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Faculty Promotions 2017 | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

The College of Engineering at Utah State University extends its congratulations to seven newly-promoted faculty members.

A Tree Species Effect On Soil That Is Consistent Across The Species’ Range: The Case Of Aspen And Soil Carbon In North America, Jerome Laganiere, Antra Boča, H. Van Miegroet, David Paré

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Trembling aspen covers a large geographic range in North America, and previous studies reported that a better understanding of its singular influence on soil properties and processes is of high relevance for global change questions. Here we investigate the potential impact of a shift in aspen abundance on soil carbon sequestration and soil carbon stability at the continental scale by conducting a systematic literature review using 23 published studies. Our review shows that aspen’s effect on soil carbon is relatively consistent throughout the species range. Aspen stores less C in the forest floor but similar amounts in the mineral soil …

Accounting For Spatial And Temporal Variation In Macroinvertebrate Community Abundances When Measuring The Food Supply Of Stream Salmonids, Nicholas Weber, Nicolaas Bouwes, Chris Jordan

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

The goal of salmonid habitat monitoring programs is to measure habitat attributes linked to salmonid productivity based on protocols that have sufficient precision to detect environmental variation at relevant spatial and temporal scales. Benthic macroinvertebrate community composition often is evaluated as part of habitat monitoring and assessment protocols, despite a lack of direct relationships between benthic composition and salmonid production. Macroinvertebrate drift provides a direct measure of the food resources available to stream salmonids, but drift is rarely evaluated as part of habitat monitoring protocols. This reluctance may stem from the complex spatial and temporal variability inherent in macroinvertebrate drift …

Accounting For Spatial And Temporal Variation In Macroinvertebrate Community Abundances When Measuring The Food Supply Of Stream Salmonids, Nicholas Weber, Nicolaas Bouwes, Chris Jordan

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

The goal of salmonid habitat monitoring programs is to measure habitat attributes linked to salmonid productivity based on protocols that have sufficient precision to detect environmental variation at relevant spatial and temporal scales. Benthic macroinvertebrate community composition often is evaluated as part of habitat monitoring and assessment protocols, despite a lack of direct relationships between benthic composition and salmonid production. Macroinvertebrate drift provides a direct measure of the food resources available to stream salmonids, but drift is rarely evaluated as part of habitat monitoring protocols. This reluctance may stem from the complex spatial and temporal variability inherent in macroinvertebrate drift …

A Tree Species Effect On Soil That Is Consistent Across The Species' Range: The Case Of Aspen And Soil Carbon In North America., Jérôme Laganière, Antra Boča, Helga Van Miegroet, David Paré

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Trembling aspen covers a large geographic range in North America, and previous studies reported that a better understanding of its singular influence on soil properties and processes is of high relevance for global change questions. Here we investigate the potential impact of a shift in aspen abundance on soil carbon sequestration and soil carbon stability at the continental scale by conducting a systematic literature review using 23 published studies. Our review shows that aspen’s effect on soil carbon is relatively consistent throughout the species range. Aspen stores less C in the forest floor but similar amounts in the mineral soil …

Congratulations A-Pin Recipients | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Interim College of Engineering Dean Dr. Jagath Kaluarachchi and department heads from across the College of Engineering on Thursday recognized eight students for receiving the prestigious A-Pin award.

The Utah Statesman, April 3, 2017, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Accounting For Variability In Mother-Child Play, David F. Lancy

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

This paper highlights contrasting perspectives in the study of mother-child play. One contrast emerges as we look at the phenomenon using the lens offered by anthropology as opposed to the more commonly used lens of psychology. A second contrast is apparent from on-the-ground descriptions of childhood in the ethnographic record compared to observations of children in the upper strata of modern society. Psychologists and those public agents who adopt their perspective see mother-child play—from infancy—as both necessary for normal development and an unlimited good. Its self-evident value should be impressed upon those who are as yet, unenlightened. Anthropologists not only …

Accelerated Increase In The Arctic Tropospheric Warming Events Surpassing Stratospheric Warming Events During Winter, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Yen-Heng Lin, Ming-Ying Lee, Jin-Ho Yoon, Jonathan D.D. Meyer, Philip J. Rasch

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

In January 2016, a robust reversal of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) took place associated with a rapid tropospheric warming in the Arctic region; this was followed by the occurrence of a classic sudden stratospheric warming in March-April. The succession of these two distinct Arctic warming events provides a stimulating opportunity to examine their characteristics in terms of similarities and differences. Historical cases of these two types of Arctic warming were identified and validated based upon tropical linkages with the Madden-Julian Oscillation and El Niño as well as those documented in previous studies. Our results indicate a recent and accelerated increase …

Utah State Magazine, Spring 2017, Utah State University

Utah State Magazine

The quarterly magazine for friends and alumni of Utah State University.

