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Full-Text Articles in Biology

Transcription Factor Expression Landscape In Drosophila Embryonic Cell Lines, Robert A. Drewell, Daniel Klonaros, Jacqueline Dresch Dec 2024

Transcription Factor Expression Landscape In Drosophila Embryonic Cell Lines, Robert A. Drewell, Daniel Klonaros, Jacqueline Dresch

Biology

Background: Transcription factor (TF) proteins are a key component of the gene regulatory networks that control cellular fates and function. TFs bind DNA regulatory elements in a sequence-specific manner and modulate target gene expression through combinatorial interactions with each other, cofactors, and chromatin-modifying proteins. Large-scale studies over the last two decades have helped shed light on the complex network of TFs that regulate development in Drosophila melanogaster. Results: Here, we present a detailed characterization of expression of all known and predicted Drosophila TFs in two well-established embryonic cell lines, Kc167 and S2 cells. Using deep coverage RNA sequencing approaches we …


Effects Of Roadways On Seasonal Movement Strategies And Mate Location Success In An Imperiled Pit Viper (Crotalus Horridus), Elizabeth J. Noble Oct 2024

Effects Of Roadways On Seasonal Movement Strategies And Mate Location Success In An Imperiled Pit Viper (Crotalus Horridus), Elizabeth J. Noble

Graduate Research Showcase

A detailed understanding of animal movement behavior is fundamental to effective conservation and management. Within populations, a diversity of movement strategies can be displayed in search of critical resources, and these strategies are influenced by multiple interacting factors related to individuals and the environment. Mating partners are one critical resource that often serves as a prominent selective force shaping movement during mating seasons. For many large-bodied snakes, such as pit vipers (Viperidae: Crotalinae), male mate- searching movements are the primary determinant of mate location success. During this time, males incur significant risks associated with elevated movement. In an increasingly human- …


Oil Identification Of Harp Seal And Other Select Marine Mammals, Meghan Pinedo, Deborah A. Duffield, Dalin N. D’Alessandro, Erin R. Price, Edgard O. Espinoza Jun 2024

Oil Identification Of Harp Seal And Other Select Marine Mammals, Meghan Pinedo, Deborah A. Duffield, Dalin N. D’Alessandro, Erin R. Price, Edgard O. Espinoza

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Because of the rich omega-3 fatty acids content, harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) oil is a popular supplement that is packaged as pills in Canada and sold for medicinal purposes, although this practice is banned in the United States. Due to US regulations, it is important to be able to distinguish between fish oil and seal oil, but the taxonomic determination of oils provenance has been a difficult problem to solve. In this study, Direct Analysis in Real Time time-of-flight mass spectrometry (DART TOFMS) was used to analyze the chemotypes of blubber samples collected from seven species of …


Exploring Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Alzheimer's Disease And Related Dementias: Prevalence, Healthcare Utilization, And Costs, Michael E. Myers Ii Apr 2024

Exploring Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Alzheimer's Disease And Related Dementias: Prevalence, Healthcare Utilization, And Costs, Michael E. Myers Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Objective: This study aims to investigate the disparities in prevalence rates, healthcare utilization patterns, and healthcare costs associated with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) among various racial and ethnic groups over time. Methods: Utilizing data from the medical expenditure panel survey over a five-year period, this study employs factorial logistic regression to analyze ADRD prevalence rates and multivariate analysis of variance to examine healthcare utilization and costs. The analysis focuses on weighted populations to account for the representation of racial and ethnic groups, ensuring the generalizability of the findings. Results: The study identifies statistically significant disparities in ADRD prevalence, …


Unravelling The Genetic Basis Of Schizophrenia, Clara Casey, John F. Fullard, Roy D. Sleator Apr 2024

Unravelling The Genetic Basis Of Schizophrenia, Clara Casey, John F. Fullard, Roy D. Sleator

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

Neuronal development is a highly regulated mechanism that is central to organismal function in animals. In humans, disruptions to this process can lead to a range of neurodevelopmental phenotypes, including Schizophrenia (SCZ). SCZ has a significant genetic component, whereby an individual with an SCZ affected family member is eight times more likely to develop the disease than someone with no family history of SCZ. By examining a combination of genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic datasets, large-scale ‘omics’ studies aim to delineate the relationship between genetic variation and abnormal cellular activity in the SCZ brain. Herein, we provide a brief overview of …


Effects Of Fungal Biopesticide Doses On Mortality In Bumble Bees, Colton Burris Apr 2024

