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Faculty Senate Agenda March 3, 2025, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• 3:00 Call to Order
• Approval of Minutes - February 3rd minutes
• 3:05 University Business
• 3:20 Faculty Senate Business
• 3:35 Information
• EPC Report - February 3, 2025
• Emergency/Risk Survey
• 3:45 Report
• School of Graduate Studies
• Professional Responsibilities (PRPC)
• Parking and Transportation
• 4:00 New Business
• 4:05 Old Business
• Adjourn: 4:30

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. …

Faculty Senate Minutes March 3, 2025, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Call to Order
• Approval of Minutes - February 3, 2025
• University Business
• New Business
• Information
• EPC Report - February 3
• Emergency/Risk Survey
• Reports
• Parking and Transportation
• School of Graduate Studies
• Professional Responsibilities and Procedures Committee (PRPC)
• Old Business
• New Business
• Adjourn - 4:13 pm

This One Weird Trick Gets Users To Stop Clicking On Clickbait, Ankit Shrestha, Arezou Behfar, Sovantharith Seng, Matthew Wright, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Computer Science Student Research

Clickbait, masked behind interesting headlines and thumbnails, is often used to spread misinformation and trick users into clicking on social media posts or links that direct them to malicious websites. To help users protect against clickbait, we examined interventions based on persuasion theories including designs that used social consequence, personal consequence, and badges. To this end, we first conducted a preliminary study to translate the participants’ feedback into improving our initial designs, followed by a lab study with 20 participants (60% Male, 40% Female; 18-44 years old) aimed at understanding their perceptions of the improved interventions; we further updated our …

Bugs Pay For Days Of Steady Reservoir Releases To Reduce Hydropeaking Ecosystem Conflict, Moazzam Ali Rind, David E. Rosenberg

Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Research

Steady low reservoir releases increase downstream primary and aquatic invertebrate (bugs) production. These releases also reduce hydropeaking value, raise costs for hydropower customers, and reduce funds to maintain infrastructure and repay loans. This study quantifies the win-lose tradeoff between hydropeaking value and days per month of steady low releases at Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona. We estimate win-lose tradeoffs for monthly release volumes of 0.71 to 0.95 million acre-feet from March to October 2018 and 0 to 31 days. Conservative estimates indicate that steady low releases on eight weekend days per summer month in 2018 reduced monthly hydropeaking value by $430,000 …

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 …

Ai And Your Research, Yassin Nacer, Stephanie Western

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

Our research is being used to train generative AI. Join us for an interactive discussion on how major publishers are selling your work as training material, and how that impacts your rights as an author. We'll explore the potential impacts of AI training on faculty, institutions, and the broader academic landscape. Share your thoughts and insights, and help shape the future of AI and research.

Self-Perception As A Predictor Of Eating Disorder Severity In A Residential Sample Of Women And Girls With Eating Disorders, Emily M. Bowers, Julie M. Petersen, Tera Lensegrav-Benson, Benita Quakenbush, Michael P. Twohig

Psychology Faculty Publications

Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions with significant negative health outcomes, high mortality rates, and comorbid mental health conditions. Despite many available interventions for eating disorders, treatment remains challenging due to the difficulty in maintaining treatment gains. Understanding effective treatment processes is crucial. This study aimed to examine the role of self-perception components in predicting eating disorder severity in a residential sample of women and girls. Participants (N = 175) completed measures assessing eating disorder severity, self-kindness, self-judgment, and self-esteem at admission. Correlational analyses and structural equation modeling were used to explore these relationships. Results indicated that self-judgment and …

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, …

Age-Based Variations In Frequent Emergency Department (Ed) Use Among Older Adults: An Analysis Using The New York University–Johns Hopkins University Emergency Department Algorithm (Nyu/Jhu-Eda), Uma Kelekar, Amel Ben Abdesslem, Debasree Das Gupta, Diep Tran, Jewel Shepherd, Sidney Carl Turner

Kinesiology and Health Science Faculty Publications

Population aging impacts the utilization of health services, especially in Emergency Departments (EDs). A rising share of older adults in the US report ED use, especially frequent ED use, defined as ≥ 4 visits annually. Prior works have examined frequent utilization of EDs among geriatric populations, but no study has focused on age-based trends or examined type of ED care sought by different age groups. Thus, using the 2017-2019 State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD), we examined how types of ED care influenced frequent ED utilization among geriatric patients in Maryland across the three age groups of youngest-old (65–74), middle-old (75–84), …

Factor Structure And Longitudinal Changes In Bilinguals’ Oral Narratives Production: Role Of Language Exposure, Language-Domain Proficiency, And Transfer, Joseph Hin Yan Lam, Molly Ann Leachman, Cecilia Del Carmen Perez, Amy S. Pratt, Elizabeth D. Peña, Lisa M. Bedore, Ronald B. Gillam

Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education Faculty Publications

This paper examined the interaction between narrative performance, language exposure, and standardized measures of morphosyntax and semantics, in bilingual children tested two times, 1 year apart. We aimed to 1) identify the factor structure of oral narrative measures, and 2) examine the direction and strength of the effects of (i) language exposure and (ii) the relationship between language domains and narrative production. A total of 143 Spanish (L1)-English (L2) bilingual children completed a battery of oral narrative and oral language proficiency assessments in Spanish and English at two time points (kindergarten and Grade 1). Factor analyses yielded an identical two-factor …

Assessment Of Auditory Conditions In Misophonia Treatment Research: A Scoping Review, Karen F. Muñoz, Doris Velasquez, Makara Humes, Diana Ortiz, Michael P. Twohig

Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education Faculty Publications

Objective: To identify treatment research that used a behavioral approach to treat misophonia as the primary focus of treatment, and the audiological testing included in the research.

