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Wild Food Harvesting And Biodiversity In The Black Hills: Key Issues And Areas For Future Research, Margaret J. Torness

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

As we grapple with the complex and interrelated issues of widespread species extinction and global climate change, both largely driven by industrial agriculture, there is a need to investigate the relationship between food systems and conservation approaches to find solutions. Wild foods lie at the intersection of ecological and socio-cultural systems, bridge the wild and the domestic, and challenge the false dichotomy between production agriculture and conservation. Given the importance of biodiversity to the resilience of our food systems, both wild and domestic, this research serves as a scoping study to investigate key issues and areas in need of future …

Stakeholder Opinions Of Seaweed Supplements For Dairy Cows, Autumn Moen, David Conner

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

No abstract provided.

Ensuring Efficacy In Local Food Shelf Programming, Sophie Hartry Springer

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

The Farmstand at the Food Shelf is a program created by South Burlington non-profit Common Roots and the South Burlington Food Shelf, where organic, local food grown at the Common Roots farm is distributed to food shelf customers. Along with fresh produce, Food Shelf customers are also able to take prepared meals, recipe samples, local animal protein, plant starts, and other offerings. This research explores the wants and needs of customers at the South Burlington Food Shelf through quantitative and qualitative research in order to understand the limits and strengths of the current programming offered by Common Roots. Results suggest …

Seed Value Chain Analysis: Enhancing Culturally Meaningful Seed Access By Harmonizing Seed Companies, Seed Growers, And Farmers/Gardeners In The Northeastern United States, Claire Fischer

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

Seeds are often valued solely as agricultural inputs, which diminishes the other benefits they provide such as cultural connections between people and the food they consume. Because seeds are primarily valued for their ability to enhance productivity and profit, a limited supply of culturally meaningful (CM) seeds exist in the US, creating barriers for individuals and communities - and particularly ones of color - seeking to connect to their traditional foodways. The Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance (UCFA), a collective of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) seed growers and distributors, is working to construct a seed value chains (SVC) …

Evaluating The Impact Of Climatic Factors On Tick-Borne Pathogen Prevalence: Insights From Ixodes Scapularis And Its Borrelia Burgdorferi, Anaplasma Phagocytophilum, And Babesia Microti Pathogens, Joseph D. Webb

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Tick-borne zoonoses represent a significant and escalating public health threat, particularly in the United States, where ixodid (family Ixodidae) ticks serve as vectors for an array of tick-borne pathogens. With the release of climate change projections, understanding the complex interplay between environmental variables and disease dynamics becomes paramount. This study integrates epidemiological, molecular, and climatological data to investigate the influence of temperature and precipitation on the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi, Babesia microti, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum within adult Ixodes scapularis populations. Leveraging multiple linear regression models and climate projections, my analysis reveals associations between climatic factors and pathogen prevalence …

The Effect Of The 2008 Financial Crisis On Bosnian Households, Tin Skoric

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

The 2008 Global Financial Crisis was particularly difficult for Bosnia and Herzegovina, an upper-middle-income country. This paper investigates the effects of changes in risk aversion on consumption saving behavior in the context of the Global Financial Crisis. I use the Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans (RCK) growth model (Cass 1965; Koopmans 1963) and apply it to Bosnian economic data. I estimate the effects of a change in risk aversion via numerical simulations to derive quantitative results concerning both the short- and long-term. I find that output, consumption, and investment decreased by as much as 2.53%, 2.41%, 7.40% respectively in the long term.

The Effects Of Microtiming Deviations And Quantization On The Perception Of Musical Groove, Emilia Winquist

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Microtiming deviations and their exact relationship to groove perception is an emerging field of study, in which many general beliefs about the nature of music have yet to be statistically proven. Although growing evidence supports the importance of microtiming deviations in swing grooves, the understanding of their role in funk grooves is poorly understood. This study presented survey participants with five sets of bass and drum audio samples, each consisting of a quantized and original audio pairing, to assess how they were perceived. Results showed that quantization never improved groove, but did not always degrade the perception of groove either.

