Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Adventuring In The Winds: An Exploration Of Water Accessibility, Keystone Species, Environmental Justice, And Forest Fires In The Wind River Range, Rhianna Giron

Honors Theses

This thesis is a braided narrative that incorporates personal experience, ecological research, and poetry to explain some of the impacts of human interaction in wild spaces and of climate change. The specific areas of study in this essay are the Wind River Range, Wyoming and Nebraska. The purpose of this paper is to discuss topics related to water availability and quality, forest fires, keystone species, and social injustices related to people and environments in the Wind River Range. It is important to learn about other places than the ones we are already familiar with as it helps to instill a …

Anthropogenic Change On The Distribution Of Marine Megafauna And Their Prey, Baylie Fadool

Honors Theses

Anthropogenic change is impacting the distribution and survival of marine megafauna and their prey. Humans are changing every aspect of the marine environment, with effects reaching as large as changing the composition of marine environments to directly overexploiting species through the fishing industry. The role that marine megafauna play in balancing ecosystems, including as top apex predators, leads to detrimental results in the absences and population declines of these species. Migrations and declines due to threats on marine apex predator species will alter their environments by causing mesopredator release and changes in community structure, which is often associated with reduced …

Cold Sintering Diisopropylamonium Bromide To Form Organic Ceramic Pellets, Darren Armstrong

Honors Theses

Diisopropylamonium bromide is an organic ferroelectric compound. Standard sample preparation methods either require a powder or a single crystal. Certain measurements cannot be done on powders due to equipment limitations, and single crystals are difficult and time consuming to produce and handle. Cold sintering is a relatively new process that allows the creation of ceramics. The original cold sintering process was adapted to work for diisopropylamonium bromide. This allows the creation of ceramics with a large surface area. These pellets can achieve up to 95% of the theoretical maximum density. While the pellets are currently unsuitable for electric testing at …

Engagement And Computational Thinking Through Creative Coding, Dana Hoppe

Honors Theses

Rising enrollments in Computer Science pose an opportunity to engage students from diverse backgrounds and interests; and a challenge to deliver on positive learning outcomes. While student engagement is the driving factor for increased learning performance and retention, it has been declining to new lows for Computer Science students in recent years. In order to further explore the potential of contextualized computing as a tool for increasing engagement in computing and developing Computational Thinking aptitude in students, we have developed an introductory computing course contextualized with Art and Design with modules centered around guiding pedagogical principles and aimed at middle …

A Mathematical Model Of Speeding, Jared Ott, Xavier Pérez Giménez

Honors Theses

Crime is often regarded as nonsensical, impulsive, and irrational. These conjectures are pointed, though conversation about the pros and cons of crime does not happen often. People point to harsh fines, jail times, and life restrictions as their reason for judgement, stating that the trade-offs are far too unbalanced to participate in illicit activity. Yet, everyday people commit small crimes, sometimes based on hedonistic desires, other times based on a rational thought process.

Speeding seems to be one of those that almost all people commit at least once during their life. Our work hopes to make an incremental improvement on …

Communicating Computing Limitations Through Kinesthetic Pedagogy, Michael Mason

Honors Theses

Abstract concepts, such as those in advanced Computer Science and Mathematics, can be extremely difficult to understand fundamentally without an existing background in a similar subject. Recent research has shown that raw visualizations without learner interaction are not particularly effective at communicating complex information because they allow the learner to ignore the example (Lauer 2006, Naps 2002). Forcing somebody to interact with an example ensures that they can grasp the visualization. This paper describes a six step technique to demonstrate the limitations of computing through kinesthetic pedagogy, then offers an example exercise utilizing the method. The six proposed steps are: …

Evaluation Of The Potential Geological And Socioeconomic Impacts Of The Imminent Cascadia Megathrust Earthquake, Matthew Pritchard

Honors Theses

The Cascadia Subduction Zone on the northwest coast of the United States poses the threat of a devastating megathrust earthquake and subsequent tsunami damaging coastal populations. This paper synthesizes literature to analyze the geologic and socioeconomic effects of this natural disaster, as well as examines the existing warning system infrastructure, and makes recommendations to mitigate the damage. In order to assess the geologic effects of a megathrust earthquake, I investigate the tectonic history, the role of episodic tremor and slip (ETS) in stress buildup, crustal architecture of the subduction zone, and analogous subduction zones such as Chile and Japan. This …

Characterization Of A Trochoidal Electron Monochromator, Jesse Kruse

Honors Theses

This thesis presents a quantitative study of a trochoidal electron monochromator and attempts to observe the 2p^53p^2 resonance in neon. A detailed description of the experimental apparatus, including the electron beam system, the vacuum system, and the light analysis system, is presented first. Then, we discuss the theory of how the electron beam is monochromatized, how we measured monochomatization, and how we analyze the light being emitted from the collision cell. The light analysis system is capable of accurately measuring the relative Stokes parameters for any polarization of light, and the electron beam system is capable of producing electron beams …

The River And The Ranger: The Crafting And Background Of An Interpretive Program, Amy J. Heusinkvelt

Honors Theses

The central part of this creative project was the development and presentation of an interpretive program delivered in conjunction with employment at the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. To supplement this place-specific program, a second program was developed retaining similar themes to the first, but designed to be presented in Lincoln. A brief history of the National Park Service as well as the fundamentals of interpretation were researched and elaborated upon to provide both a base and background for presentation of the interpretive programs. The project includes both self-assessment of the programs and research, as well as remarks, suggestions, and …

Synthesis And Evaluation Of Nebraska Red Derivatives For Protein Labeling Studies, Lauren Lesiak

Honors Theses

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play a vital role in cell signaling, and imaging the internalization of these proteins will allow for better understand of protein trafficking within the cell, as well as identification of potential drug targets. However, there is a need for further development of fluorescent protein labels that are able to effectively monitor GPCR internalization in the near-infrared (NIR) range. We recently described a series of NIR fluorophores in which a phosphinate functionality is inserted at the bridging position of the xanthene scaffold, called the Nebraska Red (NR) dye series. These dyes are attractive reagents for the imaging …