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Physical Activity Interventions For Older Adults In The Age Of Covid-19 And Beyond, Rachel N. Bragg, K. Jason J. Crandall

Topics in Exercise Science and Kinesiology

Topics in Exercise Science and Kinesiology Volume 2: Issue 1, Article 6, 2021. As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues, it is important to understand why older adults are at higher risk for more severe morbidity and higher mortality compared to younger age groups. At the same time, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting physical activity and exercise can have positive benefits for older adults’ health. Point of application #1: The first step in keeping older adults active is motivating them to adhere to a structured program either at home, in a community setting, or in a long-term care …

Joint Effects Of Ethnic Enclave Residence And Ambient Volatile Organic Compounds Exposure On Risk Of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Among Asian/Pacific Islander Women In The United States, Andrew D. Williams, Sandie Ha, Edmond Shenassa, Lynne C. Messer, Jenna Kanner, Pauline Mendola

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Asian/Pacific Islander (API) communities in the United States often reside in metropolitan areas with distinct social and environmental attributes. Residence in an ethnic enclave, a socially distinct area, is associated with lower gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) risk, yet exposure to high levels of air pollution, including volatile organic compounds (VOCS), is associated with increased GDM risk. We examined the joint effects of ethnic enclaves and VOCs to better understand GDM risk among API women, the group with the highest prevalence of GDM.

Methods:

We examined 9069 API births in the Consortium on Safe Labor (19 hospitals, 2002–2008). API ethnic …

Intangible Cultural Heritage: A Benefit To Climate-Displaced And Host Communities, Gül Aktürk, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Climate change is borderless, and its impacts are not shared equally by all communities. It causes an imbalance between people by creating a more desirable living environment for some societies while erasing settlements and shelters of some others. Due to floods, sea level rise, destructive storms, drought, and slow-onset factors such as salinization of water and soil, people lose their lands, homes, and natural resources. Catastrophic events force people to move voluntarily or involuntarily. The relocation of communities is a debatable climate adaptation measure which requires utmost care with human rights, ethics, and psychological well-being of individuals upon the issues …

Beyond Planning Tools: Experiential Learning In Climate Adaptation Planning And Practices, Kristen M. Schmitt, Todd A. Ontl, Stephen D. Handler, Maria K. Janowiak, Leslie A. Brandt, Patricia Butler-Leopold, P. Danielle Shannon, Courtney L. Peterson, Christopher W. Swanston

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

In the past decade, several dedicated tools have been developed to help natural resources professionals integrate climate science into their planning and implementation; however, it is unclear how often these tools lead to on-the-ground climate adaptation. Here, we describe a training approach that we developed to help managers effectively plan to execute intentional, climate-informed actions. This training approach was developed through the Climate Change Response Framework (CCRF) and uses active and focused work time and peer-to-peer interaction to overcome observed barriers to using adaptation planning tools. We evaluate the effectiveness of this approach by examining participant evaluations and outlining the …

Exploring Community Initiatives That Produce High Quality Volunteers: Citizen Science And Master Naturalist Programs In The United States, Travis Robbins, Alie Mayes, Julie Thomas

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Citizen science, which has contributed greatly to scientific understanding, works through partnerships between non-governmental and governmental organizations, academia, and most importantly, volunteers. In the United States, Master Naturalist training programs prepare adults as knowledgeable environmental stewards. Once certified, Master Naturalists are encouraged to log annual volunteer activity hours involving scientific research and education. Compared to untrained volunteers, individuals who have completed Master Naturalist training (or similar programs) exhibit greater project involvement and efficiency at collecting data. These traits align well with the goals of citizen science and point to a symbiotic relationship between citizen science and Master Naturalist programs. Here, …

Terrestrial Soldier Crab (Coenobita Clypeatus, Fabricius 1787) And Cerion Spp. (Röding 1798) Shell Relationship On San Salvador Island, Bahamas, Harley Hunt

