Lunar Illumination as an Indicator for Black-tailed Deer Activity

Austin Nolan, Wildlife Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

This is a study that aims to test a widespread local theory that Black-tailed deer are more active on nights with a full moon.

Macroinvertebrate Abundance Decreases Waterfowl Diversity

Rachel Higuera , Wildlife Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

The relationship between macroinvertebrate communities and waterfowl is still an understudied topic. I wanted to know how macroinvertebrate richness could influence waterfowl species and their abundance. I conducted my study at the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary, setting up random systematic sites 100 meters from each other. Each site was sampled for waterfowl point counts within a 50 meter radius and invertebrates were collected via D-net sweeps and a core sample. Invertebrates collected were then euthanized in 70% ethanol and identified to family in the lab. My results showed a negative correlation between macroinvertebrate abundance compared to waterfowl diversity.

Mammal presence in coastal foredunes dominated by European beachgrass.

Ethan Franco, Wildlife Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

My research project investigates the relationship between the invasive European beachgrass, Ammophila arenaria, and mammal presence in the foredunes of Gold Bluffs beach within Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.

Map of wildfire severity of the Santa Rosa: CA 2017

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

This study examines the Santa Rosa fire in 2017 using remote sensing techniques to estimate the acreage of burned areas. Landsat 8 imagery of the pre- and post- fires were used to extrapolate the burn severity using two methods: (i) Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) and (ii) change detection analysis. The results of burn severity of both methods were on average 24% under-approximated comparison to values supplied by Cal Fire. While comparing acreage burn, provided by CAL FIRE indicates that our results were on average 76% ±8% accuracy in identifying burn severity. Of the two methods, the change detection using iso clustered unsupervised classification scheme was more accurate.

Mapping Species Ranges in the California Floristic Province

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

The California Floristic Province (CFP) is a global hot-spot of biodiversity. Creating a database of plant distributions for the CFP is pivotal to define species’s conservation status. Students associated with the Herbarium used R to create precise polygons for the range of 62 species in the CFP. We accessed publicly occurrence repositories for our target species and used a protocol to remove outliers. Using these cleaned coordinates, we created polygons of the ranges and inferred the area in square kilometers. This information was used to create a preliminary histogram for CFP plant distribution, highlighting a high percentage of plant taxa with ranges smaller than Humboldt county.

Mapping the Cellular Origins of Atherosclerotic Plaque

Hannah Cornwell, Biological Sciences Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease causing plaque formation in arteries, leading to morbidity and mortality. Smooth muscle cells may contribute to plaque formation, but the exact origin remains unknown. Researchers can analyze smooth muscle cell function using histology, spatial transcriptomic analysis, and CODEX protein visualization. Using lineage tracing models with Rainbow mouse reporter lines, they can study cell fate and phenotypic shifts, identifying possible targets for disease tracking and modification to improve disease progression.

Mapping the Northcoast Environmental Center Adopt-A-Beach Program "Clean Beaches, Clean Water"

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

For my internship I have been working with the Northcoast Environmental Center to use geospatial analysis and cartography to map their Adopt-A-Beach program. For my poster I would like to display the process and final outcome of the work I have been doing.

Math Modeling Competition: Drowning in Plastic

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

As participants of the 2020 Math Modeling Contest, we modeled the outcomes of a hypothetical plastic tax. We implemented this tax to help slow the world's plastic pollution problem.

Mathematical Modeling of Adaptive Sex Ratios in Sea Lamprey Populations

Jaxon Tuggle, Mathematics Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

An extension of our research conducted during the Mathematical Competition in Modeling (MCM), we examined the effect that species possessing adaptive sex ratios have on their local ecosystem. We constructed a model using computer software (NetLogo) allowing multiple simulations to be run of our digital ecosystem with various parameters. This allowed us to highlight adaptive nature of the gender ratio of the selected species, the sea lamprey, and the consequences on the broader ecosystem. This project included an examination on population dynamics as well as prey-predator relationships using implementations of applied mathematics and the field of ecology.

Mathematical Modeling of Tumor and T-Cell Dynamics

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

We propose and analyze a mathematical model for the interaction of T cells and tumor cells using a system of ordinary differential equations with the goal of understanding immune-mediated tumor rejection. We explore parameter sets which yield qualitatively different behavior. A major goal of this work is the determination of parameters which play a critical role in remission or clearance of the cancer in the model. In addition to our ODE model, we present an agent-based model to illustrate how naïve T cells are primed in the lymph node to fight cancer. This priming involves antigen presentation, cytokine signaling, and chemotaxis.