Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Environmental Interpretation Plan For The Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, Rosalie Matsumoto

WWU Graduate School Collection

As lead researcher and developer of the Interpretation Plan for the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, this document will detail the background, research, and process involved to develop such a plan for the US Forest Service. I will first conceptualize Interpretation as a profession and its relation to and with Environmental Education with supporting research to help give context to the next section: an introduction to my project. After introducing the Interpretation Plan, I will detail my work and process to develop the Foundational Information, or the core of the Plan. Finally, I will conclude with my challenges, learnings, and …

Vertical Distribution Of Olympia Oyster (Ostrea Lurida) Larvae In Fidalgo Bay, Wa, Brooke A. Mcintyre

WWU Graduate School Collection

Restoring populations of native Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) in the Salish Sea is ecologically and socially valuable. Olympia oysters disperse as planktonic larvae that control their depth with swimming and sinking behaviors, which can affect the currents that carry them and ultimately determine dispersal. Understanding larval dispersal patterns can help prioritize restoration efforts and establish a self-sustaining network of oyster populations in the region. The purpose of this study was to determine which factors (temperature, chlorophyll-a, larval size, current speed, tidal stage) influence the vertical distribution of Olympia oyster larvae in Fidalgo Bay, which is a …

Testing ¹⁰Be Exposure Dating Of Holocene Cirque Moraines Using Glaciolacustrine Sediments In The Sierra Nevada, California, William Cary

WWU Graduate School Collection

An ongoing study attempting to date boulders from Neoglacial moraines across the Sierra Nevada mountain range, CA using high precision cosmogenic radionuclide (CRN) exposure dating has yielded ages that contradict historical records and prior research in the range. To test whether these CRN ages have glacial significance or are merely a function of geomorphic processes that promote inheritance, I collected glaciolacustrine sediment cores to document independent glacier chronologies for the Lyell and Maclure glaciers in Yosemite National Park and the Price glaciers in the Desolation Wilderness. The Lyell glaciolacustrine cores indicate glacial advances from ~1830-1230 cal yr BP and ~610-80 …

Driving Sortase-Mediated Ligations Using Metal-Coordinating Peptides, Sierra Reed

WWU Graduate School Collection

The versatility of sortase-mediated ligations as a protein modification technique has been well demonstrated, but the efficiency of these reactions suffers from inherent reversibility. Solutions to this issue have been reported, however these methods are accompanied by additional limitations of the sortase-mediated ligation (SML) strategy. A preferable methodology would include the smallest possible modification site without restricting the point of ligation. One promising solution to this issue is the expansion of the LPXTG SrtA recognition sequence to LPXTGGH, giving the excised fragment an N-terminal GGH motif. This minor alteration has been shown to allow complexation of the excised fragment with …

Lewis Acids In The Secondary Coordination Sphere For Kinetic Enhancement Toward Reduction Of Nitrite, Kyle T. Burns

WWU Graduate School Collection

Metal complexes utilizing the redox non-innocent pyridinediimine ligand scaffold have been shown to form ligand centered radicals. The reduction potential of the ligand-based redox sites is effectively uncoupled from the secondary coordination sphere, allowing for installation of bioinspired secondary sphere motifs to tune reactivity, without attenuating the reductive ability of the metal center. This thesis aims to explore the utility of this ligand design by installing various functionality, reminiscent of those found in Nature, into the secondary coordination sphere, such as Lewis acidic residues, polarized active sites, and allosteric docking sites. Installation of a pendant benzo-15-crown-5 ether moiety, capable of …

Development Of Regio- And Diastereoselective Samarium (Ii) Iodide Mediated Allylic Benzoate Reductions, Trevor Stockdale

WWU Graduate School Collection

Herein, we report a regio- and diastereoselective samarium mediated allylic benzoate reduction. The reaction can achieve high yields, regioselectivity, and diastereoselectivity, however there appear to be many factors influencing the outcome: proton sources, alkene geometry, chelating group length, relative stereocenter positioning, and stereocenter identity. These substrate parameters were looked at in-depth which ultimately led to several conclusions about optimized substrates. For instance, experiments indicate that the reaction proceeds through a bicyclic organosamarium species followed by intramolecular protonation from samarium bound water.

