The annual Coastal Fellows Poster celebration drew a sizable number of visitors Dec. 11.

Forty-one Coastal Fellows put months of scientific investigation on display Dec. 11 at the annual Poster Celebration held in the URI Library.

The celebration was the culmination of research work that the students and their mentors started last spring in a variety of fields.

While all of the participants received certificates and heaps of praise for their work, three students were honored with cash awards for their posters which were judged by a panel of 16.

Top prize went to Beth McArdle, studying secondary education and biological sciences for her project, “Exploring the Effects of Development on the Seekonk River.”

Second prize went to Holly Krohn, studying biological sciences and anthropology, for her project “Protein Requirements of Songbirds with Different Feeding Strategies and its Ecological Implications.”

Third prize went to Danielle Richards, studying biological sciences, for her project “Identifying Early Secretory Products in Saliva of Nymphal Ixodes scaularis.”

Other Coastal Fellows, their majors and the titles of their projects were:
• Rebecca Allen, biological sciences, “Marine Invasive Species Assessment on Narragansett Bay” and “Suction and Bite Processing Mechanics During Feeding In Spiny Dogfish.”
• Aquila Ayala-May, environmental science & management, “Is the Continued Expansion of Shellfish Aquaculture A Good Thing for Rhode Island?”
• Kerri Barton, microbiology, “An Improved Method for Staining Cells for Use in Identification of Cilioprotist Microbes of Rhode Island.”
• Nathaniel Coolidge, marine biology, “Development of a Behavioral Assay to Estimate Discard Mortality of Summer Flounder, Paralichthys dentatus.”
• Lisa Connor, animal science technology, pre-veterinary science, “Got Milk: Should Pyronin-Y-Methyl Green Staining Become the Preferred Method for Direct Microscopic Somatic Cell County in Sheep Milk?”
• Bernard Demeo, marine biology, “Development of Best Management Practices for Sustainable Turfgrass Management in Rhode Island.”
• Mitchell Doctor, marine biology, “The SCUBA Diving habits of Scientific Research Divers and Their Reduced Risk of SCUBA Diving Related Injuries.”
• Catherine Donahue, marine biology, “Recruitment of Lacuna vincta, a marine snail, and Macroalgal Epiphytes: Who’s Influencing Who?”
• Jessie Dyer, environmental science and management, “Mapping and Location Analysis of Invasive Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) Within the Hunt River Watershed.”
• Emily Field, marine biology, “The Effects of Ilkyanassa obsolete (mud whelk) on Algal Bloom Species in Greenwich Bay, RI.”
• Rachel Gately, animal science technology, pre-veterinary science, “Cloning of Protamine Genes in Bull Spermatazoa Messenger RNA.”
• Sandra Giovannini, marine biology, “How Many Streambed Invertebrates Does It Take to Diagnose the Health of a Stream.”
• Neil Greene, microbiology, “Plant Herbivory and Plant Antiherbivore Defenses for North American Hardwood Species.”
• Elizabeth Hansel, marine biology, “Narragansett Bayscape: Exploring the Effect of Beach Closures in Greenwich Bay.”
• Tiffany Heywood, wildlife and conservation biology, “The Role of Anthropogenic Nitrogen in Supporting the Narragansett Bay Food Web.”
• Marissa Kelly, geosciences, “Groundwater Nitrogen Removal Estimates for a Nitrogen Barrier.”
• Lauren Killea, secondary education, biological sciences and marine biology, :Chlorine Dioxide in the Treatment of Ballast Water.”
• Monique LaFrance, marine biology, “Habitat Classification Using Acoustic Signatures: A Comparison of Two Coastal Lagoons.”
• Virginia Lai, biological sciences and microbiology, “Heterologous of Red Algae Porphyra yezoensis Cellulose Synthase in the Moss Physcomitrella patens.”
• Bradford Lefoley, biological sciences, “Genes to Vaccines: Development of Antibody Libraries to Identify Anti-Tick Vaccine Targets.”
• Nathaniel Lichtin, marine affairs, “Updating Local Ordinances for Low Impact Stormwater Management.”
• Colin Millar, environmental sciences and management, “Evidence of Hybridization of Native and Introduced Phragmites australis in North America.”
• Kristen Morito, marine affairs, “Assessing Habitat and Population Characteristics of the Asian Shore crab, Hemigrapsus sanguineus, in Narragansett Bay.”
• Joanna Panosky, geosciences, “Changes in Deer Tick Abundance: Rhode island 1994-2007.”
• Sally Paul, environmental science and management, “An Investigation of Sulfide Oxidation in Estuarine Dredge Materials.”
• Kelly Pennoyer, marine biology, “Do Carribean Marine Reserves Protect Coral Biodiversity?”
• Kathryn Proulx, animal science technology, pre-veterinary science, “Using the RAMP Method to Assess Scup, Stenotomus chrysops, in Narragansett bay.”
• Dustin Saccoccio, biological sciences, “Mapping BT Resistance in the Domesticated Silkworm, Bombyx mori, Through the Development of Anchor Loci.”
• Megan Shearer, marine biology, “Complete Water Quality Profiling of Larkjin Pond.”
• Sarah Shihadeh, biological sciences, “Agrobacterium Mediated Transformation in Soybean.”
• Ashley Stoehr, marine biology, “Prey-Processing in Leucoraja erinacea.”
• Alison Traver, biological sciences, “The Effect of Insect Herbivory on Invasive Species of Swallow Wort.”
• John Ventura, history and microbiology, “The Nutritional Basis of R. coli Colonization in the Large Intestine of Mice.”
• Hannah Williams, marine affairs, “Boat Density on Narragansett Bay for the Summer of 2007.”
• Angela Wilson, marine affairs, “Visualizing Sea level Rise: A Glimpse into Rhode Island’s Future.”
• Emily Wilson, microbiology, “Comparative Analysis of Deep Water Samplers.”
• Haley Winsor, secondary education and biological sciences, “Changes in Deer Tick Abundance: Rhode Island 1994-2007.”
• Michael Zompa, biological sciences and chemistry, “Gene Expression Studies in a Basal Chordate—Ciona intestinalis.”