Digital Commons Network^™

Growth Patterns And The Effect Of Ph On The Florida Manatee (Trichechus Manatus Latirostris) Vibrissae, Isabella Mcdonnell

Theses & ETDs

Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) possess highly sensitive vibrissae across the surface of their body. These structures enable manatees to detect water flow and the changes in water flow that may result from the presence of nearby objects such as other manatees. This project examined vibrissae growth rate and possible effects a changing environment may have on these structures. We monitored 40 vibrissae follicles on two captive Florida manatees over ten weeks and experimentally manipulated pH levels in tanks that contained trimmed vibrissae. To understand growth, vibrissae length at each follicle was measured periodically and mean growth rate was found …

The Crux Of Conservation: Debating Ecotourism During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Monteverde, Costa Rica, Ky Miller

Theses & ETDs

Like many communities and conservation organizations around the world, Monteverde, Costa Rica is struggling to strike a balance between the risks and rewards of using ecotourism as a financial resource for conservation and sustainable development, which has often suffered from a mismatch between ecotourism’s vision and practice. In this thesis, I assess how communities and conservation organizations economically dependent on ecotourism engage in debates regarding its value as a biodiversity conservation strategy and livelihood basis during the COVID-19 pandemic. I also examine how COVID-19 has affected conservation organizations’ protected area management strategies and engagement with nearby communities. By drawing on …

Growup: An Analysis Of Vertical Farming Agriculture, Daniel Duprez

Theses & ETDs

With the global population predicted to be 10 billion by 2050, and 70 percent of these people within cities by 2050, industrial agriculture must change to accommodate our growing population while avoiding global ecosystem collapse. Indoor vertical farming is one of the solutions to this problem because of its ability to build small footprint, high yield, farms with sustainable resource use at scale. Vertical Farming is the practice of utilizing the 3D space above the ground for additional area for plant growth. Using a range of technologies including hydro and aeroponics, full spectrum LEDs, and artificial intelligence, indoor vertical farming …

The Historical Considerations, Social Benefits, And Environmental Impacts Of Green Spaces In Shanghai, Hailey Mcgleam

Theses & ETDs

Despite many studies on air pollution in Shanghai, little research has been done with the role that green spaces hold in providing both social and air pollution mitigating ecosystem services. In this paper, not only do I explore these ecosystem services, I also contextualize the economic, historical, political, and cultural factors that have created the environmental crisis in China and the air pollution problem in Shanghai. Using data analysis from AQI monitoring stations near green spaces and comparing it to the average AQI for each district, I am able to demonstrate in Shanghai’s Pudong, Chongming, and Fengxian Districts, areas near …

Measuring Brazilian Pepper’S (Schinus Terebinthifolia, Anacardiaceae) Allelopathic Effects On Native & Invasive Species, Thomas Smith

Theses & ETDs

Some plant species release organic chemical compounds (allelochemicals) in order to hinder the growth of other organisms. This adaptation is known as allelopathy and is relatively widespread among both native and invasive species. Brazilian Pepper, Schinus terebinthifolia, Anacardiaceae (BP) a notoriously damaging invasive plant in Florida, exhibits allelopathy on multiple fronts; the compounds in the leaves, roots, stems and seeds suppress germination and growth in native plant species. The allelopathic effects of Brazilian Pepper (BP) against native species have been well documented, but there is a dearth of research concerning how other invasive plant species in Florida react to BP …

Climate Change And Architectural Preservation In The Cities Of Sarasota, Fl And Miami Beach, Fl, Dorn Martell

Theses & ETDs

While a great deal of attention has been drawn towards the impacts that climate change will have on the Earth’s ecosystems and on humans overall, there is still a significant research gap extant regarding climate change and its impacts on the historic and cultural resources of the world. In this thesis, I look at the underlying evidence that supports an anthropogenic origin for current global climate change, examine how the effects of climate change will impact the historic architecture resources of the cities of Sarasota, FL and Miami Beach, FL, and discuss how preservation law at a federal and local …

The University Of New Mexico Compost Initiative’S Role In Establishing Community Based Environmental Justice, Francesca Galliano

Theses & ETDs

My thesis project regards the creation of the University of New Mexico’s Compost Initiative (UNMCI), a newly emerging compost program that has been decades in the making. This was made possible through the partnership with UNM’s Sustainability Studies Program, Lobo Gardens, and UNM Recycling. The UNMCI offers an efficient, resilient on-campus solution to organic food waste management and fosters environmentally friendly loci of control. While compost programs and the action of composting hold fundamental value, our current society presents challenges, some of which are cognitive blocks concerning willingness to engage with sustainability efforts, such as composting, and other greater than …

