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 2012
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
Submissions from 2011
Katlynn Z. Adkin, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Maternal behavior and the mesolimbic dopamine pathway
Tim Bielecki, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Male Response to Prostaglandin F2α Components of Female Postovulatory Pheromone in Cyprininae Fish
Carter Biewen, Biology (BIOL) 2011, A workout for your cells: Exercise as a means of preventing and treating cancer
John Murray Cossette, Biology (BIOL) 2011, The evolutionary impact of range expansion: implications for the study of invasive species
Marjorie May Dixon, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Native evolution in response to exotic invasives: a potential check on invasive growth
Nathan Vincent Doremus, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Hypersexuality: A Neurobiological Look at Sexual Addiction
Alexandra Sarah Dunn, Biology (BIOL) 2011, The effects of exercise on the overactive TLR4 signaling associated with obesity-induced insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Ellen Huiskamp Esch, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Novelty in Biological Invasion: Disrupting Co-ÂEvolutionary History
Stefan Garrido-Shaqfeh, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Cocaine's affect on dopamine releasing neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area beyond the "DAT-is-it" theory, with a focus on changes in cellular dynamics and membrane protein makeup.
Theodore Malone Gelderman, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Chronic impacts following oil spills : rethinking ecological disturbance
Hannah Leigh Hayes, Biology (BIOL) 2011, BDNF: An Exercise-Induced Biochemical Mechanism for Mitigating Alzheimer's Disease
Erin Jones Heydinger, Biology (BIOL) 2011, The Impact of Drought on Mangrove Trophic Structures
Elizabeth Susan Jarrett, Biology (BIOL) 2011, PGC-1α Mediates Exercise-Induced Relief of Peripheral Arterial Disease
Hana Rose Kazunas, Biology (BIOL) 2011, The Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability (EICA): a proposal for invasive species success
Carter Washburn Kittleson, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Dysregulation of Dopamine in the Mesolimbic Reward Circuit: A Possible Link between Food Addiction and Obesity
Kyungwon Lee, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Posttranscriptional Regulation of RNA-Binding Hu Proteins in Association with Neuronal Development
Madelyn F. Lenhard, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Exercise Regulates Astrocytes and Allows for Neuronal Remyelination and Symptom Mitigation in Multiple Sclerosis
Tadayoshi King Littleton, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Interindividual Vulnerability: Understanding Basal Differences in Addiction
Jeremiah John Mondragon Locquiao, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Development of the mammalian auditory sensory epithelium: Insight on hair cell regeneration
Hillary Creagh Lyons, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Hybrid Invasion: The role of multiple introductions and hybridization in the evolution of invasiveness
Nora Claire Elizabeth Maddy, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Mammalian Hair Cell Regeneration: Possible Therapeutic Techniques for the Inner Ear
Hunter Lenon Martin, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Autism and the reward pathway
Chloe Alexandra Meisner, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Binge eating disorder, obesity, and the dopamine reward pathway
Morgan Calvin Moy, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Alzheimer's Disease: Is Combination Therapy Currently the Best Treatment?
Lenesia Leann Nelson, Biology (BIOL) 2011, The Ventral Striatum and the Reward Pathway
Anna Hare Newman, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Investigating flowering in Chamaecrista fasciculata: Unpacking genetic and environmental influences
Anna Hare Newman, Biology (BIOL) 2011, The gene regulatory model of floral induction in Arabidopsis thaliana: distinct pathways or interconnected web?
