Digital Commons Network^™

Drawing Disintegration: A Twice-Exceptional Individual’S Autoethnographic Inquiry Into Graphic Narrative Creation As A Tool For Processing Trauma, Natalie J. Krusemeier

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This autoethnographic study explores the researcher’s lived experience of childhood trauma as a twice exceptional individual with an arts-based autoethnography research design, specifically in the form of graphic narrative. Grounded in Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration (TPD), this study examines how emotional and sensory intensity, overexcitability (OE), and psychological disintegration intersect with twice-exceptional (2e) identity development and identity authenticity potential. Data sources include personal artifacts from childhood and adulthood—journals, letters, graphic narrative, documents, and photographs—alongside reflective writings and completed graphic narrative pages. Using descriptive coding and TPD’s developmental levels as analytic lenses, the study interprets the processes of disintegration and …

Unraveling The Lullabies Of Learning: Exploring The Role Of Individual Components Of Infant-Directed Speech In Language Learning, Stephanie L. Lopez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Children learn language more effectively from infant-directed speech (IDS) than adult-directed speech (ADS). Three experiments were run (a pilot and two full experiments) testing the effects of pitch and pitch variability on segmenting a target word out of the speech stream and then associating it to an object. Visual prosody via eyebrow movements and lip contours were added as additional cues after the Pilot Study. Additional factors included after the Pilot Study were shortened sentences from 10 syllables each to seven syllables each, shortened target words from three syllables to two syllables, consistent syllable onset of target words, and two …

Envis: A User-Centered Web-Based Tool For Interactive Visualization Of Environmental Geospatial Data, Saima Sanjida Shila

LSU Master's Theses

Data visualization is an essential part of analyzing environmental geospatial data. Despite having the availability of large environmental datasets, there remains a lack of easily accessible, user-friendly, and interactive visualization tools in this field. Therefore, this study aims to develop a user-friendly and easily available web-based visualization tool. Before developing the tool, we conducted a survey of researchers at the LSU Coastal Studies Institute to collect their opinions on currently available visualization tools. In the survey, 55% of participants responded between somewhat satisfied to dissatisfied with their current visualization tools. Most of the participants mentioned two major limitations of existing …

The Art Critic As Learner: A Review Of Erica Cardwell’S Wrong Is Not My Name, Bronte Cronsberry

Comparative Woman

Erica Cardwell’s debut book Wrong is Not My Name: Notes on (Black) Art is about art, race, family and perhaps most prominently, about grief. Through her personal experiences with these themes, Cardwell’s voice as art critic is still undeniably present throughout the entirety of the text. Wrong is Not My Name reminds readers of the power of art to push us towards growth, but in the context of this issue on Aesthetic Education, I focus on Cardwell’s approach to art as critic, which she continually grounds in her approach to art as learner. It is this orientation in particular that …

Pedagogical Escapism And Western Performativity: A Psycho-Aesthetic Critique Of Belly-Dance Adaption Symbolics, Maryam Farahani

Comparative Woman

This paper addresses positionality misreading in Western pedagogical adaptions of belly dancing. Raqs Sharqi, known in the West as belly dancing, is a predominantly West Asian and North African discipline and performance art with multimodal varieties, globally taught and practiced while crossing sport, narratology, and story-telling boundaries. As a unique performance activity, it portrays a dynamic entertainment space to connect one’s multiple identities. I argue that Raqs Sharqi, not only as an aesthetic-educational art form but also, perhaps unwittingly, reiterated as an Orientalist communication trope in belly dancing, has forged East-West performativity models. However, the historical education-literature for Western women …

A Defense Of Judgment By Michael W. Clune. London & Chicago: The University Of Chicago Press, 2021. Isbn-13: 978- 0- 226- 77029- 1, Tajudeen Salaudeen

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

From Sensibility To Critical Engagement: Sympathy, Animality, And Subjecthood In Wollstonecraft’S Maria And Vindication, Yingnan Shang

Comparative Woman

This paper examines Mary Wollstonecraft’s strategic use of sentimental animal tropes alongside rationalist critique in Maria, or The Wrongs of Woman (1798) and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), arguing that she mobilizes sensibility not as an end in itself, but as a pedagogical instrument within a broader project of aesthetic education—one intended to move readers from affective sympathy toward political and philosophical judgment. Focusing in particular on animal metaphors—especially in the character of Jemima, who repeatedly figures herself as a domesticated and brutalized creature—I trace how Wollstonecraft employs tropes of animality to illuminate the processes by which …

