Comps, honors papers, and prize-winning works of the Biology Department are featured here. All works have been self-submitted by the student authors. Descriptive information about each work is available to search or browse. Access to the full text of the works is limited to current Carleton affiliates with faculty permission. Learn more about how to submit your work and how to request access to the full text of works.
In addition to this digital archive, physical copies of past Biology comps are available for browsing in the Biology office (Hulings Hall 214).
Submissions from 2022
Jevon Robinson, Biology (BIOL) 2022, Exploring the Viral-Cilia Interface
Leah R. Snidman, Biology (BIOL) 2022, Interactions Between Insects and Other Organisms Impact Grassland Ecosystems and Restoration Efforts
Andrea Tartaglia, Biology (BIOL) 2022, Disruption of RNA splicing: A pathway to disease and a target for modern therapeutics
Zichen Tian, Biology (BIOL) 2022, Changes in B cell populations in the Dura Mater meninges: Homeostasis VS. Multiple Sclerosis
Finn Uyeki, Biology (BIOL) 2022, Application Of The Stress-Gradient Hypothesis to Restoration Efforts
Will Walsh, Biology (BIOL) 2022, Antisense Oligonucleotide-mediated Manipulation of the Alternative Splicing Regulatory Machinery Corrects Disease-causing Aberrant Splicing
Walter Williamson, Biology (BIOL) 2022, Evaluating the Importance of SARS-CoV-2 Respiratory Droplet Dispersal and Persistence in Indoor and Outdoor Environments
Talia Williams, Biology (BIOL) 2022, Ciliary Intraflagellar Transport in Embryonic Craniofacial Patterning
Xavier Xiong, Biology (BIOL) 2022, Exploration of the Effect of CRISPR-Cas Systems on Horizontal Gene Transfer: A Cost and Benefit Analysis
Mathew Zappa, Biology (BIOL) 2022, Impacts of Fire on Fluvial Macroinvertebrates; The Effects of Resource and Habitat Shifts
Mary Zhang, Biology (BIOL) 2022, Toolkits for Controlling Microbial Consortia
Submissions from 2021
Sarah Allaben, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Complex Interactions between the Coral Holobiont and Environmental Stressors Necessitate a New Paradigm of Disease Research
Kano Amagai, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Bats Exhibit Suppressed Inflammation Upon Viral Infection Due to Flight-Induced Oxidative Stress
Jessalyn Ayars, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Evaluating the Mechanisms of the Dilution Effect Hypothesis of Pathogen Prevalence for Hantavirus, Leptospirosis, and Lyme Disease
Asha Bozicevich, Biology (BIOL) 2021, The Positive Feedback Loop between IL-10 Production, STAT3 Activation, BLIMP-1 Expression, and T cell Exhaustion
Brevin A. Clark, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Small Change, Big Impact - the Role of a Four Amino Acid Addition to the S1/S2 Site of SARS-CoV-2
Josephine Conn, Biology (BIOL) 2021, It's Batty! The Unique Antiviral Response of Type-I Interferons in Bats
Maris Daleo, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Black and White Patterns Deter Biting Flies: An Analysis of Zebras and Related Ungulates
Nina Denne, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Key Epigenetic & Transcriptional Factors Regulating T Cell Exhaustion Indicate Exhausted CD8+ T cells Cluster Into 4 Distinct Subsets
Danielle Dudley, Biology (BIOL) 2021, SARS-CoV-2 Induced Cytokine Storm Inhibits mTOR Function in CD8+ T cells
Eliana Durnbaugh, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Mood – Modifying Microbes: Bacterial Production of Anti-Inflammatory Tryptophan Indoles Link Probiotic Use and Reduced Depression
Kate Engel, Biology (BIOL) 2021, A Mechanistic Approach to PD-1 Metabolic Restriction of CD8 T Cell Fate and Function
Ben George, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Genomic and Epigenetic Variance in HPV16 Affect Viral Carcinogenicity and Cervical Cancer Outcomes
Emma Greenlee, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Invasive Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Alter Biogeochemical Cycling in Native Ecosystems
Glenn Peter Gullickson IV, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Cephalopod Crypsis: The Production of Camouflage Patterns in Response to Photoreception in the Eyes and Skin
Alec Jacobson, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Spike Mutations in B.1.1.7 and Other SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern Modify Viral Pathogenicity and Interfere with Antibody Neutralization
Erin Jenson, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Tracking Transmission of Measles Virus by Sequencing Various Regions of the Genome
Helen Keithahn, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Tolerating Viruses Right Off the Bat: The Unique Innate Immune Response in Bats
Zach Kulstad, Biology (BIOL) 2021, PD-1 and Tim-3 Cooperate to Inhibit TCR Signaling in Severely Exhausted CD8+ T Cells
Grace Leuchtenberger, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Every Breath (of COVID-19) You Take: Aerosols Driving COVID-19 Superspreader Events
Amy Lin, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Porphyromonas gingivalis Induces MyD88- and LPS- Independent Inhibition of PROS1 Anti-Inflammatory Function
Kaela Mali, Biology (BIOL) 2021, ARF We There Yet?: The H. pylori Driven, Subnuclear Translocation of ARF Protein
