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Keep It 100 @ The Sea*: Navigating The Choppy Waters Of Departmental Change, Michelle Colquitt Jun 2026

Keep It 100 @ The Sea*: Navigating The Choppy Waters Of Departmental Change, Michelle Colquitt

Presentations

No abstract provided.

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Olaf: Towards Robust Llm-Based Annotation Framework In Empirical Software Engineering, Mia Mohammad Imran, Tarannum Shaila Zaman Jun 2026

Olaf: Towards Robust Llm-Based Annotation Framework In Empirical Software Engineering, Mia Mohammad Imran, Tarannum Shaila Zaman

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly used in empirical software engineering (ESE) to automate or assist annotation tasks such as labeling commits, issues, and qualitative artifacts. Yet the reliability and reproducibility of such annotations remain underexplored. Existing studies often lack standardized measures for reliability, calibration, and drift, and frequently omit essential configuration details. We argue that LLM-based annotation should be treated as a measurement process rather than a purely automated activity. In this position paper, we outline the Operationalization for LLM-based Annotation Framework (OLAF), a conceptual framework that organizes key constructs: reliability, calibration, drift, consensus, aggregation, and transparency. The paper …

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An Integrative Approach To The Evolution Of Neotropical Whale Catfishes (Family: Cetopsidae), Daniel Akin Jun 2026

An Integrative Approach To The Evolution Of Neotropical Whale Catfishes (Family: Cetopsidae), Daniel Akin

Doctoral Dissertations

The catfishes (order Siluriformes) represent over five percent of world’s vertebrate diversity. The story of vertebrate evolution remains incomplete without a thorough evaluation of catfishes, and the ichthyological community is yet to reach consensus on some of the deeper evolutionary patterns within this fascinating group. Our complete macro-evolutionary understanding of catfishes is inhibited by a paucity of information on the taxonomies, phylogenetics, ecologies, and life histories of many understudied groups of catfishes. One such group is the Neotropical whale catfishes of the family Cetopsidae. This dissertation provides an integrated approach to studying the family Cetopsidae. I use genomics to determine …

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Mathematical Analysis Of Within-Host Models: Viral–Immune Dynamics, Bifurcations, And Disease Severity, Nazia Afrin Jun 2026

Mathematical Analysis Of Within-Host Models: Viral–Immune Dynamics, Bifurcations, And Disease Severity, Nazia Afrin

Doctoral Dissertations

My research develops and analyzes ODE-based within-host models at multiple scales. Using dynamical systems theory and numerical methods, I study host–pathogen interactions and immune responses, providing insights into disease dynamics and control. The first model describes the complex dynamics of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and addresses the question: what mechanisms determine whether the infection is cleared during the acute phase or progresses to a chronic state? A key feature of this model is the assumption that all classes of liver cells (uninfected, infected, and protected from reinfection) proliferate at different rates. The findings provide insight into two important aspects …

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A Comparative Examination Of Early Reading Literacy Policies In Louisiana And Mississippi, Joyrance Neveu Cormier Jun 2026

A Comparative Examination Of Early Reading Literacy Policies In Louisiana And Mississippi, Joyrance Neveu Cormier

Doctoral Dissertations

Controversies over the best practices for teaching children to read have persisted for decades (Thomas, 2022). Researchers and practitioners continue to identify best practices, curricula, and assessment tools to produce young readers who are ready to "read to learn" by the end of third grade. Since the 1990s, accountability has primarily focused on reading, particularly on students' challenges with reading comprehension. To address these challenges, the National Reading Panel was established in 1997. The panel was charged with synthesizing research findings on the most effective methods for teaching children to read (Shanahan, 2005). More recently, the concerning reading performance of …

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The Evolutionary Response Of HawaiʻI ʻAmakihi (Chlorodrepanis Virens) To The Introduction Of Avian Malaria (Plasmodium Relictum), Gabrielle Atkinson Jun 2026

The Evolutionary Response Of HawaiʻI ʻAmakihi (Chlorodrepanis Virens) To The Introduction Of Avian Malaria (Plasmodium Relictum), Gabrielle Atkinson

