Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication Year
File Type

Articles 1 - 30 of 4082

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Enabling Iov Communication Through Secure Decentralized Clustering Using Federated Deep Reinforcement Learning, Chandler Scott Aug 2024

Enabling Iov Communication Through Secure Decentralized Clustering Using Federated Deep Reinforcement Learning, Chandler Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Internet of Vehicles (IoV) holds immense potential for revolutionizing transporta- tion systems by facilitating seamless vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. However, challenges such as congestion, pollution, and security per- sist, particularly in rural areas with limited infrastructure. Existing centralized solu- tions are impractical in such environments due to latency and privacy concerns. To address these challenges, we propose a decentralized clustering algorithm enhanced with Federated Deep Reinforcement Learning (FDRL). Our approach enables low- latency communication, competitive packet delivery ratios, and cluster stability while preserving data privacy. Additionally, we introduce a trust-based security framework for IoV environments, integrating a central authority …


Application Of Functionalized Organosilicas In Adsorption Of Nitrates, Stephen Amoako Aug 2024

Application Of Functionalized Organosilicas In Adsorption Of Nitrates, Stephen Amoako

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the critical environmental issue of elevated nitrate levels in water bodies, primarily due to excessive use of nitrogenous fertilizers and improper waste disposal. It focuses on reducing nitrate concentrations in polluted water to permissible levels through the effectiveness of hybrid materials in nitrate adsorption. We synthesized nine amino-functionalized adsorbents using grafting and sol-gel techniques. Batch adsorption tests confirmed the high nitrate adsorption capacities of these adsorbents, with sol-gel materials showing the highest efficiency due to their abundant amino group contents. Among these, the surfactant-free, sol-gel adsorbent was the most effective, combining ease of synthesis with cost-efficiency. Our …


Comparative Analysis Of Surrogate Models For The Dissolution Of Spent Nuclear Fuel, Dayo Awe May 2024

Comparative Analysis Of Surrogate Models For The Dissolution Of Spent Nuclear Fuel, Dayo Awe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a comparative analysis of surrogate models for the dissolution of spent nuclear fuel, with a focus on the use of deep learning techniques. The study explores the accuracy and efficiency of different machine learning methods in predicting the dissolution behavior of nuclear waste, and compares them to traditional modeling approaches. The results show that deep learning models can achieve high accuracy in predicting the dissolution rate, while also being computationally efficient. The study also discusses the potential applications of surrogate modeling in the field of nuclear waste management, including the optimization of waste disposal strategies and the …


Synthesis And Characterization Of Indole-Based Zinc Dipyrrin Photosensitizers, Jean-Pierre Sanza May 2024

Synthesis And Characterization Of Indole-Based Zinc Dipyrrin Photosensitizers, Jean-Pierre Sanza

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Metal complexes of dipyrromethene (dipyrrins) used as sensitizers in photocatalysis offer a way to harness solar energy in chemical bonds to create new fuels. This offers the dual role of reducing fossil fuel dependence and atmospheric CO2 levels. Traditionally, metal dipyrrin complexes are synthesized using substituted pyrroles, aldehydes, and transition metals. Indoles have a more expanded pi-electron system and their dipyrrin-type complex may exhibit visible light absorption, suggesting that they can act as photosensitizers for CO2 reduction processes. A novel indoledipyrromethene was synthesized using unsubstituted indole and mesitaldehyde. The complex exhibits visible light absorption at 422 nm. Its …


Coastal-Ocean And Estuarine Acidification In Long Bay, South Carolina: A Comparison Of In-Situ Water Quality Monitoring With Measured Carbonate System Parameters, Mary Olsen May 2024

Coastal-Ocean And Estuarine Acidification In Long Bay, South Carolina: A Comparison Of In-Situ Water Quality Monitoring With Measured Carbonate System Parameters, Mary Olsen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of the major water-quality issues impacting our coast and estuaries is coastal-ocean and estuarine acidification. Due to a relative dearth of data in the southeastern United States it is increasingly difficult to determine the full extent and intensity of this problem. This study provides the first characterization of coastal-ocean and estuarine acidification in Long Bay, SC by attempting to leverage long-term water quality data sets at two coastal-ocean pier sites using in-situ YSI EXO sondes deployed at both the surface and bottom waters along with two estuarine sites sampled by volunteer monitors using Orion star multi-meters. Discrete samples (120) …


