Master of Science in Environmental Science, Cleveland State University, 2020, College of Sciences and Health Professions

Compared to their natural counterparts, trees in urban ecosystems experience distinctive environmental conditions which can be both beneficial and harmful to tree functions and fitness. Thus, the morphological, phenological, and physiological functions of trees in urban ecosystems can be unique and might not be predictable from patterns identified in natural forests where most research on tree ecology has occurred. To better understand how different tree species contribute to ecosystem services in urban environments, we estimated a number of key performance metrics and functional traits for species commonly planted in urban areas. Between April of 2017 and December of 2019, we monitored 42 species of trees across two sites growing in open, urban settings. Radial growth of each individual was measured weekly from April to December using dendrometer bands. Leaf phenology was assessed weekly during leaf development and senescence. Wood phenology was estimated using the RDendrom package in R. Annual C sequestration was estimated using radial growth data, allometric equations (Urban Tree Database), and species-specific wood density and stem C% estimates (TRY database). We also measured several important anatomical, morphological, physiological, and phenological traits. In 2019, we measured a number of canopy characteristics on a smaller subset of individuals (n=137) across 38 species. Lastly, we measured a number of potentially important abiotic covariates, including soil texture, soil pH, canopy light availability, and various topographic variables. We found evidence that performance metrics (basal area growth), canopy characteristics, and functional traits varied significantly among the species in our study. Moreover, the performance metrics and traits which are directly linked to specific ecosystem services, such as aboveground carbon sequestration and drip line leaf area index, also varied significantly among the species in our study. This suggests that particular (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kevin Mueller (Advisor); Emily Rauschert (Committee Member); Thomas Hilde (Committee Member) Subjects: Botany; Ecology; Environmental Science; Statistics; Urban Forestry

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2004, Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning: Architecture (Master of)

It is well known that rapid transportation systems today, including their stations, are designed for the efficient moving of passengers, with environmental benefits that far exceed any other mode of Transportation. The much-deserved credit is given to transportation engineers, who over the years have perfected the system, as far as technical considerations and standardized criteria are concerned. As the result of countless calculations, measurements, and analyses, stations function more smoothly and efficiently than ever before. But with this extreme emphasis on efficiency and numbers, the development of station architecture and urban design has not advanced much beyond the basic elements of providing shelter and being able to quickly move riders from one point to another. It is difficult to differentiate one station from the next because of rigid standards of image, and there is often a lack of urban design interaction between the station and the surrounding community. This thesis is a study of how a transit station can have a “personality” appropriate to its context while still maintaining standardized design criteria and an identifiable system image. It focuses on the design of a San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in the suburban community of Irvington. The thesis research and design project articulates a question and propose a solution that requires sensitivity to the role of the station in its context to establish a community organizational structure that is transit-supportive and provides the physical and social context to adopt the transit station into its daily operations and social vitality.

Committee: Gordon Simmons (Advisor) Subjects:

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

Cities around the globe are undergoing significant transformations due to rapid urbanization, fueled by factors such as population growth, economic development, and the migration of people from rural to urban areas. By 2050, an estimated two-thirds of the global population will reside in urban areas, posing significant challenges for sustainable development. Remote sensing data, combined with machine learning modeling approaches play a crucial role in monitoring and analyzing urban sprawl. This study investigates the potential of a machine learning (ML) classification algorithm coupled with data fusion remote sensing techniques to improve land-use and land-cover (LULC) change detection in Kiambu County, Kenya, for the period 2000-2022. It utilizes Landsat data from 2000 to 2022, augmented by Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) and Sentinel-1 SAR data from 2013 to 2022, for urban land use/land cover (LULC) change detection. Google Earth Engine (GEE) facilitated preprocessing and analysis, refining Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery and employing Random Forest (RF) for classification. Integrating Landsat 8/HLS and SAR data enhanced classification accuracy, supported by feature selection, hyperparameter tuning, and spectral band ratios to mitigate data errors. Key indices like NDBI, NBR2, BSI, NDWI, NDVI, and SAVI were crucial for classifying land cover types. From 2000 to 2022, Landsat-based analysis shows significant urbanization. Urban areas grew from 17.8% in 2000 to 22.4% by 2005, 25.7% in 2010, 29.6% in 2015, and 31.9% by 2022. Specifically, for 2015, using Landsat 8 alone, urban areas covered 23.4% (594.0 km²), while fusing Landsat 8 with SAR data raised this to 28.7% (729.4 km²) with improved testing accuracy of 91.7% and validation accuracy of 87.5%. Integrating optical data (HLS and Landsat 8) with SAR and applying ML techniques on GEE, the classification accuracy improved by 5.7% compared to optical data alone. Overall, urbanization in Kiambu Co (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Anita Simic (Committee Co-Chair); Kefa Otiso (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Geographic Information Science; Remote Sensing

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2020, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

