Biology Research Profile:
Grace Marshall ’19
Hometown: Petoskey, Michigan
Major: Biology and Philosophy double major
Honors Project: Personality-Based Movement Behavior in Plethodon cinereus
This project aims to better understand dispersal patterns of terrestrial organisms and how human interference with the landscape has influenced those patterns. Grace’s work has been focusing on how movement behavior changes under stressful environments, including collecting information on risk that salamanders take on when dispersing.
“Don’t be afraid to take on a research program(s) that are not directly related to your post-graduate aspirations. The important things about research are the skills you learn and the knowledge you gain about a particular topic. Be brave, take risks, and most importantly, have fun.”
HONORS
Under the guidance and mentorship of Biology professors, students may choose to perform Honors. Most will complete a summer of research followed by research in their senior year. The work culminates as a written and defended Honors thesis, and the work is often presented at conferences or published as scientific articles.
2020-2021
- Mimi Smith (Adviser: Cushman): Investigating Lake Trout Diet in the Finger Lakes
2019-2020
- Alessandra Bryan (Adviser: Cosentino): Effects of Urbanization on the Evolution of Coat Color in Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis)
- Katherine Foley (Adviser: Cushman): Competition for Food Resources between the Native Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) and Invasive Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus)
- Brianna Hurysz (Adviser: Mowery): Assessing Anti-cancer Potential and Mechanism of Action of Novel Staurosporine Analogs
- Rizky Kafrawi (Adviser: Straub): Investigating the Interplay between Chloroplast and Mitochondrial Genomes in Asclepiadoideae (Apocynaceae)
- Allie Seminer (Adviser: Cushman): Mercury Bioaccumulation in Fish Food Webs of New York State Finger Lakes’ Tributaries
2018-2019
- Madison Cullinan ’19 (Adviser: Straub): Evidence of a mitochondrial insertion in the chloroplast genome in the genus Alyxia (Apocynaceae)
- Anna Leffler ’20 (Adviser: Droney): Variation in Exploratory Behavior of Red-Backed Salamanders
- Grace Marshall ’19 (Adviser: Cosentino): Relationship of Movement Behavior to Water Balance in Red-Backed Salamanders
- Penelope Murphy ’19 (Adviser: Brown): Fraternal Twins: The Food Webs of Two Neighboring Ponds
- Carl Wagner ’19 (Adviser: Straub): Further Resolution of Phylogenetic Relationships Within the Temperate North American Clade of Milkweeds (Asclepias, Apocynaceae)
2017-2018
- Rachael Best ’18 (Adviser: Brown): The Influences of Taxonomic Composition and Environmental Factors on Methylmercury Concentrations in Zooplankton in Seneca Lake, NY
- Banan Otaibi ’18 (Adviser: Cosentino): Adaptive Evolution and Population Genetic Structure of a Woodland Salamander in Regenerating Landscape
2016-2017
- Kayleigh Buffington ’17 (Adviser: Brown): Methylmercury Bioaccumulation and Tropic Position of the Non-native Bloody Red Shrimp (Hemimysis anomala) in the Finger Lakes (New York)
- James Cooper ’17 (Adviser: Carle): CD28 Induces Metabolic Fitness in Multiple Myeloma via a NF-kB/IRF4-Dependent Signaling Axis to Promote Survival
- Noland Michels ’17 (Adviser: Cushman): The Ecological Effects of the Invasive Neogobius melanostomus in the Finger Lakes
- Namita Neerukonda ’17 (Adviser: Mowery): Biological Evaluation of Simplified Analogs of Protein Kinase C Inhibitor, Staurosporine
- Madison Sutton ’17 (Adviser: Deutschlander): Is Mass Gain in Migratory Warblers Influenced by Sex, Season, or Arrival Date?
2015-2016
- Nicolette Andrzejczyk ’16 (Adviser: Cushman): Histological effects of Endocrine Disruptors on Male Blacknose Dace (Rhinichthys atratulus) in the Seneca Lake, NY Watershed.
- Alexander Gatch ’16 (Adviser: Brown): Age and Size as Predictors of Mercury Accumulation in Lake Trout from the Finger Lakes.
- Kathryn M. Mendez ’16 (Adviser: Brown): The Potential Use of Environmental DNA for Detection of Hemimysis anomala.
- Lauren Walter ’16 (Adviser: Straub): Comparative genomic analysis of Apocynaceae plastomes.
2014-2015
- Stephanie L. Cramer ’15 (Adviser: Mowery): Examining the Amino Acids in Bacterial Motility-like Receptors.
- Bridget E. Logan ’15 (Adviser: Kenyon):Examining Protein Interactions of Candidate Genes Implicated in Branchio-oto-renal (BOR) Syndrome.
- Alison J. McCarthy ’15 (Adviser: Cosentino):Do Edge Effects Impact the Behavioral Traits of Red-backed Salamanders in a Fragmented Forest.
- Caitlyn E. Mitchell ’15 (Adviser: Carle): Testing Xyzistatin, a Novel Depsipeptide, for Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Activity on Cancer Cells.
- Amanda L. Rappaport ’15 (Adviser: Droney): Mating decisions: Alternate Courtship Strategies and Sexual Conflict in Drosophila sulfurigaster (tropical fruit flies).
- Carly E. Rolph ’15 (Adviser: Mowery): Biological Evaluation of Simplified Analogs of Protein Kinase C Inhibitor Staurosporine.
- Kaitley A. Wozer ’15 (Joint Honors in Biology (Mowery) and Dance (Davneport):
Viral Bodies: Socially Conscious Bio-Specific Choreography.