Doctoral Dissertations

The emergence of novel pathogens can impose intense selective pressures on natural populations, driving rapid evolutionary change or precipitating population collapse. In Hawaiʻi, the introduction of avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) and its mosquito vector (Culex quinquefasciatus) have caused severe declines and extinctions among native forest birds. Yet some populations of Hawaiʻi ʻamakihi (Chlorodrepanis virens) persist across a broad elevational and disease gradient, providing a powerful natural system for examining the genomic basis of rapid adaptation, the role of gene flow in adaptive response, and the potential for parallel evolutionary responses. This dissertation integrates genomic, population genetic, and transcriptomic approaches to …

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A Qualitative Study Of Transfer Student Policies And Practices At Four-Year Public Regional Universities In Louisiana, Mickey Diez Jun 2026

A Qualitative Study Of Transfer Student Policies And Practices At Four-Year Public Regional Universities In Louisiana, Mickey Diez

Doctoral Dissertations

This research study presented a qualitative, multiple case study that examined the extent to which universities within the University of Louisiana System (ULS) align their transfer policies and practices with national best practices for transfer student success, as outlined in the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers’ A Guide to Best Practices: Awarding Transfer and Prior Learning Credit (AACRAO, 2017). Through a document analysis of institutional transfer policies and practices, the study aimed to identify common themes, similarities, differences, strengths, and gaps in institutional support for students transferring from two-year community colleges to four-year universities. The study was …

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The Impact Of Evolution And Strong Allee Effects On The Dynamics Of A Discrete-Time Predator-Prey System, Neerob Basak Jun 2026

The Impact Of Evolution And Strong Allee Effects On The Dynamics Of A Discrete-Time Predator-Prey System, Neerob Basak

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the dynamics of discrete-time predator-prey systems, focusing on both evolutionary responses and ecological interactions. The first part of this dissertation, in Chapters 2 and 3, explores how evolutionary processes, particularly the development of resistance to toxicants in predators, influence the persistence and stability of predator-prey populations. In this part, we extend the predator-prey model developed in Ackleh et al., 2019 to incorporate the evolution of a predator's resistance to toxicant effects. We consider three cases: (1) lethal effects, where the toxicant directly influences the predator's survival; (2) sublethal effects, where the toxicant impacts the predator's fecundity, and …

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An Oral History Study: The Relationship Between Curriculum And Social And Cultural Capital In The New Orleans School System, Alaina Gaugis Carter Jun 2026

An Oral History Study: The Relationship Between Curriculum And Social And Cultural Capital In The New Orleans School System, Alaina Gaugis Carter

Doctoral Dissertations

This oral history study examines how high school academic experiences in New Orleans public and charter schools have shaped graduates’ preparedness for adulthood, active citizenship, and participation as productive members of society. This study explores the relationship between curriculum, particularly scripted curriculum, and the development of social and cultural capital. The research critiques neoliberal education reforms that prioritize accountability, standardization, and market-based outcomes over relational and community-centered learning. Using oral history methodology and the currere method, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve New Orleans high school alumni who graduated both before and after Hurricane Katrina from public, charter, and parochial …

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An Exploration Of Variables Related To Gender Role Differences And Social Relationships Among Nontraditional Bachelor's Degree Recipients, Cynthia Bourgeois Bergeron Jun 2026

An Exploration Of Variables Related To Gender Role Differences And Social Relationships Among Nontraditional Bachelor's Degree Recipients, Cynthia Bourgeois Bergeron

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this study was to examine variables that speak to gender role differences among nontraditional bachelor’s degree recipients aged 30 to 49. These issues are particularly relevant given enrollment trends showing that the diversification of bachelor’s degree seekers has outpaced the policies and norms of traditional undergraduate education. A nonexperimental, correlational research design was employed using chi-square tests and Cramer’s V as post-hoc measures on categorical data from the 2012, 2014, and 2016 General Social Survey. Shaped by Gilligan’s moral development theory, several social variables were included in the analysis. Two statistically significant associations emerged: women earning bachelor’s …

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A Cross-Sectional Study Of First-Generation College Students' Sense Of Belonging Across Diverse Institutional Contexts, Nirmal Chandra Gope Jun 2026

A Cross-Sectional Study Of First-Generation College Students' Sense Of Belonging Across Diverse Institutional Contexts, Nirmal Chandra Gope

Doctoral Dissertations

First-generation college students comprise a significant growth demographic in U.S. higher education. Even with lower enrollment rates, more than one-third of U.S. postsecondary school students are first-generation students (Cataldi et al., 2018; Redford & Mulvaney Hoyer, 2017; Ward et al., 2012; Whitley et al., 2018). However, their retention and graduation rates are significantly lower than those of their continuing peers (Choy, 2001; Engle, 2007, 2008; Ishitani, 2006; Longwell-Grice & Longwell-Grice, 2021). Various factors play a significant role in creating this disparity (Longwell-Grice & Longwell-Grice, 2021; Tinto, 1993). Research identifies belonging as a crucial factor influencing student persistence, academic achievement, mental …