Biology Theses

The Caribbean terrestrial soldier crab, Coenobita clypeatus(Fabricius 1787), coexist and utilize the shells of numerous species of land and marine gastropods. Soldier crabs rely on gastropod shells for protection as the crabs have a soft abdomen, leaving them vulnerable for predation and desiccation, threatening their survival. This creates a strong pressure to obtain well-fitting shells that provide adequate protection against water loss. Cerion of Röding (1798) shells are one of the most commonly used shells among living colonies of C. clypeatuson San Salvador Island. This study is interested in the frequency of shell use by C. clypeatus crabs …

Ca-Ngss Standards Alignment Chart, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 12: Urban Wildlife

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Late Spring Frost On Forest And Landscape Health And Recovery Of The Black Rock Forest, New York, Caroline Eco, Oliver Imhans, Aaron Davitt, Andrew B. Reinmann

Publications and Research

Projected changes in climate are expected to increase the frequency of late spring frost events in the Northeast US. Such events can be harmful to trees because freezing temperatures that occur after leaf-out can damage or kill young leaves. The resultant defoliation typically forces a second flush of leaves, but delays canopy development, which in turn delays the onset of canopy carbon uptake and alters canopy thermal properties. In this study, we analyzed a recent freeze event that occurred on 8-9 May 2020 (DOY 129-130) at Black Rock Forest (BRF), which is in the Hudson Highlands of southeastern New York …

Some (Im)Material Girls, Living In (Im)Material Worlds, With Seeds, Stars, And Shit, Matthew Weiderspon

Theses and Dissertations

This writing situates material and gestural vocabularies cultivated in my artwork in relation to my lived experience; primarily my rural upbringing in Colorado. Scattered floor dispersals, calling sounds, and bodily movements desire reconsiderations of hope in precarity through a disorientation of place, association, scale, and language.

Has Maize Overtaken Our Reality? A Personal Briefing, Biochemical Comparison, Agrigenomics, And History Of Maize, Nader Pahlevan

Honors Theses

Maize (Zea mays ssp. Mays) is a revolutionary cereal grain that has raced to the world’s most popular staple crop, transforming societies and impacting history. This paper aims to build and portray the story maize has created through its journey to world domination. The important details that encompass this literature are maize’s cultural significance in my life’s story, the comparison of various starches broken down into amylose and amylopectin ratios, a summative historical account on maize’s spread throughout numerous parts of the old world, and the genetical analysis of maize that explains the key features that have led …

Habitat Characteristics Or Protected Area Size: What Is More Important For The Composition And Diversity Of Mammals In Nonprotected Areas?, Wenbo Li, Jinhua Li, Peipei Yang, Bowen Li, Chao Liu, Lixing Sun

Biology Faculty Scholarship

The margins of protected areas are usually considered to have greater forest degradation, and given that most mammals live outside protected areas, researchers and conservation practitioners are increasingly recognizing that nonprotected areas must be incorporated into conservation strategy. However, the strategy used to manage these areas still involves increasing the size of protected areas, while not considering the habitat characteristics and requirements of the species. In this study, during a 3-year period, camera trap and habitat characteristic surveys were used to estimate composition, diversity, and habitat characteristics of mammals to determine habitat characteristics or increase the size of protected areas …

Environmental Racism In A Growing City: Investigating Demographic Shifts In Salt Lake City's Polluted Neighborhoods, Emma Nathel Jones

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Studies investigating the spatial distribution of environmental hazards have repeatedly demonstrated the existence of environmental racism -- the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on communities of color. We aim to contribute to research on environmental racism by asking how relationships between race and hazard exposure change over time. Our study area, Salt Lake City (SLC), UT, USA is one of the largest cities in the intermountain west and is expected to see continued population growth. SLC was 99% white from 1860-1950. 2019 census estimates indicate that SLC is becoming more racially diverse with 35.6% of the population identifying as racial …

The Fate And Cycling Of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, And Trace Heavy Metals In Beaver-Altered Headwater Streams, Desneiges S. Murray

