Student Research

Students at Allegheny College are required to complete a senior comprehensive project (senior thesis) as part of their graduation requirements. In addition, students may complete independent research projects. The following is a list of current and past student projects in the Whitenack lab:

Current student/alumni projects:

• The effects of tooth wear on shark tooth puncture performance: Ryan Sesler ('23)

• The paleontological resources of coastal U.S. National Parks: Noel Oullette ('24) in collaboration with Vincent Santucci (National Parks Service) and Christy Visaggi (Georgia State University)

• Shark breaching biomechanics: Skyler Masse ('23) and James Valentine ('21), in collaboration with Adele' Poynor (Allegheny College Physics)

• Performance of serial shark teeth in penetration: Stephanie Rohrbach ('20)

• Shark tooth puncture performance on a variety of prey: FSBio201 students 2017-present

• Correlating shark tooth shape and diet: Caitlyn Faust ('24) and Alexandra Hunt ('24)

• Documenting Palezoic shark tooth diversity and disparity: Jonathan Brodak ('24)

• Documenting Mesozoic & Cenozoic shark tooth diversity & disparity: Jared Jordan ('21)

• Effects of temperature on plethodontid salamander jump performance: Eric Conners ('16) in collaboration with Bill Ryerson (Saint Anselm College)

• Comparison of bite force in the spotted gar Lepisosteous oculatus, northern pike Esox lucius, gar, and great barracuda Sphyraena barracuda: Rosie Sheppard ('20) and Ryan Sherry ('15) in collaboration with M. Laura Habegger (University of North Florida) and Solomon David (Nicholls State University)

• Niche partitioning in six sympatric French Creek darters: comparing head morphology and diet: George Opara ('19), Imani Chambers, Tara Afjeh ('17) & Rob Paul ('15) in collaboration with Casey Bradshaw-Wilson (Allegheny College Environmental Science)

Past projects:

• Content analysis of 30 years of Shark Week: Brady Mickley ('22) in collaboration with Julia Saltzman (University of New Hampshire), Steve Kajiura (Florida Atlantic University), Catherine Macdonald (University of Miami), and David Shiffman (Arizona State University)

• Sandbar shark tooth biomechanics across prey types: Alexandra Hasson ('23)

• The impact of shoulder injuries on trapezius function during overhead athletic motions: Nina Claudio ('23)

• Ecdysis patterns in the Cambrian trilobites Elrathua and Asaphicus: Hunter Lohr ('23)   

• The effects of different stretching regimes on lacrosse passing speed: Chelsea Esser ('23)

• The soils of Pittsburgh and their effects on the development of land use in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Luke Chileski ('23)

• The effects of shin splints on running biomechanics: Emily Orr ('22)

• The physics of soccer ball surfaces and their effects on the biomechanics of shooting goals: Thiago Nardi-Velazquez ('22)

• Quantifying parrotfish defecations at the Port of Miami Reef in Florida: Connor Smith ('21) in collaboration with Coral City Camera

• Effects of an urbanized coral reef environment on southeastern Florida parrotfish feeding behavior: Sierra Myers ('21) in collaboration with Coral City Camera

• Rise of the interlopers: tyrannosaur niche partitioning and its implications for American Crocodylia in the Everglades. Jared Jordan ('21)

• Biodiversity of pseudosuchians and the effects of their diets during the Mesozoic era: Shannon McGuinn ('21)

• Mesozoic shark teeth patterns and tooth morphology lineages in extinct and extant shark tooth type: Shiloh Taul ('21)

• The effects of gonadal steroid hormones on tooth development, growth, and maintenance: Hayley Behr ('21) in collaboration with Lauren Rudolph (Allegheny College Biology & Neuroscience)

• The influence of athletic playing surfaces on knee angles of Division III collegiate athletes performing change of direction movements and the impact on risk of injury: Raelynn Dorscheid ('20)

