmid, for both analysis as well as the translation and expression into Escherichia coli cell cultures. The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique was used to isolate and amplify the GFP gene, which was then purified for use in the agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE) chamber, to distinguish the DNA fragments by size and determine the presence of the desired amplicon. The NanoDrop, SnapGene, and Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) softwares were then used for the analysis of the purified amplicon. During the analysis …

Water Clarity Affects Microbial Diversity In Lakes At Longwood University, Maya Smith, Linden Czeizinger

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

This project intends to discover how water clarity affects the diversity of Longwood University's native freshwater microbiomes. The group hypothesized that if the lake water clarity is low, then microbiomes within the lake will be less abundant. The results of this experiment proved that the lake waters were far clearer than previous measurements of clarity had shown, as bacterial colonies were highly abundant.

Micro-Rna, A Solution For Understanding Depression, Marshall White

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Major depressive disorder is a mood disorder that causes sadness and loss of interest. This affects how one may feel, think, or behave which impact their physical and mental state. People who have been diagnosed with this disorder find themselves losing interest in things they once loved. In the United States there are 16.1 million Americans diagnosed with MDD. This disorder is more common in individuals who have had it in their families which has resulted in the interest in how different genes impact MDD. Micro-RNA has been researched and discovered to have a correlation with MDD. These Micro-RNA's show …

Can Magic Mushrooms Remove Inherited Trauma?, Caleb Edwards

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

This presentation is about a proposal wherein mice are exposed to psilocybin over multiple generations to study the effects of psilocybin on fear response, hippocampal growth and gene expression.

Scanning Electron Microscopic Analysis Of Developmental Speed's Effect On Symmetry In Drosophila Melanogaster, Kyle Hiatt

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

The purpose of this project is primarily to examine the effects of development speed on symmetry in Drosophila melanogaster when employing methylparaben, an anti-microbial preservative, as an additive to the organisms' growth medium. This paraben was selected due to its studied effects on prolonging the length of juvenile development. The research question being examined in this project is whether manipulating developmental speed by lengthening the average developmental cycle would lead to more overall symmetry as opposed to a shorter developmental cycle speed. Baseline assays of juvenile developmental speed of Drosophila melanogaster, both groups with and without methylparaben growth medium, will …

Risk Assessment Of Vaping, Gillian Eshelman

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

The risk assessment process involves identifying and characterizing hazards, determining dose-response relationships, and assessing possible exposures to toxins in order to inform risk management. The goal of this project was to complete the steps of a risk assessment and develop a perspective on risk management. Data collected from publicly available databases, scholarly articles, and targeted sources were used to perform a risk assessment for vaping. Social, economic, political, and/or legal perspectives were considered when determining the best risk management approaches.

Risk Assessment Of Unity Auto Mart, Ashley Wilson

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

The risk assessment process involves identifying and characterizing hazards, determining dose-response relationships, and assessing possible exposures to toxins in order to inform risk management. The goal of this project was to complete the steps of a risk assessment and develop a perspective on risk management. Data collected from publicly available databases, scholarly articles, and targeted sources were used to perform a risk assessment for Unity Auto Mart. Social, economic, political, and/or legal perspectives were considered when determining the best risk management approaches.

Comparing The Microbial Diversity Of Campus Cultivated Flowers Vs Eec Wildflowers At Longwood University, Elizabeth Whitehead, Rodney Clark, Quinn Kehoe

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

The purpose of this experiment is to see which type of bacteria are found on Longwood University's plant life. Identities of three of the flowers were found using genomics. It was found that there was a greater quantity of bacteria colonies on the wildflowers behind the EEC building however, there was greater diversity of bacterial colonies on the Rotunda flowers.

The Effect Of Pepck If The The Transcription Fact Dfoxo Is Knocked Down, Hunter Croom, Diego Sifuentes, Amari Riddick, Samari Gibson

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Cell Biology has evolved throughout the years from Hooke describing a cell for the first time to CRISPR now allowing scientists to think about gene editing. This experiment we will be using one of these advancements to see the effect on PEPCK when dFOXO is knocked down. The gene; PEPCK stands for Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, this enzyme typically is involved and is a key enzyme for the liver and the kidney. The transcription factor that will be inhibited is called FOXO, where transcription factors are binded to the target gene and begin to affect the development and metabolism. The results we …

Longevity And Aging Mediated By Foxo And The Gene Methuselah, Amanda Palmer, Hailee Banks, Kylee Wright, Tristana Foster

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Forkhead box (FOXO) transcription factors have been shown to influence longevity and ageing in various species. FOXO has shown to be involved in the regulation of cancer through the ageing process. The gene methuselah in Drosophila melanogaster is involved in longevity due to its connection to FOXO transcription factors. This study aims to discover the effects of FOXO on the gene methuselah through gene knockout. D. melanogaster cells were infused with FOXO transcription factors to alter the DNA strand. The methuselah gene within this DNA was knocked out by inhibition of the FOXO transcription factors. Knockout of this gene should …

An Investigation Into The Effect Of Polluted Bodies Of Water On The Food Source Of Shore Birds, Ian Castelow

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

The goal or specific aim of this research is to gain better knowledge into how big of an effect heavy metal pollution is having on the not only the environment but also shorebird species and their food source. Shorebirds are a great climate change indicator and with this new knowledge we can show why they need to be protected even more.

