Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Environmental Sciences (12)
- Chemistry (8)
- Earth Sciences (8)
- Computer Sciences (7)
- Life Sciences (7)
-
- Engineering (6)
- Geology (6)
- Mathematics (6)
- Sustainability (6)
- Physics (4)
- Social and Behavioral Sciences (4)
- Architecture (3)
- Astrophysics and Astronomy (3)
- Civil and Environmental Engineering (3)
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (3)
- Environmental Design (3)
- Environmental Engineering (3)
- Environmental Monitoring (3)
- Hydrology (3)
- Oceanography (3)
- Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology (3)
- Arts and Humanities (2)
- Environmental Health and Protection (2)
- Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment (2)
- OS and Networks (2)
- Other Computer Sciences (2)
- Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology (2)
- Agricultural and Resource Economics (1)
- Agriculture (1)
- Institution
- Keyword
-
- Geology (4)
- Sustainability (3)
- Aerogel (2)
- Analysis (2)
- Data (2)
-
- Energy (2)
- Environmental health (2)
- Food security (2)
- Green (2)
- Hydrology (2)
- Abundance (1)
- Adirondacks (1)
- Aerosol (1)
- Aerosols (1)
- Agriculture (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Algal levels (1)
- Algebra (1)
- Amines (1)
- Anthropogenic waste (1)
- App (1)
- Appliance (1)
- Architecture (1)
- Asplanchnidae (1)
- Astrolabe (1)
- Astronomy (1)
- Ballston Lake (1)
- Basin (1)
- Belgrade Lakes (1)
- Bosminidae (1)
Articles 1 - 30 of 50
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Multimessenger Astronomy: Modeling Gravitational And Electromagnetic Radiation From A Stellar Binary System, Kevin Kern
Multimessenger Astronomy: Modeling Gravitational And Electromagnetic Radiation From A Stellar Binary System, Kevin Kern
Honors Theses
Our Solar System is one of roughly 100 billion other stars that make up the Milky Way Galaxy. Two-thirds of all stars are paired off, forming a gravitational bond between one another. Such systems are known as stellar binaries. Although these binaries are prevalent there is much yet to be learned about their formation, evolution, and interactions. The approach taken in this thesis is to produce simulated data representing the expected measurements that an observational astronomer would collect. Specifically, we have simulated the data from an eclipsing binary light curve, spectroscopic velocity curve, and the gravitational wave times series form …
Lesson Not Learned: Deepwater Horizon Research And Media Coverage Exposes Gaps In Knowledge And Risky Protocol Within The Oil Industry, Lauren Haller
Lesson Not Learned: Deepwater Horizon Research And Media Coverage Exposes Gaps In Knowledge And Risky Protocol Within The Oil Industry, Lauren Haller
Honors Theses
An insatiable thirst for oil has led poorly coordinated, risk-prone megasystems deeper into the ocean in search of new oil reserves. Profit-driven agendas at the corporate level have a top-down effect within these megasystems. Cost-cutting and risk-downplaying leaves the field employees unprepared to handle emergencies. A series of costly mistakes led to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which caused extensive damage to an already fragile ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico. The wealth and political influence of the oil industry overpowers lax regulatory agencies and legislation-even though media and research has exposed frustrating parallels between the Deepwater Horizon …
Photocatalytic Activity Of Zinc Oxide Thin Films Prepared By Dc Sputter Deposition And Thermal Oxidation, Robert Louder
Photocatalytic Activity Of Zinc Oxide Thin Films Prepared By Dc Sputter Deposition And Thermal Oxidation, Robert Louder
Honors Theses
Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a wide-bandgap semiconductor with a broad range of applications, such as photocatalysis. The photocatalytic properties of ZnO result from the highly oxidizing holes and reducing electrons that are induced on the ZnO surface by ultraviolet (UV) light. The efficiency of electron-hole pair formation is therefore critical for photocatalysis, and thus the optical quality of the films in the UV region is of critical importance. ZnO thin films have been fabricated using DC sputter deposition of Zn-metal films followed by thermal oxidation at different temperatures (300, 600, and 900°C). Characterization of the optical properties of the resulting …
Synthesis Of Oligopeptide Fragments For An Skp1 Mimetic, Jarret Curtis
Synthesis Of Oligopeptide Fragments For An Skp1 Mimetic, Jarret Curtis
Honors Theses
No abstract provided.
Preliminary Assessment Of Hybridization And Introgression Of Morone Species In The Toledo Bend Reservoir, Louisiana, Kelsey L. Daroca
Preliminary Assessment Of Hybridization And Introgression Of Morone Species In The Toledo Bend Reservoir, Louisiana, Kelsey L. Daroca
Honors Theses
No abstract provided.
