Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Sustainable Management Of Erosive Shores: An Interdisciplinary Approach Integrating Engineering And Social Sciences At A Tide-Dominant Beach Area, Jun Ik Sohn, Hyun Dong Kim, Kiran Adhithya Ramakrishnan

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This study investigates the causes and consequences of shoreline erosion at Kkotji Beach, a prominent tourist destination on the west coast of South Korea, where the degradation of the coastal environment has increasingly threatened the local tourism industry and economy, by employing a mixed-methods approach that combines field observations with MIKE 21 hydrodynamic simulations and by integrating perspectives from coastal engineering and the social sciences to develop practical, site-specific strategies for mitigating erosion, enhancing public awareness, and promoting sustainable coastal planning and development that support long-term environmental resilience and economic stability. The results show that dominant ebb currents drive southward …

Complexity, Polycentricity, And Climate Change: An Embedded, Multi-Level Case Study Of A Climate Meta-Network, Timothy Staub

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The earth is in crisis, and without urgent, systemic, and collective global action to address the emerging threat of climate change, we will continue to see catastrophic events impacting humanity, threatening our very survival in many regions of the world. Temperatures will rise, ice shelves will melt, seas will rise, crops will fail, water scarcity from drought and new weather patterns will increase and spread, wildfires will accelerate, and food and water insecurity, violence, and the largest human migration in history will ensue. These climate crises will displace over 1.2 billion people by 2050 at a rate currently exceeding 21.5 …

Canary In The Alpine: Shifts In Snowbed Plant Communities Over Time In The Adirondack Mountains Of New York, Katie Rhodes

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Due to their unique species diversity and vulnerability, alpine snowbed communities have the potential to serve as early detection or ‘canary’ communities that can inform scientific understanding of the timing and physical manifestation of a changing alpine ecosystem. In the summer of 2008, fifteen alpine snowbed vegetation community transects over 5 mountain summits were established and studied in the High Peaks Wilderness Complex within the Adirondack State Park by the New York Natural Heritage Program. Each transect was 5 meters long and encompassed five 1x1 meter subplots. These transects were relocated and surveyed again in the summer of 2024 in …

Mapping Kirtland’S Warbler (Setophaga Kirtlandii) Stationary Non-Breeding Habitat: Characterizing Land Cover Within The South-Central Bahamas And Evaluating The Impacts Of Sea Level Rise, Cole Anthony Scrivner

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Understanding the spatial distribution of current and future habitat for the Kirtland’s Warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii) and other threatened species is critical for guiding conservation planning in The Bahamas. Our study mapped land cover and impacts of sea level rise across the south-central Bahamian islands, as an initial step to determine suitable areas for Kirtland’s Warblers in the region. We used a Random Forest (RF) classification of multispectral satellite image bands and indices from Landsat and Sentinel-2 image composites to predict land cover. The classification identified tropical dry forest communities (broadleaved, semi-evergreen trees and shrubs known as coppice) as …

Tidal Flooding Contributes To Eutrophication: Constraining Nonpoint Source Inputs To An Urban Estuary Using A Data Driven Statistical Model, Alfonso Macías-Tapia, Margaret R. Mulholland, Corday R. Selden, Sophie Clayton, Peter W. Bernhardt, Thomas R. Allen

OES Faculty Publications

In coastal urban areas, tidal flooding brings water carrying nutrients and particles back from land to estuarine and coastal waters. A statistical model to predict nutrient loads during tidal flooding events can help estimate nutrient loading from previous and future flooding events and adapt nutrient reduction strategies. We measured concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus in floodwater at seven sentinel sites during 15 tidal flooding events from January 2019 to September 2020. The study area was the Lafayette River watershed in Norfolk, VA, USA, which is prone to tidal flooding and is predicted to experience more frequent and intense …

Analysis Of Climate Change In Chelyabinsk And Kurgan: Effects Of Temperature And Precipitation From 1990 To 2020 Based On Cru Data, Irina Potoroko, Ammar Kadi, Ali Subhi Alhumaima

