Along the shoreline of Possession Sound, located in the southern basin of the Salish Sea are 10 outflows of combined sewage systems. Combined sewage systems collect rainwater, untreated domestic sewage, and industrial wastewater within a single sewer line. When heavy rainfall occurs, these systems overflow and are directed into designated combined sewage outflows (CSOs), which then empty into the estuary, releasing E. coli (Escherichia coli) directly into the estuarine ecosystem. These CSOs, along with other factors, change the pH of the waters within the basin. Preliminary analysis of primary literature suggests a relationship exists between pH and E. coli growth. The pH change affects the enzyme growth within E. coli. As river discharge fluctuates, so does the amount of outflow from the CSOs which then cascades into pH changes at the site closer to the CSOs. The guidelines and regulations in place today allow for significant volumes of sanitary waste to be overflowed into marine systems. When river discharge increases, the overall pH within the Sound decreases. It was hypothesized that when there is a large amount of rainfall that leads to heavy river discharge and low pH, there will be more Escherichia coli growth at all of the sites throughout the Sound. Ocean Research College Academy students collected bacterial sample data at 12 stations in Possession Sound from 2009 to 2019. All data were recorded with distance from a CSO. A Niskin bottle was deployed at the surface and halocline with a YSI 650 testing pH. Samples were tested for bacterial count and compared with other samples taken after heavy rainfalls. Further research will define the trends in river discharge, pH and E.coli for Possession Sound.

 Host restriction factors are components of the innate immune system that play a vital role in inhibiting viral infection. One such example is a family of antiviral proteins, APOBEC3s, that inhibit retroviruses such as HIV by hypermutating the genome through cytidine deaminase activity. There are seven members of the APOBEC3 (A3) family found in primates, A3A-A3H. Each of these APOBEC3s vary in their protein expression levels and antiviral activity Antiviral activity of these proteins depends on expression levels and ability to be packaged in budding virions. A3C, in particular, is of interest because it is highly expressed and packaged but lacks potent antiviral activity when compared to its A3 counterparts. Moreover, when we examined A3C expression across primate evolution, we found that many primates encoded only unstable versions of A3C. Preliminary data, on the other hand, suggests an alternative role of A3C in modulating the effects of the more potent A3 proteins, A3D, A3F, and A3G. Coimmunoprecipitation assays suggest that A3C interacts with other A3 proteins, and subsequently decreases the packaging of the potent A3s into budding virions thus inhibiting their antiviral activity. Future experiments include removing endogenous A3C from cells to determine if the antiviral activity of other A3’s increases in the absence of any A3C. These data suggest that A3C has evolved to fine-tune the amount of antiviral activity of other A3 family members, thus allowing for better control of these potential mutagenic proteins.

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) contribute to approximately 4.5% of cancer cases worldwide. There are currently three vaccines which protect by producing neutralizing antibodies to the structural capsid protein, L1, for each of the most oncogenic HPV types. Despite the high protective efficacy of these vaccines, not enough is known about the antibodies elicited. The aim of this project is to clone and characterize HPV-specific human monoclonal antibodies after vaccination, particularly antibodies reactive to types other than 16 and 18. Plasma cells and memory B cells were isolated from vaccinees at different time points following HPV vaccination. Antibody-encoding transcripts were amplified from pre-screened plasma cells and cloned into expression vectors - one for each antibody light and heavy chain. The expression vectors were co-transfected and the proteins were harvested and purified for one of the antibodies of interest. Antibodies reactive to HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31,33 and 58 were identified. The first antibodies in the process of cloning were reactive to HPV type 11.The findings of this study will allow us to use these monoclonal antibodies as reference standards to determine the quantity of antibodies in serological assays, thus helping us identify the binding affinity and neutralizing capacity of vaccinees’ antibodies. This will aid future studies aimed at answering the question of whether the vaccine doses can be reduced to one, instead of two or three doses.

