Neopterin is a biomarker of non-specific inflammation that may result from infectious or chronic disease. Recent studies have observed declining neopterin from infancy through the juvenile period in non-human primates, as well as associations between higher neopterin levels and lower microbial diversity. These findings suggest that neopterin levels could vary with physiological and immune system development peaking during the time infants rely most heavily on innate defenses such as inflammation. We examined fecal neopterin levels in human infants over their first 16 months and in association with age at complementary feeding to further explore potential developmental patterns of neopterin expression. Samples were collected over 8 months from 35 Tsimane infants in lowland Bolivia. Families were visited every 3 weeks to collect infant stool samples and dietary and health information. Fecal samples were assayed for neopterin concentration at the University of California Santa Barbara Biodemography Laboratory in 2015, using commercial kits (Genway Biotech). Neopterin levels were preliminarily examined in separate linear regression models for infant age and feeding status. Results demonstrated that infant age (in months) was inversely associated with neopterin levels (Est. -16.22 ng/ml, p = 0.02). In the separate feeding status model, infants who had begun complementary feeding trended towards lower neopterin levels as compared to exclusively breastfeeding infants (Est. -119.52ng/ml, p = 0.65). Findings support previous observations of a decline in neopterin levels during infancy. Future work would benefit from longer observation and sample collection periods with more participants. This research has public health implications as it suggests there is age related variance in neopterin, a biomarker of gut inflammation, which should be considered in future studies investigating infant gut health and disease risk.

The study of archaeological ceramics is one of the most ubiquitous methods for understanding ancient culture, livelihood, and human habitation. The LEIA project's objective is to address these topics through the examination of ancient ceramic artifacts discovered in Mallorca, Spain. Python coding was used to scan these samples and conduct in-depth image analysis, to identify specific variations found across diverse specimens. In this independent study, I am particularly interested in applying this set of tools to see if I can distinguish how a ceramic vessel was created and to also focus on modifying code to expedite the time-consuming process of hands-on ceramic classification and specific archiving techniques. Through my work, I have carefully sawed samples, converted them into digital images, and helped interpret them using a digital application called Jupyter Notebooks. I have also contributed to the DigAR Lab's implementation of novel Python coding to look at different manufacturing methods. This code helps to identify (in) organic temper found in each piece (e.g. limestone, quartz, grass), to note color distribution observed, make size comparisons, and to determine rotational orientation. All of these offer insight into possible pottery-making methods, outside cultural influences, and various firing techniques. Furthermore, to ensure all pieces were treated with equal care, I worked with the lab to construct a step-by-step procedure, that has been refined through multiple trials to provide standard instructions, on how to properly use heavy machinery to cut these pieces without causing excess damage. Furthermore, this repeatable process will be used by archaeology students and staff during upcoming fieldwork in Spain (Summer of 2023) to document future findings. Overall, this ongoing study will investigate the power of this toolkit to recognize subtle differences that result from varied manufacture methods; if successful this could have major repercussions on how ceramic assemblages are studied.

Studies have revealed evidence that some humans have increased midfoot dorsiflexion, or a midtarsal "break", which decreases rigidity of the arch structure during gait. This "break" suggests that more of the sole of the foot is in contact with the substrate in terminal stance, effectively shortening the lever arm during propulsion. This prompts us to wonder: does arch stiffness predict the magnitude of lever arm distance or the forces of peak braking and peak propulsion? The Arch Indices (AI) of 77 people were calculated in dynamic conditions. Locations of the center of pressure (CoP) of the foot at heel strike, peak braking, and peak propulsion were recorded using a pressure-sensitive mat (RSScan International, Olen, Belgium). I calculated the distance from the heel strike CoP to those of peak braking and propulsion. I normalized peak propulsion and peak braking forces by dividing each by weight. All statistics were calculated in STATA (Statacorp, College Station, TX, VBe17). Dynamic AI has a relationship with lever arm distances for heel strike CoP to those of peak braking and propulsion (p=0.042, p=0.005, respectively). Dynamic AI did not demonstrate significance with peak braking and peak propulsion forces (p=0.758, p=0.194, respectively). My results demonstrate an association between AI and the distance of the functional lever arms, suggesting the presence of a midtarsal “break” as flatter feet exhibited shorter lever arms. Midfoot dorsiflexion and loss of rigid arch structure associated with the "break" would result in a decreased lever arm for propulsion, since the anterior midfoot and forefoot are in contact with the substrate at a later point during gait. This analysis has broader implications for foot morphology and midtarsal “break” research. Future work can utilize infrared markers and force plates to create models of the human foot with ground reaction force (GRF) data.

