Davis Duren

As a PLUS (peer-led undergraduate study) leader for Calculus II, I designed and led twice-weekly problem-solving sessions. I utilized research-backed educational techniques to facilitate active learning and collaboration between the students to improve their understanding of course material.
Additionally, I led review sessions before each exam, delivering practice material to an average of 260 students each time.

I am the primary developer and investigator of a Python simulation that I have developed under the guidance of Dr. Nicholas Hud. The simulation focuses on prebiotic nucleic acid replication mechanisms with the ultimate goal of showing the feasibility of a purely thermodynamic approach to the origin of life. The simulation has shown that, in the absence of any biological replication systems, collections of monomers naturally coalesce into elaborate, structured oligomers. Fueled by their increased stability relative to individual monomers, these oligomers exhibit a tendency to assemble into complex formations reminiscent of primitive ribosomal structures. By manipulating the probabilities of bond formation and splitting in unstructured versus structured regions (e.g oligomeric strands that feature hairpin loops, bulges, or stacks), we can study the effect that these variations have on the emergent structures and the overall behavior of the prebiotic "ribosomal accretion" mechanism. This adaptive feature of the simulation allows us to explore a spectrum of scenarios, shedding light on the conditions that favor the formation of specific structures and oligomeric assemblies.