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The Pie Thief (And Friends): Ethnographic Microanalysis Of Peer Interactions Involving Children With Highly Unintelligible Speech: A Descriptive Study, Katherine Anne Mcquitty Hays Jun 2026

The Pie Thief (And Friends): Ethnographic Microanalysis Of Peer Interactions Involving Children With Highly Unintelligible Speech: A Descriptive Study, Katherine Anne Mcquitty Hays

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is an ethnographic microanalysis investigating how children with highly unintelligible speech accomplish a range of social actions when interacting with their peers. Detailed transcription of multimodal communications of peers interacting in the context of a 9-day summer therapy camp yield profiles of two participants of interest, each with approximately 30-40% speech intelligibility. Domain analysis and taxonomy organize data for the purposes of comparative analysis across transcribed durations of peer conversation and peer play. Findings indicate pervasive pragmatic impacts as well as effective uses of multimodal means within interactional frames and schemas. Clinical implications include consideration of AAC optimization …

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Uncovering Hidden Potential: A Multiple Case Study Of Best Practices To Identify Giftedness In Underserved Student Populations, Kevin Hislop Jun 2026

Uncovering Hidden Potential: A Multiple Case Study Of Best Practices To Identify Giftedness In Underserved Student Populations, Kevin Hislop

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates district-level practices that promote equitable identification of giftedness among underserved student populations, particularly those who are culturally, linguistically, and ethnically/economically diverse (CLED) (Briggs et al., 2008; Briggs & Renzulli, 2009; Lewis & Novak, 2019). Grounded in Renzulli’s Schoolwide Enrichment Model, the research addresses persistent disproportionality in gifted education by examining how universal screening, teacher education, and alternative opportunities for talent development—such as student academic portfolios, teacher referrals, and nonverbal ability tests—can expand access or limit barriers to gifted services. Drawing from a solid literature base, the study emphasizes systemic barriers rooted in traditional IQ-based identification and subjective …

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Inference On Quantiles Of Normal Populations: One- And Multi-Sample Cases, Justin Dunnam Jun 2026

Inference On Quantiles Of Normal Populations: One- And Multi-Sample Cases, Justin Dunnam

Doctoral Dissertations

The problems of interval estimation for quantiles of normal distributions in one- and multi-sample cases are considered. For the one-sample case, we show that the classical confidence interval (CI) based on the noncentral t (NCT) distribution and the one based on the uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimator of the population quantile are equivalent. We also propose a simple closed-form alternative CI for a quantile based on a normal approximation to the NCT distribution. In addition, fiducial distributions for population quantiles are developed using both the NCT distribution and its normal approximation. On the basis of fiducial distributions, we develop approximate …

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A Bifurcation Theorem And Its Application To Discrete-Time Models In Ecology And Epidemiology, Jenita Jahangir Jun 2026

A Bifurcation Theorem And Its Application To Discrete-Time Models In Ecology And Epidemiology, Jenita Jahangir

Doctoral Dissertations

Matrix models are useful for modeling populations or diseases that involve discrete developmental stages, multiple stages of infection, and interactions among species. To study the coexistence dynamics in matrix models, we extend a bifurcation theorem for resident-invader host-parasitoid type populations by allowing every block of the projection matrix, depending on the bifurcation parameter and the off-diagonal blocks, to be nonzero. As an application, in the first part of the dissertation, we propose a discrete-time host-parasitoid model with stage structure in both species. For this model, we establish conditions for the existence and global stability of the extinction and parasitoid-free equilibria. …

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A Qualitative Study: Understanding The Effects Of Acceleration Programs On The Motivation And Burnout Of Students With Gifts And Talents, Destini Duhon Manuel Jun 2026

A Qualitative Study: Understanding The Effects Of Acceleration Programs On The Motivation And Burnout Of Students With Gifts And Talents, Destini Duhon Manuel

