Life Sciences Commons^™

Ecological Researcher, Alex Demmers

Celebration of Learning

This is my field research I complete during the summer of 2018.

Snake Fungal Disease In Lake Eerie Water Snakes And Its Affect On Attitude And Behavior During Treatment, Kelcie Fredrickson

Celebration of Learning

Snake fungal disease (SFD) is caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. Infection occurs when the outer skin is breached, and the organism enters the epidermis. The epidermis becomes necrotic and produces a yellow/brown crust. When the crust breaks off, ulcerations/lesions are formed along the snake’s body, head and tail. It has been found that SFD can be treated with a terbinafine nebulization treatment. Ellen Haynes, a PhD student, created a study in which 26 Lake Eerie water snakes are separated into treatment and control groups to determine the effectiveness of the nebulization treatment. Through daily observations, this research aimed …

Diversity Of The Brown Alga Dictyota Between Deep And Shallow Reefs Of Hawaii, Mary Ade, Rachael M. Wade, Heather L. Spalding, Alison R. Sherwood

Celebration of Learning

In this presentation, I compile the results of 10 weeks of an NSF-funded REU during the summer of 2018. This research is regarding the biodiversity of Dictyota species found in the mesophotic and shallow reef ecosystems in the Hawaiian islands.

Tracking Residual-Yolk Energy In Dormant Hatchling Turtles, Tom Pham, Dr. Tim J. Muir, Samira Radi, Jacob Wyco

Celebration of Learning

Hatchling painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) spend their first winter inside natal nests without food and must rely on maternally derived energy in the form of residual yolk for up to nine months. In this study, we take a closer look at the use and movement of residual-yolk energy during the first 33 weeks (~8 mo.) after hatching by measuring changes in mass, lipid content, & protein content of yolk, liver, small intestine, and carcass. Our data showed a significant decrease in yolk mass by 64% and significant increases in carcass & liver masses of 9% & 16%, respectively, …

Invertebrate Diversity Of Ponds Within Gremel Wildlife Sanctuary And Amboy Marsh, Dalton Howard, Madison Lape

Celebration of Learning

This project tested the water quality of different ponds and used macroinvertebrates as the overall indicator. The invertebrates give us a lot of knowledge about the health of the ecosystem and possible pollutants that could be harming the environments.

Do Stands Of Native Trees Harbor Different Invasive Species Than Stands Of Planted Pine?, Carly Mccameron, John Mccarthy, Dr. Kevin Geedey

Celebration of Learning

The most outstanding invasive species that can be found at Augustana’s Green Wing Environmental Laboratory are honeysuckle, buckthorn, multiflora rose, garlic mustard, autumn olive, and oriental bittersweet. These plants are not only disrupting the ecosystem at Green Wing, but they are doing it all over the country. The result of their disruption is that they have taken over entire habitats and left natural species with no way to compete for survival. To study this we used the line-point method as well as other forms of data collection to compare a non-native pine tree habitat to an area dominated by native …

Sense Of Community And Space, Amanda Corona

Celebration of Learning

Sense of community (SOC) is defined as a person’s experience of a group or specific area (Kenkmann et al, 1996). Physical spaces can affect SOC; small colleges have higher SOC on average than universities (Lounsbury & DeNeui, 1996). A person’s identity, especially ethnic identity, can also influence SOC (Rivas-Drake, 2012; Liu, 2005). However, there is less work on the intersection of physical space and ethnic identity (Devlin et al, 2008). This raises the questions: how does the experience of a community space affect someone’s SOC, and would it vary by ethnicity?

The relationship between communal spaces and identity can be …

Genetic Sequencing For Measuring Biodiversity In Recent And Ancient Marine Sediments, Lauren Judge

Celebration of Learning

Taxonomic biodiversity, measured by counting the number of species present in a given area, is the most common method of capturing ecosystem biodiversity in recent and ancient environments. While this method is widely accepted, it is limited by poor preservation and identification of many individuals, making it impossible to include every species within an ecosystem and resulting in the loss of some diversity information. To address this issue, we measured the genetic biodiversity (in which species are determined based on sequencing of their DNA) of shallow marine ecosystems by extracting and sequencing the 18S ribosomal gene from bulk carbonate sediment …

Clinical Implications Of Evolutionary Modeling Of Cancer Progression, Kelsey Heiland

Biology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Evolutionary theory of cancer was developed in 1976 by cancer research Peter Nowell and has illuminated the path toward increasing safety and efficacy of clinical treatment strategies. Major foundations that makeup the complexity in Darwinian framework of cancer includes clonal evolution, clonal expansion, and competition. Due to these characteristics, virtually all types of cancer have evolutionary capabilities to reject or adapt and become resistant to pharmaceutical therapies. Despite compelling evidence of these process, evolutionary modeling of cancer continues to be underutilized in clinical settings. Contributions to this include the complex adaptive mechanisms that tools fail to detect or are unable …

Sexual Assault On College Campuses: The Links Between Hegemonic Masculinity, College Sports, And Sexual Violence, Vanessa Iroegbulem

Sexual Ethics

This paper seeks to explore the social and neurobiological factors that shape men into sexual aggressors by rewarding violent behaviors. It will critique the exploitation and the commodification of male bodies through sports, namely football.

