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Ice Velocity And Basal Motion Evolution Of Mountain Glaciers On Multi-Decadal To Centennial Timescales, David Polashenski

Geosciences

The surface velocity of a glacier or ice sheet consists of two components, viscous deformation throughout the ice column and basal motion comprised of sliding along the bed and the deformation of subglacial till. Changes in basal motion on multi-decadal to centennial timescales could result in either a positive or negative feedback which accelerates or delays ice mass loss rates. Most glacier systems maintain a relatively stable ice flux, while surge type glaciers are prone to large flow instabilities between their surging and quiescent phases. How fast and how much basal motion will change in response to higher temperatures is …

Pinpointing Magma Processes In Time And Space, Jamshid Akbar Moshrefzadeh

Geosciences

Volcanic eruptions pose major threats to society, including loss of human life, negative economic impacts, and environmental ramifications. As the global population continues to grow, so does the amount of people living in proximity to volcanoes. Volcanic eruptions are often triggered by perturbations in the magmatic system, which are caused by a variety of magmatic processes, such as magma recharge, magma ascent, and magma mingling. We applied diffusion chronometry, the technique of modeling chemical diffusion across mineral zones, to the 2009 eruption of Redoubt, and the 2016-2017 eruption of Bogoslof, in order to determine and date the pre- and syn-eruptive …

Hudson Earns Community Leadership Award, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Empathetic. Driven. Supportive. Engaged.

Those are just a few of the many adjectives nominators used to describe Nashuba Hudson, the recipient of the 2024 Student Leadership in Fostering Community and Inclusiveness Award. Hudson, a 3L from Chicago, was presented the award today (Aug. 16) as part of the concluding events of this year’s 1L Orientation.

Established in 2018, the award, which comes with a $2,000 scholarship, celebrates a student who “goes above and beyond to foster our diverse, inclusive, supportive, and welcoming community.” Recipients are honored for their work in the previous year.

Hudson is the first Black woman to …

Evaluating Cultural Competency In Health And Exercise Science Education: A Study Of College Student Perceptions And Abilities, Claire Woebke

Doctorate in Kinesiology

This dissertation examines the necessity and impact of integrating cultural competence training within a Health and Exercise Science curriculum. Based on participant interviews and IAPCC-SV survey data, critical gaps in current educational practices and proposed strategies for curriculum enhancement were identified. The findings suggest that embedding cultural competency training in all courses, through experiential learning opportunities and continuous professional development, would be most effective in raising future healthcare providers’ confidence in providing culturally sensitive care.

Utilizing Different Machine Learning Algorithms To Progress Geomagnetic Field Modeling From Solar Wind Drivers For Geomagnetically Induced Current Detection And Prevention, Matthew Blandin

Physics

Geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) are capable of damaging existing infrastructure on the ground with the fear of prolonged and extensive global damage. We aim to predict when and where these GICs may occur with a lead time sufficient to provide preventative actions to mitigate the damage of GICs. We utilize different machine learning algorithms, as part of the Machine-learned Algorithms for GICs in Alaska and New Hampshire (MAGICIAN) team, to create both localized and global predictions of the geomagnetic field from solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field data. In my first paper, I utilize Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) neural networks …

Solar Wind Driving Of The Cross Polar Cap Potential: A New Outlook On The Saturation Problem With A Data-Driven Approach, Pralhad Itani

Physics

The cross polar cap potential (CPCP) serves as an indicator of the energy flow into the magnetosphereionosphere system and can saturate during geomagnetic storms as the solar wind electric field increases. In this project, we investigated the uncertainties in the cross polar cap potential saturation problem by examining the differences in its estimation from different sources. We first focused on the relationship between the CPCP from different sources and their relationships with SuperMAG Auroral Electrojet (SME) and Auroral Electrojet (AE) indices to try and find different distributions. We then tried to find the relationship between CPCP values with solar wind …

@Egan Newsletter 2024 Convocation Edition, Egan Library University Of Alaska Southeast

Egan Library News

No abstract provided.

