The composition and abundance of lipids preserved in lake sediments provides information on the past environment, and changes in this geochemical signal through time may be driven by climate. To understand precipitation changes in the Pacific over the last few thousand years, sediment cores have been collected from lakes on multiple islands, including Poza de Los Diablos and Pozas Verdes on Isabela Island in the Galapagos. Lipids from these sediment cores were solvent-extracted, individual compounds were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and abundances of these compounds were quantified using a gas chromatograph-flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Poza de Los Diablos data reveal elevated concentrations of both middle and long chain-length n-alkanes from approximately 1450 to 1850 AD, and indicate an enhanced contribution of material from both aquatic and terrestrial plants during this interval, which may be caused by shifting hydrologic patterns. However, these changes might also reflect a local event such as an altered flow path for surface water due to river or wave erosion. To improve our understanding of paleoenvironmental changes indicated by the Poza de los Diablos data, lipids from cores taken from nearby Pozas Verdes were also extracted and analyzed by GC-MS and GC-FID. Due to their close proximity (<1 km), any climate event that affected Posa de Los Diablo would have also affected Pozas Verdes, but with significantly different modern salinity (Diablos = 10, Verdes = 40) and ecology, each lake is likely to have responded quite differently to changing precipitation patters. By analyzing both records together we seek to improve our interpretation of the past environment.

The Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) is listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) due to small population size, and limited breeding range. The Short-tailed Albatross (STAL) breeds on Torishima and Minami-kojima Islands off Japan and migrates to Alaskan waters during the summer. The NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Observer Program, in collaboration with the USFWS, instructs observers to carry out seabird monitoring activities in addition to their recording of bycatch during fishing operations. Using Observer Program seabird sightings and vessel-bird interaction data from 1993-2009, we examined potential vessel interaction threats to the recovery of the population, as well as the frequency and geographic expansion of Short-tailed Albatross sightings. Our data indicate that Short-tailed Albatross sightings increased more than the Short-tailed Albatross population during this time period (6.5% population growth per year), with observer days remaining relatively stable. We also found that incidences of discard feeding and/or vessel following are not increasing disproportionately to population size as the population continues to grow, thus it is unlikely that vessel interactions threaten the STAL population recovery. Lastly, we found that the sightings of Short-tailed Albatross show an eastward expansion since 1993, thus suggesting an expansion of this species within their historic range.

Illustrations of the Irish dating from the Victorian era were often layered with political commentary, making it important to differentiate between the art of caricature and that of cartoons. A defining characteristic of caricature is the emphasis on the grotesque, whereas in cartoons it is associated with comedic content. This research will examine the hidden nature of British political cartoons that demeaned the character of the Irish by veiling caricature under the guise of comedy. Through analysis of political caricatures from the mid to late-nineteenth century British publication Punch magazine, I will trace the emergence of the use of crude simian imagery to portray the Irish. The horrific appearance of such caricature had its basis in political suppression and was implemented in order to rationalize British sovereignty over Ireland. The art of caricature was a common tool for cartoonists, such as John Tenniel, to promote stereotypes and false sciences regarding the Irish. These caricatures also have far reaching implications, which went beyond the confines of the United Kingdom. Emigrating along with Irish immigrants, who fled their nation during the Great Famine, the stereotypical depictions of the Irish extended into the United States and even impacted the Kennedy administration. Caricature in America perpetuated the second-class status of Irish immigrants and created obstacles on the path toward assimilation.

When massive stars reach the end of their lives, they erupt in enormous explosions known as supernovae, leaving behind clouds of shocked gas and dust known as supernova remnants (SNR). The primary technique to measure the mass of the progenitor star requires waiting for the star to explode and examining pre-explosion Hubble Space Telescope archival images of the site, which may or may not exist. This technique is constrained by rarity of supernovae, and as such only ~25 progenitors have any mass constraint whatsoever in the literature. We employ an alternative technique in which we examine color-magnitude diagrams of the regions surrounding known supernovae to measure their star formation history. We then use this star formation history to assign an age to the progenitor star.  By employing stellar evolution models, we convert this age to a mass. Because we do not rely on identification of the specific progenitor star in the images, we are free to apply our technique to cataloged SNR, drastically increasing the number of available targets. We apply our method to ~135 cataloged remnants in the nearby spiral galaxies M31 and M33, representing a dramatic increase in the number of currently known masses. We examine the distribution of these derived masses and comment on implications for supernova physics.

