Digital Commons Network^™

Creating Accesible Maps: A Pilot For The Automatable Geospatial Analysis Of Brownfield Data, Ian Patrick Mcnair

Theses & ETDs

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is used to develop a pilot analysis for the automatable development of distance based brownfield analysis. The pilot was the Phoenix Commercial Park in Alachua County, with a seven mile radius around the brownfield. United States census data were used per census block to provide racial statistics and yearly mean income. Distance based analysis was employed to compare the census blocks based on how much they appeared to be “exposed” to the brownfield and their socioeconomic characteristics. No statistically significant relationships between the demographic characteristics and distance from brownfield. Given that these findings conflict with …

Modeling The Effects Of Tile Drain Placement On The Hydrologic Function Of Farmed Prairie Wetlands1, Brett Werner, John Tracy, W. Carter Johnson, Richard A. Voldseth, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Bruce Millett

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The early 2000s saw large increases in agricultural tile drainage in the eastern Dakotas of North America. Agricultural practices that drain wetlands directly are sometimes limited by wetland protection pro- grams. Little is known about the impacts of tile drainage beyond the delineated boundaries of wetlands in upland catchments that may be in agricultural production. A series of experiments were conducted using the well-published model WETLANDSCAPE that revealed the potential for wetlands to have significantly shortened surface water inundation periods and lower mean depths when tile is placed in certain locations beyond the wet- land boundary. Under the soil conditions …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Carbon Nanofibers Grown On Powdered Activated Carbon, Y.M. Ahmed, A. Al-Mamun, A.T. Jameel, M.F.R. Alkhatib, M.K. Amosa, M.A. Alsaadi

Research Publications (2016 to 2020)

Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were synthesized through nickel ion (Ni2+) impregnation of powdered activated carbon (PAC). Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) using acetylene gas, in the presence of hydrogen gas, was employed for the synthesis process. Various percentages (1, 3, 5, and 7 wt. %) of Ni2+ catalysts were used in the impregnation of Ni2+ into PAC. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analyzer (EDX), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), zeta potential, and Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) were utilized for the characterization of the novel composite, which possessed micro and …

06. Pilot Study: Limitations To Pollination And Ovary Development In The Small White Lady’S-Slipper (Cypripedium Candidum), Marie Faust, John A. Harrington

North American Prairie Conference Proceedings

The small white lady’s-slipper (Cypripedium candidum) is threatened or endangered in 10 or more of the approximately 20 U.S. states and Canadian provinces in which it is found. Our pilot study revealed a lack of pollination occurring in Wisconsin’s wild populations of this orchid. We also speculate from observations taken during the study that animal browse contributes to the state threatened status of this orchid. The results of this 1-year study are taken from three sites of low prairie in southern Wisconsin. Orchids were counted at each site; a subset of flowering plants was hand pollinated and mapped as to …

Bulletin Ammp Centre, Issue 32, 2016, Faculty Of Engineering University Of Malaya

Archival Material (2010s)

No abstract provided.

Determining Factors That Influence Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina Alterniflora Loisel) Transplant Success In Community-Based Living Shoreline Projects, Steven A. Carrion

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Efforts to mitigate shoreline erosion through living shoreline methods along the USA Atlantic seaboard have often incorporated the cultivation and transplantation of smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora. Assessments of these transplants at several sites in the Indian River Lagoon have shown that survival is variable after a year (survival: 10-93%). Lower survival has been attributed to environmental variables such as dislodgement by wave energy, and transplant shock due to salinity changes from cultivation to estuarine conditions. To improve living shoreline projects, we examined the effects of cultivation salinity (0 ppt, 15ppt) on transplantation success, and the success of anchoring plants …

Mobile People, Mobile God: Mobile Societies, Monotheism, And The Effects Of Ecological Landscapes On The Development Of Ancient Religions, Edward Surman

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Despite the wealth of scholarship concerning the origins of religious beliefs, practices, and cultures, there has been little consideration of the impact of ecological landscapes on the development of ancient religions. Although the influence of the natural environment is considered among the variables in explaining the development of various economic, political, and other social systems throughout history, there is a specific gap concerning its impact on the origins of religious systems. The argument which is taken up in this writing is the correlation between agriculturally marginal landscape and the development of monotheism. Specifically that the religions of the ancient Iranians …

2016 Usd Fact Book, University Of San Diego

USD Fact Books (1985- )

No abstract provided.

