Nutrient Sources, Loads and Trends Vary Spatially and Temporally within the Poteau River Watershed and Lake Wister, Oklahoma

Excess inputs of nutrients and sediments jeopardize drinking water sources, aquatic life habitats, and aesthetic quality of freshwater resources for recreation. The purpose of this dissertation was to analyze long-term water quality trends and loads in the Upper Poteau River Watershed (UPRW) and the Lake Wister Watershed (LWW), and analyze internal phosphorus (P) loads in Lake Wister, Oklahoma. Additionally, this dissertation sought to review the literature for methods of prioritizing subwatersheds for watershed management using watershed models, implement a cost efficient method to remotely monitor streamflow and estimate constituent loads in small-scale watersheds, and finally, to validate the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) at the small-scale watershed using the aforementioned monitoring data. Water quality changed over time in the watersheds impacted by both point and nonpoint sources in the UPRW. At the James Fork, total P (TP) did not change and orthophosphate (OP) increased over time, while P decreased at the Poteau River; nitrogen (N) increased at both. Finally, sediment concentrations decreased over time at both the Poteau River and James Fork, with decreasing shifts also occurring in the early 2000’s. In the LWW, the largest magnitude of loads came from the Poteau River, and while the magnitude of constituent loads from the Fourche Maline is less, increasing P is a concern. The relatively undisturbed Black Fork watershed contributes the least amount of loads to Lake Wister, and concentrations are decreasing or not changing over time. In Lake Wister, after 5 aluminum sulfate (alum) treatments across 6 years, sediment P fluxes under anaerobic conditions were not significantly different than prior to any alum treatments. The lack of overall improvement in anaerobic P fluxes over time is likely due to the magnitude of P and sediment loads entering Lake Wister from the LWW, where 92% of the total P load to Lake Wister from 2010 to 2020 was from external sources. Therefore, while alum treatments provide short term reductions in P fluxes at Quarry Island Cove, the effectiveness was short, suggesting external sources of P must be addressed. When watershed models are used for subwatershed prioritization, model calibration is often conducted at minimal sites on the large watershed scale and model outputs on the subwatershed scale or smaller are used for prioritization, but little data exists to validate the small-scale model outputs. Therefore, a method was developed to monitor streamflow and estimate constituent loads in small-scale watersheds by using inexpensive pressure transducers to collect continuous records of stage, deploying SonTek-IQs during high flow events, and developing rating curves with stage and discharge data. The small-scale watershed data was then used to validate a SWAT model, which mostly resulted in unsatisfactory performances. Ultimately, it is important to continue monitoring in the UPRW and LWW to ensure constituent concentrations do not exceed levels of concern. Watershed sources of P must be addressed in addition to internal sources of P in Lake Wister. Finally, it is important to continue exploring subwatershed prioritization techniques and improving watershed model outputs on the small watershed scale

Judgment Doesn\u27t Heal the Hurting

Judgment interferes with the development of all relationships. For students and families who have experienced trauma, judgment can be particularly devastating as it may further damage the survivor’s already compromised sense of safety, trust, and belonging. As educators, we must develop non-judgmental attitudes toward students and families, yet sometimes our lack of self-awareness and problematic ideological positions lead us to judge. In this essay, I describe my personal journey with families and the ideological shift I experienced as I became more self-aware and attentive to others’ stories. It is my hope that my experiences will challenge other educators to engage in critical self-reflection, to bear witness to the stories of children and families who have experienced trauma, and to move beyond judgment

A Systematic Review of Studies Evaluating the Effectiveness of Horticultural Therapy for Increasing Well-Being and Decreasing Anxiety and Depression

This study is a systematic review of published research on the effectiveness of horticultural therapy and related interventions in reducing stress. Since the beginning of time, the great outdoors has been humanity’s source of thriving on earth. However, as industrialization, urbanization, technological, and digital advances continue to expand, human life has changed, resulting in many negative outcomes, such as mental health concerns related to stress and lack of outside engagement. The mental health and related health concerns in previous studies show to be depression, rumination, anxiety, mood and salivary cortisol, anger, general health, existential issues, and many more all show to be rising concerns if the world continues to stray from the great outdoors and activities related to horticultural therapy. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the current studies on the effectiveness of horticultural therapy and related interventions, validate the profession as a therapeutic intervention and rehabilitative medium, and encourage collaboration between practitioners, academicians, and research scientists

A Thematic Unit for Integrating Social Studies and Science in the First Grade

A thematic unit for integrating social studies and science with other curriculum areas was developed for first grade students. The theme for the unit centered around farms. The unit was divided into five subunits: farms, farm animals, orchards/vineyards (to include fruits of the Yakima Valley and apples), crops (to include vegetables of the Yakima Valley, pumpkins, and wheat), and nutrition/four food groups. The literature was reviewed to establish a theoretical foundation for the unit and for activities that focused on reading, writing, and language development

Why free will is real – book review

The book proposes that free will should be considered a 'higher-level' psychological phenomenon - reviewed by Ellie Lasater-Guttman

Bedload Transport Sampling, Characterization and Modeling on a Southern Appalachian Ridge and Valley Stream

