Life Sciences Commons^™

The Next Generation Science Standards: Saving K-12 Science Education, Kaitlin Caylor

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The United States has been struggling to provide effective K-12 science education. In response, states began adopting the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in 2013 with the hopes of improving science education in the United States. As the NGSS become more common throughout schools in the U.S. it is important to begin collecting data on how they are affecting science education. This study was designed to collect preliminary data on the effectiveness of the NGSS in preparing students for college-level biology. University students with varying levels of exposure to the NGSS were given a biology benchmark assessment that is aligned …

Evidence Of Strong Stabilizing Effects On The Evolution Of Boreoeutherian (Mammalia) Dental Proportions, Tesla A. Monson, Jean-Renaud Boisserie, Marianne F. Brasil, Selene M. Clay, Rena Dvoretzky, Shruti Ravindramurthy, Christopher A. Schmitt, Antoine Souron, Risa Takenaka, Peter S. Ungar, Sunwoo Yoo, Michael Zhou, Madeleine E. Zuercher, Leslea J. Hlusko

Anthropology Faculty and Staff Publications

The dentition is an extremely important organ in mammals with variation in timing and sequence of eruption, crown morphology, and tooth size enabling a range of behavioral, dietary, and functional adaptations across the class. Within this suite of variable mammalian dental phenotypes, relative sizes of teeth reflect variation in the underlying genetic and developmental mechanisms. Two ratios of postcanine tooth lengths capture the relative size of premolars to molars (premolar–molar module, PMM), and among the three molars (molar module component, MMC), and are known to be heritable, independent of body size, and to vary significantly across primates. Here, we explore …

Protein Quality Control At The Endoplasmic Reticulum And Nucleus In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Daniel Hassell

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Cells need proteins to carry out molecular functions, but proteins can become damaged or misfolded, which inhibits their function and can cause aggregation. Misfolded protein aggregation is associated with degenerative diseases in mammals. In Eukaryotic cells, chronically misfolded proteins can be destroyed by the Ubiquitin Proteasome System (UPS) as a way to prevent aggregation and disease. For my thesis work, I have investigated two pathways that participate in the UPS.

First, I investigate Endoplasmic Reticulum Associated Degradation (ERAD), a UPS pathway is active in the Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) of eukaryotic cells. ERAD is well characterized in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast), but …

The Microbiome And Medicine: The Relationship Between Early-Life Colonization And Health Outcomes Such As Asthma And Allergies, Madeline May

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Bacteria inhabit all surfaces of our bodies, and this symbiotic relationship is critical for our survival. The human gut, is colonized by bacteria who aide in digestion and other functions within our immune system. A healthy gut environment is characterized by a rich and diverse microbial ecosystem. The microbiome is fundamental in the proper functioning of our immune system and can influence many health outcomes. The gut microbiome has an essential role in infant health and development. In recent years, this long established relationship between beneficial bacteria and humans has been disrupted by environmental factors, antibiotics, maternal diet, delivery mode, …