Undergraduate Research Symposium 2025

Follow

• 

  Taraxacum Officinale Effect on the Reduction of Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines IL-6 and TNF-a

  Bailee Bad Heart Bull, Kat Kraemer, Kira McCallum, and Ruth Teeple

  Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is a ubiquitous plant found in every continent except Antarctica. Despite its condemnation as a weed, it has been used for centuries in traditional European, Indian, and Chinese herbal medicine for its purported digestive and diuretic properties. Its leaves contain antioxidants and bioactive compounds like taraxasterol, which have been reported to reduce reactive oxygen species production and inhibit nitric oxide production. There have been claims that taraxasterol can reduce inflammation by reducing the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines; a cytokine is a small protein released by immune cells that helps regulate inflammation, immune responses, and cell communication. Our study aimed to investigate whether common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) reduces inflammation within the body by inhibiting the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-ɑ) produced by macrophages. RAW 264.7 macrophages were treated with varying concentrations of dandelion extract and plated (the process of transferring and spreading cells onto a culture dish or plate to allow them to adhere, grow, and multiply under controlled conditions) with or without LPS (a bacterial endotoxin that induces inflammation). We measured the production of IL-6 and TNF-ɑ by using ELISA. Our results showed that samples exposed to both LPS and dandelion extract showed less TNF-ɑ and IL-6 pro-inflammatory cytokine production than a control exposed to only LPS. These results elucidate the mechanism by which dandelion extract reduces inflammation, as seen in historical anecdotes.

• 

  Just Plain(s) Native: Isolating Experiences of Non-Plains Native Students at a Primarily Plains NASNTI

  Bryne Qavvik Croyle Johnson

  Higher education institutions have historically underserved the needs of Native students, even when active efforts are made to the improvement of services and support. Sense of belonging is a particularly ephemeral point of student’s engagement with a campus community, and studies about Native students don’t always account for the vast cultural differences between the different tribes and villages. My aim with this study is to present for consideration the isolating effects of culturally nonspecific services and groups on Native students at the University of Minnesota, Morris, a Native American-Serving Non-Tribal Institution (NASNTI). Employing ethnographic interview methods and discursive analysis, I have demonstrated that Native students from non-plains backgrounds are particularly affected by feelings of isolation due to lack of culturally responsive programming. This indicates that the intricate ties between tribal identity and the effectiveness of Native student services need to be more thoroughly explored to better support all Native students.

• 

  Masculinity as Capitalism: Abuse, Control, and Domination of the Earth in the Construction of Gender Identity

  J Guadalupe Dimayuga

  This presentation explores the intersection of masculinity, capitalism, and ecological domination, arguing that hegemonic masculinity cannot be dismantled without addressing the capitalist system perpetuating it. Western feminist literature critiques masculinity and its manifestations but often overlooks capitalism as the root cause, thus failing to dismantle it and provide meaningful alternatives. Through an analysis of ecological and Marxist feminist texts, this presentation argues for a feminist philosophy that integrates the two for a more nuanced understanding of masculinity. This philosophy is supported by highlighting the ways in which capitalism enforces exploitation, control, and domination within gender identity. By integrating Indigenous perspectives and promoting a balance between technological progress and respect for nature, this presentation advocates for a non-dominative masculinity. It proposes that only through a systematic critique of capitalism and engagement with a Marxist ecofeminist theory can a lasting alternative to our current hegemonic masculinity be established.

• 

  Water Quality of the Inner Puno Bay of Lake Titicaca

  Zoe Hoaglund

  Lake Titicaca straddles the border between Bolivia and Peru and is the highest lake in the world. The Lake has held great significance, particularly to the Incan empire for the last five thousand years as a source of drinking water, for agricultural use, and is the primary source for protein from native and more recently from non-native species of fish. It currently supports a growing fish farming industry for both Bolivia and Peru. Puno is one of the major urban centers on Lake Titicaca and supports a population of about 1.3 million people which derive their drinking water and a primary source of protein from the Inner Bay. The Inner Puno Bay of Lake Titicaca, has historically had water quality issues due to the discharge of effluent into this restricted bay. The goal of this research project is to review previous studies on water quality of the inner Puno Bay and the greater Puno Bay and to establish a seasonal monitoring program (February, May, August and December) that collects water quality data including pH, conductivity/resistivity, total dissolved solids, phosphate, nitrite, nitrate, metals, and qualitative and quantitative data on E. coli and enterococcus bacteria. The existing water quality data indicate that the water of the inner bay is alkaline and contains phosphate which is indicative of the presence of dissolved solids in the water, probably derived from the effluent. These data also suggest an increasing occurrence of E. coli and enterococcus bacteria which severely affects the water quality in the Inner Puno Bay and reduces water quality in adjacent areas of the lake where drinking water is derived, and fish farms are present. This not only presents health risks to the inhabitants of the Puno region but may present health risks to the large number of tourists that visit the region each year. The review of the historical data on water quality supplemented by our seasonal monitoring supports the timely development of a remediation plan to mitigate the poor water quality, ensuring quality drinking water, maintaining a healthy pisciculture, and reducing health risks to residents and tourists.

