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Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, Genomics In A Well-Mixed Estuarine System: Examining Population Structure, Viability, And Response To Stressors, Alyssa Strickland Sep 2025

Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, Genomics In A Well-Mixed Estuarine System: Examining Population Structure, Viability, And Response To Stressors, Alyssa Strickland

Doctoral Dissertations

Eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica, are foundational estuarine species that contribute to a variety of ecosystem services including water filtration, nutrient cycling, habitat creation, and shoreline protection. However, populations have declined due to disease, overharvesting, habitat loss, and climate change, especially in northern systems such as New Hampshire’s Great Bay Estuary (GBE), located in the Gulf of Maine, one of the world’s fastest warming waters. This dissertation uses genomic and transcriptomic approaches to understand the drivers of population structure, decline, and resilience in GBE oyster populations, aiming to aid restoration and aquaculture. Chapter 1 used low-coverage whole-genome sequencing to understand population …


Uncovering The Plant-Microbe-Permafrost Paradigm As It Relates To Soil Priming And Arctic Carbon Cycles, Sean Robert Schaefer Sep 2025

Uncovering The Plant-Microbe-Permafrost Paradigm As It Relates To Soil Priming And Arctic Carbon Cycles, Sean Robert Schaefer

Doctoral Dissertations

Permafrost, or perennially frozen soil, covers approximately 25% of the northern hemisphere and contains over half of the world’s soil organic carbon stocks. Permafrost-affected regions are rapidly warming, resulting in ecosystem changes including permafrost thaw and a shift from sedge-dominated to shrub-dominated plant communities. As permafrost thaws, it releases previously unavailable compounds to plants and microorganisms. Plant root inputs can then stimulate the decomposition of thawed permafrost, increasing greenhouse gas emissions in a process called priming. Permafrost thaw increases the decomposition of previously frozen soil organic matter (SOM); however, the extent of decomposition is highly dependent on plants and their …


Addressing Economic Valuation Issues Of Outdoor Recreation: Case Studies Of Lake Michigan Invasive Carp And Plum Island Visits, Iris Tryfoni Sep 2025

Addressing Economic Valuation Issues Of Outdoor Recreation: Case Studies Of Lake Michigan Invasive Carp And Plum Island Visits, Iris Tryfoni

Doctoral Dissertations

Environmental valuation is the process of assigning monetary value on environmental goods and services, which do not easily have market prices. It is, however, possible to over- or underestimate the economic valuation of outdoor recreation issues, specifically (1) recreational fishing and (2) beach recreation. Despite their different focuses, both case studies share a common objective of refining methodologies to better understand and address complex environmental issues from an economic perspective. Traditional recreation valuation techniques often lack explicit connection to ecology, which can be impacted by various factors. Addressing this gap, in the first part of my dissertation, I propose a …


Phishing Hunter: Phishing Domain Detection System, Connor Tess Sep 2025

Phishing Hunter: Phishing Domain Detection System, Connor Tess

Master's Theses and Capstones

Phishing domains are a common and effective attack vector that malicious actors use to fool users into believing that they are going to a trusted website in the hopes of compromising users. These attacks can also be referred to as phishing attacks because the domain in which malicious attackers act has a hook to trick users into going to the domain that users believe is legitimate. These malicious actors mislead users into believing they are visiting the intended site, when in reality they have been led to a website hosted by the actors. The purpose of this paper is to …


Low-Temperature Performance Evaluation Of Additive Modified Asphalt Mixtures, Adeniran Oluwatobiloba Coker Sep 2025

Low-Temperature Performance Evaluation Of Additive Modified Asphalt Mixtures, Adeniran Oluwatobiloba Coker

Master's Theses and Capstones

The incorporation of additives in asphalt mixtures is an innovative method of improving the performance of asphalt pavement and promoting economic and environmental sustainability in asphalt pavement construction and maintenance. However, the long-term performance of various additive-modified mixtures under different climatic and traffic conditions, as well as the aging effect of additives, is still being studied. The various types of additives and processes for incorporating additives into asphalt mixtures significantly impact the performance of asphalt pavements modified with additives. This study focused on the low-temperature cracking performance of various additives, including rubber, plastic, and aramid fibers, incorporated into asphalt mixtures …


Temporal Variability In The Bulk Nutritional Quality Of Estuarine Plankton, Marley Gonsalves Sep 2025

Temporal Variability In The Bulk Nutritional Quality Of Estuarine Plankton, Marley Gonsalves

