RISEbio is a National Science Foundation funded scholarship program that bridges social integration, vertical mentoring, and an authentic research experience to enhance student academic success. RISEbio gives entering freshman interested in pursuing a degree in biology the opportunity to engage in real-world research with faculty and graduate students. Several research streams are currently available:
Biochemistry
This group is working on several different projects in biochemistry including proteoglycan regulation, muscle protein function, and vitamin A regulation. This stream is led by Dr. Samantha Katner.
Brain and Behavior
This group is working to identify novel genes expressed in the brain that control reproductive and aggressive behaviors. We study the seasonally breeding green anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis), which displays reproductive and aggressive behaviors only during the breeding season. This stream is lead by Dr. Rachel Cohen.
Plants and Environmental Stress
Plants have to be resilient to a wide range of conditions given that they cannot move! This stream is focused on identifying functional traits that enable a plant to survive drought, heat and other environmental stresses. In this stream, students learn to measure traits like leaf chemistry and morphology, as well as how to profile species environmental conditions using plant occurrence records and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping. This stream is lead by Dr. Matthew Kaproth.
Bacteria and Disease
This group is working to determine how Flavobacterium psychrophilum causes bacterial cold-water disease (BCWD) in salmonid fishes including rainbow trout. Genetic manipulation techniques are used to delete the virulence genes in F. psychrophilum. The mutants with weakened virulence will be developed as vaccines to prevent BCWD. This stream is lead by Dr. Yongtao Zhu.
Cancer and Immunity
This group is working to determine the mechanisms by which host immune proteins that mutagenize viral DNA are kept from damaging cellular genomic DNA. This stream is lead by Dr. Allison Land.