Do Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviors, And Nutrition Affect Healthy Weight In Middle School Students In An Appalachian Community? Children's Health Opportunities Involving Coordinated Efforts In Schools (Choices) Project, Kibum Cho

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background/Purpose: The study was a three-year, multi-component, school-based health programs implemented in two middle schools in an Appalachian county. The purpose of this study was to: (a) examine the association between healthy weight and physical activity, sedentary behavior, and nutrition and (b) explore predictors affecting changes in physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and nutrition. Methods: The sample consisted 1,620 subjects with 3,263 observations aged 11 to 16 years, who enrolled in the Children's Health Opportunities Involving Coordinated Efforts in Schools (CHOICES) Project in 2012-2014. Each subject was observed at least one time point. Two main analyses were conducted, a logistic regression …

Quechua Woman, Megan E. Zagorski

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

King Of The River, Megan E. Zagorski

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

Radiant, Megan E. Zagorski

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

The Ethics Of Environmentalism For The Individual Consumer, Molly Collins

Honors Theses

Climate change harms the well-being of humans. It is the poor choices of individual consumers that contribute to climate change. I argue that it is immoral to cause harm to others, thus climate change is an ethical dilemma for individual consumers. I begin with a pluralistic discussion of harm, before discussing the duties of individuals to make choices that will mitigate the current harms of climate change and the wrong moral assumptions that individuals make regarding their contribution to climate change. I discuss the principles of ethical consumerism, specifically in housing, food, and transportation. Lastly, I argue that climate change …

2016 Idea Of Nature Public Lecture Series Schedule (Flyer), Samantha Harvey

The Idea of Nature Public Lecture Series

March 3, 2016. Ellen Wohl, Department of Geosciences, Colorado State University.

“Messy Rivers are Healthy Rivers”

Perceptions of river health are influenced by expectations regarding the appearance of a natural river, but appearance depends on geomorphic context and river history. I examine how physical complexity – messiness – influences river health, how human activities simplify rivers and compromise river health, and how we can restore complexity and ecosystem services provided by rivers.

Wohl is a Fellow of both the Geological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union and has received many awards, including the Gladys W. Cole Memorial Award …

A Tale Of Two Continents: Environmental Management-Based Regulation In The European Union And The United States, Rachel E. Deming

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Pedagogy For The Pedosphere, Loren B. Byrne, Rachel K. Thiet, V Bala Chaudhary

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Using Cleaved Amplified Polymorphic Sequence (Caps) Genetic Markers To Determine The Extent Of Hybridization Between Castilleja Affinis And Castilleja Mollis As A Mechanism For Adapting To Climate Change On Santa Rosa Island, Elizabeth Medford

Scripps Senior Theses

Hybridization, the process of interbreeding between individuals of different species, is one method by which plants and animals adapt to a changing environment. One example of such adaptation through hybridization may be occurring on the California Channel Islands with two species of Castilleja. While United State Geological Survey (USGS) researchers have been studying the populations of Castilleja affinis and Castilleja mollis to determine if hybridization is occurring on Santa Rosa Island since the early 1990s, up until this point primarily overt phenotypic characteristics have been used to differentiate between the two species. Genetic methods of differentiation were adopted to …

Analytical Capabilities Of Two-Phase Hollow-Fiber Liquid Phase Microextraction For Trace Multielement Determination In Aqueous Samples By Means Of Portable Total Reflection X-Ray Instrumentation, Eva Margui, Manuela Hidalgo

