MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

The current state of farming is neither sustainable nor economical. The economic pressure to produce a surplus of goods stems from the 1970s mantra to “get big or get out”. This strenuous effort to constantly produce “more” has created a monoculture of farming that relies heavily on polluting machinery and forces plant growth through a stream of chemicals and genetic modifications. Industrial, or Mega-Farming movements have made it near impossible for small farms to compete as the current economic model of farming acts in surplus, something a family farm often cannot do. The environmental implications of this exhaustive farming method result in quick degradation of the soil necessary for growing, and farmers are running out of new places to grow. With a growing population, it can be understood that farming of this scale must be maintained to feed such high numbers, although the industrial farms of the United States are subsidized in a way that promotes the growing of corn, soybean, wheat, and other heavily processed foods. Alternative farming methods should then be considered to allow for a diversification of crops, a more sustainable relationship with natural cycles, and the widespread access to affordable and quality produce. New methods of growing that are gaining popularity include soilless indoor growing, such as hydroponic and aeroponic systems. These indoor systems will supplement outdoor seasonal growing, which also will look to be optimized through pixel cropping. These methods of farming achieve great success at the personal level, and require little agricultural knowledge, thus paving the way for families to again become farmers. With the size of farm field decreasing, and productivity increasing, the farm can move to more dense areas creating a new urban condition that can be explored architecturally. By rejecting the normative approach to modern farming and accepting a localized and collaborative approach to agriculture, the city can function as (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Geology

Soil is at the center of two linked global environmental problems: climate change due to anthropogenic carbon emissions and soil degradation caused by anthropogenic landscape alteration, with 37% of global land and 52% of land in the United States used for agriculture. A robust understanding of soil dynamics can aid in making sustainable management decisions to maximize soil potential for both fertility and carbon sequestration needs. Soil organic matter (SOM) is often used as a proxy for soil health, with humic substances (HS) comprising most of SOM and driving reactivity and recalcitrance in the soil, depending on composition. HS have historically been challenging to analyze due to low solubility and widely varying molecular size, leading to the use of operational definitions and unclear models. Recent advances in spectroscopic techniques, however, have led to the development of sequential fractionation techniques, like the humeomics methodology, that progressively break bonds within the HS structure, allowing for greater characterization and understanding of composition. In this study, SOM from an organically managed farm soil was qualitatively and quantitatively characterized using the humeomics sequential methodology, extracting six primary fractions and two residual fractions. All fractions were characterized for nutrient (TOC, TN, and TP) content, FTIR was used to assess functional groups present, and EEM-PARAFAC analyzed fluorophore groups to calculate descriptive indices and model components. Analysis indicates the SOM within the farm soil is weakly humified, labile, and biologically available, with most OC and N present in the weakly-bound fractions of the SOM structure. Future research could focus on characterizing and comparing soils from conventionally managed agricultural soils, different BMP regimes (including amendment with dredged material), as these are factors known to contribute to variations in SOM quality and nutrient cycling.

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Arts and Sciences : Geography

Changing agricultural practices have significant impacts on water resources. The information of these changes is abundant at the plot or field study, but limited at the watershed scale. Therefore, the goal of this dissertation is to quantify the impacts of these changes at a watershed/sub-watershed scale. AVSWAT-X, an extension of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), is used to model the impacts of two tillage systems (No-tillage, NT and Moldboard plow, MP), three crop combinations (continuous corn, CC; corn-soybean rotation, CS; and continuous soybean, SS), and three N application rates (90, 170, and 250 kg N/ha) on flow, nitrogen load (N), phosphorus load (P), and fecal coliform concentration (FC), in a 5- and a 15-year period in two sub-watersheds of the Little Miami River (LMR) basin. In addition, the economic impacts of these farming practices are also examined. In general, the results show more variation in the 5-year simulation than the 15-year period and indicate that SWAT is capable of providing a realistic and reliable prediction. When other conditions are the same, the environmental quality is better (less flow, N, P, and FC) under NT than MP; SS than CS and CC; and 90 than 170 and 250 kg N/ha application rates. The combined impacts of N application with either tillage or crop system are similar, with higher pollution under higher N application rates, while the pollution levels are lowest under NT/CS, followed by MP/CS, NT/CC, and MP/CC. Considering, the combined impacts of the three farming practices, P and FC levels are highest under MP/CC/250 and lowest under NT/SS/0, while the impacts on flow and N are not consistent. Furthermore, crop types have higher impacts on flow, N, and P, while N applications have the highest impacts on FC. In addition, the annual net incomes are higher under NT than MP, and under corn than soybean. The 2-year net incomes are highest under NT/CC, followed by MP/CC, NT/CS, MP/CS, NT/SS, and MP/SS. Consequently, it seems (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2011, Journalism (Communication)

