Digital Commons Network^™

Describing Shen & Shen Ming Via A Hybrid Quantum Computational Model, Alex M. Cullen, Johnny Lemau

Student Research Symposium

Definitions for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) terminology within the context of quantum biology (QB) have recently been proposed. These definitions aim to elucidate concepts such as qi meridians in TCM. Our study presents a hypothesis that seeks to provide an operational definition for Spirit (Shen) and Bright Spirit (Shen Ming) in TCM via a scoping review. We propose that Shen represents physical, phenomenological proto-consciousness/consciousness in the forms of computation, such as singular particles/bits/qubits, computers, organisms, or computational strategies, whereas Shen Ming may refer to emergent, quasi-physical meta-proto-consciousness/consciousness formed by coherent relationships of multiple orchestrated/integrated units of computation; manifesting itself as …

The Effect Of Temperature On The Invasive Asian Needle Ant, Kaylee Mulligan '25

Biology Student Scholarship

The Asian Needle Ant (Brachyponera chinensis) is an invasive species currently spreading on the Eastern Coast of the United States. They were first reported around the 1930s in Florida and have since migrated to Massachusetts. As an invasive species, this pest originating from Asia has a negative impact on environment ecosystems and other species of ants. Asian Needle Ants displace resident ant colonies, taking over nesting sites by consuming food sources and decreasing the amount of space other ant colonies can use. They are also known to have a sting that contains venom more likely to result in …

Sea Surface Temperature Influence On Tropical Storms And Hurricanes, Elise Leroux '26

Biology Student Scholarship

Hurricanes are both dangerous and difficult to predict because of the various factors that influence the size and intensity of storms, where sea surface temperature (SST) is one of the most relevant variables. As temperatures are increasingly rising due to climate change, the effect on storm size, intensity, and frequency is going to be greater. There have been many studies how individual storms are affected, but less so on the overall frequency of hurricanes. This study assesses the number of hurricanes each year in comparison to the SST and the average wind speed of each hurricane. I predict that years …

Gdp Effects On Bottlenose Dolphins Within The Gulf Of Mexico, Kathleen Kelly '24

Biology Student Scholarship

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are highly sensitive to environmental changes and anthropogenic stressors. Making them important indicators of marine ecosystem health. The Gulf of Mexico sustains diverse marine ecosystems and coastal communities. However, rapid industrialization, urbanization, and coastal development have altered marine habitats and increased anthropogenic pressures on marine wildlife. While various factors contribute to these strandings, the potential influence of socio-economic factors, particularly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) disparities among Gulf Coast counties, remains underexplored. This number (GDP) is influenced by human activities such as fisheries, shipping, and tourism, all of which directly or indirectly could affect marine …

Michigan Water Supply: Analysis Of Health Violations, Gabriela Guzman Reyes '24

Biology Student Scholarship

The presence of toxins in water sources poses a significant public health challenge. In Michigan, this issue has garnered widespread attention due to its adverse effects on human health and well-being. The contaminants found in water, including but not limited to lead, industrial pollutants, and agricultural runoff, stem from a variety of sources such as aging infrastructure, industrial activities, and agricultural practices. News articles and Government officials have reported the adverse affects and impact toxin exposure has on Michigan residents. However, there is little research examining the relationship between water quality violations and socioeconomic factors like poverty levels. I predict …

The Effect Sea Temperature Has On Coral Reef Health In The Great Barrier Reef, Elizabeth Glasspool '26

Biology Student Scholarship

Coral reef bleaching can happen for many different reasons including storms, disease, sediment and salinity changes, and of change in climate. Mass bleaching is typically a cause of increasing sea temperature in a certain area. Mass bleaching typically kills off many different species of coral. This is detrimental to a large portion of biodiversity, especially in a marine atmosphere. In 2016, records show that it is a record high ocean temperature which led to widespread coral bleaching on Australian reefs. This was part of the third global bleaching event declared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). At the …

The Effect Of Integrated Pest Management On Nutrition Of Bee Collected Pollen, Kaitlyn Bresnahan '25

Biology Student Scholarship

Honey bees are the world’s most commercially valuable pollinators, and they face many threats. The greatest challenge facing honey bees is Varroa mites, parasitic mites that feed on bees’ fat bodies, killing bees and spreading diseases. While chemical treatments are available to stop the spread of mites, these treatments are insecticides, which are not ideal to put in a hive of insects. A popular organic method of mite management is using drone comb. Drone brood is preferentially chosen by mites for ovipositing and development because of its larger size and longer development time, so removing drone brood can drastically reduce …

