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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter (Winter 2013), Cheryl Stevens, Dean Dec 2013

Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter (Winter 2013), Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.


Global Digital Elevation Model Accuracy Assessment In The Himalaya, Nepal, Luke G. Miles Dec 2013

Global Digital Elevation Model Accuracy Assessment In The Himalaya, Nepal, Luke G. Miles

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are digital representations of surface topography or terrain. Collection of DEM data can be done directly through surveying and taking ground control point (GCP) data in the field or indirectly with remote sensing using a variety of techniques. The accuracies of DEM data can be problematic, especially in rugged terrain or when differing data acquisition techniques are combined. For the present study, ground data were taken in various protected areas in the mountainous regions of Nepal. Elevation, slope, and aspect were measured at nearly 2000 locations. These ground data were imported into a Geographic Information System …


Spatial Analysis Of Fatal Automobile Crashes In Nashville, Tn, 2001-2011, Yan Chen Dec 2013

Spatial Analysis Of Fatal Automobile Crashes In Nashville, Tn, 2001-2011, Yan Chen

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

With increasing levels of motor vehicle ownership, automobile crashes have become a serious public issue in the U.S. and around the world. Knowing when, where, and how traffic accidents happen is critical in order to ensure road safety and to plan for adequate road infrastructure. There is a rich body of literature pertaining to time-related fatal crashes, most of which focuses on non-spatial factors such as a driver’s visibility at night, drinking and drug use, and road conditions. These studies provide a theoretical basis for understanding the causes of crashes from a non-spatial perspective, and a number of traffic laws …


Eastern Deciduous Forest Phenology And Vegetative Vigor Trends From 2000 To 2013, Mammoth Cave National Park, Ky, Sean Taylor Hutchison Dec 2013

Eastern Deciduous Forest Phenology And Vegetative Vigor Trends From 2000 To 2013, Mammoth Cave National Park, Ky, Sean Taylor Hutchison

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Global climate change is predicted to affect environmental systems at the midlatitudes, but the scope, severity, and outcomes of these impacts are yet to be fully understood. This study focuses on the implications of short-term climate variability for forests in central Kentucky. Using a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) calculated from MODerate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument data, the photosynthetic activity of vegetation at Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA) is tracked from 2000 to 2013. Three methods were employed to examine the changes and climate influences in vegetation over the study period: 1) aggregating the NDVI of the Park by year …


The Western Kentucky University Crumps Cave Research & Education Preserve, Chris Groves, Jason Polk, Ben Miller, Pat Kambesis, Carl Bolster, Sean Vanderhoff, Beth Tyrie Nov 2013

The Western Kentucky University Crumps Cave Research & Education Preserve, Chris Groves, Jason Polk, Ben Miller, Pat Kambesis, Carl Bolster, Sean Vanderhoff, Beth Tyrie

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Crumps Cave is located about one kilometer northeast of Smiths Grove, Kentucky (Figures 1, 2, and 3). The only known entrance was purchased by Western Kentucky University (WKU) in 2009 through a grant from the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund and the cave is managed as the focal point of a research and education preserve to study a wide range of environmental conditions and dynamics, and their interactions, using high-resolution electronic monitoring along with geochemical sampling, analysis and modeling. Crews from WKU’s Hoffman Environmental Research Institute visit the cave weekly for sampling, data downloading, and equipment maintenance, with a major …


Early Humboldtian Influences On Alfred Russel Wallace's Scheme Of Nature [Presented At The Alfred Russel Wallace And His Legacy Royal Society Of London Meeting, 21 October 2013], Charles H. Smith Oct 2013

Early Humboldtian Influences On Alfred Russel Wallace's Scheme Of Nature [Presented At The Alfred Russel Wallace And His Legacy Royal Society Of London Meeting, 21 October 2013], Charles H. Smith

DLPS Faculty Publications

Alfred Russel Wallace’s 1858 Ternate paper on natural selection is a famous work in the history of science. Beyond his co-discovery of the principle, moreover, Wallace is known for a large number of early applications of the idea, both to biological and biogeographical subjects. Yet how much do we really know about Wallace’s own evolution of thought, and his actual intentions before his views were swallowed up by the inertia of Darwin’s revolution? A number of differences between Wallace’s and Darwin’s views are apparent and have been much treated over the years, but related discussions dwell more on effects than …


[Sabbatical Report], Jun Yan Oct 2013

[Sabbatical Report], Jun Yan

Sabbatical Reports

During my sabbatical leave (Fall 2013), I have mainly worked on the project to explore the dynamics of the U.S. domestic airline market. This project focuses on geographic changes in the U.S. domestic airline market over the past two decades (1993-2012) at the level of city-pair directional markets. The primary goal for this project during my sabbatical is to prepare and process data for further analysis in the coming years.


