Digital Commons Network^™

Transportation’S Influences On Wellbeing: A Literature Review And Scoping Framework, William Bouck, Patrick Singleton, Louis Alloro, Kim Clark

Curiosity

This study investigates the relationship between transportation and wellbeing: the conditions humans need to flourish at all levels. Using the results gleaned from our literature review of 44 articles, we found correlations linkages between transportation elements and components of physical, psychological, economic, and social wellbeing. These transportation factors affected overall wellbeing, not merely wellbeing during travel. We find that active travel, followed by public transit, are the best travel modes for wellbeing, and that congestion, pollution, and transport disadvantage harm wellbeing. Our findings also indicate that multimodal, people-focused infrastructure corresponds to higher wellbeing. Generally, the four areas of wellbeing we …

Stock Pitch: Robinhood Markets (Hood), Morgan Cole

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This capstone project presents an in-depth analysis and valuation of Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD). Robinhood Markets is a revolutionary fintech platform aiming to democratize finance and investing.

The company was founded in 2013 in Menlo Park, California by Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt. The co-founders created an intuitive mobile trading platform and were the first to offer commission-free trading. Robinhood has opened the door to investing to a new demographic through the easy-to-use mobile app, the ability to buy and sell fractional shares (this makes purchasing shares of companies with high share prices accessible to more individuals), in-app financial …

“How Can I Make This Real Life?”: Realism, Politics, And Simulational Rhetoric In Video Games, Samuel Rowles

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Video games are becoming an increasingly relevant aspect of modern culture, both shaping discourse around topics of labor, play, and art, and being shaped by the society they are created within. Scholars have examined the link between video games and player behavior since the 1990s and found that there is little concrete proof that video games alter behavior on their own and are simply one part of a much larger context. But with video games increasing in complexity and accuracy, it becomes necessary to examine whether video games are capable of convincing players about truths of the real world through …

Cultural Implications In Global Hospitality: New Orleans To Al-Balad, Madeleine C. Helgren

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

There is a growing trend in the hospitality industry toward a more accurate cultural representation within hotel properties. Cultural accuracy within hospitality not only allows for a more exciting and unique travel experience for guests, but helps to preserve and sustain local communities and traditions.

Building upon research gained through first hand observation, interviews, and academic sources, this thesis aims to explore the integration of global hospitality brands within regionally specific cultures. The resulting conceptual projects integrate a fictional hospitality brand named Josephine into boutique hotel experiences in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the old town of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Al-Balad. …

Climate Prediction As An Adaptive Force-Multiplier: Reasons For Hope In A Rapidly Changing World, Matthew D. Laplante

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

It's not unreasonable to feel pessimistic about our future under climate change. But "believing the science" doesn't require you to accept that we are headed toward apocalypse. It is true that human-caused climate change is real, it is underway, and our societies face many increased risks because of it. But that's just part of what climate science tells us about our future world. This same field is responsible for the recent and rapid development of tools and techniques that permit the identification of patterns in our oceans and atmosphere that will aid us in making increasingly accurate predictions about climate—the …

The Desert Shall Rejoice: Lds Relational Values And Multispecies Justice In The Intermountain West, Sarah A. Woodbury

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

In the American West, climate change is shifting weather and climate patterns in ways that may dramatically change lands, livelihoods, and communities. In the face of these threats, conservationists and local communities must work collaboratively to ensure that environmental and human communities are healthy enough to weather approaching shifts. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint (LDS) values, practices, and histories strongly influence the Intermountain West, yet there is little research on LDS environmental values and perceptions. This study seeks to answer questions that work in this gap. It documents the knowledge and values of communities in the Intermountain West …

Changing Climate, Changing Minds: Social Media's Role In Shifting Climate Change Beliefs, Rachel M. Clarke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This study explores how social media messages influence individual beliefs, attitudes and behaviors related to climate change. Despite widespread exposure to social media, there is concern about its effectiveness in shaping beliefs and actions regarding climate adaptation and mitigation. Research indicates that many people in the United States show limited concern for climate change, underscoring the need for targeted communication strategies. By designing and implementing a survey experiment with random participants within the United States, this study examines how sharing first- person experiences of climate-related hazards on social media affects opinions about climate change, in comparison to traditional third-person news …

Beyond The Finish Line: How Mindset And Setbacks Shape Future Success Of High School Sprinters, Hannah L. Lybbert

