“What Did You Say to Me?” – Social Feedback, Body Image, & Eating Disorders in Modern Day Society

Eating disorders are one of the most lethal psychological disorders and need further insight into how they are developed. After an extensive literature review, I am proposing that social feedback influences body image, and body image influences eating disorders. It was predicted that there will be a strong, positive correlation between body image (as measured by body dissatisfaction) and eating disorders. It was also predicted that there will be a strong, positive correlation between social feedback and body image. A meta-analysis was conducted to determine the correlation between body image and eating disorders, yielding a moderately strong, positive correlation (ravg = 0.42). This indicates that body image does influence the development of eating disorders. Alternatively, a survey using three different measures, the Body Appreciation Scale, the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, and the Social Feedback Scale, was used to find the correlation between social feedback and body image. Negative social feedback had a strong, positive correlation to body self-image (r = 0.42), whereas positive social feedback had a weak, negative correlation to body self-image (r = –0.07). This indicates that negative social feedback has an impact on body self-image, while positive social feedback does not. Implications of the findings and how they develop treatment plans are discussed below

Examining the Land Cover Characteristics of Kentucky’s Buck Creek System to Better Understand Buck Darter (Etheostoma nebra) Distribution

The Buck Darter, Etheostoma nebra, is a relatively new species of darter fish previously thought to be Etheostoma virgatum, but recently determined by DNA analysis to be a separate species. The darter is endemic to a small portion of Buck Creek, which is within the Cumberland River watershed located in Kentucky. Buck Creek originates in Lincoln County, flowing south-southeast into and through most of Pulaski County before flowing into the Cumberland River. Buck Creek is known for exceptionally high water quality, and supports multiple threatened and endangered aquatic species. The goal of this project was to use GIS and remote sensing to examine the land use characteristics around the Buck Creek system and compare these characteristics to existing data on Buck Darter distribution. This information will then be used for future work identifying new sites where the Buck Darter might be present and to better understand why the species has such a limited distribution.https://encompass.eku.edu/swps_undergraduategallery/1167/thumbnail.jp

Examining the land use characteristics of Kentucky’s Buck Creek system to better understand Buck Darter (Etheostoma nebra) distribution

The Buck Darter, Etheostoma nebra, is a relatively new species of darter fish previously thought to be Etheostoma virgatum, but recently determined by DNA analysis to be a separate species. The darter is endemic to a small portion of Buck Creek, which is within the Cumberland River watershed located in Kentucky. Buck Creek originates in Lincoln County, flowing south-southeast into and through most of Pulaski County before flowing into the Cumberland River. Buck Creek is known for exceptionally high water quality, and supports multiple threatened and endangered aquatic species. The goal of this project was to use GIS and remote sensing to examine the land use characteristics around the Buck Creek system and compare these characteristics to existing data on Buck Darter distribution. This information will then be used for future work identifying new sites where the Buck Darter might be present and to better understand why the species has such a limited distribution

HanaPuna: Rebuilding the Hawaiian Coral Reefs

Architectural design solution to the decline population of coral reefs in the Hawaiian Islands