Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Phenological Flexibility In Nesting Grassland Birds Over A Half Century Informs Timing Of Management, Kristin S. Ellis, Michael J. Anteau, Lawrence D. Igl, Garrett J. Macdonald, Neal D. Niemuth, Aaron T. Pearse, Jill A. Shaffer, Christine A. Ribic, Josh L. Vest, Masanori Abe, Daniel S. Ackerman, Marissa A. Ahlering, Johanna N. Alpert, Anahit Amiri, Kent Andersson, Jacqueline K. Augustine, Kristel K. Bakker, Jeffrey L. Beck, Adam C. Behney, Jacy S. Bernath-Plaisted, Todd R. Bogenschutz, Eric K. Bollinger, Lauren E. Bortolotti, Andy J. Boyce, Jeffrey D. Brawn, Fred C. Bryant, Andrew J. Campomizzi, Jay D. Carlisle, J Matthew Carroll, Rachel Carroll, John P. Carroll, Justin R. Clarke, Michael R. Conover, Reesa Y. Conrey, Jaime J. Coon, Kyle A. Cutting, Stephen K. Davis, Dawn M. Davis, Duane R. Diefenbach, Jonathan B. Dinkins, R Andrew Dreelin, Victoria J. Dreitz, Courtney J. Duchardt, Michael W. Eichholz, Susan N. Ellis-Felege, Kevin S. Ellison, Bradley C. Fedy, Samantha D. Fino, Robert J. Fletcher Jr, Dillon T. Fogarty, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Pamela R. Garrettson, Robert J. Gates, Erin L. Gelling, James J. Giacomo, Alex Glass, Cheri L. Gratto-Trevor, Ryan D. Haffele, Christian A. Hagen, Vanessa B. Harriman, Samuel W H Harryman, David A. Haukos, Robert T. Haynam, Heather A. Herakovich, James R. Herkert, Fidel Hernandez, Jason M. Hill, H Jeffrey Homan, Torre J. Hovick, Jonathan A. Jenks, William E. Jensen, Aaron N. Johnston, Sydney-Marie Jones, Carly S. Kelly, Kaylan M. Kemink, Silka L F Kempema, Dylan C. Kesler, Christopher P. Kirol, Robert W. Klaver, Page E. Klug, Jesse L. Kolar, Nicola Koper, Kyle J. Kuechle, Jonathan D. Lautenbach, Zoe M. Lebrun-Southcott, David W. Londe, Scott R. Loss, Cullen M. Mackenzie, Patrick A. Magee, Douglas L. Manzer, John P. Mccarty, Gywm Mckee, Ann E. Mckellar, Lance B. Mcnew, James R. Miller, Megan C. Milligan, Ashlee K. Minor, Rocco J. Murano, Les D. Murray, David E. Naugle, Clayton K. Nielsen, Christopher J. Norment, Sarah B. Ogden, Lindsay A. Parsons, Brian D. Peer, Noah G. Perlut, James C. Pittman, Christopher D. Pollentier, Larkin A. Powell, Aaron C. Pratt, John P. Pulliam, Nancy M. Raginski, Dan R. Reinking, Kaitlyn M. Reintsma, Terry Z. Riley, Kevin M. Ringelman, Joseph R. Robb, Scott K. Robinson, Andres N. Rosales, Charlotte L. Roy, Kayla A. Ruth, Brett K. Sandercock, Kevin K. Sedivec, Steve K. Sherrod, Justin J. Shew, Mason L. Sieges, Jenny L. Sika, Susan K. Skagen, Cassandra G. Skaggs, Joseph Smith, Jennifer A. Smith, Kurt D. Smith, Alex J. Solem, Joshua D. Stafford, Glenn E. Stauffer, Matthew D. Stephenson, Lee Sutcliffe, Amber E. Swicegood, Jason Tack, Evan P. Tanner, Catrina V. Terry, Wendy P. Tori, Ashley M. Unger, Kelly R. Vanbeek, William E. Vetter, Jay A. Vonbank, Brett L. Walker, Michael D. Whitson, Maiken Winter, Kimberly A. With, Donald H. Wolfe, Amy A. Yakel Adams, Benjamin Zuckerberg

