2019 – Page 15 – Undergraduate Research Symposium Abstracts

Referential communication task in a naturalistic setting

Presenter(s): Aaron Macarthur

Faculty Mentor(s): Dare Baldwin & Netanel Weinstein

Oral Session 3 C

Reaching shared understanding in conversation is an important part of daily life. Various mechanisms facilitate this achievement including: the ability to engage in perspective taking, sensitivity to gaze, sharing attention, and making pragmatic inferences about an interlocutor’s intent. Prior research on this topic has prioritized experimental control over ecological validity by placing participants in highly constrained situations. We addressed these limitations in the present study by correlating performance in a modified referential communication task with participants’ performance on several standard personality and socio-cognitive measures. Specifically, pairs of participants were placed on either side of a shelf with a series of cells and prepared a cake from a given recipe card. Some of the cells on the shelf were visible to only one participant or the other, while some cells were visible to both. We measured participants use of various disambiguation strategies (e.g. gaze checking or making a clarification request) and examine whether performance on standard socio-cognitive measures predict these behaviors. This research helped shed light on the relationship between standard decontextualized socio- cognitive measures and real-life social interaction as well as the extent to which these measures predict individual differences in the way people achieve shared understanding in conversation.

Investigating amino acid-modulated motility of the zebrafish bacterial isolate, Aeromonas veronii

Presenter(s): Emily Ma

Faculty Mentor(s): Cathy Robinson & Karen Guillemin

Poster 53

Session: Sciences

Animals are colonized by communities of microorganisms that influence the health and development of their host. However, the mechanisms of host colonization are still underexplored. To investigate this, previous work in the lab used experimental evolution to adapt a bacterial symbiont, Aeromonas, to the zebrafish gut. These experiments led to the identification of a novel gene, spdE, which significantly impacts host colonization. We found that evolved isolates with mutations in spdE had faster rates of motility and increased host immigration. Sequence analysis revealed that the protein, SpdE, has a domain for sensing extracellular signals and a diguanylate cyclase domain which produces an intercellular signaling molecule that regulates motility. Further biochemical investigation identified that the signal SpdE senses is hydrophobic amino acids, specifically proline, valine, and isoleucine. To further investigate the relationship between SpdE-dependent Aeromonas motility and environmental amino acids, we developed a new technique (“exploration assay”) which is designed to measure differences in motility between strains or conditions. Using the exploration assay, we compared motility of wild type and spdE knockout strains in different amino acid environments. From our results, we found that the wild type strain is more motile in the presence of these amino acids. However, even in the absence of amino acid signal, the spdE knockout is more motile than the wild type. From these data, we have created a model for how SpdE regulates motility in response to amino acids which offers novel insights into Aeromonas biology and the mechanisms of host colonization.

Structure-Activity Relationship Study of the Ortho and Para Positions of Azide Triggers in Self-Immolative Thiocarbamate Donors

Presenter(s): Rachel Lutz

Faculty Mentor(s): Michael Pluth & Carolyn Levinn

Poster 14

Session: Sciences

Since the discovery of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as a gasotransmitter in the body, there has been a need for organic donors which can release H2S to mimic its endogenous release in cells. H2S is a key molecule for signaling in the body, is a known vasodilator, and is also involved in promoting cell healing. It is important to learn as much as we can about the relationship between structure and activity of H2S donors so that donor design can be optimized. In this study, we used two self- immolative thiocarbamate donors with azide triggers in the ortho and para positions to observe how the position of the trigger affects the rate of H2S release. When the self-immolative thiocarbamate donors are triggered they produce carbonyl sulfide (COS) as a precursor for H2S. The COS is then converted to hydrogen sulfide via carbonic anhydrase (CA) enzyme. Through a methylene blue assay, we were able to measure the rate of release of H2S of both the ortho and para donors. Structural analysis of these donors will allow for more fine-tuning of H2S donors and a better understanding of how to develop fine-tuned donors.

A Woman’s Voice: Methods and Obstacles of Feminist Translation in Persian, Spanish, and Turkish Poetry

Presenter(s): Elmira Louie

Faculty Mentor(s): Leah Middlebrook & Michael Allan

Oral Session 3 O

One feature of poetry is its ability to prompt words to create meaning in unusual ways. A striking example appears in a twentieth-century Persian poem, where a seemingly innocuous word like “hair” carries an unexpected meaning that inscribes gender in a language without gendered pronouns. Drawing from the area of inquiry of feminist translation theory, I track the work of three key poets: the Spanish Rosalía de Castro, the Persian Forugh Farrokhzad, and the Turkish Gülten Akın. I argue that feminist translation theory, when expanded beyond its current Eurocentric frame, reshapes conventional understandings of gender. My project works to dismantle misogynistic aspects of patriarchal language through translation, and uses the process of transference to reclaim the “feminine” voice through women poets writing under cultural marginalization. At the same time, I offer my own alternative feminist translations as a means to examine the implications of transnational feminist translation for world literature writ large. My ambition for this project is thus additive and transformative of both feminist translation theory and poetics.