Detection And Classification Of Diabetic Retinopathy Using Deep Learning Models, Aishat Olatunji May 2024

Detection And Classification Of Diabetic Retinopathy Using Deep Learning Models, Aishat Olatunji

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare analytics leverages extensive patient data for data-driven decision-making, enhancing patient care and results. Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), a complication of diabetes, stems from damage to the retina’s blood vessels. It can affect both type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients. Ophthalmologists employ retinal images for accurate DR diagnosis and severity assessment. Early detection is crucial for preserving vision and minimizing risks. In this context, we utilized a Kaggle dataset containing patient retinal images, employing Python’s versatile tools. Our research focuses on DR detection using deep learning techniques. We used a publicly available dataset to apply our proposed neural network and …


Interpreting Shift Encoders As State Space Models For Stationary Time Series, Patrick Donkoh May 2024

Interpreting Shift Encoders As State Space Models For Stationary Time Series, Patrick Donkoh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Time series analysis is a statistical technique used to analyze sequential data points collected or recorded over time. While traditional models such as autoregressive models and moving average models have performed sufficiently for time series analysis, the advent of artificial neural networks has provided models that have suggested improved performance. In this research, we provide a custom neural network; a shift encoder that can capture the intricate temporal patterns of time series data. We then compare the sparse matrix of the shift encoder to the parameters of the autoregressive model and observe the similarities. We further explore how we can …


The Interplay Of Spin, Charge, And Heat: From Metal/Insulator Heterostructures To Perovskite Bilayers, Sam M. Bleser Mar 2024

The Interplay Of Spin, Charge, And Heat: From Metal/Insulator Heterostructures To Perovskite Bilayers, Sam M. Bleser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation begin with an investigation of non-local spin transport in an amorphous germanium (a-Ge) sample via the inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE). In that study we show that commonly used techniques such as differential conductance and delta mode of a paired Keithley 6221/2182a for non-local resistance measurements can lead to false indicators of spin transport. Next, we turn out attention to a thickness dependent study in thermally-evaporated chromium (Cr) thin films on a bulk polycrystalline yttrium-iron-garnet (YIG) substrate. This project analyzed the spin transport in the Cr films versus thickness via the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect (LSSE). This …


Thermal, Electrical, And Spin Transport: Encompassing Low-Damping Ferromagnets And Antiferromagnetic/Ferromagnetic Heterostructures, Matthew Ryan Natale Mar 2024

Thermal, Electrical, And Spin Transport: Encompassing Low-Damping Ferromagnets And Antiferromagnetic/Ferromagnetic Heterostructures, Matthew Ryan Natale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Continuing technological advancements bring forth escalating challenges in global energy consumption and subsequent power dissipation, posing significant economic and environmental concerns. In response to these difficulties, the fields of thermoelectrics, spintronics, and spincaloritronics emerge as contemporary solutions, each presenting unique advantages. Thermoelectric devices, based on the Seebeck effect, other a passive, carbon-free energy generating solution from waste heat. Although current thermoelectric technology encounters hurdles in achieving optimal efficiencies without intricate designs or complex materials engineering, recently research into low-damping metallic ferromagnetic thin films have provided a new method to enhance spin wave lifetimes, thus contributing to thermoelectric voltage improvements. As …


Assessment Of Method Effects Of Keying And Wording In Instruments: A Mixed-Methods Explanatory Sequential Study, Lin Ma Mar 2024

Assessment Of Method Effects Of Keying And Wording In Instruments: A Mixed-Methods Explanatory Sequential Study, Lin Ma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents an innovative approach to examining the keying method, wording method, and construct validity on psychometric instruments. By employing a mixed methods explanatory sequential design, the effects of keying and wording in two psychometric assessments were examined and validated. Those two self-report psychometric assessments were the Effortful Control assessment (Ellis & Rothbart, 2001) and the Grit assessment (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009). Moreover, the quantitative phase utilized structural equation modeling to analyze 2,104 students’ responses and assess the construct of keying and wording. Various hypothetical models were investigated and evaluated. The reliability of each construct in each method was …


