Salem State Research Day

Interdisciplinary Perspectives: Current Topics in Faculty Research
2:35 - 3:35 pm | faculty & graduate panel session II
Bertolon Central Classroom Building room 248 and remote via HyFlex

In this diverse panel session, faculty from Sport and Movement Science, Geography and Sustainability, and Biology share their current research and engage in an interdisciplinary discussion about their recent scholarship.

Alistar Murapiro, Peter Smolianov, Christopher Boucher, Nisreen Bahnan, Christopher Schoen, Steven Dion
Surveying US Shooting Coaches and Administrators to Explore Practices of Integrated Development of Mass and High Performance Sport

The authors utilized the model of integrated elite and mass sport development from past research which formed the foundation for a questionnaire and interview schedule for US shooting coaches and administrators to generate a snapshot of perceptions of the current sport system and possibilities for its further development.

Nick Geron
Legacy Effects of an Invasive Species on Street Trees in Worcester, MA

Using street tree census data from 2005 and 2022, this study aims to examine the changes in street tree composition and maturity in Worcester from 2005 to 2022, which includes the significant impacts of the Long-horned Beetle (LB) infestation (over 35000 trees removed in 2010). This research asks four questions: what was the impact of LB infestation on Worcester’s street trees?; what are the changes in ecosystem services between 2005 and 2022 of street trees?; how has the biodiversity of Worcester’s street trees changed as a result of replanting?; and, what are the environmental justice (EJ) implications of tree planting in Worcester over the past 17 years?

Jason Brown
A genetic screen for new cilia assembly mutants

Cilia are important eukaryotic organelles and the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is an important model organism for studying cilia. During Chlamydomonas cilia assembly the cell induces the expression of hundreds of genes to produce new cilia proteins. However, very little is understood about how the cell coordinates the expression of these genes. This project uses forward genetics to identify mechanisms involved in the induction of transcription during cilia assembly. I have identified multiple interesting mutant strains and I will present the current results of this ongoing genetic screen.