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).

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Submissions from 2014

 

Madison S. Willert, Biology (BIOL) 2014, Coral to Macroalgae: Phase Shifts Facilitated by Algal and Anthropogenic Stressors

 

Claire Mariah Wilson, Biology (BIOL) 2014, Forest ecosystem carbon dynamics following the loss of a tree species

 

Erin Hillary Wilson, Computer Science (CS), Biology (BIOL) 2014, A benchmark standard for predicting the gene targets of chemical perturbants

 

Jessica Wu, Biology (BIOL) 2014, Gut microbiota and Autism: The role of propionic acid in inflammation and intestinal permeability

 

Shanna Xue Yang, Biology (BIOL) 2014, You Are What Eat You: Gut Microbes In Diet-Induced Obesity

 

Eleanor W. Youngblood, Biology (BIOL) 2014, Plant physiological responses to altered nitrogen availability

 

Evia Lee Zack, Biology (BIOL) 2014, Elements of Intentional Communication in Cotton-Top Tamarin Calling Behavior

Submissions from 2013

 

Emily Erickson Ager, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Gluttony goes (anti)viral: Neuronal autophagy as a noncytolytic mechanism for viral clearance during neurotropic viral infection

 

Sarah Katharine Allan, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Estrogen, Testosterone, and Bone Health: Challenging Perceived Sex Biases in Osteoporosis

 

Kristin Rose Andrykovich, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Regulation of Proliferation in Colorectal Cancer and Lesion Regeneration by Wnt-Hippo Crosstalk

 

Akemi Kushida Arzouman, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Gender differentiation in activation of thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue through sex hormones

 

Beth Ashinsky, Biology (BIOL) 2013, The endoplasmic reticulum stress response to type I procollagen misfolding in osteogenesis imperfecta

 

Jaymes D. Awbrey, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Flipping the Switch: The Mechanism for Trophic Shifts in Estuaries Due to Anthropogenic Nutrient Loading and Nutrient Cycling in Coastal Wetlands and the Effects of Anthropogenic Nutrient Loading

 

Andrew Alexander Bacon, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Paternal Age Effect and Selfish Selection in The Male Germ Line

 

Alice Woodward Barber, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Re-Evaluating the Role of Dosage Compensation in X-Chromosome Inactivation

 

Jennifer Sara Borchardt, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Zinc Fingered Nucleases: A Novel Approach for Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria Research and Treatment

 

Colin Pablo Borsh, Biology (BIOL) 2013, The Pleistocene's massive hairy landscapers: Megaherbivore grassland maintenance and the disappearance of the mammoth steppe

 

Arden Porto Caffrey, Biology (BIOL) 2013, How HIV Crosses and Destabilizes the Blood Brain Barrier: The mechanisms of the HIV protein Tat

 

Thomas Cai, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Neuronal Death Mechanisms Induced by Viral Protein Secreted from Cells of Monocyte Lineage

 

Joshua Christian Campbell, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Engineering the Eradication of HIV: Inhibiting Viral Entry Using Zinc Finger Nucleases

 

Sarah Elizabeth Carter, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Flavivirus-induced neuronal chemokine and cytokine signals: the signals’ effects on the immune system and host survival

 

Julissa Chavez, Biology (BIOL) 2013, A Molecular Mechanism of Estrogen‐Mediated Sex Bias in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

 

Charles Robert Dale, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Evidence for the fast-­x effect, and faster-­x evolution of gene expression

 

Bridget Mary Doyle, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Zinc
 Finger 
Nucleases:
 The
 Key
 to 
CCR5 
Gene 
Disruption
 and
 Consequent 
HIV 
Eradication

 

Ellen Elizabeth Drews, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Decline of insect biodiversity due to nitrogen loading in grasslands: reduced plant diversity as a driver of consumer species loss

 

Anne Elizabeth Duncan, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Xylem and Xylella fastidiosa: Understanding Infection and Resistance Through Vascular Tissue Development

 

Dennis Ea, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Engineering T Cells with Cancer-specific T Cell Receptors: A Zinc-Finger Nuclease-based Therapy for Leukemia

 

Brianna Jean Engelson, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Indirect Effects of HIV Tat on Neuronal Apoptosis Through Increased TNF-α Expression: Implications for HIV-Associated Dementia

 

Madeline Welker Epping, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Regulation of the Ferric Uptake Regulator through Extracellular Cell Wall Iron Storage Drives an Accumulation of Intracellular Iron during the Lag Phase of Staphylococcus aureus

 

Gabrielle Keating Flamm, Biology (BIOL) 2013, The crossroad of TLR signaling, interferon induction, and CD8+ T cell priming in the prevention of herpes simplex encephalitis

 

Maria D. Garcia, Biology (BIOL) 2013, rom WAT to BAT: Regulation of PGC-1alpha as a Potential Therapeutic Approach for the Treatment of Metabolic Diseases

 

Jessica Meghan Gick, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Using the Present to Decode the Past: Phylogeography Reveals the Origin and Extent of Early Quaternary Migrations Following Deglaciation of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet in Extant Pacific Northwestern Mammals

 

Rebecca Lang Greenstein, Biology (BIOL) 2013, The RORA Story: One Gene's Potential to Explain the Sex Bias in Autism

 

Keenan Thomas Hartert, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Y so Deleterious? The Destructive Evolution of the Mammalian Y Chromosome and its Path to Salvation

 

Marlena Sara Hartman-Filson, Biology (BIOL) 2013, The Perpetuation of Human Homosexuality: A Darwinian Paradox?

