Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Further Developing Drought Early Warning Information Systems Using Mixed-Methods And Multiple Streams Of Data, Caily Claire Schwartz

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Drought is a complex phenomenon with varying degrees of impacts and monitoring methods. No drought is alike, creating a challenge for both water managers and communities. No area is immune to a drought. Due to the cyclical nature of drought events, clear information to those impacted is necessary to reduce risk and move towards proactive responses, as opposed to reactive responses. To better provide communication and mitigation tools, Drought Early Warning Information Systems (DEWIS) have been developed in various regions and contexts. To improve early warning, an understanding of the end user’s perceptions of risk, and the applicability of data …

"I Will Write Mad Stories": The Hysterical "I" In The Diaries Of George Eliot, Charlotte Forten Grimke, Virginia Woolf, And Sylvia Plath, Jaclyn Marie Swiderski

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation focuses on the long history of hysteria and the ways in which it has been used to denigrate and silence disabled women. Women diagnosed as hysterical, by either the medical establishment or the court of public opinion, are denied the right to generate knowledge about and for themselves – they are epistemologically disabled. The author argues that hysterical women have unique ways of looking at and understanding the world which push back against their epistemological disablement. In order to uncover some of this history of hysterical women, this dissertation uses the diaries of four “hysterical” women over the …

Applying Circuit Theory To Describe Changes In Structural Landscape Connectivity In Response To Wildfire, Christian Ross Nielsen

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

Understanding and conserving ecological connectivity is critical to the preservation of vulnerable landscapes. Circuit theory, in which landscapes are imagined as circuit boards with varying resistances to the flow of current, is being increasingly used to model spatially explicit connectivity of landscapes and to inform land management and conservation decision-making. Utilizing continuous, quantitative estimates of percent cover by five land cover functional groups to create a conductance surface, this study expanded upon an established application of circuit theory that used the open-source software Circuitscape to model species-agnostic, omnidirectional connectivity. This model was automated using Python to create time-series connectivity maps …

Analysis Of Drought-Flood Abrupt Alternation Events And Their Impacts In Kenya, Betty Makena

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

Drought-Flood Abrupt Alternation (DFAA) is a compound disaster event that refers to the abrupt shift of extreme drought events to extreme floods resulting in exacerbated impacts on already vulnerable communities and hindering their coping abilities. This study aimed to analyze drought-flood abrupt alternation events and their impacts in Kenya. The first chapter aimed to understand historical drought events in the Greater Horn of Africa and their impacts, while drawing comparisons with the recent 2020-2022 drought period, referred to as the ‘triple dip La Niña’. Datasets used in this study include the Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS), Normalized …

Remotely Sensed Early Warning Of Algal Blooms In An Eastern Nebraska Reservoir: A Comparison Of Temporal And Spatial Indicators, Mercy Kipenda

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

Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) detrimentally affect human, animal, and ecosystem health. Remotely sensed early warning systems for cyanoHABs in inland lakes could contribute to more proactive water quality monitoring and help mitigate negative impacts. Advances in freely available remote sensing imagery, with finer spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions, present new opportunities for the development and comparative analysis of methods to detect sudden deterioration in lake water quality. In this thesis, I compared and tested for temporal and spatial early warning signals of cyanoHABs in field-based and remotely sensed datasets from 2019 to 2023 in Pawnee Lake in southeast Nebraska, …

Assessing, Restoring, And Centering Social–Ecological Relationships For Advancing Social–Ecological Resilience In The Northern Great Plains Grasslands, Katia Pilar Carranza Bernal

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

The Northern Great Plains grasslands are social-ecological systems that were shaped by evolutionary and Indigenous social-ecological relationships. European colonization disrupted many of these interactions, including the coupling of fire and grazing, and degraded social-ecological resilience, shifting these grasslands to a new state. For those reasons, my research focused on assessing, restoring, and centering evolutionary and Indigenous social-ecological relationships for advancing social-ecological resilience in the Northern Great Plains grasslands. I first performed a study in the Nebraska Sandhillls assessing the potential of patch-burn grazing to support grassland resilience by comparing its effects to those of rotational grazing. Through vegetation and bird …

