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Celebration of Learning 2018: Poster session I

GÄVLE ROOM, THE GERBER CENTER
9:30-10:45 a.m.

Dr. Allen Bertsche
Augie Abroad Photo Contest Ceremony

Poster #0

Each year Augustana celebrates its culture of study away through the Augie Abroad Photo Contest. Students are invited to submit photos taken as part of Augustana study-away programs from the past year in four categories: architecture and design, culture and celebration, nature, and images of Augustana students. During Celebration of Learning, the winning photos are revealed and placed on display in The Gerber Center and Thomas Tredway Library.

Courtney Becker
Project advisor: Dr. Christopher Marmé, economics
Income Determinants in 1940

Poster #1

I attempt to identify the determinants of income in 1940. I use 1940 Census data from the Greater Milwaukee Area. This data contains income and potential explanatory factors such as age, education level, and immigrant status. Inputting these variables into a regression shows the main determinants of income.

Michael Hickey
Project advisor: Dr. Christopher Marmé, economics
NBA Salary Determinants From 2001-2017

Poster #2

I used econometrics and multiple regression analysis to determine whether contract values of NBA players are most closely tied to individual statistics, individual achievements and accolades; the financial performance of the league as a whole; or the economic health of the United States. The results of this study could potentially be used to help NBA general managers forecast the fair market value of free agents.

Zineb Zirari
Project advisor: Dr. Christopher Marmé, economics
Women's Education Levels in Developing Countries

Poster #3

This poster presentation is a Development Economics research on the educational attainment of women in developed and developing countries around the world. This research aims at contrasting women’s education levels in developing and in developed countries, and ultimately finding a correlation between women’s education and economic development. We looked at the mean level of study of women in 30 different countries and ran statistical tests to analyze the different factors contributing to it.

Nicole L. Travis
Project advisor: Dr. Christopher Marmé, economics
Determinants of Income in Chicago Suburbs in 1940

Poster #4

Using data from the 1940 U.S. Census and other sources I attempt to model the determinants of income in the 1940s Chicago suburban area. I have based my analysis on age and level of education as well as proxy variables for whether the person is native to the U.S., if they work in the farming industry, and if they work privately, for the government, or own their own business. This is research being carried out in Economics 403 this term.

Huyen Le
Project advisor: Dr. Christopher Marmé, economics
Determinants of Spending on Clothes in the U.S. from 1987 to 2017

Poster #5

Using annual data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economic Research at the St. Louis Fed, the Statistics Portal, and other sources and regression analysis, I attempt to model the determinants of spending on clothes in the U.S. from 1987 to 2017. Besides the amount of spending on clothes as the response variable, my analysis includes different explanatory variables, which are clothing prices, average income, advertising spending, and the U.S. population. This research is being carried out in Economics 403 this term.

Brendan Vorobiev
Project advisor: Dr. Christopher Marmé, economics
Exploring the Economic Reasons for the Rise and Continuous Fall of Detroit

Poster #6

This project will highlight the historical implications and current economic issues facing the city of Detroit. This piece will also try to explain potential reasons for the fall and almost impossible economic recovery of Detroit due to reasons such as a lack of industrial diversity, urbanization/collapsing housing market, crime rates, and other researched topics. These results will be compared and contrasted to other major cities such as Chicago and Pittsburgh.

Olivia LaPlante
Project advisor: Dr. Christopher Marmé, economics
Literacy of Russian Immigrants in the United States 1834-1897

Poster #7

Using records from the National Archives Access to Archival Databases, other sources and regression analysis, I attempt to model the determinants of literacy of Russian immigrants in the United States from 1834 to 1897. I have based my analysis on various factors such as gender, age, nationality and year of arrival derived from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration data files. This is research being conducted in Economics 403: Senior Research Seminar this term.

John Danko
Project advisor: Dr. Christopher Marmé, economics
Impact of WPA Expenditures on Job Creation and Wages in Selected States from 1935 to 1943

Poster #8

Using yearly data from the U.S. Library of Congress and regression analysis I attempt to analyze the variance of WPA expenditures between five states, and measure the impact that total WPA expenditures had on job creation and wages between 1935 and 1943. During this time period, the U.S. economy was fresh out of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl wreaked havoc on agricultural states in the Great Plains. For this study, I am interested in determining if WPA expenditures were larger in the Dust Bowl states relative to the rest of the country. I have based my analysis on total WPA expenditures, total WPA wages paid, and WPA jobs created in New York, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and California. This research is based off of a previous proposal for Economics 404, and is being conducted in Economics 403 this term.

Kevin Zaldivar
Project advisor: Dr. Christopher Marmé, economics
The Impact of Infrastructure on GDP

Poster #9

The impact of the railroad on the American economy is a classic dispute in need of modern research. This research is an attempt to highlight the most important factors of growth in GDP in modern times. This data can be used to make smart budget decisions and policy reworks.

