May 2, 2025
Reception & Presentations 2pm to 5pm
Cal Poly Humboldt Library
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Presenters & Abstracts: Search
Redtail Surfperch Population Dynamics in Humboldt County
Jonathan Kang
Wildlife
Undergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
Redtail surfperch population dynamics when comparing urban and remote beaches in Humboldt County.
Identification of a Type 1 Regulatory T Cell Master Regulator
Colin Waichler
Biology
Graduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
Type 1 regulatory T cells (Tr1s) are critical for regulation of autoimmunity and acceptance of hematopoietic stem cell transplants. One major limitation of Tr1 research is the lack of known master regulator, which is a transcription factor that has essential roles in both differentiation and function of the cell type. My research leverages CRISPR-Ca9-induced knockouts and in vitro Tr1 differentiation to screen potential Tr1 master regulators.
Effectiveness of Trailhead Signs
Jed Parker
Wildlife Conservation and Management
Undergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
I went to three different trailheads to interview willing participants based on the information found on trailhead signs. Using this information, I was able to compile data to find the amount of visitors who looked at these signs, and which topics visitors answered most correctly.
Habitat Use of Pacific Banana Slugs in Natural Recreational Areas in Humboldt County
Jahaira Sierra
Wildlife
Undergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
The goal of this study was to determine whether factors such as vegetation type, temperature, shrub canopy coverage, and tree canopy coverage contribute to Pacific banana slug habitat use in natural recreational areas in Humboldt County, CA.
Isolation & Nanodisc Assembly of Submitochondrial Particles
Sissi Crisanto
Chemistry
Undergraduate Student
Pedro Moreno
Chemistry
Undergraduate Student
Monica Rodriguez
Chemistry
Undergraduate Student
Dean Roell
Biology
Undergraduate Student
Dr. Jenny Cappuccio
Chemistry
Faculty
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
The mitochondrion is a subcellular location for varied metabolic processes and pathways relevant to undergraduate biochemistry courses at Cal Poly Humboldt. At the core of such pathways are integral membrane proteins (IMPs) whose structure and enzymatic activity can be examined to better understand not only their overall function, but also the role of specific subunits. One such enzyme is cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV). Nanodiscs are invaluable tools for examining IMPs. In this experiment, we isolated mitochondria and submitochondrial particles for incorporation into nanodiscs. Future work will include purification and selection for nanodiscs containing only cytochrome c oxidase.
Raccoon Abundance in Regards to Trash Cans Around Cal Poly Humboldt
Jeremy Dodds
Wildlife
Undergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
This is a project about raccoon abundance
Bacterial expression of G-protein coupled receptor CB2 fusion protein
Nicole L Womack
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
Undergraduate Student
Hannah Cornwell
Undergraduate Student
David Lopez
Undergraduate Student
Dylan Morris
Undergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
The G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), CB2, is part of a widespread neuromodulatory system found in all animals and is suspected to play a role in both CNS and immune system functions, yet it is a relatively understudied. We demonstrated a successful method for the expression and purification of the GPCR CB2 protein from BL21(DE3) pLysS competent cells. This method involves the culturing of an E. coli BL21(DE3) pLysS MBP-CB2-6xHis cell line, induction of CB2 receptor expression via IPTG, and the harvest and isolation of expressed CB2 proteins via Ni-NTA Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatography. This method was proven to be successful based on SDS-page and spectrophotometric analyses.
DOC Sampling from Little River and Mad River
Mark A Moreno
Chemistry
Undergraduate Student
David Zeitz
Chemistry
Undergraduate Student
Claire Till
Chemistry
Faculty
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) is a fraction of organic carbon with size less than 0.2 micrometers. DOC comes from decomposed plants, bacteria, and algae. Abundant in marine and freshwater systems, it serves as the primary food source for aquatic webs. Generally, rivers have higher concentrations of DOC than the ocean does.
In the estuary, a linear relationship between salinity and DOC indicates that the DOC concentration is fully due to mixing of freshwater and saltwater, and not any significant additional source or removal terms. DOC concentrations decreased from river to ocean. Scholarly articles have pointed this to be normal. Interpretation of data will continue.
Developing a three-dimensional culture system to improve the yield of placental mesenchymal stem cell derived extracellular vesicles
Juan-Maria Lopez
Biology
Graduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
In this study, we developed a novel approach to produce placental mesenchymal stem cell derived extracellular vesicles (PMSC-EVs) by utilizing a three-dimensional (3D) cell culture system to potentially use in regenerative medicine applications. CELLine bioreactors are a 3D culture system that is comprised of a polystyrene scaffold, to support a high-density culture, encased in a semipermeable membrane to concentrate all proteins produced by the cells within. When conditioned medium is collected from the compartment PMSC-EVs were produced over an eight-week continuous culture. This method potentially could be used as an alternative to conventional culture methods to improve PMSC-EV yield.
Human Disturbance Influences the Long-billed Curlew’s Foraging Behavior (Numenius americanus)
Isaac Rath
Department of Wildlife
Undergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & Sciences
There have been a lot of studies done on the Long-billed Curlew around the Humboldt bay (Colwell and Mathis 2001, Leeman et al. 2001, Mathis et al. 2006) however not many on the impact of humans on them. This study looked at whether humans are affecting the foraging behavior of the Long-billed Curlew around Humboldt bay.