BIO 392 - Senior Projects II homepage

Homepage for BIO 392 - Senior Projects II at Wilkes University

Course instructor: Dr. Kenneth M. Klemow

Announcements (last updated 1:30 P.M., 31 January 2021):

The first class of the semester will be held via Zoom. An invitation will be sent Sunday afternoon.
The second session will involve an assessment exam. Details will be provided in class.

Primary Course Objectives:

To serve as the second part of a capstone sequence for Senior Biology majors that will allow them to conduct an open-ended problem-based project, enabling them to integrate information gained during their careers at Wilkes, and discover something new to science. Students will communicate their new information orally, in poster format, and in writing.

Detailed Objectives:

By virtue of completing this course, students will:

Continue to work as a team under the direction of one or more faculty mentor(s) to carry out the study problem that was the subject of the proposal prepared for BIO 391.
Continue to identify and master existing literature that bears upon the problem.
Learn best practices relating to presenting research findings through different modes, including oral presentations, posters, and manuscripts.
Apply best practices to presentation of project findings by way of:

Three oral reports discussing the project: two being progress reports earlier in the semester, and the last being a summative report at the end of the semester.
A summative poster describing project findings, presented at Biology Research Night in late April.
A summative manuscript in the form of a journal article describing project findings. The first draft will be submitted in early April and reviewed. The final draft will be due at the end of the semester.

Important Consideration:

Many students enrolled in BIO 391 will likely present their findings at local, regional, national, or international conferences. Therefore, this course will help those students prepare effective posters or oral presentations for outside audiences.

Current Course Calendar

Week	Topic
1 Feb.	Course introduction
8 Feb.	Department assessment exam
15 Feb.	Team reports on status and plans for semester
22 Feb.	Team reports on status and plans for semester
1 Mar.	How to prepare an effective poster I
8 Mar.	How to prepare an effective poster II
15 Mar.	How to prepare an effective manuscript
22 Mar.	No class
29 Mar.	Student presentations: Progress report
5 Apr.	Student presentations: Progress report
12 Apr.	How to attend a scientific meeting (draft manuscript due 5:00 P.M. Essay 1, Essay 2, Essay 3, Essay 4
19 Apr.	No class
26 Apr.	Student presentations: Final semester report
3 May	Student presentations: Final semester report
4 May	Student presentations: Final semester report
5 May	Research night
10 May	Final manuscript due (5:00 P.M.)

This year's projects

Title	Mentor(s)	Students
Rodent mediated seed dispersal across an urban-rural gradient	Steele	D. Kriebel, G. Cadigan
Determination of sex based difference in resveratrol production from Japanese knotweed	Terzaghi, Klemow	A. Mikolon, A. Ford, M. Yatison, D. Pupaza
Hemiptera and Homoptera diversity in grasslands	Stratford, Fetcher	J. Walker
Impact of new antimicrobial chemistry on biofilm formation	Pidcock	M. Yucha, S. Velez
Correlation of clinical symptoms with biomarkers and neuronal loss in Alzheimer's model mice	Harms	M. Salmon, D. Parfianowitz, A. Piavis, and C. Musselman
Inflammation and angiogenesis in adipose tissues from Apc^Min mice fed with a Western diet	Gutierrez	C. Talpash, B. DeArmitt
Carbon dynamics in cool and warm season grasslands	Stratford / Fetcher	E. Rider, C. Shonk, T. Holleran
The effects of Thrombospondin-1 on the growth of tumor associated fibroblasts.	Gutierrez	J. Nicholoff, N. Hasuga, J. Parfianowitz
Effects of hydrogen peroxide on catalase levels in larval and adult polychaete Capitella teleta	Biggers	J. Overpeck, Y. Patel

This page posted and maintained by Kenneth M. Klemow, Ph.D., Biology Department, Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766. Phone: (570) 408-4758, FAX: (570) 408-7862, email: kenneth.klemow@wilkes.edu.