Unsupervised Semantic Classification Methods, John Gilmer
Unsupervised Semantic Classification Methods, John Gilmer
Honors Theses
No abstract provided.
Factorization Of Primes Primes Primes: Elements Ideals And In Extensions, Peter J. Bonventre
Factorization Of Primes Primes Primes: Elements Ideals And In Extensions, Peter J. Bonventre
Honors Theses
It is often taken it for granted that all positive whole numbers except 0 and 1 can be factored uniquely into primes. However, if K is a finite extension of the rational numbers, and OK its ring of integers, it is not always the case that non-zero, non-unit elements of OK factor uniquely. We do find, though, that the proper ideals of OK do always factor uniquely into prime ideals. This result allows us to extend many properties of the integers to these rings. If we a finite extension L of K and OL of OK , we find that …
Petrologic Evidence For Mafic Recharge At Volcán Barú, Western Panama: Implications For A Late Pleistocene Sector Collapse, Shannon M. Brady
Petrologic Evidence For Mafic Recharge At Volcán Barú, Western Panama: Implications For A Late Pleistocene Sector Collapse, Shannon M. Brady
Honors Theses
The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the petrologic conditions of the magma chamber beneath Volcán Barú in western Panama. Volcán Barú is an andesite stratovolcano that experienced a large sector collapse during the Late Pleistocene, which destabilized the southwestern flank of its edifice. Samples were taken from the cores of hummocks and megaclasts deposited as a result of this sector collapse, which are inferred to have been intact wall rock from the pre-collapse edifice. These samples range in composition from 51.8 to 61.7 wt. % SiO2 and have a geochemical signature that is consistent …
Farmers Motivations To Practice Sustainable Agriculture, Kimberly A. Floeser
Farmers Motivations To Practice Sustainable Agriculture, Kimberly A. Floeser
Honors Theses
An increasing awareness of human and environmental health issues and the destruction of family farms and rural communities have caused a significant change in the way many farmers, consumers, and policy‐makers are thinking about and relating to food, the results of which can be seen largely in the growth of the organic and sustainable food industry. This paper attempts to examine and explain farmers’ attitudes towards sustainable agriculture, and their motivations to use sustainable methods of production. A survey was distributed to 533 farms that are members of the Northeast Organic Food Association of New York (NOFA‐NY). The data obtained …
Manual Rubber Sandal Press For Loisaba Kenya, Bridget N. Little
Manual Rubber Sandal Press For Loisaba Kenya, Bridget N. Little
Honors Theses
The goal of this project was to develop an inexpensive manual cutting machine to cut sandals out of recycled tires and industrial belt allowing poor Kenya villages to produce their own sandals that are durable enough to survive the rough terrain. In Kenya 56 percent of the population live in poverty, surviving on less than a dollar a day. Walking is the main mode of transportation and the majority of Kenyans can only afford second hand shoes that wear out easily on the unpaved roads. In developing this machine the goal was to make the machine affordable for a company …
Old Father Hudson: The Three Stages Of Environmental Activism In The Hudson River Valley, Gregory P. Cannillo
Old Father Hudson: The Three Stages Of Environmental Activism In The Hudson River Valley, Gregory P. Cannillo
Honors Theses
Consequences of development have threatened the health of the Hudson River for decades. These have included the prospect of destroying scenic value of the Hudson River Valley with the a hydroelectric power plant on Storm King Mountain, as well as the pollution of the river itself by a variety of industrial sources. Since the 1960s, a long lineage of environmental activism in the Hudson River Valley has emerged to address those issues. The example of the Hudson River supplies an excellent case study of how environmental issues began to be addressed in the later half of the 20th century. I …
Alumina-Based Aerogels By Rapid Supercritical Extraction For Use In Green Automotive Catalysis, Nicholas J. Dunn
Alumina-Based Aerogels By Rapid Supercritical Extraction For Use In Green Automotive Catalysis, Nicholas J. Dunn
Honors Theses
Aerogels are highly porous solids with low bulk density, high specific surface area, high thermal stability and tunable chemical composition. These properties make aerogels interesting for use as catalysts in automotive exhaust remediation. Noble metals such as platinum are currently used for this function, but are costly and harmful to the environment. Aerogels offer a potential alternative to noble metals that could reduce both the cost and environmental impact associated with catalytic converter production. Alumina and nickel-alumina aerogels have shown activity in catalyzing exhaust processing reactions. The environmental impact of the production of aerogel catalysts could be further reduced by …
Fabrication And Analysis Of Teos- And Mtes-Based Aerogels Prepared Via Rapid Supercritical Extraction, Suzanne K. Estok