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The timing of biological events for wildlife species reflects and influences ecological and evolutionary processes and helps guide management actions to meet conservation objectives. Climate change may cause phenological shifts across trophic levels and ecosystems, which can have broad ecological impacts. Shifts may also result in mistiming between management practices based on historical conditions and current biological events, reducing the effectiveness of natural resource management and conservation efforts. We analyzed nesting phenology patterns over recent decades across North America for 44 species of grassland-nesting birds, including waterfowl, upland gamebirds, shorebirds, and passerines, many of which have experienced precipitous population declines. …

Buffeted By Change, Researchers Seek Continuity And Investment: Results From The Ithaka S+R Us Researcher Survey, Chelsea Mccracken, Dylan Ruediger, Ruby Macdougall

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Executive summary

The research enterprise in the United States, established after the second world war, is experiencing massive disruption. US colleges and universities are grappling with federal and state disinvestment and intervention at a time when AI and other technologies are reshaping how research is conducted and its findings are communicated. As a result, researchers at US higher education institutions are operating in an unstable environment. Against this backdrop, the findings from our survey of 4,003 researchers, fielded in late 2025, demonstrate that they remain committed to carrying out essential work and that they are doing so in innovative ways—through …

A Decision Analytic Approach To Hierarchical Decisions For Double-Crested Cormorant Conflict Resolution, Kelly F. Robinson, Travis O. Brenden, Alex Maguffee, Charles R. Bronte, Randall M. Claramunt, Thomas R. Cooper, Robin L. Debruyne, Brian S. Dorr, James F. Farquhar, Jana R. Lantry, James R. Jackson, David G. Fielder, Rachel L. Pierce, Doug Schultz

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Double-crested cormorants (Nannopterum auritum) are piscivorous, migratory waterbirds that often conflict with fisheries interests in North America, stemming from depredation effects on fish populations. A new permitting process in the United States allows natural resource agencies to request permits for lethal take of cormorants in special instances like depredation of managed fish stocks. This rule does not include guidance for when cormorant take might be actionable. We developed a hierarchical structured decision making (SDM) framework for evaluating whether, when, and how much cormorant take might be necessary. A broad-scale, or “umbrella,” SDM framework established the overarching problem, objectives …

An Evaluation Of Next Generation Biological Control Methods For The Invasive Brown Treesnake In The Mariana Islands, Jonathan Q. Richmond, Tim Harvey-Samuel, Melia G. Nafus, Adam Perez, Renee Bellinger, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Riley Taitingfong, Margaret E. Hunter, Robert N. Fisher

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Norman H. Cromwell, Unl Chemistry; Nu System Dean; Eppley Cancer Center Director, Norman H. Cromwell, Pete Boughn, Mark A. Griep

UNL ORCA Interview Series

This 1980 interview of Normal Cromwell was done by Pete Boughn at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He asked about Cromwell’s history but mostly about his time as director of the Eppley Cancer Center. The interview is reproduced with permission from the UNMC McGoogan Library.

Cromwell was born in 1913 in Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1935, he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in his hometown. In 1939, three things happened: he earned a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Minnesota, he got married, and he was hired …

The Use Of Chitosan-G-Poly (Acrylic Acid-Co-Acrylamide) In The Delivery Of Imatinib In The Small Intestine, Dawson Ohrt, Clint Everard

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

The use of hydrogels as drug delivery systems is the future of biotechnology, hydrogels can offer a new way of controlled delivery to specific areas of the body. Hydrogel also create new possibilities for treatments of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). There are many different types of hydrogels that can be used in drug delivery. Hydrogels offer customizability in regard to the release of drugs in specific environments. The chemical properties of hydrogels allow for them to be manipulated for specific functions such as release at a specific pH . The hydrogel being used in the study is Chitosan-G-Poly (Acrylic Acid …

Age Reassignment Using Luminescence Dating For The Mammoth Site, Black Hills, South Dakota, Usa, Shannon A. Mahan, Jim I. Mead, P.R. Hanson, Emma T. Krolczyk, Christopher N. Jass

