Digital Commons Network^™

Assessing The Health Impacts Of Pm2.5 And Ozone Exposure: A Study Of Hospitalizations In El Paso, Alexia Breanna Reyes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Air pollution has been widely associated with adverse cardiovascular health outcomes; however, most research in arid regions has focused on high-intensity dust events rather than routine, non-dust conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the association between non-dust air pollution and cardiovascular hospitalizations in El Paso County, Texas. A time series analysis was conducted using hospitalization data from 2010 to 2014. Daily counts on non-dust event days of cardiovascular hospitalizations, including hypertensive diseases, ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and diseases of pulmonary circulation, were examined in relation to ambient concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone. Quasi-Poisson regression models with …

Mono Gold: An Informal Account Of The Geology, Production, And History Of Mono County Gold And Silver Mining Districts, D. D. Trent

Eastern Sierra History Journal

Mono Gold explores the mining production, technology, and history of the Eastern Sierra, with a special focus on Mono County. Author Dee Trent, a geologist, spent decades visiting, researching, and photographing each of the mining operations discussed in this book-length monograph.

Evaluating Fish Assemblages At An Early-Stage Living Shoreline Project In Lake Pontchartrain, Collin Glaser

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Living shorelines are an increasingly popular restoration approach for reducing erosion while improving habitat quality. The Bucktown Living Shoreline Project is a large-scale restoration effort along the southern shore of Lake Pontchartrain aimed at enhancing coastal resilience and restoring historic marsh habitat. This thesis evaluated early fish assemblage response to the Bucktown Living Shoreline Project over one year and placed those assemblages within the broader historical context of Lake Pontchartrain. Monthly sampling was conducted at the living shoreline and an adjacent riprap control site using seines, cast nets, and minnow traps. Fish assemblage structure was not significantly different between sites. …

Temperature And Salinity Effects On The Physiology Of Bullfrog Tadpoles (Lithobates Catesbeianus) From A Suburban Temperate Wetland, Angela Brown

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

One of the most robust amphibians is the American Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus, which is a widespread species that is invasive worldwide, and is broadly tolerant of a range of environmental conditions. Despite this tolerance, survival and performance of adult L. catesbeianus can be negatively affected by increasing temperatures and salinity resulting from anthropogenic impacts, such as climate change and road salts. This study focuses on the effects of acute salinity exposure (mimicking road salt influx into a pond) on L. catesbeianus tadpoles at different larval stages. Increased salinity was predicted to negatively affect two physiological performance measures. Critical maximum temperature …

Implementation Of A Practical Sharp Interface Saltwater Intrusion Model To Assess Future Sea-Level Impacts, Alexandra G. Defalco

All Theses

Rising sea levels caused by global warming exacerbate saltwater intrusion, the inland movement of seawater into coastal aquifers. These processes increase susceptibility to freshwater contamination, surface flooding, and infrastructure damage. Numerical models are utilized to assess hazards to coastal aquifers on a regional scale.

The U.S. Navy is currently developing a robust, reduced-order groundwater modeling platform, SWI6, that uses the sharp interface approach to approximate the location of the freshwater-saltwater interface to define the extent of saltwater intrusion within an aquifer. Featuring compatibility with MODFLOW 6 unstructured grid formats and the Newton-Raphson formulation for better solution stability, SWI6 improves upon …

Insect Abundance And Bat Use Of Fields For Foraging In The Cumberland Plateau, Caroline M. Abramowitz

All Theses

Bat populations and their insect prey are declining, making it urgent to understand how habitat features and management support both groups. Early successional habitat (ESH), grasslands and shrublands with reduced vegetative clutter and abundant flowering resources, may benefit foraging bats and nocturnal insects. This study examined how landscape context, patch characteristics, microhabitat features, and management (mechanical mastication and prescribed burns) affected insects and bats across 29 managed fields in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (TN/KY) from 2024–2025. Flight-intercept traps collected 25,297 insects across five orders. Though results were order-specific, vegetative composition and height were the strongest predictors …

Draft Final Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Insufficiently Reclaimed Sites Temporary Best Management Practices Work Plan: Bres No. 16 – Curry And Bres No. 50 – Zelia, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Clark Tailings Consolidated Waste Management Area Site Investigation Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp), Woodard & Curran

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Odyssey To The Extraordinary: Living Our Land Grant Mission And Beyond, Jeffrey P. Gold, Katherine S. Ankerson, Tiffany Heng-Moss

Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources: Institute Publications

Presents a strategy intended to guide future directions for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's (UNL) Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) including issues related to governance, funding, organizational structure, and strategic alignment within UNL and the University of Nebraska system.