Direct And Cascading Effects Of Sea Star Wasting On Rocky Intertidal Communities, Mack Hughes

Marine Biology

Predation is an important driver of rocky intertidal community structure. Top predators like sea stars often regulate competitive species like barnacles and mussels by preying on them, which maintains ecosystem diversity. Fluctuations of top predators can have cascading effects in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments, often resulting in the restructuring of communities and ecosystems into alternative states. Sea star wasting (SSW) was a large-scale disturbance, starting in 2013 in the East Pacific Ocean and ranging from Alaska to Mexico, that removed sea stars from the rocky intertidal. While recovery has been ongoing in many places, community-wide effects may persist in …

Characterizing Ocean Change Impacts On Three Marine Species Vital To Recreational, Subsistence, And Commercial Fisheries In Alaska, Marina Washburn Alcantar

Marine Biology

Global climate change, facilitated by increased greenhouse gas production, is driving physical and chemical alterations to the marine environment, including a long-term decrease in oceanic pH, referred to as ocean acidification (OA), and an increase in global marine temperature, referred to as ocean warming (OW). Alterations to the chemistry and temperature of the marine environment may result in bottom-up community restructuring mediated by changes in food web dynamics. In Alaska, there are many species-specific knowledge gaps, thus necessitating an assessment of the potential sensitivity of said species to climate change-related conditions. Pacific razor clams (Siliqua patula), bidarkis (Katharina tunicata), and …

Documenting Food Insecure U.S. Children In The Wake Of The Pandemic, Courtney Bir, John Lai, Nicole Olynk Widmar

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Many households experienced significant negative economic impacts from job or work opportunity loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, including loss of income, loss of employer-provided health insurance, possible housing insecurity, and increases in food insecurity. Results from a sample of 929 U.S. households show that 53% of households with children reported some indications of food insecurity in 2020. The food security score divergences between households with and without children are stark, with food insecurity being worse among households with children. Food insecurity for households with children was exacerbated by pandemic-era disruptions; the societal costs of these food insecurity challenges are only …

Inferring Eruption Dynamics From Seismometer-Derived Ground Tilt Measurements: A Case Study Of Two End-Member Volcanic Systems, Michael Christoffersen

Geosciences

Modern broadband seismometers are inertial sensors, and are sensitive to ground tilt as a conse­ quence of this design. We use broadband seismometers positioned on Mt. Erebus on Ross Island, Antarctica, and Augustine Volcano in the Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska, to recover tilt measurements during individual volcanic explosions to investigate the magmatic system configuration of each volcano. At Mt. Erebus, thought to be an end-member open conduit volcanic system, we find no evidence of tilting associated with the Strombolian explosions produced by the volcano. Because tilt preceding Strombolian explosions has been observed at other volcanoes, we interpret the lack of …

Lessons From The Old School: Phenological Responses Of The Horsetail Equisetum Arvense To Experimental Air And Soil Warming In Interior Alaskan Boreal Forest, Will Q. Hendricks

Biological Sciences

Although there are many studies on plant phenological shifts due to climate change, few of them focus on the phenological responses of seedless vascular plant species to warming climate. The boreal forest biome contains ~ 30% of the carbon stored by forests globally and horsetails with their circumboreal distribution are abundant in the boreal forest. Understanding the phenological response of horsetails to warming air and the timing of ground thaw is an important component for understanding how much carbon will be fixed by plants in the boreal biome in the future warmer climate. To examine the effects of air and …

Body Condition Of Pacific Common Eiders Breeding Along The Beaufort Sea Coast Of Alaska, Elyssa M. Watford

Biological Sciences

Pacific common eiders (Somateria mollissima v-nigrum; common eiders) are capital breeding seaducks that fast throughout their ~26 day incubation period. The incubation fast includes three metabolic phases: (I) a transition from feeding to using energy stored during the pre-breeding season, (II) the use of stored lipids for energy, and (III) the use of stored protein for energy as lipid reserves near depletion. With limited energy reserves for incubation, common eiders are more vulnerable to factors that increase the metabolic demands of reproduction, such as climate change or disturbance. We assessed the following metrics of body condition: mass, packed-cell volume, β-hydroxybutyrate, …

Adaptive Strategies And Energetic Profiles Of Bacteria In Permafrost And Temperate Environments: A Comparative Study, Hannah Woody

