Environmental Sciences Commons^™

2017 Fall Engr333 Project Final Report (Section B), Eric Ball, Mitchell Debruin, Raymond Kolocek, Edwin Kpodzro, Jacob Vandekieft, Nate Anderson, Brennan Steenhoek, Darbi Meyer, Derek Vermerris, Jessica Bouma, Devon Loerop, Reuben Saarloos, Richmond Amoh, Matthew Boelens, Tyson Butler, Laura Van Winkle, Alex Keizer, Kwame Ohemeng, Cameron Richman, Julie Van De Riet

ENGR 333

Currently, Calvin College spends $2.8M on electricity and natural gas. In the recent past Calvin has alleviated some of these costs by running a cogeneration system that combusts fuel and produces electricity and heat, this old system has since been removed due to age. With the old system removed Calvin is fully reliant on grid, leading to increased electricity cost. In addition to saving Calvin money, President Leroy formally signed the President’s Carbon Commitment that announced Calvin’s intent to be Carbon neutral by 2057. To meet both the cost and emissions saving needs, the objective of the energy savings project …

Assessment Of Vegetation Response To Wildfire At Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico: Case Study Of The Las Conchas Fire, Gladys Valentin-Gonzalez

Geography ETDs

In the past couple of decades, there has been an increase in the occurrence of wildfire events in the United States. The U.S. Forest Service estimates that over 73,000 wildfires on average occur annually in the U.S., burning about 7.3 million acres of land. Bandelier National Monument, in northern New Mexico, has been affected by several wildfires in the past 40 years, one of the most recent being the Las Conchas Fire in 2011, which burned over 60,700 hectaresin Bandelier National Monument and Valles Caldera National Preserve. This research explores a remote-sensing based assessment of vegetation response to and recovery …

The Blurred Line Between Photic And Aphotic Environments: A Large Mexican Cave With Almost No Dark Zone, Luis M. Mejía-Ortíz, Tanja Pipan, David C. Culver, Peter Sprouse

International Journal of Speleology

Sistema Muévelo Rico is a 1.2 km long cave in Quintana Roo, less than 2 km from the Caribbean Sea. We measured illuminance to a level of 0.1 lux, organic matter (weight loss on ignition), temperature, and relative humidity. The last two were measured at hourly intervals for nearly one year. Approximately one-third of the cave has illuminance values greater than 0.01 lux, and most of the rest of the cave has light as well. Temperature and relative humidity were relatively constant, but they showed a daily cycle at all stations, albeit with different strengths. Organic matter averaged 8%, intermediate …

Testing The Underlying Chemical Principles Of The Biotic Ligand Model (Blm) To Marine Copper Systems: Measuring Copper Speciation Using Fluorescence Quenching, Tara N. Tait, James C. Mcgeer, Scott Smith

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Speciation of copper in marine systems strongly influences the ability of copper to cause toxicity. Natural organic matter (NOM) contains many binding sites which provides a protective effect on copper toxicity. The purpose of this study was to characterize copper binding with NOM using fluorescence quenching techniques. Fluorescence quenching of NOM with copper was performed on nine sea water samples. The resulting stability con- stants and binding capacities were consistent with literature values of marine NOM, show- ing strong binding with log K values from 7.64 to 10.2 and binding capacities ranging from 15 to 3110 nmole mg C ^{−1 …}

A Little Known Trade Deal Could Soon Derail America's Booming Solar Industry, Sam Donnenberg

Capstones

A trade deal has been winding its way through hearings at the International Trade Commission for months that could have major consequences for America's solar energy industry. Two solar energy companies are requesting that tariffs be applied to Chinese solar product imports. But industry analysts say this will cause the price of solar to rise and harm the industry during a period of unprecedented growth. The petition has only one stop left on its way to approval: The desk of President Trump.

https://www.alanapipe.com/sam-donnenberg/sam-donnenberg-index.html

Username: sam-donnenberg

Password: capstone

Predicted Suitable Habitat Declines For Midwestern United States Amphibians Under Future Climate And Land-Use Change Scenarios, Brock Struecker, Joseph Milanovich