Master's Theses and Capstones

The temporal variability of plankton is well documented, particularly in constantly changing tidal systems such as estuaries, but the extent to which this variability applies to plankton nutritional quality is less well known. As the base of the aquatic food web, variation in phytoplankton nutritional quality stands to constrain fishery production, particularly of filter-feeders. Here, community and nutritional data was collected from Great Bay, NH, a model estuary, over seasonal, tidal, and daily time scales to identify the range and variability of nutritional quality in plankton. Bulk spectrophotometric neutral lipid and protein measurements were compared to plankton community composition data …


Differentiated Learning In An Upper-Level Undergraduate Physics Theory Course, Christina Gurney Sep 2025

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, …


Assessing Satellite-Derived Bathymetry Map Accuracy: A Comparison Of Manual And Algorithmic Icesat-2 Bathymetric Extraction Methods And The Impact Of Depth-Weighted Sampling, Andrea Granger Sep 2025

Assessing Satellite-Derived Bathymetry Map Accuracy: A Comparison Of Manual And Algorithmic Icesat-2 Bathymetric Extraction Methods And The Impact Of Depth-Weighted Sampling, Andrea Granger

Master's Theses and Capstones

Satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) provides a cost-effective and scalable approach for large area bathymetric mapping in remote, shallow nearshore environments, where conventional techniques such as ship-based sonar or airborne LiDAR bathymetry (ALB) are often costly and logistically difficult. Since its launch in September 2018, NASA’s ICESat-2 satellite has emerged as a valuable source of cost-effective training data for SDB mapping. However, ICESat-2 photon event (PE) data exhibits significant noise, and existing literature has yet to thoroughly investigate whether algorithmic denoising methods can achieve comparable performance to the traditional manual extraction approach. Furthermore, ICESat-2’s limited depth penetration results in shallow-biased PE data, …


Atomic Agency: South Africa, Détente, And The Cold War’S Peripheral Proliferation, Travis Clyde Nason Sep 2025

Atomic Agency: South Africa, Détente, And The Cold War’S Peripheral Proliferation, Travis Clyde Nason

Master's Theses and Capstones

In August 1977, a Soviet satellite obtained evidence that the South African government was preparing to detonate a nuclear device. Though the test never occurred, one thing was for certain: Pretoria sought the bomb. This thesis traces the path to that moment and argues that while détente, in Henry Kissinger’s vision, was meant to preserve global order by managing great-power rivalry and avoiding direct confrontation, it could not be all things at once – and South Africa slipped through the cracks. Both Washington and Moscow explicitly condemned the spread of nuclear weapons, yet the logic of détente – prioritizing stability …


Effects Of Gibberellic Acid (Ga3) And Cluster Thinning On Fruit Quality, Cluster Quality And Yield In Seedless Table Grape Cultivars, Radhika Rani Sep 2025

Effects Of Gibberellic Acid (Ga3) And Cluster Thinning On Fruit Quality, Cluster Quality And Yield In Seedless Table Grape Cultivars, Radhika Rani

Master's Theses and Capstones

Seedless table grape production in cool-climate regions like the Northeastern U.S. is limited by cold temperatures, short growing season, and relatively few adapted cultivars. American species (Vitis labrusca) or interspecific hybrids offer more disease and cold resistance as compared to European species (V. vinifera), however, small berry size, lower yields, and low fruit quality have been some of the limitations for these cultivars. This study evaluated the effects of gibberellic acid (GA3) and cluster thinning under different training systems to improve cluster and berry quality in seedless table grape cultivars. The first experiment focused on ‘Concord Seedless’, examining the effects …


Modeling Ungulate Population Parameters Across Human-Modified Landscapes, Sarah Richard Sep 2025

Modeling Ungulate Population Parameters Across Human-Modified Landscapes, Sarah Richard

Master's Theses and Capstones

As human activity and development continue to alter natural landscapes, large ungulates are increasingly exposed to changing habitat structures, altered mortality risks, and climate-related stressors. These ecological shifts can influence their survival, behavior, and population dynamics. Understanding how such complex and evolving conditions shape demographic trends in these species is critical for effective management. In this thesis, I examined two ecologically and culturally important ungulate species, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and moose (Alces alces), across human-modified environments. Specifically, I analyzed how intrinsic factors, behavioral development, and landscape composition influence stage-specific mortality in deer neonates and population parameters in moose in …