Doctoral Dissertations

A student that has an advanced gift or talent which encompasses their peers is often raftered to as gifted (National Association of Gifted Children, 2018) and need differentiated instruction and accommodations to reach their full potential (Clevenger, 2022) Research shows high levels of expectations could lead to underachievement (Garn & Jolly 2019; Hornstra et al., 2003), motivation issues (Hornstra et al., 2023), and burnout (May et al., 2020) of students with gifts and talents. Acceleration programs are often used to accommodate students with gifts and talents, but evaluators must proceed with caution and place students in the correct program to …

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Fairness-Aware And Efficient Federated Learning Frameworks For Heterogeneous Systems, Simin Javaherian Jun 2026

Fairness-Aware And Efficient Federated Learning Frameworks For Heterogeneous Systems, Simin Javaherian

Doctoral Dissertations

Federated Learning (FL) enables decentralized clients to collaboratively train machine learning models without sharing raw data, making it a promising paradigm for privacy-preserving intelligence across large-scale, heterogeneous systems. However, practical FL environments face significant challenges arising from variations in client resources, participation patterns, client behavior, and data distributions. These challenges often lead to inefficiency, unbalanced contributions, and unfairness, ultimately degrading model performance and discouraging long-term client participation. This dissertation advances the state of FL by developing a unified suite of fairness-aware and efficiency-driven frameworks tailored for heterogeneous environments. We investigate fairness from multiple perspectives, including client selection, contribution weighting, and …

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Out There: Notes And Stories A Hybrid Collection With Critical Introduction, Ben Porter Jun 2026

Out There: Notes And Stories A Hybrid Collection With Critical Introduction, Ben Porter

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is composed of two parts: literary criticism and a collection of fiction and lyric essays. Across both sections, it examines the problem of description: how persons make experience, action, and suffering intelligible in language, and what happens when that intelligibility breaks down under historical, social, and familial pressure. The critical essay, “Failed Descriptions and Neoliberal Talk in Don DeLillo’s The Body Artist,” argues that DeLillo represents a crisis of intentional speech under neoliberal modernity, in which public language is narrowed to private affect and meaningful social description becomes increasingly difficult. Reading the novel through philosophers of language and …

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Investigations Of Carbon Dioxide Storage In Low-Temperature Reservoirs For Non-Leaking Storage, Md Nahin Mahmood Jun 2026

Investigations Of Carbon Dioxide Storage In Low-Temperature Reservoirs For Non-Leaking Storage, Md Nahin Mahmood

Doctoral Dissertations

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) injection into subsea or low-temperature water zones has emerged as a promising strategy for long-term, non-leaking CO₂ storage through the formation of solid hydrates. This research investigates CO₂ injection into Berea sandstone cores saturated with water under simulated subsea conditions, focusing on hydrate formation behavior across varying temperatures, pressures, and injection flow rates. Experimental results demonstrate that CO₂ hydrate formation under dynamic (flowing) conditions occurs at significantly higher pressure compared to static conditions reported previously. At temperatures ranging from 0 °C to 5 °C, dynamic hydrate formation pressures were observed to be approximately double. This can be …

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Strang-Type Exponential Integrators For Stiff Reaction-Diffusion Systems, Saburi Tolulope Rasheed Jun 2026

Strang-Type Exponential Integrators For Stiff Reaction-Diffusion Systems, Saburi Tolulope Rasheed

Doctoral Dissertations

Reaction-diffusion systems, as examples of semilinear parabolic partial differential equations, have played significant roles in the mathematical modeling of physical, chemical, and biological processes. Several reaction-diffusion systems typically do not have exact solutions in closed form, and numerically solving them also comes with challenges due to the presence of the nonlinear local interaction/chemical reaction dynamics representing the reaction term, coupling between components, multidimensionality of the diffusion operator, and stiffness of the diffusion and/or reaction terms. Wederive and analyze several second-order accurate exponential integrators of the Strang type for the time discretization of stiff reaction-diffusion systems. We utilize the finite difference …

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The Interplay Of Seasonality, Evolution, And Density-Dependence In Discrete-Time Predator-Prey Dynamics, Narendra Pant Jun 2026

The Interplay Of Seasonality, Evolution, And Density-Dependence In Discrete-Time Predator-Prey Dynamics, Narendra Pant

Doctoral Dissertations

We extend the discrete-time mathematical models developed in (Ackleh et al., 2019) and (Ackleh et al., 2024) to account for seasonal prey reproduction and build a class of discrete-time predator-prey seasonal models. Each model distinguishes between breeding and non-breeding seasons, representing prey reproduction as a periodic function of period 2. Altogether, three different models are analyzed. In the first part, we extend the predator-prey model from (Ackleh et al., 2019) to incorporate seasonality. We study the resulting dynamics and show that when the inherent reproduction number of the prey and the invasion reproduction number of the predator are larger than …

