A Practical Guide To Science Writing & Publishing, Ryan W. Mcewan

Department of Biology Open Educational Resources

This document contains advice that I developed for students working in my research lab and represents an approach to science writing that is in some ways very basic, and in others, quite idiosyncratic.

Writing is a creative process and as you advance as a science writer you will get stronger, and stronger, and you will develop your own process. At some point, someone might give you different advice about science writing than what you find here. If you join a research lab your PI might have their own program. You should absorb all of the good advice you can find. …

At Risk Students: Ensuring A Successful Transition Into High School, Angela Espada

Education Theses and Dissertations

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice concentrated on the persistent problem of freshman course failure at a large, diverse, Title I high school serving a military-connected community in Central Texas. Although intervention programs existed, an increasing number of ninth-grade students were consistently failing one or more courses during their first year of high school, which revealed several gaps in the campus’s system of support. The Improvement Science framework and two Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles were used to examine the factors contributing to freshman course failure and to assess the interventions implemented to improve academic success as students transitioned into high school. …

Contents, North Carolina Law Review

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nonunanimous Acquittals, Peter Povilonis

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

State Medical Licenses Without Borders, Meighan Parker

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Qui Tam Relators As Article Iv Officials, Chad Squitieri

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Our Federalism" Reexamined: Federal Jurisdiction Through The Lens Of American Political History, Martin H. Redish, Samuel Pritchard

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Property Of The People" So Long As They Can Sue: How North Carolina's Public Records Law Fails To Account For Ignored Requests, Emily Christine Gajda

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unlocked And Unloaded: How State V. Cable Made North Carolina's Safe Storage Law Unenforceable, Annabelle Rice

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

In Reply To The Letter To The Editor Regarding "The Effect Of Glp-1 Receptor Agonists On Reoperation Following Anterior Cervical Discectomy And Fusion", Nicholas C. Bank, Daniel Whittingslow, Sam Duggan, Joshua L. Morningstar, Douglas S. Weinberg

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

No abstract available

History, Myth, Courage, And Selflessness: Kate Shelley And The Bridge Of Darkness, Stephen M. Jennings

All Theses

This thesis documents the research, creative development, and production of the animated short film Kate Shelley and the Bridge of Darkness. The project is inspired by the historical account of Kate Shelley, a fifteen-year-old girl who in 1881 crossed a railroad bridge during a violent storm near Moingona, Iowa, to warn a nearby train station of a catastrophic bridge collapse. Over time, Shelley’s actions became both a documented historical event and a subject of mythologized retellings in American cultural memory. The film explores this tension between history and legend through an interpretation that balances historical research with cinematic storytelling. The …

Immersive Attraction Design Using Real Time Virtual Production Techniques: A South Carolinian Ghost-Lore Dark Ride, Gabrielle M. Delo

All Theses

The role of themed entertainment can serve as a tool for cultural enrichment by integrating regional folklore into attraction design, using South Carolina’s “Gray Man” legend as the narrative foundation for a proposed dark ride. This project highlights how attractions can introduce wider audiences to lesser-known folktales while fostering appreciation for regional identity. It also examines the use of real-time virtual production, specifically using Unreal Engine 5.5, as a unified platform for previsualizing narrative-driven environments, enabling efficient iteration and integration of both physical and digital storytelling elements. This project positions game engine technology as a means of preserving and communicating …

Evaluating Drug Concentration Profiles In Wastewater To Develop A Framework For Estimating Drug User Populations, Carl Michael E. Espinosa

All Theses

Chemical compounds, including licit and illicit drugs can be measured in wastewater and used to assess community drug consumption, providing valuable information for public health agencies, law enforcement, and local communities. While previous research primarily focused on estimating the per capita community drug consumption using back-calculation, this research focused on utilizing literature-derived parameters including drug dosage, renal excretion fraction, and sewer stability to develop a framework to estimate the user populations using Monte Carlo simulations. Samples were collected from two wastewater treatment facilities representing the Generostee Creek WWTP’s sewershed (GCS) and Mauldin Road WRRF’s sewershed (MRS). The target analytes included …

Characterization, Transport Modeling, And Image Analysis Of Rover-Terrain Interaction For Lunar Regolith In-Situ Resource Utilization, Luke A. Manolescu

All Theses

NASA has declared a return to the lunar surface and the need and demand for sophisticated In-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) is the highest in history. ISRU will require regolith excavation, transport, and processing in order to harvest the valuable resources available, support surface operations, and keep astronauts alive. Characterizing the lunar regolith is essential to understanding the mechanical and physical behavior of the material that will be used to construct berms and structurally support astronaut habitats and landers. Any construction on Earth requires an in-depth geotechnical site assessment prior to any construction to rule out any potential site issues that …

Charleston's Cottages: A Comprehensive Study Of Freedman's Cottages In Charleston, South Carolina, Hamzah C. Jule

