2025 Annual Report Of The Nominating Committee, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

University Nominating Committee report including committee memberships, produced by the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

Iowa Waste Reduction Center Newsletter, August 2025, University Of Northern Iowa. Iowa Waste Reduction Center.

Iowa Waste Reduction Center Newsletter

Contents:

--- Announcing the IWRC’s Painter Training Team
--- Are On-Site Visits the Answer to Easing the Stress Environmental Compliance?
--- Wrap Up: The Rural Compost Operations and Compost Use Training Project
--- ICAW 2026 Poster Contest
--- Partner Events
--- Industrial News

Participatory Community Archiving To Preserve And Sustain North Georgia Appalachia’S Language, Literacy Practices, And Histories, Leah Panther Dr., Lindsey Walker, Presley Dyer, Tyler Osborn, Kerri Abernathy

Georgia Library Quarterly

This case study presents Swappin’ Stories, a community-based archiving event that serves as a model for public and participatory archiving. The event aimed to address gaps and misrepresentations of southern Appalachia by gathering the voices, artifacts, and stories of Towns County residents. By centering local narratives, it sought to foster a sense of community identity and offer an authentic portrayal of North Georgia, distinct from the narratives shaped by popular media and political figures. This case highlights the potential of community-driven archives to reclaim and reshape regional histories.

Crop, Soil Nutrient, And Soil Health Responses Within Integrated Crop And Livestock Systems, Alyssa K. Hall

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

We evaluated the influences of grazing livestock on crop production, soil nutrients, and soil health indicators of integrated crop livestock systems using three experiments during a seven-yr. period. Objectives were to (1) determine livestock grazing and cropping system effects on crop yield and soil properties across six yr. in corn-soybean (C-S) and wheat-corn-soybean (W-C-S) systems with and without periodic composted manure application, (2) explore seasonal variation in soil nutrient patterns over two yr., and (3) measure residual responses for corn grain yield plus soil health indicators in yr. seven following a six-yr. study. In experiment 1, neither livestock grazing ( …

August 2025, Swosu Rural Health Center

RURAL ROCKS

• Natural Probiotics: 7 Foods to Eat for Better Gut Health
• The Overlooked Link Between Vitamin D and GI Health

• Colorectal Cancer by Stephen Drinnon, Pharm.D.

• PHARMACIST’S IMMUNIZATION TRAINING PROGRAM

• PHARMACY TECHNICIAN IMMUNIZATION TRAINING PROGRAM

• How Pharmacies Can Address Social Drivers of Health

Integrating Art Therapy And Emerging Technologies For Enhanced Neuroplasticity And Ptsd Intervention, Piper Hutson, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains resistant to many conventional treatments, underscoring the need for integrative approaches that harness neuroplasticity. Art therapy, with its capacity to facilitate nonverbal trauma processing and multisensory engagement, has shown distinctive advantages over verbal and pharmacological interventions. Recent innovations, including virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), and biofeedback have amplified the therapeutic efficacy of art-based interventions by enabling adaptive, real-time modulation of emotional and physiological states. This review synthesizes current research on technologically enhanced art therapy, comparing it to established treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). Findings indicate …

Pricing The Unknown: An Analysis Of Expected Value Of Young Horses And Price-Determining Factors, Rupasri Sura

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

From a seller’s point of view in a market, it is crucial to plan the pricing strategies based on perceptions of buyer preferences and their willingness to purchase to ensure market success in selling and pricing. Applying this to the equine industry, this paper studies the factors determining the price of young horses (age ≤ 2 years) in digital auction platforms. Using data from Professional Horse Services, LLC (2012–2023), a Heckman’s two-step approach was employed, which involves a probit model as the first step and a hedonic price model as the second, aiming to correct for sample selection bias in …

An Exploration Of Occupational Stress And Heart Health In Policing, Jenna Hayes

Honors Projects

The stress and heart health of police officers, looking at how stress on the job and heart health are directly related. Police Officers face many challenges on the job and they face high stress environments. Their stress levels rise every time they are working, what does that do for their heart health?

Tree Rings And The Broader Ocean-Atmospheric Circulation In The Highland Himalayas, Sanjaya Bhandari

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Climate change has altered tree-growth patterns and resulted in higher sea-surface temperatures across the planet. The Himalayan biome is one of the most vulnerable areas in the world to climate change because it has caused changes in forests’ growth and glaciers’ retreat. Dendrochronology has been used to understand the impact of climate change on tree growth and for climate reconstruction. In this dissertation, I discuss the growth of trees in the highlands of the eastern, central, and western Himalayas for the last 500 years and relate these patterns to the present global warming scenario and broad-scale climate modes. I reconstructed …

