Digital Commons Network^™

Differentiated Learning In An Upper-Level Undergraduate Physics Theory Course, Christina Gurney

Master's Theses and Capstones

‘One-size-fits-all’ education aims to cater to the ‘average’ student, but the ‘average’ student does not exist. Students are individuals, each with a set of needs, abilities, preferences, and interests unique to them. A variety of instructional approaches should thus be used to differentiate students’ learning. This differentiation has been studied mostly for K-12. My study extends this research into an upper-level undergraduate physics theory course. For this phenomenographic pilot study, I interviewed ten students about the differentiated homework assignments in their upper-level undergraduate classical mechanics course at the University of New Hampshire. I performed an issue-focused analysis of the data, …

Sensor-Driven Machine Learning Framework For Rock Climbing Skill Assessment Using Climbing Core Ability And Contact Force Metrics, Blaise Xavier O'Mara

Master's Theses and Capstones

Rock climbers lack tools for skill assessment. Climbers ascend routes, each with varying difficulty (grade); as such, climber skill level is typically described as the highest grade recently climbed. But the subjectivity of rock climbing route difficulty grading presents complications with standardized skill assessment. Measures of climbing core abilities (power, strength, endurance, speed, control, and stability) through non-specific sport exercises and contact forces metrics present more objectivity in climber skill assessment. Presented in this study is a custom force sensor network instrumented in a bouldering route for recording contact force metrics. Twenty-four climbers, split into IRCRA Intermediate and Advanced skill …

Investigating The Offsets Between The Clumped Isotope Signatures Of Various Species Of Benthic Foraminifera, Ceara Hogan Yourell

Master's Theses and Capstones

For much of the last half century, the primary tool for reconstructing ancient ocean temperatures was the oxygen isotope paleothermometer. However, this method is fundamentally limited by its reliance on assumptions about the δ¹⁸O value of seawater, which introduces uncertainty into paleotemperature estimates. The clumped isotope paleothermometer (Δ47) offers a promising alternative by directly measuring the stochastic "clumping" of heavy isotopes (¹³C and ¹⁸O) within the carbonate lattice—a process governed solely by temperature and independent of seawater isotopic composition (Ghosh et al., 2006; Eiler, 2007). While Δ47 paleothermometry has been applied successfully in diverse contexts, including reconstructing extinct animal body …

The Development Of A Meteorological Buoy For Measuring Turbulent Fluxes Along The Air-Sea Boundary Layer, Jane Maria Schwadron

Master's Theses and Capstones

The Air-Sea Flux Buoy (ASFB) is part of a larger effort implemented by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) to characterize the dynamics of the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL). The ASFB samples the 3D wind velocities, air temperature, and water vapor to derive the air-sea eddy-covariance fluxes of momentum, heat, and humidity. The solar radiation, water temperature, rain intensity, barometric pressure, and water salinity are sampled to estimate the bulk-parameterized stability conditions. A GNSS inertial navigation system enables centimeter-scale motion correction and an onboard cellular modem provides real-time telemetry. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, hydrostatic analysis, mooring simulations, and …

Office Of Research, Economic Engagement And Outreach Update, August 20, 2025, Office Of Research, Economic Engagement And Outreach

Office of Research, Economic Engagement and Outreach

No abstract provided.

Ocean And Coastal Acidification Monitoring Priorities For The Northeast Us And Eastern Canada, Christopher Hunt, Austin Pugh, Jake Kritzer, Samantha Siedlecki, Kumiko Azetsu-Scott, Parker Gassett, Diane Lavoie, Adam Pimenta, Amy Trice, Elizabeth Turner

Faculty Publications

The Interagency Working Group on Ocean Acidification Monitoring Prioritization Plan 2024 calls for Coastal Acidification Networks to identify the ocean and coastal acidification (OCA) monitoring needs most important for their regions. The Northeast Coastal Acidification Network (NECAN) organized a webinar series to study regional needs, which culminated with a workshop in November 2023. This workshop led to the identification of six priority new Monitoring Needs in addition to the maintenance of current monitoring efforts:

• Improve spatial and temporal scale of monitoring co-located OCA variables and biological measurements to better resolve variability of acidification dynamics in concert with biological processes …

Office Of Research, Economic Engagement And Outreach Update, August 6, 2025, Office Of Research, Economic Engagement And Outreach

Office of Research, Economic Engagement and Outreach

No abstract provided.

