ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF IMMATURE SEA TURTLES ACROSS MULTIPLE SCALES

Considering many sea turtle populations are a fraction of their historic size and anthropogenic threats within the marine environment are increasing, additional data are imperative to help mitigate anthropogenic disturbances and to build resilience into sea turtle populations. In this dissertation, I present three data chapters focused on immature sea turtle ecology and conservation. These chapters evaluate sea turtle ecology and conservation at varying scales, ranging from mitigating human-wildlife interactions at the individual level, to coastal movements and space use at the ecosystem level, and to large scale climate change impacts at the population level. Ultimately, these chapters provide a better understanding of immature turtle behavioral and spatial ecology within nearshore waters that are required for the continued conservation of turtles and their habitats. In Chapter 2, following Chapter 1: General Introduction, I quantified the behavioral response of immature green turtles (Chelonia mydas) to disturbance by snorkelers in a popular ecotourism venture on Culebra Island, Puerto Rico, United States. Using a standardized disturbance stimulus, I evaluated whether turtles have individual-level responses to snorkeler disturbance. I found ninety percent of turtles disturbed by snorkelers initiated their fights at distances of 3 m or less. Thus, I recommended snorkelers remain greater than 3 m distance from immature turtles. In addition, I found a significant intra-individual repeatability in behavioral responses to disturbance, suggesting, ecotourism activities may be disproportionally affecting individual turtles depending on their personality type. Finally, I suggest ecotourism activities be temporally and spatially stratified and better regulated to reduce missed foraging opportunities by immature turtles in important foraging areas. In Chapter 3, I used acoustic telemetry to describe movement patterns and connectivity of immature green turtles on Culebra and Culebrita Islands, Puerto Rico and, secondly, to determine the spatial-temporal drivers of presence and absence of turtles. Network analysis revealed high fidelity within bays with little to no connectivity across the islands. Based on these findings, I provided evidence that habitat quality and availability in combination with predation risk (innate or learned) is likely driving different rates of somatic growth across the island. Using a presence-absence Bayesian model, results indicated turtles occupied areas of lagoon and seagrass habitats at night, and were rarely using areas of macroalgae habitat. The parameter estimates from the model enabled me to predict diel movement patterns and space use across the focal bay. While habitatswithin Culebraare still largely intact, coastal embayments are becoming increasingly threatened. Given that my research showed that turtles in Culebra exhibit high fidelity within the bays, it is imperative to protect these distinct habitats that serve as both shelter and foraging areas. In Chapter 4, I examined the oceanic, atmospheric, and biological factors that may affect the increasing trend of cold-stunned immature Kemp’s ridleys (Lepidochelys kempii) in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts, United States. Using cold-stunned data collected since the early 1980’s and analytical methods, such as machine learning algorithms and Bayesian modeling, I demonstrated higher cold-stunning years occurred when the Gulf of Maine has warmer seas surface temperature (SST) in late October through early-November. Hatchling numbers, a proxy for population abundance, was not identified as an important factor in predicting the number of annual cold-stunning strandings. Further, I predicted the potential annual cold-stunning counts out to 2031 based on the increasing Gulf of Maine SSTs and evaluated the population level effects of future cold-stunning events in the face of climate change. While cold-stunning at the population level may be minimal, I recommend the continued efforts to rehabilitate cold-stunned turtles to maintain population resilience for this critically endangered species. For the fifth, and final chapter, I synthesized these findings in the context of contributions to the greater field of sea turtle conservation and management, propose future research directions, and re-visit caveats of these studies. Within this chapter, each data chapter is revisited to provide direct conservation applications to help mitigate anthropogenic disturbances. In Chapter 2, I suggest alternate ecotourism regulations and advocate for the spatial-temporal stratification of green turtle snorkel tours. In Chapter 3, I highlight the differential space use of green turtles within coastal habitats and advocate for the importance and protection of these habitats to ensure recruitment into adult populations. And finally, in Chapter 4, I advise for the recovery and rehabilitation of cold-stunned Kemp’s ridley turtles to provide population resilience for this critically endangered species in a changing world

Single-cell transcriptomics : a high-resolution avenue for plant functional genomics