Mrub_3019 Casa Gene Is An Ortholog To E. Coli B2760, Kelsey Heiland, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This research is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome annotation project which aims to predict gene function with various bioinformatics tools. We investigated the function of Mrub_3019, which encodes the CasA protein involved in the multi-subunit effector complex for the CRISPR-Cas immunity system and predicted it to be an ortholog of E. coli K12 MG1655 b2760 (casA). We predicted that Mrub_3019 encodes the protein CasA, which is involved in PAM recognition of CRISPR interference pathway. Foreign DNA will bind to CasA, which signals Cas3 for helicase-mediated DNA degradation. Our hypothesis is supported by low E-values for pairwise alignment in NCBI …

Mrub_3015 Is Orthologous To The B2757 Gene Found In Escherichia Coli Coding For Casd, Ramona Collins, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses a collection of online bioinformatics tools to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the gene Mrub_3015, which we hypothesize is a component of the CRISPR-Cas prokaryotic defense system. We predict that Mrub_3015 (DNA coordinates 3055550...3056245) encodes the the CRISPR-associated protein cas5, which is integral in maintaining the crRNA-DNA structure, keeping the complex from base pairing with the target phage DNA. Our hypothesis is supported by identical hits for Mrub_3015 and b2527 to the KEGG, Pfam, TIGRfam, CDD and PDB databases as well as a …

Mrub_3018 Is Orthologous To E. Coli B2759 (Casb), Kyle Parker, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses a collection of online bioinformatics tools to predict gene function. We studied the biological activity of the Mrub_3018 gene, which we hypothesize is orthologous to E. coli gene B2759. We predicted that Mrub_3018(DNA coordinates 3057916… 3058524) encodes the protein CasB. CasB is a protein in the CRISPR CASCADE that will function as a structural protein. When the rest of the proteins form an “S” formation CasB will connect the front and back of the “S” creating a back bone for the structure. It will help bind DNA …

Mrub_3014 Is Orthologous To B2756, Samir Abdelkarim, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses a collection of online bioinformatics tools to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the gene Mrub_3014, which we hypothesize is a component of the CRISPR-Cas prokaryotic defense system. We predict that Mrub_3014 (DNA coordinates 3054943..3055575) encodes CRISPR-associated protein Cse3/case which function as an endonuclease. Our hypothesis is supported by identical hits for Mrub_3014 and b2756 to the KEGG, Pfam, TIGRfam, CDD and PDB databases, as well as a low E-value for a pairwise NCBI BLAST comparison. Both protein products are predicted to be localized …

M. Ruber Mrub_3013 Is Orthologous To E. Coli B2755, Laura Butcher, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses a collection of online bioinformatics tools to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of gene Mrub_3013, which we hypothesize is orthologous to b2755 in E. coli K12 MG1655 (a.k.a. Cas1). We investigated the biological function of a gene with the M. ruber locus tag of Mrub_3013, which we hypothesize is a component of the CRISPR-Cas prokaryotic defense system in M. ruber. We predict that Mrub_3013 (DNA coordinates 3,053,978-3,054,940) encodes the protein Cas1 which as part of the CRISPR-Cas system, selects and cuts the foreign …

Mrub_3020, A Paralog Of Mrub_1489, Is Orthologous To E. Coli Casc (Locus Tag B2761), Alfred Dei-Ampeh, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses a collection of online bioinformatics tools to predict gene function. We investigated the biological functions of two genes: mrub_3020 and mrub_1489. We make two hypotheses in this investigation: a) mrub_3020 is orthologous to the gene b2761 in E. coli K12 MG1655 (a.k.a. casC); b) mrub_1489 is a paralog of mrub_3020. We also predict that the two genes encode unique proteins: mrub_3020 with DNA coordinates 3060491…3063190 encodes a CRISPR – associated helicase (Cas3) that supports the Cascade complex of the CRISPR – Cas adaptive immune system …

Effects Of Temperature On Crispr/Cas System, Eddie Beckom, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses a collection of online bioinformatics tools to predict gene function. We investigated the effect of temperature on the complexity of CRISPR/Cas systems in bacterial organisms across temperature classifications. We predict that temperature extremes would result in CRISPR/Cas systems with multiple operons, repeating cas genes, and complex systems. CRISPR/Cas systems can be classified into three types with a number of subtypes based on the CRISPR-associated genes, cas genes, present in a given organism. Our hypothesis is supported by the presence of multiple operons in thermophilic organisms based on …

An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Mrub_3013, Mrub_1477, And Mrub_0224: Are They Paralogs?, Melette Devore, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses a collection of online bioinformatics tools to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of mrub_3013 and the nature of its relationship with mrub_1477 and mrub_0224. We hypothesized that mrub_3013 is orthologous to b2755 in E. coli K12 MG1655 (a.k.a. cas1). We predict that mrub_3013 encodes the enzyme Cas1, which is involved in spacer acquisition in the CRISPR-Cas prokaryotic defense system. Our hypothesis is supported by identical hits for b2755, mrub_3013, mrub_1477, and mrub_0224 from the CDD and Pfam databases and highly similar hits from …

Smoking Cessation Treatments Varenicline (Chantix®️), Nrts, And Nicotine Dependence, Marley Vea Devoss

Biology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Varenicline was approved in 2006 by the FDA as an effective smoking cessation drug. Varenicline was designed to bind with α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) to work as both an agonist and antagonist. Other drugs like nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) have also contributed to the decreasing rate of active smokers in the United States. The mechanisms of varenicline and its role in addiction are reviewed in this paper. With NRTs and recent trends in electronic smoking devices, nicotine dependence is still a cause for concern due to studies connecting nicotine with cell proliferation and heart disease.

Public Land Management On The Upper Mississippi: Exploring Relationships Between Management Imperatives And Ecosystem Biodiversity, Hunter Colleen Ridley

Geography: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Presently, public land management structure tends to disregard the interconnected nature of the social and ecological systems within managed landscapes. Since these social and ecological systems so heavily influence the identity of landscapes, it is critical that land managers understand the interactions and effects land management has with ecological structure and function. This knowledge helps land managers create more effective, sustainable, and efficient management plans and decisions. This research uses a portion of Upper Mississippi River as a case study for analyzing and discussing public land management on the Mississippi and how its structure may be influencing the ecological identity …