Matching Items (27)
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- All Subjects: Ecology
- All Subjects: Podcast
- Creators: College of Integrative Sciences and Arts
- Creators: Sabo, John
- Creators: Angilletta, Michael
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
This podcast explores the life of Cendraini, growing up in the developing country of Indonesia as well as her eventual immigration to America. It delves into prominent topics and history of Indonesia in regards to Cen's life. The podcast focuses on family, and how no matter the challenges that life may bring, family will be there for you.
ContributorsGoldstein, Rachel (Author) / Schmidt, Peter (Thesis director) / Levin, Irina (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Ephemeral and intermittent streams are valuable sources of surface water support in the arid ecosystems of the Southwestern United States. These streams account for over 80% of the streams in the American Southwest and their importance has been indicated in many studies. Ephemeral and intermittent streams support a wide range of plant and animal species in both continuous and episodic fashions. This study aimed to gain a better understanding of the relationship between streamflow permanence and patterns of biomass and secondary production of the riparian fauna these ecosystems support. This was accomplished through a yearlong survey in the Huachuca Mountains of Southeastern, Arizona where macroinvertebrates were collected at various sites along a gradient of streamflow permanence before, during, and after the three month monsoon season that supplies most of the annual rainfall in this region. The results of my surveys indicate that 1) Sites characterized by low streamflow permanence were more responsive to changes in precipitation than sites characterized by relatively high streamflow permanence 2) In ephemeral streams, there is a significant peak in terrestrial macroinvertebrate production and biomass both during and after the monsoon season 3) streamflow permanence may convey consistent but not exceptional secondary production whereas seasonality in rainfall may convey exceptional but episodic secondary production—more so in sites where streamflow is not consistent.
ContributorsMcCartin, Michael Patrick (Author) / Sabo, John (Thesis director) / Stromberg, Juliet (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Land management practices such as domestic animal grazing can alter plant communities via changes in soil structure and chemistry, species composition, and plant nutrient content. These changes can affect the abundance and quality of plants consumed by insect herbivores with consequent changes in population dynamics. These population changes can translate to massive crop damage and pest control costs. My dissertation focused on Oedaleus asiaticus, a dominant Asian locust, and had three main objectives. First, I identified morphological, physiological, and behavioral characteristics of the migratory ("brown") and non-migratory ("green") phenotypes. I found that brown morphs had longer wings, larger thoraxes and higher metabolic rates compared to green morphs, suggesting that developmental plasticity allows greater migratory capacity in the brown morph of this locust. Second, I tested the hypothesis of a causal link between livestock overgrazing and an increase in migratory swarms of O. asiaticus. Current paradigms generally assume that increased plant nitrogen (N) should enhance herbivore performance by relieving protein-limitation, increasing herbivorous insect populations. I showed, in contrast to this scenario, that host plant N-enrichment and high protein artificial diets decreased the size and viability of O. asiaticus. Plant N content was lowest and locust abundance highest in heavily livestock-grazed fields where soils were N-depleted, likely due to enhanced erosion and leaching. These results suggest that heavy livestock grazing promotes outbreaks of this locust by reducing plant protein content. Third, I tested for the influence of dietary imbalance, in conjunction with high population density, on migratory plasticity. While high population density has clearly been shown to induce the migratory morph in several locusts, the effect of diet has been unclear. I found that locusts reared at high population density and fed unfertilized plants (i.e. high quality plants for O. asiaticus) had the greatest migratory capacity, and maintained a high percent of brown locusts. These results did not support the hypothesis that poor-quality resources increased expression of migratory phenotypes. This highlights a need to develop new theoretical frameworks for predicting how environmental factors will regulate migratory plasticity in locusts and perhaps other insects.
ContributorsCease, Arianne (Author) / Harrison, Jon (Thesis advisor) / Elser, James (Thesis advisor) / DeNardo, Dale (Committee member) / Quinlan, Michael (Committee member) / Sabo, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Health and Wealthness is a podcast where your hosts, Emily Weigel and Hanaa Khan discuss pressing and trending topics about health and wealth that everyone should know about. Our first four episodes focus on the opioid crisis. Both the science and healthcare sides. We then go on to talk about burnout and mental health in a conversational episode.