Fabrication And Analysis Of Teos- And Mtes-Based Aerogels Prepared Via Rapid Supercritical Extraction, Suzanne K. Estok
Honors Theses
Silica aerogels were prepared using the precursor tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and an organically modified TEOS derivative (methyltriethoxysilane, MTES) via a rapid supercritical extraction (RSCE) method. Multiple consistent batches of monolithic TEOS-based aerogels were fabricated via an eight-hour RSCE process. Fabricating TEOS-based aerogels with an RSCE method offers some distinct advantages. The main advantage is the relative simplicity of the RSCE approach: liquid precursors are mixed and poured into a mold in a hydraulic hot-press, where gelation, aging and extraction of liquid from the pores occur. The precursor recipe employs TEOS, ethanol, water, oxalic acid to catalyze hydrolysis, and ammonia to catalyze …
Comparative Study Of Aerosols Using Particle Induced X-Ray Emission, Colin L. Gleason
Comparative Study Of Aerosols Using Particle Induced X-Ray Emission, Colin L. Gleason
Honors Theses
A comparative study of atmospheric aerosols was performed on samples collected in Schenectady, NY using Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) spectroscopy. PIXE is an elemental analysis technique used to measure the elemental concentration of a sample. This is part of a systematic study to identify the sources and understand the transport, transformation, and e˙ects of airborne pollutants and the connection between aerosols, the deposition of pollution, and the uptake of pollutants by wildlife and vegetation. The atmo-spheric aerosols were collected with a nine-stage cascade impactor that allows for the analysis of the particulate matter as a function of particle size. …
A Continuous Late Holocene Record Of Paleoclimate Change From Grinnell Lake Sediment Cores, Glacier National Park, Montana, Jonathan G. Griffith
A Continuous Late Holocene Record Of Paleoclimate Change From Grinnell Lake Sediment Cores, Glacier National Park, Montana, Jonathan G. Griffith
Honors Theses
Grinnell Lake is a glacially-fed alpine lake in the northern Rocky Mountains of Montana. Limnological parameters and radiocarbon ages from a ~1.17 -meter-long sediment core from Grinnell Lake provide a ~1,200 year-long climate record. The objective of this thesis is to develop a multi-proxy record of glaciation by distinguishing periods of positive and negative mass balance chronologically. Two overlapping sediment cores (1P-1B-1 and 1C-2B-1) were described, photographed, and sampled at 0.5 cm, 1 cm, and 5 cm intervals and analyzed for % organic carbon, % inorganic carbon, mineral composition, bulk density, biogenic silica, and clastic sediment flux. Glacial fluctuations were …
Ion-Beam Analysis Of Airborne Pollution, Charles I. Harrington
Ion-Beam Analysis Of Airborne Pollution, Charles I. Harrington
Honors Theses
A research program in ion-beam analysis (IBA) of atmospheric aerosols is being developed to study pollution in the Capital District and Adirondack Mountains of New York. The IBA techniques applied in this project include proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE), proton induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE), Rutherford backscattering (RBS), and proton elastic scattering anal-ysis (PESA). These methods are well suited for studying air pollution because they are quick, non-destructive, require little to no sample preparation, and capable of investigating microscopic samples. While PIXE spectrometry is used to analyze most elements from silicon to uranium, the remaining techniques an-alyze some of the lighter …
Sustainable Food: New York Organic Dairy Market Conditions And Recommendations For Policy Reform, Dylan H. Hawkins
Sustainable Food: New York Organic Dairy Market Conditions And Recommendations For Policy Reform, Dylan H. Hawkins
Honors Theses
This paper questions the sustainability of the American dairy industry through an examination of the current organic milk industry of New York State, with special attention paid to three interests: consumer welfare, farmer welfare, and the environment. Many consumers envision an agrarian ideal of grazing cows on pasture when they think of a dairy farm; milk-marketing companies often perpetuate this image. Unfortunately, most dairy cows in America do not enjoy such idyllic lives. History shows that consolidation of the American food system has led to major transformations in dairy farming. As a result, consumers have had limited access to high …
Detrital Zircon Fission Track Ages Of The Paleocene Orca Group Of Eastern Prince William Sound Near Cordova Alaska, Tyler M. Izykowski
Detrital Zircon Fission Track Ages Of The Paleocene Orca Group Of Eastern Prince William Sound Near Cordova Alaska, Tyler M. Izykowski
Honors Theses