Daytime Summer Microclimate Influence Of Large Woody Debris On Dewatered Sediments In Lake Mills, Wa Following Dam Removal, Mariah J. Colton

WWU Graduate School Collection

In 2014, dam removal from the Elwha River, Washington state, exposed large areas of previously submerged sediment. The Olympic National Park placed ~100 large logs on 2 ha of exposed sediment to promote plant establishment. I quantified patterns of three microclimate variables near logs: wind speed at 10-cm height (u₁₀), sediment temperature (T_S), and evaporation rate (E); and their relationships to broader environmental factors. The northern-most log, exposed to northerly winds, was measured along 3-m perpendicular transects 14 times during August and September 2015. I determined nonlinear and multilevel regressions to investigate …

Metamorphic Evolution Of The Sierra De Maz: Implications For The Timing Of Terrane Accretion On The Western Margin Of Gondwana, Andrew Tholt

WWU Graduate School Collection

The Mesoproterozoic MARA terrane of South America has been interpreted to collide and subduct beneath the Gondwana margin of South America in the Cambrian. To test the proposed tectonic model, I combine metamorphic petrology and geochronology along with quantitative thermobarometry to constrain metamorphic events and peak conditions within the Sierra de Maz of the MARA terrane and the adjacent Sierra de Ramaditas. Foliations within the Sierra de Maz are steeply east dipping, with a major sinistral reverse shear zone separating the two major units (Zaino and Maz Complexes) of the northern range. Garnet Lu-Hf records a single metamorphic event in …

The Associations Of Epiphytic Macroinvertebrates And Aquatic Macrophytes In Canyon Lake, Wa, Jesse T. (Jesse Tyler) Klinger

WWU Graduate School Collection

Macroinvertebrate abundances on six dominant macrophytes taxa were compared in Canyon Lake, Washington to determine whether there were patterns of association with macrophyte type or among assemblages of macroinvertebrates. Macrophytes and associated epiphytic macroinvertebrates were collected during August 2016. The dominant macrophyte distribution and lakes bathymetry were mapped in July 2016. The dominant macrophytes included Equisetum fluviatile, Fontinalis antipyretica, Potamogeton natans, Potamogeton epihydrus, Ranunculus aquatilis, and Vallisneria americana. Other non-dominant macrophytes included: Sparganium angustifolium, Sphagnum mosses, Nuphar polysepala, Characeae (stonewort), Isoetes (quillwort) and Potamogeton pusillus. Macroinvertebrate taxa were identified to the …

A Chemoenzymatic Approach To The Synthesis Of Hemoglobin Oligomers, Johann Sigurjonsson

WWU Graduate School Collection

Polymerized hemoglobin (poly-Hb) molecules have been shown to have reduced toxicity compared to cell-free hemoglobins when transfused intravenously. Poly-Hbs are typically generated with non-specific crosslinking agents that yield a product that is polydisperse in molecular weight. We propose a chemoenzymatic approach to generate poly-Hb of defined molecular weight. The proposed method employs the site-specific ligation reaction of the sortase A enzyme from S. aureus. A Hb mutant previously developed in our lab has been “sortagged” – modified by adding either the sortase recognition sequence (LPXTG) to the C-terminus of the α-subunit or a tetraglycine motif (GGGG) to the N-terminus. …

A Search For Blue Carbon In Central Salish Sea Eelgrass Meadows, Mira D. (Mira Diana) Lutz

WWU Graduate School Collection

This study quantified eelgrass (Zostera marina) sediment organic carbon and carbon sequestration rates in Skagit County,Wa, in sites likely to support organic content and sediment accretion, the key components for carbon sequestration. These data may inform eelgrass-specific projects aimed at mitigating climate change through the protection and restoration of “blue carbon” ecosystems. Blue carbon is the carbon stored or emitted by coastal wetlands, which have the capacity to sequester more organic carbon (OC) than equivalent areas of mature forest. This study follows recent research from a single site within Padilla Bay, Wa. (Padilla transect), reporting OC stock approximately three times …

Diversity And Petrogenesis Of Rhyolites From An Intra-Oceanic Arc: Evidence From Iodp Site U1437, Izu Bonin Rear-Arc And Surrounding Area, Luan J. (Luan Jean) Heywood

WWU Graduate School Collection

Magmas from the Izu Bonin rear-arc show a geochemical signature (medium- to high-K and light rare-earth element [LREE] enriched) that resembles the average composition of the continental crust. I investigate that continent-like signature by examining a suite of rear-arc-derived mafic to felsic tephras from International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1437, which was drilled as part of IODP Expedition 350. Volcaniclastic glasses from Site U1437 comprise a compositional series from basalt to rhyolite, aged 1.1-4.4 Ma.

