Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Time For Reparations From Washington State Is Now! As Non-Human Persons, Orcas Deserve Justice, Dr. Alexandrea Safiq

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Conservation biology: a multi-disciplinary science aimed at understanding biodiversity loss with an orientation towards facilitating the protection of species, communities, and ecosystems. Unlike other scientific disciplines, conservation biologists fall into a unique category of socio-ecological influencers (i.e., environmentalists) because the protection of biodiversity, within the context of the Anthropocene, means protecting species from the historically unsustainable exploitation of nature by humans. A shift from domination of nature to an ecosophy based on mutualism has begun. As a result, nature is becoming more frequently viewed as possessing non-human personhood. Given this paradigm shift in western culture to acknowledge what indigenous cultures …

Juvenile Chinook Salmon Accumulate Harmful Levels Of Toxic Contaminants While Undergoing Their Seaward Migration, Andrea Carey

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Puget Sound Chinook salmon are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and habitat degradation and loss, overfishing, climate change and contaminant exposure are factors contributing to their decline. Juvenile Chinook salmon rear and feed for extended periods in estuary and nearshore habitats, potentially exposing them to contaminants that accumulate disproportionately there. Exposure to toxic contaminants can lead to reduced growth, a weakened immune response, reproductive impairment, and may ultimately reduce their survival. To assess the status of contaminant exposure in estuarine habitats used by seaward migrating juvenile Chinook salmon, fish were collected from the estuary habitat of …

Strategies For Identifying And Mitigating Predation On Salmon In Washington’S “Estuaries Of Concern”, Dr. Casey Clark

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Reduced salmon run sizes, fishery closures, and rebounding predator populations have made predation on salmonids by seals, sea lions, and birds a focal point for discussions of salmon conservation and management in the Salish Sea. Predation on threatened and endangered Chinook salmon has been of particular concern and was highlighted by the Southern Resident Orca Task Force as an important subject for further research. Rivers and estuaries are a good place to focus this work, due to elevated predation that can occur at biological pinch points in these systems (e.g., Bonneville Dam, Ballard Locks) and the opportunity to target management …

Meeting At The Crossroads: Environmental Justice And Large Carnivore Conservation, Alex Mcinturff

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

As global environmental changes continue to accelerate, research and practice in the field of conservation biology may be essential to help forestall precipitous declines in the earth’s ability to sustain a diversity of life. However, many conservation programs have faced scrutiny for the social injustices they create, especially within the paradigm of demarcating protected areas. Currently, a new conservation paradigm emphasizing human-wildlife coexistence is emerging, and with it, an opportunity to ensure that justice for both human and beyond-human groups is given consideration. Recovery programs for large carnivore species, like orcas, are a practice emblematic of this new conservation paradigm, …

Roadway Runoff Exposure Disrupts The Blood-Brain Barrier In Juvenile Coho Salmon, Stephanie Blair, Clyde Barlow, Jenifer Mcintyre

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) are highly sensitive to urban runoff exposure and are an important ecological indicator for emerging contaminants. Recurrent die-offs of adult prespawn coho salmon in urban streams are attributed to the newly discovered tire chemical 6PPD-quinone. Juvenile coho salmon lethally exposed to roadway runoff and 6PPD-quinone demonstrate a similar progression of behavioral symptoms. In previous studies, we demonstrated that juvenile coho exposed to roadway runoff show blood-brain barrier disruption concurrent with severe rises in hematocrit. This suggests that cause of death may be due to loss of neuronal function following increased permeability of cerebral vessels and plasma …

Lessons Learned From Intensively Monitored Watersheds (Imws) Of The Pacific Northwest: Management Applications, Considerations, And Adaptive Management, Keith Dublanica, Robert Bilby

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB), the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC), and the Pacific Northwest Monitoring Partnership (PNAMP) have collaborated on an overall assessment of twelve of the sixteen intensively monitored watersheds (IMWs) in the Pacific Northwest. These areas, located in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California were specifically chosen for watershed restoration treatments following a limiting factors analysis affecting varied salmonid life histories. All are utilizing validation monitoring in order to test the specific hypothesis crafted for each, while addressing salmonid productivity following treatment implementation. Five of these IMWs are located in the Columbia River basin. …

Trends And Status Of Harbor Seals In Washington State (1978-2019) With Management Applications, Dr. Scott Pearson

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richardsi) numbers were severely reduced in Washington by a federally-financed control program in the first half of the twentieth century. Seal numbers rebounded after the cessation of bounties and the establishment of legal protections under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA). As seal and sea lion populations recover, updated stock estimates are critical for determining their status under the MMPA, assessing management options under the Act, and for modelling exercises designed to evaluate the role of pinnipeds in marine ecosystems. To estimate population size and abundance trends in Washington State, we conducted aerial surveys …

