19468 research outputs found
Sort by
Catch the King Tide 2025: All King Tide Data
No full textAssociated Publications
Loftis, J.D. and Katragadda, S. (2025). Best Practices for Flood Model Validation using Community Science. 2025 ESRI User Conference Session 1467, 104653. URL
Loftis, J.D. (2022). Exploring Latent Verification Methods for Inundation Forecasting Models through Remote Sensing Networks and Community Science. Oceans 2022 MTS/IEEE Hampton Roads, IEEE. DOI
Mulholland, M.R., Macías-Tapia, A., and Loftis, J.D. (2022). Water quality impacts from tidal flooding in Southern Chesapeake Bay. Oceans 2022 MTS/IEEE Hampton Roads, IEEE. DOI
Rawat, P., Anuar, K.A., Yusuf, J.E.W., Loftis, J.D., and Blake, R.N. (2021). Communicating and co-producing information with stakeholders Examples of participatory mapping approaches related to sea-level rise risks and impacts. Communicating Climate Change: Making Environmental Messaging Accessible, Routledge, p. 79-96. DOI | Book DOI
Loftis, J.D., Mitchell, M., Schatt, D., Forrest, D.R., Wang, H.V., Mayfield, D., and Stiles, W.A. (2019). Validating an Operational Flood Forecast Model Using Citizen Science in Hampton Roads, VA, USA. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 7, 242. DOI"Catch the King" is a community science GPS flood extent mapping effort centered in Tidewater Virginia, USA, that seeks to map the King Tide's maximum inundation extent with the goal of validating and improving inundation prediction models like the Virginia Institute of Marine Science’s Tidewatch Map (https://cmap2.vims.edu/SCHISM/TidewatchViewer.html). This 36-hour storm tide inundation forecast model is based on the Center for Coastal Resources Management’s open-source SCHISM hydrodynamic model’s operational outputs, updated every 12 hours at noon and midnight (EST). Timestamped GPS-reported high water marks were collected by volunteers to effectively trace the high water line by pressing the 'Save Data' button in the free Sea Level Rise mobile app (available on iOS and Android) in regular intervals along the water's edge.
Catch the King was founded as a collaborative effort to give members of the public an opportunity to engage personally in climate change adaptation. While the development of the Sea Level Rise app was led by Wetlands Watch and local tech company, Open Health Innovations (formerly Concursive), the idea for creating a statewide program stems from the creative minds of Wetlands Watch’s former Executive Director, Skip Stiles, retired Virginian-Pilot reporter, Dave Mayfield, and Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) assistant professor, Dr. Derek Loftis. Throughout the year, trained tidal flood mappers use the free Sea Level Rise mobile application (iOS / Android) developed by Wetlands Watch and Open Health Innovations (formerly Concursive) to walk the high water lines in public spaces near them to digitally trace GPS contours of the maximum extent of tidal flood waters. These data are shared publicly after the end of the mapping event and used as a public annual tidal calibration for the forecast predictions generated from VIMS' Tidewatch Map. Annually, a live tidal calibration of the forecasts driven from the Center for Coastal Resources Management's SCHISM hydrodynamic model (developed by Dr. Joseph Zhang) is conducted by the trained participatory scientists engaged with Catch the King, and analyzed by Dr. Loftis at VIMS. Catch the King 2025 took take place on the weekend of October 10-12, 2025, during some of the highest astronomical tides of the year, which were harmonically forecasted to be 3.22-3.63 ft. above MLLW at Sewells Point in Norfolk, VA. The king tide took place at many different times and occurred at different peak amplitudes throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia's coastal region, yet each was forecasted to be the highest tides of the year for those areas.
