Digital Commons Network^™

Secondhand Or Second-Class? Environmental Injustice In Global Textile Waste Trade, Wendy S. Escalante

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper addresses the issue of textile waste dumping, specifically how secondhand clothing exports from the Global North create environmental, social, and public health burdens in the Global South. The study focuses on case studies in Chile’s Atacama Desert, where shipments of used clothing overwhelm local waste infrastructures and worsen patterns of environmental injustice. Chapter 1 describes the global flows of textile waste, including trade volumes, landfill accumulation, and the impacts of discarded clothing on ecosystem services such as clean water, fertile soils, and breathable air, alongside health risks from microplastic pollution, toxic runoff, and respiratory hazards from textile fires. …

Debriefing In Emergency Departments And Intensive Care Units To Combat Compassion Fatigue, Madison N. Chiolino

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Compassion fatigue can be associated with nurses working in increased stressful environments such as the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Emergency Room (ER).  There is a gap in healthcare facilities, where structured interventions like debriefing tools are not implemented to address compassion fatigue. The purpose of this study was to determine if implementing a debriefing tool in areas where nurses are placed in high stress scenarios such as the intensive care unit and emergency department can aid in combating compassion fatigue. A piloted quantitative pre-and post-survey intervention design was used. Data was collected using the ProQOL 5 and PEARLS debriefing …

Badlands And Bison, Andrew Ressler

The Cicadian

“Badlands and Bison” is a fragmentary travel-fiction hybrid set in the mythic badlands of North Dakota. It merges reportage with invention, parody with elegy: a narrator half pilgrim, half comedian drifts from piano keys to prairie herds, searching for sincerity in a landscape that resists it. The form bends between essay and story, using humor, lyric observation, and shifting registers to question how we mythologize place.

Inconsistencies Emerge Between Regional And Local-Scale Water Security Metrics At Military Installations, Abigail Birnbaum, Michael L. Berg, Caitlin Grady, Daniel J. Weeks, Christopher M. Chini

Faculty Publications

Recent United States federal policy for military installations has emphasized the importance of developing a standardized approach for water security assessment to monitor changes in water resources and the ability for an installation to meet both its civilian and mission needs. For military installations in the United States, these assessments must consider demands both inside and outside the installation’s fence line, as regional resources are required to meet mission readiness. Focusing on physical water scarcity, this study compares four water security metrics with unique formulations and spatial resolutions, including an installation-scale metric and multiple regional metrics defined for either baseline …

Engineering Stormwater Resilience In Steep Valley Ccr Landfill Construction, Kevin Resnik, Grant Phelps

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

Construction of a CCR landfill within steep geography presents unique challenges related to stormwater management, erosion control, and establishing placement and compaction practices over an extended construction timeline. This presentation builds upon prior work focused on temporary rain cover and wet-weather resiliency, expanding the discussion to practical strategies implemented during the prolonged startup and subsequent phases of waste placement. Key topics include: Stormwater management during active construction, with emphasis on intercepting, conveying, and controlling runoff in a topographically constrained setting. Breaking up drainage areas to reduce flow concentrations, prevent channelized erosion, and improve maintainability as grading evolves. Erosion control approaches …

Geopolymers For Construction And Mining: Material Characterization And Application Prospects, Radoslaw Pomykala, Gabriela Fuks

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

Geopolymers have long been presented as an alternative to conventional concretes and cement-based binders, yet their practical use remains limited for various reasons. This paper examines both the material properties of such mixtures and their potential for broader application.

The study evaluated geopolymers produced from different types of fly ash, including typical siliceous ashes and ash with elevated CaO content. The influence of mixture components, such as solids content, activator type, and sample preparation and curing methods, on technological properties was investigated. Research covered fresh mixtures—rheological behavior and setting time—as well as hardened samples using mechanical testing, XRD, and SEM. …

Transportation Logistics Panel, John Ward, Andrew Vollmer, Tracy Zea, Marci Jenks

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

As the industry shifts from freshly generated ash to harvested materials and advanced utilization, logistics is becoming one of the primary drivers of project success or failure. This moderated panel will explore how sourcing, transportation, and storage realities are changing — and what project teams most often underestimate when working with harvested coal ash. Panelists will discuss what breaks, what becomes more complex, and how logistics considerations are reshaping planning and development.