Mesopotamian Journal of Computer Science

This study analyzes climate patterns in the Kurgan and Chelyabinsk regions of Russia using high-resolution data from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) between 1990 and 2020. The research focuses on how temperature and precipitation have evolved over time and their impacts on local ecosystems, agriculture, and water resources. Using MATLAB for visualization, temperature and precipitation maps were created for January and July across five time periods to understand the spatial and temporal variations in these regions. The analysis revealed a noticeable increase in temperature, with warmer winters and hotter summers in both regions. Precipitation patterns showed a shift, with a …

Early Holocene Interaction Of Aeolian, Alluvial, And Lacustrine Processes In A Dune-Dammed Valley In The Central Nebraska Sand Hills, Gpsia Mahoney, R. D. Mandel, P.R. Hanson, Sherilyn Fritz

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Cellular Responses Of Astrangia Poculata (Ellis And Solander, 1786) And Its Symbiont To Experimental Heat Stress, Tyler E. Harman, Daniel Barshis, Briana Hauff Salas, Kevin B. Strychar

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Climate change has had devastating effects on tropical coral reefs; however, much less is known regarding how heat stress affects temperate coral. This research focuses on Astrangia poculata (Ellis and Solander, 1786) collected from Narragansett Bay, RI, during the summer and winter seasons and understanding the effect of experimental thermal extremes (i.e., 26 °C) on seasonally different populations. Photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm), symbiont density (via an inverse relationship with pixel intensity), and oxidative stress via reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentrations were measured on symbiotic and aposymbiotic A. poculata. Higher Fv/Fm rates were observed in summer- vs. winter-collected corals (p ≤ …

Future-Oriented Coastal Protection: The Utility Of Living Shorelines Under Changing Climatic Conditions, Gabriella R. Dipetto, Donna Marie Bilkovic, Taylor M. Sloey, Erik S. Yando, Erik L. Walters

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

An accumulation of novel nature-based shoreline management techniques have developed over the past two decades out of the continued need to protect waterfront land combined with an awareness of the relationship between healthy coastal ecosystems and human societies. Shoreline protection strategies such as living shorelines incorporate these nature-based approaches to simultaneously enhance ecosystem functioning while providing shoreline stabilization benefits. The continued role of these approaches into the future, however, will be challenged by a rapidly changing coastal environment. While living shorelines have received global attention and integration into climate policy and governance frameworks, the ability of shoreline systems to withstand …

Summer Temperature Maxima Already Challenge Thermal Capacities Of Coral In The Southern Persian/Arabian Gulf, Rachel Alderdice, Gabriela Perna, Hannah Manns, Anna Fiesinger, Luigi Colin, Kathryn Stankiewicz, Kelly Gomez-Campo, Samantha Goyen, Line Bayse, Nitin Baliga, Jake Valenzuela, Iliana B. Baums, Daniel J. Barshis, John A. Burt, Christian R. Voolstra

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The future of coral reefs remains uncertain as intensifying ocean warming continues to drive coral decline and demise worldwide. Corals occurring in extreme environments such as the Persian/Arabian Gulf (PAG), the world’s warmest sea, represent a promising resource to study the genetic architecture of thermal tolerance. However, their thermal capacities remain unresolved. We applied short-term heat stress assays using the Coral Bleaching Automated Stress System (CBASS) to determine signatures of thermal tolerance from three common species (Porites harrisoni, Platygyra daedalea, and Cyphastrea microphthalma) across three sites (two in the extreme southern PAG and a more benign …

Exploring Coupled Land Use -- Climate Change Impacts In The Northeast United States From 2020-2025 With Implications For Bombus Habitat Suitability, Archana Prasad

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The combined impacts of land use and climate change pose significant challenges to bumblebee populations in the Northeast United States (NEUS), a region characterized by dense urbanization, diverse landscapes, and exposure to climate extremes. As urban and suburban areas expand, the loss of agricultural lands and open spaces alters habitat availability for bumblebees, which rely on grasslands, meadows, and forest edges for nesting and foraging. Simultaneously, the NEUS is experiencing an increase in extreme climate events, including prolonged heatwaves, heavy precipitation, and shifts in temperature patterns. Using CMIP6 climate model projections, we analyzed trends in nine climate indices. Our results …

