Research Days 2026
Departmental Event
Date: Apr 10, 2026 - 09:00pm
Location: Castetter Hall
35th Annual Research Days
Thursday, April 9 &
Friday, April 10, 2026
A Presentation of Student Research Celebrating
Discovery and Education in the Biological Sciences
The event will kick off with a special in-person seminar by Dr. Priyadharshini Devarajan from Stony Brook University on Thursday April 9th. Then on Friday April 10th, the day will be filled with student talks and posters, biology laboratory tours, a buffet lunch, and a keynote seminar by Dr. Nandita Garud from the University of California, Los Angeles. The day will wrap up with a ceremony announcing scholarship recipients and talk and poster award winners. The schedule will also be released at a later date. Research Day is open to all, and we encourage presentations from undergraduate and graduate students.
Thursday Speaker: Dr. Priyadharshini Devarajan
Seminar Title: "Guardians of the Airways: The Protective Roles of Specialized CD4 T Cells in Respiratory Immunity"
Friday Speaker: Dr. Nandita Garud
Seminar Title: "Pervasive selective sweeps across human gut microbiomes"
Committee Members
Co-Chair: Syed Mubarak
Schedule of Events
Program Booklet (pdf)
| 12:30-2:30 p.m. | Poster Printing and Hanging Assistance Hours (Irvin Arroyo-Torres) | CAST Room 040 (Grad Pod) |
| 12:30-2:30 p.m. | Poster Printing and Hanging Assistance Hours (Shweta Agarwal) | CAST Room 040 (Grad Pod) |
| all day | Judges preview posters | |
| 12:30 p.m. | Graduate student lunch with Speakers | CAST Room 1420 (PiBBs) |
| 3:30-4:30 p.m. | SEMINAR - Dr. Priyadharshini Devarajan | CAST Room 100 |
| 4:30 p.m. | Flock of Moons Social | 111 Harvard Dr SE |
| 8:30-9:30 a.m. | SESSION I Talks | Level | CAST Room 100 |
| 8:30-8:45 a.m. | Temiloluwa Omotade | GR | |
| 8:45-9:00 a.m. | Miriam Bechtel | UG | |
| 9:00-9:15 a.m. | Hannah Bradley | UG | |
| 9:15-9:30 a.m. | Chris Walker | GR | |
| 9:30-10:30 a.m. | SESSION II Talks | CAST Room 100 | |
| 9:30-9:45 a.m. | Dale Fastle | GR | |
| 9:45-10:00 a.m. | Emily Schmitt | GR | |
| 10:00-10:15 a.m. | Job Flores | UG | |
| 10:15-10:30 a.m. | Xavier Larason | UG | |
| 10:30-10:45 a.m. | COFFEE BREAK | CAST Greenhouse | |
| 10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | SESSION III Talks | CAST Room 100 | |
| 10:45-11:00 a.m. | Anejelique Martinez | GR | |
| 11:00-11:15 a.m. | Adam Kranz | GR | |
| 11:15-11:30 a.m. | Savannah Sanchez | GR | |
| 11:30-11:45 a.m. | Zoe Marriner | Postbac | |
| 11:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Dani Wiley | GR | |
| 12:00-1:00 p.m. | LUNCH | CAST Basement | |
| 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. | Open Laboratory Visits | ||
| Center for Stable Isotopes | PAIS 1315 | ||
| Syed Lab | CAST 207 | ||
| Salinas Lab | CAST 2564 | ||
| Takacs-Vesbach Lab | CAST 3517 | ||
| Cook Lab | CAST 157, 159 | ||
| 1:00–2:00 p.m. | POSTER SESSION I | CAST 1st Floor & Basement | |
| 1 | Lily Carman | UG | |
| 2 | Michael Fragua | GR | |
| 3 | Andrea Ibarra | UG | |
| 4 | Fatouma Zara Issoufou Kapran | RA | |
| 5 | Ana Olivas | UG | |
| 6 | William Meija-Garcia | GR | |
| 7 | Patricia Sotelo Chavira | GR | |
| 8 | Morrigan Vega | GR | |
| 9 | Cloe Knutson | GR | |
| 10 | Keya Biswas | GR | |
| 11 | Miriam Shin | UG | |
| 12 | Brooklyn Patterson | UG | |
| 13 | Hollis Gray Patton | HS | |
| 14 | Ryan Stumbaugh | GR | |
| 15 | Cory Henn | GR | |
| 16 | Gabrielle Rael | UG | |
| 17 | Audrey Vanderhee | UG | |
| 18 | Derek Kober | GR | |
| 19 | Ashley Willis Mascarenas | GR | |
| 20 | Lola Kadlec | HS | |
| 21 | Abigail Granath | GR | |
| 22 | Rachael Auer | GR | |
| 23 | Conner Mertz | GR | |
| 24 | Alissa Jones | UG | |
| 2:00-3:00 p.m. | POSTER SESSION II | CAST 1st Floor & Basement | |
| 25 | Tulaib Azam | GR | |
| 26 | Manogya Chandar | GR | |
| 27 | Natalia Chavez | GR | |
| 28 | Sydney Drummond | UG | |
| 29 | Melanie Gonzales | UG | |
| 30 | Josiah Lavender | GR | |
| 31 | Niko Candia | UG | |
| 32 | James Loomis | GR | |
| 33 | Esteban Restrepo-Cortes | GR | |
| 35 | Lucy Pockman | HS | |
| 36 | Ida Rothschild | UG | |
| 37 | Benjamin Wellington | Postbac | |
| 38 | Christiana Concepcion | UG | |
| 39 | Gideon Carver Landau | HS | |
| 40 | Isabella King | UG | |
| 41 | Serenity Snider | RA | |
| 42 | Erika Dunn | GR | |
| 43 | Nicholas Ryan | GR | |
| 44 | Purbendra Yogi | GR | |
| 45 | Tenley Housler | GR | |
| 46 | David Traub | UG | |
| 47 | Michael Robinson | GR | |
| 3:00-3:30 p.m. | COFFEE BREAK | CAST Greenhouse | |
| 3:30-4:30 p.m. | SEMINAR - Dr. Nandita Garud | SMLC 102 | |
| 4:30-5:30 p.m. | SCHOLARSHIPS + AWARDS CEREMONY | SMLC 102 | |
| 5:30-6:30 p.m. | RECEPTION | SMLC Lobby | |
| 6:30 p.m. | DIFFERENTIAL BREWING SOCIAL | 500 Yale Blvd SE |