Beyond The Madrasah: Digital Pedagogies And Nigerian Yoruba Muslim Women's Engagement With Islamic Knowledge, Abdulgafar Olawale Fahm

Comparative Woman

This paper explores how digital pedagogies are reshaping the landscape of Islamic education among Nigerian Muslim women, with a primary focus on Yoruba communities in Southern Nigeria. Historically, Islamic learning in Nigeria has been rooted in traditional institutions, notably the madrasa, characterized by face-to-face instruction and rigid gender norms. However, the proliferation of digital technologies - particularly online madrasas, WhatsApp study groups, Zoom-based Qur’anic classes, and Islamic mobile applications - has significantly altered women’s access to religious knowledge. Utilizing ethnographic evidence and qualitative interviews, this interdisciplinary study examines how digital platforms enhance accessibility, overcome sociocultural barriers, and enable Nigerian Yoruba …

Sunburned Plankton: Ultraviolet Radiation Inhibition Of Phytoplankton Photosynthesis In The Community Earth System Model Version 2, Joshua Coupe, Nicole S. Lovenduski, Luise S. Gleason, Michael N. Levy, Kristen Krumhardt, Keith Lindsay, Charles Bardeen, Clay Tabor, Cheryl Harrison, Kenneth G. Macleod, Siddhartha Mitra, Julio Sepúlveda

Faculty Publications

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation can damage DNA and kill cells. We use laboratory and observational studies of the harmful effect of UV radiation on marine photosynthesizers to inform the implementation of a UV radiation damage function for phytoplankton photosynthesis in a modified version of the Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2-UVphyto). CESM2-UVphyto is capable of simulating UV inhibition of photosynthesis among modeled phytoplankton and ocean column penetration of UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C radiation. We conduct a series of simulations with CESM2-UVphyto using the Marine Biogeochemistry Library (MARBL) ecosystem model to understand the sensitivity of phytoplankton productivity to UV radiation. Results …

Computational Data Analysis, Kathryn S. Biles

LSU Master's Theses

Data science has emerged as a cornerstone of innovation, shaping an ever-expanding range

of professional careers. As technology advances and the volume of data expands expo-

nentially, the ability to extract meaningful insights from data has become indispensable

across industries. Far from representing a single career path, data science enables profes-

sionals in nearly every domain to make informed decisions, optimize systems, and drive

innovation. Yet, many high school students and incoming college freshmen have limited

exposure to data science fundamentals or the career opportunities they unlock. This is

the gap that Computational Data Analysis, a high school-level curriculum I …

Predictions Of The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Galactic Exoplanet Survey. Iii. Detectability Of Giant Exomoons Of Wide-Separation Giant Planets, Matthew Lastovka, B. Scott Gaudi, Samson A. Johnson, Matthew T. Penny, Eamonn Kerins, Nicholas J. Rattenbury

Faculty Publications

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) will conduct a Galactic Exoplanet Survey to discover bound and free-floating exoplanets using gravitational microlensing. Roman should be sensitive to lenses with mass down to ∼0.02 M⊕, or roughly the mass of Ganymede. Thus, the detection of moons with masses similar to the giant moons in our solar system is possible with Roman. Measuring the demographics of exomoons will provide constraints on both moon and planet formation. We conduct simulations of Roman microlensing events to determine the effects of exomoons on microlensing light curves, and whether these effects are detectable with Roman. We …

Practical Real-Time Permanent Magnet Energy Spectrometer Using A Diode Array For Therapeutic Electron Beam Tuning And Quality Assurance, Mason W. Heath

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Purpose: Develop a practical, real-time permanent magnet electron energy spectrometer and evaluate it for beam tuning and quality assurance (QA) of therapeutic electron beams.

Methods: Aim 1: A 0.55 T permanent magnet was coupled to Sun Nuclear SRS MapCHECK® PC boards, providing two interlaced diode arrays. Detector response, R_meas(z_diode) versus diode position z_diode, was extracted from raw diode array readings, correcting for diode sensitivity and other factors. Using Monte Carlo (MC) computed, monoenergetic detector response functions, a curve-fitting algorithm extracted the energy spectrum, from R_meas(z_diode). The energy spectra for 7-20 …

Empowering Voices: Teacher Well-Being In The Face Of Racial Microaggressions, Leila Fitt

