Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2021, Psychology

Effective therapies for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) exist, however a significant minority of patients do not respond (e.g., Watts et al. (2013)). Prolonged exposure therapy (PE) and sertraline are first-line, evidence-based treatments for PTSD (Forbes et al., 2010; Hoskins et al., 2021), yet few reliable individual predictors of treatment response exist. Understanding the mechanisms of PTSD treatment through well-studied translational models may help better optimize efficacy and personalize care. Fear conditioning and extinction, which can be measured by fear-potentiated startle (FPS), have been used extensively to study the etiology and treatment of PTSD (Norrholm, Anderson, et al., 2011; Norrholm, Jovanovic, et al., 2011). One biological pathway of interest is inflammation, which can be measured using C-reactive protein (CRP). Preliminary work has shown elevated CRP to be a risk factor for PTSD (Eraly et al., 2014; Michopoulos et al., 2014) yet intervention data is lacking. Extinction learning is considered a core component of exposure-based psychotherapies (Rothbaum & Davis, 2003), thus PE can be conceptualized as a clinical extinction analogue. This study utilized a subset from a large study of trauma-exposed individuals with fear extinction data and a subset of patients with PTSD from a recently completed randomized controlled trial of PE vs. PE + sertraline to address the relationship between inflammation and PTSD treatment response. The association of pro-inflammatory state as marked by CRP was examined in extinction learning paradigms, as well as via response to PE treatment. In the pre-clinical sample, high inflammation was associated with significantly increased startle in late extinction of the startle paradigm as well as increased likelihood (OR = 1.92) of being a “poor” extinguisher. Similarly, participants with high inflammation and PTSD were more than five times as likely to be poor extinguishers. In the PTSD treatment study, those with hig (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Norah Feeny PhD (Advisor); Lee Thompson PhD (Committee Member); Julie Exline PhD (Committee Member); Edwin Shirley PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Arts and Sciences: Biological Sciences

Since the development of conservation science nearly four decades ago, leading conservation biologists have warned that human activities are increasingly setting the stage for a loss of life so grand that the mark on the fossil record will register as a mass extinction on par with the previous “big five” mass extinctions, including that which wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The idea that a “sixth mass extinction” was in progress motivated me to explore the extent of recent extinction and the underpinning of the widely iterated statement that current rates of extinction are 100-1,000 times greater than the background rate. In Chapter 2, I show that the estimated magnitude difference between contemporary and background extinction does not align with the number of documented extinctions from which the estimates are extrapolated. For example, the estimate that current extinction rates are 100-1,000 times higher than background corresponds with an estimated loss of 1-10 named eukaryotic species every two days. In contrast, fewer than 1,000 extinctions have been documented over the last 500 years. Given this discrepancy, it may prove politically imprudent to use extraordinarily high rates of contemporary extinction to justify conservation efforts. Conservation efforts are sufficiently justified based on the proportion of habitat that has been destroyed or degraded in recent decades and the proportion of species threatened with extinction. In addition to examining the current extinction crisis, I evaluated potential mechanisms of extinction. Although mechanisms of population-level extinction and species-level extinction are well-resolved, little is known regarding mechanisms of the extinction of spatial population networks. A fascinating question that I was surprised had not been thoroughly investigated concerned potential effects of population-level extinction on surrounding populations of the same species: How does the extinction of one population affec (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Stephen Matter Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Thomas Crist Ph.D. (Committee Member); Edna Sayomi Kaneshiro Ph.D. (Committee Member); Eric Maurer Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kenneth Petren Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Ecology

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1963, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2022, Earth Sciences

