Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Sim-To-Real Reinforcement Learning Framework For Autonomous Aerial Leaf Sampling, Ashraful Islam

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Using unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for leaf sampling is contributing to a better understanding of the influence of climate change on plant species, and the dynamics of forest ecology by studying hard-to-reach tree canopies. Currently, multiple skilled operators are required for UAS maneuvering and using the leaf sampling tool. This often limits sampling to only the canopy top or periphery. Sim-to-real reinforcement learning (RL) can be leveraged to tackle challenges in the autonomous operation of aerial leaf sampling in the changing environment of a tree canopy. However, trans- ferring an RL controller that is learned in simulation to real UAS …

Spatiotemporal Activity Patterns Of Red Foxes And Coyotes In Wilderness Park, Lincoln, Nebraska, Adam Carlson

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Wildlife species that share a landscape may vary their use of time, space, and resources, thereby enabling sympatry between species. Interspecific relationships among sympatric canids are often inferred through temporal and spatial activity patterns. Body size is an important influence on interspecific relationships, as it affects competition, access to prey, resources, and vulnerability to predation. Coyotes and red foxes are canids that differ in body size and occur sympatrically in Wilderness Park, which suggests that they interact and could imply competition. In and around Lincoln, the number of coyote sightings has increased in recent years, Although the ecology of both …

An Analysis Of Factors Affecting Municipal Biochar Implementation In Voluntary Carbon Markets, Jadon Basilevac

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This paper serves as a review article and incorporates elements of survey research in order to identify and address factors inhibiting biochar availability from municipal sequestration projects in voluntary carbon marketplaces. In determining which barriers exist, and devising strategies for solving them, this study can help to expand the role of biochar in mitigating emissions contributing to climate change, and encourage project developers to support municipal biochar projects that provide various co-benefits. To do so, this study addresses how the pyrolysis production process might be made more efficient, economically viable, and see improved public image, the various urban sectors to …

Observing Wildlife In Different Urban Environments, Colleen Ballinger

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

My project was about comparing ecological communities in different locations. As many of us Natural Resource studiers know, urbanization has become a prime factor in ecosystems and landscapes of the modern world. Numerous studies from the Urban Ecology field have shown us that urbanization is on an unstable trajectory for the future (Wu 2014). My research will be to find out where and what species of wildlife live in varying levels of urbanization. This topic is important to me because of how impactful habitat loss is to wildlife. Habitat loss is the number one cause of wildlife death here in …

State Of Utah Et Al. V Walsh Et Al., Ethan Halman Gonzalez

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

To expand upon that, the State of Utah et al. wants to show the Department of Labor’s “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights” Rule proposed in December 2022, is arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The suit argues that the Department of Labor (DOL) oversteps the APA—as under the APA, the Court “shall… hold unlawful and set aside agency action, findings, and conclusions” that are “in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority, or limitations,” or “arbitrary capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not …

Solar Energy Implementation In Rural Communities, Corie Gleason

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This thematic analysis was completed in Nebraska, as it looked at how the state’s rural communities react to solar energy projects. Due to their strong sense of social and community identity, members of rural communities are often resistant to change and may have difficulty supporting new projects such as solar farms in their communities. However, these rural communities provide the necessary space for solar farms while still being in close proximity to the users of the energy that the farms produce. This study aims to explore what factors have made past solar projects successful and the ways in which those …

Analyzing The Effect Of Guided Nature Walks On Human Behavior, Jake Duffy

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Several studies have identified a gap in the understanding of what guided nature walks does for the individual person, and the extent to which guided nature walks and interpretive signs improves individual pro-environmental behavior and attitudes. This study surveyed over 300 people on their reactions to certain types of signs and the influence that those signs had on the individuals’ desire to return outdoors. Our results showed an overwhelmingly positive reaction to signs with ecological or systems-based information that could be utilized on their walk, while signs that taught an environmental or historical feature of that area were not appreciated …

Perception Of Nature Based On Childhood Experiences, Kaitlyn Richards

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

It is essential that humans view themselves as a part of nature rather than viewing themselves as separate from it. Especially with issues on the rise such as climate change, habitat destruction, and the degradation of natural resources. Childhood experiences with nature are critical in developing pro-environmental behaviors (Duzenli, 2019). Pro-environmental behaviors are defined as attitudes and actions that focus on the improvement of environmental conditions, while also being vigilant of ways to reduce negative impacts on the environment (Tian, 2022).

