Kouros Falati

Karuk is an endangered language indigenous to Northern California. One of its most interesting features is its large variety of verbal prefixes and suffixes, expressing everything from person and tense to the direction of motion relative to the Klamath River. For my summer research project, I will be focusing on just one suffix, the essive, which roughly provides the meaning of being in a certain condition. For example, when applied to the verb imus, to see, the result is imus-ahi, to look like. I plan to take a more modern […]

Michael Reeves

Human Cytomegalovirus Virus (HCMV) may go unnoticed in people with healthy immune systems; however, this opportunistic pathogen can be life threatening to immunodeficient individuals including AIDS patients, newborns, and transplant patients. Nucleic acid molecules such as ribozymes are promising gene – interfering agents. This enzymatic RNA accomplishes gene-interference by targeting and cleaving a specific region of mRNA e.g., viral mRNA. In my research I will take advantage of the ability of Salmonella bacteria to enter human cells and transfer genetic material to host cells, leading to efficient expression of the […]

Maria Simanovskaia

Negatively charged nitrogen vacancy centers (NV- centers) in diamond consist of a nitrogen atom next to a vacancy in the carbon lattice. With their small size, these color centers promise magnetometry (measurement of the magnetic field) with an unprecedented combination of sensitivity and spatial resolution. For this application, optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) signals must be thoroughly understood. We obtain ODMR signals by focusing 532 nm (green) laser light onto the sample, applying a scan of microwave frequencies by pressing a wire against the diamond surface, and measuring the red […]

Minyu Feng

Dark photon is a hypothesized gauge boson which behaves like a standard photon. It is called dark because it interacts very weakly with normal particles like electrons and protons, but instead interacts more strongly with dark matter. This makes dark photons escape previous detections easily. However, some unexpected radiation from the center of our galaxy implies the existence of dark photon. Therefore, we plan to produce dark photon by annihilation of a pair of particle and anti-particle with enough center-of-mass energy. We can look at the decay products of the […]

Jae Young Ryoo

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis is a process by which a cell absorbs molecules with the help of the protein clathrin. Cell biology studies often employ a variety of different cell types to study a single cellular pathway but how these pathways operate often differ depending on the cell type observed. Unfortunately, in most cases, little is known about the mechanisms that give rise to these differences. I aim to explore how cells differ in the process of clathrin-mediated endocytosis, with the ultimate goal of understanding why these differences exist and what it […]

Bill Stewart

My research is concerned with understanding the construction and effectiveness of media-based HIV prevention information targeting African American Men, age 18-44, residing in Alameda County, California. African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV of all racial/ethnic groups in the United States with black men accounting for 70% of the estimated new HIV infections among all blacks in 2009 (CDC). Media-based HIV information is a strategy currently being used to encourage individuals to test for HIV and begin treatment as soon as possible. I will spend the summer interviewing […]

Josephine Juanamarga

In my research, I aim to explore the mechanisms behind why Asians experience more difficulty in disclosing personal problems and approaching others for help in various situations (especially emotionally) than when compared to Westerners. Do different styles of communication (indirect vs. direct) or differences in the implicit sense of power status (high vs. low) moderate this interaction? Might Asians show preference seeking certain people to whom they disclose their problems or seek help from? I hope that this research could help shed light on the acculturation process and success of […]

Jennifer Stover

My research focuses on CAYA Coven, an eclectic Pagan organization in San Franciscos East Bay that is dedicated to providing public rituals such as annual Sabbats and Full Moon Circles that honor seasonal and lunar cycles. CAYA means Come As You Are and emphasizes the incorporation of a diversity of Pagan traditions as well as deities from all over the world. I am interested in understanding how spiritual aptitudes and capacities are cultivated in the course of rituals and other coven related activities. Through participant observation and interviews, I will […]

Tricia Ngoon

My research is about the efficacy of verbal retrieval practice, the act of verbally explaining or telling someone else about learned material. So much of academics is focused on studying or re-reading material when really, telling or explaining it to someone may be more beneficial for memory and comprehension. Along the lines of the testing effect, in which a student shows better memory for items that were tested as opposed to simply studied, verbal retrieval practice serves as a form of testing that may be in line with Transfer Appropriate […]

Rose Gephart

The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Angkor War has become central to the Cambodian economy through the utilization of international tourism in the past few decades. My SURF project looks at local tour guides in Siem Reap, Cambodia and their discursive relationship to international tourists. I will address three issues: how does tour guide folklore relate to the cultural heritage of Angkor Wat, how state intervention and licensing creates a spectrum of official versus unofficial tour guides, and thirdly how the narrativization of Angkor Wat is dependent on the exchange […]