Automatic Construction Of Ontology With Public-Domain Datasets For Personalized Tutoring With Eca, Asim Jamal Jan 2024

Automatic Construction Of Ontology With Public-Domain Datasets For Personalized Tutoring With Eca, Asim Jamal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

E-tutoring systems have transformed remote learning and personalized education, offering potent tools for tailored instruction. The core of a personalized tutor lies in its robust ontology and knowledge base, working seamlessly to deliver captivating educational experiences. These two integral components collaborate to empower the tutor to discern learners’ needs, adapt content accordingly, and provide tailored guidance. This study introduces an automated approach for constructing an ontology utilizing publicly accessible datasets, aiming to enhance personalized tutoring through Embodied Conversational Agents (ECA). The objective is to improve the tutoring encounter by delivering bespoke, domain-specific knowledge to learners. The approach harnesses natural language …


An Soa-Based Approach Of Adaptive E-Tutoring Systems, Parth Hetalkumar Mistry Jan 2024

An Soa-Based Approach Of Adaptive E-Tutoring Systems, Parth Hetalkumar Mistry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The educational technology landscape continually evolves, and e-tutoring systems are pivotal in modern pedagogy. Traditional e-tutoring methods often need help with adaptability and user-friendliness across various devices and platforms. To address these challenges, this research introduces a novel approach that leverages service-oriented architecture (SOA) principles, enhancing scalability and flexibility. The SOA configuration streamlines communication between system components, optimizing question delivery and response evaluation. Additionally, the research contributes adaptive interfaces that intelligently engage users based on their device configurations and preferences, offering facial, vocal, or textual interactions. These interfaces ensure a consistent and tailored learning experience across PCs, laptops, and mobile …


City Guarding With Cameras Of Bounded Field Of View, Mohammad Hashemi Jan 2024

City Guarding With Cameras Of Bounded Field Of View, Mohammad Hashemi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We study two problems related to the City Guarding and the Art Gallery problems. 1. Given a city with k rectangular buildings, we prove that 3k+1 cameras of 180◦ field of view (half-sphere guards) are always sufficient to guard the free space (the ground, walls, roofs, and the sky). This answers a conjecture of Daescu and Malik (CCCG, 2020). 2. Given k orthogonally convex polygons of total m vertices in the plane, we prove that (m/2)+k+1 cameras of 180◦ field of view are always sufficient to guard the free space (avoiding all the polygons). This answers another conjecture of Daescu …


Quantifying The Relative Importance Of Boat Wakes In Fetch-Limited Environments, Abigail Maria Carswell Jan 2024

Quantifying The Relative Importance Of Boat Wakes In Fetch-Limited Environments, Abigail Maria Carswell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wind waves and wave-generated currents are known to contribute to shoreline change, but there is increasing evidence that vessel-generated waves (i.e., boat wakes) may be responsible for erosion of shorelines in fetch-limited environments. Depending on vessel type and speed of operation, boat wakes have also been shown to be capable of resuspending sediment, degrading habitat, and water quality, and causing damage to shoreline infrastructure. The number of cottages and recreational boats on inland lakes has been steadily increasing in recent decades in Ontario, Canada, which has resulted in a growing perception that boat wakes are detrimental to the environment, infrastructure, …


Non-Hermitian Physics Achieved Via Non-Local Gilbert Damping, Trevor Joshua Macintosh Jan 2024

Non-Hermitian Physics Achieved Via Non-Local Gilbert Damping, Trevor Joshua Macintosh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we study a simple model for a ferromagnet starting with Heisenberg exchange interaction including the effects of dissipation. Gilbert damping is consid- ered and generalized from an on-site term to include non-local damping interactions between neighbouring spins. The strength of the damping interaction between neigh- bours can be tuned individually to provide the freedom to change the parameters of the system and explore the range of possible non-Hermitian behaviours. We consider the example of a honeycomb lattice ferromagnet featuring Dirac cones and two sub- lattices and analyse the resulting spectra and eigenstates. Under periodic boundary conditions, we …


