The experiences of Latinx youth are well-studied in U.S. schools, yet, few studies have focused on their experiences in Community Based Educational Spaces (CBES). CBES continue to be on the periphery of Education research despite the potential affordances of youth-led work in such out-of-school spaces (Baldridge, 2020). At the same...
The Goose Lake Basin, situated on the border of Oregon and California, USA, faces significant challenges from drought, wildfire, and other environmental stressors. This region hosts numerous endemic fish species such as the Goose Lake redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss newberri), Goose Lake lamprey (Entosphenus sp.), Goose Lake tui chub (Siphateles...
Freshwater systems cycle carbon along a spatial and temporal biogeochemical continuum, across which ecosystem processes contribute to transformations of organic matter (OM). Various ecological constraints impact rates OM transformation and production and consumption of the energetic end of respiration, methane. Microbiological processing and complete reduction of carbon substrates to methane...
The phylum Cnidaria contains three main branches: Anthozoa (corals, sea anemones) Medusozoa (jellyfish, hydra), and Endocnidozoa. This latter branch is characterized by parasitism and contains the microscopic fish-parasites Myxozoa. Myxozoa are highly simplified, consisting of only a few cell types, however they have retained the nematocyst stinging cells and complex...
The body of work aims to contribute to the area of Quantitative analysis in Environmental Sciences, and is focused on the microbiome. The underlying theme for the dissertation is methods and workflow. The unique bioinformatics workflow used for the analysis of genomic data was used to answer distinct and pressing...
Oxidative dysfunction can affect dairy animals during periods of heightened stress, particularly during the transition from pregnancy to lactation and during diseases, such as intramammary infection (IMI), and can contribute to increased inflammation, immune dysfunction, and cell death. As such, methods for ameliorating oxidative stress and restoring redox regulation may...
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...
Today, there are six extant species of sea lion around the world, with the seventh (the Japanese sea lion) already having gone extinct due to a lack of proper conservation management. Because each of the surviving 6 sea lion species differ slightly in their anatomy, behavior, reproduction, and local habitats,...
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...
After the commercial exploitation of humpback whales (Megaptera Novaeangliae) ceased, population trends in the North Pacific increased with the implementation of federal protective legislation. The recovery of the population prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to divide the population into 14 Distinct Population Segments (DPSs) based on discrete geographic...