Student Successes                                                         

Local, Regional, and National Accomplishments

Our students present their research and engage in other academic activities around the country. Here are some highlights!

2004

• Katie Smith recognized as one of top ten graduating seniors at Loyola University.
• Katie Smith's senior thesis recognized as top University Honor's thesis in the sciences.
• Caroline Champagne awarded 1st place for the Brooks Award for best oral presentation in the Eta Lambda Division at the 47th Annual TriBeta meeting in Memphis, Tennessee.
• Christine Brownyard awarded 2nd place for the Brooks Award for best oral presentation in the Eta Lambda Division at the 47th Annual TriBeta meeting in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Rev. John H. Mullahy for Outstanding Achievement in the Sciences

The Rev. John H. Mullahy, S.J. Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Sciences is given to the graduating student in the sciences who best fulfills the ideals of academic achievement, personal integrity, generosity of spirit, and leadership that Fr. Mullahy consistently attempted to elicit from his students.

• 2007 Robert W. Hartsock
• 2006 Ryan M. Ivie
• 2005 Juan J. Calix
• 2004 Christine E. Brownyard (co-winner)
• 2004 Katherine M. Smith (co-winner)
• 2003 Brandy A. Harper
• 2002 Olivia E. LeDee
• 2001 Astrid L. Gutierrez
• 2000 Angela T. Molinario
• 1999 Vanessa Rouzier (co-winner)
• 1999 Alicia A. Lacy (co-winner)
• 1998 Kevin M. Casey
• 1997 Juan Vargas
• 1996 James Michael Smith

The Ruth and Lee Faust Award for the Outstanding Graduating Senior in Biological Sciences

The Ruth and Lee Faust Award for the Outstanding Graduating Senior in Biological Sciences is given to the graduating student in Biological Sciences with the highest cumulative GPA.

• 2007 Kortney Belou
• 2006 Katherine M. Faust
• 2005 Celeste Orris
• 2004 Karen A. Toribio
• 2003 Sarah E. Frost
• 2002 Romeo A. Lainez
• 2002 Mehul S. Sheth
• 2001 Erica G. Kinler
• 2000 Elizabeth A. Moore
• 2000 Margaret J. Couvillon
• 1999 Vanessa Rouzier
• 1998 James P. Fee
• 1998 Gregory P. Hansen
• 1997 Christine Hidalgo
• 1996 Maya Bandolon Alqueza

The St. Joseph Pignatelli, S.J., Award for Dedicated Service and Achievement in Biological Sciences

The St. Joseph Pignatelli, S.J. Award for Dedicated Service and Achievement in Biological Sciences is given to the graduating senior in Biological Sciences who exemplifies qualities of Judaeo-Christian teachings and has shown integrity, honesty and loyalty, and also has a one of the highest averages in biology subjects but not necessarily in all subjects.

• 2007 Jordan M. Ferrage
• 2006 Lauren R. Galmiche
• 2005 Michelle L. Abbene
• 2004 Joanna L. Czaicki
• 2003 Alicia M. James
• 2002 Alexander Castillo
• 2001 Rachel J. Delatte
• 2000 Gianna M. Rossi
• 1999 Carolina Urbizo
• 1998 Tori Harris
• 1997 Angela Russell
• 1996 Maihan Bui Vu

Honors Research Students

2007

• Rebecca Baggott - Androgen Activity on the Mosquitofish, Gambusi holbrooki, in the Fenholloway River , FL.
• Jordan Ferrage - The Developing Vertebrate Limb and Protease Treatment: Gene Expression and Morphological Changes.
• Kelsey Eliasson - Identification of fungi species in a Hurricane Katrina flooded home
  using internal transcribed spacer regions 4 and 5.
• Annie McBride - The Epidemiology of Health Care in Post-Katrina New Orleans.
• Rachel Nuwer - Domestication of three indigenous fish species in the South of Lao PDR: Experiments on the propagation of two catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus and Hemibagrus wyckioides) and one carp (Cirrhinus microlepis).
• Leon Perniciaro - High rates of the Chagas parasite in Louisiana insect vectors and the state's first human case of vector-borne transmission.
• Thomas H. Shoultz - Mitochondrial translocation in hypoxic pulmonary artery endothelial cell.
  Ashley Tate - Strains of Trypanosoma cruzi circulating in Southeast Louisiana .
  

