Marine debris is a prevalent form of environmental pollution in which man-made products are released into oceans and waterways. Debris objects pose a variety of concerns, including entanglement and ingestion by wildlife, toxicity, and introduction of invasive species (biofouling). The Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST), a citizen science program at UW, is currently developing a marine debris monitoring protocol. The protocol calls for field surveys documenting basic site characteristics and attributes of debris objects. Seventeen attributes were chosen as indicators of potential harm to wildlife (e.g. loop presence and bite marks), invasive species threat (biofouling), and debris movement patterns in the ocean (e.g. size, material). Our team analyzed images from a database of over 5,000 marine debris photos collected by COASST at over 200 beach sites in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. We utilized an iterative approach with two students independently assigning attribute states (e.g. color: black, bite marks: yes) to debris objects from 900 randomly selected photos. We compared results to understand likely sources of human error. Initially, we found that color, malleability, geometric shape, material, intactness, and weathering were attributes that posed the greatest challenges – where surveyor disagreement (error rates) exceeded 15%, with some approaching 50%. After three rounds of result analysis and attribute definition refinement only 5 of the 17 attributes had error rates exceeding 15% (range 16-30%), reducing the likely error volunteers will make. The resultant standardized attribute definitions and state assignment protocol will provide a means of collecting reliable (i.e. low error) baseline abundance and distribution marine debris data as well as risk assessment based on specific attributes of use for further research, conservation endeavors, and resource management.

 Although we normally place the academic, institutional gallery or museum exhibition space in a separate domain from the virtual space social sites like Facebook, Tumblr, and Pinterest provide, I argue that the motivations that determine our uses of both spaces are the same. Using the writings of theorists such as Foucault and Baudrillard, and the history of Cabinets of Curiosities, I look critically at the creation of online profiles (primarily related to Facebook, but also found in other popular social sites) and traditional exhibitions spaces (for instance, the galleries of the Museum of Modern Art). I examine the logic of categorization and the intended impact this will have on viewers, comparing the nature of collecting and the curatorial impulse to display, showing that ideas surrounding collection function in both spaces. Through this I illustrate that a curatorial impulse is present in each, revolving around some sense of identity, although there are clear differences in ability to create context and exhibition time frames among other things. This will demonstrate that such spaces provide similar outlets for engrained human behaviors that mediate our interaction with and understanding of not only culture, but social interactions and even personal identity. In effect, I show that these spaces are much more closely related than they have previously been given credit for, and that certain social networking sites might even be the next logical stage in the continual development and progression of our understanding of collecting and exhibiting.

The dominant values that were depicted in American and Japanese World War II poster propaganda helped to rally support from the respective countries’ populations. One chosen value, or objective, for the propaganda posters in America was found to be the unifying of the American people through promoting the desire to aid American soldiers, whereas a common objective of Japanese posters was to unify Asian people throughout the world. How these objectives were represented determined if the posters were successful at gaining support from each country’s population. The objectives of American and Japanese propaganda posters are found through a comparative analysis of a single poster from each country. The objective of the American poster is depicted through the representation of American people doing what they could on the home front to support their troops. The objective of the Japanese poster is represented by showing the coming together of Asian people throughout the world. The objectives depicted had a major impact on how each population viewed and thought about the war. Propaganda, the new weapon of the twentieth century, especially poster propaganda, unified the communicating function of art with the influential power of media to broadcast the dominant values of each nation through imagery to both the soldiers on the battlefield and the civilians in their home countries. These posters allowed the populations of each country to identify with the dominant objectives of their country. If the populations could not identify with the objectives they would not be able to rally under one cause and help their country during a time of war.

Throughout time historic records have been heavily influenced by the victorious and their self-promotions which can be likened to propaganda. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, propaganda is defined as “the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause or a person.” The goal of my project is to demonstrate how Euro-American depictions of early American landscapes, during the migration westward in the nineteenth century, were a form of propaganda used to shape American history. During my research I learned that artists were constructing compositions based on ideas that glorify the migration. Since the majority of the audience was unable to travel West the paintings being brought back from expeditions were seen as accurate depictions. This research analyzes works by painters Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Cole, two distinct examples of propagandized landscapes. Through the examination of primary and secondary sources I will show how Bierstadt uses fantasized landscapes as a way of engaging the audience and how Cole portrays the untamed nature of the West as uncivilized. These paintings were used to promote opportunities found in cultivating the new land and highlight the prosperity of those already settled. My research will conclude that our history has been shaped negatively due to images being accepted as true representation. I hope to have shown how images are one sided and should not always be taken as they initially appear.