Zachary Carlson
Project advisor: Dr. Christopher Marmé, economics
An Analysis of 1910 Illinois Corn Production

Poster #10

Through the use of 1910 U.S. Census data and University of Illinois soil surveys from 1910-1919, I attempt to model corn production by county to identify the key factors that influenced corn cultivation in the early 20th century. The study considers yield per acre, average farm size, average farm value, and soil type of select counties in Illinois to define crop yield for this select time period before the Great Depression. The research is a part of Economics 403 to complete the economics major.

Ziou Zhang
Project advisor: Dr. Christopher Marmé, economics and mathematics
Income Inequality in China

Poster #11

In this poster presentation, I will use table and data to show the situation and reasons of income inequality of China when China’s economy is growing super fast.

Indre Virsinskaite
Project advisor: Dr. Christopher Marmé, economics
Education and Earnings: The Economic Value of Your College Degree

Poster #12

Utilizing data from College Board and various other sources, this paper seeks to analyze the return on investment of a college education. Through regression analysis of the average student’s cost of attendance per year and various other factors I attempt to reveal the correlation between rising tuition rates and earnings thereafter. This research is being carried out in Economics 403 this term.

Lisa Pohlman-Zordan
Project advisors: Dr. Sheila Goins and Dr. Ann Ericson, business administration
50 Shades of Green: A Study on Environmental Claims in Marketing Materials

Poster #13

“Greenwashing” is considered providing false or exaggerated information about a product to make it appear more environmentally friendly or sustainable than it actually is. With environmental concerns on the rise, deceptive claims about products being more beneficial to the environment than they are are becoming a more prevalent issue. This study aims to identify factors that may affect a person’s ability to decipher between what is greenwashing and what is not through gathering basic demographics, purchasing decisions, and level of environmental enthusiasm.

Rocio Barron, Johnathan Briggs, Abigail Carus, Mikaela Ferrara, Adam Huffstutler, Alexander LaMendola, Connor Maccabee, Julia Meyer, Mikee Pagdanganan, Harrison Phillis, Andrew Remeselnik, Victoria Witkowski 
Project advisor: Dr. Brian Leech, history
Augustana Winter Traditions

Poster #14

The students of History 369: Oral History & Testimony plan to present five separate posters. These posters will draw on many oral history interviews completed with members of the Augustana community, past and present, as well as extensive research into the archives held by both the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center and the Augustana College Special Collections. Each research poster will focus on a separate topic related to winter traditions at Augustana College, including (1) Sankta Lucia, (2) Food Traditions (especially Smörgåsbords), (3) Musical Traditions (like Messiah, Lessons and Carols, and Christmas at Augustana), (4) Non-Christmas Traditions (including Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and Our Lady of Guadalupe), and (5) the Joy of Christmas Celebration at the Jenny Lind Chapel in Andover, Ill.

Dr. Lendol Calder
History
Uncovering the Story of American History

Poster #15

For my sabbatical term in 2016-17, I continued work on an “untextbook” I’m writing for adoption in U.S. history survey courses. My poster will describe the learning design for the book, how it differs from traditional textbooks, and why this first-of-its-kind digital course book is important for helping instructors teach history more effectively.

Dr. Jeffrey Renaud
WLLC-Spanish
Coarticulation in Two Fricative-Vowel Sequences of Latin American Spanish

Poster #16

Dialectal surveys of Latin American Spanish (Perissinotto 1975, Resnick 1975) describe three main possible pronunciations for fu (fuego “fire”) and fo (foco ‘‘focus”) sequences: faithful [f], velarized [x], and bilabialized [ɸ], in order of frequency. While the velar realization has received phonetic and theoretical consideration (Lipski 1995, Mazzaro 2011), little is understood about the voiceless bilabial fricative [ɸ] in Spanish. This paper describes a three-part production study to uniformly account for the unfaithful velar and bilabial realizations. (Mazzaro 2011) explains the velar [x] variant by arguing that, given the acoustic similarity of, e.g., [fu]/[xu], listeners misperceive a speaker's intended [fu] as [xu] and will, in subsequent speech, articulate [xu] instead. Coarticulatory accounts, however, would argue that, given the backness of the vowel, speakers retract the fricative from labiodental [f] to velar [x]. (In the case of bilabial [ɸ], speakers assimilate lip-roundedness.) If (mis)perception were the sole motivating factor, we would expect discrete points of articulation in the [xu], [xo], [ɸu] and [ɸo] pronunciations, as opposed to a high degree of coarticulation under an assimilatory account. Based on the phonetic analysis of 1,457 recorded fricatives from four (4) Chilean and four (4) Mexican Spanish speakers, I argue that the coarticulation found suggests assimilation and undermines an exclusively perceptual account.

Ryan Johnson, Dr. Kevin Geedey
Project advisor: Dr. Kevin Geedey, biology and environmental studies
Functions of Ecosystems: Stream Metabolism as an Efficient and Effective Means to Gauge the Health and Understand the Interworking of Urban Streams in a Watershed of Rock Island, Ill.

