The Departmental Research Atmosphere. At Loyola University biology majors take a required research course during their sophomore or junior year. During the course all students are required to develop a "realistic" research proposal, usually in association with a faculty researcher, and committed student researchers are channeled into faculty-directed research. During their senior year, student researchers who complete their projects present their results at the department's Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and write a paper in a publication format. Many students present their data at regional or national meetings or at Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society conventions.

The Research Laboratory. Undergraduate researchers in my laboratory are actively involved throughout their tenure in the laboratory. Students interested in research are asked to demonstrate a research commitment by working in the lab on a weekly basis and by attending lab meetings, before any course credit is given. All students are expected to submit research proposals to any of the various sources that support undergraduate research (e.g. Sigma Xi, Louisiana Heart Association, Loyola Student Government Association, Beta Beta Beta). Lab meetings are held bi-weekly and students discuss their results, read papers relevant to their own research, and coordinate laboratory activities. As a result, students learn to treat each other as colleagues by demonstrating techniques to each other, exchanging ideas, and stimulating each other intellectually.

Because of Loyola's commitment to undergraduate research, I was asked to join 12 other co-PIs from Louisiana State University and Southwestern Louisiana University in a research cluster funded from 1992-96 by an NSF EPSCoR/LaSER Grant titled "Development of an Interdisciplinary Center in Molecular Evolution". As part of the cluster, Loyola students visited other laboratories in the group. Additionally, because my research program involves both laboratory and field investigations, and because I do some collaborative research at the USDA regional research lab in New Orleans and at Tulane University, students in my laboratory are exposed to a wide variety of research activities. The result is a broad-based research experience and a very positive laboratory esprit de corps that has resulted in research publications with undergraduate coauthors.

Supervised Undergraduate Student Research. The following includes oral presentations and posters presented at meetings as well as dollar amounts of extramural research funding or fellowships awarded to the student. All funds are from the Louisiana Heart Association unless stated otherwise. Student co-authors on published papers are listed in the "Publications" section above.

Abbene, Michele L. 2003-2005. A preliminary assessment of the pH status of Mill Pond, Long Island, New York.

Bucolo, Anthony Philip. 2001-2003. A preliminary investigation using counts of live and dead cells to assess salinity stress in water column algae of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin.

• Poster presentation at the 17th Bienial Conference of the Estuarine Research Federation. Sept. 14-18, 2003, titled “The influence of fluctuating salinity on phytoplankton assemblages in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin”.

• $1175 from a Richard Frank Grant from the Loyola Student Government Association to support honors thesis research.

James, Alicia M. 2001-2003. Investigations of palmelloid stage formation in the life history of Synura and Mallomonas.(Synurophyceae).

• $1246 from a Richard Frank Grant from the Loyola Student Government Association to support the honors thesis research.

Alane Furlotte 1996-98. An investigation the Synurophycean flora of southeastern Australia.

• Poster paper presentation. A survey of Synurophyceae from southeast Australia. 14th North American Diatom Symposium, The University of Michigan Biological Station, Pellston, Michigan, September, 1997. (coauthored with Ferguson, J.A. and Wee, J.L., A. Furlotte presented)

William Starks 1996-98. Phylogenetic relationships in the series Spinosae (Synura) based upon scale morphology and nucleotide sequences from the ITS/5.8S region.

• Published abstract and oral paper presentation. "Phylogenetic analyses of Synura, section Synura (Synurophyceae) using ITS/5.8s sequences and scale morphology" 48th Annual Meeting of the Botanical Society of America (phycology section), Montreal, Canada, August, 1997. (coauthored with David Hurley, Airlie Sattler & James Wee). Amer. J. Bot. suppl. 84: 154.

• Published Abstract and coauthor on poster paper. Wee, J.L., Sattler, A., Starks, W.W*., Dunne, L.A.* and Hurley, D.L. 1997. Phylogenetic analyses of selected synurophyceae using ITS/5.8s sequences and developmentally-based, scale morphology. Phycologia suppl. 36: 121-122

Dunne, Lori 1994-97. Phylogenetic analyses of selected members of the Synura petersenii species complex (Synurophyceae) using ITS/5.8s sequences and scale morphology.

• Oral paper presentation.14th North American Diatom Symposium, The University of Michigan Biological Station, Pellston, Michigan, September, 1997. "Phylogenetic analyses of selected members of the Synura petersenii species complex (Synurophyceae) using ITS/5.8S sequences and scale morphology". (coauthored with David Hurley, Airlie Sattler, & James Wee, Lori Dunne presented).
• Published abstract and oral paper presentations. "Phylogenetic analyses of selected members of the Synura petersenii species complex (Synurophyceae) using ITS/5.8s sequences and scale morphology", 48th Annual Meeting of the Botanical Society of America (phycology section), Montreal, Canada, August, 1997. (coauthored with David Hurley, Airlie Sattler & James Wee). Amer. J. Bot. suppl. 84: 152.
• Published Abstract and coauthor on poster paper. Wee, J.L., Sattler, A., Starks, W.W., Dunne, L.A. and Hurley, D.L. 1997. "Phylogenetic analyses of selected Synurophyceae using its/5.8s sequences and developmentally-based, scale morphology". Phycologia suppl. 36: 121-122
• Oral presentation. "Intraspecific variation in ITS DNA sequences among populations of the golden flagellate Synura petersenii ", at the National Council on Undergraduate Research 1996 Annual Meeting, April 17-20, 1996. Ashville, N.C.
• $4150, 1995 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Fellowship from the Council on Undergraduate Research, includes a stipend, living expenses and travel to a meeting to exchange information with other CUR research fellows.
• Full scholarship (i.e. travel, room, board, books) to attend a workshop, "DNA Technology III: Sequencing", August 8-12, 1994, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley CO.

