Master of Landscape Architecture, The Ohio State University, 1987, Graduate School

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2023, Geography

In the Midwestern USA (Southwest Ohio), landscape heterogeneity is changing drastically due to exurbanization. Recent studies suggest that an increase in landscape heterogeneity can have a positive effect on species diversity, abundance, and community composition, making this an exemplary location to research the effects of landscape modifications on species richness and composition. Lepidoptera (butterflies) in particular have been documented to be effective indicators of compositional and configurational landscape heterogeneity shifts which naturally make them a great model organism to study this novel system. Applying the concept of fragmentation per se, I found compositional heterogeneity to be a significant indicator of species richness and diversity. In contrast, configurational heterogeneity did not have an effect on lepidoptera. This suggests that fragmentation per se and increased compositional heterogeneity may have a positive effect on butterfly richness regardless of the configurational heterogeneity. Thus, conservation efforts should focus on diversification of the landscape cover types as well as supporting the conservation of small and large habitat patches.

PHD, Kent State University, 2016, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography

This dissertation investigates how large organization inscribe their institutional message on the physical landscape creating a unique place. In northern New Mexico is a 137,000 acre ranch that was donated to the Boy Scouts of America between 1938 and 1942 by Mr. and Mrs. Waite Phillips, an Oklahoma oilman. This land was to be used to forge leaders in a wilderness setting. Philmont Boy Scout Ranch is primarily a backpacking destination with high adventure, and team building activities. By using archival research, corporate interview techniques, and participant observations I was able to find out what activities occur at Philmont and why these activities are important to a distinct sense of place. Philmont must get information about the location out to the end consumer, the Scouts, and the market the place through word of mouth marketing and the use of the Boy Scouts of America's publications Boys' Life and Scouting. I was able to identify how Philmont markets the place to the end consumers. A sense of place is fluid and changes over time. The managers of Philmont must walk a tight rope maintaining a sense of history while staying current to the lives of their consumers. I identified an undercurrent of preservation that pervades activities that occur at the ranch. Through the creation, marketing and preservation Philmont Boy Scout Ranch and the Boy Scouts of America have created and maintained a unique place.

PHD, Kent State University, 2023, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History

Based on a critical reading of colonial archives and extensive use of oral sources, this dissertation argues that indigenous custodians of the landscape in semi-arid regions of the Zimbabwean Lowveld have a longstanding experience of harnessing their environmental literacy and detailed knowledge of nature to combat climate change. Starting with colonial encounters and contested boundaries of knowledge in Southern Rhodesia (present day Zimbabwe) since the early twentieth century, I demonstrate that oral traditions survived the onslaught of colonialism and offered new generations ways of responding to climate change. I use empirical examples to demonstrate that indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) have been obscured under the veneer of colonial historiography, hence, the importance of recovering African cultural achievements and indigenous agency to the historical record. This dissertation examines the adoption of various coping strategies and sustainable agricultural practices initiated by indigenous people to promote climate smart agriculture and identifies the factors that influence adoption of certain adaptive practices. Water has been a central and defining factor of Africa's development trajectory. A growing body of literature has demonstrated that agricultural yields have been declining in developing countries, including Zimbabwe, due to the impacts of climate change. Indigenous experiences, conceptions and perceptions have played a vital role in the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices. Indigenous farmers are at peace with modernity and modernization, but in the absence of modern technologies and state support, they have been going back to traditional forms of development. The interrelated objectives of climate change mitigation, adaptation and food security were simultaneously sustained through the hybrid integration of indigenous and modern farming practices in agricultural production and sustainable development planning. Indigenous knowledge sys (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2021, History

The Gilded Age was a time of rapid change in the United States' history. In contrast to the extensive literature regarding wilderness and the founding of environmental organizations during the period, relatively little has been written about the gardens of private residences and the impact these gardens have had on today's environment. These gardens, and the individuals who designed and provided for them, were at the forefront of the introduction of many new and exotic plants to the American landscape. This thesis explores two built environments, North Carolina's Biltmore Estate and the Barker Mansion in Indiana, and how these environments and human innovation interacted in domestic spaces, as well as how that interaction went on to shape broader landscapes for decades to come.

