Digital Commons Network^™

"Are You My Counselor?" A Call To Action How Latinx General Counselors Can Support Latinx Student Retention Rates At California Community College Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Valentín García Cabrera

Dissertations

Latinx students comprise the largest population within the California Community College (CCC) system, but experience disproportionately lower retention rates. This dissertation used a phenomenological qualitative design and testimonios collected from Latinx general counselors to explore factors influencing Latinx student retention. Sixteen tenured Latinx general counselors from ten Northern California Hispanic-serving community colleges served as participants. Guided by two research questions, the study explored counselors’ perspectives on the factors influencing Latinx community college students’ retention and the counseling strategies, services, and resources that General Counseling Departments should provide to support Latinx student retention. Grounded in Latinx Critical Race Theory, the study …

Cultura Y Corazón: Latina Elementary School Principals Leading Schools, Mariana M. Alvarez

Dissertations

This qualitative participatory study focused on understanding the experiences of Latina elementary school principals on their pathway to school leadership and how cultural intuition and community cultural wealth influence their approaches to school leadership. Chicana Feminist Epistemology (CFE) and Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) framed the study, while testimonio y pláticas served as the methodological framework. The concept of Community Cultural Wealth served as an analytical framework. Students of color often feel their histories, experiences, and languages are undervalued in education. Participants in this study shared challenges in navigating school, coming from families that valued education but faced barriers. Their …

Healing Circulos(Circles): Putting Our Educator's Mask First, Janet Martinez-Angeles

Dissertations

Educators play a pivotal role in supporting students throughout their educational journeys. In addition to academic instruction, they provide vital guidance for students' social, emotional, and personal development. They work tirelessly to help students navigate the complexities of education and life, often while shouldering multiple responsibilities and roles beyond the classroom. This dynamic contributes to high attrition rates and weakens the educational system. Much like the familiar safety instructions on an airplane, where passengers are reminded to put on their oxygen masks before assisting others, educators must be given the space, resources, and support to tend to their well-being before …

Early Care And Education Systems In The United States Of America: Voices Of The Past, Present, And Future, Timothy Harper

Dissertations

This mixed-methods study centers the voices, knowledge, and leadership of Black and Indigenous women working in Early Care and Education (ECE) while tracing how racism, sexism, and classism have shaped the field from colonization to the present day. Twenty in-depth interviews with sixteen Black and Indigenous educators across the United States are paired with secondary analyses of national workforce data to create a multilayered portrait of their professional realities. Grounded in Black feminist thought and Indigenous desire-based inquiry, the analysis surfaces six inter-locking themes: (a) enduring structural barriers that depress wages and limit advancement, (b) the day-to-day resilience that sustains …

Engagement Of Secondary History Social Science Teachers With Professional Development: A Phenomenological Study, Suzanne Paulazzo

Dissertations

Secondary social science teachers tend to feel disengaged and frustrated with their professional development (PD) experiences. They also feel that recommended meaningful practices appear to be time-consuming, require extra hours of preparation, and rely heavily on collaboration. Using phenomenological methodology, the dissertation research investigated secondary social science teachers' perceptions of their roles as educators, their professional growth, and their motivations for engaging in professional development opportunities. Nine male and one female teacher participants from a History-Social-Science Department in an urban public school in Northern California participated in an interview. This study addressed the following research questions: How do teachers perceive …

Teacher Workplace Bullying: Victim And Bystander Perspectives, Abigail R. Smurr

Dissertations

Workplace bullying is a phenomenon that is addressed within a broad context. This study focuses on teacher experiences of bullying. The focus will examine the impacts horizontal and vertical bullying can have on teacher victims and bystanders within K-12th within California. The purpose of this study is to give administrators awareness of these issues from the victim and bystanders’ lens. The study implemented a mixed methods design to give insight to teacher perceptions on the impacts it can have on their teacher efficacy, teacher retention, and their emotional well-being. By looking at how often PK-12th grade teachers experience workplace bullying, …

Resilience In Crisis: How Bipoc Educators Navigated The Challenges Associated With Covid-19, Racial Awakening, And The Move To Online Learning, Jannet Galicia Castrejon

