In Oregon, the effects of climate change on agriculture are already being felt. In the Northwest, climate change impacts agricultural pest pressure, especially insects, whose life cycles are tied directly to weather and climate. The goal of this research was to record and analyze Oregon fruit and vegetable farmers’ relationships...
Oregon's estuaries are important ecosystems for scientific study. Consequently, knowledge of what research has been conducted helps us identify benchmarks and plan new projects. A comprehensive bibliography of published research, technical reports, local documents, and data sets is one means of recording this knowledge. For these reasons, the Guin Library...
Oregon's estuaries are important ecosystems for scientific study. Consequently, knowledge of what research has been conducted helps us identify benchmarks and plan new projects. A comprehensive bibliography of published research, technical reports, local documents, and data sets is one means of recording this knowledge. For these reasons, the Guin Library...
People turn to mass spectrometry to answer some of life’s most important questions. From carbon dating of archeological finds to newborn blood screening tests, mass spectrometry allows us to measure molecules which helps advance our knowledge of life and the world we live in. One area of mass spectrometry that...
A dissertation describing the results of a series of greenhouse experiments conducted to better understand phytoremediation in stormwater bioretention systems.
Toxin production by cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) in freshwater systems has lasting ecological and human impacts. Nutrients, light availability, hydrology, and microbial community composition impact the frequency and intensity of toxic cyanoHABs. Climate change will exacerbate toxic cyanoHABs, making real time and predictive monitoring a vital tool for managing...
Natural resources are essential to humanity. With the increase in global development in recent decades, people must monitor the state of the environment, whose disturbance has a more significant impact on society than before. However, conventional environmental monitoring is challenged in highly dynamic ecosystems and large areas. As a solution,...
Skeletal muscle mitochondria are highly plastic organelles, integral to whole-body health. High-fat diet (HFD) and exercise remodel the skeletal muscle mitochondria. Whereby, altered skeletal muscle mitochondrial function is linked to decreased skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity which can be reversed by exercise. However, the mechanisms that contribute to skeletal muscle remodeling...
Fiction facilitates the attribution of unrealistic character traits to scientists, and skews general understanding of the scientific process-- a fatal flaw resulting in self-doubt within undergraduate scientists, and apprehension and distrust in several communities. Misconceptions and the absence of significant ideas were identified by analyzing novels within the “Lab Lit”...
Vineyards in Oregon’s Willamette Valley are predominately planted to perennial grass cover in the alleyways of vineyards. This grass cover is grown to increase worker and equipment traction, as well as reduce erosion and manage vine vegetative vigor. However, with increasing frequencies of drought and warming temperatures, the use of...
Each NWR within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) provides landscapes that contribute to conservation of wildlife and the habitats they depend on at local, regional, and national levels. The Integrated Pest Management Plan (IPMP) for a given refuge is a guide to how...
Based on current trends both pesticide and plastic production are expected to continue to rise in the coming decade. A growing global population coupled with the effects of climate change are the main drivers of increased pesticide use. Throughout this dissertation pesticides refer to herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides. Plastic production...
Proceedings of the 82nd Annual Pacific Northwest Insect Management Conference, held January 9-10, 2020 at the Hilton Hotel in Portland, Oregon. These are research reports only, not management recommendations.
Sea otters act as valuable indicators of ecosystem health and consume prey items that contain anthropogenic microparticles, including microplastics. Microplastic ingestion can exert a wide range of deleterious effects depending on the organism and plastic type. We investigated the ingestion of microparticles by wild sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in Alaska...
This is an IRB-exempt thesis exploring place relationship in the valley of Lake Creek, Oregon, at Triangle Lake. An interdisciplinary ethnography of place, it involves a synthesis of archaeological, historical, and ethnographic literature; an analysis of nineteenth-century Coos, Alseya (Alsea), and Kalapuya myth-texts from Native oral tradition; a history of...
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a broad class of anthropogenic chemicals characterized by highly stable carbon-fluorine (C-F) bonds. PFAS are widely used in industrial and consumer products for their surface-active and stain-resistant properties and are ubiquitously detected in environmental media, biota, and human biomatrices. Although some PFAS are known...
Forest soils of the Pacific Northwest contain immense amounts of carbon (C). Increasing acreage burned by severe wildfire in the western Oregon Cascades threatens belowground carbon stocks and future site viability. This study investigates forest soil carbon changes after the 2020 Holiday Farm wildfire in a young, intensively managed Douglas-fir...
Fiber reinforced polymers have gained considerable attention due to their wide range of applications, leading to significative concerns for end-of-life recyclability and disposal. Natural fibers and recycled carbon fibers, coupled with thermoplastic matrices can provide a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional materials.
This study focused on experimental materials...
Since the collapse of World Trade Center building number seven (WTC7), significant research has been done to understand the behavior of steel structures in fire and enable engineers to account for the behavior of steel framing systems exposed to fire during design. Despite these efforts, there are still significant barriers...
The presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), organic contaminants first synthesized in the 1940s, has been reported worldwide in a variety of environmental matrices and ultimately in biological systems including humans. Ongoing research into PFAS has included identifying novel PFAS, assessing their fate and transport in the environment, and...