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Multiplying Mars Lander Opportunities With Marsdrop Microlanders, Robert L. Staehle, Sara Spangelo, Marc S. Lane, Kim M. Aaron, Rohit Bhartia, Justin S. Boland, Lance E. Christensen, Siamak Forouhar, Manuel De La Torre Juarez, Nikolas Trawny, Chris R. Webster, Matthew A. Eby, Rebecca M. E. Williams, David A. Paige

Small Satellite Conference

From canyons to glaciers, from geology to astrobiology, the amount of exciting surface science awaiting us at Mars greatly outstrips available mission opportunities. Based on the thrice-flown Aerospace Corporation Earth Reentry Breakup Recorder (REBR), we present a method for accurate landing of small instrument payloads on Mars, utilizing excess cruise-stage mass on larger missions. One to a few such microlanders might add 1-5% to the cost of a primary mission with inconsequential risk. Using the REBR and JPL Deep Space 2 starting points for a passively stable entry vehicle provides a low mass and low ballistic coefficient, enabling subsonic deployment …

Initial Results Of The First Nsf-Funded Research Experience For Undergraduates On Small Satellite Software, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh, David Whalen

Small Satellite Conference

This paper presents preliminary results from the first year of the first National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research experience for undergraduates (REU) with a focus on small satellite software. It begins with a discussion of prior work on the development of an open-hardware, open-source software CubeSat, the OpenOrbiter project and the Open Prototype for Educational NanoSats design, and how this served as foundational work for the REU. A brief discussion of the evaluation techniques used in this program is presented as are the results (which serve as a point of reference for which to compare those from the REU). Next, …

Large Wildlife Removal Drives Immune Defence Increases In Rodents, Hillary S. Young, Rodolfo Dirzo, Kristofer M. Helgen, Douglas J. Mccauley, Charles L. Nunn, Paul Snyder, Kari E. Veblen, Serena Zhao, Vanessa O. Ezenwa

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

1. Anthropogenic disturbances involving land use change, climate disruption, pollution and invasive species have been shown to impact immune function of wild animals. These immune changes have direct impacts on the fitness of impacted animals and, also, potentially indirect effects on other species and on ecological processes, notably involving the spread of infectious disease. Here, we investigate whether the selective loss of large wildlife can also drive changes in immune function of other consumer species.
2. Using a long-standing large-scale exclosure experiment in East Africa, we investigated the effects of selective removal of large wildlife on multiple measures of immune function in …

Characterizing Demographicparameters Across Environmental Gradients: A Case Study With Ontario Moose, Garrett M. Street, Tal Avgar, Arthur R. Rodgers, John M. Fryxell

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Population-level demographic characteristics as estimated by standard logistic growth models (i.e., carrying capacity and intrinsic growth rate) should vary with changes in habitat quality and availability of resources. However, few published studies have tested this hypothesis by comparing population growth rates across broad bioclimatic gradients, and fewer still the carrying capacities of those populations. We used time series data on moose (Alces alces) population densities based on aerial census and hunter harvest data for 34 management units across Ontario to estimate local carrying capacities and intrinsic growth rates. These population parameters were then regressed against associated habitat covariates for each …

The Rapid Response Radiation Survey (R3s) Mission Using The Hisat Conformal Satellite Architecture, Nathanael A. Miller, Ryan B. Norman, Hector L. Soto, Victor A. Stewart, Mark L. Jones, Matthew C. Kowalski, Adam Ben Shabat, Kerry M. Gough, Rebecca L. Stavely, Alex C. Shim, Gene T. K. Jaeger

Small Satellite Conference

The Rapid Response Radiation Survey (R3S) experiment, designed as a quick turnaround mission to make radiation measurements in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), will fly as a hosted payload in partnership with NovaWurks using their Hyper-integrated Satlet (HISat) architecture. The need for the mission arises as the Nowcast of Atmospheric Ionization Radiation for Aviation Safety (NAIRAS) model moves from a research effort into an operational radiation assessment tool. Currently, airline professionals are the second largest demographic of radiation workers and to date their radiation exposure is undocumented in the USA. The NAIRAS model seeks to fill this information gap. The data …

Is Atmospheric Phosphorus Pollution Altering Global Alpine Lake Stoichiometry?, Janice Brahney, Natalie Mahowald, Daniel S. Ward, Ashley P. Ballantyne, Jason C. Neff

