#  2020 REU Participants, Mentors and Projects 

 



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##  2020 REU Participants, Mentors and Projects 

Sort     ![Woman in front of a tree](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/andrea_appleton_2020.jpeg?itok=XRavhc4T) 

 

### **Andrea Appleton**  
**Georgia Southern University**

**Faculty mentor:** Elena Kramer (OEB)  
**Grad student mentor:** Molly Edwards  
**Project:** Genetic architecture of inflorescence height in two species of Aquilegia (columbine) with contrasting ecologies



   ![Man wearing glasses sitting outside](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/bulent_furkan_atahan_2020.jpeg?itok=iCbO5roP) 

 

### **Furkan Atahan**  
**Worcester Polytechnic Institute** 

**Faculty mentor:** Gonzalo Giribet (OEB)  
**Grad student mentors:** Cody McCoy and Ben Goulet-Scott  
**Project:** City Trees: Legend, Myth, Opportunity



   ![Man standing outside in front of a house](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/david_breault_2020.jpg?itok=SYWGjnOr) 

 

### **David Breault**  
**Edinboro University of Pennsylvania**

**Faculty mentor:** Scott Edwards (OEB) and Jonathan Losos (Washington University)  
**Grad student mentor:** Sofia Prado-Irwin  
**Project:** Let’s get groovy! The evolution of costal grooves in salamanders



   ![Man with a beard wearing a black top](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/arthur_lynch_2020.jpeg?itok=JI4jRo1d) 

 

### **Arthur Lynch**  
**Dartmough College**

**Faculty mentor:** Javier Ortega-Hernández (OEB)  
**Grad student mentors:** Rudy Lerosey-Aubri and Stephen Pate   
**Project:** Using quantitative computational methods to analyse form and function of cephalic shield design in Ostracoderms (ancient jawless fish)



   ![Woman in a red top standing on a city street](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/urmila_mallick_2020.jpg?itok=dAVaTZ_E) 

 

### **Urmila Mallick**  
**Worcester Polytechnic Institute**

**Faculty mentor:** Colleen Cavanaugh (OEB)  
**Grad student mentor:** Daniel Utter  
**Project:** Bacterial Symbiosis in the Human Oral Microbiome: Combining Metagenomics and Transcriptomics to Identify the Ecology of TM7x in Health and Disease



   ![Woman standing in front of a poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/agnes_rios-delgado_2020.jpeg?itok=N8jexooO) 

 

### **Agnes Ríos**  
**University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras**

**Faculty mentor:** Ann Pearson (EPS)  
**Grad student mentor:** Ana Gonzalez-Nayeck  
**Project:** Analyzing the distribution and abundance of bicarbonate-utilizing carbon fixation pathways in Yellowstone National Park using metagenomics



   ![Woman standing outside](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/diana_velazquez_2020.jpeg?itok=lp0V58Cb) 

 

### **Diana Velazquez**  
**Northwestern University**

**Faculty mentor:** Ann Pearson (EPS)  
**Grad student mentor:** Ana Gonzalez-Nayeck  
**Project:** Carbon isotope ratios reflect the relative diversity of carbon metabolisms in hot springs Archaea