Candidate Landing Sites for Artemis 3 in Two NASA Candidate Landing Regions Nearest The Lunar South Pole

Steven Gracy, Physics & Astronomy Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

This will be a poster presentation that is based on summer REU research at SETI. This REU focuses on a landing site for the Human Landing System for the NASA Artemis III mission. This poster is complete with a full abstract and pictures of two of the best candidate sites via satellite imaging from NASA and Arizona State University databases. The sites were chosen based on a list of criteria that must be met inside previously chosen landing site regions near the Lunar South Pole that we're set by NASA.

Cannabis Carbon Accounting Model

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Humboldt County is home to a uniquely large and diverse Cannabis industry comprised of a variety of operation styles, leading to different associated energy intensities and carbon emissions. This project aimed to deploy a detailed, accessible carbon accounting model for Cannabis operations - one which is adaptable to various operation styles and industry practices. Our Cannabis Carbon Accounting Model, is a fully-functional user-friendly tool for the rapid assessment of Cannabis operations carbon footprints. Understanding the extent of Cannabis operation emissions and their source will allow governments, businesses, and the general public to find ways to lower their environmental impact.

Cannabis Cultivation: An Analysis of Humboldt County's Cultivation Regulation on Cannabis and the Affects on the Yurok Tribe

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

This poster will show Humboldt County’s regulation and cultivation of Cannabis species nearby the Yurok tribe’s reservation boundary and Klamath River, and the effect it has on the Yurok tribe’s water rights in relation to California’s recent legalization of Cannabis.

Carbohydrate phloem loading mechanism in Nicotiana tabacum via the downregulation of sucrose transporter 1

Jennah Brown, Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Food security has become a growing concern as we look to the future. Having a thorough understanding of plant functioning can help predict effects brought to crops under a changing climate. This study seeks to better understand the carbohydrate phloem loading mechanism in Nicotiana tobacum by intentionally downregulating the sucrose transporter gene (SUT1). The phloem loading mechanism transports sugars and amino acids from photosynthetic sites to conducting sieve tubes. Such a process is essential for plant growth, storage, and cellular function. N. tobacum resembles those of major crops, and can be used as a model species for addressing food security concerns in other favorable crops.

Challenging Boundaries: Investigating the relationship between human persecution and Coyote behavior in California

Steven Childs, Wildlife Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

This study seeks to examine the relationship between coyote behavior and proximity to areas of public lands where hunting frequently takes place and cosmopolitan areas where coyotes are generally free from being huntedover time using California Department of Fish and Wildlife Wildlife Incident Report data. Insights gained are intended to inform targeted management strategies, aiding in conservation and coexistence efforts between humans and coyotes. The significance of this research lies in its contribution to addressing the pressing challenges of human-wildlife conflict, a pervasive issue with far-reaching implications.

Characterization of a Novel Endocellulase Enzyme for Biofuel Optimization

Amanda Ratcliff, Chemistry Undergraduate Student

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Currently food crops are used to produce bioethanol production, while plant waste cellulose could be used. However, cellulase enzymes are a limiting factor. We sought to characterize a novel cellulase identified by metagenomic analysis of bovine rumen by the JGI and Hess et al. We performed protein expression, genomic analysis, and characterization by SDS-PAGE, CMC and DNS activity assays, and electron microscopy of cellulose degradation. Our data indicates the cellulase is an endoglucanase with an activity of 6.27 cm2/ug, or 6x higher than commercial cellulase enzymes. These results have implications for creating efficient biofuels from agricultural waste products versus the current methods

Characterization of Photosynthetic Productivity and Growth in A.Thaliana Mutants

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

This project studies photosynthetic phenotypes of six Arabidopsis Thaliana mutants under fluctuating light intensity and flat light intensity chambers. Photosynthetic and biomass results from this study have possible implications for these mutants' mechanisms of light energy quenching and heat release. Further investigations into these implications could identify genes that are responsible for high photosynthetic productivity in A. Thaliana, leading to their implementation in important plants for biofuel and crop production.

Characterizing the genetic diversity of immune genes in a non-native population of American Bullfrogs in Humboldt County, California

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

The American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) is a highly invasive species that has successfully colonized different habitats around the world. The level of genetic variability in a population may help determine how resistant a population is to pathogens and how persistent an invasive population may be over time. Our project’s objective was to isolate and characterize the genetic diversity of a rapidly evolving immune gene in an invasive bullfrog population near the Mad River in Humboldt County, CA. We isolated four genetically distinct alleles from 16 frogs. When included with alleles from related species, we detected positive selection acting on putative binding sites.

Characters Influencing Plethodontid Salamander Microhabitat Selection

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Work was done studying mirohabitat selection of two local plethodontid salamander species, Batrachoseps attenuatus (California slender salamander), and Ensatina eschscholtzii (common ensatina). Results imply that the most significant factor is the relative humidity of the microhabitat.

Chemical Fingerprinting of Sanidine from Long Canyon Dome, Sierra Nevada, California

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

The Long Canyon Dome (LCD) is a 185 ka rhyolite dome in south-central Sierra Nevada, California. The rhyolite pumice from the pre-eruption contains less SiO2 and a different mineralogy, than the rhyolite magma erupted from LCD. This suggests the dome was tapping into two different rhyolite magma bodies during one eruption, or a hotter rhyolitic magma intruded into a cooler magma, triggering the eruption. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy’s (EDS) point and shoot method was used to measure the chemical signature of sanidine crystals in pre and post eruption sample. The rhyolite pumices’ at LCD represents similar but slightly different magmas compositions.