Digital Commons Network^™

Black Carbon Dominated Dust In Recent Radiative Forcing On Rocky Mountain Snowpacks, Kelly E. Gleason, Joseph R. Mcconnell, Monica M. Arienzo, Graham Sexstone, Stefan Rahimi

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The vast majority of surface water resources in the semi-arid western United States start as winter snowpack. Solar radiation is a primary driver of snowmelt, making snowpack water resources especially sensitive to even small increases in concentrations of light absorbing particles such as mineral dust and combustion-related black carbon (BC). Here we show, using fresh snow measurements and snowpack modeling at 51 widely distributed sites in the Rocky Mountain region, that BC dominated impurity-driven radiative forcing in 2018. BC contributed three times more radiative forcing on average than dust, and up to 17 times more at individual locations. Evaluation of …

Sl-Cyclegan: Blind Motion Deblurring In Cycles Using Sparse Learning, Ali Syed Saqlain, Li-Yun Wang, Zhiyong Liu

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper, we introduce an end-to-end generative adversarial network (GAN) based on sparse learning for single image motion deblurring, which we called SL-CycleGAN. For the first time in image motion deblurring, we propose a sparse ResNet-block as a combination of sparse convolution layers and a trainable spatial pooler k-winner based on HTM (Hierarchical Temporal Memory) to replace non-linearity such as ReLU in the ResNet-block of SL-CycleGAN generators. Furthermore, we take our inspiration from the domain-to-domain translation ability of the CycleGAN, and we show that image deblurring can be cycle-consistent while achieving the best qualitative results. Finally, we perform extensive …

Unveiling The Nature Of A Miniature World: A Horizon Scan Of Fundamental Questions In Bryology, Jairo Patiño, Irene Bisang, Bernard Goffinet, Lars Hedenäs, Stuart Mcdaniel, Silvia Pressel, Michael Stech, Claudine Ah-Peng, Sarah Eppley, Multiple Additional Authors

Center for Life in Extreme Environments Publications

Introduction: Half a century since the creation of the International Association of Bryologists, we carried out a review to identify outstanding challenges and future perspectives in bryology. Specifically, we have identified 50 fundamental questions that are critical in advancing the discipline.

Methods: We have adapted a deep-rooted methodology of horizon scanning to identify key research foci. An initial pool of 258 questions was prepared by a multidisciplinary and international working group of 32 bryologists. A series of online surveys completed by a broader community of researchers in bryology, followed by quality-control steps implemented by the working group, were …

The Connections Between Innovation, Culture, And Expertise In Water Infrastructure Organizations, Alice Brawley-Chesworth

Dissertations and Theses

Infrastructure organizations are notoriously conservative and resistant to change, even when faced with wicked problems that cannot be solved with the same thinking used in the past. In the water sector, this resistance to change has been linked to an industry culture that is based in a single, engineering-oriented knowledge system. Scholars have suggested that diversification of knowledge systems is necessary for implementation of innovations that will move the sector forward to solve wicked problems.

This research used a qualitative case study approach comparing two water sector organizations in Portland, Oregon. One organization included members who shared an engineering knowledge …

Equity & Social Justice In Mathematics Education With Eva Thanheiser, Eva Thanheiser

PDXPLORES Podcast

Professor Eva Thanheiser's research lies at the intersections of mathematics education, social justice, and critical theory. In her work, she collaborates with teachers, students, parents, and community members to develop and implement anti-bias mathematics education that allows students to connect mathematics to their worlds. In this episode of PDXPLORES, Thanheiser discusses this work and its impact on mathematics education.

Click on the "Download" button to access the audio transcript.