Site U1437 tephras record the timespan when the Izu-Bonin arc began rifting and provide a well-dated record of changing magmatic compositions through the transition …

The Benefits Of A Therapeutic Nature Education Intervention For Children With Adhd, Madeline Dineen

WWU Graduate School Collection

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) diagnoses have been on the rise in children in the United States for the last twenty years due to multiple possible reasons (NIMH, 2016). Recent work on the subject, however, notes a positive correlation between exposure of children to experience-based nature therapy and the reduction of ADHD symptoms (Taylor & Kuo 2011). I hypothesized that implementing an intervention that is in an outdoor nature environment, that is experience-based and contains a learning objective would be correlated with a reduction of ADHD behaviors in elementary aged children. This study is a probe into the possibility of …

Improved Thermal And Mechanical Properties And Increased Miscibility Of Polybenzoxazine In Blends With Functionalized Thermoplastics And Particles, Emily A. Brown

WWU Graduate School Collection

The solubility, polymerization, and the macromolecular characterization of cured blends of BPA-based benzoxazine (BA-a) in end group tosylated poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEGOTs), polysulfone (PSUOTs), and poly(D,L-lactic acid) (PDLLAOTs) are studied and compared to their hydroxyl terminated analogues. The cure temperature for BA-a blends with tosylated polymers was reduced by ~60 °C compared to that of the pure BA-a. This confirms that the tosylated polymer is an accelerant for BA-a ring opening polymerization (ROP). There are two proposed mechanism for the production of free tosylate and cationic BA-a based initiators as a cure catalyst for BA-a ROP – where the former was …

Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensors Based On High-Index Dielectric Metal-Insulator-Metal Structures, Sarah Clark

WWU Graduate School Collection

Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) is the phenomenon in which an incident electromagnetic wave couples to charge density oscillations on a metal surface.The resulting excitation, known as a surface plasmon polariton (SPP), will propagate along the metal-dielectric interface. SPR biosensors monitor protein binding interactions in real time, which lead to changes in the refractive index, thereby altering the SPP excitation conditions. Recently, we have designed a structure that supports guided-wave plasmon polariton modes (GW-PPMs), a novel type of plasmonic excitation that demonstrates increased propagation lengths compared to those of traditional SPPs in certain regions of phase space. Because it has been …

The Effects Of Forecasted Climate Change On Mass Wasting Susceptibility In The Nooksack River Basin, Kevin Knapp

WWU Graduate School Collection

The Nooksack River in Whatcom County, Washington­ is an essential fresh water resource for industry, agriculture, municipalities and serves as vital fish habitat. Like many mountainous watersheds in the western Cascades, the Nooksack Basin is susceptible to shallow mass wasting and debris flows because of its steep slopes, young glaciated terrain, and storms with high intensity precipitation. Understanding how projected reductions in snowpack and increased winter rainfall will affect mass-wasting susceptibility in the Nooksack basin is important, because sediment produced mass wasting will jeopardize valuable aquatic and fish habitat, increase flooding risk in the Nooksack River, and affect estuarine and …

Characterization Of Particulate Matter Accumulated On Ramalina Farinacea In The Seattle Area Using Semi-Automated Electron Microscopy, Tor G. (Tor Gunnar) Guddal

WWU Graduate School Collection

Semi-automated scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) can be used to determine the size and composition of filtered particulate matter (PM). This information is valuable for determining the identity and contribution of overlapping air emissions. One limitation of this method is the cost of filtering PM at enough locations to give meaningful spatial data. To address this limitation, I developed an exploratory method to collect PM using Ramalina farinacea for semi-automated SEM analysis as a component of lichen biomonitoring studies. I applied this method as a proof of concept in the Seattle area to better understand trends …