From Wind To Whales: Potential Hydrodynamic Impacts Of Offshore Wind Energy On Nantucket Shoals Regional Ecology, Eileen E. Hofmann, Jeffrey R. Carpenter, Qin J. Chen, Josh T. Kohut, Richard L. Merrick, Erin L. Meyer-Gutbrod, Douglas P. Nowacek, Kaustubha Raghukumar, Nicholas R. Record, Kelly Oskvig

OES Faculty Publications

The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a committee in June 2023 to assess the potential hydrodynamic and ecological impacts from offshore wind energy development in the Nantucket Shoals region, with particular attention to impacts on the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) that forages on zooplankton aggregations in the region. The assessment suggested that the effects of offshore wind energy development will be difficult to distinguish from the effects of natural variability and climate change in this region. The Consensus Study Report recommendations highlight observational and modeling studies that will advance understanding of …

Unfolding Cascading Impacts Of Changing South Asia Monsoon On A Hindu Kush Himalayas Basin, Surendra Maharjan, Wenzhao Li, Shahryar Fazli, Arshad Ansari, Suraj Tiwari, Roma Thakurathi, Rejoice Thomas, Hesham El-Askary

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Study region

Study focus

New hydrological insights for the region

Two Decades Of Climate Measurements Reveal El Niño's Role In Andean Elevation-Dependent Warming, Luke Davies

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Driven by climate change, elevation-dependent warming (EDW) has become a critical issue in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru. This study focuses on gathering evidence of EDW and determining the relationship between El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and micrometeorological forcing in two proglacial valleys. A climate monitoring network was maintained through a 20-year collaboration between Bridgewater State University (BSU), Universidad Nacional Santiago Antúnez de Mayolo (UNASAM), and the Autoridad Nacional de Agua (ANA). Fieldwork in June 2023 and June 2024 included repairing weather stations, installing new Lascar sensors, and downloading data loggers to sustain and improve the climate record. Data …

Contributions Of Glacier Meltwater To Water Resources And Water Quality Below The Ablating Coropuna Ice Cap In The Arid Peruvian Andes, Alexis Rowley

Theses and Dissertations

Rapidly retreating glaciers in the arid tropics are an invaluable resource for communities that depend on meltwater to support drinking water, agriculture, hydropower production, and mining. There is limited understanding of how glacier loss will impact regional water resources, groundwater flow paths, and water quality, especially during the dry season. The Nevado Coropuna volcano in Southern Peru has one of the largest remaining ice caps in the tropics, but has experienced rapid ice loss in the past few decades and is projected to disappear in the next century due to climate change. Located in the northern Atacama Desert, the arid …

Climate- And Land-Use Change Impacts On Ecosystem Services Provided By Prairie Pothole Wetlands, Alina Mullins

Master's Projects and Capstones

Prairie pothole wetlands are a type of depressional, isolated wetland that can be found in the glaciated landscape of the mid-central United States and portions of southern Canada, also referred to as the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). The region is consistently recognized for its historic production and support of migratory waterfowl populations among other types of mammals and invertebrates largely due to the variability in pothole wetlands water levels and vegetative structure. Isolated from other waterbodies and lacking surface water connections, the hydrology of prairie pothole wetlands is influenced by the region’s continental climate. Historically, the region receives much of …

Flood Risks Surge In Unexpected Places, Leaving Americans Unprepared And Uninsured, Genna Y. Contino

Capstones

As weather patterns become more unpredictable, the amount of uninsured property loss is expected to soar – disproportionately impacting communities of color in the U.S. Hurricane Helene, which devastated the western North Carolina mountains, demonstrates this trend. Experts say boosting insurance literacy and updating floodplain maps will better prepare the country as it navigates a changing climate.