Physiological Distancing Affects Climate Change Through Spatial Differences, Janette Williams

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Psychological distancing is best described as the human ability to separate ourselves socially, temporally, and spatial and use it to manipulate our perspectives. It is the belief that in order to perceive or understand the information, you have to be within a spatial range(Harvard Business Review,2015). Psychological distancing has been linked to climate change perspectives based on spatial differences. People who are closely affected by climate change and experience more are going to have more ideas and be proactive. The reduced distance by spatial differences correlated with perceptions of climate change. People who are farther from the coast and experience …

Analyzing Sea Level Rise Adaptation And Mitigation Strategies In Louisiana And The Netherlands, Jonah Mcdowell

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Sea level rise is an increasingly dangerous threat. As a byproduct of climate change, this is an issue that has the potential to impact countless people, animals, and ecosystems across the globe. As sea level rise continues to worsen, it is imperative that coastal communities develop their own strategies and plans to combat this problem. This study focuses on two areas, the state of Louisiana and the country of the Netherlands, and studies how they have responded to this problem. These locations were chosen because sea level rise is proportionally more severe at these two locations compared to other areas …

Rails To Trails Program: Neighborhood Dynamics In Lincoln, Nebraska, Emma Mccormick

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

As cities increasingly move towards creating sustainable, equitable, climate-forward communities, city planners, advocates, and policymakers have begun to focus increasingly on improving access to greenspaces. Studies around the globe have documented the importance of greenspace for multiple individual, group, and community level outcomes. Simultaneously, extant research suggests that access to greenspaces frequently reflects social inequality in urban spaces, stratifying such access by race and socioeconomic composition of neighborhoods. However, few research projects have examined potential unintended consequences, such as contemporary housing issues like gentrification, that greenspaces can create for community infrastructure here in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Place-Based Pedagogies In Post-Secondary Science Education: A Scoping Literature Review, Megan Swain

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

How do we connect students to a class and how do educational professionals create those connections? What makes an educational experience memorable? How do we cultivate students who are passionate and engaged? These are all important questions in educational fields and ones that have increasing importance in a world of growing virtual education. This thesis aims to look deeper into one method, place-based education that attempts to answer some of these questions.

Place-based education (PBE) is a pedagogy that utilizes the local physical environment and community as an educational tool. Educators focus lessons on places, people, and things surrounding their …

Roots Of Passion In Environmental Unl Students, Shane Vrbicky

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

“Passion” is an elusive idea - a simple word invented by man - able to depict vastly different realities and meanings dependent entirely on the user. Highly influential in nature, the simple thought of a passion within human beings can evoke a wide spectrum of strong emotions from pure joy and satisfaction to utter desperation and dread. Sometimes people have never known a life without their passion, guided by a headstrong feeling towards a path they have always dreamed of. Sometimes people can never seem to find passion, not knowing where to look and yet constantly chasing after it. Sometimes …

The Decline Of Upland Birds In Nebraska: Maximizing Limited Habitat, Hunter Tesarek

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Ring-necked Pheasants were introduced into the United States around 150 years ago and since then have become an important species both culturally and economically. There population health is of growing concern as upland bird populations in much of the United States have been declining rapidly throughout the latter half of the last century. In Nebraska millions of acres have been transformed from habitat that benefits upland birds into row crop agriculture, mostly in the form of corn and soybeans. Rural Mail Carrier Surveys conducted for pheasants from 1960 through 2020 in comparison to change in acres harvested depict the relationship …

Analyzing The Effects Of Cold Frontal Passage On The Feeding Habits Of Micropterus Salmoides (Largemouth Bass), Ethan Lang

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

For many decades, it has been theorized as to what happens to the feeding habits of largemouth bass (Micropterus Salmoides) when a significant short term weather change occurs. Here in the midwest and all throughout the United States cold front boundaries are a weather phenomenon that occur on a regular basis. They can occur on a very large or small scale and have a rapid effect on the weather locally. These cold front systems have been looked at as one of the main drivers to having an effect on the feeding habits of largemouth. However, up until this point, any …

Wearing Masks Implies Refuting Trump?: Towards Target-Specific User Stance Prediction Across Events In Covid-19 And Us Election 2020, Hong Zhang, Haewoon Kwak, Wei Gao, Jisun An

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

People who share similar opinions towards controversial topics could form an echo chamber and may share similar political views toward other topics as well. The existence of such connections, which we call connected behavior, gives researchers a unique opportunity to predict how one would behave for a future event given their past behaviors. In this work, we propose a framework to conduct connected behavior analysis. Neural stance detection models are trained on Twitter data collected on three seemingly independent topics, i.e., wearing a mask, racial equality, and Trump, to detect people’s stance, which we consider as their online behavior in …

