Temporal Patterns in Tree Ecophysiology
Mentor: Jake Grossman, Biology and Environmental Studies
Stats Mentor: Jaime Davila
CIR fellows: Stephanie Ballen, Matthew Blake, Nick Starcevich
Trees living in temperate climates like Northfield’s go through significant changes every year as they cycle between periods of growth (May to August) and dormancy (November to March). Though some of these changes – like putting out new leaves in the spring or shedding them in the fall – are visible, many physiological processes underlying these transitions are not. In the Grossman lab, we focus on how trees manage water in their bodies to promote growth in the growing season and resist freezing to death in the winter. Over the last several years, we have collected data on the water status, drought tolerance, and cold hardiness of deciduous, temperate trees at multiple sites in Minnesota and Pennsylvania. Our measurements include water status (leaf water potential and twig water content), drought tolerance (turgor loss point), soil water content, water flux out of leaves (stomatal conductance), cold hardiness (low temperature exotherm), and leaf phenology.
We’re love help from CIR students addressing the following questions using statistical modeling techniques:
1) How does plant water-use physiology change over time? Are changes linear or better described by more complex curves?
2) How much does water-use physiology vary within leaves, within individual tree canopies, within species, and within clades (groups of species)?
3) Does water-use physiology predict (or is it predicted by) patterns in phenology? For instance, is autumn leaf senescence preceded by dehydration of woody tissue?
Local Adaptation of Milkweed Plants
Mentor: Emily Mohl, Biology and Education
Stats: Martha Zilling
CIR fellows: Ollie Blundred, Hannah Hampton, Gracia Larsen-Schmidt
As monarch populations have declined, scientists have encouraged people to plant more milkweed, an important food source for monarch caterpillars. As this continues, it is important to understand whether milkweeds are adapted to the place where they come from, or if they can perform just as well in novel places as they do at home. For three years, Professor Mohl’s research lab has worked with collaborators across the country to grow milkweed plants from different places in a common garden in order to measure differences in plants that come from different source populations. When we find that plants in a common garden have trait variation that can be predicted based on geographic origin, this is evidence for local adaptation. The same experiment has been replicated in Ohio and Virginia. While we have found geographic patterns within a given year at a given site, we have yet to identify and investigate patterns across time and space. Our goal with this CIR project will be to determine to what extent our predictions based on geographic origin are generalizable over time and across space.
Visualizing Socio-ecological Landscape Data from Japan
Mentors: Kathy Tegtmayer-Pak, Asian Studies and Political Science; Paul Jackson, Chemistry and Environmental Studies.
Stats: Kathryn Ziegler-Graham
CIR fellows: Mackenzie Amann, Cole Monson, Zillig Zhen
We seek to collaborate with student researchers as part of our larger multimedia “book” project, called Pragmatic Utopians: Environmental Sustainability in Japan. We ask: What policies and practices are available to us as we confront complex environmental challenges (pollution + climate change + energy), which threaten ecological diversity and food systems? We find our answer through an interdisciplinary investigation, which includes video recorded interviews with Japanese “pragmatic utopians“ and analysis of land use, demographic and sociopolitical data gathered by the Japanese government. “Pragmatic utopians” question mainstream expectations about a successful, comfortable, sensible life by building innovative schools, community practices and enterprises grounded in satoyama relationships. The term satoyama references sustainable, mutually beneficial human-environment land use patterns that have defined Japanese agricultural landscapes since the early 17th century. We seek student researchers to finish analyses begun in collaboration with prior CURI and CIR teams. Tasks include (a) adding layers to the Mapping Satoyama maps (GitHub), to address satoyama impact on biodiversity and related research in Japan and (b) bibliographic analysis of trends in English and Japanese-language scholarship on satoyama, using multiple data sets we have already created.
Fostering a Sense of Belonging on St. Olaf Campus
Mentor: Louis Epstein, Music
Stats: Joe Roith
CIR fellows: Rain Hartos, Mohamed Radalla, Donovan Roddy
In recent years, the concept of “belonging” has become increasingly central to efforts to improve student outcomes on college campuses. A higher sense of belonging is correlated with better grades, better mental health, greater persistence across class years, and higher graduation rates. But it remains unclear whether belonging can be causally associated with these outcomes and – if it is – whether fostering belonging is the responsibility of faculty, staff, students, and/or administrators. This project analyzes data generated through a classroom research study at St. Olaf College to determine the role of faculty in developing students’ sense of academic belonging in their classes. By studying the relationships between inclusive teaching practices, demographic attributes, students’ self-reported sense of perceived belonging, and other measures of actual belonging, we will explore whether and how faculty and the college can help students experience greater belonging within and beyond their classes.
Vertebral Biomechanics – Material testing and kinematics during predator escaping behavior in fish
Mentor: Takashi Maie, Biology
Stats: Laura Boehm Vock
CIR fellows: Ansel Alldredge, Abigail Hahs, Otto Schmidt
The primary aim of this study is to better understand the relationship between material property, mineralization, and function of the vertebrae. To achieve this, we will explore and learn functional design of the skeletal system in fishes by examining the relationship between structural integrity of the vertebrae in the spinal column and its contribution to the functional performance of the spine. This hypothesis-driven project will analyze data collected by summer CURI students from yellow perch Perca flavescens in lakes in Minnesota. Specific objectives of this project are (1) to test the hypothesis that differing environmental conditions, such as visibility and pH, and mineral bioavailability in the water have impacts on the stress-bearing capacity of the vertebrae; and (2) to evaluate how the vertebral column functions in a predator-escape behavior, a.k.a. C-start behavior. Although this study is using fish species, findings will be applicable to any organisms that have bones (e.g., vertebrates).