#  2024 REU Participants, Mentors and Projects 

 



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##  2024 REU Participants, Mentors and Projects 

Sort   ![Man standing in front of a science poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/brandon_brooks-patton_2024.jpg?itok=xw1dz697) 

 

### **Brandon Brooks-Patton**  
**Northern Kentucky University**

**Faculty mentor:** Benjamin de Bivort (OEB)  
**Project:** Exploring individuality through variability in *Drosophila melanogaster's* thermal tolerance

   ![Woman standing in front of a science poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/rain_bugado_2024.jpg?itok=ud30dpuR) 

 

### **Rain Bugado**  
**University of New Hampshire**

**Faculty mentor:** Charles Davis (OEB)  
**Project:** Conservation of the Brazilian *Campos Rupestres* under Climate Change Using the Iconic Plant Vellozia as a Model

   ![Woman standing in front of a science poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/america_cox_2024.jpg?itok=VXH9ibL9) 

 

### **America Cox**  
**University of Utah**

**Faculty mentor:** Carolyn Elya (OEB)  
**Project:** Do all zombies need brains? Impact of the blood-brain barrier on *Entomophthora muscae* presence, distribution and behavioral manipulation



   ![Woman standing in front of a science poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/megan_frisby_2024.jpg?itok=WYJQO-l0) 

 

### **Megan Frisby**  
**Utah Valley University**

**Faculty mentor:** Don Pfister (OEB)  
**Project:** Resolving the taxonomy and systematics of *Coralloid thelephora* through microscopic and molecular techniques



   ![Man standing in front of a science poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/vincente_ortega_2024.jpg?itok=VP2swm95) 

 

### **Vicente Mora Ortega**  
**Carroll College**

**Faculty mentor:** Peter Girguis (OEB)  
**Project:** Animal and microbial adaptations to ocean acidification



   ![Woman standing in front of a science poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/nya_nicholson_2024.jpg?itok=PmK-3tRm) 

 

### **Nya Nicholson**  
**Georgia State University**

**Faculty mentor:** N. Michele Holbrook (OEB)  
**Project:** Sweaty desert shrubs: Salt secretion mechanics of *Nolana molis*



   ![Woman standing in front of a science poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/lesley_rendon-hernandez_2024.jpg?itok=62QwKObd) 

 

### **Lesley Rendon-Hernandez**  
**University of Connecticut**

**Faculty mentor:** Terry Capellini (HEB)  
**Project:** Are Neanderthals to blame for my osteoarthritis? Investigating the impact of introgressed variation on musculo/skeletal disease risk in modern humans



   ![Man standing in front of a science poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/jorge_robles_2024.jpg?itok=v8LfDQ_9) 

 

### **Jorge Robles**  
**California State University, San Marcos**

**Faculty mentor:** Charles Davis (OEB)  
**Project:** Next-gen herbariomics: Leaf spectra to predict leaf traits and taxonomic identity of herbarium collections



   ![Person standing in front of a science poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/theo_scheiner_2024.jpg?itok=EowxtvYT) 

 

### **Solomon (Theo) Scheiner**  
**SUNY Old Westbury**

**Faculty mentor:** Elena Kramer (OEB)  
**Project:** Bursting the Bubble: Expression Profiling of Novel Nectary Development in *Aquilegia*



   ![Person standing in front of a science poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/atlas_seres_2024.jpg?itok=X9BqNNgP) 

 

### **Atlas Seres**  
**Bennington College**

**Faculty mentor:** Scott Edwards (OEB)  
**Project:** Genomic associations of brain size variation in shorebirds



   ![Woman standing in front of a science poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/michelle_tran_2024.jpg?itok=gp3xNLwy) 

 

### **Michelle Tran**  
**Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angesles**

**Faculty mentor:** Scott Edwards (OEB)  
**Project:** Gene loss in the evolution of avian brood parasites



   ![Man standing in front of a science poster](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/robert_wray_2024.jpg?itok=ttVxmwP8) 

 

### **Robert Wray**  
**Southern Illinois University, Carbondale**

**Faculty mentor:** Erin Hecht (HEB)  
**Project:** Attachment in Golden Retrievers: A study in loneliness in our canine companions