Catch the King 2025 had 167 volunteers map 27,120 high water marks using Wetlands Watch's Sea Level Rise App during the king tides on October 10-12. The volunteer breakdown for Catch the King in 2025 revealed that the most GPS data points (by region; 6,892 pins) were mapped by 35 community scientists in Virginia Beach. Tied by number of volunteer flood mappers, Norfolk (35 mappers) collected the second-most high water marks, with 5,963, in terms of total mapped GPS flooding extents. VA's Middle Peninsula region collected the third-greatest quantity of data across a very wide area with the help of 29 volunteers mapping 4,433 high water marks throughout the king tide weekend. Here is a daily breakdown of data collected during the 2025 Catch the King Tide Weekend:
36 people mapped early, from October 6-9, documenting 4,765 GPS maximum flood extents and captured 124 time stamped geotagged pictures
61 people on Friday, October 10, mapped 7,395 GPS maximum flood extents and captured 341 time stamped geotagged pictures
77 people on Saturday, October 11, mapped 7,139 GPS maximum flood extents and captured 211 time stamped geotagged pictures
64 people on Sunday, October 12, mapped 7,821 GPS maximum flood extents and captured 200 time stamped geotagged picturesVolunteers of 'Catch the King' Tide 2025 freely collected this dataset using the Sea Level Rise mobile application developed by Wetlands Watch and Concursive, Inc. Catch the King 2025 was sponsored by the Hampton Roads Sanitation District and AECOM, and Catch the King 2025 was graciously granted media support by WHRO Public Media, The Virginian-Pilot, the Daily Press, and the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency. Volunteer coordination and training of community scientists was orchestrated/managed by Stephanie Letourneau at Wetlands Watch and a dedicated team of tide captains and teachers. GPS volunteer data were shared with W&M/VIMS for public dissemination via Concursive, Inc. and some schools and volunteers directly
Pelagic primary production and respiration in Mobjack Bay, VA, 2023-2025
No full textWater quality and primary production and respiration dataset can be found in the Mobjack_production_data.csv file; and background, site location, and data collection and analysis methods can be found in the READ_ME_Mobjack.pdf file.
Associated Dataset:
Blachman, S.A., and M.J. Brush. 2025. Pelagic primary production and respiration in Cherrystone Inlet, VA, 2021-2024. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, VA: WMScholarWorks.Virginia’s aquaculture industry is dependent on an adequate food supply derived chiefly from primary production by phytoplankton. Limited food availability can reduce the growth and potential harvest of cultured bivalves at high planting densities, and the effect of food limitation can vary seasonally. However, sustained measurements of phytoplankton primary production and respiration are rare, especially in the shallow, nearshore waters around the perimeter of the Chesapeake Bay where bivalve aquaculture is concentrated. To provide resource managers with information necessary to assess this critical control on the ecological and economic sustainability of the aquaculture industry, we measured rates of pelagic primary production and respiration monthly at six locations in Mobjack Bay, an embayment in the lower Chesapeake Bay with growing bivalve aquaculture activity. Rates were measured at two locations in the main bay and one location in each of its four tidal tributaries from March 2023 to March 2025.This work was supported with funding from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and the VIMS Office of Research & Advisory Services.Ecosystem Healt
Numerical simulations of water quality impacts during Hurricane Irene in a coastal-plain estuary
No full textFile Structure of Dataset:
README.txt: Comprehensive documentation of the data archive.
inputs_roms.zip: Model input/forcing files used in the generation of the simulations.
code_ecb_roms.zip: Software and parameters used to generate the simulations.
airseafluxes1985_2023hindcast_era5.nc: Air/sea fluxes from the hindcast simulation.
tracks50e3sm_atcf.tempestextremes.20110826: Trajectories and other metrics for the 50 hurricanes.
outputs_roms_partXX.zip (with XX running from 01 to 05): Output from the simulations, divided into 5 .zip files.Tropical cyclones regularly form during the north Atlantic `Hurricane Season' (June-November) and their typical trajectory follows the east coast of the United States (US). These cyclones can generate billions of US dollars of damage as they pass over highly urbanized areas of the US east coast. The dataset contains numerical simulations of water quality impacts during Hurricane Irene (2011) in a large coastal-plain estuary (Chesapeake Bay, USA). The simulations are produced with the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) that is in turn forced by an ensemble of atmospheric simulations of Irene (50 realizations in the ensemble) conducted with the atmospheric component of the global model E3SM. The result is a distribution of water quality impacts (changes in turbidity, stratification, oxygen and other metrics) as a function of 50 `Irene-like' hurricanes with slightly different trajectory and intensity. The simulations are archived in the self-documented NetCDF format with each files containing the necessary metadata. The dataset includes the computer code (and all its configuration), the inputs necessary to re-run ROMS and reproduce the numerical simulations, as well as the actual outputs from ROMS. The dataset (~75 GB in size) includes a README file containing a list of all the files and additional background information on each of them.This dataset is a result of the ICoM project led by the Pacific North-west National Laboratory (PNNL) and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (subcontract #557101 to VIMS). The authors acknowledge William & Mary Research Computing (https://www.wm.edu/it/rc) for providing computational resources and/or technical support that have contributed to the results reported within this dataset.Coastal & Ocean Processe
The Adaption of Akkadian into Cuneiform
No full textThe written history of the Ancient Near East began when cuneiform was invented, ca 3200 BCE. Cuneiform became a very adaptable writing system that was attested in various forms for nearly three millennia. Cuneiform was created to represent the language isolate of Sumerian and its first adaptation was into the Semitic language of Eblaite. However the most successful adaptation of the cuneiform writing system occurred with Akkadian. Old Akkadian was adapted into cuneiform around 2350 BCE. The adaptation of cuneiform to Akkadian is intricately connected to the respect the Akkadian/Semitic speaking scribes felt cuneiform deserved. Old Akkadian cuneiform takes into account the rebus principle that Sumerian scribes had used to expand their sign repertoire to be able to represent their language’s grammatical features. In Old Akkadian this creates a complex system of sign meanings. Old Akkadian’s linguistic descendents eventually became the lingua franca of the Near East with the last known cuneiform inscription dating to 75 CE in a late dialect of Akkadian. Besides Sumerian and Akkadian, cuneiform was successfully adapted for Elamite, Hurrian, Urartian, and Hittite. These languages, with the exception of Hurrian and Urartian, were not related to one another and belonged to different linguistic families. This speaks to the malleability of the cuneiform writing system and the admiration and respect it commanded throughout the Ancient Near East.1. Jerrold S. Cooper, “The Origin of the Cuneiform Writing System,” in The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process, ed. Stephen Houston (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 76-77.
