Marine ecosystems are vulnerable to anthropogenic influences due to increased stresses from climate change and habitat destruction. Fish farming, aquaculture, and the pollutants of antibiotics and organic matter produced by them are one influence that has been observed to affect local marine wildlife leading to increased resistance to bacterial pathogens and increased algae cover. Rocky Intertidal Zones of the Pacific Northwest are environments that are under intense thermal and desiccation stresses. The unique organisms that inhabit these areas have adapted to live under these high stress conditions. I researched the effects of fish farms and oyster farms on the health of rocky intertidal communities, by quantifying shifts in species richness and biodiversity, near the aquaculture sites. The research took place in Barkley Sound between January 26th and February 2nd in 2013 on rocky beaches near fish farms, oyster farms, and control sites away from aquaculture locations. Ecosystem health was determined by evaluating species richness, bio diversity, and presence of keystone predator, Pisaster ochraceus, using standard quadrant surveys. I collected water samples for Solid Phase Extraction and Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry to determine concentrations of anthropogenic antibiotics released from fish farms. I hypothesized that the presence of antibiotics will decrease biodiversity and species richness in rocky intertidal communities. Determining what effect and how strong of an impact these influences have on the environment may help define future environmental policies and fish farming protocols.

Metallothionein (MT) is produced by benthic invertebrates in response to metal pollution, and as such provides a valuable tool for monitoring metal contamination impacts in Puget Sound. In this study, we explored the degree of correlation between MT in benthic invertebrates and metal contamination both in the field and in the lab. Seven stations were sampled, including five in Commencement Bay, an industrial harbor, and two control sites near the less impacted Nisqually delta. MT concentrations in collective samples of benthic worms were analyzed and compared with metal concentrations (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) found in sediments to determine the benthic response to metal stress in situ. In addition, sediments were collected from all stations and used in a lab validation study exposing clean polychaete worms, Alitta virens (formerly Nereis virens), to metals in the sediments for 21 days in order to determine how the proteins develop in a controlled environment absent of normal adaptive responses. Both the collective sample of worms and Alitta virens were analyzed for MT concentrations using a published spectrophotometric method. Results indicated that average MT concentrations for in situ worms and metals concentrations Cu, Pb, and Zn at the Point Defiance station were higher than other stations. This is suggestive of a relationship between metals in the sediment and MT in the worms, although in some cases, the pattern is complicated by the bioavailability of metals as reflected with grain size. Quantifying MT allows for measurement of the bioavailability of metals, which can be difficult to quantify in other ways, such as directly sampling sediments. The use of MT in marine worms as a bioindicator of metal stress may be beneficial in monitoring the health of Puget Sound.

Heavy metal pollution from a smelter in Trail, British Columbia may be a source of anthropogenic Pb contamination in northeastern Washington lakes. This smelter, located near the Canadian border, has been operating since 1895. It dumps slag – waste created during smelting – into the Columbia River, and emits metals into the atmosphere. We analyzed sediment samples from lakes in northeastern Washington to determine the source of anthropogenic Pb. Determining whether smelter Pb travels via airways and contaminates the environment is a critical health issue. We measured Pb isotope ratios of lake sediments on a multiple-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, following acid dissolution of the samples and separation of the Pb. Lead isotope ratios provide a tool to trace anthropogenic Pb. Pb206, Pb207, and Pb208 are daughter products of U238, U235, and Th232, respectively. Pb204 is not produced by radioactive decay. Each parent isotope has a different half-life, so different geological sources have different relative amounts of each Pb isotope. This gives every Pb source its own Pb isotope fingerprint. No natural processes alter the fingerprint of a Pb source after industrial processing. Therefore, we can test for smelter emissions in lake sediments. Lake sediments contain natural and anthropogenic Pb. In Pb207/204 vs. Pb206/204 space, Pb from slag samples has relatively low values, with Pb206/204 ratios from 16.7-17.4. Natural Cascade Pb has much higher isotopic ratios with Pb206/204 ratios of 18.5-19.0. Lake sediment Pb covers most of this range, with Pb206/204 ratios from 17.02-18.32. All analyzed samples contain significant anthropogenic Pb. Lakes closer to the smelter generally show higher contributions of anthropogenic Pb concentrations. Additionally, the gradation in anthropogenic Pb contamination forms a pattern expected from prevailing winds transporting smelter emissions. The Pb isotope data provide strong evidence for airborne Pb contamination of some Washington lakes from the Trail, British Columbia smelter.