Demystifying Large Language Models: How Ai Is Transforming Data, Compliance, And Decision-Making In Coal Ash And Environmental Management, Scott Pfeiffer

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

The environmental and coal combustion residuals (CCR) industries generate vast amounts of information—from groundwater monitoring reports and RCRA documentation to closure plans and analytical data. Managing, interpreting, and communicating this information is a growing challenge for utilities, regulators, and consultants alike. Large Language Models (LLMs), such as OpenAI’s GPT architecture, represent a breakthrough in how organizations can interact with their technical data. These models use deep neural networks trained on billions of words to understand, summarize, and generate language with human-like accuracy. When securely adapted for enterprise use, LLMs can automate routine reporting, extract data from technical documents, generate regulatory …

Fossil-Fuels In A Decarbonized Country? Modeling The Drivers Of Icelandic Oil Sales, Inbal Armony

Environmental Studies Honors Projects

Although 100% of Iceland’s electricity comes from renewable energy sources, it still relies on fossil fuels for land transportation, marine transportation, aviation, and some industry. Understanding geographic nuances in oil use is critical to achieving Iceland’s goals of carbon neutrality by 2040. As the island has one primary urban center with two thirds of the population, information is lacking about oil use in non-Capital areas and a gap between state and municipal climate plans. Using newly available data of oil sales at the municipality-level in a Small Area Estimation model, we analyze drivers of oil sales across Icelandic municipalities. We …

Perspectives On Interpretability For Neural Text Representations, Jia Peng Lim

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In this dissertation, we investigate interpretability in the three elements of learning neural text representations: inputs, passed into models, to produce probabilistic outputs. We emphasise perspectives as we present alternative novel methods to mine and organise meaning in this work.

Models. We initiate our investigation by examining Neural Topic Models (NTM), proposing an alternate angle of interpreting its word-topic distribution, producing better topic representations for interpretation. Our method maps the problem of finding these better interpretations to classical NP-hard graph problems, enabling examination of topic distributions in a composite manner. Next, we apply our previous findings to extract interpretations from …

Course Insight Portfolio: Math 1080, A Gentle Introduction To Infinite Series, Igor Luis Aureliano, Leyanis Falcon Hernandez, Ross George, Fnu Monika

Publications

This lesson aims to introduce the concept of an infinite series through geometric representations and partial sums to help students develop an intuitive understanding of convergence. A common misconception students may have when first encountering infinite series is the belief that “a sum of infinitely many things must be infinite”. Through the study of a convergent geometric series, students will investigate how the limit of partial sums can produce a finite value, thereby addressing this misconception and developing a more accurate understanding of infinite series.

Estimating Body Size And Biogeography In The Genus Alligator, Madelyn M. Turala

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Several studies have examined correlations between total body length (TL) and skeletal measurements in the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), with some measurements serving as stronger predictors of TL than others. Femur length (FL) has been found to be tightly correlated with TL in A. mississippiensis, and this relationship has been used to estimate body size of extinct crocodilians. This thesis demonstrates that the humerus, radius, ulna, and tibia are also strongly correlated with TL and useful for body size estimation in A. mississippiensis, and thus, can be applied to related extinct crocodilians. Additionally, species distribution modeling …

Decomposition In Urban Forest Patches Across A New York-New Jersey Urbanization Gradient, Cailee Sprouse

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

"Urbanization causes habitat fragmentation, pollution, homogenization of soil profiles, and replacement of native flora and fauna, which can alter vital ecological processes like decomposition. It is essential to investigate the impacts urbanization may have on ecosystem functioning to better inform urban land management. Studies have shown conflicting results on the impacts of urbanization on soil decomposition rates, with some showing higher, lower, or similar decomposition rates in urban soils compared to rural soils. This study aims to investigate the effects of urbanization and soil characteristics on decomposition rates in three urban forest patches in New Jersey and New York using …

Building Dental Workforce Pathways In A Rural State Without A Dental School, Rashid Ahmad, Shawnda Schroeder

Indigenous Health Posters and Presentations

In North Dakota, workforce shortages are shaped by geography, training pathways, and weak return incentives.