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

How does mindset shape sports performance? Using data from high school track and field 100- meter sprint times, I examine how exogenous psychological shocks—caused by running faster or slower than expected due to tailwinds or headwinds—influence subsequent athletic performance. By leveraging instrumental variable analysis and random wind variation, I isolate the purely psychological effects (referred to throughout this paper as “mindset effects”) of performance confidence. I parse out the sustained mindset effects, taking into account athlete-specific fixed effects, and estimate mindset-driven performance effects. In the discussion, I will explore “perceived self-efficacy” (PSE) as a potential mechanism by which these mindset …

Reimagining Utah’S Block: Walkability As A Housing Shortage Solution, Jordan Taft Sheppard

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Utah, like much of the United States, is experiencing a housing crisis driven primarily by a shortage of available housing. Rising home prices, increasing infrastructure costs, and restrictive zoning policies have limited the supply of varied housing options, forcing many families into unsustainable housing and transportation patterns. While conventional development patterns have focused on outward expansion, this approach requires costly infrastructure investments and perpetuates car-dependent communities. This study explores an alternative solution—leveraging existing walkable urban land to accommodate growth more efficiently and sustainably.

Using a 15-minute city framework, this research identifies 2,528 acres of highly walkable land in Cache County, …

Gone With The Flow: Flow Reduction Coincides With Reduced Metabolism And Standing Stock Of Benthic Algae And Macroinvertebrates In Desert Rivers, Chloe E. Lyles

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

River metabolism, the measure of energy flow in a river, is driven by hydrological and physicochemical regimes (e.g., temperature, turbidity, and nutrients). However, these regimes are increasingly altered by human water demand and climate change-driven drought. These stressors alter the magnitude, timing, and duration of critical spring-snowmelt floods with poorly understood consequences on ecosystem function, particularly in desert rivers. To investigate the linkages between flow reduction, river metabolism, and basal food resource productivity (i.e., algae and aquatic invertebrates), we measured metabolism and basal resource availability in seven desert tributaries with varying degrees of flow reduction during low-flow conditions in 2023 …

Utah Women, Discrimination, And Sexism: Experiences And Perceptions, April Townsend, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

During the fall of 2023, Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) researchers conducted a statewide study to establish a baseline for public perceptions related to the awareness, understanding, and attitudes about challenges that Utah women and girls face. In early 2024, UWLP published 20 research summaries¹ that shared the results of this comprehensive study. Then, in the fall of 2024, the survey was administered again around the state of Utah with slight refinements. Between January and April of 2025, we have shared the results of the 2024 data by releasing six white papers, this being the final report in …

Interactions Among Nutrients Govern The Global Grassland Biomass–Precipitation Relationship, Philip A. Fay, Laureano A. Gherardi, Laura Yahdjian, Peter B. Adler, Jonathan D. Bakker, Siddharth Bharath, Elizabeth T. Borer, W. Stanley Harpole, Erika Hersch-Green, Travis E. Huxman, Andrew S. Macdougall, Anita C. Risch, Eric W. Seabloom, Sumanta Bagchi, Isabel C. Barrio, Lori Biederman, Yvonne M. Buckley, Miguel N. Bugalho, Maria C. Caldeira, Jane A. Catford, Qingqing Chen, Elsa E. Cleland, Scott L. Collins, Pedro Daleo, Chris R. Dickman, Ian Donohue, Mary Ellyn Dupre, Nico Eisenhauer, Anu Eskelinen, Nicole Hagenah, Yann Hautier, Robert W. Heckman, Ingibjörg S. Jónsdóttir, Johannes M. H. Knops, Ramesh Laungani, Jason P. Martina, Rebecca L. Mcculley, John W. Morgan, Harry Olde Venterink, Pablo L. Peri, Sally A. Power, Xavier Raynaud, Zhengwei Ren, Christiane Roscher, Melinda D. Smith, Marie Spohn, Carly J. Stevens, Michelle Tedder, Risto Virtanen, Glenda M. Wardle, George R. Wheeler

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Ecosystems are experiencing changing global patterns of mean annual precipitation (MAP) and enrichment with multiple nutrients that potentially colimit plant biomass production. In grasslands, mean aboveground plant biomass is closely related to MAP, but how this relationship changes after enrichment with multiple nutrients remains unclear. We hypothesized the global biomass–MAP relationship becomes steeper with an increasing number of added nutrients, with increases in steepness corresponding to the form of interaction among added nutrients and with increased mediation by changes in plant community diversity. We measured aboveground plant biomass production and species diversity in 71 grasslands on six continents representing the …