Recently, archaeologists have been forced to reckon with the fact that the conditions in which they collect their data deeply affects the interpretation of that data. To this end, I have begun a project we are calling meta-archaeology, which offers a glimpse into the factors that contribute to and potentially distract from the collection and interpretation of archaeological data. Utilizing data from the Landscape, Encounters, and Identity in Archaeology Project (LEIAP) based in Mallorca, Spain, this study attempts to explore if weather conditions affect a surveyor’s ability to collect artifacts. The database for this project consists of datetime-stamped metadata associated with the GPS receivers used to map artifacts. To analyze this data, I use various Python packages (e.g. Pandas, Seaborn, Folium, and leiap, a custom package created for the project) to extract relevant weather data, merge the datasets using their datetimes, and subsequently find patterns in how weather affects archaeological data collection. This research hopes to show a correlation between data collection and factors like temperature, azimuth, and wind. For example, a higher average temperature for the day might result in a lower number of artifacts collected as surveyors are affected by the heat. These correlations can be used to structure field school practices to ensure the best possible data collection. In addition, these results can shape future research design to account for the conditions that affect what is or is not found during an archaeological survey.

 Historical discourse has dangerously misrepresented and normalized the positioning of Black women in various states of vulnerability. Such discourses have then been embodied by society and further perpetuated within institutions- shaping the realities of Black women. This study explored how social services at a Seattle-based women’s shelter affect the experiences of Black women utilizing social services, while also understanding how Black women thrive utilizing such services. In this community-based qualitative research project, I used ethnographic methods to conduct semi-structured interviews with Black women utilizing social services at a Seattle-based womens shelter. I also conducted participant-observation methods to collect data on the shelter’s environment and the dynamic between Black women seeking services and employees providing services. Finally, I reviewed relevant theoretical frameworks such as intersectionality, the criminalization of poverty, and racial capitalism to assist in my analysis of how Black women seeking services at a Seattle women’s shelter have been positioned to experience vulnerability. Key findings include 1) social services have been socially constructed to sustain the experience of vulnerability within the Black community, specifically by Black women utilizing services; and 2) through various levels of gratitude, Black women find spiritual peace and grow new resiliences to systemic challenges. These findings draw awareness to the ways social services have deepened Black women’s dependency to them. Such awareness could serve as a critical framework for reshaping the way social services within the greater Seattle area assist Black women to promote prosperity, dismantle racist rhetoric, and aim to eradicate, not perpetuate, homelessness.

The Khmer Empire was one of the largest preindustrial settlements in the world and is known for its vast temple complexes such as Angkor Wat. Although we have a functional understanding of the Angkor empire, the relationship between the Angkor state expansion as it relates to human-environment dynamics is unclear. Archaeological evidence from the site of Prasat Basaet, northeast of Cambodia demonstrates that there was human activity even before the Angkorian Period. Through our geological analysis of sediment samples excavated from ancient households at Prasat Basaet, we can get insights into the practices and activities of people and the surrounding environment. The preliminary results of our sediment particle analysis and organic matter measurements show change in human activity in Prasat Basaet as it relates to the expanding state. Using geoarchaeological methods such as; loss on ignition, magnetic susceptibility, and color, we have found an early, pre-Angkorian settlement at the site, followed by a long period of little to no activity, and then an increase in activity during the Angkorian period. We anticipate our research to be a pathway for understanding human-environment dynamics during expansion and contraction of the empire.