Maxime Munyeshyaka, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Uncovering Mechanisms of Oligodendrocytes in Learning and Memory
Lucy Neumann, Biology (BIOL) 2021, The Applicability of the Costly Signaling Hypothesis and the Index Hypothesis as Adaptive Explanations for Honest Quality Signaling in Carotenoid-Based Male Bird Plumage
Rose Newell, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Fungal and Viral Coinfection: The Impact on Viral Shedding in Bats
Lucy Newman, Biology (BIOL) 2021, R-loop Structures Are Implicated in Epigenetic Dysregulation Characteristic of Trinucleotide Repeat Expansions in Non-Coding Genomic Regions
Maggy Osha, Biology (BIOL) 2021, The Role of Repeat RNA in TriNucleotide Repeat Disease Pathology and Treatment
Alex Poeschla, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Tim-3 Mediates Cytotoxic T Cell Exhaustion in Cancer but Beneficially Maintains Maternal-Fetal Tolerance in Pregnancy
Thomas Rubino, Biology (BIOL) 2021, An Assessment of the Factors That Modulate Household Transmission of SARS-CoV-2
Ben Schnieders, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Critical Factors Predict Whether Evolutionary Rescue Will Occur in Bats and Amphibians Threatened by Novel Fungal Pathogens: Chytridiomycosis and White-nose Syndrome
Claire Schregardus, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Effect of a Strong Type I Interferon Response on Interferon-Stimulated Gene Expression and Viral Persistence in Bats
Lakshya Seth, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Blimp-1: A Key Transcription Factor in Mediating T cell Response to Persistent Antigen Stimulation
Emma Shedd, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Shifting U.S. Temperate Forests from Ecto- to Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Associations: How Will Carbon Stocks Respond?
Raba Tefera, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Role of Constitutive Expression of Type I Interferons and the Effects of Virus Coevolution in Bats
Maria Thurow, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Catching My Breath - Aerosol and Droplet Deposition of SARS-CoV-2 in Lung Tissue
Matthew Watowich, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Chronic Type-I Interferon Stimulation Accelerates Established HIV-1 Infection and Progression to AIDS
Parmida Yazdanpanah, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Bats Avoid the Pathologies of Viral Infection via Immune Dampening
Gavin Young, Biology (BIOL) 2021, Predicting Pathogen Danger Through the Use of Biodiversity Metrics
Cloris Zhang, Biology (BIOL) 2021, The Contradictory Role of Reactive Astrocytes in Alzheimer’s Disease
Submissions from 2020
Daniel Alexander, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Optimizing CAR T Cell Signaling Domains to Modify Metabolism and Increase Efficacy Against Neuroblastoma
Nof Babajide, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Incidence of Autism in Response to Changes in Brain Asymmetry
Nicholas Baer, Biology (BIOL) 2020, The Role of Ion Channels in ATP-Induced Microglial Chemotaxis
Julie Bailard, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Cation Channels Cooperate to Influence Microglial Necroptosis and Inflammatory Signaling in White Matter Neurodegenerative Disease
Stan Birdsong, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Effects of Habenular Nuclei Asymmetry on Behavior
Caroline Boroughs, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Initiation of Parturition in Humans
Am Bovornvirakit, Biology (BIOL) 2020, The Cascading Effects of Intraguild Predation and Refugia on Animal Behavior
Julia Braulick, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Why Plants Become Invasive: Enemy Release, Resource Availability, and Herbivore Preferences
Christian Cavan, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Reduced Age and Premature Juvenile Salmon Migration Impacts a Decrease in Adult Size
Celeste Chen, Biology (BIOL) 2020, The Role of β-NGF in Induced Ovulation in Camelids
Cecily Choy, Biology (BIOL) 2020, The Role of Autoimmunity in Primary Ovarian Insufficiency: A Proposed Mechanism of Attack
Darryl Colcol, Biology (BIOL) 2020, KV1.3: An Ionic Driving Force for Neural Degradation
Thais Del Rosario Hernandez, Biology (BIOL) 2020, The Role of Asymmetry in Epithalamic Structures on Psychiatric Disorders
Hannah Eglinton, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Regulating Antigen Stimulation to Improve Memory Formation and Mitigate Exhaustion in CAR T Cells
Jithran Ekanayake, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Preliminary Model for a Biomimetic Space Radiation Shield
Estee Emlen, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Helminth Parasites and Allergens Initiate Type 2 Immune Responses by Inducing IL-25 and IL-33 Signaling to Type 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells
Maria Fairchild, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Redox or Detox? The Role of the Ladderane Lipid Membrane in Anammox Metabolism
Emma Ferrer, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Mechanisms for Modulating Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS) after Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell Therapy