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The Mammoth Site (MS) at Hot Springs, South Dakota, provides a unique opportunity to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions on the Northern Great Plains of the United States. Previous radiocarbon analyses of mammoth bone apatite suggested the MS sinkhole was deposited ∼42–23 cal ka BP. However, two U-series ages and one thermoluminescence (TL) age ranged between 150 and 101 ka, suggesting the bones were considerably older. We analyzed six samples from the bone bed using infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL) on feldspars, because the quartz luminescence was saturated; the ages ranged from approximately 232 to 160 ka, showing better agreement with previous U-series and …

Odyssey To The Extraordinary: Living Our Land Grant Mission And Beyond, Jeffrey P. Gold, Katherine S. Ankerson, Tiffany Heng-Moss

Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources: Institute Publications

Presents a strategy intended to guide future directions for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's (UNL) Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) including issues related to governance, funding, organizational structure, and strategic alignment within UNL and the University of Nebraska system.

Evolution Of Propagator Wakes On The Kolbeinsey Ridge From An Integrated Geophysical Perspective, Ethan Stowell

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Oceanic lithosphere is formed following the extension and rifting of a continent, with new material generated at mid-ocean ridges. While ridges generally spread in the direction of extension, individual spreading centers are offset by perpendicular transform faults that break the ridges into individual segments. Ridge propagation, in which one ridge segment grows at the expense of another’s shortening, has been identified in global investigations as a poorly understood component of axial reorganization. This process leaves propagator wake structures composed of faults and pseudofaults visible as lows in Earth’s gravitational field, and transferred lithosphere with a distorted magnetic signature. This study …

Operator Theoretic Methods For Coupled Pde In General Geometries, Yuhao Mu

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This thesis develops and applies operator theoretic methods applied to coupled PDE analysis in general geometries, in which the coupling involves interchange across a boundary. The general geometries refer to domains with merely Lipschitz continuous boundaries (e.g. any non-convex polygon), as opposed to those with any further smoothness conditions on the boundary. The key results include a new pressure elimination method for coupled fluid–structure interaction (FSI) PDEs with boundary interchange, which allows an explicit semigroup representation of the PDE in terms of just the fluid and structure variables. This novel technique, valid over arbitrary bounded Lipschitz domains, leads to a …

Crustal Structure Of The Vøring Plateau And Vøring Spur From Joint Refraction And Reflection Travel-Time Tomography, Anika Nawar Mayeesha

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Crustal architecture of the Vøring Plateau and Vøring Spur in the mid-Norwegian continental margin remains debated because the geophysical data in the area do not uniquely constrain whether the crust is continental, oceanic, or transitional. This study reanalyzes wide-angle ocean-bottom seismometer data from Profile 11-03 across the Vøring passive continental margin using joint travel-time tomography of crustal refractions and Moho reflections. A total of 6,760 first-arrival picks and 542 PmP picks from sixteen instruments were inverted for P-wave velocity and reflector depth. Three starting models were inverted independently to test sensitivity to the initial crustal configuration. The first two used …

Observing System Simulation Experiments To Investigate Impacts Of Deep-Tropospheric Uas Flights On Forecasts, Kenneth Alexander Swan

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Uncrewed aircraft systems have emerged as a promising option to address meteorological gaps in observations in the lower troposphere. With recent advancements, UAS may be able to address gaps aloft in areas that lack coverage from radiosondes and commercial aircraft. UAS have shown the potential to significantly benefit NWP forecasts from profiles in the lowest 2 km AGL, but the impact of UAS profiles to the tropopause has yet to be quantified. Additionally, the impacts of hazardous flying conditions that UAS would encounter need to be addressed to guide future UAS capabilities. To address these questions, we designed an observing …

Ethos: A Computational Framework For Material Culture Research, Chelsea L. Grafe

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Museum catalog records make large collections searchable, but they do not always preserve the reasoning behind the claims they contain. A record may present a quilt's identity as settled while leaving the reasoning behind that claim invisible, making it difficult for later researchers to check, question, or reuse. This project asks whether museum catalog data can be analyzed in a way that keeps each analytical claim connected to the evidence that supports it. To test this question, the project applies a material-first computational framework named Ethos. Ethos formalizes an object-centered inquiry sequence in which material dependencies establish where analysis begins …