University Of Tennessee At Chattanooga Faculty Handbook, 2025 August 1, University Of Tennessee At Chattanooga. Office Of Academic Affairs, University Of Tennessee At Chattanooga. Faculty Senate

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Faculty Handbooks

Governance, policies, guidelines, services, and resources managed by and for the faculty at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Axicons For Improved Resolution And Depth Of Focus In Adaptive Optics Scanning Light Ophthalmoscopy, Ruth E. Woehlke, Robert F. Cooper

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopes are instrumental for studying the eye, yet they use truncated Gaussian illumination and are limited by diffraction, restricting resolution and depth of focus (DOF). Non-diffractive Bessel beams have emerged as an alternative. Here, we use two axicons configured as: (1) an extended DOF beam for resolving multiple retinal layers; and (2) an annular beam for increasing lateral resolution. We compare both approaches to truncated Gaussian illumination using a variety of metrics. Using Configuration 1, we successfully observed multiple retinal layers simultaneously. Using Configuration 2, we observed enhanced lateral resolution but decreased signal-to-noise ratio.

The Vvv Near-Ir Galaxy Catalogue Of The Southern Galactic Disc, M. V. Alonso, L. D. Baravalle, J. L. Nilo-Castellón, C. Villalon, M. Soto, M. A. Sgro, I. V. Daza-Perilla, C. Valotto, M. Lares, Lucas M. Macri

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Context. The distribution of galaxies in the zone of avoidance (ZoA) is incomplete due to the presence of our own Galaxy.

Aims. Our research is focussed on the identification and characterisation of galaxies in the ZoA, using the new near-infrared (NIR) data from the VVVX survey in regions covering the southern Galactic disc (230° <  l <  350°).

Methods. We used our previously established procedure, based on photometric and morphological criteria, to identify galaxies. The large data volume collected by the VVVX required alternatives to visual inspection, including artificial intelligence techniques such as classifiers based on neural networks.

Results. The VVV NIR galaxy …

The Shape Of Absence: Diaspora And Echoes Of Mother In Lucy, Zahra Ebrahimi

All Theses

This thesis examines the impact of the motherland and maternal figure in shaping Lucy’s character in exile and her journey of self-discovery in Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy. It explores the role of the past in shaping Lucy’s present by focusing on colonialism and the influence of both the Antiguan and white maternal figures on her path toward independence and self-discovery. Throughout the narrative, Kincaid invites readers to follow the deep and complicated relationship between Lucy’s white mother, Mariah, and her mother in Antigua. These interactions shape Lucy’s character and encourage readers to view the story not just as the tale …

Development Of A Homogenized Material Model For Carbon Fiber–Aluminum Transition Joints Using Fea And Optimization, Nicholas M. Couch

All Theses

The integration of metals and composites in automotive structures improves manufacturability and overall structural performance. The proposed Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM) joint provides a promising solution for joining aluminum and carbon fiber; however, modeling its behavior across an entire vehicle can be computationally expensive. To address this challenge, a homogenized material card is developed to efficiently capture the joint’s mechanical response while maintaining computational efficiency. A novel characterization method is implemented, employing implicit simulations and optimization techniques to determine the effective material properties of the UAM transition joint. This approach enables rapid iteration of material parameters, facilitating the efficient evaluation …

Effect Of Amino Acid Derivatives And Polyphenol Supplementation On Skeletal Muscle Growth In-Vitro And In-Vivo, Gabriella C. Iheanacho

All Theses

Background

Satellite cells (SCs) are myogenic precursor cells that play a crucial role in muscle growth, and their activity can be influenced by nutrient supplementation. Muscle growth can also be stimulated using growth-promoting hormones; however, there are no approved growth hormones for use in sheep in the United States (Qaid & Abdoun, 2022). This limitation highlights a need to identify alternative compounds that would serve as nutrient supplements to enhance muscle growth and thereby improve meat production. Amino acid derivatives such as guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) and 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), along with the polyphenol quercetin, are naturally derived compounds that have shown …

Machine Learning Based Medical Ultrasound Image Classification And Grad-Cam Interpretation, Victoria C. Hemphill

All Theses

This work takes a step in creating a diagnostic tool for the classification decision process of Achilles tendinopathy using ultrasound images. An attention-based multiple instance learning model is developed to classify the images. Typically, doctors capture multiple ultrasound images of the Achilles tendon during a study to determine a complete diagnosis. Multiple instance models adopt this behavior by providing a single label for a set of instances (images). The images are grouped into ”bags” at the study level and passed into the model. The MIL model then uses its attention property to assign an importance score to each image to …

Visor-Zt: A Visibility, Simulation, And Operational Resilience Framework For Zero Trust Security In Ros 2, Noah Tinker