Reading Emerson To Save The World: American Transcendentalism And The Search For Identity And Virtue In The Anthropocene, Kendall Southworth

Theses & ETDs

This thesis introduces a living lineage of Transcendentalist philosophy, one which has historically inspired the most influential cultural revolutions of the nation. I suggest that the ethical and ideological frameworks which blossomed during the Transcendentalism Movement directly paved the way for the revolutionary social movements of the mid-1950s through the 1970s. From the genesis of the movement in the 19th Century to the modern epoch, I trace the peak revivals of American Transcendentalism through historical and philosophical contexts, underscoring the causal influences from one emergence to the next. Concluding the paper, I include excerpts from interviews of a diverse array …

Predicting Elasmobranch Habitat Partitining In A Coastal River, Simon Bustetter

Theses & ETDs

River systems are an understudied habitat type for elasmobranchs. In order to predict habitat use and partitioning across maturity states within the Manatee River, Florida, elasmobranch catch rates and environmental factors were analyzed using data from the 2018 to 2020 Gulf of Mexico Shark Pupping and Nursery (GULFSPAN) gillnet and longline survey. Boosted Regression Tree (BRT) analysis was conducted to determine the major environmental factors that impact species presence. General Linear Model (GLM) analysis was conducted on the principal species to determine significant environmental factors across species’ lengths. The Atlantic Sharpnose Shark (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae), Blacktip Shark (Carcharhinus limbatus), Bull Shark …

Flitter, Fly, Flock Analyzing The Parallel Migration Patterns And Shifting Life Cycle Stages Of The Red Admiral Butterfly, European Pied Flycatcher, And Human Climate Migrants In Relation To Climate Change, Lily Tanner

Theses & ETDs

Climate change and rising global temperatures are already having observable effects on small migratory species. The short lifespans of butterflies and extensive research on fall migratory birds makes them excellent species to observe for changes in life cycle and migratory patterns related to climate change. This meta-synthesis and accompanying animation analyzes literature on the Red Admiral Butterfly and European Pied Flycatcher, with a goal of finding whether one can use these patterns as a way to predict the movement of human climate migrants in a similar geographical area. Although there are significant patterns present in the research, it is impossible …

Love Bugs?: An Examination Of Aversion Towards Insects With Special Attention To The Butterfly, Rigel Clapps

Theses & ETDs

Insects tend to evoke feelings of fear or disgust and this thesis aims to examine potential reasons for such emotions. Fear itself is a complex neurobiological process, but it can be measured and reduced with proper efforts. Insects themselves, while plentiful, tend to evoke certain reactions due to several prevailing theories. One asserts that individuals tend to dichotomize insects into “good” or “bad” categories, while another claims that knowledge or the lack thereof may be at play. Insects also tend to be associated with contamination, suggesting that whether the insect is indoors or outdoors may play a role in determining …

Metabolomic Analysis Of Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera L.) Response To Glyphosate Exposure, Calypso Habermehl

Theses & ETDs

Glyphosate (GLY) is among the world’s most commonly used herbicides in agriculture and weed control. In the past decade, research has come forth suggesting that agrochemical use could have unintended consequences for non-target organisms, such as the honey bee (Apis mellifera), earth’s most prominent insect pollinator. The present study tested whether oral exposure to a environmentally realistic concentration (7.12 mg/L) of GLY affects the regulation of honey bee metabolites in a laboratory setting. I performed an experiment in which honey bees were fed sugar solution containing GLY over the course of ten days, with a control group receiving pure sucrose …

Blocking The Blockers: Charrettes, Urban Planning, And Deliberative Democracy, Adam Johnson

Theses & ETDs

The charrette is a participatory design tool for urban planners in which community members and experts deliberate over 4–7 days in design feedback loops, culminating in an actionable design plan. This in-depth proactive collaboration is in stark contrast to the typical public participation process, in which public hearings are often overrun by unrepresentative neighborhood opposition. Aiming towards a consensus between planners and residents, the charrette could be understood as a deliberative democratic forum that should result in greater community satisfac-tion with both the process and final design. However, while the charrette has had substantial use in the field it has …

The Covid-19 Pandemic, Brownfields, And Racism: Environmental Perspectives On Crisis Multipliers, Charlie Leavengood

