Monthly Archives: October 2024

How do you like them NAPLs? Investigating the chemical properties of pollutants

Seneca Lake in New York is known for stunning views, wine tasting, and being the lake trout capital of the world. However, a threat lies unseen in its beautiful waters. Earlier this year the Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association put out a report showing positive tests for polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water drawn from several sites in Seneca Lake. The report provides evidence that the known PFAS contamination at the former Seneca Army Depot is spreading beyond its borders. Seneca Lake is not the only community facing this issue. In Tucson, Arizona there has been an ongoing effort to remove PFAS from groundwater since the late 2010s when it was found that PFAS contamination was stemming from two nearby Air Force facilities. At K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base in Michigan, the Air Force is monitoring PFAS contamination in the water and soil with the help of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

PFAS are often used to make products grease-proof, waterproof, nonstick, or flame-resistant. They are also found in firefighting foams, which are commonly used to put out fires at airports and military bases. They are also known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily in the environment or the human body. PFAS have also been linked to several health problems, including certain cancers.

An additional factor becomes a concern when thinking about the impact from PFAS laden firefighting foams: non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPL). Common examples of NAPL are petroleum products, coal tars, and pesticides. In certain pollution sites there are both NAPL and PFAS present, which have the potential to interact in unexpected ways, impacting how these pollutants move through the environment, and potentially creating new NAPL-PFAS compounds of concern.

This week on ID we are interviewing Mireia Roig-Paul, a second year PhD student in Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, to learn all about these pollutants and the potential threats they pose. She studies in the laboratories of both Jennifer Fields and Serhan Mermer, and her research focuses on the intersection of PFAS and NAPLs, how they move through soil, and how they interact with each other. Tune in at 7pm on October 27th at 7 pm PST on KBVR 88.7 FM to hear all about it!

If you miss the show, you can check out the interview wherever you get your podcasts, including on our KBVR page, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Pictured is Mireia Roig-Paul (provided by Mireia Roig-Paul).

Straying from the stream: investigating the impacts of spring Chinook salmon hatchery fish on wild, origin fish

Dams, climate change, habitat loss, predation, anglers. Wild salmon must contend with all of these challenges during some point in their lifetimes. But an additional challenge may be having a negative impact on wild salmon that we don’t yet quite understand: hatchery salmon. The main purpose behind rearing and releasing hatchery salmon into the wild is to increase the number of fish available for anglers (both recreational and commercial) to catch since wild salmon populations are too low in many areas to yield sustainable catches. However, when hatchery fish are released into the wild, some individuals stray. The term straying describes when hatchery fish go where they are not supposed to go. While some degree of straying can be positive because it helps maintain or increase genetic diversity within wild populations, too many hatchery strays could lead to problems for wild salmon. Investigating the impacts of hatchery salmon on wild salmon is no easy feat, and it’s not made easier when you’re trying to do it in possibly one of the most remote and wild places in Oregon…

But that’s exactly what our guest this week is doing! Emily Treadway is a first year Master’s student advised by Dr. Seth White in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences at OSU. On top of being a graduate student, Emily is also an employee at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife working within the East Region Fish Research Office. By wearing these two hats and through support from the Lower Snake River Compensation Plan, Emily’s Master’s research aims to do three things: (1) establish baselines for the Wenaha River, (2) determine how a remote region like the Wenaha can be monitored cost-effectively into the future, and (3) hopefully implement certain mitigation efforts or designs that will help support healthy wild salmon populations. 

Map of the Grande Ronde watershed
Map of the Wenaha River
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If you want to hear more about Emily’s research, which involves kayaking on the Wenaha, scouting for river hazards, hiking into remote regions with huge solar panel-powered stationary antennas, then tune in to our live show with Emily this Sunday (October 20th) at 7 pm PST on KBVR 88.7 FM! 

If you miss the show, you can check out the interview wherever you get your podcasts, including on our KBVR page, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else!

Fear.exe: How horror video games hijack more than just your computer

Our upcoming guest is Erika Stewart, a second-year MA student in the School of Writing, Literature and Film. As an avid gamer growing up, Erika found a way to explore this passion more deeply in graduate school, where her thesis focuses on horror in video games. 

Scholars have studied our relationship with horror for decades, identifying that the fear induced arises from a threat to our bodies. But what about video games, where no immediate physical threat exists? An emerging genre of games—coined by Erika as ‘malwaric’ games—hijack your computer (much like malware) and can induce deep fear in players. How do these games create fear if there’s no representation of the body?

Erika explores this question by presenting the argument that the computer functions as an extension of the body. Malwaric games are designed to be intrusive and reflect a cultural fear: they are terrifying because the computer has become a part of us, and these games seem to attack us directly. In an age rife with artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality, Erika’s research is both timely and insightful, addressing what this means for the ‘digital divide.’

To learn more about Erika’s research—and how childhood video game memories and positive community college experiences influenced her path to graduate school—tune in to KBVR 88.7 FM this Sunday, Oct. 13. You can listen to the episode anywhere you listen to your podcasts, including on KBVR, Spotify, Apple, or anywhere else!

Changing the narrative of the sophomore slump

Going to college is an overwhelming and all-consuming experience. To help students cope with the new realities of college life, universities typically provide huge amounts of resources and support to freshmen during their first year. Once students hit their sophomore year, the assumption is that students are returning to something they’re already familiar with; they know what resources their school has to offer, how to sign up for classes, where to buy the best lunch on campus, and so on. Sophomores are expected to independently way find and the amount of support and provided resources fizzles out. This phenomena is referred to as the sophomore slump as research has shown that sophomores are in fact quite vulnerable compared to other college classes because of this drop-off in support. Shania Siron, who is in her third (and final!) year and advised by Dr. Tenisha Tevis at OSU, is our guest on the show this week and the focus of her Doctorate of Education dissertation research is the sophomore slump. Shania’s research aims at better understanding how college sophomores develop their abilities to self-author through engaging with career services, which Shania is pretty well-placed to do given that she doesn’t just wear a graduate student hat but she in fact also works full-time as the Assistant Director of Career and Fellowship Advising at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

Schematic showing how Self-Authorship Theory intersects with the Center for Life Beyond Reed’s Purpose=Driven Career Advising Model

Tune in to our interview with Shania this Sunday (October 6th) at 7 pm PST on KBVR 88.7 FM to learn about Reed College’s unique advising model, what it means to self-author, and Shania’s journey from being an undergraduate Duck at University of Oregon to being a graduate Beaver at Oregon State University!

If you miss the live show, you can check out the interview wherever you get your podcasts, including on our KBVR page, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere else!