Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2014, Environmental Sciences

This practicum involved creating a map, interpretive signage, and outreach materials for Edge of the Farm Conservation Area (EFCA) in Oxford, Ohio. EFCA is a natural gem amid farmland whose goal is to educate people of all ages about today's environmental issues. In order to accomplish this, EFCA needed an accurate map that is easy to navigate as well as interpretive signage. This interdisciplinary practicum connects Ohio's Revised Science Content Standards with art by utilizing original artwork created with pen and colored pencil and gives ideas for making connections to other subjects such as History, English, and Math as well as Girl and Boy Scout badge requirements. To encourage visitors from the general public to visit, the signs discuss topics relevant to each location at EFCA as well as Ohio and contain whimsical imagery that is visually stimulating and includes questions that promote inquiry and further study.

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2013, Environmental Sciences

In fulfillment of the Masters of Environmental Sciences (M.En.) at Miami University, Ohio, I completed a seven month internship with the National Park Service (NPS) at Acadia National Park in Maine. I was able to participate in a wide variety of projects ranging from falcon and eagle banding to monitoring Common Loon nesting sites. All of the projects served to fulfill the NPS mission to preserve the parks natural beauty and wildlife for future generations.

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2024, Environmental Science

I introduce Bayesian Optimization for Anything (BOA), a high-level BO framework and model wrapping toolkit, which presents a novel approach to simplifying Bayesian Optimization (BO) with the goal of making it more accessible and user-friendly, particularly for those with limited expertise in the field. BOA addresses common barriers in implementing BO, focusing on ease of use, reducing the need for deep domain knowledge, and cutting down on extensive coding requirements. A notable feature of BOA is its language-agnostic architecture. Using JSON serialization, BOA facilitates communication between different programming languages, enabling a wide range of users to integrate BOA with their existing models, regardless of the programming language used, with a simple and easy-to-use interface. This feature enhances the applicability of BOA, allowing for broader application in various fields and to a wider audience. I highlight BOA's application through several real-world examples. BOA has been successfully employed in a high-dimensional (184 parameters) optimization Soil & Water Assessment Tool (SWAT+) model, demonstrating its capability in parallel optimization with SWAT and non-parallel models, such as SWAT+. I employed BOA in a multi-objective optimization of the FETCH3.14 model. These case studies illustrate BOA's effectiveness in addressing complex optimization challenges in diverse scenarios.

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2020, Integrated Bioscience

The Laurentian Great Lakes system holds approximately 20% of the world's available surface freshwater while being an immense economic engine for the region. Lake Erie, one of the five North American Great Lakes is classified as highly stressed and deteriorating. Flooding and erosion issues stemming from record-high water levels, as well as excessive nutrients causing harmful algal blooms which compounds the problems. This work investigates novel ways to approach, solve, and manage some of Lake Erie's most pressing problems. First, a historical political ecology approach was used to trace the history of land use practices that transformed the Great Black Swamp into the industrialized agricultural system that the Maumee River Watershed (MRW) is today. The analysis chronicles transformations in structure and function of the MRW implicating diverse drivers such as agricultural practices, legacy nutrient reservoirs, altered landscape hydrology, and energy policy while making policy recommendations at various scales. Second, a low-cost, open-source DIY spectrophotometer was developed in order to obtain crowd-sourced data to understand nutrient loading trends throughout the watershed, particularly the MRW. Tests of this device indicate that the typically expensive hardware is not the limitation. Rather, reagent performance is the leading cause of uncertainty. Third, a social-ecological risk and vulnerability model to flooding and erosion was created for the Ohio Lake Erie shoreline by adapting established maritime coastal indices to the limnological system. The result is both a foundation for Ohio's Department of Natural Resources, Office of Coastal Management to identify scientifically-informed, place-based priority management areas for erosion and flooding, as well as a methodological roadmap to adapt the Coastal and Place Vulnerability Indices to the other Great Lakes' states and provincial shorelines.