Dissertations

An unprecedented number of BIPOC teachers exited the profession since June 2020 largely due to the challenges posted by the COVID-19 pandemic (Doan et al., 2024). This study aimed to investigate ways these educators coped with the heavy toll of the converging pandemic(s) by asking what, if anything, sustained them? Participants provided individual and group testimonios and shared snapshots of what it was like to teach and exist during this time via the photovoice methodology and reflected on the challenges and sources of support. BIPOC teachers described the following challenges: difficulty connecting with kids, first-hand and vicarious trauma, increased workload, …

Lessons From The 2023 Ieee Autonomous Drone Chase Challenge, Luigi Raphael I. Dy, Kristoffer B. Borgen, John H. Mott, Yung Hsiang Lu, Li Yu Lin, Zhangpeng Yang, James M. Goppert, Jakub Tomczak, Stefano Roccella, Andrea Vannini, Zhiwei Dong

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Indirect Excitons And Many-Body Interactions In Ingaas Double Quantum Wells, Christopher L. Smallwood, Rachel Owen, Matthew W. Day, Takeshi Suzuki, Rohan Singh, Travis M. Autry, Smriti Bhalerao, Fauzia Jabeen, Steven T. Cundiff

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Spatially indirect excitons in semiconductor quantum wells are relevant to basic research and device applications because they exhibit enhanced tunability, delocalized wave functions, and potentially longer lifetimes relative to direct excitons. Here we investigate the properties of indirect excitons and their coupling interactions with direct excitons in asymmetric InGaAs double quantum wells using optical multidimensional coherent spectroscopy and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy. Analyses of the spectra confirm a strong influence of many-body effects and reveal that excited-state zero-quantum coherences between direct and indirect excitons in the quantum wells dephase faster than the much-higher-energy single-quantum coherences between excitonic excited states and ground …

Radial Velocities And Stellar Populations For A Sample Of Matlas Survey Dwarfs, Kate Southon, Jonah S. Gannon, Duncan A. Forbes, Arsen Levitskiy, Maria Luisa Buzzo, Aaron J. Romanowsky, Jean P. Brodie

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Spectroscopic observations are essential for confirming associations, measuring kinematics, and determining stellar populations in dwarf galaxies. Here, we present Keck Cosmic Web Imager spectra for 12 MATLAS survey dwarfs. For 9, we confirm recession velocities consistent with their literature-assumed host galaxies. We propose revisions of the host galaxy associations for MATLAS-631, 1494, and 1938. For MATLAS-1494, our measured redshift reclassifies it from an ultra-diffuse galaxy candidate to a dwarf galaxy that is of smaller physical size and places it in the field. It also appears old and passive, providing a challenge to models that invoke quenching by tidal effects. Additionally, …

Aerosol-Cloud Interactions In Cirrus Clouds Based On Global-Scale Airborne Observations And Machine Learning Models, Derek Ngo, Minghui Diao, Ryan J. Patnaude, Sarah Woods, Glenn Diskin

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Cirrus cloud formation and evolution are subject to the influences of thermodynamic and dynamic conditions and aerosols. This study developed near global-scale in situ aircraft observational datasets based on 12 field campaigns that spanned from the polar regions to the tropics from 2008 to 2016. Cirrus cloud microphysical properties were investigated at temperatures ≤-40 °C, including ice water content (IWC), ice crystal number concentration (Ni), and number-weighted mean diameter (Di). Positive correlations were found between the fluctuations of these ice microphysical properties and the fluctuations of aerosol number concentrations for larger (>500 nm) and smaller (>100 nm) aerosols …

Conniff, Michael L. (1942-2025), San Jose State University

Emeritus and Retired Faculty Biographies

University of California, 1968, BA, Latin American Studies

Stanford University, 1969, MA, Latin American Studies

Stanford University, 1976, Ph.D., History

A Simple Model Of Spiral Galaxies From Geometric Optics, Bogdan Szafraniec, James N. Blake

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

We propose a simple model of spiral galaxies based on the interference of gravitational waves. The interference is deduced from geometric optics analysis of the refractive index profiles that mimic the behavior of gravitational potentials −1/r and r². We analyze the refractive index profiles, n(r)² = a + b/r and n(r)² = a + br², because they are realistically shaped and yield closed form solutions. The two profiles yield similar physical results, showing that the physical interpretation is not dependent on the exact details of the profile. The first profile yields trajectories that can …

Quantifying Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Via Alkalinity Enhancement Across Circulation Regimes Using Ecco-Darwin And 1d Models, Kay Suselj, Dustin Carroll, Daniel Whitt, Bridget Samuels, Dimitris Menemenlis, Hong Zhang, Nate Beatty, Anna Savage

