The Kravis Department of Integrated Sciences supports the College’s values of engaging students in first-hand research, oftentimes leading to publications and presentations at professional conferences. Here are some examples of recent student research in the department:

In Prof. Paul Nerenberg’s research group, Luca Ciaramitaro (CMC ’28) and Scarlett Welch (CMC ’28) performed molecular dynamics simulations of engineered mutants of the NanoBiT bioluminescent reporter protein to determine the molecular basis for binding specificity between the two units (LgBiT and SmBiT) in collaboration with Prof. Colin Rathbun. Their goal is to enable the rational development of “orthogonal” LgBiT-SmBiT pairs for use in both in vitro and in vivo experiments. Amanda Kerner (CMC ’28) performed simulations of a short 4-residue proline-rich peptide and a longer peptide containing two such 4-residue regions derived from the Tau protein, with the goals of assessing current protein force field and water combinations and explaining FRET, CD, and NMR data obtained for these systems under a variety of experimental conditions. This work is currently in preparation for submission to the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling. Finally, Christopher Turner (Pomona ’27) reparameterized a small molecule force field (GAFF2) and developed an alchemical free energy protocol to generate accurate predictions of nitrogen solubility in cryogenic liquid alkanes, relevant to elucidating the chemical compositions of hydrocarbon lakes on Saturn’s moon Titan.

Alexander Bartholomew (CMC ’28) worked with Prof. Shibu Yooseph on a novel computational analysis of a previously published colorectal cancer (CRC) gut microbiome dataset. The goal of this project was to study inter-individual variation in the gut microbiome and how this variation impacts identification of tissue type and cancer status in CRC. The analysis included the use of methods for dealing with microbial taxonomy profile data and machine learning approaches for classification of tissue types. This work will be presented as a poster at the European Conference on Computational Biology 2026.

Avia Tuguldur (CMC ’28) worked with Profs. Shaun Lee and Shibu Yooseph on a comparative genome analysis of two bacterial strains (E. coli Nissle 1917 and E. coli DH5a) with a goal of understanding the differences in their Type III Secretion System 2 and iron acquisition genes. This computational work is part of a larger lab project to use E. coli Nissle 1917 for bacterial engineered therapy. Avia’s analysis results were presented as a poster at the 10th Conference on Beneficial Microbes at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

In Prof. Jon Raberg’s MUCC Lab, Scarlett Welch (CMC ‘28) and Luca Ciaramitaro (CMC ‘28) researched climate change on geologic timescales in the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. They piloted the MUCC Lab’s use of ATR-FTIR analyses on lake sediments, including troubleshooting, developing a protocol, and developing a data processing pipeline. They used this method to generate a record of Biogenic Silica from Paradise Pond, CO stretching back more than 10,000 years, which will aid in broader efforts to understand hydroclimate change in the Rockies. They also participated in a successful 5-day field expedition to collect sediment cores from Walker Lake, CA.

Jayden Kadiman (CMC '29) and Pablo Meyers (CMC '28) worked with Prof. Pranav Khandelwal over the summer of 2026 on questions of animal movement. Jayden investigated the takeoff biomechanics of flying lizards, a small lizard capable of gliding over 20 meters, to better understand how these animals initiate and control their aerial trajectory. As part of this project, Jayden also mentored a high school student. Pablo explored the use of 3D printing to fabricate life-size models of flying lizards that can be precisely shaped to reflect various aerial postures, allowing the team to study how posture affects aerial maneuvering. Together, their work will contribute to a broader understanding of gliding in animals and help inform the future design of micro-aerial vehicles. Part of this research is planned for presentation at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology's national conference in Los Angeles in 2028.

In Prof. Diana Williams's Neurobiology of Ingestive Behavior Laboratory, Calvin Miller (CMC '26) and Jaimie Yu (CMC '26) worked on a project examining how binge-like eating behavior can emerge during adolescence in rats, and how this eating pattern affects brain development. Sarah Loper (CMC '26), Saman Alikhani (PTZ '26), Jordan Arroyo Cruz (CMC '28), Sanaya Mundra (CMC '27), and Alejandro Bedoya Norena (CMC '28) investigated how soluble fiber supplementation shapes feeding behavior and body weight in rats transitioning to a high-fat, high-sugar diet. The team found that supplementation with beta glucan reduced high-fat diet-induced overeating primarily by decreasing the amount of food consumed during meals, and that it protected the animals' responsiveness to GLP-1 agonist treatment, which is otherwise blunted by high-fat diet exposure. Sarah presented this work at the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior's 2026 annual meeting. Building on this project, Ashley Lim (CMC '29) began analyzing brain tissue from these subjects during summer 2026 to evaluate whether beta glucan supplementation reduced the neuroinflammatory response typically associated with high-fat, high-sugar diets.