In this paper, I consider Timothy Morton's idea of ecological thinking and Dipesh Chakrabarty's arguments about humans as geological agents. Both scholars argue for a new mindset in the face of the current climate crisis. For example, Morton attributes our present ecological predicament to the misunderstanding that nature is a separate entity — an object ready to be exploited. We can no longer afford to think this way because industrialization of natural resources has led detrimental effects, everything from climate chaos to species extinction. For Morton though there is hope. If we were able to think more broadly then we could perhaps understand that ecological thought is about coexistence. Similar to Morton, Chakrabarty emphasizes the complex interconnectedness of humans and nature. He maintains that humans can no longer differentiate between human history and natural history, especially since human activity and consumption turned us into geological agents. Guided by these theories, I turn to art — which as Morton states has “something to tell us about the environment.” Art, he suggests can “make us question reality.” To further his point, I compare Albert Bierstadt’s Mount Sir Donald, a late nineteenth century painting, to three contemporary works: Subhankar Banerjee’s Caribou Migration (2002) and Spencer Tunick’s Aletsch Glacier #4, Switzerland (2007), and Camille Seaman’s Grand Pinnacle Iceberg, East Greenland (2006). I use the comparison to question the extent to which our thinking about nature has become transformed — from a nineteenth century notion of the picturesque to a twenty-first century ecological awareness of the environment.

Malaria, due to parasitic infection by Plasmodium protozoa, is a severe global disease with 300 million annual cases leading to 1-2 million deaths. While a few anti-malarial treatments continue to work, the continual emergence of new drug resistant parasites is an urgent public health concern. Previous studies in the Rathod laboratory suggest that chemical tools can be used to distinguish variations in evolutionary capabilities of different malaria parasite strains. Some strains such as Dd2 display the Accelerated Resistance to Multiple Drugs (ARMD) phenotype, whereas the HB3 strain displays the non-ARMD phenotype. In previous studies, Dd2 strain acquires resistance to several antimalarials at a significantly higher frequency than the HB3 strain. In this experiment, a cyclopropyl carboxamide (GSK2645947), a novel class of antimalarial agent, was used to select for resistant parasites from Dd2 and HB3 with the aim of comparing their relative frequencies of resistance to GSK2645947. A series of selection experiments were carried out utilizing different concentrations of GSK2645947 and different numbers of starting parasites. The parasites acquired resistance to GSK2645947 at similar frequencies in Dd2 and HB3 cells. The extent of resistance to GSK2645947, measured using EC50 assays, was similar in Dd2 and HB3 resistant clones; resistant parasites from neither lines showed cross-resistance to other antimalarial drugs. The present results point to a novel mechanism for rapidly acquiring resistance to GSK2645947, a mechanism that is equally prevalent in Dd2 and HB3 strains of P. falciparum parasites.

In modern society, film has become an incredibly influential form of media and cultural currency. From childhood, we have a constant interaction with film and with the narratives and messages that it communicates. In this project, I propose that there is an absence of female representation in children’s films, and that the resulting lack of exposure through film to strong female characters during childhood has a direct effect on societal outlook in adulthood, and by extension, on American culture, and on the subconscious sexism inherent within. In order to make this argument I will be utilizing the Bechdel test, which is an informal set of criteria with which to analyze the level of female representation in film. For a film to pass the “test” and achieve an adequate level of equal gender representation, it must have at least two named female characters, the two characters must speak to each other, and they must speak to each other about something besides a man. With these criteria in mind, I will analyze a number of popular children’s films, and attempt to highlight the potentially negative effects that gender misrepresentation has on American society.

Our understanding of our own galaxy and those at great distances hinges on how well we can model the complex processes by which stars form and evolve. The best laboratories in which to test our predictions are star clusters - groups of stars which by assumption formed at the same time. The nearby Andromeda galaxy (M31) is a fantastic source of clusters with similar chemical properties to our galaxy, at a variety of ages, and close enough to be resolved into individual bright stars by space telescopes. However, distinguishing cluster members from other field stars is a difficult problem. We have developed a method to assign a cluster membership probability to a given star by comparison with the density profile and properties of the cluster. We apply this method to a sample of well-characterized clusters observed by the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) program, which has provided Hubble-based photometry of unprecedented depth in the M31 disk. As a first application, we study a subset of clusters associated with evolved stars that are known to be Cepheid variables - a class of pulsating supergiant star to which stellar models can provide a precise age. We demonstrate the accuracy of the method and characterize this newly identified population of M31 cluster Cepheids. We extend this method to the entire PHAT cluster sample, seeking to establish cluster membership of bright supergiant, horizontal branch, and AGB stars therein. The unprecedented size and quality of this sample of M31 clusters will allow us to test existing models of these important stages of stellar evolution.