Digital Commons Network^™

Four Decades, No Progress: Time For A Columbia River Basin Compact, Liesl L. Bogaard

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Since the Power Act’s passage in 1980, the government entities who develop and implement energy policy in the Pacific Northwest have operated under a congressional mandate to protect fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin. However, nearly half a century later, the number of wild salmon and steelhead returning to their native spawning grounds is still in decline, largely due to dam operations in the Columbia and its tributaries. This Note examines the history of hydroelectric power generation in the Columbia River Basin and its impact on fish populations, drawing parallels between the environmental crisis in the Columbia River …

Testing The Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis On Anthropogenic Pressure In Central Alabama, Gavin Terrell

Theses

Biodiversity is fundamental to maintaining ecosystem structure and function globally. Prior to the late 20th century, ecological theory generally predicted that biodiversity would be highest in systems experiencing minimal disturbance. However, Joseph H. Connell challenged this view with the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis (IDH), which posits that species diversity peaks at intermediate levels of disturbance and declines under conditions of both low and high disturbance. Although widely cited, the applicability of the IDH to natural systems remains debated, particularly in the context of anthropogenic disturbances and when diversity is measured beyond species richness alone.

This study evaluated the predictions of the …

Enhancing Urban Garden Capacity By Linking Biodiversity And Ecosystem Function, Mary T. Nguyen, Carleen Rauh, Shelby Gresch, Charlotte Correiro, Heidi Elmendorf, Adriane Fugh-Berman, Gina Wimp, Alexandra L. Decandia

Virginia Journal of Science

Urban agriculture broadly describes food and plant cultivation in metropolitan areas. While biodiversity is thought to support ecosystem health and resilience, the relationship between above-ground and below-ground diversity has been understudied in urban green spaces. This study examines plant, animal, bacterial, and fungal diversity across three distinct urban habitats: a turf lawn, a forb garden, and a farming space. Using bacterial 16S rRNA and fungal ITS2 sequencing, soil nutrient analyses, and surveys of vegetation and wildlife, we connect diverse philosophies in urban agriculture to their role in advancing community diversity and ecosystem function. We found that different urban gardens support …

Imidacloprid Effects On The Survival And Cutaneous Microbiome Of Northern Leopard Frogs, Evelyn Margaret Osterloo

Honors Thesis

Amphibians are experiencing population declines due to habitat loss, climate change, and diseases, particularly chytridiomycosis caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Protection from this fungal infection stems from the cutaneous microbiome. Pesticides have been shown to affect amphibians in a variety of ways, including reducing survival, locomotor performance, and accumulation in body tissues. Pesticides may also lead to changes in the cutaneous microbiome affecting amphibians who rely on these organisms as an anti-Bd defense mechanism. To investigate the effect of imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide, Northern Leopard frogs (Lithobates pipiens) were subjected to sublethal concentrations (control = …

Developing A Multi-Band Gnss Remote Sensing Station To Measure Precipitable Water Vapor For Flash Flood Nowcasting, Madison Gleydura

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Flash flood nowcasting in Central and Southern Appalachia is particularly challenging due to steep terrain, narrow valleys, highly localized rainfall patterns, and limited measurement coverage. Traditional remote sensing methods, such as Doppler radar and microwave radiometry, suffer from reduced resolution at long range and signal blockage by mountains. GNSS-meteorology offers an established alternative for measuring precipitable water vapor and is currently integrated into several numerical weather models. Recent research demonstrates that commercial-grade GNSS receivers can produce tropospheric products comparable to those from geodetic-grade equipment. The gaps in mountain coverage can be addressed by developing a low-cost, self-contained embedded system that …

Conservation Communication In Web 2.0: A Mixed Methods Analysis Of Alveus Sanctuary's Strategies On Twitch.Tv, Hope Denison

Senior Theses

This thesis examines how environmental creators can effectively transmit conservation messages in the evolving Web 2.0 media environment. The case of Alveus Sanctuary, a virtual sanctuary and education center on Twitch.TV, is used to explore the strategies currently used to engage audiences and raise ecological awareness online. Thematic analysis of interviews with the sanctuary’s founder revealed that Alveus combines traditional environmental education with an influencer business model to engage online audiences, leveraging parasocial behavior, interactivity, and collaboration to garner support. A quantitative content analysis of social media posts revealed that these strategies effectively induce parasocial engagement in online spaces. These …

Do Purpleair Monitors Democratize Data For The Environment?, Christopher Rick, Kyla Lorden