Crop Water Productivity: Within-Field Spatial Variation In Irrigated Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa L.), Keegan Hammond, Ruth Kerry, Ross Spackman, April Hulet, Bryan G. Hopkins, Matt A. Yost, Neil C. Hanson

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

In this study, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is evaluated for suitability of variable rate irrigation (VRI) by analyzing within-field variation in crop water productivity (CWP) under uniform irrigation. The objectives were to (1) measure within-field variation in crop evapotranspiration (ET), (2) quantify spatial variability of alfalfa biomass yield, and (3) assess whether a bivariate analysis of CWP and yield could inform VRI management zones. Research was conducted on a 22.6 ha center-pivot irrigated alfalfa field near Rexburg, Idaho, USA, over three harvest intervals (HIs) in 2021 and 2022. Using a water balance method at 66 field points, ET exhibited …

Bird Richness As A Mediator Between Greenspace And Mental Health Relationships, Sihao Chena, Huaqing Wang, Wenyan Xu

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

Neighborhood greenspaces are widely known to benefit bird diversity and human mental health. However, whether bird richness mediates the relationship between greenspace and mental health is unknown. We ascertain such mediation effects in 294 census tracts in Los Angeles City. We obtained greenspace data from one-meter resolution satellite imagery, bird species data from eBird citizen science datasets, and prevalence of poor mental health from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mediation analysis combined with spatial error models was used to assess the mediating effects while controlling for geographic, demographic, and socio-economic factors. We found that the higher greenspace …

The Utah Statesman, March 31, 2025, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Elevated Extinction Risk In Over One-Fifth Of Native North American Pollinators, Tara Cornelisse, David W. Inouye, Rebecca E. Irwin, Sarina Jepsen, Jonathan R. Mawdsley, Margaret Ormes, Jaret Daniels, Diane M. Debinski, Terry Griswold, John Klymko, Michael C. Orr, Leif Richardson, Nicole Sears, Dale Schweitzer, Bruce E. Young

Biology Faculty Publications

Pollinators are critical for food production and ecosystem function. Although native pollinators are thought to be declining, the evidence is limited. This first, taxonomically diverse assessment for mainland North America north of Mexico reveals that 22.6% (20.6 to 29.6%) of the 1,579 species in the best-studied vertebrate and insect pollinator groups have elevated risk of extinction. All three pollinating bat species are at risk and bees are the insect group most at risk (best estimate, 34.7% of 472 species assessed, range 30.3 to 43.0%). Substantial numbers of butterflies (19.5% of 632 species, range 19.1 to 21.0%) and moths (16.1% of …

Home, Health, Community, & Allyship: Utahns’ Awareness, Understanding, And Attitudes, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

During the fall of 2023, Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) researchers conducted a statewide study to establish a baseline for public perceptions related to the awareness, understanding, and attitudes about challenges that Utah women and girls face. In early 2024, we published 20 short research summaries that shared the results of this comprehensive study. Then, in the fall of 2024, we administered the survey, with slight refinements, around the state of Utah. We now share the results of the 2024 data by releasing six white papers; this is the fifth in the series.

Overall, this comprehensive study was designed …

Earth Orbital Rhythms Links Timing Of Deccan Trap Volcanism Phases And Global Climate Change, Thomas Westerhold, Edoardo Dallanave, Donald Penman, Blair Schoene, Ursula Röhl, Nikolaus Gussone, Junichiro Kuroda

Geosciences Faculty Publications

At the end of the Cretaceous, the massive Deccan trap (DT) volcanic eruptions are regarded as the primary driver of global climate deterioration. Accurate age models are key to unravel the sequence of events related to DT volcanism onset and effects on the global climate system. We establish a direct geochemical link between DT volcanism as recorded in marine osmium isotopic data and global climate change documented in benthic foraminifera carbon and oxygen isotope records. Based on our state-of-the-art astronomically calibrated age model, two major shifts in marine ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os at 66.49 and 66.28 million years ago are …

Leveraging High-Frequency Sensor Data And U.S. National Water Model Output To Forecast Turbidity In A Drinking Water Supply Basin, John T. Kemper, Kristen L. Underwood, Scott D. Hamshaw, Dany Davis, Jason Siemion, James B. Shanley, Andrew W. Schroth

