The King County Brightwater Treatment Plant includes a marine outfall pipe anchored to the seafloor that discharges highly treated effluent from the Seattle metropolitan area into Puget Sound, Washington. Since 2009, as part of an eelgrass survey study, King County biologists have collected annual video footage of the outfall pipes from which they witnessed the abundance of organisms colonizing the pipe at all depths. Consequently, in 2012, King County biologists launched a ten-year project assessing the effectiveness of the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) outfall pipe at providing habitat for marine organisms and the composition of organisms it houses. Using a  remotely operated vehicle (ROV), they placed thirty plates of HDPE material adjacent to the outfall pipe at 100ft, 300ft and 600ft depths. Sets of replicate plates were then retrieved after 2, 5, and 10 years of deployment, at which time King County staff immediately took photos of each plate for analytical assessment. In this study, we analyzed the photos for percent live cover and composition of marine organisms inhabiting the pipe material, all across depths and time intervals. We hypothesized that the wastewater outfall pipe can function as a habitat; and the extent to which different organisms, their identifications and abundance, likely vary by depths due to the environmental conditions at different levels of depths. We found that percent live cover increased over time but did not vary across depths, and that certain phyla consistently dominated cover on the plates but dominant groups varied across depths. These findings allow experts in the field to consider using outfall pipes to provide additional habitats for marine organisms, and to assess communities of organisms at depths that are less accessible. 

This project aims to compare and contrast Little Free Pantries (LFPs) and Community Fridges (CFs) as models of micro pantries for those facing food insecurity. The primary focus is on the ability of each to safely provide nutrient-dense food. There is extensive research on what a nutrient-dense diet is and its importance on a person's health as well as budding research detailing the quality of food provided by food pantry organizations. However, this research is limited in the scope of donation programs being researched. Furthermore, there is a lack of understanding how different donation programs differ in their ability to provide nutritional food to those utilizing their services. This project compares five CFs to five geographically matched LFPs within the City of Seattle. To assess the nutrient-density of food donated to CFs and LFPs two dimensions of food nutrition are analyzed utilizing the FAST score and NOVA categorization methodologies. Each micro pantry is briefly assessed on its food safety standards as well. CFs are expected to provide food with higher nutritional quality than LFPs, and in a safer manner. This is due to their ability to be temperature controlled, allowing for a wider variety of foods to be collected and stored safely. This research will be presented in a final paper and poster detailing the findings of the project as well as any recommendations drawn for the City of Seattle. This project is significant because it addresses the nutrition of food made available to those facing food insecurity. Understanding the difference in quality of food offered between the CFs and LFPs will allow for an assessment regarding how accessibility to nutrient dense food for all residents of Seattle falters and how it can be improved.

The King County Brightwater Treatment Plant includes two twin outfall pipes that were installed in 2012, and discharge approximately 36 million gallons of highly treated effluent into Puget Sound daily. After observing colonization of the pipes by marine organisms, King County biologists launched a ten-year study examining the impact of effluent discharge on motile and sessile species on and near the outfall over time. They placed plates of the pipe material, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), on the seafloor, with replicates near the effluent discharge diffusers and approximately 300 ft away. King County retrieved the replicate plates after 2, 5, and 10 years and, photographed each plate for subsequent image analysis. In this study, we analyzed the photos to investigate whether there was a measurable effect of effluent discharge on the abundance, identity, and size of organisms colonizing the plates. We concluded that effluent discharge likely does not affect percent live cover, number of taxa, or the identities of taxa present. However, some motile species may be more abundant in the absence of effluent discharge, and there may be some effect of effluent on the size of some species. These abundance and size differences are worth further investigation as they may indicate that, although highly treated, effluent discharge from the Brightwater Treatment Plant impacts some species' demographic rates, like survival and growth rates, and the water quality of the Puget Sound. Our results indicate that even highly treated effluent impacts the surrounding water and the species that depend on it and that further research is needed to fully investigate the impacts of wastewater discharge in the Puget Sound ecosystem.