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Anthropogenic activities have significantly altered atmospheric chemistry and changed the global mobility of key macronutrients. Here we show that contemporary global patterns in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) emissions drive large hemispheric variation in precipitation chemistry. These global patterns of nutrient emission and deposition (N:P) are in turn closely reflected in the water chemistry of naturally oligotrophic lakes (r2 = 0.81, p < 0.0001). Observed increases in anthropogenic N deposition play a role in nutrient concentrations (r2 = 0.20, p < 0.05); however, atmospheric deposition of P appears to be major contributor to this pattern (r2 = 0.65, p < 0.0001). Atmospheric simulations indicate a global increase in P deposition by 1.4 times the preindustrial rate largely due to increased dust and biomass burning emissions. Although changes in the mass flux of global P deposition are smaller than for N, the impacts on primary productivity may be greater because, on average, one unit of increased P deposition has 16 times the influence of one unit of N deposition. These stoichiometric considerations, combined with the evidence presented here, suggest that increases in P deposition may be a major driver of alpine Lake trophic status, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere. These results underscore the need for the broader scientific community to consider the impact of atmospheric phosphorus deposition on the water quality of naturally oligotrophic lakes.

Comparison Of Ch∙∙O, Sh∙∙O, Chalcogen, And Tetrel Bonds Formed By Neutral And Cationic Sulfur-Containing Compounds, Steve Scheiner

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The ability of neutral and charged S-compounds to form different sorts of noncovalent bonds is examined by ab initio calculations. Neutrals are represented by CH3SH and fluoro substituted FSCH3; cations are (CH3)3S+, CH3SH2+, and FHSCH3+. Each is paired with N-methylacetamide (NMA) whose O atom serves as common electron donor. Charged species engage in much stronger noncovalent bonds than do the neutral molecules, by as much as an order of magnitude. The strongest noncovalent bond for any system is a O∙∙SF chalcogen bond wherein the O lies directly opposite a S-F covalent bond, amounting to as much as 39 kcal/mol. Second …

Tremblings, August 2015, Western Aspen Alliance

Tremblings

Aspen and climate change: Recent mortality portends bad news

William R. L. Anderegg

I grew up camping, fishing, and hunting in the aspen forests of southwestern Colorado. When I returned to these forests for my Ph.D. research, however, I saw that broad regions of the forests I remembered were dying, white-bark skeletons standing still against the blue mountain sky. I remember staring in shock at these forests and thinking, “What is going on here? What does this mean for the future of aspen?”

Riparian Vegetation, Colorado River, And Climate: Five Decades Of Spatiotemporal Dynamics In The Grand Canyon With River Regulation, Joel B. Sankey, Barbara Ralston, Paul E. Grams, John C. Schmidt, Laura E. Cagney

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Documentation of the interacting effects of river regulation and climate on riparian vegetation has typically been limited to small segments of rivers or focused on individual plant species. We examine spatiotemporal variability in riparian vegetation for the Colorado River in Grand Canyon relative to river regulation and climate, over the five decades since completion of the upstream Glen Canyon Dam in 1963. Long-term changes along this highly modified, large segment of the river provide insights for management of similar riparian ecosystems around the world. We analyze vegetation extent based on maps and imagery from eight dates between 1965 and 2009, …

Utah State Magazine, Fall 2015, Utah State University

Utah State Magazine

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

General Catalog 2015-2016, Utah State University

University Catalogs

This catalog contains information on the Academic Departments and Programs as well as Course Descriptions for the above school year at Utah State University. To avoid large file downloads, the Academic Departments and Programs information is located in this file. The Course Description information is located in the secondary file.

Participant Perceptions Of Range Rider Programs Used To Mitigate Wolf-Livestock Conflicts In The Western United States, Molly Parks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Range Rider Programs (RRPs) are one example of a proactive non-lethal tool that has been implemented in western United States to mitigate gray wolf (Canis lupus) and livestock conflicts. Because RRPs are an emerging non-lethal tool that little is known about, I selected a qualitative research approach to examine participant perceptions to further contemporary understanding of how these efforts are implemented and potential benefits. I surveyed 51 participants from 17 Range Rider Programs (RRPs) in Montana, Washington, and Oregon to determine participant perceptions regarding effectiveness of RRPs as a non-lethal approach to mitigate wolf-conflicts.

I developed a RRPs typology based …

To Belong As Citizens: Race And Marriage In Utah, 1880-1920, Scott D. Marianno

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the decades leading up to the twentieth century, social reformers and politicians, alarmed by Mormon political control (and polygamy) in Utah Territory, challenged Mormon whiteness and their competency for American citizenship. In re-examining Mormonism’s transition period, this study reveals how Mormon conformity to an encroaching American culture increased the movement’s exposure to discursive arguments on race-mixing, marriage, and eugenics that helped legitimize Mormon citizenship claims. Focusing on the themes of race, marriage, and citizenship, this thesis examines Mormonism’s racial transformation from not white to white as they assimilated and reified the racial ideology promoted by their Progressive-era contemporaries and …

Spider Mites In Corn, Alice Ruckert, Ricardo Ramirez, Clark Israelsen

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides information about Banks grass mites and two-spotted spider mites, important agricultural pests of corn and a wide variety of other crop, garden, and landscape plants. It includes how to identify them, their life cycle, crop injury, and management strategies.