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

With current declines of vertebrate taxa meeting or exceeding those of historic mass extinction events, there is a growing need to investigate the main drivers of losses. Two of the main drivers of declines are global climate and land-use changes, both affecting multiple groups of taxa. Amphibians are at great risk from these two drivers of change and investigations into the impact of future change could assist with the formation of conservation plans to mitigate losses. Forecasting changes in suitable habitat with ecological niche modeling serves as a useful tool to begin to understand how species may respond to anthropogenic …

Cataloging Wonder: The Art And Science Of The Collection, Christine Metzger

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

The Exploring Science in the Studio National Science Foundation grant funded three initiatives at California College of the Arts, a private four-year art and design college in the San Francisco Bay Area. The grant sponsored annual Science-in-the-Studio which embedded scientists into the art and design studio curriculum, the creation of Mobile Units for Scientific Exploration (MUSE) and a new collection of science materials, equipment, and natural specimens, and a national symposium on integrating science into the art and design studio curriculum. Approximately 30 SitS classes have been offered since 2010, and the Exploring Science in the Studio symposium was convened …

Seasonal Resource Selection And Habitat Treatment Use By A Fringe Population Of Greater Sage-Grouse, Rhett Boswell

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Movement and habitat selection by Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus uropasianus) is of great interest to wildlife managers tasked with applying conservation measures for this iconic western species. Current technology has created small and lightweight GPS (Global Positioning Systems) transmitters that can be attached to sage-grouse. Using GIS software and statistical programs such as Program R, land managers can analyze GPS location data to assess how sage-grouse are geospatially interacting with their habitats. Within the Panguitch Sage-Grouse Management Area (SGMA) thousands of acres of land have been restored or manipulated to enhance sage-grouse habitat; this usually involves removal of pinyon pine …

Environmental Ngo-Private Sector Partnerships: A Tool To Generate Business Value And Protect The Natural World, Carolyn Nogy Nogy

Master's Projects and Capstones

Many environmental challenges are complicated by complex and social, cultural, economic and political interactions, which are difficult to address by a single entity. However, partnerships can offer the necessary depth and versatility to address them effectively. By working together, there is an opportunity for cross sector partners to leverage their unique expertise, while blending resources to achieve more comprehensive and sustainable solutions to existing environmental problems. This project examines the use of partnerships between environmental NGOs and the private sector to manage complex environmental problems, providing a critical assessment of the partnership attributes that generate the most mutual benefit. The …

Planning Cities, Economically Or Communally: A Comparative Study Of Amsterdam And San Francisco, Raina Dawn Whittekiend

Master's Theses

Globalization has spun “community” off its axis. What once defined community is no longer the current state of the community. Increased economic transactions have led to the instability of communities that once depended on one another at the local level. These communities are now dependent on systems that do not know nor understand their actors. This lack of relationship between development and subject is witnessed and highly scrutinized in developing countries all over the world and has been intensely researched in academic literature. This thesis intends to better understand why in modernized global cities these same processes of development and …

Abiotic- And Biotic-Formation Of Manganese Oxides And Their Fate In Environmental Systems, Haesung Jung

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Manganese (hydr)oxide (Mn (hydr)oxide) minerals are ubiquitous in aquatic and terrestrial environments. These minerals have high surface areas and are highly sorptive and redox active. From decades of accumulated knowledge about natural redox cycling, we have found that Mn (hydr)oxides play critical roles as electron donors and acceptors in elemental geochemical cycling and biological metabolisms in nature. Thus, Mn (hydr)oxides have garnered increasing interest to understand natural systems. Considering the variety of redox reactions with Mn (hydr)oxides in nature, it is also expected that there should be diverse pathways to form Mn (hydr)oxides through abiotic and biotic processes. Previous studies …

Remediation Strategies For Mercury Contaminated Lakes And Reservoirs Within The State Of California, Emily Chortek

