Preliminary Program

Saturday, March 5th:

 

11:00 - 1:00          Check-In and Registration (3rd floor Alfond)

1:00 - 2:30            Session 1: Marine Biology I (Alfond 304) &

Session 2: Physics (Alfond 205)

2:30 – 3:00           Break

3:00 – 3:15           Welcome and introduction (Campus Center)

3:15 – 4:00         Keynote address by Dr. Jeffrey Osborne, Dean of the College of New Jersey and past president of the Council for Undergraduate Research, CUR (Campus Center)

4:00 – 5:30           Workshops

5:30 – 6:30           Session 3: Marine Biology II (Alfond 304) &

Session 4: Molecular Biology (Alfond 205)

6:30 – 8:00         POSTER SESSION I (dinner provided) (2nd and 3rd floor Alfond)

 

Sunday, March 6th:

 

8:15 – 9:30           Session 5: Ecology (Alfond 304) &

Session 6: Medical Biology (Alfond 205)

9:30 – 9:45           Break

9:45 – 10:30          data blitz session  (Alfond 304)

10:30 – 10:45         Break

10:45 – 11:45         Session 7: Geology, Evolution, Botany (Alfond 304) &

Session 8: Chemistry (Alfond 205)

11:45 – 1:15          POSTER SESSION II (LUNCH PROVIDED) (2nd and 3rd floor Alfond)

1:15 – 1:45           Closing remarks and award ceremony (Alfond 304)

 


_________________________________________

 

More detailed preliminary program:

 

Saturday Mar 5th

 

1:00-2:30

Session 1: Marine Biology 1

 

Peterson, Cassidy; Knotek, Ryan; Sulikowski, James; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

Determining the gestation period of spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) using ultrasound and plasma hormone analysis

 

Knotek, Ryan; Peterson, Cassidy; Sulikowski, James; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

Investigating reproductive anomalies in the spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias, along the United States east coast.

 

Caruso, Catherine; Idjadi, Josh; Lagueux, Kerry; Mandelman, John; Wellesley College; Wellesley, MA

Impacts of Offshore Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) Terminals on Local Fish Populations in Mass Bay

 

Marden, Sean; Metzler, Anita; Northeastern University; Boston, MA

Potential Impact of an Introduced Crustacean Species (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) on a Native New England Species (Homarus americanus)

 

Podolski, Stephanie; Frederich, Markus; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

Activation of AMP-activated protein kinase as an early indicator for heat and hypoxia stress in the lobster, Homarus americanus

 

Toombs, Casey; Frederich, Markus; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

Carapace color polymorphism and anoxia stress in the green crab, Carcinus maenas

 

1:00-2:30

Session 2: Physics

 

Kingsley, James; Tüzel, Erkan; Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Worcester, MA

A particle-based Method for the Simulation of Single and Multi-Component Fluids

 

Smith, Russell; Willocq, Stephane; University of Massachusetts Amherst; Amherst, MA

Forward - Backward Asymmetry in Z to Dimuon Decays at the ATLAS detector

 

Jermain, Colin; Tuominen, Mark; University of Massachusetts Amherst; Amherst, MA

Kosterlitz-Thouless Dissociation of Superconducting Vortex Stacks in Bilayer Nanofilms

 

Treado, Colleen; Dallapiccola, Carlo; Colon, German; University of Massachusetts Amherst; Amherst, MA

Muon Fake Rates From Lambda Decay at the ATLAS Detector

 

Silvestri, Luciano; Jacobs, Kurt; UMASS Boston; Boston, MA

Thermalization from an explicit simulation of a large quantum system

 

Silvestri, Luciano; Kim, Taehoon; Somu, Sivasubramanian; Busnaina, Ahmed; UMASS Boston; Boston, MA

SWNT based Nanoelectromechanical Switch

 

2:30-3:00

Break

 

3:00-4:00

Keynote address by Dr. Jeffrey Osborn

 

4:00-5:30

Workshops

 

5:30-6:30

Session 3: Marine Biology 2

 

Coutre, Karson; Sulikowski, James; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

Age and Size at Sexual Maturity of the Barndoor Skate, Dipturus laevis, based on Morphological Analyses

 

Crear, Daniel; Hoffmayer, Eric; Sulikowski, James; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

Assessing the age distribution of six shark species within the Mississippi Sound nursery ground

 

Muhlbach, Eric; Menden-Deuer, Susanne; Day, William; University of Rhode Island; Kingston, RI

Dinoflagellate prey selectivity: Oxyrrhis marina behavioral mechanisms allow for preferential feeding of prey species.

