Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Wildfire And Fuel Treatments In Utah: A Practical Guide And Outcomes From An Oak-Maple Ecosystem, Annie E. Prescott

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Wildfire is a natural part of Utah’s landscapes, but as wildfires become more extreme and communities continue to expand into wildland areas, it is increasingly important to understand how wildfires behave and how their negative effects can be mitigated. One way to reduce wildfire risks and protect life, property, and ecosystem services is through fuel treatments — actions that reduce the amount and arrangement of flammable vegetation through mechanical removal, wildland fire, or other methods.

Information on wildfire behavior and fuel treatments is abundant but often scattered, ecosystem-specific and difficult to access. In addition, most research in the Western U.S. …

Toward Optimizing Fruit Production In Utah Soils: Apple Salt Tolerance Screening And Tart Cherry Fertility Management, Kaitlin Dabbs

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Fruit production in Utah can be challenging due to local climate and soil conditions. Tart cherries and apples are major fruit crops in Utah, and improvements to these cropping systems would be beneficial for farmers and local consumers. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate desired improvements for these crops. The first study looked for salt tolerance in ten new apple rootstocks. Salty soils can be found throughout the state limiting the land suitable for apple production. When grown in salty soils apple trees often have reduced growth and production potential. A specialized drip irrigation system was constructed in a greenhouse …

Quasi-Poisson Analogs Of Regular Poisson Varieties, Casen Thompson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Let G be a complex semisimple linear algebraic group with 𝐶 a conjugacy class of parabolic subgroups of G. In previous work, Dr. Crooks defines 𝑢_𝐶→ B_𝐶 , a universal flat family of a fine Hamiltonian Lagrangian G-bundles over 𝐶, and shows that 𝑢_𝐶 is a family of regular Poisson varieties. This manuscript introduces a natural candidate for a quasi-Poisson analog of Dr. Crooks’s construction, 𝑢_𝐶, using the framework of quasi-Poisson geometry established by Alekseev, Kosmann-Scwarzbach, and Meinrenken. It will be shown that this proposed quasi-Poisson analog indeed has a valid quasi-Poisson structure and …

Summit County, Utah: Changes To Climate, Snowpack, And Wildfire (1979-2025), Scott Hotaling, Gordon O. Gianniny, Joseph D. Birch, Elizabeth Cohen, Kendall Becker

All Current Publications

Summit County is climatically unique from the rest of Utah due to its high mean elevation. It’s also economically unique, with world-class ski resorts near working agricultural lands. In this fact sheet, we synthesize how Summit County’s environment is changing, with an emphasis on the last 50 years. We focus on changes in temperature, precipitation, and snowpack; growing season length; and wildfire because of their impacts on the economy, natural resources, and local communities' well-being. Our goal is to support the region's future planning efforts. To that end, we highlight risks to Summit County’s future and opportunities that may arise …

Agrivoltaics: Combining Food And Solar Power On Agricultural Lands, Dharla Soteros, Kendall Becker, Spencer J. Good, Ngoni Mufute, Matt Yost, Logan Mitchell, Scott Hotaling

All Current Publications

Utah’s ranchers and farmers face pressure to sell land to developers, conserve water, and manage increasing production costs (Li et al., 2019). One way producers can keep growing food while diversifying and increasing revenue is by integrating agriculture and solar electricity generation on the same land, a practice known as agrivoltaics. In this fact sheet, the authors describe agrivoltaic setup options, summarize agrivoltaics' impacts on livestock and crop production, and discuss implementation economics.

Wilson's Phalarope, A Migratory Bird, Depends On The Declining Great Salt Lake, William Christenson, Kendall Becker, Spencer J. Good, T.J. Clark-Wolf, Scott Hotaling

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes how declining water levels and increasing salinity degrade habitat for brine flies and other prey Wilson’s phalaropes rely on. Because human use drives low water levels, changes to water management could reverse the lake’s decline and improve habitat quality for Wilson’s phalaropes and other species that depend on the Great Salt Lake.

Latino Perceptions Of Nature, Recreation, And Community Engagement In Wasatch And Summit Counties, Utah, Elsa Perez, Jessica Ulrich-Schad, Lewis Kogan, Isaac Helton

All Current Publications

This fact sheet presents results from a Utah State University study on Latino perceptions of nature, recreation, and community engagement in Utah's Wasatch and Summit counties and barriers to accessing programming. It also includes tips for increasing Latino participation in nature programs.