Nickel-Catalyzed Oxidative Decarboxylative (Hetero)Arylation Reactions, Aaron P. Honeycutt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Transition-metal-catalyzed decarboxylative coupling reactions have gained considerable attention over the past decade as an efficient route to form heterobiaryls. However, current methods for oxidative decarboxylative (hetero)arylation with unactivated C-H bonds have been limited by poor substrate scope, control of regioselectivity, and chemospecificity. This thesis describes the development of a new nickel-catalyzed oxidative decarboxylative coupling (ODC) with unactivated C-H bonds. The first chapter discusses the development of the new nickel-catalyzed ODC reaction to enable the coupling of a N,N'-bidentate directing group with a broad scope of heteroaromatic carboxylates and ortho-substituted benzoates, a scope that has not been achieved in previous …

Application Of Molecular Pathology Techniques To Understand Mechanisms Of Disease In Smallmouth Bass, Heather Leigh Walsh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In the Chesapeake Bay drainage, smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu are used as an indicator species of estrogenic contaminant exposure and have been implicated in fish kills and disease since 2005. In the Potomac River drainage, adult smallmouth bass have experienced mortality and disease and males have a high prevalence of intersex (testicular oocytes). Conversely, in the Susquehanna River drainage mortalities and disease of young-of-the-year smallmouth bass (YOY SMB) have occurred and resulted in a population shift to older and larger fish. The exact cause of these events remains unknown; however, factors such as poor water quality, contaminants, pathogens and parasites, …

Stationary Automata, Anaam Mutar Bidhan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In this dissertation, we investigate new automata, we call it stationary automata or ST-automata. This concept is based on the definition of TF-automaton by Wojciechowski [Woj2]. What is new in our approach is that we incorporate stationary subsets of limit ordinals of uncountable cofinality. The first objective of the thesis is to motivate the new construction of automata. This concept of ST-automata allows us to make a connection with infinite graph theory. Aharoni, Nash-Williams, and Shelah [AhNaSh] formulated a condition that is necessary and sufficient for a bipartite graph to have a matching. For a bipartite …

Syntheses Of Azepinoindole Alkaloids Cimitrypazepine, Fargesine And Hyrtioreticulins C & D, Ganesh Ghimire

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The Watanabe-Cenini-Söderberg reductive N-heterocyclization has emerged as a powerful tool for the synthesis of a variety of functionalized indoles. Söderberg’s elaboration of this methodology has been utilized as a late-stage cyclization protocol for the synthesis of azepinoindole alkaloids, a class of natural products characterized by an azepane skeleton fused with an indole ring. Short syntheses of the naturally occurring azepino[5,4,3-cd]indole alkaloids, cimitrypazepine, fargesine, and the diastereomeric hyrtioreticulins C & D have been completed starting from commercially available tetra-substituted benzene derivatives. The key azepinoindole core in each case was assembled via an intramolecular Mizoroki-Heck reaction followed by a …

An Interspecies Investigation Of Thyroid Plasma Hormone Concentrations, Histology, And Gene Expression, Emily A. Underwood

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

A high prevalence of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs) has raised concerns as to the health and fitness of fish and wildlife. It is not well understood to what extent existing contaminants, many with continuing inflows into the environment, may impact fish populations. This study provides an initial characterization of thyroid endocrine-related effects in two indigenous fish species sampled from Great Lakes AOCs. Biomonitoring was conducted on a pelagic, top predator species, smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) and benthic, omnivorous brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) at 7 sites in spring and fall …

Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis Of Carbonate Waters In The Peters Mountain Region Of Monroe County, Wv, Emily A. Bausher

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Water in Monroe County, WV is used extensively for public and private supply and requires quantification, chemical analysis, and assessment for contamination susceptibility. Over 250 springs were previously identified in the eastern side of Monroe County on or near Peters Mountain; 14 were continuously monitored in this study. Springs were grouped based on geologic and spatial distribution: interbedded clastic-rock springs on the mountain flanks, carbonate springs in the valley, and a thermal spring associated with the St. Clair thrust fault. Clastic and carbonate springs have calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate chemistries, neutral pHs and high alkalinities; the thermal spring has calcium-magnesium-sulfate-carbonate chemistry, low pH, …

Spatial And Temporal Analysis Of Surface Water Quality In Relation To Marcellus Shale Gas Development In The Northern Panhandle Of West Virginia, Rachel Yesenchak

