Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Effects Of Forecasted Climate Change On Mass Wasting Susceptibility In The Nooksack River Basin, Kevin Knapp

WWU Graduate School Collection

The Nooksack River in Whatcom County, Washington­ is an essential fresh water resource for industry, agriculture, municipalities and serves as vital fish habitat. Like many mountainous watersheds in the western Cascades, the Nooksack Basin is susceptible to shallow mass wasting and debris flows because of its steep slopes, young glaciated terrain, and storms with high intensity precipitation. Understanding how projected reductions in snowpack and increased winter rainfall will affect mass-wasting susceptibility in the Nooksack basin is important, because sediment produced mass wasting will jeopardize valuable aquatic and fish habitat, increase flooding risk in the Nooksack River, and affect estuarine and …

Daytime Summer Microclimate Influence Of Large Woody Debris On Dewatered Sediments In Lake Mills, Wa Following Dam Removal, Mariah J. Colton

WWU Graduate School Collection

In 2014, dam removal from the Elwha River, Washington state, exposed large areas of previously submerged sediment. The Olympic National Park placed ~100 large logs on 2 ha of exposed sediment to promote plant establishment. I quantified patterns of three microclimate variables near logs: wind speed at 10-cm height (u₁₀), sediment temperature (T_S), and evaporation rate (E); and their relationships to broader environmental factors. The northern-most log, exposed to northerly winds, was measured along 3-m perpendicular transects 14 times during August and September 2015. I determined nonlinear and multilevel regressions to investigate …

Characterization Of Particulate Matter Accumulated On Ramalina Farinacea In The Seattle Area Using Semi-Automated Electron Microscopy, Tor G. (Tor Gunnar) Guddal

WWU Graduate School Collection

Semi-automated scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) can be used to determine the size and composition of filtered particulate matter (PM). This information is valuable for determining the identity and contribution of overlapping air emissions. One limitation of this method is the cost of filtering PM at enough locations to give meaningful spatial data. To address this limitation, I developed an exploratory method to collect PM using Ramalina farinacea for semi-automated SEM analysis as a component of lichen biomonitoring studies. I applied this method as a proof of concept in the Seattle area to better understand trends …

Visible-To-Near-Infrared Spectral Variability Of Hydrated Sulfates And Candidate Mars Landing Sites: Implications For The Mastcam-Z Investigation On Nasa’S Mars-2020 Rover Mission, Darian Dixon

WWU Graduate School Collection

The Mars-2020 rover mission will explore an astrobiologically relevant ancient environment on Mars, establish geologic context of the region, assess past habitability, and cache rocks for a future sample return. The Mastcam-Z instrument is a stereoscopic, zoom-enabled multispectral imager that will be critical to these objectives. As one of the mission’s primary reconnaissance tools, Mastcam-Z’s two cameras will acquire red-green-blue (RGB) true-color images and visible-to-near-infrared (VNIR) images with 11 narrowband filters from ~400-1100 nm. Mastcam-Z’s new ~975 nm spectral filter will help characterize the ~950-1000 nm absorption band in hydrated minerals, which has not been resolvable by previous rover multispectral …

Modeling The Effects Of Climate Change On Stream Temperature In The Nooksack River Basin, Stephanie E. Truitt

WWU Graduate School Collection

Stream temperatures in mountain streams in the western Cascade Mountains are heavily influenced by factors such as discharge, air temperature, and as in the case of the Nooksack River Basin in northwest Washington State; snow and glacial melt. The Nooksack basin is sensitive to warming climates due to the regions moderate Pacific maritime climate. Previous modeling studies in the upper Nooksack basins indicate a reduction in snowpack and spring runoff, and a recession of glaciers into the 21^st century due to global climate change. How stream temperatures will respond to these changes is unknown. We use the Distributed Hydrology …

Geologic Development And Ongoing Activity Of The Van Zandt Landslide Complex, Northwest Wa, Usa, Geoffrey Malick