Poster #17

Stream metabolism is a critical functional measure of stream health that integrates physical parameters like slope and discharge, with ecosystem functions like photosynthesis and respiration. Stream metabolism is widely studied; however, urban stream metabolism remains poorly understood. Stream metabolism was measured for five streams ranging from 1st to 5th orders from October 11 to October 18, 2017, and four streams ranging from 1st to 4th order from October 22 to October 25, 2017, located within an approximately 9.3 square-kilometer watershed of Rock Island, Ill., that has an urban to suburban type of development. These measurements were carried out using calibrated HACH water quality multiprobes measuring continuous temperature and oxygen concentrations over five days for the earlier data collection and three days for the later data collection at 30-minute intervals. Metabolism was estimated using a Monte Carlo Markov Chain approach that took into account irradiance and gas-transfer velocity to estimate the 24-hr. average and time stepped community respiration, gross primary production, and the total mass flux of O2 by gas exchange. This data was then compared with previously collected physical and chemical data from each site. All sites were characterized by relatively low rates of gross primary production that were far less than community respiration, a pattern that indicates a reliance on energy input from outside the stream rather than in stream photosynthesis. Variation in respiration and photosynthesis were poorly explained by the existing water quality data for the sites (range of R2 data). However, two of the sites experienced transient drops in dissolved oxygen at or near 0 mg/l. When those two sites are removed from the analysis, total Phosphate concentration (mg/l) and fecal coliform where both negatively related to integrated community respiration (R2 value of .4965 and .53, respectively). These transient drops in oxygen remain unexplained but show the importance of continuous monitoring for capturing potentially critical ecosystem events.

Caitlin Lebel, Dr. David A. Grimley
Project advisor: Dr. David A. Grimley, Illinois State Geological Survey
Fossil Gastropods for Use in Estimating Paleoclimate and Paleoecology in Last Glacial Loess, Southwestern Illinois

Poster #18

During the Pleistocene, thick packages of loess in the central U.S.A. were derived from glacial meltwater deposits in large valleys that drained the Laurentide Ice Sheet. The potential to utilize terrestrial gastropod fossils preserved in loess horizons as high-resolution paleoecological and paleoclimatic indicators has not been fully explored in the central U.S.A. Such fossils can assist in our ability to date glacial loess horizons, measure accumulation rates, as well as to reconstruct paleoecological and paleoclimatic conditions. In this study, we collected loess samples, in 25 cm intervals vertically, from a site (Demazenod Section) in southwestern Illinois (Belleville) with thick Peoria Silt. Approximately 1,300 terrestrial gastropod shells were extracted from wet sieving of bulk loess sediment. A diverse fauna, containing 15 species, is documented at the site. Individual Webbhelix multilineata and Succineidaegastropod shells within the loess were radiocarbon dated at approximately 18,100 to 16,700 radiocarbon years before present (21,800 to 20,100 calibrated years). Known geographic ranges and temperature tolerances of species existing today were extrapolated to estimate paleotemperatures for this interval. The presence of fossil gastropod species such as Stenotrema hirsutum, Hendersonia occulta, W. multilineata and Allogona profunda imply a forested landscape and mean July temperature > 18°C. However, the occurrence of Vertigo modesta in some zones suggest a mean July temperature < 20°C, compared with 26°C in the same area today. Multi-centennial climatic or ecological oscillations are implied by variations in the gastropod assemblage stratigraphically.

Erin Ansusinha, Dr. Tim Muir
Project advisor: Dr. Tim Muir, biology
Energy Use in Chrysemys picta Hatchlings During Hibernation

Poster #19

Chrysemys picta, commonly known as painted turtles, are ectothermic animals that hatch in late summer and hibernate through the winter until emergence from the nest the following spring. Throughout dormancy, the aphagic hatchlings must rely on endogenous energy stores, presumably in the form of residual yolk, to keep up with metabolic demands. Recent evidence suggests that residual yolk is mostly depleted by early fall, which indicates that its initial energy must either be consumed soon after hatching, or transferred from the yolk to somatic energy stores. To track the use or transfer of residual-yolk energy, we separated and weighed the residual yolk, liver, small intestine, and remaining carcass of hatchling turtles at 0, 2, 4, 6, 10, and 34 weeks after hatching. The residual-yolk size at hatching was indirectly manipulated by incubating half of the eggs in dry conditions, yielding relatively large residual yolks, and half in wetter conditions, yielding relatively small residual yolks. Our results show notable decreases in residual-yolk mass over time in both the wet- and dry-group hatchlings, although the average residual-yolk mass at hatching for the wet group was substantially lower than that of the dry group. Between 0 and 2 weeks after hatching, the dry group residual-yolk mass had decreased by 59.80% while the wet group residual-yolk mass had decreased by 44.71%. In addition, the residual yolk of wet-group hatchlings was virtually immeasurable by 34 weeks after hatching, while the dry group’s average residual-yolk mass remained higher than the wet-group at just 4 weeks after hatching. While liver mass in both conditions remained relatively stable at 0, 2, 4, 6, and 10 weeks after hatching, we observed a decrease in mass 34 weeks after hatching in both groups. This finding supports the idea that the liver plays a role in sustaining metabolic activity throughout hibernation. To better understand the fate of residual-yolk energy, we will measure triglyceride concentration in the residual yolk, liver and carcass from each turtle.