Harbor Seal Consumption Of Steelhead Upon Marine Entry, Megan Moore

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Predation by harbor seals may be threatening the recovery of ESA-listed steelhead. After freshwater rearing, steelhead smolts experience high mortality during their rapid migration from river mouth to the Pacific Ocean. Previous work indicates that harbor seal predation is a primary source of early marine mortality in the Salish Sea, but the level of impact exerted by harbor seals on steelhead has not been quantitatively assessed. We calculated the percentage of Nisqually River steelhead migrants consumed by harbor seals in 2016, 2017, and 2018 from estimates of (1) the proportion of harbor seal diet comprised of steelhead, (2) the number …

Sense Of Place And Southern Resident Killer Whales In The Salish Sea Region, Dr. David Trimbach

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) are widely recognized as a charismatic species and symbol of the Salish Sea region, if not greater Pacific Northwest. SRKW have a long history in the region, which has evolved in tandem with the diverse human communities who have called this place home. SRKW-human relationships have been complex and subject to change, often dramatic change. This presentation seeks to partly untangle this relationship by examining sense of place and SRKW in the region. By bringing together findings from multiple complementary studies, including a recent national study on state designated species and place meanings, this presentation …

Evaluation Tools To Assess Recovery Progress And The Adaptation Of Future Efforts., Elene Trujillo, Dr. Annelise Del Rio, Dr. Chanda Littles, Kirsten Feifel, Jay Krienitz, Dr. Letitia (Tish) Conway-Cranos

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Ecosystem recovery programs have a fundamental need for scientific evaluation. Evaluation outcomes are used to understand recovery progress, predict changes with changing climate conditions and dynamic socioeconomic systems, and provides the needed information for a sustainable and adaptable recovery effort. In the Puget Sound, ecosystem recovery is progressing, albeit more slowly than hoped, despite substantial investments made. Many monitored ecosystem indicators are not meeting recovery targets and salmon populations in the region show few signs of recovery. There is continued need for scientific evidence to improve clarity around critical decisions and ensure investments are effective and targeted to accomplish the …

Central Puget Sound Phytoplankton And Nutrient Dynamics, Kimberle Stark

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Puget Sound is a large, geographically complex, and highly productive estuarine system. The Central Basin is the largest of the four deep basins comprising Puget Sound. Primary producers (phytoplankton) serve key ecosystem functions as their abundances and taxonomic composition can impact higher trophic levels. Several factors can influence phytoplankton dynamics, including nutrient availability, water column mixing, climate, and grazing by zooplankton. In this system, coastal upwelling contributes the largest amount of nutrients. Localized watershed and anthropogenic sources also contribute nutrients to the system. King County (Seattle, WA) implements a long-term monitoring program with physical, chemical, and biological components designed to …

A Real-Time Data Assimilative Forecasting System For Southern Resident Killer Whales In The Salish Sea, Dr. Ruth Joy

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Marine ship traffic is a growing source of anthropogenic stress for at-risk cetaceans through physical and acoustic disturbances. Real-time whale locations and short-term forecasts of a few hours can mitigate these risks by providing lead time for commercial vessels to adjust their path and speed. Towards this end, we develop a real-time forecasting system that assimilates observations into a stochastic movement model to provide forecasts of future whale locations and trajectories. A state space model is used to combine the movement model with location observations. Real-time data ingestion and forecasting is implemented using a sequential data assimilation cycle based on …

Use Of An Open Knowledge Network For The Salish Sea, Paul Williams, Charlene Andrade, Philip Murphy, Steve Hinton, Sono Hashisaki

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

We face more and greater challenges with a new sense of urgency. Science organizations have long recognized the need for data management and curation to support decision making. However, the information needed today to make resource decisions goes beyond data and models. It also includes people, their knowledge and values, needs of programs and projects, funding, geographic information, and more. This panel discusses the use of an Open Knowledge Network (OKN) for the Salish Sea, an open technology platform for finding, sharing, and accessing information and tools for decision making. Panelists will describe one such OKN, the Social Ecological Open …

From Site To Sea: Protecting Habitat Through An Integrated Response To The Invasive European Green Crab Across The Salish Sea, Dr. P. Sean Mcdonald, Bobbie Buzzell, Dr. Emily Grason, Chief Gordon Planes, Allen Pleus, Allie Simpson, Crysta Stubbs, Renny Talbot

