Research

Research
Fletcher Family Fund

Faculty Research Awards - Fall 2005

Peter Doan, Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Hyperfine-Shift NMR studies of Ammine Ruthenium Complexes
The magnetic properties of ammine ruthenium complexes will be studied for their possible use as probes of local motion in disordered or partially ordered proteins. Ruthenium complexes will be synthesized and characterized by standard techniques. Extensive Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) measurements will be made using the NMR instrument here at Bowdoin College.

Christopher Gerbi, Visiting Assistant Professor of Geology
Bedrock Architecture of South-Central Maine
The Maine Appalachians are the result of numerous collisions of small continental fragments. I propose to investigate the effects of the collision of one of those fragments on four bedrock belts in south-central Maine. I hypothesize that following the collision and subsequent mountain building, metamorphism of these belts was not geographically or temporally systematic. To test this hypothesis, I will determine the ages of rocks in each of the four belts, which extend southwest to northeast across the southern part of the state. Results of this work will contribute to our understanding of the structure of Maine’s continental crust.

Jennifer R. Morgan, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology
Roles for the Presynaptic Actin Cytoskeleton In Maintaining Synapse Structure and Function
The nervous system functions by releasing and detecting chemical messengers, which occur at specialized contacts between neurons, called synapses. In order for neuronal communication to persist, both the structure and function of synapses must be maintained. One key player in this is a network of protein filaments, called the actin cytoskeleton. While it is clear that actin provides both a stable, structural support for synapses and a dynamic machine that drives synaptic function, the precise mechanisms by which this occurs are unclear. Therefore, I propose to examine the molecular underpinnings underlying actin’s roles at synapses.

Elizabeth Muther, Professor of English
Funding for a Research Assistant
Funding for research support and for related photocopying.

Davis Robinson, Professor of Theater
Vengeance: a theatrical re-imagining of The Seven Samurai
A physical theater adaptation of the film the Seven Samurai, using original music and physical theater techniques to create a contemporary theatrical fable. This piece will be written collaboratively with the actors and designers of the Beau Jest Moving Theater (www.beaujest.com) under my direction, and presented at the Boston Center for the Arts in June, 2006.

Allen Springer, Professor of Government
The Battle Over Sellafield: Law, Politics and the Management of Transboundary Environmental Disputes
This paper examines the international controversy surrounding the operation of British nuclear facilities at Sellafield, England with a particular focus on the dispute between the UK and the Republic of Ireland over the UK’s 2001 decision to permit a Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel plant to begin operation at Sellafield. It explores the changing and increasingly “legal” challenges raised by Ireland under the terms of the Law of the Sea and OSPAR conventions and the role played by the European Union in the dispute. It also looks more broadly at the complex political context in which the dispute is set, including the active role played by environmental NGOs. As a case study in transboundary environmental disputes, the Sellafield dispute is used to describe some areas of continuing tension in the body of customary international environmental law and to suggest some directions in which state practice may be heading.

Elizabeth Stemmler, Associate Professor of Chemistry
The Application of High Performance Liquid Chromatography to theDetermination of Neuropeptides in Crustaceans
Funding is requested to support the purchase of a high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) column for peptide analysis, to synthesize 2 small peptides, and to purchase California spiny lobsters, Panulirus interruptus. These materials will be used to (1) generate preliminary data to demonstrate our technical competence in the separation of complex peptide mixtures by HPLC, anticipating a future proposal to fund a liquid chromatographic/mass spectrometer and (2) to complete a project involving the identification of novel orcokinin peptides in Panulirus interruptus by applying HPLC techniques to the separation of a pooled crustacean tissue extract, and comparing retention times with those of synthesized peptides.