 

 

5:30-6:30

Session 4: Molecular Biology

 

Izzo, Amanda; Keene State College; Keene, NH

Transcriptional Activation and Repression by LuxR in Vibrio harveyi

 

Tsao, Leah; Begley, Gail; Northeastern University; Boston, MA

Characterizing Putative Vinyl Chloride Degrading Bacteria in Contaminated Groundwater

 

Curry, Emily; Scordilis, Stylianos; Smith College; Northampton, MA

Localization of HSP25 and p-HSP25 and Actin in C2C12 Myoblast Cell Development

 

Maceli, Ashley; Suffolk University; Boston, MA

Genomic simplification method for studying mammalian DNA methylation

 

 

6:30-8:00

Posters 1  (see below)

 

 

Sunday Mar 6th

 

8:30-9:30

Session 5: Ecology

 

Young, Sara; Ono, Kathryn; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

Diet comparisons of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) and California sea lions (Zalophus californianus): Is diet a factor in Steller sea lion decline? 


Russell, Benjamin R; Warkentin, Karen M; Rosengaus, Rebeca B; Northeastern University; Boston, MA

Good Vibrations: Context Dependent Vibrational Communication in the Dampwood Termite, Zootermopsis angusticollis

 

Wright, Derek; Perlut, Noah; Travis, Steve; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

Impacts of Agricultural Management on Nestling Sex Ratios of Grassland Nesting Songbirds

 

Fishbein, Jennifer; Park, Heidi; Wellesley College; Wellesley, MA

Using bioinformatics to search for candidate type IV effectors in wVitA, the Wolbachia of Nasonia vitripennis

 

8:15-9:30

Session 6: Medical Biology

 

Dawes, Ryan; Ashworth, Sharon; Neivandt, David; University of Maine; Orono, ME

Development of an Actin Hydrogel Substrate for Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy of FGF Protein Transfer Across a Model Membrane

 

Tanaka, Ken; Yan, Catherine; Balter, Barbara; Amherst College; Amherst, MA

In vivo and in silico analysis of thymic tumor development in DNA Ligase IV R278H mice

 

Garcia, Zachery; Dowse, H B; University of Maine, Orono; Orono, ME

Physiological and behavioral alterations resulting from epigenetic modifications by Bisphenol A (BPA).

 

Matthew Gargas; Keene State College; Keene, NH

The Microevolution of A Novel Bacteriophage And The Bacterium S. marcescens

 

Lemoi, Kyle; Daly, Kristopher; Liu, Yen-Chun; Z. Shen; Vidali, Luis; Tüzel, Erkan; Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Worcester, MA

Active transport of organelles in living cells

 

9:30-9:45

Break

 

9:45-10:30

Session 7: Data Blitz presentations

 

Perazio, Christina; Dzieweczynski, Teresa; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

The Effect of Audience Familiarity on Male-Male Interactions in Betta splendens

 

Le, Thuy; Dewar, Eric; Suffolk University; Boston, MA

Developments in the characterization of the dental use wear of small carnivores

 

Papazian, Jacqueline; Dewar, Eric; Suffolk University; Boston, MA

Reconstructing the Diets of Extinct Ungulates by Quantifying Tooth Crest Lengths

 

Gordon, Jennifer; Keene State College; Keene, NH

Isolation of culturable aerobic polyaromatic hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium present in the salt water marshes of the Great Bay Estuary, NH

 

Casey, Ian; Launen, Loren; Keene State College; Keene, NH

Implementation of a Protocol for Enumerating Microbes in Complex Samples with Fluorescence Microscopy

 

Orozco, Jose; Kovacevic, Ismar; Cram, Erin; Northeastern Univeristy; Boston, MA

Mechanotransduction in C. elegans

 

O'Donnell, Amanda; Bonner, Lisa; Saint Anselm College; Manchester, NH

Synthesis of 2-(benzylsulfinyl)acetamide, a novel Dopamine Transporter Inhibitor

 

Flynn, Kayla; Levine, Mindy; University of Rhode Island; Kingston, RI

Synthesis of a Dissymmetric Organic Macrocycle

 

10:30-10:45

Break

 

10:45-11:45

Session 7: Geology, Evolution, Botany

 

Evans, Fraser; Bhardwaj, Ajay; Brown University; Providence, RI

Sustainable Management Options for Using Marginal Lands to Produce Bioenergy and Enhance Ecosystem Services

 

McDonough, Renee; Framingham State University; Framingham, MA

Parasitic Cowbird Egg Ejection Strategies in Warbling Vireos (Vireo gilvus)

 

Dauphinee, Adrian; Gunawardena, Arunika; Dalhousie University; Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Does ethylene induce cellular death during lace plant leaf morphogenesis?