Examining The Association Between Children's Fruit And Vegetable Intake At And Away From School, Velarie Yaa Ankrah Ansu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Several school-based interventions aimed at increasing fruit and vegetables (FV) intake among children have demonstrated success in short-term interventions. The Fit Game is a school-based intervention aimed at encouraging children to consume increasing amounts of FV during a game, which is a narrative. Just as children are being encouraged to eat FV at school, so is it equally important for them to eat FV at home. Parents strongly influence the amount of FV children consume at home. The aim of this thesis is to examine associations between factors that influence consumption of fruits and vegetables at and away from school …

A Century Of Geomorphic Change Of The San Rafael River And Implications For River Rehabilitation, Stephen T. Fortney

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Suspended-load rivers are subject to rapid geomorphic changes. In particular during the Holocene Epoch, arroyos of the Colorado Plateau experienced several periods of rapid erosion and aggradation. The most recent period of entrenchment occurred around the turn of the 20th century. The mechanisms responsible for the modern period of aggradation that has followed the most recent period of entrenchment have not been well documented. The research presented in this thesis reveals the mechanisms responsible for modern alluviation of the San Rafael River, which drains the Colorado Plateau

The lower 87 km of the San Rafael River, which enters the Green …

Face Recognition Under Varying Illuminations, Mohammadreza Faraji

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Face recognition under illumination is really challenging. This dissertation proposes four effective methods to produce illumination-invariant features for images with various levels of illuminations. The proposed methods are called logarithmic fractal dimension (LFD), eight local directional patterns (ELDP), adaptive homomorphic eight local directional pat- terns (AH-ELDP), and complete eight local directional patterns (CELDP), respectively.

LFD, employing the log function and the fractal analysis (FA), produces a logarithmic fractal dimension (LFD) image that is illumination-invariant. The proposed FA feature-based method is an effective edge enhancer technique to extract and enhance facial features such as eyes, eyebrows, nose, and mouth.

The proposed …

Modeling The Ecological Consequences Of Visitor Behavior In Off-Trail Areas Of Dispersed Recreation Use, Ashley L. D'Antonio

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Parks and protected areas are often created to protect important social, ecological, or cultural resources from impairment. In the United States, a large majority of these parks and protected areas are also public land where recreational activities such as hiking or scenic driving are allowed. Managers of many parks and protected areas must therefore try to protect resources while also allowing for recreation use that may put these resources at risk for damage. The field of recreation ecology is interested in understanding how recreation use in parks and protected areas can sometimes cause ecological impacts to vegetation, soil, wildlife, water, …

Influencing Acceptability Of Parent Training Interventions Through Treatment Rationales, Trisha Chase

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Parent training is an effective intervention for parents of children with a variety of childhood disorders, and parents often view behavioral parent training as acceptable. Explanations and rationales for parent training are commonly provided at the beginning of treatment. However, there is little research regarding how rationales may influence acceptability. There is also limited information on whether fathers and mothers judge the acceptability of parent training differently. The purpose of this study was to determine whether changing the description of a behavioral parenting intervention influenced parents’ acceptability ratings and whether mothers and fathers differed in their ratings.

Participants viewed one …

Matching Watershed And Otolith Chemistry To Establish Natal Origin Of An Endangered Desert Lake Sucker, Deanna Strohm

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Like many native endemic desert freshwater fish species, the June Sucker (Chasmistes liorus) is currently listed as endangered. Managers have increasingly turned to habitat restoration as a key component to recovery plans. For endangered species, one of the primary outcomes of habitat restoration is that it should result in successful reproduction and recruitment of individuals into the adult population. Confirmation of natural recruitment as a function of habitat restoration can only be achieved by establishing natal origins.

Recent research has proven the validity of otolith microchemistry, a technique that analyzes small quantities of elements, to trace potamodromous fish …

Lifestyle Intervention In Emerging Adulthood: A Brief Acceptance-Based Behavioral Intervention With Young Adults, Spencer M. Richards

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Across the U.S., obesity and overweight represent a rapidly growing public health concern that have been associated with expensive and debilitating outcomes such as depression, cancers, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, and significant disruption in quality of life, in addition to the tremendous public health costs. The current study examined a brief, randomized-controlled trial of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) with overweight and obese young adults.

