Each year, the Pennsylvania Academy of Science recognizes outstanding graduate and undergraduate presentations at its annual meeting. Through the Spychala Awards, funded by the Anne Spychala Family Charitable Foundation Endowment, the Academy bestows first, second, and third place prizes in both oral and poster categories, along with four honorable mentions. A separate Spychala endowment underwrites the Women in Science Award, celebrating the contributions of women researchers. In 2025, poster presentations in the Women in Science category received first, second, and third place prizes, while the STEM-UP Network, whose mission is to empower and advance underrepresented students in STEM through mentoring and professional development, generously sponsored the equivalent awards for oral presentations.The 2025 meeting, held at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Harrisburg, PA, honored 20 students (Table 1) from 15 Pennsylvania institutions. Their award-winning work exemplified the Academy’s interdisciplinary reach, encompassing research in life sciences, environmental science, chemistry, and physics. Projects ranged from studies in cancer biology, microbiology, and molecular genetics to investigations in ecosystem restoration, bioremediation, chemical catalysis, and acoustic physics. This breadth reflects the Academy’s commitment to advancing scientific inquiry across diverse disciplines. Furthermore, this group of recipients also highlights the increasing diversity of the next generation of scientists, a priority the Academy steadfastly supports.The following section features the abstracts of winning presentations, listed alphabetically by author. Minor editorial revisions have been made for clarity.Ambrosino, Marian,* and John Harms. Messiah University, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055. Quantifying primary tumor fibrosis in a metastatic model of murine pancreatic cancer.Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest cancers in the United States, often diagnosed at a metastatic stage where the five-year survival rate is just 3.1%. Limited treatment success can be attributed, in part, to the dense collagen-rich fibrosis of PDAC tumors, which limits perfusion and contributes to chemotherapy resistance. Proglumide, a cholecystokinin receptor antagonist, has been shown to attenuate fibrosis within orthotopic pancreatic tumors and improve treatment. Its efficacy in metastatic lesions remains untested. Toward the characterization of a new, more metastatic murine PDAC cell line, MCB/1, mice were injected orthotopically with MCB/1 cells to ensure that the primary tumors exhibited proglumide sensitivity comparable to preceding cell lines. We previously reported that mice randomized to proglumide treatment exhibited no change in primary tumor mass compared with controls. While incidence of liver and lung metastasis was unchanged, the average number of mesenteric metastases was lower in proglumide-treated mice. Having hypothesized that proglumide will reduce fibrosis in MCB/1 primary tumors, we here report histologic quantification. Paraformaldehyde-fixed tumors were paraffin-embedded and sectioned at one or two depths depending on tumor size. Masson’s trichrome staining was performed to differentiate between the collagen matrix and cellular portions. Sections were imaged with a whole-slide scanner and percentage of fibrosis was quantified by Fiji (ImageJ) color thresholding between blue collagen and various red cellular hues.Asper, Callie,* Kira Koutsouftikis,* and Diane Bridge. Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA 17022. Exploring the role of the microbiome in ferroptotic processes of Hydra vulgaris.The microbiome’s influence on an organism’s metabolism, neurology, digestion, and immunity heightens its potential contribution to medical advances. Ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of regulated cell death, is also instrumental in metabolic research and study of disease. Established research demonstrates bacteria’s influence on iron availability and lipid peroxidation. However, the relationship between the Hydra vulgaris microbiome and its impact on ferroptosis has yet to be studied. This study examined the diversity of the Hydra vulgaris bacterial microbiome by creating and analyzing bacterial cultures of the hydra. The hydra were also stripped of their native bacteria to yield “germ-free” organisms. Germ-free hydra and hydra that still had their original microbiomes were treated with the ferroptosis inducer diethyl maleate (DEM) to observe significant differences in hydra death between treatment groups. Hydra death is a potential indicator of ferroptosis induction. The germ-free hydra group yielded a significantly larger amount of death. This result necessitates further trials of introducing other ferroptosis inducers, such as RAS-selective lethal 3 (RSL3), for comparison of different ferroptosis inducer effects in both treatment groups. Additionally, the varying bacterial species of the Hydra vulgaris microbiome should be sequenced. Classifying bacterial species existent in the hydra microbiome will show how their specific metabolic processes may promote or inhibit ferroptosis in the hydra.Baker, Jeanette,* Teagan Thomas, Sydney Grimes, and Rajinikanth Mohan. Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA 16546. Abundance of psychrotolerant members of gamma proteobacteria in an estuarine beach.The bacterial profiles of the species living in estuaries vary depending on the unique conditions provided by their environments. In this study we used serial dilution plating to culture 12 bacteria from an estuary composed of the Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean and then characterized them. Almost all the isolates identified with 16S rRNA sequencing were gamma proteobacteria, some of which were Psychrobacter and Shewanella species. About half of the isolates were of a yellow or orange pigment, which could be due to the antioxidant function of pigments in an aquatic environment. Most isolates were not salt-tolerant, surprisingly; this suggests that they could be a freshwater counterpart. Four of the isolates may be of marine origin, as they were halotolerant. All isolates were cold-tolerant to some extent; some were extremely