The Paleolithic era saw the beginning of the development of human language. Furthermore, the Paleolithic is characterized by the appearance of non-figurative, or geometric art. There are extensive examples of signs commonly seen in Paleolithic art, and while over 40 distinct signs have been recorded, we focus on the five most abundant signs in the SignBase dataset (cf. doi: 10.1038/s41597-020-00704-x): notch, line, obline, hatching, and dot. Here we investigate Bacon’s recent (2023, doi: 10.1017/S0959774322000415) hypothesis that geometric signs were a way of recording a phenological calendar. We found an abundance of representation of the notch symbol (254), followed by the line (174). To assess their proposed calendrical function, we report on the distribution of frequencies of the symbols to identify if seasonal patterns are represented. Our study sheds new light not only on the characteristics of geometric art, but also on the likelihood that they encode a phenological calendar as proposed by Bacon et al. (2023).

Globally, marine socio-ecological systems are social, economic, and cultural foundations for many coastal communities. In the Broken Group Island Archipelago in Barkley Sound, British Columbia, shellfish–including but not limited to butter (Saxidomus Gigantea) and littleneck (Protothaca Staminea) have supported the Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast for millennia. Archaeological assemblages of shellfish are evidence of diet, resource management of communities, and reflect coastal ecosystems from thousands of years ago. This presentation explores archaeological shellfish taxa and abundance at the Tseshaht village of Kakmakimilh (Keith Island), located in Tseshaht Territory with a focus on clam size. In concert with past research on sea-level effects on archaeological shellfish assemblages, I documented column sample data from 3 areas of this site. I estimated proportions of rocky and sandy-associated shellfish and measured clam umbos to estimate size trends over thousands of years of occupation at Kakmakimilh. With limited data in this undergraduate student project, the conclusions are tentative, but my specific research suggests an increase in clam size over time, and no change in relative percentages of shellfish with rocky versus sandy habitats. This data might be able to deepen the conversation around shellfish and clam harvesting over time, and how such relationships differed across time and space with the variance in the coastal landscape.

Seventy-five years after the forced removal of Palestinians from their homes and villages during the nakba, the permanent effects on the physical and geographical landscape of the region is not entirely understood. I investigate how much of the erasure of Palestinian villages has been made permanent through reforestation and repopulation. Prior work, specifically by Walid Khalidi in All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, attempted to quantify the loss, but has not been made current. Using quantitative data from aerial photographs and previously collected records as well as qualitative data in the form of narratives from Palestinian refugees, I examine the permanent impact of the forced expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and villages and the destruction of those places. I focus on comparing geographical and population data from 1945 with recent data, and examine in particular the al-Ramla and Jerusalem subdistricts. These results are generalizable to other areas impacted by recent and ongoing wars, expulsions, and genocides and may add to the understanding of the ongoing impact of these events.

Archaeological sequences are the successive organization of artefact-bearing stratigraphical units spanning thousands of years. Due to vast periods of time represented by each unit, sometimes analysis of the sequence results in the appearance of little cultural change over time. This can make it hard to distinguish between random drift, directional selection, and stabilizing selection of ancient technologies. We demonstrate a new statistical method to test hypotheses about drift and selection using archaeological time series data. Through the analysis of Log-rate log-interval plots computed using R, we compare the median slope values of an archaeological sequence to experimentally determined time series values. We demonstrate this method using a case study from Gua Talimbue, a cave in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. Using the artifact data spanning the late Pleistocene and Holocene, we analyze the rate of artifact change over three depositional phases to determine whether the cultural evolution of the artifacts is indicative of stabilizing, random, or directional selection. Previous work at this site hypothesized stabilizing selection, which is confirmed by the results of our new work. We formally evaluate this using a new statistical method borrowed from palaeontology, originally developed by Gingerich in his book "Rates of Evolution" (https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316711644). This research is vital in the building of a better understanding and deeper insight into rates of change of lithic technologies generally, and more specifically the skills employed by early people, specifically within pre-Neolithic Indonesia.

