Life Sciences Commons^™

Life Cycle Progression Of Chlainomonas Sp.: A Field Study, Honu Pata, Robin Kodner, Ag Camara, Clare Hanneman, Maya Matsumoto, Dan Van Hees

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Every year, there are blooms of algae in snowy alpine environments during the summer snow melts. One environment in particular, the snow-on-lake habitat on Bagley Lake in Mt Baker, has been the subject of study by the Kodner lab for many years. In this habitat, we find the genus Chlainomonas which has bloomed in late spring and early summer annually. Our lab has proposed a life cycle for the genus (Matsumoto et al 2024), and there are many morphologically distinct cell stages found in field collected samples. This study has expanded our understanding the life cycle dynamics by examining the …

An Overview Of Background And Experimental Methods Used To Investigate A ~23-24 Nucleotide Small Rna Pathway And Its Links To Genome Stability, Abigail Ruddick

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The world of RNA is vast and multifaceted. Messenger RNA is the most well understood of these molecules, however it is far from the only one. New classes of RNAs are of much interest to researchers due to both the functions that they play in organisms and the possibility of using them as research tools. Under the umbrella of RNA fall RNAs that are involved in RNA interference (RNAi) pathways. These RNAs are numerous, and some have already been shown to be deeply important to proper organismal function. A previously established ~23-24 nucleotide small RNA pathway in Tetrahymena thermophila has …

The Foreign Earth: An Exercise In Speculative Biology, Aidyn Ruf

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Speculative Biology is the practice of examining hypothetical scenarios about the potential evolution of life. This project explores one such perspective timeline, utilizing scientific illustration, scientific information, and creative writing to estimate what the organisms of Earth might look like 250 million years into the future. Basic parameters were established, examining our current knowledge about geology and the environment to determine how the Earth itself might look. This included examining factors such as tectonic movement, adjusted ocean currents, and planetary heat cycles. Then, I studied mass extinctions and the animals which survived them, creating a baseline of ancestors the future …

On Research Ethics: A Proposal For An Undergraduate Ethics Course Using A Graduate Research Ethics Course As A Baseline, Jordan Sawyer

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

In the biology department at Western Washington University, there has been a lack of research ethics courses that students can take, with one of the first being taught in Spring Quarter of 2023. This paper goes through the co-development process of making a graduate-student level ethics course, using Responsible Conduct of Research as a guideline, as well as the schedule for the course. In addition, the paper offers a proposal on how the course could be altered to fit an undergraduate student audience, with the goal of accessibility in mind.

“Emotions And The Ocean”: Integrating Social-Emotional Learning Into A Fifth-Grade Science Curriculum, Madison Rossen

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This paper provides a lesson plan for integrating Social Emotional Learning into a fifth-grade science lesson as well as an overview of the benefits of Social Emotional Learning. Social Emotional Learning, known as SEL, has recently been implemented in classrooms across the United States and research has shown that SEL improves behavior and academic performance. Integrating SEL into science curriculums is a new idea without much research done on it but from personal experience in science class and science labs, many of the SEL standards line up with skills necessary to work in the scientific fields. Embedded in the paper …

Examining Harbor Seal Predation Impacts On Bellingham Technical College's Salmon Smolt Release, Madison Gard, Alejandro Acevedo-Gutierrez

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Each year, federal, state, and tribal agencies dedicate time, money and resources to the rearing of hatchery-raised Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) populations in the Salish Sea. Yet, many of these populations continue to decline, with several causes being proposed for preventing their recovery. Among the hypothesized causes, the presence of predators, particularly harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), and the timing of release of hatchery salmon, which may attract various types of predators, appear to be important for the survival of Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha). At Whatcom Creek, in downtown Bellingham, WA, the Bellingham Technical College manages a salmon hatchery from which …

Dine And Dash: Changing Harbor Seal Numbers And Habitat Use At The Developing Bellingham Waterfront, Holland Conwell