Sensitivity Of Present And Future Seasonal Precipitation Over Central United States To The Representation Of Rocky Mountain Topography, Ranasinghe Disanayakalage Sherly Shelton Ranathunga

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

Precipitation change across the Central United States (USA) is of great interest to the research community. Studies using global climate simulations suggest that the “100^th-Meridian”, which separates the “dry west” from the “moist east” will shift to the east as the climate responds to future emissions pathways. However, these simulations are run at relatively coarse resolutions, which do not accurately represent topography. Here, we perform regional simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to explore the sensitivity of present and future precipitation patterns across the central USA to the representation of the Rocky Mountains (RM). We …

We're Swarming Again! Swarming, Collectivity, And Trope: The Case Of Extinction Rebellion, Tyler J. Behymer

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis explores the rhetoric of the eco-movement Extinction Rebellion, focusing on the use of swarming and nature tropes to mobilize collective action and revivify contemporary notions of collectivity. Drawing on rhetoric of social movement scholarship, cultural studies, and psychoanalysis, this essay theorizes swarming as a tropological economy that expands the conditions of propriety in the context of collectivity. Through an analysis of Extinction Rebellion’s discourse, this study demonstrates how the naturalization of swarming tropes works in various ways to rewild conventional political discourse, galvanize disruptive collective assembly, and challenge green neoliberalism.

Advisor: Casey Ryan Kelly

Community Engagement Newsletter, August 2024, University Of Northern Iowa. Office Of Community Engagement.

Community Engagement Newsletter

Contents:

--- Service-Learning Courses
--- Fall Volunteer Fair
--- Civic Action Academy
--- Seed Coalition (formerly Iowa Campus Compact)
--- Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley
--- Koob Fund for Student Community Engagement

University Of South Carolina Libraries Collection Development Policy, University Of South Carolina Libraries

University Libraries Policies and Reports

University Libraries supports the mission and vision of the University of South Carolina by building and managing general collections that support student success and research excellence. In developing its general collections, University Libraries strives to respond to current and anticipated teaching and research needs, to provide the broadest possible access to library resources, and to responsibly steward materials of enduring academic value.

Never Going To Let You Down: Preventing Predictive Shrinkage Via The Strong-R Assessment Method, Zachary Hamilton, Alex Kigerl, Andrew Peterson, Grant Duwe, John Ursino

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Widely used sources of crime data, such as the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), provide invaluable information on patterns in reported crime and justice processing. Yet, due to their measurement of crime at the incident level, these data have not been used to determine an individual’s likelihood of justice system involvement. By contrast, in the correctional field, individuals are used as the unit of analysis and common definitions to establish state-level base rates. Used for decades, base rates provide an estimate of justice system involvement, per individual, for a given jurisdiction’s population.

Georgia Library Association Executive Board Officer Candidates For 2025, Kim Copenhaver

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Willingness To Report Sexual Victimization Through Formal And Informal Routes And The Correlation To Victim’S Race, Sexual Orientation, And Gender Identity, Tara Diltz

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to understand the impact, if any, that holding marginalized identities has on the willingness to report sexual victimization to law enforcement, Title IX offices, and informal support routes. This study examines the various factors that may influence one’s willingness to report sexual victimization through both formal and informal routes. Formal routes include law enforcement and Title IX, while informal routes involve the self-disclosure of victimization to families, friends, or romantic partners. This research specifically explores how racial and ethnic identities, sexual orientation, and gender identity can influence an individual's perceived willingness to report sexual …

Higher Education On The Texas Blackland Prairie: Trinity University's Civil War Era, Sarah Beth Kaufman

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

The article provides a model for other southern colleges and universities founded during the Civil War era to clarify how they, too, benefited from the slave economy. It describes how Trinity University's founders were able to accomplish their institution's unlikely survival and enrich their own positions by creating a valuable new educational commodity. It also explores the historiography of nineteenth-century higher education.