Effects Of Fungal Biopesticide Doses On Mortality In Bumble Bees, Colton Burris

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Agricultural practices often include the use of pesticides to produce meaningful crop yields. While the pesticide may be used to target “pest” insects (e.g. thrips, aphids, whiteflies), it can also have negative effects on important pollinating insects such as bees. Neonicotinoid pesticides have been found responsible for widespread decline in bee biodiversity, and were even banned in Europe (Sgolastra et al. 2020) . Beauveria bassiana, sold as Botanigard, on the other hand, is a fungal biopesticide that is marketed to be a safer alternative for bees, and has been found to have other possibly harmful effects to the inner …


Continuous Mowing Differentially Affects Floral Defenses In The Noxious And Invasive Weed Solanum Elaeagnifolium In Its Native Range, Alejandro Vasquez, Alexa Alaniz, Robert K. Dearth, Rupesh R. Kariyat Apr 2024

Continuous Mowing Differentially Affects Floral Defenses In The Noxious And Invasive Weed Solanum Elaeagnifolium In Its Native Range, Alejandro Vasquez, Alexa Alaniz, Robert K. Dearth, Rupesh R. Kariyat

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In weeds, disturbance has been found to affect life history traits and mediate trophic interactions. In urban landscapes, mowing is an important disturbance, and we previously showed that continuous mowing leads to enhanced fitness and defense traits in Solanum elaeagnifolium, Silverleaf Nightshade (SLN). However, most studies have been focused on foliar defenses, ignoring floral defenses. In this study we examined whether continuous mowing affected floral defenses in SLN using mowed and unmowed populations in South Texas, their native range. We found flowers of mowed SLN plants larger but lighter than unmowed plants. Additionally, flowers on plants that were mowed …


Teaching Evolutionary Principles With Ai Image Generators, Jacqueline Garnett Apr 2024

Teaching Evolutionary Principles With Ai Image Generators, Jacqueline Garnett

Generative AI Teaching Activities

The purpose of this assignment is for students to practice constructing phylogenies using the principle of parsimony. In this activity, students will use an AI Image Generator to create a grid of images of the same organism and identify a series of traits that vary to build a possible phylogenetic tree.


Bioaerosol Size As A Potential Determinant Of Airborne E. Coli Viability Under Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation And Ozone Disinfection, Weixing Hao, Yue-Wern Huang, Yang Wang Apr 2024

Bioaerosol Size As A Potential Determinant Of Airborne E. Coli Viability Under Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation And Ozone Disinfection, Weixing Hao, Yue-Wern Huang, Yang Wang

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) and ozone disinfection are crucial methods for mitigating the airborne transmission of pathogenic microorganisms in high-risk settings, particularly with the emergence of respiratory viral pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 and avian influenza viruses. This study quantitatively investigates the influence of UVGI and ozone on the viability of E. coli in bioaerosols, with a particular focus on how E. coli viability depends on the size of the bioaerosols, a critical factor that determines deposition patterns within the human respiratory system and the evolution of bioaerosols in indoor environments. This study used a controlled small-scale laboratory chamber where E. …


How To Spark Bio Curiosity: An Innovative High School Biology Curriculum, Audrie Charles Apr 2024

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 …


Quantifying Costs And Benefits Of Alternative Overwintering Strategies In A Southeastern Population Of Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Horridus), John Powers, Amber Stubbs, Alfred J. Mead, Dominic L. Desantis Apr 2024

Quantifying Costs And Benefits Of Alternative Overwintering Strategies In A Southeastern Population Of Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Horridus), John Powers, Amber Stubbs, Alfred J. Mead, Dominic L. Desantis

Graduate Research Showcase

Temperate reptile populations are under strong selective pressure to minimize the costs of extreme winter temperatures. For high latitude and high elevation snake populations, this has often favored communal overwintering behavior, wherein large numbers of conspecifics aggregate at optimal sites given the limited availability of such features in the environment. Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) are distributed across a wide latitudinal gradient in North America, and therefore represent ideal models for exploring how variable winter selective regimes might favor different strategies. Here, we leverage a unique intermediate population of C. horridus from central Georgia, USA, that exhibits both communal …


Effects Of Wind Turbine Noise On Songbird Behavior During Nonbreeding Season, Yael Lehnardt, Jesse R. Barber, Oded Berger-Tal Apr 2024

Effects Of Wind Turbine Noise On Songbird Behavior During Nonbreeding Season, Yael Lehnardt, Jesse R. Barber, Oded Berger-Tal