Assessing Effectiveness Of Runnel Restoration In New England Salt Marsh Habitats, David M. Burdick, Grant Mckown, Gregg Moore, Jenny Gibson, Wenley Ferguson, John Herbert, Nancy Pau, Susan Adamowicz, Geoff Wilson

Faculty Publications

Rising sea levels that increase flooding in salt marshes recovering from hydrologic impairments is reducing nesting habitat for salt marsh sparrows. Abandonment of colonial farming practices (1600s through 1900s) has resulted in large, waterlogged basins characterized by shallow depressions (pannes) dominated by short-form Spartina alterniflora and unvegetated megapools that are subsiding. A relatively new technique designed to provide regular tidal flooding and drainage to the waterlogged basins that have formed on the marsh is runnelling – creation of shallow hydrologic features on the marsh surface. Will runnels result in revegetation of pannes and pools with productive perennial grasses that are …

"Access Granted": Analyzing The Growing Use Of Biometric Data Collection At Sports Facilities, Patrick Doll

UNH Sports Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unh Ocean Engineering Student Earns Prestigious Dod Smart Scholarship, Brooks Payette

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Unh Leadership Visits Armi, Boys & Girls Clubs Of Greater Manchester, Amy Slattery

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Measuring Emotional Intelligence With The Msceit 2: Theory, Rationale, And Initial Findings, John D. Mayer, David R. Caruso, Peter Salovey, Iris Y. Lin, Braden J. Hansma, Joanna Solomon, Gill Sitarenios, Manolo Romero Escobar

UNH Personality Lab

Introduction: The model of emotional intelligence as an ability has evolved since its introduction 35 years ago. The revised model includes that emotional intelligence (EI) is a broad intelligence within the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model of intelligence, and that more areas of problem solving are involved than originally detailed. An argument is made here that veridical scoring of EI test responses is a sound procedure relative to scoring keys based on expert consensus or a single emotion theory. To the degree that EI fits present-day theories of intelligence (i.e., the CHC model), any subsidiary factors of EI reasoning should correlate highly …

Layered Alignment, Spencer Williams

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

Most artificial intelligence (ai) researchers now believe that ai represents an existential threat to humanity. The most dangerous threat posed by ai is an issue known as the alignment problem: the risk that a sufficiently intelligent and capable ai system could become misaligned with the goals and values of its human creators and instead pursue its own objectives to the detriment of humanity, including the possibility of extinction. The tension at the heart of the alignment problem is familiar to scholars of agency, contracts, and corporate law, though it goes by a different name: the principal-agent problem. In the traditional …

Time Variant Particle Swarm Optimization For Autonomous Dynamic Rescue And Recovery, Kyle Sanders

Master's Theses and Capstones

Rescue and recovery missions on extraterrestrial sites are an inevitable necessity, especiallywith increased extraterrestrial exploration. Robotic and crewed missions provide significant challenges due to budgetary restrictions and time constraints. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) techniques leverage shared swarm knowledge for solution convergence. However, traditional PSO exhibits performance degradation in dynamic scenarios. The author presents Time-Variant Particle Swarm Optimization (TVPSO), which weighs newer measurements higher than previously held values. This is achieved through implementation of a configurable comparison function as part of the survival of the fittest logical calculations. Three versions of this comparison function are evaluated (exponential, linear, and logistic) against …

“How Do You Replicate A Relationship?” An Exploration Of How A School-Community Partnership Was Conceptualized And Enacted, Emilie Coppinger

Doctoral Dissertations

With concerns about supporting students’ overall wellness on the rise, school-community partnerships offer a promising solution. These collaborations can improve outcomes for students, schools, and communities by bringing together diverse expertise and funding sources. However, how these partnerships are formed and maintained, as well as how stakeholders are included in them, needs further exploration. To address this gap, the current study follows a collaboration between a school district and local health agency from the project’s initiation through its execution. The research approach and study design draw on the traditions of community-based research and ethnography, guiding my data collection and representation …

A Multi-Layered, Discourse-Oriented Exploration Of Learning Assistant-Student Interaction In Calculus I, Rebecca Butler

Doctoral Dissertations

Learning Assistants (LAs) are undergraduate near-peer tutors who aid in the instruction of collegiate courses in which they have previously been successful as students. It has been consistently shown that students in LA-supported STEM courses have more positive course outcomes than their peers without LA support. The benefits include improved retention, better scores on content assessments requiring higher-order reasoning, and a greater sense of belonging in STEM. Little is known about why students in LA-supported courses evidence this range of positive course outcomes, but it is conjectured that LAs facilitate these outcomes through their frequent and engaging interactions with students. …

Socioeconomic Status And Its Relationship To Mathematics Achievement: Using A Meta-Analysis, Bitna Choi