Theses & ETDs

COVID-19 is a global pandemic highlighting historic, systemic inequities. The inequities are demonstrated through raw data of disease risk and severe outcomes of hospitalization or death. This thesis focuses on insights from the Multicultural Health Institute (MHI) during the Summer and Fall of 2020. MHI developed information about the infectious disease COVID-19 and through weekly strategic intervention community meetings. The work emphasized mitigating public health disparities through analysis of social determinants of health. The thesis focuses on Marian Anderson Place, a brownfield in Sarasota, Florida, because of its proximity to the historic Newtown district, the area of Sarasota with the …

What Determines The Success And Failure Of Environmental Crowdfunding?, Takahiro Kubo, Diogo Veríssimo, Shinya Uryu, Taro Mieno, Douglas Macmillan

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

Online crowdfunding can help address the perennial financial shortfalls in environmental conservation and management. Although many online crowdfunding campaigns fail to collect any funds due to not achieving their targets, little is known about what drives success. To address this knowledge gap, we applied a mixed-methods approach to data from 473 successful and failed campaigns hosted on the online crowdfunding platform Readyfor. We found that fundraising performance varied by topic, with campaigns on pet animal management outperforming those focussed on landscape management and sustainable use. We also found that marketing strategies associated with online findability and increased reach through social …

Animal-Human Vocabulary Builder, Domenick Acocella, Rene Cordero

Open Educational Resources

The assignment helps students individually build a usable, expanding vocabulary of terms and concepts, enabling each to further contribute to the ongoing, evolving written, oral, and visual conversations centered on the use of and thought about animals for food, clothing, work, entertainment, experimentation, imagery, and companionship.

Direction Of The Play: Another One, Chris Hansen

All Graduate Projects

Another One

Written and Directed by Chris Hansen, Spokane Falls Community College Theatre Department

Produced November 2020

This project encompasses the selection, research, casting, production, and post-production process of the play, Another One, for Spokane Falls Community College Theatre Arts Department. Documentation includes: analysis of the play for our program, research, script analysis, scenic and technical challenges of our time, a record of the production period and a post-production evaluation.

The Monadnock Volume 62, 2021, Clark University Geographical Society

The Monadnock (Clark Geographical Society)

Volume 62 of The Monadnock. The Monadnock was the alumni magazine of the Clark University Geographical Society (1927-1985) (2014-present).

University Of New Hampshire Graduate Academic Catalog, 2021-2022, University Of New Hampshire

Graduate Catalog

No abstract provided.

Memphis College Of Art Catalog, 2000-2001

Memphis Academy of Arts

Catalog of the Memphis College of Art in Memphis, Tennessee, for 2000-2001.

Great South Bay, Long Island, New York Summer Phytoplankton Identification & Monitoring Program, Cercom, Molloy University, John Tanacredi Ph.D., Kyle F. Maurelli

CERCOM Reports

Phytoplankton Collection Methodologies: 80 micron Plankton Tow Net with sample bottle attachment

Phytoplankton Protocol: 1.Gather Samples 2.Make one slide per sample 3.View slides using microscope connected with computer 4. Record findings using “ Row # “ and “ Colum letter “ 5. Record using “ Tally’s “ per species found within sample 6. Capture anything interesting “ Take Picture “ 7.Duplicate pictures taken 8.Make sure measurement of species found is taken 9. Email Jennifer Maucher at [email protected] , include pictures, questions and names of the species you “guess” you found.

2021 Idea Of Nature Public Lecture Series Schedule (Handbill), Samantha Harvey

The Idea of Nature Public Lecture Series

The goal of the series is to promote interdisciplinary inquiry about the environment and to foster dialogue across the campus and community, based on the premise that big questions need interdisciplinary answers.

How are conceptions of nature expressed in the sciences, literature, art, philosophy, music and other disciplines? How did ideas of nature change from 1660 to the present, a period of radical change and revolution?

These lectures are free and open to the public. Due to Covid-19 all lectures will be held through Zoom, please email [email protected] to register. A Zoom link will be sent to you …

Pathways To Coastal Resiliency: The Adaptive Gradients Framework, Elisabeth M. Hamin, Pamela K. Judge

Engineering, Computing & Construction Management Faculty Publications

Current and future climate-related coastal impacts such as catastrophic and repetitive flooding, hurricane intensity, and sea level rise necessitate a new approach to developing and managing coastal infrastructure. Traditional “hard” or “grey” engineering solutions are proving both expensive and inflexible in the face of a rapidly changing coastal environment. Hybrid solutions that incorporate natural, nature-based, structural, and non-structural features may better achieve a broad set of goals such as ecological enhancement, long-term adaptation, and social benefits, but broad consideration and uptake of these approaches has been slow. One barrier to the widespread implementation of hybrid solutions is the lack of …

Maternal Proximity To Mountaintop Removal Mining And Birth Defects In Appalachian Kentucky, 1997-2003, Daniel B. Cooper

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Background: Extraction of coal through mountaintop removal mining (MTR) alters many dimensions of the landscape, and explosive blasts, exposed rock, and coal washing have the potential to pollute air and water with substances known to increase risk of developmental and birth anomalies. Previous research suggests that infants born to mothers living in MTR coal mining counties have higher prevalence of most types of birth defects.

