Life Sciences Commons^™

Abundance And Demography Of The Wood Turtle (Glyptemys Insculpta) Across Two River Systems In Michigan’S Lower Peninsula, Marianne Kelso

Masters Theses

Turtles worldwide are declining from habitat loss and fragmentation, predation, and illegal collection, and their slow life histories and sensitivity to environmental change make reliable abundance and demographic data critical for conservation. Wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) are declining across much of their range, yet baseline information is lacking in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. To fill that gap, we performed standardized visual mark–recapture surveys at 27 one-kilometer river reaches in two distinct watershed systems during springs of 2022 and 2023. Using hierarchical N-mixture models with negative binomial mixtures to account for imperfect detection, we estimated site-level latent abundance and evaluated …

Early Detection Of Oak Wilt Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Uav) & Computer Vision, Muttaki I. Bismoy

Masters Theses

Forests are critical ecosystems, delivering services such as biodiversity conservation, climate regulation, timber production, and recreation. However, they face increasing threats from pathogens like Bretziella fagacearum, which causes Oak Wilt, a lethal disease that disrupts water transport in oak trees, leading to canopy dieback and eventual death. Traditional detection methods rely on manual ground surveys, which are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and prone to error, particularly in early disease stages.

This research presents an automated, scalable, high-precision Oak Wilt detection system using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) combined with deep learning-based computer vision. Expanding on earlier work with a lightweight CNN achieving an …

Determining The Origin Of An Isolated Great Lakes Plant Species, Agoseris Glauca (Asteraceae), Seth Paul Hiers

Masters Theses

Small, isolated populations often have low genetic diversity and low potential for adaptation in response to environmental changes. Alternatively, isolated communities are often more likely to display local adaptations and over time speciate. The Great Lakes Region is home to over 50 vascular plant species that are disjunct from the species’ core populations. Agoseris glauca (Asteraceae) is a Great Lakes disjunct and Michigan state threatened species geographically isolated from its core range by 900 km. This study uses Genotyping by Sequencing to assess the population genetics of A. glauca for two Michigan disjunct populations and five western populations in the …

Investigating Food Web Dynamics Of Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands Using A Novel Stable Isotope Approach, Alyssa M. Smith

Masters Theses

Coastal wetlands of the Great Lakes support abundant populations of fish, invertebrates, and vegetation, though the trophic linkages connecting primary production and lower consumers is not well understood in these systems. We implemented a multiple-tracer approach, pairing traditional food web isotope tracers like carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) with total mercury concentrations (THg). We predicted that filamentous algae would be the dominant energy resource in the diet of lower trophic-level invertebrates in the Grand River Estuary, a network of riverine coastal wetlands adjacent to lake Michigan. In addition, we predicted that adding THg as a tracer would improve the resolution …

Changes In Rfi Values Of Omomyid Mandibular Molars In Response To Climatic Shifts, Hannah Vanooteghem

Masters Theses

Molar anatomy reflects the functional demands of food mastication, and dental topography provides a quantitative method for evaluating how molar structure relates to dietary niche. Relief index (RFI), a dental topographic measure, has been successfully used to infer diet in extant and fossil mammals. This study tests two hypotheses regarding mandibular molars of early Eocene omomyids: (1) There is an association between changes in omomyid RFI values of first and second mandibular molars and changes in climatic variables (temperature and precipitation) from Wa0 to Wa5, and (2) The first and second mandibular molar RFI values of omomyid species are significantly …

Cohabitation At Threshold: Carpenter House Reimagined For Multispecies Living, Zhixiao Yang

Masters Theses

With the rapid growth of the human population, we are encroaching further into wildlife habitats, particularly those surrounding urban environments. This accelerating urbanization leads to biodiversity loss, the degradation of ecological services essential to human health and well-being, and a diminishing connection between city dwellers and the natural world.

