Abel Assefa

The goal of my project was to determine the molecular genetic mechanism behind the conservation of ovariole number within Drosophila species. I manipulated the size and number of terminal filament precursor cells (TFPCs) in an attempt to understand how final ovariole number is attained during ovarian morphogenesis.

Vasanth Chandrasekhar

My undergraduate summer project focused on the amphipod crustacean, Parhyale hawaiensis. As a model of arthropod development, are nearly perfect for studying in the laboratory. They are exceptionally hardy animals, withstanding various embryological techniques such as microinjections and ablations. My research is trying to understand normal gonad development in P. hawaiensis.

Omar Delannoy-Bruno

I am a biology major from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. This past summer (2009) I studied the mechanisms of germ line specification in the milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus). I was able to identify germ cells during early stages of development viain situ hybridization on embryos and ovaries of O. fasciatus. The Leadership Alliance and MARC program supported this summer research opportunity.

Billy Hinchen

Using a combination of classical and computer-based tools, Billy began our work detailing the cell lineage of the early stages of Parhyale development up to germ band formation. Billy was a graduate student in the Zoology Department of the University of Cambridge.

Alessandro Konig

Alessandro König is a third year undergraduate student in Molecular Biology at the Karl-Franzens University in Graz, Austria. He worked in the lab during the summer of 2008. He worked on gonad development in Parhyale hawaiensis.

Elisabeth Maritschnegg

Elisabeth Maritschnegg is a third year undergraduate student in Molecular Biology at the Karl-Franzens University in Graz, Austria. She worked in the lab during the summer of 2008. She worked on early germ cell specification in Parhyale hawaiensis.

Chiamaka Nwakeze

Chiamaka Nwakeze is a pre-med undergraduate in the Neuroscience program at Harvard University. She worked in the lab during the second semester of her second year. She participated in the molecular cloning of segmentation genes in the cricket.

Katherine O’Leary

Katherine O’Leary worked in the lab during her first year of undergraduate study at Harvard University. She was invaluable in helping maintain the large cricket colony in the lab.