WWU Graduate School Collection

Geomorphic mapping based on high-resolution lidar data indicates that the Van Zandt Landslide Complex (VZLC) has multiple crosscutting debris lobes (up to 51.4 x 10⁶ m³) with long runouts (H/L= 0.14; 0.21) typical of catastrophic rock avalanches. AMS ¹⁴C dates from in situ logs and lake sediment cores yield overlapping ages for emplacement of Debris Lobe 2 (1330-1285 cal. yrs. B.P) and Debris Lobe 3 (1300-1285 cal. yrs. B.P.) Although Debris Lobe 3 overlies a portion of Debris Lobe 2, it is possible that emplacement of the two deposits was nearly synchronous or in rapid succession. …

The Effectiveness Of Forested And Hedgerow Riparian Buffers For Buffering Water Temperature And Improving Fish Habitat In Agricultural Waterways In Western Washington, Jessica L. (Jessica Lynne) Shaw

WWU Graduate School Collection

Riparian restoration is a component of nearly every salmon recovery strategy. In the lowlands of the Nooksack River flood plain in Western Washington State, planted riparian buffers in agricultural landscapes must perform multiple functions to improve water quality and fish habitat while still allowing access to agricultural land use. Relatively narrow, 15 feet (4.6 meter) wide buffers, are a more palatable option for landowners than 35 feet (10.7 meters) which is required to be considered for cost incentive programs such as the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). We wanted to discover whether these two relatively narrow buffer widths would result …

Environmental Interpretation Plan For The Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, Rosalie Matsumoto

WWU Graduate School Collection

As lead researcher and developer of the Interpretation Plan for the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, this document will detail the background, research, and process involved to develop such a plan for the US Forest Service. I will first conceptualize Interpretation as a profession and its relation to and with Environmental Education with supporting research to help give context to the next section: an introduction to my project. After introducing the Interpretation Plan, I will detail my work and process to develop the Foundational Information, or the core of the Plan. Finally, I will conclude with my challenges, learnings, and …

Biomonitoring In Seattle: Spatial Variation And Source-Determining Of Airborne Pollutants In High-Traffic Areas, Saba Asefa

WWU Graduate School Collection

Although transportation is a large source of air particulate pollution in the U.S., air quality is currently not routinely monitored on the street level or using methods that could routinely determine particulate composition. In this study, we will use biomonitoring- using biological organisms (in this case tree leaves) as sample collectors- and magnetic characterization of particulate matter (PM) to provide a simple and inexpensive alternative air quality monitoring apparatus that is at the human spatial level, can collect micron-sized particles, and can be found in closely-spaced locations, so that there is a dense area collection network. Magnetic methods such as …

Vertical Distribution Of Olympia Oyster (Ostrea Lurida) Larvae In Fidalgo Bay, Wa, Brooke A. Mcintyre

WWU Graduate School Collection

Restoring populations of native Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) in the Salish Sea is ecologically and socially valuable. Olympia oysters disperse as planktonic larvae that control their depth with swimming and sinking behaviors, which can affect the currents that carry them and ultimately determine dispersal. Understanding larval dispersal patterns can help prioritize restoration efforts and establish a self-sustaining network of oyster populations in the region. The purpose of this study was to determine which factors (temperature, chlorophyll-a, larval size, current speed, tidal stage) influence the vertical distribution of Olympia oyster larvae in Fidalgo Bay, which is a …

Testing ¹⁰Be Exposure Dating Of Holocene Cirque Moraines Using Glaciolacustrine Sediments In The Sierra Nevada, California, William Cary

WWU Graduate School Collection

An ongoing study attempting to date boulders from Neoglacial moraines across the Sierra Nevada mountain range, CA using high precision cosmogenic radionuclide (CRN) exposure dating has yielded ages that contradict historical records and prior research in the range. To test whether these CRN ages have glacial significance or are merely a function of geomorphic processes that promote inheritance, I collected glaciolacustrine sediment cores to document independent glacier chronologies for the Lyell and Maclure glaciers in Yosemite National Park and the Price glaciers in the Desolation Wilderness. The Lyell glaciolacustrine cores indicate glacial advances from ~1830-1230 cal yr BP and ~610-80 …