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Geology

Blood lead levels (BLLs) in children of the Toledo, OH area have been elevated for decades, and numerous studies have linked the issue to soil contamination by lead (Pb) paint and leaded gasoline. Young children below the age of 4 years have proven the most susceptible to Pb poisoning due to their high Pb absorption rates and direct ingestion of Pb contaminated sources resulting from instinctive hand-to-mouth behaviors. This problem is significant because high BLLs can result in many pathological and developmental problems including irreversible fetal brain damage, brain damage to the developing prefrontal cortex, behavioral problems, violence, learning disabilities, and more. The objectives of this study were to determine the primary factors leading to Pb and other heavy metals contamination in community gardens located at or near contaminated soils in Toledo, OH. Given the rising popularity of urban community gardens, it is also important to understand the sustainability of current gardening practices for minimizing exposure to Pb. A total of 399 samples were collected across 27 community gardens, of which 218 including the soil profiles of 14 community gardens were analyzed for heavy metals using an ICP-OES. Soil profiles were collected down to 40 cm depth (or maximum achievable depth based on the presence of buried rubble from demolished structures, buried foundations, etc.), and subsampled at 5 cm intervals to observe its distribution with depth. Using historical maps such as the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps combined with measuring the distribution of lead within gardens across properties, it was found that drip zones, a 1-meter area of soil immediately surrounding structures containing lead paint, is the main predictor for high lead levels in community gardens. And given that many gardens are located at the sites of demolished structures, historical maps such as the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps proved critical for determining the locations of drip zones a (open full item for complete abstract)

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2018, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

This research explores the complexity of the human-nature relationship through the emergent arts-based lens of environmental dance. The work is guided by a transdisciplinary mission—to actively create bridges and connections between and among disciplines typically thought to be independent bodies of knowledge in their own right: here they merge and become synergistic partners, producing a new way of knowing that is greater than the sum of two independently-partnered disciplines. A transdisciplinary approach opens us to know a multiverse where a holistic perspective expands the traditionally singular viewpoint of the existing predominant Cartesian paradigm. The study allows space for “environmental dance” to emerge as a true transdiscipline. Furthermore, this project is based upon the intuitive sense that the arts, once again, as exemplified by “environmental dance,” can offer nuanced insights and pedagogical strategies for future research and development, which may inspire and guide holistic, imaginative, creative and systems-oriented engagement of humans with the natural world. The groundwork for reaching this goal lies in the emergent “environmental dance” theory that has directly originated as a “product” of this research. The emergent theory known as Satori Loop© provides an underlying prerequisite shift in perspective, mindfulness and embodied awareness that restructures the way humans have previously chosen to engage the natural world, while celebrating the unifying concepts of diversity and connectivity in a self-organizing universe. The research design draws upon a dual methodology: phenomenology and grounded theory, in tandem with a “pastiche” of arts-based methods that work together in complementary synergy, opening up a nuanced way to study and further describe the phenomenal interface of the dancing human body embedded in the dynamic, living landscape. As a thorough inquiry into the “lived experience” of the environmental dancer, a prominent feature of t (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Communication

Human activity and unsustainable use of natural resources create increasingly severe environmental problems. Science and environmental documentaries are often used to explain these problems to the general public and to advocate for policies to address environmental issues. Despite the impact many of these films have had, empirical social science research on the genre is scant, in part due to the difficulty inherent in simply defining what is or is not a documentary. Integrating theoretical perspectives on environmental behavior, narrative persuasion, affect, and documentaries, the present research tests how and why documentaries may be an effective means by which to inform the public and to persuade citizens in favor of particular policies, typically aimed at increasing regulation of environmental hazards. The studies presented here begin building our understanding of documentary audiences and effects by addressing three key questions: Who is watching environmental documentaries? How do aspects of documentaries, specifically narrative structure and message goal influence documentary effectiveness? What visual and verbal message design strategies make documentaries more or less effective? By addressing these questions, the present study enhances knowledge related to documentary audiences, documentary structures, and documentary message design features.

