In the face of a global crisis, the poaching of pangolins (Manis spp) has emerged as a dire threat, with Africa at the epicenter of this illicit trade; these enigmatic creatures, sought after for their scales and meat, face exploitation driven by illegal activities that endanger their populations and disrupt the balance of the African ecosystems. Studying the lineage distributions of pangolins could prove crucial for their protection as it provides valuable insights into their evolutionary history, genetic diversity, and ecological adaptations. This information may be essential for formulating effective conservation strategies, understanding their vulnerabilities to diseases, and identifying key habitats for preservation. We aim to address these gaps, by exploring whether pangolin (Manis temminckii) lineages from Mozambique can be genetically distinguished from those from Southern Africa and by investigating the region of origin for two scale samples seized by law enforcement in Singapore in 2019. We conducted genetic and phylogenetic species delineation by sequencing two mitochondrial genes, Cytochrome b oxidase (cytb) and the Control Region (D-loop), from pangolin skin tissues from 10 villages in 3 provinces in Mozambique to complement existing data from Southern Africa. We will then use RAxML (Randomized Axelerated Maximum Likelihood) for phylogenetic analysis and to estimate phylogenetic trees based on our collected data. This multi-locus approach ensures robust species delineation and provides essential support for species recognition. Our focus on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in Mozambique aims to make a reference map of the distributions of genotypes throughout Southern Africa, and our research contributes valuable genetic insights, offering a nuanced perspective on the spatial dynamics of pangolin populations. Ultimately, these findings play a pivotal role in addressing the complex issue of illegal wildlife poaching in Africa, providing essential resources for conservation efforts and informed management strategies as well as contributing to the field of forensic science for counter wildlife trafficking.

Snow is an essential resource, especially in the Pacific Northwest, where it provides clean drinking water, irrigation water, and helps prevent wildfires. Despite the importance of the snowpacks in the Pacific Northwest, the composition of snow is not well documented. The ion concentrations in snow can indicate where the snow came from. I have created a dataset of the concentrations of anions found in snow throughout Washington State. Snow samples were collected primarily throughout the Cascade Mountain Range by volunteers using sterilized plastic containers. Samples were melted and then analyzed using ion chromatography to quantify the anions in each sample. Samples were found to contain concentrations of fluoride, chloride, nitrate, bromide, phosphate, nitrite, and sulfate. These anions have previously been found to be present in glaciers, clouds, and freshly fallen snow. Cataloging these anions provides an important baseline from which to observe how human and natural impacts, including climate change, are affecting the snow in the Pacific Northwest.

Beavers are widely considered to be ecosystem engineers because of the way they construct, modify, and maintain their dams, which in turn, alters the surrounding ecological system. Beaver dams can act as a natural filter and help clean pollution from streams and rivers. The dams also slow down the water flow in a creek or river and form ponds, which means less erosion and, in some cases, less flooding. In spring of 2023, a family of beavers began constructing a new dam along Piper’s Creek, an urban stream in Carkeek Park, Seattle. This recent arrival of beavers provides an opportunity to investigate the impact of beaver dams on water quality in Piper’s Creek. This study investigates the levels of phosphate and nitrate above and below the beaver dams as both ions are commonly implicated in eutrophication events. We took three water samples at each of nine sites along the creek, six upstream from the dam, as a baseline, and three downstream. Ion chromatography was used to measure the concentrations of ions, including phosphates and nitrates. Initial results suggest that nitrate levels may vary seasonally, perhaps due to the presence of salmon carcasses and decaying vegetation in late fall. Longitudinal studies of water quality in Piper's Creek can help elucidate both seasonal variation as well as the impact of the beaver population in this important urban stream.