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Biological invasions are known to impact important nearshore habitats. Though European green crab, Carcinus maenas, has been periodically abundant in coastal embayments of Washington State and Vancouver island since the late 1990’s, range expansion into the Salish Sea in recent years has the potential for more destructive impacts and dynamics. In the Salish Sea, green crab pose a threat to essential eelgrass beds, tidal marshes, and mudflats. Management of green crab occurs at a regional scale, but control actions to mitigate impacts and protect habitats take place at the local (site) level. It can be a challenge to integrate place-based …

Kelp Forest Restoration In Puget Sound: Outplant Techniques And Lessons, Gray Mckenna

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Kelp forests are a critical nearshore ecosystem in the Salish Sea. They provide habitat structure for many species, cycle nutrients, including carbon, and play an important cultural role for coastal communities. Bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, is the only floating canopy-forming kelp in Puget Sound. In response to kelp forest canopy decline in recent decades in the South and Central Basins of Puget Sound, Puget Sound Restoration Fund launched our Bull Kelp Restoration Program in 2010. A primary focus of our program is the development of scalable techniques for outplanting bull kelp in areas where it has been lost with the …

Effects Of Heat Stress And Nitrogen Limitation On The Physiology Of Gametophytes And Sporophytes Of The Bull Kelp, Nereocystis Luetkeana, Dr. Brooke Weigel, Robin Fales, Dr. Emily Carrington, Dr. Megan Dethier

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) are declining at some locations within the Salish Sea, particularly in areas that experience elevated temperatures, low nitrogen (N) concentrations, and low current velocities. High temperatures and low N concentrations can be stressful for marine primary producers, yet these stressors often occur simultaneously in temperate marine ecosystems, making it difficult to unravel their effects. First, we determined the reproductive thermal tolerance limits of bull kelp by growing gametophytes at 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 22°C. Gametophytes were able to germinate at temperatures up to 20°C, with gametophyte growth peaking around 16°C, but sporophyte production …

Rethinking Sewage In The Southern Salish Sea, Dr. Mindy Roberts, Jeff Dickison

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The waters of Puget Sound are highly connected, and pollution released in one location impacts water quality miles and miles away. Deep waters of Puget Sound, where sewage treatment plants discharge, circulate toward the south and inland. Nitrogen discharged from wastewater treatment plants violates the Washington State water quality standards for dissolved oxygen in South Puget Sound and other shallow bays around the Salish Sea as a result. The Department of Ecology is requiring all publicly owned treatment plants to upgrade technology to nutrient removal under the Clean Water Act, with a 5-year goal of holding the line at existing …

Kelp Forest Responses To The 2014 Marine Heat Wave: Clues About Environmental Patterns And Gradients Within The Southern Salish Sea., Helen Berry, Danielle Claar, Bart Christiaen

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Information on kelp forest dynamics within the Salish Sea is needed to understand and address stressors. Around 2014, large declines in kelp canopies were observed in the northeast Pacific, which were generally attributed to elevated seawater temperatures and Sea Star Wasting Disease. This event provided a natural, large scale experiment, allowing us to observe diverse responses across the Salish Sea landscape, and compare to other regions. We analyzed annual floating kelp canopy surveys from 2011 to 2020 along a gradient from the exposed coast to the Strait of Georgia, using long-term data from Washington’s outer coast, the southern Strait of …

Putting Plans Into Action: Kelp Conservation And Recovery In Washington, Dana Oster

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Vibrant kelp forests are vital to the health of the Salish Sea. The Puget Sound Kelp Conservation and Recovery Plan (Kelp Plan) provides a research and management framework for coordinated action to improve understanding of kelp forest population changes and declines, while also working to implement and strengthen recovery and protective measures. Since the Kelp Plan’s release in 2020, it has guided tangible collaborative action across multiple partners. Highlights and ongoing actions since the release of the Kelp plan include: 1) a successful Washington State legislative request to fund kelp research and Kelp Plan coordination; 2) an assessment to understand …

Simultaneous Determination Of Steroid Hormones And Pharmaceuticals And Personal Care Products With Lc–Ms/Ms In Feces Of Killer Whales (Orcinus Orca), Xiangjun Liao

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

A method enabling simultaneous measurement of steroid hormones and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in fecal samples of killer whales (Orcinus orca) has been developed and validated with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). The compounds include a suite of hormones such as glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoid, androgens, estrogens, progestogens and PPCPs such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and antibacterial and antifungal agents. This method can be used to assess killer whale reproduction, stress and other physiological responses as well as contaminant related exposure. Further, it provides a reference method for the validation of new immunoassays such as radio immunoassay and enzyme …

