TABLE 2.

Research themes that have been implemented in UMARL^a

Research theme	Sample student research projects
Soft coral responses to pollutants	Too much of a good thing? The effects of excess nutrients on anemone bleaching The effect of salinity on zooxanthellae density and protein concentration of Aiptasia pallida The effect of sunscreen pollution on the symbiotic relationship between Aiptasia pallida and their zooxanthellae Oceans under ultraviolet radiation: metabolic changes in the Aiptasia pallida–Zooxanthellae symbiosis
Anticancer properties of plant extractsb	Is Caryota mitis (fishtail palm) an anticarcinogen? Garcia nutans (false tung oil tree) anticolon cancer clonogenicity assay Anticancer activity in Ptychosperma macarthurii (Macarthur palm)
Glycoprotein production by mutualistic fungib	Do soil depth and root density have implications for glomalin concentration? Abundance of mycorrhiza vs. concentration of glomalin Glomalin in sun vs. glomalin in shade Difference in glomalin levels beneath Ficus benghalensis and Swietenia mahagonia
Kinematic analysis of limbed locomotion in arthropods	Effect of surface irregularities on stride length in scorpions and duty factor in terrestrial tarantulas Effect of substrate differences on maximum sprinting speed in fiddler crabs
Respiration and metabolism	Male cricket respiration Absolutely breath taking: the effect of temperature on crickets’ rate of oxygen consumption Oxygen production rate of Chara (freshwater alga) with light Oxygen consumption of crayfish in a dark environment
Population genetics of invasive and native species in South Florida	Genetic variation among populations of pink shrimp (Penaeus duorarum) Genetic variation among three populations of the brown anole (Anolis sagrei) DNA sequence variation of the COX1 gene in tree snail (Drymaeus dominicus) populations mtDNA Comparison of the Spanish sardine (Sardinella aurita) within South Florida
Stable isotopes (carbon-13 and nitrogen-15)	Distinguishing between organic and inorganic produce by 15N/14N ratio Carbon-13 and nitrogen-15 ratios of coffees from different latitudes What’s your beef? The use of stable isotopes to determine cattle diet Apples to apples: adulteration of commercial juices with corn sugars
Gene expression	The effects of lawn fertilizer on the metabolic gene expression of Fundulus heteroclitus Motion in the ocean: the effect of water motion on the gene expression of Fundulus heteroclitus The effects of petroleum on gene expression The effects of alcohol on gene expression
Environmental effects on embryonic development	Sea urchin fertilization: the effects of lawn fertilizer pollution on the motility and acrosome reaction of Lytechinus pictus sperm Are they going to find me?: The effects of egg jelly on the fertilization of Lytechinus pictus Does increasing insulin levels using Glipizide affect the development of Danio rerio embryos? Nicotine hinders Danio rerio neurological development
Animal behavior	Effects of apparent retinal image velocity in Acheta domesticus (house cricket) The effect of parietal eye inhibition on the homing ability of Anolis sagrei, the brown anole The relationship between variation in Acheta domesticus calling song inter-trill length and female responses Effect of tail loss on Anolis sagrei running and jumping

^aStudent research projects for each theme took place over half a semester (6–7 wk). Details on some research themes and student projects can be found in Supplemental Table S1. Note that this table is not a complete list of all research topics implemented in the labs.

^bThese two themes involved extensive student use of the university’s arboretum.