Category: Oral Presentation

Amongst the Ancients: Place-Based Experiential Education Within the H. J. Andrews Experimental Research Forest

Presenter(s): Ned Maynard − Environmental Studies

Co Presenter(s): Kiana Seto, Dylan Plummer, Riley Olson, Ariella Dahlin, Kyra Ortiz, Cahill Shpall, Chelsea Sussman, Ned Maynard

Faculty Mentor(s): Kathryn Lynch

Oral Session 4CN

Research Area: Environmental Education

Canopy Connections 2018: The goal of environmental education is to teach through experiential, place-based activity. Through the Environmental Leadership Program at the University of Oregon, the Canopy Connections program partners with the H. J. Andrews Experimental Research Forest and the Pacific Tree Climbing Institute to create day-long field trips for middle schoolers, bringing the classroom to the forest. Our mission is to serve the community by instilling a sense of place in youth, providing our community partners an avenue to educate students about science, and reinforcing the importance of old growth forests. Our program is built around a central theme of natural cycles within the Pacific Northwest. We incorporate storytelling, tree climbing, local research, and citizen science so the curriculum is interdisciplinary and engaging. In building this curriculum, our team developed four individual activity-based stations that take place within H.J. Andrews, along with a pre-trip lesson taught in the classroom. We help the students move from awareness of their local environment to community action by fostering a sense of stewardship, wonder, and scientific discovery. By the end of spring term, we will have reached 290 students across five middle schools. These students will exit the program with a robust understanding of traditional ecological knowledge and the science of phenology, having learned their relationship through the lens of natural cycles. In order to improve the curriculum’s efficacy, we will seek evaluation through methods such as life cycle diagrams, post-trip surveys, and games that assess knowledge retention in the field.

Investigating the Role of Transposons in Temperature-Induced DNA Damage During Spermatogenesis

Presenter(s):  Colin Maxwell − Biology

Faculty Mentor(s): Diana Libuda, Nicole Kurhanewicz Codd

Oral Session 3M

Research Area: Biological Science

Meiosis is a specialized form of cell division that sexually reproducing organisms use to generate haploid sex cells. Developing sperm are particularly sensitive to temperature fluctuations, with some studies indicating that exposure to elevated temperature increases DNA damage in spermatocytes, but not oocytes. Although temperature-induced DNA damage has been observed, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. DNA transposons are mobile genetic elements that produce double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) when excised from the genome. Additionally, transposons can excise from the genome under heat stress.

I hypothesize that heat stress causes transposon excision which may be observed as a linear relationship between transposon copy number and the quantity of DSBs in developing spermatocytes exposed to elevated temperature. To test this hypothesis, I conducted an immunofluorescence screen of wild type Caenorhabditis elegans strains with varying transposon copy numbers. Using deconvolution microscopy, DSBs were visualized via the recombinase RAD-51, a protein involved in the early stages of meiotic DSB repair. Quantification of RAD-51 foci was performed to determine the frequency of temperature-induced DSB formation. Preliminary results demonstrate that the CB4856 strain with ~15 copies of Tc1, a class of transposons active in C. elegans, exhibited half the amount of DSBs as the Bristol N2 strain with ~30 copies of Tc1 displayed upon heat shock. In contrast, comparisons of DSB quantities between additional strains with varying Tc1 copy numbers show no clear relationships. Taken together, these results indicate temperature-induced DNA damage in spermatocytes has multiple mechanisms, with excision of Tc1 transposons as one possible mechanism.

Mushroom Justice?: Commercial, Wild Mushroom Harvesting on the Willamette National Forest

Presenter(s): Becca Marshall − Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Kathryn Lynch

Oral Session 1SW

Research Area: Social Science

Funding: Humanities Undergraduate Research Fellowship

This research examines the extent Willamette National Forest’s management of commercial, wild mushrooms incorporates environmental justice principles. In Oregon, the edible, wild mushroom industry contributes to a significant portion of the economy, and thousands of harvesters are out picking (Schlosser and Blatner, 1995) The diverse group of people out picking these mushrooms—commercial, wild mushroom harvesters—live on the fringes of society, are highly mobile, politically weak and largely understudied (Arora, 1999; McLain, 2002). Forest Service lands make up a large swath of the land harvesters pick on in Oregon. And the Forest Service, along with other federal agencies, has to make environmental justice part of its mission—the meaningful involvement and fair treatment of all people in policy decisions. Yet, the voices of the harvesters are missing in public planning processes that impact decisions made on the forest and there has been little investment in managing lands for mushrooms along with little research, inventory or basic monitoring by forest managers. For my research, I interviewed harvesters and land managers, and reviewed the Willamette National Forest’s natural resource documents for how they manage for wild mushrooms. Themes that emerged include a minimal consideration of the mushrooms and the wild mushroom industry, restricting harvesters’ access to the forest, and a focus on managing for timber. All of this suggests an undue burden placed on harvesters because the Willamette NF is not managing for mushrooms. I conclude that the Willamette NF cannot manage the forest in an environmentally just way if they do not consider the commercial, wild mushroom industry and work to involve the harvesters in management decisions.