ContributorsKhan, Hanaa S (Co-author) / Weigel, Emily (Co-author) / Olive, Foster (Thesis director) / Bonfiglio, Thomas (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
As the world’s population exponentially grows, more food production is required. This increasing food production currently has led to the un-sustainable production of chemical fertilizers and resultant overuse. A more sustainable option to enhance food production could be the use of fertilizer derived from food waste. To address this, we investigated the possibility of utilizing a fertilizer derived from food waste to grow hydroponic vegetables. Arugula (Eruca sativa) ‘Slow Bolt’ and lettuce (Lactuca sativa) ‘Cherokee’ and ‘Rex’ were cultivated using indoor deep-flow hydroponic systems at 23 ºC under a photosynthetic photon flux density of 170 µmol∙m−2∙s−1 with an 18-hour photoperiod. Plant nutrient solutions were provided by food waste fertilizer or commercial 15:5:20 NPK fertilizer at the identical electrical conductivity (EC) of 2.3 mS·cm–1. At the EC of 2.3 mS·cm–1, chemical fertilizer contained 150 ppm N, 50 ppm P, and 200 ppm K, while food waste fertilizer had 60 ppm N, 26 ppm P, and 119 ppm K. Four weeks after the nutrient treatments were implemented, compared to plants grown with chemical fertilizer, lettuce ‘Rex’ grown with food waste fertilizer had four less leaves, 27.1% shorter leaves, 68.2% and 23.1% less shoot and root fresh weight, respectively. Lettuce ‘Cherokee’ and arugula grown with food waste fertilizer followed a similar trend with fresh shoot weights that were 80.1% and 95.6% less compared to the chemical fertilizer, respectively. In general, the magnitude of reduction in the plant growth was greatest in arugula. These results suggest that both fertilizers were able to successfully grow lettuce and arugula, although the reduced plant growth with the food waste fertilizer in our study is likely from a lower concentration of nutrients when we considered EC as an indicator of nutrient concentration equivalency of the two fertilizer types.
ContributorsCherry, Hannah Nichole (Author) / Park, Yujin (Thesis director) / Penton, Ryan (Committee member) / Chen, Zhihao (Committee member) / Environmental and Resource Management (Contributor, Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
I am evaluating the genomic basis of a model of heat tolerance in which organisms succumb to warming when their demand for oxygen exceeds their supply. This model predicts that tolerance of hypoxia should correlate genetically with tolerance of heat. To evaluate this prediction, I tested heat and hypoxia tolerance in several genetic lines of Drosophila melanogaster. I hypothesized that genotypes that can fly better at high temperatures are also able to fly well at hypoxia. Genotypes from the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) were assessed for flight at hypoxia and normal temperature (12% O2 and 25°C) as well as normoxia and high temperature (21% O2 and 39°C). After testing 66 lines from the DGRP, the oxygen- and capacity-limited thermal tolerance theory is supported; hypoxia-resistant lines are more likely to be heat-resistant. This supports previous research, which suggested an interaction between the tolerance of the two environmental variables. I used this data to perform a genome-wide association study to find specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with heat tolerance and hypoxia tolerance but found no specific genomic markers. Understanding factors that limit an organism’s stress tolerance as well as the regions of the genome that dictate this phenotype should enable us to predict how organisms may respond to the growing threat of climate change.
ContributorsFredette-Roman, Jacob Daniel (Author) / Angilletta, Michael (Thesis director) / VandenBrooks, John (Committee member) / Youngblood, Jacob (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
In 2019 the beauty industry was valued at $532 billion and is continuing to grow at lightning pace (Biron). Clearly, the beauty industry is profitable, so why have so few people bothered to study it? In the Barrett thesis database, as of 2020 there were less than half a dozen theses addressing the cosmetic industry, compared to nearly 50 projects concerning football. In response to the lack of study in academics and general public knowledge concerning the history and impact of cosmetics, the multi-part podcast series, Making Ourselves Up: The History and Impact of Cosmetics/Makeup was created by Kaley Scott, a fashion and sociology student. The personal nature of makeup and cosmetics, making the intimate forum of a podcast the perfect medium. The podcast operates in five episodes. First is: Making Ourselves Up, Makeup Fueling our Memories and Selfhood which contains personal narratives of makeup through interviews, establishing the intimate and wide-reaching effects of cosmetics and makeup. The second and third episodes: How We’ve Made Ourselves Up, from Cleopatra to Helena Rubenstein and How We’ve Made Ourselves Up, from Elizabeth Arden to Glossier cover the entirety of the history of makeup and cosmetics, focusing on western beauty. The third episode: Making Faces, Applying Makeup, the Theories that Let Us Create which focuses on techniques and theories of color and makeup application. Lastly is, Making Change, Cosmetics as a Current of Social Change which reveals how cosmetics have led to social change and continue to allow us to reinvent our society and ourselves. Makeup and cosmetics have been incredibly important for the creator for much of her life and she created this project with the aim of proving how important they are to the rest of the world.