Today, urban planners, architects, economists, and other advocates for the future of humanity and the health of the planet are actively questioning how we might build greener, more resilient cities. While much of the focus has been on large-scale interventions — such as the use of sustainable materials, the creation of …

Ecospiritual Entanglement, Ali Vedad Yüner

Masters Theses

Land breeds culture. It gives us the resources to thrive, and in that process we establish a relationship with its constituents. With a multitude of beings inhabiting the land, a complex web of relationships develop. Biology describes these relationships as food webs; the mass entanglement of organisms in a manner that each organism nourishes the other. These webs are not just mere scientific structures but rather an interpretation of existential connections that every organism in the world, humans included, are indebted to. Food webs are the first stepping stone in the formation of culture, as they account for the engagement …

Tree Story, Jia Hu

Masters Theses

What is Nature?

Nature is a system of intelligence. It means designing for efficiency—often by learning from strategies that have evolved over time. In my research, I use patterns to interpret and decode nature.

To explore nature, I began with the red cedar tree, aiming to simulate and predict its growth patterns—forms shaped by both internal biology and external forces. By analyzing its geometry, I sought to understand how trees embody the dynamic relationship between organism and environment. These patterns reveal the adaptive logic of life.

Patterns are central to understanding nature. While tree geometry may appear chaotic, it follows …

Covered In Snow, Katelynn M. Rogers

Masters Theses

Covered in Snow is a photographic exploration into the ripple effect of maternal loss and environmental decay in my hometown of Canton, Ohio. In the wake of a miscarriage, the woods I had grown up within began calling to me, urging me to return. Unbeknownst to me, a series of accidental deaths of women had been happening throughout these trees my entire life, their stories only coming to the surface as I looked to the trees for solace. This series of inexplicable deaths in the woods I so desperately loved began to alter my relationship to the trees, a distrust …

Field Journal: The Excluded Middle, Carrie E. Kouts

Masters Theses

What does it look like to engage with organisms and landscapes at the periphery of anthropocentric value structures? How does one break the internalized myth that the “built” environment is excluded from the natural world? When does a hyper-mobile and hyper-commodified society confront the exponential crisis of animal death? Within this series of journal entries, field notes, collection observations, weird prose, and sensory musings, one will find questions on the nature of being human and the complex narratives of care we encounter in a world shared with more-than-humans. Each handwritten vignette and photograph from daily life weaves a non-linear and …

Fire Fossils: Biomineral Infrastructures In Untangling Climates, Tanmayee More

Masters Theses

Diatoms drift, sediments sink, wildfires generate their own weather. Lightning strikes can blast sand into glass, and microscopic organisms do the same in the cold recesses of the ocean. What alchemies and metabolisms catalyze space, time, and energy? What are the thermodynamics of infrastructure in Climate Change?

Places, materials, and beings are afterimages. Through alchemical experiments, and multi-scalar imaging, I develop simulations of wildfires, and their profound, reverberating effects. In this thesis, a glass-meets-landscape experimental process enters these obscured conditions and renders new material relations for the built environment.

Pulped Landscapes, Allison P. Abrams

Masters Theses

Large corporations control intensive and extractive industrial land use practices through acts of dumping, capping, and neglect. The abandonment of industrial sites is increasing as well as the environmental consequences of such actions. How can impacted communities proactively engage in remediation processes while post-industrial sites sit in limbo?

With the former Foley Cellulose Plant in Perry, Florida (closed in 2023) as a case study, this thesis researches and speculates on potentials of phytoremediation experimentation and harvesting of plant fibers on contaminated soils. The site is a pulped landscape: land directly impacted by intensive, large corporation-led pulp production practices that is …

More Than 9 Lives: Improving Shelter Cat Intake And Adoption Rates, Arthur S. Loomis

Masters Theses

Municipal animal shelters across the United States struggle to properly care for the cats housed in their facilities due to overpopulation. The sheer volume of cats entering shelters greatly outpaces the rate in which they are adopted out, resulting in an immense resource strain that too often results in the euthanasia of millions of shelter cats across the country each year. The enormous influx of cats is largely due to abandonment or considerable populations of feral, stray, or community cats living on the streets. In addition, shelter cat adoptions occur at a much slower pace, with many cats spending months, …