Techsumbot: A Stack Overflow Answer Summarization Tool For Technical Query, Chengran Yang, Bowen Xu, Jiakun Liu, David Lo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Stack Overflow is a popular platform for developers to seek solutions to programming-related problems. However, prior studies identified that developers may suffer from the redundant, useless, and incomplete information retrieved by the Stack Overflow search engine. To help developers better utilize the Stack Overflow knowledge, researchers proposed tools to summarize answers to a Stack Overflow question. However, existing tools use hand-craft features to assess the usefulness of each answer sentence and fail to remove semantically redundant information in the result. Besides, existing tools only focus on a certain programming language and cannot retrieve up-to-date new posted knowledge from Stack Overflow. …

The Loneliest Galaxies In The Universe: A Gama And Galaxy Zoo Study On Void Galaxy Morphology., Lori E. Porter

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The large-scale structure (LSS) of the Universe is comprised of galaxy filaments, tendrils, and voids. The majority of the Universe’s volume is taken up by these voids, which exist as underdense, but not empty, regions. The galaxies found inside voids are void galaxies and expected to be some of the most isolated objects in the Universe. However, their standard morphology remains poorly studied. This study, using the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) data and Galaxy Zoo survey, aims to remedy this. For completeness purposes, we use void galaxies identified by Alpaslan et al. (2014) with stellar masses (M*) of 10 …

Universal Back-End Design, Jason Kalili

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Accessibility in back-end development is often overlooked, with the majority of discussions and efforts centered on front-end design. To make applications usable for a wider audience, developers must also prioritize incorporating accessibility from the back-end. Back-end web accessibility encompasses the design and development of web-based systems and applications that are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. This involves optimizing the underlying code and infrastructure for accessibility and implementing features that enable users with disabilities to navigate and interact with the site or application. Ensuring back-end web accessibility is crucial for creating an inclusive online environment accessible to everyone, …

Nitroalkane Oxidase Inspired No-Transfer Agents, No Sensors, And The Computational Design Of Fluorescent Sensors, Thanh Thuy Thi Vuong

Chemistry & Biochemistry Dissertations - Archive

Flavin adenine dinucleotide and flavin mononucleotide are co-enzymes with biologically relevant redox potentials. They are involved in many chemical transformation processes in the biological system, such as one-electron and two-electron transfer reactions, dehydrogenase reactions, and intramolecular electron transfer reactions critical to cellular function. Their ability to be reoxidized under aerobic conditions has inspired us to investigate biomimetic transformations with their derivatives, especially in converting NO2 to NO. Besides that, a series of biosensors was designed and investigated to detect NO in the aqueous system. NO sensors were achieved with computational DFT calculations correctly predicting the fluorescence response.

Deformation At Uturuncu Volcano, Bolivia: Modeling The Effect Of Volatile Movement In The Hydrothermal System, Karissa Rosenberger

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Deformation at volcanos is often a precursor to an eruption, but sometimes volcanos experience uplift without actually erupting. Determining the mechanisms behind this deformation and whether it will lead to an eruption is an important part of understanding volcanic systems. Uturuncu volcano in Bolivia has been experiencing deformation for decades, but the last time it erupted was 250,000 years ago. The reason behind this deformation is unknown, but one possible cause is volatiles moving into the hydrothermal system and getting trapped, causing the volume to increase and the surface to uplift. To test this hypothesis, the current volume change of …

Quantum Phases Of Lattice Dipolar Bosons Coupled To A High-Finesse Cavity, Yaghmorassene Hebib, Chao Zhang, Jin Yang, Barbara Capogrosso-Sansone

Physics

Two types of long-range interactions, dipolar interaction and cavity-mediated interaction, lead to exotic quantum phases. Both interactions were realized and observed in optical lattice setups. Here, we study quantum phases of dipolar bosons trapped in optical lattices and coupled to a high-finesse cavity where both dipolar interaction and cavity-mediated interaction coexist. We perform quantum Monte Carlo simulations and find that the checkerboard solid is enhanced and the checkerboard supersolid phase can exist in a wide range of densities (e.g., 0.27≲n≲0.73). Our unbiased numerical results suggest that both solid and supersolid phases can be achieved experimentally with magnetic atoms coupled to …

Photon Correlation Measurements And Second Harmonic Generation Using Pulsed Lasers, Apoorva Bisht

Physics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Correlation measurements are one of the fundamental ways to understand the photon statistics/distribution for a source of light. It is also an important method to confirm single photon sources by confirming the anitbunching nature. This project developed a correlation measurement system, utilized field programmable gate arrays, and non-linear crystals for processes like second harmonic generation and down conversion.