Over the past 20 years, the capital city of Indonesia has sunk four meters into the ocean and continues at a rate of approximately 11 inches per year. At this rate, more than 95% of Jakarta, the capital city, is predicted to be completely submerged by 2050, inevitably drowning the city if stricter policies are not set in place for groundwater extraction. Due to the population’s poor access to piped water, private businesses and the public have resorted to illegal groundwater extraction, which has caused extensive land subsidence. The combined effects of regulated and unregulated groundwater extraction and the lack of equitable water access to the population have worsened the situation. Jakarta is not alone; other countries like China, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States are also experiencing land subsidence due to extensive groundwater extraction. My literature review will demonstrate the effects of groundwater extraction and land subsidence in Indonesia by using a comparative public policy analysis on the different policies and management approaches of countries in Southeast Asia and North America. I will be comparing the policies in use by these different countries to determine the necessary policy reforms to create a more effective approach to solving the groundwater issue in Indonesia. I establish that the Indonesian government’s short-term plans to overcome land subsidence is not a sustainable solution to the damage that has been done to the city of Jakarta. Rather, the policies set in place need to be reformed to ensure that equitable water is supplied throughout the population and groundwater extraction is done safely and in moderation. This work is important not only to prevent the further sinking of Jakarta but also to overcome the long-term environmental impacts of groundwater extraction in Indonesia and other countries.

Healthcare providers in rural areas face clinical challenges vastly different from their colleagues in urban areas. Researchers and providers have suggested different approaches, but it remains unclear how to best provide care in rural areas. My research contributes to rural medicine by examining how healthcare providers in Kodiak, Alaska, provide reproductive health in an under-resourced clinic, island, and state. I sought to answer three questions: First, what health disparities do providers and patients experience? Then, how do care providers and receivers navigate these barriers and work under these conditions? Lastly, what are the best practices, and how can they be supported in the future? To investigate these questions, I utilized clinical observation and ethnographic interviews carried out in 2022-2023 with reproductive healthcare providers. The data revealed three main barriers, including geographical challenges, a lack of general and specialty providers, and an overall lack of resources and necessary facilities. Providers commonly navigate these barriers by sending patients to Anchorage that has more resources and specialty physicians. Although this practice solves some immediate problems, many providers recognize that it can perpetuate systemic inequalities and inevitably lead to inaccessibility to care. As such, providers use numerous methods to keep patients on the island, including a rotating schedule of visiting providers and a close-knit, collaborative unit of providers. Overall, my research exposes the barriers to providing care in a specific rural and underserved community and highlights successes and the best strategies used by their providers to overcome these challenges. Additionally, it provides evidence that to support rural communities and their providers, we must first understand each communities unique experiences and circumstances before creating interventions tailored to that specific community. Therefore, my research can be used to inform health interventions and thus improve the quality and delivery of care in rural and underserved communities in and beyond Alaska.

We are doing research that supplements a larger archaeological study on the impacts of contact with 19th-century Russian colonists on the Indigenous Sugpiaq community of the Kodiak Archipelago, Alaska. We are experimenting with dendrochronological methods to determine the most appropriate strategies for collecting data from wood samples, and whether the results will improve chronological resolution at the Ingyuq archaeological site that straddles Russian conquest of the region. Dendrochronology is a dating method that compares patterns in tree ring growth between living wood samples and wood found in the archaeological record. In the lab, we first measured the tree ring growth patterns on dwarf willow, birch and alder samples collected from living trees in the region around the site. Patterns were estimated using a microscope, magnifying glass, and photographs to count annual rings and measure their relative thickness. We then compared ring thickness across samples to determine if there is a shared growth history among trees around this site. This project forms the first and foundational piece in a longer project that will overlap growth patterns in living wood samples to those found in the archaeological record at this site. At the end of the project, we hope to find patterns across charcoal samples excavated from this site that allow us to develop a firmer understanding of the sequence of and temporal relationships between individual stratigraphic layers to better focus research on broader questions about the impact of Russian colonization on the Sugpiaq people.