2017 Honors Theses (Fall)

Fisher (Pekania pennanti) have been thriving in Pennsylvania since their reintroduction in the late 1990's. Efforts to mark their presence and absence across the state have been conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Officers from the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of using hair snares to determine the presence of fisherand to describe thehabitat characteristics of locations wherefisher presencewas detected. I identified 40 fisher detections during a single summer session from 60 hair snares and trail cameras that were sampled over three time periods. Habitat characteristics of sampling locations that detected fishers were not significantly different from the locations that did not detect fishers. The habitat description of fisher locations in my study supports the wider niche description of the species as previously described in Pennsylvania. This study demonstrates the repeatability of hair sample collection in Clarion County which is the first criteria for development of a remote mark-recapture method for estimating population size for this species.,Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Carol Bocetti.

The increase in sedentary lifestyles and calorie-dense diets have made obesity prevalent in our society leading to a rise in obesity-related health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. While some prescription drugs are effective in controlling weight, patients are often concerned about adverse side effects. This has led to celebrities and popular media endorsing the use of natural dietary supplements, such as plant extracts, to combat obesity. The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, can be used as a model to study obesity. This is because many genes and pathways involved in fat metabolism are shared between humans and flies, including the adipokinetic hormone (AKH) and mir-14 genes, which up-and down-regulate fat metabolism, respectively. This project's goal wasto determine if four natural supplements –Garcina cambogia, raspberry ketones, cayenne, and vitamin B12 –effectively increase fat metabolism. These weretested on wild-type flies and flies with mutations in the Drosophila AKHand mir-14 genes. Sixteen types of fly food were made, each containing one of the supplements, with four different doses tested for each. Concentrations were based on recommended human doses. Wild-type flies were kept on supplemented and unsupplemented food for one week. Fat storeswerethen assayed using a colored colorimetric assay to measure triglyceride levels. It was found that cayenne at the highest dose significantly decreased triglyceride levels in male wild-type flies. Cayenne also caused a significant increase intriglyceride levels in the dAKH male mutants at the lowest dose, suggesting that cayenne's effects may be mediated in part by the dAKH pathway.,Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Louise Nicholson.

California University of Pennsylvania was originally founded in 1852 as a school offering classes to students of all ages. It expanded and refocused its vision to train teachers during its Normal School Era. Through the years, the school continued to evolve, as in 1928 it entered its Teachers College Era. By 1959, programs beyond Teacher Education became a part of the school curriculum, as the name of the school was again changed to begin the State College Era. It was not until 1983 thatthe current title of the school was achieved, and California University of Pennsylvania was officially incorporated into the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, marking the beginning of the University Era of the school. Through primary source documents, this thesis project researches the history of Teacher Education at CalU, specifically focusing on the four eras that the university has spanned and connecting these eras to national trends and personal ties.,Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Jason Kight.