#  2023 REU Participants, Mentors and Projects 

 



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##  2023 REU Participants, Mentors and Projects 

Sort   ![Woman with long dark hair standing in front of a flowering tree](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/isabel_carino-bazan_2023.jpeg?itok=JvFkCUF6) 

 

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**Isabel Carino-Bazan**  
**Lehigh University**

**Faculty mentor:** Hopi Hoekstra (OEB)  
**Project:** Exploring the Genetic Basis of Tan Streak Mutation in Deer Mice

   ![Person in a gray fleece sitting on top of a hill](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/teo_cooper__2023.jpg?itok=weeLvRvQ) 

 

### **Teo Cooper**  
**Pitzer College**

**Faculty mentor:** Elena Kramer (OEB)  
**Project:** Behind the Curve: An Evolutionary and Genetic Analysis of Spur Shape in *Aquilegia*

   ![Man wearing a suit and tie standing in front of a house](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/martin_fernandez_2023.png?itok=WYrHhS2a) 

 

### **Martin Fernandez**  
**Syracuse University**

**Faculty mentor:** Javier Ortega-Hernandez (OEB)  
**Project:** Hydrodynamics of Radiocont Carapaces



   ![Man wearing a blue shirt in front of a poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/mataeus_funderburk_2023.jpg?itok=dyKBDphU) 

 

### **Mataeus Funderburk**  
**North Carolina State University, Raleigh**

**Faculty mentor:** Naomi Pierce (OEB)  
**Project:** The Tracks of My Research: Biodiversity of Early Tetrapods in the Carboniferous Upland



   ![Woman with long dark hair standing in front of a tree](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/dakota_law_2023.jpg?itok=6PA4cry0) 

 

### **Dakota Law**  
**Smith College**

**Faculty mentor:** George Lauder (OEB)  
**Project:** Hydrodynamic Function of Shark Skin Scales



   ![Woman with long dark hair standing in front of a tree](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/traysea_malama-auger_2023.jpg?itok=SacDVQzj) 

 

### **Traysea Nycole Malama-Auger**  
**Florida State University**

**Faculty mentor:** Scott Edwards (OEB)  
**Project:** Eye Spy: Investigating the Evolutionary Drivers of Iris Coloration in Manakins (Pipridae)



   ![Woman with red hair and white top standing in front of a wall](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/ivanellys_medina-tirado_2023.jpeg?itok=LpQZWu24) 

 

### **Ivanellys Medina Tirado**  
**University of Puerto Rico, Humacao**

**Faculty mentor:** Charles Davis (OEB)  
**Project:** Investigating the Microbial Diversity Within the Tropical Plant Family Malpighiaceae



   ![Woman in a green sweatshirt standing in front of a tree](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/lauren_merrill_2023.jpeg?itok=M9ILo9pe) 

 

### **Lauren Merrill**  
**Belmont University**

**Faculty mentor:** James Mallet (OEB)  
**Project:** Moth Madness: Monitoring Biodiversity in Urban Habitat Fragments



   ![Man with curly hair and glasses wearing a tan suit standing outside](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/jonathan_sarasa_2023.jpg?itok=JY_TG-qH) 

 

### **Jonathan Sarasa**  
**University of Michigan, Ann Arbor**

**Faculty mentor:** Terry Capellini (HEB)  
**Project:** Lions & Sea Lions & Bears, Oh My: Utilizing Museum Specimens to Study Ossification Sequence of Carnivoran Taxa



   ![Man with dark hair standing in front of a wall](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/grant_wass_2023.jpeg?itok=FJEWZVX3) 

 

###   
**Grant Wass**  
**Palomar College**

**Faculty mentor:** Gonzalo Giribet (OEB)  
**Project:** Thinking of *Thrasychirus*: Evolutionary and Phylogenetic Analysis of South American Long-Legged Harvesters (Ararhnida, Opiliones, Neopilionidae)