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Human land-use can increase the amount of non-point source (NPS) pollution in a stream, negatively affecting ecosystem health and beneficial services provided by an ecosystem. Unfortunately, NPS pollution remains high in many waterbodies. Beaver dams may be a passive, cost-effective strategy for removing NPS pollution in headwater streams because beaver dams slow stream flow and collect sediments. Impounded sediments can change how nutrients and pollutants are cycled in a stream through multiple pathways. In the first part of our study, we investigated whether beaver activity can reduce nitrogen, phosphorous and heavy metals from otherwise traveling downstream. Results suggest beaver ponds …

The Phylogeography And Molecular Systematics Of Woodrats (Genus: Neotoma) In The American Southwest, Katrina M. Derieg

Biology ETDs

The American Southwest is a region where many biomes converge, harboring a wide variety of habitats ranging from desert to alpine environments. Habitat heterogeneity and the confluence of multiple species ranges make the American Southwest a biodiversity hotspot. Climate cycling throughout the Quaternary has driven the dynamics of changes in species’ ranges that are recorded by genetic signatures. For example, range expansion may lead to secondary contact between previously isolated populations or species. Contact can result in multiple evolutionary outcomes, including hybridization or the reinforcement and maintenance of independent lineages. I used multi-locus species tree methods to re-examine the nominal …

Using Machine Learning To Predict Super-Utilizers Of Healthcare Services, Kevin Paul Buchan Jr.

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In this dissertation, I aim to forecast high utilizers of emergency care and inpatient Medicare services (i.e., healthcare visits). Through a literature review, I demonstrate that accurate and reliable prediction of these future high utilizers will not only reduce healthcare costs but will also improve the overall quality of healthcare for patients. By identifying this population at risk before manifestation, I propose that there is still time to reverse undesirable healthcare trajectories (i.e., individuals whose clinical risk increases an excessive healthcare and treatment burden) through timely attention and proper care coordination. My dissertation culminates in the delivery of state-of-the-art predictive …

Intact Landscape Promotes Gene Flow And Low Genetic Structuring In The Threatened Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake, Nathan Kudla, Eric M. Mccluskey, Vijay Lulla, Ralph Grundel, Jennifer A. Moore

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

Genetic structuring of wild populations is dependent on environmental, ecological, and life-history factors. The specific role environmental context plays in genetic structuring is important to conservation practitioners working with rare species across areas with varying degrees of fragmentation. We investigated fine-scale genetic patterns of the federally threatened Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus) on a relatively undisturbed island in northern Michigan, USA. This species often persists in habitat islands throughout much of its distribution due to extensive habitat loss and distance-limited dispersal. We found that the entire island population exhibited weak genetic structuring with spatially segregated variation in effective …

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, May 2021, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 2, Issue 5.

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2 - 3 Awards & Recognition
Page 4 Research Spotlight: Dr. Xiaoyang Zhang
Page 5 Upcoming Retirements
Page 6 - 7 Geography Alumni Social, Recent Media Coverage
Page 8 Open PRAIRIE Data
Page 9 - 11 Spring 2021 Dean's List and Academic Recognitions

Strong Women Breaking Ground: Roles Of Women In Agriculture In Michigan, April L. Shirey

Masters Theses

Agriculture in Michigan is changing. While the number of farms and farmers continue to decrease, women are increasingly taking on the role of farmer instead of the “farmer’s wife”. The number of female producers increased from 8,275 to 26,059 where the number of producers in Michigan decreased from 56,014 to 47,641 from 2007 to 2017 (USDA, 2007, 2017). Women are becoming the face of farming in Michigan, yet little research examines the impacts of these shifts. In this research, I conduct semi-structured interviews with female farmers throughout lower Michigan beginning in the summer of 2020 to learn more about these …

An Eulerian Perspective On Spring Migration In Mule Deer, Tatum Del Bosco

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Many herbivores travel between low-elevation winter ranges and high-elevation summer sites. These seasonal movements allow them to avoid deep snow cover, ensure access to favorable habitat, and maximize food intake throughout the year. During the spring season, plants at lower elevations green up earlier at lower elevations than at higher elevations. It has been shown that individual animals will track this vegetation growth during their spring migration, which allows them to maximize forage intake coming out of the nutrient scarce winter. This phenomena has previously been studied by monitoring individual movement trajectories, but it is unknown how this pattern scales …