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) is emerging as a viable method for removing anthropogenic (Formula presented.) emissions from the atmosphere to mitigate climate change. To achieve substantial carbon reductions, OAE would need to be deployed at scale across the global ocean. Hence, there is a need to quantify how the efficiency of OAE varies globally across a range of space-time scales in preparation for field deployments. Here we develop a marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) efficiency evaluation framework based on the data-assimilative ECCO-Darwin ocean biogeochemistry model, which separates and quantifies two key factors over seasonal to multi-annual timescales: (a) mCDR potential, …

Effect Of Tai Chi Practice On The Adaptation To Sensory And Motor Perturbations While Standing In Older Adults, Arion Dey, Huiyeong Chang, Laila Shaaban, Armaan Suga, Genavieve Braden, Andres Bustamante, Jisang Park, Shenhua Zhang, Yang Hu, Manuel E. Hernandez

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Tai Chi provides an age-appropriate exercise to decrease fall risks in older adults. However, the exact mechanism underlying the benefits of Tai Chi practice remains an open question. Thus, this study examined how aging and Tai Chi practice impact adaptation to sensory and motor perturbations while standing. We hypothesized that older Tai Chi practitioners would exhibit a decreased reliance on visual processes as sensory and motor perturbations increased, relative to naive healthy older adults. Using rambling and trembling decompositions of the center of pressure (COP) and frequency-domain features, we examined changes in low (0–0.3 Hz), medium (0.3–1 Hz), and high …

Paving The Way For Improved Representation Of Coupled Physical And Biogeochemical Processes In Arctic River Plumes—A Case Study Of The Mackenzie Shelf, Clément Bertin, Dustin Carroll, Dimitris Menemenlis, Stephanie Dutkiewicz, Hong Zhang, Melissa Schwab, Raphaël Savelli, Atsushi Matsuoka, Manfredi Manizza, Charles E Miller, Simon Bowring, Bertrand Guenet, Vincent Le Fouest

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Processes affecting the transformation of riverine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) across the land-to-ocean aquatic continuum are still poorly constrained in Arctic models, leading to large uncertainties in simulated air–sea CO2 fluxes of the coastal periphery. Here we use the ECCO-Darwin regional configuration of the Southeastern Beaufort Sea to analyze the sensitivity of simulated carbon cycling to (1) the model vertical discretization and (2) different parameterizations of Mackenzie River carbon discharge. We show that riverine DOC lifetime rather than its volume largely modulates Mackenzie River plume air–sea CO2 fluxes, leading to the Southeastern Beaufort Sea (SBS) being either a source (0.03 …

Candidate Dark Galaxy-2: Validation And Analysis Of An Almost Dark Galaxy In The Perseus Cluster, Dayi Li, Qing Liu, Gwendolyn M. Eadie, Roberto G. Abraham, Francine R. Marleau, William E. Harris, Pieter Van Dokkum, Aaron J. Romanowsky, Shany Danieli, Patrick E. Brown, Alex Stringer

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Candidate Dark Galaxy-2 (CDG-2) is a potential dark galaxy consisting of four globular clusters (GCs) in the Perseus cluster, first identified in D. Li et al. through a sophisticated statistical method. The method searched for overdensities of GCs from a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) survey targeting Perseus. Using the same HST images and new imaging data from the Euclid survey, we report the detection of extremely faint but significant diffuse emission around the four GCs of CDG-2. We thus have exceptionally strong evidence that CDG-2 is a galaxy. This is the first galaxy detected purely through its GC population. Under …

Potential Of Co2 Sequestration Through Accelerated Weathering Of Limestone On Ships, Sijia Dong, William M. Berelson, Pierre Forin, Melissa Gutierrez, Dustin Carroll, Dimitris Menemenlis, Albert Y. Kyi, Jess F. Adkins

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Calcium carbonate dissolution is the dominant negative feedback in the ocean for neutralizing the acidity from rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. Mimicking this natural process, the accelerated weathering of limestone (AWL) can store carbon as bicarbonate in the ocean for tens of thousands of years. Here, we evaluate the potential of AWL on ships as a carbon sequestration approach. We show a successful prediction of laboratory measurements using a model that includes the most recent calcite dissolution kinetics in seawater. When simulated along a Pacific shipping lane in the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean–Darwin ocean–general circulation model, surface …