Design: Scoping literature review completed in February 2023 and updated in March 2024.

Study Sample: Included studies provided a behavioral or audiological intervention for misophonia, were peer-reviewed, and published in English before February 29, 2024. Studies were excluded if a pharmacological treatment was provided, if misophonia was not the primary treatment target, or if assessment of misophonia severity was not a treatment outcome.

Results: Fifteen articles met the inclusion criteria. …

Simplification Of Woody Plant Trait Networks Among Communities Along A Climatic Aridity Gradient, Camila D. Medeiros, Santiago Trueba, Christian Henry, Leila R. Fletcher, James A. Lutz, Rodrigo Méndez‐Alonzo, Nathan J. B. Kraft, Lawren Sack

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

1. Plant ecological strategies are shaped by numerous functional traits and their trade-offs. Trait network analysis enables testing hypotheses for the shifting of trait correlation architecture across communities differing in climate and productivity.

2. We built plant trait networks (PTNs) for 118 species within six communities across an aridity gradient, from forest to semi-desert across the California Floristic Province, based on 34 leaf and wood functional traits, representing hydraulic and photosynthetic function, structure, economics and size. We developed hypotheses for the association of PTN parameters with climate and ecosystem properties, based on theory for the adaptation of species to low …

Changing Fire Regimes In The Great Basin Usa, Eva K. Strand, Kori Blankenship, Corey Gucker, Mark Brunson, Eugénie Montblanc

Aspen Bibliography

Wildfire is a natural disturbance in landscapes of the Western United States, but the effects and extents of fire are changing. Differences between historical and contemporary fire regimes can help identify reasons for observed changes in landscape composition. People living and working in the Great Basin, USA, are observing altered fire conditions, but spatial information about the degree and direction of change and departure from historical fire regimes is lacking. This study estimates how fire regimes have changed in the major Great Basin vegetation types over the past 60 years with comparisons to historical (pre-1900) fire regimes. We explore potential …

Immersive Modeling To Communicate And Manage Risks Of Water Shortages, David Rosenberg, Erki Porse

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Our project goal is to use immersive online collaborative modeling as a tool for active learning to communicate and manage users conflicting risks of water shortages because decisions now to manage risk effect future risk. State-of-the art river basin forecasting tools provide probabilistic estimates of streamflow at hourly to annual scales. Water resource models quantify tradeoffs and risk across hundreds or thousands of scenarios of inflow and demand forecast out decades. Our project objectives are: 1) Formulate extreme scenarios for reservoir inflows without probabilities one to three years out that pose imminent risk of water shortages. 2) Hold immersive model …

The Utah Statesman, February 24, 2025, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Reviews And Syntheses: Variable Inundation Across Earth’S Terrestrial Ecosystems, James Stegen, Amy J. Burgin, Michelle H. Busch, Joshua B. Fisher, Joshua Ladau, Jenna Abrahamson, Lauren Kinsman-Costello, Li Li, Xingyuan Chen, Thibault Datry, Nate Mcdowell, Corianne Tatariw, Anna Braswell, Jillian M. Deines, Julia A. Guimond, Peter Regier, Kenton Rod, Edward K. P. Bam, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Inke Forbrich, Kristin L. Jaeger, Teri O’Meara, Tim Scheibe, Erin Seybold, Jon N. Sweetman, Jianqiu Zheng, Daniel C. Allen, Elizabeth Herndon, Beth A. Middleton, Scott Painter, Kevin Roche, Julianne Scamardo, Ross Vander Vorste, Kristin Boye, Ellen Wohl, Margaret Zimmer, Kelly Hondula, Maggi Laan, Anna Marshall, Kaizad F. Patel

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

The structure, function, and dynamics of Earth's terrestrial ecosystems are profoundly influenced by how often (frequency) and how long (duration) they are inundated with water. A diverse array of natural and human-engineered systems experience temporally variable inundation whereby they fluctuate between inundated and non-inundated states. Variable inundation spans extreme events to predictable sub-daily cycles. Variably inundated ecosystems (VIEs) include hillslopes, non-perennial streams, wetlands, floodplains, temporary ponds, tidal systems, storm-impacted coastal zones, and human-engineered systems. VIEs are diverse in terms of inundation regimes, water chemistry and flow velocity, soil and sediment properties, vegetation, and many other properties. The spatial and temporal …

What To Do Now That You've Trapped A Nuisance Wild Animal, Cory Farnsworth, S. Nicole Frey

All Current Publications

This fact sheet outlines specific guidelines for legally responding to nuisance wild animals. Management best practices, animal use, euthanasia, and proper disposal are discussed.