This thesis examines the coverage over time of organic farming in Farm Journal, Successful Farming, and Progressive Farmer, three magazines devoted to professional farming. The purpose is to better understand how industry-specific publications, such as farming magazines, adapt to industry issues that begin with controversy but eventually are adopted into culture as acceptable practices. The study first uses quantitative content analysis to determine what, if any, changes have occurred over time in how much the issue of “organic farming” has been covered in the mainstream agricultural press. Then, a qualitative textual analysis of selected articles from the sample was conducted to further consider the ways mainstream agriculture magazines may influence attitudes and understanding of changes within the industry. This thesis concluded that over time the three magazines under study portrayed organic farming differently and also differed in the amount of coverage they devoted to the topic.

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2007, Graduate School

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1960, Graduate School

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2008, Graduate School

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1916, Graduate School

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

Climate change presents an unprecedented challenge to global agriculture and food security. Small farms are especially vulnerable to the local impacts of large-scale drivers of change. Effective adaptation in agriculture requires working across scales, and geographic, political, and disciplinary boundaries to address barriers. I use elements of case study, agent-based modeling and serious games, to design a model of farmer decision-making using the sociocognitive framework of climate change adaptation. I examine how adaptation functions as a process, how complex dynamics influence farmer behavior, and how individual decisions influence collective behavior in response to climate change. This novel approach to adaptation research in agriculture examines the relationships between the contextual, compositional, and cognitive elements of the sociocognitive theory. The tools developed for this research have broad practical and theoretical future applications in climate adaptation research and policymaking. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

PHD, Kent State University, 2024, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Political Science

When Donald Trump was elected president in 2016 there was a lot of speculation about how that happened. One of the story lines that became prominent was one that described “rural resentment” that had been building over recent decades. The problem with that narrative was that all rural areas were collapsed as if they were uniformly moving strongly in a Republican direction. Acharya, Blackwell, and Sen (2023), on the other hand, have argued in their discussion of “historical persistence” that areas are more likely to remain the same, and that change is less likely to occur. Nevertheless, they suggest that areas that change and areas that stay the same both need to be studied in order to better understand what causes persistence as opposed to change. With that in mind, this case study focuses on four rural Ohio counties that changed from Democrat to Republican and four rural Wisconsin counties that have remained more consistently Democrat. Local public officials and community leaders were interviewed to discern the reasons as to why each type of county remained Democrat or moved into the Republican column. The four rural Wisconsin counties included two farming counties and two industrial counties. The same was true for the four rural Ohio counties. Institutions have played a large role in these eight counties in explaining whether a county stayed Democrat or moved into the Republican column. The Democratic counties in Wisconsin each have had vibrant cooperatives. Moreover, in the Wisconsin counties, unlike in the two heavily Catholic Ohio farming counties (where the abortion issue became paramount by the 1980s), the Lutheran church was more dominant, and abortion was less of an issue. The two industrial counties in Ohio remained Democrat as long as the unions were a major force; once the factories and mines closed, however, by the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Democratic vote began to dissipate. Not only that, but the emergence of fracking by 2014 in the two Ohio ind (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2024, History (Arts and Sciences)

