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Presenters & Abstracts: College of Natural Resources & Sciences
Nanoscale Modifications to the RsaA S-Layer Protein Enhance Lead Binding in Caulobacter Vibriodes
- Kayla TempletonChemistryUndergraduate Student
- Dr. Jenny CappuccioChemistryFaculty
- Azariah CoblentzChemistry
Heavy metal contamination of soils and waterways due to industrial processes continues to be a problem in the United States. Recent reports indicate that microbial surface layers (S-layers) can bind and sequester heavy metals, thereby removing them from the environment. Our approach is to enhance this process for lead bioremediation. Through this study, C. vibrioides strains were morphologically characterized through transmission and scanning electron microscopy, and recombinant surface layer export was genetically verified. Using a fluorescence-based assay, we show that our engineered strains were 10% more effective in bioremediating lead than the wildtype in nanomolar concentrations.
Nanoscale Modifications to the RsaA S-Layer Protein Enhance Lead Binding in Whole Cells
- Kayla TempletonChemistryUndergraduate Student
- Azariah CoblentzChemistryUndergraduate Student
- Wesley JenkinsBiologyUndergraduate Student
- Christopher De AlbaBiologyUndergraduate Student
- Dr. Jenny A. CappuccioChemistryFaculty
Due to the many industrial processes of modern America, heavy metal contamination of our waterways, specifically in densely populated areas, has become a major issue. The Prokaryotic species Caulobacter vibrioides exhibits a surface layer protein, RsaA, forming a 2-D crystallin array above the cell membrane. RsaA can be modified to exhibit a high binding potential with many of the charged ions, such as heavy metals, which are found in waterways. Here we show through an quantitative fluorescence assay that upon exposure to 39.063nM Pb solution, engineered C. vibrioides strains Hcm 027, and 028 remediated approximately 10% more Pb than the wildtype, Hcm 009.
Nanoscale Modifications to the RsaA S-Layer Protein Enhance Lead binding in Whole Cells
- Azariah CoblentzChemistryUndergraduate Student
- Kayla TempletonChemistryUndergraduate Student
- Joana VillanuevaChemistryUndergraduate Student
- Lisi JohnsonChemistryUndergraduate Student
Heavy metal contamination of soils and waterways due to industrial processes, continues to be a problem in the United States. Recent reports indicate that microbial surface layers (S-layers) are able to bind and sequester heavy metals, thereby removing them from the environment. Our approach is to enhance this process for heavy metal bioremediation. Using a highly sensitive fluorescent dye, lead remediation was measured in the nanomolar range. Results show that upon exposure to 39.0 nM Pb solution engineered C. vibrioides strains Hcm 027,028, remediated the solution to, 9.6 ± 0.3 nM, 9.0 ± 0.2 nM respectively and 13.3 ± 0.1 nM for the wild type.
Native Alaskans and Wildlife Interactions and Issues
- Barbara Larrondo-SotoNative American StudiesUndergraduate Student
This project encompasses the relationship and issues connected to Alaskan Natives and wildlife. Their relationship to the land and wildlife is deeply rooted in their history, and most Alaska natives practice traditional hunting and gathering practices. Native Alaskan interactions with the natural world is interwoven in the way in which they define subsistence, which is synonymous with culture, identity, and self-determination and involves conservation and perpetuation of natural resources. The US Federal and Alaska State government define subsistence differently and have passed Acts and policies that interfere with the Native’s aboriginal hunting and fishing rights.
Native American Storytelling
- Olivia KakacekZoologyUndergraduate Student
- Bryan FosterZoologyUndergraduate Student
- Abigail WesendunkZoologyUndergraduate Student
We are focusing our topic on the role that animals have in Native American storytelling, and how these animal's behaviors in real life are reflected in the stories. Storytelling is a way of communication that Natives use to share knowledge between generations; often, these stories use animals as symbolism. Our group is composed of all zoology majors interested in studying animal behavior, and we will compare the personality traits and characteristics of these animals to their role played in these stories.
Natural History and Basking Habits of Western Pond Turtles
- Gaby RusoWildlife BiologyUndergraduate Student
This research represents the preliminary results of a longer term project in Sequoia National Park, California. I used temperature dataloggers to investigate western pond turtle behavior to better understand their natural history and thus inform monitoring protocol and conservation. These data suggest that snorkel surveys used to monitor turtle populations may be more effective if conducted at night. In addition, these data indicate the potential for intraspecific niche partitioning among turtles according to age. These early results hint at unique turtle behavior that is otherwise difficult to observe for a cryptic species and thereby warrant further investigation.
NDCI Analysis and Change Detection for Coral Reef Habitats of Duncan Island In South Chinese Sea from 2016 to 2018
- Christopher LanzEnvironmental Science and ManagementUndergraduate Student
- Buddhika MadurapperumaEnvironmental Science and ManagementFaculty
Mismanagement of coral reef habitats for construction has impacted on rapid destruction of most biodiverse coral reefs of South Chinese sea. This project examines how coral reef habitats changed in Duncan island of South Chinese sea using object based image analysis (OBIA) and coral index. We estimated the coral changes over time with different land-use classes. The unchanged coral acreage was 7.80 acres between 2016-2017, 1.21 acres between 2017-2018 and 8.22 acres between 2016-2018. The coefficient of agreement for the classification is ranged from 0.55 to 0.60. NDCI Analysis of coral regions surrounding Duncan island revealed vegetation change in coral health.
New Petrology and SEM imagery of the West China Peak Complex of the Ironside Mountain Batholith, Klamath Mountains, Trinity County, CA
- Desiree OtillioGeologyUndergraduate Student
The Ironside Mountain Batholith located in the Western Hayfork terrane in the Klamath Mountains province represents crustal derived plutonism that pre-dates the Nevadan Orogeny by 20Ma. Redating the Ironside Mountain Batholith will be done via U-Pb laser ablation of accessory zircons, this will yield an age of crystallization thus providing an age of emplacement, and constrain the pre-Nevadan orogeny. Barnes and Petersen dated the Ironside Mountain Batholith in 1992 using U-Pb, Pb-Pb, and K-Ar dating methods, and yielded a date in the Mid Jurassic from 169 Ma (K-Ar) to 174 Ma (U-Pb), with an accepted age of 170Ma.
Northern Harrier Foraging Modes in Habitats Around Humboldt Bay
Collin Silva, Wildlife Undergraduate Student
College of Natural Resources & SciencesNorthern harriers are generalist predators known to occupy and forage over a variety of wetland and grassland types in North America. Whether Northern harriers adapt their foraging modes over different habitat types to maximize their success and energy intake is not known with any confidence. This study addresses this knowledge gap on a small scale around Humboldt Bay at various wetland and grassland sites.
Novel Tests of Gravity Below Fifty Microns
- Frank TrombettaPhysicsUndergraduate Student
- Alyssa JohnsonPhysicsUndergraduate Student
Gravity has been tested rigorously at distance scales from 1cm up to astronomical distances. The experiment being run in Humboldt State Universities Gravity Lab seeks to test gravity at previously untested distances below the centimeter level. To do this, a pendulum is suspended by a torsion fiber and oscillates in front of a movable mass. By moving the mass back and forth, one can measure a gravitational force on the pendulum by looking at the twist in the fiber. The data from the pendulum are then compared with well established theories of gravity to see if the accuracy of the theories at large distances translates to smaller scales.