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Pre-existing water chemistry data available from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection were used to examine temporal changes in surface water quality related to the onset of Marcellus Shale gas drilling activity in the state of West Virginia. Drilling is concentrated in the northwestern portion of the state. Watersheds were delineated for twelve discrete stream sampling locations in the Upper Ohio-Wheeling HUC-8 sub-basin, where shale gas drilling is prevalent. Kruskal-Wallis tests were deployed to compare pre- and post-drilling concentrations of conductivity, chloride, and total suspended solids for each location. Increased concentrations of these parameters are associated with surface water …

Hydrogeology And Water Management In The Arkwright Underground Coal Mine, Pittsburgh Seam, Northern West Virginia, Bryant D. Mountjoy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Arkwright #1 is a closed underground mine in the Pittsburgh coal seam near Morgantown, West Virginia USA. Arkwright shares perimeter boundaries/barriers with three other closed Pittsburgh seam mines (Osage #3, Jordan #93, Federal #1) and is partially overlain by flooded Sewickley seam mines, 25 m above it. This mine is significant primarily because it manages and treats water diverted from nearly 20 other closed mines over a 600 square kilometer area. This study examines water levels, pump records, and mine maps to describe the hydrogeology of Arkwright Mine. After closure in 1995, Arkwright and the adjacent northern Osage mines began …

Integrating Microscale Enzyme And Lectin Reactions Using Nanogel Assisted Capillary Electrophoresis, Srikanth Gattu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Protein glycosylation is one of the most prevalent post-translational modifications which plays an important role in determining the structure, stability, and function of proteins. Changes in glycosylation patterns are a hallmark of cancer and other diseases. Characterizing glycosylation is difficult because these structures vary in their linkage and monomer sequence, which gives rise to vast microheterogenity that could affect the function of the molecule. A novel method using capillary gel electrophoresis by integrating microscale enzymes and lectin reactions in the capillary was developed to verify glycan structure by analyzing monosaccharides. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) improves upon conventional methods of glycan structure …

Understanding The Novice Decision-Making Process In Forensic Footwear Examinations: Accuracy And Decision Rules, Madonna A. Nobel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The reproducibility of experienced-based forensic pattern interpretation is founded on the notion that domain-specific knowledge can be successfully distributed and applied among experts within a group. This assumption persists, even when the examination is complicated by variations in case circumstances, such as impression clarity and totality, as well as media, substrate, collection mechanism and enhancement. While it is further theorized that many of these factors (as well as additional confounding factors) are at play during an examination, the manner and extent to which these sources of variability affect the examination of footwear evidence remain unclear. In order to explore this …

Boundization, Closure And Convergence For The Ultra Extended Complex Banach And Hilbert Spaces With Applications, Salah Hamad

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

We study Boundization, Closure and Convergence of Complex Banach and Hilbert spaces. We augment a Banach space with elements “infinity” and turn the augmented set into a metric space by appropriate distance functions. This new metric space is called the Ultra Extended Banach Space. A new family of bijections, motivated by nonlinear projections, take an Ultra Extended Banach Space into bounded subsets of a “larger” Banach space. We compare the family of new metrics induced and show which ones are equivalent and which ones are unexpectedly not equivalent. Some applications are provided.

Algorithmic Issues In Some Disjoint Clustering Problems In Combinatorial Circuits, Zola Nailah Donovan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

As the modern integrated circuit continues to grow in complexity, the design of very large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuits involves massive teams employing state-of-the-art computer-aided design (CAD) tools. An old, yet significant CAD problem for VLSI circuits is physical design automation. In this problem, one needs to compute the best physical layout of millions to billions of circuit components on a tiny silicon surface. The process of mapping an electronic design to a chip involves several physical design stages, one of which is clustering. Even for combinatorial circuits, there exist several models for the clustering problem. In particular, we consider the …

Multi-Telescope Radio Observations For Low Frequency Gravitational Wave Astrophysics, Megan L. Jones

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) has the principal goal of detecting gravitational waves (GWs) in the nanohertz part of the spectrum using pulsar timing. This thesis presents results from radio campaigns at frequencies from 322 MHz to 10 GHz aimed at both multi-messenger constraints on GW sources and improving the timing sensitivity. The primary expected source of GWs at the nanohertz frequencies to which pulsar timing is sensitive are supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. We investigate a purported SMBH displaced from the galactic photocenter in NGC 3115. We explore the possibilities that the source is a …