Biology

Congratulations to the Biology graduate and undergraduate winners at the 42nd Student Research Conference.

Graduate student winners:

• Amanda Campbell, Department of Biology; Best Graduate Paper in the Natural Sciences, Session 4 — Tracing the Evolution of Telomerase for an Ancestral Precursor to Define and Suggest Cancer Therapeutics (Dr. Chandrakanth Emani)
• Chandra Pranav, Department of Biology; Best Graduate Paper in the Natural Sciences, Session 5 — Effect of Coconut Oil (Cocos nucifera) on Ulcerative Colitis in a Mouse Model (Dr. Nilesh Sharma)
• Gopinath Rajadinakaran, Department of Biology; Best Graduate Paper in the Natural Sciences, Session 8 — Cell Proliferation and Apoptotic Pathways Regulated in Zebrafish Auditory Hair Cell Regeneration Using Next Generation Sequencing (Dr. Michael Smith)
• Amanda Seaton, Department of Biology; Best Graduate Poster in the Natural Sciences, Session 1 — Defining the Essential Components of Bacteriophage HK639 Early Gene Expression (Dr. Rodney King)

Undergraduate student winners:

• Victoria Gilkison, Department of Biology; Best Undergraduate Paper in the Natural Sciences, Session 1 – Stable Isotopic Analysis of the Upper Green River in Hart County, Kentucky (Dr. Albert Meier)
• Leah Frazier, Department of Biology; Best Undergraduate Paper in the Natural Sciences, Session 2 — Stimulation of Cell Migration in Corneal Endothelial Cells (Dr. Ken Crawford)
• Brenna Tinsley, Department of Biology; Best Undergraduate Paper in the Natural Sciences, Session 6 — The Ecological Roles of Podostemum ceratophyllum and Cladophora in the Habitat and Dietary Preferences of the Riverine Caddisfly Hydropsyche simulans (Dr. Scott Grubbs)
• Henry Uradu, Department of Biology; Best Undergraduate Paper in the Natural Sciences, Session 15 — The Winter-Active Dung Beetle Fauna of a Costa Rican Cloud Forest (Dr. Keith Phillips)
• Elizabeth Gatten, Department of Biology; Best Undergraduate Poster in the Natural Sciences, Session 6 — Isolation and Characterization of Bacteriophage Magnolia (Dr. Rodney King)
• Lori Lovell, Department of Biology; Best Undergraduate Poster in the Natural Sciences, Session 7 (tie) — Land Use and E. Coli / Fecal Coliform Violations in the Upper Green Watershed (Dr. Ouida Meier)
• Andrea Eastes, Department of Biology; Best Undergraduate Poster in the Natural Sciences, Session 9 — Nitric Oxide Synthase 3 Gene Regulation in Pulmonary Myofibroblasts (Dr. Nancy Rice)
• Charles Coomer, Department of Biology; Best Undergraduate Poster in the Natural Sciences, Session 10 — Bacteriophage Classification Via PCR Analysis: An Alternative to Complete Genome Sequencing (Dr. Rodney King)