2006

• Yandace K. Brown - Field Anesthesia and Surgical Implantation of Radiotransmitters into Nine-Banded Armadillos ( Dasypus novemcinctus )
• Ava S. Coleman - A Preliminary evaluation of microsatellite loci variation within Echinacea .
• Lauren R. Galmiche - A Study of Astroglial Glutamate Transporters in Alcoholic Rats
• Sam J. Gentle - RANKL plus AZT treatment significantly increases mitochondrial DNA integrity in osteoclasts.
• Brian T. Hess - Epitope mapping in Leishmania proteins for vaccine development
• Ryan M. Ivie - HTLV-I: The Viral Protein Tax and Lymphoid Transformation
• Mary Jane Maher - Effects of alcohol storage on eggs of three darter species (Etheostoma zonale, E. flabellare , and E. caerulem)
• Rachel A. Pastorek Trichomonas vaginalis recurrence among HIV+ women
• Kendle N. Pryor - Identification of Tax regions of protein interaction with ternary complex factor (TCF) and SRF.

2005

• Michele Abbene - A Preliminary Assessment of The pH Status of Mill Pond, Long Island , New York.
• Juan Calix - Preliminary Assessment of Gene Flow among Triatoma dimidiata Populations in Central America.
• Megan Daigle - Serological survey for Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies in primates resident at the Tulane National Primate Research Center.
• Sarah Happe - Interaction of Transcription Factor IA1 and Palladin and Its Regulation of Reporter Gene Expression.
• Sarah Kohler - The Significnce of CEACAM1 and Annexin VI to Liver Cancer.
• Bronwyn Welsh - Biodiversity and Activity Patterns of Bats Populating Bayou, Swamp, and Marsh Habitats of Jean Lafitte National Park , Louisiana .
  

2004

• Katherine M. Smith - The role of Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Type I
  (HTLV-I) Tax in cell transformation.
• Raquel Barrera - Genetics of a Chagas Disease Vector in Central America.
• Miriam Ducruet - Genetics of a Chagas Disease Vector in Central America.
• Caroline Champagne - Survival of the finless: effects of fin-clipping on brown darters (Etheostoma edwini).
• Lillian Zamora - Reproductive life history of fat sleepers (Dormitator maculatus) in the Mississippi River delta.
• Christopher Gabler - Dynamics of the Mississippi River delta: wetland accretion and productivity.
• Christine Brownyard - Cadherin 11 expression in the developing chick embryo using in situ hybridization and RT-PCR.
  

2003

• Philip Bucolo - The influence of fluctuating salinity on phytoplankton assemblages in the Lake Ponchartrain Basin.
• Rachel Foley - An alternative diagnostic technique for patients with kidney disease.
• Sarah Frost - Effects of fish body size and sex on swimming performance in golden shiners (Notemigonus crysoleucas).
• Myra Hughey - Reproductive life history of blackbanded darters (Percina nigrofasciata) in Northwest Florida.
• Alicia James - Investigations of palmelloid stage formation in the life history of Synura and Mallomonas (Synurophyceae).
• Melissa Kaintz - Microhabitat use of blackbanded darters (Percina nigrofasciata) in Northwest Florida.
• Victoria Solderitch - The structure and stability of a synthetic variant of an egg white protein.
• Richard Imsais - Comparison among three different types of stents in the normal porcine trachea.
• Kathryn Watts - The structure and stability of a synthetic variant of an egg white protein.

2002

• Crescent Combe - Chagas’ disease vector, Triatoma dimidiata, is panmictic among two villages in Guatemala.
• Catherine DiGiorgio - Identification of novel integrations in murine T-cell lymphomas induced by a recombinant retrovirus containing sequences from Moloney murine leukemia virus and feline leukemia virus.
• Gianna Griffith - Habitat selection and reproductive life history of pipefishes at Seahorse Key, Florida.
• Jessica Landry - The regulation of the Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase signal (MAPK) transduction pathway by the human T cell leukemia virus Type I (HTLV-1).
• Olivia Erin LeDee - Avian risk assessment in three dimensions.
• Deepthi Lingam - Isozyme analysis in common salvinia.
• Linh Nguyen - ISSR/ RAPDs Variation in Sagittaria platyphylla.
• Thanh Nguyen - ISSR/ RAPDs Variation in Sagittaria platyphylla.
• Tabitha M. Quebedeaux - Neuroprotective effects of estrogen on middle-aged female rats with beta-amyloid and ibotenic acid hippocampal lesions.
• Debra Salvia - Chagas’ disease vector, Triatoma dimidiata, is panmictic among two villages in Guatemala.
• Mehul Sheth - Glycyl-tRNA synthetase and transcription termination in yeast: investigation into a tRNA-like structural motif at the mRNA 3' end.

2001

• Adam Oliver - Biochemical characterization of Western Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivores leucostoma) venom.
• Shawn Vincent - The induction of ovulation in the anuran Eleutherodactylus coqui.