Interview With Orca Winner Xiao Cheng Zeng; Unl Chemistry; Computational/Theoretical; Nebraska Ice & Gold Nanocages, Mark Griep, Xiao Cheng Zeng

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Xiao Cheng Zeng became a chemistry professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1993, quickly rose through the ranks, and was in the department for 29 years. In 2022, he left to become head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong. Xiao was born in Beijing and earned a bachelor’s in physics at the University of Beijing in 1984. Next, he traveled 6800 miles east to Ohio State University in Columbus where he earned his doctorate in condensed matter physics. He followed that up with two postdoctoral experiences, first at the University …

Statistical Methods In Research, Horahenage Dixon Vimalajeewa

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This course portfolio documents the design, delivery, assessment, student-learning evidence, and reflective evaluation of STAT 801A-700: Statistical Methods in Research, an online asynchronous service course designed to introduce students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to foundational statistical reasoning and applied data analysis. The course is a non-calculus-based introduction to statistical methods used to answer research questions, with emphasis on collecting, organizing, describing, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. The course also emphasizes applications relevant to biology, agriculture, and other research-oriented fields. This is an online distance course aimed to develop students’ understanding of basic probability and statistical concepts, recognize the importance …

Course Portfolio: Elements Of Physics Phys 151, Evan A. Rich

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This course portfolio documents the instructional design, teaching methods, and ongoing assessment efforts for PHYS 151: Elements of Physics, an algebra-based introductory physics course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The course serves a broad undergraduate population, including architecture, construction management, and life science majors. The portfolio describes the teaching framework that integrates pre-lecture video preparation, active in-class engagement through iClicker questions, and collaborative weekly recitation sections, all unified around a structured six-step problem-solving approach. A central concern of the course is building students’ self-efficacy in physics, particularly among those with math anxiety or limited preparation. Two assessments are reported: a …

Shared Language For Responsible Ai Integration, Asa B. Stone, Mark C. Stone, Alisha Bevins, Jean Claude Niyomugabo, Irene Magara, Jacob Abaare, Derek M. Heeren, Mubarak Abu Zouriq

PRAIRIE: Pioneering Responsible AI for Research, Innovation, and Education

As AI rapidly reshapes how we work and learn, employers increasingly seek graduates who can think before they prompt, exercising judgment under pressure rather than merely producing output. Yet students are praised for AI use in one course and penalized for it in the next, and faculty are left to lead responsibly on shifting ground, with no shared language to guide them.

This paper introduces the PRAIRIE Framework for AI Integration, a shift from reactive gatekeeping toward proactive stewardship. It emerged from a qualitative sentiment analysis of three communities (students, faculty, and industry partners) whose concerns converged on one need: …

Investigation Of Warfarin–Human Serum Albumin Binding By Ultrafast Affinity Extraction Using Single- And Dual-Column Affinity Microcolumn Systems, Samiul Alim

Department of Chemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation examined the interaction of warfarin with human serum albumin (HSA) by using affinity chromatography, with particular emphasis on ultrafast affinity extraction (UAE) and affinity microcolumns. HSA affinity supports were prepared by immobilizing HSA onto diol-bonded silica via Schiff base chemistry and used to prepare affinity microcolumns for chromatographic studies under physiological-like conditions at pH 7.4 and 37.0 °C. UAE studies were performed to investigate the effects of residence time, flow rate, and column configuration on the measured apparent free fraction of warfarin and on the calculated apparent binding parameters. The results showed that the measured apparent free fraction …

Can Generative Ai Make Farming Decisions? Current Status And Future Pathways: A Case Study In Row Crop Production With Chatgpt, Nipuna Chamara, Yufeng Ge, Joe Luck, Yu Pan, Saleh Taghvaeian, Cory Walters, Christopher Proctor, Daran Rudnick, Daren Redfearn

