Prairies once constituted a large portion of midwestern ecosystems and the North American landscape in general, until European settlers altered the land use. Now, 99% of prairies east of the Missouri River have been lost. Prairie restorations often produce more complex ecosystems than the sites they began on, but they lack the plant diversity found […]
B06: Testing Hybridization Potential for Three Novel Crosses of Papaya Wild Relatives
McKenna Oyer, Richard Moore, Ph.D., Department of Biology
B07: Understanding Novelty Through Intraspecific and Intrageneric Transcriptomic Comparisons Within Mimulus
William Payton, Deannah Neupert, Richard Moore, Ph.D., Department of Biology
C14: Floral Color Change as a Signal of Fertility in Vasconcellea parviflora
Angelica Vasilatos, Richard Moore, Department of Biology Ethan Grant, Department of Biology
C70: Effects of Invasive Amur Honeysuckle on Spring Wildflowers
While Honeysuckle has already been shown to have detrimental effects on local species, such as in Miller and Gorchov’s study (2004), this on-going research* seeks to look at what impact honeysuckle has on the emergence and blooming of spring flowers. To do this, three sites in Miami University’s Western Woods were set up, each site […]
C41: Inquires into Natural History and Colonial Persistence
Many natural history institutions built their collections by taking scientific specimens while on colonial expeditions, and the implementation of human culture or specimens rarely took consent of the parties involved into account. On a study abroad trip to London, England in January of 2024, I examined a few examples of colonial expeditions, racist rhetoric, and […]
CSIV-02: A Study of the Effects of Light Intensity on Plant Architecture and Reproductive Potential in Mimulus gemmiparus
The size of a population and its diversity are important aspects of a healthy population. The critically imperiled species Mimulus gemmiparus reproduces asexually by mode of the bulbil, a novel structure that is a combination of an axillary meristem and leaf not found in its sister species, Mimulus guttatus. Asexual reproduction may lead to decreased […]
A04: Differential Expression of Cysteine Proteases in Carica papaya
Papain-Like Cysteine Proteases (PLCPs) are a family of protein degrading enzymes with similar structures and functions, thirty-three of which are found in Carica papaya (C. papaya). Papain, the namesake of the enzyme family, is extensively used in industry and harvested from the latex of un-ripened C. papaya fruits. In addition to its industrial importance, papain, […]
A05: Distinguishing Species-Specific Pollen Differences in Genus Vasconcellea of the Papaya Family
Palynology, or the study of pollen/spores is a functional field that informs physical and evolutionary relationships of plants. This field helps augment historical, archeological, and environmental studies dealing with plant identification based on pollen morphology and can infer global plant diversity and evolutionary patterns in pollen and pollen/pollinator interactions. Previous work on pollen morphology in […]
C18: Effects of Invasive Amur Honeysuckle on Spring Wildflowers
Invasive species, those being species that spread and thrive when outside of their native habitat, are a big issue in wildlife areas today. Amur honeysuckle, the focus of my research, is a particular problem in the Eastern United States. Compared to most native plants, Honeysuckle will leaf out sooner and keep leaves longer into the […]