The Effect Of Population Density On Harmful Algal Blooms In Southwest Florida, Emma Barry '25

Biology Student Scholarship

Karenia brevis is a species of algae native to the Gulf of Mexico. Times when its growth becomes uncontrollable are called harmful algal blooms (formerly called “red tide events”), and they are often caused by increased nutrients in the water. These excessive nutrients come from watersheds and runoff that contain anthropogenic materials like fertilizer, and the phosphate and nitrogen in fertilizers catalyze the growth of algae. As population density in Florida increases, fertilizer runoff increases as well. Harmful algal bloom events are dangerous to both humans and the environment. Thick layers of algal growth on the water’s surface create “dead …

Whale Harvest Through Time: Unveiling The Hemispheric Contrasts In Whaling, Laura Mooney '24

Biology Student Scholarship

Whales have been long known for their oils and rich blubber which has been a dish in many countries in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Some species were being hunted to near extinction. The earliest whaling began in 3000BC by Native American but commercial whaling began by the Basques in the 17th century with a huge increase in the 18th,19th and 20th centuries. This study examines how whale harvest has changed over time in years between 1900 and 1999 in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. I analyzed the data collected by Jr. Robert(2015) and looked to see if …

Exploring The Longitudinal Effects: Non-Traditional Pedagogies And Practical Learning On Biology Education And Medical Understanding, Thomas Ziebro

Honors Projects

Medical disinformation is becoming a rampant problem in the United States, and the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted it. There have been attempts to fight the problem at the source through fact verification. These attempts have been unsuccessful. This paper investigates the efficacy of non-traditional pedagogies and the correlation between them and an individual perceived and practical ability to understand their primary care provider. The purpose of this research was to establish whether non-traditional pedagogies at the secondary and post-secondary level are more effective than traditional lecture-based instruction. The research was conducted through an anonymous cross-sectional survey which included questions about educational …

How To Spark Bio Curiosity: An Innovative High School Biology Curriculum, Audrie Charles

Graduate Research Showcase

This project is a researched creative endeavor focused around the creation of an exemplary high school biology course. This presentation will showcase an original high school biology curriculum designed to ignite students’ innate curiosity and empower meaningful learning of core concepts like cell structure, genetics, evolution and ecology. Students revisit key ideas through a spiral curriculum that builds complexity, tackling open-ended problems and collaborating on hands-on inquiries like formulating hypotheses, designing experiments, collecting data and drawing evidence-based conclusions. Tangible projects allow students to demonstrate content knowledge in addition to critical thinking abilities like synthesizing concepts, evaluating claims and applying learning …

How To Identify Various Sparrow Species, Aidan Castricone '24, Alexis Larsen '24, Emma Barry '25

Biology Student Scholarship

A helpful infographic on how to differentiate between four little brown birds: the house sparrow, the song sparrow, the white-throated sparrow, and the swamp sparrow. Animal behavior (BIO 350/350L) final project

Mallards And Their Interesting Facts, Caitlin Mchugh '24, Jessica Slaton '24

Biology Student Scholarship

A guide on how to differentiate between male and female mallards, where to find these ducks, and their common behaviors. Animal behavior (BIO 350/350L) final project

Blue Jays, Meriam Salo '25, Gabriela Guzman Reyes '24

Biology Student Scholarship

A guide to identifying blue jays, and understanding their common behaviors. Animal behavior (BIO 350/350L) final project

Seven Behaviors Exhibited In The Blue Jay, Gillian Chapleau '24, Jide Owoeye '23

Biology Student Scholarship

A quick guide to understanding common behaviors exhibited by blue jays. Animal behavior (BIO 350/350L) final project

Identifying The American Goldfinch, Margaret Low '24, Laura Mooney '24

Biology Student Scholarship

An infographic with tips on how to identify a common backyard visitor, the American goldfinch. Animal behavior (BIO 350/350L) final project

Female Biology, Jennifer Dever

All USF Faculty Authored Books

Over twenty years ago I developed a course for the upper- level biology major at the University of San Francisco called

Female Biology. This was from what I perceived as a gap in the undergraduate biology curriculum- students were not learning about the evolutionary aspects of being female and studying the specific health-related issues unique to women. The information in the most widely used general biology textbooks written from a male perspective, focuses on research gained from male models by work conducted in male-led laboratories. There still exists a problem with a lack of adequate representation of women in biomedical …

Bridging Biological Systems With Social Behavior, Conservation, Decision Making, And Well-Being Through Hybrid Mathematical Modeling, Maggie Renee Sullens

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Mathematics

This dissertation defense presentation highlights the power of hybrid mathematical modeling and addresses crucial issues such as:

1️. The Impact of Industry Collapse on Community Mental Health: A Complex Contagion ODE Model.