Carissa Gilliland, Dr. Patricia Hartzell, Martina Ederer
Project advisor: Dr. Patricia Hartzell, biology (University of Idaho)
Glyphosate in Roundup Affects Siderophore Synthesis in Pseudomonas Fluorescens

Poster #20

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is the most widely used broad-spectrum herbicide worldwide. Glyphosate use has increased over 15-fold since the introduction of glyphosate-resistant (Roundup Ready) crops in 1996. Microbes, like plants, are inhibited by glyphosate. Hence, given this significant global use of Roundup, more research is needed to discern the long-term effects of glyphosate on microbes. We hypothesized that some soil microbes would develop tolerance to glyphosate and that recurrent glyphosate exposure would decrease the amount of time it would take for soil microbes to evolve resistance to the herbicide. Evolution of resistance in the model soil bacterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens, was tested. Resistant strains had an unexpected phenotype —pyoverdine, the fluorescent siderophore (pigment), was diminished significantly in the Roundup (glyphosate) R strains.

Hayden Holland, Amanda Wilmsmeyer
Project advisor: Dr. Amanda Wilmsmeyer, chemistry
Adsorption of Volatile Organic Compounds to Amorphous Silica

Poster #21

Understanding the chemical interactions that occur between gas molecules and a surface is essential for the preparation of a surface material that could be used to separate, attract or analyze certain gas molecules of interest in the natural world. For example, recent research has shown that patients with lung cancer exhale certain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at higher concentrations than healthy patients. Our research has focused on the fundamental interactions occurring between these VOCs and a sorbent material. Continued research on this topic could lead to breakthroughs in the development of noninvasive diagnostic techniques for lung cancer.

Nick Torres
Project advisor: Dr. Michael Reisner, environmental studies
Lead Contamination in Scott County, Iowa

Poster #22

Lead is a highly resourceful element implicated in various industrial applications. Utilized most for exterior and interior painting, lead was banned in 1978 once concurring the extremely dangerous neurological damage it causes once exposed to the bloodstream. Scott County, Iowa, has experienced high levels of child lead poisoning, since 2000 having over 1,600 documented poisonings, bringing Scott County, Iowa, four times over the national average. The Upper Mississippi Center focused on resolving this issue through a summer of research, with 27 homes sampled, and a partnership with the Scott County Health Department, the results proved to be helpful in finding an end to this epidemic. With the data recorded from paint, dust and house conditions of each location, we observe general trends that assist in this countywide outbreak. To name a few, there were strong direct relationships with the condition of windows and the number of lead hazards within a home, as well as the elevated lead levels in dust having relation to the renter occupancy. Trends found within the data sampled allow us to make conclusive, evidence-supported assumptions while assessing homes for lead.

Marissa C. Iverson
Project advisor: Dr. Reuben Heine, environmental studies, geography
Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Island Morphology in Lower Pool 18 of the Mississippi River

Poster #23

The Upper Mississippi River System has a significant trend in island loss due to river engineering structures. However, Lower Pool 18 is observed as a counterexample to the island loss pattern with its island development near Lock and Dam 18 during the past 80 years. This research is modeled after a study done in Lower Pool 6 of the Upper Mississippi River, where an island development was found to contradict the island loss prevalence. The Lower Pool 18 research’s goal is to map, describe and explain spatial patterns of islands’ growth, persistence and loss. Historical maps and aerial photographs of the islands, throughout the time period of before the lock and dams were implemented up until today, will be used as the main sources of data. Visual analysis, descriptive analysis, and a preliminary explanation were completed to explain the spatial patterns of the islands’ morphology. Results have shown the spatial growth of the Lower Pool 18 islands to be significant, as well as the pattern in which it occurs. Historic flooding levels and human engineering sources are possible contributors to this particular instance of island growth. These findings will aid river managers in future decision-making on engineering and restoration plans. The results will also serve as another counterexample to the island loss pattern, and will result in a better understanding of the Mississippi River.

Sarah Oswald
Project advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Strasser, geology
Temporal and Spatial Variations in Anthropogenic Contaminants in Mill Creek, Kane County, Ill.