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Building And Restoring Trust In Deep Learning: From Multimodal Sensing To Generative Synthesis And Model Integrity, Liqun Shan Jun 2026

Building And Restoring Trust In Deep Learning: From Multimodal Sensing To Generative Synthesis And Model Integrity, Liqun Shan

Doctoral Dissertations

Deep learning has become a foundational technology for modern intelligent systems used in sensing, authentication, media generation, and automated decision-making. As these systems are increasingly deployed in security- and privacy-sensitive settings, ensuring their trustworthiness has become a critical challenge. Yet deep learning models remain vulnerable to spoofed sensory inputs, synthetic media, and malicious behaviors hidden within trained networks. These vulnerabilities undermine reliability and raise serious concerns about whether such systems can be trusted under adversarial and deceptive scenarios. This dissertation investigates how to build and restore trust in deep learning across three tightly connected dimensions: multimodal sensing, generative authenticity, and …

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A Qualitative Study Examining Teachers' Knowledge And Awareness In Recognizing The Characteristics Of Twice Exceptional Learners: An Underrepresented And Underserved Population, Adrianne Monique Williams Jun 2026

A Qualitative Study Examining Teachers' Knowledge And Awareness In Recognizing The Characteristics Of Twice Exceptional Learners: An Underrepresented And Underserved Population, Adrianne Monique Williams

Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past 30 years, research on twice exceptional learners has been gradually increasing, however, knowledge and awareness of the information in the educational community have been slowly evolving (Bailey & Rose, 2011; Baum, 2004). Outwardly, twice exceptional students may present as typical. Still, they face many unique challenges that include academic achievement, social awkwardness, executive functioning deficits, social communication challenges, and teachers who are not aware and trained to meet the atypical needs of these students. Researchers and practitioners are becoming increasingly aware of the underrepresentation that plagues gifted and talented programs, especially concerning twice exceptional students, and students …

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Diversity, Systematics, And Phylogenomics Of The Neotropical Glass And Longtail Knifefishes (Gymnotiformes: Sternopygidae), Kevin Thomas Torgersen Jun 2026

Diversity, Systematics, And Phylogenomics Of The Neotropical Glass And Longtail Knifefishes (Gymnotiformes: Sternopygidae), Kevin Thomas Torgersen

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation provides a comprehensive systematic and phylogenetic study of the electric knifefish family Sternopygidae, integrating morphological, molecular, osteological, and phylogenomic data to clarify species diversity, evolutionary relationships, and biogeographic patterns in this Neotropical group. Across six studies, the work reveals that Sternopygidae diversity has been significantly underestimated due to morphological conservatism that obscures species boundaries. Chapter 1 revises the genus Sternopygus in the Guiana Shield, identifying nine species (five new) using osteology, morphometrics, and µCT imaging. Distinct anatomical traits and distribution patterns show strong regional structuring, highlighting the Guiana Shield as a diversification center. Chapter 2 describes a new …

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Multidomain Modeling And Ramp-Aware Forecasting Of Floating Photovoltaic Systems For Water-Energy Nexus Applications, Md Atiqur Rahaman Jun 2026

Multidomain Modeling And Ramp-Aware Forecasting Of Floating Photovoltaic Systems For Water-Energy Nexus Applications, Md Atiqur Rahaman

Doctoral Dissertations

Floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems have become a transformative renewable energy technology because of their cooling effects on PV performance and ability to prevent water evaporation in land-constrained areas. Although FPV systems have the potential to become a commercially viable technology, their large-scale deployment remains constrained by uncertainties in thermal behavior, sustainability, and grid-operational variability. This dissertation identifies and characterizes these three key issues and presents an integrated, measurement-based evaluation of a 130 kW FPV installation located at the Passaúna reservoir in Brazil. In the first contribution, four temperature models, including physical and empirical models, were developed and comparatively evaluated to …

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The Promise And The Punishment: A Critical Analysis Of Pbis At The Intersection Of State Discipline Policies In Louisiana, Ashley D. Willis-Brooks Jun 2026

The Promise And The Punishment: A Critical Analysis Of Pbis At The Intersection Of State Discipline Policies In Louisiana, Ashley D. Willis-Brooks

