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Presenters & Abstracts: College of Natural Resources & Sciences
Expression of a diverse set of olfactory receptors in the California slender salamander
Seanamae Adams, Biological Sciences Undergraduate Student
- KarenKiemnec-TyburczyFaculty
Vertebrates use proteins expressed in the sensory cells of the nasal cavity to detect odors and chemical signals. The study aimed to characterize the olfactory receptors (ORs) in the California Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps attenuatus). We used standard molecular genetics techniques (PCR and cloning) to isolate 15 partial sequences of ORs from salamander olfactory tissue. We used phylogenetic reconstruction to show that the salamander ORs we isolated grouped with the gamma family of ORs found in many other vertebrates. Our preliminary results suggest that this species has a large and diverse OR family, a finding consistent with their ecological reliance on chemical communication.
Expression of Olfactory G-Protein-Coupled Receptors in Axolotls During Development
Josafath Aparicio, Biological Sciences Undergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & SciencesG-protein-coupled receptors are responsible for binding to odorants and initiating responses in vertebrate olfactory neurons. These receptors are coupled to specific G proteins, whose expression can be used as markers for olfactory neuron maturation during embryonic development. My project focused on developing a quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR assay to investigate the expression of the G-protein Golf in an aquatic caudate amphibian (the Axolotl, Ambystoma mexicanum). The developmental expression of other caudates has been thoroughly investigated, but not in Axolotls. I designed an absolute quantification assay and tested it on late stage embryos and larvae.
Expression of Olfactory G-Proteins in Axolotls During Development
Josafath Aparicio, Biological Sciences Undergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & SciencesG-protein-coupled receptors are responsible for binding to odorants and initiating responses in vertebrate olfactory neurons. These receptors are coupled to specific G proteins, whose expression can be used as markers for olfactory neuron maturation during embryonic development. My project focused on developing a quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR assay to investigate the expression of the G-protein Golf in an aquatic caudate amphibian (the Axolotl, Ambystoma mexicanum). The developmental expression of other caudates has been thoroughly investigated, but not in Axolotls. I designed an absolute quantification assay and tested it on late stage embryos and larvae.
Expression of Olfactory G-Proteins in Axolotls During Development
Josafath Aparicio, Biological Sciences Undergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & SciencesG-protein-coupled receptors are responsible for binding to chemosensory cues and initiating responses in vertebrate olfactory neurons. This poster investigated the expression of one particular set of G-protein-coupled receptors in the aquatic caudate amphibian (Axolotl, Ambystoma mexicanum). The developmental expression of other caudates has been thoroughly investigated, but not in Axolotls. Using quantitative RT-PCR, we analyzed the expression of G-olf, a G-protein usually expressed in the main olfactory epithelium (MOE) of vertebrates, through the developmental cycle of Axolotls.
Exultate Jubilate
- Raili MakelaMusicUndergraduate Student
I will be performing a mozart aria.
Fast Fashion
Laquita Agwiak, Wildlife Undergraduate Student
- MarcoBlancasWildlifeUndergraduate Student
- JustinPackhamUndergraduate Student
Our creative project from our Wildlife 309 class: Case Studies in Environmental Ethics, focuses on the ethics of the fashion industry. With our outfits made from trash or found objects along with our posters, we are bringing waste to the forefront to expose the fashion industries façade. Even though the fashion industry is highly valuable and earns high revenues, it comes at a devastating cost to the environment as this industry is one of the top 7 polluters globally.
Feasibility of Pressure Retarded Osmosis
- Galen OTooleEngineeringGraduate Student
Pressure Retarded Osmosis (PRO) is a renewable energy technology which captures energy from the osmotic pressure of salinity gradients across membranes. This poster presents a feasibility study of PRO at the Samoa Pulp Mill site by employing a pseudo-2-dimensional model to approximate the pressure drops and the salt and water fluxes across a spiral-wound membrane module. The net energy of the system accounts for parasitic loads including pretreatment, conveyance turbine and generator efficiency, and friction losses in the pipe networks. Technical and economic feasibility are evaluated in the project. The conclusions are that PRO is barely technically feasible and not economically feasible.
Features of the Coastal Atmospheric Marine Boundary Layer
- William FairchildOceanographyUndergraduate Student
The marine boundary layer is a semi-annual atmospheric feature occuring along the Humboldt coastline. Fourteen years worth of weather balloon data provided by the NOAA atmospheric observatory in Trinidad, CA have been used to characterize seasonal and spatial patterns of the boundary layer. Preliminary results show that the boundary layer is highly dynamic and occurs in high frequency. It is most common in summertime as a result of warm inland temperatures and strong coastal upwelling. Seasonally, the boundary layer changes height, rising to 1500m in winter and lowering to 900m in summer. A five year time series provides evidence that the California drought may reduce the layer's frequency.
Finding Nemo: Where Are The Fish Going?
- Cade FreelsPhysicsUndergraduate Student
- Sonnet AntioPhysics and MathematicsUndergraduate Student
- Ana SammelMathematicsUndergraduate Student
Rising ocean temperatures will have a huge impact on life in the ocean, and on the communities that have an economic dependence on the fishing industry. It is important to understand the ocean’s changing environment and the serious repercussions these changes will bring to humanity, in order to prepare for the future. To help plan for this future, we have created a mathematical model that predicts where herring and mackerel, two types of fish located around Scotland, will relocate to over the next 50 years, and the impact these relocations will have on small Scottish fishing companies.
FISH 480: Challenges that Women Scientists Encounter Conducting Fieldwork-Based Research
Cynthia Le Doux-Bloom, Fisheries Biology Faculty
- RebeccaColyarBiological SciencesUndergraduate Student
- RailiMakelaBiological SciencesUndergraduate Student
- NatashaMayoFisheries BiologyUndergraduate Student
- RavenMcadamsFisheries BiologyGraduate Student
- ElizabethMeismanWildlifeGraduate Student
- SarahMoreauFisheries BiologyGraduate Student
- CheyanneNelsonWildlifeUndergraduate Student
- KyleighPerryBiological SciencesUndergraduate Student
- MadisonRichardsonFisheries BiologyUndergraduate Student
- AnnaSchwekeWildlifeUndergraduate Student
- IsidroTrejoWildlifeUndergraduate Student
Despite closing the gender gap for women scientists in some STEM careers, field-based research remains heavily dominated by men. We investigated if women scientists encounter challenges while conducting fieldwork that our male colleagues do not. Results indicated challenges exist around parity, recruitment, retention, and workplace dynamics.