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The lack of recovery of some Pacific salmon stocks (Oncorhynchus spp.) in the Pacific Northwest has been blamed in part on predation by pinnipeds, particularly the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). A proposed non-lethal method aimed at managing seal predation on salmon is the removal of artificial haul-out sites. However, the effectiveness of this non-lethal management method has not been examined. To address this knowledge gap, I analyzed harbor seal numbers and habitat use at the developing downtown Waterfront in Bellingham, WA, USA. I examined harbor seal numbers from 2007-2023 throughout multiple log boom removal events at two known harbor seal …

Impact Of Fluctuating Temperature And Elevated Co2 On The Growth, Survival, And Metabolic Rate Of The Endangered Pinto Abalone (Haliotis Kamtschatkana) In The Salish Sea, Jaclyn Stapleton

WWU Graduate School Collection

Pinto abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana) is the only abalone species found in the Salish Sea in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. They were recently declared as a State endangered species and human intervention is necessary to recover the species. Puget Sound Restoration Fund (PSRF) is one of the organizations trying to restore pinto abalone populations in the Salish Sea. Some of their outplant sites are less successful than others although they are physically similar. Currently, there is no research on how environmental variation affects juvenile pinto abalone survival, growth, and metabolic rate.

The goal of my thesis was to simulate …

To Flee Or Not To Flee: How Range Dynamic Of Alpine Species Are Changing Through Time, Lian Noonan

WWU Graduate School Collection

In response to anthropogenic climate change, alpine floras in particular have been forecasted to shift their ranges upslope and north, yet recent analyses have shown otherwise. While a handful of floras have been found to track the trajectory of predictive models, most floristic elements have remained in their historical ranges despite a changing climate. Therefore, to improve the accuracy of models predicting range shifts, I address the following questions: (1) are mountain floras spatially structured through time; and (2) how are range dynamics of mountain floras changing through time. To address these questions, this study analyzed the herbarium records of …

The Impact Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls On The Development Of Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Megan Moma

WWU Graduate School Collection

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of 209 highly stable molecules that were used extensively in industry. Although their commercial use ceased in 1979, they are still present in many aquatic ecosystems due to improper disposal, oceanic currents, atmospheric deposition, and hydrophobic nature. PCBs pose a significant and ongoing threat to the development and sustainability of aquatic organisms. Our hypothesis is that PCB concentration will significantly affect development. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to a standard PCB mixture (Aroclor 1254) for the first 5 days post fertilization, as there is a gap in knowledge during this important developmental …

The Effects Of Diatom-Specific Polyunsaturated Aldehydes On Larval Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Rachel Raymer

WWU Graduate School Collection

Diatoms are ubiquitous in marine planktonic and benthic environments and are common in diets for many lower-trophic organisms. Certain species of diatoms produce polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs) that can exist in particulate and dissolved forms. Diatom PUAs are known for negatively affecting the fecundity of their primary consumers, including invertebrate grazers like copepods and echinoderms. However, little is known about the effects of diatom PUAs on vertebrates that may be exposed to dissolved or ingested PUAs due to overlapping distribution with diatom populations. The purpose of this study was to test whether dissolved diatom PUAs affect the early life stages of …

Polyunsaturated Aldehyde Production In The Salish Sea: A Survey Of Benthic Diatom Producers And The Influence Of Coastal Upwelling, Jeremy Johnson

WWU Graduate School Collection

In coastal, nutrient-rich waters like the Salish Sea, diatoms dominate the phytoplankton community during seasonal upwelling events. Diatoms were once believed to be an ideal food source for primary consumers like copepods, but their role in food web dynamics changed upon discovery that diatoms can produce organic compounds upon cell death known as polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs). These compounds directly affect the reproductive success of diatom consumers by reducing egg production and viability, deforming embryos, and delaying embryonic development. PUA production dynamics have been assessed under varying nutrient concentrations and culture age, but no study has tested the effect of elevated …

Complex Microbial Mat Communities Used To Assess Primer Selection For Targeted Amplicon Surveys, Lindsey Smith