ContributorsScott, Kaley Wynter (Author) / Sewell, Dennita (Thesis director) / Aiello, Diane (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
My thesis/creative project is a series of videos, supplemented by a paper documenting all the research. The project focuses on domestic and feral cats through the viewpoint of the “warrior cats” book series. The use of a particular fandom as a vehicle for science communication is a unique platform for use as a thesis/creative project. The narrated videos are made with the intention of being presented on YouTube or a similar viewing platform to an audience that is already familiar with the book series. The videos would fit on the site as a form of educational film known as video essays. The videos cover a range of topics to relate this book series to real situations with domestic animals, particularly cats, and wildlife. Each video is around ten to twenty minutes long and presented as episodes in a series.
The objective of my thesis project is to help bridge the gap between entertainment and science. I grew up reading the warrior cats, and I assume I was similar to many other children and young teens who did not understand domestic cats or ecology enough to question anything in the books. I know that much of these books are fictional, but that does not mean that it can’t be analyzed and used as a tool for teaching. The goal is to reach common ground with those people who have an interest in the warrior cats series, and help them understand it in a new light, as well as the world around them. I aim for the takeaway of this series to encourage people to explore the concepts I discuss and consider expanding upon the ideas within the Warriors universe or with their own cats.
The objective of my thesis project is to help bridge the gap between entertainment and science. I grew up reading the warrior cats, and I assume I was similar to many other children and young teens who did not understand domestic cats or ecology enough to question anything in the books. I know that much of these books are fictional, but that does not mean that it can’t be analyzed and used as a tool for teaching. The goal is to reach common ground with those people who have an interest in the warrior cats series, and help them understand it in a new light, as well as the world around them. I aim for the takeaway of this series to encourage people to explore the concepts I discuss and consider expanding upon the ideas within the Warriors universe or with their own cats.
ContributorsGarcia, Johnny Nico (Author) / Bateman, Heather (Thesis director) / Meloy, Elizabeth (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
As threats to Earth's biodiversity continue to evolve, an effective methodology to predict such threats is crucial to ensure the survival of living species. Organizations like the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) monitor the Earth's environmental networks to preserve the sanctity of terrestrial and marine life. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species informs the conservation activities of governments as a world standard of species' risks of extinction. However, the IUCN's current methodology is, in some ways, inefficient given the immense volume of Earth's species and the laboriousness of its species' risk classification process. IUCN assessors can take years to classify a species' extinction risk, even as that species continues to decline. Therefore, to supplement the IUCN's classification process and thus bolster conservationist efforts for threatened species, a Random Forest model was constructed, trained on a group of fish species previously classified by the IUCN Red List. This Random Forest model both validates the IUCN Red List's classification method and offers a highly efficient, supplemental classification method for species' extinction risk. In addition, this Random Forest model is applicable to species with deficient data, which the IUCN Red List is otherwise unable to classify, thus engendering conservationist efforts for previously obscure species. Although this Random Forest model is built specifically for the trained fish species (Sparidae), the methodology can and should be extended to additional species.
ContributorsWoodyard, Megan (Author) / Broatch, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Polidoro, Beth (Committee member) / Mancenido, Michelle (Committee member) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Ectotherms rely on external heat to attain target body temperatures which can vary based on the animal’s current physiological activity. Many ectotherms become thermophilic (“heat-loving”) during crucial physiological processes like digestion and reproduction, behaviorally thermoregulating to increase body temperature higher than what they otherwise prefer. However, there is a positive relationship between body temperature and water loss that dictates increasing body temperature typically elicits an increase in water loss. Animals that inhabit areas where water is at least seasonally limited (e.g., deserts, wet-dry forests) may face a tradeoff between prioritizing behavioral thermophily to optimize physiological processes versus prioritizing water balance and potentially sacrificing some aspect of total performance capability.It is thus far unknown how reduced water availability and subsequent dehydration may influence thermophily in ectotherms. I hypothesized that behaviorally thermoregulating ectotherms exhibit thermophily during critical physiological events, and the extent to which thermophily is expressed is influenced by the animal’s hydric state. Using Children’s pythons (Antaresia childreni), I investigated the effects of dehydration on behavioral thermophily during digestion and reproduction. I found that dehydration caused a suppression in digestion-associated thermophily, where dehydrated snakes returned to pre-feeding body temperature sooner than they did when they were hydrated. In contrast, water deprivation at different reproductive stages had no effect on thermophily despite leading to a significant increase in the female’s plasma osmolality.
ii
Additionally, the timing of water deprivation during reproduction had differing effects on plasma osmolality and circulating triglyceride, total protein, and corticosterone concentrations. My research provides evidence of the sensitive and complex dynamic between body temperature, water balance, and physiological processes. At a time when many dry ecosystems are becoming hotter and drier, my investigation of dehydration and its influence on thermal dynamics and physiological metrics provides insight into cryptic effects on the vital processes of digestion and reproduction.
ContributorsAzzolini, Jill L. (Author) / Denardo, Dale F. (Thesis advisor) / John-Alder, Henry (Committee member) / Angilletta, Michael (Committee member) / Pratt, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023