After the Second World War, Green Revolution techniques were introduced in West Africa to improve agricultural production and reduce poverty. Unlike in Asia and Latin American countries, the techniques in West Africa proved unsuccessful largely because of environmental and political hindrances. In recent years, few West African historians have shown interest in the region's agricultural history, especially during the early post-colonial period. The existing scholarship ignores the several agricultural programs introduced by, for instance, the Gambian government, whose aim was to enhance crop production and boost agricultural exports. Several agricultural schemes were introduced in the Gambia, but these projects appear to have exacerbated rural challenges, including gender inequality and landscape changes. Devastating droughts were also a common occurrence that worsened the situation. Disease outbreaks also devastated the livestock industry. To date, no study has examined why the ox-plows and Mixed Farming Centers of the 1960s and 1970s introduced in rural farming communities failed to yield the desired results. My project intends to investigate the impact of some of these projects, and the reasons for their failure. It also examines how environmental and climatic factors during this period contributed to the disruption of Gambian farming communities.

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2024, Comparative Biomedical Sciences

The alligator industry is a multi-million dollar enterprise with farms located across most of the southeastern United States. The main source of revenue comes from harvesting hides. The presence of umbilical scars decreases the value of hides and has been identified as a significant issue in the industry. Umbilical scarring or defects are thought to be caused by incomplete absorption of the yolk sac and/or incomplete healing of the navel. It's currently unknown how factors related to incubation affect the incidence of umbilical scarring. Prior trials at our institution have examined how substrate type, oxygen supplementation, and temperature and humidity regimes may contribute to umbilical scarring and hatch success. Anecdotally, smaller embryos from previous trials appeared to have a higher chance of developing umbilical scar abnormalities along with a lower hatch rate. Our objectives included: (1) developing a non-lethal staging scheme to broadly classify the stage of embryo development during field collection of eggs using commonly identified embryonic features and (2) examining the hatch success and incidence of umbilical scarring in American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in comparison to the embryo size classification at early candling. These objectives enabled us to pose the hypothesis that a lower hatch success, in addition to abnormal umbilical scarring, would be more common in embryos that are at an earlier stage of development at time of collection due to transport and handling stress. A total of 362 eggs from 12 clutches and two locations were incubated at a temperature of 32.1°C with a relative humidity of 85% or higher. Each egg was candled at least once to assign a developmental size classification (undetermined, small, small-medium, medium, medium-large, large) and record any key anatomic features or measurements. Post-hatch data included hatch success, umbilical assessment, length, and weight. The overall hatch success was 62%, while the hat (open full item for complete abstract)

MS, Kent State University, 2024, College of Architecture and Environmental Design

As urban populations continue to grow, so does the need to address local issues such as food security and accessibility. Green walls, particularly those used in Vertical Farming (VF) practices, are of interest due to their potential for abundance in the urban environment and ability to provide secondary benefits relating to equity and community engagement. Coupled with recent advancements made in 3D printing technology and the advent of bio-composite filaments, this study aims to utilize 3D printing to establish a baseline for cultivating food crops in PLA based wood bio-composite substrates. This research uses an experimental approach to assess the germination and growth of arugula microgreens (Eruca vesicaria) in three, commercially available filament types from two different manufacturers: 100% pure PLA (polylactic acid), PLA with 11% wood powder, and PLA with 30% wood powder. After determining an optimal substrate design utilizing a gyroid infill pattern, three successive growth trials were conducted to test the following variables: growth in a vertical orientation, varied density of the 3D printed substrate, and increased panel scale with and without fertigation. The results of the plant germination trials showed that while all filament types could support microgreen growth, those with wood fillers had higher rates of germination and biomass production. Though the amount of harvestable yield was not found to be statistically different between filament types or fertigation treatment, the increased production of biomass found in wood bio-composite filaments suggest they are able to facilitate shorter plant establishment periods and encourage root growth. Additionally, moisture readings taken during the third trial suggest that the percentage of wood infill within a filament is directly correlated to the substrate's ability to retain moisture. The study also explored larger architectural applications including the design of a modular wall assembly using 3D printed (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Fine Arts, Miami University, 2022, English

This thesis is a selection of chapters from We Are Earth, a book-length work of creative nonfiction focused on regenerative agriculture—farming with nature and not against it. The narrative follows my travels to meet regenerative farmers across the United States and around the world. These farmers employ practices and philosophies acknowledging that humans are a part of an intertwined and complicated system that we cannot tame or manipulate. They see regenerative farming as a solution, which builds soil, promotes ecological diversity, provides people with meaningful lives and livelihoods, and sequesters carbon—maybe even enough to combat climate change. Agriculture is both political and environmental. It's a local and global act. To capture these dualities, the book is a mix of journalism, travel narrative, and memoir. By weaving the local with the global, I intend to show the reader how their daily lives, eating habits, and relationship with nature connect to issues of environmental and social justice.