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

Liquid phase microextraction (LPME) procedures have been widely used in combination with atomic and emission spectroscopic techniques for the isolation and preconcentration of trace elements. However, its application in combination with total reflection X-ray spectrometry (TXRF) is still scarce. In this paper, we evaluate the possibilities and drawbacks of a two-phase hollow fiber LPME procedure in combination with TXRF for the simultaneous determination of trace amounts of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd in aqueous samples. After extraction of the analytes by using the optimum conditions (sample volume: 25 mL, complexing agent: APDC, organic solvent: hexylbenzene, extraction time: 2 …

Climate Modifies Response Of Non-Native And Native Species Richness To Nutrient Enrichment, Habacuc Flores-Moreno, Peter B. Reich, Eric M. Lind, Lauren L. Sullivan, Eric W. Seabloom, Laura Yahdjian, Andrew S. Macdougall, Lara G. Reichmann, Juan Alberti, Selene Baez, Jonathan D. Bakker, Marc W. Cadotte, Maria C. Caldeira, Enrique J. Chaneton, Carla M. D'Antonio, Philip A. Fay, Jennifer Firn, Nicole Hagenah, W. Stanley Harpole, Oscar Iribarne, Kevin P. Kirkman, Johannes M.H. Knops, Kimberly J. La Pierre, Ramesh Laungani, Andrew D.B. Leakey, Rebecca L. Mcculley, Joslin L. Moore, Jesus Pascual, Elizabeth T. Borer

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Ecosystem eutrophication often increases domination by non-natives and causes displacement of native taxa. However, variation in environmental conditions may affect the outcome of interactions between native and non-native taxa in environments where nutrient supply is elevated. We examined the interactive effects of eutrophication, climate variability and climate average conditions on the success of native and non-native plant species using experimental nutrient manipulations replicated at 32 grassland sites on four continents. We hypothesized that effects of nutrient addition would be greatest where climate was stable and benign, owing to reduced niche partitioning. We found that the abundance of non-native species increased …

Analyses, Calibration And Validation Of Evapotranspirationmodels To Predict Grass-Reference Evapotranspiration In Thesenegal River Delta, Koffi Djaman, Hossein Tabari, Alpha B. Balde, Lamine Diop, Koichi Futakuchi, Suat Irmak

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Study region: Grass-reference evapotranspiration estimation by the Penman-Monteithmethod (PM-ETo) requires a number of climate variables which are not always availableat all weather stations. Different alternative ETo equations have been developed and theirutilization for various local climate conditions requires analyses of their accuracy as com-pared to the standardized Penman-Monteith method. There is a significant lack of data andinformation on this topic in the Senegal River Delta (SRD). Study focus: The objective of this study was to evaluate, calibrate and validate six EToequations ((Trabert, Mahringer, Penman1948, Albrecht, Valiantzas1 and Valiantzas2) forthe SRD. Although all six equations showed good agreement with the PM-ETo …

A Comprehensive Internationalization Analysis Of Marlboro College, Margaret Strassman

Capstone Collection

For institutions of higher education, addressing and assessing global competence has become a priority in recent years. Colleges and universities across the United States and around the world are increasingly preparing students to be responsible and effective global citizens by creating and implementing comprehensive internationalization plans. One popular framework has been created by the American Council on Education, whose target areas include articulated institutional commitment; administrative leadership, structure, and staffing; curriculum, co­ curriculum, and learning outcomes; faculty policies and practices; student mobility; and collaboration and partnerships (American Council on Education, 2012). Universities have used this framework to assess their campuses’ …

Geo 3200 : Human Impacts On The Environment, Geology/Geography

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Composting At Parkland College, Della Jacobs

A with Honors Projects

This essay summarizes the student's efforts to establish a composting program at Parkland College. The student had previously worked to establish a garden plot to supplement the offerings at the College's food pantry and subsequently worked with the cafeteria to collect composting materials for the garden plot.

