Keynote
“Put your Money Where your Mouth is: Surveillance of Antibiotic Resistance in Commensal Neisseria Populations”
by
Dr. Crista Wadsworth
Rochester Institute of Technology
MEETING SCHEDULE
June 26, 2026
6:00 p.m. DINNER
7:30 p.m. General Meeting/Awards
8:00 – 9:30 p.m. POSTER SESSION A SOCIAL: Following
Saturday 28 June
7:30 – 8:30 a.m. BREAKFAST
8:30 a.m. Fishing for electroactive bacteria in Green Lake
Mike McCormick – Hamilton College
8:55 Short-Term Impact of Mouthwashes on Human Oral Microbiota
James Brooks, Ph.D. – Eastern Connecticut State University
9:20 Exploring Evolutionary Tradeoffs in Bacteriocin Efficacy
Lindsey Moon, Siraz Ercan, and Jacob Palmer – Binghamton University
9:55 Interval
10:10 Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Indole 3-Propionate Deficiencies in the Gut Microbiome of People with Long COVID
David Esteban – Vassar College
10:45 Microbial Ecology of an Historic Harmful Cyanobacterial Bloom in the Hudson River
Julian Damashek, S. Pillitteri, S. Roback, H. Malcolm, S. Atkinson, and C. Soloman – Riverkeeper
11:10 Mucin Degradation and Trophic Networks: From Genes to Communities
Ashwana Fricker, Seba Coulibaly, Austin Qu, Yulianny De Los Santos, and Gilberto Flores – Adelphi University
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. LUNCH
1:15 – 3:00 Microbe Walk (Optional)
- A nature-walk focusing on microbial habitats and field marks.
6:00 p.m. DINNER
7:30 Computational Analysis of Escherichia coli Small Proteins: Conservation and Transcriptional Correlation
Mark Watson and Aisha Burton – Cornell University
7:30 Door-Prize Drawing
8:00 – 9:30 POSTER SESSION B SOCIAL: Following
Sunday 29 June
7:30 – 8:30 a.m. BREAKFAST
8:30 a.m. Pervasive Post-Transcriptional Regulation by the RNA Binding Protein ProQ in Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli
Shaan Bhatt, Alexa Mihaita, Abby Robinson, Mary Marino, Emily Costello, and Marisa Egan – St. Joseph’s University
9:05 Investigating the Function and Regulation of Diguanylate Cyclases and Phosphodiesterases in Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli
Abby Robinson and Shantanu Bhatt – St. Joseph’s University
9:30 The Multifunctional Role of the RNA Binding Protein CsrA in the A/E Pathogen Escherichia albertii
Kiley Toth, April Pivonka, and Shantanu Bhatt – St. Joseph’s University
9:55 Interval
10:10 The Evolution of Bacteriophage Host Range
Alexa Mastrangelo and Jacob Palmer – Binghamton University
10:35 Hype or Health: Evaluating Gut Health Claims of Popular Prebiotic Sodas
Shelby K. Swartz and Mary E. Allen – Hartwick College
11:00 Convergent Losses of Canonical Gluconeogenesis Across Ascomycete Yeasts
Fisher, Kaitlin J., Wolters, John W., Wrobel, Russell, Hittinger, and Chris T. – SUNY Oswego
11:25 NEMPET business meeting
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. LUNCH; DEPARTURE
POSTER SESSION A: Friday, 8:00 – 9:30 p.m.
