Summer Science 2006

Gambier, Ohio (June 12, 2006) Science students at Kenyon don't simply read textbooks and take classes. They "do" science: hands-on, in the lab. And among the most intensive "doers" are the Summer Science Scholars, who stay on campus through the summer months to tackle ambitious research projects in close collaboration with faculty members.

The 32 participants in the 2006 Summer Science Scholars program will carry out research projects in anthropology, biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and psychology. A fellowship award of $3,000 supports each of the students, who take their projects from the planning stage, through experimentation, to the preparation of results for publication or presentation.

This summer's projects include:

Anthropology

Experimental investigations of Maya stone tool use

El Cafetal and La Sierra: A comparative analysis of data collected from two mid-sized western Honduran Mayan centers

Biology

Sarcoplasmic calcium-binding protein in Procambarus clarkii

The intraspecific relationship between body size and metabolism: a comparison between wild-type and lab reared populations of Manduca sexta

Hydrogenases and pH stress response in E.coli

Decomposition and carbon cycling in natural and created wetlands

Cloning and expression analysis of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor sequences in the frog Xenopus laevis

Determining functional differences between aryl hydrocarbon receptor paralogs (AHRα and AHR1β) in Xenopus laevis

Expression analysis of TCDD-regulated target genes in Xenopus laevis embryos

Comparing oxidative damage in red blood cells of male and female Leach's storm petrels

A study of the immune system/fecundity tradeoff in short-lived versus long-lived birds

Sex-specific reproductive effort in a long-lived seabird, Leach's storm-petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa)

Characterizing the functional diversity of a secondary forest community

Chemistry

Methodology: hydroboration amination to yield alkylamines

Olfactory driven speciation of the obligatorily dependant butterfly Jalmenus evagoras

Characterizing the binding properties of PBPLma

Reductive aminations of 2-(2-aminoethylamino)ethanol

Mathematics

Low density parity check codes part II

Perfect numbers and the abundancy ratio

Design and modeling of metabolic scaling for Manduca sexta

Solving the Cahn-Hilliard equation on random grids

Physics

Investigation of an anomalous force in confined colloid interactions using computer modeling techniques

Fabrication and characterization of periodic mesoporous films

Studying classical entanglement

Phase transition phenomena in the dynamics of interacting boolean networks

Psychology

Ethological measures and 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations as valid measures of anxiety and sex-differences in GABA _A Anxiolytic and anxiogenic drug effects

Examining the conspecific audience effect in 22-kHz ultrasonic distress vocalizations in rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Inter-drug associations and the conditioning model of drug tolerance

The effects of pre-test amphetamine or glucose on forgetting due to chronic Haloperidol administration

Self-objectification, body image, and female athletes

The role of experience and cognitive ability in second language reading comprehension of college students

Effects of religion upon environmental concern: A study of attitudes and behaviors