Masaru Konishi Nobu, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Recovery from terrestrial oil spills: the damage, soil microbial oil degradation, and plant revegetation
Tenzin Nordon, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Understanding Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein and Its Importance in Propagating Fragile X Syndrome
Hilary Marie Rosenheim, Biology (BIOL) 2011, The role of oxidative stress in the beneficial effects of exercise on Alzheimer's disease
Steven Andrew Samborski, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes and the Effects of Exercise on Glucose Uptake in Skeletal Muscle Via the Ampk-Signaling Pathway
Paromita Sen, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Mesolimbic dopamine pathway dysfunction in dietary obesity
Anna Leigh Snyder, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Endogenous cannabinoids: An explanation for the relationship between exercise and addiction
Britta Kathryn Swedenborg, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Avian hair cell regeneration and its implications for regaining hearing
Austin Joseph Taylor, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Disturbance Mediated Shifts in Tropical Rainforest Fire Regimes
Jack Yin Timmons, Biology (BIOL) 2011, The Pitfalls of Inflammation: a review of CRP as a contributing factor to atherosclerosis and the associated benefits of exercise
Winkle Matthew Thomas Van, Biology (BIOL) 2011, The Alarm Pheromone Signaling Pathway in Ostariophysan Fish
Elliot Anson Vaughan, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Post-Fire Carbon Dynamics in Boreal Forest Soils
Melissa Grace Villars, Biology (BIOL) 2011, Reward Pathway's Connection to Overeating: Implications for Obesity
Sasha Waldstein, Biology (BIOL) 2011, The Role of JNK in β-cell Dysfunction and Insulin Resistance: Potential as a Single-Target Multifactorial Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes
Philip Langdon Yates, Biology (BIOL) 2011, The differential regulation of alpha-secretase and beta-secretase as a causal mechanism for Alzheimer's disease, and the inhibition of beta-secretase by sterol-linking and membrane-anchoring as a therapeutic treatment
Submissions from 2010
Laura Olivia Barsness, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Not Just Black and White: The Importance of Using Genotype to Assess Melanoma Risk
Lynsey Michelle Eider Bernfeld, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Keeping the Peace in the Gut: Balancing Tregs and Th17 cells
Grace Elizabeth Boynton, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Neuromelanin and the Role of Pigmentation Genes in Parkinson's Disease
Anjana Varikottil Chandran, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Oxidated Creatine Kinase as a Potential Drug Target for PARs in the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease
Chelsea Connair Clifford, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Variation in cattle greenhouse gas emissions by feeding regime, as mediated by rumen microbial communities
Claire Marie Crossett, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Sex Peptide: Agent of Antagonism, Product of Polyandry
Megan Rhiannon Dever-Hansen, Biology (BIOL) 2010, mDia as a novel drug target for cancer metastasis
Heidi Elisabeth Fjeldstad, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Regulation of Sleep and Arousal
Stephen E. Gee, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Derailing the Cascade: Targeting the HIV-CCR5-mediated signaling cascade
Megan Enderlin Howard, Biology (BIOL) 2010, G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 and membrane metalloproteinases as a novel target for breast cancer treatment
Richard Jae Kyung Hwang, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Murine X Inactivation Involves Polycomb Proteins Targeted by Noncoding RNA
Colin Vinson Jenks, Biology (BIOL) 2010, The role of microRNA-206 in skeletal muscle development
Rose Simone Greenwald Kantor, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Advances in the photochemical and metabolic manipulation of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for hydrogen fuel production
Sonya Krishnan, Biology (BIOL) 2010, MicroRNA-1 and microRNA-133: key regulators in cardiogenesis and adult heart maintenance
Esther Kai-Jim Liu, Biology (BIOL) 2010, MC1R RHC Variants and the Risk for Malignant Melanoma
Eva Maria Luderowski, Biology (BIOL) 2010, microRNA-124 regulates vertebrate neuronal development
Kathryn Elizabeth Malecek, Biology (BIOL) 2010, The Forgotten Phenotype: Long Noncoding RNAs Direct Cell Identity and Modulate Behavior
Megan Rose Mitchell, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Why are some Hymenoptera queens so promiscuous? Investigating the evolution of polyandry in super-polyandrous army ants and honeybees
Santhi Nalla, Biology (BIOL) 2010, The Overexpression of the Noncoding RNA H19 in Cancer Alters Many Cellular Processes
Erika Ohashi, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Probiotic-induced class-switch recombination of allergen-specific B cells to IgA may prevent IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reactions
Zachary David Palchick, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Vertebrate Limb Development and the Emerging Role of MircroRNAs
Rebecca Jane Palmer, Biology (BIOL) 2010, MiR-206 and Skeletal Muscle Development
Anupama Parameswaran, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Cysteine String Protein α, a putative drug target for treatment of congenital Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus
Jean Louise Porter, Biology (BIOL) 2010, The Contribution of Methane Producing Archaea to the Obesity Epidemic
Mahesh Badeti Rao, Biology (BIOL) 2010, MicroRNA-124 is a key regulator of neurogenesis
Laura Elizabeth Roach, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Exercise Therapy and Relief of Depressive Symptoms
Jinho Shin, Biology (BIOL) 2010, MicroRNA's Regulation of the Nodal Pathway
Nate Jasper Stewart, Biology (BIOL) 2010, The effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on plant-enemy interactions
Margaret Rose Taylor, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Modification of the Lignin Biosynthetic Pathway to Reduce Biomass Recalcitrance in the Production of Cellulosic Ethanol
Derek Vang, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Serotonin Modulates our Decision Making in Gambling
Colin Michael Wakeham, Biology (BIOL) 2010, The role of acetylcholine in rapid eye movement sleep
Ashley Brittany Wentworth, Biology (BIOL) 2010, The unexpected evolution of extreme polyandry in Apis: Unique means of minimizing costs and maximizing benefits
William August White, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Family Feud: The Intersection of Polyandry, Viviparity, and Speciation
Peter Richard Wilton, Biology (BIOL) 2010, Selfish Genetic Elements and the Evolution of Polyandry
Meghan Frances Wood, Biology (BIOL) 2010, The function of Nod2 in the recognition and regulation of microbes in the gut and the relationship between Nod2 and the pathogenesis of Crohn's Ddisease