WWU Graduate School Collection

The microbiota of hydrothermal vents has been widely implicated in the dynamics of oceanic biogeochemical cycling. Lithotrophic organisms utilize reduced chemicals in the vent effluent for energy, which fuels carbon fixation, and their metabolic byproducts can then support higher trophic levels and high-biomass ecosystems. However, despite the important role these microorganisms play in our oceans, they are difficult to study. Most are resistant to culturing in a lab setting, so culture-independent methods are necessary to examine community composition. Targeted amplicon surveying, in which a marker gene is selected for DNA amplification, has become the standard practice for assessing the structure …

The Toxicity Of Dopamine On Salish Sea Phytoplankton, Allyson Lombardo

WWU Graduate School Collection

In the Salish Sea, blooms of the intertidal macroalgae, Ulvaria obscura, are common and can achieve extraordinarily high biomass. Upon desiccation and subsequent rehydration from incoming tides, U. obscura releases dopamine. Previous studies showed that dopamine negatively affects other macroalgal species and can deter grazers. However, the effects of dopamine on co-occurring phytoplankton remains unknown. This study explored the toxicity of dopamine on four phytoplankton known to inhabit the Salish Sea: the haptophyte, Isochrysis galbana; the chlorophyte, Dunaliella tertiolecta; the dinoflagellate, Heterocapsa triquetra; and the diatom, Thalassiosira sp. Over the course of 8 days, phytoplankton growth …

A Metagenomic Analysis Of The Microbial Communities Associated With Different Hydrothermal Vent Chimneys, Laura Murray

WWU Graduate School Collection

Hydrothermal vents host a diverse community of microorganisms that utilize chemical gradients from the venting fluid for their metabolisms. The venting fluid can solidify to form chimney structures that these microbes adhere to and colonize. These chimney structures are found throughout many different locations in the world’s oceans. In this study, comparative metagenomic analyses of microbial communities on five chimney structures from around the Pacific Ocean were elucidated focusing on the core taxa and genes that are characteristic for each of these hydrothermal vent chimneys, as well as highlighting differences among the taxa and genes found at each chimney due …

Can Larvae Of A Deep-Sea Gastropod, Thalassonerita Naticoidea, Swim To The Surface To Find Food In The Gulf Of Mexico?, Mitchell Hebner

WWU Graduate School Collection

For larvae of benthic organisms living in the deep-sea, the location where they begin their dispersal influences their vector of travel because ocean currents affect larval dispersal when the larvae are in the water column during a possible vertical migration. The deep-sea is food-poor when compared to the food-rich surface waters, but planktotrophic (feeding) larval development of deep-sea benthic organisms is common. Despite the potential need for planktotrophic larvae of deep-sea organisms to access more nutrient-rich food sources and knowing a larva’s position in the water column can impact larval transport, we have very little understanding of where in the …

Interrogating Centrosome Protein Dynamics, Centriolar Satellite Regulation Mechanisms, And Autofluorescence Characterization Of Caenorhabditis Elegans Using Förster Resonance Energy Transfer-Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (Fret-Flim) And Fluorescence Microscopy, Elizabeth A. Cameron

WWU Graduate School Collection

Centrosomes are required for human cells to divide and differentiate into the many different embryonic tissues that form throughout development. Mutations that drastically disrupt centrosomes cause embryonic lethality and cancer. More subtle mutations cause congenital birth defects including blindness, olfactory deficits, and limb, heart, and brain malformations. PCNT is an essential human gene that encodes for the centrosome protein Pericentrin. Pericentrin organizes the structure of the centrosome by serving as a scaffold protein. Pericentrin also interacts with other centrosome proteins, which play a role in centrosome-mediated microtubule formation. Additionally, Pericentrin recruits enzymes that are involved in centrosome duplication and maturation, …

Measuring Mtdna In Drosophila, Lola Demurger

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Mitochondria have long been studied in relation to aging as they are critical to cell operation, and their dysfunction is linked to several age-related factors, such as shortened lifespan and increased innate immunity. In this study, we use a mitochondrially targeted nuclease called UL12.5 to artificially induce mitochondrial dysfunction by degrading the mitochondrial genome in Drosophila. Degraded mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has many downstream effects, including mtDNA depletion, mtDNA leakage into the cytoplasm, chronically upregulated innate immune response, and shortened lifespan. We began the process of developing an assay that measured mtDNA depletion as a result of UL12.5-mediated mtDNA degradation in …