Doctoral Dissertations

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) emerged as a preventative instructional alternative to exclusionary and punitive school discipline practices emphasizing tiered systems of support, data-based decision making, and proactive behavioral instruction. Despite its strong theoretical foundation and widespread adoption, PBIS implementation has produced uneven outcomes, particularly in policy contexts where state discipline statutes continue to authorize exclusionary practices. In Louisiana, PBIS is promoted through state guidance as an evidence-based framework; however, governing discipline policies simultaneously permit suspension, expulsion, and zero-tolerance provisions. This coexistence raises critical questions regarding alignment, coherence, and equity within the state’s discipline system. The purpose of this …

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Learning And Predicting The Performance Of Gradual Type System, Mohammad Wahiduzzaman Khan Jun 2026

Learning And Predicting The Performance Of Gradual Type System, Mohammad Wahiduzzaman Khan

Doctoral Dissertations

Gradual typing reconciles the complementary strengths of static and dynamic typing by allowing programmers to incrementally introduce type annotations while preserving the flexibility of dynamically typed code. This approach improves reliability, documentation, and tooling support without sacrificing rapid prototyping. To ensure soundness, gradual type systems enforce annotations through runtime checks, typically implemented via cast insertion. Although these checks guarantee correctness, they can introduce substantial and highly variable runtime overhead, making performance prediction and optimization a central challenge for practical adoption. Prior work has largely focused on coarse-grained (macro-level) configurations, where entire modules are either fully typed or untyped. While such …

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Learning From Extremes: A Copula-Based Feature Selection Framework For Machine Learning-Driven Risk Prediction, Agnideep Aich Jun 2026

Learning From Extremes: A Copula-Based Feature Selection Framework For Machine Learning-Driven Risk Prediction, Agnideep Aich

Doctoral Dissertations

Reliable feature selection is crucial for building interpretable and practical risk models, particularly when decisions depend on identifying the highest-risk groups rather than relying on average trends. This dissertation presents and tests a supervised filter that ranks predictors by their upper-tail concordance with the outcome, using a Gumbel-implied upper-tail concordance score $\lambda_U$. The score is calculated from pseudo-observations and Kendall’s $\tau$ (via the Gumbel $\tau\mapsto\lambda_U$ mapping), does not require model fitting during selection, and focuses directly on joint extreme events, such as when both a predictor and the positive class are high. The method is compared to Mutual Information, mRMR, …

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Fashioning The Self: Trauma, Disability, And Autofiction In Contemporary Quebecois Literature, John Ashburn Jun 2026

Fashioning The Self: Trauma, Disability, And Autofiction In Contemporary Quebecois Literature, John Ashburn

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation brings into dialogue trauma studies, disability studies, queer theory, and scholarship on autofiction and self-portraiture to examine representations of the self in contemporary Quebecois literature. Focusing on La fille d’elle-même (2021) by Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay, Tu aimeras ce que tu as tué (2017) by Kev Lambert, Grosse (2018) by Lynda Dion, Désormais, ma demeure (2020) by Nicholas Dawson, Chienne (2019) by Marie-Pier Lafontaine, and Ouvrir son cœur (2018) by Alexie Morin, this study argues that the literary self emerges as fundamentally unstable, shaped by trauma, embodiment, cognitive variation, and shifting configurations of gender and sexuality. Across this corpus, fragmentation …

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Challenges In Tracking Methane Seepage Variability: The Δ13c Proxy Through Individual Benthic Foraminifera Analysis, Gracie Babineaux Jun 2026

Challenges In Tracking Methane Seepage Variability: The Δ13c Proxy Through Individual Benthic Foraminifera Analysis, Gracie Babineaux

Doctoral Dissertations

Methane seeps are dynamic biogeochemical systems that influence carbon cycling, seafloor ecology, and gas hydrate stability along continental margins. Yet reconstructing past methane seepage remains challenging because most sedimentary proxies integrate over long timescales and cannot resolve the short-lived or spatially restricted methane pulses that characterize many seep environments. This dissertation evaluates the reliability, sensitivity, and limitations of benthic foraminiferal δ¹³C as a proxy for methane-rich porewater conditions across two contrasting seep systems: long-term seepage at Woolsey Mound in the northern Gulf of Mexico and short-term, spatially variable seepage along the Chilean Margin. Using Individual Foraminifera Analysis (IFA), scanning electron …

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