Digital Commons Network^™

Progressive Digital Health Engagement And Genetic Testing Intention: Evidence From The Genetic And Rare Disease Evaluation (Garde) Health System Trial And The Health Information National Trends Survey (Hints7), Emma Coen

All Dissertations

Background Digital health technologies including patient portals, internet based health information seeking, and electronic communication platforms are central mechanisms for genomic risk communication and recruitment into genetic testing. Engagement with these tools occurs progressively rather than uniformly, and structural inequities may contribute to staged disengagement along digital health pathways. Identifying where disengagement occurs and whether it differs by demographic and contextual characteristics is critical for advancing equitable genomic implementation.

Objectives This dissertation evaluates progressive digital engagement and genetic testing intention across two complementary data sources. Aim 1 examines sequential engagement within a health system genomic outreach trial. Aim 2 evaluates …

Geography, Income, And The Incidence Of A Massachusetts Carbon Tax, Susan Stratton Sayre

Economics: Faculty Publications

I use spatial microsimulation to estimate the geographic incidence of the consumer-facing portion of various revenue-neutral carbon tax designs in Massachusetts. I identify a substantial urban-rural disparity in impacts that is reduced, but not eliminated, by proposed revenue-targeting mechanisms. I further demonstrate that seemingly small variations in the definition of rural households can have substantial impacts on urban-rural equity and the distribution of gains and losses. Proposed policies are highly progressive in the aggregate with most low-income households receiving more in rebates than they pay in taxes, but notable numbers of low-income households are likely to experience significant losses. Methodologically, …

Evaluating The Impact Of The Rejuvenation Project In Local Church Communities, Caleb Stayton

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Modeling Water Quality And Cyanobacteria Blooms In St. Lucie Estuary, Florida, Mohmmad Masudur Rahman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

The St. Lucie Estuary (SLE) on Florida’s east coast is vital for diverse aquatic life and provides essential services to local communities. However, the estuary’s health is threatened by water quality deterioration due to nutrient-driven phytoplankton blooms, particularly cyanobacteria, which have increased in frequency over recent decades. These blooms may worsen water quality by reducing dissolved oxygen, altering pH, and increasing turbidity. Moreover, some phytoplankton species, including Microcystis aeruginosa, a freshwater cyanobacteria species, produce harmful toxins, posing risks to both marine aquatic life and human health in this area. Primary nutrient sources in this estuary include watershed freshwater discharges, …

The Social Seam: Combating Social Isolation Through Architecture, Elissa Hammrich

Architecture Theses

A lack of walkable environments and well-supported public spaces has created a crisis of social disconnection across the United States. Historically, dating back to the public squares of ancient Greece, the public realm was a place of communal ritual from which citizens drew their primary identity. Today, however, modern cities are driven by commerce and technology, rapidly losing the genuine spaces that create face-to-face human interaction. By prioritizing the efficient movement of vehicles and goods over human connection, it has left behind fractured, isolated communities.

This thesis explores architectural strategies to combat this social isolation, focusing specifically on the Near …

Re:Grain: Elevating Community Through The Adaptive Reuse Of Grain Structures As A Catalyst For Downtown Development And Cultural Identity In Horace, North Dakota, Gracie Mae Erickstad

Architecture Theses

This thesis explores how the adaptive reuse of wooden grain elevators can preserve living heritage, sustain cultural identity, and anchor downtowns in small towns facing rapid suburban expansion. Centered on Horace, North Dakota, the study positions grain elevators as evolving typologies that respond to contemporary community needs while maintaining symbolic and material ties to the agrarian landscape. Through design research, site analysis, and comparative case studies, it develops strategies that integrate preservation, sustainability, and public engagement. Findings demonstrate that reimagined grain elevators can serve as multi-use civic anchors, fostering social cohesion, economic activity, and a sense of place amid dispersed …

Curating Sense-Of-Place In Residential Development: The Development Of A Strategy For Residential Construction, Ryan Anthony Calhoun