Biological Sciences

Exploring microbial life in extreme conditions has not only challenged our definition of habitability but is expanding our understanding of where extraterrestrial life may occur. Permafrost, which covers approximately 27% of Earth’s surface, offers a unique window into microbial resilience in an extreme sub-zero environment, which is considered analogous to environments found on icy planets like Mars. Despite such harsh conditions, permafrost sustains diverse and active microbial communities. However, the energy dynamics and genomic adaptations that enable their survival remain largely unexplored. Here, we compare the maintenance energy requirements and genomic traits of permafrost-derived bacteria with bacteria from temperate environments …

Up For The Challenge: Advancing Social Justice, Dominique P. Mcmurray

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

MSW Portfolio: A Comprehensive Showcase of Academic Work and Achievements

This paper demonstrates the professional development during the Master of Social Work program at the University of Montana. It illustrates the mastery of 5 elements of integrated practice, 9 competencies outlined by the Council on Social Work Education, and one University of Montana-specific competency.

Divergence And Adaptation In Beringian Birds, Caitlyn C. Oliver Brown

Biological Sciences

Beringia is a high-latitude hotspot of avian divergence and speciation. The unique biogeography of Beringia impacted avian speciation in two ways: through the cyclic appearance of the land bridge between the Asian and North American continents and through glacial refugia. These cyclic processes repeatedly split and connected avian populations, alternately reducing and increasing opportunities for gene flow between populations. In this thesis, I examine how this dynamic system impacted Beringian avian taxa using population genomic analyses. First, I examine broad patterns of divergence and gene flow across 11 lineages of birds using ultraconserved elements (UCEs), which are a multi-locus subsampling …

Immunoregulatory Properties Of Immune Cells That Associate With The Lens Capsule Surface During Acute And Resolution Phases Of Experimental Autoimmune Uveitis, Phuong M. Le, Mary J. Mattapallil, Rachel R. Caspi, Mary Ann Stepp, A. Sue Menko

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Inflammation in the eye is tightly regulated to prevent vision impairment and irreversible blindness. Emerging evidence shows that immune cells are specifically recruited to the lens capsule in response to autoimmune uveitis, yet the potential that they have a role in regulating this inflammatory disease remained unexplored. Here, an immunolocalization approach combined with high-resolution confocal microscopy was used to investigate whether the immune cells that become stably associated with the lens capsule in the eyes of C57BL/6J mice with experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) have an immunoregulatory phenotype. These studies revealed that during the acute phase of uveitis, at day 18 …

Towards Reciprocity In Common Ravens, Corvus Corax, Near Anthropogenic Food Sources In Interior Alaska During Winter, Amelia Rose Beausoleil

Biological Sciences

Ravens, Corvus corax, and other corvids are intelligent birds that are the focus of many studies, such as in-depth dives into potential facial recognition and tool use to name a few. Despite these numerous behavioral studies, ravens lack an accessible basic universal ethogram and have rarely been observed in their undisturbed, natural state. Due to this, my study focuses on free-roaming common raven behavior in Fairbanks, Alaska, for which I utilize exploratory analysis to identify patterns in collected data. In doing so, I show how data mining and machine learning can further support behavior research with a systems perspective in …

Survival, Harvest, And Abundance Of Waterfowl Populations Using Tag-Recoveries, Harvest Data, And Bayesian Estimation, Cody Deane

Biological Sciences

Annual harvest, survival, and abundance are three of the most monitored vital rates of waterfowl populations in North America. Annual harvest and survival probabilities are estimated from harvest tag-recovery data, which is a form of capture-mark-recapture data, while abundance estimation varies with species. While tag-recovery models were parameterized over 30 years ago, modern applications of these models often estimate harvest and survival probabilities as random effects drawn from Normal distributions. We evaluated tag-recovery models for reliable parameter estimation relative to different 1) monitoring scenarios varying by total individuals tagged annually, 2) prior distributions for the standard deviations of random effects, …

The Effect Of Permafrost Thaw On Merucry- And Methane-Cycling Microbes And Their Potential Interactions, Rebecca Olson

Biological Sciences

In this study, I investigated potential interactions between methane and mercury cycles in boreal forest soils. Additionally, I examined the changes in these cycles relative to shifts in soil moisture along an environmental soil moisture gradient. This investigation is pertinent due to the escalating rate of permafrost thaw driven by climate change in Arctic and subarctic ecosystems. Permafrost thaw leads to increased soil moisture, fostering favorable conditions for anaerobic microbial processes such as mercury methylation, methanogenesis, and anaerobic methanotrophy. Microbial mercury methylation creates monomethylmercury, a neurotoxin that accumulates in aquatic food webs. Methane cycling results in the production of greenhouse …