Assessing The Effects Of Chemical Mixtures Using A Bayesian Network-Relative Risk Model (Bn- Rrm) Integrating Adverse Outcome Pathways (Aops) In Four Watersheds, Valerie R. Chu

WWU Graduate School Collection

Chemical mixtures are difficult to assess at the individual scale and are more challenging at the population scale. I have conducted a regional-scale ecological risk assessment by evaluating the effects of chemical mixtures on populations with a Bayesian Network- Relative Risk Model (BN-RRM) in four Washington state watersheds (Skagit, Nooksack, Cedar and Yakima). Organophosphate pesticides (diazinon, malathion and chlorpyrifos) were chosen as the chemical stressors and the Puget Sound Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Evolutionary Significant Unit (ESU) were chosen as the population endpoint. Laboratory tests found that organophosphate pesticide mixtures act synergistically and impair acetylcholinesterase activity. Exposure-response equations for …

Driving Sortase-Mediated Ligations Using Metal-Coordinating Peptides, Sierra Reed

WWU Graduate School Collection

The versatility of sortase-mediated ligations as a protein modification technique has been well demonstrated, but the efficiency of these reactions suffers from inherent reversibility. Solutions to this issue have been reported, however these methods are accompanied by additional limitations of the sortase-mediated ligation (SML) strategy. A preferable methodology would include the smallest possible modification site without restricting the point of ligation. One promising solution to this issue is the expansion of the LPXTG SrtA recognition sequence to LPXTGGH, giving the excised fragment an N-terminal GGH motif. This minor alteration has been shown to allow complexation of the excised fragment with …

Lewis Acids In The Secondary Coordination Sphere For Kinetic Enhancement Toward Reduction Of Nitrite, Kyle T. Burns

WWU Graduate School Collection

Metal complexes utilizing the redox non-innocent pyridinediimine ligand scaffold have been shown to form ligand centered radicals. The reduction potential of the ligand-based redox sites is effectively uncoupled from the secondary coordination sphere, allowing for installation of bioinspired secondary sphere motifs to tune reactivity, without attenuating the reductive ability of the metal center. This thesis aims to explore the utility of this ligand design by installing various functionality, reminiscent of those found in Nature, into the secondary coordination sphere, such as Lewis acidic residues, polarized active sites, and allosteric docking sites. Installation of a pendant benzo-15-crown-5 ether moiety, capable of …

Development Of Regio- And Diastereoselective Samarium (Ii) Iodide Mediated Allylic Benzoate Reductions, Trevor Stockdale

WWU Graduate School Collection

Herein, we report a regio- and diastereoselective samarium mediated allylic benzoate reduction. The reaction can achieve high yields, regioselectivity, and diastereoselectivity, however there appear to be many factors influencing the outcome: proton sources, alkene geometry, chelating group length, relative stereocenter positioning, and stereocenter identity. These substrate parameters were looked at in-depth which ultimately led to several conclusions about optimized substrates. For instance, experiments indicate that the reaction proceeds through a bicyclic organosamarium species followed by intramolecular protonation from samarium bound water.

