Biology majors presented their Capstone projects in a week-long poster session that explored everything from behavioral trends surrounding the HIV/AIDS population in Delaware to whether bacteria found in yogurt provide health benefits.

More than 200 students each year participate in research involving faculty members as mentors, supervisors and collaborators. In many cases, the research results in presentations at professional meetings or publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Victoria Lloyd ’07 examined how habitat damage caused by hurricane Katrina increased stress and disease susceptibility in birds. She examined 200 birds from both the affected and non-affected parts of Louisiana for two kinds of malarial parasites. There was no statistical difference among the first type of parasite, Plasmodium, but the second type proved a shocker.

“We found that the avian parasite Haemoproteus is much more prevalent in the disturbed region,” she said.

Lloyd says the test shows that the hurricane created favorable breeding conditions for the parasite vectors that transmit malarial infection. After graduation, she plans to become a genetic counselor.

Runner Matt Rouse ’07 wanted to find out how to minimize the effects of lactic acid in a person who is performing anaerobic exercise. The body uses lactate as fuel, but it decreases performance.

“As an athlete, we’re constantly thinking of what we can eat or drink to perform better,” says the Biology major.

Rouse gave test subjects soda solutions with different pH levels, put them on a stationary bike, and tested their blood to find out whether the solutions would neutralize the effects of lactate. His results did not show a correlation between pH and performance.

After graduation, Rouse is headed to the University of Maryland dental school.

The harsh alcohol-based cleansers used in hospitals kill the most common staph infections, but Biology major Lindsey Grieb ’07 thought there might be another solution. She researched whether lime oil would work as a hand sanitizer.

“In trials, lime oil looked like it would be effective,” Grieb says, “and while the alcohol killed 100-percent of bacteria, lime oil killed 91-percent -- almost as much.”

Grieb, who says the next step in her research would be to test lime oil in soap, plans to become a nurse-midwife.

A complete list of Biology senior posters:

1. Rachael Boteler
Sensitive and specific erythropoietin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay development.

2. Elizabeth Davis
Evaluation of probiotics’ survival, antimicrobial activity, and antibiotic resistance under simulated gastrointestinal tract environments.

3. Rachael Dickey
Material strength variation in the intertidal seaweed Mastocarpus papillatus.

4. Lindsey Grieb
Antimicrobial effects of essential lime oil on Staphylococcus aureus in comparison to hospital hand sanitizer.

5. Theresa Hamer, Fatta Nahab and Mark Hallet
Sensory symptoms in Parkinson’s disease, Multiple system atrophy and Restless legs syndrome.

6. Josh Harris
Competition amongst fungi: antifungal activity in the Trichoderma genus.

7. Theresa Hess
An attempt to detect tyrosinase, a melanin-producing protein, using primers designed for the panther chameleon (Furcifer paradalis).

8. Lindsey Keller and Philip Levin
Screening for autoantibodies to predict the risk of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in the TrialNet Natural History Study.

9. Adam Lietzan
Epidemiological investigation of current trends of behavioral risks, gender, and race of the HIV/AIDS population residing in Delaware.

10. Victoria Lloyd, Kate Durrant, Peter Marra and Robert Fleischer
Comparative DNA analysis of avian malaria parasites between post-hurricane Katrina sites.

11. Kaitlin McLean
Duplication and junction fragment analysis in Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease.

12. Lenea Rader
Investigations of why common and uncommon HIV-1 reverse transcriptase mutations occur.

13. Matt Rouse
The effects of pH solutions on blood glucose and blood lactate levels during a Wingate anaerobic power test.

14. Joseph Scholz and Craig Camasta
A morphological comparison of the metapodial (long bones) of the foot.

15. Melanie Scocco
Quantification of polyphosphate and poly-B-hydroxybuterate in enhanced biological phosphorus removal wastewater treatment plants.

16. Melanie Smith
An attempt to amplify and sequence the xanthine dehydrogenase gene in the panther chamelion.

17. Adam Trexler
Nanowires from nature: amyloid fibril formation of heme-containing proteins.

18. Heather Williams
Synthesis and antibacterial activity of quaternized promazine derivatives.

19. Kathleen Woodward
A comparison of gregarine proteins using polyclonal avian antibodies.