Book Review: Radioactive Dixie: A Nuclear History Of The American South, Will Jones

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Final Report, Luke Murphy

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

No abstract provided.

Advancing Sdg 9 Through Ai-Powered Waste Diversion, Ally Murphy

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

No abstract provided.

Drought And Diet Breadth: Does Insect Specialization Influence Herbivory When Plants Are Under Stress?, Jakob Palmer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Climate change will alter precipitation worldwide, causing more frequent and severe drought events worldwide. Drought affects many ecological processes, including plant-herbivore interactions, which are critical to biodiversity and ecosystem health. A variety of plant characteristics can influence herbivory – such as how hairy, nutritious, or toxic a leaf is – and drought has been shown to alter many of these traits. Unique characteristics of herbivore species are also important: herbivores can either feed on a variety of plants (generalists) or a group of closely related plants (specialists). Specialists can cope with traits of the plants they eat, while generalists are …

A Social-Ecological Systems Approach To Integrating Outdoor Recreation And Black Bear Management: A Michigan Case Study, Megan Dorothy Stone

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Outdoor recreation sits at the intersection of social and ecological systems, representing one of the primary ways in which humans directly interact with their natural environment. As a result, outdoor recreation management must balance providing high-quality outdoor recreation opportunities while simultaneously protecting natural resources in protected areas. Balancing these concurrent management goals has become more challenging in recent years as participation in outdoor recreation increases. This can lead to numerous negative impacts on the environment, such as wildlife disturbance. In this study, I explore the challenges and opportunities for collaboration between managers of outdoor recreation and black bears in the …

Human-Centered Electric Vehicle Adoption Framework For Smart Mobility: Modeling Perceived Range And Charging Anxiety As A Psychological Barrier, Fatemeh Nazari, Abolfazl (Kouros) Mohammadian, Thomas Stephens

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Electric vehicles (EVs) offer a transformative pathway toward reducing the environmental, economic, and health-related externalities of internal combustion engine vehicles in urban settings. Despite substantial advances in battery technology, charging infrastructure expansion, and supportive policy incentives, EV penetration remains limited which poses challenges for smart and sustainable mobility planning. A critical yet insufficiently modeled barrier to adoption lies in the psychological perceptions surrounding electric driving range and charging reliability, which is commonly framed as “range anxiety,” but more broadly reflecting perceived range and charging anxiety. To address this gap, this study introduces a latent psychological construct capturing individuals’ perceived range …

Long-Term Spatiotemporal Change In Coral Reef Fish Populations And Communities In The Philippines, John Christopher Whalen

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The Visayas Region of the Philippines is a global epicenter of marine fish biodiversity. Hypotheses attribute this peak of species richness within the Coral Triangle to processes that occur at geological time scales. However, changes in biodiversity may occur on ecological time scales, allowing for the assessment of the potential impact of anthropogenic activities. Recent declines in genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity have been observed in the tropics, including the Philippines. Within the Philippines the Visayas Region is considered the epicenter of species adversity due to anthropogenic stressors such as habitat degradation, overfishing, and harvesting individuals for the aquarium trade. …

Variability In Nutrient And Enterococcus Concentrations In Tidal Floodwater Across Watersheds With Different Land Uses, Alyssa Bucci

OES Theses and Dissertations

Tidal flooding is an increasingly pressing hazard in coastal Virginia due to sea level rise and land subsidence. The Hampton Roads region of Virginia has the second-highest rate of relative sea level rise in the United States and experiences frequent tidal flooding, but the water quality impacts of this flooding on the Chesapeake Bay are not being accounted for. High concentrations of dissolved nutrients and Enterococcus bacteria (a fecal indicator) have been observed in tidal floodwater of the Lafayette River, a tributary of the James River and the lower Chesapeake Bay. This study investigates variability in dissolved nutrient and Enterococcus …

Integrating Hydrology And Human Water Footprints: A Case Study Of The Great Salt Lake Basin, Rachel Lynne Seeley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Global demand for water is outrunning supply, and how we account for water is part of the problem. Many water management frameworks are based solely on how much physical water moves through rivers, aquifers, and other water bodies, missing the water that is embedded in food and other products a region produces and exports. This study developed a new, generalizable water accounting framework that incorporates this “hidden water,” known as virtual water, into water management and applied the framework in the Great Salt Lake Basin.