How Water Banking Can Help Refill The Great Salt Lake, Avery Truman, Kendall Becker, Matthew Behrens, Sarah Null, Matt Yost, Scott Hotaling

All Current Publications

Concern about low water levels in the Great Salt Lake has contributed to the development of water markets in Utah. Water markets enable the voluntary transfer of water or water rights from right holders to other people or entities in exchange for compensation. In general, these transfers are more likely to occur if a water rights holder can make more money by selling their water (or water rights) to another user rather than using it themselves. Willingness to engage in water transfers also depends on the ease of transactions, confidence in the water market, and confidence in the ability to …

Wrf Cold-Pool Sensitivities Relevant To Winter Ozone Modelling In The Uinta Basin, John Lawson, Michael J. Davies, Loknath Dhar, Seth N. Lyman

Bingham Research Center

Cold-pool structure controls the confinement of wintertime ozone and its precursors in Utah’s Uinta Basin. Previous studies have documented difficulty capturing stable cold pools in meteorological models, complicating air quality simulations when pollutants disperse too readily. Herein, we evaluate the meteorology behind one such high-ozone event on 2 February 2013 with Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) simulations; the chemistry is not simulated. We test the sensitivity to Global Forecast System (GFS) or North American Mesoscale (NAM) forcing, domain feedback, boundary-layer and surface-layer schemes, slope-aware radiation, and terrain datasets (fine versus coarse). Across five hourly samples, GFS-driven runs were warmer at …

Home On The Range: Where Deer And Antelope Compete With Feral Horses For Limited Resources, Katelyn Davies, Hannah B. Klugman, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, David C. Stoner

All Current Publications

Given projections for continued drought conditions in the West, a better understanding of how native wildlife respond to competition with feral horses will be critical for developing effective conservation programs in the future. This fact sheet provides information on feral horses and presents study data comparing their use of water resources with that of native wildlife.

Implementation Of The Trojan Sex Chromosome Approach In The San Juan River: Investigation And Validation Of Feminization Methods For Channel Catfish, Chad Teal

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Collaborative Research: Influence Of Fault Frictional Healing And Realistic Tectonic Loading Rates On Shallow Subduction Megathrust Locking, Srisharan Shreedharan

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Photochemistry At The Air-Aerosol Interface, Yi Rao

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Exceptional Holography (2025 Renewal, Revised Budget), Oscar Varela

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Innovating Effective Engineering Designs For Hazard Risk Reduction In North Carolina, Daniella Hirschfeld

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Cedar: Investigating The Mesosphere And Lower Thermosphere Neutral Temperature And Winds Responses To Geomagnetic Storms Equatorward Of The Auroral Zone, Tao Yuan

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

A Database Of Reliability-Targeted Snow Loads For The United States, Nicholas Brimhall, Cameron Swapp, Brennan Bean

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This data release provides the data and code necessary to create a database of 10,625 site-specific Reliability-Targeted Snow Loads (RTSLs) for locations in the Conterminous United States and Alaska. RTSLs are the design snow load requirements necessary to achieve the reliability targets set forth in Chapter 1 of the ASCE 7 Standard, which is the national standard that largely governs hazards-based design in the United States. The data and methods used in this data release are based upon the methods described in Bean et al. (2021), with updated data and refined methodology as applicable.

A Global Database Of Winter Wind Values, Jayden Gardner, Hannah Fluckiger, Nicholas Brimhall, Brennan Bean

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This repository contains the data and code necessary to create winter wind (W2) estimates for international locations. It is an extension of the approach outlined in Bean et al. (2025) to include additional data from European locations. Winter wind is defined as the proportion of time that the wind speed exceeds 10 mph during the months of October to April, which is used in snow load design to calculate the potential severity of drifting on a roof.

Base Maps And Other Source Files For: A Global Database Of Reliability-Targeted Snow Loads, Shaveen Britto, Nicholas Brimhall, Cameron Swapp, Brennan Bean, Jayden Gardner, Hannah Fluckiger

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The 2022 edition of ASCE 7 introduced reliability-targeted snow loads (RTSLs) for structural design. The development of design snow loads for locations outside the Conterminous United States (OCONUS) requires methods that can provide reliable estimates in regions with varying station density and climatic conditions. This repository contains the data and code used to develop and evaluate a climate-analog approach for estimating RTSLs at international locations. The climate-analog method identifies reference stations with similar climatic and geographic characteristics and uses their estimated RTSLs to predict snow loads at locations where direct observations are limited or unavailable. The methodology relies on station-level …

A Global Database Of Reliability-Targeted Snow Loads, Nicholas Brimhall, Cameron Swapp, Brennan Bean, Shaveen Britto, Jayden Gardner, Hannah Fluckiger

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This data release provides the data and code necessary to create a database of 18,809 site-specific Reliability-Targeted Snow Loads (RTSLs) for locations outside of the United States. RTSLs are the design snow load requirements necessary to achieve the reliability targets set forth in Chapter 1 of the ASCE 7 Standard, which is the national standard that largely governs hazards-based design in the United States. The intent of this release is to provide engineers seeking to use US-based design standards in international settings a database of snow load values consistent with the methodologies used to establish ground snow loads in ASCE …

Base Maps And Other Source Files For: A Database Of Reliability-Targeted Snow Loads For The United States, Nicholas Brimhall, Cameron Swapp, Brennan Bean

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This data release provides the supporting data and files to create a database of 10,625 site-specific Reliability-Targeted Snow Loads (RTSLs) for locations in the Conterminous United States and Alaska (see Brimhall et al. (2026)). RTSLs are the design snow load requirements necessary to achieve the reliability targets set forth in Chapter 1 of the ASCE 7 Standard, which is the national standard that largely governs hazards-based design in the United States. The data and methods used in this data release are based upon the methods described in Bean et al. (2021), with updated data and refined methodology as applicable.

