The Biology Department recently held its 15th annual Research Day where undergraduate and graduate students displayed their original research in oral and poster presentations in a celebration of discovery and education in the biological sciences. More than 55 presentations were introduced during the popular daylong event, which has become a mainstay in the Biology Department.
First place - oral
Graduate division
Andrew Edelman, “Communal nesting in an asocial tree squirrel, Sciurus aberti: A test of the social thermoregulation hypothesis.”
Undergraduate division - oral
Casey Gilman, “Lizards, eggs, and ultrasound: Testing the efficacy of quantifying reproductive effort tin squamate reptiles using portable ultrasonography”
Second place - oral
Graduate division
Teri Orr, “Rodents and cacti: Preliminary results from a stable isotope investigation of a key plant functional group and its rodent consumers”
Undergraduate division
Andrea Chavez, “A phylogenetic analysis of two rodents, Microtus Mexicanus and Microtus Mogollonensis”
Honorable mentions - oral
Graduate student
Jennifer Hollis, “Phylogenteics of the neotropical snake genus Chironius based on morphology”
Undergraduate division
Monica Moya, “Composition of bacterial mats in Pahoehoe Cave and similarities with bacterial communities in Four Windows Cave”
First place - poster
Graduate division
Robin Warne, “Quantifying the resource dynamics of a Sevilleta LTER lizard community: Coupling abiotic drivers and ecosystem productivity.”
Undergraduate division
Thomas Pohl, “Rad51-independent double strand break repair by gene conversion”
Second place - poster
Graduate division
Karen Gaines, “Stable isotope analysis reveals food web complexity at different spatial sales in a patchy environment”
Undergraduate division
Justine Hall, “Diversity and distribution of microbial ecotypes along a thermal gradient”
Honorable mentions - poster
Graduate division
Heather Bateman, “Lizard abundance in restored Bosque: Evaluating impacts of non-native plant removal”
Undergraduate division
Tamara Max, “Life history of flathead chub, Platygobio gracilis, in the Rio Grande, New Mexico”
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu