2023-24 Wyoming Research Scholars

Jaimie Adams

Hometown: Benton, TN

Major: Anthropology

Jaimie is working with Dr. Elizabeth Lynch (Anthropology). Jaimie's research aims to advance rock art research using the OTF project to enhance digital preservation methods, broaden cultural resource protection, and create accessibility. Jaimie conducted an analysis centering on lens calibration and the ability to undergo rigorous error reduction on the OTF dataset to create a viable 3D model of the rock art panels. If the resulting model can undergo rigorous error reduction and produce viable 3D measurements, the research will illustrate the efficacy of OTF close-range photogrammetry field capture. These results enhance rock art research capabilities, cultural heritage resource protection, public outreach, and engagement with rock art.

Bri Agenbroad

Hometown: Jackson, WY

Major: Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and Management

Bri is working with Corey Tarawater (Zoology and Physiology) to examine how the composition of mixed-species flocks of birds attending army-ant swarms influences space-use and behavior of those species.  

Mercedes Cassidy

Hometown: Burns, WY

Major: Physiology

Mercedes is working in Dr. Todd Schoborg's lab. For her project, she is investigating the cellular basis for microcephaly - a reduction in brain size - which is a genetic disease in humans. Her current project is looking at different cellular pathways that could be contributing to the brain development seen in microcephaly, using Drosophila melanogaster as a model species. 

Student 2020 Virtual Symposium Research Presentation Found Here

Kellyn Chandler

Hometown: Dubois, WY

Major: Fish & Wildlife

Kellyn has an interest in studying wildlife populations, habitat, and human influence as well as helping with conservation efforts and pushing to protect wildlife and wild places. Growing up in Wyoming has motivated her to be part of the solution and she hopes someday to be able to provide research that enables humans to understand and live more cohesively with native species. 

Student 2020 Virtual Symposium Research Presentation Found Here

Malea Christensen

Hometown: Buford, WY

Majors: Physical Education & Teaching Education

Malea is working with Dr. Todd Schoborg (Molecular Biology). Malea's research seeks to answer: What is the sub-cellular localization of Mud throughout the cell cycle? Is this localization dependent on Asp protein? What are the optimal conditions for the highest transfection efficiency of Mud into Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells?

Student 2020 Virtual Symposium Research Presentation Found Here

Kinsale Day

Hometown: Cheyenne, WY

Major: Geography with a minor in Physics

Kinsale works with Dr. Bart Geerts in the Atmospheric Science department. Kinsale is studying performance of global climate models at SNOTEL sites across Wyoming.

Kassandra Faye Dutro

Hometown: Casper, WY

Major: Anthropology

Kassandra is working with Dr. Bree Doering (Anthropology). Kassandra is researching the interconnections between Indigenous women and traditional fire practices of the far North, centereing around women and girls' interactions with their environment and specifically fire from both natural and human made sources both in the past and present. 

Roche' Espadron

Hometown: New Orleans, LA

Major: Zoology

Roche' works with Dr. Jacob Goheen. Roche' is currently working with graduate student Lane Jeakle on his master's research on Marten skull morphology.

Sahar Faqeeri

Hometown: Cheyenne, WY

Major: Physiology/Pre-Med

Sahar is working with Dr. Danielle Bruns (Kinesiology & Health) in the HEART Lab. Sahar is working on the effects of metformin on the right ventricle of the heart, a mouse model is used to carry out this research. 

Kayley Galbraith

Hometown: Chadron, NE

Major: Physics

Kayley is working with Dr. Jifa Tian (Physics & Astronomy). Kayley is working with graphene to measure the impacts of hydrogen using Raman Spectroscopy. Kayley hopes to apply this technique to other 2D materials as well. 

Katherine Garrett

Hometown: Rapid City, SD

Major: Zoology

Katherine is working with Jake Goheen on examining the similarities found between elephant shrews in Laikipia, Kenya with rodents who live in the same place. She will closely examine life history traits of the rufous elephant shrew and other co-occurring rodents to accomplish this. 

Sophia Glennie

Hometown: Cheyenne, WY

Major: Molecular Biology

Sophia is interested in studying genetics and the impact environmental factors can have on genetic and cellular processes- especially as relating to modern events in pollution and disease. Sophia also enjoys being able to look at the effects our changing world could have on both ecological and human health.  

Maille Gray

Hometown: Lander, WY

Major: Geography, Environmental Systems Science

Maille is working with Dr. JJ Shinker. Maille is currently working on reconstructing global climate composites using the most recent ERA5 data systems. Maille will be using this in combination with other analysis tools to determine the impact of El Niño/Southern Oscillation on the central Rocky Mountain headwaters.

Student 2020 Virtual Symposium Research Presentation Found Here 

Andrew He

Hometown: Columbus, OH

Major: Psychology

Andrew works with Dr. Matt Gray (Psychology) in the Sexual Violence & Intimate Partner Violence Prevention/Treatment Lab. Using his passion for understanding how certain life events can impact developmental outcomes, Andrew's research project aims to understand how fatherlessness impacts the developmental outcomes of affected children.

Skylar Hodgins

Hometown: Casper, WY

Major: Psychology

Skylar is working in Dr. Ana Clara Bobadilla's lab (Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences) investigating the neurobiological mechanisms of relapse to drugs of abuse. She's interested in the physiological changes of neurons within the Nucleus accumbens region of the brain that occur during drug seeking or craving.

Summer Holeman

Hometown: Cody, WY

Majors: Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental Systems 

Summer is interested in biodiversity conservation & sustainability and hopes to work on sustainability projects with international communities in the future. While in the program Summer would like to work with wildlife and biodiversity conservation, but is still open to a variety of research ideas. 

Elizabeth Howard

Hometown: Omaha, NE

Major: Zoology and Environment & Natural Resources

Elizabeth is working with Dr. Corey Tarwater in the Avian Behavior and Ecology Lab. She is looking at how space use in birds changes based on food availability and community structure in mixed-species foraging events in Panama.

Sarah Hurrell

Hometown: Westminster, CO

Major: Geology

Sarah is working with Dr. Laura Vietti on the preparation of a ~50 million-year-old crocodile skull. Sarah is looking to completely prepare and reconstruct this specimen so its specific species can later be identified.

Alison Jensen

Hometown: Rock Springs, WY

Majors: Mechanical Engineering with Minors in Math and Honors

Alison is working with Dr. Laura de Sousa Oliveira (Chemistry), researching thermodynamic properties of semiconductor and metallic nuclear fuels using Density Functional Theory and VASP software.

Dani Jones

Hometown: Gillette, WY

Major: Environmental Systems Science

Dani is working with postdoctoral researcher, Dulcinea Groff, in the Shuman Lab. They are researching factors that may influence interpretations of paleoclimate proxies using sedges in the Rocky Mountains. This research can be used to better understand the application of plant-based paleoclimate proxies. 

Sean Kraemer

Hometown: Evergreen, CO

Majors: Environmental Systems Science and Geography

Sean is working with Rachel Watson (Science Initiative LAMP Director, Division of Kinesiology and Health and Microbiology Program) to do qualitative research on the respiratory health of elite cross-country skiers and its connection to inhaler use. 

Cooper Krauth

Hometown: Richfield, OH

Major: Computer Engineering 

Cooper is working with Dr. Jiang on multi-agent Artificial Intelligence. Currently, Cooper is working to implement a Deep Reinforcement Learning algorithm for multi-agent coordination and obstacle avoidance using Turtlebot3's and the Gazebo simulator. 

Ema Kurbos-Cooper

Hometown: Sylvania, OH

Majors: Environmental Systems Science and Environment & Natural Resources

Ema is currently researching recreation ecology with the "Pilot Hill Project" under the guidance of Dr. Drew Bennett (HAUB School). Through this research, Ema wishes to further understand the interactions of non-motorized outdoor recreation in relation to the wildlife on the Pilot Hill property as it is opened for recreation. 

Student 2020 Virtual Symposium Research Presentation Found Here 

Adison Linder

Hometown: Laramie, WY

Major: Molecular Biology

Adison is working with Dr. David Fay (Molecular Biology) to characterize the function of the phosphatase PTPN-22 in C. elegans. Through this research, she hopes to determine if the enzyme plays an ancestral role in intracellular trafficking that might also be conserved in humans.

Elizabeth Lungren

Hometown: Ten Sleep, WY

Major: Molecular Biology

Elizabeth is working with Dr. James Pru in Reproductive Biology. Elizabeth is researching male reproductive physiology using the mouse model. 

Brenna Martin

Hometown: Cheyenne, WY

Major: Zoology

Brenna is working for WYNDD under Dr. Lusha Tronstad of the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database (WYNDD), studying pollinator behavior at current and purposed wind farm sites.   

Alexa Mejia

Hometown: Cheyenne, WY

Major: Molecular Biology

Alexa is currently interested in helping lower-income areas of the population through health care.

Miles Milbrath

Hometown: Durand, IL

Major: Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and Management

Miles is working with graduate student Samantha Poratti on her Master’s research studying the distribution and limiting reproductive factors of the California Floater and Western Pearlshell mussels in the Bear River watershed in western Wyoming, under the guidance of Lusha Tronstad (Wyoming Natural Diversity Database).

Agnesh Pandey

Hometown: Patna, India

Majors: Astronomy & Astrophysics, Mathematics & Physics.

Agnesh is an International student and is currently working under the guidance of Dr. Adam Myers in collaboration with grad student Lucas Gabriel Napolitano (Physics & Astronomy). Agnesh's research includes spectrographic analysis for absorption features in quasars in order to understand the chemical composition of gas clouds in front of the quasars and also understanding the metallicity history of the Universe. Agnesh is also a part of the DESI survey (within the team of Quasar Physics under the professional guidance of again, Dr. Adam Myers), which is the acronym for Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, a 4^th generation equipment which is used by the Mayall 4m telescope located at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, AZ. In the future, Agnesh would like to get involved within the fields of Gravitational Astrophysics and Theoretical Astrophysics.

Olivia Poore

Hometown: Douglassville, PA

Majors: Environmental Systems Science, Environment and Natural Resources, and Wildlife Biology

Olivia is working with Annabella Helman in the Goheen lab.

Hannah Qualm

Hometown: Buffalo, WY

Major: Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and Management

Hannah is working with Molly Caldwell in the Merkle lab. Hannah is working to analyze bison grazing site photos from the Yellowstone area. The direction of this research will be to assess and test potential AI tools for analyzing species presence and other key factors.

Ella Reed

Hometown: Casper, WY

Major: Molecular Biology

Ella is working with postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Sourabh Sengupta (Molecular Biology), in the Levy Lab. They are researching how stress conditions affect specific proteins involved in the regulation of nuclear development.

Gianna Rose

Hometown: Laramie, WY

Major: Chemistry

Gianna is working with Dr. Steve Miller in the Mycology lab where she researches a psychrophilic (cold-loving) white rot fungus recently discovered in the Medicine Bow National Forest. She is excited to share her passion for Mycology with the community through this research and outreach activities.

Chet Russell

Hometown: Laramie, WY

Major: Computer Science

Chet currently works in the MALLET Lab under Dr. Lars Kotthoff. He is working on a project that involves machine learning with animal identification.

Student 2020 Virtual Symposium Research Presentation Found Here 

Lauren Sauley

Hometown: Palmer Lake, CO

Major: Geology

Lauren is currently working with Dr. Brad Carr (Geology & Geophysics) to produce models of Self-Potential measurements collected at various hydrothermal features in Yellowstone National Park. The positive and negative anomalies observed in these data and models can then be used to help describe the subsurface water in these features. 

Student 2020 Virtual Symposium Research Presentation Found Here

Katie Schabron

Hometown: Anchorage, AK

Major: Zoology and Physiology

Katie is working with Dr. Patrick Kelley (Zoology and Physiology). Their study is investigating how species-specific behaviors influence bird-window collisions with low rise buildings along with creating a sustainable project infrastructure for the Bird-Window Collision Project.

Max Seibold

Hometown: Parker, CO

Major: Chemistry, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Max conducts research in Dr. Ana Clara Bobadilla's lab at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, focusing on investigating the neurobiological mechanisms that contribute to relapse to drugs of abuse. 

Tera Swaby

Hometown: Aurora, CO

Major: Physics

Tera works with a research team of undergraduate students and Dr. Henry Kobulnicky to observe transiting exoplanets of other stellar systems at Red Buttes Observatory (RBO). From this the team characterizes the radius, orbital size, and mass of these exoplanets. This information is shared with collaborators at Pennsylvania State University who further analyze the exoplanets with the help of other telescopes. She is also in the process of writing her own paper on a Brown Dwarf.

Kaj Taylor

Hometown: Palmer, AK

Majors: Chemical Engineering

Kaj works with Dr. Patrick Johnson (Chemical Engineering). Kaj’s interests lie in chemical reaction waste mitigation, and explosives. 

Alicia Thoney

Hometown: Sheridan, WY 

Major: Computer Science

Alicia is working with Dr. Mike Borowczak (Computer Science) and Shaya Wolf in the Cybersecurity Education And Research (CEDAR) lab on the development of Jangseung. Jangseung is a preprocessor that rejects malicious data that could be injected into machine learning systems to produce skewed results. Jangseung was created to guard support vector machines (SVMs ) from poisoned data by utilizing anomaly detection algorithms. Alicia also works with Mason Johnson (CEDAR) in cybersecurity education outreach efforts like summer camps for middle schoolers and computer science-focused professional development for Wyoming teachers.

Student 2020 Virtual Symposium Research Presentation Found Here

Samantha Veauthier

Hometown: Casper, WY

Major: Zoology

Sammy is working with PhD student Spencer Holtz under the guidance of Dr. Topher Weiss-Lehman. They are conducting research using the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) to investigate range shifts due to climate change and explore assisted migration.

Lucas Wall

Hometown: Laramie, WY

Major: Molecular Biology

Lucas is working with Dr. Dan Wall (Molecular Biology). Lucas is working with a virus that infects a type of bacteria called streptococcus mutans. These bacteria are the leading microorganism responsible for dental decay. 

Sheldon Williams

Hometown: Laramie, WY

Major: Psychology

Sheldon is working with Dr. Cynthia Hartung and Dr. Kyle DeYoung. Sheldon is currently an RA assisting in a research study on calorie intake and restraint, as well as a project looking at the effects of exercise on ADHD.

Madyson Willis

Hometown: Casper, WY

Major: Physiology

Madyson Willis is working with Dr. Amy Navratil. Madyson is currently researching how genetic knockouts can affect the secretion of LH and the reproductive cycle.  

Ashley Wolf

Hometown: Gilbert, AZ

Major: Zoology

Ashley is working with Joe Holbrook (Haub School of Environment & Natural Resources and Zoology & Physiology). Ashley’s research focuses on the ecology of swift foxes in Wyoming.