2. Ibid, 76-77.
3. Jerrold S. Cooper, “Sumerian and Akkadian”, in The World’s Writing Systems, ed. Peter T. Daniels and William Bright (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 37.
4. Jerrold S. Cooper, “Sumerian and Akkadian”, in The World’s Writing Systems, ed. Peter T. Daniels and William Bright (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 43.
5. Ibid, 43.
6. Ibid, 43.
7. Ibid 42.
8. Amalia E. Gnandesikan. The Writing Revolution: From Cuneiform to the Internet. (Malden, MA and Oxford, UK: Wiley and Blackwell, 2009), 21.
9. Jerrold S. Cooper, “Sumerian and Semitic Writing in Most Ancient Syro-Mesopotamia” in Languages and Cultures in Contact, ed. K. Van Lerberghe and G. Voet (Leuven: Peeters, 1999), 64.
10. Ibid, 71.
11. Guy Deutscher, Syntactic Change in Akkadian (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 20-21.
12. Andrew George. “Babylonian and Assyrian: A History of Akkadian,” in Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern, ed. J. N. Postgate (London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007), 38.
13. John Huehnergard, “Semitic Langauges” in Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, ed. Jack M. Sasson (New York: Scribners, 1995), 2119.
14. Ibid, 2120.
15. Jerrold S. Cooper, “Sumerian and Semitic Writing in Most Ancient Syro-Mesopotamia” in Languages and Cultures in Contact, ed. K. Van Lerberghe and G. Voet (Leuven: Peeters, 1999), 67.
16. Ibid, 66.
17. Ibid, 66.
18. Ibid, 66.
19. Aruz, Joan and Ronald Wallenfels, ed. Art of the First Cities: the Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003), 168.
20. Andrew George. “Babylonian and Assyrian: A History of Akkadian,” in Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern, ed. J. N. Postgate (London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007), 35.
21. Jerrold S. Cooper, “Sumerian and Akkadian”, in The World’s Writing Systems, ed. Peter T. Daniels and William Bright (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 45.
22. Deutscher, 19.
23. Andrew George. “Babylonian and Assyrian: A History of Akkadian,” in Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern, ed. J. N. Postgate (London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007), 39.
24. Ibid 39.
25. Ibid, 39.
26. Robert K. Englund, “The Proto-Elamite Script” The World’s Writing Systems, ed. Peter T. Daniels and William Bright (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996),160.
27. Ibid, 160.
28. Ibid, 160.
29. Gnanadesikan, 22.
30. Jerrold S. Cooper, “Sumerian and Akkadian”, in The World’s Writing Systems, ed. Peter T. Daniels and William Bright (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 45.
31. Deutscher, 21
32. Jerrold S. Cooper, “The Origin of the Cuneiform Writing System,” in The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process, ed. Stephen Houston (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 91.
33. Jerrold S. Cooper, “Sumerian and Akkadian”, in The World’s Writing Systems, ed. Peter T. Daniels and William Bright (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 47
34. Ibid, 47.
35. Ibid, 47.
36. Ibid, 47.
37. Ibid, 47.
38. Ibid, 46.
39. Ibid, 48.
40. Marc Van De Mieroop, A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC, 2nd ed. (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007),75.
