A summer of biology

James Garcia worked with Dr. Ammons
James Garcia worked with Dr. Ammons

Here is an informal list of the kinds of activities our students found to develop and hone their skills in biology this summer.

 Health-related Activities & Molecular Biology Research

  • Stephen Graber – Shadowed oncologists at Goshen Center for Cancer Care
  • Leah Amstutz – Laboratory assistant in a health care clinic – Centro de Salud San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist Health Center) during SST
  • James Garcia – Maples Scholar – Evolutionary relationships in Hymenoptera (with Dr. Ammons)
  • Michael Yoder – Maple Scholar – Expression patterns in UNC-53 in C. elegans (with Dr. Schmidt)
  • Jessica Davila – Worked at Caritas Baby Hospital & Le crèche orphanage in Bethlehem, Palestine
  • Aaron Graber – Internship at Stanford University under Dr. Philip Beachy doing research on the protein Smoothened in the Sonic Hedgehog signaling pathway by means of mutagenesis

Field Biology & Environmental Science

  • Peter Meyer Reimer  – Research Intern at University of Goettingen, Germany – Department of Palynology and Climate Dynamics; Determining the interaction between fire regime, climate change, and local ecology in an Indonesian rainforest.
  • Anna Costanza – REU – San Francisco State University, Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies – Characterization of primary production and community composition of marine phtyplankton in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  • Ellie Shertz – MAPS Bird Banding study, Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center (with Dr. Zinn)
  • Abby Flickner – MAPS Bird Banding study, Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center  (with Dr. Zinn)
  • Jessica Davila, Jacob Penner, Cortney Quick, & Peter Meyer Reimer – Research Assistants, Quantifying effects of fire on ant evacuation behaviors in an Acacia-ant mutualism, Mpala Research Centre, Kenya (with Dr. Sensenig)
  • Cecilia Lapp Stoltzfus – Patuxent River Park, Upper Marlboro, Maryland – Wild rice restoration and osprey banding
  • Jack Shomberg – Maple Scholar, Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center (with Dr. Hess)
  • Anna van der Zwaag – Maple Scholar, Photobioreactor Project (with Dr. Grove)
  • Aisha Harris – Intern at the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo working with the aquarist
  • Kayla Gray – Lakes Environmental Association – worked to help prevent the spread of invasive Eurasian milfoil in lakes in Maine
  • Aaron Stiffney & Caleb Longenecker – Marine Biology Internship – J.N. Roth Marine Biology Station – Worked with graduate students from Old Dominion University and University of Florida on sponge restoration and lobster ecology projects