Movements can be externally driven, based on responses to the environment, or internally driven, based on self-initiated triggers. We modeled these systems using saccades, which are rapid eye movements that shift the direction of gaze. We compared visually-guided saccades (VGS) to visible targets and memory-guided saccades (MGS), where a target was transiently presented and its location memorized before a saccade was made. As a result of aging, growth, and skeletomuscular damage, adaptations in brain circuitry are necessary to adjust motor output and maintain accuracy for both types of movement, but their corresponding mechanisms are not well understood. We hypothesize that VGS and MGS employ different adaptation mechanisms. The superior colliculus (SC) is the central structure in creating the saccade command signal, and prior research suggests VGS adaptation occurs downstream of the SC. To compare this to MGS adaptation, we recorded single unit activity from visuomotor neurons in the SC in four Macaca mulatta monkeys as they adapted their saccade amplitude. I analyzed this data, measuring the median number of action potentials during each saccade for both VGS and MGS; the “non-adapted” saccades, which had the largest amplitudes, were compared to the “adapted” saccades with smaller amplitudes. For VGS, neuronal activity remained constant as saccade amplitude decreased, but for MGS, the number of spikes decreased alongside the saccade amplitude, which indicates VGS and MGS adaptations employ different processes. Moreover, as visuomotor neuronal activity in the SC decreased during MGS adaptation, further research can be conducted to determine if MGS adaptation occurs within or upstream of the SC.

The ecological impacts of nutrients in dry deposition on lake ecosystems is under-researched and the relative effect may be undervalued because this influx is usually estimated from a few published studies rather than measured directly. Dry deposition is particulate matter from atmospheric or nearby sources carried aerially. Disturbance to the landscape and added pollution from sources in agricultural, industrial, and urban areas have the potential to contribute phosphorus and nitrogen in the form of dry deposition which has potential to significantly increase nutrient loading to the lake and promote harmful algae blooms. Spirit Lake, located at the base of Mount St. Helens, has been the focus of ongoing study to elucidate chemical, biological, and ecological changes following its re-creation during the 1980 eruption of the volcano. A nutrient budget was constructed for Spirit Lake in the last decade but the researchers found a significant imbalance between inputs and outputs, with outputs greater than inputs. All fluxes were directly measured except for wet and dry deposition, which utilized published regional values instead. We hypothesize that dry deposition may be considerably higher than average regional values and significantly contribute nutrient inputs to Spirit Lake. In this study, we deployed passive samplers on hummock islands and attached them to embedded logs to capture dry deposition falling onto the lake. We collected monthly samples from 10 sites over the summer and analyzed total nitrogen (TN) and phosphorus (TP) concentrations in each sample to estimate the average summertime inputs of N and P in dry deposition. We found total measured summertime deposition was 1,326 kg N higher than the previously estimated value, and conversely measured P deposition was 18 kg P lower than previous estimates. As the disturbed landscape surrounding Spirit Lake is subject to greater movement of pollen, soil, and insects we can see there is a greater influx of nitrogen than estimated by regional data.

The New Zealand mudsnail (NZMS), introduced to the United States in the 1980s, is a priority invasive species in Washington State. Its presence was first detected in 2015 in Spirit Lake, located north of Mount St. Helens, where its population is quickly increasing. Studies of this highly invasive species have revealed no ecological benefit to Spirit Lake, with fish species eating, but not digesting or assimilating snail tissues. Rather NZMS may be affecting the dietary intake of rainbow trout, the only fish species in the lake, and ultimately causing a trophic cascade due to its lack of natural predators, voracious herbivory, and interspecies competition with native snail species. In order to track the spread of NZMS and its ecological impacts on Spirit Lake, temporal sampling of vegetation and sediment was carried out throughout the lake from July-September 2022. Snail counts were used to calculate snail population density (NZMS and native species), spatial and temporal variability, substrate preference, presence in sediments, and interspecies competition. Results provide evidence of interspecies competition with both NZMS and native snail species showing habitat overlap in vegetation samples. However, all species were found to have vegetation preferences with NZMS favoring stonewort (order Charales), as well as uniquely showing a utilization of sediments. In addition, NZMS were found to remain spatially isolated along the south shore of Spirit Lake with possible expansion towards the outlet tunnel at very low densities. These results reiterate the threat of NZMS to the Spirit Lake ecosystem and surrounding waterbodies. Their spread should be of immediate concern with ongoing construction plans by the US Forest Service related to the Spirit Lake tunnel intake gate, including the construction of a shoreline staging area in the heart of NZMS-infested waters. If this moves forward this project could pose a serious threat of spreading NZMS into the Toutle River, Cowlitz River, and Columbia River drainages while causing irreparable damage to the ecosystem.

Utopian thinking, a practice in which a person imagines what their ideal society would be like, could prime that individual to be more receptive to ideas of societal change. The presence of an internally generated standard with which to compare the real world may reduce the amount that a person rationalizes or subscribes to the current system, captured in the construct of system justification. Lower system justification scores may result in an individual being more open to accepting a need for change, and possible plans for carrying this change out. A 2018 study by Fernando and colleagues found that engaging in a utopian thinking exercise reduced system justification scores when compared to a control condition. However, it remains to be seen whether this effect will replicate, and whether it extends to attitudes regarding specific systems, such as the United States justice system. The current study asks survey participants to complete a five-minute writing exercise in which they are either asked to describe their idea of a utopia, or describe a normal day in their life. Participants will then complete a system justification scale, and will be asked to rate their support for two justice systems, the current system and a proposed restorative justice system. I hypothesize that utopian thinking will reduce system justification scores and support for the current justice system, and increase support for the alternative restorative justice system. If utopian thinking results in more openness to proposed new ideas, it could be used as a tool for political messaging and social change.