Doctoral Dissertations

Educational inequality mirrors broader societal disparities. There are various factors that represent educational inequality, such as socioeconomic status (SES), school environment, teacher quality, gender, and support services. Among these, SES is commonly used as a key indicator of educational inequality. Consistently, studies have shown that students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds have higher academic achievement (Johnson et al., 2022; Murphy, 2019; Tate, 1997). This disparity is particularly evident in mathematics, which is crucial for academic and career opportunities. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and mathematics achievement of K-12 students. In addition, this …

Personal Device Use In Mathematics: An Investigation Into Access, Utilization, And Outcomes, Catherine Dennis

Doctoral Dissertations

Personal devices, such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones, have become increasingly ubiquitous in undergraduate mathematics classrooms around the world. Moreover, the increased use of technology in educational contexts has provoked questions about equity in terms of student access, utilization, and the potential impact on outcomes (Hennessy & Dunham, 2008). This dissertation adds to the body of literature that addresses the overlap of personal device use and equity in undergraduate mathematics through three different methodological approaches: systematic review, quantitative inquiry, and qualitative exploration. The systematic review synthesizes 355 studies on personal device access, utilization, and outcomes in undergraduate mathematics. One key …

Wigner's Theorem And Spectrum Shrinking Maps, Meaghan Allen

Doctoral Dissertations

Wigner's Theorem, an influential result in quantum mechanics established by Eugene Wigner in 1931, states that every symmetry transformation on a ray space is induced by either a unitary or anti-unitary transformation. In this work, we generalize Wigner's Theorem in two directions: first, to maps between different Hilbert spaces, and second, to maps between factors of type II. In both cases, we focus on weakening the assumptions on the map, specifically by utilizing spectrum shrinking conditions. For the first generalization, let $\mathcal{H}_1$ and $\mathcal{H}_2$ be Hilbert spaces, and let $k$ be a positive integer such that $2\leq k < \frac{1}{2} \dim(\mathcal{H}_1)$. We show that if an injective map $\psi: \mathcal{P}_k(\mathcal{H}_1) \to \mathcal{P}_k(\mathcal{H}_2)$ satisfies two spectrum shrinking conditions, then it is induced by a linear or conjugate-linear isometry. For the second generalization, let $\mathcal{M}$ be a type II$_1$ or type II$_\infty$ factor, let $\tau_\mathcal{M}$ be a faithful normal semi-finite tracial weight of $\mathcal M$, and let $0

Static Risk Sensitive Reinforcement Learning, Jia Lin Hau

Doctoral Dissertations

Reinforcement Learning (RL) is a core area of artificial intelligence (AI) that enables systems to make decisions in complex environments. RL algorithms have shown promise in various domains, including resource management, robotics, and games. However, most existing RL approaches fail to account for the risks associated with decision-making. This oversight becomes particularly critical in high-stakes settings, such as healthcare, finance, criminal justice, and autonomous driving, where poor decisions can have significant consequences.

To address risk in decision-making, another line of research explores the properties (axioms) of "desirable" risk measures. This desirability is defined as the ability to quantify the capital …

Logistic Regression And Cox Hazard Modeling With Sparse High Dimensional Data Via Elastic Net Regularization And Graph-Guided Aggregation, Matthew Duckett

Doctoral Dissertations

Rare features are predictor variables with excessively low rates of nonzeros. It is not uncommon to encounter rare features in settings where data is quantified through one-hot encoding, such as text mining data or genomic data. Rare features pose problems for classic regression techniques due to instability of effect estimates. The problem is compoundedwhen the dimension of the feature space is high. Yan and Bien (2020) explored methods for aggregating rare features in high dimensions by leveraging side-information about relations between features that can be organized as a tree graph. While their work is restricted to standard Gaussian regression, we …

Consumptive And Energetic Responses Of Fishes Under Pressure Of Climate Change, Nathan Thomas Hermann

Doctoral Dissertations

Marine organisms are confronted with warming waters due to climate change requiring species to exhibit responses to persist. For many fish, these responses have included range shifts to cooler waters, but are species-specific which may create further disruption through trophic mismatches. To identify potential mismatches and estimate their implications for the quality of consumption within major predators, analyses of predator stomach contents were integrated with reviews of organismal energetics and physiological parameter values. The energy density of prey that is consumed dictates the consequences of consumption, so having data expands general understanding of diet. To that end, published records (n …

Probing Neutron Star Interiors: Insights Into Asymmetric Dark Matter, Dark Energy, And The Cold Dense Matter Equation Of State, Nathan Rutherford