• Statewide Dental Health Professional Shortage Area designation
• No in-state dental school
• Workforce shortages function as a structural driver of inequity • Oral health disparities among children, low-income populations, and Indigenous communities

Soil Property Responses To Push-Pull Cropping In East Africa, Grace Mercy Amboka, Mattias Jonsson, Celina Apel, David Meinhof, Adomas Liepa, Frank Chidawanyika, Andargachew Detebo, Felipe Librán-Embid, Emily A. Martin, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Marcell K. Peters, Jie Zhang, Michael Thiel, Michael Otim, James Mugisha, Ghebremedhin Belay Bahta, Fredah Maina, Alice Murage, Benjamin Feit, A. Sigrun Dahlin

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Push-pull technology is increasingly promoted in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly for pest management and enhancing crop productivity. However, its influence on soil properties remains understudied, despite its potential implications for soil health and sustainable soil fertility management. This study examines soil properties in push-pull and conventional non-push-pull cropping systems. Soil samples were collected from push-pull and conventional plots in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. We examined the associations between soil physicochemical properties and cropping systems, along with key components of push-pull, namely Desmodium coverage and plot age, and manure and mineral fertiliser application. Overall, there were a few differences in soil …

Grazed Pasture Effects On Greenhouse Gas Emissions In The Ozark Highlands, Tyler Buchanan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States (US), grazinglands serve as the main foundation for the livestock industry, and, in Arkansas specifically, pastures are essential for rotational grazing and dairy operations. Climate change is increasingly becoming a concern in the agriculture industry, largely caused by anthropogenic activities increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere, at least partly due to the nutrient recycling that occurs from animal manure additions in grazinglands. Therefore, quantifying GHG emissions from pastures is essential to better understanding the impacts of grazing on the environment. The objective of this study was to quantify and evaluate the potential effects of …

From Phenology To Yield Zones: Functional Clustering Of Satellite Time Series For Crop Growth Monitoring, Ikram Morso

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Remote sensing and land surface phenology provide a strong basis for characterizing crop development, but their usefulness for within-field yield-zone delineation depends on whether crop development is analyzed as a phenological trajectory and whether the resulting zones are evaluated with spatially defensible statistics. These questions are especially relevant in soybean production because soybean is one of the most important row crops in the United States and the country’s dominant oilseed crop. This relevance is strong in Arkansas, where soybean is a major component of agricultural production. In soybean production, within-field yield variability reflects the combined influence of soil properties, stand …

Effects Of Wetting And Drying On Nutrient Mobilization In Aquatic Systems, Karessa Grace De La Paz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wetting and drying cycles are a fundamental, but underexplored, control on nutrient mobilization and transport in aquatic ecosystems. Such intermittency impacts approximately 60% of the world's streams and rivers, and the extent is expected to increase with future climate change. Additionally, aging reservoir infrastructure is driving restoration efforts, like large-scale drawdowns, that can expose benthic sediments to extended dry periods before refilling. Despite the prevalence of wet-dry cycles, how they influence nutrient transport and mobilization across different aquatic ecosystems remains poorly understood. To address this gap, this thesis presents two complementary studies exploring nutrient dynamics in Arkansas aquatic ecosystems that …

Geospatial Science And The Changing Environment: Applied Methods For Sustainable Agriculture And Landscape Management, Harrison Wakefield Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rapid environmental change is disrupting agricultural productivity, ecological function, and the long-term resilience of managed landscapes. At the same time, the rapid growth of geospatial data science has improved our understanding of environmental change and increasingly is being used to improve sustainability in agricultural and environmental management. However, critical gaps remain that limit the applicability of data-driven insights in landscape management. This dissertation investigates the potential of geospatial analytics for sustainable agriculture and landscape management, with a focus on applied methods that operate across spatial and temporal scales. Using field, landscape, regional, and national datasets, it explores the capabilities and …

