Below are theses and dissertations of graduates of UNLV's School of Life Sciences.
For the entire collection of UNLV theses and dissertations, visit UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones
Theses/Dissertations from 2020
Rapid Detection of Toxin-Producing Cyanobacteria, Timothy Alba
Can Desert Mosses Hide from Climate Change? The Ecophysiological Importance of Habitat Buffering & Water Relations to a Keystone Biocrust Moss in the Mojave Desert, Theresa Ann Clark
The Influence of G4 DNA Structures on Stationary Phase Mutagenesis in Bacillus subtilis, Tatiana Ermi
Partitioning the Mechanical Cost of Human Walking: Unveiling Cost Asymmetries for Bionic Technologies, Michael Richard Isaacs
The Significance of MFD and Oxidative Damage in Stationary-Phase Mutagenesis in Bacillus subtilis, Holly Anne Martin
Rapid Evolution of Starvation Resistance in Drosophila: Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms, Austin Joseph McKenna
Transcriptional Control of Virulence Genes in the Bacterial Pathogen Shigella Flexneri, Joy Asami Mckenna
Transposable Element Expression in Human Embryo Single-Cell RNA-Seq Data, Corinne Sexton
Theses/Dissertations from 2019
Mojave Desert Ecosystem Recovery: Potency of Biotic and Abiotic Restoration Methods in Low Elevation Plant Communities, Mary Amanda Balogh
Trade-Offs Between Survival and Reproduction in Starvation-Selected Drosophila Melanogaster, Tammara Beeghly
Landscape Scale: Inter- and Intraspecific Variation in Plant Interactions along a Stress Gradient in the Sheep Range of Nevada, Jordan Dowell
Mojave Desert Plant Community Long-Term Response to Disturbance, Dominic M. Gentilcore
Effects of Ecological Restoration Techniques in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Simone Ka-Voka Jackson
Delineation of Events in Centripetal Migration During Drosophila Oogenesis, Travis Tait Parsons
Long-Term Monitoring of Rare Gypsum Communities in the Eastern Mojave Desert: A Study in Science and Art, Tiffany Jane-Marie Pereira
Assessing Minimal-Input Restoration Strategies for Desert Soil and Vegetation Restoration, Audrey Jean Rader
Beyond Genetics: Addressing Activity in Microbial Ecology, Scott Christopher Thomas
Effects of Disturbance and Restoration Treatment on Fertile Islands in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Camille Traylor
Tree to Grass Water Use Ratios; Assessing Turfgrass’ High Water Use in the Urban Landscape, Tamara Wynne
Theses/Dissertations from 2018
MOB-NDR Kinase Signaling Components are Required for Epithelial Tube Formation in the Drosophila Follicular Epithelium, Juan Carlos Duhart
Expression Of Line-1 In Human Somatic Tissues And The Factors Correlated With Line- 1 Expression, G. M. Jonaid
Larval-Ant Interactions in the Mojave Desert: Communication Brings Us Together, Alicia Mellor
Digging Biomechanics in Geomyoid Rodents, Alexis Moore Crisp
Transcriptional Silencing and Anti-Silencing of Virulence Genes in the Bacterial Pathogen Shigella Flexneri: VIRB, DNA Supercoiling, and the Histone-Like Nucleoid Structuring Protein, Michael Adam Picker
Prokaryotic Diversity and Aqueous Geochemistry of Subsurface Environments of the Death Valley Regional Flow System, Joshua David Sackett
Identifying the Molecular Functions of the C-Terminal Region of the Human Proteins, Surbhi Sharma
The Caspase Cascade during Hibernation in the Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel, Spermophilus lateralis, Michael David Treat
Theses/Dissertations from 2017
Gene Expression Profiling in the Larval Fat Body of Desiccation Selected Drosophila melanogaster, Adriana Michelle Charles
Factors Influencing Induction of Desiccation Tolerance in Bryophytes: Redefining Fundamental Aspects of the Organism’s Relationship with the Environment in Xeric Habitats, Joshua Lee Greenwood
Living on the Edge: Assessing the Effects of Catastrophic Fire on Plants Utilized by Two Endemic Subspecies of Spring Mountains Butterflies, Charles Ryan Herrmann
Thermal and Developmental Ecology of Pupfish, Cyprinodon, Alexander Jones
Eye Repair in Xenopus Laevis, Cindy Xuan-Mai Kha
Software for Sequence Analysis of Variants in Functional Screening Libraries and Personalized Genome Files, Jacklyn Michelle Newsome
Emerging Infectious Disease and the Imperiled Relict Leopard Frog, Anthony Wayne Waddle
Theses/Dissertations from 2016
Physiology and Genetics of Starvation-Selected Drosophila melanogaster, Christopher Michael Hardy
Development of the K-state (Competence) and Mutagenesis in Stressed Bacillus subtillis Cells, Amanda Kidman
Incomplete Denitrification in Thermus Species, Chrisabelle Mefferd
The Role of Mfd in Stationary-Phase Oxidative Damage Repair in Bacillus subtilis, Katelyn E. Porter
A Bioinformatics Approach to Addressing the Responses of Rice Aleurone Cells to Hormones Abscisic Acid and Gibberellic Acid, Kenneth Arthur Watanabe
Biogeochemistry of a Saline, Alkaline, Terminal Lake Ecosystem in Transition; Walker Lake, Nevada, Katherine Lynn Willever
Theses/Dissertations from 2015
Paenibacillus larvae spore germination and American Foulbrood disease development in honey bee larvae, Israel Alvarado
Assessing the importance of nurse plant associations to the growth of pre-~reproductive Yucca brevifolia, Eric James Chameroy
Cultivation-Dependent Analysis of Microorganisms Associated with Various Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids, Anthony Harrington
The Effects of Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Antimicrobial Peptides on Paenibacillus larvae, Jasmin Camille Khilnani
