Emily Chan

Under the Biological Species Concept, species are defined by the presence of interspecific reproductive isolation, and under this model, both pre-zygotic and post-zygotic reproductive barriers are important in preventing gene flow between populations to drive speciation. My project focuses on pre-zygotic reproductive isolation in the form of courtship songs. In Drosophila athabasca, females from one population are less receptive to the courtship song of males from other populations. I plan to hybridize recently diverged, behaviorally isolated populations of D. athabasca, and use next-generation sequencing techniques to map regions in the […]

Adam Krause

Recent evidence suggests that sleep and sleep loss have profound effects on emotional brain reactivity, especially for positive emotional experiences. As a consequence, sleep disruption may lead to detrimental risk taking and reward seeking. However, it remains unclear exactly what type of sleep helps reset the brains ability to appropriately react to rewarding experiences. I propose to test the hypothesis that a specific type of sleeprapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, and its associated electrical brain activityrestores the optimal next-day reactivity to rewarding, motivating experiences. I will therefore investigate whether the quantity […]

Ann Parker

In Classical Athens, many children died before adulthood. For a culture that practiced the exposure, or infanticide, of unwanted newborns, the value of the sub-adult life has been difficult to define. What did a child mean to the Athenian family and state? Once a child had been chosen to rear, its life must have been quite valuable, since the family spent lavish sums on the erection of grave markers for deceased children. These gravestones, carved in relief with images of children, provide iconographic information that may help to fill in […]

Jordan Tsai

I am studying the degradation of plant biomass in the fungal model organism Neurospora crassa. The study of plant biomass degradation is important because it will both help us understand the molecular mechanisms behind this essential ecological process, and may also aid in the production of biofuels derived from lignocellulosic biomass, which could serve as an alternative to petroleum based fuels. Previous genetic analysis has implicated a N. crassa serine-threonine kinase in the cellulolytic metabolism pathway, but its molecular mechanisms remain unknown. I want to investigate the role of this […]

Rodger Yuan

Batteries with high energy density have important applications as energy storage devices in portable electronics. This summer, I will be studying solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries with block copolymer electrolytes. This the benefit of this design is twofold: the Li-S chemistry has a theoretical specific capacity over 6 times that of todays lithium-ion battery and the polymer electrolyte eliminates the need to use liquid organic electrolytes, which are flammable and volatile. However, there are many challenges that must be overcome before Li-S batteries are viable as future energy storage systems. The problem […]

Rose Gephart

The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Angkor War has become central to the Cambodian economy through the utilization of international tourism in the past few decades. My SURF project looks at local tour guides in Siem Reap, Cambodia and their discursive relationship to international tourists. I will address three issues: how does tour guide folklore relate to the cultural heritage of Angkor Wat, how state intervention and licensing creates a spectrum of official versus unofficial tour guides, and thirdly how the narrativization of Angkor Wat is dependent on the exchange […]

Neha Chandra

The innate immune response is the cells first line of defense against viral infection. One of its functions is the production of cytokines, such as interferons (IFN), which are needed to recruit immune cells to the site of infection. In order to create an efficient immune response, IFN production is controlled by highly regulated signal transduction pathways. The E3 ubiqutin ligase protein, TRIM21, has been shown to down-regulate IFN production pathways by targeting the IFN regulatory factor, IRF7, for degradation. However, the factors and mechanism leading to the affinity of […]

Isaac Kreisman

Because I am an out-of-state student, the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship allows me to stay near UC Berkeley and its resources. Without the distractions of academic coursework during the summer, I have the freedom and time to delve into theory and materials from a multitude of disciplines. I am excited to work with my mentors and my SURF cohorts. I am grateful both for the opportunity to conduct an independent research project and for the supportive environment of the SURF community.

Joshua Penalba

The Eastern Arc Mountains of Africa have been identified as an area of high bird diversity and endemism. The forests on these mountains underwent a contraction creating sky islands. Diversity of the forest habitat suggests that the Eastern Arc Mountains served as a refuge during the Pliocene climate cycling. Current molecular technology has allowed for discovery of cryptic taxa between the sky islands. Insights in the genetic structure of populations lead to further understanding of the driving forces of evolution for endemic taxa. There is a high likelihood that similar […]

Matthew Turner

Throughout the summer I will be working as part of the ALPHA collaboration in updating the current experimental apparatus and hopefully I will be able to assist in running tests by the end of summer. According to the collaboration website, “ALPHA is an international collaboration based at CERN, and whose aim is stable trapping of antihydrogen atoms, the antimatter counterpart of the simplest atom, hydrogen. By precise comparisons of hydrogen and antihydrogen, the experiment hopes to study fundamental symmetries between matter and antimatter.” My main tasks are designing and testing […]