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

The world is growing at a steady pace and cities are at the forefront of tackling the future problems for humanity. However, issues already exist within cities that prevent them from being able to accommodate rapid population growth. Attempts at revitalizing a variety of Midwestern cities have been ineffective and short sighted. This thesis will focus on tackling the issue of urban agricultural independence within the city of Cincinnati by creating an urban campus that grows, cultivates, processes, and sells farmed goods all in one location. Incorporating a variety of different programs seeks to create a self-sufficient design that allows the agricultural industry to function with limited needs from external factors. The project utilizes cutting edge technologies that will create an artificial intelligence-based system and meticulously calculated framework while creating the best product for the market. The project will focus on a plot of land located along the Ohio River and bound by the existing parameters of the interstate system and rail lines. The program will focus on engaging these existing infrastructure systems and incorporate an industrial urban farming system combined with aspects that reinforce the goal of self-sustainability, such as utilizing native species to the region and incorporating green technologies that focus on limiting waste throughout all processes. This thesis aims on educating and creating an example of what a self-reliant urban center could look like in the future. The architecture will be centered around establishing a strong foothold in a tumultuous area of Cincinnati that utilizes attitudes held currently while also looking forward to what can be. The project seeks to reestablish Cincinnati as a national innovation hub now and for years to come.

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2021, Horticulture and Crop Science

As indoor hydroponic crop production gains popularity in the U.S., the need for cost effective strategies to manage disease and nutrient disorders also increase. Root rot diseases and nutrient disorder, such as tipburn caused by Ca deficiency, are often problematic in indoor hydroponic leafy green production. We first examined lowering nutrient solution pH below conventional range (5.5-6.5) as a new technique to mitigate the risk of introducing root rot diseases. Previous research has shown that pH below 5.0 reduced Pythium disease incidence. However, pH below 5.0 also reduced plant growth of some leafy green species, likely due to nutrient deficiencies caused by low pH. We hypothesized that increasing nutrient concentration (electrical conductivity; EC) in hydroponic solution can overcome pH-related nutrient deficiencies. We grew spinach (Spinacia oleracea) plants using nutrient solution at a conventional pH 5.5 or low pH 4.5, combined with conventional 1.4 or high 3.4 dS m-1 EC to determine treatment differences in growth and nutrient uptake. After four weeks of growth, high EC significantly increased fresh shoot and root mass at low pH, but did not significantly affect plant growth at conventional pH. However, the low pH/high EC treatment showed significantly lower growth compared to conventional pH/EC. Concentrations of Mg, P, S, and Zn in leaf tissue were significantly increased by high EC at low pH but not at the conventional pH. Concentrations of Ca, Cu, Mn, and N in leaf tissue were significantly increased by EC regardless of pH, and Al, B, Fe, K, Mo, and Na were not affected by pH. Although additional work will need to be done to optimize nutrient solution, this strategy of growing leafy greens in reduced pH with increased nutrient concentrations offers a cost effective strategy for hydroponic disease management while maintaining appropriate yield. Next, we developed a simple tool to assess plant microclimate in relation to plant potential transpiration rat (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2021, Geography (Arts and Sciences)

The policy and governance dimensions of food security is of growing interest among geographers, yet there is a need for more empirical research in this area that moves beyond polemical arguments. The objective of this study is to understand the local food security governance framework in northern Ghana and examine the agency of and interaction among major actors (state-NGO). This study employs qualitative analysis in the form of semi-structured interviews. Using modified grounded theory, interview transcripts were analyzed to explain how these governance relationships have affected the (evolution of) food security priorities in northern Ghana over time. The results revealed that while the government institutions know and decide the broad direction of food security priorities of northern Ghana, NGOs provide the funds and the technical capacity to address the food security needs and implement interventions in complex local contexts. Ultimately, this study suggests that food security governance in northern Ghana has benefited greatly from the cordial relationships between NGOs and government institutions with clear definition of governance rules, obligations, and responsibilities.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, History

