All biology students must complete a senior project (experiential, written, and oral). Students should begin considering possible topics early and begin preliminary readings even before consulting with their advisor. Additionally, all juniors must take Research Methods (BIOL 379) and Biostatistics (BIOL 380) during the junior year, and then one to three units of Senior Project (BIOL 499A/BIOL 499B) each semester of the senior year.
Guidelines and style suggestions for the thesis are found on pages 13-17 of the Biology Handbook. These guidelines must be followed carefully, or the thesis will not be approved. The final project must be approved by the faculty member who has agreed to serve as your project advisor, as well as by the Department Chair. You will also be expected to make an oral presentation of the results of your research during a Science Seminar session.
Senior Projects:
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology – Pablo Weaver, Ph.D.
- Evolution in extreme environments.
- Plant Development – Stacey Darling-Novak, Ph.D.
- Study the potential role of bacterial endophytes in germination and seedling establishment.
- Behavioral Ecology and Conservation – Jennifer Clarke, Ph.D.
- Effects of Moonlight and Light Pollution on Mammal Activity, communication in Elk, and other similar studies.
- Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals – Christine Broussard, Ph.D.
- Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, T Cell Developments, Developmental Immunotoxicology, and STEM Education Reform.
- Environmental Microbiology – Todd Lorenz, Ph.D.
- Phage Hunting in Uncharted Microbial Territories, Rhizosphere, Endosphere, Phyllosphere Bacteria, and Unveiling the Diversity of Bacterial Bioaerosols.
- Physiological Biochemistry – Jerome Garcia, Ph.D.
- Aging Model, Lipoic Acid Model, Alzheimer’s Disease Model, and Mitochondrial Dynamics Fish Model.
- Computational Biology – Tatiana Tatarinova, Ph.D.
- Ancient DNA Analysis, Plant and Bacterial Genomics, Dog and Cat DNA Analysis, and Modern Human DNA Analysis
- Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology – Victor Carmona, Ph.D.
- The Carmona Lab focuses on the ecology of interspecific interactions, examining how these interactions vary with respect to local biotic and abiotic environments.