Historical Racism And Professional Football, Evan Leaf

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Ideas of biological differences between people of different racial groups have existed in the United States for centuries, either as popular belief or pseudo-scientific fact. These supposed biological differences have evolved over time as they incorporated new anecdotes and stereotypes. Today, the impact of these supposed biological differences can be found in sports through racial stacking. Stacking is a phenomenon whereby players of a certain racial group are more likely than players of other racial groups to play a certain position. This thesis investigates stacking in the National Football League, using both content analysis of football commentary and an experimental …

The Torrijos-Carter Treaties: Panamanian Sovereignty And United States Neocolonialism In Cold War Panama, Emma C. Regan

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

This paper examines the Panama Canal treaty renegotiations in the 1970s, the complex figure of Panama’s military dictator Omar Torrijos, and how US interests in Panama were changing in the Cold War. It closely dissects the question of why the United States renegotiated the canal treaties with Panama at the height of the Cold War. It will find that Omar Torrijos was an active agent in pressuring the US by leveraging the international Cold War geopolitics. The paper also explores how Panamanians reacted to the new treaties; many left wing activists, politicians, or intellectuals objected to the new treaties. It …

« Quelle Structure Grammaticale Est La Plus Difficile ? » : Foreign Language Aptitude & Working Memory In Second Language Acquisition Of French, Julia E. Gamache

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

This study investigates the correlations between foreign language aptitude (FLA), working memory capacity (WM) and learning of a second language (L2) in a university classroom setting of native English-speaking learners of elementary level French at the University of Vermont. Proficiency was assessed separately for two unique target structures hypothesized to vary in grammatical difficulty based on complexity of construction and crosslinguistic influence: the near future tense (the easy structure) and partitive articles (the difficult structure). Proficiency was measured using a timed, written grammaticality judgment task (GJT). A pretest was administered prior to exposure to either structure, and posttests were administered …

Designing An Alginate Hydrogel Wound Dressing For Biofilm Infection Management, Margaret (Maisie) Moses

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Biofilm infections present a formidable challenge in wound management due to their tolerance to antimicrobial treatments. This study introduces a novel hydrogel wound dressing designed to deplete pyruvate, a key metabolite in biofilm formation and maintenance, from the wound environment. Hydrogel sheets made from the natural polymer alginate crosslinked with calcium chloride (CaCl₂) were synthesized with varied concentrations, with and without the pyruvate-depleting enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH). Through analysis of mechanical properties, swelling behavior, morphology, porosity, and enzymatic activity, the study characterizes the hydrogels and demonstrates effective PDH entrapment within the sheets. Results indicate promising potential for biofilm …

First Meals And Last Meals: Vehicles Of Food Meaning, Sophie E. Warth

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

In this research, I explored the significance of the first meal consumed upon release from incarceration, reflecting changes in the meanings of food during the period of incarceration. Comparing last meals helped to explain comfort food and degrees of agency, facilitating a better understanding of first meals, and enabling an analysis of similarities and differences between the two. Creating a museum virtual tour of significant art by Julie Green, thoroughly reviewing the literature, and conducting an open forum observational study with formerly incarcerated individuals provided insight into the role of first meals upon release from incarceration and the degree of …

Small But Mighty: Utilization Of Macroinvertebrates As Indicator Species Of Stream Health Across Different Land Use Areas In Vermont, Maya Thomson

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Anthropogenic activities, including land use changes, exert a significant impact on the physical and chemical characteristics of streams as well as the assemblage of organisms living in and around the stream. Urban streams are especially vulnerable to alterations in nutrient loads, hydrological regimes, and physiochemical variables, which can lead to reduced biodiversity and negative impacts on ecosystem processes (e.g., leaf litter decomposition). This study aimed to assess the health of four streams in Vermont using metrics for macroinvertebrate community health and organic matter processing. Streams were selected to represent different land use practices: two streams were in an urban catchment …

Our Relationships To Nature And Loss Through Art, Justine R. Goldblatt

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Societal forces that push ideas of productivity, individual gains, and material wealth have distorted humankind’s relationship with the natural world. The sooner more of us acknowledge that nature is composed of living entities whose fates are interlaced with our own, the sooner we can alter our lives to focus on a relationship of respect and reciprocity with the natural world. Art is a medium that can communicate threatened aspects of nature due to climate change, while also provoking viewers to become more aware of their connections with nature. Drawing and painting are contemplative processes that can tell a story of …

Exploring Us National And Vermont Emergency Medical Services: Slower And Lower Rural Care, Brandon S. Schoenfeld

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Research demonstrates that modern Emergency Medical Service (EMS) systems do not provide care equitably to all patients, particularly across different landscapes. In this research, I explore the differences between rural and urban EMS nationally and within Vermont. Utilizing a mix of qualitative data derived from interviews with EMS providers, quantitative data from local and national-level monitoring organizations, and cartographic approaches, I generated an understanding of the current EMS landscape from a social and spatial perspective. Specifically, I explored the application of the theory of “taskscapes” onto EMS systems to evaluate understandings for a more equitable EMS future.