Culturally Considerate Trauma-Focused Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment In Latine/X Populations: A Scoping Review, Alejandra Kukuli Delgado, Ryan Holliday, Shira Maguen, Nicholas Holder

Psychology Student Research

Background/Objectives: While theoretical articles describing cultural considerations for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment in Latine/x populations exist, empirical trials are less common. The present study aimed to review the existing literature for empirically tested, trauma-focused PTSD treatments among Latine/x samples to describe treatment outcomes, cultural considerations, and gaps in the existing literature. Methods: For this scoping review, we identified studies that met inclusion criteria as culturally considerate, trauma-focused PTSD treatments reporting symptom outcomes in Latine/x adults. We searched databases (n = 7) and collected 2176 unique records. Six reports met inclusion criteria. Studies enrolled 176 participants into five …

The Building Resistance Against Viral Entities (Brave) Innovation Center, Zhongde Wang

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Academic Standards Subcommittee Minutes February 20, 2025, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• COMMITTEE BUSINESS
• ITEM 1: English Language Proficiency requirement proposed changes
• ITEM 2: University requirements and Second Credentials for Certificates
• Proposed: First Certificate Policy
• Proposed: Additional Certificate(s) Policy
• Motion: Nate Trauntvein, Second: Mateja Savoie-Roskos. Approved
• ITEM 3
• Motion withdrawn
• ITEM 4: ARA and Refund Policy review
• Academic Record Adjustment and Tuition Reversal Request
• Academic Record Adjustment/ Tuition Reversal Request
• The committee did not have time to fully discuss and vote on this proposal
• ACTION ITEMS

Does Following The Mind Diet Slow Cognitive Decline And Alzheimer’S Disease?, Abby Spaulding, Hannah Waters

Research on Capitol Hill

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a brain disorder that destroys memory and thinking skills. The prevalence of AD increases with age and is expected to double by the year 2060. 

Carotenoids, pigments in plants that have antioxidant and inflammatory properties when consumed, might slow AD and can be tested for on skin. High-carotenoid eating patterns like the MIND diet may protect against age-related cognitive decline and development of AD.

There May Be A Safer Treatment Against A Virus That Can Cause Birth Defects And Hearing Loss, Kade Robison

Research on Capitol Hill

CMV is the leading cause of non-genetic birth defects and hearing loss.

University Students & Faculty Would Like More Knowledge About Using Ai In Academics, Tessa Richardson

Research on Capitol Hill

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prevalent in every aspect of human life. Understanding both faculty and student attitudes and behaviors toward AI in education allows governing boards and lawmakers to effectively discuss and make informed decisions regarding policies that impact its usage.

Latinx People In Cache Valley Are Limited In Their Opportunities For Expression, Ella White

Research on Capitol Hill

My work has focused on the experiences and traumas of Latinx individuals and artists from Utah, specifically Cache Valley. Some of these experiences include: 

• Discrimination due to ethnicity  
• Criticism of religious beliefs 
• Lack of equal opportunity 
• The invisibility of their experiences.  

This research is an attempt to bring to light the minorities in our community who have continued to be marginalized.

Overlooked Habitats Buffer Spawning Opportunities For Cutthroat Trout, Autumn Zierenberg, Skylar Rousseau

Research on Capitol Hill

Temporarily available streams account for roughly 79% of streams in Utah alone. Intermittent streams are often overlooked as suitable habitats but are inundated during Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) spawning season.

Staff Training Increases Success For Veterans And Service Members In Engineering, Samuel Shaw, Allison Miles

Research on Capitol Hill

Previous research developed four stages of support that staff can offer SVSM. The hope is through effective training, faculty, staff, and administrators can become “aware” and seek to further their ability to provide support. Increased support directly improves student success and academic belonging among SVSM.

Cache County Has 2500 Acres Of Highly Walkable Urban Land, With Potential For 4935 New Housing Units, Jordan Taft

Research on Capitol Hill

Utah faces a housing crisis – with rapid internal population growth compounding the issue.

Evaluating Invasive Plant Management To Keep Bear Lake Clear, Blue, And Deep, Tia Lawrence, Ola Adeyemi

Research on Capitol Hill

Eurasian watermilfoil grows more rapidly in Bear Lake water, producing more shoots per plant and growing taller (bottom left). In greenhouse settings, herbicide treatment was unable to provide complete control of plants when applied in Bear Lake water. Plants are grown and tested in galvanized feed tanks (right) in USU’s greenhouses.

Arrowhead-Shaped Shock Angle Influence Leading Edge Equation Influence Aircraft Outperform Other Structures At Hypersonic Speeds, Jacob Wiberg

Research on Capitol Hill

Hypersonic (at least 5 times faster than sound waves can travel) aircraft are quickly becoming a solution for fast travel for commercial and defense purposes.