Architecture Theses

This thesis addresses the dual-faceted United States housing crisis, characterized by economic inaccessibility and a deteriorating sense-of-place due to urban sprawl and homogenous tract housing. The research investigates how architectural intervention can create a profound sense-of-place within the contemporary residential landscape despite escalating construction costs. By synthesizing phenomenology, housing economics, and urban planning, the study develops a new residential construction stratagem. This strategy utilizes social, economic, and ecological optimizations, such as shared liminal spaces, mass customization, and vernacular design, to foster community and identity. The research culminates in the design of "Prairie Haven,” a 174-lot medium-density neighborhood in Forest Lake, …

Life Beyond Architecture, Mauro Benvenutto

Architecture Theses

This thesis argues that the loss of public life in many contemporary American cities cannot be explained by architecture alone. While placeless, standardized, and emotionally thin architecture remains an important symptom of the problem, the deeper condition is urban: cities and neighborhoods have been reorganized around the private automobile, separated land uses, oversized parking fields, high-speed commercial corridors, and development models that prioritize convenience and efficiency over human scale. The result is an environment where people technically have access to buildings, sidewalks, shops, and roads, but often lack meaningful freedom of choice. Walking, biking, transit, lingering, and informal social life …

The Architecture Of Water Consciousness: Revealing Water, Culture, And Dwelling In Phoenix, Arizona, Luke Wendel

Architecture Theses

In the desert, water has always shaped how people dwell, build, gather, and survive. In Phoenix, Arizona, this relationship has become increasingly hidden behind canals, infrastructure, policy, and control. The river that once supported settlement is now often dry, and water is understood more as a managed resource than a visible presence in daily life. A reimagining is needed, as the future of desert cities depends not only on conserving water, but on changing how people experience and value it. Can architecture reveal water as something seen, felt, remembered, and shared? Located along the Rio Salado, this thesis proposes a …

Bridging The Urban Moat In Downtown Fargo: Downtown Riverfront Reconnection, Haitham Al Nemri

Architecture Theses

Downtown Fargo is the city's cultural and economic hub, but it is currently constrained by a lack of riverfront activation and an outdated limited variety of building typologies and uses along the eastern downtown edge. The main issue is the lack of a clear physical connection bridging the infrastructure that cuts the civic core off from the Red River. This thesis tackles this problem by proposing a "Reconnection Framework" that combines reusing existing infrastructure, adapting to the harsh "Winter City" climate, and adding mid-scale residential housing, to expand housing options in Fargo downtown. The design proposal transforms the downtown riverfront, …

Beyond The River's Edge: Reimagining Riverfront Parks And Landscapes For Stormwater, Flood Resilience, And Public Spaces In Fargo, Nd, Moumita Roy

Landscape Architecture Theses

Riverfront parks play an important role in managing stormwater, reducing flood risks, and improving ecological resilience in flood-prone cities. In Fargo, North Dakota, the Red River corridor functions as both a recreational landscape and a critical floodplain system, yet the stormwater and flood performance of these parks has not been systematically evaluated. This study developed a GIS- and hydrologic modeling–based framework to assess the landscape performance of Fargo’s riverfront parks and explore design strategies for more resilient public spaces. Using ArcGIS Pro, remote sensing, DEM analysis, field observations, and InfoWorks ICM simulations, the research identified runoff accumulation zones, flood-prone areas, …

Prairie Haven: Combating Urban Sprawl With Ecological Landscape Assemblage In Forest Lake, Minnesota, Ryan Anthony Calhoun

Landscape Architecture Theses

Contemporary residential developments frequently default to sprawl, creating fragmented environments that lack both environmental resilience and authentic human interconnection. This thesis explores how landscape architects can utilize Assemblage Theory to design residential developments where sustainable materials, ecological systems, and social elements dynamically assemble to create a meaningful, human-scaled sense-of-place. By synthesizing the structural planning efficiency of New Urbanism, the ecological imperatives of Landscape Urbanism, and the metrics-driven performance of Ecological Urbanism, this research develops a hybridized operational approach to residential development. Applied to a master plan in Forest Lake, Minnesota, the design for “Prairie Haven” demonstrates how treating a neighborhood …

Confluence: From Barrier To Connection: Reconnecting The Lower Ninth Ward To The Industrial Canal Through An Inhabitable Water Edge, Ciara Albrecht

