In The Spotlight: Class of 2002 Honors

The following students were recipients of the Honors Degree with Distinction. To earn the Honors Degree with Distinction, a student must have accumulated a grade-point index of at least 3.400 at the time of graduation and have earned 30 credits in Honors courses. In addition he or she must have successfully defended a senior thesis to a committee of faculty approved by Biological Sciences and the University Honors Program. The senior thesis is based on research projects that students carry out for a year or more in a faculty laboratory. This represents a tremendous effort and these students are functioning as graduate students at their time of graduation.

Suzanne Biehn

Biehn

Receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences (Honors Degree with Distinction), Minors in Chemistry and Medical Humanities

Suzanne worked in the laboratory of Dr. Norman Karin and the title of her thesis was Induction of Organelle Membrane Biogenesis by Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA1a) Expression. Suzanne was awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Research Fellowship in 2000 and a prestigious Pfizer summer undergraduate research fellowship in Molecular Biology in 2001, one of only 12 awarded nationally. In April she attended the National Experimental Biology meeting in New Orleans to present her work and garnered a first place award in the undergraduate research poster competition. Other honors include the Paynter Memorial Prize, the Departments Academic Achievement award, Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa. Next year Suzanne will attend medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she hopes to receive a medical doctorate with honors in research.

Bethaney DeVoy

DeVoy

Receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences (Honors Degree with Distinction), Minor in Spanish

Bethany worked in the laboratory of Dr. Charles Epifanio in the College of Marine Studies. The title of her thesis was Settlement of Brachyuran Megalopae in a Delaware Bay Harbor. She was awarded a University of Delaware undergraduate summer research fellowship in 2000 and participated in the semester-in-residence program at the College of Marine Science this year. Next year Bethany plans to be employed in the fisheries or marine science field.

Justin DiAngelo

DiAngelo

Receiving a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences with a Concentration in Biotechnology (Honors Degree with Distinction)

Justin worked in the laboratory of Dr. Melinda Duncan and the title of his thesis was Production and Characterization of Monoclonal Against Chicken Pop1/BVES. He was awarded Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Research Fellowships in 2000 and 2001. In 2001 he earned the Sigma Xi Student Research Award from Thomas Jefferson University for excellence in scientific presentation and in 2002 a first place award in the undergraduate research poster competition at the National Experimental Biology meeting in New Orleans. Other honors include the Richard M. Johnson, Jr. Memorial Award, the Department's Undergraduate Research Award, Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa. Next year Justin will enter the Ph.D. program in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Nicole Hill

Hill

Receiving a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences with a Concentration in Biotechnology (Honors Degree with Distinction), Minor in Chemistry

Nicole worked in the laboratory of Dr. Melinda Duncan and the title of her thesis was Characterizing the Expression of Ectodysplasin-A in Bone. She was awarded a University of Delaware undergraduate summer research fellowship in 2000 and was accepted into a nationally recognized research program in Marine Biology at Woods Hole, MA in 2001. In April of 2001 she presented her research at the National Experimental Biology meeting in Orlando, FL. Other honors include Phi Beta Kappa. Next year Nicole will enter the Ph.D. Program at the University of California at Santa Cruz to study Marine Natural Products Chemistry.

Jesse Smith

Smith

Receiving Bachelors of Arts in Biological Sciences and Spanish Studies (Honors Degrees with Distinction)

Jesse worked in the laboratory of Dr. Wallace Pill in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. The title of his thesis was Accelerated Aging of Tomato and Impatiens Seeds. He was awarded a University of Delaware undergraduate summer research fellowship in 2000. Jesse is taking a break from studies next year to work in Washington, D.C., before going to graduate school in the fall of 2003.

Michael Usher

Usher

Receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences (Honors Degree with Distinction), Minor in Psychology

Michael worked in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Kmiec. The title of his thesis was The Recombinational Repair Protein Mre11p Plays a Central Role in Targeted Gene Repair. He was awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute summer research fellowship in 2000 and the prestigious Pfizer national fellowship in molecular biology in 2001. He has presented his research at the National Experimental Biology meetings in 2001 and 2002, winning an award in the undergraduate poster competition in 2001. Other honors include Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa. Mike will combine his interest in medicine and research next year when enters a combined M.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan with a full tuition scholarship.

Laura Vella

Vella

Receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences (Honors Degree with Distinction), Minor in English

Laura worked in the laboratory of Dr. Diane Herson. The title of her thesis was The Effects of Fecal extract on the Persistence of Helicobacter pylori. She was supported in the summer of 2000 by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute summer research fellowship and in the summer of 2001 by a prestigious national fellowship from the American Society for Microbiology. Just this month she presented her research at the national meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. Other honors include Phi Beta Kappa. Next year Laura intends to combine her loves for medicine and research when she enters a combined M.D./Ph.D. program run jointly by the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon with a full tuition scholarship.