My Own Private Library, Rebecca Ballard

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Archiving Living Historical Narratives With Youth Participatory Action Research, Leah Panther, Elizabeth Burbridge, Robbie Barber, Rosi Sanchez

Georgia Library Quarterly

As part of an interdisciplinary place-based summer program, the three adults and nine youth explored local communities as a co-researchers, seeking to preserve and sustain their community’s literacies, histories, and stories. Youth co-researchers led the data collection, analysis, and creation of archival resources to capture community literacies, histories, and stories that expanded beyond traditional print-centric resources and archival collections management systems. From our youth co-researchers we learned: (1) prioritizing people as archival sources, (2) living historical narratives lead to critical readings of historical artifacts, and (3) public digital composing practices with historical narratives and historical artifacts. The implications result in …

News Briefs Summer 2024, Georgia Library Quarterly

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Georgia Library Association Division Officer Candidates For 2025, Kim Copenhaver

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Growth And Governance Of American Classical And Christian Schools, Cassidy Syftestad Klutts

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Classical and Christian education has proliferated across education sectors over the last decade. As a result, school leaders must implement these timeless philosophies of education and navigate such high demand. This dissertation seeks to equip relevant parties with research about what drives their skyrocketing enrollment and how to support school leaders and their governing boards. My first chapter uses in-person focus groups to understand the school choices of 25 parents whose children are enrolled in Texas-based classical charter schools. I explore the ways in which parents found their children’s school; what made them enroll their children; and whether they are …

My Identity Blew Up On Tiktok: Exploring Content Creators And The Transparasocial Relationship, Russell Garret Harger

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated transparasocial relationships as they relate to identity management for content creators. Unlike traditional parasocial relationships, transparasocial relationships indicate high levels of interactivity between the creator and audience members. This study investigates how this interactivity affects the identity of the creators, specifically content creators on TikTok. A diverse set of 21 creators were reached out to and interviewed in a semi-structured respondent style over videoconference calls. Thematic analysis was conducted to discover how these creators are managing their identities within the context of their roles as content creators. A particular interest was taken to see if there were …

Optimization Of Customer Service And Driver Dispatch Areas For On-Demand Food Delivery, Jingfeng Yang, Hoong Chuin Lau, Hai Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With the rapid development and popularization of mobile and wireless communication technologies, on-demand food delivery (OFD) platforms have been able to connect restaurants, customers, and drivers in real time, drastically changing dining and food delivery services. Motivated by the critical need for supply and demand management in the on-demand food delivery market, we focus on the optimization of customer service area and driver dispatch area for on-demand food delivery services. Specifically, for each restaurant, the platform needs to decide the (1) customer service area (CSA), i.e., the surrounding area within which customers can see the restaurant’s information and order food …

Is This Home Truly? Reflections On Singapore As It Turns 59, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In a commentary, SMU President Professor Lily Kong shared her reflections on Singapore as it turns 59. She discussed Singapore's nation-building process and offered her views on how the country can strengthen its social compact to make Singapore a home for Singaporeans.

Retirement And Life Satisfaction Among Middle-Aged And Older Adults: A Piecewise Growth Mixture Analysis, Jonathan L. Chia, Andree Hartanto, William Tov

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Retirement represents a significant life transition typically occurring in later adulthood, often accompanied by substantial lifestyle changes. Several theoretical frameworks suggest that these changes present both opportunities and challenges for well-being, and the extent to which individuals experience positive versus negative well-being outcomes may be influenced by various factors. To study such heterogeneity in retirement experiences, researchers have embraced person-centered methodologies. Yet, some previous studies have not robustly delineated retirement- from age-related changes in well-being, accounted for statistical uncertainties, or examined these diverse experiences outside of a Western context. These limitations preclude conclusions about the diverse experience of retirement. Using …

Political Constructions Of People Who Use Drugs In The Philippines: A Qualitative Content Analysis, Gideon Lasco

Development Studies Faculty Publications

Background

This paper examines the political constructions of people who use drugs in the Philippines throughout the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte (2016–2022), during which the government engaged in a ‘war on drugs’ and promoted a punitive drug regime.

