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Field Journal: The Excluded Middle, Carrie E. Kouts

Masters Theses

What does it look like to engage with organisms and landscapes at the periphery of anthropocentric value structures? How does one break the internalized myth that the “built” environment is excluded from the natural world? When does a hyper-mobile and hyper-commodified society confront the exponential crisis of animal death? Within this series of journal entries, field notes, collection observations, weird prose, and sensory musings, one will find questions on the nature of being human and the complex narratives of care we encounter in a world shared with more-than-humans. Each handwritten vignette and photograph from daily life weaves a non-linear and …

Habitat Distribution Of Carabid Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) In Northern Hardwood Forests Of Michigan, Holly A. Petrillo, John A. Witter

The Great Lakes Entomologist

We compared carabid beetle communities in northern hardwood forests and divided these forests into three categories based on overstory composition and geographic location: Northern red oak-American beech (Quercus rubra L.-Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) in the Lower Peninsula (OBLP), sugar maple- American beech (Acer saccharum Marsh.) in the Lower Peninsula (MBLP), and sugar maple- American beech in the Upper Peninsula (MBUP). Carabid beetles were collected using pitfall traps in 36 stands in 2003-2004. We found that carabid composition changed throughout the collection periods. Pterostichus pensylvanicus LeConte and Sphaeroderus lecontei Dejean comprised 76% of the trap catches in May while Synuchus impunctatus (Say) …

Learning That Sticks: How Students Remember Invasive Species Through Different Learning Methods, Francesco L. Miniello

Honors College Theses

This study aimed to determine which learning methods are most effective at helping students learn about invasive species. Research through literature reviews showed that active learning methods can best help students learn and retain information regarding aspects of the natural environment. This includes hands-on activities such as participating in discussions, making observations, playing games, and interacting with objects like animals. The experiment tested different active and passive learning methods. This included watching presentations under passive learning or reviewing information online through active learning. Results showed that participants felt more confident about learning the material through active learning and were more …

Annotated List Of Trichoptera Collected Along Furnace Run Of The Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area In Northeastern Ohio, C. Peterson, B. A. Foote

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Information on seasonal distribution of 46 species of Trichoptera occurring along a small, unpolluted, woodland stream in northeastern Ohio is presented. Two species. Hydropsyclle hageni and Polycentroprcs interruptus, are newly recorded for the state.

Participatory Science Newsletter 2025_05_20, Mairi Poisson, Malin Clyde, Alyson L. Eberhardt

Participatory Science News

In this edition of the UNH Participatory Sciences Newsletter, we offer news and resources on The Power of Participatory Sciences. These include a story about UNH graduate student Lauren White's work using participatory science data about horseshoe crab spawning in the Great Bay. Another story highlights UNH's Coastal Research Volunteers Beach Profiling Project and another outlines how many UNH researchers at UNH are working with local communities to find solutions to environmental problems. A final article shares information about the 2025 conference for the Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences and the poster presented by scholars and students from UNH.

Analyzing Ballast Water Treatments, Invasive Species, And Pathogens, And A Decade-Long Analysis On The San Francisco And Baltimore Ports, Jasmin Ibarra-Cortes

Master's Projects and Capstones

Installation of advanced technologies to treat ballast water on ships is necessary to meet current ballast water management standards and reduce the secondary spread of invasive species during intracoastal voyages. This research includes a literature review on non-native aquatic species, particularly diapausing eggs, and available treatment methods for installation. A comparative analysis from 2014 - 2024 on bulker, tanker, and container vessels arriving coastwise to the ports of San Francisco and Baltimore was performed to evaluate treatment installation trends, traffic patterns, and the effectiveness of treatment(s) on targeting diapausing eggs. Use of ultraviolet (UV) radiation combined with filtration has increased …

Assessing One-Year Health Impacts From Wildfires In Rural Communities: Roles For Extension In Promoting Wildfire Preparedness And Recovery, Marc T. Braverman, Sandi Cleveland Phibbs, Emily Jane Davis, Amanda Rau, Elijah Penner

Journal of Extension

Wildfires can produce health impacts that persist for years in affected communities. This article describes an Extension-led study of health impacts in rural Oregon communities one year after a destructive wildfire. Data collection included key informant interviews (n=36), an online survey (n=80), and three focus group interviews with survivors (n=23). Mental health, exposure to contaminants, physical stress, food insecurity, and other issues were frequently identified health concerns. Survivors’ difficulties in dealing with housing displacement significantly exacerbated health challenges. We describe potential roles for Extension in addressing wildfire risk and mitigating health impacts, including a description of the Oregon Fire Program.

