For my Sea Grant/NMFS population dynamics graduate fellowship I spent three summers as an intern with Dr. Alec MacCall at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center Santa Cruz Lab. During that time we investigated the problem of model uncertainty in the stock assessment. I was particularly concerned the population biology of the slow growing genus Sebastes.

To understand the influence of model uncertainty, I developed a population simulation model. I fit population models to the simulation model and compare parameter estimates to the "true" simulation values [3]. I also compare goodness of fit measures. The simulation model was parameterized to mimic the biology of widow rockfi�sh (Sebastes entomelas).

There are three sources of stochasticity in the simulation model. The model has stochastic recruitment, stochastic natural mortality and stochastic individual growth. Stock assessments routinely estimate stochasticity in the recruitment function [5]. However, it is very rare to estimate uncertainty in the natural mortality rate. And, to the best of my knowledge, no stock assessment has assumed stochasticity in individual growth.

I present a model of the early life history of a rockfish that includes an age-dependent maternal effect. The model is designed to accurately reflect the diverse uncertainties we have about early life history processes. The first portion of this thesis is devoted to an analytical treatment of the deterministic early life history model. I emphasize uncertainty about the functional form of density-dependent processes in the juvenile stage. The remainder of the thesis is devoted to demonstrating the properties of an agestructured population simulation with a productivity function that includes a maternal effect. I begin by examining a deterministic system, and then extend the analysis to a stochastic system. The simulation is used to calculate the time to recovery of an overfished rockfish population. I find that in the presence of an age-dependent maternal effect: (1) older populations are generally more productive than younger populations of the same biomass, (2) old fish provide a recovering population with buffering from environmental variability, (3) the size of the population impact of the effect depends significantly on the underlying life history pattern, and (4) managing an overfished population for age-structure has the largest positive impact when the rebuilding plan includes moderate harvest.

This qualitative study is a critical examination of Latinas’ experiences in a Private For-Profit Vocational Education (PFVE) institution. PFVE institutions are for-profit schools that offer less-than-two-year certificate programs designed to prepare adult students for jobs and careers in an array of vocational trades such as dental and medical assistant positions. Communities of Color, specifically Women of Color, are a target population for PFVE institutions (Chung, 2008; Hentschke et al., 2010; Iloh, 2014; Iloh & Toldson, 2013; McMillan Cotton, 2017; Tierney & Hentschke, 2007). To explore my interest in the prevalence of Latinas who are attending PFVE institutions (Oseguera & Malagon, 2010), I pursued two research questions: What factors influence Latinas to attend a PFVE institution? What impact did attending a PFVE have on their career goals? As the theoretical frameworks informing this study, Critical Race Theory in Education (CRTE), Chicana Feminist Epistemology (CFE), and Cultural Intuition illuminate the racialized, classed, and gendered schooling experiences of Communities of Color (Sol�rzano & Yosso, 2002). I held pl�ticas—a reciprocated conversation between researcher and co-constructor of knowledge as methodology and method (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2015)—with eight Latinas who graduated from a PFVE. Their experiences exemplifed all six capitals of Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) (Yosso, 2005), as well as a newly identified concept, actualizational capital. Actualizational capital is the drive. Findings from these pl�ticas demonstrate the following: (a) Most of the Latinas attended a PFVE to attain a better-paying job, thus seeking upward socioeconomic mobility; (b) Some women attended a PFVE due to the lack of support, information, and guidance; and (c) A couple of Latinas chose to attend a PFVE based on time efficiency. All of the women experienced high levels of debt as a result of their PFVE attendance. For most Latinas, attending a PFVE had a positive impact as they gained self-confidence, work experience, and transferable skills in their designated fields while they actively worked toward pursuing their career goals, exercising their actualizational capital.

This dissertation is divided into four chapters. Chapter one provides a brief introduction to medicinal chemistry concepts that are relevant to the rest of the dissertation. Chapters two, three, and four are three distinct projects. Chapter two is the target investigation of a class of non-naturally occurring small molecules, the triazolopyrimides (TPDs), against the parasite Trypanosoma brucei via photoaffinity labeling (PAL). TPD-based PAL probes were designed and synthesized, followed by optimization of photoaffinity labeling experiments in mammalian HEK293 cells. Optimized PAL conditions were adapted to whole T. brucei parasites, and these experiments confirmed that TPDs target T. brucei by binding to trypanosome microtubules. Chapter two is the development and target investigation of another class of non-naturally occurring small molecules, the thiophenyl pyrimidines (TPPs) as paralytic agents of the helminth parasite, Schistosoma mansoni. Using an elucidated structure-activity relationship, congeners of the TPP with improved S. mansoni paralysis potency and improved physicochemical properties were developed. Furthermore, using a similar approach used in chapter two, a TPP-based PAL probe was designed and synthesized. PAL experiments in S. mansoni highly suggest that TPPs do not target schistosome microtubules. Chapter three is the design and synthesis of deuterated cystamine derivatives as drug candidates for fatty liver disease. Cystamine is a marketed drug for treatment of cystinosis, and has been studied as a drug candidate for fatty liver disease. Two deuterated cystamine derivatives were designed. While in vitro studies reveal no significant difference between cystamine and its deuterated derivatives, in vivo studies show a deuterium-dependent effect in a fatty liver disease mouse model.