Reconstructing Isotelus Rex, Brian White

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Isotelus rex is the largest trilobite currently known at over 720 mm in length, and by extension is one of the largest arthropods known. However, despite these accolades, it is relatively unknown in both the public consciousness and in the scientific community. This is partially due to its scant visual database, with barely any artistic restorations to help represent its life appearance. In order to rectify this, a digital reconstruction of Isotelus rex is produced utilizing programs such as Blender and Zbrush. The final result of the work is a fully animated restoration of the trilobite, bolstering its visual database …

Trick To The Treat: Science Alive At Nova Southeastern University, Neha Joshi, Alina Poothurail, Shashank Nutalapati, Science Alive Team

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Physiological Processes, Chirag B. Raval

Open Educational Resources

Physiological Processes is designed to introduce fundamental concepts of physiology to biomedical engineering learners. Areas covered include: neural, muscular, cardiovascular, respiratory and renal system function; bioelectrical signals, capillary-level transport, organ-level exchange. Whenever possible, analysis will be quantitative in order to fulfill the course goals and to build the foundation for the subsequent biomedical engineering curriculum. This course is for Biomedical Engineering majors only.

Assessing The Dispersal And Recruitment Of Stocked Walleye Fry In A Northern Minnesota Chain Of Lakes, Joseph W. Amundson

Biology Graduate Theses

As part of Minnesota's Walleye Sander vitreus egg take practice, 10% of eggs taken for hatchery purposes are stocked back into the donor lake. For Andrusia, part of the Cass Lake Chain of Lakes (Chain), this practice can result in elevated fry densities (mean: 17,000 fry/littoral hectare). However, if fry are able to disperse and use all available littoral hectares throughout the Chain, fry densities would be intermediate to typical stocking densities for Minnesota lakes (1,200 - 2,400 fry/littoral hectare). In 2016-2018, 3-3.5 million fry were mass-marked by immersion in oxytetracycline (OTC) prior to stocking into Andrusia to allow differentiation …

2021 Summer/Fall Newsletter, Plaster Creek Stewards

Newsletters

Highlights:

Summer Supercrew

Plaster Creek Hike + Discovery

Green Team

Diversity Training

Visit with Chariman Ron Yob

Fall Event: Environmental Justice in Our Watershed

Planting Partners

Curb Cut Rain Garden Highlight

Androgen-Binding Protein (Abp) Evolutionary History: Has Positive Selection Caused Fixation Of Different Paralogs In Different Taxa Of The Genus Mus?, Robert C. Karn, Golbahar Yazdanifar, Željka Pezer, Pierre Boursot, Christina M. Laukaitis

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Comparison of the androgen-binding protein (Abp) gene regions of six Mus genomes provides insights into the evolutionary history of this large murid rodent gene family. We identified 206 unique Abp sequences and mapped their physical relationships. At least 48 are duplicated and thus present in more than two identical copies. All six taxa have substantially elevated LINE1 densities in Abp regions compared with flanking regions, similar to levels in mouse and rat genomes, although nonallelic homologous recombination seems to have only occurred in Mus musculus domesticus. Phylogenetic and structural relationships support the hypothesis that the extensive Abp …

Can Providing Positive Interactions With Snakes Change A Person’S Perception Of Dangerous Wildlife Interactions?, Bethany Walker

Theses

Due to a long co-evolutionary history between placental mammals and reptiles, primates demonstrate aversive responses to snakes. In humans, this can result in ophidiophobia, or the fear of snakes which can arise due to cultural backgrounds, traumatic experiences, or fear instilled by others. However, these reptiles fill essential roles in ecosystems. Conservation and outreach efforts are important to help our population understand snakes’ role in our lives and the state’s broader biodiversity. Negative experiences or preconceptions about snakes can make this message hard to share with the public. Educators can help prevent intentional harm to some of these organisms through …

Md Anderson Summer Experience, Vijay Patel

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Md Anderson University Outreach Program, Rosha Chittuluru

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Shadowing Opportunity With Dr. Khan, Faraz Zia

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Bacteria Unearthed, Tassnime Sebaei, Mark Sourial

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.