| My research at the University of Maine Department of Physics is in condensed matter physics and its application to the study of biomembranes. Basically, there is an awful lot of physics that has been done in statistical mechanics, solid state physics, and thermodynamics. There is also an awful lot left to understand about how our cellular membranes organize themselves (into domains of various sizes, shapes, and compositions) to allow transport, to fend off disease, and to signal other cellular processes. I'm looking for effective methods and techniques to use the large body of work from condensed matter to inform investigations into biomembranes.
At the moment, I am investigating the role that proteins might play, acting as quenched random impurities, in influencing lipid domain formation. Paper Lookup Tools. In addition to my PhD work with condensed matter, I am also pursuing a Masters of Science Teaching (MST) degree. My thesis involves investigating whether or not single-sex groups in tutorial/workshop/recitation sections have any performance differences than coed groups in the same sections. Input Survey Results. Links to presentations, papers, etc. are below. |
| Poster presented at the 2008 Biophysical Society meeting in Long Beach, CA, Cholesterol Mediates Heterogeneity in a Non-Equilibrium Membrane Model. | Presentation at the 2008 March Meeting of the APS in New Orleans, LA, Lateral Organization of a Non-Equilibrium Membrane Model with Quenched Random Impurities. |
| Presentation at the 2006 March Meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) in Baltimore, MD, The Impact of Cholesterol on Lateral Organization in a Three-Species Non-Equilibrium Model of a Biomembrane. | A movie that goes along with the presentation, in WMV format. Heating and Annealing of a Biomembrane |
| Paper reviewing current literature for single-sex vs. coed debate. Academic Performance Differences: A Summary of Emperical Studies of Students in Single-Sex and Coeducational Settings. | |