Surveys are often used in health studies to collect data about participants for scientific research. An increasing number of health scientists are turning to online data collection methods because they are less costly and can reach a large diverse population quickly. Online surveys also make it easy to track and...
The topics in this dissertation are centered around the way that trees respond to environmental stress in the climates where they occur. Though forests across the planet are expected to experience change in local climate due to historic and ongoing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, the effects of climate change will...
College is recognized by many researchers to be an exceptionally stressful period of development. Despite considerable theoretical and empirical attention, many questions still remain regarding the experience of stress among college students. There is a dearth of multivariate investigations in this area and, to date, no clear consensus exists among...
Continual growth of the world's energy consumption and the demand for long-term clean renewable energy resources has led to the development of ocean-based wave energy technologies. Emerging technologies are advancing potential solutions to the complex problem of energy generation in the harsh and corrosive ocean environment. To develop these technologies,...
Predators are fundamentally important for regulating and driving prey population dynamics as well as structuring ecological communities. Over-exploitation of marine resources has caused dramatic depletions of predatory fish species and shifts in marine community composition, with attendant declines in productivity and diversity of marine ecosystems. Despite the important ramifications of...
Forest management in the face of fire risk is a challenging problem because fire spreads across a landscape and because its occurrence is unpredictable. Additionally, management must be adjusted over time as unpredictable fire events are realized. Land managers have some control over the vegetation conditions that facilitate fire spread,...
Cloud reflectivity is a function of cloud liquid water content and droplet number concentration. Since cloud droplets form around pre-existing aerosol particles, cloud droplet number concentration depends on the availability of particles that can serve as cloud condensation nuclei. Given constant liquid water amount, increased availability of cloud condensation nuclei...
Adiabatic parcel models suggest specific relationships between cloud thickness and cloud properties. Such relationships govern cloud radiative forcing and thus cloud feedbacks in the climate system. Current remote sensing techniques work well at measuring these properties in low-level cloud systems that are overcast. Significant biases exist, however, when measuring cloud...
Truckload carriers operating under a Point-To-Point (PtP) dispatching method seek to minimize miles driven with empty loads. This results in driving tours keeping drivers away from their homes for weeks at a time causing high turnover rates industry wide. One proposed solution combines Relay Network dispatching with existing PtP. This...