Role Of Minimalist Footwear On Stability, Change Of Direction, And Power Production: A Randomized Crossover Trial, Logan Allen

Masters Theses

The purpose of the present study was to examine the acute effects of minimalist footwear (MFW) on participants’ ability to stabilize, change direction, and produce power. A randomized crossover design was used. Eighteen subjects participated. Participants tested in MFW and traditional running shoes (RS) and were randomly assigned an order. The protocol included a warm-up, limits of stability (LS) assessment, pro-agility test (PA), modified t-test (MT), countermovement jump (CMJ), and an isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP). No significant differences were found (p £ 0.05), and the effect sizes were trivial to small. For the LS assessment, time (ES = 0.350) and …

Variation In Maternal Alkaloid Provisioning And Its Effects On Antimicrobial Defense In Tadpoles Of The Poison Frog Oophaga Pumilio, Erica Berent

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Are There Predictable Shifts In Fish Communities Following Instream Habitat Restoration? A Multistream Analysis., Ryan A. Skowronski

Masters Theses

In the past two centuries, anthropogenic stressors have degraded the structure and function of streams by accelerating bank erosion, decreasing riparian buffer zones, and altering the natural flow regime. Habitat restoration has become a common mitigation strategy in response to stream degradation, though empirical research evaluating its effectiveness is lacking in the United States. This study investigated responses in fish community following habitat restoration in five restored, Illinois streams. We assigned fish species to habitat, trophic, and reproductive guilds based on their habitat preferences, feeding habits, and life history. Streams were separated into enhancement and removal groups for analysis. Shifts …

Parasite Communities Of Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales Notatus) From Several Creeks In East Central Illinois, Md Rowshan Alam

Masters Theses

Parasites of freshwater fish play a vital functional role in aquatic ecosystems, but the spatial and ecological determinants of their prevalence and characteristics are still poorly understood. The current study quantified the diversity, prevalence, and environmental determinants of whole parasite burdens in bluntnose minnows across multiple creeks in central Illinois. Fish sampling and the collection of stream habitat data were conducted during the summers of 2023 and 2024. Fish were examined for parasites using necropsy and histology. A total of 20,817 parasites, predominantly trematodes (Posthodiplostomum spp.), cestodes (Proteocephalus spp), and protozoans, were identified. The most prevalent and abundant …

Assessing The Role Of Daily Thermal Fluctuations In The Performance Of Mitochondrial Energy Transduction Of The Centrarchid, Lepomis Cyanellus, Grayson Hofmann

Masters Theses

Freshwater systems are affected by current climate extremes, forcing species found in these systems to withstand drastic changes in temperature. Temperature changes affect these organisms by altering their metabolic rate and energy balance. Increases in temperature can lead to an increase in oxygen consumption, which ultimately increases the need for more energy production. Mitochondrial energy transduction of green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) and many other fish species after a thermal insult, has hardly been explored. This study complements the limited research available on mitochondrial function in similar species, as they ignore the possibility of consecutive thermal events, which are …

Habitat Use And Selection Of Silver Carp In The Lower Wabash River System, Coy B. Blair

Masters Theses

The spatial ecology of non-native species in invaded systems remains relatively poorly understood despite the importance of suitable habitat in the success of invasion. Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix are a highly invasive non-native species with established populations throughout the Midwestern United States. Much research has focused on habitat use of bigheaded carp in large river systems, though invasion risk remains high in smaller systems, such as tributaries of the Great Lakes and the Ohio River. The Wabash River, a unique system in the Midwest, remains largely un-impounded and is comparable to many of the smaller riverine systems at risk of …