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

As high-frequency sensor networks increasingly enhance data-driven models of water quality, process-based models like the U.S. National Water Model (NWM) are generating accessible forecasts of streamflow at increasingly dense scales. There is now an opportunity to combine these products to construct actionable water quality forecasts. To that end, we couple streamflow forecasts from the NWM to a gradient-boosted decision tree algorithm (LightGBM) trained on 5+ years of high-frequency monitoring data to forecast in-stream turbidity levels in the Catskill Mountains, NY, USA. Results indicate LightGBM models are capable of relatively skillful predictions, which enable robust forecasts for 1–3 days lead times. …

Toward A Construct-Based Definition Of Urban Green Space: A Literature Review Of The Spatial Dimensions Of Measurement, Methods, And Exposure, Doo Hong Lee, Brent Chamberlain, Hye Yeon Park

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Student Research

Interdisciplinary research has significantly advanced our understanding, benefits, and measurements of Urban Green Space (UGS). Further, the rapid expansion of research on this topic has resulted in a diverse array of definitions, which can rely on implicit assumptions without a formal definition. This variability highlights the need for a carefully structured framework to refine and combine these definitions. This narrative review examines constructs underlying UGS, particularly focusing on the spatial aspects of how we spatially measure UGS, the measurements of UGS, and how we define exposure; the latter focuses on two methods: viewsheds and image segmentation. Our findings reveal a …

Managing Beyond Water: Utilizing Community Well-Being Interviews In The Upper Yakima River Basin, Usa, For Climate Change Adaptation, Rebecca Gustine, Alexander Theophilus, Courtney G. Flint, Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad, Emma Epperson, Claudia Mendez Wright, Jennifer C. Adam

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Student Research

In contemporary, natural resources dependent and specialized communities, community well-being is connected to the environment. Understanding the local connections between community well-being and the environment can provide a more complete understanding of how to manage social-ecological systems and promote community resilience. Herein, we combine semi-structured community well-being interviews with hydrologic modeling using the variable infiltration capacity (VIC) model to suggest climate adaptation pathways for a diverse set of community interests. We found that community well-being across the Yakima River Basin was connected to water, snow, and the environment through recreation opportunities, aesthetics, livelihoods, and having clean water and air. Additionally, …

The Utah Statesman, February 10, 2025, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Quantifying Dust Nutrient Mobility Through An Alpine Watershed, Jeffrey R. Nielson, Janice Brahney

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Dust has the potential to play a significant role in the nutrient dynamics of alpine watersheds with important ecological implications. However, little is known about how dust nutrients circulate through the environment and which watershed characteristics facilitate dust impacts on water quality. This study explored the contribution of dust-deposited nutrients, focusing on a high-elevation Long Term Ecological Research site, where dust samples have been continuously collected since 2017. We incorporated observed dust nutrient compositions, including fractions of inorganic and organic nitrogen and phosphorus, into a popular hydrological model, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool, and ran simulations for 2019–2021. By …

Proximal Remote Sensing: An Essential Tool For Bridging The Gap Between High-Resolution Ecosystem Monitoring And Global Ecology, Zoe Amie Pierrat, Troy S. Magney, Will P. Richardson, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Jen L. Diehl, Xi Yang, William Woodgate, William K. Smith, Miriam R. Johnston, Yohanes R. S. Ginting, Gerbrand Koren, Loren P. Albert, Christopher L. Kibler, Bryn E. Morgan, Mallory Barnes, Adriana Uscanga, Charles Devine, Mostafa Javadian, Karem Meza, Tommaso Julitta, Giulia Tagliabue, Matthew P. Dannenberg, Michal Antala, Christopher Y. S. Wong, Andre L. D. Santos, Koen Hufkens, Julia K, Marrs, Atticus E. L. Stovall, Yujie Liu, Joshua B. Fisher, John A. Gamon, Kerry Cawse-Nicholson

Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Research

A new proliferation of optical instruments that can be attached to towers over or within ecosystems, or ‘proximal’ remote sensing, enables a comprehensive characterization of terrestrial ecosystem structure, function, and fluxes of energy, water, and carbon. Proximal remote sensing can bridge the gap between individual plants, site-level eddy-covariance fluxes, and airborne and spaceborne remote sensing by providing continuous data at a high-spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we review recent advances in proximal remote sensing for improving our mechanistic understanding of plant and ecosystem processes, model development, and validation of current and upcoming satellite missions. We provide current best practices for data availability …

