In recent years, the University of Washington has promoted itself as a leader in sustainability and has made significant strides towards increasing sustainability efforts on campus. One area in which the University has not focused heavily in sustainability is in the curriculum. To address this gap, I am developing a framework for what measures can be taken to implement a sustainability requirement at the University of Washington. In developing this framework, I am researching sustainability requirement policies at other institutions and sustainability policies and initiatives at the University of Washington. My research shows that a sustainability requirement has been implemented at several universities around the nation, some of which are scale-comparable or peers institutions to the University of Washington. Furthermore, a sustainability requirement would support several of the University’s goals and initiatives. Using this research and the UW Diversity Credit as a case study, I am developing a report detailing recommendations and an action outline to details next steps to implement a sustainability graduation requirement. In addition, I am forming a student coalition to gain campus support and work with administration to pass the policy through the appropriate channels. If a sustainability graduation requirement can be implemented, it will not only help the University of Washington emerge as true leader in higher education sustainability, but it will also help develop future generations of graduates who understand sustainability; its applicability to their lives, decisions, future careers, and fields of study; and enable them to tackle the emerging global challenges.

There is a common thread among contemporary circus art disciplines that is unique in the performance world. It is a blend of theater, dance, and acrobatic skill that can produce amazingly complex and captivating works. When comparing the choreographic processes of these performance mediums with the creative practices of solo contemporary circus artists, do new choreographic themes exclusive to circus arts become visible? Or does the essence of contemporary circus lie in the combination of standard techniques adopted from theater, dance, and acrobatics? An analysis of well-known work provides viewable examples of contemporary circus choreography, while local artist interviews provided seasoned, close-to-home examples of solo circus act creation on a professional level. In summary of my findings, I discuss the implications of choreographic methods in contemporary circus from the viewpoint of a solo artist and choreographer.

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, United Nations Member States committed to ensure international development that “leaves no one behind,” and pledged to reach “the furthest behind first.” Recognizing that globally persons with disabilities as a group are often among those left furthest behind, the Executive Office of the UN Secretary General and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are reviewing how UN operations can better integrate and promote the rights of persons with disabilities. To support that review, a study was commissioned to assess the current state of disability inclusion within UN operations at the headquarters and country levels. In December 2018, a research team led by the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development at the University of Massachusetts and supported by undergraduate students at the University of Washington completed a baseline assessment of disability inclusion within the 40 UN agencies, funds and programs which are members of the UN Sustainable Development Group, and 40 UN Country Teams. Although the assessment is not currently public, this presentation discusses the results of our research which focused primarily on evaluating UN entity disability inclusion through public sources alongside staff survey responses.

This presentation seeks to summarize a solution to helping the visually-impaired navigate new areas. While previous solutions have been relatively successful, many lacked two key features that we hope our solution addresses: being affordable and allowing customization towards those with compounding disabilities. Our solution consists of two main parts: (1) a user-interface created for Fusion 360, a popular 3D-modeling application, that is built upon an existing framework detailed in Hofmann (2018) called PARTs (Parameterized Abstractions of Reusable Things), and (2) an optimization algorithm to generate maps that are tailored for its users. Through PARTs, we developed different variations of modular pieces of map (e.g., roads, buildings, and sidewalks), which increases ease of customization. After the user specifies personal information and preferences through the PARTs UI—such as the width of their finger, their physical limitations, their understanding of braille, and their desired map features—the optimization algorithm will select the best combination of features from the PARTs database for that specific user. At the end of the process, users have a model of a tactile map in Fusion 360 which can be printed out with commercially-available 3D-printers. With 3D-printers becoming more affordable, this solution is significantly less cost prohibitive than other means of generating tactile maps, which required an initial investment upwards of a thousand dollars. Through user studies, we also test how blind users interpret these maps, which helps us guide design improvements in the future. In this presentation, we discuss the efficacy of our solution by comparing it to previous works and detail our plans to improve the system by making the PARTs user-interface more accessible and incorporating user feedback about the map itself. 

