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Groundwater Contamination At Coal Ash Deposit Sites In Kentucky, Brandon Rose Nov 2018

Groundwater Contamination At Coal Ash Deposit Sites In Kentucky, Brandon Rose

Scholars Week

No abstract provided.


Kentucky Flood And Flash Flood Comparison Of 1996 And 2017 Using Gis, Harrison Kelly Nov 2018

Kentucky Flood And Flash Flood Comparison Of 1996 And 2017 Using Gis, Harrison Kelly

Scholars Week

No abstract provided.


Enhancing Student Ability To Transfer Energy Concepts In Postsecondary Science Education Through Explicit Instruction Of Concepts, Student Self-Reflection, And Guided Practice In Knowledge Transfer, Jim Harmon, Lauren Gray May 2018

Enhancing Student Ability To Transfer Energy Concepts In Postsecondary Science Education Through Explicit Instruction Of Concepts, Student Self-Reflection, And Guided Practice In Knowledge Transfer, Jim Harmon, Lauren Gray

Scholars Week

While concepts of energy and matter apply across science disciplines, students have difficulty transferring their knowledge of energy concepts from one science discipline to another. Traditionally, instruction of physical sciences, chemistry, and life sciences are presented independently of one another; with energy concepts introduced in isolated contexts and with differing emphases. Two instructional strategies have been shown to improve student transfer of knowledge: metacognitive student reflection, and explicit framing of concepts. This study integrates these instructional strategies into an introductory physics course for non-science majors as a series of instructional interventions, measuring student ability to transfer knowledge of energy concepts …


Locate And Mitigate The State Of Nitrate: Assessing Potential Sources Of Nutrients In Tributaries To The Nooksack River, Alyssa Peter, Melanie Roy May 2018

Locate And Mitigate The State Of Nitrate: Assessing Potential Sources Of Nutrients In Tributaries To The Nooksack River, Alyssa Peter, Melanie Roy

Scholars Week

Anthropogenic activities greatly increase the amount of nitrogen entering our environment. While this allows for increased agriculture production, excess nitrogen raises health concerns for humans and ecosystems. Understanding the sources of excess nutrients is necessary for effective efforts to reduce them. We aimed to understand nutrient fluxes through tributaries to the Nooksack River, in particular, to what extent are excess nutrients arriving to northern Whatcom County from Canada via both surface and ground water. We collected water samples from three creeks fed by the central portion of the Sumas-Blaine aquifer (Kamm, Fishtrap, and Bertrand), two situated at the southern edge …


Modeling And Forecasting Crime Patterns In Bellingham, Washington, Zachary Domingo, Eric Shoner May 2018

Modeling And Forecasting Crime Patterns In Bellingham, Washington, Zachary Domingo, Eric Shoner

Scholars Week

Our purpose is to use time series analysis to model and forecast the underlying dynamics behind crime in Bellingham, Washington. Using recent monthly data from the Bellingham Police Department, we considered singular spectrum analysis and autoregressive moving average modelling techniques to estimate significant deterministic patterns in the data. After examining the multitude of data provided, we narrowed down to two categories of crime: alcohol offenses and domestic violence. We created two time series models for each category and compared them to each other. The better performing model was used to forecast the number of crime incidents for ten months and …


Short-Term Volatility Curve Predictions Using Singular Spectrum Analysis, Nick Odell May 2018

Short-Term Volatility Curve Predictions Using Singular Spectrum Analysis, Nick Odell

Scholars Week

This project aims to produce accurate volatility forecasts, using high-frequency financial time series data. The primary mathematical methods used are Functional Data Analysis, time series analysis techniques such as Autoregressive Models and a comparison between Multi-variate and Uni-variate Singular Spectrum Analysis. These results aim to be useful for financial risk quantification.


Connection: An Autism-Focused Dating App, Cyrena Johnson May 2018

Connection: An Autism-Focused Dating App, Cyrena Johnson

Scholars Week

30% of US internet users 18-29 use dating apps to find partners. Meanwhile, only 9% of adults with autism are married—and there are no popular dating apps designed for ASDs. We propose the app Connection, a dating app designed for the autistic community. Using queries and informal analysis, we created possible features and prototype displays for Connection to show its future application.