Poster #24

Surface waters, such as rivers, creeks and streams are vulnerable to anthropogenic contamination from point and nonpoint sources. Surface runoff from agriculture, suburbia and industrial sites commonly results in contributing to higher concentrations of heavy metals and nutrients to nearby waterways. Growing populations with rapid development contribute to increases in surface water contamination. Mill Creek, a tributary of the Fox River in northeastern Illinois, has a drainage basin area of approximately 80.3 km2, with a channel length of approximately 25.7 km draining agriculture areas, suburbia, forests, wetlands and lakes. Hydrographs from a gauging station near its confluence with the Fox River shows that discharge peaks quickly after large rain events, with lag times typically in the range of hours to days, depending on the amount of precipitation, according to USGS water gauge tracking. The creek shows signs of significant bank erosion during high flow events. The purposes of this study are: 1) to determine if there is a predictable relationship between discharge (and gauge height) and contaminant concentrations, and 2) to identify point sources of pollution. The contaminants studied include P+, Cu2+, NO3-, Fe3+, Pb2+, Hg2+, As3+ and the pH. This study found the highest contaminant concentrations in the low-flow and high-flow conditions. The contaminants of highest concern include NO3-, Pb2+, As3+ and Hg2+, due to their environmental impacts and high concentrations found in this study above EPA standards. There are no EPA standards, but the there were high concentrations found between 1.76-6.91ppm. Arsenic was found at the highest level of 1.33ppm when EPA standards are set at maximum 0.0.34ppm. Lead was found at concentrations ranging from 2.99-4.61ppm while EPA standards are set at a 0.065ppm maximum. Lastly, Mercury concentrations found ranged from 0.33-2.16ppm while EPA standards are set at a 0.0014ppm maximum. One test site is concerning for its concentration of Iron found at 7.77ppm while EPA standards are set at 1.0ppm. Downstream variations indicate contaminant sources from both agricultural and suburban areas, although no point sources were identified.

Ryan Maher
Project advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Strasser, environmental studies and geology
Identifying Trace Element Chronological Markers within Upper Mississippi River Floodplain-Sediments

Poster #25

During the 19th and 20th centuries, efforts to control the upper Mississippi River resulted in significant geomorphological changes to the channel and floodplains, leading to rapid sedimentation in parts of the floodplain. Some areas along the Mississippi River have experienced up to 3 meters of alluvial sediments during post-settlement times. Previous studies suggest that this rapid sedimentation was caused largely by anthropogenic manipulation of the river and its valley (e.g. levee construction, wing dams, and locks and dams). The original goal of this study was to identify anthropogenic elements in the sediment that could separate pre-settlement from post-settlement times, thus providing a chronologic marker. However, high water conditions impeded deep sampling, and these results suggest that samples are limited to post-settlement times. The study site is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River near river mile 425 and downstream of L&D No. 17. Historical data indicate rapid sedimentation rates adjacent to the main channel in this area in the past 100 years. Samples were collected on three separate occasions over a timespan of a year and a half, using soil pits, hand-driven soil cores, and a Giddings drill rig. In total, 28 samples were taken, with a maximum subsurface depth of approximately 2 meters. Bulk sediment samples were analyzed by XRF spectroscopy for Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ce, Ba, Pb, Na2O, MgO, Al2O3, SiO2, P2O5, K2O, CaO, TiO2, MnO, and Fe2O3.Trace elements Zr, Mo, Fe2O3, and MnO exhibited trends in the data that suggest that fluctuations in their concentrations could be linked to flood events. Further testing is required to verify that relationship; however there is an apparent upward trend in Pb concentrations with depth, possibly caused by an influx of detrital Pb during the 19th century, when upstream regions experienced significant mining and deforestation. These data suggest that Pb could be a viable element to distinguish pre-settlement and post-settlement sediments in this area. Further testing at greater depths are required to corroborate these findings.

Joseph Teresi
Project advisors: Dr. Michael Reisner, environmental studies; Dr. Jeffrey Strasser and Dr. Michael Wolf, geology
Analysis of Surface Soil Lead Contamination in Urban Neighborhoods of Davenport, Iowa

Poster #26

Davenport, Iowa, is a typical Midwestern city with a population of ~102,600 residents and is characterized by aging infrastructure and housing stock. Consequently, alarmingly high rates of child lead poisoning—as a result of deteriorating lead paint—constitute a major public health concern in some urban neighborhoods. A research team conducted free home lead screenings in vulnerable Davenport neighborhoods to better understand the severity of the problem. Via appointment, 27 homes were tested for lead in their paint, dust, soil and water. Many of the highest-risk homes were found in low-income neighborhoods. The purpose of this study was to assess the extent of soil lead contamination and lead bioavailability in this urban setting. A total of 56 composite soil samples were collected: 26 Drip Zone (DZ), 18 Center of Yard (CY), and 12 Play Area (PA). These designations correspond to, respectively: soil within 1 m of the home’s foundation, soil elsewhere in the yard, and soil elsewhere in the yard but deemed a high-traffic area for children. Samples were taken from a depth of 1.5 cm, oven-dried, milled, and pressed into pellets for XRF analyses. The ubiquitous contamination of this well-documented neurotoxin threatens the livelihood of Davenport residents and especially poses irreversible health issues for children under the age of 6.