Anatolia, in modern Turkey, is a complex assemblage of micro-continents that collided during the Late Cretaceous and the Paleogene, 80 to 25 million years ago. Despite the large volume of work on the numerous Anatolian terranes and collisions, basic questions regarding the timing of collision, style of post-collisional deformation and development of topography remain enigmatic. In western Anatolia, the timing and mechanisms of these successive collisions are poorly understood and do not conform with current continent-continent collision models. This project reconstructs the evolution of the collision zone in order to reconstruct the tectonic evolution of western Anatolia and refine models of collisional tectonics. Here, we present new data from the 160-40 million year old sedimentary archives preserved in the Central Sakarya Basin, a sedimentary basin that formed adjacent to the collision zone. Two methods for sedimentary analysis are employed in this research: detrital zircon dating and sandstone petrography. Detrital zircon ages attained through Uranium-Lead dating techniques are compared to known ages from surrounding mountain ranges to determine the source of sediment through time and apply age constraints to stratigraphic layers. Sandstone petrographic analysis examines the composition of samples to determine sedimentary provenance. The evolution of sediment sources through time provides a robust timeline of collision, post-collisional deformation and topographic development. The results from zircon dating and sandstone petrography show an evolution of sediment provenance where the oldest, pre-collisional sediments are derived from an adjacent volcanic chain. The onset of collision, around 60 million years ago, is marked by a change in sediment composition as collision creates topography and fault systems exhume older, buried rock. In constructing a progression of sediment source, this research determines a precise chronology for the collision and post-collisional evolution of western Anatolia and contributes to modifying current models on collisional margins.

Humans hear sound through two main pathways: air conduction (AC) and bone conduction (BC). The AC pathway is dominant under normal listening conditions, but conductive hearing loss (e.g. outer/middle ear diseases) impairs one’s ability to hear by AC. BC hearing aids can improve hearing under such conditions. To determine the presence of a conductive hearing loss, BC hearing thresholds must be compared to AC thresholds. For populations that cannot respond reliably to behavioral audiometric testing (e.g. infants, elderly, individuals with cognitive impairments), clinicians instead record sound-evoked brainstem activity through the auditory brainstem response (ABR) test. While AC ABR test results are clinically reliable, BC ABR test results suffer from electrical artefacts generated by the BC transducer and variable ABR waveform morphology. Therefore, determining the presence of a conductive hearing loss by comparing AC and BC ABRs is often unreliable. This study aimed to (1) reduce the severity of electrical artefacts present in the early BC ABR waveform (Wave I/II) by shielding bone-vibrating transducers (Radioear B81) with MuMETAL and (2) improve the quality of the ABR signal by using ‘chirp’ stimuli (ascending frequency sweep) to enhance the summating amplitude of auditory neural responses. Ongoing measurements leverage three transducer types in total (shielded and unshielded BC, earphone AC) and three stimulus types (chirps, constant-frequency tone bursts, and broadband “clicks”) to evaluate main and combinatorial effects of the transducer and stimulus on BC ABR data quality. Early indications show that shielding the BC transducer does not materially change its frequency response. Therefore, any observed changes in the BC ABR waveform can be attributed to electrical shielding and/or stimulus modifications per se and not to unintended changes in transducer acoustic output. Data will inform efforts to improve the clinical reliability and utility of BC ABR measures for detection and treatment of conductive hearing loss.

The population of multiracial and multicultural individuals in the United States has steadily risen, but little to no public spaces have been designed to represent them and express their identities. Individuals in this group can find themselves feeling isolated from spaces because they feel like “imposters” or that they have to choose only one part of their identity to belong. How can we create public spaces that encourage people to express all parts of their multiracial or multicultural identity in a way that is inclusive, educational, and encourages cultural exchange? Through research of existing methods and practices, this project addresses how public spaces can be created to include multiracial and multicultural individuals. I provide methods and practices in the four categories of cultural exchange, cultural education, safety and inclusion, and expression. These methods are compiled into a set of guidelines and best practices to guide designers through the creation of multiracial and multicultural spaces. Since white public spaces have created the standards, these guidelines fill a gap in non-white spaces and spaces where multiracial and multicultural individuals can find belonging in. As a product created for designers, these guidelines bring the multiracial and multicultural identities into conversations and processes that they would not normally be a part of. This project reflects my own desire to see my multiracial and multicultural identity and others like me reflected in public spaces and serves as an example of why spaces like this are important and why representation matters.