Architecture Theses

Confluence reimagines the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans as a resilient waterfront community shaped by memory, ecology, and adaptive housing. Located along the Industrial Canal at the site of the 2005 levee breach, the project replaces defensive separation with an inhabitable water edge composed of amphibious housing, public circulation, constructed wetlands, visible water systems, and an underground memorial. The thesis argues that post-disaster rebuilding cannot be measured only by infrastructure or replacement housing, but by dignity, return, cultural identity, public health, and long-term stewardship. Through buoyant foundations, concealed mooring systems, passive climate strategies, and a spatial sequence that moves …

Resilient Placemaking: Enhancing Community Identity, Streetscapes, And Public Spaces In Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, Ellen R. Nampel

Landscape Architecture Theses

This thesis provides a plan to revitalize downtown Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, by improving its public spaces. While the downtown is currently stable, this research proactively addresses future risks like economic decline and the loss of local identity. By combining placemaking with urban resilience strategies, the study shows how better street designs can bring people together and support local businesses. The proposed design focuses on three goals: turning empty lots into flexible event spaces for community gatherings, making streets safer and easier to walk by reducing car dominance, and using local branding to celebrate the city’s history. These changes aim to …

Forging Resiliency: Designing For Wildfire Defenses In The Pyrocene Age In Paradise, California, Rebecca Anne Heide

Landscape Architecture Theses

Wildfires are becoming larger, hotter, and more destructive. California has been strongly impacted by large-scale wildfire disasters, with a number of fires in recent history resulting in significant loss of life and infrastructure. The Camp Fire, which destroyed over 85% of the town of Paradise, California in 2018, is one such event. Landscape architecture is a discipline uniquely positioned to address wildfire disaster resilience. This project uses case studies and ArcGIS data to reimagine a 1,600-acre site directly East of the town of Paradise, California. By using a multi-layered wildfire management strategy that uses the principles of resist, co-create, and …

Erasing Boundaries: Strategies For Universities And Cities In Developing Integrated Planning, Jack Quinn

Architecture Theses

The population of the Fargo-Moorhead area is steadily growing per year, however since 2010 both Concordia and Minnesota State University Moorhead have seen a steady decrease in students. Factors such as President Trump’s immigration policies, lower birth rates, and high school students who are doubting the value of a college education has set the stage for a difficult future for universities in the United States of America. This thesis will explore Town-Gown relations, studentification, and the strategies behind the best designed campuses in America. It will explore the relationship between neighboring schools, P3 developments, dive into what the Metro college …

Green Space Behind Bars: Designing For Resident Wellbeing At The Heart River Correctional Center Near Mandan, Nd, Kaja Holtz

Landscape Architecture Theses

This design thesis reimagines the environment of the Heart River Correctional Center by transforming the outdoor space into a therapeutic space for resident wellbeing. The current environments of minimum security correctional centers in the United States, focuses heavily on security and control without the emphasis on rehabilitation and reentry. In response, the design introduces organic pathways for framed views and meandering, social areas to promote joyfulness and meditative spaces for reflection and healing. Along with other programs and integrating these specific therapeutic spaces, this project aims to shed light on an overlooked environment and design for wellbeing.

Illinois State University, One Hundred And Sixty-Seventh Annual Commencement, May 2026, Illinois State Universtiy

Commencement Programs

Illinois State University

One Hundred and Sixty-Seventh Annual Commencement

May 2026

Weaving The Intangible: Architecture For Cultural Continuity, Eden Tesfaye

Architecture Theses

Weaving the Intangible begins with the understanding that culture is both carried and transformed when people move. It can create a sense of grounding in new places, yet it may also fade into memory when shared spaces to sustain it are absent. In diaspora, the difference between traditions that are still practiced and those that exist mainly in memory influences how younger generations understand and carry their cultural identity. This project explores how architecture can act as a medium for cultural continuity by giving spatial form to intangible heritage. Using the Ethiopian community in Alexandria, VA as the primary focus, …

Re:Place: Leveraging Cultural Memory To Transform Communities Through Adaptive Reuse, Olivia Leingang

