The Mississippi River Delta is the 7th largest river delta on Earth that consists of the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, it contains 40% of the wetlands in the contiguous United States and over two million hectares (4,942,108 acres), an area equivalent to the size of two football fields, of agricultural lands. Due to fertilizer runoff from agricultural lands, the river delta has been experienced excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. The excess levels of these nutrients have contributed to water pollution in the delta and the hypoxia zone in the Gulf of Mexico. This research will focus on mapping the levels of nitrogen and phosphorous across the river delta to determine where the highest levels are

To understand wildlife ecology, one common strategy is a technique known as telemetry. This technique involves attaching radio-transmitters to animals. For volant species, such as bats, transmitters are attached to their backs with an adhesive. However, one issue is that it is easy for the bats to remove the transmitter. The loss of transmitters early in surveys is not only costly, but limits the amount of data that can be collected. Thus, there is a real need to extend the length of time a transmitter remains on a bat. To address this, we conducted a two-part behavioral observation study in the bat flight facility at TCU. In part 1 from April to September 2019, we tested 1) two currently available transmitter brands and 2) three different prototype designs to determine if the overall shape and size of the transmitter impacted the length of time they remained attached. We found that regardless of transmitter brand or design, the antennas incurred a significant amount of damage, suggesting the bats used the antennas to grab and pull them off. Thus, for part 2 from August to September 2020, we conducted a series of trials to establish the effectiveness of three coatings at preventing bats from damaging the antennas. We found that transmitters did not remain attached significantly longer with cayenne pepper, nail-biting deterrent, or Tabasco sauce on the antenna, suggesting that either 1) bats were not deterred by the three coatings we selected, or 2) bats may not be chewing the antennas or putting them in their mouths to provide leverage to remove them. Overall, our study revealed that bats can and will remove transmitters by grooming them off using the antennas and recommend that future research focuses on integrating the antenna into the body of the transmitter as a preventative measure.

Agricultural soils require the presence of three basic plant nutrients: Nitrogen, phosphorus, and Potassium (NPK). Each nutrient has its role in plant growth and their deficiencies have adverse effects. Therefore, detailed analysis was required to analyze whether soils from a lake were sufficient in terms of these nutrients and could be suggested for use as an agricultural soil amendment on a particular plot of land. Experimental study by way of specific chemical analysis methods (LOI, spectroscopy, etc.) looked at water content, pH, EC, SOC (Soil Organic Carbon), phosphorus and nitrogen content in the lake sediments; these values were used to determine what contents/nutrients in the lake sediments would need to be optimized for crops of interest. Results from the concluding experimental procedures would allow the property owner to effectively make use of their resources.

The Atlantic Forest, which extends over 17 Brazilian States, is one of the richest biomes in the world. Historically it has been a hot spot for biodiversity including endangered and endemic species. Despite this, only 15% of the forest’s original range remains. This loss is disproportionally distributed as 4 of the 17 states accounts for 90% of the loss. The source of this deforestation can be attributed primarily to logging developments and eucalyptus plantations. Through using public geodatabases, satellite imagery, and ArcGIS Pro we will show this forest loss and fragmentation in a visually accessible way.

Anxiety related to academics, especially with regards to testing, is a rapidly growing mental health issue impacting all undergraduates at TCU. High levels of test anxiety have been shown to inhibit memory recall, reduce exam scores, and promote poor study habits. Expressive writing is a form of test anxiety intervention consisting of a type of free response developed to allow students to release their minds of anxious thoughts and emotions related to exams. Expressive writing has been shown to reduce test anxiety and improve exam performance. However, the effectiveness of expressive writing may be mitigated by a students’ level of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is defined as the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions. In order to better understand the connection between emotional intelligence and expressive writing, I conducted an exploratory mixed-methods study using quantitative survey data to inform our selection of interview participants and the initial development of my interview protocol. Initially, to gain insight into students’ responses to the expressive writing prompt, I collected and coded expressive writing samples from GEOL 10113 students during the Fall of 2020. Prior to the beginning of the semester, I asked the students to complete a Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF) to assign a numerical value to their approximate emotional intelligence levels. Next, I stratified students by quartiles into high (Q3), medium (Q2), and low (Q1) emotionally intelligent groups. Then, GEOL 10113 students were asked to participate in focus group interviews, and volunteers were subsequently grouped by their TEIQue-SF score into three focus groups relating to the high, medium, and low emotional intelligence bins. Finally, using the focus group interview data and the selected student’s responses from the initial expressive writing exercise, I found that all of the student responses showed consistent differences between the three focus groups. Highly emotionally intelligent students had more positive experiences with the expressive writing exercise while lower emotionally intelligent students tended to have neutral or negative experiences with the activity. Overall, these data suggest that the level of emotional intelligence relates to how willing students were to convey their thoughts and emotions during the activity, which helped the higher emotionally intelligent students to have positive experiences with the writing exercise. The implications of my study are that while the efficacy of the expressive writing exercise is assumed, emotional intelligence is a confounding variable. Students must engage with it in some sort of authentic manner if they are to benefit from the exercise.