2009 Proceedings - University of Colorado Denver

Graduate Students
Livable Communities
Steven Foltz, Architecture, DC - College of
Architecture and Planning
Faculty Sponsor: Mr. Keith Loftin, DC - College of
Architecture and Planning
Activity Type: Graduate Research
The presence of a mixed use, livable development
embraces the concept of socially sustainability.
Throughout the 2008-2009 school year, I researched
the extents to which design impacts individuals of
diverse social and economic circumstances, ages,
and abilities. My search led me to work with the
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and to
participate in a Livable Communities design
competition. During the fall semester of 2008, I
joined the team of housing developers at the
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless to observe
what action is being taken to extend the benefits of
sustainable design to transitional housing
developments for low and extremely low-income
citizens. Despite the constraints that are associated
with these buildings, I discovered that the benefits of
sustainable design are being implemented with great
success. The challenge for the spring semester of
2009 was to implement what I learned in a
completion focused on the design of a livable
community. I sought to design a mixed use
development that removes barriers from
environments in which we work, live, and gather. By
implementing universal design techniques, I
designed the building and surrounding landscape to
facilitate people of varying ages and abilities.
The Effect of Plasticity in cuticular
hydrocarbon profiles on the
collective Decision Making of
Pavement Ant (Tetramorium
caespitum) Colonies
Nathan Frank, biology, DC - College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Michael Greene, DC -
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Activity Type: Graduate Research
Chemical cues are used by social insects to
differentiate between members of their own colony
and individuals belonging to other colonies. Cues
present in cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) have been
shown to be important in the regulation of social
insect societies, particularly in ants. The objective of
my research project is to further elucidate the
specific factors which influence the composition and
expression of pavement ant (Tetramorium
caespitum) colonies’ CHC profile and determine how
colonies’ CHC profiles can be manipulated to elicit
aggression responses from former colony mates.
Changes in CHC profiles will be measured using gas
chromatography to quantify changes in overall CHC
composition. In addition to objective measurements
of CHCs, behavioral assays will be used to
determine the effects of CHC manipulation on the
colony itself. The presence of aggression behavior
and the degree of aggression from former colony
mates toward individuals in which CHCs have been
manipulated will be used as a way to measure the
effects of altered CHCs on the colony.
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2009 Research and Creative Activities Symposium