Metamorphic Evolution Of The Sierra De Maz: Implications For The Timing Of Terrane Accretion On The Western Margin Of Gondwana, Andrew Tholt

WWU Graduate School Collection

The Mesoproterozoic MARA terrane of South America has been interpreted to collide and subduct beneath the Gondwana margin of South America in the Cambrian. To test the proposed tectonic model, I combine metamorphic petrology and geochronology along with quantitative thermobarometry to constrain metamorphic events and peak conditions within the Sierra de Maz of the MARA terrane and the adjacent Sierra de Ramaditas. Foliations within the Sierra de Maz are steeply east dipping, with a major sinistral reverse shear zone separating the two major units (Zaino and Maz Complexes) of the northern range. Garnet Lu-Hf records a single metamorphic event in …

Structural Characterization Of A Human/Porcine Chimeric Fviii Construct And An Improved Human Factor Viii Model And Progress Towards Determination Of The Fviii C1 Domain In Complex With Inhibitory Antibodies, Ian Smith

WWU Graduate School Collection

Blood coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) is a non-enzymatic protein cofactor, which plays a crucial role in the formation of a stable blood clot. Absence or deficiency of FVIII results in the blood disorder hemophilia A, with symptoms including internal hemorrhaging and the inability to stop bleeding from open wounds. Treatment of hemophilia A relies on replacement of FVIII with blood, plasma, or protein concentrate infusions. Unfortunately, approximately 30% of patients receiving replacement FVIII generate pathologic anti-FVIII inhibitory antibodies, which both reduce the effectiveness of the FVIII therapeutic and increase the severity of hemophilia A symptoms.

This thesis reports the determination …

The Associations Of Epiphytic Macroinvertebrates And Aquatic Macrophytes In Canyon Lake, Wa, Jesse T. (Jesse Tyler) Klinger

WWU Graduate School Collection

Macroinvertebrate abundances on six dominant macrophytes taxa were compared in Canyon Lake, Washington to determine whether there were patterns of association with macrophyte type or among assemblages of macroinvertebrates. Macrophytes and associated epiphytic macroinvertebrates were collected during August 2016. The dominant macrophyte distribution and lakes bathymetry were mapped in July 2016. The dominant macrophytes included Equisetum fluviatile, Fontinalis antipyretica, Potamogeton natans, Potamogeton epihydrus, Ranunculus aquatilis, and Vallisneria americana. Other non-dominant macrophytes included: Sparganium angustifolium, Sphagnum mosses, Nuphar polysepala, Characeae (stonewort), Isoetes (quillwort) and Potamogeton pusillus. Macroinvertebrate taxa were identified to the …

A Chemoenzymatic Approach To The Synthesis Of Hemoglobin Oligomers, Johann Sigurjonsson

WWU Graduate School Collection

Polymerized hemoglobin (poly-Hb) molecules have been shown to have reduced toxicity compared to cell-free hemoglobins when transfused intravenously. Poly-Hbs are typically generated with non-specific crosslinking agents that yield a product that is polydisperse in molecular weight. We propose a chemoenzymatic approach to generate poly-Hb of defined molecular weight. The proposed method employs the site-specific ligation reaction of the sortase A enzyme from S. aureus. A Hb mutant previously developed in our lab has been “sortagged” – modified by adding either the sortase recognition sequence (LPXTG) to the C-terminus of the α-subunit or a tetraglycine motif (GGGG) to the N-terminus. …

New Reactions Of Ring Strained Allyl Silanes, Elizabeth J. (Elizabeth Jane) Cummins

WWU Graduate School Collection

Herein, we report new allylation reactions using ring-strained allylalkoxysiletanes. These reactions can achieve high yield and have high chemoselectivity, as evidenced by carefully designed substrates. Based on previous evidence, we propose that the reaction proceeds through an exchange mechanism, where first the alkoxy group of the siletane exchanges with the hydroxyl group of the substrate, followed by coordination of the substrate carbonyl to the siletane, and then intramolecular allylation of the carbonyl.