Algebraic And Topological Structures On Rational Tangles, Vida Milani, Seyed M.H. Mansourbeigi, Hossein Finizadeh

Computer Science Student Research

In this paper we present the construction of a group Hopf algebra on the class of rational tangles. A locally finite partial order on this class is introduced and a topology is generated. An interval coalgebra structure associated with the locally finite partial order is specified. Irrational and real tangles are introduced and their relation with rational tangles are studied. The existence of the maximal real tangle is described in detail.

Institutional Review Board: Ally Not Adversary, Melanie M. Domenech-Rodriguez, Samantha M. Corralejo, Nicole Vouvalis, Alan K. Mirly

Psychology Faculty Publications

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) were developed in response to a historically demonstrated need for ethical guidance and accountability in research with human subjects. The inhumane and unethical treatment of prisoners of war and underrepresented populations in the pre-IRB era are the antithesis of today’s national and international acts, codes, and declarations. Over the last five decades of IRB-reviewed research, several concerns about the IRB process have been raised. In this editorial, we review common concerns regarding the scope and functioning of IRBs. We also review the updated federal Common Rule, effective January 2018, and discuss how some of the reviewed …

Fold: A Modern Lighting Line That Explores Ways To Meld Energy Efficiency And Health Benefits Into Essential Elements Of Interior Lighting., Megan Jane Cook Turner

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Thesis Statement

Lighting plays an essential role in the modern world. Electrical lighting from fluorescent bulbs to LED fixtures greet humans from the moment they wake up until the moment they sleep at night. Light is essential to human life. As such, lighting has been and continues to be a prominent element of design from the grandiose chandeliers of the Rococo period to the minimal, modern lighting of the 21^st century.

Lighting continues to be researched, developed, and innovated and plays such an essential role in homes, offices, and the interior or exterior of any building. Lighting design has …

Electrospun Spiderskin Bandage For Epidermal Protection And Recovery, Michael David Paskett

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Spider silk is one of nature's most promising biomaterial s for a variety of applications, however, due to the inability to farm spiders, transgenic hosts are required for large-scale production. With the unique combination of strength, elasticity, and biocompatibility, spider silk has an incredible potential for use in the human body. This study was conducted to merge two major applications of spider silk for the creation of a novel bandaging product. Electrospinning technology was utilized to create a spider silk/polymer bandage matrix to be applied with an aqueous spider silk skin adhesive.

In designing the bandaging matrix , the mechanical …

Amending Phb With Algal Biomass To Enhance Biodegradability, Amanda R. Stoudt

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Pollution due to petroleum-based plastic is a growing problem all over the world. Petroleum-based plastics that fill landfills and oceans take hundreds of years to degrade. One possible solution to this growing problem is to increase the use of bioplastics. Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a widely studied bioplastic that is biodegradable in both soil and marine environments. However, PHB use is limited due to its poor mechanical properties. Past researchers have investigated the use of natural additives, primarily different types of plant fibers, to enhance both the mechanical properties and degradation rates of bioplastics. The purpose of this project was to …

Shrub Communities, Spatial Patterns, And Shrub-Mediated Tree Mortality Following Reintroduced Fire In Yosemite National Park, California, Usa, James A. Lutz, Tucker J. Furniss, Sara J. Germain, Kendall M. L. Becker, Erika M. Blomdahl, Sean M. A. Jeronimo, C. Alina Cansler, James A. Freund, Mark E. Swanson, Andrew J. Larson

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Shrubs contribute to the forest fuel load; their distribution is important to tree mortality and regeneration, and vertebrate occupancy. We used a method new to fire ecology—extensive continuous mapping of trees and shrub patches within a single large (25.6 ha) study site—to identify changes in shrub area, biomass, and spatial pattern due to fire reintroduction by a backfire following a century of fire exclusion in lower montane forests of the Sierra Nevada, California, USA. We examined whether trees in close proximity to shrubs prior to fire experienced higher mortality rates than trees in areas without shrubs. We calculated shrub biomass …

Case Study: Washington And Lee's First Year Using Archive-It, Alston B. Cobourn

Journal of Western Archives

This case study reviews the planning, methodology, and lessons learned during the first year of Washington and Lee University Library's web archiving program.

Educational Policies Committee Program Proposal, College Of Agriculture And Applied Sciences, March 31, 2017 - Master Of Public Health, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Utah State University requests approval to offer the following Master's degree(s): Master of Public Health effective Fall 2017.

Educational Policies Committee Program Proposal, College Of Science, March 31, 2017, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Utah State University requests approval to offer the following Master's degree(s): Master of Public Health effective Fall 2017.