Master's Projects and Capstones

Mercury is an environmental and public health concern due to its neurodegenerative effects and ubiquitous concentration within the environment. To mitigate these risks and reduce concentrations within the environment, remediation methods are necessary. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and evaluate the efficacy of a number of remediation options for mercury contaminated lakes and reservoirs in the State of California. This paper also identifies a number of challenges associated with the implementation of each method and provides recommendations for environmental managers to use when remediating mercury contaminated lakes. Hypolimnetic oxygenation (HOS) was found to be the least problematic …

Hazmat Storage Near Nyc Waterways Endangers Communities, Brett E. Dahlberg, Nicole Acevedo

Capstones

New York City has 520 miles of shoreline--that’s more than Miami and Los Angeles combined. These waterfronts are home to some of the city’s most polluted sites because major part of it is zoned for industrial use. Dozens of industrial plants in this area store toxic chemicals in flood zones: substances that are hazardous to our health, like Benzene, which is used in rocket fuel, toluene, a paint thinner, and lead a neurotoxin. In a flood, these chemicals can easily get caught up in moving waters and pollute entire neighborhoods.

That’s exactly what happened when Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012. …

Translating Statistical Species-Habitat Models To Interactive Decision Support Tools, Lyndsie S. Wszola, Victoria L. Simonsen, Erica F. Stuber, Caitlyn R. Gillespie, Lindsey N. Messinger, Karie L. Decker, Jeffrey J. Lusk, Christopher F. Jorgensen, Andrew A. Bishop, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Understanding species-habitat relationships is vital to successful conservation, but the tools used to communicate species-habitat relationships are often poorly suited to the information needs of conservation practitioners. Here we present a novel method for translating a statistical species-habitat model, a regression analysis relating ring-necked pheasant abundance to landcover, into an interactive online tool. The Pheasant Habitat Simulator combines the analytical power of the R programming environment with the user-friendly Shiny web interface to create an online platform in which wildlife professionals can explore the effects of variation in local landcover on relative pheasant habitat suitability within spatial scales relevant to …

Exploiting Synchrotron “Light” To Study Chemistry Of Trace Elements In Soils And Plants, Ryan Tappero

Sustainability Seminar Series

Biogeochemical studies often require characterization of elemental abundances and speciation in samples that are chemically and physically heterogeneous at the micrometer scale. Synchrotron radiation sources are ideal for developing high intensity, highly-focused X-ray probes for interrogating the speciation, transport, and reactions of trace elements in heterogeneous earth and biological materials with detection sensitivities in the attogram range and spatial resolutions less than 1 micrometer.

X-ray Fluorescence Microprobe (XFM) is a new, multi-modal X-ray fluorescence microscope recently installed at the National Synchrotron Light Source-II (NSLS-II) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. XFM has capabilities for X- ray micro-fluorescence (μ-XRF) imaging and tomography, X-ray …

Evaluation Of Cadmium Bioaccumulaiton Of Periphyton And Aquatic Invertebrates Within Tributaries Of The Buffalo National River, Jacob Rollins Mccauley

Student Theses and Dissertations

The Rush Mining District, located along the Buffalo River in Arkansas, has a significant history of metal-mining operations. The tails and spoils of these operations deposit heavy amounts of raw ore into streams, including the deposition of cadmium, a minor constituent. Periphyton and invertebrate samples from two creeks within the Rush Mining District were measured for cadmium. Additionally, two creeks with no history of mining were sampled. Periphyton samples from mining sites had significantly higher concentrations of cadmium than samples collected at control sites. Invertebrate samples were classified into trophic levels before analysis. Invertebrate samples collected at treatment sites only …

Synergistic Interactions Of H2 And N2 With Molten Gallium In The Presence Of Plasma, Maria L. Carreon, Daniel F. Jaramillo-Cabanzo, Indira Chaudhuri, Madhu Menon, Mahendra K. Sunkara