Xlnet4rec: Modeling User’S Long-Term And Short-Term Interests In E-Commerce Recommender Systems, Namarta Vij Jan 2024

Xlnet4rec: Modeling User’S Long-Term And Short-Term Interests In E-Commerce Recommender Systems, Namarta Vij

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In e-commerce, a sequential recommender system is often used to predict the item that the user is likely to select next. This prediction can be used to create a recommender system to assist the user in making selections. However, when the user’s interests evolve over time, it becomes challenging to make such personalized recommendations. A more accurate recommender system thus needs to effectively interpret and adapt to a user’s changing interests by considering user’s long-term and short-term interests. Many attention-based methods focus on a user’s last clicked item to learn short-term interests. However, this approach may not consistently represent the …


Construction Of Quot-Schemes, Majid Dehghani Jan 2024

Construction Of Quot-Schemes, Majid Dehghani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Quot Scheme is a construction representing parameter spaces for quotient objects of sheaves or coherent modules over a scheme. It encapsulates families of quotients by fixing a certain quotient's structure. The Hilbert Scheme, a specific type of Quot Scheme, focuses on parameterizing subschemes of a fixed projective space by fixing their Hilbert polynomials. After recalling the basic concepts of the theory, we explain the Grothendieck’s Quot scheme construction and its Grassmannian embedding. Then we continue to an explicit construction of Quot scheme in the case of graded modules over graded rings.


Knowledge Informed Fake News Detection Using Large Language Models, Jess Joseph Joseph Benny Jan 2024

Knowledge Informed Fake News Detection Using Large Language Models, Jess Joseph Joseph Benny

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The spread of false or misleading information as news has been a significant threat to governments, organizations and the economy for a long time. However, it has become more prevalent and influential in recent years due to the growing popularity of social media, which is now the primary source of information for more than half of the world’s population. Detecting fake news used to rely mostly on statistical and linguistic analysis of texts, but with the advancement of AI and computer-assisted writing tools, fake news authors can now deceive statistical models. Therefore, more sophisticated methods that use document representations from …


Adaptive Model Selection In Stock Market Prediction: A Modular And Scalable Big Data Analytics Approach, Mohammadehsan Akhavanpour Jan 2024

Adaptive Model Selection In Stock Market Prediction: A Modular And Scalable Big Data Analytics Approach, Mohammadehsan Akhavanpour

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today's globalized economy, financial markets are more interconnected than ever, generating vast amounts of data from thousands of sources every second. The need to accurately analyze and interpret this data is crucial for investors, analysts, and researchers alike. Traditional models for market prediction are limited by their ability to adapt to the real-time nature and 'big data' dimensions of these complex financial datasets. To address these challenges, this thesis proposes and implements a novel framework that combines Apache Kafka with a microservices framework. This framework offers a scalable, real-time solution for financial market prediction that effectively manages the 5Vs …


Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy With Widely Tunable Probe Pulse For Measuring Dissolved Inorganic Phosphorus In The Great Lakes, Nathan Gregory Drouillard Jan 2024

Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy With Widely Tunable Probe Pulse For Measuring Dissolved Inorganic Phosphorus In The Great Lakes, Nathan Gregory Drouillard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The eutrophication of freshwater ecosystems remains a persistent global problem threatening biodiversity, drinking water, and economic interests. Among the Laurentian Great Lakes, Lake Erie is most severely impacted by eutrophication, experiencing annual harmful algal blooms that are thought to result from excess phosphate deposition into the ecosystem. Efforts to study and mitigate the effects of eutrophication require accurate monitoring of phosphate concentrations. The current method for measuring phosphate, the molybdenum blue method, suffers from signal interference. In this thesis, I recommend Raman spectroscopy as a label-free, reagent-free spectroscopic technique for accurately measuring phosphate in freshwater. I verify the Raman spectrum …