 

Edward Fitzgerald Heckman, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Estrogenic Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Female Pubertal Timing: Possible interactions in the Kiss1/GPR554 System Leading to Precocious Puberty

 

Ian Henry Hollyer, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Sex Specific Organization of Estrogen Receptors and the Sex Bias of Parkinson's Disease

 

Stephanie Nicole Kravitz, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Let's Talk About Sex, Baby: The Role of Gonadal Hormones in Bipolar Mood Cycling

 

Alexandra Long, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in the Intestinal Epithelium: A New Model for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

 

Erin Ramirez Lopez, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Sex-Brain Plasticity: Altering the Theory of Permanence

 

Marisa Luck, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Friend or foe? Regulatory T cells in viral infections of the CNS

 

Dhilhan Umayanga Marasinghe, Biology (BIOL) 2013, The Biology of a Sexy Chromosome: Implications of syntenic mapping on the evolution of sex chromosomes

 

Claire Angela Milsted, Biology (BIOL) 2014, Biotic and Abiotic Factors Influence Phosphorus Limitation in Tropical Forests

 

Sarah Louise Nielsen, Biology (BIOL) 2013, A NO/RyRs/CaMKII signal transduction pathway may be responsible for phase delay during photic entrainment of the circadian clock

 

Adriana Orland, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Investigation of the MeCP2 Gene: Rett's Syndrome as a Model for Autism?

 

Ashley Rose Paquin, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Autism Spectrum Disorders and the Psychological Extreme Male Brain: An Exploration of Biological Mechanisms

 

Sarah Krafft Rempel, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Circadian Clock Regulation of Dopamine in the Ventral Tegmental Area

 

Brian Harrison Rhodes, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Advantages of the Use of TAL Effector Nucleases Over Zinc Finger Nucleases in the Treatment of Sickle Cell Disease

 

Samuel Koehnline Rosenberg, Biology (BIOL) 2013, The Role of Melanopsin-Containing Cells in Mammals: Pupillary Light Response, Photoentrainment of the Circadian Cycle, and Implications for Disease

 

Ruby Leigh Russell, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Preventing and Protecting Against Alzheimer's Disease: An Independent Role for Androgens

 

Amelia Bullard Schlossberg, Biology (BIOL) 2013, A Pain In My Astrocytes and Microglia: A Biological Mechanism for Sex Bias in Chronic Neuropathic Pain

 

Alec Scott, Biology (BIOL) 2013, An Evaluation of Nitrogen and Phosphorus as Drivers of Cyanobacterial Blooms

 

Anisa Abdi Suleiman, Biology (BIOL) 2013, B3-Adrenergic Receptor Agonists as a Treatment for Obesity by Inducing Thermogenesis in Brown Adipose Tissue

 

Nana Tanamoto, Biology (BIOL) 2013, The endoplasmic reticulum as a modulator of cellular metabolism: A novel metabolic paradigm for Alzheimer disease

 

Breanna Jane Tetreault, Biology (BIOL) 2013, The roles of relaxin and hyaluronic acid in the extracellular matrix during cervical ripening, and their control on the timing of parturition

 

Souriya Thao, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Cardiac Stem Cell Therapy Using MicroRNA-1, -499, -155 for Heart Regeneration

 

Sarah Gardner Thappa, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Taking Sex Bias in Disease to Heart: Female Sex Bias in Cardiovascular Disease and Coronary Heart Disease

 

Elissa Ann Walter, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Species Loss from Nitrogen Deposition in Grasslands: The Differing Environmental Conditions that Cause Competitive-Exclusion-Driven vs. Acidification-Driven Declines in Species Richness

 

Taylor Daniel Ward, Biology (BIOL) 2013, The Identification of Irisin as a Potential Novel Treatment for Obesity in Humans

 

Janie Chan Wong, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Tamoxifen Resistance in Breast Cancer: The Search for the Missing Receptor

 

Marika Xydes-­‐Smith, Biology (BIOL) 2013, The Role of Chronodisruption in the Development of Type Two Diabetes Mellitus

 

Kenneth Wade Zillig, Biology (BIOL) 2013, Mother Nature in Australia with a Dry Spell: How a Climate Change caused the Australian Megafauna Extinction Event

Submissions from 2012

 

Sameena Nasim Ahmed, Biology (BIOL) 2012, The Cancer-Obesity Link: How Insulin and IGF Stimulate Aerobic Glycolysis through the PI3K Pathway