All Theses

Robotic systems are becoming more and more prevalent in modern society, with Robot Operating System 2 (ROS 2) being the dominant operating system for these implementations. Its popularity can be attributed to its design, which is purpose-built for distributed systems and asynchronous communications. However, ROS 2 security is static and therefore less capable of responding to contemporary threats and network behavior. This becomes a greater issue when considering its applications in the military and defense sectors, where security is of the highest importance. In recent years, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has implemented zero trust (ZT) security based on …

A Generalizable And Privacy-Preserving Framework For Anomaly Detection In Heterogeneous Iot Environments, Mahshid Rezakhani

All Theses

With the rapid growth of Internet of Things (IoT) devices across various sectors, detecting anomalies in such systems has become increasingly challenging. IoT environments produce diverse and evolving data streams, often lacking labeled examples, which limits the effectiveness of traditional machine learning models. These models typically require frequent retraining and struggle to adapt to new deployment conditions. This thesis proposes a flexible, privacy-aware framework for anomaly detection in multivariate time series data generated by heterogeneous IoT systems. The approach integrates a long short-term memory variational autoencoder (LSTM-VAE) with contrastive learning and adversarial adaptation, enabling the model to generalize across domains, …

Polyphenols For The Mitigation Of Vascular Calcification; In Vitro And In Vivo Studies, Abdullah Altuhami

All Theses

Globally, cardiovascular diseases, in most cases associated with calcification, are the main cause of death. However, currently, the only effective cure is to undergo surgery to augment or receive a healthy donor heart, which could be very difficult due to the long waiting list and the associated risks. The possibility of body rejection of the foreign organs is attributed to immunoreaction or the risk of infection, since the donor must be on immunosuppressant drugs that lower the body's immunity and facilitate the body's acceptance of the new organ as one of its own. Taking that into consideration, using tissue-engineered vascular …

Grain Boundary Migration And Radiation Induced Segregation In Fe-Cr Alloys, Mohit Dhoriya

All Theses

Radiation-induced segregation (RIS) is a significant phenomenon that occurs in alloys subjected to irradiation, particularly in environments such as nuclear reactors. This thesis investigates RIS in ferritic Fe- Cr alloys through the use of Atomic Kinetic Monte Carlo (AKMC) simulations, focusing on the interaction between solute atoms and migrating grain boundaries. The study explores the influence of temperature, solute concentration, and grain boundary velocity on solute drag, a critical process driving RIS. The results show that solute migration is strongly influenced by the presence of vacancies and interstitials generated under irradiation, which are absorbed by grain boundaries and other defect …

Effect Of Cigarette Smoke Extract And Nutrient Deficiency On Energy Metabolism And Biosynthesis: An In Vitro Intervertebral Disc Explant Culture Study, Avery E. Madden

All Theses

Low back pain consistently ranks among the leading causes of disability worldwide, with degenerative changes in spinal intervertebral discs (IVDs) recognized as a key contributor. Degeneration arises from the disruption of mechanical and biological cues within the disc’s cartilaginous tissue, often exacerbated by aging or injury. In recent decades, cigarette smoking has also been identified as a significant risk factor, as IVD degeneration is more prevalent among individuals with a history of smoking. Smoke inhalation is thought to promote degeneration both directly, by exposing cells to water-soluble toxic chemicals in smoke; and indirectly, through nutrient deficiency resulting from vasoconstriction and …

Effects Of Variation In Altitude And Temperature On The Restraining Force And Internal Gauge Pressure Of Constrained Dunnage Airbags, Charles R. Weaver

All Theses

Dunnage airbags are an increasingly popular choice for securing cargo. During transit, changes in ambient temperature and pressure can cause airbags to expand generating damaging horizontal compressive forces in the trailer or container. Previous studies have developed numerical models for the behavior of Kraft paper and woven polypropylene fabric dunnage airbags under standard conditions but do not account for the behavior of airbags under varied altitudes and temperatures. This study provides empirical data on the internal gauge pressure and restraining force dynamics of 4-ply Kraft, woven polypropylene, and polyvinyl chloride airbags under simulated altitude and temperature conditions. Tensile testing characterizes …

Determining The Impact Of Surface Roughness On Disinfection Efficacy Of Commercial Products Against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa And Staphylococcus Aureus Wet Surface Biofilms, Kayley Stallings

All Theses

Biofilms are resistant to many stressors including disinfectant treatments. Disinfection may be further complicated by biofilms formed on damaged surfaces, as the damaged parts provide bacteria a better place to attach and grow. To better understand the risks, a new method to standardize surface scratching, to emulate worn surfaces via surface roughness changes was developed. These surfaces were used to grow biofilms with an adapted standardized EPA method to determine disinfection efficacy differences on scratched and non-scratched high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and stainless steel (SS) coupons treated with commercial disinfectants [hypochlorite (CL)-based, hydrogen peroxide (HP)-based, and quaternary ammonium (QA)-based]. Post-80 grit …