cold-tolerant and could grow in subzero temperatures. Additionally, many of the isolates were able to grow at up to 42°C; this indicates an ability to survive in varying water temperatures as the seasons change throughout the year. Surprisingly, in the preliminary tests, no isolates displayed significant motility, which would be expected of bacteria residing in an aquatic environment. The diversity of bacteria living in the same environment is demonstrated by this study, along with the implication of individual adaptations each one could have taken for survival in this estuarine environment.Behney, Maddisyn,* Tyani Orta, and Robert Carey. Lebanon Valley College, Annville, PA 17003. Investigation of expansins in early diverging land plant lineages.This study aimed to further investigate the evolutionary history and conservation of expansins within bryophytes. The expansin gene superfamilies of Marchantia polymorpha, Anthoceros agrestis, and Ceratodon purpureus were assembled. These superfamilies were of similar size to those of other land plants. However, M. polymorpha appears to lack the EXPB family, despite EXPBs being present in all other land plants that have been investigated. Like Physcomitrella patens, the bryophytes investigated here lack EXLAs and EXLBs, indicating that EXLs likely evolved within the spermatophytes. Bayesian phylogenic analysis reveals four M. polymorpha EXPA clades that group as sister to known moss clades. The C. purpureus EXPA and EXPB families were similar to the previously described families within P. patens. Anthoceros agrestis EXPB genes consistently group with the moss EXPBs. In contrast, some A. agrestis EXPAs group with angiosperm EXPAs, while others group with bryophytes. SeqLogo analysis revealed that A. agrestis and P. patens EXPB gene sequences share conserved motifs with angiosperm EXPBs. Distance analysis revealed that M. polymorpha has more EXPA diversity than other bryophytes. This analysis also revealed that bryophyte EXPBs are highly conserved. Through these analyses, we have determined that there are two possible explanations for the absence of EXPBs in M. polymorpha: (1) EXPBs are ancestral to all bryophyte lineages but have been lost in liverworts, or (2) EXPBs arose in the common ancestor of mosses, hornworts, and angiosperms, postdating the divergence of liverworts. Because the exact phylogenetic relationships between bryophyte lineages remain unclear, favoring one of the hypotheses for the lack of EXPBs within M. polymorpha is challenging. However, if bryophytes are monophyletic, then hypothesis 1 is most likely. If hypothesis 1 is correct, this would suggest that the common ancestor of bryophytes and angiosperms had at least 2 EXPA genes and 1 EXPB gene.Bonnet, Ashley,* and Akeisha Belgrave. Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, Harrisburg, PA 17101. Exploring Myxococcus xanthus as a sustainable approach for iron bioremediation.Iron pollution is a significant environmental challenge that contributes to negative impacts on marine life and plant life within an ecosystem, resulting in reduced biodiversity. Some examples of iron pollution are acid mine drainage, agricultural runoff, and waterway contamination. Current remediation methods such as limestone treatments and filtration are often costly and generate secondary waste. This study focuses on exploring Myxococcus xanthus, a soil-dwelling bacterium, as a potential bioremediation tool due to its ability to sequester and store iron using specialized biochemical systems, including siderophore production and encapsuling-mediated iron storage. The research aims to evaluate the efficiency of M. xanthus in iron uptake under different conditions, including varying iron concentrations. Preliminary findings indicate that M. xanthus tolerates iron effectively and grows similarly within iron-rich and iron-deficient environments. However, there is a potential inhibitory effect observed in the presence of Fe3+. Laboratory experiments will monitor iron sequestration at environmentally relevant concentrations (25–100 micromolar) over 72 h using a Ferrozine assay to quantify iron levels. This study will provide insights into the feasibility of M. xanthus as a low-cost, sustainable alternative for mitigating iron pollution in contaminated environments.Bonser, Hannah,* Alison Edwards, and André Walther. Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA 18104. Examining the interactions between Replication Protein A and associated proteins Mec1p, Tel1p, and Ddc2p using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the yeast-two hybrid system.Although cancer-related deaths continue to decline with new technologies paving the way to better treatments, the incidence of cancer continues to grow in the United States. This rise in many common types of cancer points to a need for more research and a better understanding of how cancer arises. One of the ways that research can support this goal is through understanding the proteins involved in the DNA replication, repair, and recombination pathways and how they interact with each other at a basic level. Using the yeast-two hybrid system and Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model organism, this research aims to better understand Replication Protein A (RPA) and how it interacts with the proteins Mec1p, Tel1p, and Ddc2p. Examining how these proteins interact in yeast can provide insights into how they may interact in humans, since each of these proteins has human homologs. The primary objective of this study is to determine if RPA interacts with Mec1p, Tel1p, and Ddc2 and which of the three subunits of RPA they interact with, as well as to determine if phosphorylation of RPA’s second subunit effects its interactions. Using the yeast-two hybrid system with the ADE2 reporter gene, plating interactions and growth curves can be used to measure the strength of these protein–protein interactions. With this study, a better comprehension and fuller picture can be attained of how DNA replication, repair, and recombination pathways operate. A more extensive understanding of these pathways can lead to better treatments for diseases that target them, such as cancer.Bryan, Jamie,* and Megan Rothenberger. 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