Doctoral Dissertations

The combination of derived neutron star mass-radius measurements from NASA's Neutron Star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER) mission, constraints from chiral effective field theory (chiEFT), and mass-tidal deformability constraints from gravitational waves has led to significant improvements in the understanding of the cold dense matter equation of state (EoS) of neutron stars. Interestingly, asymmetric dark matter (ADM) and dark energy may also be present within neutron star interiors, potentially impacting their global properties. Taking these effects into account, neutron star measurements can not only offer new insights into the dense matter EoS, but also serve as a hunting ground for dark …

Adélie Penguin Vocalizations Reflect Breeding Phenology, Danielle Therese Fradet

Master's Theses and Capstones

Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) are bellwethers for Antarctic climate change because their breeding phenology is closely linked to sea-ice extent. Researchers need long-term, large-scale phenology data to make informed Antarctic climate and conservation insights. However, traditional breeding phenology data collection is resource intensive, limiting research to small colonies located near research stations. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is a low-disturbance, easily scalable method which facilitates large-scale data collection and has been successfully applied at multiple seabird colonies to collect breeding phenology data. In this thesis, I provide a framework to implement a custom BirdNET wind detector to identify wind distorted recordings, …

A Random Forest Regression Approach For Prediction Of Specific Flux For Ultrafiltration Membranes, Isabel Medeiros

Master's Theses and Capstones

Ultrafiltration (UF) membrane operation is strongly affected by fouling, where dissolved and suspended water quality constituents interact with each other and the membrane surface, leading to pore blockage. As a result, a fouled membrane loses filtration efficiency, reducing the volume of treated water produced and increasing operation and maintenance costs associated with membrane cleaning. At a Dutch full-scale facility in North Holland, fouling is indicated by both an increase in the amount of pressure required across the membrane, known as transmembrane pressure (TMP), and a decrease in permeability, represented by specific flux (SF). The facility performs hydraulic backwashing - both …

Evaluation Of Artificial Recharge And Groundwater Availability In A Small New England Aquifer, Jon-Erik Tryggestad

Master's Theses and Capstones

Artificial recharge (AR) is receiving increased attention as a means to manage water resources in the Northeast United States, as growing communities and increasing drought frequency increase demands on groundwater supplies. The water supply system serving the University of New Hampshire and the Town of Durham has implemented an AR system that recharges the small stratified-drift Spruce Hole Aquifer with surface water from the nearby Lamprey River. The system has been online since 2016, and the existing hydrogeological and system monitoring datasets provide the foundation to develop a numerical model capable of replicating dynamic responses to withdrawals and AR infiltration …

Marine Oil Snow Settling Rates In Cold Water Environments, Quinn Richard Wilkins

Master's Theses and Capstones

Naturally forming marine snow has long been studied as a primary transport mechanism of organic carbon from the surface of the ocean to the benthic environments. Before the Deep Water Horizon oil spill, marine snow was not considered a significant transport mechanism for oil spilled at the surface. Interactions between sediment and oil have been studied in the past, however the study of Marine Oil Snow (MOS) is an emerging research topic to better understand the fate of spilled oil. A previous UNH graduate student, Jesse Ross, investigated the potential for spilled oil to interact with marine snow via field …

A Remote Sensing Analysis Of Eastern Hemlock Decline In Hemlock Woolly Adelgid-Infested Stands In New Hampshire From 2000 – 2022, Molly Cahill

Master's Theses and Capstones

Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is an ecologically-important tree species in the forests of eastern North America. This species is currently declining throughout much of its range due to the invasive insect species hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) and elongate hemlock scale (Fiorinia externa). The introduction of these insects in the region, in addition to drought, development, and native insect species, threatens the persistence of eastern hemlock on the eastern landscape. This study endeavored to use satellite remote sensing to assess eastern hemlock decline in New Hampshire currently and over time from 2000 to 2022. Several classifications were performed in order …

Design And Development Of Systems For Wave-Soil-Structure Interaction Modelling In A Geotechnical Centrifuge, Mark Justin Adler

Master's Theses and Capstones

As hurricanes, and therefore storm surges, become stronger on average, civil engineering research has increasingly focused on the impact of flooding on coastal communities. While hurricane-induced flood scour has been understood to be a mechanism of structural failure for decades, there is still not a complete model for scour in the near-coast environment. To build on the current body of scour research, an apparatus for the physical modelling of wave-soil-structure interactions has been developed for the University of New Hampshire geotechnical centrifuge laboratory. The new model container design is capable of wave generation, wave absorption, and the real-time measurement of …

University Of New Hampshire 2024-2025 Faculty Senate Xxix - April 21, 2025 Minutes Summary, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Agendas & Minutes

No abstract provided.