Plant function is the result of the concerted action of single cells in different tissues. Advances in RNA-seq technologies and tissue processing allow us now to capture transcriptional changes at single-cell resolution. The incredible potential of single-cell RNA-seq lies in the novel ability to study and exploit regulatory processes in complex tissues based on the behaviour of single cells. Importantly, the independence from reporter lines allows the analysis of any given tissue in any plant. While there are challenges associated with the handling and analysis of complex datasets, the opportunities are unique to generate knowledge of tissue functions in unprecedented detail and to facilitate the application of such information by mapping cellular functions and interactions in a plant cell atlas. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Attorneys and Entrepreneurs: Creating Value for Small Business Startups

The attorney who understands an entrepreneurial organization at different stages of growth may be better able to anticipate the problems the organization may face over the long term. Legal issues for small businesses, for example, generally include the appropriate choice of business structure, protection and management of intellectual property, and effective management of human resources, which have all been affected by the technologies that are reshaping American society and its workforce. The attorney who understands the stages of smallbusiness growth, even in a general sense, may have a more effective lens for providing legal assistance to a small business. This understanding also may help attorneys to more effectively market their legal expertise to an entrepreneur based on the unique needs of the entrepreneurial organization

Graduate Sessions 8: Neil Denari

Neil Denari is the founder and principal of Neil M. Denari Architects, Inc. He was the director of SCI-Arc from 1997 to 2001 and is currently a professor in the Architecture and Urban Design Department at UCLA. His lecture at Syracuse Architecture, entitled The New Intimacy, is one of over two hundred he has given at institutions throughout France, Japan, and the United States

Trigger Warning: More Empirical Evidence For The Priming Effects Of Trigger Warnings Ahead

The use of trigger warnings and microaggressions within a university setting has recently become the center of controversy. The current study sought to examine the degree to which trigger warnings influenced participants’ perceptions towards potentially distressing and/or socially discriminatory literary passages. 128 participants, recruited from Amazon mTurk, completed a survey in which they read 3 pre-manipulation passages, 7 passages during the manipulation (half of the participants received trigger warnings before each of these passages and the other half did not) and 3 post-manipulation passages. Results showed that participants who received trigger warnings evaluated the post-manipulation microaggressive passage and email as less discriminatory, but evaluated the post-manipulation mildly distressing passage as more discriminatory. Potential explanation and implications surrounding these findings is offered in the discussion section

Movements, connectivity, and space use of immature green turtles within coastal habitats of the Culebra Archipelago, Puerto Rico: implications for conservation

Juvenile green turtles occupy coastal marine habitats important for their ontogeny; however, the details of their movement, connectivity, and space use in these developmental habitats are still poorly understood. Given that these areas are often threatened by human disturbance, additional information on green turtle spatial ecology is needed to meet conservation end- points for this endangered species. For this study, we used fixed passive acoustic telemetry to (1) describe movement patterns and connectivity of immature green turtles within, outside, and across 2 bays, Manglar and Tortuga bays, on Culebra and Culebrita islands, Puerto Rico; and (2) determine spatio-temporal drivers of the presence and absence of turtles within Manglar Bay. Network analysis used to quantify movement patterns showed that turtles in our study exhibited differential space use with little to no connectivity across the 2 bays. In addition, turtles exhibited high site fidelity, with larger turtles leaving on brief trips. We applied a presence−absence Bayesian binomial model on a subset of 9 turtles at an hourly temporal scale and showed that turtles within Manglar Bay occupied areas of lagoon and seagrass habitats at night and were rarely using areas of macroalgae habitat. The parameter estimates from the model enabled us to predict the space use of turtles across Manglar Bay, and the hourly probability distributions highlighted predictive diel movement patterns across the bay. Considering the importance of juvenile and subadult life stages for population viability, we recommend continued protection of these critical juvenile turtle developmental habitats to ensure recruitment into the adult life stage