Student Publications

PurpleAir monitors may serve a vital role in marginalized or under-monitored communities nationwide. These low-cost monitors—roughly $300—give communities the ability to monitor their air quality at local geographies in ways that are infeasible for expensive, regulatory-grade air monitors. They also have the potential to aid community advocacy efforts around environmental and transportation policy by giving community members literal ownership over the monitoring, including precise locations, and philosophical ownership over the advocacy efforts. To determine the potential democratization of air quality data by PurpleAir monitors in socially disadvantaged communities, we analyze the sociodemographic characteristics of neighborhoods with PurpleAir monitors. We find …

The Importance Of Body Size And Spatial Scale In Modeling Winter Bird Distributions, Carissa M. Mobley

Student Publications

Birds’ annual cycles include biologically linked breeding and non-breeding seasons, yet most research and bird atlases focus exclusively on the breeding season. There have been very few winter bird atlas projects in North America, and none have been published for the northeastern United States. Short daylight hours and harsh weather limit winter survey coverage, making species distribution models (SDMs) essential for addressing spatial gaps.

I evaluated the optimal spatial scale for SDMs across bird species differing in body size and tested whether optimal scale varies with body mass. Using 16,967 eBird checklists collected during the first winter survey period (December …

Polylactic Acid (Pla) Microplastic Toxicity In C. Elegans, Maria Gamez, Dana Farley, Chiara Maldonado, David Mares

Posters - 2026

• Microplastics (MPs, > 5 mm1) are an environmental pollutant that pose health risks to humans. • Primary MPs are created for direct use or plastic stocks, and secondary MPs are created when plastics in the environment break down over time. • Microplastic exposure can cause oxidative stress, metabolic disorders, immune responses, neurotoxicity, and reproductive issues2-3. • Polylactic Acid (PLA) is a biodegradable plastic used in everyday items, such as food packaging, and as a polymer in 3D printing. • PLA exposure to fish causes organ damage5 and C. elegans exposure to primary PLA MPs and UV-aged MPs reduced reproduction6-7 . …

Saved From The Brink Of Collapse: Evaluating The Success Of The Sussex Kelp Recovery Project, Keagan Farrell, Kelly Swyers, Adan Vasquez

Posters - 2026

Kelp forests are vital to ocean health, they provide habitat, food, and nursery grounds for a variety of marine species. These forests support fisheries, improve water quality, and help to protect coastlines (Eger et al. 2024). The Sussex Kelp Recovery Project is a marine conservation effort aimed at restoring their kelp forests along the Sussex coastline in southern England. This area lost up to 96% of its forests mainly due to the fishing practice trawling. Trawling is used to gather large amounts of fish, while dragging a net at the seafloor (Our history 2026). The main goal of the Sussex …

2026 Research Day Program, Lincoln Memorial University

Research Day

This program contains abstracts and presentation summaries from LMU's 2026 Annual Research Day conference.

Freedom Readers And Sustainable Development Goal 4: Advancing Literacy In Low-Income Communities Of South Carolina, Madison Hayes

Goal 4: Quality Education

No abstract provided.

Final Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area (Sbcca) Construction Quality Assurance Plan (Cqap), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Revised Draft Final Quarterly Operations And Maintenance Report: Butte Treatment Lagoon System – Second Quarter 2025, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

The Willow Who Kept The Secrets Of The Heart, Ana Suarez

Speak for the Trees!

This digital museum exhibit features the climate change fairy tale The Willow Who Kept the Secrets of the Heart, presented as a written narrative and recorded reading that explores the symbolic relationship between the Weeping Willow, water, and ecological care in the face of climate change. It also includes an infographic highlighting the Weeping Willow’s habitat, characteristics, and environmental challenges in Texas, along with a curator’s talk and curator’s board. The exhibit features an artifact entry using a half-filled vial of water to represent climate instability and the often-overlooked resources that sustain life, as well as a persuasive essay, …

High-Resolution Monitoring Of Intra-Seasonal Agricultural Drought Using Sentinel-2 And Machine Learning Across Bimodal Growing Seasons In Kenya, S. Mohammad Mirmazloumi, Harison Kipkulei, Rose Waswa, Tobias Landmann, Tom Dienya, Maximilian Schwarz, Fabrizio Ramoino, Clément Albergel, Gohar Ghazaryan

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Drought presents significant challenges to agriculture, threatening food security and livelihoods, across many regions. In Kenya, recurrent droughts across diverse agro-ecological zones emphasize the urgent need for reliable and scalable drought assessment methods. Although drought assessment with various datasets has been carried out for this region, many of them often use course or moderate resolution data. This study uses high-resolution Sentinel-2 observations and machine learning to monitor intra-seasonal crop conditions and assess drought impacts across bimodal growing seasons. Using pixel-based supervised random forest models trained with multiple vegetation indices as input, we classify croplands into drought-affected and unaffected areas. The …

Leveraging Section 208 Water Quality Planning To Mitigate Pfas Contamination In Watersheds Across The Waccamaw Region, Anna Dimatteo

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

No abstract provided.

