BSPM Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Perform genetics and molecular biology research to identify plants that are more resistant to pathogens.

Participate in ecological research of plants in one of several ways: (1) measure traits of plants above and belowground and summarize and analyze the data to help us understand how their characteristics influence their success in different environments; (2) analyze data from an extensive study of roadside restoration projects in 10 western US National Parks; (3) Conduct an experiment to evaluate the germination and growth characteristics of the invasive annual grass Bromus tectorum collected from different parts of the US Rocky Mountains.

Perform microbiology experiments to understand how pathogenic bacteria react to, transport, and metabolize molecules produced by their plant hosts. 

1. Rapid evolution of Diorhabda beetles introduced for the biological control of Tamarisk – the focus is on shifts in dispersal and in diapause induction in summer 2018, and on the role of hybridization in host use summer 2019
2. Adaptation or extinction – using Tribolium beetles to understand when rapid evolution speeds adaptation and delays extinction, or increases extinction risk.
3. The consequences of a new invader for foothills food-webs. This project focuses on Drosophila suzukii, which attacks small fruit and berries on cultivated plants (e.g. strawberry, raspberry), wild native plants (e.g. wild plum), and ornamental and invasive bushes.

The Leach lab investigates how bacterial plant pathogens cause diseases in rice plants and how rice has evolved strategies to defend itself from pathogen attack.

We would train students on the experimental design and analysis needed to understand the genetics of complex traits in plants. Students will participate in phenotyping one ore more plant species, and will work closely with PhD students.

1. Examine the effects of plant defensive chemistry on herbivore and parasitoid performance. 
2. Study interactions (competition and facilitation) between to gall-forming insects (biocontrol agents) of Russian knapweed. This project involves mostly greenhouse and field studies.
3. Study mechanisms of competitive displacement between two species of Cotesia parasitoids. This project involves laboratory, greenhouse, and field studies.
4. Explore effects of herbivory and elevation (as a proxy to climate change) effects on trophic interactions between plants (cowparsnips), herbivores/florivores, pollinators, and parasitoids across an elevation gradient from 1500 to 3000 m. This project involves mostly field work.

The causal agent of Thousand Cankers is the fungus Geosmithia morbida. Little is known about the mating strategy of this pathogen. It is thought that it is asexual, but whether the pathogen is heterothallic or homothallic is unknown. The undergrad would identify the mating type genes (MAT) from the genome and develop primers to amplify the genes. Then from a large collection of isolates, these primers would be used to test the mating type strategy and ratio that MAT1 or MAT2 are found in the population.