41. Andrew George. “Babylonian and Assyrian: A History of Akkadian,” in Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern, ed. J. N. Postgate (London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007), 42.
42. Ibid, 42.
43. Ibid, 42.
44. Ibid, 31.
45. Deutscher, 18.
46. Jerrold S. Cooper, “Sumerian and Akkadian”, in The World’s Writing Systems, ed. Peter T. Daniels and William Bright (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 37.
47. Andrew George. “Babylonian and Assyrian: A History of Akkadian,” in Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern, ed. J. N. Postgate (London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007), 36.
48. Gene B. Gragg, “Other Languages”, in The World’s Writing Systems, ed. Peter T. Daniels and William Bright (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 58.
49. Gene B. Gragg, “Other Languages”, in The World’s Writing Systems, ed. Peter T. Daniels and William Bright (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 59.
50. Ibid, 59.
51. Ibid, 61.
52. Ibid, 64.
53. Ibid, 61
54. Ibid, 61-62
55. Ibid, 64
56. Ibid, 64-65
57. Ibid, 65.
58. Ibid, 64.
59. Ibid, 66.
60. Ibid, 65.
61. Ibid, 68.
62. Andrew George. “Babylonian and Assyrian: A History of Akkadian,” in Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern, ed. J. N. Postgate (London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007), 63
Ingredients for Enlightenment: Food and the Path of Liberation
No full textThis thesis aims to explore the scriptural roots of Buddhist gastronomical practices, specifically Dōgen's "Instructions for the Cook," as well as the Mahāyāna cannon's iconic texts, the Diamond Sūtra and the Heart Sūtra. This analysis allows for an opportunity to establish the scriptural basis of Buddhist philosophical reasoning and extrapolate this understanding towards modern Buddhist traditions. Specifically, this presentation will focus on the tradition of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and his Plum Village tradition. Providing an explanation of his revolutionary philosophical framework, interbeing, attendees will walk away with an understanding of Buddhist gastronomical practices as an ethical and spiritual practice aimed towards preservation of the environment and ones' spiritual enlightenment.Religious StudiesBachelors of Arts (BA
Primary Prevention in Practice: Utilizing K-12 Sexual Health Education to Prevent Sexual Violence in Virginia
No full textSexual violence is a pervasive issue nation-wide and within the state of Virginia. This project aims to classify the problem of sexual violence as a public health issue, determine its connection to Sexual Health Education (SHE), and identify a path for the state of Virginia to use SHE to prevent sexual violence in young adults. The project lays out a mix of analysis and proposal, highlighting a present problem and allowing modes of solution. The first section of the project is dedicated to historical analysis of SHE and establishes a connection between SHE and Sexual Violence Prevention (SVP). The second section aims to propose revision to the Virginia Department of Education’s Standards for Family Life Education (FLE) programs, the current SHE equivalent in Virginia. These revisions highlight Primary Prevention tactics within the K-12 Public School system to create a more preventative model of education for younger students. The final section lays out a proposed Virginia Code Revision that would make FLE programs mandated for all K-12 students attending state-funded schools, with an emphasis on SVP education. The project uses Virginia as a political stepping stone to re-introducing growth of SHE by specifically connecting it to SVP and a demonstrated need for policy intervention.Gender, Sexuality & Women's StudiesBachelors of Arts (BA
GIS Data: 2025 Mathews County, Virginia. Shoreline Inventory, Coastal Natural Buffers, & Marsh Migration Corridors
No full textDisclaimer: The Center for Coastal Resources Management (CCRM) provides these data with the understanding that they are not guaranteed to be correct or complete, and conclusions drawn from the data set are the sole responsibility of the user. Every attempt has been made to ensure that these data and the documentation are reliable and accurate. CCRM, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program assume no liability for any damages caused by inaccuracies in the data or documentation; and make no warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or utility of this information, nor does the fact of distribution constitute a warranty.The 2025 Shoreline Inventory, Coastal Natural Buffers, and Migration Corridors layers for the City of Mathews were generated using on-screen, digitizing techniques in ArcGIS® Pro v. 3.x while viewing conditions observed in Bing high-resolution oblique imagery, Google Earth, and 2021 imagery from the Virginia Base Mapping Program (VBMP). A geodatabase was developed named Mathews_ShlInventory_NatBuffers_MarshCorridors_2025 containing the following eight features classes displaying bank conditions, shoreline features, natural buffers, and marsh migration corridors:
Mathews_BankHeightSlope_2025, Mathews_RecreationalStructures_2025,
Mathews_ErosionControlStructures_2025_Line,
Mathews_ErosionControlStructures_2025_Polygon,
Mathews_BeachesAndDunes_2025, Mathews_TMI_2025,
Mathews_MarshMigrationCorridors_2ft_2025 and