White Oak (Quercus garryana) Habitat Monitoring and Management: Thurston Hills Natural Area (THNA)

Presenter(s): Marinn Longenecker

Co Presenter(s): Kristi Thompson, Nick Pierson, Sakina Shahid, Jane Yeoman, Seth Arbogast, David Josi, Sarah Cudworth, Marie Moore, Marina Harrington

Faculty Mentor(s): Peg Boulay & Sara Worl

Oral Session 2 CLN

Prior to European colonization, Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) savannas and woodlands were a prominent ecosystem across the Pacific Northwest (Devine and Harrington 2013). Presently, their area is reduced by 97% in the Willamette Valley (Pritchard et al. 2017) as a result of reduced fire frequency, introduced species, and mismanagement (Devine and Harrington 2013). Land managers are increasingly adopting active management for oak savanna restoration in order to support biodiversity. Primary actions include the removal of invasives, underbrush, and competing conifers. Establishing baseline data on forest composition and health is required for informed and adaptive management decisions. At Thurston Hills Natural Area (THNA), a team of students from University of Oregon’s Environmental Leadership Program conducted a survey of Oregon white oaks to establish a baseline for use in restoration management decisions by Willamalane Park and Recreation District. Data was collected on the location, health, and threats to mature oak trees within the study area. Additionally, qualitative observations about wildlife, natural features, and neighboring vegetation were recorded to help evaluate recreational opportunities. This data was used to create detailed maps of THNA forests, and compile a detailed database of oak trees. As a comprehensive baseline, these deliverables provide the means for developing, implementing, and evaluating effectiveness of restoration management strategies.

Student or Teacher? A look at how students facilitate public sensemaking during collaborative group work

Presenter(s): Michelle Lo

Faculty Mentor(s): Jennifer Ruef

Oral Session 4 C

As institutions strive to develop equitable classrooms, educators must consider what features equitable classrooms include. One such feature is the equitable distribution of authority and agency among students. Authority is the level of provided opportunities for making decisions during a mathematical task, the type of method to use in solving a problem, or the pace of learning, whereas agency is the power to carry out self-made decisions on a mathematical task. Equitable distribution of authority and agency can be enhanced in mathematics classrooms where students participate in discourse as an active member of the classroom. Students in these mathematics classes are asked to publicly make sense of mathematics. In other words, they are asked to participate in public sensemaking, where students understand and acknowledge one another’s ideas as well as mistakes, present and revise arguments, and take risks by sharing ideas.

This study strives to answer the following questions: “How are students positioned during mathematical group work in public sensemaking classrooms?” and “How does this positioning impact the distribution of agency and authority?” Students are commonly positioned as an expert, novice, or facilitator in the group. Data comes from existing video footage of sixth-grade students in a mathematics class, as well as interviews from these students. Qualitative data from videos and interviews were transcribed and coded. Results in one group show that one student is positioned as a clear expert-facilitator, but there is no obvious novice. However, the student, similar to the teacher of the classroom, distributes authority and agency to other members of the group. This research intends to inform teachers of the positioning patterns that may occur during group work, and the effectiveness of public sensemaking classrooms on distributing authority and agency equitably during group work.

A Sustainable Growing Method for Everyone

Presenter(s): Cristoff Ligon

Co Presenter(s): Gavin Bradley

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Stoeckl

Poster 176

Session: Environmental Leaders ARC

During the Winter 2019 term and the Spring 2019 term, the Community of Environmental Leaders hydroponics team has been hard at work building and maintaining hydroponics systems in the University of Oregon GrowPod. Hydroponics is an easy and cheap growing method that does not require the use of soil to raise plants, more specifically food such as leafy greens, mint or any other edible plant organically and with a minimal impact to the environment. The hydroponics team built three Deep Water Cultures in order to grow lettuce, mint and tomatoes. We used five-gallon buckets, small air pumps, plastic baskets and finally Growrock, a lightweight, expanded clay aggregate as the growing medium. Our result was beautiful, lush and not to mention delicious leaves of lettuce and will most likely result in tomatoes and mint in the near future. Hydroponics can easily be integrated into any home as it is inexpensive, easy to maintain, very sustainable, and requires little knowledge of how to grow food traditionally. This will inspire and educate people to add hydroponics into their home so they can achieve a smaller carbon footprint and live a more sustainable life.

The Effect of Geography on Genome-Wide Patterns in Mimulus Aurantiacus

Presenter(s): Conner Lane

Faculty Mentor(s): Matt Streisfeld

Poster 58

Session: Sciences

Characterizing patterns of the genome for species spanning a large geographic space may influence the way we understand evolutionary differences between populations. For example, areas of the genome that are highly differentiated and are presumed to result from natural selection may instead arise from genome properties such as low diversity that exaggerate the differences between populations. As a first step towards making conclusions about natural selection in Mimulus aurantiacus, a phenotypically diverse plant occurring continuously across Southern California, we tested for correlations between genome statistics to characterize ways in which properties of the genome may be contributing to differences between populations. As an example, we expect high within-population diversity (π) to mask “real” differences between populations, leading to a lower differentiation score (FST), which we did observe. We also expected this negative relationship between π and FST to grow stronger with higher distance corresponding to more “real” differences to be masked by the within-population variation, which we only observed weak patterns of. This trend of correlations existing but only being weakly associated with geographic distance held true for all statistical comparisons. We conclude that M. aurantiacus does display specific genome properties that may act as confounding variables for processes we wish to examine such as natural selection. However, these patterns do not strongly correlate with greater isolation due to distance, indicating that genome properties may have less of an effect on distantly related populations than we might have otherwise assumed.

Population size mediates mating effects on lifespan in female C. elegans

Presenter(s): Ruben Lancaster

Faculty Mentor(s): Katja Kasimatis & Patrick Phillips

Poster 10

Session: Sciences

Mating is vital for sexually reproducing species, yet the ideal mating strategy for males and females can differ. The ensuing conflict between the sexes results in negative population fitness effects. Previous studies in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans show that a male-skewed sex ratio during mating causes female lifespan decreases, indicative of sexual conflict. However, these studies do not reflect ecologically relevant mating conditions on which sexual selection and sexual conflict are acting. Therefore, I conducted population-based mating assays using both natural and male-skew sex ratios. I found no effect of mating on lifespan relative to virgin females in either sex ratio condition in two different strains of C. elegans. My results identify population size as a potential mediator of mating effects on female lifespan and highlight the need for ecologically relevant conditions for understanding life-history traits.

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