Qingdao (Tsingtao), a top-five coastal city in China, is a new town four times as large as the old town with an incredible urbanization speed in the past three decades due to the economic boom. With the increasing density of towering office buildings, shopping malls and versatile pavilions in the New Town, Zhongshan Road historic commercial district, the original old center (downtown) of Qingdao, had gone through recession in the last twenty years. Witnessing Qingdao's modernization history over the past one hundred and thirty years, Zhongshan Road currently suffers from a series of critical problems, such as labor outflow, low-income migrant worker inflow, and incongruent urban planning, due to the lopsided development policies implemented by the local government. Once known as the bustling Zhongshan Road market, Liyuan residences and German-style buildings hosting elder or low-income marginalized residents have been gradually forgotten by capitalists, the government, and the new immigrants. Undoubtedly, when Qingdao lost its identity, the area turned into the next “Generic City” in China. To avoid the tragedy of homogenizing the city and to celebrate the treasures of Qingdao, this thesis explores a new possibility of a balanced renewal strategy for the Zhongshan Road neighborhood. It is not only a symbolic design tool to address the marginalized immigrants' and older generations' memories about Liyuan residences, Zhongshan Road Market, and German-style buildings in Old Town, but also an experimental apparatus to show the redevelopment possibilities of the Old Town bringing in tourists and citizens in other neighborhoods. By analyzing the Old Town's deficiencies and the New Town's homogeneous commercial building forms, the new renewal strategy aims to revitalize the economy in order to satisfy the interest of main users and stakeholders of this area: residents, commuters, and tourists. Obviously, when capital comes back to Zhongshan Road, the neighborhood (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elizabeth Riorden M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2013, History

The San Francisco Bay Area played a critical role in supporting military activities throughout the twentieth century. Due to its location, the Bay Area served as one of the key military staging grounds for the Pacific campaign of WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The region benefited from war-related industry, housing the largest shipyard west of the Mississippi and supporting the burgeoning postwar military industrial complex. Its demographics diversified dramatically as soldiers, Vietnam War refugees, and war workers migrated to the region. As part of the Sunbelt, the Bay Area benefited economically from generous military procurement spending. However, over the course of the 1980s, 1990s, and the 2000s, the Bay Area shifted away from having a significant military presence to having practically none. Compared to the approximately thirty military facilities operating in 1980, today all but a handful are either closed or slated for closure. Residents, experts, and scholars wondered how could a single region in the Sun Belt, which benefited from significant federal defense investment, lose so much, so quickly? Many locals blamed the region's "liberal" people and politicians for inciting the military's wrath. Hence, a popular social narrative evolved. Many contended that the navy and Department of Defense deliberately targeted bases in the Bay Area for closure as a way of punishing the Bay Area for its anti-war intransigence. This dissertation challenges the narrative that the Bay Area was punished. It examines the causal factors that led to the elimination of the region's bases. Through three case studies covering base closures in three Bay Area cities, Alameda (Alameda Naval Air Station), Vallejo (Mare Island Naval Shipyard), and Oakland (Oakland Army Base and Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Oakland), a different explanation for the closures emerges. This project demonstrates that the passage of federal policies and legislation, urban encroachme (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Stephen Ortiz Ph.D. (Advisor); Douglas Forsyth Ph.D. (Committee Member); Gary Hess Ph.D. (Committee Member); Amy Robinson Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: History

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2013, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

Within the walls of our schools lies the future of our society. The contributions and achievements of the next generations will determine the course of our country and the world. The responsibility for preparing and educating this population falls on our school systems and the teachers within them. The demands and expectations placed on our educational systems are ever-changing. One of the most significant of these changes has been an increase in the level of accountability for the achievement and growth of every student. Teachers in the primary grades, working with our youngest students, are the first to see the disparity of skills and readiness they demonstrate. Charged with developing not only academic skills, but also social, emotional and interpersonal skills, this first experience to structured education lays a critical foundation. Kindergarten is the time during which students begin to develop their knowledge base, as well as their perception of themselves as learners. Reading readiness and the acquisition of its component skills, form the scaffold upon which all later skills will be layered. Dr. Seuss said, “The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn the more places you'll go” (Seuss, 1990). While it is clear that literacy skills are critical elements of early instruction, it is not clear in what format or with which approach, these skills are most appropriately taught. Additionally challenging in the instructional process is keeping students motivated and engaged in the learning process. Effective means by which to achieve these outcomes are also not universally accepted. Teacher education organizations, as well as researchers in the field identify the use of technology as a tool for thinking, decision-making and learning (Couse & Chen, 2010). This study looks to examine the impact of the use of iPad 2 literacy based applications on the acquisition of emergent literacy skills in the areas of phonemic aw (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Karen Larwin Ph.D. (Advisor); Robert Beebe Ph.D. (Committee Member); Amy Camardese Ph.D. (Committee Member); Gail Saunders-Smith Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Early Childhood Education; Literacy; Technology