Scardovia Wiggsiae Prevalence in Orthodontic Patients, Brandon Joseph Streiff
Theses/Dissertations from 2014
The Grass Shrimp, Palaemonetes, Pugio: Hypoxic Influences on Embryonic Development, Christensen C. Javier
Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) Offspring Recruitment on the Carrizo Plain National Monument: Evaluating the Effects of Low Population Density and Marginal Habitat Quality., Diego Ramirez Johnson
Understanding how honey bee flight and senescence are connected through oxidative stress., Joseph Margotta
Life history tradeoffs and the costs of reproduction in Arizona Bark Scorpions (Centruroides sculpturatus), Michael Marie Webber
Isolation and Characterization of Paenibacillus larvae Bacteriophages for Use as a Treatment of American Foulbrood Disease in Honeybees, Diane Gerda Yost
Theses/Dissertations from 2013
Assessing Growth Response to Climate Controls in a Great Basin Artemisia Tridentata Plant Community, Lorenzo F. Apodaca
Kinematic analysis of axial rotations and the effects of stress selection on takeoff flight performance, Michael L. Brewer
Integrating, Developing, and Testing Methods to Generate More Cohesive Approaches to Biogeographic Inference, Mallory Elizabeth Eckstut
A Comprehensive Research Framework for Geographic Parthenogenesis in Whiptail Lizards (Genus Aspidoscelis), Adam Leland
The Effects of Starvation Selection on Drosophila Melanogaster Life History and Development, Lauren A. Reynolds
The Role of OsWRKY71 and Its Interacting Proteins in Seed Germination and Early Growth of Cereal Grains, Margaret Ja Shin
Dispersal Ecology of Desert Mosses Along Gradients of Elevation, Wildfire Disturbance and Local Niche, Robert Joseph Smith
Theses/Dissertations from 2012
Natural and Lignocellulose-Enriched Microbial Communities in Great Boiling Spring, NV, Jessica Cole
Scorpion Phylogeography in the North American Aridlands, Matthew Ryan Graham
Exercise-induced neuroprotection in a hemiparkinsonian 6-hydroxydopamine rat model, Merrill Russen Landers
A Genetic, Transgenic, and Transcriptomic Analysis of Larval Salivary Gland Physiology in Drosophila melanogaster, Elana A. Paladino
Theses/Dissertations from 2011
An Ecological study of peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, 2006-2010, Joseph Graham Barnes
Microbial impacts on endocrine disrupting contaminants: Las Vegas Wash and Lake Mead, Nevada, Susanna May Blunt
Bryoecology in the American southwest: Patterns of biodiversity and responses to global change, John Carroll Brinda
Historical diversification of montane herpetofauna within and between the sierras of Mexico, Robert William Bryson Jr.
Phylogeography of a vanishing North American songbird: The painted bunting (Passerina ciris), Connie Ann Herr
Phylogeography of three heteromyid taxa: Insight on the evolution of a North American arid grassland rodent guild, Sean A. Neiswenter
Global and specific controls of protein synthesis in hibernators, Peipei Pan
Characterization and regulation of the icsP and ospZ locus in Shigella flexneri, Krystle Lashell Pew
Embryonic Development of the Grass Shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio, and the Influence of Salinity on Cardiac Physiology, Amie Lynn Romney
Molecular evolution and historical biogeography of new world birds, Brian T. Smith
Second-order conditioning in Drosophila, Christopher J. Tabone
Theses/Dissertations from 2010
The Role of ecdysone signaling in fat-body tissue remodeling and pupal metabolism, Nichole Dinell Bond
Presenilin is necessary for the function of CBP in the adult Drosophila CNS, Randy S. Boyles
The Larval salivary gland of Drosophila melangogaster: A model system for temporal and spatial steroid hormone regulation, Benjamin Constantino
Space use and mating activities in the speckled rattlesnake, Xavier Glaudas
Transcriptional regulation of the Shigella flexneri icsp Promoter: Silencing and anti-silencing by H-NS and VirB, Dustin Harrison
Phylogeography of two closely related anurans, the Relict Leopard Frog (Rana onca) and Lowland Leopard Frog (Rana yavapaiensis), Viktoria Hemmings
Transcriptional regulation of Shigella virulence plasmid-encoded genes by VirB and CRP, Christopher Thomas Hensley
Reconstructing species responses to past climatic changes using niche modeling and genetic data, Tereza Jezkova
From the valleys to the mountains: The biographic history of antelope squirrels, bats, and chipmunks in Western North America, Stacy James Mantooth
The Role of transcription in stationary phase mutagenesis in Bacillus subtilis, Holly Anne Martin
Genes involved in mushroom body development and behavior in Drosophila, Christine Nicole Serway
Physiological implications of natural versus induced arousal from torpor, Jenifer C. Utz
Production, purification and crystallization of membrane integrated multimeric Bax, Adelbert Mark Villoso
Environmental Influence on Brain, Behavior, and Gene Expression in Drosophila, Xia Wang
Theses/Dissertations from 2009
The role of larval fat cells in starvation resistance and reproduction in adult Drosophila melanogaster, Jerell Roland Aguila
Investigation of plant water use in the Great Basin, NV, Benjamin Conrad
Integrated responses of crustaceans inhabiting estuaries to the challenges of feeding and digestion in low salinity, Daniel Luke Curtis
Distribution and site selection of Le Conte's and Crissal thrashers in the Mojave Desert: A multi-model approach, Dawn Marie Fletcher
Molecular systematics and phylogeography of the genus Richardsonius, Derek Dee Houston