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The University of Southern Mississippi

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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Other Environmental Sciences

Assessment Of Mississippi Landfill Capacity In Relation To Waste Generation And Land-Use Constraints, Jason C. Anderson May 2026

Assessment Of Mississippi Landfill Capacity In Relation To Waste Generation And Land-Use Constraints, Jason C. Anderson

Master's Theses

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management presents a growing challenge in Mississippi as population trends, socioeconomic change and regional development continue to place pressure on existing landfill capacity. This thesis examines waste generation and disposal patterns from 2000 through 2022 across Mississippi counties, with projections extending to 2050. Historical landfill tonnage data was gathered and compiled from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and analyzed using regression models in Excel and RStudio, with forecasts generated for both in-state and out-of-state waste flow. Results highlight significant variations among landfills, including differing closure timelines, changing county service areas and notable shifts in …


Fifty Years Of Research In The Commonwealth Of The Bahamas: A Quantitative Thematic Analysis Of Scholarly Output, Amina Moss, Krista D. Sherman, Williamson Gustave, Kathleen Sullivan Sealey, Charlotte Dunn, Nicola Simone Smith, Lindy Knowles, Christy Gibson Jan 2026

Fifty Years Of Research In The Commonwealth Of The Bahamas: A Quantitative Thematic Analysis Of Scholarly Output, Amina Moss, Krista D. Sherman, Williamson Gustave, Kathleen Sullivan Sealey, Charlotte Dunn, Nicola Simone Smith, Lindy Knowles, Christy Gibson

Gulf and Caribbean Research

This study presents the first longitudinal bibliometric mapping of peer—reviewed research on The Bahamas, analyzing 12,113 Web of Science records (1975–2025) using CiteSpace v.6.4.R2. We identified 36 co—citation clusters (modularity Q = 0.7967; silhouette = 0.9231) and 28 keyword clusters (Q = 0.7523; silhouette = 0.8695), revealing 8 thematic trajectories over 5 decades. Early research (prior to 1990) focused on carbonate geology and sea—level dynamics across the northwestern Bahama Platform and Blake—Bahama Basin (Cluster#0, silhouette = 0.939). From the 1990s–mid—2000s, attention shifted to marine fisheries, Aliger gigas, coral reefs, and ecological resilience (Cluster #1, n = 203). In the …


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 Dec 2024

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 …


Braving The Elements: Loss Of Metals From Mardi Gras Beads Due To Handling And Weathering, Thomas O. Carmichael, Ruth H. Carmichael Jan 2024

Braving The Elements: Loss Of Metals From Mardi Gras Beads Due To Handling And Weathering, Thomas O. Carmichael, Ruth H. Carmichael

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The largest Mardi Gras celebrations in the U.S. are found along the Gulf of Mexico coast. With increasing awareness of and concern for environmental and human health risks due to pollution from Mardi Gras celebrations, there is a need for studies to quantify potential harms. We conducted a 2—part study to determine whether use—related handling and weathering of common Mardi Gras beaded necklaces results in loss of potentially harmful metals to the environment at levels of ecological or human health concern. Our data indicate that weathering and use—related handling can cause metals to be shed from the metallic coating of …


Estimation Of Quantitative Genetic Parameters Of The Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) In The Gulf Of Mexico, Heather King Jun 2023

Estimation Of Quantitative Genetic Parameters Of The Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) In The Gulf Of Mexico, Heather King

Master's Theses

The decline of natural oyster reefs in Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) states has stimulated the development of aquaculture to support the industry and restoration programs. Gulf habitats feature diverse salinity environments that may require oysters bred for habitat-specific optimal genetic characteristics. In this work, genetic parameters for performance in habitats with different salinity were estimated. In September 2020, 102 males and 102 females sourced from 17 natural reefs across the northern Gulf were bred according to 2 males x 2 females non-overlapping factorial crossing designs, resulting in 204 full and half sibs. All families were pooled after fertilization according to …


How Is Pelagic Sargassum-Associated Biodiversity Assessed? Insights From The Literature, Kristie S.T. Alleyne Jan 2022

How Is Pelagic Sargassum-Associated Biodiversity Assessed? Insights From The Literature, Kristie S.T. Alleyne

