Dog-man

This dog-man figure is a blend of a male body and a dog\u27s head, with carvings around the hands, collar, and feet.https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/campus_art/1778/thumbnail.jp

Spatial and temporal patterns in short-term surface sediment deposition and accretion at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve: Implications for resilience of coastal wetlands to sea-level rise

Coastal wetlands are at risk of drowning due to the increasing threat of rising sea levels. Wetlands will have to build in elevation vertically or migrate horizontally to survive. Previous research has demonstrated that some wetlands have the potential to naturally build in elevation over time if deposition and accretion rates from allochthonous sediment delivery are substantial, but work in this area has been limited, and many coastal wetlands remain understudied. Portions of Northeast Florida are especially lacking in short-term surface deposition and accretion data. Without surface rates it is difficult to determine the vulnerability of different wetlands to rising sea levels. This project aims at measuring short-term surface deposition and accretion rates and identifying factors that drive rates in Northeast Florida. For this study, several short-term surface sediment deposition and accretion methods were tested during a 28-day deployment within the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTMNERR) to determine which methods were most effective at measuring rates. Ceramic tiles, borosilicate filters and centrifuge tube traps were deployed in varying wetland communities within the Reserve. Some methods were stapled and nailed to test ways to prevent dislodgment during deployments. The methods that were effective were then used during a yearlong study to measure short-term surface deposition and accretion rates seasonally in different wetland communities at the GTMNERR. It was found that the centrifuge tube trap and stapled ceramic tiles were the most efficient methods to measure short-term surface deposition and accretion rates. The main factors driving rates were platform edge distance, elevation, site and season. The results of this project will help to fill the data gap on short-term surface rates in the GTMNERR, Northeast Florida and beyond, which will inform management decisions to improve the resilience of coastal wetlands with rising sea levels

Papernest Media: A Collaborative Multimedia Research Project

Papernest Media is a collaborative multimedia research project that contextualizes the history and contemporary status of insect commodities as traditional food, tourist fare, and natural dye in Oaxaca, Mexico. Our interdisciplinary team of Anne E. Pfister, PhD in Applied Medical Anthropology, Alex Kledzik, BA in Sociology and Susie Mabry, UNF International Studies, came together in 2024 to produce a short film accompanying the exploratory phase of a larger ethnographic investigation. In July 2024, we traveled to Oaxaca during a peak season and the annual Guelaguetza festival to investigate the touted sustainability of edible insects in a region known for its long-standing culinary use of insects. After returning from Oaxaca, we analyzed the images we captured and developed Papernest Media (PN) to house our work as both an archive and a dialogic space. The QR code will take you to our website, papernest.domains.unf.edu, which combines visual anthropology, documentary film, and text-based research to produce an evolving archive of media and reflection. The name Papernest is inspired by the paper wasp (Polybia occidentalis), an insect that creates delicate and elaborate nests from chewed paper fibers. The paper wasp is embedded in both the ecological and cultural landscapes of the Zapotec people as a seasonal culinary tradition—one we were fortunate to experience firsthand. The Papernest website is “home” to collaborative film, photography, and publications, all of which are collectively constructed and shared. Rather than presenting polished narratives or conclusions, our media functions as both a research method and a way to pose and explore anthropological questions. During our 2024 trip to Oaxaca, fieldwork shifted my role from passive observer to active investigator. Incorporating ethnographic techniques into my film and storytelling made me feel that I was not only documenting but dwelling within moments of exchange. Film transcends writing and traditional ethnographic research, offering a unique method of inquiry demanding curiosity, openness, and presence. Each encounter felt more fully captured and explored with the aid of the camera, and translating these insights into a visual language became a language-learning endeavor of its own. We hope this project continues to traverse both disciplinary and cultural boundaries—and most importantly, to engender appreciation of caring for cultural knowledge and biodiversity

UNF Tennis/Silva Trevarthan [Neg# 27]

Roll of B+W Film scanned, UNF Tennis/Silva Trevarthan, Unidentified tennis player, Date: Undatedhttps://digitalcommons.unf.edu/spinnaker-images/2470/thumbnail.jp

Herbert Meeting -Trevarthan [Neg # 16A]

Roll of B+W Film scanned, Images of a meeting with UNF President Dr. Adam W. Herbert; Vicki Stanton and other unidentified faculty & Staff; Date: Undatedhttps://digitalcommons.unf.edu/spinnaker-images/2506/thumbnail.jp

Herbert Meeting -Trevarthan [Neg # 2A]

Roll of B+W Film scanned, Images of a meeting with UNF President Dr. Adam W. Herbert; Vicki Stanton; Minor Chamblin; Dale Clifford; Gary Harmon; Kathy Cohen; Diane Kazlauskas; and other unidentified faculty & Staff; Date: Undatedhttps://digitalcommons.unf.edu/spinnaker-images/2492/thumbnail.jp

Florida

Includes insets of Mobile Bay, Pensacola Bay and Perdido Bay, Tampa Bay and Hillsboro Bay.https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/alcfh-maps/1093/thumbnail.jp

Geometric properties of positive definite matrices: Means, order, and metrics

In this thesis, we study matrix means from a geometric point of view. In particular, we consider divergences of the form Tr[A + B − 2G(A, B)] for certain Geometric-Type matrix means G(A, B). We derive alternative formulations of this distance function through the application of one-sided inverses of G(A, B). When G(A, B) = A#B, we give a curve parametrization of the straight-line path between two points with respect to this semi-metric and present conditions under which this holds for other Geometric-Type means. For read- ability and self-containment, we introduce most of the preliminary concepts to build up to our main goals