Evaluating The Rural/Urban Divide In Conservation: Methods Of Improvement In Conservation Programming Across Kentucky, Lauren Tackett

Honors College Theses

Kentucky’s lands and waterways have always defined the state. Our unique karst landscape, combined with the Appalachian Mountains and Ohio River, help characterize the state and its identity. However, across Kentucky conservation efforts within recent years have been under attack. Through legislation changes and policy challenges, various bills have sought to repeal Kentucky’s conservation efforts regarding water, soil, and land use. Furthermore, there has been a rise in environmental disasters within the state that cause long term issues for both rural and urban communities to contend with. The responsibility of land stewardship falls on a variety of entities but weighs …

The Effects Of Impervious Land Cover And Red Tide (Karenia Brevis) On The Florida Manatee (Trichechus Manatus Latirostris) In The Gulf Coast Of Florida, Anna Compton

Honors College Theses

Red tide, caused by the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis, is an algal bloom event that occurs annually in the West Florida Continental Shelf. The algae releases brevetoxin, a toxin that can be fatal to wildlife in high concentrations. These algal bloom events are thought to be exacerbated by warming ocean temperatures and increased nutrient runoff from urbanization. Red tide is responsible for the mass mortality of various marine organisms like the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris). This study analyzes the changes in nutrient runoff and sea surface temperatures, and how these factors affected red tide cell concentrations and Florida manatee mortalities …

The Environment, Health, And Vector Nexus: Evaluating The Spatiotemporal Variability And Societal Impact Of Ticks In Arkansas, Dalton Williams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) are a surging public health and veterinary concern in the United States. In states like Arkansas, climate change and shifting land use have recalibrated the ecological niches of vector species. This research utilizes species distribution and ecological niche modeling to assess the spatiotemporal suitability of ixodid tick habitats, specifically where environmental and socioeconomic factors intersect. By integrating spatial science with public health frameworks, this study identifies priority intervention areas in underserved rural regions where healthcare resources are often constrained. This study provides a comprehensive methodological framework, leveraging remote sensing datasets and historic disease data to delineate exposure …

College Of Natural Sciences Spring Newsletter, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

[Page 1] Dean's Message
[Page] 2 Awards & Recognitions // Student Spotlights
[Page] 3 Zhang Named to Landsat Science Team // The Power of Teaching
[Page] 4 “Science as Art” Competition Welcomes High School Artists
[Page] 5 Testing for “Forever Chemicals” in Surface Water // New Faculty Spotlight
[Page] 6 Ambassador Initiated Outreach
[Page] 7 57th Annual Geography Convention
[Page] 8 Twice the Impact on On Call with the Prairie Doc
[Page] 9 Making Staple Foods Healthier // Halaweish & Cole-Dai Retire
[Page] 10 Drone Day 2026
[Page] 11 Student Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Day (SRSCAD)
[Page] 12 Ceremony …

Evaluating The Effects Of Urbanization On Meiofauna Biodiversity In Chattanooga’S Lentic Ecosystems Through Gis Applications, Keyle M. Bryant

Honors Theses

Urbanization is a leading driver of biodiversity loss in freshwater ecosystems, yet its effects on meiofauna—microscopic invertebrates that serve as key bioindicators of ecosystem health—remain poorly understood in lentic environments. This study evaluated the effects of urbanization on meiofaunal biodiversity in ten lentic waterbodies across Hamilton County, Chattanooga, Tennessee, by integrating environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding, in-situ abiotic measurements, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based land use analysis. Water samples were collected between January and April 2023 and processed using 18S rRNA amplicon sequencing to assess biodiversity as richness (amplicon sequence variants or ASVs, phylogenetic diversity or PD, and community composition). Land …

Growing Change: A Gis Spatial Analysis To Plan Urban Gardens In Chattanooga, Carson A. Chalk