Spectral Prose: Reading the Object in Icelandic and American Literature

Presenter(s): Maxfield Lydum − English

Faculty Mentor(s): Brian Gazaille

Oral Session 3O

Research Area: Humanities

Object-oriented ontology (OOO), a development that has become particularly useful in ecological philosophy, seeks to understand the way in which objects exist and act upon one another. OOO views existence as lying in an irreducible rift between the appearance and essence of objects. Timothy Morton has recently formulated this theory of causality into a philosophy of ecological awareness in the Anthropocene. Drawing from Morton’s recent books Realist Magic (Open Humanities 2013), Dark Ecology (Columbia 2016), and Humankind (Verso 2017), I attempt to unravel the ontological presuppositions that have guided certain trends in the development of western prose writing. Chief among these presuppositions is a view of objects as subservient to the personal, economic, and literary interests of humans, an ontological hierarchy that Morton argues is the greatest barrier to ecological awareness. Tracing a line from the Icelandic family saga tradition into the works of Herman Melville and Ken Kesey, I argue for the long prose form as an environment of ecological attunement, a narrative arena in which objects can exist in the spectral interplay of appearance and essence. By analyzing these seemingly disparate occasions of prose writing under the interpretive lens of OOO, we begin to understand the way in which the existence of objects in the narrative sphere allows for a possible future of ecological awareness.

Sa’di and the Safavid: The Material Culture of a Treasured Persian Manuscript Now at UO

Presenter(s): Elmira Louie − Comparative Literature, English

Faculty Mentor(s): Vera Keller

Oral Session 3O

Research Area: Humanities

This talk offers a material cultural analysis of a hitherto unstudied Persian manuscript in UO’s collection, identifying the city and cultural context of its production. This manuscript went on an incredible journey. In 1615 CE, the Burgess MS 43 manuscript of Sa’di’s Gulistan and Bustan was created in Persia. At some point in its life, the manuscript was transported to Europe, where the original Persian leather binding was swapped for a more European style: soft, red velvet with two silver clasps. According to a book seller’s catalogue entry, this manuscript once belonged to John Ruskin, the preeminent art theorist of Victorian England; the binding of the manuscript, which its not typical for Persian bindings, suggests the Orientalist lens through which it was once viewed. Using the approaches of material culture studies and the history of the book, this talk recoups the manuscript from its Orientalist past and restores it to its original culture of production and consumption in the Safavid book arts. Taking a journey back to the 17th century Persian context reveals that this manuscript was created by a team of artists, illuminators, and scribes in a Shiraz kitabkhana for a member of the wealthy elite.

Picture This: The Role of Digital Storytelling in Motivating Action for Refugee Relief

Presenter(s): Mitra Lebuhn Lebuhn − International Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Melissa Graboyes, Stephen Wooten

Oral Session 1C

Research Area: Humanitarian Communication, International Studies, Psychology, Social Science

Funding: Presidential Scholarship, Summit Scholarship, SIT study abroad scholarship

It is often assumed that powerful photographs and film footage have the ability to move viewers in the developed population to action. Frank Fournier, the photographer who captured the face of 13-year-old Omayra Sanchez in her last hours of life, said, “I believe the photo helped raise money from around the world in aid and helped highlight the irresponsibility and lack of courage of the country’s leaders (BBC, 2005).” His statement encompasses the common perspective that imagery can motivate action, but there is a lack in data regarding this transition from emotion to action. This study is concerned with the effectiveness of various digital storytelling appeals (shock effect, positive images, and post-humanitarian communication) in encouraging agency in refugee relief efforts. Refugees are perhaps more distant from the donor population than any other victimized group, and have struggled through periods of severe anti-refugee sentiments that have made the collection of aid and process of reintegration challenging. The extreme discourse between populations and the ever-growing number of displaced persons makes refugees the ideal population to study. This study asks what in a digital story, particularly the imagery, motivates developed populations to not only react emotionally towards refugee issues but also make contributive action for refugee relief efforts? Through literature and interviews regarding image-evoked empathy, identity, and group influenced responding, and the analysis of photographs and digital storytelling platforms that unpack various imagery appeals, it is evident that image use for humanitarian campaigns has evolved to it’s most effective form yet. This study explores how advancements in technology have brought forth digital storytelling, which combined with the implementation of the post- humanitarian communication appeal generates evocative and accessible campaigns that fit the framework necessary to motivate action for refugees relief more effectively and ethically than has been done in the past.