Sensor-Driven Machine Learning Framework For Rock Climbing Skill Assessment Using Climbing Core Ability And Contact Force Metrics, Blaise Xavier O'Mara Sep 2025

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 …


The Catholic Terror: A History Of The Baptism Of Enslaved Populations In The Colonial Protestant Atlantic, Benjamin Taylor Sep 2025

The Catholic Terror: A History Of The Baptism Of Enslaved Populations In The Colonial Protestant Atlantic, Benjamin Taylor

Master's Theses and Capstones

In the mid-eighteenth century, the number of enslaved people baptized into the Protestant church increased in the British Atlantic. Many historians have argued that the increase occurred by highlighting scriptural debates between slave owners and missionaries. Many slave owners believed that being Christian was synonymous with being free, but missionaries staunchly opposed this view. To change slave owners’ minds, missionaries argued that Protestantism made enslaved people “better behaved.” However, I believe that the reason slave owners became more willing to baptize enslaved people had more to do with external factors. The British were surrounded by many antagonistic Native tribes and …


A Geoacoustic Bayesian Inversion For Large Calibrated Singlebeam Echosounder And Ground Truth Datasets, Andrew Paul Niedbla Sep 2025

A Geoacoustic Bayesian Inversion For Large Calibrated Singlebeam Echosounder And Ground Truth Datasets, Andrew Paul Niedbla

Master's Theses and Capstones

This thesis describes the development of a geoacoustic inversion technique to estimate seafloor sediment characteristics that is designed for use with existing fisheries survey single beam echosounder (SBES) datasets. The geoacoustic inversion technique consists of a forward model and inversion algorithm. The forward model is a high frequency, physics-based, near normal incidence acoustic backscatter model enhanced with a density depth gradient model and geoacoustic sediment regressions. The inversion algorithm is a parallel tempered Markov-chain Monte Carlo Bayesian inversion. The geoacoustic inversion produces posterior probability distributions for mean grain size, density, porosity, sound speed, seafloor roughness characterization, and sediment volume scattering …


Analysis Of Nutrient Accumulation Within A Bioretention System, Amina Halim Nefic Sep 2025

Analysis Of Nutrient Accumulation Within A Bioretention System, Amina Halim Nefic

Master's Theses and Capstones

Bioretention systems are widely used in stormwater management to mitigate nutrient pollution, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. Over time, these systems undergo changes in nutrient retention efficiency due to organic matter accumulation and biogeochemical transformations. This study examines the distribution and long-term retention of total nitrogen (TN), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), nitrate (NO3-), total phosphorus (TP), and orthophosphate (PO43-) within a 16-year-old bioretention system. A combination of k-means clustering and non-parametric statistical tests (Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests) were employed to analyze nutrient concentrations across different soil depths and media types. Results indicate that TN and TKN are concentrated in the …


Beech Bark Disease Agent Responses To Exogenous Application Of Tree Defense Inducing Phytohormones, Erin Reilly Sep 2025

Beech Bark Disease Agent Responses To Exogenous Application Of Tree Defense Inducing Phytohormones, Erin Reilly

Master's Theses and Capstones

Pathogens and insects face several barriers to successful infection and colonization of a host plant, including a range of physical and chemical defenses, some of which are inducible (modified or initiated by attack or infection). These interactions can be complex and are influenced by environmental conditions, tree physiological status, host age, and timing of attack. Non-native pathogens and insects can have an advantage against a plant’s evolved chemical defenses, but they are also subject to abiotic stressors and conditions. In North America, beech bark disease (BBD) is a disease complex where the beech (Fagus grandifolia) host is subject to concurrent …


The Development Of A Meteorological Buoy For Measuring Turbulent Fluxes Along The Air-Sea Boundary Layer, Jane Maria Schwadron Sep 2025

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 …


Evaluating Unoccupied Aerial Systems (Uass) For The Monitoring Of Unmarked Moose In New Hampshire, Usa, Lily Hall Sep 2025

Evaluating Unoccupied Aerial Systems (Uass) For The Monitoring Of Unmarked Moose In New Hampshire, Usa, Lily Hall

