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Transportation And Sanitation Drivers Of Land Use/Land Cover Change: Loss Of The Jamaica Bay Wetlands, Margaret Joy Cytryn

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an analysis (1830-2014) of the historical events of land use/land cover change in the Jamaica Bay estuary, identification of the agents of change, and a perspective on the potential drivers of transportation and sanitation in land use/land cover change.

Shaw T. & Alenka ČUk, 2015. Slovene Karst And Caves In The Past, Arrigo A. Cigna

International Journal of Speleology

No abstract provided.

Human Impacts On Fire In De Soto National Forest, Mississippi, U.S.A., Charles Raymond White

Master's Theses

Fire is a common occurrence in the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests of the Southeast United States. Prescribed fire is used to manage these threatened ecosystems, but information regarding historical fire activity is unknown. My goals were to determine the historical fire regimes in De Soto National Forest (DSNF), southern Mississippi, and determine the influence of climate and land use history on fire activity at two study sites: Fern Gulley Ridge (FGR) and Death Scar Valley (DSV). The composite mean fire interval during the prescribed burning period (1980–2013) was 3.4 years. During settlements periods, fire intervals at FGR …

Seeing California’S Water Future(S) At Orange County’S Groundwater Replenishment System, Sarah Priscilla Randle

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Tucked away in suburban Fountain Valley, California, the Orange County Water District’s Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) smells vaguely of chlorine and looks like something imagined by a 1950s sci-fi writer. Sleek, shiny, and minimalist, the wastewater treatment plant feels like somewhere a robot would be very, very comfortable.It’s also a soothing place for another kind of visitor: the Southern California water manager. My fieldwork shows these managers to be a community of expertise that likes recycled water, a steady source of supply they feel confident in their ability to treat, monitor, and deliver. “It’s here and it’s never going away, …

Diamonds In The Rough : Corporate Paternalism And African Professionalism On The Mines Of Colonial Angola, 1917–1975, Todd Cleveland

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Diamonds in the Rough explores the lives of African laborers on Angola’s diamond mines from the commencement of operations in 1917 to the colony’s independence from Portugal in 1975. The mines were owned and operated by the Diamond Company of Angola, or Diamang, which enjoyed exclusive mining and labor concessions granted by the colonial government. Through these monopolies, the company became the most profitable enterprise in Portugal’s African empire. After a tumultuous initial period, the company’s mines and mining encampments experienced a remarkable degree of stability, in striking contrast to the labor unrest and ethnic conflicts that flared in other …

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V11n2, Summer 2015, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Table of Contents

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science --- 1, 3
ICTM-ISTS Math Science Conference --- 2, 3
ISTS Pre-conference Event --- 3
IAS Education Programs --- 4, 5
National Congress on Science Education --- 6
128th IAS Annual Meeting --- 7
New Horizon's Flyby --- 7
Corporate Members --- 7
Contact IAS --- 8
Institutional Members --- 8

Empirical Evidence For The Scale Dependence Of Biotic Interactions, Jonathan Belmaker, Phoebe Zarnetske, Sara Zonneveld, Sydne Record, Angela L. Strecker, Lydia Beaudrot

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Aim: Although it is recognized that ecological patterns are scale dependent, the exact scales over which specific ecological processes operate are still a matter of controversy. In particular, understanding the scales over which biotic interactions operate is critical for predicting changes in species distributions in the face of the ongoing biodiversity crisis. It has been hypothesized that biotic interactions operate predominately at fine grains, yet this conjecture has received relatively little empirical scrutiny. We use US woodpeckers as a model system to assess the relative importance of biotic interactions, environmental suitability and geographic proximity to other intraspecific occurrence sites, …

Using Satellite Image Analysis For Locating Prehistoric Archaeological Sites In Alaska's Central Brooks Range, Robert Hickey, J. Keeney

Geography Faculty Scholarship

In this pilot study, we apply satellite image analysis to archaeological site prospection in Alaska's Brooks Range. Our goal was to test whether satellite remote sensing, which has been successful in locating large archaeological features associated with sedentary peoples, could be applied to arctic interior sites associated with mobile hunter–gatherers. In particular, we strove to develop a relatively straightforward and inexpensive model using existing data which could be used to help guide archaeology surveys. Using 1-m resolution IKONOS imagery of Lake Matcharak along the upper Noatak River, we produced a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and tasseled cap transformation of …