Extensive Admixture Among Karst-Obligate Salamanders Reveals Evidence Of Recent Divergence And Gene Exchange Through Aquifers, Chris C. Nice, Katherine L. Bell, Zachariah Gompert, Lauren K. Lucas, James R. Ott, Ruben U. Tovar, Paul Crump, Peter H. Diaz

Biology Faculty Publications

Karst ecosystems often contain extraordinary biodiversity, but the complex underground aquifers of karst regions present challenges for assessing and conserving stygobiont diversity and investigating their evolutionary history. We examined the karst-obligate salamanders of the Eurycea neotenes species complex in the Edwards Plateau region of central Texas using population genomics data to address questions about population connectivity and the potential for gene exchange within the underlying aquifer system. The E. neotenes species complex has historically been divided into three nominal species, but their status, and spatial extent of species ranges, have remained uncertain. We discovered evidence of extensive admixture among species …

Women In The Workplace: Part 1: Utahns’ Awareness, Understanding, And Attitudes, Susan R. Madsen, Kolene Anderson

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

During the fall of 2023, Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) researchers conducted a statewide study to establish a baseline for public perceptions related to the awareness, understanding, and attitudes about challenges that Utah women and girls face. In early 2024, we published 20 short research summaries¹ that shared the results of this comprehensive study. Then, in the fall of 2024, we administered this survey, with slight changes, around the state of Utah for the second time. This is the first of six white papers to share the results of the new data.

Overall, this comprehensive study was designed …

Spatiotemporal Synchrony Of Climate And Fire Occurrence Across North American Forests (1750–1880), Ellis Margolis, Andreas Wion, John Abatzoglou, Lori Daniels, Donald Falk, Chris Guiterman, James Johnston, Kurt Kipfmueller, Charles Lafon, Rachel Loehman, Maggie Lonergan, Cameron Naficy, Marc-André Parisien, Sean Parks, Jeanne Portier, Michael Stambaugh, Ellen Whitman, A. Park Williams, Larissa Yocom

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Aim: Increasing aridity has driven widespread synchronous fire occurrence in recent decades across North America. The lack of historical (pre-1880) fire records limits our ability to understand long-term continental fire-climate dynamics. The goal of this study is to use tree-ring reconstructions to determine the relationships between spatiotemporal patterns in historical climate and widespread fire occurrence in North American forests, and whether they are stable through time. This information will address a major knowledge gap required to inform projections of future fire.

Location: North American Forests.

Time Period: 1750–1880 CE.

Major Taxa Studied: Trees.

Methods: We applied regionalisation methods to tree-ring …

The Role Of Environmental & Climate Issues In Utahns' Migration Decisions Along The Rural-Urban Continuum, Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed, Jessica Ulrich-Schad, Jennifer E. Givens, Kirsten Vinyeta, Stacia Ryder

Utah People and Environment Poll (UPEP)

Human relocation from one place to another is not new.¹ People move within or beyond borders for short or long periods, either temporarily or permanently, and they factor multiple internal and external issues into their migration decisions. Along with economic, political, social, and demographic drivers, ^2,3 people may choose to migrate because of deterioration in their living and working environments.

Atms And Cris Geolocation, Mark Esplin, Kris Robinson, Ben Esplin, Nephi Grant, Deron Scott, Likun Wang

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

Contents

• Summary of Suomi NPP sensors CrIS, ATMS, and VIIRS 
• Geolocation methods 
• Software optimization
• CrIS geolocation results
• ATMS geolocation results
• Conclusions

16. Confronting "I Just Don't Have Time": An Argument For Seeking And Documenting Professional Learning, Sharon Lyman, Karin Dejonge-Kannan

Documenting Teaching Excellence

We confess our teaching is not always exemplary and our students often struggle to learn. We argue that intentionally pursuing professional learning is the only way to improve our teaching, and that documenting this learning is imperative when we make the case for teaching excellence. This chapter will examine the common lament of “I just don’t have time” for professional learning, followed by a discussion of how to exchange this self-sabotaging notion for a self-sustaining alternative, and a description of the benefits of documenting professional growth. The aim of this chapter is three-fold: to argue that “I just don’t have …