Enzymes
Caroline Bartle
Mary Omorodion
Maddie Berard
LSU CURE Laboratory Courses
LSU CURE (course-based undergraduate research experiences) allows for the integration of authentic research projects into introductory biology laboratory courses. To better understand science and gain confidence in their abilities to do scientific research, CURE labs are built around a semester-long agenda to include authentic, in-house research projects. While much of the curriculum is focused on building science literacy skills, research-based labs within the agenda focus on a single research project throughout the semester. By answering questions that are unknown and relevant, student work produced within CURE labs is valuable beyond the classroom.
Current LSU CURE Projects
- Replace the current projects with:
Species interactions in a warming world - Investigating fungal diversity in snail fecal pellets across transitioning zones within a salt marsh ecosystem. (Ahmani Browne; Dr. M. Kelly) - Effect of increasing temperature on turion germination and plant growth using common duckweed, Spirodela polyrhiza. (Jada Daniels; Dr. J. Tan)
- Investigation into the evolutionary history of plumage coloration in the Parulidae. (Brett Kincade; Drs. N. Mason and J. Brown)
- An exploration into the kinetics and inhibition of the enzyme lactase. (Brent Larson & Aidan McDonald; Dr. G. Waldrop)
- Investigation of antibiotic resistance in a naturally occurring bacterium, Burkholderia thailandensis, using transposon mutagenesis. (Elaine Nkwocha; Dr. A. Grove)
- Gene expression in a visual processing region as a predictor of individual variation in novelty avoidance behavior in an invasive songbird. (Katie Stewart; Dr. C. Lattin)
Mindy McCallum
Senior Instructor
Biology Lab Coordinator
Antibiotics
Connor Wootan
Emma Roberts
Dawn Flowers
Duckweed
Andre Escamilla
Alenai Cortez
Jude Gaitin
Phyleauxgenetics
Sasha Williams
McKenna Miller
Jada Alexander
Periwinkles
Vincent Greco
Mathew Phan
Bird Brains
Addie Sullivan
This semester, student projects highlighted the following research goals:
- An exploration into the kinetics and inhibition of the enzyme lactase. (Brent Larson
& Aidan McDonald; Dr. G. Waldrop)
Investigation of antibiotic resistance in a naturally occurring bacterium, Burkholderia thailandensis, using transposon mutagenesis. (Elaine Nkwocha; Dr. A. Grove) - Effect of increasing temperature on turion germination and plant growth using common duckweed, Spirodela polyrhiza. (Jada Daniels; Dr. J. Tan)
- Gene expression in a visual processing region as a predictor of individual variation in novelty avoidance behavior in an invasive songbird. (Katie Stewart; Dr. C. Lattin)
- Investigation into the evolutionary history of fungal parasites in the Taphrinomycotina. (Spenser Babb-Biernacki; Drs. J. Esselstyn, V. Doyle, and J. Brown)
- Species interactions in a warming world - how increasing temperatures can alter interactions between predators and prey in salt marsh habitats. (Wissam Jawad; Dr. M. Kelly)
The poster session for the Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) labs was held on April 30, 2025 in the LSU Student Union. Select students from CURE lab courses presented results from their semester-long research projects while the remaining CURE students acted as judges. Projects this semester included a study of increasing temperature on turion germination and plant growth using common duckweed, Spirodela polyrhiza, how light intensity affects the growth of diatoms, an investigation into the evolutionary history of fungal parasites in the Taphrinomycotina, and antibiotic resistance in a naturally occurring bacterium, Burkholderia thailandensis, using transposon mutagenesis.
Over 250 introductory biology students participated in CURE labs this semester. This opportunity affords a diverse group of students the opportunity to participate in undergraduate research within the framework of a course and under the guidance of enthusiastic graduate students.
Top Presenters 2025
- Lanclos, C.V., Coelho, J. T., Cleveland, C. S., Hyer, A. J., McCallum, M. C., Savoie, E. R., Kosiba, S., and Thrash, J. C. (2022). A CURE for physiological characterization of bacterioplankton in liquid culture. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 23 (2), 9. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00068-22
- Daniels, J., McCallum, M., Neal, N., Nkwocha, E., Rodriguez Machado, S., Carter, H., Lam, E., Peng, C., O'Brien, A., Wei,N., Frederickson, M., and Tan, J. (2026). Introducing a novel course-based undergraduate research experience using duckweed as a model organism. Integrative Organismal Biology: A Journal of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, 8 (1), obaf049. https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obaf049