Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Tools For Predicting Emulsification Capacity Of Crude Oil Exposed To Sunlight: Impact Of Photoproduced Carboxylic Acids On Emulsion Stability, Chaka Nacaya Brown

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The role of acids in the formation of emulsions from sunlight exposed petroleum is not well understood. To elucidate the impact of sunlight on the formation of emulsions from petroleum, Macondo, its surrogate and NIST 1619b and 2717a were separately exposed to simulated sunlight for up to 48 hours as a film dispersed into a quartz dish, or a film spread on water. Emulsion stability was scored from 0-5. All exposures demonstrated a correlation between emulsion stability and sunlight exposure with no observable emulsification in absence of photoproduction due to sunlight exposure. Aqueous studies of DOC_HC (dissolved organic carbon …

Fitness Of Interspecific Hybrids In The Genus Cyprinella: An Evaluation Of Swimming Performance In North American Stream Fishes, Jessica Wilks

Biology Theses

Due to anthropogenic pressures, freshwater ecosystems are being rapidly destroyed worldwide. Accordingly, human impacts have also resulted in the loss of native aquatic biodiversity. In particular, the introduction of non-native species to aquatic habitats is of great concern. Historically, the introductions of many non-native freshwater fishes are the result of commercial baitfish aquaculture, food industries, and private aquarium release. The red shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis) is a small stream fish that is endemic to the Central U.S., and its natural range is restricted to East of the Mississippi River. Since the 1950’s, red shiner have been commercially raised and transported …

Life Cycle Assessment Of Novel Electrochemical Struvite Recovery In Municipal Wastewater Treatment At The Plant And U.S. Watershed Scales, Karla Morrissey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the supply of phosphorus decreases, nutrient recovery in municipal wastewater treatment has become an important area of research. Recovery methods for phosphorus-containing fertilizers, such as struvite, and other products are currently being developed and assessed for their efficiency and economic feasibility. Potential environmental impacts from nutrient recovery are also being assessed as design for the environment is important, especially with regards to the eutrophying potential of phosphorus in phosphorus-limited freshwater aquatic systems. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool that can be used to estimate potential environmental impacts of a product or service focusing on its entire life cycle. …

Running Out Of Oxygen: Revealing The Interannual And Intra-Annual Dynamics Of Bottom Water Hypoxia In A Great Lakes Estuary Using Time-Series Observations, Experiments, And Analyses, Nate M. Dugener

Masters Theses

Bottom water hypoxia, a condition of low dissolved oxygen in the bottom waters, negatively effects lakes and freshwater and marine coastal estuaries globally. As climate change shifts climatological and ecological patterns, hypoxia continues to shift in duration and severity. In Muskegon Lake, Michigan, hypoxia occurs annually, restricting fish habitat, increasing cyanobacteria blooms, and disrupting ecological and socioeconomic prosperity. In the current study, we examined the duration and severity of hypoxia over a 11 years (2011-2021) utilizing data from the Muskegon Lake Observatory buoy (MLO, https://www.gvsu.edu/wri/buoy/). During 2021, we analyzed the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations observed by the MLO, conducted biweekly …

Silver Carp Hypopthalmichthys Molitrix Movements In The Lower Tennessee And Lower Cumberland River, Miranda Belanger, Timothy Spier

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix are an invasive species making up a large portion of the fish biomass in the lower portions of the Tennessee River and the Cumberland River. This species is expanding its range throughout the upper portions of these rivers, beginning with Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. Silver Carp rarely spawn in Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, but they can enter these reservoirs through the lock chamber. Thus, the bottleneck created by lock chambers can be used to control expansion of invasive Silver Carp. Although Silver Carp movement patterns have been studied in other portions of the Tennessee …

Evaluating Gizzard Shad Dorosoma Cepedianum Populations In Two Kentucky Reservoirs Recently Invaded By Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys Molitrix, Nathan Klein, Timothy Spier

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Gizzard Shad Dorosoma cepedianum are an ecologically important fish species found in many reservoirs throughout the southeastern United States such as Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. One current challenge that Gizzard Shad may face in these two reservoirs is competition with the invasive Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix. However, quantifying the impacts of this competition may be difficult because of limited baseline population data for Gizzard Shad in these two reservoirs. The objective of this study is to describe size structure, condition, age, growth, mortality, and spawning potential of these two populations. Gizzard Shad were collected by boat electrofishing and …

The Effect Of Water Management And Ratoon Rice Cropping On Methane Emissions And Harvest Yield In Arkansas, Marguerita Leavitt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sustainable intensification of rice farming is crucial to meeting human food needs while reducing environmental impacts. Rice produces 8% of all anthropogenic CH4, which is a potent greenhouse gas. CH4 emissions can potentially be reduced by cultivation practices that minimize the number of days the fields are saturated, such as dry-seeding instead of water-seeding and irrigation using the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technique instead of delayed, continuous flooding (DF). Ratoon cropping, wherein a second crop of rice is grown from the harvested stubble of the first crop, can be used to produce additional yield with minimal labor, but may …

Developing A Miniature Smart Boat For Marine Research, Michael Isaac Eirinberg

Computer Engineering

This project examines the development of a smart boat which could serve as a possible marine research apparatus. The smart boat consists of a miniature vessel containing a low-cost microcontroller to live stream a camera feed, GPS telemetry, and compass data through its own WiFi access point. The smart boat also has the potential for autonomous navigation. My project captivated the interest of several members of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s (Cal Poly SLO) Marine Science Department faculty, who proposed a variety of fascinating and valuable smart boat applications.

Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms Vary Within And Across Years At Lake Fayetteville, Arkansas, Alyssa Ferri

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The occurrence of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (HABs) and toxins are a nationwide concern. Although Lake Fayetteville likely experienced HABs for many years, microcystin, an algal toxin, was not monitored until 2019. The objectives of this study were to: 1) observe temporal variation in water quality and total microcystin concentrations, 2) quantify thresholds with microcystin and nutrients, algal parameters, and environmental factors, and 3) evaluate complex relationships between total microcystin and nutrient supplies, algal parameters, and environmental factors using a classification and regression tree model (CART). Three sites (dam, inlet, and mid) at Lake Fayetteville were sampled weekly to monthly …

The Effects Of Water With Anti-Inflammatory Capabilities (Wac) On Circulating Inflammatory Biomarkers At Rest And Following Resistance Exercise, Brittany Martin

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Purpose: To determine the effects of waters with anti-inflammatory capabilities (WAC) influence circulating inflammatory biomarkers at rest and following resistance exercise. Methods: Participants completed a heavy lifting protocol and drank water with anti-inflammatory capabilities for a total of six weeks. Blood samples were taken at different at 9 different time intervals to assess concentrations of anti-inflammatory markers and to quantify inflammatory biomarkers. Those time intervals included pre-AHREP 1 and post-AHREP 1, 24-hr post-AHREP 1, 48-hr post-AHREP 1, 3-week check-up, pre-AHREP 2, post-AHREP 2, 24-hr post-AHREP 2, and 48-hr post-AHREP 2. Background: The biomarkers that were focused on were: IL-6 …

How Flow Regime Affects Predator-Prey Relationships Of Stream Darter And Shiner Species, Anna E. Richardson

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Analysis of the interactions between abiotic and biotic factors of environments and ecosystems is a highly valued area of research. This study focuses on the interactions between the biotic component of predation and foraging of certain stream fish species and the abiotic component of the flow regime that those species reside in. Gut content analysis followed by statistical calculations in the form of t-tests and chi -quared tests were performed on two fish species who both inhabited a stream with a groundwater flashy flow regime as well as a stream with a runoff flashy flow regime. The research showed that …

Exploring The Effects Of Varied Land Use On Elemental Concentrations Within Streams, Logan Jennings

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

It is well documented that human activity influences the chemistry of surrounding waters. As such, it is possible that there is a link between land use within a watershed and the chemical composition of the stream. The objectives of this study are to determine if varied land use does affect the concentrations of macronutrients and trace elements present in the streams of Northwest Arkansas, and if so, to determine what extent urban and agricultural development are responsible for these changes. Water samples were collected across 19 streams in the Northwest Arkansas region between January and March of 2022. Water samples …

Analysis Of Edna To Assess Effects Of Water Quality On Freshwater Fungal Diversity In A Virginia Coastal Watershed, Lauren French

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Freshwater fungi comprise a phylogenetically and functionally diverse group which contributes to wide-ranging ecosystem processes in aquatic systems. Saprotrophic fungi convert detritus into nutrient-rich food sources for fish and invertebrates, whereas pathogenic and parasitic fungi can cause disease and population declines of other aquatic organisms. With their diverse and important roles, changes in freshwater fungal community structure may have far-reaching impacts on ecosystems. To understand how natural and anthropogenic stressors to freshwater systems impact fungal-mediated ecosystem processes, a greater understanding of the taxonomic and functional composition of freshwater fungal communities is needed. We assessed relationships among freshwater habitat types, water …

Comparing Molecular Methods To Estimate Fish Stomach Contents And Gastric Evacuation Rates: Implications For Measuring The Impacts Of Predation On Central Valley Chinook Salmon, Cory M. Dick

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) migrating through the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta (the Delta) in central California have higher mortality rates than salmonids migrating through other west coast estuaries. Some hypotheses for high mortality rates include entrainment into water export facilities, physical alterations of the river system, and predation. Of these factors, predation is considered the least understood but may have the largest impact. Predation from large populations of non-native piscivorous fishes in the Delta is believed to effect abundances of Central Valley Chinook salmon, however sufficient data supporting this hypothesis is scarce. In this study, I …

Lake Huron Shoreline Analysis, Shubham Satish Nandanwar

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Lake Huron is a popular tourist destination and is home to several businesses and residents. Since the shoreline is dynamic and is subject to change over the years due to several factors such as a change in water level, soil type, human encroachment, etc., these locations tend to encounter floods due to increased water levels and wind speed. This causes erosion and loss to the properties along the shoreline.

This study is based on two areas of interest named Pinery Provincial Park and Sauble Beach which are located on the shoreline of Lake Huron where Pinery Provincial Park is a …

Changes In Lake Drainage In The Western Canadian Arctic, Dilshan Kariyawasam, Philip Marsh Dr

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Nearly half of all Pan-Arctic lakes are situated in the Canadian Arctic, with many of these lakes being of thermokarst origin. Thermokarst lakes are sensitive to changes in the surrounding environment, making them useful indicators to examine the condition of hydrological systems in response to rapid climate warming, a trend which has been well observed in the Canadian Western Arctic. In this study, we use aerial photography to quantify lake area and count changes for lakes in the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk region, between 1950 and 2004. A combination of aerial photography and Landsat imagery were used in identifying drained thermokarst lake basins …