Master of Technical and Scientific Communication, Miami University, 2005, Technical and Scientific Communication

This report describes and analyzes an internship in technical and scientific communication during my full-time employment at IUPUI as a Lecturer in Geology. My key project was to develop an online course G107 Environmental Geology. In 2004, development of high quality online courses that equaled learning in on-campus courses was an emerging field. The project entailed the planning, researching, designing, writing, editing, evaluating, and revising an online course. The course consisted of learning modules that contained a compilation of written text, images, animations, and integrated media. Development required analyzing best practices in online learning and web design, designing the documentation using technical communication theory, and evaluating the success of the project. Specifically, the successful development required a foundation in problem solving, rhetoric and linguistics, technical and scientific writing, and information design. This internship revealed that a strong foundation in scientific communication is a prerequisite for developing online learning media.

PHD, Kent State University, 2010, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

The purpose of this study was to examine how a science methods course in primary education might influence the curriculum decisions of preservice teachers in The Bahamas related to unit plan development on environmental science topics. Grounded in a social constructivist theoretical framework for teaching and learning science, this study explored the development of the confidence and competence of six preservice teachers to teach environmental science topics at the primary school level. A qualitative case study using action research methodologies was conducted. The perspectives of preservice teachers about the relevancy of methods used in a science methods course were examined as I became more reflective about my practice. Using constant comparative analysis, data from student-written documents and interviews as well as my field notes from class observations and reflective journaling were analyzed for emerging patterns and themes. Findings of the study indicated that while preservice teachers showed a slight increase in interest regarding learning and teaching environmental science, their primary focus during the course was learning effective teaching strategies in science on topics with which they already had familiarity. Simultaneously, I gained a deeper understanding of the usefulness of reflection in my practice. As a contribution to the complexity of learning to teach science at the primary school level, this study suggests some issues for consideration as preservice teachers are supported to utilize more of the national primary science curriculum in The Bahamas.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, Environmental Science

Context: This study contributes to understanding how social and environmental factors are associated with health status and learning outcomes. It developed from a larger community-based participatory research study based in Columbus, Ohio. United States census data serves as rationale for this study, as it shows that adverse health outcomes are magnified in the vulnerable Columbus neighborhoods on the Near East Side when compared to Columbus city proper, Franklin County, and/or the state of Ohio. Environmental exposures and neighborhood factors influence these health outcomes. These exposures and factors include air pollution and sociodemographic characteristics, such as race and ethnicity, age, and income. It has also been shown that exposures to environmental stressors from the built, natural, and social environments can impact early childhood development. A community engagement model referred to as E6, Enhancing Environmental Endeavors via e-Equity, Education, and Empowerment was developed. Using this model, a multidisciplinary stakeholder team was established, and community engagement meetings were held to assess the needs of local community residents and identify potential environmental hazards associated with adverse health outcomes in those census tracts. This stakeholder team included Columbus Early Learning Centers, an early childhood education and care provider in Columbus, Ohio. Our community engagement efforts spanned from November 2019 through March 2020, as the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) "shutdown" began. Since then, COVID-19 has disrupted life and learning for everyone, particularly children living in higher-risk communities. Current national standardized test data reveals that COVID-19 has contributed to greater learning loss than the typical summer learning loss in elementary aged children. This has been termed the "COVID-19 developmental slide". It is unknown how these trends persist in pre-kindergarten aged children as they do not take standar (open full item for complete abstract)

MAE, Otterbein University, 2023, Education

The curriculum presented is for struggling high school readers so that they can use mastery experiences with two high yield reading strategies – self-questioning and summarizing – to improve their reading comprehension, which will build self-efficacy and help them to develop a growth mindset. The question that drove this research is what is the best way to meet the academic needs of a diverse student population in a remedial reading class in a way that helps them to build their literacy toolbox and develop a respect for and maybe even a love of lifelong learning? The curriculum is built upon current research of the Active View of Reading Model in conjunction with best practices in reading comprehension strategies and tools to build self-efficacy and a growth mindset. The unit plan outlines how to use a variety of graphic organizers to help students organize and comprehend short stories, videos, novels, textbooks, and non-fiction resources that can be found in an Environmental Science classroom as well as ways to utilize self-questioning and summarizing to increase students' comprehension. It also incorporates Fisher and Frey's Gradual Release Model and collaborative conversations to help students increase self-efficacy.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Biological Sciences

