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Festival Of Research Abstracts, 2024, College Of Science And Mathematics, Wright State University

Festival of Research

The collection of abstracts accepted for the 2024 Festival of Research hosted by the Wright State University College of Science and Mathematics.

Festival Of Research Abstracts, 2023, College Of Science And Mathematics, Wright State University

Festival of Research

The collection of abstracts accepted for the 2023 Festival of Research hosted by the Wright State University College of Science and Mathematics.

A History Of Wright State University's Department Of Geological Science, Paul J. Wolfe

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

A history of Wright State University's disbanded and reintegrated Department of Geological Sciences written by department faculty member Paul J. Wolfe. Wolfe describes the development of the program, the faculty throughout the years, and the programs offered through the department.

Direct Inversion Method Of Fault Slip Analysis To Determine The Orientation Of Principal Stresses And Relative Chronology For Tectonic Events In Southwestern White Mountain Region Of New Hampshire, Usa, Christopher C. Barton, Jacques Angelier

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

The orientation and relative magnitudes of paleo tectonic stresses in the western central region of the White Mountains of New Hampshire is reconstructed using the direct inversion method of fault slip analysis on 1–10-m long fractures exposed on a series of road cuts along Interstate 93, just east of the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in North Woodstock, NH, USA. The inversion yields nine stress regimes which identify five tectonic events that impacted the White Mountain region over the last 410 Ma. The inversion method has potential application in basin analysis

Increasing Expression Of Civic-Engagement Values By Students In A Service-Learning Chemistry Course, Audrey Mcgowin, Rebecca Teed

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

A service-learning course at a midsized Midwestern research university was modified over a period of six years to integrate best-practice pedagogies that have been shown to increase civic engagement by students. Best-practice pedagogies included regular interaction with community partner(s), significant time spent on the service activity, and regular reflection (written and verbal) on the implications of the service activity. Besides water quality monitoring, students performed private well water analysis, wrote multiple formal reflection papers, and presented a public talk on the results of their project that included significant discussion time with community partners. Authentic expression of civic engagement values was …

Mosquito Hunter: An Intern's Perspective In A Public Health Department Mosquito Surveillance Program, Marisa Walterbusch

The University Honors Program

As a Special Services Intern at Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County (PHDMC), I gained first-hand experience as to the daily functioning of a Public Health Department and had the opportunity to work on a special project, the Mosquito Surveillance Program. PHDMC employs professionals in a variety of disciplines, all working towards the goal of protecting the health of the public. One way they accomplish this is through various inspections including restaurant, wellhead, and landfill. Another method to protect the public health is through the capture and testing of mosquitoes, with the goal of preventing the spread of mosquito-borne …

The End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction And The Chicxulub Impact, Rebecca Teed

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

This handout focuses on the evidence for the theory that a massive meteor impact off the coast of Mexico caused the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The dinosaurs and about 75% of all marine invertebrate species and many other organisms died abruptly at this time. It is part of a set of four articles on possible causes of the Permian and Cretaceous mass extinctions that can be used to organize classroom debates or to have students compare and contrast the events and their causes.

The End-Permian Mass Extinction And A Possible Massive Impact, Rebecca Teed

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

This handout examines the evidence for the theory that a massive meteor impact caused the mass extinction at the end of the Permian Period. This is the worst mass extinction known to geologists, and 90% or more of all species on Earth were wiped out. It is part of a set of four articles on possible causes of the Permian and Cretaceous mass extinctions that can be used to organize classroom debates or to have students compare and contrast the events and their causes.

The End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction And The Deccan Traps Eruptions, Rebecca Teed

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

This handout focuses on the evidence for the theory that a series of flood-basalt eruptions in northern India caused the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The dinosaurs and about 75% of all marine invertebrate species and many other organisms died abruptly at this time. This is one of a set of four articles on possible causes of the Permian and Cretaceous mass extinctions that can be used to organize classroom debates or to have students compare and contrast the events and their causes.

The End-Permian Mass Extinction And The Siberian Traps Eruptions, Rebecca Teed

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

This handout focuses on the evidence for the theory that a series of flood-basalt eruptions in Siberia caused the mass extinction at the end of the Permian Period. This is the worst mass extinction known to geologists, and 90% or more of all species on Earth were wiped out. It is part of a set of four articles on possible causes of the Permian and Cretaceous mass extinctions that can be used to organize classroom debates or to have students compare and contrast the events and their causes.