Art Of The Soil: Reflections Of Nuclear Disaster In Post-Fukushima Japanese Art, Max C. Gerlach

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

I would like to briefly outline the core interpretive assertions associated with each analytical section of my paper. Beginning with art from the postwar era, I explore how Japanese artists use their work surrounding the atomic bomb to convey themes such as that of hope for recovery and for a peaceful future. While artists from the postwar era undoubtedly worked to represent and memorialize the suffering of atomic bomb victims, there remains an underlying depiction in their artwork of a Japanese society that comes together in the face of nuclear disaster and forges toward a peaceful tomorrow.

Moving into post-Fukushima …

The Disproportionate Affects European Standards Of Beauty Have On Black Women, Marina Palladinetti

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

This Thesis addresses the way European standards of beauty disproportionately affect Black women and Black girls in a Euro-American society. European standards of beauty have detrimental effects on Black women’s overall well-being and self-esteem. The methodology used for this thesis is evidence gathered from memoirs, novels, and collections of essays discussing European standards of beauty and colorism. This thesis addresses the experience of mixed-race people in Euro-American societies. Hair and skin complexion are addressed as features that are used to measure distance from the ideal beauty standard. This thesis includes close readings of The Bluest Eye and Their Eyes Were …

Evaluation And Modeling Of Factors Associated With Urine Drug Testing Appointment Absences, Rui Xu

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Why doesn’t a patient show up for their appointment? Is it too far? Are there too many appointments? Or something else? Urine drug testing clinics often observe patient scheduled visit absenteeism, and this can be used as a data source to answer our questions and explore other potential correlations between factors. With a well-developed electronic health data system, a retrospective study was performed on a large data set collected between January 2019 and December 2021 across the U.S. and more than half a million patient encounters; it contained nearly a year of quarantine, and pandemic status was also analyzed as …

Was It Really The “Age Of Reagan?”: How The National Organization For Women Kept The Fight For Women’S Equality Alive, 1982-1992, Rhiannon Janelle Brown

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The National Organization for Women is one of the largest organizations committed since its founding in 1966 to women’s equality with men and civil rights. Most works on the organization’s activism have focused on their activities during the 1960s and 1970s, a period that historians have labeled as the second “wave” of feminism, but what happened to NOW after the 1970s ended? What happened to feminism in the 1980s? The 1980s are frequently considered a period of conservative success, with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984. This consideration of the decade presents a problem with the political …

Investigating The Effect Of Relative Humidity On Organic New Particle Formation From The Dark Ozonolysis Of Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds, Austin Callum Flueckiger

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Solid or liquid particulate matter suspended in the air, also known as atmospheric aerosols, are a ubiquitous component of Earth’s atmosphere. It is important to understand the chemical and physical processes that lead to the formation of these aerosols as they have an impact on climate health and human health. An important subset of atmospheric aerosols are secondary organic aerosols (SOA) that form from the gas-phase oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs can be emitted via biogenic and anthropogenic pathways, however, global estimates place biogenic sources as the major contributor. Although widely studied, some of the fundamental mechanisms that …

Increasing Breast Cancer Screenings In The New American Population, Tuhina Venkatayogi Mph, Bs, Rn, Erin Leighton Dnp, Aprn, Fnp-Bc

College of Nursing and Health Sciences Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Project Publications

Purpose: Breast cancer poses a significant health risk globally, with routine screenings pivotal for early detection. The New American population in Vermont face many barriers to accessing mammogram screenings and have a 0% participation rate in breast cancer screening, thus necessitating targeted interventions. The purpose of this project was to improve mammogram participation among New Americans by at least 15% by January 2024.

Methods: The intervention at a New American clinic included an educational infographic presented during initial health center visits, supplemented by tangible pamphlets. Patient understanding was assessed through teach-back questions. Appointment scheduling was facilitated during the visit, with …

Edge Colored And Edge Ordered Graphs, Per Gustin Wagenius

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

In this work, the current state of the field of edge-colored graphs is surveyed. Anew concept of unshrinkable edge colorings is introduced which is useful for rainbow subgraph problems and interesting in its own right. This concept is analyzed in some depth. Building upon the linear edge ordering described in a recent work from Gerbner, Methuku, Nagy, Pálvölgyi, Tardos, and Vizer, edge-ordering graphs with the cyclic group is introduced and some results are given on this and a related counting problem.