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The agricultural decision-making process is experience-based, knowledge-dependent, time-sensitive, complex, and driven by historical data. Planting, fertilization, irrigation, and chemigation are key categories in farm decision-making, and currently there is no one-shot decision-support tool that covers all these activities. Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) models are more advanced than traditional machine learning and deep learning models. These models have been trained on vast amounts of data from the internet, allowing them to accept unstructured data in various forms and generate human-like text, solutions to problems, and scenario predictions. Given this capability, we became interested in exploring the potential of generative AI in …

Gobbling Activity And Use Of Structural Habitat At Nest Sites By Wild Turkeys (Meleagris Gallopavo) In Western Nebraska, Robyn M. Dausener

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) populations in Nebraska have declined substantially in recent years. Understanding gobbling chronology and its environmental drivers may inform spring hunting season structure and management actions. I used autonomous recording units (ARUs) in two ecologically distinct regions of Nebraska, the northwestern (NW) Pine Ridge landscape, and the southwestern (SW) agricultural landscape, to quantify gobbling activity from 2023-2025. I paired gobbling data with nesting chronology, cumulative daily hunting pressure, weather conditions, and moon phase using Bayesian generalized additive mixed models. Gobbling peaked during mid-to-late April in both regions, preceding peak nest initiation and incubation, with no …

Robert, Powers; Unl Chemistry; Nmr-Assisted Drug Discovery, Mark Griep, Robert Powers

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Interviews

Dr. Robert Powers became a chemistry professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2003 and is about to retire after 23 years. Prior to UNL, Bob was a drug discovery researcher for 11 years at American Cyanamid, which eventually became Wyeth and is now part of Pfizer. Bob was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. Something in his youth must have sparked an interest in chemistry because he earned a bachelor's in that subject from Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Then he traveled 1200 miles west to Purdue University in Indiana where he earned his doctorate. Next, he did postdoctoral …

Asymmetric Synthesis Of Borylated Amines Via Rhodium Catalyzed Hydroboration Of Allylamine Derivatives: Surprising Role Of Counterions And Accelerators, Rukshani Wickrama Arachchilage

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The Catalytic Asymmetric Hydroboration (CAHB) reaction is a valuable method for synthesizing chiral organoboron compounds. Nevertheless, key mechanistic details, including catalyst activation, ligand effects, and rate-determining steps, are difficult to generalize and remain not fully understood. Building on previous research from the Takacs group, this work explores acyclic N-acyl allylamines as substrates in rhodium-catalyzed hydroboration and investigates the formation of active catalysts from various rhodium precursors, the role of counterions (e.g. BF₄, BArF-), ligand-to-metal ratios, and the impact of external fluoride additives (e.g. TBAT). Hydroboration of acyclic N-acyl allylamines achieves up to 90% yield and 99 : 1 …

Online Legislation: Developments And Trends In Data Privacy And Software Development, Garrett J. Splinter

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The increasingly relevant interaction between the law and data privacy, as well as compliance requirements enforced by the United States, is currently in a state of transition. Various states, such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Nebraska, and many others, all have passed legislation with varied requirements and definitions that make for a challenging framework in which software developers operate, as the universal nature of the internet renders their compliance with current legislation a challenge. Enforcement also tends to be relatively relaxed in most modern examples, though it has escalated after 2020, and this trend may continue in the future, lending credence …

Comparing Awssi And Traditional Winter Metrics For Predicting Overwinter Survival Of Juvenile Walleye (Sander Vitreus), Camille N. Shifrin

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Winter conditions are an important driver of recruitment variability in freshwater fishes, yet winter severity is often characterized using single climate metrics. These simplified approaches may not capture the cumulative stress experienced by fishes during winter. The Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index (AWSSI) integrates multiple components of winter climate and may therefore provide a more biologically relevant indicator of overwinter survival. In this study, we compared AWSSI with traditional winter severity metrics to explain interannual variation in overwinter survival of juvenile Walleye (Sander vitreus) in Harlan County Reservoir, Nebraska. Model comparisons using Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) indicated that …

Optimization Of The Baffle Geometry Of A Circular Culvert Outlet Structure To Maximize Energy Dissipation, Kiarash Shirmahi

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

High-velocity flow at culvert outlets can lead to significant soil erosion and damage to downstream infrastructure, particularly in agricultural regions where land protection is critical. Circular culverts, commonly used in transportation systems, are especially susceptible to this issue due to flow acceleration caused by geometric constraints and installation angles. Despite extensive research on energy dissipation in rectangular culverts, limited attention has been given to circular configurations. This study addresses this gap by evaluating the hydraulic performance of baffle systems designed to reduce outlet energy in circular culverts.