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Anthropogenic noise is one of the fastest growing, globally widespread pollutants, affecting countless species worldwide. Despite accumulating evidence of the negative impacts of wind turbines on wildlife, little is known about how the noise they generate affects ecological systems. Songbirds may be susceptible to noise pollution due to their reliance on vocal communication and thus, in this field study, we examined how songbirds are affected by wind turbine noise. We broadcasted noise produced by one wind turbine in a migratory stopover site during the nonbreeding season. Throughout the study, we repeatedly monitored the acoustic environment and songbird community before, during, …


The Effects Of Land Use Change On Ant Communities In New England, Amelia K.L. Curry, Joseph A. Nelsen, Dale R. Stevens, Kaitlyn A. Mathis Apr 2024

The Effects Of Land Use Change On Ant Communities In New England, Amelia K.L. Curry, Joseph A. Nelsen, Dale R. Stevens, Kaitlyn A. Mathis

Biology

Urbanisation and agricultural expansion are two of the most prevalent and intense forms of land use change worldwide and can have dramatic consequences on biodiversity and biotic community structure. Ants are extremely widespread, ecologically diverse and small ectotherms that are sensitive to changes from a wide range of environmental factors. Therefore, ants make an ideal study organism to examine the effects of anthropogenic land use change on biotic communities. In this study, we examined differences in ant species richness and community composition between urban parks, farms and forest fragments, and related these differences to environmental factors that vary among each …


Investigation Of The Growth Of Listeria In Plant-Based Beverages, Klaudia Bartula, Sambou Biagui, Máire Begley, Michael Callanan Apr 2024

Investigation Of The Growth Of Listeria In Plant-Based Beverages, Klaudia Bartula, Sambou Biagui, Máire Begley, Michael Callanan

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

The objective of the present study was to evaluate whether the content of sugar, protein, fat, or fibre in commercially available and specially formulated plant-based beverages (oat, soya and pea) influences the growth rates of Listeria. Beverages were inoculated with a strain cocktail of Listeria (approximately 1 × 103 CFU/mL), and the data demonstrated that Listeria could proliferate in all tested beverages. Moreover, varying concentrations of naturally occurring or added sugar (0–3.3%), protein (3.3–5%), fat (1.1–3.5%) and added fibre (0–1.5%) did not have a statistically significant (p > 0.05) impact on the growth rates of Listeria in the tested …


Climate Change-Associated Declines In Water Clarity Impair Feeding By Common Loons, Walter H. Piper, Max R. Glines, Kevin C. Rose Mar 2024

Climate Change-Associated Declines In Water Clarity Impair Feeding By Common Loons, Walter H. Piper, Max R. Glines, Kevin C. Rose

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Climate change has myriad impacts on ecosystems, but the mechanisms by which it affects individual species can be difficult to pinpoint. One strategy to discover such mechanisms is to identify a specific ecological factor related to survival or reproduction and determine how that factor is affected by climate. Here we used Landsat imagery to calculate water clarity for 127 lakes in northern Wisconsin from 1995 to 2021 and thus investigate the effect of clarity on the body condition of an aquatic visual predator, the common loon (Gavia immer). In addition, we examined rainfall and temperature as potential predictors …


Genomic Analysis Of Seven Mycobacteriophages Identifies Three Novel Species With Differing Phenotypic Stabilities, Laura O'Connell, Aidan Coffey Prof., Jim O'Mahony Mar 2024

Genomic Analysis Of Seven Mycobacteriophages Identifies Three Novel Species With Differing Phenotypic Stabilities, Laura O'Connell, Aidan Coffey Prof., Jim O'Mahony

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

Recently, case studies have been published regarding the application of mycobacteriophage (MP) therapy (MPT) in patients with multi-antibiotic-resistant infections. A major limitation in the development of MPT is the paucity of therapeutically useful MP. As there are approximately 10,000 MP that have yet to be sequenced, it is possible that characterization of this cohort would increase the repertoire of useful MP. This study aims to contribute to such a strategy, by characterizing a cohort of 7 mycobacteriophages. Sequencing analyses revealed that the MP have unique sequences, and subsequent gene annotation revealed differences in gene organization. Notably, MP LOCARD has the …


How To Identify Various Sparrow Species, Aidan Castricone '24, Alexis Larsen '24, Emma Barry '25 Mar 2024

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 Mar 2024

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


Identifying The American Goldfinch, Margaret Low '24, Laura Mooney '24 Mar 2024

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


Blue Jays, Meriam Salo '25, Gabriela Guzman Reyes '24 Mar 2024

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 Mar 2024

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


Drought Legacy Interacts With Wildfire To Alter Soil Microbial Communities In A Mediterranean Climate-Type Forest, Anna J. M. Hopkins, Aaron J. Brace, Jess L. Bruce, J. Hyde, J. B. Fontaine, L. Walden, W. Veber, K. X. Ruthrof Mar 2024