How Data On Small Salmon Have Big Impacts, Supporting Recovery Monitoring And Informing Policy Decisions, Dawn Spilsbury Pucci, Joe Anderson, Peter Lisi, Mike Mchenry, Devin Flawd, Anya Voloshin, Jonah Keith, Andrew Berger

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Tribes and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) have been partnering for decades to monitor Puget Sound juvenile salmonid outmigration as part of the co-management commitment to rebuilding salmon populations that will support sustainable harvest for future generations, which is critical to addressing Treaty Rights. Juvenile salmon smolt trapping projects provide useful information on population abundance, productivity, and life-history diversity relevant to salmon conservation and management. Juvenile salmon outmigration studies continue in most major Puget Sound rivers, but projects are often funded, evaluated, and described individually by a variety of organizations. The goal of this panel discussion is …

Climate Assemblies: Lessons Learned And Results From Around The World And Washington State, Laura Berry, John Cambalik, Ed Chadd, Michael Chang, Derek Hoshiko, Brandon Letsinger

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Citizens’ assemblies are an increasingly widespread form of democratic engagement and solution-finding. Assemblies convened specifically to address the climate crisis have taken place around the world, including in Australia, Great Britain, Belgium, Poland, and France. France’s recent “Convention Citoyenne Pour Le Climat,” focused on reducing carbon emissions, led President Macron to pledge to adopt and fund 146 out of 149 policy recommendations. The Washington Climate Assembly (WA Climate Assembly) was initiated and funded by a group of volunteers, organized as People’s Voice on Climate. The nation’s first citizens’ assembly on this critical issue, the WA Climate Assembly brought together 77 …

Opening Plenary, Scott Redman, Ginny Broadhurst, Cecilia Gobin, Patti Gobin, Christianne Wilhelmson, Dr. Kathryn L. Sobocinski, Dr. Isobel Pearsall

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Welcome from Conference Organizers Scott Redman, Executive Chair Cecilia Gobin, Program Co-Chair Julie Watson, Program Co-Chair Fran Wilshusen, Program Co-Chair Christianne Wilhelmson, Program Co-Chair Ginny Broadhurst, Salish Sea Institute Coast Salish Welcome Cecilia Gobin, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Coast Salish Perspectives on the Last 150 years Patti Gobin, Tulalip Tribes Patti Gobin has over 25 years of Community Development experience with the Tulalip Tribes. Presently, she is with the Natural Resource Treaty Rights office working with state, local and federal agencies regarding those issues that impact the life ways of the Tulalip Tribes. In addition to her years of experience, …

Phishing For Fun, Madeline Moran

Computer Science Research Seminars and Symposia

The process of a phishing experiment that will be used to investigate a possible correlation between a person thinking style and their susceptibility to phishing scams.

An Exploration Of A Year At The Ursinus Food Forest, Victoria Bearden

Environment and Sustainability Presentations

The Ursinus Food Forest began a commitment to a new form of sustainable land management at Whittaker Environmental Research Station. This management integrates lessons from urban agriculture, urban forestry, and agroforestry (see Clark & Nichols 2013) with principles of permaculture (Jacke et al 2005). Begun in 2017, and this past fall marked 2 years since the planting of phase one in 2019. In the fall of 2021 students, faculty, facilities, and volunteers planted the second phase of the food forest site, which added 7 new food producing species. Including this, many projects were created to enhance the site throughout the …

Corrosion Prevention Of Aluminum Alloy, Andrea Brenner

Symposium of Student Scholars

Aluminum alloy (Al-alloy) is a widely used metal in construction, aerospace, aviation, and other necessary fields due to its lightweight and tweakable properties. However, corrosion is inevitable on metals and alloys, and that causes millions of dollars of revenue loss every year. Therefore, we propose to research fabricating coating to prevent corrosion on Al-alloy. This study uses an iron-based metal-organic framework (MOF) and polyurethane (PU) based composite coating to prevent corrosion on the Al-alloy. The makeup of the composite material is changed by varying the percentage of MOF. In addition, a binder is also used to enhance the homogenization between …

Casein Kinases Are Required For The Stability Of The Glucose Sensing Receptor Rgt2 In Yeast, Danny Bloor

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Synthesis Of Molecularly Imprinted Polymer For The Detection Of Perfluorooctanoic Acid, Yuqi Wang, Hannah Rhodes

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Inhibiting Nitroso Related Methylation Of Guanine Using Dietary Supplements And Flavonoids, Hannah Klose, Madeline Mccoy, Mary Hall

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Analysis Of Common Adulterants, Madison Landreth, Elijah Deyoung, Jedidiah Black, Lynza Osorio

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic