Wesleyan presented its annual Summer Research Poster Session July 30 in Exley Science Center. More than 100 students, mostly from Wesleyan, participated. Students are funded from Hughes, the Mellon Foundation, a Rauch Environmental Grant, the Wesleyan McNair Program, Sonnenblick and the Robert Schumann Endowment. Students from the Quantitative Analysis Center also participated.Biology majors Nora Vogel ’11 and Caleb Corliss ’13 discussed their poster titled “Genetic Variation for Invasiveness: Are there Monster Genotypes in Polygonum cespitosum?” They’ve spent the summer trying to understand what role “monster” genotypes (genotypes with the highest relative fitness) play in the invasive spread of this species. Their advisor is Sonia Sultan, chair of the Biology Department, professor of biology, professor of environmental studies.
Christine Baltrusitis ‘11 speaks about her research titled “What is the Value of Ethical Reasoning in Higher Education?” Her advisor is Steven Stemler, assistant professor of psychology.Meherazade Sumariwalla ’12 talks about her research titled “Big Tank – Big Growth, Small Tank – Small Growth: The Effect of Density on Growth in Zebrafish.” Sumariwalla’s advisor is Stephen Devoto, associate professor of biology, associate professor of neuroscience and behavior. Sonnenblick Fellow Nicholas Woods ’13 researched “MGE-derived Transplants into the Adult Mouse Hippocampus Suppress Spontaneous Recurrent Seizures.” Woods’ advisor is Janice Naegele, professor of biology, professor of neuroscience and behavior. Dan McNeish studied “Measuring Adaptability in Military Personnel.” His advisor is Steven Stemler. (Photos by Olivia Drake)
Here’s a short video clip of the poster session, with an introduction by Michael Weir, professor of biology, director of the Hughes Program in the Life Sciences:
Olivia Drake
Andrew Chatfield
Mike Mavredakis
Ziba Kashef