Drought Legacy Interacts With Wildfire To Alter Soil Microbial Communities In A Mediterranean Climate-Type Forest, Anna J. M. Hopkins, Aaron J. Brace, Jess L. Bruce, J. Hyde, J. B. Fontaine, L. Walden, W. Veber, K. X. Ruthrof

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Mediterranean forest ecosystems will be increasingly affected by hotter drought and more frequent and severe wildfire events in the future. However, little is known about the longer-term responses of these forests to multiple disturbances and the forests' capacity to maintain ecosystem function. This is particularly so for below-ground organisms, which have received less attention than those above-ground, despite their essential contributions to forest function. We investigated rhizosphere microbial communities in a resprouting Eucalyptus marginata forest, southwestern Australia, that had experienced a severe wildfire four years previously, and a hotter drought eight years previously. Our aim was to understand how microbial …


Optimal Growth And Development: Are Teenagers Getting Enough Micronutrients From Their Diet?, Niamh M. Walsh, Albert Flynn, Janette Walton, Laura Kehoe Mar 2024

Optimal Growth And Development: Are Teenagers Getting Enough Micronutrients From Their Diet?, Niamh M. Walsh, Albert Flynn, Janette Walton, Laura Kehoe

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

The teenage years represent a crucial period of physical and cognitive growth and development with sufficient micronutrient intakes necessary to meet high nutritional requirements. This review examines current micronutrient intakes in teenagers in the Western world in the context of public health implications including the prevalence of inadequate intakes and risk of excessive intakes. Intakes of vitamins A, D, E and C, folate, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and potassium in teenagers are low when compared to generally accepted recommendations, while there is little risk of excessive micronutrient intakes based on current dietary patterns. Therefore, strategies should focus on increasing micronutrient …


Variations In Student Approaches To Problem Solving In Undergraduate Biology Education, Jeremy L. Hsu, Rou-Jia Sung, Su L. Swarat, Alexandra J. Gore, Stephanie Kim, Stanley M. Lo Mar 2024

Variations In Student Approaches To Problem Solving In Undergraduate Biology Education, Jeremy L. Hsu, Rou-Jia Sung, Su L. Swarat, Alexandra J. Gore, Stephanie Kim, Stanley M. Lo

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Existing research has investigated student problem-solving strategies across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; however, there is limited work in undergraduate biology education on how various aspects that influence learning combine to generate holistic approaches to problem solving. Through the lens of situated cognition, we consider problem solving as a learning phenomenon that involves the interactions between internal cognition of the learner and the external learning environment. Using phenomenography as a methodology, we investigated undergraduate student approaches to problem solving in biology through interviews. We identified five aspects of problem solving (including knowledge, strategy, intention, metacognition, and mindset) that define three …


A Dietary Variety: Analyzing The Impacts Of Diverse Vs Worm-Exclusive Diets On The Blanding’S Turtle (Emydoidea Blandingii), Caitlin F. Copenhaver Mar 2024

A Dietary Variety: Analyzing The Impacts Of Diverse Vs Worm-Exclusive Diets On The Blanding’S Turtle (Emydoidea Blandingii), Caitlin F. Copenhaver

Honors Theses

The endangered Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) is a species with a generally diverse diet in their freshwater wetland habitats; they consume prey such as crayfish and snails. In captivity, these options often become more limited due to logistical reasons. As ex situ conservation efforts such as captive rearing and head-starting are becoming more popular for this species, it will be important to gain more insight on how these more limited diets might affect these turtles. This study describes a comparison between diets in six captive Blanding’s turtles from September to November of 2023, with three turtles receiving only …


Comstock Point, Lubec, Maine - A Natural And Photographic History, Willaim H. Schlesinger, Lisa M. Dellwo Mar 2024

Comstock Point, Lubec, Maine - A Natural And Photographic History, Willaim H. Schlesinger, Lisa M. Dellwo

Documents from Environmental Organizations

A natural and photographic history of our lands compiled by Lisa Dellwo and Bill Schlesinger, with the help of many friends and neighbors.