As the human population surges today toward 8 billion, the struggle to ensure necessary food, water, and public health has never been more intense. My dissertation unveils the interlinked origins of British and American environmentalism from 1900 to 1975, which developed as a debate between advocates of “natural” versus “artificial” solutions to the question of nutrition and health. My project explores the “green” or organic movement that resisted intensive, chemical-based farming practices, fluoridation and chlorination of public water, pasteurization of milk products, artificial baby formula, and other processed or manufactured foods. My work answers the question of why women make up approximately 75% of the participants in the environmental movement today. It traces the origins of “green” behavior and “green identities” to these early debates over the utility of scientifically “modern” food and health mandates versus natural and traditional practices. I argue that gender and family structures were fundamental to these early debates as proponents of both “natural” and “artificial” sides focused on children's health as their primary litmus test to legitimize success in food and health practices. In doing so, both the organic movement and the technocratic movement levied an enormous level of anxiety on mothers as the primary household consumers and caregivers to make the right decisions for their children's health and future. My dissertation is the first to analyze these gender and family dimensions and to demonstrate the transnational connection and mutual influences between the US and UK. It also reminds us that the environmental movement began decades before Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and was not initially divided politically between left and right (as it came to be after the 1970s) but rather developed from the argument over whether “natural” or “artificial” approaches would produce the healthiest food and water for families.

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2021, Biological Sciences

The fungi in the genus Ambrosia are associated with wood boring ambrosia beetles. These beetles bore extensive galleries into the sapwood of the host wood while relying on the fungal symbiont as a source of nutrition, however the mechanism behind this is not completely understood. In this study, the ambrosia fungus was isolated from the mycangia of a female ambrosia beetle. The fungus was observed to be filamentous with dense aerial mycelia and filiform colony margins. Molecular identification was conducted based on the sequence of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and 5.8S rRNA gene. Sequence analysis by BLAST, sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis indicated that the isolate belongs to Ambrosiella grosmanniae of the family Ceratocystidaceae. It was hypothesized that A. grosmanniae produces extracellular enzymes involved in the degradation of woody polysaccharides and antimicrobial substances important for its survival against other microorganisms in the gallery. The capability of the fungus to breakdown cellulosic components of the wood was demonstrated by agar plate method to measure regions of enzyme activity and Dinitrosalicylic assay method to measure reducing sugar concentration in liquid media using carboxymethylcellulose as substrate with Saprolegnia parasitica, a known cellulase producer, was used as a positive control. The antibiotic activity of the fungal extracts was analyzed by testing against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Shigella flexneri and Escherichia coli. An antibiotic chloramphenicol was used as a positive control. Antibiotic activity was observed against Bacillus subtilis and Shigella flexneri. The results obtained in this study indicate that A. grosmanniae is a dominant fungal symbiont of the ambrosia beetle Xylosandrus germanus, possesses cellulase activity and produces compounds that confer a competitive advantage on the fungi in the gallery.

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2021, Geography

This report describes the internship experience in Kona, Hawai'i working with Monarch Coffee. This involved the collection of 81 soil samples, and geospatial data on the locations of natural and human made features. This data collection and analysis was for the purpose of building a Map Book. The 122 acres of land were sectioned into 27 individual rectangular segments to make the gathering of data more uniform. Soil samples and other spatial information was taken throughout each section. Due to the size of the property, it was important to divide it into more manageable focus areas that would allow for a high level of detail in the analysis. Ultimately, the resulting maps will help in sustainable and efficient land development while conserving the natural landmarks and ecosystem. This project took place in the summer of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. This limited the data collection team to one person and has caused various delays in the economy and industry in Hawai'i. Additionally, the spread of Coffee Leaf Rust to the state of Hawai'i and the Big Island in 2020 raises new concerns about the coffee industry and the plans for the development of this property.