In order to increase the success of students in mathematics, University of Washington Bothell’s Department of Undergraduate Learning has added a discussion section to “Precalculus II.” These discussion sections are primarily held by undergraduates who act as peer facilitators helping first years be successful in mathematics. At the beginning and towards the end of the course, the students are encouraged to take a “Mindset Survey.” The survey includes, roughly speaking, questions related to how students feel about mathematics in general. As a part of my research, I analyzed the survey results using a paired t-test on pre and post test scores. This study provides statistical evidence on the potential impact on students' learning and attitude toward mathematics. The result will help the department alter future courses to ensure the success of students in beginning math courses.

Dogs have been shown to use the direction of humans’ gaze to infer information about hidden food, a behavior referred to as social referencing. We might expect that social dependency towards a handler will be higher for dogs that are more dependent on humans’ presence, especially when faced with uncertain situations. We tested whether there was a relationship between attachment and dependency behaviors and social referencing in companion dogs. Dog owners completed an intake survey that included the previously validated Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), which gives a score for the degree of separation-related distress behaviors dogs exhibit which we used as a measure for dogs’ attachment and dependence on their owners. These owners then brought their dogs to participate on-location for our experimental set up. We taught the dogs a location-based discrimination task, in which subjects learned to expect a food reward in one location (the positive stimulus), and no reward in an opposing location (the negative stimulus). When dogs approached the positive stimulus faster than the negative stimulus, we intermittently presented them with ambiguous stimuli, i.e. intermediate between the positive and negative stimuli. We measured social referencing as the frequency of glancing behavior of dogs toward their owner or the handler for each trial. We analyzed social referencing by stimuli in order to assess whether dogs would treat ambiguous stimuli as they do the rewarded location or the non-rewarded location with respect to glancing behavior. We hypothesized that dogs with higher C-BARQ scores for separation-related behavior would exhibit higher proportions of social referencing behavior, particularly when presented with ambiguous stimuli. Our research has implications regarding potential effects of canine dependency on their owners in their decisions in certain situations, such as those that introduce ambiguity.

As climate change progresses, increasing temperature is expected to have community and population-level consequences. The temperature-size rule predicts shifts in both community and population structure to favor smaller bodied organisms over larger bodied organisms as temperatures increases. We investigated this hypothesis in the context of rocky intertidal invertebrate communities on San Juan Island, and examined changes in community and population structure over the past 45 years. We replicated historical ecology studies on the abundance of six intertidal species; three of which body size data was also collected. These species included grazing and predatory molluscs (Katharina tunicata, Nucella lamellosa), anemones (Anthopleura elegantissima), and crabs (Hemigrapsus nudus, Pugettia gracilis, Pagurus sp). Additional abundance data was collected on smaller molluscs (limpets, littorine snails). Predicted decreases in body size were not apparent in populations of K. tunicata., N. lamellosa, and A. elegantissima. However, when comparing abundances, shifts in community structure towards smaller-bodied organisms were apparent. We observed an increased abundance of smaller-bodied gastropods and crustaceans (limpets and Pagurus sp), but a decrease in K. tunicata abundance, one of the largest grazers in this system. This research highlights the potential for a variety of community and population responses including both stability and variability in the face of climate change.

 Domestic dogs express individual differences in personality and perception, affecting their behavior towards objects they encounter in the world. One of these differences is a form of cognitive bias called judgement bias. Dogs that approach an ambiguous stimulus at a rate closer to that of approach towards a rewarded stimulus demonstrate a positive judgement bias. Likewise, dogs who approach at a rate closer to that of a non-rewarded (or aversive) stimulus have a negative judgement bias. Some dogs refuse to approach the non-rewarding stimulus entirely, which can be defined as refusal behavior. We analyzed whether refusal behavior was related to companion dogs’ judgement bias and general fear and anxiety. Dog owners completed the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), a previously validated questionnaire measuring a variety of individual differences in dog behavior, and, most importantly, fear and anxiety. Afterwards, dogs were brought in for in-person testing. We measured each dog’s latency to approach ambiguous stimuli and compared this to their latency when approaching rewarded versus non-rewarded stimuli. We would expect that dogs who refuse to approach ambiguous stimuli will also exhibit higher C-BARQ scores in fear and anxiety than dogs who do approach ambiguous stimuli. Refusing to approach may also suggest a negative judgement bias. These findings are extremely useful to not only further understand canine behavior and cognition, as refusal to engage with a stimulus may be a future tool to define a canine’s perception of ambiguous stimuli. They also have practical implications for both animal welfare and training efficacy, as individual cognitive differences among dogs may impact how they will respond in behavioral tests and training regimes.

Students of the Ocean Research College Academy (ORCA), an early college program through Everett Community College, have monitored bacteria data near Everett, Washington where the Snohomish River meets the Possession Sound since 2004. Used as an indicator of fecal contamination, Escherichia coli (E. coli) are found in the intestinal tract of humans and other homeothermic animals. This study investigates the spatial and temporal trends of E. coli levels at three sites within the Possession Sound between 2014-2019 in order to better elucidate the ecosystem’s health and potentially negative anthropogenic influences. Variation in coliform levels were analyzed with regard to physical and chemical factors such as tidal stage, depth, the Snohomish River discharge, salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and point sources  including combined sewer outflows and storm drains. Water samples were collected with a Niskin bottle while a YSI 650 CTD or a YSI EXO Sonde was utilized to measure salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH for each of the samples. ORCA students followed the Coliscan® Easygel® Protocol for inoculation, incubation and quantification. Data were reported as colonies of E. coli per 100 mL of water. Preliminary results show that E. coli levels have a seasonal correlation with river discharge, increasing in the fall, winter, and spring months when river discharge spikes. Coliform levels are higher at the halocline than at the surface or near-deep. Further sampling at additional upriver sites will demonstrate more sources of E. coli data. The results of this study will provide a foundation for understanding the fluctuations in the spatial and temporal trends of E. coli levels within the Possession Sound in order to better assess threats to the ecosystem health.

Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is an ecologically important species of marine angiosperm that inhabits sublittoral sediments in the northern hemisphere. Eelgrass beds provide critical food and habitat for many species of fish, invertebrates, and birds. Its root system has the capacity to interact with both the water column and sediment, making it uniquely poised to influence metal cycles within the ecosystem, including those affected by anthropogenic activity. Eelgrass, sediment, and water samples were collected from three sites in Possession Sound, a part of Puget Sound that borders the City of Everett and contains the Snohomish River Estuary. Samples were processed in the University of Washington Isotope Geochemistry Lab before being analyzed for trace metal concentrations using an ICP-MS. In addition, two-meter long sediment cores were taken from three sites in the Possession Sound and the bottom 5cm were analyzed, allowing the researcher to quantify the anthropogenic influence on metal concentrations within sediment. It was hypothesized that the roots, shoots and blades of the eelgrass would exhibit differing concentrations of heavy metals, and that sediment collected within eelgrass beds would contain higher concentrations of metals than sediment collected outside eelgrass beds. Additionally, samples from sites closer to human activity would contain higher concentrations of metals and a greater proportion of metals from anthropogenic sources. Preliminary results of the ongoing study show that concentrations of arsenic, copper, and zinc were higher in eelgrass blades than roots, and eelgrass tissue had higher metal concentrations than the surrounding sediment. These results suggest that eelgrass uptakes metals from its environment, accumulating as well as translocating them in its tissues. Additionally, study locations nearer to the mouth of the Snohomish River and human activity had higher concentrations of heavy metals overall in both sediment and eelgrass.

The Snohomish River estuary serves as a conjoined and biodiverse body of water in Everett, WA, with influence from the freshwater Snohomish River and saltwater from the Pacific Ocean flowing through the Strait of Juan de Fuca into the Possession Sound. Factors of water chemistry and heavy metals, residing in sediment and influenced by surrounding anthropogenic activity, contribute to the estuary ecosystem and support various trophic levels of marine life. This study observes temperature, salinity, pH, and chlorophyll in the water column, and lead, copper, zinc, and mercury in sediment from 2009 to 2018 at three sites with differing proximity to the Snohomish River: MBT, Buoy, and Everett Marina. The parameters were analyzed through boat-based research and Sea-Bird CTD data collected by the Ocean Research College Academy (ORCA) with funding from the National Science Foundation and in partnership with the University of Washington, Gravity Marine Consulting, and the State Department of Ecology. Longitudinal research at ORCA allows students to monitor marine mammal abundance, including sightings of harbor seals, California sea lions, gray whales and harbor porpoise. This investigation is motivated by potential connections between water quality parameters and the abundance of marine mammals. Results indicate heavy metal levels at Buoy reached a maximum in 2011 with mercury, copper, lead and zinc metals averaging 0.05 mg/kg, 29.73 mg/kg, 7.03 mg/kg, and 54.33 mg/kg, respectively; however, average zinc levels were highest at approximately 55.60 mg/kg in 2016. Comparably, MBT heavy metal concentrations were lower and demonstrated greater variability. In 2018, Everett Marina salinity levels show more fluctuation than MBT, while chlorophyll had a max of approximately 46.4 ug/L at MBT. Gray whales that return to Possession Sound to feed on benthic organisms are potentially impacted by these conditions.

A challenge Universities face is placing students in math classes that match their level of preparedness. SAT scores have shown that a placement test is unreliable because of biases towards women and underrepresented minorities in the field of mathematics. To examine these potential biases in the current math placement exam at the University of Washington – Bothell, this research was focused on variables such as placement exam score, SAT score, grade in math classes in addition to gender and ethnicity. To test if there is a linear correlation between placement score and grades, a one-sided t test was performed to test the null hypothesis of slope, β = 0 versus an alternative that β > 0 . The data suggests little correlation between the placement tests and grades in the respective math classes. A two sample test for a difference in proportions was used to test that a higher number of women and underrepresented minorities were placed in lower division remedial courses, which can potentially add significant amounts of time taking classes that are not necessary and therefore costing student achievement towards a degree.

Over the past 15 years, early college students of the Ocean Research College Academy (ORCA), which is offered through Everett Community College, have collected information about fecal coliform levels in Possession Sound. This research is comprehensive spatially and temporally, but does not include information about potentially dangerous antibiotic resistance. Carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are a class of antibiotic-resistant gram-negative bacteria that are specifically resistant to Carbapenem-class antibiotics, which are often considered last-resort antibiotics. As such, CRE pose a major health risk and cases are often difficult to treat. This study will investigate the presence of CRE in Possession Sound at 5 public-access beaches. Samples will be collected using sterile containers and then cultured on selective media containing graduated levels of imipenem using MacConkey agar. Viable CRE colony-forming units will be tested using disc-diffusion for sensitivity against a panel that represented other common antibiotic treatments for enterobacteriaceae on Mueller-Hinton agar and species-identified using a API 20E kit. This study will provide a reference point for future researchers looking to investigate the presence of CRE organisms or other resistant bacteria in the Possession Sound.