A Dialectical Invariant For Research In Mathematics Education, Mauro García Pupo, Juan E. Nápoles Valdes

The Mathematics Enthusiast

Many current problems in research in mathematics education emerge from pairs of contradictory dialectical categories. In effect, these pairs characterize the problems. When an epistemological study is made to determine the object of research in which a problem is immersed, it is possible to find essential pairs of dialectical categories that become more profound and thus provide enough elements for the determination of appropriate didactic actions to solve the problem under research.

Fluxes Of Dissolved Organic Carbon During Storm Events In The Neponset River Watershed, Keith Thomas Cialino

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The transport of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) from land to coastal environments strongly influences coastal ecosystems. The presence of first flush phenomena due to rainwater runoff traveling from land into waterways can greatly affect carbon fluxes to coastal areas. This research utilizes sensors, autosamplers, and standard watershed sampling in order to assess for the presence of first flush and its significance. A rainfall simulator was built in order to collect runoff on two land use types. Time series data suggest that first flush of dissolved organic carbon was present for all rainfall intensities simulated …

The Consequences Of Plan Colombia: Domestic Drug Policies In Colombia, Brittany T. Reid

Standard Theses

None

The Why And Where Of Big History: Building A Program, Mojgan Behmand

Office of Academic Affairs

The goals of our First Year Experience program are aligned with our institutional mission, our core values, and the goals of our General Education program. The program is designed to promote:

1. recognition of the personal, communal, and political implications of the Big History story;
2. critical and creative thinking in a manner that awakens curiosity and enhances openness to multiple perspectives; and,
3. development of reading, thinking, and research skills to enhance one’s ability to evaluate and articulate understanding of one’s place in the unfolding universe.

The Erosion Of Coastal Sediment And Regeneration Of Rhizophora Mangle Following Anthropogenic Disturbance On Turneffe Atoll, Belize, Heather Lyn Hayden

Dissertations and Theses

As communities and managers become aware of the long-term impacts of mangrove loss, estimated at 1-2% per year, interest in sediment erosion and mangrove rehabilitation has increased substantially. In this thesis project I 1) examine erosion rates within coastal fringing Rhizophora mangle ecosystems following mangrove clearing and compare these rates to accretion rates in intact mangroves; and 2) investigate the abiotic factors influencing mangrove seedling survival and regeneration of naturally colonizing R. mangle, in historic mangrove habitat after anthropogenic clearing.

Differences in erosion were compared between patches of open-coast intact and anthropogenically cleared R. mangle to quantify the sediment trapping …

Design, Programming, And User-Experience, Kaila G. Manca

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis is a culmination of my individualized major in Human-Computer Interaction. As such, it showcases my knowledge of design, computer engineering, user-experience research, and puts into practice my background in psychology, com- munications, and neuroscience.

I provided full-service design and development for a web application to be used by the Digital Media and Design Department and their students.This process involved several iterations of user-experience research, testing, concepting, branding and strategy, ideation, and design. It lead to two products.

The first product is full-scale development and optimization of the web appli- cation.The web application adheres to best practices. It was …

Toolstone Use In Ozark Prehistory: Assessing Adaptations To A Lithic Dichotomy In The Boston Mountains And Springfield Plateau, Luke Allen Morris

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Toolstone use in the Ozark Mountains is a reactionary process reliant on how the landscape provides or constrains chipped stone for prehistoric populations. These technological adaptations are recognized at sites throughout the area, but no regional assessment of lithic assemblages provides answers as to why certain stones are used at a particular location. This thesis employs a five step mass analysis of lithic assemblages, and GIS visualizations to observe how the organization of stone technologies vary based on location within contrasting geologic contexts. The chert-bearing Springfield Plateau, and the Boston Mountains with siltstone, are two neighboring dichotomous landscapes that illustrate …

