Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

U.S. Drought Monitor, December 27, 2016, Brad Rippey

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for December 27, 2016 (12/27/16) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Solar, Why Not?, Emily Hergenrader

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Imagine yourself standing outside for an hour wearing a black shirt on a 90-degree day. Now touch your shirt. Notice how warm it is? This warming is due to the sun’s energy. According to Daniel Nocera, a member of the Division of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that same heat from one hour of sun exposure is more energy than all of the energy consumed by humans in an entire year.

Energy is one of the hottest topics debated in our world today. Human existence on Earth depends on energy usage and the availability of its consumption. Due …

Independent Energy, Ian Hall

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

In the world of energy, an elite selection of the world’s most influential leaders dictates the development of the world. The correlation between petroleum production and global influence is hard to ignore. The world needs energy to move and those with the energy control the movement. Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the US combine to contribute over a third of world oil production. OPEC countries however, dominate the vast energy markets around the world. Well inundated with regional conflict and hostile relations, OPEC countries remain volatile and on top of global energy production.

The energy industry has become extremely productive, fueling …

A Dynamic Power Grid For A Dynamic Age Introducing Les To A Pricing Mechanism That Assesses Demand, And Changes Every Hour, Marvin Christopher Cunningham

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Lets say you knew someone who would buy a whole pizza when they were a little bit hungry, left their sink running when they weren’t using it, maxed out their A/C in their house when they were on vacation, and always kept their stove on just in case they wanted to cook something.

You would probably see this as horribly wasteful, and a terrible drain of money. But every time we pay our power bill, our prices assume we share these wasteful habits. The rate that we pay per kilowatt hour assumes customers are eating the whole pizza, even though …

Trump Is Right, Except For A “Small” Detail, Lucas Palamim

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

It is known that the elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, does not believe that human activities are causing climate change. Also, it is known that he wants to “Make America great again” by supporting the industries in the country and by investing in fossil fuel and coal energy.

Trump is a supporter of the pipelines being constructed and is against the monitoring role of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Clean Power Plan, considered President Obama’s top climate achievement, is not supported by Trump and other Republicans. It is seen as a heavy-handed rule that increases energy prices …

Fracking Chill, Nick Nardone

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Hydraulic Fracturing or commonly known as fracking has caused a big boom in the oil and gas industry making it easier for us to extract oil and gas from the ground, but has serious side effects that as they cause harm to us and our environment. We should slow or stop fracking at once if we want a clean and healthy environment to live in.

Fracking has become widely popular in the last decade and has brought us benefits on the oil and gas side and with little lack of information and support it has been difficult to put restrictions …

Les To Increase Fixed Price, Nathan Blazek

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Lincoln Electric System (LES) plans to increase the fixed amount customers pay each month and decrease the rate it charges for each kWh used.

This shift is claimed to be revenue neutral for LES. But for customers, it means they’ll save less money by turning off lights and buying more efficient appliances.

This policy is a sly and deliberate stab at ongoing conservation efforts. The decreased kilowatt pricing will give customers the perception that it is relatively unnecessary to decrease electricity usage if they are already paying a high price to initially have it. This new policy will even further …

Is Nebraska Really “The Good Life”?, Sarah Porath

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

For anyone who has ever lived in Nebraska, you know the state is filled with people who resist change. Nebraska is “The Good Life.” Any adjustments or modifications that could disrupt the lifestyle are not welcomed. The people who are elected into office clearly reflect this type of mindset.

It is time for Nebraska to get outside of their comfort zone. We need to move from the good life to the great, healthy, and progressive life by developing a state-wide Energy Efficiency Resource Standard or Goal.

20 states have Mandated Statewide Energy Efficiency Resource Standards and 8 states have Goals …

Stop Fighting It Nebraska: Clean Energy Is Here To Stay, Nicholas Underwood

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

The state of Nebraska and more specifically the Nebraska Public Power District has so far shown a surprising reluctance to incorporate clean or renewable sources of power into its portfolio. The state’s reluctance is exemplified in their support for legal challenges to the Clean Power Plan put forth by the Obama Administration. NPPD in particular has decided to stick with coal as its primary fuel source and has even discouraged the construction of natural gas facilities in the state. The power utilities in this state need to develop a modern, clean energy system to avoid being left behind.

On one …

Fossil Fuel Subsides Will Keep The Us In The Stone Age, Alexander Stejskal

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Renewable sources will be the future of energy production for the United States. Clean sources of energy like wind and solar have been the topic of conversation for quite some time, and now they’re starting to show their ability to compete economically with fossil fuels.