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The present study examines the interaction of hydrogen and nitrogen plasmas with gallium in an effort to gain insights into the mechanisms behind the synergetic effect of plasma and a catalytic metal. Absorption/desorption experiments were performed, accompanied by theoretical-computational calculations. Experiments were carried out in a plasma-enhanced, Ga-packed, batch reactor and entailed monitoring the change in pressure at different temperatures. The results indicated a rapid adsorption/dissolution of the gas into the molten metal when gallium was exposed to plasma, even at a low temperature of 100 °C. The experimental observations, when hydrogen was used, indicate that gallium acts as a …

The Impact Of Reduced Arctic Sea Ice Extent On Cryospheric Snowfall, Alexander Carne

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Satellite observations show that sea ice extent in the Arctic has been declining from 1979 through present day, reaching record minimum extents in 2007 and 2012. Reduced sea ice extent allows for greater expanses of open water to interact with the Arctic atmosphere, potentially leading to changes in the Arctic climate. The greatest declines in Arctic sea ice extent have occurred in summer and autumn. During these seasons, it is likely that the decrease in Arctic sea ice extent led to an increase in atmospheric sensible and latent heat fluxes, possibly leading to increases in Arctic temperature and moisture. Increases …

Multivariate Statistical Analyses Of Air Pollutants And Meteorology In Chicago During Summers 2010–2012, Katrina Binaku, Martina Schmeling

Chemistry: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Aerosol, trace gas, and meteorological data were collected in Chicago, Illinois during 2010–2012 summer air studies. Ozone, nitrogen oxides, acetate, formate, chloride, nitrate, sulfate, and oxalate concentrations as well as temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and humidity data were explored by both principal component analysis (PCA) and canonical correlation analysis (CCA). Multivariate statistical techniques were applied to uncover existing relationships between meteorology and air pollutant concentrations and also reduce data dimensions.

In PCA, principal components (PC) revealed a relationship of ozone and nitrate concentrations with respect to temperature and humidity, coupled with transport of species from the south in relation …

The Firece Green Fire: Vol. 8 Issue 12, Wofford College Environmental Studies Program

The Fierce Green Fire

No abstract provided.

Biodiversity Of Larval And Adult Dragonflies And Damselflies (Odonata) Of Interdunal Wetlands At Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area, Devon Volz

Honors Theses

The effects of climate change on insects in the United States have yet to be fully understood. Research on the insect populations of Lake Michigan’s interdunal wetlands has been particularly limited. As these vibrant habitats are already at risk of destruction due to increased development, it is vital to have a working knowledge of the species that are living in the habitat. However, to date, there have been no studies on assemblages of interdunal wetlands in Michigan. Examining community compositions is critical to understanding the ecological problems that could occur in the future. This study is the first to look …

Assessing Preservation Priorities Of Caves And Karst Areas Using The Frequency Of Endemic Cave-Dwelling Species, Eugen Nitzu, Marius Vlaicu, Andrei Giurginca, Ioana N. Meleg, Ionut Popa, Augustin Nae, Ştefan Baba

International Journal of Speleology

Endemic and rare species as bioindicators of habitat vulnerability were used to develop protection and management plans for biotope prioritization (mainly islands habitats, lava tubes or groundwaters). Due to their narrow distribution, the endemic species (species confined to a restricted geographic area) are more susceptible to ecological disequilibrium and habitat loss than the widespread ones. Consequently, endemics become endangered in the context of ecological disturbance caused by anthropogenic pressure, making them suitable candidates to assess environmental preservation needs. Taking into consideration that most of the stygobitic and troglobitic species are endemic and confined to specific karst areas, based on their …

2017 Fall Engr333 Seminar Preservation, Trevor Nyeholt, Erik Karlson, Cam Richman, Tyson Butler

ENGR 333

File for student presentation, given by students in the Fall 2017 class of ENGR333.