Initial Characterizations of Marine Alphaproteobacteria
Alyssa Bean, Lainey Conway, Steven Detwiler, and Amelia Randich – University of Scranton
Transposon Mutagenesis of Biofilm Formation by Legionella micdadei
M. Saliou Diallo, Morgan Raymond and Christa Chatfield – SUNY Cortland
The Effect of Surface Roughness on Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus mirabilis Biofilm Growth
Jacob Claus – Hartwick College
Pole to Pole: Characterizing Cyanophage from Opposite Ends of the Earth
Calvin Cote-L'Heureux, Umberti Likollari, Ramsey Heredia and Ray Kepner – Marist University
Utilization of QR Codes in Case Study of Subsurface Microbial Phylogeny
Andrew Daisernia, Michael Rappé, Olivia Nigro, and Stephanie Carr – Hartwick College
Enhanced Rock Weathering of Olivine Stimulates Methanogenesis in Salt Marsh Soils
Emily Gutierrez, Jessica Khairallah, Sea Liu, and Michael McCormick – Hamilton College
Examining Antibiotic Resistance in the Merrimack River
Kae'la Harrigan and Charlotte Berkes – Merrimack College
The FeuPQ Two-Component System of Agrobacterium tumefaciens is Required for Efficient Biofilm Formation, Swimming Motility, and Tumor Induction
Brock, M, Arango, D, Pantelione, J, and Heindl, J – Rowan University
Characterization of fsd-1 Mutants in the Fungus Neurospora crassa
Elizabeth Hutchison, Sophia Bahm, and Leila Doerrer – SUNY Geneseo
AI Use and Cognitive Engagement in College Students
Abena Opare, Akshitha Ag, Aurora MacRae-Crerar and Vinayak Mathur – University of Delaware, University of Pennsylvania
Sour Symbioses: A New Interaction Network in the Sourdough Starter Microbiome
Cameron Murray, Rachel Shepherd, Beryl Braden, and Angela Oliverio – Syracuse University
Iron Dose-Response in Methanosarcina acetivorans: Surface Accumulation, Internal Homeostasis, and Delayed Methanogenesis
Jagger Defenza, Michel Geovanni Santiago-Martinez
Exploring the mechanism of phase variation and its contribution to starvation-induced biofilm formation in Myxococcus xanthus
Marlena Langdon1 and Jessica A. Comstock2– Haverford College1 and SUNY Cortland2
POSTER SESSION B: Saturday, 8:00 – 9:30 p.m.
Characterizing Functional Roles of Microorganisms across Five Mucin-Degrading Communities
Ashwana Fricker and Seba Coulibaly – Adelphi University
Isolating Bacteria Capable of Degrading the Poly-Aromatic Hydrocarbon Biphenyl
Catalina Garcia Canas and Igor Ivanovski – St. Joseph’s University, New York
Outer Membrane Vesicles Support Lifestyle Switching in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Victoria Namiganda, Caitlin Light and Jeffrey Schertzer – Binghamton University
Charactering the Morphology and Temperature of Fumarolamoeba
Melanie Paige Perez, Rachel Shepherd, Hannah Murphy, and Angela Oliverio – Syracuse University
The role of heavy metals in the regulation of virulence and gene expression in Escherichia albertii
Anna Porch and Shantanu Bhatt – St. Joseph’s University
Bloom Busters: Exploring biocontrol of Microcystis aeruginosa using A. denitrificans, B. cereus, and B. subtilis
Fardeen Shafeen, Minhaj Uddin, Nabila Sultana, and Ray Kepner – Marist University
Genomic Insights into a Thermophilic Protist, Fumarolamoeba sp., Isolated from Geothermal Springs and Hot Water Systems
Rachel M. Shepherd, H. Beryl Rappaport, Melanie P. Perez, Hannah N. Murphy, and Angela M. Oliverio – Syracuse University
Assessing Field Acquired Antifungal Resistance in Wetland Soil Fungi
Noah Small and Kaitlin Fisher – SUNY Oswego
Microbial Adaption and Selective Isolation of Naphthalene-Degrading Bacteria from a Mixed Hydrocarbon-Degrading Consortium
Jenny Sorto, and Igor Ivanovski – St. Joseph’s University, New York
Enzymatic Characterization of a Novel Serine Palmitoyltransferase Enzyme from Black Sea Microbes
Joctan Viera Martinez, Flynn Semenuk, and Eric A. Klein – Rutgers University
Formate Hydrogenlyase (FHL-2)-Type Operons in Organisms Associated with the Family Eggerthellaceae
Alexander Poulter, Isis Del Mazo, and Michel Geovanni Santiago Martinez – University of Connecticut
Oxygen Tolerance of a Versatile Methane-Producing Archaeon
Steven Kilmetz, and Michel Geovani Santiago-Martínez – University of Connecticut
Developing a Multi-project CURE to Address Throughput of Undergraduate Research Trainees
Emily Nowicki – Curry College