Ua3/9/2 2010-2022 Master Plan, Wku Planning, Design & Construction Sep 2013

Ua3/9/2 2010-2022 Master Plan, Wku Planning, Design & Construction

WKU Archives Records

WKU master plan map showing buildings needing renovation, proposed buildings, affiliated buildings and WKU property in Bowling Green, Kentucky.


The Use Of The Ostracode Cyprideis Americana (Sharpe) As A Proxy For Salinity In Bahamian Lake Systems, Rachel E. Bowles Aug 2013

The Use Of The Ostracode Cyprideis Americana (Sharpe) As A Proxy For Salinity In Bahamian Lake Systems, Rachel E. Bowles

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Ostracodes, bi-valved crustaceans, are potentially excellent proxies for salinity.They are abundant, react to changes in salinity, and secrete low-magnesium calcite shells that preserve information about their host water chemistry. Changes in valve trace element concentration, stable isotope composition, and sieve pore shape values have been linked to changes in salinity. This study analyzed the response of the euryhaline ostracode, Cyprideis americana, to salinity in six lakes from two Bahamian islands across two seasons. The purpose of this work was to determine which compositional and morphological variables in C. americana are the most useful for paleosalinity reconstructions.Ostracode and water samples were …


Plain & Simple: The Will To Live Sustainably In An Unsustainable World, Brandi Nichole Button Aug 2013

Plain & Simple: The Will To Live Sustainably In An Unsustainable World, Brandi Nichole Button

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sustainability is a buzzword covering a variety of fields and subjects. For the purposes of my research sustainability is “the ability to keep going over the long haul. As a value, it refers to giving equal weight in your decisions to the future as well as the present” (Gilman 1). The sustainability movement refers to activists, educators and researchers who are dedicated to finding high quality ways of living in the world that are environmentally benign for all who are now living as well future generations to come (Gilman 1). This research focuses on three women who engage in voluntary …


Overcoming Barriers To Teaching Action-Based Environmental Education: A Multiple Case Study Of Teachers In The Public School Classroom, Terry Rachael Adams May 2013

Overcoming Barriers To Teaching Action-Based Environmental Education: A Multiple Case Study Of Teachers In The Public School Classroom, Terry Rachael Adams

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

As the human population increases, it becomes increasingly more important for society to understand the impact of humans on the environment. Preserving fixed resources by engaging in sustainable practices is necessary to ensure those resources are available for future generations. Since the early 1960s, policy makers and educators alike have sought to ensure that students graduate environmentally literate. Previous research has identified a multitude of barriers that limit classroom teacher’s ability to integrate environmental education into their curriculum. The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers overcome those barriers that restrict the integration of action based environmental education …


Understanding Colombian Violence Through Geographic Information Systems And Statistical Approaches, Brandon Fowler May 2013

Understanding Colombian Violence Through Geographic Information Systems And Statistical Approaches, Brandon Fowler

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In 2002, Colombia had the highest homicide rate of any Latin American country(Berkman, 2007). The origins of this violence, however, are complex and difficult to identify. It would be sensible to argue that it cannot be explained by any one particular factor, but rather an assortment of many factors that wholly represent the social, economic, and political conditions of Colombia. By better understanding the origins of Colombian violence, policy makers can more effectively address and alleviate this prolonged issue. This study examines the geographic nature of municipal homicide rates for Colombia in 2005. The purpose of this study is to …


Karst Hydrogeology Of The Haney Limestone, South-Central Kentucky, Sarah Marie Arpin May 2013

Karst Hydrogeology Of The Haney Limestone, South-Central Kentucky, Sarah Marie Arpin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

