The Annual NMS Undergraduate Research Forum is a showcase for student work in the natural, mathematical and physical sciences. Additionally, the highly- competitive forum is great preparation for success at the annual university-wide Denman Forum.

Seventy-nine students presented 70 posters in the categories of: Biochemistry, Biomedical Science, Chemistry, Earth Science, Genetics, Microbiology, Organismal Biology, and Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics. Most of the award-winners, who received a certificate and a $200 Barnes and Noble gift card, were rated as “Outstanding” by both judges. Many of the following award-winning students, who presented at the April 20 Forum, will go on to win awards at the Denman.

Kelsey Bisson (geological sciences major, mathematics minor), Temporal Variability of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon in Streams at the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, Advisor: Berry Lyons, School of Earth Sciences

Joshua Grant (biology major, entomology minor), Insemination success of the Tiger Mosquito, Aedes albopictus, in energetic stringency, Advisor: Woodbridge Foster; Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology

Alisha Kamboj (microbiology major, Spanish minor), co-presenting with Rebekah Lantz (biology major, Spanish minor), “Reversible threonine phosphorylation of a response regulator, SptR, modulates Group A streptococcus (GAS, S. pyogenes) virulence,” Advisor: Vijay Pancholi, Department of Pathology

Kathryn Lang (double major in: evolution & ecology and French), Hypoxia as a mediator of food web interactions and energy flow in reservoir ecosystems, Advisor: Stuart Ludsin, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology

Jeffrey Miller (biology major, chemistry and public health minors), The Role of E2F3 in Cancer Cell Function, Advisor: Kamal Pohar, Comprehensive Cancer Center

Brian Mog (chemical and biomolecular engineering major), Nanoparticles Attack Inflammation Enabling Therapy and Imaging, Advisor: Andrei Maiseyeu, Heart and Lung Institute

Michael Nechay (chemical engineering major, statistics minor), Computational Investigation of the Aminolysis of Anhydrides: How Do Different Amino Acid Side Chains React? Advisor: Christopher Hadad, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Paul Nicholson (microbiology major), Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Type IV pilus proteinsComB andComC interact, Advisor: Robert S. Munson, Department of Microbiology

Elizabeth Otto (double major in: astronomy and physics), Chemical Abundances of CH Stars in Omega Centauri, Advisor: Jennifer Johnson, Department of Astronomy

Nathaniel Robinson (double major in: molecular genetics and mathematics), Identification of Potential Functional Gene Clusters Containing Elongation Factor P2, Advisors: Michael Ibba, Department of Microbiology and Daniel Janies, Department of Biomedical Informatics

Heather Robison (chemistry major, neuroscience minor), The First Effective Analysis of Ionochromic Azo Dyes for Aqueous Halide Detection, Advisors: Justin Harris and Noel Paul, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Andrew Wallace (chemistry major), Development of a fluorescence-based RNase P assay, Advisor: Venkat Gopalan, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

James Willard (molecular genetics major), Mechano-modulation of burn wound healing, Advisor: Heather Powell, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Danielle Williams (chemistry major, Italian minor), Engineering single chain Rop variants and combinatorial libraries, Advisor: Tom Magliery, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Daniel Yanes (biology major, public health minor), Mll-PTD is Capable of Salvaging Hematopoiesis in Mice Lacking a Functional Copy of Mll-WT, Advisor: Michael Caligiuri, Comprehensive Cancer Center