Student Achievements

Student Achievements

Student Achievements

Peer-Reviewed Publications

  • Coppola VJ, Hough GE, and Bingman VP. 2014. Age-related spatial working memory deficits in homing pigeons (Columba livia). Behavioral Neuroscience: Aug 11: Epub ahead of print.
  • Holbrook LT and LaPergola J. 2011. A new genus of perissodactyl (Mammalia) from the Bridgerian of Wyoming, with comments on basal perissodactyl phylogeny. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31: 895-901.

National Awards & Fellowships

  • American Society for Microbiology General Meeting Student Travel Award (2012)
  • Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, Honorable Mention (2012)
  • Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology, Broadening Participation Travel Award (2012)

National & Regional Presentations

  • 2014 Animal Behavior Society Annual Meeting, Princeton NJ. Topic: Old birds lose it: the impact of aging and deterioration of working memory on homing pigeon spatial cognition.
  • 2013 Animal Behavior Society Annual Meeting, Boulder CO. Topic: Song dialects in the south New Jersey Atlantic Seaside Sparrow.
  • 2012 Society for Intergrative & Comparative Biology Annual Meeting, Charleston SC. Topic: Investigation of the role of Aubergine RNA-binding proteins in the reproductive plasticity of the pea aphic, Acyrthosiphon pisum.
  • 2011 American Society for Microbiology General Meeting, New Orleans LA - Topic: Evidence of increased ethanol resistance in mutant ethanologenic Escherichia coli resulting form changes in membrane permeability.
  • 2011 American Society for Microbiology General Meeting, New Orleans LA - Topic: Novel application of the MicrotoxM500 Analyzer to compare the effect of a known defined membrane active toxin on a panel of Escherichia coli mutants.
  • 2011 Society for Developmental Biology, Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, Philadelphia, PA - Topic: Investigation of the role of Aubergine RNA-binding proteins in the reproductive plasticity of the pea aphic, Acyrthosiphon pisum.
  • 2010 American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting, Philadelphia PA. Topic: Ric-8 proteins are required for efficient G protein expression but not at the transcriptional level, and profoundly affect tissue differentiation in a culture model of embryonic development.
  • 2010 Eastern Psychological Association, New York NY. Topic: The inability to use a time-dependent light cue as a directional reference to plan small-scale food-directed movements in homing pigeons (Columba livia).
  • 2010 Mid-Atlantic Developmental Biology Annual Meeting, Baltimore MD. Topic: Ureagenesis in developing zebrafish.
  • 2008 American Society for Microbiology General Meeting, Boston MA - Topic: The fixK gene of Caulobacter crescentus is not required for lead precipitation.
  • 2007 American Society for Microbiology General Meeting, Toronto ON - Topic: Improved bioethanol productivity using E. coli FBR5 derivatives with dual resistance to furfural and ethanol. 2007 American Society for Microbiology General Meeting, Toronto ON - Topic: Genetic evidence that disruption of S-layer integrity facilitates lead phosphate precipitation

International Presentations

  • 2005 International Botanical Conference, Vienna, Austria - Topic: "Green algae from Cryptogamic Crusts, San Fe, New Mexico"
  • 2005 Field trip to Bangladesh - Topic: Arsenic removal from groundwater using algae
  • 2005 XIII International Congress of Virology, San Francisco, CA - Topic: Identification of non-conserved residues of adenovirus DNA polymerase contributing to entry into the late phase of the adenoviral infectious cycle.

Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) Programs & Other Summer Research Internships

  • 2011:
    • Case Western University (Summer Medical & Dental Education Program)
    • CMSRU-PULSE Program
    • DANTA Costa Rica (Summer Field Course)
    • Georgia Tech (REU, Chemistry & Biochemistry)
    • Hubburd Brook Research Foundation New Hampshire (REU, Conservation/Field Biology)
    • International Center for Diffraction Data (Internship)
    • Interantional Study Abroad (Medical Spanish & Alternative Medicine)
    • Johns Hopkins University (REU, Nanotechnology for Biology & Bioengineering)
    • Medical University of South Carolina (Summer Undergraduate Internship)
    • Philadelphia Zoo (Internship)
    • Purdue University (Summer Research Internship)
    • UMDNJ-Newark (Gateway to Dentistry Program)
    • UMDNJ-Newark (Summer Medical & Dental Education Program)
    • University of Georgia (REU, Bacteriology)
  • 2010:
    • Bimbo Bakery (R&D Dept; Greenwich CT)
    • Louisiana State University
    • University of Rochester
    • University of Virginia (Blandy Experimental Farm)
    • Virginia Tech
    • Wetlands Institute (Coastal Conservation Research Program; Cape May NJ)
  • 2009: Rutgers University
    • Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
    • University of Pittsburgh
    • University of Wisconsin Osh-Kosh
    • West Texas A&M

Enrollment into Post-Graduate Programs
 (Year given is student's undergraduate graduation year)

  • 2013:
    • Bowling Green State University (Neuroscience, PhD)
    • Stony Brook University (Molecular & Cellular Biology, PhD)
    • University of Wisconsin (Microbiology, PhD)
  • 2012:
    • Texas A&M University (Neuroscience, PhD)
    • Thomas Jefferson University (Cell & Development, MS)
    • UMDNJ (Biomedical Science, MS)
    • University of Pennsylvania (Cell Biology, PhD)
  • 2011:
    • Cornell University (Food Science/Enology, MS)
    • Iowa State University (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, PhD)
    • Rutgers University-New Brunswick (Microbiology & Molecular Biology, MS)
    • Thomas Jefferson University (Genetics, PhD; Bioscience Technologies, MS)
    • University of Colorado-Denver (Cell Biology, PhD)
  • 2010:
    • College of Notre Dame Maryland (PharmD)
    • Cornell University (Neurobiology & Behavior, PhD)
    • Ohio State (Anthropology, PhD)
    • Penn State (Biochemistry, Microbiology, & Molecular Biology; PhD)
    • Rutgers University-New Brunswick (PhD)
    • Thomas Jefferson University (Biomedical Sciences, MS)
    • UMDNJ (Biomedical Science, MS)
    • University of Alabama (Health Sciences, PhD)
    • University of Kent (Medieval Studies, MA)
    • University of Pittsburgh (PhD)
    • University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
  • 2009:
    • Johns Hopkins University (Science & Biotechnology, MS)
    • Seton Hall University (Microbiology, MS, PhD)
    • UMDNJ-Stratford (Cell & Molecular Biology, PhD)
  • 2008:
    • Iowa State University (Entomology, PhD)
    • Rutgers University-New Brunswick (Environmental Science, MS)
    • Thomas Jefferson University (Cell & Development, PhD)
    • UMDNJ-Newark (Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, PhD)
  • 2007:
    • Memorial University (Microbial Ecology)
    • Towson State University (Biology, MS)
    • University of Delaware (Marine Science, MS)
    • University of North Carolina-Wilmington (MS)
    • Villanova University (Biology, MS)
  • 2006:
    • Duke University (MS)
    • Ohio State University (Anthropology, PhD)
    • UMDNJ-Stratford (Biomedical Science, MS)

Awards & Recognition from Rowan University (external to the Biological Sciences Department)

  • Spring 2012: Excellence in Undergraduate Research, Honorable Mention
  • Fall 2011: Rowan University Honors Program Research Fellowship