Examining Group Components On Exercise Adherence In Older Adults, Brody Polk

Masters Theses

Older adults remain the least active population despite the well-known benefits of regular exercise (Beauchamp et al., 2007; Rúa-Alonso et al., 2023). Researchers examining exercise adherence in older adults have determined two modalities of training—individual and group—with individual training being the preferred mode of exercise for older adults (Beauchamp et al., 2007). However, previous research has failed to evaluate the various components of group exercise before making a comparison with individual exercise to determine which form best predicts older adults’ adherence to exercise (Hawley-Hague et al., 2014). As such, the purpose of the current study was to examine the effects …

The Role Of Post-Cloacal Gland Biofluorescence In Male-Male Communication In Plethodon Cinereus, Kasey Watterson

Masters Theses

Biofluorescence is increasingly recognized as a potentially important form of visual communication across a wide range of taxa, yet its ecological and behavioral function remains largely untested in many terrestrial species. In the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus), fluorescence is a sexually dimorphic trait most strongly expressed in males, particularly around the cloacal region and ventral side of the tail, areas that are often displayed during territorial contests and courtship. Rival males also direct behaviors like cloacal investigation toward these fluorescent regions, suggesting a potential signaling function. Since fluorescence is often displayed during territorial contests, I hypothesized that fluorescence in male …

Prevalence Of Insecticide Resistance Gene In Aedes Albopictus Populations Of Central Illinois, Merylann Akinyi Ochieng

Masters Theses

The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, is a significant vector for diseases such as Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika. Its increasing resistance to insecticides poses a critical challenge for vector control efforts. This study investigates knockdown resistance (kdr) mutations in the voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) genes, specifically V1016G and F1534C, which are associated with pyrethroid resistance. Aedes albopictus populations from Central Illinois were analyzed using allele-specific PCR techniques to address three primary objectives: (1) determining whether V1016G and F1534C mutations are present in these populations, (2) determining which mutation is more widespread, and (3) investigating how resistance gene …

Enhancing Sunflower Regeneration: Molecular And Genetic Insights From Helianthus Eggertii, Owen West

Masters Theses

In vitro plant regeneration, particularly through organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis, is essential for plant transformation and crop improvement, especially in recalcitrant species like sunflower. In this study, we explore the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying regeneration in Helianthus eggertii, a wild sunflower species with high regeneration potential. Global gene expression profiling, conducted using Oxford Nanopore sequencing across multiple time points and genotypes, identified sixty-three core differentially expressed genes (DEGs) critical to regeneration. These DEGs are associated with critical biological processes such as cell proliferation, transcriptional regulation, and photosynthesis. Among them, a sunflower WUSCHEL-related homeobox transcription factor (WOX4) showed preferential expression …

Spatiotemporal Variability In Invasive Carp Spawning Activity In Two Midwestern River Basins, Braden A. Whisler

Masters Theses

Across the United States, fisheries managers and agencies continue to battle the spread of invasive bigheaded carp (Hypophthalmichthys spp.). Although previous research has identified environmental parameters such as temperature and flow to be triggers of spawning activity, many of these studies focus on larger rivers, rarely focusing on the specific thresholds or timing of when a spawning event takes place. I utilized the differing hydrology of the Illinois and Wabash Rivers and their tributaries to examine the differences in environmental parameters needed to trigger bigheaded carp reproduction. Three mainstem sites and three tributaries of both basins were sampled …

Assessing Ecological And Food Web Responses To Small-Scale Stream Restorations In Urban And Agricultural Streams, Sydney Mcandrews

Masters Theses

Urban and agricultural streams across the Midwestern United States are vulnerable to elevated pollution, eutrophication, habitat simplification, and losses of sensitive species. Instream habitat restoration is increasingly used to mitigate the impacts of rapid land-use change. This study synthesizes habitat and biological responses from a 2020 urban stream restoration in the Saline Branch (Urbana, Illinois) and evaluates food web responses from both the Saline Branch and a 2010 restoration in Kickapoo Creek (Charleston, Illinois), an agricultural stream. In the Saline Branch, four years of fish and three years of habitat and macroinvertebrate pre-restoration surveys were compared to three years of …

Effects Of Climate Change On Fungal Diversity And Function In Streams, Syeda Tasfia Imam

