Here is an example of research created by our Biological Sciences’ Cohort:
“Exploring Female Song in Newly Recognized Species: Puerto Rican Oriole”
Susanna Campbell
Dr. Kevin Omland
My project explores male and female song in the Puerto Rican Oriole (Icterus portoricensis) in its natural environment, the dense tropical forests and adjacent edge habitats located at Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. In temperate-zone oriole species, song is mostly a male trait; however, song is often a male and female trait in tropical oriole species. Evolutionary reconstruction shows that temperate species have tropical ancestors. Thus, our analysis of the Puerto Rican oriole and other tropical species will indicate ancestral state of the common ancestor of orioles. Comparisons to extant species to the common ancestor will indicate if female song has been lost in the northern species. Our study will clarify how natural selection is causing evolutionary changes in song. We expect that the males and females of the Puerto Rican oriole are both singing. By observing and recording the orioles in their natural forest habitats, we will be able to determine the role female song plays in mate selection and how this affects the observed evolutionary shift to male-only song.
Meet a current research student:
Meet a research alumnae:
- Nina Beri
- Junaid Bhatti
- Kevin Chen
- Eric Cheung
- Dominick DiMercurio II
- Casey Haines
- Matthew Kane
- Jin Ah Kim
- Ashley Kwon
- Caroline Larkin
- Ugonna Mbaekwe
- Cierra McKoy
- Nkemdilim Ndubuizu
- Akua Nimarko
- Himadri Patel
- Rishit Patel
- Rebekah Rashford
- Ghazal Ramezanifoukolaei
- Joy Roy
- Carly Sciandra
- Amir Sepehri
- Ariana Taj
- Grace Tran
- Linda Wiratan
- Saiah Yates
Benefits for Biological Sciences students:
- Work with a faculty member
- Experience hands-on research
- Reinforce classroom learning
- Prepare for work or graduate school
- Travel to national conferences
- Receive grant funding
- Publish independent research
- Documentation of female song in a newly recognized species, the Puerto Rican Oriole (Icterus portoricensis) Susanna Campbell. The Journal of Caribbean Ornithology Vol. 29:28–36. 2016
- Parasitoid Host Choice Does Not Optimize Offspring Success. Kate Laskowski. UMBC Review Vol.8.
- The Effects of Down Syndrome Cell Adhesion Molecule on the Cellular Immune Response of Drosophilia melanogaster.Amanda Reamy. UMBC Review vol.10.
- The Role of RpS9 in Ribosome Assembly and rRNA Processing in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. Alana Lescure. UMBC Review vol.16.
So, what are you doing next summer?
- Plant Biology Internship
- Biomedical SURF – Yale University
- National Science Foundation
- NIST
- Amgen Scholars
- Maryland Sea Grants
- Pathways to Science
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- UMBC Biological Sciences Opportunities and Scholarship
- UMBC Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- UMBC – STEM
- UMBC Summer Research Opportunities
- University of Washington- AccessSTEM
- Summer Research Opportunities Spreadsheet
Learn how to find research internships and job opportunities using Handshake!
For more information, check out this department’s website:
Biological Sciences