Substance use in adolescence is a serious societal problem that results in a variety of severe negative consequences for youth. There is a growing body of research that examines substance use, consequences, and psychological dysregulation, but little that examines all three variables together. In order to understand reasons for why adolescent substance users continue to use despite negative consequences, the current study examined the relationship between substance use, consequences, and psychological dysregulation, with psychological dysregulation as a potential mediator between substance use and consequences. The participants were 123 adolescent substance users. Participants completed assessments to measure criteria such as substance-use quantity, substance-use related consequences, and psychological dysregulation, which was further broken down into affective dysregulation, behavioral dysregulation, and cognitive dysregulation. Alcohol-quantity at intake was found to be a significant predictor of consequences, with psychological dysregulation as a significant mediator in the relationship. Marijuana-quantity at intake was not found to be a significant predictor of consequences, but when psychological dysregulation was added as a second predictor variable, it was found to significantly predict consequences. Additionally, alcohol-quantity at intake was significantly correlated with behavioral dysregulation through the aspects of impulsivity, inattention, hyperactivity, and aggression; affective dysregulation through the aspects of emotional reactivity and irritability; and cognitive dyregulation through the aspect of cognitive flexibility. These findings suggest that psychological dysregulation influences how substance users perceive their consequences, and that substance users are more likely to experience psychological dysregulation as a result of use. The results of this study indicate that psychological dysregulation plays an important role in why substance users continue to use despite consequences, and reveals one potential mechanism through which substance users interpret their consequences. Through further investigation, these findings have important societal implications and provide a basis to alter the methodology and theory behind the treatment of substance use disorders.

Three weeks into the Rwandan Genocide, the United States State Department Spokesman, Christine Shelley said that acts of genocide were occurring in Rwanda. When asked how many acts it takes to make it a genocide, she denied the question, saying that it was irrelevant. There is a plethora of synonyms for the term "genocide" and I seek to find to what extent this idea has evolved conceptually and why. The international community will not become involved in other country's affairs unless the crisis is defined as genocide, and so there is importance in understanding the concept. This research will allow a greater understanding of what “genocide” entails, and when the international community must take action. I expect there to be a correlation between the development of human rights theory and the emergence of a broad range of words to characterize genocide. This link will be sought through observance of instances of mass atrocities and how they were characterized at the time. The term “genocide” did not come into use until the 1940’s, but there were genocide-like events since before this. These atrocities were labelled differently at the time, and so I will look into these definitions and how it could possibly be renamed today. Definitions provided in major treaties and documents will be considered. I will apply the changing labels for different atrocities to the evolution of human rights theory by considering the major human rights ideas at the time. I anticipate that as multiple crises ensued, human rights theory developed from the ancient religious views through the conception of natural law to the modern expression of human rights. As this theory developed, new terms emerged, conceptualizing the different catastrophes. Ultimately, human rights abuses led to a shift in human rights theory, prompting it to create new vocabulary for genocide.

Since 2009, students in First Creek Middle School's Environmental Science Club have been collecting water samples from a local creek running behind their campus as a part of an ongoing service learning partnership with the University of Washington Tacoma. These monthly samples, along with samples taken at two other locations along the stream, have been analyzed for several potential contaminants: select metals, nutrients, and emerging environmental contaminants known as perfluorinated organic acids. Analysis was conducted using various laboratory-grade analytical techniques and equipment including Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (GF-AAS), SmartChem Discrete Nutrient Analyzer, and Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LCMS). The results were compared with data spanning back to the beginning of the service learning project and correlated with rain events in order to track contaminant levels over time and identify the effects of stormwater on pollutant levels. These results are also being used to help Science Club students better understand environmental processes and challenges associated with ecological restoration, while encouraging advanced learning through classroom based analyses which they have conducted themselves. Through improved understanding of pollutant transport and stormwater contamination, results may also be useful in identifying and quantifying the need for further community-based stewardship programs designed to help improve Tacoma’s green spaces.

My research considers the importance of the universal values expressed in international human rights as crucial means to protect individual equality around the world, to affirm a country’s sovereignty in international relations, and evaluate the legitimacy of a domestic political system. The view that human rights are universal values has been rejected in many countries as an “idea of the West”, which has made it difficult for them to be accepted in other countries that do not share the same cultural backgrounds. However, in order to pursue peace in this anarchic world system and deal with problems of global inequality, it is crucial to develop mutual understanding among nations through the establishment of transnational laws and agreement on moral values. As a key to this process, this research will focus on the concepts of “mutual respect” and “understanding among peoples” and propose that “culture tolerance” is necessary to successfully establish and propagate universal values across borders. As example, I present both successful and non-successful cases of the US's attempt to promote democracy in the Middle East and North African countries by analyzing their policies and reactions to these paternalistic efforts to address violations of human rights. Finally, I mention the idea of “cultural tolerance” and explain how this idea can play a key role in the promotion of values that can be globally accepted.