The Clean Water Act (CWA) divides water pollution into two categories based on source: point sources (discernible end of pipe discharges), or nonpoint sources (diffuse runoff including agricultural nutrients/sediments). But federal regulatory provisions for the enforcement of water pollution control are made only for the point source pollutants. The primary reason for the resulting voluntary basis of federal nonpoint source pollution laws is the inherent land use controls required to regulate landowner practice. Authority to regulate land use is traditionally left to State governments in the American federalist division of powers, and consequently nonpoint source pollution control has also been delegated to State authority in the CWA. The federal government only addresses nonpoint water pollution through planning provisions which incentivize State programs and landowner compliance with federal funds. The CWA can be used as a case study for the statutory limits of federal authority to regulate land use in order to reveal the political culture driving this federalist division which preserves agricultural landowner property rights. Furthermore, an internship at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided unique insight into the consequent regulatory limitations of the nonpoint source distinction, but also into the internal regulatory culture which mirrored the same federalist land regulation issue, highlighting similar underlying cultural choices. At the EPA there is still some discretion for State program funding along a spectrum of regulatory or assistive approaches to agricultural environmental policy. Therefore, the federalist boundaries for nonpoint pollution control can be compared in statute (CWA) and administrative practice (EPA) to juxtapose the cultural drivers for policy. Both cases reflect an established political culture of property rights that is sacred in the history of federal agricultural policy.

The successful growth of a plant is dependent on many variables, such as location, extent of available resources, competition by other plants, and reproductive success; what if there was a way a plant could almost guarantee survival and success? Many invasive species have found ways to be very successful; Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) has developed allelopathy, which can decrease surrounding plants germination rates and ability to grow. In my experiment I will attempt to determine if different populations of garlic mustard have variations in allelopathic strength. At least ten samples of garlic mustard from three different locations throughout Seattle will be grown, along with ten control lettuce plants. The three sites for this experiment are Seola Park, Woodland Park, and the University of Washington. Throughout the experiment I will try to figure out if the lettuce seeds germination rate and growth abilities are affected as a result of the garlic mustard. I will plant lettuce seeds in with garlic mustard and analyze the germination rates compared to the control samples, and at the end of my experiment I will harvest the lettuce and garlic mustard samples, and they will be biomassed. The data collected will be analyzed for significant results. My hypothesis for this experiment is that the sites in which the garlic mustard has been present the longest will have the greatest negative effect on the lettuce plants; but, because I don't know how long each population has been established I believe the Seola Park location, because it had the largest garlic mustard population, will have the largest effect on the lettuce.

Combining wildlife tracking skills with motion-sensitive cameras, environmental anthropology students can provide practical results for stakeholders who are seeking to provide sustainable solutions to human-wildlife intersections and inform land management decisions. In 2010, the Learn and Serve Environmental Anthropology Field (LEAF) School at Edmonds & Everett Community Colleges partnered with Snohomish County Public Works to monitor a wildlife passage: a 4’x4’ box culvert installed in a new road alignment in Granite Falls, WA. The passage connects a five-acre wetland, a mitigation site for the County, with a larger wetland complex associated with the floodplains of the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River, designated critical habitat for Puget Sound Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Coastal-Puget Sound Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus). Research results show the culvert being utilized by targeted low-mobility species and Columbian Black-tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus), who was thought to be too large to access the passage. July 2011 photos show the first does with their fawns using the passage to cross between the wetland and the riparian corridor. Summer 2012 data shows the return of the does as well as two adolescent bucks accessing the passage. Two years of data appear to show the black-tailed deer are willing to adapt to and use this size of culvert. Through the application of a service-learning strategy students are investigating the effectiveness of the structure and considering whether current land use issues may compromise the long term viability of the wildlife corridor. This research sets the stage for continued citizen science and community outreach projects in Granite Falls. These citizen-science projects become even more critical as populations push into the rural areas of the Pacific Northwest.