Master's Theses and Capstones

Accurate estimates of wildlife densities are important for understanding population dynamics and informing management decisions. Recent technological developments such as improvements of unoccupied aerial systems (UASs) and sensors provide novel pathways to estimate wildlife densities. However, these methods require critical evaluation of efficacy. In this research, we evaluated the capability of UASs to predict moose (Alces alces) density across a large landscape (~12,000 km2) in northern New Hampshire, USA using longwave infrared imagery via UAS sampling. In Chapter 1, our objective was to account for imperfect detection by creating a sightability model for unmarked moose that includes covariates expected to …


A Mixed-Methods Approach To Describe Typologies And Fiber Consumption Patterns Of Hispanic/Latino Adults Grouped Using Cluster Analysis, Nicholas Clarke Sep 2025

A Mixed-Methods Approach To Describe Typologies And Fiber Consumption Patterns Of Hispanic/Latino Adults Grouped Using Cluster Analysis, Nicholas Clarke

Master's Theses and Capstones

AbstractBackground: Hispanic/Latino adults in the United States experience disproportionate rates of obesity and diet-related chronic diseases yet remain underrepresented in obesity research. Traditional “one-size-fits-all” nutrition interventions have demonstrated limited effectiveness in this population, largely due to substantial heterogeneity in cultural, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors that influence dietary patterns. Objectives: The overarching goal of this project was to further characterize previously identified subgroups within the Hispanic/Latino population to provide a foundation for future tailored interventions that address the specific needs and preferences of these subpopulations. Specific aims were to: 1. Describe cluster typologies using a virtual nominal group technique (vNGT) with …


Wildlife Connectivity And Its Relationship With Vehicle Collision Hotspots Across New Hampshire, Clara Dawson Sep 2025

Wildlife Connectivity And Its Relationship With Vehicle Collision Hotspots Across New Hampshire, Clara Dawson

Master's Theses and Capstones

Chp. 1: Road networks fragment wildlife habitat and impede wildlife connectivity, which leads to elevated wildlife-vehicle collision (WVC) risk and increased danger to humans and wildlife. Habitat connectivity has been linked to WVC hotspot location and intensity, but this relationship likely depends on landscape context and road characteristics, which may be nonlinear due to varying habitat availability. Our objective was to evaluate factors affecting WVC location and intensity across New Hampshire, USA, with a focus on habitat connectivity. We assessed the relationship between WVCs and five connectivity models using generalized additive models and compared connectivity effects to road and land …


Toxin-Producing Cyanobacteria In Green Manure Microbiomes, Alyssa Nicole Daigle Sep 2025

Toxin-Producing Cyanobacteria In Green Manure Microbiomes, Alyssa Nicole Daigle

Master's Theses and Capstones

The increasing reliance on inefficient synthetic fertilizers, which readily leach from soils and contribute to downstream pollution, underscores the urgent need for more sustainable nutrient sources, such as green manures (GMs). Floating aquatic plants like duckweeds are particularly promising candidates due to their natural abundance, rapid growth rates, and ability to efficiently uptake nutrients. However, the presence of toxin-producing cyanobacteria in duckweed microbiomes raises concerns about the potential for toxin accumulation, like microcystins (MCs), both in the GM biomass and in the edible crops to which it is applied. To evaluate the suitability and safety of duckweed-based GMs, we conducted …


Geotechnical Site Characterization Of Offshore Soils From Free Fall Penetrometer Testing For The Application Of Offshore Systems, Emma J. Dennis Sep 2025

Geotechnical Site Characterization Of Offshore Soils From Free Fall Penetrometer Testing For The Application Of Offshore Systems, Emma J. Dennis

Master's Theses and Capstones

As the offshore industry has expanded, innovative anchor systems need to be designed to meet the unique geotechnical engineering constraints presented by offshore sediments, as well as address the constraints presented by offshore industries such as renewable energies or aquaculture systems. For the design and application of successful anchor systems, a thorough understanding of the geotechnics and behaviors of offshore sediments is a necessity. Thus, geotechnical site characterization for proposed infrastructure locations is a vital first step through methods such as sample collection, laboratory analysis, and in-situ testing. Currently, there are often high costs associated with establishing the required soil …


Reducing Early-Age Concrete Cracking In Bridge Decks And Curbs Through Mix Design, Gabriel Geiersbach Guertin Sep 2025

Reducing Early-Age Concrete Cracking In Bridge Decks And Curbs Through Mix Design, Gabriel Geiersbach Guertin