 

Wertman, Jaime; Gunawardena, Arunika; Dalhousie University; Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Mitochondria: supplies energy for life and signals for death in the Lace Plant?

 

10:45-11:45

Session 8: Chemistry

 

Toomey, Jillian; O'Connor, Aisling; Fitchburg State University; Fitchburg, MA

Green Chemistry Curriculum for Science Club for Girls

 

Baril, Stefanie A; Ahetortua, Lina M; Hashem, Katreena M; Kollarova, Elena; Wicht, Denyce K; Suffolk University; Boston, MA

An investigation into the biodegradation of dimethylsilanediol by Arthrobacter methylotrophus

 

Cunningham, Sue; Graber, Sara; Blauvelt, Marisa; Springfield College; Springfield, MA

Synthesis of a Phenyl Epoxyenone

 

Soe, Chan Myae: Chamberlain, Kristal; Jacob, Lisa; Cho, Monica; Maeng, Veronica; Boamah, Mavis; Ding, Linda; Yhee, Farrah; Arumainayagam, Christopher; Boyer, Michael; Wellesley College; Wellesley, MA

Ultrahigh Vacuum Studies of Electron-Induced Reactions of Methanol

 

11:45-1:15

Posters 2  (see below)

 

1:15-1:45

Concluding remarks and awards

 



POSTER Session 1 (Saturday)

 

Botany

  1. Diversity and Soil-Tissue Relations of Plants of Callahan Mine, Brooksville, ME. Mansfield, Maggie; Rajakaruna, Nishanta; College of the Atlantic; Bar Harbor, ME

 

Ecology

  1. Effects of predator size and experience with predators on parental investment in a tropical cichlid fish, Neetroplus nematopus. Klein, Michelle; Coleman, Ronald; College of the Atlantic; Bar Harbor, ME

 

  1. Analysis of Male Xenopus laevis Vocalizations in Preparation for Testing Female Preference. Crone, James; Zinn, Sarah; Keene State College; Keene, NH

 

  1. Birth of an invasive plant species: natural and anthropogenic distribution of Phragmites australis. Lee, Christopher; Lambertini, Carla; Meyerson, Laura; University of Rhode Island; Kingstown, RI

 

  1. Increased phosphate availability facilitates growth of Lythrum salicaria, an invasive species, at Chandler Pond, MA. Arsenault, Arielle; Moseman-Valtierra, Serena; Boston College; Chestnut Hill, MA

 

  1. Investigating the Potential for Nitrate-N Removal in Rhode Island Transient Headwater Streams. Welsh, Molly; Addy, Kelly; Gold, Arthur; Cox, Suzanne; University of Rhode Island; Kingston, RI

 

  1. Male bias in nestling sex ratios of a declining grassland songbird: New insights into population processes. Dunbar, Catherine; Travis, Steven; Perlut, Noah; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

 

  1. Male Savannah Sparrows Withhold Parental Care in Response to Paternity Loss. Kelly, Lindsay M; Perlut, Noah G; Zalik Nathan J; Strong Allan M; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

 

  1. The Flora of Little Duck Island, Maine. Negoita, Luka; Rajakaruna, Nishanta; College of the Atlantic; Bar Harbor, ME

 

  1. Polychaete diversity in Penobscot Bay, Maine. Oldfield, Brenda A; Husson University; Bangor, ME

 

Environmental Science/Sustainability

  1. Husson University Sustainability: Zero-Sort Recycling Initiative. Osgood, Michelle; Husson University; Bangor, ME

 

Geology/Earth Sciences

  1. Comparison of Avian Productivity and Survivorship in the Northern Forest. Madore, Justine; Chace, Jameson F; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

 

  1. Microstructural Analysis of Deformed Migmatites in the Fosdick Gneiss Dome, Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica. Frigon, Amanda; McFadden, Rory; Salem State University; Salem, MA

 

Oceanography

  1. Destruction of the Delaware Bay Ecosystem by the Invasive species Mitten Crabs (Eriocheir sinensis) : A study of the their behavioral and dominating presence. Boudreau, Jacqueline; Charles Tilburg; Miller, Douglas C; Dittel, Ana I; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

 

Health Science

  1. Integrating Movement and Technology into Science Curriculums to Increase Physical Activity and Reduce Childhood Obesity. Boudreau, Mary; Finn, Kevin; Merrimack College; North Andover, MA