Changes In Geologic Time Understanding In A Class For Preservice Teachers, Rebecca Teed, William Slattery

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

The paradigm of geologic time is built on complex concepts, and students master it in multiple steps. Concepts in Geology is an inquiry-based geology class for preservice teachers at Wright State University. The instructors used the Geoscience Concept Inventory (GCI) to determine if students' understanding of key ideas about geologic time and Earth history changed between the first and last day of the course. For three of the four GCI questions analyzed in this study, the number of correct student responses increased significantly between the pretest and the post-test, indicating that many of the students were learning the concepts being …

Multiproxy Lake Sediment Records At The Northern And Southern Boundaries Of The Aspen Parkland Region Of Manitoba, Canada, Rebecca Teed, Charles Umbanhower, Philip Camill

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

Aspen parkland in central Canada may change substantially with increased warming and aridity as prairies replace forests, fire return intervals decrease and lake levels decline. We examined the relationships among vegetation, climate, fire and lake-ecosystem properties using lake sediment cores from the current northern and southern boundaries of the aspen parkland in southwestern Manitoba. We analyzed pollen, charcoal, sediment magnetics, biogenic silica, phosphorus, grain size and LOI, and dated the cores using ²¹⁰Pb and ¹⁴C (AMS, calibrated). The Jones Lake record, from the southern edge of the parkland, began considerably earlier (~11 000 cal. BP) than the Mallard …

Strain Waves, Earthquakes, Slow Earthquakes, And Afterslip In The Framework Of The Frenkel-Kontorova Model, Naum I. Gershenzon, V. G. Bykov, Gust Bambakidis

Physics Faculty Publications

The one-dimensional Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) model, well known from the theory of dislocations in crystal materials, is applied to the simulation of the process of nonelastic stress propagation along transform faults. Dynamic parameters of plate boundary earthquakes as well as slow earthquakes and afterslip are quantitatively described, including propagation velocity along the strike, plate boundary velocity during and after the strike, stress drop, displacement, extent of the rupture zone, and spatiotemporal distribution of stress and strain. The three fundamental speeds of plate movement, earthquake migration, and seismic waves are shown to be connected in framework of the continuum FK model. The …

Preliminary Results From A Holocene Record From Crystal Lake, Southwestern Ohio, Rebecca Teed, Leigh Deuter, Ashley Kesler, Graham Parker, Melissa Sparks

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Horizontal Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands For On-Site Wastewater Treatment, Boyd C. Hoddinott

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands (SSFCWs) are being used worldwide to treat wastewater from a variety of sources. An extensive literature review was conducted to update the current state of scientific knowledge on the performance of SSFCWs for domestic wastewater treatment. This review documented good treatment efficiency for the five commonly measured parameters (TSS, BOD, nitrogen, phosphorus, and fecal coliforms).

An attempt at a Meta analysis turned up a myriad of problems preventing a proper statistical review. These include lack of adherence to standard methods for effluent analysis, varying metrics for reporting treatment efficiency, variability in the nitrogen species which …

A Student-Centered Project For Earth System History, Rebecca Teed

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

This project is intended to replace some of the lectures that would ordinarily be necessary in a survey of Earth history over geologic time. The students will be taking the lecturer's place in front of the class, presenting some of the material to their colleagues. Students will work in groups on a single era or period. Each student role-plays an expert (such as an oceanographer) and works with teammates playing other sorts of experts (a biologist, a geologist, an atmospheric scientist). Their presentation will require them to do research. They will be constructing resource lists to keep track of how …

A >130,000-Year-Long Pollen Record From Pittsburg Basin, Illinois, Rebecca Teed

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

Pittsburg Basin, in south-central Illinois, contains a sediment record extending from the present back to the end of the late Illinoian glaciation, when central Illinois was covered with Picea/Pinus forest. During the last interglaciation, a temperate deciduous forest more diverse than Holocene Quercus/Carya forest replaced the Illinoian late-glacial boreal forest. Prairie pollen types and the charcoal/pollen ratio, indicating fire frequency, temporarily increased. Then forest, with high Juniperus percentages, became dominant once more, as the charcoal/pollen ratio dropped. After the last interglaciation, the charcoal/pollen ratio increased again and prairie and wetland surrounded Pittsburg Basin through the entire Wisconsinan glacial age. The …

Interaction Of A Group Of Dislocations Within The Framework Of The Continuum Frenkel-Kontorova Model, Naum I. Gershenzon

Physics Faculty Publications

The Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) model of edge dislocation is analyzed. Solutions of the continuum limit of the FK model [the sine-Gordon (SG) equation] are obtained in a form convenient for investigation of dynamics of a large number of interacting dislocations. We consider, based on these solutions, some nonstationary processes: dislocation generation, diffusion of dislocations, and crack-dislocation interaction. Simple relations connecting the velocity of plastic deformation, density and velocity of dislocations, and the force of interaction between dislocations are obtained. The nucleation of dislocations at a moving crack tip is described.