Quantifying The Effect Of Initial Molecular Weight Distribution On The Degradation Of Linear Polyethylene At High Temperatures Using Dissipative Particle Dynamics, Cassandra L. Simpson

All Theses

Polyolefins are the primary contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and supply chain energy requirements with respect to other commodity polymers. In order to explore more efficient methods for recycling and upcycling these plastics, it is important to consider the kinetics of polymer fragments during the degradation process to more accurately reflect experimental outcomes. The molecular weight distribution of synthetic polymers is an important factor to consider when synthesizing, processing, and manufacturing industrial plastics. The breadth of this distribution, or dispersity, is determined by the ratio of the weight average molecular weight to the number average molecular weight, and is correlated …

Criminal Behavior Responses To Changing Penalties: Estimating The Impact Of Felony Theft Threshold Changes, Ezra R. Simmons

All Theses

This study estimates how criminal behavior changes in response to shifts in felony theft thresholds, contributing to broader evidence on the deterrent effects of criminal penalties. Using detailed incident-level crime reports, this study applies econometric techniques to evaluate how offenders responded to reduced penalties. Analyzed within is California’s Proposition 47, which raised the felony threshold for theft-related offenses from $450 to $950. The results show a significant increase in low-level shoplifting (approximately 21%) and more substantial rises (approximately 24% to 30%) in crimes within the threshold overlap ($450 to $950). Additionally, the value stolen in crimes below the $450 threshold …

A Comparative Study Of Land Use Regulations And Impact On Coastal Estuaries, Mabel W. Dadzie

All Theses

The study presents a mixed method and longitudinal assessment of land cover change, estuarine land loss, and policy implemented to address the past and anticipated estuarine losses in the Cooper River and North and South Santee watershed over the past twenty years. This study uses National Land Cover Dataset from 2001 to 2021, NOAA’s SLR projection data and planning documents from 1990 to 2025 to examine policy evolution among ten major themes. The results illustrate significant changes in land cover, notably the transition of wetlands, agriculture, and forests to developed land, as well as an evident spike in the integration …

Striped Bass (Morone Saxatilis) Movement And Habitat Selection In The Edisto River, South Carolina, Jacob Hill

All Theses

Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) are a commercially and recreationally important fish native to the Atlantic Coast of the United States. They possess a diversity of life history strategies, with northern populations tending to be anadromous and southern populations being primarily river residents. In general, southern populations are less studied, posing challenges for effective management. Between 2019 and 2024, we tagged 37 Striped Bass with acoustic telemetry transmitters in order to study seasonal migration patterns and summer habitat selection. We estimated migration probability for both the spring and fall Striped Bass migrations using data from an array of passive …

Impact Of Cysteine And Tyrosine Dipeptides On Cho Cell Performance In A Perfusion Mimic, Corrin L. Pruitt

All Theses

Perfusion cell cultures typically achieve higher cell densities and generate higher volumetric productivities than fed-batch cultures due to continuous nutrient supply and spent media removal. Despite these advantages, perfusion cell cultures remain underutilized for licensed product manufacturing, primarily due to the lack of small-scale perfusion models for high-throughput process development and the complexities involved in media formulation capable of supporting high cell densities during long-term continuous operation. To avoid nutrient limitation at high cell densities, current perfusion processes rely on using higher perfusion rates, which results in significant media wastage and downstream product dilution. Therefore, there has been an effort …

The Effect Of Tort Liability For Prescribed Burns On Wildfire Severity: Evidence From Georgia’S 2000 Policy Reform, John Patrick Phillips

All Theses

This paper aims to estimate the effect of Georgia’s shift in its prescribed fire tort liability standard from simple negligence to gross negligence on the area burned by wildfires on privately owned land. In response to wildfire damage, some states in the Southeast relaxed their liability standards, aiming to promote more prescribed burns and to better control future wildfires. Using the variation of these policy changes, I construct difference-in-difference models to estimate the treatment effect of Georgia’s policy change in July 2000, using counties in North and South Carolina as the control group. I stagger my regressions, adding covariates and …

Exploring Commuter Cyclists' Experiences Commuting In And Around Clemson University, Trevor S. Romans

All Theses

Climate change is a global issue, and high rates of automobile usage contribute to substantial social, environmental, and economic issues. One potential partial solution is creating bicycle-friendly communities. Research suggests that bicycle use leads to benefits in physical health, environmental sustainability, economic savings, and social justice. Research supports the roles of infrastructure development, safety policies, and other transportation planning initiatives in increasing bicycling, but less research has been completed about what is needed to develop bicycle-friendly communities. While physical infrastructure affects willingness to commute by bicycle, research suggests that understanding psychological factors and other behavioral aspects is also important for …