This project will use historical and contemporary photographs to test the hypothesis that the average size of salmon has noticeably declined over the last two hundred years in the Salish Sea. Native Americans and early settlers described the population of salmon species in this area with metaphors such as, “you could walk across a river on their backs,” but quantitative measurements began long after human impacts had diminished their populations. The sizes and populations that we record today are drastically smaller than they once were. Salmonids that once weighed over one hundred pounds now weigh closer to twenty pounds, on average. It is believed that human impacts are to blame for the decline of these salmon species. Shifting baselines is the idea that the benchmark of fish size has shifted over the years. We are building upon the research of author Loren McClenachan, whose work was published in Conservation Biology (June, 2009) documenting the reduction of large fish in the Florida Keys. We will be using her methods of reviewing and collecting copies of historical photos to document the considerable decline in size of Pacific Northwest salmonids over time. This research is especially significant because it is the first application of McClenachan's methods to the Salish Sea. By acknowledging former baselines of size and population, we can improve our attempts at restoring our water ways and salmonid habitats.

Forests in the Appalachian Mountains are downwind from coal-fired power plants and other industrial sources in the Midwest, thus forests are exposed to relatively high concentrations of metal pollutants. Despite heightened public concern and tighter regulations to reduce anthropogenic pollutants, spruce-fir forests in the Appalachian Mountains are declining. In previous work at our study site, elevated phytochelatins were correlated with red spruce (Picea rubens) forest decline by altitude. Phytochelatins are metal-binding peptides synthesized from glutathione, from the precursor cysteine. Phytochelatins provide a sensitive and direct indication of metals stress at the cellular level. Metal analysis in soils can reflect historical metals deposition, while lichens can reflect recent deposition. In previous research, we studied metal stress and phytochelatin production in P. rubens from six mountains in the Appalachian Mountains. We found that patterns of foliar uptake and PC production are complex, but appear consistent with induction by Zn and Cd in organic soil. Our current purpose was to collect data along an elevational gradient on Whiteface Mountain, New York to supplement the east-west transect data collected previously and to characterize mycorrhizal fungus communities on sapling and mature tree roots. In recent work, we i) explored elevation patterns in the dominance of mycorrhizal species using PCR, DNA sequencing, and BLAST search; ii) measured Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn in organic soil, mineral soil and metals uptake in P. rubens foliage and lichens; and iii) assessed P. rubens phytochelatin, glutathione, and cysteine production in order to monitor ongoing changes in red spruce response to metals deposition. While there was a consistent trend of increasing Pb and Zn with elevation in mineral soils, reflecting historic deposition patterns, there was no evidence for any systematic variation in metals content of foliage with elevation. Phytochelatin and mycorrhizal analyses are ongoing.

Education has been understood as the gateway to a better life for many years, yet the view that it is a basic human right is a more recent conception. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, in its article 26: “Everyone has the right to education”. It is clear, based on this right, that global educational reform is a necessity in order to better the living conditions of all world citizens, a view that is supported by many people and organizations including UNESCO and NESRI. In this paper we will examine the roots of the educational system in America and compare it to other world nations in order to progress the national discussion surrounding a human right to education. Recently, with the surge of violence in the Middle East and a renewed concern for women's rights, the political implications of the “right to education” became more visible. It is no secret that the US has issues within its education system and national statistics presented by the NCES portray the current system’s failures by way of the children. The statistics reveal a deeper root problem: a disjunction between Americans’ beliefs that education is important and the concept of education as a fundamental human right. The national discussion surrounding this issue has been weak at best, and the outcome is a continuous dropout rate and children with limited options. What shall be the foundation of the educational system in the US? Based on the study of different conceptions of educational rights, and a focus on drop-out rates and their consequences in America, we will propose that a “human right to education” can be a new and powerful base for a national discussion. The results of this argument will have direct impact on the United States but will also have broader implications worldwide.  