The Great Salt Lake is shrinking, and an often-overlooked driver of the lake’s decline is …

Assessing Ecological Integrity Of Streams Across The Western U.S., Jennifer L. Courtwright

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Large-scale assessments of stream health (ecological integrity) are required by policies such as the U.S. Clean Water Act and provide critical information needed to properly manage public lands. Our ability to quantify the ecological condition of streams in the western U.S. and identify the causes of degraded conditions has previously been impeded by a lack of standardized large-scale datasets, high natural temporal and spatial variability of ecological attributes, and poor-quality land use data. I compiled large-scale monitoring datasets and built models to predict the values of ecological attributes (metrics) at a given site in the absence of human impacts. In …

Investigation Of Yy Production Methods For Invasive Channel Catfish Ictalurus Punctatus Population Management, Andrew M. Wisniewski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Aquatic invasive species are one of the leading causes of native fish declines in the Southwestern United States. Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus were introduced into the Colorado River Basin, including the San Juan River, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah for fishery enhancement during the 20th century. This introduction has contributed to the decline of native species and despite intensive mechanical removal efforts, the Channel Catfish population has persisted in the San Juan River. The Trojan Sex Chromosome approach is a promising eradication strategy that proposes the production and release of Trojan sex chromosome carriers (YY) to skew a targeted population’s …

Understanding And Predicting Precipitation Characteristics In The United States Through Machine Learning, Numerical Modeling And Measurements, Cody Luther Ratterman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Precipitation is one of the most important yet uncertain variables in the climate system. It varies dramatically in terms of timing, accumulation, rate, and phase, depending on location, season, circulation patterns, and atmospheric conditions. Precipitation forecasts, especially snowfall, are essential to supporting drought mitigation and water management in the Intermountain West. Because rainfall and snowfall lead to opposite effects on snowpack, accurately partitioning rain and snow is important to estimate snowpack levels, winter recreation, mountain ecosystems and runoff. The research findings in this dissertation have advanced the understanding and prediction of precipitation and snowpack in the U.S. by addressing the …

The Role Of Phenotypic Plasticity And Bet-Hedging In Coping With Unpredictable Temperature Fluctuations In The Marine Annelid Ophryotrocha Labronica, Gabrielle Dawn Newton

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Coastal ecosystems are increasingly exposed to unpredictable temperature fluctuations, potentially favoring strategies that buffer populations against environmental uncertainty. This study examines how phenotypic plasticity and diversified bet-hedging contribute to variation in life-history traits under differing thermal predictability in the marine annelid Ophryotrocha labronica. After three generations at 24 °C, broods were reared for three generations under four thermal regimes: constant 24 °C (C24), constant 27 °C (C27), predictable fluctuations (Fp), and unpredictable fluctuations (Fu). Survival was assessed before and after acclimation to evaluate selective pressure among regimes. Age at maturity, fecundity, and growth rate were used to quantify plasticity (trait …

Prediction Of Pasture Condition In The Kimberley Rangelands Of Western Australia Using Simple Classification Tree Models, Ben Nestor, Kath Ryan, Charles Martin, Philip Thomas, Chris Hetherington, Matthew Fletcher, Robert Sudmeyer, Karyn Reeves

Natural Resources Research Articles

Pasture condition assessments assist pastoralists, regulators, and policy makers in making informed decisions around livestock production and the preservation of natural resources in the Kimberley rangelands of Western Australia (WA). Reliable qualitative assessments of pasture condition require assessors with extensive expertise, which means frequent and reproducible assessments can be difficult to achieve. To develop a quantitative approach that can complement existing qualitative assessment approaches in the Kimberley, we investigated the use of simple classification tree models to predict pasture condition using assessment data from the Western Australian Rangeland Monitoring System (WARMS). Quantitative traits were derived from WARMS observation data for …

Bpsou Grove Gulch Sedimentation Bay Draft Remedial Action Construction Completion Report (Ccr), Woodard & Curran