Evaluating Urban Parks Accessibility And Equity: A Case Study Of Hartford, Ct And New Haven, Ct, Natalie Roach, Mara Tu

Honors Scholar Theses

Public parks provide cities with environmental benefits, positive health effects, recreational opportunities, community building, educational spaces, and public amenities. However, certain populations have been systematically denied their fair share of these benefits because of unjust practices in the creation and maintenance of urban parks. With a lens of environmental justice, the goal of this research was to assess park quality and accessibility of two Connecticut cities, Hartford and New Haven, by gathering publicly available information as well as using GIS tools.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) has an existing ParkScore rating system that evaluates the quality of a city’s …

Identifying Effective Teaching And Recruitment Strategies Used By Efnep In Reaching Limited Income Audiences In The United States, Alexandria Mcleod

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The two articles presented in this thesis used a researcher-developed literature-based survey instrument to collect data on the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) in the United States. Data was collected on methods of teaching, communication technologies used, recruitment strategies, barriers to attending classes, and program assistant demographic data. There were 803 program assistants working during the 2018-2019 program year. There were 346 program assistants who completed the 35-question survey instrument during data collection.

The first article focused on identifying effective teaching strategies used to increase program engagement by collecting data on program characteristics, methods of teaching, and educational …

Incorporating Demographic Structure And Variable Interaction Types Into Community Assembly Models, Akhil Reddy Alasandagutti, Nayan Chawla

Honors Theses

Theoretical studies of ecological food webs have allowed ecologists to remove the constraints of specific location and timescales from their study of ecological communities; food webs are generally complex and thus empirical study is difficult. Further, this theoretical approach allows ecologists to compare ecological processes and outcomes across any possible food web structures. However, these simulated communities are only as useful as the model from which they were constructed. Modifying existing considerations in these models, and generating new ones, are the jobs of theoretical ecologists that seek to achieve the shared goal of a majority of simulations: representation of real …

Visitor Perceptions And Resource Conditions Of Campsites In Two Coastal Alaskan National Parks, Shannon T. Wesstrom

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Increasing visitation in parks and protected areas presents managers with the challenge of providing quality visitor experiences while mitigating ecological impacts from recreation. Successful management strategies often suggest determining desired conditions for visitor experiences and ecological conditions to establish thresholds. These thresholds can then be compared to existing conditions in order to determine if changes in management strategies should be made. By integrating visitor survey results with ecological assessments, this research is a unique coastal Alaskan regional analysis of the three components of a management framework: 1. Establishes visitor determined thresholds of acceptability for crowding and coastal resource conditions in …

Role Of Reptile-Invertebrate Interactions In Enigmatic Reptile Declines, Meredith Swartwout

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reptile populations are declining world-wide and the mechanisms behind many of these declines remain enigmatic. Food web interactions (i.e., reduced prey availability or increased predation) have been implicated behind some reptile declines. However, relatively little is known about predation on lizard and snake eggs, despite egg survival being important for population dynamics of some species. Ants are important predators of squamate reptile eggs in tropical and temperate systems. In Costa Rica, long-term declines in terrestrial anole lizards were linked with reduced leaf litter depth, a factor that could influence egg vulnerability to ant predation. Fire ants (genus Solenopsis) are aggressive …

Estimation Of Spatial Change In Cropland Area And Evaluation Of Irrigation Performance In Imperial Valley Using Remotely Sensed Data, Usha Poudel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Imperial Valley (IV) in the US is an extensively irrigated agricultural region, which includes multiple crops changing on an annual and semiannual basis. The valley is facing grave concerns about water management due to its semi-arid environment, water intensive crops, and limited water supply. A simple, inexpensive, and repeatable method to detect changes in cropping patterns may assist irrigation managers to understand crop diversification and associated consumptive use. In addition, a spatial assessment of existing water irrigation system performance and productivity is crucial to benchmark and improve current water management strategies. This thesis estimates the spatial pattern of change …

Weaning Induced Gut Dysfunction And Nutritional Interventions In Nursery Pigs: A Partial Review, Xiaoyuan Wei, Tsungcheng Tsai, Samantha Howe, Jiangchao Zhao