Rhizobia-Legume Symbiosis Mediates Direct And Indirect Interactions Between Plants, Herbivores And Their Parasitoids, Carlos Bustos-Segura, Adrienne L. Godschalx, Lucas Malacari, Sergio Rasmann, Fanny Deiss, Daniel Ballhorn, Betty Benrey Mar 2024

Rhizobia-Legume Symbiosis Mediates Direct And Indirect Interactions Between Plants, Herbivores And Their Parasitoids, Carlos Bustos-Segura, Adrienne L. Godschalx, Lucas Malacari, Sergio Rasmann, Fanny Deiss, Daniel Ballhorn, Betty Benrey

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Microorganisms associated with plant roots significantly impact the quality and quantity of plant defences. However, the bottom-up effects of soil microbes on the aboveground multitrophic interactions remain largely under studied. To address this gap, we investigated the chemically- mediated effects of nitrogen-fixing rhizobia on legume-herbivore-parasitoid multitrophic interactions. To address this, we initially examined the cascading effects of the rhizobia bean association on herbivore caterpillars, their parasitoids, and subsequently investigated how rhizobia influence on plant volatiles and extrafloral nectar. Our goal was to understand how these plant- mediated effects can affect parasitoids. Lima bean plants (Phaseoulus lunatus) inoculated with rhizobia exhibited …


Foraminifera As A Model Of Eukaryotic Genome Dynamism, Caitlin Timmons, Kristine Le, H. B. Rappaport, Elinor G. Sterner, Xyrus X. Maurer-Alcaláh, Susan T. Goldstein, Laura A. Katz Mar 2024

Foraminifera As A Model Of Eukaryotic Genome Dynamism, Caitlin Timmons, Kristine Le, H. B. Rappaport, Elinor G. Sterner, Xyrus X. Maurer-Alcaláh, Susan T. Goldstein, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

In contrast to the canonical view that genomes cycle only between haploid and diploid states, many eukaryotes have dynamic genomes that change content throughout an individual’s life cycle. However, the few detailed studies of microeukaryotic life cycles render our understanding of eukaryotic genome dynamism incomplete. Foraminifera (Rhizaria) are an ecologically important, yet understudied, clade of microbial eukaryotes with complex life cycles that include changes in ploidy and genome organization. Here, we apply fluorescence microscopy and image analysis techniques to over 2,800 nuclei in 110 cells to characterize the life cycle of Allogromia laticollaris strain Cold Spring Harbor (CSH), one of …


Herptile Gut Microbiomes: A Natural System To Study Multi-Kingdom Interactions Between Filamentous Fungi And Bacteria, Lluvia Vargas-Gastélum, Alexander S. Romer, Marjan Ghotbi, Jason W. Dallas, Reed. N. Alexander, Kylie C. Moe, Kerry L. Mcphail, George F. Neuhaus, Leila Shadmani, Joseph W. Spatafora, Jason E. Stajich, Javier F. Tabima, Donald M. Walker Mar 2024

Herptile Gut Microbiomes: A Natural System To Study Multi-Kingdom Interactions Between Filamentous Fungi And Bacteria, Lluvia Vargas-Gastélum, Alexander S. Romer, Marjan Ghotbi, Jason W. Dallas, Reed. N. Alexander, Kylie C. Moe, Kerry L. Mcphail, George F. Neuhaus, Leila Shadmani, Joseph W. Spatafora, Jason E. Stajich, Javier F. Tabima, Donald M. Walker

Biology

Reptiles and amphibians (herptiles) are some of the most endangered and threatened species on the planet and numerous conservation strategies are being implemented with the goal of ensuring species recovery. Little is known, however, about the gut microbiome of wild herptiles and how it relates to the health of these populations. Here, we report results from the gut microbiome characterization of both a broad survey of herptiles, and the correlation between the fungus Basidiobolus, and the bacterial community supported by a deeper, more intensive sampling of Plethodon glutinosus, known as slimy salamanders. We demonstrate that bacterial communities sampled from frogs, …


Physical Properties Of Odorants Affect Behavior Of Trained Detection Dogs During Close-Quarters Searches, Daniel Mejia, Lydia Burnett, Nicholas Hebdon, Peter Stevens, Alexis Shiber, Clay Cranston, Lauryn Degreeff, Lindsay D. Waldrop Feb 2024

Physical Properties Of Odorants Affect Behavior Of Trained Detection Dogs During Close-Quarters Searches, Daniel Mejia, Lydia Burnett, Nicholas Hebdon, Peter Stevens, Alexis Shiber, Clay Cranston, Lauryn Degreeff, Lindsay D. Waldrop

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Trained detection dogs have a unique ability to find the sources of target odors in complex fluid environments. How dogs derive information about the source of an odor from an odor plume comprised of odorants with different physical properties, such as diffusivity, is currently unknown. Two volatile chemicals associated with explosive detection, ammonia (NH3, derived from ammonium nitrate-based explosives) and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol (2E1H, associated with composition C4 plastic explosives) were used to ascertain the effects of the physical properties of odorants on the search behavior and motion of trained dogs. NH3 has a diffusivity 3.6 times that of …