Jeffrey L. Swanson
Project advisor: Dr. Reuben Heine, geography
Use of Floodscape Mapping to Assess Changes in Inundation Frequency of the Upper Mississippi River

Poster #27

As an alternative to probability-based maps, DeJager (and others) reconceptualized floodplain mapping using the notion of “floodscapes” (DeJager et al., 2015). A floodscape map is developed using daily stage data and high-resolution topography to create maps that depict the average number of days of inundation (per year or growing season). Floodscape maps reveal intricate and continuous patterns of high-frequency flows that are critically important to floodplain ecological functioning. DeJager found significant correlations between floodscape inundation and riparian vegetation patterns but single floodscape maps only provide snapshots in time. This current research develops and utilizes multiple floodscape maps to quantify changes in flooding over decadal time periods. Using a Mississippi River site near Keithsburg, Ill., we developed floodscape maps for Blackhawk Island over three different 30-year time periods (1908-1937, 1939-1968 and 1986-2015). Historic floodplain topography was developed from 1938 1-ft contour-line (0.31m) topographic maps and modern digital terrain were developed from 2011 bare-earth LiDAR data. These maps quantify floodscape changes in the 73 years since the completion of the lock and dam system. When comparing 1938 to 2011, DEM differencing reveals a geomorphic pattern dominated by deposition and aggradation. Despite the increase in terrain elevation, this research finds an overall pattern of more frequent inundation (a more submerged floodscape) and demonstrates that increases in stage frequencies have overwhelmed the increases in floodplain elevation in the 73 years since the construction of the lock and dams. Floodscape-change analysis provides a useful spatial tool for visualizing and conceptualizing flood-inundation changes over time.

Kristin Schoenecker
Project advisor: Dr. Reuben Heine, geography
Solving the Mystery of the Big Thicket: A Predictive Study on Land Ownership

Poster #28

Big Thicket National Preserve (BITH) was created in 1974 to preserve its unique, biodiverse landscape in response to rampant resource extraction. However, due to a lack of resources allocated to the creation of accessible property ownership records in the region and the gradual purchasing process of the land within the set boundaries of the preserve, the boundaries dividing preservation land and private land are often unclear. Maps that should contain land ownership information for each parcel are often missing key data about the owner. This uncertainty inspired this study’s goal of using a logistic regression model to calculate the likelihood that a given parcel is owned by the preserve or another owner. This study analyzed parcels that intersect units of BITH that surround the Neches River. Key processes completed in ArcGIS included using supervised classification on imagery from the National Agriculture Imagery Program to find areas of vegetation disturbance as well as using parcel metrics on data collected from Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Orange, and Tyler Country Appraisal Districts. Statistical analysis using JMP-in Version 4.0.2 by SAS yielded a model that could be used to identify land-ownership type on parcels with unknown landowners. The model performed with 96% accuracy on parcels of known ownership-type and had an R-Squared value of .8444. Of the 43 unknown parcels, 14 were identified as likely belonging to BITH and 29 were identified as likely belonging to another owner. This data will help fill a crucial knowledge gap about land use near and within BITH’s boundaries.

Chad Populorum
Project advisors: Dr. Jennifer Burnham, Dr. Reuben Heine and Dr. Christopher Strunk, geography; Dr. Michael Reisner, environmental studies
A Quantitative Analysis of the Effects of Urbanization, Mesophication and Prescribed Burns on Oak Woodlands in the Chicago Metropolitan Area

Poster #29

Urban expansion has had devastating impacts on forest ecosystems, especially within the past century. Human attempts to dominate nature have diminished natural disturbance regimes, which have maintained the biodiversity and historic composition of these ecosystems. Fires have been a prominent force in maintaining the structure of oak, hickory and other heliophytic (sun-loving and fire-adapted) forest systems. Human-induced fire suppression has led to mesophication across North America. Mesophication is the transition from drier conditions with open canopies to wetter conditions with closed canopies. These new conditions decrease the survival rates of these important species and begin to favor mesophytic and invasive species. Without fires to fight off these competitors, the positive feedback loop that is mesophication ensues. In urbanized areas where mesophication has been occurring, forest managers are working to mimic nature by implementing prescribed burns and other restoration techniques. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of prescribed burns within the Chicago metropolitan area, specifically at Blackwell Forest Preserve in Winfield, Illinois. By comparing the species composition within three forest patches at Blackwell that receive varying amounts of prescribed burns, the results helped to determine whether mesophication is occurring and whether the burns are working to combat these issues. The results showed that mesophication has been occurring within this preserve and that implementing prescribed burns does help to maintain historic biodiversity. This is significant for forest managers due to the inevitable loss of biodiversity in urbanized areas experiencing the impacts of mesophication.