A series of laboratory experiments was conducted using a scaled physical model of …

Leveraging Code Embeddings To Identify And Address Blind Spots In Benchmark Creation, Charles Moloney

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Formal software verification remains critical for early vulnerability detection, yet benchmarking these tools is costly and often reliant on centralized datasets such as SV-COMP. While such repositories enable standardized evaluation, they introduce risks of overfitting and bias, particularly due to first-party benchmark contributions. To address these limitations, we extend ARG-V, our tool for generating SV-COMP-compatible benchmarks from real-world Java code, with a novel approach of using code embedding techniques to selectively sample from mined code. By leveraging Nomic Embed Code and a cosine-based Minimum Hyperspherical Energy (MHE) objective, we systematically select and transform benchmarks from scraped GitHub code that …

Population Structure And Connectivity Of Atlantic Nurse Sharks (Ginglymostoma Cirratum) In The Bahamas And Outlying Areas, Baylie A. Fadool

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Understanding animal ecosystem dynamics and behavior at the individual and population levels is essential for identifying life-history patterns and important areas for management and conservation. Marine fish species often face minimal geographic barriers to movement, but environmental (temperature, salinity, current) or intrinsic barriers (philopatry, site fidelity) can dictate gene flow. Atlantic nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) are an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed ‘vulnerable’ species and present a unique opportunity to investigate patterns of population structure and connectivity in large-bodied sharks. They are benthic and display reproductive philopatry, with recent work suggesting they have the capacity …

Examining Extremes: A Comparison Between Machine Learning Based Southwestern Conus Seasonal Drought And High Fire Risk Event Synoptic Climatologies, Ethan M. Greenberg

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Southwestern United States (SW CONUS), comprised of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, is a vast region that tens of millions of people call home. Hosting ecosystems ranging from grasslands and shrublands to temperate forests and climate zones ranging from Mediterranean climates to arid deserts, the region is nearly unanimously prone to intense droughts and devastating wildfires. While fire weather conditions and drought are often studied separately or mentioned as background conditions for the other, there are relatively few studies that compare the typical meteorological conditions between the two. This study aims to more closely understand the meteorological relationship between …

Gaining Mussel: Evaluating Reintroduction Success Of Native Freshwater Mussels In Nebraska And Eastern Wyoming, Travis A. Moore

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Freshwater mussels are one of the most imperiled groups of organisms in North America, with over two-thirds of species considered threatened, endangered, or of special concern. These long-lived bivalves are essential to stream ecosystems, acting as filter feeders that improve water quality and as indicators of aquatic health. In Nebraska and Wyoming, native mussel populations have declined sharply due to habitat modification, pollution, and reduced connectivity. Two species of particular concern are the Plain Pocketbook Lampsilis cardium, listed as Tier I at-risk in Nebraska, and the Fatmucket Lampsilis siliquoidea, a Tier II at-risk species. In response, state agencies …

Spatiotemporal Variability Of Differential Reflectivity (Zdr) Columns Due To Environment In Tornadic And Nontornadic Supercells, Adrianne J. Engel

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Polarimetric signatures have been of interest to researchers and operational forecasters since the completion of the WSR-88D network upgrade in 2013. Differential reflectivity (Z_DR) columns, which are collocated with supercell updrafts, are the focus of this study. Microphysical distributions within these signatures can be used to infer updraft strength and elucidate the processes responsible for updraft intensity and evolution. Z_DR column depth, areal extent, and variability of these metrics through space and time are assessed in a dataset of 114 nontornadic and tornadic supercells. Means of column metrics in nontornadic, non-tornado-producing, and tornado-producing analysis times are evaluated …