Modeling Current Flow In Nanoparticle Doped Polymer Film Systems, David Seaman, Joshua Spradlin, Janelle Leger, Armin Rahmani May 2018

Modeling Current Flow In Nanoparticle Doped Polymer Film Systems, David Seaman, Joshua Spradlin, Janelle Leger, Armin Rahmani

Scholars Week

Nanoparticle-doped polymer systems have elicited great interest for their ability to exhibit an electrical hysteresis, which can be applied to bistable organic memory devices. Such hysteresis is characterized by the ability maintain different currents at the same voltage, upon increasing and decreasing the voltage. Developing a successful theoretical and computational model for this effect could provide insights into what mechanisms are driving the hysteresis. However, while there has been interest in these systems for two decades, there are still open questions regarding modeling their operation mechanism. In this work, we explore a method of modelling these systems that approximates the …


Reconstructing Late Holocene Paleofloods Along The Middle Tennessee River And Exploring Links With Climate And Land Use, Lance Stewart Apr 2018

Reconstructing Late Holocene Paleofloods Along The Middle Tennessee River And Exploring Links With Climate And Land Use, Lance Stewart

Scholars Week

Sediment stored in floodplains and low alluvial terraces along the middle Tennessee River reflects flood frequency and magnitude during the past ca. 2800 years. This study uses the stratigraphy, sedimentology, and geochronology of three alluvial terraces to infer past flooding and explore links with climate change and anthropogenic land-use practices. Four sites located on different geomorphic landforms adjacent to the Tennessee River preserve records of at least 11 major flood events from 2780 ± 185 BP to 100 ± 10 BP. Buried soils at three sites are older than ca. 1380 BP and suggest a relatively recent period of landscape …


The Effects Of Time And Topography On Deep Carbon Storage In The Clarks River Valley Of Western Kentucky, Benedict W. Ferguson Apr 2018

The Effects Of Time And Topography On Deep Carbon Storage In The Clarks River Valley Of Western Kentucky, Benedict W. Ferguson

Scholars Week

Soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics at depths greater than one meter in valley bottoms are not well understood. This study examines the stock of SOC with depth across alluvial landforms in the Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge. Nine cores along three transects from terraces to floodplains and adjacent channel bars were collected to depths of 4 meters or refusal. Bulk density, clay content, and loss-on-ignition were used to estimate stocks. Age estimates based on radiocarbon suggest the landforms range in age from 7975 to 52 yr BP. Average SOC and carbon (C) flux varied with values of 1.76 kg/m2 …


Temporal Changes In Dissolved Calcium In Stream And River Waters In Western Kentucky Watershed, Adam Martin Apr 2018

Temporal Changes In Dissolved Calcium In Stream And River Waters In Western Kentucky Watershed, Adam Martin

Scholars Week

Temporal Changes in Dissolved Calcium in Stream and River Waters in Western Kentucky Watershed


Investigation Of Omnivorous Trophic Position In The Drilling Gastropod, Urosalpinx Cinerea, Using Stable Isotope Analysis, Molly E. Karnes, Michelle M. Casey Apr 2018

Investigation Of Omnivorous Trophic Position In The Drilling Gastropod, Urosalpinx Cinerea, Using Stable Isotope Analysis, Molly E. Karnes, Michelle M. Casey

Scholars Week

Drill-holes found in the fossil record are an important tool to study ecological patterns of the past. It is therefore important to gain a better understanding of the role of extant drilling snails in modern ecosystems. Although traditionally considered a predator, trophic position of 3.0, specimens of the muricid Urosalpinx cinerea from Long Island Sound revealed trophic positions between 2.3 and 2.5, suggestive of an omnivorous diet. This study addresses the generality of this result by examining a U. cinerea population from Wilmington, North Carolina. Preliminary whole body, soft tissue stable isotope analysis of nitrogen and carbon was conducted on …


Renewable Energy: A Solution To Japan’S Energy Crisis, Sunny Kwan Apr 2018

Renewable Energy: A Solution To Japan’S Energy Crisis, Sunny Kwan

Scholars Week

As world population increases steadily, fossil fuel deposits around the world continue to be consumed; estimates state that all current known deposits will run dry by 2088. Fossil fuel consumption not only causes environmental pollution, but its resulting greenhouse gases accelerate global warming, leading to destructive changes in climate patterns and rising sea levels. On one hand, fossil fuels are an indispensable part of daily life, but they also cause irreversible damage to the environment. On the other hand, renewable energy sources are more expensive and less convenient to develop compared to fossil fuels, but they are a great alternative …


Correlations Of Co2 Levels, Brittney Nelson Apr 2018

Correlations Of Co2 Levels, Brittney Nelson

Scholars Week

This project looks at the correlation between CO2 levels and human influences as well as the correlation between CO2 levels and global temperatures.