Evan J. Grassmann
Project advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Strasser, geology
Lithologies and Provenance of Pebbles Found in the Moraines of Wisconsin

Poster #30

Pebble lithologies in moraines generally reflect the relative percentages of bedrock types exposed at the earth surface along the flow paths in the up-ice direction. This study aims to quantify the fractional percentages of pebble lithologies distributed across Wisconsin by the Laurentide Ice Sheet and to compare those variations to previously mapped up-ice bedrock compositions. Samples were taken from the terminal moraines of three glacial lobes in northern Wisconsin and from the Green Bay / Lake Michigan interlobate kettle moraines. Pebbles ranging from 0.5-1.0 inches were isolated by sieving, and pebbles were sorted according to lithology. GIS software was then used to predict lithologic distributions at these sample sites based on the composition and area of up-ice bedrock and an assumption of linear ice flow. The predicted relative percentages of lithologies vary across the study area due to variations in up-ice bedrock. Large Paleozoic sedimentary basins in the east contrast with extensive PreCambrian plutonic and igneous terranes in the west. The pebble-count data from the field generally agree with predicted lithologic distributions utilizing GIS analytical techniques. Samples taken from between the GBL and LML consistently showed fewer igneous pebbles than those taken from the lobes farther west. This research adds to the growing repertoire of useful applications for GIS software by demonstrating that in this broad study area, GIS analysis is a viable way to predict compositions of glacial sedimentary deposits, assuming existing bedrock maps are accurate.

Dr. Tierney Brosius, Jacon Stytz, Nathan Kies, Nicolette Geddeis, Sydney Zaragoza, Tawnya Smith, Andrew Cyr, Joey Gonsiorek
Project advisor: Dr. Tierney Brosius, biology
Augie Insects: The Importance of Insect Diversity

Poster #31

Insects are the most diverse multi-cellular life found on our planet and they help drive almost every ecological process that impacts human life. Even though they are incredibly important to our everyday lives, most people are unaware of the insect communities around them, and when they are aware they are often scared of the little creatures that they don't understand. The goal of our fall project was to do an initial inventory of the insects that could be found on Augustana’s campus. We did this survey to help bring awareness to the amazing diversity that can be found in what some think of as an urban setting. In addition to this goal, we also hope that these insects can be used as indicators of the ecological health of the campus as multiple projects move forward on ecological restoration projects.

Philip Tunnicliff
Project advisors: Dr. Jeffrey Strasser and Dr. Michael Wolf, geology
Lead Contamination Assessment of Drinking Water in Davenport, Iowa

Poster #32

The recent and ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan, has raised awareness of the susceptibility of municipal water supplies to lead contamination from aging infrastructures and household plumbing fixtures. As part of a larger, multifaceted project to assess lead contamination and poisoning in an aging neighborhood, this study focused on lead concentrations in water sampled from high-risk homes of older neighborhoods in Davenport, Iowa. The drinking water in Davenport comes entirely from the Mississippi River, and it is treated by Iowa American Water before being released into the city’s storage and distribution system. The goals of this study are to identify homes likely to contain lead pipes and to assess the amount of lead present in their drinking water. Site selection depended on which occupants gave permission to collect samples. Samples were taken from either kitchen or bathroom faucets. Water was sampled using standard EPA protocols. A first draw sample was taken without flushing the tap after a minimum six-hour stagnation time. Samples were collected in 1000 ml bottles, and nitric acid was added as a preservative. Samples were analyzed by Iowa American Water’s certified lab. Some water samples did contain detectable lead. However, no sample concentrations exceeded the EPA’s action level. These results contrast with a previous study of untreated surface waters in the area, which found lead concentrations above the EPA action levels (Emmer, 2012). This study provides evidence that the water treated in Davenport has lead removed, and remains drinkable after passing to the home.

Joseph Cross
Project advisor: Dr. Michael Wolf, geology
Geochemical and Thin Section Analysis of Ring Mountain Serpentinite

Poster #33

Ring Mountain is a large geologic complex located on the Tiburon Peninsula in Marin County, northern California. Ring Mountain lies within a broader collection of rocks called the Franciscan Complex, which has been intensely studied by geologists due to the subduction and accretion during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Ring Mountain has four main stratigraphic sections, the closest to the surface being the Coast Range Ophiolite. The stratigraphic layers within Ring Mountain have a puzzling geologic history because their organization is erratic and defies superposition. Additionally, these rock layers have long and arduous metamorphic histories shown via identifiable physical features. The Coast Range Ophiolite contains mafic and ultramafic material, specifically mantle peridotites which have undergone serpentinization. The basis of this study is a geochemical analysis of Ring Mountain serpentinites in order to determine their affinity between abyssal, mantle wedge, or subduction zone. Nine samples were collected from Ring Mountain and analyzed for major, minor and trace element geochemical composition by XRF and textural analysis by thin-section study. The purpose of this research is to clarify the composition and identity of the serpentinites in Ring Mountain. This project will help geologists better understand serpentinization and how this process affects ultramafic material.

