Cyanobacteria blooms, organisms that interact with them targeted in study with larger purpose
Katie Sweeney takes a water sample from Vancouver Lake.
During a downpour in mid-September, Katie Sweeney, outfitted in rain pants, boots and a raincoat, knelt down on a dock at the Vancouver Lake Sailing Club and started collecting water samples.
Since May, Sweeney has made this a biweekly routine as part of her graduate studies at Washington State University Vancouver while she pursues a master’s degree in environmental science. Sweeney focuses on smaller organisms in Vancouver Lake, and their interactions with cyanobacteria blooms.
It just so happens that cyanobacteria blooms have been present at and closed Vancouver Lake this year, so the public also has an interest in the same things she does.
“We always have an interest in these sort of things scientifically, but it’s always really when cool when the public starts to take notice, and become interested in the science behind it,” Sweeney said. “It’s enlightening or endearing that somebody outside is interested in what you do.”
A report by scientists with Washington State University’s State of Washington Water Research Center could help inform decision makers and planners in watersheds across the state, as they develop projects that balance growth with the needs of threatened salmon and steelhead.
Mandated by a recently passed law addressing the effects of small rural wells on stream flows and fish, a WSU-led team of experts from around the state worked for more than a year alongside Washington’s Department of Ecology to develop technical guidance for watershed planners in 15 of Washington’s 62 Water Resource Inventory Areas, or WRIAs.
Katz
“We’ve tried to open up the assessment toolbox, to place management decisions in a more contemporary, comprehensive scientific framework,” said Stephen Katz, project lead and associate professor at WSU’s School of the Environment. “Our guidance highlights available approaches that can benefit endangered species and their habitat, as well as Washingtonians’ increasing need for high-quality water.”
The team’s final report, titled “Technical Supplement: Determining Net Ecological Benefit,” is included in the Department of Ecology’s “Final Guidance for Determining Net Ecological Benefit,” published in July. The document provides a framework for watershed planners to develop proposals that offset the effects of rural wells on stream flows, and for state ecologists to gauge the merits of those proposals.
Microscopic flecks of DNA — from insects, amoebas and mushrooms — could help tell the story of a forest trying to regrow to its former might.
Forest forensics, part of a fast-growing field called environmental DNA, will tell researchers what’s living in a particular space, which, in turn, tells forest managers if what they’re doing is working there.
Strickler
Environmental DNA, a monitoring technique developed about a decade ago, is growing “exponentially” in use, said Katherine Strickler, a research scientist and instructor in the School for the Environment at Washington State University.
Such analyses can identify hundreds, if not thousands, of creatures who left pieces of themselves behind in the soil in roughly a week’s time. They allow scientists to catalog entire communities, or the richness of life in a given spot.
The health choices you make today could affect the expression of your kids’ (and grandkids’) DNA — and maybe their risk for disease
The “nature versus nurture” debate has been raging for thousands of years. Are people the products of their DNA, or of their upbringing and environment? The writings of both Plato and Shakespeare discuss this question. As recently as the past century, some big thinkers still subscribed to the philosopher John Locke’s “blank slate” theory, which held that each individual is born “formless” and is shaped by their environment and upbringing. Even more recently, some genetic scientists argued in favor of biological determinism, or the view that everything about a person is predetermined by their DNA.
Today, experts recognize that nature and nurture — far from being independent or at odds — engage in a complex dance. While DNA has a lot to say, a person’s genes and environment interact throughout their life to produce any number of outcomes. And the science of epigenetics lies at the heart of this interaction.
Skinner
“We know that there are all these molecular marks and processes around the DNA that regulate how the DNA functions,” says Michael Skinner, a distinguished professor and founding director of the Center for Reproductive Biology at Washington State University. Basically, these molecular marks and processes can turn genes on and off, he says. As a result, they have the potential to influence “every area of biology.”
Skinner says more and more research has found that many diseases have overlapping epigenetic signatures, meaning certain genes are predictably turned on or off in people who have the disease. Just last month, a new Harvard Medical School study reported that people with Alzheimer’s disease seem to share certain epigenetic characteristics. This is a big deal because, to date, most of the research on non-epigenetic DNA mutations has failed to find patterns of overlap in people who develop Alzheimer’s, cancer, and other diseases.
Washington State University and the University of Idaho are teaming up to explore news ways of integrating the arts and humanities with science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM).
More than 50 WSU and UI faculty and administrators are expected to attend a joint symposium Sept. 26–27 where they will work together to imagine new pathways for interdisciplinary research and teaching. Registration for the event remains open to any interested participants.
The symposium springs from the 2018 National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) report titled, “Branches from the Same Tree: The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education.” The study establishes the value of integrating more STEMM curricula and labs into the academic programs of students majoring in the humanities and arts, and the value of integrating curricula and experiences in the arts and humanities into college and university STEMM programs. At the same time, the study expresses a growing concern that disciplinary specialization is poorly calibrated to the challenges and opportunities of the present time.
Butler
“Meeting these challenges will require new ways of working together, something our two nearby universities are ideally located to support,” said Todd Butler, associate dean in WSU’s College of Arts and Sciences and director of WSU’s new Center for Arts and Humanities. “We will need to make connections across state lines and disciplines to provide students and faculty with the most integrative curriculum possible, setting them both up for success in the future.”