Master's Theses and Capstones

Bridge curbs are an integral part of a bridge’s deck. However, an abnormal rate of early-age cracking has been noted by many state agencies, including New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NH DOT), on bridge decks and curbs across each state. A literature review was conducted to discover and develop actionable remediation techniques. Within this review, several different remediation techniques were found that could reduce early-age cracking. The subset of this field focusing on mix design remediations was chosen due to the broad applicability and replicability of the approach. When considering mix design, Internally Cured Concrete (ICC) was found to provide …


Evaluating The Influence Of Landscape Structure On Blanding’S Turtle (Emydoidea Blandingii) Home Range Size, Maeve Grace Kelley Sep 2025

Evaluating The Influence Of Landscape Structure On Blanding’S Turtle (Emydoidea Blandingii) Home Range Size, Maeve Grace Kelley

Master's Theses and Capstones

Freshwater turtles are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activities that fragment critical habitats and impede movement across the landscape. The Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii), a species that undergoes frequent interwetland movements, is particularly vulnerable to road mortality when natural habitats are disturbed or converted. Understanding the spatial ecology of this species is essential to inform effective conservation and management strategies. This study examined how landscape structure (composition and configuration) influences Blanding’s turtle home range size. Home range and core areas were modeled during the active season and separately for two distinct activity periods (nesting and post-nesting) using radio-telemetry data collected across …


Host Evolutionary History As A Predictor Of Microbiome Breeding Success, Ciana Lazu Sep 2025

Host Evolutionary History As A Predictor Of Microbiome Breeding Success, Ciana Lazu

Master's Theses and Capstones

Microbial inoculants present a potential alternative to artificial fertilizers and other chemical products in agriculture, yet microbial products derived from non-native microbes may pose ecological risks or fail to thrive. On the other hand, creating microbial inoculants from local microbes via “microbiome breeding” can be unpredictable. Here, the aquatic plant Lemna minor (duckweed), microbes isolated from duckweed, and microbes isolated from other, co-occurring aquatic plants was used to evaluate if the evolutionary distance between hosts from which microbes are sourced is a predictor of the success in “breeding” locally derived microbiomes to promote duckweed growth. “Microbiome breeding” was performed on …


Laying The Foundation For A Tartary Buckwheat Breeding Program For The Northeast: Phenotypic Characterization Of Seedling Traits And Hybridization Techniques, Julia Oliveira Barreiro De Jesus Sep 2025

Laying The Foundation For A Tartary Buckwheat Breeding Program For The Northeast: Phenotypic Characterization Of Seedling Traits And Hybridization Techniques, Julia Oliveira Barreiro De Jesus

Master's Theses and Capstones

Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) is an underutilized crop with the potential to address key challenges in modern agriculture, including food security in the context of climate change and growing resource scarcity. It is valued for its tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought, cold, and marginal soils, making it a promising candidate for cultivation in the Northeastern United States, a region where average temperatures have risen by approximately 0.25 °C per decade since 1970. These climatic shifts have led to changes in snow-to-rain ratios, earlier phenological events, and increased intensity of precipitation events, particularly in spring, posing challenges for early …


Increasing The Knowledge Base Of A Novel Fruit Crop, Actinidia Arguta, To Promote Adoption In The Northeastern United States, Zoe Rose Robinson Sep 2025

Increasing The Knowledge Base Of A Novel Fruit Crop, Actinidia Arguta, To Promote Adoption In The Northeastern United States, Zoe Rose Robinson

Master's Theses and Capstones

The unique attributes of kiwiberry (Actinidia arguta (Siebold et Zucc.) Planch ex. Miq) make it a promising high-value fruit crop for the Northeastern United States, although not widely grown in the region. As discussed in Chapter 1, it is likely that some of the barriers to kiwiberry diffusion in the Northeast include basic research gaps (e.g. crop physiology, management, and enterprise analysis), and a lack of farmer-to-farmer communication channels. To address some of these barriers, this thesis reports the results of a Northeast commercial kiwiberry growers survey to provide a portrait of current regional kiwiberry production, and experiments to determine …


North Country Homestead & Farm Conference Agenda 2025, Olivia Saunders Sep 2025

North Country Homestead & Farm Conference Agenda 2025, Olivia Saunders

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.


Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Detections Map, Cooperative Extension, Steven S. Roberge Sep 2025

Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Detections Map, Cooperative Extension, Steven S. Roberge

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.


Elongate Hemlock Scale Detections Map, Cooperative Extension, Steven S. Roberge Sep 2025

Elongate Hemlock Scale Detections Map, Cooperative Extension, Steven S. Roberge

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.