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the relationship between racial microaggressions and teacher burnout, with a specific focus on emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Teachers of color in predominantly White or less racially diverse schools may experience unique racial stressors, such as microaggressions, that impact their mental health and teaching efficacy (Hemric et al., 2010; Lambert et al., 2009; Maslach & Jackson, 1986; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011; Sue et al., 2007; Zee & Koomen, 2016). The study (a) examined the direct relationship between racial microaggressions and teacher burnout; (b) explored the moderating role of school connectedness in this relationship; and (c) investigated whether teaching …

Management Of Herbicide-Resistant Italian Ryegrass Using Cover Crop And Fall Residual Herbicide, Connor T. Mckoin

LSU Master's Theses

A field study was initiated in the fall of 2023 and repeated in 2024 at the LSU AgCenter Northeast Research Station near St. Joeseph, LA, to determine the impact of fall-applied soil residual herbicide at different growth stages (spike and one-leaf stage) on grass cover crop species, cereal rye and black oats. In most instances, clomazone (631 g ai ha^-1) and treatments containing the higher rates of metribuzin (263 g ai ha^-1)resulted in the greatest amount of cover crop injury both years, with biomass impacted by clomazone both years and in one of two years with …

“Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into The Met. Museum?”: An Exploration Of Contemporary Feminist And Women’S Exhibitions And Collectives, Demi R. Dauterive

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis examines the creation and evolution of feminist art exhibitions and collectives in the United States from the early 1970s through the 2020s. These exhibitions and the work they contain are analyzed alongside each wave of feminism that ran parallel to their existence. Beginning with the 1970s and Second Wave Feminism, Chapter One explores Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro’s Womanhouse in addition to Lucy Lippard’s Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists and the work of other smaller collectives. Chapter Two explores the DIY initiatives and subversive ideologies of Third Wave Feminism through artist groups such as the Guerrilla Girls and …

Determining The 17f(Α,P)20ne Reaction Rate For Application In Type I X-Ray Bursts, William Braverman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The ¹⁷F(α, p)²⁰Ne reaction has been identified as an alternate pathway for breakout from the hot-CNO cycle that can be important in some X-ray burst scenarios. The ¹⁷F(α, p)²⁰Ne reaction rate was previously determined through a parameterized exponential S-factor with a large enhancement from thermally-excited states based on statistical models with large uncertainties. We have measured the time-inverse ²⁰Ne(p,α)¹⁷F cross section at center-of-mass energies ranging from 5.50 to 7.10 MeV using an activation method with a proton beam on a neon gas cell. Coincident detections of 511-keV γ-rays, resulting from electron-positron …

Lithological Modeling And Aquifer Characterization Of The Coastal Lowlands Aquifer System In Texas, Emmanuel Egyin Hayford

LSU Master's Theses

The Texas Coastal Lowlands Aquifer System (CLAS) is a crucial water resource for the Gulf Coast, serving millions through municipal, agricultural, and industrial supplies. However, its sustainability is increasingly threatened by factors such as population growth, saltwater intrusion, land subsidence, and climate change. A significant limitation is the absence of a comprehensive, data-rich, three-dimensional lithologic model that accurately represents the intricate structure and geometry of the aquifer. Existing models are overly simplistic, treating the hydrogeologic unit as laterally uniform and failing to capture its true hydrogeologic complexity. This study addresses this gap by developing the first high-resolution 3D lithologic model …

Uav Remote Sensing For Assessment Of Conservative Management Practices In Maize-Soybean Cropping System, Aakriti Poudel

LSU Master's Theses

Sustainable agriculture practices promote cover cropping, which enhances nutrient management and impacts subsequent crop productivity in field crop rotations. Precision agriculture technology, particularly Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) remote sensing, enables a detailed evaluation of crop management. The studies were conducted in a maize-soybean rotation system with winter cover cropping and fallow management. The maize experiment investigated the effect of nitrogen application rates and cover cropping, using UAV-derived Normalized Difference Red-Edge (NDRE) to monitor crop performance. NDRE effectively captured the N response and the effect of cover cropping across growth stages, particularly during mid-season (55-81 DAP), where it showed a strong …

Effects Of Code Scaffolding In Increasing Student Confidence In Programming Cryptography, John Denny

LSU Master's Theses

Cryptography is essential for secure communications, and new threats require more students willing to program and interact with cryptographic systems. Previous research is focused on tools for teaching these systems at a high level, teaching through attacks against these systems, and proper use of these systems in software development. In this paper, we seek to design a workshop to use scaffolded Python code to teach how these cryp- tographic systems are designed. We explore the use of code scaffolding for students to program an example implementation of the McEliece crypto- graphic system to build confidence in working with these systems. …

