Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Year Long Water Quality Analysis Of White Horn Brook, Kevin Dyer

Senior Honors Projects

KEVIN DYER (Marine Biology)

Year-long Analysis of the Water Quality of White Horn Brook

Sponsor: Thomas Boving (Geological Sciences)

Water is the foundation for all life on earth and is the most vital resource on this planet. Despite this, oceans and waterways all over the world are being polluted and exploited in ways detrimental to their fundamental hydrologic functions. For instance, excess nitrate levels can lead to eutrophication which gives rise to harmful algae blooms. Low pH can cause the breakdown of CaCO3 exoskeletons of organisms, such mollusks. High temperature variations are major stressors to living things and can cause …

Improving Our Understanding Of Ocean Circulation: A Modeling Study, Nicole M. Flecchia

Senior Honors Projects

The Gulf Stream is not a rigidly contained ocean current; it curves and meanders in a manner that causes portions of it to go unstable, breaking off to form warm core rings. These rings travel west – due to the earth’s rotation - through the Slope Sea and onto the southern New England shelfbreak, affecting various physical parameters of our coastal waters as well as the biogeochemical and ecological properties (i.e. the ‘health’) of the those waters. Where a warm core ring lands along the east coast and the time of year it appears varies with each ring, causing each …

The Effects Of Silicon Applications On Wear And Drought Stress Of Cool Season Turfgrass, Mike J. Badzmierowski, W. Michael Sullivan

Senior Honors Projects

The ability of turfgrass to maintain quality and functionality during use and drought stress are fundamental to almost all turfgrass environments. A possible mechanism to increase wear and drought tolerance is through the use of supplemental silicon (Si) application. Until recently, Si has received little attention for its role in crop physiology or performance.

While it is recoverable within the plant it is not recognized as an “essential” plant growth component. Si is the second most abundant element in the Earth’s crust; however the majority of soil-Si is bio-geochemically inert. Plants absorb Si exclusively as monosillicic acid, H₂SiO …

Exploring Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Beaver Ponds In Southern Rhode Island, Molly K. Welsh

Senior Honors Projects

Climate change is one of the largest environmental issues facing humanity today, having the potential to alter fresh water availability, agricultural yields, forest productivity, and global sea levels. As climate change is likely to increase the intensity of extreme weather events, the potential for massive human and financial consequences is of further concern. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change asserts that climate change is due to anthropogenic alterations of the atmosphere’s composition, with additional contributions from natural biochemical processes. In particular, the rapid increase in the concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere can trigger atmospheric warming as these …

Facilitating Behavior Change Of Coastal Communities In Regards To Climatic Hazards, Marisa Nixon

Senior Honors Projects

For my Senior Honors Project I participated in the Climate Change Collaborative, which is a new interdisciplinary research project studying the ways in which coastal communities in Rhode Island can better adapt to the environmental, cultural and economic consequences of climate change. As a member of this collaborative, I worked in a vertically integrated team of faculty (psychology researchers, climate scientists and communications science practitioners and researchers) as well as undergraduate and graduate students, to begin an endeavor through which behavior change will be assessed in regards to climate change. For the purposes of this study, we specifically focus on …

Citrate Synthase And The Visual Interactions Hypothesis, Kristina Camarena

Senior Honors Projects

It has been shown that the metabolic rates of deep-living species of particular pelagic groups are significantly lower than those that live closer to the surface in the water column. Various theories as to why have been presented, including the visual interactions hypothesis, which states that because there is a greatly minimized ability to visually interact in the light-limited deep, predators have a reduced need for high metabolic rates because they do not actively go after their prey. Citrate synthase is a mitochondrial enzyme found at the beginning of the citric acid cycle, which plays an integral role in cellular …

Copper(Ii) Catalyzed Aminomethylation Of Alkanes With Amine N-Oxides Via C-H Bond Activation, Matthew Cipolla

Senior Honors Projects

The formation of a C-C bond via double C-H bond activation is very challenging. There are only a few examples of such a coupling having been accomplished. Only one of these examples consists of a coupling of two sp3 hybridized carbons. I set out to reproduce this coupling, using substrates that would have a functional application to the synthesis of appealing molecules such as bioactive molecules. Cyclohexane and trimethylamine N-oxide were successfully coupled via a double C-H bond activation, catalyzed by copper(II). Current research now involves the coupling of toluene with trimethylamine N-oxide. As this work progresses, more interesting and …

The Katrina Project, Alison Traver

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Differential Equations: A Universal Language, Bethany Caron

Senior Honors Projects

“Mathematics knows no races or geographic boundaries; for mathematics, the cultural world is one country.” – David Hilbert Differential equations are equations of one or more variables that involve both functions and their derivatives. These equations have many applications to the everyday “non-math” world, including modeling in engineering, physics, biology, chemistry, and economics. Differential equations are used when a situation arises where one needs to study a continuously changing quantity (expressed as a function) and its rate of change (expressed through its derivatives). The solutions to differential equations are functions that make the original equation hold true, and they can …

Wind Turbine Project At The University Of Rhode Island, Auriane Koster

Senior Honors Projects

In the Fall of 2003, an initiative to develop and install a wind turbine on the University of Rhode Islands Kingston Campus was proposed by an undergraduate student, Courtney Blodgett. To spearhead this initiative, the Renewable Energy Club (REC) was created and recognized by the Student Senate, and support was received by the URI Offices of the President and Provost. The University recognized the benefits of investing in a wind turbine both in terms of money spent on energy costs, and in promoting research in renewable energy. Turbines are at the cutting edge of technology. This is the first such …