Oregon’S Place-Based Integrated Water Resources Planning Program: A Participatory Evaluation, Rebecca Mclain, Sadie Boyers, Jess Downey, Emily Jane Davis

National Policy Consensus Center Publications

In 2015, the Oregon Legislature passed ORS 536.220, which directed the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) to develop an integrated water resources strategy and gave it authority to make grants and provide technical assistance to communities seeking to engage in place-based planning integrated water resources planning (hereafter place-based planning). The legislation provided a means by which Oregon communities could coordinate an assessment of the water needs of instream and out-of-stream water interests in their area and reach agreement on how those needs could be met now and in the future. Legislators structured the program to give persons who live, work, …

Building A Turbulent Jet: Measuring/Modeling Lagrangian Dispersion, Particle Trajectory Dynamics And Intermittency, Bianca Fontanin Viggiano

Dissertations and Theses

The mechanics of how particles diffuse, interact, eject, etc. within a fluid is applicable to numerous industrial and environmental applications. Unwanted products of combustion, dust contamination of solar panels, pathogen transport during a cough and ejections of particles during volcanic eruptions, are a few examples of flows in which increased knowledge of particle dynamics could result in substantial reduction of negative environmental and economic impacts. To better understand the tendencies of particles within shearing flows (such as jets), an extensive experimental campaign was conducted. Measurements of a turbulent round water jet were performed within an icosahedral tank. Particle tracking velocimetry …

The Plant Water Management Experiments, Marc Benjamin Wasserman

Dissertations and Theses

A simple means of watering plants in the low-g environment aboard orbiting spacecraft is not obvious. Since the beginning of spaceflight, numerous approaches have been pursued to water plants that seek to maximize plant viability and system reliability, while minimizing crew time and system complexity. The Plant Water Management experiments (PWM) seek to apply recent advances in low-gravity capillary fluidics to the challenges faced during plant growth operations aboard spacecraft. One primary challenge encountered in such applications is to establish Earth-like flows, minimizing the low-g specific adaptations required by the plants. This is difficult due to the fluid physics challenges …

Poetry To Prose: The Influence Of Herodotus On Written History, Frances B. Currie

Young Historians Conference

In his book, The Histories, Herodotus of Halicarnassus expertly displayed his inquiries into the cultures and conflicts that transformed the Mediterranean world during the Greco-Persian Wars of the fifth century BCE. By writing his narrative in prose, citing his work, and providing cultural reasoning for past events, Herodotus earned himself the nicknames “father of history” and “father of comparative ethnography,” but his inclusion of fables also labeled him the “father of lies.” A historian named Thucydides eventually refined the historical genre to focus on politics without the inclusion of myths, narrowing the discipline of history for another thousand years. …

Robust Multi-Period Maximum Coverage Drone Facility Location Problem Considering Coverage Reliability, Darshan Rajesh Chauhan, Avinash Unnikrishnan, Miguel A. Figliozzi, Stephen D. Boyles

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study proposes a multi-period facility location formulation to maximize coverage while meeting a coverage reliability constraint. The coverage reliability constraint is a chance constraint limiting the probability of failure to maintain the desired service standard, commonly followed by emergency medical services and fire departments. Further, uncertainties in the failure probabilities are incorporated by utilizing robust optimization using polyhedral uncertainty sets, which results in a compact mixed-integer linear program. A case study in the Portland, OR metropolitan area is analyzed for employing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones to deliver defibrillators in the region to combat out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. In …

Quantification Of Motility In Bacillus Subtilis At Temperatures Up To 84°C Using A Submersible Volumetric Microscope And Automated Tracking, Megan M. Dubay, Nikki Johnston, Mark Wronkiewicz, Jake Lee, Chris Lindensmith, Jay Nadeau

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We describe a system for high-temperature investigations of bacterial motility using a digital holographic microscope completely submerged in heated water. Temperatures above 90°C could be achieved, with a constant 5°C offset between the sample temperature and the surrounding water bath. Using this system, we observed active motility in Bacillus subtilis up to 66°C. As temperatures rose, most cells became immobilized on the surface, but a fraction of cells remained highly motile at distances of >100 μm above the surface. Suspended non-motile cells showed Brownian motion that scaled consistently with temperature and viscosity. A novel open-source automated tracking package was used …

Stakeholder Participation And Influence At State Public Utility Commissions, Genevieve Theresa Kruse