Masters Theses

"This study investigated the impact of climate change, particularly drought, on leaf decomposition and associated fungal and macroinvertebrate communities in freshwater ecosystems. With climate change, streams may experience altered hydrology, leading to shifts in community composition and biogeochemical processes. Fungi decompose organic matter, facilitate nutrient cycling, and support food webs. However, drought can disrupt these processes by reducing water availability, causing declines in fungal diversity and activity. I examined leaf breakdown and associated biota in 13 stream sites across varying hydrologic conditions, from perennial to ephemeral flow patterns. Flow duration varied during the 8-week study. Leaf breakdown was significantly related …

Environmental Pollutants: A Risk For Premature Aging And Transgenerational Toxicity, Alex Kathleen Daniels

Masters Theses

"This thesis aims to identify interactions between C. elegans’ reproductive system and global pollutants such as microplastics, HgCl₂, nicotine, and pesticides. Human exposure to these pollutants and their effect on reproduction can be analyzed using the C. elegans as a model organism. Systematic analysis of matricidal hatching, progeny production, germline apoptosis, and lifespan assays determined effects on reproduction and reproductive aging. Through my experiments, it was determined that no significant effects were produced from the selected polystyrene, polyethylene, vape juice, nicotine hemi sulfate salt, imidacloprid, or glyphosate regarding matricidal hatching or progeny production. I confirmed that HgCl₂ induced significant effects …

Evaluation Of The Impact Of Secondhand E-Cigarette Aerosols On Ros-Mediated Alterations Of Epigenetic Events: Implications For Copd Pathogenesis And Assessment Of The Efficacy Of Cold Atmospheric Plasma In Degrading Organophosphate Pesticides On Kevlar Materials, Ta-Chun Lin

Masters Theses

"We explored 1) the toxicological impacts of e-cigarette aerosols and 2) the decontamination efficacy of Cold Atmospheric Plasma (CAP) technology over organophosphates. In examining the effects of firsthand and secondhand e-cigarette aerosol exposure on A549 and BEAS-2B lung cells, we observed significant cytotoxicity, increased ROS levels, and epigenetic modifications, including heightened DNA methylation and downregulation of histone deacetylases (HDACs). These molecular alterations may contribute to chronic respiratory conditions, such as COPD, underscoring the health risks of e-cigarette exposure.

We investigated CAP’s effectiveness in degrading organophosphate pesticide (OP) residues on fabric surfaces, revealing that CAP treatment effectively decomposes OPs such as …

Isolation And Characterization Of A Halophilic, Extremely Acidophilic, Iron-Oxidizing Bacterium, Connor Crites

Masters Theses

This thesis describes the isolation and characterization of a halophilic iron- oxidizing bacterium from sediments obtained from Lake Magic; an extremely acidic, saline lake located in Western Australia. The purpose for the isolation of novel, halotolerant/halophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria is to aid in metal-mining bioleaching operations. Currently used iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria are extremely sensitive to chloride, which restricts their use in these industries.

A singular bacterial morphology was isolated from Lake Magic sediments that was roundly-rod shaped, 1-2 um in length, and stained Gram-negative. This organism was able to grow in a modified medium (DSM14174) using ferrous sulfate as an …

Testing The Life-History Dependence Of Dietary Restriction Effects On Oxidative Molecular Damage In Hornworms, Fahime Taheri

Masters Theses

DR and ambient temperature are two environmental factors widely implicated in shaping organismal maintenance and longevity through effects on metabolic rate and oxidative damage. This study tests whether DR and reduced body temperature independently or interactively reduce oxidative protein damage in the gut of tobacco hornworm larvae, a short-lived ectotherm whose life history may constrain typical DR responses. Larvae hatched from eggs were allocated to two feeding regimes (AL and DR) and to 20 °C and 30 °C. At a defined endpoint, guts dissected and homogenized, and analyzed for protein carbonyl content and total protein. Protein damage was expressed as …