All Theses

The freedman’s cottage is a distinct vernacular building type in Charleston, South Carolina. Though it is recognized for its historical significance, the freedman’s cottage remains one of the most understudied building typologies in Charleston. This thesis presents a comprehensive study of the freedman’s cottage, possible origins, chronology, material composition, geographic distribution, and architectural expressions. Identified by its architectural form – a one-story, pen-style, dwelling spanning one room wide and two rooms deep; adorned with a Charleston piazza – this vernacular architecture has decorated the Charleston landscape since. The freedman’s cottage has undergone numerous changes throughout its history, though final iterations …

Investigating The Effects Of Draw Parameters On The Refractive Index Profiles Of Phosphosilicate Fibers, Brandi Baldus

All Theses

P₂O₅ is a common dopant core material in silica-based glass optical fibers, in part due to its ability to increase the refractive index of silica, required for the fiber to guide light. However, P₂O₅-doped fibers can show a significant decrease in the refractive index profile compared to that of the parent preform. The question arises as to whether the refractive index decreasing could be a direct result of the fiber draw process and, if so, what is it about the draw process that causing such changes in phosphosilicate fibers. More specifically, this Thesis explores the hypothesis that these draw-induced reductions …

Evaluation Of High Temperature Thermal Energy Storage At A Field Site, Samuel R. Jennings

All Theses

A pilot-scale high-temperature thermal energy storage site has been developed at Clemson University and began operation in April 2025. High-temperature heat transfer fluid is circulated through a hexagonal array of borehole heat exchangers, which are installed up to 35 ft deep in the subsurface. The thermal energy is stored in the ground and is extracted by circulating the heat transfer fluid at a lower temperature. This test was expected to last more than six months and there was no way to evaluate the temperature data being measured. Since only temperature was being monitored, it was difficult to predict when key …

Evaluating Pfas And Marine Microbial Interactions In Estuarine Sediments With Varying Urbanization And Assessments Of Microbial Responses To Pfos, Zachary J. Padgett

All Theses

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a diverse class of synthetic chemicals that have become globally distributed due to their extensive use in industrial and consumer products and their extraordinary resistance to environmental degradation. Their persistence and documented toxicity have made them a growing concern in coastal environments, particularly in estuaries where urban runoff, wastewater, and industrial discharges concentrate these compounds. Estuaries are unique in that tidal mixing and interactions with fine-grained sediments and organic matter promote PFAS retention, while the microbial communities living directly within estuarine sediments are positioned where PFAS preferentially accumulate, creating conditions for prolonged exposure and …

Electrokinetic Flow Instabilities In Non-Newtonian Fluids With Conductivity Gradients, Md Mainul Islam

All Theses

Electrokinetic instabilities (EKI) arise in electrically driven flows because the applied electric field interacts with spatial variations in electrical conductivity, generating electric body forces that can destabilize fluid interfaces. EKI can be beneficial by enhancing mixing in microchannels where diffusion is slow, but it can also be detrimental by disrupting stable sample transport, focusing, and separation. EKI has been widely studied in Newtonian fluids, and the electric Rayleigh number is known to govern the onset of this instability. However, very few studies have examined its behavior in non-Newtonian fluids, despite their prevalence in biological, chemical, and industrial applications. 

This thesis …

Addressing Food Pantry Capacity To Offer Medically Tailored Groceries For Food Insecure Individuals With Chronic Disease In Rural South Carolina, Anna G. Taylor

All Theses

This study examines the feasibility of implementing medically tailored grocery (MTG) programs within rural food pantries in South Carolina to better serve food-insecure individuals living with chronic diseases. Using a mixed-methods design, the study aimed to assess current pantry capacity, identify barriers and facilitators to MTG implementation, and evaluate strategies to strengthen MTG delivery.

The intervention was guided by three implementation science frameworks: the Six-Step Knowledge Sharing Model, the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), and the RE-AIM evaluation framework. Data collection occurred in two phases. In Phase 1, statewide focus groups, capacity surveys, and inventory assessments were conducted to …

Evaluating The Potential For Chain Elongation To Produce Medium Chain Carboxylates From Anaerobic Conversion Of Lipids, Erin Boyer

All Theses

Medium Chain Carboxylates (MCCs), including caproate and caprylate, are valuable chemicals in various industries that can be produced biologically through an identified chain elongation pathway called reverse β-oxidation. During lipid degradation in anaerobic co-digesters at wastewater treatment plants, methane production is maximized to ensure the successful breakdown of the lipids. It remains unclear whether the anaerobic conversion of lipids possesses the potential to produce MCCs, and this study sought to evaluate the potential using anaerobic co-digester sludge from a full-scale wastewater treatment plant. Batch assays were conducted using the sludge from the plant as inoculum, as well as palmitic acid, …

Understanding The Potential Sources Of Bacteria And Turbidity Pollution In The Edisto Island Watershed, Brynne Sumner

All Theses

Anthropogenic pollution introduces contaminants, such as pathogenic bacteria and turbidity, into coastal watersheds. These contaminants are the major contributors to water quality impairments in the three sub-watersheds encompassing Edisto Island and the Town of Edisto Beach (hereafter referred to as the Edisto Island Watershed), located within the ACE Basin, South Carolina, USA. With 18 locations impaired for fecal bacteria and 19 for turbidity on the 2024 South Carolina 303(d) list of impaired waters, the Edisto Island Watershed offers valuable insights into the water quality challenges rural coastal communities face.