Turtle Creek Tree Restoration Project, Rebecca Beneroff, Risa Kanefsky, Max Dicerbo, Pj Newhart, Amanda Mitchell

Final Reports in ENST 411: Environmental Community Projects

Over the course of this project our group members Rebecca, Max, PJ, Amanda, and Risa worked closely with Jim Knight and Brian Auman from Turtle Creek Park to help research, plan, and execute a tree transplanting event that would be efficiently implemented and environmentally sound. This work involved extensive preparatory work in the park including soil testing, bare leaf tree identification, tree and shrub species characterization, and recommendation. The entire process was rooted in the most up to date literature and scientific practices surrounding bare root tree nurseries, existing land management plans, invasive species and public park management, ecological succession, …

Proceedings Of The 12th Research Symposium At Mammoth Cave National Park, Pat Kambesis Editor, Lee Anne Bledsoe Editor, Ana K. Celis Editor

Mammoth Cave Research Symposia

Proceedings of the 12th Research Symposium at Mammoth Cave National Park: Celebrating 100 Years of Scientific Research & Resource Management in the Mammoh Cave Region.

Exploring The Landscape Of Animal Advocacy In Egypt: Insights Into Stray, Wildlife, And Farmed Animal Rights, Yara Moussa, Wasseem Emam

General - Animal Protection

This article examines the landscape of animal advocacy in Egypt, a nascent and growing field in one of Africa’s largest economies and most densely populated countries. It focuses on three types of animal advocacy: 1) stray animal welfare, 2) wildlife conservation, and 3) farmed animal welfare. The paper critically analyses current practices and trends in each of these areas, highlighting the main challenges and opportunities facing the growth of the movement. Our research draws on insights from interviews with active animal welfare organizations, situating their practical experiences, daily operational struggles, as well as instances of success, within Egypt’s wider socio-economic …

Large Mammal Herbivores As Gardeners Of Tropical Forest Ecosystems, Kathryn Garner

Student Scholarship

Ecosystems worldwide are experiencing changes in structure and function as populations of fauna decline and experience local extinctions (Torres-Romero et al. 2020). Due primarily to their body size, large mammal herbivores (LMHs) are disproportionately prone to extinction from human activities such as agricultural expansion, deforestation, and anthropogenic climate change (Pringle et al. 2023). Additionally, as the number of domesticated LMHs (i.e. cattle, pigs, etc.) continue to increase in both density and distribution, their wild counterparts are continually displaced, resulting in increased competition for resources and an increased risk of disease transmission between domestic to wild species (Pringle et al. 2023; …

Examining Sustainable And Regenerative Viticultural Practices In The Rheinhessen Wine Region Of Germany, Claire Hoffmann

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

No abstract provided.

Navigating The Challenges Of Coccidioides Surveillance: Insights From The Environment Of El Paso County, Texas, Tanzir Hossain

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Coccidioidomycosis, or Valley fever, is a fungal infection resulting from the inhalation of spores from the Coccidioides species (C. immitis and C. posadasii), native to arid areas of the Western Hemisphere. Coccidioidomycosis presents considerable health hazards and can be fatal. It affects between 206,000 and 360,000 individuals annually, leading to 700 to 1,100 fatalities in the United States alone. In response to these issues, extensive research has concentrated on therapeutic goals for this infectious disease. Nonetheless, more limited research has focused on the environmental detection of its causative fungi, which is crucial for forecasting treatment needs and formulating preventive strategies. …

Advancing Marine Animal Movement Studies Using An Open Innovation Framework, Jacob Levenson

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the application of open innovation to migratory marine animal movement studies, addressing critical challenges in understanding, managing and ultimately conserving highly mobile and migratory species (HMMS). The species examined herein, including manta rays, sea turtles, and marine mammals, face threats including habitat disruption and behavioral changes to adapt to anthropogenic stressors. Traditional monitoring techniques, while valuable, are often costly, limited in scale, and protected by proprietary intellectual property, all of which decrease accessibility. Ambitious conservation goals, such as protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030, require more data that are indubitably sharable and thus will need to …

Tracking Fall Migration With The Motus Wildlife Tracking System: The Fate Of Window-Struck And Captive-Raised Passerines, Cailin O'Connor

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Many species of North American passerines migrate along the Atlantic flyway in the fall to reach winter habitats in the southeastern United States, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Birds face many perils along their journeys including window strikes, which kill over one billion birds per year in the United States alone. Some birds survive the impact and may continue their migration. These birds may suffer delayed mortality or show aberrant migration due to injuries. This research seeks to understand if window-struck birds that initially survive bird-building collisions survive into the future and, if so, if they migrate effectively. …

2025 Academic Conference Program

Holy Cross Undergraduate Academic Conference

No abstract provided.