During the Quaternary Land Mammal Extinction Event, which took place across the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene transition, more than 70% of medium and large North American mammals went extinct. This study addresses changes in predator-prey dynamics and ecosystem dynamics from evidence preserved in a sinkhole-fill deposit in south Florida. The Cutler Hammock site, Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA, records more than 100 species of vertebrate animals that inhabited south Florida during the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene transition. This deposit includes large collections of some species, including the second largest collection of dire wolves (Canis dirus dirus) from North America. Collections of inferred prey species (bison, horses, llamas, deer, peccaries, and mammoth) also have been made. Teeth of dire wolves and some large herbivorous species were sampled for δ13C and δ18O signals to determine dietary preferences of the herbivores, dietary preferences of the dire wolves, and climatic signals. Studied material suggests that the herbivores Odocoileus virginianus (white-tailed deer), Mylohyus fossilis (long-nosed peccary), and Platygonus compressus (flat-headed peccary), preferred to feed on C3 vegetation, and Bison spp. (bison), Equus ferus fraternus (horse), Hemiauchenia macrocephala (llama), and Mammuthus columbi (Columbian mammoth), preferred to feed on C4 vegetation. δ13C values recorded in the teeth of dire wolves suggest a change in preferred prey species through the time interval represented by the studied stratigraphic section. In the lower part of the studied interval (Upper Pleistocene), dire wolves had a diverse diet of herbivorous prey, but showed a preference for prey that fed primarily on C3 vegetation. In the middle part of the studied stratigraphic interval (Upper Pleistocene-Lower Holocene), dire wolves showed a strong preference for C3 feeders. In the uppermost part of the studied stratigraphic interval (Lower Holocene) dire wolves showed a strong p (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Loren Babcock (Advisor); Matthew Saltzman (Committee Member); John Hunter (Committee Member) Subjects: Earth; Ecology; Geology; Paleoecology; Paleontology

MS, Kent State University, 2022, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Earth Sciences

Faunal turnover is a pattern of diversification and extinction that occurs in taxa throughout the geologic record. Patterns of repeated faunal turnovers are referred to as faunal progression. Understanding the driving factors behind faunal progression, which may be niche partitioning, competition between groups, movement to new environments, or extinction and radiation due to environmental factors, may be key to understanding the pasts and futures of our modern fauna. Within Decapoda, clawed lobsters, podotrematous crabs, and heterotrematous crabs experienced faunal progression. These groups diversified and faced high rates of extinction in succession. The transition between podotrematous crabs and heterotrematous crabs is the most recent such turnover and is therefore of particular interest when trying to understand the potential causes of decapod faunal progression as a whole. Section Raninoida, commonly called ‘frog crabs', constitutes a major monophyletic group of crabs with podotrematous body forms, and closely follows broader trends of diversification and decline within the podotremes from the Cretaceous to the present day. Additionally, modern raninoids are highly specialized back burrowers, despite several extinct families displaying traits indicative of generalist lifestyles which would seem more likely to survive. Data on rock type, age, location, and carapace morphology for each species within section Raninoida were analyzed for trends in diversity, taxon longevity, paleoenvironment type, and paleogeographic occurrences using Microsoft Excel, Python, PAST, and ArcGIS. Paleomaps were generated to visualize type specimen occurrences and overall diversity through time. Declines in raninoid diversity aligned with mass extinction events and major climate shifts, especially those of cooling climate. Likewise, diversification within the section occurred in warm, greenhouse climates. Thus, a major factor in patterns of faunal turnover is likely to be enviro (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Carrie Schweitzer (Advisor); Rodney Feldmann (Committee Member); Joseph Ortiz (Committee Member) Subjects: Paleontology

Bachelor of Sciences, Ohio University, 2022, Biological Sciences

Amphibians are indicator species of ecosystem health due to their high susceptibility to changing environmental conditions, whether it be natural or anthropogenic changes. Amphibians also play a key role in many ecosystems, such as moving nutrients between terrestrial and aquatic habitats. It is important to understand how populations change over time in response to different environmental pressures to support successful land management strategies. Wayne National Forest (WNF) in Southeast Ohio harbors a rich amphibian fauna, and wildlife managers monitored pond-breeding anuran (frog) species to determine the best forest management strategies for their protection. The goal of this project was to quantify pond-breeding amphibian community dynamics in WNF in relation to different land management strategies and environmental predictors using a hierarchical modeling framework. Using the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program protocol, data was collected at 30 sites March through June from 2005-2018. A total of 14 species were studied, with zero detections for the Eastern Spadefoot Toad (Scaphiopus holbrookii) to hundreds for species such as the Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer). We ran dynamic occupancy models and then using AIC values determined model suitability and what abiotic factors were the best predictors of occupancy. Month and air temperature, for example, were the best predictors of American Toad occupancy. Using these results, we will then share them with WNF to aid them in determining effective land management strategies and to assist them in resecuring federal funds for amphibian monitoring programs.