 

Medical Biology

  1. A Public Health Project in Methods of Schistosomiasis haematobium Control in Adasawase, Ghana. Ellsworth, Carrie; Mason, Victoria; Conover, Karalee; Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Worcester, MA

 

  1. Characterization of the Antiviral Activity of the anti-HIV protein, APOBEC3G. Trautwein, Julie; Meng, Sarah; Sheehy, Ann; College of the Holy Cross; Worcester, MA

 

  1. Characterization of the function of the N-terminus of ObgE, an essential G-protein in Escherichia coli. Dalin, Simona; Cendrowski, Andrea; Lovett, Susan; Brandeis University; Waltham, MA

 

  1. Detection of a Mutation in the Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) Gene. Fiorentino, Angela; King, Sarah; Shepard, Sara; University of New Haven; West Haven, CT

 

  1. Detection of pathogenic bacteria in ground meat procured from different food sources. Beal, John; Guarino, Caitlin; Cuchara, Lisa; Quinnipiac University; Hamden, CT

 

  1. Effects of Phenanthrene and Naphthalene on Early Development in Xenopus laevis. Hausken, Krist; Keene State College; Keene, NH

 

  1. Effects of Pyrene and Fluoranthene on Early Development in Xenopus laevis. Richardson, Elizabeth; Snoke, Deena; Keene State College; Keene, NH

 

  1. Investigating the function and localization of Escherichia coli protein YqgF. Shalvoy, Keriann; Weitzel, Chris S; Lovett, Susan T; Brandeis University; Waltham, MA

 

  1. Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase Expression in Murine C2C12 Myogenesis. Roper-Batker, Astia; Scordilis, Stylianos; Smith College; Northampton, MA

 

  1. Photodocumententation of Early Embryonic Development in Xenopus laevis. Guimaraes, Sam; Keene State College; Keene, NH

 

  1. SeqA: construction and analysis of mutants. Hornstein, Benjamin; Sutera, Vincent; Lovett, Susan; Brandeis University; Waltham, MA

 

  1. Siderophore production and uptake in Actinomyces naeslundii. Radcliffe, Gina; Atkinson, Christy; Bergeron, Lori; New England College; Henniker, NH

 

  1. Study of folding and insertion into membrane of pHLIP variants for optimized tumor targeting and drug delivery. Mak S. Thakur; Yana K. Reshetnyak; University of Rhode Island; Kingston, RI

 

  1. The number of genes of Sheep genome library express Workshop Cluster 1 co-receptor molecule on gamma delta T cell. Kim, Sookyung; University of Massachusetts Amherst; Amherst, MA

 

  1. The Role of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor in PAH Toxicity in the Planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. Halsey, Jade; Gaudette, Christin; McLean, Anna; Keene State College; Keene, NH

 

 

Poster session 2 (Sunday)

 

Animal Behavior

  1. The effects of repeated exposure to winning and losing on decision making strategies in the male Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens. Forrette, Lindsay; Hebert, Olivia; Dzieweczynski, Teresa; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

 

Biotech Instrumentation

  1. Automated Protein Dilution System and Interferometric Media Sensor. Cipolla, Anthony; University of New Hampshire; Durham, NH

 

Chemistry

  1. Computational Investigation of Unexpected Results During the Attempted Formation of 6-Desoxynaltrexone. Chan, Vernon; Stubbs, John; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

 

  1. Phosphate Source-Sink Dynamics in Androscoggin River Sediments. Cardamone, Andrew; Vasudevan, Dharni; Bowdoin College; Brunswick, ME

 

  1. Polystyrene Sulfonate (PSS) hydrophobic interaction with proteins and comparison to PAMPS. Marczak, Marek; Dubin, Paul; University of Massachusetts: Amherst; Amherst, MA

 

  1. Synthesis of Chiral 1,2-diamines via Asymmetric Addition of Organolithium to 1,2-diimine. Sassi, Anthony; Blank, Natalia; Norwich University; Northfield, VT

 

Physics

  1. Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy of Abeta amyloidogenic and non-amyloidogenic Proteins. Marshall, Shaun; Barry, Donald; Stroe, Izabela; Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Worcester, MA

 

  1. An exact solution for the two-body problem of interacting ultra-cold atoms in arbitrary dimensions. Farrell, Aaron; van Zyl, Brandon; St. Francis Xavier University; Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada

 

  1. Boosted Decision Tree Method for Removal of Alpha and Beta Decay from the Borexino Solar Neutrino Detector. Quirk, John; University of Massachusetts Amherst; Amherst, MA