Environmental degradation has led to a number of environmental issues including, but not limited to, habitat loss, plastic pollution, harmful algal blooms, and climate change. While many of those environmental issues are driven by human actions, there are also numerous environmentally positive, or pro-environmental, behaviors that individuals can adopt to help mitigate negative impacts on the environment. Several theories have aimed to uncover what encourages individuals to change their environmental behavior, such as connection to nature and Theory of Planned Behavior, however, the exact influence and interaction of these theoretical factors, as they encourage pro-environmental behavior adoption specifically, is still unclear. Yet, understanding the factors that influence pro-environmental behavior adoption is critical for environmental educators communicating environmental issues and solutions with the intention of raising awareness and changing behaviors. In this research, I explore the factors that influence pro-environmental behavior adoption in the Lake Erie region through examining the environmental identity of the author through autoethnography, the pro-environmental behaviors of individuals that attend environmental education events, and the influence of social circles on environmental mindedness. Using a mixed method approach, I have uncovered how individuals may be influenced by experiences, education, family, and friends. This information can be used to improve environmentally based communication and encourage more individuals to adopt pro-environmental behaviors.

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2023, Environmental Sciences

Applying fertilizers and deicers are two prevalent forms of property maintenance in the Midwest, however, these practices contribute to negative environmental impacts when applied incorrectly. While fertilizer use is well researched, deicer use on private properties is not. The objectives of this research are to 1) ascertain whether the patterns of fertilizer use are different from those of deicer in Hamilton County, Ohio and 2) determine what factors influence a resident's decision to use these materials. Survey data was collected from 110 single family households (38.9% response rate) to determine fertilizer and deicer usage and perceptions. Respondents are motivated by property appearance to apply fertilizers. In contrast, deicer use stems from safety concerns. Respondents were significantly more likely to consider the environmental impact of fertilizers than deicers and to try to use fertilizers in an environmentally safe manner. Additionally, respondents reported that using deicers is a more neighborly practice while using fertilizers reflects more positively on them as members of their neighborhood. These findings highlight key differences between residential motivations of fertilizer and deicer application. Identifying these differences can contribute to the development of more effective educational and outreach programs to reduce the negative environmental impacts of fertilization and deicing.

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2022, English

This dissertation considers five novels: Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, The Overstory by Richard Powers, and Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh. It is interested in how vitalism, a term that emerges at the intersection of the work of Jane Bennett (vital materialism) and Amitav Ghosh (vitalist politics), might work to re-focus the form of the novel in a way that thoughtfully considers climate change. Vitalism is an answer to the mechanized, biopolitical, realist modes of contemporary human art and social organization. A vitalist politics reconceives of political systems and structures in a way that acknowledges the role that nonhuman agency plays in shaping human events. A vitalist politics would mean all political and economic decisions acknowledge that nonhuman entities and systems have agency. Vitalism reconceives of "nature" as not brute matter to be extracted, but a web of carefully linked systems. It differs from an animist politics in the sense that it shuns the idea of ascribing any sort of soul to an individual entity (whether human, animal, or plant) for considering all entities as linked in a collectivist, rhizomatic web. The focus of this dissertation project is on contemporary fictional texts out of which strong strains of vitalist politics and aesthetics emerge. In doing so, it considers what the shapes of novels might be in a future that is itself reorganized by climate change.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Geography