Educational Policies Committee Program Proposal, Emma Eccles Jones College Of Education And Human Services, March 31, 2017 – Bachelor Of Science In Nursing, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Utah State University requests approval to offer the following Baccalaureate degree(s): Bachelor of Science in Nursing effective Fall 2017.

Educational Policies Committee Program Proposal, Emma Eccles Jones College Of Education And Human Services, March 31, 2017 – Master Of Public Health, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Utah State University requests approval to offer the following Master's degree(s): Master of Public Health effective Fall 2017.

Building Positive Student-Instructor Interactions: Engaging Students Through Caring Leadership In The Classroom, Oscar J. Solis, Windi D. Turner

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

When instructing and managing classrooms in university settings, instructors face numerous challenges such as student disengagement and managing course expectations. In this article, we offer new and revised techniques and strategies to engage students through the art of caring leadership. We accomplish this through three defining characteristics: knowing students’ names, managing course expectations, and the use of technology. These intentional strategies create positive student-instructor interactions in both small and large classrooms which in turn enhances student learning and engagement.

Amplify Your Teaching Impact: Capitalizing On 1-On-1 Instruction, Abby D. Benninghoff

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The objective of this essay, which is based on a keynote presentation delivered at the 2016 Empowering Teaching Excellence Conference at Utah State University, is to address this central question: how faculty can make a positive, substantive impact on students through 1-on-1 instruction? The consensus answer derived from experiences and anecdotes offered by this author, her colleagues, and students is to be deliberate in 1-on-1 interactions with students. This simple message is expanded through discussion of 10 key concepts that can help faculty amplify their teaching impact: 1) be available, 2) help students feel comfortable, 3) be a model, 4) …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 1, Issue 1

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

For our inaugural issue, we reviewed the feedback from our 2016 ETE faculty conference—an event for USU faculty hosted every August on the USU main campus. We identified several of the presenters who received high marks in post-session surveys and invited them to submit a proceedings paper for their presentation. Many responded, and their papers now comprise the majority of this issue. Because most of the articles began as stand-up presentations for a conference, several adopt a first-person narrative style in which the authors share examples of things they have tried in their teaching that have worked. In the process …

Where Did The Birds Go?, Brinnlie Harward, Kim Sullivan, Josh Wardle

Biology Posters

Birds on campus have had an extremely high death rate near University Inn in past years. The trees on the west side of the building are within the kill zone. The kill zone is 15-30 feet away from the building.

Honey Fungus: A Silent Killer, Michael Gudmundson, Jim Lutz

Biology Posters

Armillaria root disease is found in many temperate and tropical forests throughout the world. It is responsible for on average 2-3 % of mortalities in infected forests. This root disease is caused by many species of fungus from the Armillaria genus. They are commonly referred to as Honey Fungus. This fungus spreads mainly through the interaction of tree roots. The Wind River Forest Dynamics Plot shows evidence of an infection by Armillaria. However the Extent of the infection has not been studied or mapped. Research Question : How much of the WFDP is infected and what are the effects of …

Bird Strikes At Usu, Jonas Johnson, Kim Sullivan

Biology Posters

According to the American Bird Conservancy, up to one billion birds are killed in the United States every year by window collisions.

Five Ways Consortia Can Catalyze Open Science, Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Karen S. Baker, Nicholas Berente, Courtney G. Flint, Gabriel Gershenfeld, Brandon Grant, Michael Haberman, John Leslie King, Christine Kirkpatrick, Barbara Lawrence, Spenser Lewis, W. Christopher Lenhardt, Matthew Mayernik, Charles Mcelroy, Barbara Mittleman, Namchul Shin, Shelley Stall, Susan Winter, Et Al

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

An analysis of more than 50 collaborations shows the secrets of success, write Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld and colleagues from the Stakeholder Alignment Collaborative.

Global Analysis Of Population Growth And Decline, Mark Sneddon, William D. Pearse

Biology Posters

Species of plants and animals have populations that are declining at a rapid rate and possibly face extinction. To combat this decline, we must first understand where and why species are declining. We compared known species population growth rates in the COMPADRE (7024 different plant populations) and COMADRE (1927 different animal populations) databases to a variety of possible factors and other databases.

Transcript Levels Of Salt Tolerant Candidate Genes In Turfgrasses, Thomas Sprouse, Shaun Bushman, Paul Johnson

Biology Posters

Cool season turfgrasses have necessary functions in the landscape, but are associated with excessive water use. Cities have begun to reuse water for outdoor purposes as a response to a shrinking water supply, this ‘effluent’ water has higher salt content. This high salt content puts turfgrasses under increased stress. The focus of our research is to investigate the involvement of two genes in salt tolerance among turfgrass species: an H-type thioredoxin (Trx) that reduces oxidative damage within salt stressed cells, and a vacuolar (v-type) ATPase subunit that transports +H ions across the vacuole membrane to maintain osmotic potential under higher …