Fluoride is an important element for dental health as it helps to strengthen tooth enamel. Insufficient fluoride intake can lead to weakened teeth that are more susceptible to cavities, leading to further dental issues. On the other hand, dental fluorosis is a condition that causes white or brown speckling of the teeth due to overexposure to fluoride during the development of permanent teeth. For most people, a large portion of their fluoride intake is through water, but water from different sources is expected to contain different amounts of fluoride. Many Americans consume tap water, but bottled water is a popular choice. In fact, US consumers buy about 50 billion water bottles each year which equates to 13 bottles per person monthly. This mass consumption of bottled water raises important questions: 1) Is bottled water a sufficient source of fluoride? 2) How does it compare to tap water? To answer these questions, we collected tap water samples from six cities in the Puget Sound area, along with samples from six popular brands of bottled water. We then used ion chromatography to determine fluoride concentrations in each sample. We found the levels of fluoride in our six municipal sources averaged 0.702 +/- 0.031 mg/L as advertised, however, the levels within the different bottled water brands averaged +/- 0.282 0.307 mg/L, and none met the CDC recommended levels of 0.7 mg/L. The findings of our research are important for keeping consumers well informed about the possible risks or advantages associated with their preferred source of water and for upholding public trust.
 

Test anxiety is a prevalent issue among K-16 students, with approximately 20-40% reporting its adverse effects. This pilot study assessed the preliminary efficacy of a Short Mindfulness Activity to Reduce Test Stress (SMARTS) recording in mitigating test anxiety, indicated by heart rate (HR) physiological markers. Our research team’s undergraduate students assembled a student advisory panel to receive feedback on existing mindfulness recordings and narrow down the most effective traits of each one. From the feedback, we designed a 7-minute mindfulness recording to be administered to University of Washington Bothell Introductory Biology students before an exam. Using a randomized controlled trial design, 29 students were randomly assigned to the mindfulness recording group (n = 15) and to the control group (n = 14). The intervention group was exposed to the SMARTS recording before an exam while the control group studied in the hallway. We found that listening to the SMARTS recording reduced the increase in heart rate due to the exam by an average of 8 beats per minute. Additionally, 56% of participants expressed intentions to continue using the recording before future exams, suggesting its perceived efficacy in alleviating test anxiety. This research suggests promising implications for integrating mindfulness interventions into educational settings to support students in managing test anxiety. Further study is warranted to evaluate the intervention’s efficacy in a fully powered trial. In addition, we will explore heart rate variability to provide insight into the role of parasympathetic activity in stress management.

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an antibiotic resistant pathogen that causes severe illness and thousands of deaths each year in the US. It spreads within the community through improper hand hygiene and is often found in hospitals and on public transport surfaces. This poses a danger to the public, specifically to vulnerable populations such as the elderly and immunocompromised. This study in Seattle, Washington compares the prevalence of the antibiotic-resistant MRSA bacterium on public transport surfaces both proximate and distant to Harborview Hospital. Swabs from bus stops and pedestrian call buttons were collected outside of Harborview Hospital and urban areas of Capitol Hill, a Seattle neighborhood approximately one mile away from any major hospitals. The swabs were streaked onto Tryptic Soy Agar plates, gram stained, and streaked on Mannitol Salt agar plates;catalase and coagulase tests were run to help further confirm the presence of Staphylococcus aureus. The resulting colonies were then screened for antibiotic resistance using the Kirby Bauer Disk Diffusion method. One instance of potential MRSA was isolated from a crosswalk button in Capitol Hill. A higher MRSA prevalence on surfaces close to hospitals could establish a link between the spread of pathogenic bacteria from hospitals to Seattle's city surfaces but was not found in this study. These results suggest that the spread of MRSA in Seattle may have more to do with foot traffic and public transportation usage. However, the presence of MRSA on urban surfaces puts sensitive populations at risk regardless of its source. Practicing good hand hygiene can help curb the spread of MRSA in the community.