 

  1. Importance of divalent cations and the effects of the cationic antimicrobial peptide protamine on Campylobacter fetus, a Gram-negative bacterium with surface-layer proteins. Roberts, James; Graham, Lori; Quinn, Bonnie; Pink, David; St. Francis Xavier University; Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada

 

  1. Membrane Fusion Mediated by pH-Low-Insertion-Peptide (pHLIP). Daniels, Jennifer L; Yao, Lan; Andreev, Oleg A; Reshetnyak, Yana K; University of Rhode Island; Kingston, RI

 

  1. Resolving Singularities in Mellin-Barnes Integrals: Minutes Rather Than Days. Hicks, William; Spradlin, Marcus; Brown University; Providence, RI

 

  1. The Oppenheimer-Snyder Dust Cloud Collapse in Moving-Puncture Coordinates. Staley, Alexa; Baumgarte, Thomas; Bowdoin College; Brunswick, ME

 

  1. Use of Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy for Intracranial Radiosurgery. Lafata, Kyle; Rabin, Monroe; Mayo, Charles; University of Massachusetts Amherst; Amherst, MA

 

Molecular Biology

  1. Investigating the role of four histidine kinases in Sinorhizobium meliloti cell cycle regulation. Jimenez, Amanda E; Waka, Selamawit; Schallies, Karla; Gibson, Katherine; University of Massachusetts; Boston, MA

 

  1. Exploring the bioenergetics component of a bacterial mating pore. Giarusso, Bridget K; Laurer, Stephanie; Mancuso, Gianna; Berkmen, Melanie B; Suffolk University; Boston, MA

 

  1. Genetic and bioinformatic analysis of mating proteins encoded on the conjugative element ICEBs1 of Bacillus subtilis. Laurer, Stephanie; Leonetti, Cori; Hamada, Matthew; Berkmen B., Melanie; Suffolk University; Boston, MA

 

  1. Control of Distal Tip Cell Migration in C. elegans through the Interaction of Dishevelled Proteins and CACN-1. Byrnes, Lauren; LaBonty, Melissa; Cram, Erin; Northeastern University; Boston, MA

 

  1. Characterization of Pyrene Oxidation Ability in the Genus Penicillum Using the Model Species Penicillium janthinellum SFU 403. Martin, Zachary; Keene State College; Keene, NH

 

Neuroscience

  1. Astrocytes and brain plasticity: Does vision loss affect the star players? Catherine Johnson, Lindsay Cyr, Dylan Hillsburg, Anthony Polanco; Emmanuel College; Boston, MA

 

  1. Establishing a pilot screen for mutants with a defect in mechanosensation in Drosophila melanogaster. O'Brien, Thomas; Sansoucy, Jessica; Webster, Sarah; College of the Holy Cross; Worcester, MA

 

  1. Mass spectrometric characterization of single neurons in the cerebral cortex of a YFP mouse. Obasuyi, Emmanuel; Boggio, Kristin J; Agar, Nathalie YR; Agar, Jeffrey N; Brandeis University; Waltham, MA

 

  1. The development of Resveratrol for the use in neurodegenerative diseases. Carvalho, Valci; Albers, David; Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences; Boston, MA

 

Marine Biology

  1. Determining quality of frozen testes for sexual maturity analysis in elasmobranches. Nuber, Eric; Koester, David; Sulikowski, James; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

 

  1. Diet Composition of Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina concolor) residing at Mount Desert Rock, Bar Harbor ME: An investigation in changes in prey preference and prey occurrence through hard-part analysis. Broderick, Lauren; Ono, Kathryn; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

 

  1. Extreme changes in habitat use of tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) in the Western North Atlantic based on satellite telemetry. Bonamusa, Jessica; Wetherbee, Brad; University of Rhode Island;

 

  1. Gene expression and protein concentration in Centropages typicus with salinity change. Klick, Sabrina, Frederich, Markus; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

 

  1. Monitoring seasonal variability in composition and abundance of crustacean and juvenile fish species within the Saco River estuary. Smith, Kayla; Sulikowski, James; University of New England; Biddeford, ME

 

  1. Whale Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation in the Jeffreys Ledge Region of the Gulf of Maine. Kulesza, David John; Round, Christopher; MacLaren, David; Merrimack College; North Andover, MA

 

   60.  Investigation of a marine probiotic to reduce diseases in aquaculture; Cohen, Betsy; Gomez-Chiarri, Marta; Rowley, David;
            University of Rhode Island; Kingston, RI