Committee: Viorel Popescu (Advisor) Subjects: Biology; Ecology

Master of Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, Biology

Matrix population models are a prevalent and useful tool for modeling populations in ecology. Stochasticity, meanwhile, is used in ecological modeling to reflect the natural variability in any population's environment and demographic rates. In this thesis, I explore the role of stochasticity, or randomness, in ecological matrix models. Firstly, I use a Leslie-style matrix model to explore how variation in the carrying capacity of generalist avian predators suggests a mechanism by which developmentally synchronized cohorts of periodical cicadas, called “broods", overcome competitive exclusion by their parent brood, and thereby synchronize mass emergence in a different year. Then, I derive a method to analyze which sources of process noise contribute most strongly to state covariance in matrix models. We thus provide a method complementary to the population viability analysis that may help to reduce stochastic extinction risk, and apply the method to a species of conservation concern, the desert tortoise.

Committee: Karen Abbott (Advisor); David Gurarie (Committee Member); Peter Thomas (Committee Member); Gabriella Wolff (Committee Chair) Subjects: Applied Mathematics; Biology; Ecology

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2020, Biological Sciences (Arts and Sciences)

Rising temperatures across the planet are exposing populations to environmental conditions previously unexperienced by these lineages, and the responses to these changes are myriad. Depending on the species and population, responses to changing climates can encompass shifts in geographic ranges, rapid genetic adaptation, or new phenotypic distributions caused by plasticity. In the case where populations are unable to exhibit one of the aforementioned responses, extinction is the inevitable outcome. Scientists have recognized this issue and have worked tirelessly over the last 30 years to determine which species are vulnerable, how populations are responding to rapid environmental changes, and how to best conserve the most at-risk lineages. However, the efforts to predict how populations and species will persist after a century of consistent and strong climate change tend to ignore how these changes affect contemporary populations, and thus we risk missing the critical phenotypic trajectories that lead to rapid adaptation, range shifts, or extinction, which could provide both a platform for informing species conservation, but also enhance our knowledge of biodiversity. This dissertation explores how environmental variation over a variety of spatial and temporal scales impacts the selective environment in which species live, as well as the multiple plastic responses populations can exhibit in response to changing environmental conditions. First, the relationship between declining food availability and rising environmental temperatures is quantified. Food availability exacerbates organismal performance and reduces the availability of populations to mount adaptive phenotypic changes in response to changing environments. Second, the relationship between thermoregulatory behavior and individual fitness is quantified. Fitness is increased when lizards exhibit warmer preferred temperatures and can sprint faster to enhance their thermoregulatory ability. Third, the efficacy (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Donald Miles (Advisor); Shawn Kuchta (Committee Member); Willem Roosenburg (Committee Member); James Dyer (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Climate Change; Organismal Biology; Wildlife Conservation

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2019, English

My dissertation reads key works of Victorian and modernist literature by Alfred Tennyson, Elizabeth Gaskell, H. Rider Haggard, David Jones, T. S. Eliot, and Virginia Woolf alongside contemporaneous scientific texts to illustrate how mass anthropogenic extinction became increasingly recognizable. By bridging periods, my dissertation examines the multiple and sometimes conflicting registers of meaning that extinction accrued throughout Britain's industrial and imperial history as the notion of anthropogenic mass extinction gained traction within the cultural imaginary. Literary critics who discuss the Anthropocene within the context of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries tend to focus squarely on the question of climate, using the geohistorical moment of Britain's industrialization to trace the ideological, material, and scientific developments that gave rise to the notion of anthropogenic climate change within the public imagination, especially through representations of pollution and compromised atmospheres. My project attempts to reframe this conversation by considering the extent to which the Anthropocene became increasingly knowable to both Victorians and modernists through biological registers: as in the observable impacts of imperialist processes and technological modernity on biodiversity and global animal populations. These impacts were recognized in, for example, African species and subspecies that became critically endangered or extinct due to British hunting culture as well as avian species that sharply declined due to British consumer practices. I argue that mid-nineteenth-century authors from Tennyson to Gaskell were beginning to explore the degree to which geological frameworks called into question long-standing beliefs regarding humankind's placement within the natural world as well as the precarity of species within the context of deep time. I consider how such lines of inquiry continued throughout the century in adventure fiction investe (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mary Jean Corbett (Committee Co-Chair); Madelyn Detloff (Committee Co-Chair); Erin Edwards (Committee Member); Andrew Hebard (Committee Member); Marguerite Shaffer (Committee Member) Subjects: British and Irish Literature; Literature