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Synthesis And Characterization Of Carbon Quantum Dots And Gold Nanoparticles For Norovirus Biosensing Applications In Water Systems, Breanne Evans

Master's Theses

Rapid, reliable detection of viral pathogens remains a significant challenge across water-treatment and environmental monitoring systems, including drinking-water, wastewater, water reuse, and environmental surveillance applications. Waterborne viral contamination can pose substantial public-health risks, making early detection essential for protecting water quality and responding quickly to treatment failures or contamination events. Direct potable reuse (DPR) is one particularly demanding example because it requires continuous verification of treatment performance and the broader need for rapid virus monitoring extends across many water-treatment and environmental surveillance applications. Norovirus is a priority target because of its widespread occurrence in wastewater, environmental persistence, and exceptionally low …

Greenhouse Gas Flux Response In Biochar- And Compost-Amended Lawn Soils Under Simulated Water Saturation Conditions, Angel Salinas, Chu-Lin Cheng, Engil Pereira, Rafael M. Almeida, James Jihoon Kang

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Understanding greenhouse gas emission dynamics in lawn soils is important for improving climate change mitigation strategies in urban and suburban landscapes. In this greenhouse mesocosm study, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes were measured from 12 turfgrass soil columns arranged in an unreplicated, completely randomized 4 × 3 factorial design. Four amendment treatments (biochar, compost, bio-com [1:1 volume ratio of biochar and compost], and unamended control) were combined with three water-table conditions (full saturation, half saturation, and unsaturated), with a single column representing each treatment combination. Columns were irrigated at 1 cm day−1 for 24 days, …

Characterizing Microplastics In Flood Sediments After Hurricane Helene In Asheville, North Carolina, Abigail Sgan

All Theses

Microplastics are contaminants of emerging concern whose ubiquity across natural environments results in their involvement in many kinds of natural processes, including transportation and deposition in natural systems. The purpose of this thesis is to characterize microplastics and determine the mechanisms that affect their distribution, transport, and sequestration within known Hurricane Helene flood deposits in fluvial and Southern Appalachian wetland environments after Hurricane Helene in Asheville, North Carolina. Four fluvial and four Southern Appalachian wetland environments were sampled after Hurricane Helene. Samples collected in fluvial environments were taken as grab samples from surficial sandy flood deposits left behind by flooding …

The Aggregation Of Microplastics By Enhancing Extracellular Polymeric Substance Production In Pseudoalteromonas Sp. Ncimb 2021 To Improve Removal Efficiencies In Environmental Matrices, Janelle L. Mercer

All Theses

Microplastics (MP) are ubiquitous in the natural environment and are a growing threat due to their small size and durability. Plastics are released into the environment through improper waste management, wastewater treatment outfalls, industrial spills, agricultural runoff, and landfills. These particles breakdown into secondary MP through degradation pathways. MP, less than 5 mm, require intricate removal techniques from water systems. Filtration techniques, though viable and effective, have implementation constraints due to high cost, maintenance demands, and filter fouling. By integrating coagulation and flocculation processes prior to filtration, MP removal efficiencies can increase, while minimizing operational challenges during filtration. Extracellular polymeric …

Habitat Associations Of Small Mammals And Their Role As Sentinels For Biodiversity In The Southern Blue Ridge, Katelyn Steen

All Theses

Small mammals play important roles in healthy forests, but we still know very little about many of the rare and state-listed species living in the Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina. Traditional surveys are expensive and time-consuming, so we tested a newer, camera-based method called AHDriFT. From 2024 to 2026, we set up 60 camera systems across high-elevation forests to track six state-listed species: the Carolina red-backed vole, woodland jumping mouse, eastern woodrat, masked shrew, pygmy shrew, and eastern spotted skunk. We detected all six target species and conducted occupancy modeling for four. We found spotted skunk occupancy increased near …

Leveraging Deep Learning Recurrence And Attention Mechanisms For Flood Forecasting And Assessment, Elnaz Heidari

All Dissertations

Predicting how much water will flow in rivers and streams is important for managing floods, water supply, and the environment. Traditionally, government agencies have used complex models, such as the National Water Model (NWM), which simulate how much water moves through landscapes using physical laws and real-world data. However, recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have enabled new ways to make these predictions. This research explored whether AI-based models could predict river discharge more accurately. These AI models learn patterns from past data instead of relying only on physical rules. To find out how well they work, the AI models …