 Postcards, as the modern Western world knows them, function as tools for communication, providing evidence of a supposedly successful touristic experience. Acting as an essentialized idea of a location, postcards are bought as an artifact by tourists to qualify their experience yet are inherently misleading in not only their apparent sense of direct contact with the peoples of a different location but with their supposed depiction of photographic reality.By extensively analyzing modern literature regarding postcards, anthropological literature on tourist motivations,and hundreds of individual postcards, this research examines how the work of 20th century British photographer John Hinde depicts Ireland as a fantasy, thereby transcending the nature of the already illusory postcard to altogether loftier heights of deception. By making deliberate, significant enhancements and manipulations in composition, color, and subject, Hinde created postcards of an idyllic Ireland that amplified the unreal in the name of both economy and pleasure. Hinde’s postcards were especially problematic because of the ultimate illusion they constructed. This imagined fantasy as constructed by Hinde further disconnects the tourist from the reality of the place they are visiting, allowing their use of the false images as evidence, ultimately reflecting the inevitable failure of the tourist: to really understand the place they are visiting. The significance of this research lies in examining the futility of being a tourist and how visual representation can further complicate cross-cultural experiences. It is important for all people, tourists in particular, to question and become aware of how images can influence their perceptions and motivations.

Previous studies have found that certain lipids in mangrove leaves can be useful indicators for the presence and abundance of mangroves in the geologic past. Certain lipids found in mangroves have the potential to be excellent biomarkers (i.e. molecular fossils) for paleoclimate reconstructions. These reconstructions based on sediment cores are important in determining past sea level changes and local climactic conditions. Although certain sterols and triterpenols can be good biomarkers of mangroves, it is often unclear what function they serve. In this study, I investigated how salinity of surrounding water influences lipid distributions in different species of mangroves. To achieve these goals, I created an artificial tidal cycle in four tubs of differing salinities. Within each tub I cultivated four species of mangrove propagules (Rhizophora apiculata, Rhizophora mangle, Laguncularia racemosa, and Avicennia germinans). The mangroves were grown to a harvest size of ten leaves and then processed to analyze lipid distributions within leaves and stems of each plant via gas chromatography techniques. These mangroves cope with living in saline conditions with different mechanisms (i.e. secreting, excluding). By comparing the differences of lipid distributions of mangroves with different salt management strategies, I will determine if there is a correlation between these two factors.

The fact that hydrogen isotope deuterium/protium (D/H) ratios in algal lipids co-vary with their surrounding water D/H ratios is well established. Paleoclimatologists have taken advantage of this relationship in their compound-specific D/H analyses, but little is known about the individual environmental parameters, such as temperature, salinity, light levels, and nutrient concentrations that influence D/H fractionation. Laboratory experiments conducted with batch cultured green algae, Eudorina unicocca and Volvox aureus, grown at temperatures of 15°C and 25°C suggest that there is increased fractionation with increased temperature. The work presented here aims to elucidate the magnitude of D/H fractionation in a natural population of algae where temperature is the primary environmental variable. We hypothesize that D/H fractionation will also increase with rising temperatures under natural conditions and that D/H fractionation will be greatest during the summer months. To test this relationship, surface water is sampled from Lake Washington Ship Canal once a month for one year, with a surface temperature range from ~8°C in February to ~24°C in August. Phytoplankton are filtered from the water, and lipids are extracted and analyzed by gas-chromatography isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-IRMS) to determine the extent of D/H fractionation. To date, samples have been collected and analyzed for three out of twelve months. The results from this research, as well as the results of similar experiments with other environmental parameters, will give paleoclimatologists accurate modern-day calibrations to apply to the analysis of lipids extracted from sediment cores in order to reveal climatic variations for the past.