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2019, Art

This writing and research shares an edited form of the dialogue presented in The Unknown and the Unnamed, a performance held at Urban Arts Space in Columbus, Ohio. The Unknown and the Unnamed is a hybrid performance drawing from a range of forms including the educational lecture, the artist talk, family slideshow evenings, the memoir and the scientific research paper. How do we live in the world knowing we could address climate breakdown? How are bodies—non-human and human—impacted by a culture of progress, human industry and capitalist expansion? Centering around a local Australian native orchid collection—created by self-described recluse and amateur botanist Philip John Branwhite—I investigate the natureculture narratives of Australian native orchids, and their ecological, scientific and political entanglements. Weaving local and academic forms of knowledge—through voice, images, video and sound The Unknown and the Unnamed speaks to the interconnectedness of experience, the way human and non-human bodies make and unmake each other and the memory of place in a time of post-colonial settlement. Please note, this writing relies heavily on images which are not depicted in this thesis.

Committee: Gina Osterloh (Advisor); Ann Hamilton (Committee Member); Michael Mercil (Committee Member); Juno Salazar Parreñas (Committee Member) Subjects: Botany; Ecology; Environmental Justice; Environmental Studies; Evolution and Development

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2018, Arts and Sciences: Geology

In this study, the question of microenvironmental change related to the overall eruption pattern from the Siberian Traps was examined. Using the unique rare earth element geochemistry that was produced from the successive eruptions, a geological trace that links the Siberian Traps to the environmental collapse from the effects of windblown ash was found in using over 400 marine sediment samples taken from 7 different Permian-Triassic Boundary sections. The following results show values likely indicative of material derived from the lower crust, upper mantle with the Eu/Eu* anomalies from Zal, a microcontinent in the Tethys Ocean, Gujo-Hachiman, an open ocean site in the eastern Panthalassic Ocean, along with Guryul Ravine and Spiti on the northwestern margin of Gondwana. These results represent a global signal, and could reflect a deleterious effect upon marine and terrestrial ecosystems from the possible volcanic ashfall that was produced from the Siberian Traps.

Committee: Thomas Algeo Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Warren Huff Ph.D. (Committee Member); J Barry Maynard Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Geology

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2018, Geology

The Cretaceous Period was a time of great environmental volatility and most notably known for being one of the periods when dinosaurs existed. However, during this time the apex predators of the oceans were marine reptiles. These marine reptile groups included ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs. How these three marine reptile groups reacted to environmental volatility of the time during the Cretaceous was assessed in this study. Marine reptile occurrence data was compiled and used to calculate origination and extinction along with correlated with ocean temperature, ocean anoxia and sea level, proxies were used for both ocean temperature and ocean anoxia. Analyses included cross correlation along with multiple regression and random forest analysis. The results of these analyses showed that each marine reptile group were affected by the changing environment during the Cretaceous. Each marine reptile group were specifically affected the most by ocean anoxia with both ichthyosaur and plesiosaur diversity dropping due to anoxia but mosasaur diversity actually increased during times of anoxia. What was also interesting is that how volatile the environment was did not affect each marine reptile group strongly either positively or negatively. Overall each marine reptile group was affected by the changing environment of the Cretaceous but how volatile that environment was did not play any significance.

Committee: Margaret Yacobucci Doctor (Advisor); Andrew Gregory Doctor (Committee Member); Jeffrey Snyder Doctor (Committee Member) Subjects: Geology; Paleontology

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

Both increased extinction and decreased origination, caused by rising oceanic anoxia and decreased provincialism, respectively, have been proposed as the cause of the Cenomanian Turonian (C/T) extinction event for ammonoids. Conflicting evidence exists for whether diversity actually dropped across the C/T. This study used the ammonoid superfamily Acanthoceratoidea as a proxy for ammonoids as a whole, particularly focusing on genera found in the Western Interior Seaway (WIS) of North America, including Texas. Ultimately, this study set out to determine 1) whether standing diversity decreased across the C/T boundary in the WIS, 2) whether decreased speciation or increased extinction in ammonoids led to a drop in diversity in the C/T extinction event, 3) how ecology of acanthoceratoid genera changed in relation to the C/T extinction event, and 4) whether these ecological changes indicate rising anoxia as the cause of the extinction. In answering these questions, three phylogenetic analyses were run that recovered the families Acanthoceratidae, Collignoniceratidae, and Vascoceratidae. Pseudotissotiidae was not recovered at all, while Coilopoceratidae was recovered but reclassified as a subfamily of Vascoceratidae. Seven genera were reclassified into new families and one genus into a new subfamily. After calibrating the trees with stratigraphy, I was able to determine that standing diversity dropped modestly across the C/T boundary and the Early/Middle Turonian boundary. I also found an increase in the percentage of genera becoming extinct in the Late Cenomanian, not a decrease in origination. Finally, I used Westermann morphospace to relate shell shape to ecology and mode of life. I found no decrease in morphospace occupation across the C/T boundary. More mobile modes of life expanded at this time. Morphospace occupation did drop across the Early/Middle Turonian boundary. All changes in morphospace occupation were driven by the family Vascoceratidae, (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Margaret Yacobucci (Advisor); Andrew Gregory (Committee Member); Keith Mann (Committee Member) Subjects: Geology; Paleontology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Geological Sciences