Mathews_MarshMigrationCorridors_4ft_2025This project was funded in part by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program at the Department of Environmental Quality through Grant # NA24NOSX419C0026 of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administratio
Arbitrary Anchoring in Orthodox Jewish Philosophy: Problem and Solution
No full textSince at least the 20th century, the primary task of Orthodox Jewish philosophy has been to ground communities’ observance of Jewish law (halakha). Like Rabbi Moses Mendelssohn and Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch before him, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik placed halakha as the locus of Jewish Orthodoxy. Yet, Soloveitchik and those who followed him could not philosophically substantiate their commitment to halakha because of their failure to adequately grapple with the fact-value paradigm. Breaking from medieval metaphysics that defined values by reference to the telos of human nature, Thomas Hobbes’ and Baruch Spinoza’s fact-value paradigm posits the self-evidence of scientific fact discourse and the subsequent arbitrariness of theological and/or political value discourse. According to Randi Rashkover’s Nature and Norm, Jewish and Christian thought in the 20th and 21st centuries is aptly described in terms of an ongoing struggle with the fact-value divide. Orthodox Jewish thought is no exception to Rashkover’s analysis; it has struggled and failed repeatedly to make logically-valid claims within the fact-value paradigm. However, halakha is particularly well-situated for an Orthodox move beyond fact-value thinking.Religious StudiesBachelors of Arts (BA
The Impact Of Professional Development On Individualized Education Program Goals In A Behavior Support Program: An Action Research Study
No full textThis action research study investigated the impact of professional development activities on the creation of behavior related goals in special education Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and the development of plans to monitor those goals. Research has shown poor postsecondary outcomes for students who have behavior disabilities that disrupt their learning. They graduate high school in lower numbers and experience rates of incarceration and unemployment that are higher than their disabled and non-disabled peers. The Supreme Court and United States Department of Education have provided guidance that students must make substantive progress, including in areas of disability which impact behavior. However, teachers in the literature report difficulties with writing quality IEP goals to have an impact on student achievement. It is also shown that subjective measurements, such as teacher observation, are often used to judge whether a student is or is not meeting those goals. This study determined whether the use of a professional development program and a published rubric can influence how teachers in one district-wide behavior program currently develop IEP goals, and whether the quality of IEP goals produced in the program is affected after participating in the professional development.EducationDoctor of Education (Ed.D.
Effects Of Self-Monitoring and Public Self-Consciousness on Perceptions of Facebook Profiles
No full textSelf-monitoring and public self-consciousness are two variables that contribute to self-presentation. Self-monitoring refers to self-observation and restraint that is guided by situational cues to social appropriateness (Snyder, 1974). Public self-consciousness is the consistent tendency of a person to direct attention outward, as well as the awareness a person has of being a social object (Nystedt & Ljungberg, 2002). To assess the relationship degree of self-monitoring and public self-consciousness has on the type of information Facebook users display on their own profiles and their perceptions of other Facebook profiles, 134 undergraduates (¬¬108 female, 26 male; 18 years or older) viewed two fictitious Facebook pages and their own Facebook pages. Facebook Page 1 was not very detailed and was cautious in the information it presented. In contrast, Facebook Page 2 was very detailed and generous in the information it presented. Participants answered a questionnaire comparing the two pages (e.g. type of information displayed, page preference, etc.), a questionnaire pertaining to their own Facebook page (type of information displayed, concern of audience, etc.), and completed the Self-Monitoring Scale (Snyder, 1974) and the Public Self-Consciousness Scale (Fenigstein, A., Sheier, M. F., & Buss, 1975). Overall, participants preferred mock Facebook Page 1; however, those who were high self-monitors preferred mock Facebook page 2. Additionally, participants agreed more with using Facebook in a limited way rather than using Facebook as a means of self-expression. Further research is needed to explore questions such as the possible implications of Facebook on communication, impression formation, and expressive behavior.Tara Gogolinski is a graduate of Towson University. A modified version of this research was presented at the Student Research and Scholarship Expo at Towson University and at the Addictions, Infectious Diseases, and Public Health Conference at Johns Hopkins University. The author would like to acknowledge her professors, Geoffrey Munro, Jonathan Mattanah, and Brian Ogolsky for their helpful reviews to this article. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Tara Gogolinski, 751 Rolling View Drive, Annapolis, MD 21409. E-mail: [email protected]