The barn swallow is an aerial insectivore with a fork shaped tail. In Canada their population has declined 80% so they are currently considered an endangered species. I recently joined Safran on her trip to Canada to collect this recent data that will further help us understand what may be causing their decline. This summer, I will be analyzing previous data from across the globe including recent data I helped collect in Canada on the mass of adult barn swallows in relation to elevation at their breeding sites. I will translate the latitude and longitude of the locations from where over 4,500 birds were sampled and convert it to elevational data. Then I will compare the recorded mass of each individual and analyze whether barn swallows follow Bergmann’s rule, an ecological pattern, where species at cooler temperatures (higher elevations) are larger than those at hotter temperatures (lower elevations). I hypothesize that the birds will have a higher mass at higher elevation than those at lower elevation. By the end of this summer, I hope to improve my skills as a scientist by learning how to proficiently analyze and collect data both in the field and in the lab and learn more about my personal skills to help determine where I should focus my work and career goals.

In the unique coastal environment of Southern California, the movement of large wildlife between intertidal and terrestrial habitats has profound ecological implications. This study investigates the energetic connectivity between intertidal and adjacent terrestrial ecosystems in Santa Barbara County, focusing on the Vandenberg Space Force Base and the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve. Specifically, it examines the baseline movement patterns of animals between intertidal habitats, including beaches, rocky intertidal zones, marshes, and nearby terrestrial habitats. Motion-triggered trail cameras were deployed along access-restricted coastlines to capture insights into the foraging behavior and movement of terrestrial consumers, such as coyotes, deer, and feral pigs, within intertidal habitats. The research aims to understand animal-vectored subsidies, where resources are transferred between ecosystems through animal-mediated movement. Historically, the Southern California coastline has benefited from marine-to-terrestrial subsidies, with nutrient flow from kelp forests supporting less productive beach and coastal scrub habitats. However, increasing human barriers like roads and development have disrupted this natural resource flow. By investigating the impact of human activity and seasonal changes on animal movement and foraging behavior, this study sheds light on the alterations in animal-mediated resource transfer. The findings have significant implications for informing conservation efforts and ecosystem management strategies along the Southern California coastline. Understanding animal movement patterns and resource distribution is vital for assessing the effects of human activity and seasonal changes on animal behavior. By gaining such insights, appropriate measures can be implemented to preserve ecological balance and ensure the sustainability of coastal ecosystems.

Understanding the genetic basis of horticulturally important traits is vital for improving the efficiency of breeding programs. New genetic resources and tools allow for the efficient mapping and identification of genes associated with key traits. Cucurbita pepo (pumpkins and squash) is a diverse species with fruit varying greatly in color, shape, and size. Rind-related traits such as having a hard shell and developing so-called warts are two important traits for consumer acceptance of pumpkins, disease resistance, and shipping ability. Currently, there is a lack of recent and comprehensive genetic studies regarding these two traits in Cucurbita pepo. The proposed study aims to examine the inheritance pattern of warts and hard shell in four F2 populations. As part of this study, a ranking system will be established to characterize wart growth habits, interactions between wartiness and hard shell will be investigated, and these data will be used along with DNA sequencing to identify candidate genes. The end result will help C. pepo breeders better select for wartiness and hard shell speeding up the breeding process.

Corals are the foundation for a thriving reef ecosystem. They display a mutualistic relationship with algal symbionts, providing a home and inorganic nutrients to them. In return, the algae provide corals with organic nutrients. Coral health has been in rapid decline due to climate change, as well as pathogenic bacteria like Vibrio alginolyticus. This pathogen has been linked to coral bleaching, when corals lose their ability to maintain their algae, resulting in mortality. It is still unknown how V. alginolyticus is entering the corals. Using the sea anemone Aiptasia as a model system, as it is related to corals, and a fluorescently-labeled strain of V. alginolyticus, we hypothesized that V. alginolyticus is entering through the mouth as the anemones feed on brine shrimp and making its way to the gastric cavity. We compared four different treatments consisting of anemones administered (1) brine shrimp with pre-ingested V. alginolyticus, (2) brine shrimp with waterborne V. alginolyticus, (3) waterborne V. alginolyticus alone, and (4) a control with no V. alginolyticus or brine shrimp. Using fluorescence microscopy, we tracked the pathogen inside anemones. Anemones were then homogenized and plated onto marine agar to observe bacterial growth in the gastric cavity. There were varying levels of green fluorescent colonies of V. alginolyticus across the different treatments, suggesting that food may have an impact on pathogen entry, albeit not a strong one. Ingestion of a pathogen that causes coral disease may destroy large portions of a reef, and thus, understanding these dynamics of infection are important.