The Campanian stage of the Cretaceous (~84–72 million years [Ma]) was the zenith of dinosaur diversity. Western North America is highly fossiliferous and preserves Campanian-age rock units throughout the Western Interior Basin. Most studies that investigated dinosaur diversity from this interval used data obtained from macrosites (e.g., skeletons), whereas few have investigated vertebrate microfossil sites. Vertebrate microfossil sites are a rich source of data on biodiversity (e.g., taxon richness, relative abundance) and how it changes through time. The Judith River Formation of north-central Montana is rich in vertebrate microfossil sites, preserving 4 million years of the Campanian (~79–74 Ma). Here we aim to observe patterns of dinosaur diversity in the Judith River Formation by quantifying dinosaur taxon richness and relative abundances based on dinosaur teeth from two stratigraphically and temporally separated microfossil sites. These sites are the lower Makela-French 1 (~77 Ma) and the upper Clamfetti (~75 Ma). Presently, we have 300 specimens out of a planned 400. We hypothesize that changes in diversity and abudance occurred between these two sites. Our preliminary results reveal a change in dinosaur diversity between Makela-French 1 and Clamfetti. Hadrosaurs and ceratopsians are present and relatively abundance at both sites, whereas ankylosaurs decrease in abundance from Makela-French 1 to Clamfetti. Small herbivores like pachycephalosaurs and hypsilophodonts are rare at both sites. Theropods show similar patterns to the herbivore’s trends. Tyrannosaurs and dromaeosaurs are common at both sites, whereas troodontids are absent from Makela-French 1. These preliminary findings reflect diversity patterns that are not easily observable solely through the collection of dinosaur macrofossils. Our continued collection of fossils from Makela-French 1, Clamfetti, and additional sites will increase our sample size and provide better fine-scale resolution of dinosaur diversity patterns during this crucial interval in their evolution.

Elevated concentrations of CO2 in classrooms are a persistent issue facing colleges because of both its ability to reduce academic performance by impairing cognitive function and as an indicator of the increased risk of airborne disease transmission in the classroom. The COVID-19 pandemic applied pressure on most colleges to upgrade ventilation systems including North Seattle College (NSC). Preliminary data collected pre-pandemic found that NSC classrooms’ CO2 concentrations exceeded public health recommendations. We resumed our study post-pandemic now that classrooms have returned to regular occupancy levels. We created updated ventilation efficiency curves by placing Aranet4 carbon dioxide detectors in classrooms with multiple classes under varying occupancy levels. We collected daily attendance of classrooms during each of the courses and their corresponding carbon dioxide levels. We were then able to produce a ventilation efficiency curve to contrast our preliminary data and offer a basis for further study. Initial findings suggest that NSC classrooms exceeding an occupancy of 30 people will surpass 1000 ppm, thereby reaching CO2 levels that impair cognitive functions. This is a sufficient improvement from preliminary studies which found that under previous ventilation conditions, classrooms’ occupancy was limited to 22 people. Continued monitoring of CO2 levels in academic spaces is crucial. With the growing popularity of remote teaching, and online learning becoming more accessible for students, one must wonder if our homes can meet the same standards we hold our classrooms to.

The basic reproductive number (R₀) of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has varied over the course of the pandemic. Phylodynamic analysis uses genetic samples to estimate R₀ by combining a phylogenetic tree model with an epidemic model. Previous research has used phylodynamic analysis to study how government policies and non-pharmaceutical interventions influence the R₀ of SARS-CoV-2. We collected publicly available phylogenetic tree data from published research on selected island nations during the first two years of the pandemic. We studied island nations due to their stricter travel limitations in order to reduce external variables. We estimated transmission rate, incubation period, and sampling probability of the virus in each nation using a birth-death exposed-infectious (BDEI) model implemented in the Python software package PyBDEI. These estimates were used to calculate R₀ for each nation. We validated our data analysis pipeline with sample data and utilized subsampling methods to reduce compute time. We then conducted a comparative analysis of COVID-19 pandemic intervention responses between the island nations using our estimates of R₀. Lower estimates of R₀ provide evidence that supports the effectiveness of specific policy interventions in decreasing viral spread. Our results can inform policymakers which intervention methods to use in case of future similar outbreaks by coordinating evidence-based policies across regions.