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Comparing Metabolism And Hypoxia Tolerance Of Native And Non-Native Florida Freshwater Fishes In Climate Change Scenarios, Benjamin A. Share

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

As climate change brings rising water temperatures and lower dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations to freshwater bodies, it has become increasingly important to understand how this will affect ecosystems with established non-native or invasive species. Fishes of the family Cichlidae are the most pervasive non-native fishes in the Everglades and may increase their range further north under a changing climate. To better understand potential invasibility and competition with native fishes, the metabolism and hypoxia tolerance of non-native Blue Tilapia Oreochromis aureus was compared to native Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus when acclimated across a range of seasonal and projected temperatures. Intermittent-flow respirometry was …

Are Rising Seas Pushing Ghost Crabs Out Of Their Comfort Zone?, Finn Gillette

Bridges: A Journal of Student Research

Ghost crabs (Ocypode quadrata) can be found on sandy beaches bordering the western Atlantic Ocean. These semiterrestrial crustaceans are often found between the swash zone and the dunes on beaches. Dunes are critical refuges for ghost crabs during storms and extreme tide events. This makes them a useful indicator species for monitoring the effects of global warming-induced sea level rise on beach biota, as their distribution patterns among beach zones may correlate with shifts found in other species. Beach surveys conducted from 2015 onward assessed the population density of ghost crabs on beaches of Horry and Georgetown counties in South …

Nature-Based Solutions For Flood Risk Mitigation: Mapping And Hydrological Modeling In An Under-Resourced Urban Area On The Mississippi Gulf Coast, Jennifer Makenzie Holifield

Master's Theses

Flooding is the most frequent and costly disaster in the United States, affecting people disproportionately based on environmental, societal, and economic limitations. Through stakeholder engagement, open-access research, and nature-based solutions (NBS), ecology and hydrology can be bridged with local-scale politics to raise awareness of local issues and form strong interdisciplinary bonds. I approached nature-based equity from a ground front, in which I engaged with local stakeholders and city officials to gain insight and calibration on flooding experiences and flooding presence within Moss Point, MS. This engagement helped calibrate GIS models, from which, I found that the flooding hazards of Moss …

A Strategic Insight Into The Market For Carbon Management Capacity, Mahelet G. Fikru, Ting Shen, Jennifer Brodmann, Hongyan Ma

Economics Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study presents the market for carbon management capacity via carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies, identifying demand and supply forces, as well as clarifying the potential impact of market and non-market-based shocks on technology developers versus adopters. The paper addresses a prevailing gap in market analysis, introducing a microeconomic framework and unique dataset to identify key players, market forces, and policy incentives shaping the carbon capture, utilization, and storage landscape. The analysis equips industry stakeholders, policymakers, and investors with valuable insights regarding (1) leaders in the design, development, and manufacture of carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies (supply), (2) …

Impact Of Snow Accumulation On Structural Integrity: Present And Future Perspectives, Kenneth K. Pomeyie

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

In the United States, accommodating the weight of accumulated snow on buildings is a crucial consideration in building design. Engineers are tasked with determining the design snow load, which is defined as the weight of accumulated snow that a structure should withstand to limit the risk of building collapse to an acceptably low level. Typically, this process involves analyzing historical data of the annual maximum snow accumulations for each snow season. However, accurately assessing these design snow loads entails navigating through a series of statistical challenges. This dissertation, composed of three papers, is dedicated to addressing these statistical hurdles in …

Machine Learning Methods For Quantification Of Glacier Variations Through Satellite Imagery, Robert D. Breininger

Theses and Dissertations

Glaciers around the world have experienced a trend of recession within the past century. Quantification of glacier variations using satellite imagery is of great interest due to the importance of glaciers as freshwater resources and as indicators of climate change. The potential methods to quantify glacier variations with increasing complexity include detecting the terminus location, quantifying the glacier surface area, and measuring glacier volume. Although there are methods in literature designed purposefully for glacier area segmentation that have achieved acceptable results, they are often localized to the region where their training data were acquired and further rely on training sets …

The United States National Security And Policy Implications Of Desertification, Eric Olvera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Contemporary climate security literature reveals that desertification appears to be overlooked as a climate change security threat to the United States (US). This investigation demonstrates that an inequity exists between sea-level-rise- and desertification-based climate security literature. This inequity may reveal that the US may be ignoring desertification at a time when land use in some dryland areas is reaching a critical point where it can no longer support human activity. Due to the interdisciplinary nature (science and security) of this work, a review of the terminology used in the article is provided to establish a baseline understanding of “desertification” and …

