Wesleyan Graduate Students Excel

Grants, Honors, and Awards

Kopac, Sarah (Ph.D. student). 2011: Awarded a $20,000 graduate fellowship from the Connecticut Space Grant, funded by NASA.

Kopac, Sarah (Ph.D. student). 2011: Awarded a travel grant to present her poster at the 2011 meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in New Orleans.

Mason, Peri (Ph.D. student). National Science Foundation. DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The role of toxin complementation in herbivore defense. NSF DEB 1011503. ($10,000). With Professor Michael Singer.

Tulenko, Frank (Ph.D. student). 2010: Sigma Xi Grant in Aid of Research. A Lineage Analysis of Somitic and Lateral Mesoderm in Lamprey: Implications for the Origin of Paired Appendages.

Tulenko, Frank (Ph.D. student). 2010: NSF Travel Award for presenting "Investigating the Lateral Somitic Frontier in Lamprey: Implications for the Origin of Paired Appendages" at the Ninth International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

Tulenko, Frank (Ph.D. student). 2009: Best Student Oral Presentation for "Body Wall Formation in Lamprey." Society for Comparative and Integrative Biology, Division of Developmental and Evolutionary Biology. Boston, Mass.

Tulenko, Frank (Ph.D. student). 2008: NSF EAPSI Grant. Investigating Body Wall Formation in the Japanese River Lamprey, Lethenteron japonicum.

Publications

2012:

Herman, J.J., S.E. Sultan, T. Horgan-Kobelski, and C. Riggs. (2012).  Adaptive Transgenerational Plasticity in an Annual Plant: Grandparental and Parental Drought Stress Enhance Performance of Seedlings in Dry Soil. Integrative and Comparative Biology 52(1): 77-88.

2011:

Briggs SW, Walker JD, Asik K, Lombroso PL, Naegele JR, Aaron G. STEP regulation of seizure thresholds in the hippocampus. Epilepsia 52: 497–506, 2011

Cohan, F. M. & Kopac, S. M. (2011). Microbial genomics: E. coli relatives out of doors and out of body. Curr Biol 21, R587-589.

Germain, N., Hartman, N; Cai, C., Becker S., Naegele, J., and Grabel, L. (2011). Teratocarcinoma formation in embryonic stem cell-derived neural progenitor (ESNP) hippocampal transplants. In Press Cell Transplantation.

Herman J.J. and Sultan S.E. (2011) Adaptive transgenerational plasticity in plants: case studies, mechanisms, and implications for natural populations. Frontiers in Plant Genetics and Genomics. 2:102. doi:10.3389/fpls.2011.00102.

Kopac, S. & Cohan, F. M. (2011). A theory-based pragmatism for discovering and classifying newly divergent bacterial species. In Genetics and Evolution of Infectious Diseases, pp. 21-41. Edited by M. Tibayrenc. London: Elsevier.

Mason, P.A., S.R. Wilkes, J.T. Lill, and M.S. Singer. (2011). Abundance trumps quality: bi-trophic performance and parasitism risk fail to explain host use in the fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea, Arctiidae). Oikos 120(10):1509-1518.

Shearman R.M, Tulenko F.J., Burke A.C. (2011). 3D reconstructions of quail-chick chimeras provide a new fate map of the avian scapula. Developmental Biology, in press.

Smilanich, A.M., P.A. Mason, L. Sprung, T.R. Chase, and M.S. Singer. (2011). Complex effects of parasitoids on pharmacophagy and diet choice of a polyphagous caterpillar.Oecologia 165: 995-1005.

Wiedenbeck, J. & Cohan, F. M. (2011). Origins of bacterial diversity through horizontal gene transfer and adaptation to new ecological niches. FEMS Microbiology Reviews 35, 957-976.

Maisano X, Litvina E, Tagliatela S, Aaron G, Grabel L, Naegele JR.  Differentiation and Functional Incorporation of Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived GABAergic Interneurons in the Dentate Gyrus of Mice with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.  Journal of Neuroscience, in press.

2010:

Germain N, Banda E, Grabel L. (2010). Embryonic stem cell neurogenesis and neural specification. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry 111(3):535-42.

Hartman, N., Grabel, L., and Naegele, J (2010) Migration of transplanted neural stem cells in experimental models of neurodegenerative diseases. In: Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine. Springer/Humana Press. In press.