Consumer Valuation And Preferences For Sustainably Produced Rice In Ghana, Vera Adabrah-Danquah

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sustainable agricultural production is a systematic concept that integrates environmental health, economic profitability, and social/economic equity goals. Improving the sustainability of food production is of utmost importance to the human race, given the growing population and the increased depletion of natural resources. Improving sustainability is particularly important for rice, a global food staple with a significant environmental footprint. Rice accounts for 10% of global methane emissions. The Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) standard is the first globally recognized certified sustainable production standard for rice. This study focuses on consumers' preferences for sustainable rice in Ghana, including consumers’ perceptions of different SRP's …

Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Plan, Lauren Bruhl, Guinter Vogg, Gabe Hamburg, Shanu Sankara, Rohan Kansagra, Colin Page, Colette Vynerib

Sustainability Exchange Projects

Our team aimed to compile a greenhouse gas inventory for the St. Louis region. Partnered with OneSTL, Ameren, and the USGBC, we determined that St. Louis has a goal to reduce emissions 50% by 2030 from 2005 levels, and become carbon neutral in 2050. After analyzing the Ameren’s Integrated Resource Plan and factors such as the cost and scope of emissions, we researched funding sources to improve energy efficiency and increase renewables in the region. Our top funding sources are the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). From the IRA, we found the following credits most …

Apparatus And Instrumentation Design For Investigation Of Surface Impact Effects On Superconductivity, Austin Back

All Theses

The effects of ion irradiation on the physical properties of materials make EBITs an invaluable tool for many scientific and engineering fields. Many experiments rely on the use of these lab setups to test for device reliability, explore surface physics phenomena, and replicate the environment for many physical systems that are not readily accessible. We seek to extend the capabilities of these experiments using the CUEBIT and a new sample holder installed in section 3.

This thesis begins by presenting an overview of the CUEBIT and the basic operations of the equipment. This is followed by a brief explanation of …

Impacts Of Preferential Flow On Tc-99and Np-237 Vadose Transport In Soils At The Savannah River Site, Josh Parris

All Theses

Since the 1950s, the United States has produced approximately 90,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) (Office of Nuclear Energy, 2022); however, no long-term storage solutions are available. Technecium-99 and neptunium-237, two fission products found in SNF, readily form highly mobile species in oxidizing conditions (Hu, 2008; Bondietti, 1979) and have respective half-lives of 2.13 x 10⁵ and 2.14 x10⁶ years (Hu, 2010). Considering these characteristics, ⁹⁹Tc and ²³⁷Np are two risk-driving isotopes found in SNF storage. The process of macropore-facilitated preferential flow, transport through cracks within a soil matrix, has been recognized to increase …

Investigating Barriers To Conservation Of Freshwater Mussels In South Carolina, Olivia Poelmann

All Theses

Freshwater mussels are a diverse group of filter-feeding bivalves inhabiting freshwater systems; however, ~70% of U.S. species are imperiled. Many freshwater mussel species use fish hosts to complete juvenile transformation making host fish knowledge important for conservation efforts like captive propagation. While captive propagation programs have produced thousands of juveniles, survival post-release into natural systems is poorly studied. To address these absences of information, my first objective was to investigate differences among host use of naturally infested fishes and timing of larval release. My second objective was to evaluate survivorship of laboratory propagated juvenile Carolina Heelsplitter (Lasmigona decorata), …

Quantifying Heterogeneity Along A Hillslope Using Seismic Refraction, Structure From Motion, And X-Ray Fluorescence In The Piedmont, South Carolina, Leah Topping

All Theses

The critical zone (CZ) is the life sustaining outer layer of the earth that spans from the top of unweathered bedrock to the tops of the trees. This dynamic zone is always evolving because a variety of chemical, physical, and biological processes transform bedrock into regolith, creating a spatially heterogeneous CZ architecture. This study aims to investigate the relationships between regolith thickness, seismic velocities, and chemical profiles as a function of slope position and it is hypothesized bedrock composition, fracture density, and foliation are the key factors controlling the physical heterogeneity in the top 1-2 meters of the CZ. To …

The Characterization Of Atmospheric Turbulence And Its Effect On Laser Beam Propagation, Michael Cox

All Theses

Having a controlled environment to measure atmospheric turbulence is essential to understanding its effects on different laser beam characteristics. The Clemson Variable Turbulence Generator (VTG) has the capability to propagate a laser beam up to 100 m and be able to dial many turbulence settings up to a heat flux of 357 W/m². A high-speed camera, power detector, and high-resolution temperature probes characterize the VTG with theoretical turbulence spectrums. The exponent associated with the Rayleigh-Bénard (RB) temperature structure constant equation is studied. Two different laser beam profiles are used throughout this work: Gaussian and Asymmetric Perfect Vortex (APV). …