Hurricane Evacuation: Navigating Uncertainty During Covid 19 And With Existing Communication Scales, And Considering Public And Expert Perception Of Alternative Scales, Leilani D. Paxton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the effectiveness of current hurricane warning products and communication strategies, exploring factors influencing public perception of risk and decision-making during evacuations. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining survey data, focus group discussions, and interviews with meteorologists and emergency managers. The first paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hurricane risk perception and evacuation decisions. Findings indicate that while COVID-19 concerns played a role in some individuals' decisions, particularly those with pets or concerns about shelter conditions, the majority of participants evacuated for Hurricane Ian. The study highlights the importance of providing clear, consistent, and …

Lengthening Atlantic Hurricane Seasons With Earlier Storm Formation Dates Including Implications From 2020, Barry D. Keim, L. C. Hamilton, V. M. Brown, P. J. Klotzbach, A. B. Lewis, D. T. Thompson

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

This paper analyzes the formation dates of the nth storm in a sequence for all named North Atlantic tropical cyclones (TCs) and assesses whether the intraseasonal length of the Atlantic hurricane season has changed temporally. The record-breaking 2020 season, with 30 named storms, set records for the earliest third TC formation (Cristobal) and from the sixth TC (Fay) onward. Analysis of season length from 1851 to 2022 identifies only one statistically significant breakpoint detected in the early 1970s, roughly coinciding with the introduction of satellite observations. Since 1970, we also find a trend toward longer North Atlantic hurricane seasons. The …

Assessing Climate Change-Induced Drought In Abu Dhabi, Salem Anwar Alblooshi

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

This thesis examines trends of drought related to climate change in a region within the Abu Dhabi Emirate through advanced remote sensing and statistical trend analysis techniques. To analyze long-term trends in temperature, precipitation, evapotranspiration, and groundwater levels, we use Google Earth Engine (GEE) as our primary data extraction and analysis tool, covering the years from 2002 to 2016. Evaluation of MODIS Land Surface Temperature data indicated a statistically significant warming trend each month, with rates reaching as high as 0.1°C/year. Although precipitation patterns revealed significant variability without any major trends, evapotranspiration values showed a predictable increase, especially during the …

Australians Support Multi-Pronged Action To Build Ecosystem Resilience In The Great Barrier Reef, Stewart Lockie, Henry Bartelet, Brent Ritchie, Csilla Demeter, Bruce Taylor, Lintje Sie

Quantitative Methods and Information Technology Faculty Publications

The scale and pace of global environmental change calls for a dramatic upscaling of ecosystem restoration and for actions that build the resilience of ecosystems to future environmental change. This research aimed to quantify public perceptions of threats to the health of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, and their support for strategies to address those threats including large-scale restoration and resilience-building actions. We examine how these perceptions change over time and across social cohorts including people living closer to the Reef (n = 2621) and the general Australian population (n = 5825). Respondents were concerned about both …

Media Use, Interpersonal Communication, And Personal Relevance As External And Internal Representations Of Climate Change, Sonny Rosenthal, Pengya Ai

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Personal relevance is a key driver of individual climate action. It is also related to media use and interpersonal communication, which the current study examines from two perspectives. First, individuals may find climate change personally relevant because they experience it vicariously through the media and other information sources. Second, they may engage with climate change information because the issue is personally relevant. This study tested these models using structural equation modeling of online survey data from representative samples in Singapore (n = 1,997) and the United States (n = 2,009). Findings supported both models, albeit the first one more strongly. …

Climate Change And The Logan River: Past, Present, And Future, Mercy Smith, Kendall Becker, Scott Hotaling

All Current Publications

The Logan River runs through Idaho and northern Utah, beginning in the Bear River Mountains and flowing through Logan Canyon to Cutler Reservoir. The river is socially and ecologically significant to the Cache Valley community. Throughout its history, the Logan River’s water and energy have sustained life within the valley. However, climate change is threatening the Logan River’s support of both human and animal communities. Rising water temperatures and reduced flow caused by declining snowpack may impair the river’s ability to maintain healthy ecosystems.