MA, Kent State University, 2020, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography

Wildlife corridors promote biodiversity, abate landscape fragmentation and – in areas of urban development – are often refuges for fauna. Yet, they appear at odds with their main goal of conserving wildlife's natural habitat, especially when applied to a real-world context, because they are typically located in areas prone to anthropogenic disturbances. The literature varies over how concurrent use affects wildlife. One such space where this occurs is urban parks where wildlife movement overlaps spatially with recreationists. Park visitors utilize formal trails and depart from them to create informal trails. Many negative consequences toward wild biota have been attributed to informal trails, which contribute to anthropogenic-induced fragmentation and, indirectly, disturbances within the matrix. The overlap of trails with wildlife corridors begs the questions: are wildlife using the shared corridors within the reservations or should landscape, resource and trail managers be directing their efforts elsewhere to facilitate wildlife movement? Also, to what degree, if any, will wildlife move through corridors shared with humans? To answer these questions, baseline and biodiversity data needed to be established first. Employing round-the-clock, passive, remotely triggered camera pairs in two urban parks in greater Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A., scenarios were tested along a continuum of wildlife-anthropogenic interfacing that occurs on trails. Formal and informal trails in Cleveland Metroparks were studied, in addition to an area with restored informal trails. Examining the majority of terrestrial, animal wildlife, likelihood of Verified Use was established for each species, guild, and as a whole. Verified Use was defined as any species being detected on both cameras in the pair within a +/- five minute window. I found that non-consumptive, anthropogenic use of trails did not necessarily hinder terrestrial wildlife's movement as suggested in the literature. In situ, not (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2019, Geography (Arts and Sciences)

Johnson Town is a residential district in Iruma City, Saitama, in Japan. Known for having American-styled houses called bei-gun houses, the town is sometimes perceived as an American village. This thesis examines how this “American” landscape is constructed. As Moore (2000, 685) argues that “a landscape is open to alternative readings of the same text,” a cultural landscape becomes meaningful when people signify its material form and attach meanings to it through acts of reading it and doing things in it. Situating within such a post-structuralist understanding of the cultural landscape, this thesis explores how people in Johnson Town construct its cultural landscape by interpreting, engaging in, and/or challenging it in multiple ways. This analysis is realized by means of a combination of research methodologies, including qualitative methods (interviews), participant observation, and textual analysis of the town's official website. In particular, I will focus on two main research questions. First, I am interested in examining how people in the town adopt or challenge the perception that the town is an American village because of its distinctive built environment. Second, I will ask how people commemorate (or how they do not commemorate) the past relating to the era of American residency in constructing the cultural landscape of Johnson Town.

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2017, Biological Sciences

Bat species face multiple threats. One such threat, white-nose syndrome (WNS) has drastically reduced many bat populations. Also, habitat loss and fragmentation often forces bats to concentrate in remnant natural areas, or utilize habitats that are not as suitable. Both of these threats, while threaten bats in a general sense, also affect species differentially. The Oak Openings Region of Northwest Ohio is a biodiversity hotspot with a landscape composed of remnant natural areas within a matrix of agriculture and urban areas. This area, which provides crucial summer foraging habitat, has experienced declines in bat activity, shifts in bat assemblages, and some in diversity, in recent years, especially since WNS introduction. To study bats in this diverse landscape, we sampled bats acoustically from May – August 2016. We sampled mobile transects along roads along with stationary sites within the Oak Openings Preserve within the region. We identified calls to species and ran analyses investigating total bat activity, species-specific activity and presence, and bat diversity compared to. We compared bats to environmental, vegetation, road, and landcover parameters. Our results show that certain parameters influence bats as a whole, while others only affect one or a few species. We found that savanna stationary sites had more species-specific activity and bat diversity than forested sites (Rank Sums, p<0.05). Parameters that affected most bat species most prevalently were temperature and forest cover, both reflecting positive relationships with total bat activity and diversity (Chi-square; Rank Sums, p<0.05). When looking at species specific relationships, we focused on the least active species, as they may be more in need of management than more active species. Parameters that most influenced our least active species were humidity and open/savanna vs. forested sampling areas. Humidity had positive relationships with the likelihood of presence of our rarer species, whil (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2016, Art

Methane Ghosts, a twelve-minute looping video installed in an art gallery, presents imagery of a landfill for aesthetic consideration. However, this periurban landscape was built not for scenic views, but for the impolite needs of a major metropolitan area. It is supposed to be out-of-sight, and the bureaucratic entity with which I contracted to gain access explicitly asked not to be identified. The film asks questions of the natural environment and the Sublime, while the installation asks questions of our own bodies in relation to the filmed image. This essay asks questions of institutions and the categories they set. In this essay, I consider the works of filmmakers like James Benning and Robert Gardner, the formal and material questions posed about filmmaking by critic Gilberto Perez and anthropologist David MacDougall, and the history of the Sublime in American thought, especially as related to technology and avant-garde film. This whole is framed by a consideration of my own rural agricultural childhood. Behind this fascination is a theory of the garden, a place outside traditional categories, between woods and farm, home and nature, which originally began from the first waste dumps. I consider the landfill a sort of garden, though one on a bureaucratic scale, out of reach of the individual, hidden in plain sight. Rather than explicate the minute particulars of Methane Ghosts, I have chosen instead to offer an archaeology of my thoughts during its making. So I have structured the essay as a series of fragments. Like the landfill itself, one might find such scraps and then piece together some understanding. In the scraps of this essay, certain themes occur and reoccur. Since I signed a contract, I cannot include Methane Ghosts. Instead I sketch some jobs for future work.