This study aimed to identify the sources of fecal bacteria and …

Implementation Of A Practical Sharp Interface Saltwater Intrusion Model To Assess Future Sea-Level Impacts, Alexandra G. Defalco

All Theses

Rising sea levels caused by global warming exacerbate saltwater intrusion, the inland movement of seawater into coastal aquifers. These processes increase susceptibility to freshwater contamination, surface flooding, and infrastructure damage. Numerical models are utilized to assess hazards to coastal aquifers on a regional scale.

The U.S. Navy is currently developing a robust, reduced-order groundwater modeling platform, SWI6, that uses the sharp interface approach to approximate the location of the freshwater-saltwater interface to define the extent of saltwater intrusion within an aquifer. Featuring compatibility with MODFLOW 6 unstructured grid formats and the Newton-Raphson formulation for better solution stability, SWI6 improves upon …

Insect Abundance And Bat Use Of Fields For Foraging In The Cumberland Plateau, Caroline M. Abramowitz

All Theses

Bat populations and their insect prey are declining, making it urgent to understand how habitat features and management support both groups. Early successional habitat (ESH), grasslands and shrublands with reduced vegetative clutter and abundant flowering resources, may benefit foraging bats and nocturnal insects. This study examined how landscape context, patch characteristics, microhabitat features, and management (mechanical mastication and prescribed burns) affected insects and bats across 29 managed fields in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (TN/KY) from 2024–2025. Flight-intercept traps collected 25,297 insects across five orders. Though results were order-specific, vegetative composition and height were the strongest predictors …

Evaluation Of Ostomy Pouching Change Practices Among Hospital-Based And Community-Based Nurses, Hannah Gerlach

All Theses

An estimated 725,000 to 1 million Americans are living with an ostomy and depend on ostomy pouching systems as part of their daily care. Effective ostomy management requires regular pouch changes and consistent skin care to prevent peristomal skin complications. Many individuals living with an ostomy face long-term challenges in managing their ostomy care, which can negatively affect their health-related quality of life. There is a need to understand how professional experience across different care environments, such as hospital-based and community-based settings, influences ostomy nursing care practices.

This study evaluates how nurses working in hospital-based settings and community-based settings perform …

University Of Tennessee At Chattanooga Faculty Handbook, 2026 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.

Fixed Points For Fitted Lines, David L. Farnsworth

Articles

For many fitting methods for lines in the plane, each observation possesses an associated point in the plane, or at infinity for particular observations. These associated points are called “fixed points,” because properly chosen replacement points for the originally selected observation create other fitted lines that contain the same fixed point. Simple linear regression and orthogonal least-squares regression are investigated as examples. The phenomenon has been previously noted for simple regression, where the properly selected replacement points are related to regression diagnostics and the determination of outliers. Orthogonal regression lines are fundamental to principal component analysis. Mechanical devices for simple …

Some Results About Orthogonal Least-Squares Lines, Steven J. Kilner, David L. Farnsworth

Articles

A set of quantitative bivariate data is augmented with one additional point. Orthogonal least-squares fitting is used for the original set and the augmented set. The possible locations of the two lines, the points of means of the two sets, and the augmenting point are examined.

Flow And Professional Identity Through Lived Experiences Of Doctoral Students In An Online Immersive Instructional Framework, Leticia De Leon

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of doctoral students engaged in an immersive instructional framework within an online course on Adult Learning Strategies. The purpose was to examine how immersive design elements (De Leon, 2020) and flow theory as defined through Csikszentmihalyi’s (1990) and Shin’s (2006) helped participant engagement via enjoyment, telepresence, focused attention, and time distortion. Participants completed five narrative journals across two immersive modules designed with multimodal, authentic, interactive, and autonomous elements. Data analysis followed Moustakas’ (1994) phenomenological reduction, including bracketing, horizontalizing, thematic clustering, and a synthesized essence of experience. Results revealed that students experienced flow …

Decision-Making Criteria In Polygenic Embryo Screening: A Survey Of Reproductive Medicine Physicians, Rémy A Furrer, Aayushi Gandhi, Dorit Barlevy, Shai Carmi, Todd Lencz, Stacey Pereira, Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Purpose: Polygenic embryo screening (PES) examines embryos for their genetic likelihood of developing complex conditions and traits. The commercialization of PES places reproductive endocrinologists and infertility specialists (REIs) as the primary decision-makers in its use, despite professional guidelines cautioning that PES is not ready for clinical use.

Methods: This survey examines how 152 US REIs perceive and approach potential clinical decision-making scenarios regarding the use of PES.

Results: REIs were more likely to offer PES for medical conditions (up to 62% for cancer) than for traits (eg, 0% for skin color, 10% for body mass index). When evaluating 11 potential …