Core MD1403B contains a salt marsh soil layer between mudflat material, which was caused by subsidence produced by the 1700 earthquake. Three samples were taken from the core to look at the preservation of the diatoms from each sample and compared to one another to determine if the 1700 earthquake caused a large enough subsidence to produce high velocity water to flow into the area. The samples were examined at using the secondary electron(SE) feature of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Increased occurrence of damaged cells supports the conclusion that there was a fluctuation in water levels that produced a high velocity flow of water.

Heavy metal contamination of soils and waterways due to industrial processes, such as mining, continues to be a problem in the U.S., such as Flint Michigan. Microbial surface layers (S-layers) have shown promise for binding and sequestering heavy metals. Modifications to the S-later protein (RsaA), in C. vibrioides, could increase this efficiency. Our modified strains absorbed more lead per cell mass. Strains HCm 021, 027, 028 absorbed 197.78 ±2.14, 231.32 ±3.10, and 168.69 ±22.65 (ppm Pb+2/g cells) versus 90.55 +/- 1.07 (ppm/g) for the wild-type. Future goals of this project include determining association constants of lead to cells, and construction of a bioremediation filter.

River otters are key indicators of the health of northern California's coasts, rivers and wetlands. We collect river otter sightings from the public in order to assess and monitor the health of our local river otter population, and therefore of our local ecosystem as a whole.

High grade gliomas are aggressive brain cancers that arise from tumor promoting neuronal progenitor cells. The WD40 protein Lethal Giant Larvae (LGL) may suppress brain tumor formation. Mice without LGL develop brain tumors and have a high level of apoptosis, or programmed cell death, which is a key feature of many cancers. cJun is an oncogene involved in cell division, organismal development and regulation of apoptosis through its role as a transcription factor. Apoptosis is mediated downstream by intracellular proteolytic enzymes called caspases. We aim to measure caspase activity in cells with and without LGL protein through observation of its effects on cJun expression.

Fire suppression over the 20th century has created dangerous conditions in many western forests. Removing fire as a natural disturbance has brought about increased fuel loading and extreme fire behavior in many areas. This study researched the accumulation of duff mounds (decomposed plant material) around legacy sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) in the Russian Wilderness Area of the Klamath National Forest. Large amounts of fuel beneath trees poses the potential risk of tree mortality, even in a low intensity fire By assessing the dimensions, volume, distribution and physical properties of duff mounds, we can better the variability of how and where duff mounds accumulate.

At Humboldt State University, a group of undergraduate students and faculty have been investigating the effects of gravity at very short distances. Due to the need to measure very small amounts of motion during these experiments, a separate group of students and faculty have been designing an optical system to measure very small rotational movement, down to the sub-milliradian scale. This system, a modified Michelson interferometer, utilizes the optical path length difference of two branches of a split laser beam to measure almost imperceptible rotations of a mirror by observing constructive and destructive interference of the two branches.

Aquaponic systems are a combination of hydroponic gardening and a recirculating aquaculture system, which is a very efficient way to produce marketable products for growers. Humboldt State University’s (HSU) aquaculture class had the opportunity to assemble an aquaponics system (Nelson and Pade, Inc.) for the first time. Our class was provided with the equipment that allowed us to demonstrate our abilities in constructing a fully functional aquaponics system. From the knowledge acquired in the academic setting, we were able to create a hands-on, tangible system. White Sturgeon were grown in the system along with a wide variety of vegetables with great success.

The pedosphere is an often overlooked resource already affected by and contributing to climate change. For example, soil stores a certain amount of carbon, and biological processes in soil emit the powerful greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). The amount of nutrients, microorganisms, and moisture that soils hold are all affected by atmospheric CO2 levels and surface temperatures. Soils are an extremely important part of the earth’s biosphere, and they can be managed more effectively to mitigate their effects to the climate and the changing climate’s effects on them. I will explore these impacts and relate them to primary productivity, food security, human health, and land desertification.

Over the last 20 years, thousands of planets outside our solar system have been discovered orbiting other stars. The discovery of these extra-solar planets, or exoplanets as they are commonly known, has been made possible by the gathering of photometric and spectroscopic data of stars. We use public data from the Kepler and Hubble space telescopes to analyze photometric and spectroscopic data respectively on select objects of interest. Through analysis of this data, we are able to determine many properties of these exoplanets such as radius, density, temperature and atmospheric makeup. Our long term goal is to find ways to improve current atmospheric analysis methods.

Climatic changes affect the intensity and frequency of forest disturbances (e.g. fire, droughts, and insect outbreaks). During the summer of 2016, we used an experimental forest at the University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) to observe spider responses to a simulated insect outbreak. We collected spiders from plots with different disturbance severities via pitfall traps and identified them to the lowest taxonomic level possible in order to compare Shannon-Weiner diversity indices. Our hypothesis that spider diversity would be lower in more disturbed plots was supported. Leaf area index, potential prey abundances, and down woody debris were also found to affect spider assemblages.