Finite-Temperature Kinetic Ferromagnetism In The Square-Lattice Hubbard Model, Robin C. Newby, Ehsan Khatami

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

While the exact phase diagram of the Fermi-Hubbard model remains poorly understood despite decades of progress, nearly 60 years ago Nagaoka proved that a single dopant in an otherwise half-filled Hubbard system can bring about ferromagnetism through kinetic means. The phenomenon was recently observed with ultracold atoms in triangular optical lattices. Here, we explore the kinetic ferromagnetism within the square lattice Hubbard model and its strong-coupling counterpart, the t-J model, at finite temperatures in the thermodynamic limit via numerical linked-cluster expansions. We find evidence of ferromagnetic Nagaoka polarons at dopings up to ∼30% away from half filling for a variety …

Sunrise At The Salton Sea: Environmental Justice, Land Use Change, And Hydrosocial Dynamics Of Solar Energy Transitions In The Imperial Valley, California, Dustin Mulvaney, James J.A. Blair, Alida Cantor

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

California's Imperial Valley, with lithium-rich geothermal brines, extensive flat agricultural fields with abundant desert sunshine, and access to transmission lines, is a leading case to explore interconnected themes around just energy transitions. Despite being the poorest county in California and one of the smallest, Imperial already provides 15% of the state’s solar electricity, and the region as a whole represents on the order of 25% of the state’s electric power capacity. This paper brings to light frictions over solar energy development that have emerged over the history of solar power development in the southern Salton Sea region. It describes the …

Volume 151, Issue 151, 2018, Megan Alfaro, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ahmed Moneim, Keenan Norris, Meg Tinsley, T.C. Boyle, Willy Lizarraga, Sophie Anne Berti, Sativa January, Susan Lowell, Brian Barrientez Ii, Steve H. Vu, Ellen Bass, James K. Zimmerman, Cb Follett, Joyce Schmid, James Brasfield, Meredith Davies Hadaway, Gustavo Hernandez, Marin Nelson, Silvia Bonilla, Katherine Morgan, Tommy Mouton, Sally Ashton, Anna Bernstein, Genevieve Deguzman, Suzanne Rico, Peyton Harvey, William Finnegan, Margaret Mcmullan, Don George, Clare Frank, Grace Schaffer, Robert D. Kirvel, Kelly Grogan, Kelley Jhung, Marisa Murrow, Terry Phimister, Sharon Simonson, Susan Shillinglaw, Talia Adry, Noelle Brada-Williams

Reed Magazine

No abstract provided.

Addressing Urban Traffic Congestion: A Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Approach, Tairan Liu

Mineta Transportation Institute

In an innovative venture, the research team embarked on a mission to redefine urban traffic flow by introducing an automated way to manage traffic light timings. This project integrates two critical technologies, Deep Q-Networks (DQN) and Auto-encoders, into reinforcement learning, with the goal of making traffic smoother and reducing the all-too-common road congestion in simulated city environments. Deep Q-Networks (DQN) are a form of reinforcement learning algorithms that learns the best actions to take in various situations through trial and error. Auto-encoders, on the other hand, are tools that help simplify complex data, making it easier for the DQN to …

Strategized Reduction Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Predicting And Extending The Service Life Of Concrete Pavements And Bridges, Fariborz M. Tehrani

Mineta Transportation Institute

Strong, durable concrete is key to resilient, long-lasting transportation infrastructure—especially in the face of climate change. This project explores innovative strategies for predicting and enhancing the service life of concrete in pavement and bridge systems, addressing the pressing need for sustainable transportation infrastructure. As concrete is pivotal to the durability and resilience of such structures, its environmental impact demands urgent attention. This project aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout their lifecycle by extending the service life of concrete pavements and bridge decks. A significant focus of the research is on the indications of chloride ion penetration in concrete, which …

‘Making A Positive Environmental Impact’: Exploring The Role Of Volunteering At A Campus Community Garden, Dina Izenstark, Barbara Ann Boone

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Promoting sustainability in higher education is a social and environmental imperative. This paper explores how and why volunteering at a campus community garden (CCG) can serve as a unique context for promoting sustainability. Twenty-five undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 27, who had volunteered at a campus garden, participated in individual semi-structured interviews. A majority of participants identified as female (80%) and Asian American (52%). Using reflexive thematic analysis, we first found students were motivated to volunteer for personal and academic reasons as well as to learn more about gardening. Childhood gardening experiences influenced participants’ re-engagement as adults. …

