The Altiplano-Puna Volcanic Complex in the Central Andes is one of the youngest large silicic volcanic fields (LSVFs) in the world, erupting over 13,000 km³ of material during multiple supereruptions from 11 to 1 Ma. Understanding the timescales over which magma is stored in the crust prior to eruption is...
Millions of acres of rangeland in the western U.S. is shared habitat by elk (Cervus canadensis), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and cattle (Bos taurus). Potential competition between these ungulates for the same forage species can be understood from their diet composition. I used DNA metabarcoding methods with trnL primers to...
The next generation of high temperature structural alloys must exhibit exceptional resistance to fracture, creep, oxidation, and fatigue at high temperatures. Chromium is being considered due to its high melting point (>1800°C), relatively low density (~7.2 g/cc), high temperature strength, and oxidation resistance. Limiting the use of chromium is its...
Biological invasions threaten native biodiversity, alter ecosystem function, and are a major cause of economic losses across the planet. The most impactful invaders alter disturbance regimes and initiate state shifts to outside the historical range of variability of the ecosystem. Concern for ecological and economic losses has prompted a rapid...
Wildland fires are an increasingly extensive, expensive, and frequent occurrence in dry forests of the western United States. Fuel reduction treatments are designed to reduce extreme fire behavior, promote resilient forest structure, and facilitate fire control efforts. Although there is widespread recognition that repeated treatments are needed to maintain desired...
For resin based dental restorative composites, one of the major challenges is to optimize the balance between mechanical and optical properties. Although fracture is the second leading cause of dental restorative failures, very limited mechanistic understanding exists on a microscopic level. In the present study, the fracture properties and mechanisms...
Dental resin composites are widely used in modern dentistry due to their aesthetic appearance. However, resin based restorations have inferior mechanical properties (fracture is the second reason for restorations replacement) in comparison to alloy based composites and their antimicrobial properties still remain poor, leading to secondary tooth decay development on...
Seafood processing is an important industry along the Oregon coast as it provides employment and seafood to coastal communities as well as to international markets. The industry has been an integral part of the identity of Coos County since the establishment of salmon canneries in the late 1800’s and has...
Sperm competition is the post-copulatory analog of male-male combat, wherein sperm
from more than one male coincide in a female’s reproductive tract and compete with one
another for fertilization of a limited number of ova. Post-copulatory sexual selection,
such as sperm competition, can be a powerful driving force for the...