#  2024 REU Participant, Mentors and Projects 

 



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##  2024 REU Participants, Mentors and Projects 

Sort   ![Brandon Brooks-Patton REU 2024](/sites/g/files/omnuum6871/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/oeb-reu/files/brandon_brooks-patton.jpg?itok=UkDjJTDf) 

 

### **Brandon Brooks-Patton**  
**Northern Kentucky University**

**Faculty mentor:** Benjamin de Bivort (OEB)  
**Project:** Exploring individuality through variability in *Drosophila melanogaster's* thermal tolerance



   ![Rain Bugado REU 2024](/sites/g/files/omnuum6871/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/oeb-reu/files/rain_bugado_poster.jpg?itok=pcSSIkxG) 

 

### **Rain Bugado**  
**University of New Hampshire**

**Faculty mentor:** Charles Davis (OEB)  
**Project:** Conservation of the Brazilian *Campos Rupestres* under Climate Change Using the Iconic Plant Vellozia as a Model



   ![America Cox REU 2024](/sites/g/files/omnuum6871/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/oeb-reu/files/america_cox_poster.jpg?itok=GTnnU7Bf) 

 

### **America Cox**  
**University of Utah**

**Faculty mentor:** Carolyn Elya (OEB)  
**Project:** Do all zombies need brains? Impact of the blood-brain barrier on *Entomophthora muscae* presence, distribution and behavioral manipulation



   ![Megan Frisby REU 2024](/sites/g/files/omnuum6871/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/oeb-reu/files/megan_frisby_poster.jpg?itok=JQbHoeMJ) 

 

### **Megan Frisby**  
**Utah Valley University**

**Faculty mentor:** Don Pfister (OEB)  
**Project:** Resolving the taxonomy and systematics of *Coralloid thelephora* through microscopic and molecular techniques



   ![Vicente Ortega REU 2024](/sites/g/files/omnuum6871/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/oeb-reu/files/vincente_ortega_poster.jpg?itok=fyU4To25) 

 

### **Vicente Mora Ortega**  
**Carroll College**

**Faculty mentor:** Peter Girguis (OEB)  
**Project:** Animal and microbial adaptations to ocean acidification



   ![Nya Nicholson REU 2024](/sites/g/files/omnuum6871/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/oeb-reu/files/nya_nicholson_poster.jpg?itok=7JkAfWFG) 

 

### **Nya Nicholson**  
**Georgia State University**

**Faculty mentor:** N. Michele Holbrook (OEB)  
**Project:** Sweaty desert shrubs: Salt secretion mechanics of *Nolana molis*



   ![Lesley Rendon-Hernandez REU 2024](/sites/g/files/omnuum6871/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/oeb-reu/files/lesley_rendon-hernandez_poster.jpg?itok=gRNsZpwp) 

 

### **Lesley Rendon-Hernandez**  
**University of Connecticut**

**Faculty mentor:** Terry Capellini (HEB)  
**Project:** Are Neanderthals to blame for my osteoarthritis? Investigating the impact of introgressed variation on musculo/skeletal disease risk in modern humans



   ![Jorge Robles REU 2024](/sites/g/files/omnuum6871/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/oeb-reu/files/jorge_robles_poster.jpg?itok=s-7wEQ_2) 

 

### **Jorge Robles**  
**California State University, San Marcos**

**Faculty mentor:** Charles Davis (OEB)  
**Project:** Next-gen herbariomics: Leaf spectra to predict leaf traits and taxonomic identity of herbarium collections



   ![Solomon (Theo) Scheiner REU 2024](/sites/g/files/omnuum6871/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/oeb-reu/files/theo_scheiner_poster.jpg?itok=Za2U_fh3) 

 

### **Solomon (Theo) Scheiner**  
**SUNY Old Westbury**

**Faculty mentor:** Elena Kramer (OEB)  
**Project:** Bursting the Bubble: Expression Profiling of Novel Nectary Development in *Aquilegia*



   ![Atlas Seres REU 2024](/sites/g/files/omnuum6871/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/oeb-reu/files/atlas_seres_poster.jpg?itok=xtSoNRAX) 

 

### **Atlas Seres**  
**Bennington College**

**Faculty mentor:** Scott Edwards (OEB)  
**Project:** Genomic associations of brain size variation in shorebirds



   ![Michelle Tran REU 2024](/sites/g/files/omnuum6871/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/oeb-reu/files/michelle_tran_poster.jpg?itok=QYIPUCJ1) 

 

### **Michelle Tran**  
**Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angesles**

**Faculty mentor:** Scott Edwards (OEB)  
**Project:** Gene loss in the evolution of avian brood parasites



   ![Robert Wray REU 2024](/sites/g/files/omnuum6871/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/oeb-reu/files/robert_wray_poster.jpg?itok=brAIIpev) 

 

### **Robert Wray**  
**Southern Illinois University, Carbondale**

**Faculty mentor:** Erin Hecht (HEB)  
**Project:** Attachment in Golden Retrievers: A study in loneliness in our canine companions