White Lies Matter: The Evolution, Persistence, And Impact Of Scientific Racism, Kim Keay

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

A dissection of the origins, history, persistence, and impacts of various threads of scientific racism. This paper traces scientific racism from its roots in evolutionary biology through Social Darwinism and eugenics. By exploring the historical connection between scientific racism and white supremacy, this research aims to reveal some of the ways in which contemporary science, racism, and society at large have been shaped by the past. Tracing these threads will follow scientific racism from its origins to the beginnings of Social Darwinism and eugenics, through American cultivation of eugenics and its connections to Nazi Germany, to ongoing eugenicist policies and …

The Effect Of Polyunsaturated Aldehydes On Zebrafish Larvae Heart Rate And Mortality, Soraya Jessa

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This research provides insight on the effects that polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs) have on model species zebrafish heart rate and mortality. Zebrafish were used as an analog for forage fish, which are of both ecological and economic importance. Forage fish often interact with diatoms, some species of which have been known to emit allelopathic chemicals, PUAs. These chemicals can have a deleterious effect on invertebrates that cohabitate with or consume diatoms, but their effects on vertebrates was unknown. In the lab, zebrafish eggs were exposed to three different concentrations of PUAs plus two controls and observed to determine any effects on …

All Creatures Great And Small: The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Veterinary Medicine, Amelia Schlemmer

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The Covid-19 pandemic has presented many changes and challenges to veterinary medicine during the past two years. These challenges have created barriers to veterinary care that both veterinary professionals and pet owners have had to overcome. The goal of this project is to elucidate the impacts of the pandemic on veterinary medicine through the review of journal and research papers and interviews with veterinary professionals who have worked during the pandemic. The main challenges faced by veterinary professionals throughout the pandemic have been practice shutdowns, short staffing, increased caseloads, decreased work efficiency, and increased burnout as veterinarians work under increased …

Breeding Sweet Corn For Vitamin A, Sam Herr, Dan Pollard

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Improvement of prediction accuracy in genomic selection models is important to increase the genetic gains in plant breeding. Here we will apply multi-kernel genomic selection models to the prediction of carotenoid levels in sweet corn and compare this type of model to others. As multi-kernel genomic selection techniques require some computational expertise, we have created a tutorial that will walk users through the theory and the code to perform genomic selection.

The Secret Life Of Diatoms: An Exploration Of The Fascinating World Of Diatoms Through The Art Of Printmaking, Zofia Danielson

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Diatoms are a type of microscopic primary producer that fall within the group of phytoplankton. They are named for their two halves: two cell walls made of glass (silica). These glass walls have a variety of forms depending upon the species that allow diatoms to adapt to their marine environments. Diatoms also contribute to productive coastal ecosystems, global oxygen production, and nutrient cycles. This project explored the significance of diatoms to marine ecosystems and their beauty in form through relief linocut printmaking in a workshop setting. The final result of this project is a relief printmaking workshop curriculum about diatoms …

Predator-Induced Hatching Plasticity Of Northeastern Pacific Coast Nudibranchs, Geoffrey Masato Mayhew

WWU Graduate School Collection

Many organisms have complex life cycles that include ontogenetic niche shifts, or changes to morphology, physiology, diet, predators, and habitat. Natural selection favors individuals that choose the optimal time to undergo ontogenetic niche shifts that avoids unnecessary losses to fitness, and niche shift timing is therefore considered a plastic trait. Hatching is a common niche shift within animals, and modifications to hatch timing can mediate the costs and benefits of hatching sooner or later, depending on varying predation risk, resource availability, or habitat conditions. Predator-induced hatching plasticity in particular is well-documented within amphibians as well as other terrestrial vertebrates and …

Microbial Community Dynamics During Key Life History Transitions In The Deep-Sea Chemosymbiotic Mussel, Gigantidas Childressi, Tessa F. Beaver