• Don't be blue: a look at the efficacy of the protection of yellow filters on retinal damage in mice (Mus musculus): Lily Storey ('20)

• Dynamic testing to determine tooth wear in Negaprion brevirostris: Francis Faiello ('20)

• The effects of tooth wear on lemon shark Negaprion brevirostris tooth performance: Evin Fitzgerald ('19)

• The effects of dietary supplemental combinations on physical performance in late adolescent mice: Tristan Rhoades ('19)

• Evolution of predatory methods using a phylogenetic framework in Ocenebrinae (Muricidae): Meghan Stewart ('17) in collaboration with Gregory Herbert (U. South Florida)

• Patterns of evolution in Ordovician trilobites of both dying and surviving lineages across the End-Ordovician mass extinction boundary: Tyler Stigall ('16)

• Variations in cranial and dental sexual dimorphisim in the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus): Ananya Yerramreddy ('17)

• Effects of warming up with a bat weight on swing speed and muscle activity in baseball players: Colby Griffin ('17)

• Analysis of marine protected areas in the Florida Keys and Hawaiian regions, focusing on coral reef stability in modern day environmental conditions: Jenna Farruggia ('17)

• The effects of ocean acidificication on sea urchin taphonomy: Maggie Limbeck ('16)

• Fatigue and playing surface influence on knee angles of college soccer players and the impact these angles have on the risk of injury: Lauren Miller ('16)

• Fatigue of antagonist muscles and its relation to the force of agonist muscles used during the bench press: Joe D'Amato ('16)

• Determining the effects of force and hip flexion on long jump performance: Michael Petro ('15)

• The effects of post-pitching recovery procedures on the loss of internal rotation in the throwing shoulder of baseball pitchers: Paul Vojtek ('15)

• Baseball and softball players’ swing mechanics and percentage body fat as they contribute to maximum ball velocity after contact: Leah Herlocker ('15)

• Effects of temperature on bluegill sunfish feeding performance: Ryan Sherry ('15) 

• Shape differences in wolf skulls before and after the Endangered Species Act: Lara Stein ('15)

• Effects of nitrogen levels on morphology and prey capture in Venus flytraps: Kara Reffitt (`14)

• Differences in ground reaction forces in baseball pitching: Mike Pezzone ('14)

• The effect of caudal anatomy on social status in male Carolina green anoles (Anolis carolinensis): Kathleen Macie ('14)

• Species identification of unknown Carcharhinidae shark jaws through geometric morphometrics: Andrew Greiner ('14)

• Squaliform tooth histology and composition: Alex Mitchell ('13)

• Feeding kinematics of two darter species: Shelby Penn ('13)

• Identifying Carcharhiniform species based on tooth morphology: 2012, 2014 Junior Seminars

• Landing forces & forelimb structural mechanics in tree frogs and fire bellied toads: 2012 Junior Seminar

• Kinematics of plethodontid salamander jumping: Anthony Hessel ('12) & Ariel Statman ('13), in collaboration with Bill Ryerson (Saint Anselm College)

• Speciation & evolution in Plio-Pleistocene Oliva (Gastropoda): Kayla Kalamasz ('17), Abby Hileman ('16), Kathleen Macie ('14), Cathrine Youngs ('12), & Sarena Ferguson ('12).

• Salamander limb regeneration and its effects on locomotion: Cathrine Youngs ('12)

• Bite force in northern pike Esox lucius: Rob Mortimer ('12), in collaboration with Maria Laura Habegger (University of Northern Florida).

• Jumping and landing forces in frogs and toads: Jessica Russel ('12)

• Morphology and function of pelvic and pectoral fins in Neogobius melanostomus and Cottus bairdii: Gerald Dolce ('12) - Bugbee Award winning comp!

• Variation in craniofacial sexual dimorphism between captive and wild Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta): Sarah Skubak ('11).

• Variation in reversed size dimorphism as an effective of human population densities in the great horned owl Bubo virginianus in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia: Christine Yocum ('11).