Climate change is a problem that has been accumulating over the past few decades due to a variety of reasons. There’s an opportunity to look at climate change as an opportunity to better the planet as well as individuals’ diets. Implementing green spaces throughout State College that could be used for agricultural purposes and enjoyment. This will provide the resources to eat a more plant-based diet and fix climate change in the meantime.

By incorporating the chemistry of frustrated Lewis pairs into polymeric materials, we plan to create new methods for gas storage and catalytic applications. The poster discusses the synthesis and characterization of the polymeric Lewis base to be used in the frustrated Lewis pair, Poly(4-diphenylphosphino styrene). The polymer was synthesized by anionic polymerization and characterized using SEC, proton NMR, and 31P NMR, which will be essential in determining adduct formation between the acid and base.

The prlF1 mutation and overexpression of the genes ptsN and yhbW have been found to allow E.coli to survive when σE is absent. These genes also have the ability to alleviate the effects of lamB-lacZ hybrid jamming in secretion machinery and OmpC overexpression, both of which are toxic. We hypothesize that all of the suppressor pathways that allow for survival when σE is absent, require the lon gene.

The MLL complex is a histone methyltransferase complex that plays a key role in transcriptional activation by covalently modifying the nucleosome. However, our knowledge of its structure and mechanism is limited. We hypothesize that the MLL complex has a precise binding interaction with the nucleosome that can be determined via X-ray crystallography. Solving the structure of this complex bound to its nucleosome substrate will inform us of its mechanism of chromatin regulation.

Often overlooked, book reviews can open a doorway for students to work with librarians to help make their work more scholarly and legitimate. What happens as a librarian becomes a key player in writing book review? In our work, we looked at aid of librarians impacts the quality of a book review co-authored by a student. In addition to background research, the research team conducted a first-cut analysis wherein book reviews were individually rank ordered.

Mangroves are tropical trees that provide numerous economical and terrestrial advantages, such as protection from coastal erosion and pollution removal. Cuba is home to the third highest concentration of mangroves, but anthropogenic sources serve as the largest threat to their development. Based on reviews of primary literature and policy, and key informant interviews with Cuban marine experts, we recommend developing new policies concerning mangrove reforestation while improving upon current policies with efficient changes.

Neurons must last an entire lifetime, despite facing frequent risk of injury from sources such as traumatic brain injury. Injury response is often modeled in Drosophila by using a laser to sever neurites and is well-studied. However, we recently observed an alternate type of injury, termed explosion injury, which produces an immediate, massive increase in cytosolic calcium and microtubules. Our goal is to characterize this cellular response, including its relationship to calcium and microtubule upregulation.

Microtubules are important to cell structure and for helping differentiate between dendrites and axons in neurons. The polarity of microtubules is oriented with the axon being plus end out and the dendrite being minus end out. We know several mechanisms that contribute to microtubule polarity in Class 1 drosophila neurons, however we are concerned with examining checkpoint systems at the cell body exit points and mechanisms controlling microtubule polarity after they are nucleated.

This research focused on modeling some of the stormwater best management practices on campus in the Stormwater Management Model. This model was used to calculate the efficiencies of some of the practices. It was also used to determine which practices can and should be used for future developments to the campus.

In the Roll's lab, our group studies protein localization across the different classes of neurons found in the model organism Drosophila. These proteins are heavily implicated in cell function and structure, and lead to specific abnormalities in neuronal cells when they are absent or otherwise manipulated, therefore, studying these proteins will allow for deeper insight into the causes of various neurodegenerative diseases found in humans. 

In the Rolls lab we look at protein localization in the model organism drosophila. Proteins have key roles within organisms and are vital for the survival of organisms. Without the proper proteins in the cell neurons lose their ability to properly function in the cell. By using different RNAi fly lines various proteins can be knocked down and the effects it has on the organism can be observed using different microscopy techniques. 

Graduate school is crucial for students. In this study, we use Crisp-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA) to examine 50 personal statements from the winners of National Science Foundation to find factors that lead them to graduate school. Student’s family background, undergraduate experience and etc. are some of the factors. This study gives us a better perspective and understanding of the reasons for students to go to graduate school.

C. elegans containing a knock-out mutation in the nmrk-1 gene do not synthesize an enzyme known as nicotinamide riboside kinase which is involved in the synthesis of NAD+. Preliminary results suggest that a combination of this genetic mutation and an environmental stressor result in a novel delayed hatching phenotype exhibited in eggs laid by nmrk-1 mutants. Our results provide more details about the lifespan of unhatched embryos and the strength observed in this phenotype.