Medicinal Mushrooms: The Extraction And Analysis Of Bioactive Compounds From Hericium Erinaceus And Ganoderma Lucidum Mushrooms., Jhanielle Amanda-Kaye James Jan 2024

Medicinal Mushrooms: The Extraction And Analysis Of Bioactive Compounds From Hericium Erinaceus And Ganoderma Lucidum Mushrooms., Jhanielle Amanda-Kaye James

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Medicinal mushrooms, such as Hericium erinaceus (lion's mane) and Ganoderma lucidum (reishi), have a rich history of traditional use in natural remedies, garnering attention for their bioactive compounds and nutritional benefits. Renowned for being protein-rich and low in fat, these fungi exhibit antimicrobial, anti-tumor, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, and anti-hypercholesterolemic properties attributed to their diverse bioactive components, including polysaccharides, proteins, terpenes, sterols, vitamins, polyphenols, and fatty acids. This study aimed to optimize extraction techniques, comparing maceration, ultrasound-assisted maceration, and Soxhlet extraction on fresh and dried lion's mane and reishi mushrooms. Varying solvent polarities and extraction times revealed that 8-hour extractions with dried …


Dynamic Metal-Ligand Interactions In Semiconducting Π-Conjugated Materials, Peter Blake Joseph St Onge Jan 2024

Dynamic Metal-Ligand Interactions In Semiconducting Π-Conjugated Materials, Peter Blake Joseph St Onge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the years, the development of materials has seen a vast amount of expansion into a variety of disciplines which have demonstrated usefulness in a large span of applications. One of these new and developing themes is the use of metals and ligands which are incorporated into polymers to modify their properties, which can enable different desired properties. Incorporation of metal-ligand complexes in materials chemistry has proven to be an area of rising interest, however, many of these interactions and systems remained completely unexplored. Understanding the key fundamental principles of how these materials can be changed and modified through metal-ligand …


Boat Wake Attenuation Through Artificial Vegetation - A Case Study From Peche Island, Jamie Kathryn Lilly Jan 2024

Boat Wake Attenuation Through Artificial Vegetation - A Case Study From Peche Island, Jamie Kathryn Lilly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of nature-based solutions and engineering ideas has sparked interest in the value of vegetated shorelines for protecting against erosion. However, there is a lack of field data, and more research is needed to understand how effective vegetation is in reducing the impact of wind waves and boat wakes. The difference in period between wind waves and boat wakes suggests that they may be attenuated differently, requiring further study to determine the optimal management design. The purpose of this study is to quantify the ability of artificial vegetation to attenuate boat wakes and calculate the drag coefficient for model …


On A Class Of James-Stein’S Estimators In High-Dimensional Data, Arash Aghaei Foroushani Jan 2024

On A Class Of James-Stein’S Estimators In High-Dimensional Data, Arash Aghaei Foroushani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we consider the estimation problem of the mean matrix of a multivariate normal distribution in high-dimensional data. Building upon the groundwork laid by Chételat and Wells (2012), we extend their method to the cases where the parameter is the mean matrix of a matrix normal distribution. In particular, we propose a novel class of James-Stein’s estimators for the mean matrix of a multivariate normal distribution with an unknown row covariance matrix and independent columns. Given a realistic assumption, we establish that our proposed estimator outperforms the classical maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) in the context of high-dimensional data. …


Quantifying Survival And Behaviour Of Hatchery-Reared Juvenile Bloater Stocked Across Bathymetric Depths In Lake Ontario, Lydia L. Paulic Jan 2024

Quantifying Survival And Behaviour Of Hatchery-Reared Juvenile Bloater Stocked Across Bathymetric Depths In Lake Ontario, Lydia L. Paulic

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over 20 million native and non-native fishes are stocked into the Great Lakes annually as part of restoration initiatives and to support commercial and recreational fisheries. Bloater (Coregonus hoyi), a deep-water planktivore that was extirpated from Lake Ontario in the 1980s, has been consistently stocked in the lake since 2012 by Canadian and American natural resource agencies with the goal of producing a self-sustaining population. Previous research has highlighted challenges with stocking such as poor survival, attributed to high predation, potential maladaptive behaviour and barotrauma resulting from introducing a hatchery-reared species into a foreign environment. To address these survival challenges, …


