Understanding the mechanisms controlling colloid transport and deposition in the vadose zone is an important step in protecting our water resources. Colloid transport in unsaturated porous media was studied using X-Ray Microtomography (XMT), which is a non-destructive imaging technique that provides three-dimensional images at a resolution on the order of...
Due to the effective antimicrobial properties of silver nanoparticles they represent a significant proportion of all consumer-‐related nanomaterials. The introduction of silver nanoparticles from these products into domestic and industrial wastewater streams poses potential complications for biological treatment systems. A critical component of biological treatment that is extremely sensitive to...
The purpose of this research is to hydraulically characterize an engineered wetland in Albany, Oregon. The wetland receives treated wastewater from both Albany Millersburg Water Reclamation Facility (AMWRF) and ATI Wah Chang. AMWRF's water is municipal waste water. ATI Wah Chang's water comes from its nearby metal processing plant. The...
This thesis focuses on active learning through four different studies that include metacognitive and cognitive aspects of learning designs to support active learning and a contextual analysis of the implementation of teaching tools used in active learning. The first three investigate important elements of active learning whereas the fourth study...
The 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment established that the effect of clouds on climate contributes the largest uncertainty in predicting the future climate. Satellite observations provide an opportunity for learning about the behavior of clouds. This thesis seeks to assess the accuracy of cloud properties retrieved from multispectral...
Crash rates are said to be nearly three times higher on curved sections than those on straight sections of rural roadways. As a result, advisory curve/speed signs are standard practice to mitigate these risks on sharp horizontal curves. The industry standard for determining appropriate and uniform speeds for such signs...
Frontier research of non-aqueous actinide clusters is discussed. Since the inception of the uranyl peroxide clusters over the last decade, they have only been synthesized and characterized as solid crystals and in aqueous solution. This thesis provides thorough characterization of aqueous uranyl clusters and the first demonstration of uranyl cluster...
Polyoxometalates are discrete anionic oxo clusters of the Group V and VI transition metals that can be conceptualized as molecular metal oxides. Because they are pairable with any alkali cation, a great deal of fundamental chemistry can be gleaned from their study, including solubility trends and insight into cation binding...
Decades of educational research has not reached and benefited most students due to the "implementation gap." The implementation gap is a term used to describe the divide between the number of research-based curricular materials created and the number that are broadly used in classrooms. A common approach to researching this...
Geologic CO₂ sequestration is a climate change mitigation strategy that prevents CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere by capturing CO₂ gasses from large point source emissions streams and then pressurizing and pumping the supercritical-state CO₂ into underground geologic storage reservoirs. Once underground, CO₂ is prevented from buoyant migration to the surface...