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Students from Yosemite Summer Programs Will Present Public Symposium Aug. 15

January 7, 2008

MERCED, CA— The University of California,
Merced, and Yosemite National Park have hosted nineteen students
from UC Merced and other institutions around the United States in
two programsin
the park this summer.

As the students finish their summer experience, they will share
the knowledge they have gained in a public symposium Aug. 15 from
8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Search and Rescue Training Room in
Yosemite Valley. (Directions are included at the end of this document.)

“Anybody is welcome to attend the whole day of presentations or
stop in for the topics that interest them,” said UC Merced

Wawona Research StationDirector

Eric L. Berlow.

The schedule of presentations is as follows:

Morning Session: Yosemite Leadership Program

Time Presentation
8:45 - 9:00 Introduction (Eric Berlow, UC Merced
Sierra Nevada Research
Institute)
9:00 - 9:15 Marie Armstrong (University of
California, Merced)

“Through interpretation comes stewardship: Keystone
connections between UC Merced and Yosemite”
9:15 - 9:30 Gesha Uminskiy (University of
California, Merced)

“Giardia in the Sierra Nevada: What do we know?”
9:30 - 9:45 Orion Agnew (University of California,
Merced)

“Yosemite’s soundscape: Noise and neurological
well-being”
9:45 - 10:00 Jeannette Barron (University of
California, Merced)

“Behind the scenes of an archeological site in Yosemite
National Park: What it takes to do a dig”
10:00 - 10:15 Money Hothi (University of California,
Merced)

“Nutritional influence on peak performance in mountaineering
sports”
10:15 - 10:30 Break
10:30 - 10:45 Zander Kurnizki (University of
California, Merced)

“Human hydration: how I stopped worrying and learned to love
the filter”
10:45 - 11:00 Chris Huback (University of
California, Merced)

“Physiological effects of backpacking”
11:00 - 11:15 Renee Smith (University of California,
Merced)

“The Invasion: Exotic vegetation in Yosemite National
Park”
11:15 - 11:30 Yesi Medina (University of California,
Merced)

“A wilderness state of mind”
11:30 - 11:45 Raj Bolla (University of California,
Merced)

“Making a friend out of fire in the Sierra Nevada”
11:45 - 12:00 Alvaro Luna (University of California,
Merced)

“Discovering the Southern Sierra Miwok Language”
12:00 - 1:15 Lunch Break

Afternoon Session: Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program

Time Presentation
1:15 - 1:30 Introduction (Benoit Dayrat,
University of California, Merced)
1:30 - 1:50 Brenda Nieto (University of Texas, El
Paso)

“Estimating meadow vulnerability to climate change”
1:50 - 2:10 Alejandro Miró Co (University of
Puerto Rico)

“Environmental DNA barcoding of Yosemite freshwater
invertebrates - Part 1: Survey of the Tuolumne and Merced
watersheds diversity”
2:10 - 2:30 Cymphonee Robinson (University of
California, Riverside)

“Environmental DNA barcoding of Yosemite freshwater
invertebrates - Part 2: CO1 DNA sequences as an innovative tool for
biodiversity assessment”
2:30 - 2:50 Break
2:50 - 2:10 Dannique Aalbu (University of
California, Merced)

“The future of Sierra water: study and implications of ground
water and surface water interactions in the upper Merced
River”
2:10 - 2:30 Cliff Tonsberg (University of
Tennessee)

“Flow paths in the South Fork of the Merced River, Yosemite
National Park”
2:30 - 2:50 Nathan Helms (Columbia College)

“Instrument transect along Tioga Pass Road: a new paradigm
for hydrologic and climate monitoring”
2:50 - 3:10 Break
3:10 - 3:30 Sunny Grunloh (University of
California, Merced)

“Prescribed fire effects on surface soil and biomass carbon
of Yosemite National Park forests”
3:30 - 3:50 Tevis Blom (University of Colorado)

“Atmospheric deposition of toxic metals in Yosemite National
Park high altitude lakes: reconnaissance survey, summer 2008”

Parking and Directions

  • Visitors should park in Day Use Parking and walk or use park
    shuttles to reach the SAR Training Room.
  • Board the shuttle at stop 1 (Day Use Parking) and disembark at
    stop 5 (Visitor Center).
  • Walk to Village Drive and make a right.
  • Go past the stop sign into the employee parking lot and head to
    the gas pumps.
  • Turn left into the lot between the SAR Training Room and the
    Wilderness Patrol/SAR Cache (located at 9000 Lost Arrow Drive).
  • The SAR Training Room is on your right. If you get to the
    stables, you’ve gone too far.

More Information

UC Merced’s Summer
Programs in Yosemite National Park