• 

  Discovering Sarah Thorp Heald

  Ella Kauffman

  My presentation discusses the research project that I completed during the summer of 2024 on central Minnesotan author and painter Sarah Thorp Heald. Heald worked as Secretary and Curator of the Crow Wing County Historical Society for fifteen years and created paintings that were were sent throughout the midwest. In this project, I documented Heald’s work as a historian and author in the early twentieth century in Crow Wing County, and I completed the first ever inventory of her known paintings. Over the span of three months, I worked in the Archives of the Crow Wing County Historical Society and read Heald’s manuscripts and museum minutes. During this time, I also photographed all of Heald’s works. While carrying out this project, I learned about new paintings that Heald had created and started reaching out to institutions like libraries and historical societies across Minnesota to find new information about her work. During the latter part of the summer, I began to work on a website to compile this information on a publicly accessible platform. In this presentation, I will talk about the process of research, revision, and fieldwork. In addition, I will share the artistic and scholarly achievements of Sarah Thorp Heald and how I discovered her story through fragmented scrapbooks and family histories.

  More information can be found at: https://sites.google.com/view/sarahthorpheald

• 

  Investigating the Effects of Palmitoylation in OVCAR3 Cells

  Bethany Knopp and Emu Suzuki

  Ovarian cancer is a disease characterized by the abnormal growth of cells in the ovaries often due to mutations in our DNA. Because ovarian cancer is typically diagnosed at advanced stages, the survival rate is less than 40% over a five-year period. One significant influence of this cancer is palmitoylation - a post- translational modification in which fatty acid chains are added to specific cysteine residues in proteins. This modification alters protein localization, stability, and function. When dysregulated, as seen in ovarian cancer, palmitoylation can promote irregular cell growth, mutations, and ultimately cancer. However, the role of palmitoylation in cancer remains poorly characterized. To better understand this mechanism and its effect on ovarian cancer cells (OVCAR-3), colony formation, and MTT assays (cell

  viability assays) were used to study how cancer cells survive and grow after treatment with 2-bromo- palmitic acid (2BP), a drug that inhibits palmitoylation. For the MTT assay, OVCAR-3 cells were plated

  and treated with increasing concentrations of 2BP for 48 hours. We found that treatment with 2BP decreased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. Similarly, for the colony formation assay, cells were plated and treated every three days for two weeks, followed by staining the colonies for visualization. We found that the number of colonies decreased as the drug concentration increased. Together, these results suggest that inhibiting palmitoylation leads to an increased rate of cancer cell death, indicating that palmitoylation may promote cancer cell proliferation and metastasis. This research may be useful as a possible therapeutic course of action for cancer patients.

• 

  The Hidden Carbon Footprint of AI Models: GPU-Aware Carbon Modeling

  Youzhi Li

  The rapid growth of AI technology has sparked transformative innovations but also increased carbon emissions. Recent research found that computer systems' carbon emissions are shifting from operational carbon to embodied carbon, but they did not fully capture the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Most recent research focused on operational carbon, neglecting the long-term environmental impact of embodied carbon. We found two gaps that persist in recent research. First, current carbon modeling focused on Central Processing Units (CPUs), neglecting the carbon modeling of Graphical Processing Units (GPUs). Second, it focused on primary components, neglecting significant contributions from peripheral components to the embodied carbon. These neglects are critical given AI's reliance on GPUs. Thus, modeling GPUs' carbon emissions can provide comprehensive carbon quantification of AI models. To address the aforementioned gaps, we propose a GPU-aware carbon modeling tool that estimates GPU's embodied carbon by considering primary and peripheral components. Using this tool, we quantify the embodied carbon emissions of both GPT-3 and GPT-4. Our findings reveal that the embodied carbon from GPUs constitutes 0.77% of GPT-3's and 2.18% of GPT-4's reported emissions. We predict that hardware production's embodied carbon will continue to rise due to the increasing reliance on GPUs in AI computing. Our research reveals the hidden effects of GPUs' carbon emissions, helping hardware designers and datacenter operators reduce the long-term environmental impact of AI.