Sound Attenuation Of Air Entrainment Devices With Hybrid Acoustic Silencer, Tad Nelson

Engineering

The sound from operating traditional medical ventilators have been found to exceed recommended sound levels. This thesis addresses the sound attenuation by numerically studying the feasibility of an integrated ventilation system that connects a medical Venturi device serially to a slit-type Helmholtz resonator (SHR) embedded with an optional micro-perforated panel (MPP), with the goal of preserving ventilation while attenuating any undesired noise in the audible range. Compared with a base SHR model, the SHR embedded with a 0.9-mm-pored MPP exhibits an improved broadband transmission loss (TL) by 4 dB but without any adverse influence on the ventilation. Through finite element …

Effect Of Macroalgae Diet On Growth Rate And Nutrition Of The Pinto Abalone, Haliotis Kamtschatkana, James Crimp

Marine Biology

Developing methods for the cultivation of the pinto abalone, Haliotis kamtschatkana, has seen increased attention, both by groups using restoration aquaculture to reestablish endangered populations in Washington and British Columbia, and in the State of Alaska, where pinto abalone are viewed as a promising new species for commercial mariculture. To enhance the viability of cultivating H. kamtschatkana for commercial and restoration purposes, more information is needed on the optimal macroalgal diet that maximizes abalone growth and nutrition. This study compares the suitability of two commonly cultivated species of macroalgae as feed: Saccharina Iatissima, a kelp with relatively low protein content, …

Sea Otter Interactions With Mariculture Oyster Farms, Emily Reynolds

Marine Biology

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are considered a keystone species and can be found around mariculture oyster farms. While oyster farms and sea otters have been coexisting in some locations, sustaining these farms, and the growing interest in expanding them, necessitates a comprehensive evaluation of potential interactions. Here, sea otter interactions with oyster farms were assessed through behavioral observations (i.e., activity and foraging dives) in oyster farms, adjacent non-farm areas (controls), and bays with no farming activity (references). Behavioral observations, conducted through scan surveys, captured sea otter activities (e.g., resting, grooming, swimming, and foraging). Targeted foraging observations tracked foraging success and …

Msw Portfolio From The Lens Of A Clinical Social Worker, Madeliene Hamilton

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

My portfolio is an in-depth exploration at the journey that has led me here to my MSW with a comprehensive outline of my practicum and work experiences alongside coursework. My hope to anyone who reads this is that you can see my passion for this work and truly understand how each competency was learned and practice.

Msw Portfolio, Olivia Calvi

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Msw Portfolio Narrative, Katherine P. Blaedow

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

The Council on Social Work Education and University of Montana School of Social Work require the mastery of ten competencies before graduates are awarded their Master of Social Work degree. In this paper, I share my experiences in mastering these ten competencies and reflect on my graduate degree experience.

Msw Portfolio, Briar Gaither

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

A look at my personal journey through the MSW program, what I experienced and learned, and what I gained. Features my many papers and projects from the program

Professional Portfolio: A Social Work Journey Through The 10 Competencies, Tessa Rae Nelson

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

The Professional Portfolio demonstrates Tessa Nelson's work through the 10 competencies of social work. This portfolio emphasizes what the student has learned and how it has impacted their social work practice.

Msw Professional Portfolio, Nicholas Caron

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This paper demonstrates my experience gained through the Online MSW program at the University of Montana.

Unlocking Over A Decade Of Insights: Large Bull Shark (Carcharhinus Leucas) Movement Behaviors In The Western North Atlantic Ocean, Jasmine D. Nyce

Fisheries

Marine predators, particularly elasmobranch species like bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas), play crucial roles in maintaining marine ecosystems but face threats due to anthropogenic impacts and global climate change. Management and conservation of these species incorporate an understanding of their movement behaviors and spatial distribution, which is currently understudied for large bull sharks in the Western North Atlantic (WNA). Therefore, this thesis focuses on understanding bull shark movement patterns in the WNA, including pregnant females. We first examine the movement behaviors of bull sharks from 2009 to 2023 using extensive passive acoustic telemetry data from the Bimini Biological Field Station (BBFS) …