Honors-Thesis
AbstractThe endemic species of marine mammals that live in the Arctic year-round have been increasingly threatened by melting Arctic sea ice over the past several decades. Reduction in sea ice has led to increases in multiple commercial Arctic
Abstract Many localized vertebrate die offs have been found in the Anembalemba Member in the Maevarano Formation of Northwestern Madagascar during Late Cretaceous (~70 Ma) - microbialites found immediately below the fossil beds suggest seasonal
AbstractThe blue mud shrimp (Upogebia pugettensis) is a vital ecosystem engineer in estuaries along the west coast of North America. Under normal circumstances, this species fulfils several important roles, including nutrient cycling, estuary
AbstractPlants rely on seed dispersal to track favorable habitats and escape unsuitable conditions in variable environments. One likely driver of phenotypic dispersal trait plasticity is the prevalence and intensity of parasites and pathogens in the
AbstractThe transition from the vegetative stage to the reproductive stage is a crucial process for all flowering plants. The optimal timing for the development of flowering tissue not only increases fertility and reproductive success,
AbstractThe human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was discovered in the 1980s. Development of HIV treatment has since been accompanied by decreased attention to HIV in Europe and North America. Yet, while treatment for HIV increased the life expectancy
Abstract Black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and mountain (P. gambeli) chickadees are common backyard birds native to the Colorado Front-Range with broadly overlapping distributions in western North America. Black-capped chickadees are more
Abstract Alpine areas are experiencing faster rates of warming due to climate change than lowland regions, and this warming leads to earlier snowmelt. Early snowmelt and warming temperatures pose threats to alpine ecosystems, and plants
AbstractInsects are fundamental aspects of nearly every ecosystem on the planet, providing key ecosystem services like pollination, decomposition, and maintaining food webs, in addition to constituting around 50% of all known animal species. However
AbstractMicrobes in soil ecosystems and on human internal and external surfaces are essential for maintenance of function in both agricultural systems and the human body. Although two seemingly disparate systems, an analysis of microbial diversity