The Sumner Richman Student Research Award in Biology

The Sumner Richman Student Research Award in Biology was created to honor Sumner Richman, who dedicated 38 years (1957-1995) to teaching and research in biology. The award recognizes a student demonstrating strong potential in biological research. Greta Thoresen (Sheboygan, WI) gained a variety of research experiences, first as a summer LU Research Fellow followed by a summer REU at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in Gothic, CO where she conducted field experiments exploring the interaction network between pollinators, nectar robbers, microbes, and the hummingbird-pollinated wildflower Ipomopsis aggregata. Using Fluorescent quantum dots to tediously follow the movement of pollen grains between donor flowers and recipients across treatments, her experiment tested the effects of yeast-inoculated nectar and artificial nectar robbing on the male fitness of the plant. After collecting data at RMBL, Greta devoted a significant amount of time continuing to work on the project back at Lawrence, demonstrating a high level of independence and proficiency in analyzing the complex dataset and bringing the project to competition.