• 

  Evaluating Water Quality Upstream and Downstream from a Proposed Restoration Project on the Pomme de Terre River in Morris, MN

  Payton Prieve

  The recent push to restore natural river conditions provides opportunities to investigate the effects of dam removal and channel modification, particularly if data are collected before such projects are initiated. The MN DNR plans to modify the Pomme de Terre River channel at the Crissy Lake dam (Morris, MN) by constructing and directing water flow over stone arch rapids to remove the barrier to fish, restore flow, and enhance river conditions. We aim to characterize the Pomme de Terre River upstream and downstream from the project site before construction to provide data to compare with river conditions after the project is completed. We collected data bi-weekly from September–November at 3 sites upstream and 3 downstream from the Crissy Lake dam. We measured dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solids (TDS), and Turbidity at each site. Average (range) values downstream were: DO 11.70 (7.36-17.53) mg/L, TDS 509.78 (469.20-:605.70) ppm, and Turbidity 2.70 (1.10-5.75) ntu. Average values upstream were: DO 12.54 (7.23-21.58) mg/L TDS of 476.79 (424.40-666.4) ppm, and Turbidity of 1.61 (0.55-4.00) ntu. DO levels suggest high levels of primary productivity and the capability of supporting aquatic life. TDS would be considered on the high-acceptable side of drinking water. Low turbidity levels show no indication of water quality impairment and reflect base flow conditions and lack of erosion in the absence of significant precipitation during the study period.

• 

  Rewiring an Enzyme: K135F Mutation in Malate Dehydrogenase

  Lauren Ratz and Kaci Schmoll

  Malate Dehydrogenase (MDH) is an enzyme that catalyzes the reaction of malate to oxaloacetate by reducing the cofactor NAD+ to NADH in the citric acid cycle, playing a crucial role in cellular metabolism. Alterations in the MDH structure have been linked to metabolic diseases and cancers, though its overall structure remains poorly characterized. To better understand MDH, we manipulated its structure by inserting a point mutation into the flexible loop region at position 135, exchanging a lysine (Lys) to a phenylalanine (Phe). We hypothesized that mutating a positively charged amino acid (Lys) to an aromatic amino acid (Phe) would cause aromatic-aromatic binding with the phenylalanine in position 134. We predicted this structural change would decrease the flexibility of the loop region, slowing the enzymatic activity of MDH. Using PyMol modeling, we discovered that the Phe135 increased the distance between surrounding amino acids, likely disrupting these interactions. To test our findings, the mutated MDH protein was expressed in E. coli cells and purified by column chromatography. Purified mutated MDH was confirmed by an SDS-PAGE gel and Bradford assay. To study the effects of the mutation, an enzyme assay evaluating the velocity and binding of the protein to the substrate was performed. We found that the mutant enzyme had a low velocity and binding affinity, resulting in a 97.77% decrease in specific activity and turnover rate when compared to wild-type. These results confirm our hypothesis and give us insight into how the structure is important for functionality.

• 

  Investigating the Effect of Soil Origin on Antibiotic Production in Streptomyces

  Emu Suzuki

  Streptomyces bacteria produce antibiotics that inhibit competing microorganisms. We hypothesized that Streptomyces from the rhizosphere (around plant roots) would be more likely to produce antibiotics than those from bulk soil (further away from roots). Soil samples were collected from rhizosphere and bulk soils in transitional and long-term organic fields of corn and alfalfa. Streptomyces from these soils were cultured on glucose-asparagine agar media. Their antibiotic production was evaluated by testing whether they could inhibit the growth of two target Streptomyces strains. No significant effects of soil type (rhizosphere vs. bulk), crop, or management on antibiotic production were observed for one target strain. In contrast, the other target strain showed a complex interaction, where antibiotic production depended on the combination of soil type, crop, and management. The results did not support the hypothesis that rhizosphere-derived Streptomyces are more likely to produce antibiotics.

• 

  Breaking Down Terminology of Clojure Error Messages for Beginner Programmers

  John Walbran, Jaydon Stanislowski, and Tristan Kalvoda

  The Clojure programming language has educational potential for beginner programmers due to its clean, simple syntax and its strong focus on functional programming, an important aspect of CSci education. However, one weakness of Clojure lies in its error messages, which are messages that programmers receive when a program goes wrong. The terminology and shorthands used to convey necessary information for understanding the error are often confusing to novices. The issue is exacerbated by the fact that the error messages are phrased in terms of the underlying programming language – Java – which beginner programmers may typically be unfamiliar with. A research group at UMN Morris is developing a tool, called Babel, that replaces the language’s default error messages with less jargon-heavy forms. This year, we started utilizing a graphical interface for viewing Clojure data to highlight the important details and terminology via context-based formatting choices, designed to make it possible for users to easily explore the reasons for the error and get access to relevant resources. We present our work-in-progress design of displaying error messages and discuss its potential benefits for new learners.