2️. Budget Allocation and Illegal Fishing: A Game Theoretic Model.

3️. Reactive Scope Model with an Energy Budget and Multiple Mediators: An ODE Model

The overarching theme of Hybrid Mathematical Modeling beautifully captures the essence of this work, demonstrating its potential to unravel ecological issues while addressing the intricate interactions between humans and the environment.

Investigating Scube3 Nuclear Localization In Presence Of Doxorubicin Treatment In Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Lillian Ergle

Merge

Signal peptide-CUB-EGF-like domain-containing protein 3 (SCUBE3) is a glycosylated secreted protein. Prior to its secretion, SCUBE3 localizes in the cytoplasm. We observed that SCUBE3 protein trans-localized to the nucleus following Doxorubicin (DOX) treatment. DOX is one of the strongest chemotherapeutic agents and the first-line drug used in breast cancer treatment. SCUBE3 structural analysis showed that it lacks a DNA binding domain. Based on this observation and other preliminary data, we hypothesized that nuclear SCUBE3 protein promotes the survival of cells against Doxorubicin treatment. To investigate this hypothesis, we made a wild-type construct and three constructs with mutated nuclear localization sequences …

How Does A Global Climate Cycle Affect The Reproductive Output Of A Neotropical Migratory Bird?, Abby K. Bressette, Emma Cummings, Daniel Albrecht-Mallinger, Lesley Bulluck

Undergraduate Research Posters

El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) causes regional changes in climate and has been found to have varying effects on the survival, fecundity, and recruitment of migratory songbirds. This study seeks to better understand the effect of ENSO on the fecundity of Virginia-breeding Prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea; PROW), a neotropical migratory songbird. PROW breed in the Eastern United States and spend the non-breeding season primarily in Panama and Colombia. Ongoing research in Virginia has found a positive relationship between spring precipitation and predicted number of PROW fledgelings during La Niña, but the opposite during El Niño. To better understand this relationship, we …

Carry-Over Effects Of Climate On Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria Citrea) Feather Quality, Alyssa N. Spasic, Dan Albrecht-Mallinger, Lesley Bulluck

Undergraduate Research Posters

Avian species have inspired numerous studies on ornamentation, exploring its role in intra- and intersexual selection as a marker for individual quality. Male birds have been the focus of most of these studies while females, which can also display ornamentation, have been studied less. Coloration achieved through molt, particularly carotenoid-based pigments, requires energy derived from food resources. As climate affects insect abundance, there may be a link between climate conditions during molt and feather quality the following season. We assessed the relationship between temperature and precipitation during molt and female Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) breast and crown feather reflectance metrics …

The Fish Bites Back: A Developmental Analysis Of Feeding Biomechanics In Danionin Minnows, Collin Shinkle

WWU Graduate School Collection

Ecological roles are often closely related to the food organisms consume, and investigating the developmental control of feeding apparatus morphology and biomechanics contributes to a broader understanding of how ecological roles evolve. Changes in thyroid hormone signaling are thought to be involved in the evolutionary diversification of feeding mechanics in many fish lineages, including danionin minnows such as zebrafish (Danio rerio), a common model organism. Recent work suggests that changes in thyroid hormone signaling may have influenced the trophic divergence of fishes in the genus Danio and those in the genus Devario, including the giant danio ( …

Quantitative Shotgun Proteomic Analysis Of Bacteria After Overexpression Of Recombinant Spider Miniature Spidrion, Masp1, Kathryn P. Randene

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Spider silk has extraordinary mechanical properties, displaying high tensile strength, elasticity, and toughness. Given the high performance of natural fibers, one of the long-term goals of the silk community is to manufacture large-scale synthetic spider silk. This process requires vast quantities of recombinant proteins for wet-spinning applications. Attempts to synthesize large amounts of native size recombinant spidroins in diverse cell types have been unsuccessful. In these studies, we design and express recombinant miniature black widow (Latrodectus hesperus) MaSp1 spidroins in bacteria that incorporate the NTD and CTD, along with varying numbers of codon-optimized internal block repeats. Following spidroin overexpression, we …