Assessing Molecular And Morphological Methods For Diatom Taxonomy, Hailey Conrad

D.U.Quark

Diatoms are unicellular algae that are found in freshwater. Diatom communities are useful for monitoring water quality because they are directly impacted by pH, conductivity, phosphorus, and nitrogen content. Current methods of identifying the taxonomic makeup of a diatom community include morphological analysis with microscopy and eDNA metabarcoding. Both methods can be applied together to assess water quality by identifying indicator diatoms. However, microscopy methods are time-consuming, eDNA metabarcoding methods are unstandardized, and DNA databases are unorganized. This review explores the differences between morphology and eDNA metabarcoding methods, the cons of each method, and how they are both used for …

Mapping Peatland Distribution And Quantifying Peatland Below-Ground Carbon Stocks In Colombia's Eastern Lowlands, A. Uhde, A. M. Hoyt, L. Hess, C. Schmullius, E. Mendoza, J. C. Benavides, S. Trumbore, J. M. Martín-López, Patrick Nicolas Skillings-Neira, R. S. Winton

Michigan Tech Publications

The extent and distribution of tropical peatlands, and their importance as a vulnerable carbon (C) store, remain poorly quantified. Although large peatland complexes in Peru, the Congo basin, and Southeast Asia have been mapped in detail, information on many other tropical areas is uncertain. In the Eastern Colombian lowlands, peatland area estimates range from 700 km2 to nearly 60,000 km2, leading to highly uncertain C stocks. Using new field data, high-resolution Earth observation (EO), and a random forest approach, we mapped peatlands across Colombian territory East of the Andes below 400 m elevation. We estimated peatland extent using two approaches: …

How Can The Adoption Of Biodegradable Packaging In The Beverage Industry Specifically Contribute To Reducing Single-Use Plastic Waste, And What Regulatory Or Cost-Related Challenges Hinder Its Widespread Implementation In Developing Countries?, Rebecca Aba Gaisie

2025 Awards for Excellence in Student Research and Creative Activity - Documents

This research investigates the potential of biodegradable packaging to reduce single-use plastic waste in the beverage industry and explores the regulatory and cost-related barriers to its adoption in developing countries. The beverage sector is a major contributor to global plastic pollution, and biodegradable alternatives offer a promising path toward sustainability. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study combines qualitative interviews with industry experts and case studies of businesses implementing biodegradable solutions, alongside quantitative survey data from 100 manufacturers and 200 consumers across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Findings reveal that while biodegradable packaging significantly reduces plastic waste and appeals to environmentally …

Sustainable Poultry Farming: A Concept Of Iot-Based Poultry Management System For Small-Scale Farmers, Ayodeji Akinsoji Okubanjo, Ignatius Kema Okakwu, Olufemi Peter Alao, Nurudeen Samuel. Lawal, Ayoola Abiola Babalola, Abisola Olayiwola

Al-Bahir

Conventional poultry management techniques are failing to meet increased demand for poultry products as the population continues to grow. As a result, this issue has become a major concern for small-scale farmers, particularly those in low-income areas, in terms of food security. One of the main reasons for this is that the farmers rely on intensive farming methods which are inefficient for automating daily poultry operations. However, intensive farming methods pose major environmental concerns to ecosystems and poultry health. Also, the environmental conditions, welfare, and productivity of poultry operations may be harmed by the global climate crisis and poultry waste …

Pluredecadal Patterns Of The Harmful Algal Blooms In The Highly Dynamic Marine Ecosystem Of Alexandria (Egypt): A Review, Samia K. Mikhail, Wagdy Labib

Blue Economy

The long-term study of phytoplankton variability in the coastal waters of Alexandria encounters significant challenges due to several factors such as inconsistency in sampling efforts conducted across various spatial and temporal scales, limitations of short-term monitoring methods, rapid urbanization and economic expansion, and their diverse eco-environmental impacts. The article analyzes a quantitative and qualitative dataset on algal bloom variabilities in Alexandria marine ecosystem from 1992 to 2023, highlighting changes in bloom patterns and trends such as annual cycles, short-term trends, rapid turnover rates of bloom structures, recurrent blooms of various classes, escalation in the frequency and magnitude, unusual episodic events, …

The Lingering Effects Of The Asian Longhorned Beetle: Impact On The Changing Composition Of A New England Campus Arboretum, Elizabeth J. Silver, Russell M. Cleary, Kelly Wolfe-Bellin

Biology Department Student Scholarship

First presented at:

Ecological Society of America (ESA), Mid-Atlantic Chapter, 2025 Annual Conference April 4-6, 2025

Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

Wrack Lines Spring-Summer 2025, Volume 25, Number 1, Megan Bard, Ronald Goldberg, Clayton Mcgoldrick, Judy Benson

Wrack Lines

Spring-Summer 2025 issue of CT Sea Grant's biannual magazine focuses on the theme of, "Finding their niche: Unique ways of serving people and the environment," with profiles of six standouts in various environmental fields.