 

Margaret Rose Alexander, Biology (BIOL) 2012, The Role of the Wnt Pathway in Cancer Stem Cell Formation and the Opposing Function of Wnt Antagonists

 

Steve C. Amaefuna, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Understanding the Warburg Effect

 

Emmaline Jiang Ashley, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Mind over Matter: The Role of the Endogenous Opioid System in Placebo Analgesia

 

Sean Lu Beckwith, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Chromatin Architecture and Gene Expression: Remodeling and Recruitment in the Gal4 System

 

John David Christensen, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Regulation of Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 (HIF-1) and the Glycolytic Phenotype in Cancers

 

Mike Aaron Clark, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Induced Plant Responses: Impacts on Arthropod Herbivore Community Composition

 

Amelia Christine Clement, Biology (BIOL) 2012, The Role of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Breast Cancer Stem Cell Development: Implications for Metastasis

 

Maegan Lori Mariko Doi, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Training the Mind: How Expectancy-Mediated Conditioning Affects Placebo Analgesia

 

Elise Pamela Erickson, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Transdifferentiation of Adult Cell Types to ?-cells: Therapeutic Potential for Type 1 Diabetes

 

Haley Mae Golz, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Landscape diversity and natural pest control: Does increased landscape diversity lead to increased pest control in agroecosystems? Landscape diversity and natural pest control: Does increased landscape diversity lead to increased pest control in agroecosystems?

 

Rachel Elisabeth Gottesman, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Myostatin Inhibition: Potential Therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

 

Ian Holmen, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Mature IGF-1 precursor isoforms have varying roles in skeletal muscle myogenesis

 

YeJi Jun, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Ready, set ... Go!

 

Brian Thomas Kaletka, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Priming Induced Defense Against Herbivory and its Effects on Plant Fitness and Community Composition

 

Angela Hye-Jee Kim, Biology (BIOL) 2012, UCP2 Mediation of the Warburg Effect in Chemoresistant Cancers

 

Djem Ulian Kissiov, Biology (BIOL) 2012, The Epigenetic Basis of Cocaine Addiction: Chromatin-Mediated Differential Gene Expression in the Dopaminergic Reward Pathway

 

William Henderson Ladner, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Role of the Prefrontal Cortex in Expectation-Driven Placebo Analgesia

 

Chelsea Elizabeth Lau, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Good Things Come to Those Who Expect Them: Neurobiological mechanisms of placebo analgesia

 

Nancy Kay Liu, Biology (BIOL) 2012, The Heart of Cell Regeneration

 

Matthew Christopher Matsunaga, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Adeno-associated viral vectors: turning agents of disease into agents of healing in hemophilia B

 

Kellan David McLemore, Biology (BIOL) 2012, The Effects of Climate Change on the Role Bark Beetles Play in the Carbon Cycle

 

Robert L. Mills, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

 

Kristine Nachbor, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Manipulation of gene expression: controlling dopaminergic neuronal reward pathways through optogenetic regulation

 

Ava Therese Litton Navasero, Biology (BIOL) 2012, The chicken or the egg, which came first? Insulin resistance and mitochondrial dysfunction in Type II diabetes induce skeletal muscle atrophy.

 

Kayla Rose Nygaard, Biology (BIOL) 2012, From dam to pup: The epigenetic modification of maternal care across generations

 

Susan Pham, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Altered Calcium Homeostasis is Responsible for Non-Normal Aging and Dementia

 

Diedre Faye Reitz, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Critically examining our understanding of cancer metabolism: Evidence for the reverse Warburg effect?

 

Kelsey Elizabeth Ross, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Coral reefs and algal states: phase shifts and feedbacks in a changing world

 

Vaughn Alexander Schmid, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Looking at Viral and Non-Viral Vectors in Gene Therapy: A Description and Comparison

 

Christine Jaclyn Stewart, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Rise and Demise -- Extrinsic and Intrinsic Factors in the Diversifications of Dinosaurs and Mammals

 

Emily Lauren Sykes, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Testosterone Action on Skeletal Muscle: Declining Testosterone Levels in Elderly Males Contribute to Sarcopenia

 

Erik Skidmore VanDis, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Zinc-finger nucleases targeted to CCR5: A gene-based therapy to treat HIV-1 infection

 

Katherine Rachel Wahl, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Immunomodulatory Mesenchymal Stem Cells: A promising new treatment approach for type-1 diabetes mellitus

 

David Paul Walker, Biology (BIOL) 2012, The Modulatory Role of the Nucleus Accumbens in Placebo Analgesia

 

George Robert Wheeler, Biology (BIOL) 2012, The Impacts of Defensive Traits on Plants' Mutualistic Interactions

 

Alex William Wirta, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Myostatin Inhibition: a Potential Target for Attenuating the Effects of Obesity

 

Tristan Allen Zimmerman, Biology (BIOL) 2012, Ecological Interactions With Ant-Plant Defensive Mutualisms