Hartman, N., Carpentino, J., LaMonica, K., Mor, D., Naegele, J., and Grabel, L. (2010). CXCL12-Mediated Guidance of Migrating Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Neural Progenitors Transplanted into the Hippocampus. PLoS ONE, 5(12): e15856.

2009:

LaMonica K, Bass M, Grabel L. (2009). The planar cell polarity pathway directs parietal endoderm migration. Developmental Biology.

LaMonica, K., and Grabel. L. (2009). The planar cell polarity pathway and parietal endoderm migration. To appear in “Planar Cell Polarity: Methods and Protocols. K. Turksen ed, Springer/Human Press.

Singer, M.S., K.C. Mace, and E.A. Bernays. (2009). Self-medication as adaptive plasticity: Increased ingestion of plant toxins by parasitized caterpillars. Public Library of Science ONE 4: e4796.

2008:

Cai C, Thorne J, Grabel L. (2008). Hedgehog serves as a mitogen and survival factor during embryonic stem cell neurogenesis. Stem Cells.

Carpentino JE, Hartman NW, Grabel LB, Naegele JR. (2008). Region-specific differentiation of embryonic stem cell-derived neural progenitor transplants into the adult mouse hippocampus following seizures. Journal of Neuroscience Research.

Hurley P, Pytte C., and JR Kirn (2008). Nest of origin predicts adult vocal control neuron addition rates in the zebra finch. Brain, Behavior & Evolution, 71:263-270.

2007:

Cai C, Grabel L. (2007). Directing the differentiation of embryonic stem cells to neural stem cells. Developmental Dynamics.

2006:

Hong T, Grabel LB. (2006). Migration of F9 parietal endoderm cells is regulated by the ERK pathway. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry.

Mills E, LaMonica K, Hong T, Pagliaruli T, Mulrooney J, Grabel L. (2005). Roles for Rho/ROCK and vinculin in parietal endoderm migration. Cell Communication and Adhesion.

Presentations and Posters

 Kopac, S., J. Wiedenbeck, M. Goodwyn, S. Aracena, M. Koren, J. Sherry, A. Rooney, and F. M. Cohan. Diversification of Bacillus subtilis ecotypes along a salinity gradient. Presented at the June 2011 meeting of the American Society for Microbiology and the July 2011 meeting of Gordon Research Conference on Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Kopac, S., J. Wiedenbeck, M. Goodwyn, S. Aracena, M. Koren, A. Rooney, and F. M. Cohan. Diversification of Bacillus ecotypes in desert rhizospheres. Presented at the August 2010 International Symposium of Microbial Ecology.

Wiedenbeck, J., Z.Wang, M. Wu, and F.M. Cohan. Genomic heterogeneity among extremely close relatives in Bacillus. Presented at the August 2010 International Symposium of Microbial Ecology.

Farkas, Tim (MA 09). Influence of host plant species identity on herbivore-parasitoid interactions: Disentangling trait-mediated from density-mediated effects. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM. 2009. With Professor Michael Singer.

Farkas, Tim (MA 09). Top-down impacts on insect herbivores: Bird and spider predation on temperate forest caterpillars. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, WI. 2008. With Professor Michael Singer.

Fournier, Claire (PhD student). Assessment of Protein Translation in Yeast through Amino Terminal Peptide Identification. ASMS 2011 Conference, Sanibel Florida

Fournier, Claire, (PhD student) Cherny, Justin (PhD student) and Truncali, K. Amino Termini of Many Yeast proteins Map to Downstream Start Codons. Wesleyan Biophysics Retreat. Sept. 2010.

Herman, Jacob (PhD student). Selected for participation in microMORPH, an NSF sponsored workshop on the microevolution of plant development. April 22-24, 2011. Boulder, CO. Oral presentation: Adaptive transgenerational plasticity persists over two generations in the generalist annual Polygonum persicaria.

Liu, Jiang (PhD student), Keily, Owen, Wes Fuhrman, John Kirn. The young and the restless: Preferential induction of gene expression by singing in adult-formed neurons added to a pre-motor vocal control regionSociety for Neuroscience 2007

Mace, Kevi (MA 08). Adaptive plasticity in the use of plant secondary chemicals: A woolly bear caterpillar self-medicates. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, WI. 2008. With Professor Michael Singer.

