Digital Commons Network^™

Utilizing Legal Frameworks In Rural Appalchia, Max Baker

Student Research and Creative Activity Expo

A thematic coding of various medias surrounding the MTR being done on the Gauley Mountain in WV, searching for legal frameworks available to rural Appalachians.

Vulnerability Of Bass Populations To Our Changing Climate In The Mississippi River, Cameron Schreifels

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

Climate change is altering habitats and damaging bass populations throughout the Mississippi. The main factors of climate change affecting bass are shifts in water quality and significant weather events, which have increased bass vulnerability. With rising temperatures and eutrophication changing the way these bass hunt for their prey, it has made it easier for other non-native species to encroach on their habitat, which has led to bass further encroaching on other species due to climate change.  Given their economic importance and cultural significance, better management practices are needed to find new ways to protect them and ensure they remain a …

The Use Of Nams To Screen For Developmental And Reproductive Toxicity (Dart) Of Botanicals, Cynthia Rider

Oxford ICSB

No abstract provided.

Learning For A Sustainable Future: Embedding Sustainability Literacy In Honors Curricula Within Higher Education, Zoe E. Belinda

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

This research investigates the sustainability literacy levels of first-year Davidson Honors College (DHC) students at the University of Montana (UM) to develop a baseline for average sustainability knowledge at the beginning of students’ post-secondary education. The goals of this research are to (1) determine if there are differences in sustainability literacy scores between students in sustainability-related fields of study and their counterparts, (2) identify weaknesses in students’ current sustainability literacy, and (3) develop curriculum suggestions to improve sustainability knowledge. To address these research questions, all first-year DHC students in 2024 and 2025 were surveyed using a modified version of the …

From Couriers To City-Dwellers: The Changing Human–Pigeon Relationship Through Historic Pigeon Messaging, Urban Perceptions, And Training Practices, Mallory Peterson

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Their coos echo off the walls of skyscrapers and their wings beat faster than the cadence of footsteps. Whether dodging cars or pecking at food scraps, pigeons are a constant character of urban environments. Their unique history has allowed them to raise their young under bridges and on windowsills. Pigeons and humans are inextricably intertwined, to the joy and dismay of many. Once celebrated as couriers, pigeons carried messages of war, love, and survival across vast distances, shaping human connection and history. Today, they are more often dismissed as pests, their presence flattened into the city noise.

This narrative piece …

Deforestation Affecting Developing Nations, Nicole Villa

Sustainability Conference

Deforestation continues to be a growing problem around the globe, while it is affecting wildlife what can be overlooked is the challenges it’s creating for the livelihood of nations. This goes beyond losing the biodiversity of our ecosystems but social consequences with the scarcity of water in Malawi, rise in health risks in Democratic Republic of Congo and negative effects of agricultural expansion in Belize. Overall social conflict in these areas that are suffering to grow. Furthermore, I aim to cover the major challenges previously mentioned followed by counteracts of deforestation including action plan in Brazil, efforts of other countries …

Railroads And Recreation In Minnesota, Carter Versaevel

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

This map shows outdoor recreation areas along with the most populated cities and all railroads in Minnesota. I wanted to find out what areas were most in need of outdoor recreation opportunities and how to provide those opportunities. I found that railroads and high population cities were concentrated together. These areas had little access to outdoor recreation. These railroads can be turned into trails to provide much-needed recreation to a large number of people. I created this map using data I acquired through a formal request to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. I used the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ …

Exploring Variability Factors In Bur Oak Morphology, Karyn Morrissey

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

This project, completed for Dr. Kate Cary in the Biology department, investigates how bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) leaf morphology varies geographically. Using digitized herbarium specimens and provided data which included latitude, longitude, collection moth and year, leaf dissection, petiole length, temperature, and precipitation, the project visualizes patterns in morphology with a focus on leaf dissection (cm). Maps were generated both at the state level (Minnesota) and national level, depicting bur oak locations and morphology trends across different seasons (January-May and June-December) over the past century.  The importance of this data lies in its ability to reveal how environmental factors like …

Fish Need Shelter Too! The Importance Of Mangroves In An Aquatic Ecosystem, Karyn Morrissey

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

Mangrove trees exhibit many adaptations to living in salt water and tend to be found along marine shores. Some of these features include the ability to have their roots constantly submerged in water and stilt roots. Stilt roots are not true roots, instead they grow from the stem to the ground and provide both height and mechanical support in a somewhat fluid soil that the plants grow in. These stilt roots are thought to provide sanctuary for many juvenile fish. During our time on San Salvador Island, Bahamas (March 2025), we hypothesized that there was a relationship between distribution of …