Estimates of bedload transport rates developed from existing transport models are notoriously inaccurate(Wilcock 2001). The gravel bed models addressed in this study include the Meyer-Peter and Muller; Parker, Klingeman, and McLean; and Wilcock two-fraction models. The question of whether or not these models predict bedload transport rates in a Southern Appalachian Ridge and Valley stream is complicated by the fact that these models have only been previously assessed in terms of their agreement with bedload transport rates measured in the Western regions of the U.S. Further, due to the strongly non-linear form of bedload transport models discrete errors and cumulative uncertainty in input parameters can result in excessive error and uncertainty in results. The research presented in this dissertation approaches these issues through introduction of a new bedload transport data set collected on Little Turkey Creek in Farragut, Tennessee using a continuously monitoring bedload collection station with estimated collection efficiencies of nearly 100%. Use of 20-liter pail pit samplers is addressed for estimating bedload particle size distributions and transport model calibration. Finally, the issue of error and uncertainty in model input parameters is addressed through evaluation of the results of discrete error and cumulative uncertainty within the region of observed variation in bedload transport observations. The results of this research suggest similarity between bedload transport characteristics in Southern Appalachian Ridge and Valley streams and those of streams in the Western region of the U.S. It was found that 20-liter pail pit traps are suitable for collection of bedload transport particle size distribution data and only marginally well suited for model calibration. It was illustrated that selected bedload transport models are most sensitive to errors in estimates of Manning’s n and slope. Further, it was found that uniform uncertainty of more than 20% in model input parameters produces results that are at the outer edge of the observed variation in bedload transport rates. The body of work presented in this dissertation is intended to provide stream restoration design professionals with additional background to inform bedload transport estimates on streams in the Southern Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region

The Perceived Influence of Divergent Parent and Teacher Perceptions of Student Abilities on Students and the Establishment of Effective Family-School Partnerships

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the essence of parent, teacher, and student experiences when parent and teacher perceptions of student abilities diverge; of particular importance was the perceived influence of these divergent accounts on students and the establishment of effective family-school partnerships. This purpose was achieved through a qualitative investigation of parent, teacher, and student experiences when parent and teacher perceptions of student abilities diverge. Analysis of data collected from 10 in-depth interviews with students, parents, and teachers revealed five themes and one subtheme related to discrepant parent and teacher perceptions of student abilities. These themes included: family-school partnership qualities, impressionability of student attitudes, failure to resolve conflicts, challenging parents, and lack of teacher training. Communication was included as a subtheme of family-school partnership qualities. Exploration of these themes described the overall essence of participant experiences. Participants identified family-school partnership qualities that are consistent with those presented in the literature, but they lacked agreement on the qualities of family-school partnerships considered most important. Participants also desired improved communication between parents and teachers, and they recognized several aspects of communication that could improve family-school partnerships. Participants identified the impressionability of student attitudes and the failure to resolve conflicts as perceived outcomes of the conflict. Additionally, participants believed that demanding and disengaged parents presented additional challenges to partnership development, and teacher participants reported that they were not adequately trained to foster family-school partnerships. The experiences of parents, teachers, and students in this study provided insights that could help educators and parents build family-school partnerships that withstand conflict

Thunder and Lightning Over Taiwan

The joint communique on 17 August 1982 between the United States and the People\u27s Republic of China over future US arms sales to Taiwan was a carefully crafted document responsible for preventing a likely downgrading of relations between Washington and Beijing

The Inverse Application of Conformal Mapping Techniques to Describe Groundwater Flow-Regimes through a Window in the Upper Claiborne Confining Layer

The purpose of this study was to establish an inverse algorithm to solve the analytic element groundwater modeling equations, developed by Anderson (2001), for state parameters based on head data from an appropriate field site. The analytical element model (AEM) equations developed by Anderson (2001) are a complex variable technique to describe flow regimes through a gap in a confining layer that otherwise separates two confined aquifers. Anderson’s equations are based on the assumptions that hydraulic conductivity is constant in the respective confined aquifers. It also assumes a hydraulic conductivity of zero for the confining layers in the system. A Levenberg-Marquardt based inverse algorithm was developed and applied to synthetic data created by the forward application of Anderson’s AEM equations based on state variables similar to those presented in the literature (Anderson 2001). The inverse algorithm was used to solve for the state parameters describing window length (L) and flux through the window (Q) given four head values observed in the forward solution. The inverse algorithm successfully predicted values for window length and flux through the window within 20% of the values used to create the synthetic head data. A study on the effect of an added observation point in the flow field was also performed. It was observed that an added observation point in the flow field resulted in better approximations of L and Q by the inverse algorithm. The algorithm was then applied to an actual field case, the Shelby Farms Site in Memphis, Tennessee, in an attempt to predict the window extent and flux through the window based on head observations from four wells installed within the window. Based on data from three separate occasions, the algorithm produced a value for window length of L=573.9 ft and flow through a unit slice of the window of Q= -525.0 ft3/day, which compares well with the value of 35,627 ft3/day for the entire window profile from other recent studies at the Shelby Farms Site