Methods

Building on and drawing inspiration from the global drug policy scholarship that has looked at the ways in which drugs are framed and problematised in various domains, this study used qualitative content analysis to review 96 documents from national government agencies - including strategic action plans, directives, memorandums, guidelines, annual reports, and legislative measures.

Results

Foremost, the study finds that various …

A Word From The Writing Team (August 2024), Pam Walter, Mfa

A Word From the Writing Team (Newsletter)

This issue includes:

• Publication Spotlight
• Come to the Book Launch Party on August 8th at William Way
• Join Us for Summer Writing Time
• For FY24-25, the Open Access Publishing Fund process is changing
• Jefferson has funding agreements with specific publishers
• The OPWPC Canvas Page offers helpful tools

How Do Grandparents Invest In Grandchildren?, Donna Syme

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Kin selection theory explains hour individuals can increase inclusive fitness through tradeoffs and investment of care in children. Most research focuses on direct care methods, such as meeting physical needs of children, rather than indirect methods of care such as financial and emotional support. The roles of grandparents are important and are felt at every age level in grandchildren. This relationship has beneficial effects including past knowledge, support, mentoring, and direct care and indirect care methods. Recent studies have been conducted to see what physical and mental benefits are gained by investing in grandchildren in a variety of social conditions. …

Redefining Missing In The Third Space Of Sovereignty: Collaborative Governance On Idaho's Missing And Murdered Indigenous Persons Policy, Melanie Fillmore

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This three-article dissertation addresses how Indigenous and non-Indigenous state and non-state policy actors collaborating on Idaho missing and murdered Indigenous persons (MMIP) policy shift the Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance (IFCG) policy context to the ‘third space of sovereignty’ (Bruyneel, 2007). In a space of competing narratives of authority across time, and space, paper one addresses how Indigenous and non-Indigenous policy actors are shaped by the “drivers” of collaboration. The second paper addresses three key configurations of collaborative governance regimes. The third paper reassesses the scope of Idaho MMIP through a comparison of MMIP cases in 2021 and 2023 as …

Oregon Community College Trustee Survey: A Look At The Role Of Ambition And Recruitment In Community College Board Members’ Decision To Run For Elected Office, Abby Lee

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Previous research on candidate emergence has typically focused on high-profile national and state offices. Absent from this topic is a focused interest in community college trustees and the factors contributing to their taking a trustee position, including their recruitment to a board (Mellow & Heelan, 2008). Through the lens of candidate ambition theory and political recruitment theory, this study investigated the demographics, characteristics, and perceptions of elected Oregon community college trustees concerning their recruitment and ambitions for service as board members. My research addressed the following three questions:

1. What role, if any, does recruitment play in the decision to serve …

Making Waves In The Snow World: Microwave Remote Sensing And Infrasound Interactions With Seasonal Snow, Zachary Marshall Hoppinen

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Snow has profound impacts on our globe, economies, and ecosystems serving as a vital reservoir for drinking and irrigation water, renewable hydroelectric power, and as a natural hazard. However, effectively monitoring snow and snow water equivalent (SWE) presents challenges due to interannual variability, with SWE fluctuating by over 500 mm between years and peak snowmelt timing varying up to a month. These challenges will be further exacerbated by the non-stationarity of these snow and avalanche patterns in a changing climate requiring new spatially and temporally expansive remote sensing.

In this dissertation, we explore the potential of two evolving remote sensing …

A New Look At Russia-China Relations: Implications, Expectations And Reality, Aidana Bolat

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

This thesis examines the nature of the evolving relationship between Russia and China from 2018 to 2024, focusing on political, economic, and security aspects. The research aims to determine whether their interactions are an alliance, a partnership, or a more complex arrangement. The study takes a multidimensional approach: analyzing political cooperation through their participation in international organizations such as the UN, SCO, and BRICS, mutual support in UN voting records, diplomatic commitments, and regional political strategies. Economic cooperation is assessed through trade dynamics and analysis of official trade data. Security cooperation is examined by examining arms sales, joint military exercises, …