Dissertations and Theses

Despite the international consensus that climate change is a problem, few substantive policies are being pushed forward at the national level to meet international greenhouse gas reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement. The most significant climate change policies are emerging at state public utility commissions (PUCs). While PUCs were traditionally structured to regulate utilities, state PUCs are now finding themselves at the hub for renewable energy, clean energy, and distributed energy policies. Despite the increase in renewable and clean energy policies at state PUCs, there is a noticeably small environmental and clean energy stakeholder presence at those PUC proceedings. A …

Maturity Model For Customer-Centric Approach In Enterprise: The Case Of E-Commerce And Online Retail Industry, Soheil Zarrin

Dissertations and Theses

The network technologies are changing the dynamics of the interaction between customer and provider. Customers demand closer relationships and higher investment between partners, as well as cooperation between companies to build supporting technologies for their unique needs. Customer-centricity is defined as interaction with the customer through various touchpoints and aggregating these relations to create a position for the customer. Each Customer has a different need and expectation from the provider or seller, and companies need to be flexible enough to fulfill their needs. One of the reasons organizations invest less in customer experience is that they believe they are already …

Improvement Science: Improving Employee Engagement, Ryan S. Carpenter

Dissertations and Theses

Improving employee engagement has proven elusive in too many schools and districts in our nation, persistently contributing to high staff turnover in buildings and limited employee ownership in the mission, vision, and values of a school's strategic plan. The most common approach to the improvement of educational systems has been the adoption of top-down reforms and short-lived improvement programs. In recent years, an Improvement Science approach, which originated in the medical and business worlds, has made its way onto the education scene. The impact of Improvement Science in education is a developing area in educational research. This dissertation includes four …

Spatial And Temporal Variations Of Microplastic Concentrations In Portland's Freshwater Ecosystems, Rebecca Talbot, Elise F. Granek, Heejun Chang, Rosemary Wood, Susanne Brander

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

While microplastics are a pollutant of growing concern in various environmental compartments, less is known regarding the sources and delivery pathways of microplastics in urban rivers. We investigated the relationship between microplastic concentrations and various spatiotemporal factors (e.g., land use, arterial road length, water velocity, precipitation) in two watersheds along an urban-rural gradient in the Portland metropolitan area. Samples were collected in August, September, and February and were analyzed for total microplastic count and type. Nonparametric statistics were used to evaluate potential relationships with the explanatory variables, derived at both the subwatershed and near stream scales. In August, microplastic concentrations …

Environmental Decision Support Systems As A Service: Demonstration On Ce-Qual-W2 Model, Yoav Bornstein, Ben Dayan, Amir Cahn, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

An environmental decision support system (EDSS) can be used as an important tool for the rehabilitation and preservation of ecosystems. Nonetheless, high assimilation costs (both money and time) are one of the main reasons these tools are not widely adopted in practice. This work presents a low-cost paradigm of “EDSS as a Service.” This paradigm is demonstrated for developing a water quality EDSS as a service that utilizes the well-known CE-QUAL-W2 model as a kernel for deriving optimized decisions. The paradigm is leveraging new open-source technologies in software development (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes, and Helm) with cloud computing to significantly reduce …

Extreme Winds Alter Influence Of Fuels And Topography On Megafire Burn Severity In Seasonal Temperate Rainforests Under Record Fuel Aridity, Cody Evers, Andres Holz, Sebastian Upton Busby, Max Nielsen-Pincus

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nearly 0.8 million hectares of land were burned in the North American Pacific Northwest (PNW) over two weeks under record-breaking fuel aridity and winds during the extraordinary 2020 fire season, representing a rare example of megafires in forests west of the Cascade Mountains. We quantified the relative influence of weather, vegetation, and topography on patterns of high burn severity (>75% tree mortality) among five synchronous megafires in the western Cascade Mountains. Despite the conventional wisdom in climate-limited fire regimes that regional drivers (e.g., extreme aridity, and synoptic winds) overwhelm local controls on vegetation mortality patterns (e.g., vegetation structure and …

Urban Flood Risk And Green Infrastructure: Who Is Exposed To Risk And Who Benefits From Investment? A Case Study Of Three U.S. Cities, Arun K. Pallathadka, Jason Sauer, Heejun Chang, Nancy B. Grimm