• Lisa Badon - Caridovascular and cardiac responses elicited by "binge" administration of 3,4-methylenedioxymetham phetamine (MDMA).
• Kelly Gabler - Detection of mouse mammary tumor virus-like sequences in human chromosomes using fluorescence in situ hybridization.
• Astrid Gutierrez - Population genetic analysis of Triatoma dimidiata by RAPD-PCR among three houses in Guatemala.
• Sarah Kott - Population genetic analysis of Triatoma dimidiata by RAPD-PCR among houses in a village in Guatemala.
• Michelle Martinez - swimming performance in the golden shiner, Notemigonus crysoleucas.
• Bridget Ory - Life history characteristics of two populations of the blackbanded darter (Percina nigrofasciata).
• Kristen McCreary - Physical structure and zonation of seagrass beds of Seahorse Key, Florida.
• Courtney Siems - Structure of fish communities in seagrass beds of Seahorse Key, Florida.
• Rachel Delatte - Relative importance of adjacent seagrass beds to the Florida Blenny (Chasmodes saburrae)
• Simone Pitre - Ontogeny of habitat selection by pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum).

2000

• Maha Y. Askar - Sexual dimorphism in size and shape within Miopithecus talapoin (Primates, Cercopithecidae).
• Melissa Burmeister - Identification of phosphorylated Tetrahymena H2A histone Variants in Tetrahymena and transgenic S. cerevisiae.
• Virginia Burmeister - Phosphorylation of H2A histone variants during germination in wheat.
• Margaret Couvillon - Histone phosphorylation during the cell cycle: western analysis of H2A and H3 histone phosphorylation in temperature-sensitive cell cycle mutants of yeast S. pombe.
• Russell Ferlita - The physiochemical effect of linker DNA on higher order chromatin structure.
• Angela Molinario - Phosphorylation of Tetrahymena H2A histone variants in transgenic yeast.
• Elizabeth Moore - The common uses of medicinal plants in the Maya village of San Miguel, Belize.
• Cerinda Morales - Foraging efficiency of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) in introduced and native submerged aquatic vegetation.
• Gianna Rossi - Effects of estrogen on working memory performance assessed in the water Maze in middle-aged female rats.
• Orlena Tampira - Habitat selection of brittlestars in Seahorse Key, Florida.
• Laura Toups - Geographic variation in the colubrid snake Manolepis putnami.
• Laura Lee Wilkinson - The annual sediment accretion and plant biomass accumulation in different habitats of the Mississippi River delta.

1999

• Eunice Blackmon - Fishing for phosphoproteins.
• Melissa Bossetta - Histone changes in cell cycle-arrested Saccharomyces cerevisae cultures.
• Sheri Brewer - Histone changes in various strains of Schizosaccharomyces pombe cultures.
• Joanna DeSalvo - Distribution and habitat use of damselfly larvae in the estuarine portion of the St. Johns River, Florida.
• Joseph Fair - Isolation of the cell-surface receptor for Human T-Lymphotropic Virus 1.
• Danny Gantzer - Habitat use, risk of predation, and distribution of grass shrimp within a Louisiana salt marsh.
• Brian Mailey - DNA bands reveal genetic patterns of spontaneous polymorphisms in clonal populations.
• Candice Millro - Population genetics of a Chagas disease vector in Guatemala.
• Sarah E. Pivach - Analysis of histone modification in Tetrahymena thermophilia.
• Vita Venezia - DNA bands reveal genetic patterns of spontaneous polymorphisms in clonal populations.
• Nga T. Vu - Fluctuating asymmetry in Louisiana muskrats: comparison of traditional and geometric morphometric methods.

1998

• Stephanie J. Authement - Abundance and distribution of woody species in remnant bottomland forests of extreme southeastern Louisiana.
• Bridget Brahney - Detection of Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma rangeli in vector samples from Guatemala.
• Tiffany E. Crane - The effects of habitat on vertical accretion on natural crevasse splays at Delta National Wildlife Refuge.
• James Fee - Investigating the function of H2A phosphorylation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae through a mutational analysis.
• Juan Flores - Detection of Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma rangeli parasites in fecal drops of vector Rhodnius prolixus.
• Alane E. Furlotte - A floristic survey of Synurophyceae from southeastern Australia.
• Gregory S. Herbert - The systematics and evolutionary history of the Neogene gastropod genus Eupleura H. and A. Adams, 1853 (Family Muricidae).
• Melissa E. Kay - Evaluating the effects of salinity and feed type on growth rate and feed conversion of juvenile Florida pompano, Trachinotus carolinus.
• William Starks - Phylogenetic analyses of Synura, section Synura (Synurophyceae) using ITS/5.8s sequences and scale morphology.
• Michael Termini - A PCR analysis for morphologically similar species of Ascogregarina in Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.
• Mary C. Willis - Histone isolation and analysis of phosphorylation in the C-terminal region of histone H2A in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.