2023 REU Participants

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Samantha Bennett

Wartburg College, IA
PI: Brian Darby, Ph.D.
Project: Effects of the Conservation Reserve Program on Soil Microbial Functional Diversity and Richness

Derik Bull

Cankdeska Cikana Community College, ND
PI: Brent Voels, Ph.D.; Rebecca Simmons, Ph.D.
Project: Identification of Pollinators on the Tribal Lands of Spirit Lake Nation by DNA Sequencing of the Mitochondrial CO1 Gene

Trenton Chalmer

Cankdeska Cikana Community College United Tribes Technical College, ND
PI: Jeremy Guinn, Ph.D.; Rebecca Simmons, Ph.D.

Brian Dover

Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College, ND
PI: Kerry Hartman, Ph.D.; Rebecca Simmons, Ph.D.

WacantkiyaManiWin Eagle

Sitting Bull College, ND
PI: Mafany Mongoh, Ph.D.; Rebecca Simmons, Ph.D.

Roxanne Gasperetti

University of Wisconsin, Steven’s Point
PI: Vasyl Tkach, Ph.D.
Project: Wetland Management Practices Associated with Parasite Diversity

Tygre Griffin

Turtle Mountain Community College, ND
PI: Scott Hanson, Ph.D.; Rebecca Simmons, Ph.D.
Project: Wasps & Pollination

Tyra Jerome

Turtle Mountain Community College, ND
PI: Scott Hanson, Ph.D.; Rebecca Simmons, Ph.D.
Project: Bumble Bees of the Turtle Mountains

Ethan Johnson

University of North Dakota
PI: Aaron Mehus, Ph.D.; Sarmad Al-Marsoummi, Ph.D.; Scott Garrett, PhD;Seema Somji, Ph.D.
Project: Inhibition of SOX2 with Pevonedistate Upregulates Terminal Differentiation Markers KRT16 & ANXA1 in a Model of Metal Induced Bladder Cancer

Starla Littlewind

Cankdeska Cikana Community College, ND
PI: Brent Voels, Ph.D.; Rebecca Simmons, Ph.D.
Project: Identification of Pollinators on the Tribal Lands of Spirit Lake Nation by DNA Sequencing of the Mitochondrial CO1 Gene

Kimberly Matt

Salish Kootenai College, MT
PI: Clay Comstock, Ph.D.; Rebecca Simmons, Ph.D.
Project: Collection and DNA Analysis of Pollinators on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Western Montana

Aiyana Montclair

University of North Dakota
PI: Aaron Mehus, Ph.D.; Sarmad Al-Marsoummi, Ph.D.; Scott Garrett, PhD;Seema Somji, Ph.D.
Project: Treatment with Pevonedistat and cisplatin Upregulates the Expression of IVL, FLG, and KRT14 In the As3+ Transformed UROtsa Cell Line

Jasmine Orea

University of California, Merced
PI: Benjamin Roche, Ph.D.
Project: TRAP-seq: Developing a Method to Assess Translation in Quiescent Cells

Stephen Patten

University of Florida
PI: Motoki Takaku, Ph.D.
Project: The Role of GATA3 Mutation in Breast Cancer and its Interaction with PARP1 Inhibition

Kimberly Pleets

Sitting Bull College, ND
PI: Mafany Mongoh, Ph.D.; Rebecca Simmons, Ph.D.
Project:

Abbie Rehbein

University of Minnesota, Morris
PI: Rebecca Simmons, Ph.D.
Project: Sharing is caring: Pollinating flies discovered to contain similar gut microbiota as bees in the Northern Plains

Desmond Simms

Belhaven University, MS
PI: Aaron Mehus, Ph.D.; Sarmad Al-Marsoummi, Ph.D.; Scott Garrett, Ph.D.; Seema Somji, Ph.D.
Project: Effects of Hypoxic conditions on ESRP1, ESRP2, TNFA, and SRSF6 in the Kidney Cell Lines RPTEC;TERT1, HRTPT, and HREC24T

William Sutton

Middle Georgia State University, GA
PI: Brian Darby, Ph.D.
Project: Network Analysis of Soil Bacteria Associated with the Conservation Reserve Project (CRP)

Priscella Trottier

University of North Dakota
PI: Aaron Mehus, Ph.D.; Sarmad Al-Marsoummi, Ph.D.; Scott Garrett, Ph.D.; Seema Somji, Ph.D.
Project: The Effects of Hypoxia on Expression Levels of mTOR, EIF4EBP1, RICTOR, and RAPTOR in HRTPT progenitor, HREC24 non-progenitor, and RPTEC-TERT Kidney Cells

Zoe Von Holten

Middle Georgia State University, GA
PI: Vasyl V. Tkach, Ph.D.
Project: Parasites in a living fossil: helminths of bowfin Amia calva from Minnesota and Tennessee
Project: Improving diagnostics of Crassiphiala bulboglossa, the type-species of Crassiphiala and a common causative agent for black spot disease in fishes

Maggie Wurster

Salish Kootenai College, MT
PI: Lavinia Iancu, Ph.D.; Rebecca Simmons, Ph.D.
Project: Characterizing Necrophagous Insect Visitors and Their Gut Microbiomes