Seed Sisters, Rylie Luhring

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Many who visit UM’s PEAS Farm know about the greenhouses, pumpkin patch, and flower fields that grow around the property, but there is another garden that has been growing for the last three seasons: The Four Sisters Garden. Although many students visit the farm each year, the Four Sisters Garden is a spot that tends to be skipped over on tours. This traditional Garden grows squash, beans, corn, and sunflowers, and is grown in the arrangement of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (MHA) peoples from North Dakota. Through conversations with the caretakers of the Four Sisters Garden, I found out …

Brother Nature: Pursuing Zero-Waster At Casa Maria, Isaiah Charles, Giuliana Porzio Cuenca, Tatiana Flores, Isabella Lopez, Antonio Martinez, Kelly Sawyers

Presentations - 2025

This presentation focuses on evaluating waste production and management at Casa Maria, a Marianist community on campus, with the goal of establishing baseline data and offering sustainability recommendations grounded in the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle. Insights from this initiative aim to inform broader sustainability efforts across the university.

Water Scarcity In The Bitterroot Valley, August W. Guenthner

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Abstract

Water scarcity is an increasingly pressing issue in Montana's Bitterroot Valley due to the dual pressures of climate change and rapid population growth. This research explores how agricultural producers in the region experience and adapt to water scarcity, a challenge exacerbated by decreasing and unpredictable precipitation patterns and rising residential water demand. Using semi-structured, long-form interviews with experienced farmers, the study examines the specific impacts of water scarcity on agricultural operations and the adaptive strategies employed to ensure resilience. By centering the experiences of local producers, this research aims to contribute to the broader literature on agricultural adaptation while …

Distributing The Ursinus Food Forest Harvest: Considering The Lenape And Questions Of Equity, Elwood Harney

Environment and Sustainability Summer Fellows

Food forests are regenerative agricultural systems designed to support people and wildlife, with Indigenous knowledge and practices often guiding their stewardship. The Ursinus College Food Forest (UCFF) at the Whittaker Environmental Research Station is one such system. As a relatively young “living-learning laboratory”, the UCFF serves to connect student stewards, other students from the College, community visitors, and the Lenape people to many food and material-producing plants. The UCFF also functions to strengthen the College’s reconciliation with the Lenape people, upon whose unceded ancestral land our campus and the site are situated. Honoring Ursinus’s commitment to the Welcome Home Project, …

The Fight For Fluoridation In Stl, Noor Yousaf

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Fluoridation is the addition of fluoride to a source of drinking water. In St. Louis’s public water supply, the amount of fluoride remains the same since 1953 at 5ppm. Dr. Ralph Rosen and his team of dentists and researchers advocated for the fluoridation of the water because it reduced the frequency of dental caries occurring in children and adults alike, but the public had opinions on the sudden addition of chemicals to their water. This includes how the public’s health will be affected, how consumer products would change, and also how effective this addition of fluoride would be. This debate …

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?, Alissa Johnson

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Fall 2023

The purpose of my project is to explain my point-of-view of how 4310 Service-Learning: Marine Conservation & Restoration has changed my outlook of this career field and how its influenced me to want to continue in this major. I discuss how three amazing women teach me about oysters (Katherine Harris, Tara Blanchard, and Kelsey Mack) and how they found their voice in a male heavy career field. I also touch on the opportunities I took like mangrove gardening, trail camera footage of Cape Canaveral, and a beach clean-up, just to name a few and how the community plays a huge …

Surveying Pollinator Gardens, Isabel Kolb, Kaitlyn Richards, Nolan Rokke

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Surveying Pollinator Gardens with client Lincoln Electric System.

Matt Talbot Kitchen Organization, Samantha Nielsen, Miqaela Davis, Olivia Clancy

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Matt Talbot Kitchen Organization for client Victoria O'Neil.

Nebraska Solid Waste Measurement, Juliana Amato, Alexi Caines, Alex Napolitano

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Nebraska Solid Waste Measurement for client Douglas County (Nebraska) Environmental Services and the Nebraska Recycling Council.

Project Energy Norfolk, Anna Bunik, Megan Swain, Hunter Tesarek

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Project Energy Norfolk with client City of Norfolk, Nebraska (Steven Rames).

Public Transit Ghg Emission Analysis, Ally Barry, Aspen Rittgarn, Grace Schleining, Wyatt Koppold

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Public Transit GHG Emission Analysis created in partnership with the City of Lincoln (Nebraska) Public Health Department, StarTran, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Environmental Studies Program.