John Ethan Malone
Project advisors: Dr. Michael Wolf and Dr. Jeffrey Strasser, geology
Archean Geochronological and Deformational Framework of the Southern Margin of the Bighorn Batholith, Wyoming: Successive Synplutonic Shearing Between 2960 and 2840 MA

Poster #34

The Mesoarchean core of the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming reveals a boundary between two separate terranes. The northern part of the crystalline core is composed of the ~2850 Ma Bighorn Batholith (BhB), an undeformed composite granitic intrusion, whereas the central and southern area of the range exposes older quartzofeldspathic gneiss complexes as well as minor supracrustal rocks. The boundary between the two regions is marked by a shear zone referred to here as the Upper Paint Rock Shear Zone (UPRSZ). Eight high-resolution U-Pb LA-ICPMS age determinations of granodiorite (2), tonalite (2), migmatite leucosome (2), and mylonite (2) exposed just near Geneva Pass along the southern margin of the BhB reveal a >100-million-year history of magma intrusion and deformation. The earliest event was the intrusion of a coarse-grained tonalite between 2960-2935 Ma (and subsequently foliated). These rocks are cut by the UPRSZ. A second magmatic event involved the emplacement of unfoliated and foliated granodiorite between 2920-2900 Ma. The southern margin of the UPRSZ is marked by a ~20-meter-wide mylonite zone that dips 60-70 degrees to the north and has north side up kinematic indicators. The UPRSZ mylonite is 2876 Ma, and was active during the emplacement of the main body of the BhB exposed to the north. Late migmatite bodies intrude at 2841 Ma. The migmatite and early granodiorite each contain xenocrystic zircons as old as 3200 Ma, which indicates that the BhB assimilated some of the oldest rocks present in the Wyoming Archean province. Two conclusions can be drawn from these data. First, the BhB, at least along the southern margin, contains phases at least 100 million years older than the main phase of the body (Frost and Fanning, 2006). Second, episodes of both intrusion and shearing took place in this area as the BhB was emplaced. A comprehensive geologic map of the area has been completed, and samples for geochemical analysis are being processed; these data will aid in deciphering the origins of these magmatic events.

Mark Lundine
Project advisor: Dr. Art Trembanis, College of Earth, Ocean & Environment (University of Delaware)
Optimizing UAV Surveys for Coastal Morphodynamics: Estimation of Spatial Uncertainty as a Function of Flight Acquisition and Post-processing Factors

Poster #35

Recent developments in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and photogrammetry software enable the rapid collection of aerial photography and video over study areas of varying sizes, thereby providing ease of use and accessibility for studies of coastal geomorphology. However, there remains uncertainty over UAV survey techniques, with disagreement on specific flight patterns, flight altitudes, photograph amounts, ground control point (GCP) amounts, GCP spacing schemes, drone models, and which SfM software to use, among other study-specific parameters. A controlled field test (of 1.2 hectares) was performed to determine SfM’s sensitivity to the following flight parameters: altitude (60 m, 80 m, 120 m), photo overlap (70%, 75%, 80%), drone model (DJI Phantom quadcopter, Sensefly eBee RTK fixed-wing), SfM software (PhotoScan, Pix4D), number of GCPs (4-34), and GCP spacing scheme (even, random). Through comparisons of the root mean squared error (RMSE) relative to the GCPs, altitude affected error significantly (>1 cm RMSE difference between 60 m and 120 m), while photo overlap was the least significant parameter (only 4 mm RMSE difference between 70% and 80% overlap). Different drone models, along with varying photogrammetry software, affected RMSE significantly (>3 cm RMSE differences). Surprisingly, GCP spacing schemes were insignificant to error sensitivity (differences). The most efficient survey parameters were six GCPs per hectare of land surveyed, 80 m flight altitudes, and 70% photo overlap. This study can be immediately referenced in future studies for its insight on conducting efficient and low-error UAV surveys.

Allison Pease
Project advisor: Dr. Michael Wolf, geology
How Does Clinohumite React?

Poster #36

Clinohumite has been observed to breakdown based on experiments conducted by Engi and Lindsley (1980) at various pressure and temperature conditions. Clinohumite has also been observed to breakdown in the Cerro del Almirez Massif of southern Spain (Sanchez-Vizcaino et al., 2005, 2009) and at various locations within the Swiss Alps. The Cerro del Almirez Massif is the largest exposure of ultramafic rock in the upper sequence of the Nevado-Filabride Complex (Sanchez-Vizcaino et al., 2005, 2009). Within the antigorite serpentinites, clinohumite appears as rock forming clinohumite, deformed veins of clinohumite and olivine, and strings of clinohumite (exsolution lamellae) in clinopyroxenes (Sanchez-Vizcaino et al., 2005). Within the deformed veins of clinohumite and olivine, two principle reactions occurred: Reaction 1, clinohumite to olivine and ilmenite; Reaction 2, clinohumite and diopside to tremolite and ilmenite. The only known documented case for reaction 2 occurred in the Cerro del Almirez Massif; we show that this reaction is experimentally possible using Augustana College’s SEM/Cold-Seal Vessels and resources at Argonne National Laboratory. We were able to determine the effect of duration, seeding and water on reactions 1 and 2. For example, seeding reaction 1 and 2 produced globular ilmenite and the unseeded sample produced a large tabular ilmenite. In addition, when reaction 2 was saturated with water the crystals of ilmenite and tremolite grew larger than the dry reaction.