Even as renewable sources of energy begin to show their gusto, they are still a part of a relatively new industry and new industries always need a little help getting off the ground. There are some forms of aid being provided for renewable sources of energy, like the production tax credit or PTCs, where the …

The Great Plains: America’S Carbon Vault, William Davidson

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

As a nation we are starting a race against climate change, a competitor who has had a very long head start and only plans on picking up the pace. The Clean Power Plan has laid a blueprint to lower carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning power plants nationwide, a crucial step in recovering from decades of pollution. Meeting these goals will take years and greenhouse gasses will continue to accumulate throughout the process. Efforts beyond the scope of this plan must also be made in order to prevent emissions from sources not specifically addressed, namely sources of carbon that cannot …

The Clean Power Plan And How It Will Change History, Abbie Andersen

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

In a country where 30% of the population still believes that man made climate change is a myth, president Obama has made a daring effort to help fix the damage our country has already inflicted on our planet. By creating The Clean Power Plan (CPP) we’ve taken a step in the right direction as a country. The action that we take to limit our emissions within the next 10 years will likely determine the course of the rest of our existence.

In our current situation humanity has no choice other than to act, and act quickly. We have passed the …

Why We Should Keep Worrying About The Atomic Bomb, Eric Davis

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

“… the members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board have looked closely at the world situation and found it highly threatening to humanity—so threatening that the hands of the Doomsday Clock must once again be set at three minutes to midnight, two minutes closer to catastrophe than in 2014…Meanwhile, as they slow the pace of disarmament, the nuclear weapon states have given other strong indications that they are committed to retaining nuclear weapons for the indefinite future” - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (2015). "Three Minutes and Counting".

Nuclear proliferation and climate change pose the …

Calculating The Methan-Matics Of Our Future, Victoria Salinas

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

In the first two decades after its release, methane, a green house gas, is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Historically, atmospheric concentrations of methane remained fairly stable at around 750 ppb, significantly less than today’s levels of 1,800 ppb. Unfortunately, agricultural activity accounts for about one-fifth of total global greenhouse gas emissions, while the current production of ruminants contributes nearly 80% of these emissions due to their large populations, body size and appetites, and the anaerobic microbial fermentation that occurs during digestion. Because of methane’s severe impact on the climate, methane emissions, specifically due to the production of …

Willingness To Pay Today For A Cleaner Tomorrow, Yukihira Naoe

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

To a ten year old boy on a tedious trip across the country side, few views are more fascinating than a wind farm. Massive turbines spin slowly as if to emphasize their preposterous size and magnificence. In an era where increasing global attention is brought to climate change, renewable energy is carving its way into the minds of billions. This once free roadside attraction is now something that in the near future, we must pay and patronize, and this is where my literature begins, how willing are we to pay for renewable energy? Are you willing to pay to give …

Terrestrial Ecosystem Process Model Biome-Bgcmuso V4.0: Summary Of Improvements And New Modeling Possibilities, Dóra Hidy, Zoltán Barcza, Hrvoje Marjanovi´C, Maša Zorana Ostrogovi´C Sever, Laura Dobor, Györgyi Gelybó, Nándor Fodor, Krisztina Pintér, Galina Churkina, Steven Running, Peter Thornton, Gianni Bellocchi, László Haszpra, Ferenc Horváth, Andrew E. Suyker, Zoltán Nagy

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The process-based biogeochemical model Biome- BGC was enhanced to improve its ability to simulate carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles of various terrestrial ecosystems under contrasting management activities. Biome-BGC version 4.1.1 was used as a base model. Improvements included addition of new modules such as the multilayer soil module, implementation of processes related to soil moisture and nitrogen balance, soil-moisture-related plant senescence, and phenological development. Vegetation management modules with annually varying options were also implemented to simulate management practices of grasslands (mowing, grazing), croplands (ploughing, fertilizer application, planting, harvesting), and forests (thinning). New carbon and nitrogen pools have been defined to …

A Grand Unified Model For Liganded Gold Clusters, Wen Wu Xu, Beien Zhu, Xiao Cheng Zeng, Yi Gao

Xiao Cheng Zeng Publications

A grand unified model (GUM) is developed to achieve fundamental understanding of rich structures of all 71 liganded gold clusters reported to date. Inspired by the quark model by which composite particles (for example, protons and neutrons) are formed by combining three quarks (or flavours), here gold atoms are assigned three ‘flavours’ (namely, bottom, middle and top) to represent three possible valence states. The ‘composite particles’ in GUM are categorized into two groups: variants of triangular elementary block Au₃(2e) and tetrahedral elementary block Au₄(2e), all satisfying the duet rule (2e) of the valence shell, akin to …