Nguyen, Kim 1993-95. Use of the nuclear ribosomal RNA ITS region for comparing various taxa of Synurophyceae. (Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research, $450).

• Oral paper presentation, "A phylogenetic analysis of four species of Synurophyceae inferred from ITS 1 & 2 and 5.8S DNA sequences", at the Beta Beta Beta S.E. Regional 1995 Annual Meeting, April 19-22, Knoxville, TN.
• Published abstract and poster paper presentation. Nguyen, K.*, Hurley, D.L., Kores, P. and Wee, J.L. 1995. A phylogenetic analysis of four species of Synurophyceae inferred from ITS 1 & 2 and 5.8S DNA sequences. J. Phycol. suppl. 31: 8.

Hinchey, Jeanette 1992-94. Development of molecular procedures for strain identification of the toxin producing dinoflagellate Gymnodinium breve. ($775).

• Published abstract and poster paper presentation. Hinchey, J.M.*, Hurley, D.L. and Wee, J.L. 1995. "Assessing phylogenetic relationships of chlorophyll a,c-containing algae with a 738 bp PCR product from psbA". J. Phycol. suppl. 31:7.

Loomis, Tiffany 1992-94. Synurophycean Species from Bayou LaComb, A Naturally Occurring pH Gradient. ($631).

Murray, Timothy 1992-94. Physical Mapping and Cloning Experiments of Chloroplast DNA from Synurophycean Algae. ($750).

Bodet, Valerie C. 1991-93. A preliminary restriction endonuclease map of the chloroplast DNA from Synura petersenii. ($601).

• Presented oral paper with co-author Christopher Danner, "Isolation and characterization of organellar genomes from Synurophycean algae" at the Beta Beta Beta S.E. Regional 1993 Annual Meeting, April 17, Virginia Beach, VA.

Danner, Christopher J. 1991-93. Variation in genome size and RFLPs among organellar DNAs of the Synurophyceae ($775).

Hellner, Clay F. Jr. 1991-93. A survey of Synurophyceae from habitats above 25o C. ($945, Richard Frank Grant, Loyola Student Government Association; $ 630 with LA Heart Association).

Bafford, Richard A. 1991-92. A genetic population study of the Lemnaceae. ($769) (coadvisor with Don Hauber).

Seoane, Leonardo 1989-91. A preliminary study of restriction fragment length polymorphisms of chloroplast DNA in the algal genus Synura. ($511).

Booth, Dennis J. 1989-91. Occurrences of silica-scaled chromophytes in S.E. Louisiana: the genus Synura ($497, shared with M. Bossier).

Bossier, Michael A. 1989-91. Occurrences of silica-scaled chromophytes in S.E. Louisiana: the genus Mallomonas ($497, shared with D. Booth).

Alqueza, Maya B. 1995-96. Assessing bio-optical characteristics of potential "biomarkers" of microaglae (Dr. David Millie, USDA-ARS-SRRC)

Larroque, Michele 1994-96. Sequence comparisons of ITS rDNA in a sibling species group of Orthopodomyia. (Dr. Dawn Wesson, Tulane University Medical School, Department of Tropical Medicine).

Nowling, Jena 1994-96. Generation of cosmid clones containing the human cell surface receptor for human T-lymphotrophic virus type 1. (Dr. Marion Friedstadt, LSU Medical School, Department of Microbiology).

Dean, Anna M. 1993-94. Differential splicing of human xanthine oxidase primer extension of human liver mRNA. (Richard M Wright, Webb-Waring Lung Institute, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center)

France, Kristen M. 1992-93. Studies of auditory brainstem neurons: effects of congenital deafness. (John K. Niparko, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland).

Auzine, Don 1992-93. Effect of DuP 532 on angiotensin responses in the hind limb of the cat. (Suzette Osei, Tulane University Medical School, Department of Pharmacology)

Edupaganti, Hema 1992-93. Effect of enalapril on angiotensin responses in the hind limb vascular bed of the cat. (Suzette Osei, Tulane University Medical School, Department of Pharmacology)

Bafford, Richard A. 1991-92. Intracellular localization of biometabolites and photosynthetic enzymes in algae using immunohistochemical techniques. (David Millie and Robert Seagull, USDA-ARS- SRRC).

Smith, James P. 1991-92. Production of trans-2, cis-6-nonadienal in the genus Synura. (David Millie and Christopher Dionigi, SRRC)

Deiparine, Erwin J. 1988-90. A morphological study of Aspergillus section Versicolores. (Maren Klich, SRRC)

Wauguespack, Steve 1988-90. The regulation of T-Cell function by transforming growth factor beta. (Lee Henderson, Tulane University Medical School, Department of Microbiology).

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