Interactive Effects Of Ocean Acidification And Ocean Warming On Pacific Herring (Clupea Pallasi) Early Life Stages, Cristina Villalobos

WWU Graduate School Collection

The synergy of ocean acidification and ocean warming may lead to negative effects in marine organism responses that would be absent under single stressors. While adult fish are effective acid-base regulators, early life stages may be more susceptible to environmental stressors. Pacific herring are ecologically and economically important forage fish native to the U.S. Pacific Northwest (PNW), and several herring populations in the PNW have experienced reductions in stock abundance. Studies to date have focused on Atlantic herring, and little is known about the response of Pacific herring to ocean acidification and warming. Therefore, this study focused on the combined …

A Search For Blue Carbon In Central Salish Sea Eelgrass Meadows, Mira D. (Mira Diana) Lutz

WWU Graduate School Collection

This study quantified eelgrass (Zostera marina) sediment organic carbon and carbon sequestration rates in Skagit County,Wa, in sites likely to support organic content and sediment accretion, the key components for carbon sequestration. These data may inform eelgrass-specific projects aimed at mitigating climate change through the protection and restoration of “blue carbon” ecosystems. Blue carbon is the carbon stored or emitted by coastal wetlands, which have the capacity to sequester more organic carbon (OC) than equivalent areas of mature forest. This study follows recent research from a single site within Padilla Bay, Wa. (Padilla transect), reporting OC stock approximately three times …

Diversity And Petrogenesis Of Rhyolites From An Intra-Oceanic Arc: Evidence From Iodp Site U1437, Izu Bonin Rear-Arc And Surrounding Area, Luan J. (Luan Jean) Heywood

WWU Graduate School Collection

Magmas from the Izu Bonin rear-arc show a geochemical signature (medium- to high-K and light rare-earth element [LREE] enriched) that resembles the average composition of the continental crust. I investigate that continent-like signature by examining a suite of rear-arc-derived mafic to felsic tephras from International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1437, which was drilled as part of IODP Expedition 350. Volcaniclastic glasses from Site U1437 comprise a compositional series from basalt to rhyolite, aged 1.1-4.4 Ma.

Site U1437 tephras record the timespan when the Izu-Bonin arc began rifting and provide a well-dated record of changing magmatic compositions through the transition …

The Benefits Of A Therapeutic Nature Education Intervention For Children With Adhd, Madeline Dineen

WWU Graduate School Collection

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) diagnoses have been on the rise in children in the United States for the last twenty years due to multiple possible reasons (NIMH, 2016). Recent work on the subject, however, notes a positive correlation between exposure of children to experience-based nature therapy and the reduction of ADHD symptoms (Taylor & Kuo 2011). I hypothesized that implementing an intervention that is in an outdoor nature environment, that is experience-based and contains a learning objective would be correlated with a reduction of ADHD behaviors in elementary aged children. This study is a probe into the possibility of …

Improved Thermal And Mechanical Properties And Increased Miscibility Of Polybenzoxazine In Blends With Functionalized Thermoplastics And Particles, Emily A. Brown

WWU Graduate School Collection

The solubility, polymerization, and the macromolecular characterization of cured blends of BPA-based benzoxazine (BA-a) in end group tosylated poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEGOTs), polysulfone (PSUOTs), and poly(D,L-lactic acid) (PDLLAOTs) are studied and compared to their hydroxyl terminated analogues. The cure temperature for BA-a blends with tosylated polymers was reduced by ~60 °C compared to that of the pure BA-a. This confirms that the tosylated polymer is an accelerant for BA-a ring opening polymerization (ROP). There are two proposed mechanism for the production of free tosylate and cationic BA-a based initiators as a cure catalyst for BA-a ROP – where the former was …

Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensors Based On High-Index Dielectric Metal-Insulator-Metal Structures, Sarah Clark

WWU Graduate School Collection

Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) is the phenomenon in which an incident electromagnetic wave couples to charge density oscillations on a metal surface.The resulting excitation, known as a surface plasmon polariton (SPP), will propagate along the metal-dielectric interface. SPR biosensors monitor protein binding interactions in real time, which lead to changes in the refractive index, thereby altering the SPP excitation conditions. Recently, we have designed a structure that supports guided-wave plasmon polariton modes (GW-PPMs), a novel type of plasmonic excitation that demonstrates increased propagation lengths compared to those of traditional SPPs in certain regions of phase space. Because it has been …