American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) make a wide variety of calls, however, the scientific understanding of these vocalizations remains subjective and anthropomorphized. Here, we classify crow calls based on behavioral context using less-biased means. In this study, we recorded crows in pre-roost aggregations and during mobbing events throughout Western Washington. Pre-roost aggregations are daily occurrences where crows gather together for protection starting in the late afternoon. We simulated mobbing events by placing an owl model near a group of at least five crows and playing a recording of a crow in distress. We used a bioacoustics analysis program, Raven Pro, to pull out acoustic variables from our recordings for further analysis (e.g. frequency variables, call duration variables, etc.). We are now using these variables to compare the classification efficacy of two machine learning algorithms, random forest and artificial neural network. Based on preliminary results, our first random forest showed over 90% classification accuracy. We are currently exploring the mean decrease in accuracy per variable in our random forest analysis to identify the most important acoustic attributes when classifying calls with this model. We are in the early stages of using an artificial neural network to predict the contexts of calls based on acoustic variables. Machine learning is becoming increasingly common in biological research, but the techniques used by researchers still vary greatly. Comparing machine learning algorithms and establishing consistent techniques for doing so will improve reproducibility across studies and help us resolve outstanding scientific questions like "what do all those crow calls mean?".

Cannibalism is a widespread phenomenon among arthropods with consequences for population dynamics, stability, pathogen transmission, and epidemiology; while it is common in carnivorous arthropods, incidents of cannibalism among non-carnivorous species are less frequent, and the mechanisms behind cannibalism in these species are still poorly understood. Laboratory observations of Pieris rapae (cabbage white) larvae have found that larvae will engage in cannibalistic behavior under certain conditions. The objective of our research was to better understand the conditions that may cause this herbivorous larva to become cannibalistic. Experiments were conducted on variables of density, food source, food scarcity, instar, instar gaps, sex, and prior experience as possible influencing factors in the likelihood that a larvae will engage in cannibalism. Experiments in density, food source, and food scarcity had groups of larvae monitored for 48 hours at differing densities with a collard leaf, artificial diet, or withheld food. For experiments in sex, instar, and instar gaps inexperienced larvae were monitored in sets of two for 72 hours for cannibalism. For prior experience experiments, larvae that had previously engaged in cannibalism were paired with inexperienced larvae and monitored for another 72 hours. We found that higher larvae densities had a greater percentage of cannibalization. Furthermore, a lack of food source produced significantly higher cannibalization than either artificial or leaf diets. A higher rate of cannibalism was also seen in early instars. Prior cannibalistic behavior increased the rate of new cannibalism events within the first 24 hours of observations.These findings provide insights into cannibalistic behavior in P. rapae, with potential applications to prevent cannibalism in laboratory settings and related disease transmission, understand fluctuations in wild populations, and in agricultural settings to leverage cannibalism as a form of natural population control. Future research aims to isolate other possible factors contributing to cannibalism in P. rapae.

Temperature has been shown to impact the physiology and performance of ectothermic organisms including metabolic rate with enzymatic activity. The majority of studies have focused on thermal performance at constant temperatures although organisms experience a range of fluctuating temperatures. Understanding which aspects of performance are affected by fluctuations in temperature can be crucial for predicting how ectothermic species will respond to changes in their environment. Research has shown that ectotherms are more vulnerable to climate change and their growth rates are often temperature-dependent. Previous studies on the cabbage white butterfly (cabbageworm), Pieris rapae, have shown that caterpillars maximize growth at higher temperatures even when higher temperatures are infrequent. Physiological response of P. rapae on fluctuating temperature change will provide an important insight into its ability to adapt and survive to changing temperature ranges. For our study eggs from a lab colony were reared at two different fluctuating temperature regimes (11-35℃ and 18-24℃) until pupation. Our studies measured the overall performance of P. rapae, including egg hatch percentage, growth rate of 4th instar caterpillars, development time from 4th instar to pupation, percent survival, and mass gain at two fluctuating temperature regimes of 11-35°C and 18-24°C. We found that the percent survival was significantly higher at 18-24°C. There was significant mass gain and shorter development time of 4th instar to pupation at 11-35°C. Our results differed from other studies that found growth rate to be greater at 11-35°C. Many studies have found a significant genetic variation in growth rate, development rate, and pupal mass. Future studies using a split sib-family design, may provide insight into the mechanisms of thermal performance in a fluctuating thermal environment. Understanding how fluctuating temperatures impact ectothermic organisms, such as the cabbageworm, can contribute to a deeper understanding of organismal responses to climate change.