Animal Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Weaning is one of the most stressful events in the life of a pig. Unsuccessful weaning often leads to intestinal and immune system dysfunctions, resulting in poor growth performance as well as increased morbidity and mortality. The gut microbiota community is a complex ecosystem and is considered an “organ,” producing various metabolites with many beneficial functions. In this review, we briefly introduce weaning-associated gut microbiota dysbiosis. Then, we explain the importance of maintaining a balanced gut microbiota. Finally, we discuss dietary supplements and their abilities to restore intestinal balance and improve the growth performance of weaning pigs.

Understanding Water And Energy Fluxes In The Amazonia: Lessons From An Observation-Model Intercomparison, Natalia Restrepo-Coupe, Loren P. Albert, Marcos Longo, Ian Baker, Naomi M. Levine, Lina M. Mercado, Alessandro C. Da Araujo, Bradley O. Christoffersen, Marcos H. Costa, David R. Fitzjarrald

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Tropical forests are an important part of global water and energy cycles, but the mechanisms that drive seasonality of their land-atmosphere exchanges have proven challenging to capture in models. Here, we (1) report the seasonality of fluxes of latent heat (LE), sensible heat (H), and outgoing short and longwave radiation at four diverse tropical forest sites across Amazonia—along the equator from the Caxiuanã and Tapajós National Forests in the eastern Amazon to a forest near Manaus, and from the equatorial zone to the southern forest in Reserva Jaru; (2) investigate how vegetation and climate influence these fluxes; and …

The Lycaenid Butterfly Fauna (Lepidoptera) Of Cosñipata, Peru: Annotated Checklist, Elevational Patterns, And Rarity, Gerardo Lamas, Michael L. Mcinnis, Robert C. Busby, Robert K. Robbins

Insecta Mundi

Peru’s Cosñipata Region in Cuzco and Madre de Dios Departments is a valley between Manu National Park and the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve that ranges from 400 to 4,000 m elevation. A team of experienced lepidopterists sampled the butterfly fauna of this valley for more than a decade (7,440 field person-hours). We analyze the data for Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea), a family for which we have taxonomic expertise. After adding data on the fauna from museums and the literature, we present an annotated checklist of the 340 Lycaenidae species recorded from the Cosñipata Region with notes for each species on the elevations …

A New Genus Cicatrisphaerion, New Species, New Records, And Redescriptions Of Neotropical Cerambycidae (Coleoptera), Steven W. Lingafelter, Roy F. Morris Ii, Frederick W. Skillman Jr., Antonio Santos-Silva

Insecta Mundi

A new genus, Cicatrisphaerion Lingafelter, Morris, Skillman, and Santos-Silva (Coleoptera: Cer­ambycidae), and three new species of the same authorship, C. wappesi from Quintana Roo, Mexico, C. rileyi from Chiapas, Mexico, and Eupogonius wappesi from Quintana Roo, Mexico, are described. New records and clarification on the distribution of Psyrassaforma janzeni Chemsak, 1991 and P. nitida Chemsak, 1991 are provided. Ameriphoderes amoena (Chemsak and Linsley, 1979) is redescribed based on four male specimens and a new country record from Guatemala is documented. New distributional records are provided for Estola flavobasalis Breuning, 1940 (including a new country record for Bolivia) and Estola …

Anticipating Ocean Deoxygenation In The Maritime Continent Of Southeast Asia, Wulandari Ita, Wahyudi A'An J., Triana Karlina

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Oxygen plays an essential role in the biogeochemical process and ocean productivity, especially during the recent trend of climate change. Development of the oxygen loss condition, deoxygenation, receives less attention than ocean acidification and warming. Therefore, understanding deoxygenation is indispensable. The maritime continent waters of Southeast Asia (SEA) are well-known for marine biodiversity and unique geological features. The area is inevitably impacted by climate change and will suffer more due to less oxygen in seawater. Based on previous research, Bengal Bay has been affected by oxygen depletion and climate change, in which hypoxic rate conditions continuously increase. In the other …