Tyson undergrad and high school fellows dominate WashU Fall Research Symposium

Oct 23, 2017

Research conducted at Tyson was well represented at the Washington University 2017 Fall Undergraduate Research Symposium on Saturday, October 21. Nineteen posters were presented on projects undertaken during summer 2017. Fourteen Tyson undergraduate fellows and ten TERFers shared their work with the WashU community and visitors to the event held in Knight and Bauer Halls on the Danforth Campus.

Brenda Alvarado
The evolution of chemical defenses in white clover: when and where does cyanogenesis matter most?
Mentors: Sara Wright and Ken Olsen

*Julia Beliz and *Eileen Kosola
Wild sampling in white clover provides stronger interpretations of controlled garden experiment data: herbivory and soil moisture
Mentors: Sara Wright and Ken Olsen

Erin Carroll and Savannah Fuqua
The role of soil microbes and plant diversity in pollination and soil carbon sequestration under climate change
Mentors: Claudia Stein and Scott Mangan

*Genesis Dancer
Does rooting depth explain differences in soil respiration rates among tallgrass prairie plants?
Mentors: Claudia Stein and Scott Mangan

Maya Dutta
Buffering against heat, drought, and fungus in white clover: does cyanogenesis play a role?
Mentors: Sara Wright and Ken Olsen

August Gremaud and Alex Mahmoud
Insect diversity survey of white clover in wild vs. cultivated environments
Mentors: Sara Wright and Ken Olsen

Hanusia Higgins
"The enemy of an enemy is a friend": effects of Pythium oligandrum on belowground plant-pathogen interactions
Mentors: Claudia Stein and Scott Mangan

*Owen Kathriner and Aspen Workman
Low plant diversity enhances arthropod transmission of viral diseases
Mentors: Claudia Stein and Scott Mangan

Madeleine Mullen
Assessment of differences in boldness, an evolutionarily important personality trait, among rural and urban box turtles (Terrapene carolina)
Mentors: Stephen Blake and Sharon Deem

Samantha Myers
Ecological drivers of local adaptation in white clover: herbivores or winter temperatures?
Mentor: Sara Wright and Ken Olsen

Hanna Peterman
The effects of prescribed fire on habitat use by white-tailed deer
Mentor: Solny Adalsteinsson

*Kevin Qi and *Ishan Singh
Does prescribed fire influence tree seedling recruitment and diversity?
Mentors: Joe LaManna and Jonathan Myers

Maya Samuels-Fair
Growth form and leaf traits influence susceptibility to drought across tree species
Mentor: Joe LaManna

*Delilah Sayer
Plant species infusion affects parasite burden in mosquito larvae
Mentors: Katie Westby and Kim Medley

Adam Vorel
Field research training program for pre-college youth shows consistent participant benefits over ten years
Mentor: Susan Flowers

Emma Waltman
Does an increase in average temperature favor Southern-distributed trees over Northern-distributed trees?
Mentor: Jonathan Myers

*Nicole Wang, *Anna Grimenstein, and Savannah Fuqua
Do pollinator visitation rates change with increasing plant diversity?
Mentors: Claudia Stein and Scott Mangan

*Paige Waskow
The effect of prescribed fire and topography on herbaceous plants in the Missouri Ozark forest region
Mentors: Joe LaManna and Jonathan Myers

Aspen Workman
Is aboveground pathogen load influenced by belowground pathogen presence, plant community diversity, or precipitation amount?
Mentors: Claudia Stein and Scott Mangan

* TERFers