Effects Of Nutrient Supplementation On Host-Pathogen Dynamics Of The Amphibian Chytrid Fungus: A Community Approach, Julia C. Buck, Jason R. Rohr, Andrew R. Blaustein

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

1. Anthropogenic stressors may influence hosts and their pathogens directly or may alter host–pathogen dynamics indirectly through interactions with other species. For example, in aquatic ecosystems, eutrophication may be associated with increased or decreased disease risk. Conversely, pathogens can influence community structure and function and are increasingly recognised as important members of the ecological communities in which they exist.
2. In outdoor mesocosms, we experimentally manipulated nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and the presence of a fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), and examined the effects on Bd abundance on larval amphibian hosts (Pseudacris regilla: Hylidae), amphibian traits and community dynamics. We …

Northeastern Illinois University, Academic Catalog 2016-2017, Northeastern Illinois University

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Morphodynamic Modeling Of Fluvial Channel Fill And Avulsion Time Scales During Early Holocene Transgression, As Substantiated By The Incised Valley Stratigraphy Of The Trinity River, Texas, Kaitlin Moran, Jeffrey Nittrouer, Mauricio Perillo, Jorge Lorenzo Trueba, John Anderson

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The Trinity River system provides a natural laboratory for linking fluvial morphodynamics to stratigraphy produced by sea-level rise, because the sediments occupying the Trinity incised valley are well constrained in terms of timing of deposition and facies distribution. Herein, the Trinity River is modeled for a range of base-level rise rates, avulsion thresholds, and water discharges to explore the effects of backwater-induced in-channel sedimentation on channel avulsion. The findings are compared to observed sediment facies to evaluate the capability of a morphodynamic model to reproduce sediment deposition patterns. Base-level rise produces mobile locations of in-channel sedimentation and deltaic channel avulsions. …

Can Continental Bogs With Stand The Pressure Due To Climate Change?, Nigel T. Roulet, E R. Humphreys, Jianghua Wu, Steve Frolking, Julie Talbot, P M. Lafleur, Tim Moore

Earth Sciences

Not all peatlands are alike. Theoretical and process based models suggest that ombrogenic, oligotrophic peatlands can withstand the pressures due to climate change because of the feedbacks among ecosystem production, decomposition and water storage. Although there have been many inductive explanations inferring from paleo-records, there is a lack of deductive empirical tests of the models predictions of these systems’ stability and there are few records of the changes in the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) of peatlands that are long enough to examine the dynamics of the NECB in relation to climate variability. Continuous measurements of all the components of …

Virtual Violence - Disruptive Cyberspace Operations As "Attacks" Under International Humanitarian Law, Ido Kilovaty

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Power outages, manipulations of data, and interruptions of Internet access are all possible effects of cyber operations. Unfortunately, recent efforts to address and regulate cyberspace operations under international law often emphasize the uncommon, though severe, cyber-attacks that cause deaths, injuries, or physical destruction. This paper deals with cyber operations during armed conflicts that cause major disruption or interruption effects – as opposed to deaths, injuries, or physical destruction. The purpose of this paper is to explore the consequences of these cyber operations that cause major disruption or interruption effects, and to argue that they might still constitute “acts of violence,” …

Traditional Ecological Rulemaking, Anthony Moffa

Faculty Publications

This Article examines the implications of an increased role for Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in United States agency decisionmaking. Specifically, it contemplates where TEK might substantively and procedurally fit and, most importantly, whether a final agency action based on TEK would survive judicial scrutiny. In the midst of a growing body of scholarship questioning the wisdom of deference to agency expertise9 and the legitimacy of the administrative state writ large,10 this Article argues that there remains an important space in administrative rulemaking for the consideration of ways of understanding that differ from traditional Western norms. TEK can and should fill …

Motivating Learners Through Information Literacy, Clarence Maybee, Michael Flierl

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This paper is included in the Information Literacy: Key to an Inclusive Society, the proceedings of the European Conference on Information Literacy, 2016. The paper introduces a model for creating information literacy learning activities that motivate students. The model draws from informed learning, an approach to information literacy that emphasizes the role that information plays in fostering learning about a subject. Self-determination theory, a motivational theory that focuses on enabling self-determined learners, is applied within the informed learning framework. The results of the investigation outline characteristics of motivating learning activities that enable learning subject content through engagement with information. The …