Honors Theses

Food insecurity and limited access to fresh nutritious food in Chattanooga is a prevalent issue, primarily among lower socioeconomic households, and can put strain on overall well-being. This study aimed to identify suitable vacant parcels in Chattanooga where urban gardens could be developed using a GIS-based spatial analysis. Spatial data involving vacant parcels, slope, zoning, and proximity to grocery stores was cross referenced with socioeconomic data focused on poverty rates, vehicle ownership, and mean household income to identify the most suitable sites in areas of greatest need. Sites identified as suitable through GIS were then visited to verify their suitability. …

Factors Affecting Pedestrian-Vehicle Conflicts: An Empirical Analysis, Christo D. Jamo

Honors Scholar Theses

The number of pedestrian deaths increased by 78% between 2009 and 2023, while other motor vehicle crash deaths increased by 13% in the same period [1]. To identify potential pedestrian safety measures, this study analyzed the effects of location-based demographics, pedestrian phasing type, and other physical infrastructure and behavior variables on the probability of pedestrian-vehicle conflicts at signalized intersections, which is a surrogate measure of crash risk. Data were collected from 55 intersections in Connecticut, and the pedestrian-vehicle interactions were classified by severity based on the Swedish Traffic Conflict Technique: undisturbed passage, potential conflict, minor conflict, or serious conflict. Because …

Between Chronicle And Legend: A Two-Scene Environment And Visual Effects Examination Of Physical Accuracy And Emotional Exaggeration On The Honey Creek Bridge Collapse, Alison R. Gaddy

All Theses

This thesis explores how truth and dramatization intersect in digital storytelling by comparing realistic and stylized simulations of the Honey Creek bridge collapse within the context of the Kate Shelley animated short. At the core of storytelling lies a tension between factual accuracy and dramatic stylization. We investigate that tension by examining how narrative truth is conveyed, distorted, or enhanced through visual dramatization by focusing on the psychology of audience perception and the motivations behind creative embellishment. The practical contribution of this research is the development of two distinct digital scene setups depicting the same Honey Creek bridge collapse event. …

On The Paleontology Of Belize, Alson Ovando

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Paleontology can be considered an underrepresented and emerging area of science in Belize. A primary aim of this thesis is to provide a background of paleontology in Belize and present the first comprehensive study of Quaternary vertebrate fossils known from the country. Quaternary fossil sites across Belize include caves, rivers, and sinkholes. In addition to reviewing and assessing material from known sites, this thesis presents new information and discoveries that were made while investigating Belize’s Quaternary fossil record. This thesis also includes a geospatial model depicting ecoregions in Belize during the last glacial maximum. Overall, the results presented here demonstrate …

Machine-Learning Landslide Susceptibility And Runout Modeling In The Nolichucky River Gorge After Hurricane Helene, Grace Braver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Extreme rainfall from Hurricane Helene (September 2024) triggered widespread landslides across the southern Appalachian region, highlighting the need for rapid landslide susceptibility assessments that capture both landslide initiation and downstream runout. Traditional susceptibility models often focus solely on initiation zones, limiting their ability to identify which slopes will generate destructive landslides or where material will travel. This study addresses that gap by (1) integrating Geographic Information System (GIS)-based machine learning susceptibility modeling using ArcGIS Pro: Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) and Random Forest-Based and Boosted Classification and Regression (FBBC) and (2) the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Grfin (Growth, Flow, and Inundation) runout …

Modeling The Effects Of Low-Pressure Atmospheric Fronts On Sediment Transport Through Mississippi Sound Barrier Island Inlets, Nicholas J. Gagliano

Master's Theses

Coastal sediment dynamics in the Mississippi Sound are strongly influenced by tropical cyclones and the more frequent passage of low-pressure atmospheric fronts. While hurricanes are well recognized for reshaping barrier islands and altering sediment budgets, the cumulative role of recurrent fronts remains poorly quantified. This thesis investigates the impacts of six low-pressure atmospheric fronts (2015–2017) on sediment flux through six barrier island inlets in the Mississippi Sound.

A high-resolution application of the Regional Ocean Modeling System with the Community Sediment Transport Modeling System was developed to simulate tidal circulation, wind-driven currents, and sediment dynamics. Waves were excluded from the simulations. …