Lake Washington is home to a complicated metapopulation of Oncorhynchus nerka. There is a potentially native population of sockeye spawning in the Sammamish River and tributaries with at least two history variations - typical sockeye that migrate to the ocean and return as adults, and residual sockeye that remain in freshwater and return at a smaller size. Historically, there was also a native, genetically distinct, freshwater-only population of O. nerka called kokanee. Thought to have been eliminated from Lake Washington in the 20th-Century, recent genetic evidence indicates that a small population of native kokanee remains with a single cohort spawning every third year. We are comparing spawning ages for sockeye, residual sockeye, and native kokanee by extracting otoliths (mineralized structures in the ear containing annual rings similar to tree trunks). Otoliths are mounted on slides, viewed under a light microscope, and aged by counting the number of rings present. We expect ocean going sockeye to be age 4 (typical for sockeye); kokanee to be age 3, reflecting the 3-year cycle in kokanee abundance; and residual sockeye to be younger than typical sockeye. Lack of information prevents a clear spawn-age expectation for residuals. A large run of kokanee returned in 2020 and another was expected in the fall of 2023. Surprisingly, a sizable run was present in 2022. We hypothesize that the 2022 run was composed primarily of early-returning 2-year-olds while the 2023 run were typical 3-year-olds. We are comparing the age distributions of kokanee from runs in 2022 and 2023 to test this. Kokanee are remnants of a once abundant population. It is important to have a better understanding of kokanee relative to sockeye and residuals as a basis of conservation; much remains unknown. This study will also help interpret potential differences in spawning ages between similar life history variants.

The Manduca sexta hawkmoth, a proficient pollinator, employs its antennae to efficiently navigate its surroundings. With their antennas highly developed olfactory sense as well as their wide range of odor recognition using their sensory receptor cells, moth antennae are an ideal candidate for developing reliable biosensors. In contrast, commonly used artificial sensors are inefficient and inaccurate in chemical detection. Furthermore, their manufacture is challenging due to their inconvenient design for the user. To evaluate the antenna's effectiveness as a biosensor model, we assessed neural activity in the moth antenna by means of an electroantennogram (EAG). To do this, we attached the removed antenna to a circuit to amplify and measure voltage variations across the antennal nerves during odor stimulation. We then placed the circuit into a wind tunnel and administered a selection of odorants over a determined cycle of durations ranging from 0.2, to 10 seconds. The odorants included a floral mixture from Datura flowers and a certain compound in the mixture (linalool) known to be attractive to moths, as well as volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) replicating both healthy and COVID breath. Our findings show strong initial spikes of electrical activity in the receptor cells correlating to odorant release​, favoring the shorter durations and both the floral mixture and linalool. Prolonged exposure (5 and 10 second durations) to odorants caused continuous increased activity in the antennae, with a more pronounced response observed in the COVID VOCs and linalool. These results demonstrate that moth antennas are a suitable model for the construction of highly accurate and efficient biosensors, and support the feasibility of implementing them in devices aimed at detecting and identifying substances of interest. Future work will explore additional COVID-associated compounds and apply data to an algorithm for machine learning software to enhance capabilities for disease diagnosis.