Study participants were randomly assigned to a 4-week experimental ACT group or an information control group, which received psychoeducational materials regarding lifestyle behaviors recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention …

Virulence Evolution Of Fungal Pathogens In Social And Solitary Bees With An Emphasis On Multiple Infections, Ellen G. Klinger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The health of pollinators, especially bees, is of the utmost importance to success of many agricultural ecosystems. Microorganisms can cause diseases in bees; such microbes are pathogenic. The ability of a pathogen to cause harm to its host (such as a bee) is termed its virulence. Studying the evolution of different levels of virulence can lead researchers to a better understanding of pathogens, and potentially predict how much harm a pathogen can cause in the future. We studied the evolution of virulence levels for a fungal disease of bees. This group of fungi is composed of 28 species, and some …

Characterization And Performance Of Algal Biofilms For Wastewater Treatment And Industrial Applications, Maureen Kesaano

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was carried out on algal biofilms grown using rotating algal biofilm reactors (RABRs) with the aim of: i) characterizing their growth in terms of photosynthetic activity and morphology ii) evaluating their performance as a wastewater treatment option and a feedstock for biofuels production, and iii) examining the algal-bacteria interactions.

A review of algal biofilm technologies currently employed in wastewater treatment processes was made to compare nutrient removal efficiencies, factors that influenced algal biofilm growth, and the different bioproducts generated from algal biomass. Consequently, research efforts were directed towards addressing pertinent issues identified in literature in order to optimize …

The Colorado Plateau As A Virtual Laboratory For Mobile Games For Geoscience Education And Relations Between Rock Strength And River Metrics, Natalie Bursztyn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation encompasses two studies: one developing virtual field trips for mobile devices for an innovative approach to lower-division geoscience education, and the other examining the role of rock strength in river erosion and landscape evolution.

The education study involves the development of three virtual field trip modules (Geologic Time, Geologic Structures, and Hydrologic Processes, all free on iTunes and Google Play) that lead students down a virtual Colorado River through Grand Canyon by physically moving around their campus quad, football field or other location, using their GPS-equipped smart phone or tablet. As students reach each location in the scaled …

Structural And Compositional Patterns In Forest Communities In The Intermountain West Across Multiple Scales, Marcella A. Windmuller-Campione

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) strives to use science-based research to both protect and enhance the management of natural resources. From this overarching goal, the USDA has a specific objective to protect the health and sustainability of forest and rangeland ecosystems. Based on this specific objective, an Advisory Board of natural resource scientists within the Quinney College of Natural Resources (QCNR) was awarded a National Institute of Food and Agricultural (NIFA) grant to train two PhD and two MS students. Their research would focus on managing for resilient forest ecosystem in the Intermountain West.

With input from the …

The Effects Of Interactive Computer Simulation And Animation On Student Learning Of Rigid Body Dynamics: A Mixed Method Study, Oai Ha

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Engineering Dynamics (ED) courses are known as challenging and demanding for undergraduate students majored in many engineering fields, such as mechanical and aerospace engineering and civil and environmental engineering. The course is built upon the foundation and framework of mathematics and physics and requires students to have strong abstract thinking and reasoning skills. Rigid body dynamics (RBD), the second part of ED, investigates kinematics and kinetics of rigid bodies and is considered as a difficult subject by many undergraduate students because the course requires them to visualize abstract objects in motions. Although there have been many studies reporting the uses …

Ecology, Behavior And Taxonomy Of Anurans From Brazil's Atlantic Forest, Rodrigio Barbosa Ferreira

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Anura is a diverse group with more than 7382 species described, which represents 88% of the species belonging to the Class Amphibia. Anurans are among the first organisms to be affected by environmental stressors, so when they show decline in the wild, it is a warning to other species, including humans. It is alarming that one-third of the world’s anurans are facing extinction. Following the same trend, a substantive portion of the 988 recognized species of the Atlantic Forest have suffered population declines and local extinctions, attributed primarily to habitat changes.

Despite the unique life history characteristics that make amphibians …

Competitive Halide Binding By Halogen Versus Hydrogen Bonding: Bis-Triazole Pyridinium, Binod Nepal, Steve Scheiner

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The binding of F-, Cl-, Br-, and I- anions by bis‐triazole‐pyridine (BTP) was examined by quantum chemical calculations. There is one H atom on each of the two triazole rings that chelate the halide via H bonds. These H atoms were replaced by halogens Cl, Br, and I, thus substituting H bonds by halogen bonds. I substitution strongly enhances the binding; Br has a smaller effect, and Cl weakens the interaction. The strength of the interaction is sensitive to the overall charge on the BTP, rising as the binding agent becomes singly and then doubly positively charged. The strongest preference …

Educational Policies Committee Program Proposal, Emma Eccles Jones College Of Education And Human Services, July 31, 2015 – Phd In Neuroscience, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Utah State University (USU), Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, proposes to offer an interdisciplinary doctoral program in neuroscience.

2015 Utah State University Student Orientation Guide, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

A special supplemental magazine provided by The Utah Statesman to take a closer look at some of the services and departments available at Utah State University.