Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship 2006 Recipients

CATEGORY A
Research and Doctoral Universities

Emily Abrash, Stanford University
Project: Characterization of a Tissue-Specific Regulator of Arabidopsis Stomatal Development 
Mentor: Dominique Bergmann

I can’t believe I’ve been chosen as one of this year’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship recipients! I am so grateful to the American Society of Plant Biologists for this honor, and it will be a real pleasure to devote the upcoming summer to full-time research. I am also thrilled to be joining the larger plant biology community and cannot wait to present my research at the conference next year! I would like to take this opportunity to extend my deepest thanks to ASPB, to my mentor Dr. Dominique Bergmann, and to Dr. Susan Singer, who first introduced me to plant biology. I am delighted and humbled to be a 2006 SURF recipient, and I hope that my work will prove worthy of this tremendous honor.

Alex Fauver, University of Utah
Project: Toward Molecular Cloning of URSULA, a Possible Component of Arabidopsis P-Bodies
Mentor: Leslie Sieburth

I am so excited to be a recipient of the SURF grant from ASPB and to be able to continue my research this summer. This is a wonderful opportunity for an aspiring plant biologist, and I am very grateful. I want to thank the American Society of Plant Biologists for this acknowledgment and support. I would also like to thank my mentor, Leslie Sieburth, as well as Jaimie Van Norman and all the other great people in the Sieburth lab for all their advice and guidance.

Melissa Hamner, Trinity University
Project: Cross Protection Response Induced by UV-B Exposure and Oxidative Stress in Spinach Seedlings and Mature Plants
Mentor: James R. Shinkle

I would like to thank ASPB for honoring me with this award. Since my freshman year, I have enjoyed learning about the amazing ways plants interact and respond to their environment. I have had an interest in the auxiliary pigment and its benefits to human nutrition. I am excited about the opportunity to further explore this area of research this summer. I am also looking forward to attending the ASPB meeting next summer and learning about the work of other plant biologists.

Nathan Hood, University of Texas
Project: Testing the Effects of Extracellular ATP on the Growth Rate of Lily Pollen Tubes and a Signaling Pathway That Could Mediate These Effects
Mentor: Stanley J. Roux

I’m excited to be able to continue doing research this summer through this ASPB fellowship. This will be a great stepping-stone toward my goal of graduate school and a PhD. I would like to thank my mentor, Dr. Roux, for helping me through the application process and offering space and equipment with which to do my experiments, and Tom Risch, with whom I worked last summer. I’m honored to have been chosen, and I look forward to presenting my results at the ASPB conference next year.

Jamie Jackson, University of Arizona
Project: Characterization of Pollen Tube Repulsion In Vitro Using Arabidopsis Mutants
Mentor: Ravishankar Palanivelu

Thank you, ASPB, for recognizing my potential and enthusiasm by granting me a SURF award. I believe this fellowship will aid me in all of my academic research pursuits. I am honored to receive it and excited about my research this summer. I am also grateful to my mentor, Dr. Ravishankar Palanivelu, and to Yiding Huang for their help and support.

Jonathan McKenzie, Ohio University
Project: Colocalization of GPS 2 and PIN Proteins to Demonstrate Their Role in the Signal Transduction in Gravitropism
Mentor: Sarah Wyatt

Plants have been my passion since I was young. Being awarded the ASPB Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship gives me the pleasure of pursuing the subject I love. This is an invaluable opportunity for me to conduct research at an early stage on my path to becoming a plant molecular biologist. I am ecstatic and delighted at the prospect! I am grateful to ASPB and my mentor, Dr. Sarah Wyatt, who is a source of inspiration and a tireless wellspring of support in my development as a scientist.

Melanie Lloyd, University of Vermont
Project: Effects of the eve mutant on Medicago truncatula
Mentor: Jeanne M. Harris

I would like to thank ASPB for this gracious award. This is a unique opportunity to continue my research of nodulation in Medicago truncatula plants with Dr. Jeanne Harris. I am also eagerly anticipating the annual conference next summer to learn about what the other students have been working on. Thanks again.

Ludmila Rehak, Cornell University
Project: Investigation of the Mechanism by Which the Bioherbicide m-tyrosine Naturally Produced in Festuca Species Inhibits Plant Growth
Mentor: Georg Jander

I am thrilled to have been selected to receive an ASPB Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. I eagerly await the summer, during which I will be immersed in the research environment with the intention of contributing to our understanding of plant mechanisms. This opportunity represents the first exciting step into the scientific community. I am also grateful for all the help provided by my mentor, Dr. Georg Jander.

Artur Romanchuk, The College of New Jersey
Project: Variation Among Native and Non-Native Broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus L.) Populations in Disease, Physiology, and Growth
Mentor: Janet Morrison

I am very happy to be selected as a part of the SURF program this year. This is very exciting for me, because I can finally devote myself to full-time research and learn what it is really like to be a biologist. It is very nice to be chosen by ASPB, especially at this early stage in my scientific career, and I can be certain that it would not be possible without the exceptional guidance of my mentor, Dr. Janet Morrison. I have always been interested in biology and especially interactions between different but closely associated organisms, a subject which, thanks to ASPB, I can delve deeply into this summer. I cannot wait to begin my work this summer and hope that it will aid me in my development as a person as well as a scientist.

Jacob Snelling, Colorado State University
Project: Evaluation of Oxalate Oxidase Activity in Oryza sativa
Mentor: Jan E. Leach

Fond greetings and my sincerest gratitude to ASPB for this fine opportunity to learn; the practical application of knowledge is an invaluable experience that cannot be duplicated by reading a book. Growing up in the Mississippi River Valley, I’ve seen my share of agricultural strife. The hard work involved in providing food, fuel, and clothing for the masses has been a huge inspiration for my studies. I hope my work will contribute to these laborious endeavors, leading to higher quality and yield of crop plants. My past and future aspirations are only realized by the help and guidance of my amazing wife, family, and the fount of knowledge that is collectively my lab mentors and companions. I thank them all wholeheartedly.

Andrew Collins-Hed, Pennsylvania State University
Project: Manipulation of Amino Acid Composition in Tomato Fruit by Enzyme Modification
Mentor: Michael Campbell

I am most thankful for the SURF grant from ASPB. It will allow me to finish my research with tomato fruits and publish my work before I receive my B.S. I know it will open many doors for graduate schools and help me further my career in biological research. Again I thank ASPB, and I am excited to be at the conferences in Boston and Chicago.

Michael Galante, Canisius College
Project: Determination of steroid structure that facilitates enhanced electron transport rates at reduced environmental temperatures in transgenic tobacco
Mentor: Robert Grebenok

Thank you very much to ASPB for selecting me for SURF. The generous funding will allow me the opportunity to spend the time that I had hoped for to continue my research this summer. I would also like to thank Dr. Grebenok for mentoring me through the process. I look forward to Boston this summer and presenting the fruits of my grant work in Chicago.

Janina Mobach, King’s University College
Project: A Retrobiosynthetic Approach to Generate a Flux Map of Non-Photosynthetic Carbon Metabolism in the Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii on the Basis of ¹³C-glucose Labeling Experiments
Mentor: Hank D. Bestman

I thank ASPB for awarding me a SURF for the summer of 2006. It is truly a privilege to be provided with this incredible opportunity to expand my love for learning. I look forward to exploring the research areas this fellowship will present to me. Scientific research fascinates me, and I hope to continue to expand my knowledge of plant biology.

ASPB Education Forum (continued): ASPB Members Bring Plant Science to AAA's Family Science Days