Fast Computation And Model Order Reduction Of The Friction Stir Welding Process With Pod-Deim, Joshua Kay, Zilong Song

Mathematics and Statistics Student Research and Class Projects

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a solid-state manufacturing process widely used in joining aluminum and other metal workpieces. The FSW process can be modeled by a coupled system of non-Newtonian Navier–Stokes and heat-transfer equations. However, solving this non-linear system with high accuracy requires significant computational power. This work refines the system by introducing corrected coefficients and new treatments for boundary conditions near the tool. Then, model order reduction, including the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) and Discrete Empirical Interpolation Method (DEIM), is applied to efficiently solve the FSW system in a low-dimensional space. To enhance accuracy and effectiveness, two novel treatments …

2026 Report On The State Of Great Salt Lake Social Science, Creed Jones, Avyrlie Smith, Shae Barber, Stacia Ryder, Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed, Georgie Corkery, Jennifer Givens, Anna Mcentire, Carla Trentelman, Jessica Ulrich-Schad, Kirsten Vinyeta, Bryn Watkins

Publications

Great Salt Lake (GSL) faces rapid decline that presents more than just a hydrological risk; it poses an existential social hazard. As water levels decline, ecosystems, economies, cultures, and societies face irreversible harm. Since the lake reached its lowest levels in 2022, this issue has specifically gained increased attention in Utah and beyond. Given both the degree to which human consumption contributes to the problem, and the potential risks that the drying of the lake poses for community health, social science research is a crucial for informing successful water management policies and mitigating impacts. The purpose of this report is …

Building Wellbeing Through Nature And Adventure For Justice-Involved Youth, Lewis Kogan, Meagan Ricks, Janna Coulter, Miranda Margetts, Lori Butterfield, Ben Ukoh-Eke

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

Justice-involved youth often experience elevated levels of stress, mental health challenges, and reduced access to positive developmental opportunities. A nature- and adventure-based youth development program designed to strengthen resilience, self-efficacy, nature-connectedness, and well-being among justice-involved youth was piloted in 2025 to address these challenges. Pilot findings indicated improvements in resilience, self-efficacy, hopefulness, and connectedness to nature.

Citizen Science As A Long-Term Environmental Baseline: Assessing Impacts Of A Small Dam Removal In Montana, Usa, Bethany Blakey, Natalie Bursztyn

Watershed Sciences Student Research

As dam removals increase in frequency across Europe and North America, most research has focused on the impact of larger dam removals, despite the removal of small dams being much more common. There are hundreds of small dams in Montana, USA, and this research investigates impacts on stream ecology and morphology using citizen science data collected over eight years spanning before and after a 2020 small dam removal in Rattlesnake Creek. We analyzed pebble count grain size distributions and aquatic macroinvertebrate biotic indices from 2017 to 2024 to assess changes in sediment transport and macroinvertebrate population as well as evaluate …

Addressing Knowledge And Data Gaps That Limit Pesticide Risk Assessment For Managed Solitary Bees Used For Alfalfa Pollination, Kimberly J. Hageman

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Is Hanpp A Stressor Of Bird Species Richness?, Kaeli Mueller, Gustavo Ovando-Montejo, Christopher Lant

Environment and Society Student Research

One of the leading drivers of biodiversity loss is land use change due to the ever-increasing demand for food, livestock feed, biofiber, and biofuel. The concept of human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) was developed to measure the impact that humans have on the environment by accounting for biomass removed from the environment in the form of crops, timber, and grazing. The species–energy hypothesis is an established ecological hypothesis postulating that greater species diversity is correlated with higher levels of energy from plant productivity; this can be measured as net primary production minus harvested HANPP or NPP_ecological. …

Data Repository For "The Influence Of Hydrologic And Salinity Conditions On Drought-Tolerant Great Salt Lake Wetland Plant Species" By Samantha Kurkowski And Karin Kettenring, Samantha Kurkowski

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This greenhouse experiment investigated the effects of salinity (3 levels) and hydrologic condition (5 levels),  on the cover and biomass of a single mix of 11 native drought- and salt-tolerant species.

Ground To Roof Snow Load Ratio (Gr) Data Release, Brennan Bean, Cooper Nelson, Jesse Wheeler, Scout Jarman, Salam Adil Al-Rubaye, Marc Maguire

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This data release provides historical ground-to-roof snow load ratio (GR) datasets used for snow load research and model development. The release includes original referenced datasets, cleaned country specific datasets, and a master dataset that combines Canadian and United States datasets into a standardized format for research and engineering applications.

Hidden Symmetries And Higher Dimensional Rotating Black Holes, Luis Fernando Temoche Hurtado

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

A standard approach to probing the dynamics of a physical system is to expose it to an external perturbation—such as an incident wave—and analyze its response after the interaction. Mathematically, this procedure is formulated in terms of differential equations governing the evolution of the perturbation.

In the context of black hole physics, an analogous strategy can be employed by studying the response of the event horizon to external perturbations. The differential equations describing these interactions are often invariant under nontrivial transformations, revealing hidden symmetries that help explain distinctive features of higher-dimensional black holes.

By exploiting these hidden symmetries in the …