A Feasibility Report on the Use of Urine Diverting Container-Based Sanitation Toilets in Post-Earthquake Disaster Scenarios

Presenter(s): Indigo Larson − Planning Public Policy And Management

Faculty Mentor(s): Kory Russel, Josh Bruce

Oral Session 4M

Research Area: Disaster Planning, Sanitation Management

This project investigates the feasibility of using container-based sanitation (CBS) toilets in place of standard toilet and sewer systems in the event of major earthquakes. Container-based sanitation refers to a system where toilets collect human excreta, are sealed and then are transported to a treatment facility. The focus of this project is urine diversion toilets, in which urine and feces are collected in separate sealable containers to be treated separately. Though these toilets were originally implemented in communities where running water is not common, there is evidence to support the idea that these toilets have direct application in the post-earthquake disaster scenarios. The Eugene, Oregon post-Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake scenario projects that piped water systems will be unusable for upwards of a year. Through an examination of the use of these and similar toilets in case studies in Japan, New Zealand and Haiti after large earthquakes, it is clear that urine diverting container based toilets are a viable solution for post-earthquake sanitation management . Researching and understanding proper sanitation management techniques for after natural disasters is crucial for successful public health and environmental and human dignity protection in a particularly vulnerable time. Container-based toilets have the potential to facilitate safe, easy and cost effective sanitation management during disaster recovery periods after major earthquakes in Eugene and throughout the world.

Text to Table: Everything Is About Lemon Meringue Pie

Presenter(s): Ashley Kim − Biology, Environmental Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Barbara Mossberg

Oral Session 3O

Research Area: Humanities

Food sustains all human life. It allows the human body to function in its most basic form, but can also bring joy with the right combination of ingredients. In Dr. Barbara Mossberg’s “Helpful Banana Bread”, she explores the role of nature in food through cooking, but also the role of humans in the food cycle of nature itself. By allowing the audience to share her recipes, experiences in the kitchen, and memories of nature, she gives readers new insight to the seemingly simple acts of cooking and eating. All life on Earth works together to maintain the complex environment that sustains human life itself. Bringing the experiences in this book to an audience in a non-traditional format (in this case, food) will help them share in the moments that the author came to her realizations about the relationship of nature and food. In turn, the audience has the opportunity to come to these realizations themselves. Since the author describes her memories of eating and cooking in such vivid detail, just reading these experiences make the audience feel as if they were experiencing it themselves. Physically being able to taste and smell the same foods she enjoys in the same manner she suggests elevates the audience’s experience of the book and the world around them. This translation is much more immersive than solely reading traditional literature because it allows the audience to have the experiences as the author, allowing them to understand the human role and impact on nature through food.

Climate Change, Water Policy, and Society in the Peruvian Andes

Presenter(s): Rennie Kendrick − Biology

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Oral Session 1M

Research Area: Social Science/Humanities

Climate change has posed a threat to fresh water supplies, which has worsened conflicts over water. Simultaneously, corporations have strategically offered water privatization schemes as a solution to climate change problems. Although privatization may benefit key economic interests, a review of literature examining its impact on water users in Peru as a
case study and its impact on the environment at large, calls into question the viability of this model. I argue that water privatization in Peru has produced negative social impacts on water access, including reduced water access for certain groups, violation of traditional meanings of water, and changes to water’s legal character. More broadly, the privatization of water resources represents a larger flaw in current approaches to climate change, which often rely on market-based solutions over governmental regulation. Because market-based solutions rely on the integrity of private actors, these private actors may, and often do, make decisions that further undermine the natural environment. An understanding of both the negative social and environmental impacts of water privatization will eventually lead to creation of new forms of water governance in the face of climate change and social inequities.

William Morris as Collector: Analyzing Two Volumes in the Special Collections University Archives

Presenter(s): Sadie Kavalier − Accounting

Faculty Mentor(s): Vera Keller

Oral Session 3SW

Research Area: History

William Morris wore many hats: publisher, socialist advocate, craftsman, poet. However, Morris’ private library remains one of the most understudied aspects of his illustrious career. We hold two volumes from his own library in our SCUA collection, which spawned this research into the driving factors behind his choice of books for his personal collection. Through an analysis of both these volumes and those that Morris printed himself at the Kelmscott Press, I have taken a holistic approach to analyzing these copies for their content, typography, and imagery. Further analysis revealed that the type of these books
is similar with Morris’ gothic preferences and that the main reason for his purchase of them was an affinity for the style of their respective publishers, Wynkyn de Worde and Johannes Mentelin. This research offers a glimpse into the mind of William Morris as collector and helps illuminate the preferences that drove the selection of his private library.