Phylogeny-based studies of fossil organisms are increasingly utilized in the field of paleobiology to address macroevolutionary questions while taking into account the shared evolutionary history of closely related taxa. Broadly, this dissertation is concerned with tree-based investigations of evolutionary patterns in the fossil record, with a particular focus on the evolutionary history of crinoids. Using the fossil record of camerate crinoids as a model group, chapters herein integrate alpha taxonomy, phylogenetic inference, systematic revision, and phylogenetic comparative methods to investigate diverse macroevolutionary questions. In addition to inferring new phylogenetic trees, this comprehensive approach serves both to improve the primary data used to infer phylogenies (i.e., alpha taxonomy, morphology, and taxon sampling) and to incorporate phylogenetic hypotheses into tree-based studies of evolution in the fossil record. Descriptions of crinoid faunas from the Upper Ordovician (Katian) of Ontario and Spain were conducted to improve the resolution of paleobiogeographic and stratigraphic sampling in morphological datasets, and newly described taxa were included in subsequent phylogenetic analyses. Evolutionary relationships among camerate crinoids were inferred, and the resulting phylogenies were used to inform systematic revisions of crinoid classification. In addition, recovered trees were integrated with high-resolution morphologic and ecomorphologic datasets to conduct phylogeny-based studies of morphologic evolution and extinction selectivity, focusing on the role of ecology in the generation and maintenance of these patterns.

Committee: William Ausich (Advisor); Matthew Saltzman (Committee Member); Lawrence Krissek (Committee Member); Marymegan Daly (Committee Member) Subjects: Evolution and Development; Geology; Paleontology; Sedimentary Geology

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2017, Educational Studies

Although extinction has a strong empirical documentation of success with decreasing problem behaviors, there are still several negative side effects associated with the treatment. To eliminate the negative side effects, researchers have successfully treated escape-maintained problem behaviors without the use of extinction using immediate primary reinforcement. The current study explored the use of delayed reinforcement using a token economy. The results of a multiple probe design indicated that the tokens eliminated problem behavior and increased compliance for 4 children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Committee: Nancy Neef (Advisor) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Special Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1978, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1967, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1966, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1962, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2015, Anthropology

Fossil fauna at paleoanthropological sites provides evidence for speciation and extinction events throughout the Plio-Pleistocene. Regarding fauna, first and last appearance dates are temporally clustered around time periods that correlate with climatic shift. The Turnover-Pulse Hypothesis asserts climate change as the cause of punctuated speciation and extinction events. Contending that climate is the cause of first and last appearance of species may be spurious due to inherent sampling biases in the fossil record. Species divergence and extinction may be influenced by climate, but the ultimate cause of species turnover is unclear. This research project required compilation of datasets of first and last appearance dates from South Africa and east Africa. These datasets were used to derive rates of species turnover in order to program a model to simulate the fossil record. Development of a species turnover simulation was undertaken utilizing mathematical modeling software (Matlab). Continuous speciation and extinction was simulated over 3.2 million years for South African fauna and 4.4 million years for east African fauna. Simulated continuous speciation and extinction produces peaks of turnover similar to turnover-pulses. Therefore, the fossil record is unable to support the Turnover-Pulse Hypothesis's reliance on climate change as a causal mechanism for speciation and extinction. Rather, patterns of first and last appearance dates that indicate peaks of species turnover are a product of biased sampling.

Committee: Jeffrey McKee PhD (Advisor); Mark Hubbe PhD (Committee Member); Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Paleontology; Physical Anthropology