Economics, Platforms And The Formal Structure Of Webcomics, Aki Jacobson

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

This thesis details the effects that the encroachment of content platforms has had on the structure of webcomics, in addition to the related economic pressures. Previous academic writing on webcomics has shown a desire for the space to revolutionize comics structure outside of the bounds of the physical page. This thesis finds that this has already happened though the effects are not as extravagant or obvious as previous scholars were hoping for, in part due to the influence of content platforms. Webcomics scholarship has primarily taken a formalist approach influenced by the writing of Scott McCloud at the turn of …

Evaluation And Modeling Of Factors Associated With Urine Drug Testing Appointment Absences, Rui Xu

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Why doesn’t a patient show up for their appointment? Is it too far? Are there too many appointments? Or something else? Urine drug testing clinics often observe patient scheduled visit absenteeism, and this can be used as a data source to answer our questions and explore other potential correlations between factors. With a well-developed electronic health data system, a retrospective study was performed on a large data set collected between January 2019 and December 2021 across the U.S. and more than half a million patient encounters; it contained nearly a year of quarantine, and pandemic status was also analyzed as …

Non-Market Food Practices Do Things Markets Cannot: Why Vermonters Produce And Distribute Food That's Not For Sale, Sam Bliss

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Researchers tend to portray food self-provisioning in high-income societies as a coping mechanism for the poor or a hobby for the well-off. They describe food charity as a regrettable band-aid. Vegetable gardens and neighborly sharing are considered remnants of precapitalist tradition. These are non-market food practices: producing food that is not for sale and distributing food in ways other than selling it. Recent scholarship challenges those standard understandings by showing (i) that non-market food practices remain prevalent in high-income countries, (ii) that people in diverse social groups engage in these practices, and (iii) that they articulate diverse reasons for doing …

Dynamical Modeling Of Resistojet Style Thrusters For Fault Detection, And Fault Identification, Jonathan Leo Kerivan

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The work presented in this thesis investigates and validates the dynamic modeling, fault detection, and fault identification (FDI) for the resistojet thruster system, typically used in low magnitude thrust applications for smaller spacecraft. The resistojet thruster is an improvement upon the widely utilized cold gas thruster, featuring an incorporated heating section aimed at improving propellant efficiency. This additional heating section enhances the performance of the system by increasing the propellant’s thermal energy before its discharge through the nozzle, subsequently leading to a reduction in overall fuel consumption. To implement a model-based FDI technique tailored to the typical resistojet thruster system, …

Analyzing The Impact Of Road Salt In Stormwater On Phosphorus Removal By Duckweed (Lemna Minor), Jenna Fracasso

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

Water and nutrients are vital resources to all life forms on Earth. Excess nutrients, however, can have detrimental impacts on aquatic ecosystems. In many watersheds, high phosphorus (P) levels can lead to eutrophication and harmful algal blooms. Stormwater runoff is a major contributor for introducing P into natural water bodies from sources such as agricultural fertilizers and yard waste. Another contaminant that makes its way into stormwater runoff is road salts. In cold climates, various salts are distributed onto roads and sidewalks in large quantities to lower the melting temperature of snow and ice. This study analyzed the intersection of …

Lessons From The Colchester Bog: Translations Of Plant-Environment Interactions, Sam Owen Fertik

UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses

How scientific insights and conclusions are communicated to broad audiences is an important consideration. Sharing knowledge about ecosystems and places can help to create greater connection between the human and non-human world. Creative and approachable means of scientific communication can create interest, build curiosity and connection, and encourage further questioning among audience members. This project uses artmaking as a means of ecological storytelling. Information, centered around plant species, and their patterns of distribution, adaptive life strategies, and connections to environmental conditions in bog ecosystems, was established as a background. Attaching ideas from scientific literature to a specific place, the Colchester …

Becoming Burlington: An Analysis Of Citizen Engagement In Waterfront Revitalization, Johanna L D Hartman

UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses

This research focuses on methods of citizen engagement in the Burlington waterfront revitalization from 1980-2024, finding that the values of citizens and the Progressive Coalition shaped the physical elements of revitalization, including public access, low-cost activities, and a mixed-use and equitable built environment. Additionally, the Downtown Waterfront is a centerpiece of the City’s place branding efforts, which aim to create a sense of place for residents and attract visitors and businesses to Burlington. I conducted research through the urban political ecology framework, utilizing interviews with key informants, archival research, and analysis of land use photographs throughout key planning and development …

Effective Drag Coefficient Prediction On Single-View 2d Images Of Snowflakes, Cameron Hudson

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The drag coefficient of snowflakes is an crucial particle descriptor that can quantify the relationships with the mass, shape, size, and fall speed of snowflake particles. Previous studies has relied on estimating and improving empirical correlations for the drag coefficient of particles, utilizing 3D images from the Multi-Angled Snowflake Camera Database (MASCDB) to estimate snowflake properties such as mass, geometry, shape classification, and rimming degree. However, predictions of the drag coefficient with single-view 2D images of snowflakes has proven to be a challenging problem, primarily due to the lack of data and time-consuming, expensive methods used to estimate snowflake shape …