College And University Sustainability Officers’ Experiences With Green Office Programs: A Qualitative Investigation, Logan Lamb

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

The number of sustainability programs in higher education continues to increase. Green office programs have become a cornerstone of sustainability programming on college and university campuses across the country. This exploratory qualitative study involves college and university sustainability officers and investigates their experiences changing behaviors through green office programs. The goal of this study was to provide insight into green office programs. Two side-by-side studies were conducted to provide a detailed analysis of green office programs at both small and large institutions of higher education. Eleven major themes emerged from the study. Six themes emerged from the qualitative analysis of …

Exploration Of Student Biodiversity Knowledge And Decision-Making For A Wildlife Conservation Socioscientific Issue, Ashley R. Alred

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

Global biodiversity, a foundation for ecosystem function, is diminishing at a rate unprecedented in the last 50 years. Biodiversity loss and ecosystem services deterioration is linked to increased food insecurity, reduced water quality and availability, decreased energy security, higher economic losses and human suffering (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Consequently, educators should invest in supporting students in their development of ecological understanding and formal decision-making skills so they are equipped with meaningful tools they can use as scientifically literate citizens. To contribute to that mission, this study seeks to explore student 1) comprehension and explanation of biodiversity concepts and 2) decision-making …

Finding The Best Remaining Black Hills Montane Grasslands, The First Step In Conservation, Hollis Marriott, Don Faber-Langendoen, David J. Ode

The Prairie Naturalist

Black Hills Montane Grassland is a rare and endangered plant community endemic to the Black Hills of western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming. It is restricted to higher elevations on the Limestone Plateau in the western part of the uplift. Early visitors to the Black Hills wrote glowing reports of flower-filled grasslands on the Limestone Plateau. Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and his soldiers reveled in lush grass, and decorated the headgear of their horses with flowers (Custer 1875). Expedition botanist A. B. Donaldson “estimated the number of flowers in bloom in Floral Valley at 50, while an equal number …

Review Of Estimation Of Parameters For Animal Populations: A Primer For The Rest Of Us By Larkin A. Powell And George A. Gale, Max Post Van Der Burg

The Prairie Naturalist

“Me? A modeler? Never!” This is the opening challenge of the book, Estimation of Parameters for Animal Populations: A Primer for the Rest of Us, by Larkin Powell and George Gale. I say “challenge” because I think this book attempts to challenge the misconception that quantitative methods are out of reach for most biologists and wildlife scientists. When many of us attend college or graduate school to study wildlife science there’s a sense that, at some point, there will be math. But it appears that the attitude of many students toward this reality is to simply suffer through the …

Spatial Variation In Germination Of Two Annual Brome Species In The Northern Great Plains, Erin K. Espeland, Jane M. Mangold, Natalie M. West

The Prairie Naturalist

Downy brome or cheat grass (Bromus tectorum L.) and field brome (B. arvensis L.; Synonym = Bromus japonicus Thunb. ex Murr.; Japanese brome) are two annual exotic species that have increased the intensity and frequency of fire cycles in the Intermountain West of the United States, with millions of dollars in associated costs (DiTomaso 2000). These invasive brome species have a different impact in the Northern Great Plains of North America where they commonly co-occur in disturbed sites (White and Currie 1983, Haferkamp et al. 1993). In these mixed-grass prairie rangelands, annual bromes compete against other forage species …

Changes In The Prairie Naturalist For 2017: Some Bumps In The Road During Transition, Christopher N. Jacques

The Prairie Naturalist

By now it is obvious to most of our members and authors that The Prairie Naturalist (TPN) has experienced some delays in conducting journal-related business over the past few months. Publication of the June 2016 issue was slightly delayed and the December 2016 was mailed much later than planned. So I wanted to update our members on the current status, and other aspects, of TPN. As most of you know, when I transitioned into the Editorship of TPN, one of my first orders of business was to secure a new publication venue for the journal. Fortunately, the Department …

Review Of Waterfowl Of North America, Europe, And Asia: An Identification Guide By Sébastien Reeber, William L. Hohman