Scattering Of Electromagnetic Radiation By Bianisotropic Spheres, Maxwell A. Wallace Jan 2024

Scattering Of Electromagnetic Radiation By Bianisotropic Spheres, Maxwell A. Wallace

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modern developments in materials science have led to the increased demand for the ability to control electromagnetic radiation at scales smaller than ever. One of the most important areas of research for controlling the manipulation of electromagnetic radiation, has been the studying of novel optical metamaterials, including the most general and complex form, bianisotropic metamaterials (BAMs). With modern developments in nano- engineering, paired with the advancement of more robust theoretical studies of BAMs, the demand for more novel BAM technologies has increased. With the advent of research of unbounded BAM media, as well as the recent extensions of Mie theory …


Impact Of Solar Radiation On Perchlorate Formation In The Atmosphere: Evidence From Ice Core Measurements, Bishnu Kunwar Jan 2024

Impact Of Solar Radiation On Perchlorate Formation In The Atmosphere: Evidence From Ice Core Measurements, Bishnu Kunwar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Perchlorate, which derives from both anthropogenic and natural sources in the current environment, poses a substantial health hazard to humans as it competes with iodine uptake in the thyroid gland. Consequently, there has been considerable concern about minimizing human exposure to environmental perchlorate by restricting its release from man-made sources. However, the absence of a clear understanding regarding the respective contributions of man-made and natural sources has hindered widespread regulation efforts. A 300-year (1700–2007) Summit, Greenland ice core record from a previous study showed relatively stable perchlorate concentrations in Greenland snow prior to 1980, with some elevated perchlorate levels associated …


Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry For Sensing Salinity And Sodicity In Glacial Northern Great Plains Soils With Machine Learning Models, Adam Devlin Jan 2024

Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry For Sensing Salinity And Sodicity In Glacial Northern Great Plains Soils With Machine Learning Models, Adam Devlin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Saline and sodic soils are an increasing concern across the Northern Great Plains (NGP) due to factors of climate change and land management that are drawing geologically derived salts to the land surface. Traditional laboratory assessments, such as electrical conductivity (EC) and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), are time and resource consumptive. Portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) may be a viable proximal sensing alternative, as it is able to provide elemental data in minutes, in situ or ex situ, and can directly quantify salinity-associated elements like Ca, Mg, and S. PXRF paired with predictive models has proven useful for a range of …


Contrastive Learning, With Application To Forensic Identification Of Source, Cole Ryan Patten Jan 2024

Contrastive Learning, With Application To Forensic Identification Of Source, Cole Ryan Patten

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Forensic identification of source problems often fall under the category of verification problems, where recent advances in deep learning have been made by contrastive learning methods. Many forensic identification of source problems deal with a scarcity of data, an issue addressed by few-shot learning. In this work, we make specific what makes a neural network a contrastive network. We then consider the use of contrastive neural networks for few-shot learning classification problems and compare them to other statistical and deep learning methods. Our findings indicate similar performance between models trained by contrastive loss and models trained by cross-entropy loss. We …


Effects Of Low-Cost, Low-Tech Tools For Riparian Restoration On Prairie Streams In Western South Dakota, James Andrew Joseph Bolyard Jan 2024

Effects Of Low-Cost, Low-Tech Tools For Riparian Restoration On Prairie Streams In Western South Dakota, James Andrew Joseph Bolyard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite making up less than two percent of the overall landscape in the arid and semi-arid western US, riparian areas are a crucial resource for agriculture, livestock, and wildlife. However, many have impaired function and reduced riparian cover. Low-Cost, Low-Tech Tools (LCLTT) are a subset of Process-Based Restoration (PBR) used for riparian restoration that were chosen for their cost-effectiveness and minimal technical requirements. LCLTT has been tested in mountainous areas of the western US but only recently implemented in the Northern Great Plains (NGP). Given their novelty as an approach toward restoration for the region, professional restoration and landowner communities …