Soil contains approximately 75% of the carbon pool on land - three times more than the amount stored in living plants and animals (Schlesinger 1999). Therefore, soils play a major role in maintaining a balanced global carbon cycle. Models of the soil carbon ecosystem assume a strong relationship between organic...
Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has potential applications as a low-cost catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Defects on MoS2, such as edge sites and sulfur vacancies, are known to be the major active sites for HER. Controlling the formation of these defects allows for the enhancement in reactivity of MoS2...
Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) originates from organic matter. Climate and vegetation have been found to alter DOC production. The goal of this study was to determine where the differences in DOC production originate from. Mineral soil and substrate including maple leaves, needles, old wood, and sticks were collected from the...
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) flux is an important mechanism to convey soil carbon (C) from aboveground organic debris (litter) to deeper soil horizons and can influence the formation of stable soil organic carbon (SOC) compounds. Aboveground litter quantity and quality was manipulated for 20-years in an old-growth Douglas fir forest...
Due to the advancement of incredibly low power microcontrollers and small form factor integrated circuits, energy harvesting can be considered as an alternative, low power source for remote ocean sensing and measurements. To demonstrate the effectiveness of harvesting thermoelectric energy contained in the temperature differential between ocean surface water and...
The interface between a biofilm and the underlying substrate to which it is attached is challenging to study. Currently, available methods of studying this microenvironment have not been able to record data in real-time over a time period in the range of days. To address this challenge, we report the...
The Micralyne microfluidic toolkit (μTK) was an instrument built by Micralyne in the early 2000’s. It was built for electrophoresis and has a sensitive laser-induced fluorescence detection system. The updates to the system were upgrading the control GUI from running in LabVIEW 5 (Windows XP, 2000) to LabVIEW 2012 (Windows...
Understanding the relationships between land use, water quality, and groundwater is crucial for ecological, economic, and water management decisions. This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the land use activities and hydrologic processes influencing the water quality of Oak Creek watershed. Objectives of this study were: 1) to...
Climate change is occurring at an increasingly rapid rate, with impacts heightened in the cold regions of the world including the Arctic. Warming effects are widespread, with one impacted process – freeze-thaw cycles – increasing in frequency and potentially triggering additional changes in permafrost soils that have previously acted as...
The Walt Disney Company is one of the most recognizable and pervasive sources of children’s entertainment worldwide and has carefully crafted an image of childhood innocence. This wholesome image is contradicted by Disney’s consistent use of racist and sexist tropes, as well as its record of covertly using political themes...
Through comparison and analysis of selected holidays in countries with significantly different features (Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and the United States), this study aims to gauge the impact of holiday celebrations in influencing cultural values in those countries studied. K. Zygulski’s classification system for holidays was applied to divide the holidays of...
Extending rheological characterization methods to very small length scales is of interest. AC susceptometry using magnetic nanoparticle probes has been proposed for measurement of frequency-dependent rheological properties at the nanoscale. As this technique has been primarily used for ideally Newtonian fluids, this research aimed to extend this technique to viscoelastic...
This work introduces the design and fabrication of a green-sourced and mostly biodegradable microbial fuel cell for use in soft robotic applications from environmental sensing to wastewater remediation. Theorized from other biodegradable fuel cells, this prototype achieved maximum power densities of 4.0 x 10−4 W/m2 in the single-chambered design and...
It is hypothesized that extracting the vapor from two-phase flow in a microchannel will result in a lowered pressure drop required to drive the flow. The goal of this thesis is to construct an experimental device that will test this hypothesis by comparing a number of phase separating test conditions...
The intent of this paper is to bring more attention to the mastery involved with film composition as an art form. The research focuses specifically on the life, style, influences, and works of John Williams as a conductor, film composer, and composer. It addresses his biography, filmography, and working relationships,...
With the growing importance of sustainability, organizations in the non-profit
sector need a way to measure, track, improve, and report their sustainability. Through
research in current literature and a survey of practices within local non-profits, it is
shown these organizations need a simple, flexible process with stakeholder participation
to measure...
The proper way to order knowledge and find truth about the natural world in the eighteenth century lay in one’s ability to correctly learn and employ the quality of reason. While all had the right to seek reason, only a privileged few achieved its proper use, creating an intellectual elite...
The potential of red blood cell (RBC) and platelet damage was studied for a novel microfluidic hemoperfusion device currently in development at Oregon State University for use in treating sepsis. COMSOL 4.4's computational fluid dynamics (CFD) module was used to examine shear rate profiles in laminar, Newtonian blood flow throughout...
This study seeks to examine the participation and representation of stakeholders involved in the Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force during their first year, culminating in the publishing of their Year One Report and Recommendations for actions with the goal of moving the Southern Resident killer whales toward recovery. This...
My thesis is a novel about mental illness. It follows the stories of four different women who all suffer from mental or emotional disorders. My novel explores the dynamics of relationships, trauma, mental illness, and sexuality. I work to create purposeful ambiguity in my novel between reality and the manifestations...