Integrating Cereal Rye Cover Crop And Herbicide Programs To Manage Glyphosate-Resistant Italian Ryegrass In The Midsouth, Bhupesh K. Dhaka

LSU Master's Theses

Glyphosate-resistant (GR) Italian ryegrass (Lolium perenne ssp. multiflorum) has become an economically significant weed management challenge in Louisiana row crop production systems. The problem is further exacerbated by the occurrence of biotypes with resistance to acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) and acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitors—herbicide sites of action (SOAs) commonly used for ryegrass control in soybean (Glycine max) and cotton (Gossypium). Field, greenhouse, and laboratory experiments were conducted during the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 growing seasons at the LSU AgCenter Northeast Research Station in St. Joseph, LA, and at the LSU AgCenter Weed Science facilities in Baton …

Examining Private Landowner And Stakeholder Attitudes, Perceptions, And Knowledge Of Prescribed Fire In Louisiana, Chloe E. Crawford

LSU Master's Theses

Periodic fire was a primary driver of ecosystems across the Southeastern United States for millennia; however, fire suppression policies have become pervasive in the United States and led to increased fuel loads in forests as well as reduced biodiversity and reduced disease resilience. Prescribed fire presents a risk mitigation strategy and land management tool whereby practitioners can apply fire to the landscape in a controlled manner, thus reaping the benefits of fire while minimizing the risks associated with fire. Land in Louisiana is primarily privately managed and owned, so state-level conservation goals cannot be met without private landowner participation. As …

Exploring Runtime Evolution In Android: A Cross-Version Analysis And Its Implications For Memory Forensics., Babangida Bappah

LSU Master's Theses

Userland memory forensics has become a critical component of smartphone investigations and incident response, enabling the recovery of volatile evidence such as deleted messages from end-to-end encrypted apps and cryptocurrency transactions. However, these forensics tools, particularly on Android, face significant challenges in adapting to different versions and maintaining reliability over time due to the constant evolution of low-level structures critical for evidence recovery and reconstruction. Structural changes, ranging from simple offset modifications to complete architectural redesigns, pose substantial maintenance and adaptability issues for forensic tools that rely on precise structure interpretation. Thus, this paper presents the first systematic study of …

Seeing What Matters: Safety-Critical Semantic Segmentation Via Transfer Learning On Construction Sites, Obiora J. Odugu

LSU Master's Theses

Autonomous robots are increasingly deployed on construction sites for tasks such as progress monitoring, inspection, and safety assessment. For these robots to operate effectively, they must perceive and interpret complex, dynamic environments populated by workers, machinery, and unstructured terrain. Achieving reliable perception depends on high performing semantic segmentation models trained on large volumes of annotated data—an expensive and logistically challenging requirement in construction due to privacy restrictions, variable site access, and slow digitalization. This research addresses the challenge of limited labeled data by investigating transfer learning as a label-efficient approach for construction-site segmentation. Specifically, it explores whether road construction imagery—abundant …

A Simple Predictive Model For Salt Marsh Internal Deterioration Under Sea-Level Rise And Sediment Deficits: Application To Chesapeake Bay, Neil K. Ganju, Katherine V. Ackerman, Zafer Defne, Giulio Mariotti, David Curson, Zachary Posnik, Joel A. Carr, Joanna Grand

Faculty Publications

Salt marshes are dynamic biogeomorphic systems reliant on autochthonous and allochthonous input to maintain their three-dimensional configuration. Sea-level rise, subsidence, and sediment deficits can lead to submergence, open-water expansion, and ultimately loss of the vegetated marsh plain and associated ecosystem services. Widely used management-focused models focus on vegetation zonation in response to sea level but neglect sediment transport processes and geomorphic change. Process-based research models attempt to represent complex physical and biogeomorphic interactions but operate on spatiotemporal scales that are not directly transferable to restoration or management. Here we bridge these two paradigms and present a novel geomorphic model (UBMorph) …

Time Dependence Of Sediment Accretion Rates: Short- And Long-Term Variability In An Urban Tidal Marsh, Faith Echiejile, Kirk Raper, Tracy Elsey-Quirk, David Velinsky, Elizabeth B. Watson