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Over the past decade unprecedented blooming of pelagic Sargassum has occurred across the Equatorial Atlantic from West Africa to the Caribbean. Although pelagic Sargassum mats are considered beneficial in the open ocean, providing valuable habitat for a diverse array of endemic and associated species, they also inundate coastal areas and cause a plethora of management challenges for fisheries, tourism, nearshore coastal ecosystems, public health and the socioeconomic welfare of coastal communities. In—water harvesting has been suggested as a desirable management solution to prevent shoreline inundation, but destruction of the associated biodiversity is a concern with this approach and has not …


How A Simple Question About Freshwater Inflow To Estuaries Shaped A Career, Paul A. Montagna Jan 2021

How A Simple Question About Freshwater Inflow To Estuaries Shaped A Career, Paul A. Montagna

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Chance and good luck led to a career studying how freshwater inflow drives estuary processes. In 1986, someone asked me: How much fresh water has to flow to a bay for it to be healthy? The question shaped my career. There is probably no better place on Earth to compare effects caused by inflow differences than the Texas coast, because the major estuarine systems lie in a climatic gradient where runoff decreases 56—fold from the Louisiana border in the northeast to the Mexico border in the southwest. This estuary—comparison experiment was used to study inflow effects. The science evolved from …


Influence Of Natural And Anthropogenic Environmental Variability On Larval Fish Diet, Growth, And Condition In The Northcentral Gulf Of Mexico, Angie Hoover Dec 2018

Influence Of Natural And Anthropogenic Environmental Variability On Larval Fish Diet, Growth, And Condition In The Northcentral Gulf Of Mexico, Angie Hoover

Master's Theses

The northern Gulf of Mexico experiences high levels of freshwater runoff annually from various sources including the Mississippi River and Mobile Bay, among other sources. Early life history stages of fishes are especially vulnerable to environmental variability created by freshwater discharge. The objectives of this study were to describe the available prey field, diet, growth and condition of larval fishes with respect to various effects of freshwater discharge in the northern Gulf. The first chapter compared these parameters in larval Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) collected from three different water masses characterized by physical and biological parameters after the …


Olfactory Enrichment In California Sea Lions (Zalophus Californianus), Mystera M. Samuelson Dec 2015

Olfactory Enrichment In California Sea Lions (Zalophus Californianus), Mystera M. Samuelson

Dissertations

In the wild, California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) are exposed to a wide array of sensory information at all times. However, it is impossible for captive environments to provide this level of complexity. Therefore unique procedures and practices are necessary for the maintenance of physiological and psychological health in captive animals (Wells, 2009). This project aims to explore the behavioral effect of scent added to the environment, with the goal of improving the welfare of captive sea lions by introducing two scent types: 1.) Natural scents, found in their native environment, and 2.) Non-natural scents, not found in …


Naturalists’ Perspectives On The Use Of Mobile Technology During A Nature Hike, Aubin Marishka Radzewicz St. Clair Aug 2015

Naturalists’ Perspectives On The Use Of Mobile Technology During A Nature Hike, Aubin Marishka Radzewicz St. Clair

Master's Theses

Naturalists act as our link between scientific knowledge and the public’s understanding of natural history and conservation efforts. In order for them to succeed, they need access to reference materials as well as up-to-date information (Mankin, Warner, & Anderson, 1999). Incorporating mobile technology (i.e. tablets) into naturalists’ endeavors in natural history and environmental education can be used as supportive and educational tools. My project investigated how newly trained naturalists used tablet technology while leading groups of children on nature hikes. I investigated naturalists’ views on the use of mobile technology as a tool during the hikes. My research was guided …


A Geographical Approach For Integrating Belief Networks And Geographic Information Sciences To Probabilistically Predict River Depth, Nathan Lee Hopper Dec 2013

A Geographical Approach For Integrating Belief Networks And Geographic Information Sciences To Probabilistically Predict River Depth, Nathan Lee Hopper

Dissertations

Geography is, traditionally, a discipline dedicated to answering complex spatial questions. Although spatial statistical techniques, such as weighted regressions and weighted overlay analyses, are commonplace within geographical sciences, probabilistic reasoning, and uncertainty analyses are not typical. For example, belief networks are statistically robust and computationally powerful, but are not strongly integrated into geographic information systems. This is one of the reasons that belief networks have not been more widely utilized within the environmental sciences community. Geography’s traditional method of delivering information through maps provides a mechanism for conveying probabilities and uncertainties to decision makers in a clear, concise manner. This …