The Prince William terrane is a major component of the Mesozoic-Tertiary accretionary complex of the North American Cordillera that is well exposed for ~2200 km in southern Alaska and is inferred to be one of the thickest accretionary complexes in the world. Detrital zircons from Prince William terrane record the thermal evolution and exhumation history of the accretionary wedge. Samples of the Paleocene-Eocene Orca Group of the Prince William terrane were analyzed using detrital zircon fission track techniques to understand the thermochronology of the region near Cordova. Six sandstones from the Orca Group and one sample of the Sheep Bay …
An Environmental Economic Analysis Of Green Building And The Leadership In Energy And Environmental Design Rating System, John A. Manna
An Environmental Economic Analysis Of Green Building And The Leadership In Energy And Environmental Design Rating System, John A. Manna
Honors Theses
Buildings account for over 70% of U.S. energy consumption and produce 30% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. With growing concerns over future energy prices, the green building industry and the LEED rating system have made it their goal to produce better performing, more efficient buildings. LEED projects have been implemented in all 50 states, with 46 implementing LEED into public policy. In this study we evaluate the environmental and economic benefits of the LEED certification process. A cost-benefit analysis provides a framework for assessing the life cycle of a LEED building, incorporating both energy and cost savings, as well …
Pedagogical Tool For Usability Science Final Project Report, Daniel D. Mendelsohn
Pedagogical Tool For Usability Science Final Project Report, Daniel D. Mendelsohn
Honors Theses
A Sophomore Research Seminar (SRS) at Union College teaches about usability science, the study of designing interfaces that allow the user to accomplish a given task with less time and frustration. In this context, an interface can be anything that allows interaction with a physical or virtual device such as a web browser or the knobs on a stove. In this SRS, students design interface mockups, called prototypes, out of inexpensive material such as cardboard. Students use these prototypes to test their interfaces on real people, who are asked to perform a task that would be performed on a real …
Geochemical And Petrographic Analysis Of Gore Mountain Garnets, Adirondacks Ny, Elizabeth R. Morgan
Geochemical And Petrographic Analysis Of Gore Mountain Garnets, Adirondacks Ny, Elizabeth R. Morgan
Honors Theses
The mine at Gore Mountain is famous for its giant garnets and long history of garnet abrasive production. This location, Warrensburg (Wall St.), and others were examined to attempt to better understand the petrogenesis of these remarkable rocks. Our studies have emphasized the geochemistry of bulk rocks and rock and mineral separates (122 analyses), thin section petrology, and thermodynamic modeling of mineral assemblages. At Gore Mtn. the ore has the assemblage hornblende-plagioclase-garnet-OPX-biotite, and formed over a ~2 m thick transition zone from a layered olivine corona gabbro, metamorphosed at granulite facies. Petrographically the delicate corona structures and fine-grained garnets were …
Progress Towards An Aza-Michael Addition To Ketones, Bowman Potter
Progress Towards An Aza-Michael Addition To Ketones, Bowman Potter
Honors Theses
The aza-Michael addition to unsaturated ketones under neutral to mildly basic condition is a difficult transformation due to the inherent unreactivity of ketones toward the addition of weak nucleophiles. This thesis reports on efforts to develop an environmentally friendly, stereoselective and low-cost organo-catalyzed aza-Michael reaction between unsaturated ketones and nitrogen nucleophiles, such as phthalimide, under neutral to mildly basic conditions using the most inexpensive chiral secondary amine catalyst, proline.1 Both proline and the organic base triethylamine were found to be catalytic in the testing platform of cyclohexen-2-one and phthalimide, and another testing platform of 4-hexen-3-one and phthalimide. Likewise, when screened …
Design And Implementation Of An Rf Data Communication System, Aung K. Soe
Design And Implementation Of An Rf Data Communication System, Aung K. Soe
Honors Theses
Located just 8 miles northeast of Union College is Ballston Lake, a unique lake, which offers excellent research opportunities for faculty and students. The south basin of the lake is permanently stratified, and there has been no intermixing between water layers for thousands of years. The lower water layers contain no oxygen (anoxic). The Union College Geology Department is interested in a ten year study of Ballston Lake. Currently, there is no commercially available automatic system for collecting and transmitting data from a sensor package at the bottom of the lake to the lake shore and finally to Union College …
Improving The Energy Efficiency Of Fero House Home Of Alpha Delta Phi, Matt S. Stankiewicz
Improving The Energy Efficiency Of Fero House Home Of Alpha Delta Phi, Matt S. Stankiewicz
Honors Theses
As our country continues to grow and prosper we are faced with a growing number of environmental issues. While many of these issues were ignored in the pursuit of economic growth, we are now facing the harsh realities of our unmitigated expansion. The continual mining and use of fossil fuels has scarred our landscapes, polluted our air, and contaminated our waterways. Our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions are higher than ever and contributing heavily to global warming. With the United States’ population constantly on the rise and projected to hit 350 million in little over a decade1, it appears that our …