WWU Graduate School Collection

Marine invertebrates form specific associations with bacterial communities that are different from their environment, change throughout their development, and shape evolutionary and ecological processes. The bathymodiolin (Mytilidae) mussel Gigantidas childressi lives at deep-sea methane seeps and relies on methanotrophic endosymbionts for its nutrition. Its larval life, however, is spent feeding in the water column. Upon metamorphosis at a suitable seep habitat, methanotrophic bacteria rapidly colonize gill cells and the juvenile mussel switches to symbiont-derived energy. To determine if the microbiome of the G. childressi changes during these transitions, the V3/V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced to census …

The Effect Of Targeted Acoustic Startle Technology On The Foraging Success Of Individual Harbor Seals, Kathleen Anne Mckeegan

WWU Graduate School Collection

Rebounding pinniped populations have led to conflicts with fisheries over commercially important prey species. Acoustic deterrent devices (ADDs) are used to aid the recovery of depleted fish stocks by mitigating pinniped predation. However, most ADDs use painful sound signals, which can lead to hearing loss and habituation. Alternatively, a new ADD called Targeted Acoustic Startle Technology (TAST) decreases pinniped predation with no evidence of harm or habituation, but effects on the foraging success of individual pinnipeds is unknown. In the Salish Sea, harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) populations have rebounded since the early 1970’s and are suspected of impeding the recovery …

Geographic Variation Of Desiccation Resistance In Rhagoletis Zephyria (Diptera: Tephritidae) In The Pacific Northwest: An Adaptive Response To Local Bioclimate, Nathan Roueche

WWU Graduate School Collection

Species with broad distributions exist in heterogenous landscapes and therefore must be able to maintain key physiological processes under a variety of abiotic conditions. This can lead to localized variation in phenotypes associated with environmental cues. Atmospheric water loss is a major source of physiological stress for terrestrial insects and one which is predicted to have major implications for biodiversity under future climate scenarios. Understanding which species exhibit adaptive variation can provide crucial insights into how individual species and thus ecological communities have evolved to cope with changing climate conditions as well as inform predictions as to how they may …

Characterization Of Phenotypic Traits Related To Loss-Of-Function And Ectopic Expression Of Bhlh093 And Bhlh061 In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Leila Belhadjali

WWU Graduate School Collection

bHLH093 and bHLH061 are members of sub-group IIIb of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) Arabidopsis thaliana transcription factors. Although bHLH proteins are the second largest transcription factor family in Arabidopsis, only a small proportion of them have been functionally characterized. Here, we investigated the phenotypic impact of bHLH061 and bHLH093 ectopic overexpression and loss-of-function to confirm previously published results and provide new insight into their role in development. bHLH093 and bHLH061 are homologs of two stomatal development genes, SCREAM1/ICE1 and SCREAM2 and have been shown to dimerize with two master regulators of stomata development, FAMA and MUTE. While no evidence was found …

Primary Cilia Display A Non-Uniform Response To Intracellular Calcium Release, Hannah R. Fisher

WWU Graduate School Collection

Cilia are microtubule-based organelles that project from the surface of individual cells. When cilia are formed, they are nucleated from centrioles that are known as basal bodies. Microtubules elongating from the basal body give rise to the axoneme of the cilium, which gives cilia their rod-like structure. The axoneme is surrounded by a specialized plasma membrane that is unique, but continuous with the plasma membrane that surrounds the rest of the cell. The ciliary membrane is enriched with ion channels and membrane-bound proteins that are essential for cilia function. Interestingly, the cilium maintains a distinct environment from the rest of …

Foraging Ecology Of Sexually-Dimorphic Marine Generalist Predators: Describing Stellar Sea Lion Diet Along The Northern Washington Coast, Zöe Kathryn Lewis

WWU Graduate School Collection

Understanding generalist predator impact on prey populations requires an understanding of predator diet composition, foraging ecology and specialization, all of which may vary over spatial and temporal scales. Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) are large, sexually dimorphic, generalist predators that may have different roles in the ecosystem based on sex. However, the variation between individuals within a population, or intrapopulation feeding diversity of Steller sea lions has not been examined. In this study, I describe the diet of Steller sea lions along the northern coast of Washington between December 2020-August 2021 using DNA metabarcoding, hard parts analysis, and qPCR sex …