Objectives: This study seeks to examine further the relationship between MTR activity and birth defects by employing individual level exposure estimation through precise satellite data of MTR activity in the Appalachian region and maternal residence …

Laccase Bound To Cryogel Functionalized With Phenylalanine For The Decolorization Oftextile Dyes, Işik Perçi̇n Demi̇rçeli̇k, Yusuf Doruk Aracagök, Nesli̇han İdi̇l, Adi̇l Deni̇zli̇, Bo Mattiasson

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

In this study, amino acid functionalized poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-N-methacrylolyl-l-phenylalanine) [PHEMAPA] cryogel discs were prepared. In this respect, phenylalanine containing N-methacryloyl-(L)-phenylalanine methyl ester (MAPA) was polymerized with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) without requirement of any activation step. Laccase bound poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-N-methacryloyl-l-phenylalanine) [Lac-PHEMAPA] cryogel discs were applied for decolorization of Reactive Blue-247 (RB-247). The ability of Lac-PHEMAPA cryogel discs on dye decolorization was found to be as 90% in 2 h and even more within 4h. The decolorization activities of 86% and 73% were observed at relatively low (4°C) and high (60°C) temperatures, respectively. The effect of dye concentration on dye decolorization and 100% …

Highly Reproducible Electrochemical Sensors Towards Wearable Applications And Pharmaceutical Analysis, Mohammad Rostampour Kakroudi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) are widely used to monitor ions in various applications from environmental to clinical settings and pharmaceutical analysis. ISEs are a type of potentiometric sensor that provides a versatile, cost-effective, and efficient platform towards wearable sensing applications. Among the two different platforms of ISEs (solid-contact and liquid-contact), solid-contact ISEs are superior to ISEs with internal electrolytes (liquid-contact) since they are easy to be miniaturized, can be used in any environment and their portability is facilitated. Unfortunately, mass production and commercialization of such devices is often constrained by the requirement of sensor calibration. Thus, approaches for sensor manufacturing towards …

Community-Scale Beach Nourishment And Groin Construction Decisions Along Human-Modified Coasts : The Interplay Between Socioeconomics, Coordination, Tourism, And Shoreline Change, Arye Max Janoff

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

In response to coastal erosion driven by storms, sea-level rise, and local gradients in sediment supply, communities defend their homes and maintain beach recreation by widening beaches via soft engineering (i.e., beach nourishment) or hard engineering (i.e., groins). Past research has found that, at regional scales, the net effect of these interventions has in many cases not only counteracted historically observed beach erosion, but has reversed erosional trends, on average shifting shorelines seaward. While groins trap sediments locally at and upcoast of the structure relative to the direction of alongshore transport, however, they often have adverse downcoast impacts, resulting in …

Virginia Commonwealth University Undergraduate Bulletin [2021], Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Bulletins

Undergraduate bulletin for Virginia Commonwealth University for the academic year 2021-2022. It includes information on academic regulations, degree requirements, course offerings, faculty, academic calendar, and tuition and expenses for undergraduate programs.

Marine Anoxia And Ocean Acidification During The End-Permian Extinction: An Integrated View From Δ238u And Δ44/40ca Proxies And Earth System Modeling, Ying Cui, Feifei Zhang, Jiuyuan Wang, Shijun Jiang, Shuzhong Shen

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The largest mass extinction event in the Phanerozoic, known as the end-Permian mass extinction (or EPME, ca. 252 Ma) is coincident with the main eruption phase of Siberian Traps volcanism (ca. 252 to 250 Ma), a large igneous province (LIP). This LIP is estimated to have a volume larger than 2 × 10⁶ km³ and to have released both mantle carbon dioxide (CO2) through extrusions and thermogenic methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) through intrusions. The climatic consequences of these greenhouse gases is detrimental to both marine and terrestrial life and may have delayed the recovery of ecosystems …

Mentoring Youth In Eastern Humboldt, Jackeline Pedroza

Humboldt Geographic

No abstract provided.