Interpretation At The Controller's Edge: The Role Of Graphical User Interfaces In Virtual Archaeology, Tyler Duane Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The important role of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) as a medium of interaction with technology is well established in the world of media design, but has not received significant attention in the field of virtual archaeology. GUIs provide interactive capabilities and contextual information for 3D content such as structure-from-motion (SFM) models, and can represent the difference between "raw data" and thoughtful, skilled scholarly publications. This project explores the implications of a GUI created with the game engine Unity 3D (Unity) for a series of SFM models recorded at a structure known as the Area B House at the ancient central …

Exploring Colonial Identity And A Growing Ecoconsciousness On The Great Plains, Charles Hiebner

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis is an exploration of my journey from an unapologetic industrial agriculturalist to a more environmentally sensitive citizen. I now recognize the inescapable relationship between colonialism and environmental issues surrounding water resources on the Great Plains and how these intertwined issues affect both the planet and its inhabitants. Specifically, I look at literature as both the catalyst and sustainer of my still-growing environmental and social consciousness. From important literary works encountered as a youth to the ecocriticism and explorations of social justice of the readings I engage in today, I examine how these literary choices have led me to …

Novel Spectroscopic Tools To Differentiate Molecule-Dna Binding Interactions, Sense Dna And Track Dna Melting, Saad Hmoud Alotaibi

Dissertations

The discovery of DNA as a genetic material and its double helical structure led to numerous studies directed at understanding molecule-DNA interactions. These studies have played an integral role in medical diagnostics, forensics, imaging and therapeutics. Typically, molecule-DNA interactions have two prominent modes: intercalation and minor groove binding. Several optical techniques are available that can monitor molecule-DNA binding interactions, but they cannot differentiate between intercalation and minor-groove binding. The major goals of the research are to develop novel optical spectroscopic tools that can differentiate molecule-DNA binding interactions, selectively and sensitively detect one form of DNA over another, and track DNA …

Discovering Rock Features With Geophysical Exploration And Archaeological Testing At The Mississippian Pile Mound Site, Upper Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee, Jeremy G. Menzer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Pile Mound survey includes magnetometry paired with targeted ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electromagnetic induction (EMI) surveys of the mound and testing of associated features over the ca. 6.5 ha site. The GPR survey discovered six rock features (five large rock features within the mound and one marking the outside of the mound). Knowledge of mounds in the Upper Cumberland Plateau (UCP) is lacking—the closest other studied sites are at the Corbin Site, Croley-Evans, Bell Site, and Beasley Mounds, approximately 75 – 100 km away. However, the most similar mound construction is found at Corbin and Cherokee sites, some 175 …

Cultural Entropy: A Grounded Theory Study Of Early Childhood Experiences In Nature In The Arroyo Grande Creek Watershed, Nathaniel Miles Millard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Through support from a Quinney Fellowship and the Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism in the Department of Environment and Society at Utah State University, the theory of cultural entropy emerged as an explanation for changing behavior across generations of people living in the Arroyo Grande Creek watershed. Through a trounded theory methodology data collection around early childhood experiences with nature leading towards positive civic engagement with the community, the theory of cultural entropy emerged along with a policy recommendation for reconnecting the community to the local watershed.

Lifelong residents participating in the research were found to have high levels …

Ecologically Sustainable But Unjust? Negotiating Equity And Authority In Common-Pool Marine Resource Management, Sarah Klain

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Under appropriate conditions, community-based fisheries management can support sound resource stewardship, with positive social and environmental outcomes. Evaluating indigenous peoples’ involvement in commercial sea cucumber and geoduck fisheries on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada, we found that the current social-ecological system configuration is relatively ecologically sustainable according to stock assessments. However, the current system also results in perceived inequities in decision-making processes, harvesting allocations, and socioeconomic benefits. As a result, local coastal resource managers envision a transformation of sea cucumber and geoduck fisheries governance and management institutions. We assessed the potential robustness of the proposed institutions using Elinor …

Physical Records Of Impacts In The Early And Modern Solar System, Robert Ellis Beauford

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study of terrestrial meteorite impact craters and of impacted meteorites expands our understanding of cratered rocky surfaces throughout the solar system. Terrestrial craters uniquely expand upon data from remote imaging and planetary surface exploration by providing analogs for understanding the buried sub-surface portions of impact structures, while impacted meteorites provide examples of a much wider range of surface and subsurface impactite materials than we can directly sample thus far through solar system exploration.