Justicia Ambiental Y Extractivismo: Un Análisis Del Conflicto Petrolero Offshore En Mar Del Plata, Lily Hui

Argentina: Social Movements and Human Rights

No abstract provided.

Butterflies And Climate Change Evaluating Biodiversity Through Bioindication In A Western Ecuadorian Cloud Forest, Ashley Schlinger

Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation

Ecuadorian cloud forests are crucial water sources and biodiversity hotspots, often inhabited by various butterfly species. However, as telltale bioindicators, butterfly populations react to changes in their environment by demonstrating fluctuations in their abundance (Horn, 2017). Changes to the environment are often induced in the present day through human impact, such as the installation of agricultural land, deforestation, ecotourism, and the residual effects of climate change caused by these activities. This study aimed to investigate butterfly abundance and species diversity in La Hesperia Cloud Forest Reserve in the western slope of the Ecuadorian Andes and the response of butterfly assemblages …

Pollinator Networks In Ecosystems Edges: Structural Differences And The Role Of Vegetation Characteristics In The Ecuadorian Chocó, Megan Kamper

Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation

Because of the importance of pollination for both natural ecosystems and the global food system, many studies have been conducted to understand plant-pollinator networks and how they respond to disturbances. This study compared network structures of edge areas of three habitats in the Ecuadorian Chocó-Andino región: a road, river, and forest and evaluated correlations between vegetation characteristics and pollinator richness. In each site, plant species and floral abundance were recorded along a 50m transect. Each flowering plant was observed for five minutes for insect visitors and data was used to construct bipartite networks. Results show that, as is characteristic of …

Ecological Restoration And Ecosystem Memory Of Wildlife Forage And Understory Diversity In A Young Pine Monoculture Plantation In Central-Interior British Columbia, Julia Claire Bizon

Aspen Bibliography

Ecological restoration has recently taken center stage in the rehabilitation of degraded forest ecosystems to improve multifunctionality, biodiversity, and wildlife habitat conservation. The research summarized herein assessed the efficacy of variable stand density thinning (200, 400, and 600 stems/ha) and artificial canopy gaps (0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 ha in size) as potential restoration treatments to enhance wildlife forage and native biodiversity in a young lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm. ex S. Wats.) forest in central-interior British Columbia. Field data collection was conducted from May-August, 2023 to assess the early response (1-3 years post-treatment) of the forest …

Climate And Crop Modeling For New England Agricultural Climate Change Adaptation, Madeline K. Wolfe

Geography Undergraduate Senior Theses

As climate change brings increased temperatures and precipitation variability to New England, it is imperative to understand the ways that farmers make decisions about agricultural climate change adaptation for their corn farms. Dairy farming is the largest agricultural industry in New England, with corn being a primary crop to feed these cattle. This project seeks to understand how climate modeling and crop modeling are and are not useful for these corn farm decisions, and contributes research about what types of information are useful and available to farmers making adaptation decisions. Crop modeling over New England reveals that corn farming in …

Lawn Nutrient Availability And Run-Off During Establishment Under Enhanced Biodiversity, Masami S. Kanyuk

Environmental Studies Honors Theses

Biodiversity has consistently been found to have positive ecosystem effects, including erosion mitigation and stability of nutrient cycling. For lawns, this can translate to reducing the need for fertilizer application, and reducing soil loss and leaching that can impact water quality. This paper investigates the effects of biodiversity and plant community establishment in a lawn ecosystem on soil erosion, nitrate leaching via porewater sampling, and plant available nitrogen.

In the first growing season of PLEDGE (the Pastures and Lawns Enhanced Drought and Global-Change Experiment), we hypothesized that three-species lawns (tall fescue, dwarf white clover, and creeping thyme) would experience higher …

Tracking Phenological Shifts Of Black Guillemots Cepphus Grylle In The Gulf Of Maine, Jocelyn L. Little

Student Publications

Rapid warming in the Gulf of Maine has coincided with changes in phenology across trophic levels. Phenological change has yet to be studied in black guillemots (Cepphus grylle), a widely distributed benthic forager that is showing population decline in the region. Because black guillemots nest in burrows, their phenology can be challenging to study. I developed methods to track black guillemot phenology on Petit Manan Island, a seabird breeding colony in the Gulf of Maine. Specifically, I asked Q1) Can daily tower count data be used to predict black guillemot breeding phenology? Q2) How is black guillemot breeding phenology shifting …