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Pluvial flooding is a serious hazard in inland U.S. cities. City managers and communities are increasingly interested in reducing their pluvial flood risk through the development of green infrastructure (GI) features. This research explores the relationship between pluvial flood exposure and GI placement in three inland cities– Atlanta, Phoenix, and Portland–and analyzes the variation of sociodemographic variables in census block groups (CBG) located in pluvial flood zones. Using the Arc-Malstrøm method, we estimated areas of pluvial flooding in the CBGs of our selected cities by relating pluvial flood area to the density of GI in CBGs and assigning CBGs one …

Climate Change And Culture On The Mekong, Alexander J. Ham-Kucharski

Student Work

The study focuses on the effects of climate change on the Mekong River Valley countries of China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and how fishing industry and culture and tradition is affected by climate change in these communities.

This research was the culminating project from research completed in Dr. Pronoy Rai's INTL 407 Senior Seminar on Climate Change.

"[I] Don't Wanna Just Be Like A Cog In The Machine": Narratives Of Autism And Skilled Employment., Dora M. Raymaker, Mirah Sharer, Joelle Maslak, Laurie E. Powers, Katherine E. Mcdonald, Steven K. Kapp, Ian Moura, Anna Furra Wallington, Christina Nicolaidis

Regional Research Institute for Human Services

Autistic people are less likely to be employed than the general population. Autistic people with skilled training (e.g. training for jobs in acting, plumbing, science, or social work) might be even less likely to get a good job in their field. Little is known about the experiences of autistic people in skilled employment or what employment success means to them. We interviewed 45 autistic people with skilled training in a wide range of fields, 11 job supervisors, and 8 topic experts. We asked them about their experiences, what they felt helped them to be successful at work, and what employment …

The Trace Of T2 Takes No Repeated Values, Liubomir Chiriac, Andrei Jorza

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We prove that the trace of the Hecke operator T₂" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: normal; font-size: 16.2px; word-spacing: normal; overflow-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; position: relative;">T2 acting on the vector space of cusp forms of level one takes no repeated values, except for 0, which only occurs when the space is trivial.

Gps-Derived Interseismic Fault Locking Along The Jalisco–Colima Segment Of The Mexico Subduction Zone, Beatriz Cosenza-Muralles, Charles Demets, B. Márquez-Azúa, O. Sánchez, J. Stock, Enrique Cabral-Cano, Robert Mccaffrey

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Northeastward subduction of the oceanic Rivera and Cocos plates in western Mexico poses a poorly understood seismic hazard to the overlying areas of the North America plate. We estimate the magnitude and distribution of interseismic locking along the northern ∼500 km of the Mexico subduction zone, with a series of elastic half-space inversions that optimize the fits to the velocities of 57 GPS stations in western Mexico. All velocities were corrected for the co-seismic, afterslip and viscoelastic rebound effects of the 1995 Colima–Jalisco and 2003 Tecomán earthquakes. We explore the robustness of interseismic locking estimates to a variety of mantle …

Mass Capacity Analysis Of Stormwater Control Measures Using Synthetic Stormwater With Silica, Organic And Hydrocarbon Constituents, Craig Michael Fairbaugh

Dissertations and Theses

Stormwater control measure (SCM) performance is well studied regarding solids removal; however, analysis of mass loading capacity, long-term performance, and maintenance demands are challenging due to the variability and multiple constituents inherent in urban stormwater. This research examines the long-term water quality performance and sediment mass capacity of two common SCMs: high rate biofiltration (HRBF) and conventional bioretention (BRT). Pollutant removal trials were conducted in a laboratory setting per the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) filtration protocol in two phases: the first using inorganic sediment per the NJDEP protocol, the second phase with the addition of organic sediment …

Characterization Of High Mobility Channels For Use In Quantum Computing Devices, Payam Amin

Dissertations and Theses

Quantum computing promises computation that is fundamentally beyond the reach of classical computers. For the realization of a full-scale quantum computer, millions of quantum bits need to be fabricated on an integrated circuit and operated at cryogenic temperatures. Silicon and silicon-germanium based electron spin quantum bits have the advantage of leveraging decades of semiconductor industry knowledge for high volume manufacturability.