Upgrades To Carvers Bay Water System To Improve Safety And Water Quality, Samantha Stollenmaier

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

No abstract provided.

Draft Final Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area Materials Management Plan Revision 1, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Draft Final 2025 Bpsou Subdrain Data Summary Report (Dsr), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Draft Final Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Insufficiently Reclaimed Sites Sister Dump (Bres No. 38) Remedial Action Work Plan (Rawp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Draft 2025 Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Residential Metals Abatement Program Construction Completion Report, Abby Peltomaa

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Final Quarterly Operations And Maintenance Report: Butte Treatment Lagoon System – Third Quarter 2025, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Final Quarterly Operations And Maintenance Report Butte Treatment Lagoon System – First Quarter 2025, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Downstream Effects Of Post Aerobic Digestion And Divalent Cation Treatment: Dewaterability, Phosphorus Mitigation, And Process Odors, Maya Marisol Quijano Garcia

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This study evaluated post-aerobic digestion (PAD) with aeration, mixing, and divalent cation addition to improve phosphorus capture, dewaterability, and odor control in thermal hydrolysis process (THP)–treated anaerobic digestate at the Hampton Roads Sanitation District’s Atlantic Treatment Plant. A three-day PAD process was operated under constant air flow (5 LPM) and dissolved oxygen (DO)-setpoint (0.2 mg/L) aeration conditions with Ca(OH)₂ or Mg(OH)₂ dosing. Aeration and mixing alone increased polymer demand by 14–46 % relative to untreated influent, indicating enhanced extracellular polymeric substance release. Chemical conditioning partially mitigated this increase but did not restore polymer demand to baseline levels. Dewatered cake total …

Quantifying Nutrient Fluxes Across The Sediment-Water Interface In The Lafayette River Estuary, Adriana E. Amrhein

OES Theses and Dissertations

The Lafayette River, a shallow, eutrophic tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, experiences seasonal harmful algal blooms (HABs). While management efforts focus on reducing external nutrient inputs, internal loading from benthic sediments remains poorly constrained. This study quantifies spatial and seasonal variability in nutrient and radium isotope fluxes across the sediment–water interface at three sites where HABs are known to initiate and represent contrasting sediment textures and hydrodynamic conditions. Sediment cores and porewater samples were collected in summer 2023 and winter 2024 to measure grain size, porosity, dissolved nutrients (NH₄⁺, NOₓ⁻, PO₄³⁻), and radionuclide activities (²²⁴Ra and ²²⁸Th). Radium isotope disequilibrium …

Impacts Of Biochar And Fe/Zn-Doped Biochar On The Degradation And Transformation Of Pfas In Wastewater Biosolids Compost, Chase Fry, R. Ryan Dupont, Joan Mclean

Spring Runoff Conference

Background

• >5.8 million dry metric tons of biosolids were produced in 2018.
• It is difficult & expensive to landfill all biosolids produced.
• Biosolids are increasingly used as an agricultural fertilizer and soil amendment.

Water Needs And Recovery Pathways For The Great Salt Lake, David Tarboton, Sarah Null, Bethany Neilson

Spring Runoff Conference

Main Points 

• Levels of GSL inherently fluctuate because of variability in precipitation and temperature that drive inflow and evaporation 
• Reductions in inflows due to water use are superimposed on this variability 
• Consistent delivery of conserved water offers the opportunity to shift the range of lake levels upwards reducing the occurrence of serious adverse effects and increasing the potential for healthy lake levels 
• Adding 250 thousand-acre ft/year reduces the occurrence of serious adverse effects from 61% to 28% over the long term 
• Adding 800 thousand-acre ft/year shifts the mean of variable lake levels to the lower end of the healthy lake …

Microplastics As Physical Hubs Amplifying Antiobiotic Resistance Under Mixed-Contaminant Selection In Wastewater Systems, Liyuan Hou

Spring Runoff Conference

Microplastics (MPs) are tiny plastic particles within the range of (0.1 mm to 5 mm) in size

Characteristics And Mechanisms Of The Adsorption Of Shales For Ba2+ In Fracturing Fluids, Xie Chenyang, Liu Bo, Zhang Yuting, Zhu Fang

Coal Geology & Exploration

Objectives and Methods Large-scale hydraulic fracturing represents a key technology for shale gas exploitation. However, engineering practices indicate that the flowback rates of fracturing fluids are low and vary significantly across different blocks. Furthermore, some components in fracturing fluids may cause groundwater contamination. To explore the adsorption characteristics and mechanisms of Ba²⁺ within fracturing fluids in shale reservoirs, this study investigated four typical types of samples, including shale and three shale samples with different compositions, from the Longmaxi Formation in the Changning Block, southern Sichuan Basin. Systematic experiments were conducted on the adsorption of shales with different mineral …