2017 Fall Engr333 Poster (Section B), Eric Ball, Mitchell Debruin, Raymond Kolocek, Edwin Kpodzro, Jacob Vandekieft, Nate Anderson, Brennan Steenhoek, Darbi Meyer, Derek Vermerris, Jessica Bouma, Devon Loerop, Reuben Saarloos, Richard Amoh, Matthew Boelens, Tyson Butler, Laura Van Winkle, Alex Keizer, Kwame Ohemeng, Cameron Richman, Julie Van De Riet

ENGR 333

Previously, Calvin College had a cogeneration system with the purpose of generating electricity and heat, through the combustion of natural gas, for Calvin’s campus. The original co-gen system was removed in 2017 due to high costs associated with maintenance and operations. Without a co-gen system, Calvin College is fully dependent on the grid. To save money and help in the President’s Carbon Commitment, PCC, the mechanical engineering students of ENGR 333 (section B) propose the implementation of a new co-gen system.

2017 Fall Engr333 Poster (Section A), Trevor Nyeholt, Francis Kapesa, Justin Thalmayer, Erik Karlson, Kyle Van Veen, Kirk Brink, Steven Tarske, Brent Homan, Nathan De Haan, Paul Bootsma, Megan Anders, Philip Holmes, Melanie Fox, Noah Pirrotta, Abigail Berkompas, Ben Wellman, Halley Press, Christopher Greaves, Josh Templeman, Tim Bosch, Jake Zandstra, Hendrik Vermeulen

ENGR 333

Calvin College uses 161,000 MMBTU of natural gas per year, which correlates to $836,000 of annual expenses. However Calvin could save as much as $240,000 on natural gas if they were as efficient as the top performer in an energy audit of similar colleges and universities in the Midwest, conducted by Sightlines Institute. The goal of this project was to see what actions could be taken to save the college $75,000 in annual natural gas costs.

Optimization Of Parameters For The Densification (Pelletization) Of Cereal Crop Residues And Feasibility Study Of Pellet Plant Development In The State Of Arkansas From Economic Perspective, Shyam Thapa

Student Theses and Dissertations

Conventional cereal crop residues, namely, rice (Oryza sativa L.), corn (Zea mays L.), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is very abundant and readily available widely. It has been a nuisance to agronomic producers to manage these immense “so-called wastes”. The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) promulgated by the United States and The EU’s renewable energy directive mandated the substantial incorporation of renewable energy in their final energy consumption. These led to the increase in R&D’s on biomass and bioenergy products in the United States as well. Hammer mill grinds of different cereal crop residues, rice, wheat, and corn, sieved …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2017, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge. The senior design competition helps focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects on …

Investigation Of The Effectiveness Of N, N-Dimethylformamide As A Solvent For Cdte Electrodeposition, Joshua Aaron Vangilder

Student Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation project was to investigate the viability of N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as a solvent for CdTe electrodeposition. The Taguchi Method was used to design a minimal set of experiments to determine this. The factors chosen were deposition voltage, solution composition, stir rate, and temperature. There were a total of nine experiments and 18 samples produced (2 per experiment). Optical absorbance data was collected for each film to approximate the bandgap of the material. This data was used to determine the optimal set of conditions and the relative significance of each factor to one another. It was …

Improving The Accuracy Of Cosmic-Ray Neutron Probe Estimate Of Soil Water Content Using Multiple Detectors And Remote Sensing Estimates Of Vegetation, Xiaochen Dong

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The recently developed Cosmic-ray Neutron Probe (CRNP) for estimating soil water content (SWC) fills a critical measurement gap between point scale methods and large scale measurements collected from remote sensing. CRNP works by measuring the change in low-energy neutron intensity over time. However, the accuracy of CRNP to measure SWC is well known to be affected by other hydrogen sources (e.g. soil organic content, atmospheric water vapor, vegetation and surface water). This study focuses on the influence of rapidly growing vegetation in agricultural fields on the accuracy of the CRNP method. Here we use data from three long-term CRNP study …

Failing Food Supply: Permaculture's Potential, John Faltin

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Conventional agriculture is the currently leading production method to grow crops in the western hemisphere. Long-term sustainability of the system and all the components is secondary to producing high yields each growing season, which leads to issues such as erosion and reduced soil quality. Other agricultural production methods such as permaculture aim to build soil and improve quality every growing season. This experiment intends to look at the potential of permaculture to improve soil quality on small-scales at the end of each growing season. The parameters to gauge success are a larger concentration of macronutrients at the end of the …