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2004, Environmental Studies (Arts and Sciences)

The research constitutes the attempt to create new approach to optimization in the field of land use planning. It combines methodologies of remote sensing and landscape ecology, bringing together multi-spectral analysis of digital imagery and analysis of landscape texture. These powerful tools are used to classify and cluster the area of study to the best advantage that can be predicted in developed model. This means that the developed procedure can help to configure or redistribute the area and resources among land use types in a manner that allows maximization of output, which can be received from utilization of the resources. In contrast to the traditional land use assessment and optimization techniques used by USDA and FAO, this methodology does not use linear optimization for individual map unit. When running the optimization, developed model uses the idea of common effort and possibility to bring together all the necessary resources from different map units that can help to achieve the goal of a particular land utilization type. Based on those ideas, the algorithms of semi-lacunarity analysis and edge search were created and combined into one procedure of raster based heuristic land use optimization. Also, the structure of participating data types were designed for the need of proper input data storage and manipulations. The procedure was tested on the soil and terrain data obtained in Wayne National Forest (Ohio). The map of Optimized Land Use became the result of the research and testing. The model helped to exclude ineffective land uses and reassess the land to the effective ones, while keeping their distribution reasonably close to natural patterns of resource distribution.

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2004, Environmental Studies (Arts and Sciences)

In Belize, the use of remotely sensed information for monitoring landscape dynamics is a relatively new area. This study takes advantage of contemporary technologies, such as remote sensing, for monitoring land use and land cover changes in Belize. The study area covers approximately 6,190 square miles. Two Landsat images of 1993 and 2003 were used to identify, quantify, assess and map changes in land use and land cover. The Landsat images were classified using an unsupervised K-means algorithm. Comparison of ground truth points and the 2003 classification result shows a classification accuracy of 92%. The digital change detection methodology involved a pixel-by-pixel comparison of the classified images using ENVI software. The results show that urban expansion (12%/year) is occurring at a faster rate than population growth (3.5%/year). In addition, agricultural land expansion is occurring at a rate of 32 square miles per annum. Urban development, agricultural land expansion and extensive pine forest cover loss are contributing to an estimated deforestation rate of 35 square miles per annum. In general, this study provides urgent and needed information that will guide the Government of Belize to achieve the desired goals of sustainable development.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2008, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

This study is an exploration of the people and the landscape of the well-known Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route. Although there are many routes that make up the entirety of the pilgrimage, this research is specifically focused on the landscape of the Camino Frances, or French Route, in northern Spain. The path has been written about in many ways and for a myriad of reasons since it became affiliated with the Christian tradition in the early ninth century. This research, however, is different. By way of an environmental history and hermeneutic approach, an investigation of the interrelated and overlapping human actions of dwelling, movement, and service that stem from the pilgrimage tradition on the Camino de Santiago is conducted. Unlike other studies of this pilgrimage path, both pilgrim and resident receive equal attention, and the landscape emerges as central to the research. This study provides: an integrated evaluation of the ancient pre-Christian and medieval Christian histories and perceptions of the path; a description of the physical landscape; an in-depth assessment of conventional landscape and cultural heritage strategies for preservation; and a linguistic, social, and philosophical discussion of the correlations among dwelling, walking, serving, and preserving that are apparent on the landscape. Embedded within this examination of the Camino de Santiago landscape is a return to the essence and origin of the ideal of preservation itself. This analysis of landscape preservation is specifically centered on traditionally peopled landscapes and cultural landscapes, i.e., those with a deep history and presence of people. This study proposes that the Camino de Santiago landscape serves as a model for the preservation of tradition, history, culture, and nature. Moreover, it contends that the landscape is an exemplar of what I have termed organic preservation precisely because the people evolved in a reciprocal relationship with each other and the la (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2013, Environmental Science