Faculty Publications

Sediment accretion is vital for tidal marsh survival amid rising sea levels, yet its temporal variability remains poorly understood across different measurement scales. This study examines sediment dynamics in Tinicum Marsh, an urban tidal wetland in Philadelphia, using a comprehensive multi-method approach. We integrated sediment traps for event-scale measurements, Surface Elevation Table and Marker Horizons (SET-MH) for annual assessments, and radioisotope dating for decadal-scale analysis. Our findings reveal pronounced time-dependent variability in accretion rates consistent with the Sadler Effect, following a significant power-law relationship. Event-based deposition rates (median = 294.6 mm yr⁻¹) dramatically exceeded both annual (median = …

Characterization Of The Optical Model Of The T2k 3d Segmented Plastic Scintillator Detector Unit Cube, S. Abe, I. Alekseev, T. Arai, T. Arihara, S. Arimoto, N. Babu, V. Baranov, L. Bartoszek, L. Berns, S. Bhattacharjee, A. Blondel, A. V. Boikov, M. Buizza-Avanzini, J. Capó, J. Cayo, J. Chakrani, P. S. Chong, A. Chvirova, M. Danilov, C. Davis, Yu I. Davydov, A. Dergacheva, N. Dokania, D. Douqa, T. A. Doyle, O. Drapier, A. Eguchi, J. Elias, D. Fedorova, S. Fedotov, D. Ferlewicz, Y. Fuji, Y. Furui

Faculty Publications

The magnetized near detector (ND280) of the T2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment has been recently upgraded aiming to satisfy the requirement of reducing the systematic uncertainty from measuring the neutrino–nucleus interaction cross section, which is the largest systematic uncertainty in the search for leptonic charge-parity symmetry violation. A key component of the upgrade is SuperFGD, a 3D segmented plastic scintillator detector made of approximately 2,000,000 optically-isolated 1cm³ cubes. The SuperFGD cube unit shows promising optical performance, including a high light yield of about 40 photoelectrons (p.e.) per channel, a low cube-to-cube crosstalk rate below 3%, and a sub-nanosecond time …

Editorial Introduction: Governing Through Attention, Collaboration, Learning, And Participation, Geoboo Song, Gwen Arnold, Melissa K. Merry, Saba N. Siddiki, Holly L. Peterson, Creed Tumlison, Eric Button, Benjamin Galloway, Camille Gilmore, Erica Ivins, Rinjisha Roy, Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Ryan Ramaker, Rachel Britton, Isaac Owusu

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

State Courts, Public Opinion, And The Changing Abortion Landscape After Dobbs, Anna Gunderson, Chesani Askew, Jeong Hyun Kim, Nichole Bauer

Faculty Publications

The June 24, 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization represented a seismic shift in abortion policy in the United States. Since then, state courts have begun playing an integral role in expanding or restricting abortion access in their jurisdictions. What do these cases look like and how does the public respond to court decisions that are pro- or anti-abortion? We collect original data on state court abortion cases post-Dobbs and field two survey experiments pre- and post-Dobbs to investigate these questions. We find state courts have expanded their scope in abortion policy and that pro-abortion …

Narratives Of Vietnamese Teachers: Exploring Existential Givens Of Freedom, Meaning, And Isolation, Huy D. Nguyen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Drawing on Yalom’s framework of existential givens, this study explores how Vietnamese teachers experience existential freedom, existential isolation, and life meaningfulness. The notion of experience serves as the conceptual and interpretive foundation through which participants articulate these existential dimensions. Three participants were selected, and data were collected from online journal entries, vignette responses, and semi-structured interviews. Methodologically, it adopts intuitive inquiry as both conceptual lens and analytic process, integrating multiple modes of knowing and embodied understanding to explore how teachers imagine, experience, and interpret their work. To deepen interpretation, narrative structuring was incorporated to reveal the emotional and relational textures …

Versatile Nitration Of Bodipy Dyes Using No₂Bf₄: Effects Of Nitro Substituents On Spectroscopic And Self-Assembly Properties, Caroline Sarange Gwaro

LSU Master's Theses

This study explores the regioselective nitration of BODIPY dyes at the 2, 3- and 2,6-positions using nitronium tetrafluoroborate (NO₂BF₄), offering a high-yielding and mild synthetic route. The introduction of nitro groups significantly alters the dyes’ photophysical and self-assembly properties. Mono-nitrated BODIPYs exhibit hypsochromic shifts in absorption and emission spectra, increased dipole moments, enhanced Stokes shifts, and reduced molar absorptivity. In contrast, di-nitrated analogs show bathochromic shifts and decreased dipole moments in both ground and excited states. Spectroscopic characterization was performed using UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Self-assembly behavior was investigated in polar (acetonitrile) and …