South-central Kentucky has one of the world’s most intensively studied karst
areas, with most work focusing on the Mammoth Cave System and related caves and aquifers. However, slightly higher in the stratigraphic section than Mammoth Cave, the Haney Limestone is a locally important but less well studied carbonate aquifer. This research provides the most comprehensive synthesis to date of the karst hydrogeology of the Haney Limestone of south-central Kentucky, focusing on the distribution and controls on cave and karst features developed within. In contrast to drainage systems within the major limestones below, joints are the most dominant control on passage …


Bosnian Immigrants: An Analysis Of The Bosnian Community's Influence On The Cultural Landscape Of Bowling Green, Ky, Nathan Jess Cary May 2013

Bosnian Immigrants: An Analysis Of The Bosnian Community's Influence On The Cultural Landscape Of Bowling Green, Ky, Nathan Jess Cary

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Diasporas have been occurring for thousands of years, and today globalization has facilitated the quick rate at which diasporas occur on a global scale. Diasporas entail the mass movement of refugees across international borders, and diasporic peoples today now find themselves journeying across oceans and continents to the safety of host cities in a matter of weeks or days. My research analyzes the effects that Bosnian immigrants have had on the cultural landscape of Bowling Green, Kentucky. When people move, they bring their cultures with them, and this type of cultural diffusion impacts the landscape of the host cities. As …


Climate Data Manipulation And The Use Of Water To Build Political Power In The Southwest United States, Conrad Moore, Professor Emeritus Apr 2013

Climate Data Manipulation And The Use Of Water To Build Political Power In The Southwest United States, Conrad Moore, Professor Emeritus

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Models utilized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicate a striking trend toward increasing aridity in the Southwest United States. Two landmark articles published in Science magazine have emphasized the critical future consequences of this trend. Data from 59 National Weather Service stations distributed across the region west of the continental divide and south of the 41stparallel (the northern border of Colorado and northeastern Utah), including 36 stations in the Upper Colorado River Basin and lower Southwest, show that annual and winter precipitation increased over the 60-year period 1950-2010, although the record is impoverished by the deletion …


Understanding And Managing Karst Water Resources In Belize: Case Studies Of Both Past And Present In A Changing Climate, Jason S. Polk, Leslie North, Ben Miller, Jonathan Oglesby, Kegan Mcclanahan, Lowell Neeper, Aaron Holland, Bernie Strenecky Jan 2013

Understanding And Managing Karst Water Resources In Belize: Case Studies Of Both Past And Present In A Changing Climate, Jason S. Polk, Leslie North, Ben Miller, Jonathan Oglesby, Kegan Mcclanahan, Lowell Neeper, Aaron Holland, Bernie Strenecky

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Belize is a developing country that faces water resource issues in the forms of both quality and quantity, stemming from a long history of environmental stress and population threats, from the ancient Maya to present. Belize’s karst landscape, which comprises a large part of the country from the coast to the Maya Mountains, is characterized by springs, caves, sinkholes, and aquifers systems formed from the dissolution of carbonate (limestone, dolomite) rock. This research presents several different case studies, spanning from the ancient Maya and issues with drought to modern communities that rely on groundwater resources quickly being depleted. Past drought …


A Further Look At The 1858 Wallace-Darwin Mail Delivery Question, Charles H. Smith Jan 2013

A Further Look At The 1858 Wallace-Darwin Mail Delivery Question, Charles H. Smith

DLPS Faculty Publications

Recent investigations have led to a conclusion that Alfred Russel Wallace probably mailed his ‘Ternate’ paper on natural selection to Darwin a month later than some have thought, thus freeing Darwin from possible accusations of plagiarism. Further examination of the question suggests this conclusion is premature, as the evidence in favor of the later mailing date appears to be shakier than first thought.


On The System Of Knowledge: A Classification Of Studies Within The Field Of Geography*, Charles H. Smith Jan 2013

On The System Of Knowledge: A Classification Of Studies Within The Field Of Geography*, Charles H. Smith

DLPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Wallace: The Review, And Wallace: The Preview, Charles H. Smith Jan 2013

Wallace: The Review, And Wallace: The Preview, Charles H. Smith

DLPS Faculty Publications

In this essay commemorating the one hundred year anniversary of his death, Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) is remembered for his main contributions to biogeography, and pointed to as a possible source of inspiration for future work in that field. As one of the science’s “fathers,” Wallace established both methods for study and a long-lived geographical systemization of animal distribution patterns. His efforts, moreover, may yet have the potential to inspire further new studies in the subject.