Architecture Theses

This thesis investigates how adaptive reuse can leverage cultural memory to transform declining small-town economies, specifically addressing the socio-economic erosion in Mandan, North Dakota. By reimagining the 1958 Mandan High School as the "Mandan Marketplace," the research proposes a 165,000-square-foot multi-use commercial hub designed to reverse regional retail leakage and density imbalances. The project utilizes a research-driven Design Framework and Strategic Building Program to integrate 23 new amenities, including a food hall, business incubator, and wellness center, into the local fabric. Through a methodology of six adaptive reuse types, the design preserves the building’s role as a "custodian of memory" …

Ecological Insights And Management Implications Of The Global Migratory Connectivity Of Green Turtles, Jaime Restrepo, Dina Nisthar, Harris Wei-Khang Heng, Lily K. Bentley, Corrie Curtice, Sarah Deland, Ei Fujioka, Patrick N. Halpin, Sarah K. Poulin, Roldán A. Valverde

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Aim

Green turtles are a widely distributed and highly migratory species; despite extensive data on their movement, there is no species-specific global synthesis on the subject. Based on three decades of published literature and building on previous global analyses, we developed a global network model of migratory connectivity for green turtles to better understand their spatial biology.

Location

Global.

Time Period

1990–2022.

Major Taxa Studied

Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas).

Methods

We conducted a structured literature review extracting georeferenced information on the movement of green turtles from 1990 to 2022, aggregating this information into a single connectivity model, …

Using Satellite-Observed Geospatial Inundation Data To Identify The Impacts Of Floods On Firm-Level Performance: The Case Of China During 2000–2009, Pao-Li Chang, Fan Zheng

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper compiles high-resolution geospatial inundation areas of China for the period 2000–2009 based on satellite imagery repositories filtered by the Global Flood Database (GFD). In parallel, we geocode a comprehensive firm-level dataset of China and combine these two sets of geospatial data to identify the set of inundated firms in each year of flood events, as well as the distances of all non-inundated firms from the inundated areas. Given the high-resolution inundation data, we adopt a generalized dynamic-panel specification to estimate dynamic and spatial spillover effects of floods on firm-level production activities (including outputs, capital and labor inputs, and …

Fresh Phytoplankton Bloom Growth In The Fall And Its Control On Ocean Heating In The Pacific Arctic Region, Clare B. Gaffey, K E. Frey, Bonnie Light, Lee W. Cooper, Jacqueline M. Grebmeier

Geography

Delayed sea ice freeze-up and decreased sea ice extent in the Pacific Arctic region have altered light availability in marine waters, extending the ice-free season and increasing opportunities for photosynthetic activity and energy exchanges. This study investigates phytoplankton bloom progression during the fall using chlorophyll pigments and examines the impact phytoplankton have on heat distribution within the water column. Measurements of chlorophyll-a concentrations and its associated degradation product pheophytin were made in conjunction with optical measurements of light transmittance within the upper water column during the Synoptic Arctic Survey cruise in the Central Arctic Ocean and northeast Chukchi Sea in …

Public Pool Usage As Adaptation Against Urban Heat, Stefan Borsky, Eric Fesselmeyer

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper examines the relationship between urban heat and outdoor public pool usage. Using attendance data from all 53 outdoor public pools in New York City, we analyze nonlinear effects of heat on pool usage across socioeconomic contexts. Pool attendance rises sharply with heat, especially in low-income neighborhoods where alternative coping options are likely limited. We also find that public pools reduce heat-related emergency medical service calls. Our findings highlight the need for equitable investment in blue infrastructure to enhance urban climate resilience and demonstrate how this type of adaptive infrastructure can play a critical role in managing urban heat.