During the process development of any semiconductor device, material characterization is essential to understand and improve the process. Transmission electron microscopy is the only technique that could offer localized high spatial resolution characterization. In this work we have introduced two …

Ebooks & Accessibility, Thomas A. Dodson

Online Northwest

EPUB 3.0, the current standard for eBooks, and has a number of features that make it more accessible to readers with disabilities than previous formats. In this talk I'll demonstrate how to crack open an EPUB3 and look at the code inside. I'll show some simple techniques for making eBooks more accessible using HTML: ARIA attributes to make generic tags more specific and provide landmarks to help assistive technologies to navigate the book, more semantic tags to make sure screen readers read text aloud properly, long and extended descriptions to communicate the meaning of complex images, and a method to …

An Aggregation-Based Nonlinear Multigrid Solver For Two-Phase Flow And Transport In Porous Media, Chak Shing Lee, Francois Hamon, Nicola Castelletto, Panayot S. Vassilevski, Joshua A. White

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

A nonlinear multigrid solver for two-phase flow and transport in a mixed fractional-flow velocity-pressure-saturation formulation is proposed. The solver, which is under the framework of the full approximation scheme (FAS), extends our previous work on nonlinear multigrid for heterogeneous diffusion problems. The coarse spaces in the multigrid hierarchy are constructed by first aggregating degrees of freedom, and then solving some local flow problems. The mixed formulation and the choice of coarse spaces allow us to assemble the coarse problems without visiting finer levels during the solving phase, which is crucial for the scalability of multigrid methods. Specifically, a …

Serving Students With Disabilities Who Are Culturally And Linguistically Diverse In Rural Communities: Technology Access Is Essential, Benjamin Gallegos, Lisa A. Dieker, Rebecca Smith, Nicole C. Ralston

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Before the COVID-19 pandemic changed the educational landscape, students with disabilities, especially those who are culturally and linguistically diverse, and their special education teachers who worked and attended schools located in rural communities faced barriers most schools and communities experienced nationwide. As schools shifted to remote virtual learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, rural schools were already at a disadvantage with the lack of resources with technology access. The call for addressing shortcomings in the various digital technology supports towards enhancing the teachers’ delivery of content and the students’ academic outcomes has been a continual challenge to address. This paper …

Connecting The “Real-World” To The Math Classroom: Implementing Professional Development For Mathematical Modeling, Rejoice Akapame

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This qualitative research study focused on the changes in classroom pedagogy and content of rural mathematics teachers who engaged in a year-long professional development project focused on mathematical modeling. During a 2-week summer institute, teachers solved mathematical modeling problems as learners and then went through an iterative design process of creating, testing and refining lessons for classroom implementation. The lessons were implemented during the academic year. Results of this study indicate that teachers developed a willingness to move from traditional lecture and replication as the main form of pedagogy. Instead they incorporated more group tasks, alternate assessments, and created their …

“A Tale Of Two Classrooms”: Designing Culturally-Relevant Hip Hop Curriculum To Support Stem Identity Of Underrepresented Students, Jessica Mcclain, Rebecca Colina Neri Ph.D

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This article explores how educators can contribute to the development of STEM identity in historically marginalized groups by using critical frameworks and pedagogies like Funds of Knowledge and Critical Hip-Hop Pedagogy as a curricular tool to counter traditional teaching practices. The authors amplify the importance of cultural spaces that support educators in examining aspects of power, access, and cultural awareness in STEM classrooms to increase student participation and acquisition of STEM knowledge. This article provides a guided activity named “A tale of two citiez” as an example of how educators can act towards (re)conceptualizing and (re)imagining STEM classrooms.

Introduction: Into The Academy, Maika Yeigh

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Maika Yeigh, Co-editor of Northwest Journal of Teacher Education, introduces this special issue, Into the Academy, to put into practice the aims and scope of the journal, by “amplifying previously silenced and emerging voices, first-time authors, and those for whom the publication process has felt burdensome or laden with barriers.” Putting those aims into practice, the editorial board encouraged manuscripts with first-authorship belonging to new and emerging scholars, and the Board is thrilled and honored to present their work in this issue.