2019 Kansas State University Industrial Hemp Dual-Purpose and Fiber Trial

Hemp is a broad term used to describe the many varieties of Cannabis sativa L. that produce less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The crop is globally significant, but only recently allowed to be grown again in the United States. Varieties that have numerous industrial uses have been selected for improved fiber and grain production. However, there is no information available regarding adaptability or production of these varieties in Kansas. In 2019, Kansans were allowed to apply for research licenses to grow industrial hemp. It was assumed the crop would grow well throughout Kansas since there are wild remnant populations of C. sativa flourishing at numerous locations across the state. However, controlled variety trials are necessary to determine which varieties are best adapted to the state. Currently, farmers must rely on information generated from other states with vastly different growing conditions than Kansas. Variety selection is vital in hemp production considering latitude (day length) and length of growing season influence planting time, number of days to harvest, and ultimately yield. The objective of this study was to evaluate commercially available varieties of industrial hemp in south central Kansas

Warming seas increase cold-stunning events for Kemp’s ridley sea turtles in the northwest Atlantic

Since the 1970s, the magnitude of turtle cold-stun strandings have increased dramatically within the northwestern Atlantic. Here, we examine oceanic, atmospheric, and biological factors that may affect the increasing trend of cold-stunned Kemp’s ridleys in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts, United States of America. Using machine learning and Bayesian inference modeling techniques, we demonstrate higher cold-stunning years occur when the Gulf of Maine has warmer sea surface temperatures in late October through early November. Surprisingly, hatchling numbers in Mexico, a proxy for population abundance, was not identified as an important factor. Further, using our Bayesian count model and forecasted sea surface temperature projections, we predict more than 2,300 Kemp’s ridley turtles may cold-stun annually by 2031 as sea surface temperatures continue to increase within the Gulf of Maine. We suggest warmer sea surface temperatures may have modified the northerly distribution of Kemp’s ridleys and act as an ecological bridge between the Gulf Stream and nearshore waters. While cold-stunning may currently account for a minor proportion of juvenile mortality, we recommend continuing efforts to rehabilitate cold-stunned individuals to maintain population resiliency for this critically endangered species in the face of a changing climate and continuing anthropogenic threats

Patterns of microchromosome organization remain highly conserved throughout avian evolution

The structure and organization of a species genome at a karyotypic level, and in interphase nuclei, have broad functional significance. Although regular sized chromosomes are studied extensively in this regard, microchromosomes, which are present in many terrestrial vertebrates, remain poorly explored. Birds have more cytologically indistinguishable microchromosomes (~ 30 pairs) than other vertebrates; however, the degree to which genome organization patterns at a karyotypic and interphase level differ between species is unknown. In species where microchromosomes have fused to other chromosomes, they retain genomic features such as gene density and GC content; however, the extent to which they retain a central nuclear position has not been investigated. In studying 22 avian species from 10 orders, we established that, other than in species where microchromosomal fusion is obvious (Falconiformes and Psittaciformes), there was no evidence of microchromosomal rearrangement, suggesting an evolutionarily stable avian genome (karyotypic) organization. Moreover, in species where microchromosomal fusion has occurred, they retain a central nuclear location, suggesting that the nuclear position of microchromosomes is a function of their genomic features rather than their physical size

Reactive phase change materials for enhanced thermal energy storage

Effective storage and release of low-to-moderate temperature thermal energy (e.g. solar thermal or geothermal) could be transformational for applications such as space heating/cooling, domestic hot water, or off-grid cooking. Good candidates for thermal energy storage in this temperature range include latent heat storage (LHS) systems and thermochemical energy storage (TCES) systems using reversible salt-hydrate dehydration reactions. Here we propose that an energy storage system by use of magnesium nitrate hexahydrate can potentially improve upon independent TCES or LHS systems by utilizing both the thermochemical hydration reaction and the latent heat available through the solid-liquid phase change of one magnesium nitrate hydrate eutectic. This chemistry is investigated through TGA/DSC analysis and shows a total energy density of approximately 1170±94 kJ/kg when dehydrating the material up to 145°C. Reversible latent heat cycling at a eutectic melting temperature of 130°C is shown by the DSC signal and estimated to be on the order of 115±9.2 kJ/kg—a 10% increase over the thermochemical energy storage alone. Although the latent energy release was found to decrease slightly over several cycles, the mass was found to stabilize near an asymptotic value corresponding to the published eutectic composition. These results suggest the concept of reactive phase change materials could be a promising solution to increasing volumetric stored energy density