Ungrading: Reflections Through A Feminist Pedagogical Lens, Erin M. Eggleston, Shelby Kimmel

Feminist Pedagogy

Ungrading is a pedagogical approach in which no grades are given on any assignments. Instead, students are provided with many opportunities to submit work and gain feedback. The goal is to shift student focus from achieving a grade to growth as a learner and a person. As instructors, our ungrading approach utilized personalized learning plans, checkpoint reflections, and student-professor learning conferences to put agency in the hands of our students. We employed this method in upper-level biology and computer science courses and provide critical reflections here regarding our experiences and the connections between this approach and feminist STEM pedagogy tenets. …

Leafy Sea Dragon, Phycodurus Sp., Kennedi X. Light

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

Artist Statement

Leafy sea dragons, Phycodurus sp. are part of the Syngnathidae family. Syngnathidae is a genus made up of seahorses, pipefishes, and sea dragons. All three of the species are known to have beautiful patterning. However, leafy sea dragons got their name from their leafy appendages like their fins and limbs. The reason I chose to draw a leafy sea dragon is due to my own interest in astrobiology. Astrobiology is the study of life in the universe and astrobiologists look for signs of life within the universe. I would like to be an astrobiologist one day and focus …

The Florida Scrub-Jay, Emily Hill

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

Artist Statement

The Florida Scrub-Jay is a digital scientific illustration of Aphelocoma coerulescens, the only native bird species endemic to Florida. This piece celebrates the natural beauty of the Florida scrub-jay and its key features that allow it to thrive in scrub habitats. These habitats are threatened by anthropogenic activity and climate change, leading to the fragmentation, degradation, or eventual loss of these areas. Through this artwork, I hope to emphasize the importance of conservation and inspire viewers to appreciate and protect this bird species.

Every stroke and color choice were carefully considered to accurately depict the bird’s physical attributes. …

The Effect Of Integrated Pest Management On Honey Bee Behavior And Colony Level Health, Kaitlyn Bresnahan

Biology Student Scholarship

Honey bees are the world’s most commercially valuable pollinators, and they face many threats. The greatest challenge facing honey bees is Varroa mites, which are parasitic mites that feed on bees’ fat bodies, killing bees and spreading diseases. While chemical treatments are available to stop the spread of mites, these treatments are insecticides, which are not ideal to put in a hive of insects. A popular organic method of mite management is using drone comb. Drone brood is preferentially chosen by mites for ovipositing and development because of its larger size and longer development time, so removing drone brood can …

Suitability And Nutritional Analysis Of Spotted Lanternfly Habitats, Kathryn Hickey

Biology Student Scholarship

The spotted lanternfly is an invasive bug that has recently started taking over the Northeastern US, and has even made it to Rhode Island. Although this species is intriguing with its bright red back and spots, it is hurting native plant species and the agriculture industry by feeding on crops, like grapes and cherries. It uses a tongue-like mouthpart to pierce through the plant and feed directly on the sap inside. This punctures plant stems and causes them to drip sap, wither, and even mold. The lanternfly’s most preferred host plant is the invasive tree-of-heaven, which grows and spreads quickly …

Effect Of Decreased Snowfall During An Atypical Winter On A Rare Butterfly’S Host Plant, Breelyn Gilbert

Biology Student Scholarship

In the Northeastern US, one result of climate change is decreased snowfall and earlier snowmelt. Such changes can alter the relationship between climate and the timing of cyclical biological phenomena— the phenology of organisms. This is especially concerning for species that interact with one another such as butterflies and their host plants. For this study, I focused on the host plant of the rare frosted elfin butterfly. The frosted elfin is a species of concern in RI, MA, and CT, among 8 other states, and they are a host plant specialist only laying eggs on yellow wild indigo (Baptisia …

Diversity Of Bees In Trees And Their Foraging Preferences On An Urban College Campus, Aidan Castricone

Biology Student Scholarship

Pollinators collect nutrients from blooming flowers; pollen provides proteins and fats, nectar provides carbohydrates. The few plants that bloom during early Spring are trees such as crabapple (Malus sp). Current research however, mainly focuses on pollinators that forage on the ground and overlooks pollinators foraging in the canopy of trees. Past research showed increased generalization of pollen foraging in bees as seasons move from spring to summer. Here I identified which bee species forage in the canopy on Providence College campus and will analyze the pollen collected using microscopy. This data can inform more specific research on diet breadth, …