Nitrates In Nebraska Groundwater, Kjersten Hyberger, Adam Carlson, Grace Kollars, Rachael Herpel

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Slides of a presentation titled Nitrates in Nebraska Groundwater, created in collaboration with Rachael Herpel of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute.

The Impacts Of Saprotrophic Fungi On Crop Production, Candace "Andi" Wiedemann

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The effects of saprophytic fungi on soil health have been observed extensively. As decomposers, these types of fungi are known to build soil by breaking down organic material through extracellular enzymatic activity, leading to an increase of available nutrients for local plants, including nitrogen, phosphorous, metals, and atmospheric carbon. Additional evidence suggests fungal activity can promote plant health by displaying antibacterial, antinematodal, and pesticidal properties in soils. With this research, I explore the relationship between fungi and crops in agricultural systems to better understand soil food web dynamics and soil health. I interviewed various farmers, mycologists, and soil biologists about …

Indigenous (Mis)Representation: Implications For The Mmiwg2s Epidemic, Emma Swartz, Chloe Burnstein, Desi Greer, Danara Greer, Jillian Topsky, Sam Severson

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

In the United States and Canada, Native women, girls, and two-spirit people are stolen and killed at a disproportionate rate. Despite their pleas for justice, non-indigenous media are reluctant to give Indigenous voices a platform to incite change. Critically, the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S) is not endemic to North America, but permeates through aboriginal life on every continent as a tool of settler colonialism. Existing literature on the topic ofMMIWG2S has traced the roots of the crisis to settler colonialism and to non-Indigenous popular culture, but there is a gap in knowledge …

An Exploration Of A Year At The Ursinus Food Forest, Victoria Bearden

Environment and Sustainability Presentations

The Ursinus Food Forest began a commitment to a new form of sustainable land management at Whittaker Environmental Research Station. This management integrates lessons from urban agriculture, urban forestry, and agroforestry (see Clark & Nichols 2013) with principles of permaculture (Jacke et al 2005). Begun in 2017, and this past fall marked 2 years since the planting of phase one in 2019. In the fall of 2021 students, faculty, facilities, and volunteers planted the second phase of the food forest site, which added 7 new food producing species. Including this, many projects were created to enhance the site throughout the …

The World Of Arachnids And Observational Findings, Jose Reyna, Julia Rygiel

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

Varied species of arachnids were observed and classified in the province of Puerto Maldonado, Peru at the Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica Research Station. From the data collected, we were able to create a dichotomous key of 20 species. Information in the form of pictures, dates, and location of the species found were submitted to iNaturalist, an application used to share biodiversity information as a form of citizen science. This identification is in contribution to Inkaterra Association and the Loyola Institute of Environmental Sustainability.

Mapping The Impact Of A Trailway System On The Amount Of Trash Present Within Two Watersheds Of Lynchburg City, Virginia, Lillian Smith

Student Scholar Showcase

Transportation of trash debris within water systems is a prominent occurrence which has been linked to natural and artificial processes such as wind, rain, and littering. Recreational areas, such as activities along greenway trails, have been determined to be a source of debris found in waterways. This study examines whether the presence of an established recreational trail system limits trash accumulation in the entirety of a watershed. Trash data collected at Blackwater Creek, which contains an established trail system, was compared to trash data collected at Fishing Creek, containing a non-established trail system, to answer this hypothesis. A distance of …

The Impact Of Urban Green Space On Mental Health, Jana Rokitta

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

As an Environmental Studies and Psychology double major, I'm curious about how environmental factors, especially in the urban setting influence psychological constructs. During my research, I focused on urban stressors and their effect on mental health. While analyzing a case study, I looked at how urban green space can benefit mental health. Lastly, I focused on the implication of the studies for Chicago and how the uneven access to urban green space poses a social justice issue in Chicago and on a global scale. Additionally, my research includes a critical view of confounding variables that might have impacted the results.

Preserving The Monarchs, Martin Brannaman, Abby Schroeder, Stephany Pinzon Perez

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, spring 2022

Poster titled Preserving the Monarchs with client Lincoln Electric System.

Pioneers Park Nature Center, Sarah Burr, Trystyn Cox, Corie Gleason, Carli Maier

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community Projects, spring 2022

Slides of a presentation titled Pioneers Park Nature Center for client Ansrea Faas of Pioneers Park Nature center, Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Canopy, Chandra Spangler, Lillian Soucie, Brian Fuelberth, Rachel Hines

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, spring 2022

Slides of a presentation titled The Canopy with client Kayla Vondracek, and a computer application for the citizens of and visitors to the Lincoln, Nebraska community.