David Galambos, Biology (BIOL) 2020, RNA Transcripts Assemble Nuclear Bodies That Regulate Chromatin Organization and Transcription Machinery
Seth Greengo, Biology (BIOL) 2020, N-6-Methyladenosine Promotes HIV Replication through Its Interactions with Host YTHDF Proteins
Josh Hauser, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Wingbeat Frequency Negatively Correlates with Flexural Stiffness to Mitigate Damage in Birds with Rapid Wingbeats
Adam Hruby, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Is This Canon? Both Replicative and Oncogene-Induced Cellular Senescence Activate the Canonical NF-κB Pathway, but Only Oncogene-Induced Senescence Activates the Noncanonical NF-κB Pathway
Christopher Jabbarpour, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Destabilization of Fish Schooling Behavior Due to a Changing Climate
Abby Jackson, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Allogeneic DAP12-based CAR NK Cells as an Anti-HIV Immunotherapy to Target the Latent Viral Reservoir
Daniel Johnson, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Engineering Safety Switches to Manage the Toxicities of CAR T Cell Therapy
Kamran Kelly, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Driving Out Autoimmunity: Generating a CAR T Regulatory Cell Against Multiple Sclerosis
Hannah Kennicott, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Confirming Diurnal Oscillations and Scrutinizing the Potential Circadian Rhythm of the Gut Microbiome
Caroline Kern-Allely, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Inclusion of the Landscape of Fear and Mesopredator Release in a Trophic Cascade Model to Predict Effects of Apex Predator Extirpation
Rebekah Kissel, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: GABA Mediated Neuroendocrine Origins
Oleksandr Kyrysyuk, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Boolean Logic-Gated CAR T Cells with TCR Mimic Recognition Overcome Critical Antigen Targeting Barrier in Solid Tumors
Emma Lederer, Biology (BIOL) 2020, CD28 CAR Regulatory T cells Prevent Graft Rejection and Graft-Versus-Host Disease
Joe Lewis, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Pleistocene Megafauna Extinction: Combining Prehistoric Data with Modern Experiments to Determine the Impact on Vegetation
Brendon Lin, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Oxygen and Temperature May Be Able to Predict Size-based Responses to Global Warming in Polar Waters
Quinn McVeigh, Biology (BIOL) 2020, The Complex Interplay of MicroRNAs and N6-methyladenosine Modifications for Precise Control of Messenger RNA Levels
Tanvi Mehta, Biology (BIOL) 2020, A Twisted Gut: Understanding Left-Right Asymmetry in Gut Morphogenesis
Cameron Meikle, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Alternative Roles for m6A Modifications During Flaviviridae Infection
Fletcher Metz, Biology (BIOL) 2020, A Bispecific CD8+ CAR-T Cell Therapy Optimized for Persistence, Exhaustion Resistance, Immunity from HIV, and Prevention of HIV Immune Escape
Ada Meyer, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Impacts of Microplastics on Particle Flux and the Biological Pump in a Warming Ocean
Keenan Moore, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Plastic Pollutants: Bisphenol A and Its Effects on Male Fertility
Sarah Newsham, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Predicted Increase in Phytoplankton Abundance due to Climate Change: Importance of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Controls
Fin Ouweleen, Biology (BIOL) 2020, The Plumage Problem: Presence of Bird Display Is Affected by Selective Pressures from Parasitization and Predation
Annalise Peebles, Biology (BIOL) 2020, From Surface Water to Sediment: How Warming Temperatures Influence the Deposition of Microplastics in Marine and Freshwater Systems
Conrad Phelan, Biology (BIOL) 2020, The Cytoskeleton Is the Decisive Factor in C-Looping in the Chick Heart
Maya Powell, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Branching Corals Are Disproportionately Susceptible to Ocean Acidification Based on Diffusive Boundary Layer Variation
Peter Richieri, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Molecular to Organismal Chirality; a Possible Blueprint for Establishing Left-Right Asymmetry in the Bilateria
Katherine Rigney, Biology (BIOL) 2020, The Effects of Vessel Noise on Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops sp.): Energetic Costs and Budgeting
Brian Rivera, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Indole Be All: E. coli Indole Production in Response to Stress
Mikkel Sawyer, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Structural RNA Against the World (of Antibiotic Microbial Resistance): Riboswitches and Ribo- Regulators as Targets for Novel Antibiotic Therapies
Kaylin Steinberg, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Harnessing PD-1 in the Construction of HIV-Specific CAR-T Cells to Induce a Localized “Shock and Kill” of the Latent Viral Reservoir
Nina Strand, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Invasive Marine Predators - Why Are There Not More of Them?
Anika Thomas, Biology (BIOL) 2020, Asymmetrical Mammary Gland Development: A Genetic Predisposition to Left-Sided Breast Cancer