Nitrate, silicate, and phosphate are essential nutrients in diatom based food webs. Chlorophyll and nutrients are good indicators of phytoplankton abundance and diversity. Phytoplankton, being integral to the Possession Sound ecosystem, can be indicators of greater change in an ecosystem. By studying phytoplankton abundance and diversity along with chlorophyll and nutrient levels spatially and temporally, correlation can be determined and used to help understand the health of Possession Sound. It was predicted that nutrients and chlorophyll abundance are inversely proportional, while chlorophyll and phytoplankton abundance and diversity are directly related. Thus, higher nutrient levels indicate less chlorophyll and fewer nutrients indicate higher chlorophyll and plankton abundance and diversity. Increased levels of nutrients in the fall and winter were expected, with greater chlorophyll and plankton levels in the spring and summer. The chlorophyll and plankton abundance and diversity were anticipated to have gone down over the past four years, while nutrient levels will have gone up slightly. Students at the Ocean Research College Academy (ORCA) collect monthly samples as part of the longitudinal study: State of Possession Sound (SOPS). Results from three locations were utilized from 2016 to 2019. Chlorophyll is measured by a YSI EXO2 Sonde, while nutrient samples are taken using the Niskin bottle and sent to the University of Washington Marine Chemistry lab to test for results. By evaluating seasonal data, temporal trends of chlorophyll, nutrients, and plankton abundance and diversity were discovered. Changes in data can be linked to environmental and anthropogenic variations. It would be compelling to analyze ecosystem changes by exploring dissolved oxygen and pH levels.

Phytoplankton, one of the primary sources of dissolved oxygen in marine ecosystems, are dependent upon nutrients for growth. However, there is evidence that eutrophication, the overabundance of nutrients, can lead to hypoxia in marine ecosystems. Because they are a primary source of dissolved oxygen and are dependent upon nutrients, phytoplankton density can indicate how nutrients are affecting dissolved oxygen at depth. It was hypothesized that an increase in phosphates, nitrates, and nitrites would correlate with an increase in phytoplankton density. Furthermore, it was predicted that with greater phytoplankton density there would be a greater difference in dissolved oxygen at the halocline versus dissolved oxygen 30 meters below the halocline. This study used data collected from 2016 to 2019 by students at the Ocean Research College Academy (ORCA) at two sampling stations in Possession Sound, WA. Water was collected and sent to the University of Washington Marine Chemistry Lab for nutrient analysis. Phytoplankton density was calculated using samples collected during 3-minute horizontal tows at the halocline. Dissolved oxygen data was collected using a YSI Exo2 Sonde at different depths. Preliminary results suggest that greater levels of phosphates, nitrates, and nitrites may show a steeper oxycline due to an increase in density of phytoplankton from the nutrients. The potential for hypoxia is increasing because of anthropogenic nutrients, so understanding the influence humans have over nutrients in marine environments is critical. This study will help us to understand how humans are influencing Possession Sound and marine ecosystems as a whole as a result of the impact of nutrients on phytoplankton and dissolved oxygen.

The search for renewable energy, electricity-generating wind turbines were first introduced by Charles F. Brush in 1888. Wind turbines use the principles of turning the mechanical energy of the wind into useful electrical energy that is able to produce work while also having no direct emissions towards the atmosphere. Using Betz’s law derived from the principles of conservation of mass and momentum of the air stream flowing, we construct and test a model wind turbine maximizing the power generated due to the varying angular velocities, from which testing data are used to iteratively design blade aerodynamics and assignation angle. For the particular model used thus far, the data indicate that with angular velocity lower than or equal to 4.124 rad/s and 13.359 rad/s a maximum efficiency of 22-23% is achieved. The blade designs are flat and angled blades, which are 3D printed and tested its efficiency on the model with pitches of 15°,30° and 45° to accommodate the motor to generate the optimal use of power input, therefore maximum power output. The result shows that 30° pitch is the most optimal angle for both blades design, with the flat blade generating 29000% more power than the angled blade. Blade pitch of 15° is the least efficient, resulting in no power generated with angled blade design, and significantly lower power in flat blade design compared to the other pitch. This discovery is essential to the future development of renewable energy especially in revolutionizing the wind turbine to be more efficient.