Carbon storage is an effective and natural way to reduce the excessive carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, a leading cause of global climate change. The largest carbon sink could be the soil underneath our feet, therefore, it can be utilized for carbon storage. Biosolids from King County’s wastewater treatment plants are a concentrated mixture of nutrients resulting from anaerobic digestion of organic waste filtered from wastewater inflow. This includes feces and food scraps. When applied to land, biosolids demonstrate an increase in soil carbon storage, making a connection between the geosphere and atmosphere that could be vital for effective carbon sequestration. For over twenty years, King County has applied biosolids to commercial forest plantations. We investigated the potential and effectiveness of biosolids applied to Douglas Fir stands in aiding carbon sequestration. This included measuring the bulk density, total carbon and nitrogen in conifer forest soils that have had biosolids applied and comparing those measurements to those of conifer forest soils that have had no biosolid application. The treatment stands had four rounds of biosolid application in the last fifteen years. These findings could be important in developing better planning strategies, sustainable business products and further research studies to combat the effects of climate change.

This project is about decision-making systems and in particular, the costs and benefits of consensus. Consensus voting is appealing because, among other reasons, it not only protects the right of minority views that would otherwise be consistently overruled, it also has the potential to completely transform organizational culture - which is good since for many organizations nothing at all could get done by consensus under their current culture. The dynamics that consensus creates teaches us how get along with other people, to create cameraderie, and to change the world or at least reduce the disastrous consequences of our conflict-based status quo. I’ve explored when and why consensus voting does and doesn’t work, and have produced proposals for its wider use in one or more specific groups or situations. First, I analyzing three cases where consensus is currently used, including felony trial by jury, and three cases where it could be added or expanded, such including certain urban planning decisions. I also held a simulation to gather feedback from participants. In certain situations, consensus can allow a broader range of people affected by a decision to participate in it, but it can also be seriously impeded by a small group, and the effects of this depend on whether there is any sort of escape valve or override, as well as the social dynamics of the situation.

There is a critical lack of knowledge regarding the effects of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and zika virus (ZIKV) coinfection in respect to ZIKV pathogenesis, vertical transmission and current vaccine strategies. ZIKV has received global attention because of its clinical complications including congenital malformations during vertical transmission and Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurocognitive disorder in adults. Recently, ZIKV outbreaks have occurred in tropical and subtropical regions endemic with HIV, therefore it is imperative to understand the impact HIV-ZIKV coinfection may have when moving forward with ZIKV vaccine design. Furthermore, in humans and non-human primates (NHPs) frequencies of blood monocytes increase during HIV and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection and monocytes are early targets of ZIKV infection. Therefore, we hypothesize that cells from HIV infected individuals have the capacity to harbor increased ZIKV replication and could lead to enhanced ZIKV viremia and pathogenesis. For this study, we use a NHP model to determine the impact of acute SIV infection on ZIKV pathogenesis. We determine ZIKV cellular targets in the blood and preliminary results show an increase in NHP blood monocyte within the first six weeks of SIV infection. We evaluate whether SIV infection increases the susceptibility of cells to ZIKV infection by isolating cells from SIV- and SIV+ animals, infecting them in vitro with ZIKV, and assessing viral replication by plaque assay. Our preliminary findings suggest that in vitro ZIKV replication may increase in cells from SIV+ NHP blood when compared to SIV- blood. Future studies will look at the impact of SIV infection on in vivo ZIKV replication and whether ZIKV replication is enhanced in cells from HIV-infected individuals.