The rise in rates of opioid overdose is a public health crisis in the United States. Retrospective studies show that the opioid overdose crisis is not homogeneously distributed across space and time, and there is increasing recognition that its etiology is rooted in part by social determinants such as poverty, environmental disadvantage, isolation, and social upheaval. It's important to understand the spatiotemporal variation in opioid overdose emergencies and its possible social and environmental determinants to guide public policy responses to the crisis as the obtained knowledge can benefit health care administration and epidemiological purposes, coupled with the need for generating reliable risk assessment for small geographical areas. This dissertation aims to develop new spatial-temporal methods and utilize new geospatial data for understanding the space-time pattern of opioid overdose events (OOEs) and associated socio-environmental factors for OOEs. This dissertation consists of three major parts: 1) Understand how OOEs evolved over space and time using a regionalized sequence alignment method; 2) Understand the social and physical environmental determinants in OOEs at high spatial-temporal resolution using found geospatial data; and 3) Use city municipal 311 service requests as indicators of neighborhood distress and predicting the trends of OOE hotspots when OOEs data is not available. The outcome of this dissertation helps us understand the critical spatiotemporal characteristics of the opioid overdose crisis and provides valuable information to identify the potential socio-economic and environmental drivers of the crisis as well as geographic areas where vulnerable populations are located, and where interventions should be implemented.

PHD, Kent State University, 2022, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Biological Sciences

Microplastics are a global concern in aquatic ecology and are readily colonized by bacteria in the environment. There is a lack of information on bacterial colonization of eroded and un-eroded microplastics in freshwater. In this study, six types of microplastics were incubated for 8 weeks in microcosms with water from Lake Erie. Microcosms were inoculated with one of three species: Acinetobacter (A.)calcoaceticus, Burkholderia (B.)cepacia, and Escherichia (E.)coli. These bacterial species are ubiquitous in water bodies associated with human populations. Bacterial surface coverage was determined using electron and fluorescent microscopy. Quantifications of EPS and surface roughness were performed by confocal microscopy and measuring contact angles (θw) of water droplets on microplastics, respectively. Analyses revealed surface coverage differed among bacterial species and plastic types after 8 weeks. As the study progressed, E.coli remained the most abundant while A.calcoaceticus gradually decreased on most surfaces. Analyses of microcosms revealed polypropylene disks had lower bacterial abundance. Conversely, eroded polypropylene disks had highest bacterial abundance, indicating importance of surface roughness (lower θw values) and surface physicochemical properties of microplastics in bacterial colonization. Our results demonstrated that bacterial colonization of microplastics is affected by both the physicochemical properties of microplastics and the physiological properties of colonizing bacteria.

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2021, Medicine: Epidemiology (Environmental Health)

Background: Manganese (Mn) toxicity is most often a result of industrial point sources, as Mn compounds are emitted from metal processing factories. Environmental Mn exposure has been linked to deficits in neuromotor function. Marietta, Ohio is home to the longest operating ferromanganese refinery, the top source of ambient Mn in North America. In this community-based longitudinal cohort study of children living near the refinery, we investigate the relationship between childhood and adolescent exposure to Mn and adolescent neuromotor function. Methods: A literature review was conducted to evaluate the current body of knowledge surrounding pediatric Mn exposure and neuromotor function. Participants in the Communities Actively Researching Exposures Study (CARES) provided biological specimens of blood, hair and toenails at a childhood visit conducted at ages 7-9 years. Blood was analyzed for manganese (Mn), lead (Pb) and serum cotinine, a marker of environmental tobacco smoke. Hair and toenails were analyzed for Mn. Study participants returned during adolescent years 13-17 for collection of biological specimens of blood and hair and evaluation of neuromotor function through postural balance testing. Blood was analyzed for Mn, Pb and serum cotinine and hair for Mn. Geometric means (GM) and geometric standard deviations (GSD) were calculated for biomarker concentrations and arithmetic means and standard deviations (SD) and frequencies for sociodemographic information of participants. Multivariable regression models were employed to examine the relationships between childhood and adolescent Mn exposure and adolescent postural balance, adjusting for covariates. Secondary analyses were conducted to visually examine plots with fitted splines and gender-by-Mn interaction effects on postural balance. Results: The CARES participants who completed adolescent postural balance testing were 54% female and 98% Caucasian. The mean age was 16 years old (range 13-17). (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science, University of Toledo, 2021, Biology (Ecology)

Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella, Val.) is an invasive species in the Great Lakes region that may cause ecological damage to the lake ecosystem and harm the region's economy. Grass carp spawning was documented in the Sandusky River, Ohio, in 2015 through targeted egg sampling. Continued egg sampling in the Sandusky River suggested that grass carp spawning is related to discharge and water temperature. In this thesis, I used the egg sampling data from 2014 to 2019 to develop an empirical model to understand the likely conditions related to grass carp spawning. Using a Bayesian approach, I first established the likelihood of spawning as a function of discharge and water temperature. The results suggest that spawning is most likely to occur when discharge is above 10m^3/s and water temperatures below 25℃. Using stream-specific discharge-velocity relationships, the Sandusky River model results were extrapolated to determine the risk of grass carp spawning in eight other tributaries of Lake Erie. The Grand, Maumee, and Cuyahoga rivers in Ohio have the highest risks of spawning. The model provides a mechanism for setting research and management priorities to develop management strategies to prevent the establishment of a spawning grass carp population in Lake Erie. Furthermore, the Bayesian model can be updated with data from another river to incorporate river-specific features to identify likely spawning locations.

MA, Kent State University, 2021, College of Communication and Information / School of Media and Journalism

Despite the scientific consensus regarding the veracity of anthropogenic climate change, the subject has become a matter of politics and partisan affiliation in countries such as Brazil and the United States, that underwent similar political moments with the election of conservative Presidents Bolsonaro and Trump. With the rise of anti-science and anti-media waves, Environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) carry on their shoulders the responsibility of being the bridge that connects the science to the public, as actors of social behavioral change. This is an ethnographic-inspired study, rooted in the theory of planned behavior, that explores and compares the motivations, challenges, and communication strategies of the employees of two ENGOs – one Brazilian and one American – and how the political climate affected their work. Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis method was used for 17 semi-structured interviews and 88 pages of social media posts from both ENGOs. Findings suggest that both ENGOs had to adapt their communication strategies since the elections, and that Brazilians were more severely affected than Americans. Participants agree that they now see active ideological opposition to environmental policy, and opportunities for dialogue are increasingly scarce. Their communication strategies include using accessible language, crafting optimistic, socially desirable messages, relying on visual communication, and, importantly, contextualizing the issues by showing the audience that the environment is a significant part of their identities. Employees struggled with creating positive messaging when they believe the truth to be a lot darker, and in finding the balance between using accessible language and not oversimplifying the message. Brazilians and Americans measured their success in personal, small-scale communication success stories with the communities they work with long-term, face to face, as opposed to number of likes on social media or in (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2019, Environment and Natural Resources

Wildlife value orientations (WVOs) reflect sets of beliefs about preferred modes of treating wildlife and have been found to explain attitudes toward wildlife management interventions. Much research in the academic field of “human dimensions of wildlife" has examined the effects of WVOs on attitudes towards particular management actions, or a handful of particular species. Consequentially, past research has not isolated the effects of species attributes on attitudes. In the current work, I test whether the effects of WVOs on acceptability of lethal removal and risk perceptions about wildlife-related threats differ as a function of the following species attributes: endangered status, taxonomic order (i.e., Herbivora or Carnivora), and whether the species poses a threat. I distributed a self-administered online survey to a panel of 987 individuals using Prolific Academic to measure acceptability of lethal removal and risk perceptions of a species, WVOs (domination and mutualism), and experience with negative human-wildlife interactions in the past year. Moderated linear regression analyses revealed that the effects of the WVOs on acceptability of lethal removal and risk perceptions differed significantly between the experimental treatments. The results indicate that contextual cues about a species can dampen or strengthen the influence of WVOs when people make wildlife-related decisions. When explaining acceptability of lethal removal by a wildlife professional, domination increased acceptability of lethal removal to a greater extent when a species was described as posing a threat or was a carnivore, and to a lesser extent when a species was listed as endangered. When explaining risk perceptions, the relationships between WVOs and taxonomic order and threat treatments were more complex, as 3-way interactions were detected. However, the effects of WVOs on risk perceptions neither increased nor decreased as a function or whether a species was listed as endangered or no (open full item for complete abstract)