The Prairie Naturalist

Ducks, geese and swans (Family Anatidae) are the most popular and best studied group of birds in the world. The group has been the subject of classical books by Kortright (1942), Delacour (1954-1964), Bellrose (1976), Palmer (1976), Johnsgard (1978), and, most recently, Kear (2005) and Baldassarre (2014). The latest contribution to this rich legacy is an impressively illustrated identification guide for waterfowl found in North America, Europe and Asia by author and artist, Sébastien Reeber. This is an English-language version of Canards, Cygnes et Oies d’Europe, d’Asie et d’Amérique du Nord, published by Delachaux and Niestlé in late 2015. …

Review Of Plants Have So Much To Give Us, All We Have To Do Is Ask: Anishinaabe Botanical Teachings By Mary Siisip Geniusz (Edited By Wendy Makoons Geniusz, Illustrated By Annmarie Geniusz), Natasha Myhal, Kelly Kindscher

The Prairie Naturalist

Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask offers a new look at Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) ethnobotany as told through traditional stories. Botanical teachings through stories are a way to pass down traditional knowledge from generation to generation. For example, Anishinaabe knowledge on plants was written and recorded in communities willing to share their knowledge with early scholars, such as Albert B. Reagan (1928), Huron H. Smith (1932), and Melvin R. Gilmore (1933). Each of these scholars spent time with an Anishinaabe community to learn about plants and primarily to provide written descriptions of plants …

Assessment Of Smallmouth Bass Growth And Mortality In Nebraska Waters, Benjamin J. Schall, Keith D. Koupal, Casey W. Schoenebeck, Keith L. Hurley

The Prairie Naturalist

Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) have been introduced across Nebraska into a variety of waterbodies. However, an estimate of smallmouth bass growth and mortality in Nebraska waters has not been produced. The objectives of this study were to use historic sampling data to describe the growth of smallmouth bass in Nebraska lakes in relation to other regional models, growth among waterbody types (reservoirs, Interstate 80 [I-80] lakes, and rivers), estimates of age at quality, preferred, and memorable lengths, and mortality for Nebraska smallmouth bass populations. Mean length ± SE of Nebraska smallmouth bass at age 7 was 383 ± …

Review Of Booming From The Mists Of Nowhere: The Story Of The Greater Prairie-Chicken By Greg Hoch, Ross H. Hier

The Prairie Naturalist

The Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) is an iconic species inhabiting one of the most iconic and rarest habitats in the world—the tallgrass prairies of central North America. To tell the story of the Greater Prairie-Chicken is a monumental task. Its history is intricately woven into pre- and post-European settlement of the North American prairies in such a way that knowledge of the species is spread over several centuries. Thus, researching the “old and the new” regarding the Greater Prairie-Chicken requires a substantial literature review, much of which occurs in publications from the 1800s. Hoch has done a …

Reproductive Characteristics Of Landlocked Fall Chinook Salmon From Lake Oahe, South Dakota, Kelsen L. Young, Michael E. Barnes, Jeremy L. Kientz

The Prairie Naturalist

Lake Oahe, South Dakota, USA, landlocked fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) reproductive characteristics were examined over a 27 year period, from 1988 to 2015. Mean total lengths of spawning females ranged from 665 mm (1995) to 812 mm (2015) with considerable year-to-year variation. Post-spawn female weights varied, ranging from 2.02 kg (2000) to 5.55 kg (2015), with an overall mean of 3.04 kg. Fecundity peaked at 4,555 eggs per female in 2003, which was just 3 years after a low of 2,011 eggs per female in 2000. Relative fecundity based on female weight was greatest at 1,211 eggs/kg …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring For Scotts Bluff National Monument, 2016 Data Report, Molly B. Davis, Daniel J. Swanson

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2016 at Scotts Bluff National Monument (SCBL) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and Northern Great Plains Fire Ecology Program (NGPFire).

During the sixth full year of field work, crew members from NGPN visited eight long-term monitoring plots on May 23-25, 2016 to collect data on the plant communities at SCBL. This is part of a long-term monitoring effort to better understand the condition of the vegetation at SCBL. NGPN staff captured data relating to species richness, herb-layer height, abundance of individual native and non-native …

Early Miocene Quantitative Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy From The Tropical Atlantic, Waheed A. Albasrawi

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

Quantitative analysis for the Lower Miocene of Ocean Drilling Program Hole 959A from the West African margin was performed to document all the calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphic events present. Combined with data from previous investigations of the Lower Miocene from the tropical Atlantic, this research identifies and tests the viability of markers used in current zonation scheme, identifies alternative markers for age boundaries, and examine statistically the most probable order of event in the Lower Miocene using the Ranking and Scaling method (RASC).

The examination of Hole 959A was performed on a 112 samples. Seven additional sites that collectively span the …