Local and regional food systems anchored in agroecology and regional self-reliance are desirable to many policy makers. On-the-ground changes, however, could be risky and are unsubstantiated without modeling, just as model-generated numbers are intangible without quantified design. The fields of normative scenario design and foodshed analysis would benefit from higher quality and diversified data sources, and analyses that draw on their combined strengths. This study draws together the methods of normative scenario design and foodshed analysis, providing farm-level and region-level views and analyses of the agricultural landscape in Northeast Ohio. Several sets of yield and nutrition data were coupled with GIS analysis to quantify a normative scenario at the farm and regional scale. Current estimates suggest that Ohioans obtain less than 5% of their diet from local sources; this normative scenario shows that much more is possible, not only in rural areas, but with high yielding designs on the agricultural periphery. Results from the normative scenario analysis predicted that regional yield of fruits, vegetables, and grains could range from 3.31e10 kg to 5.38e10 kg, based on yield data sources and land use assumptions. Total calories were predicted to range from 9.22e12 kcal to 1.55e13 kcal. This means Northeast Ohio could potentially support the fruit, vegetable, grain, and pulse needs, or 1,649 calories per day, of between 19.9 million and 33.6 million people in a re-designed production system. The normative scenario was also compared with a baseline scenario using actual 2007 production data for Northeast Ohio, and alternative estimate and measurement methods. Results show that the normative scenario could produce more calories than the baseline scenario, while providing a more diverse nutritional profile even if the most conservative yields are assumed. The normative scenario Human Nutrition Equivalents (HNE) are also higher than those of Peters et al. (200 (open full item for complete abstract)

MS, Kent State University, 2024, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography

Wildfire and drought are key drivers of shrubland expansion in southwestern US landscapes. Stand-replacing fires in dry conifer forests induce shrub-dominated stages, and changing climatic patterns may cause a long-term shift from coniferous forests to deciduous shrublands. This study assessed recent changes in deciduous fractional shrub cover (DFSC) in the eastern Jemez Mountains from 2019-2023 using topographic and Sentinel-2 satellite data in a random forest model. Sentinel-2 provides multispectral bands at 10 and 20 meters, including three 20 meter red edge bands, which are highly sensitive to variation in vegetation. There is no consensus in the literature on whether upscaling imagery to 20 meters or downscaling to 10 meters is more advantageous. Therefore, an additional goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of spatial scale on DFSC model performance. Two random forest models were built, a 10 and 20 meter model. The 20 meter model outperformed the 10 meter model, achieving an R-squared value of 0.82 and an RMSE of 7.85, compared to the 10 meter model (0.76 and 9.99, respectively). The 20 meter model, built from 2020 satellite imagery, was projected to the other years of the study, by replacing the spectral variables with satellite imagery from the respective year, resulting in yearly predictions of DFSC from 2019-2023. DFSC decreased from 2019-2022, coinciding with severe drought and a 2022 fire, followed by a significant increase in 2023, particularly within the 2022 fire footprint. Overall trends showed a general increase in DFSC despite high interannual variability, with elevation being a key topographic variable influencing these trends. This study revealed yearly vegetation dynamics in a semi-arid system and provided a close look at post-fire regeneration patterns in deciduous resprouting shrubs. Understanding this complex system is crucial for informing management strategies as the landscape continues to shift from conifer forest to shrubland du (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Landscape Architecture, The Ohio State University, 1989, Graduate School

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

Energy landscape theory of protein folding is based on the “principle of minimum frustration” which states that evolutionary pressure has selected protein sequences with an energetic bias towards native-like conformations. Some simple models (known as native-centric models) emphasize this free energy driving force towards the native state. These models have been used extensively to predict folding mechanics and conformational dynamics of proteins. Native-centric models simplify the interactions in a protein configuration to a set of attractive interactions between residues in proximity in the native structure (native contacts) and repulsive interactions for all others (non-native contacts). While these models ensure that native conformation is a minimum energy configuration, navigating the entropic and energetic tradeoffs along the folding route of a protein is non-trivial. Success of these simple models has led to an understanding that the topology of a folded protein determines the way that it folds. Nevertheless, some proteins with the same topology (and different sequences) have surprisingly distinct behavior. The work in my dissertation considers exploring the extent to which native-centric models can be used to predict properties of such proteins. My research focuses on using structure-based models that are both analytic and simulation based to predict fundamental properties observed in proteins such as folding mechanism, folding rates, binding cooperativity, and binding mechanisms. The structure-based models are applied to two proteins, Calmodulin and α-Spectrin. Both proteins have multiple domains studied individually through experiments. Each domain is topologically similar with subtle differences in mechanism properties. First, I use an analytic variational model developed to predict dominant folding routes of globule proteins. This model is applied to the R15, R16, and R17 domains of α-spectrin due to their topological similarities but diverse folding ki (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2006, Graduate School

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

Master of Landscape Architecture, The Ohio State University, 1986, Graduate School

Master of Landscape Architecture, The Ohio State University, 1970, Graduate School