Latinos In Rural Areas Of Massachusetts, Phillip Granberry, Rodolfo R. Vega, Florita Coto Tristán, Rafael M. Pérez Medina

Gastón Institute Publications

In previous reports, the Gastón Institute has noted that the Latino population is dispersed across the state, but mainly to urban areas. In 2024, Latinos living in Massachusetts rural areas1 numbered 38,500, or 3.6% of the state's overall Latino population. Although Massachusetts is the third most densely populated among the fifty U.S. states, 52% of its land is classified as rural. These rural areas hold over 45% of the state's cities and towns and about 700,000 residents (9.9% of the total population). This report underscores the limited Latino presence in rural areas compared to urban areas and analyzes differences in …

Cities And Climate Change, Matthias Roth, Enric Aguilar, Winston T. L. Chow

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

We are pleased to present this special virtual collection of articles, highlighting the multifaceted interactions between cities, local climates, and global anthropogenic climate change. Climate change and urbanisation are the two global megatrends that transform human life and, at the same time, directly impact each other. Urban areas have the highest density of human populations and experience altered atmospheric conditions due to anthropogenic modification of natural physical settings and extra emissions of air pollutants and trace gases. One of the most obvious examples of climate modification due to humans is the urban heat island (UHI). This phenomenon describes urban regions, …

Spiritual Gentrification Amid The Rise Of Platform Urbanism: "Wanghong Temples" And Emerging Buddhist Cultural Economies In Tianzhu Road, Hangzhou, China, Han Zhang, Junxi Qian, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This study scrutinizes how the Tianzhu Road in the Lingyin Community - a peri-urban area in Hangzhou ringed by a cluster of temples that constitutes a distinct spiritual enclave - has been reworked through a two-phase gentrification process driven by the spiritual aesthetics and platform logics. Drawing on a two-month ethnography and media content analysis, this study conceptualizes spiritual gentrification as a spiritual aesthetics and culture-oriented recalibration of urban space in which spiritual elements operate as symbolic capital, attracting culturally motivated entrepreneurs and aligning the spiritual atmosphere with slow-life values as an alternative to urban modernity. In particular, platform urbanism …

Cycles Of Work And Shelter: Adaptive Architecture For The Rhythms Of Rural Labor, Gabriel Ketcham

Architecture Theses

This thesis explores temporary modular housing as a flexible, context-driven solution for North Dakota’s rural agricultural communities. As a land grant university, North Dakota State University carries a mission to address state needs, yet many small farming towns face growing challenges in providing seasonal and affordable housing for agricultural workers. By examining regional farm labor patterns, harvest seasonality, and construction logistics, this project proposes a modular housing system adaptable to various rural conditions. The design emphasizes mobility, adaptability, and durability, enabling North Dakota’s farming communities to reduce operational costs, minimize worker transportation demands, and lower carbon impacts associated with daily …

Why Followership Matters In Psychiatry: Rebalancing Our Obsession With Leadership, Rohit Shankar, Richard Laugharne, Regi Alexander, Kenneth R. Kaufman, Derek K. Tracy, Fabida Aria, Mayura Deshpande, Matthew Frost

Peninsula Medical School

SummaryPsychiatry emphasises leadership development, but neglects the equally universal and essential role of followership. Although most clinicians spend more time as followers than leaders, literature overwhelmingly favours leadership. Drawing on healthcare, socio-religious traditions and management science, the authors reframe followership as an active, values-driven role grounded in trust, motivation and moral courage rather than passive compliance. This editorial argues that effective followership is active, ethical and courageous. Nurturing good followers in mental health services is essential for good patient care, organisational integrity and sustainable leadership. Cultivating active followership strengthens safeguarding, transparency and organisational legitimacy. The editorial calls for psychiatry and …

Pre- And Syn-Eruptive Processes During Ancient Pre-Caldera Activity At Campi Flegrei (Italy): Petrology And Chemostratigraphy Of The Vitafumo And Miliscola Tuff-Cones, Lorenzo Fedele, Claudio Scarpati, Annamaria Perrotta, Ileana Santangleo, Federica Güll, Paul Cole

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

A detailed petrological investigation of the juvenile clasts from the deposits of the Vitafumo and Miliscola tuff cones is reported here, representing the first attempt to reconstruct the architecture of the plumbing systems of Phlegraean volcanoes preceding the caldera-forming Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) eruption. The Vitafumo and Miliscola juvenile clasts are remarkably crystal-poor to nearly aphyric, with sparse microphenocrysts of mostly sanidine, plus some plagioclase in the slightly crystal-richer and older Vitafumo samples. Groundmass glass compositions are trachytic and homogeneous for each volcano, with only slightly higher MgO, CaO and K ₂O and lower Na ₂O in the Miliscola …