Characterization Of Green Roofs And Their Potential Effects On The Union College Campus, Cybil Tribie
Characterization Of Green Roofs And Their Potential Effects On The Union College Campus, Cybil Tribie
Honors Theses
A green roof is the construction of protective layers and vegetation on the roof of a building. Green roofs are capable of providing ecological benefits to the environment as well as economic advantages for the client. Therefore, my thesis will explore the characterization features of green roofs by focusing on the layers they are made up of, the different types of green roofs, and the benefits they can provide. Although this technology is relatively new to the United States in comparison to places such as Germany, where green roofs have been extensively used for over 40 years, there is a …
Evolution Of Flow In Games, Paul J. Tunison
Evolution Of Flow In Games, Paul J. Tunison
Honors Theses
Every one wants to play a fun game, but ”fun” is a subjective quality. Flow, a psychological theory to define what ”fun” is, states that, for an activity to be considered fun, the chal-lenge it presents must correlate with that participant’s abilities such that the activity is neither too easy or too difficult. One of the biggest problems for game designers is balancing the difficulty of its content in such a way that it appeals to the largest audience possible. In order to broaden audiences, de-velopers need to invest effort into creating numerous, discrete balances that are aligned to varying …
The History And Mathematics Behind The Construction Of The Islamic Astrolabe, Lyda P. Urresta
The History And Mathematics Behind The Construction Of The Islamic Astrolabe, Lyda P. Urresta
Honors Theses
In this paper, we examine the mathematical methods employed in the construction of the astrolabe, an ancient measuring device used to solve problems in the field of astronomy. Essentially, the astrolabe is a two dimensional representation of the heavens obtained by projecting the celestial sphere onto the plane. Though several different types of astrolabes exist, our primary focus is on the most popular deisgn, which is created by the stereographic projection of the celestial sphere onto the plane defined by the equator with the south pole as the projection point.
R-Process Nucleosynthesis In Supernova Simulation, Lyda P. Urresta
R-Process Nucleosynthesis In Supernova Simulation, Lyda P. Urresta
Honors Theses
We examined a potential r-process site by modeling nucleosynthesis in a late-stage supernova explosion, considering different hydrodynamic conditions. After collecting the resultant abundances with respect to atomic and mass number, we decayed the isotopes in our data sample to stability. Then, we plotted the decayed and undecayed abundances with respect to their atomic number and mass number, and compared them to the abundances procured from solar and metal-poor halo star data. Both of these environments are known to house r-process elements, and an agreement between the observed abundance data and the abundance data from our simulation would support the theory …
Coastal Inundation Due To Storm Surge As Sea Level Changes Along The Northern South Carolina And Southern North Carolina Coast, Justin Hartnett
Coastal Inundation Due To Storm Surge As Sea Level Changes Along The Northern South Carolina And Southern North Carolina Coast, Justin Hartnett
Honors Theses
This study made use of the storm surge model in Peng, Xie, and Pietrafesa (2004) and Xia et al. (2004), to predict coastal inundation along northern South Carolina and southern North Carolina as sea level rises. Hurricane Hazel (1954) was used as the reference hurricane in this study, which made landfall at 33.85°N, 78.57°W, as a category 4 hurricane. Data was plotted and analyzed using Matlab, to produce inundation maps for four sea level rises (0.2m, 0.6m, 1.0m, and 2.0m). The greatest net storm surge was produced during a 2m sea level rise, which in return caused the greatest amount …
Anthropogenic Impact On Meiofauna In Myrtle Beach Area Estuaries, Melissa Martinez
Anthropogenic Impact On Meiofauna In Myrtle Beach Area Estuaries, Melissa Martinez
Honors Theses
The population of South Carolina has been steadily increasing for years, especially in coastal areas. In fact, Horry County, which contains Myrtle Beach, has shown a population increase of 37% in the last decade. With significant population increase comes a proportional increase in urbanization, defined by more industries, more buildings, and more natural areas encroached upon. Not only does urbanization physically impact the natural environment, there are also chemical impacts through the release of anthropogenic waste and chemicals. Through runoff and direct input, these chemicals can eventually reach the estuaries and may cause some changes in those communities. For this …