Over half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. With that percentage increasing each year, enormous stress is put on the ecological health of freshwater lakes. Moreover, the urban poor are reliant on these resources for recreation and nutrition, while at the same time their health is increasingly threatened by harmful algal blooms caused by cultural eutrophication. Basic water quality monitoring data is sparse for many small lakes in Washington, despite heavy use by the public. Data collected on urban lakes using standard water quality tests are key to understanding how lakes across the country affected by anthropogenic pollution can be restored for public use. This study uses basic water quality monitoring data to determine trophic status of Wapato Lake in Tacoma, Washington. The lake has historic problems with toxic algae blooms, a result of anthropogenic nutrient input. Water samples were collected at various depths using a Niskin bottle for determination of total phosphorus and to visually identify important plankton species, both toxic and beneficial. Other water quality parameters were measured in situ, including Secchi depth and vertical profiles of temperature, specific conductivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and chlorophyll using a multiparameter water quality probe (HydroLab MS5 or Quanta). Aquatic birds were also counted each visit, as waterfowl were shown to contribute significant nutrients to the lake in a previous study. This year-long study is still in progress. Preliminary results indicate Wapato Lake is a non-stratified lake due to shallow depth, and a very productive lake, with Secchi depth between 1.25 and 2 meters for the duration of the study. In comparison with previous years, data show an increase in maximum total phosphorus concentrations, unchanged productivity as measured by Secchi depth, and a dramatic decrease in waterfowl present around the lake. Recommendations for improvements in water quality will be presented.

After removing the Elwha dam, sediments were exposed which pose a challenge for revegetation, due to lack of nutrients and organic matter. Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) are known to facilitate uptake of nutrients and water and therefore effective colonization of seedlings would be expected to promote seedling establishment, survival and growth. Seedlings were planted in nursery potting soil mixed with local forest soil, compared to potting soil alone, to determine whether this practice will promote colonization and diversity of EMF on Abies grandis (grand fir) and Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir) seedlings before outplanting at the Elwha restoration site. EMF species will be identified by examining morphology and then, for each morphotype, DNA extraction, PCR using ITS-1F and ITS-4 primers, and sequence analysis will be used to compare sequences to published fungal sequences using the BLAST algorithm. While molecular analyses are not yet complete, preliminary analysis of morphotypes revealed a consistent trend of increased diversity due to inoculation, based on an increased number of unique morphotypes per seedling, from 3.8 to 4.5 for grand fir, which was not significant, and from 4.2 to 5.6 for Douglas-fir, which was weakly significant (2 tailed t-test, p=0.093). This suggests that pre-inoculation with forest soil may promote colonization and therefore aid in restoration efforts.

Glacial advances and retreats are largely responsible for the current landscape of the Puget Lowland. Of interest to this study was a period of glacial retreat 15-60 thousand years ago. Nonglacial sediments deposited during this time, known as the Olympia Beds, are discontinuous throughout the South-Central Puget Sound region. Here we attempt to correlate between discontinuous outcrops of Olympia Beds based on mineralogy. Sediment samples were taken from outcrops along the SW shore of Commencement Bay and analyzed using X-ray powder defraction (XRD) to determine whether or not the mineral assemblages of each outcrop were of the same origin. The mineral groupings consistent within the sampling area included quartz, muscovite, plagioclase feldspar species (andesine and albite), or potassium feldspar species (sanidine). This implies similar provenance for all outcrops and is consistent with deposition during the same episode of glacial retreat. These data were collected in support of an anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) study. Mineral assemblage information coupled with AMS can provide a glimpse of past streamflow conditions within the Olympia beds, suggesting a broadly N-S pattern of streamflow. The combined mineralogical and magnetic results suggest a way forward for mapping streamflow in the Puget Sound region during glacial retreats, eventually leading us toward a better understanding of present-day glacial retreat. 

This study tests environmental field samples for markers of chemical contamination to show how pollution has affected our environment. EPA regulatory methods for inorganics, volatiles, and semi-volatiles were performed on environmental field samples in order to designate contamination. Methods include several stages of analysis. Inorganic methods were used to monitor sites of storm water runoff to ensure no pollutants are leaking into the environment. These include conductivity, turbidity, and total suspended solids analyses. Volatile methods were performed to ensure no gasoline leaked from various underground gas storage tanks. Finally, semi-volatile procedures were conducted to ensure no oil contamination has affected the environment from oil spills or leaking oil on pavements. Results were positive for chemical compounds that leaked into the environment and therefore caused contamination; including BTEX, a common compound found in gasoline, 8270, common compounds found in oil spills, and turbidity. Based on these results, sites have either been shut-down or marked for clean-up by the EPA. These projects can vary from ecological restoration to satisfying regulations for the clean-up of abandoned military installations. For instance, a military site may leave behind an unknown drum of waste and therefore needs it tested for compounds before disposal. The purpose of this research was to gain insight on the methods used for these types of environmental clean-ups. Further investigation of this topic can include how the implications of CO2 emissions are affecting the ozone and how nitrates leaking into the environment are affecting native fish populations.