This summer in the lab of Prof. Emily Kolenbrander Ho, Dean Ko (CMC ’28), Sammy Moya (CMC ’28), and Heena Suleman (CMC ’29) worked on projects investigating ERK signal interpretation in Drosophila fruit fly embryos. They cloned constructs for new fluorescent biosensors that are currently being inserted into the Drosophila genome using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. They performed live imaging experiments to track receptor activity in developing embryos. And they used optogenetic perturbations to induce abnormal levels of signaling in embryos and then measure patterns of target gene expression. These experiments contribute to our ongoing efforts to build sensitive tools for measuring and perturbing developmental signaling.

This summer, Prof. Rui Cheng’s lab investigated the complex interactions between environmental hazards and ecosystem health through integrated climate modeling and localized monitoring. Research by Abby Alem (Pomona '26) examines the intersection of drought and extreme heat across global monsoon zones, utilizing long-term Climate Prediction Center records to understand how these synchronized events amplify societal and agricultural risks. Parallel to these broad climate assessments, Brendan Long (CMC '29) led the implementation of a phenology sensing network in Claremont to monitor the seasonal dynamics of flammable California Sage Scrub. This effort involved engineering solar-powered instrumentation and an automated Raspberry Pi data pipeline to capture high-frequency imagery. By calculating the Green Chromatic Coordinate from these ground-level observations, we are able to validate satellite sensing products and enhance our ability to quantify regional wildfire vulnerabilities.

In the lab of Prof. Colin Rathbun, students worked on a wide variety of protein engineering questions. Evelyn Harrington (Scripps ‘27) and Sovvi Kim (CMC ‘29) worked on bioluminescent enzymes for RNA imaging. The evaluated mutations that we hope will reduce background in RNA microscopy experiments. Georgia Garriett (CMC ‘29) and Willa Baker (Scripps ‘27) worked on tagging bioluminescent enzymes with quantum dots. We hope to modulate the color of bioluminescence via the interesting photophysics of these tiny crystals. Will Halpin (CMC ‘28) and Lia Che (CMC ‘29) pursued a new project in the lab engineering enzymes to degrade PFOS and other fluorinated compounds in drinking water. They hope to develop a method for high-throughput selection of better defluorinating enzymes. Finally Srey On Peuy (CMC ‘27) spent the summer developing new synthetic biology techniques to evolve brighter bioluminescent enzymes. She is using light-sensitive proteins to modulate antibiotic resistance in E. coli.

Isabella Rodriguez (CMC ’28) worked with Prof. Shaun Lee on the biochemical analysis of a novel methyltransferase enzyme produced by the human bacterial pathogen, Group A Streptococcus. The aim of this project is to investigate the role of this enzyme in Group A Streptococcus pathogenesis with the long-term goal to develop strategies to inhibit these factors for disease therapies.  Isabella conducted bioinformatic analysis to investigate the potential activity of this enzyme and its broader conservation among other bacterial species. To study this enzyme in biochemical detail, Isabella performed the first successful purification of this methyltransferase enzyme using recombinant methods. Isabella will continue functional studies on the function of the methyltransferase in the upcoming year. 

In Prof. Nia Walker’s RiSE Lab (Resilience in Stressful Environments), members use molecular biology, physiology, and ecology techniques to test stress resilience in marine invertebrates. Eridaly Basave (CMC ’28), Denise Chen (CMC ’28), Evelyn Chavez-Gonzalez (CMC ’28), and Rylie Crow (Scripps ’27) collected soft corals from aquarium stores across Los Angeles County and brought them back to the lab. They exposed the corals to elevated temperatures to assess heat tolerance, tracking mortality and health throughout the exposure, then extracted DNA to characterize the coral microbiomes. The central question was whether microbial communities are structured more by shared environment (the store a coral came from) or by host species. All four students are co-authors on the resulting paper that was published in Integrative and Comparative Biology (Walker et al., 2026), which represents one of the first microbial assessments of these coral species in captivity. Clarence Lin (CMC ’28) worked on a bioinformatics project with collaborators at Stanford University, investigating gene co-expression among cryptic coral species in the Indo-Pacific archipelago of Palau. His analysis contributed to a larger effort to determine whether baseline gene expression, measured before any heat stress, can predict which corals will be resilient. This study’s findings could be used to forecast reef health ahead of an ocean warming event, which is a potentially valuable tool for conservation. Clarence is a co-author on the manuscript, which is currently in peer review for publication. Lastly, senior thesis students Rylie Crow and Ava Tratt (Pitzer ’27) helped launch a new sea anemone model system in the lab. Rylie is testing whether increased feeding improves heat resilience, and Ava is testing whether bisection-induced regeneration impacts heat resilience. Both projects combine molecular and physiological methods, and the theses will be submitted in Fall ’26.