Influence Of Plasma Screening On High-Density Inverse Bremsstrahlung Absorption, D. Turnbull, R. K. Follett, M. Sherlock, D. J. Strozzi, J. Katz, D. Cao, N. R. Shaffer, K. Aytekin, D. H. Edgell, L. Stanton, D. H. Froula

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

A spherical-implosion platform diagnosed with the "beamlets"scattered-light detector provides high sensitivity to the impact of plasma screening on inverse bremsstrahlung absorption. Contrary to the more restrictive screening length suggested previously [D. Turnbull et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 145103 (2023)0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.130.145103; D. Turnbull et al., Phys. Plasmas 31, 063304 (2024)1070-664X10.1063/5.0203446], the beamlets data indicate that the electron-only Debye length is the relevant screening length for high-density inverse bremsstrahlung absorption. Using the updated absorption model, we simulate the OMEGA direct-drive inertial confinement fusion implosion database and show that bang times are well reproduced without any ad hoc multipliers.

On The Application Of Long Short-Term Memory Neural Network For Daily Forecasting Of Pm2.5 In Dakar, Senegal (West Africa), Ahmed Gueye, Serigne Abdoul Aziz Niang, Ismaila Diallo, Mamadou Simina Dramé, Moussa Diallo, Ali Ahmat Younous

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This study aims to optimize daily forecasts of the PM2.5 concentrations in Dakar, Senegal using a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network model. Particulate matter, aggravated by factors such as dust, traffic, and industrialization, poses a serious threat to public health, especially in developing countries. Existing models such as the Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) have limitations in capturing nonlinear relationships and complex dynamics in environmental data. Using four years of daily data collected at the Bel Air station, this study shows that the LSTM neural network model provides more accurate forecasts with a root mean square error (RMSE) of …

In Vitro Comparison Of Two Python-Based Programs For The Automated Analysis Of Tight-Junction Phenotype In Brain Endothelium During Bacterial Infection, Henry D. Mauser, Janessa Caroza, Shane Nicole Homez, Alyssa S. Arnett, William D. Cutts, Daryl W. Lam, Justin Thornton, Walter Adams, Brandon J. Kim

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Tight junction complexes are crucial features of brain endothelial cells, as they restrict the paracellular route across the blood–brain barrier. Tight junction disruption has been observed in conjunction with numerous diseases of the CNS. In such cases, the organization or integrity of cell–cell junctions may be analyzed with a variety of automated computer programs that quantitatively assess junction images. Here, we directly compare two previously developed python-based programs—JAnaP and IJOQ— for the semi- or fully automated analysis of tight junctions in human stem cell-derived brain-like endothelial cells. Cells were infected with S. pneumoniae and S. agalactiae to initiate junction disruption, …

The ‘Double-Exposure’ Of Riverine Communities In Northeast India To Dams And Climate Change, Costanza Rampini

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Protecting Traditional Cultural Expressions: Law, Indigenous Protocols, Library Practices, Ulia Gosart, Valmaine Toki, Susan Townzen

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This study responds to contemporary international policy developments focused on protecting Indigenous creative work classified as Traditional Cultural Expressions. The study claims that states’ interests continue to guide policies in this area, compromising the relationship between regulations and the aspirations and needs of Indigenous communities. The study uses comparative methodology and content analysis to develop this argument. The study also highlights the significance of partnerships between Indigenous communities and cultural institutions that may function as alternative means to protect Indigenous creative works. The study explores cases from Indigenous communities and cultural institutions in New Zealand, the USA, and Mexico to …

Variability In Undergraduate Academic Stress: The Role Of Ethnicity, Early Adverse Family Experiences, And Psychological Distress, Teresa Mejia, Elana B. Gordis, Mitch Earleywine, Li Shen Chong

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Early adverse family experiences (e.g., abuse, neglect, and family conflict) can create vulnerabilities that can alter the association between psychological distress and academic stress, particularly for some ethnic groups. This study examined whether the link between psychological distress and academic stress varies in the presence of early adverse family experiences across ethnic groups. Participants (N = 284, 38.4% male, 59.5% female, 1% non-binary, and 0.7% transgender, 56.5% European American, 15.6% African American, 12.6% Hispanic and Latino, 8.5% Asian, 6.8% Mixed/Biracial) self-reported psychological distress, early adverse family experiences, and perception of academic stress. Regression analyses revealed a three-way interaction between adverse …