Mason, Peri. (2009). Geographic mosaic in host-plant use: Regional variability in host preference and tri-trophic performance of the fall webworm. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Albuquerque, NM. With Professor Michael Singer, Stephen Wilkes and John T. Lill.

Mason, Peri. (2010). Abundance trumps quality: Bi-trophic performance and parasitism risk fail to predict host use in the fall webworm. Society for the Study of Evolution Annual Meeting. Portland, OR. With Professor Michael Singer, Stephen Wilkes and John T. Lill.

Mason, Peri (PhD student). Ecological determinants of polyphagy by an insect herbivore (Hyphantria cunea, Arctiidae). Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, WI. 2008. With Professor Michael Singer.

McDonald, Kate and John Kirn. Anatomical correlates of adult song plasticity in the zebra finch. Poster. Society for Neuroscience 2009

McMichael, Collin (MA 10). Host-plant mediated effects on three larval lepidopteran immune systems. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Pittsburgh, PA. 2010. With Professor Michael Singer.

Miller, Kate (PhD Student), Michelle Tipton (PhD Student) and Barry Chernoff. The effect of dam removal on BMI and fish communities. Northeast Association of Environmental Biologists Annual Conference, March 2009. Poster.

Miller, Kate (PhD Student) and Barry Chernoff. Environmental conditions influencing the strucure and interactions of biological communities in CT streams. Ecological Society of America, Annual Conference August 2009, Riparian and Floodplain Habitats section. Poster.

Miller, Kate (PhD Student) and Barry Chernoff. Bat activity and the aquatic community in two Connecticut rivers. Connecticut Conference on Natural Resources, March 2010. Oral presentation.

Miller, Kate (PhD Student) and Barry Chernoff. Bat activity and the aquatic community. Ecological Society of America, Annual Conference August 2010, Aquatic Ecology: Streams and Rivers Section. Oral presentation.

Tipton, Michelle (PhD student) (2010). The Effects of Drought on Marcroinvertebrates and Fish in Connecticut Streams. Paper presented at the 34th Annual Meeting of the New England Association of Environmental Biologists.

Tipton, Michelle (PhD student), Phoebe Stonebraker, Sarah Gignoux-Wolfsohn and Barry Chernoff. 2010. Phylogeography of the Blacknose Dace, Rhinichthys atratulus, in the Connecticut and Adjacent River Basins. 2010. Speed Presentation & Poster at the Southern New England Chapter American Fisheries Society, Winter Meeting.

Tipton, Michelle (PhD student). 2010. Phylogeography of the Blacknose Dace, and complications with Rhinichthys obtusus. Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.

Miller, Kate (PhD student) , Michelle Tipton (PhD student) and Barry Chernoff. 2009. The Effects of Dam Removal on BMI and Fish Communities. 33rd Annual Meeting of the New England Association of Environmental Biologists.

Tipton, Michelle (PhD student), Phoebe Stonebraker, Sarah Gignoux-Wolfsohn and Barry Chernoff. 2009. Phylogeography of the Blacknose Dace, Rhinichthys atratulus, in the Connecticut and Adjacent River Basins. Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.

Tipton, Michelle (PhD student), Doug Carlson and Barry Chernoff. 2010. Eastern and Western Blacknose Dace Genetic Differences in New York Streams. New York Chapter American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting.

Wiedenbeck, Jane, M Wu, and F Cohan 2010. Genomic heterogeneity among extremely close relatives of Bacillus; POSTER: International Society of Microbial Ecology, Seattle, WA, (August, 2010)

Kopac, Sarah (PhD student), Wiedenbeck, Jane, A Dombroski, and F Cohan. 2010. Bacillus speciation in the rhizosphere; POSTER: Microbial Pathogenesis Retreat, Dartmouth University. (February, 2010).

Wiedenbeck, Jane, V Neino, S Allison, and A Martiny. 2010. Enzyme Activity in Coastal Marine Waters: response to temperature and metal ion availability; POSTER: American Geophysical Union Ocean Sciences Conference, Portland, OR, (February, 2010)

Classes and Travel

Mason, Peri. Student in the Organization for Tropical Studies Graduate Specialty Course, Ecology of Plant-Animal Interactions in the Tropics. La Selva Biological Station, 2010

Tulenko, Frank (PhD student) MBL Class:2009: Student in "Embryology: Concepts and Techniques in Modern Developmental Biology" at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Wood's Hole