This report examines three facets of the impact record preserved in terrestrial impact craters and in meteorites. First, it looks at the macroscopic structure of the …

The Power Behind The Controversy: Understanding Local Policy Elites' Perceptions On The Benefits And Risks Associated With High Voltage Power Line Installation In The State Of Arkansas, Rachael Marie Moyer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Following a proposal for the installation of high voltage power lines in northwest Arkansas, a controversial policy debate emerged. Proponents of the transmission line argue that such an installation is inevitable and necessary to efficiently and reliably support the identified electric load in the region. Opponents claim that the lines will degrade the natural environment and hamper the tourism-based local economy in affected regions, notably in Ozark Mountain areas. This study seeks to understand how local policy elites perceive the benefits and risks associated with proposed transmission lines, which is a critical step in comprehending the formation and changes of …

Assessing And Mapping Vulnerability And Risk Perceptions To Groundwater Arsenic Contamination : Towards Developing Sustainable Arsenic Mitigation Models, Sushant Kumar Singh

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This study focuses on the arsenic-affected rural communities in Bihar located within the mid-Gangetic Plain in India. A random stratified sampling method is applied to survey 340 households in three villages (Suarmarwa, Rampur Diara, and Bhawani Tola), through a structured questionnaire. A reliable arsenic field testing kit is used to analyze the drinking water sources in the field, followed by a confirmatory test of a subset of water samples through Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The study has two major goals: 1) Develop sustainable arsenic-mitigation models; and 2) Create a “composite vulnerability index,” and present the information as a map for use …

Utilizing Remote Sensing Imagery To Monitor Vegetation Change Within World Heritage Sites, Mimi Eve Hatzis

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

World Heritage sites provide a glimpse into the stories and civilizations of the past. There are currently 1007 unique World Heritage properties with 779 being classified as cultural sites, 197 as natural sites, and 31 falling into the categories of both cultural and natural sites (UNESCO & World Heritage Centre, 1992-2015). However, of these 1007 World Heritage sites, at least 46 are categorized as in danger and this number continues to grow. These unique and irreplaceable sites are exceptional because of their universality. Consequently, since World Heritage sites belong to all the people of the world and provide inspiration …

Proceedings Of The 127th Annual Meeting Of The Iowa Academy Of Science [Abstracts & Program, 2015], Iowa Academy Of Science.

Annual Meeting of the Iowa Academy of Science [Programs & Abstracts]

Contains information about the schedule and presentations for the 2015 annual meeting of the Iowa Academy of Science, including abstracts.

Program And Proceedings: Nebraska Academy Of Sciences 1880–2015, 135th Anniversary Year, One Hundred-Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

Program

Aeronautics and Space Science

Chemistry and Physics

Collegiate Academy: Biology

Collegiate Academy: Chemistry and Physics

Anthropology

Biological and Medical Sciences

Junior Academy, Senior High Competition

Aeronautics and Space Science, Poster Session

Maiben Memorial Lecture: “Nebraska Biocontainment Unit Planning and Response to Ebola,” Ebola team, University of nebraska medical Center

Applied Science and Technology

Earth Science

Teaching of Science and Math

Junior Academy, Junior High Competition

2015 - The Twentieth Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Twentieth Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 16, 2015. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

The Compass, Issue 2, Arcadia University Honors Program

The Compass

Issue 2 of The Compass, a scholarly journal edited and produced by students in the Arcadia University Honors Program.

An Investigation To Remotely Sense Mineral Leeching Through Soils, Paul C. Shaffer

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Satellite data on Earth's surface provide a wealth of information on landscape conditions. I use Landsat data to determine an important geologic process that influences the composition of the soils. My project focusses on the experimental hypothesis that we can use plant vigor as a proxy to document mineral washing downslopes through soils. I constructed a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) composite image from Landsat data to help assess vegetation heath in my target location - a national park south of Mount St. Helens. This location was selected because of its steep inclines, dense undisturbed vegetation, and fertile soils. It …