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ADHD as a Lived Experience Amongst BIPOC College Students
No full textThis thesis focuses on the perspectives of Black Indigenous and Persons of Color (BIPOC) college students on Attention-deficit/hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The study analyzes scoping strategies, perceived symptomatological differences, and the effects of racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds among BIPOC college students. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 14 participants, I examine the full permeation of ADHD among BIPOC college students, its evolution from pre-diagnosis to the present, and how they navigate the disorder and its treatment. A qualitative analysis of ADHD among minorities in college will not only allow clinicians to understand the distinct struggles of BIPOC with ADHD, but it will also allow them to increase culturally sensitive monitoring and improve appropriate screening and diagnosis for ADHD
Assessing the Vulnerability of Aquifer Stoneflies to Climate Change: Experimental Manipulations of Temperature and Oxygen Levels
No full textAs global temperatures continue to rise in the face of climate change, ecosystems around the world are being altered, especially freshwater habitats. Stoneflies (Plecoptera) are aquatic macroinvertebrates crucial for maintaining freshwater biodiversity and trophic stability by cycling key nutrients. Warmer water temperatures and reduced dissolved oxygen levels are major factors associated with climate change that are impacting aquatic ecosystems. These environmental changes can seriously threaten the survival of stonefly species due to the physiological requirements of living underwater. Stress and even death can occur with exposure to temperatures outside an organism’s optimal range or insufficient oxygen intake. While most stoneflies live in the benthic regions of cold, highly oxygenated streams and rivers, aquifer stoneflies live in groundwater, up to ten meters below river floodplains for their entire pre-adult life (2-3 years). They have shown specialized adaptations to this distinctive environment, including hypoxia and anoxia tolerance, and stenothermism, making them a key study organism for expanding our understanding of how climate change may impact aquatic insect species. This study aims to assess the vulnerability of aquifer stoneflies to climate change, with the goal of better understanding if they exhibit plasticity in response to changing environmental conditions. Using experimental manipulations of temperatures and oxygen levels, we found that while warmer temperatures pose a serious threat to the survival of aquifer stoneflies, they show strong resistance to reduced dissolved oxygen levels
Breaking the Boundaries of the Binary: Non-Normative Gender Expression and Rebellion in 19th-Century Literature
No full textThis thesis explores non-normative expressions of gender in three nineteenth-century novels: Valperga (1823) by Mary Shelley, The Hermaphrodite (c. 1846) by Julia Ward Howe, and The Awakening (1999) by Kate Chopin. Each novel’s protagonist displays gender expression that rejects nineteenth-century British and American ideals and is consequently exiled from society and faces death. The project diagrams trajectories of gender expression and identity by tracing adherence, failure, and consequences to illustrate how non-normative gender expression directly leads to social exclusion and death. The findings of this literary analysis suggest that nineteenth-century understandings of gender were rigidly policed and the novel served as a discursive space for exploring different non-normative expressions. In Valperga, Euthanasia’s “masculine” political loyalty prevails over her feminine identity in a heterosexual relationship; in The Hermaphrodite, Laurence struggles to identify as truly masculine or feminine due to their intersex body; in The Awakening, Edna rejects femininity by resisting marriage and motherhood. Each character defies gender expectations in a different manner, yet none of them are spared death. This project provides a foundation for future analyses of other works of literature through a similar framework and thus demonstrates literature as a method of conveying commentary on the destructiveness of gender expectations
The Design of a Bioinspired Impact Mitigation System Towards the Prevention of Brain Injuries
Full text linkTraumatic brain injuries (TBIs), including concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), remain a major concern across contact sports, military operations, and transportation. Despite advancements in protective equipment, current strategies often fall short in preventing the mechanical conditions that contribute to long-term neurological damage. This thesis presents the design and validation of a bioinspired impact mitigation system modeled after bighorn sheep horn structures, which have evolved to endure high-energy collisions without apparent brain injury.
Using biomimetic principles, the research integrates experimental and computational methods to evaluate how horn-like geometries reduce impact-induced accelerations. A custom drop tower was built to test dynamic responses of spiral structures mimicking horn morphology. Acceleration, force, and displacement data were collected using an accelerometer, load cell, and high-speed cameras. Finite element simulations in Abaqus/Explicit were calibrated against physical tests to explore a range of parameters, including spiral curl, lateral excursion, material stiffness, and horn-core configurations.
Experimental results showed that while both horn and spherical geometries experienced increased acceleration with higher drop heights, the horn-like structures exhibited expected lateral motion and damped oscillations. Validated simulations enabled deeper parametric analysis, revealing that geometry and material variations directly influenced acceleration attenuation and energy dissipation. Certain configurations showed significant reductions in peak acceleration and reaction force.
This work lays the foundation for biologically inspired engineering solutions to impact mitigation. The combined use of physical validation and scalable modeling supports future development of advanced protective systems in helmets, vehicles, and wearable devices aimed at preventing TBI and CTE
All Wrapped Up: How Choice of Egg Wrapping Substrate During Oviposition Site Selection Affects Predation and Embryonic Growth in Eastern Newts
No full textParental care behaviors have a significant impact on the survivorship of offspring and therefore the inclusive fitness of the parent. These behaviors are broad and varied and include defending against predators, acquiring food, and choosing where to lay their eggs. The latter, oviposition site selection, has significant impact on embryo survivorship in oviparous animals, as the chosen sight can impact factors such as incubation temperature, predation risk, and resource availability. For amphibians, oviposition site selection is particularly crucial as their eggs lack a calcareous shell, leaving them more susceptible to environmental conditions and predation. In response to this, amphibians have evolved diverse and adaptive oviposition site selection behaviors to keep their aquatic embryos and larvae protected and hydrated.
Though most oviparous amphibians lay their eggs in large masses, many newt species in the family Salamandridae lay individual eggs that they then wrap in materials found in the water. This unique behavior likely has a higher parental cost compared to laying in masses, but may offer some benefits, such as predator defense. With this oviposition site selection behavior comes a distinct choice: female newts wrap their eggs in either live aquatic vegetation or dead leaf litter, and each material chosen may confer unique benefits to the embryos. While some benefits of egg-wrapping have been studied, the effects of different wrapping materials on embryo development and predation rates remain undocumented.
The goal of this thesis is to investigate the benefits and mechanisms of the unique egg-wrapping behavior by female newts. Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) were chosen as a model species because they wrap their eggs in two 6 different materials: aquatic vegetation and dead leaves. Aquatic vegetation might supply additional oxygen to developing embryos while dead leaves may offer enhanced predator protection. We hypothesized that these two different wrapping materials would result in differing impacts on egg predation and embryonic development, and that predator presence would influence oviposition material choice in female newts. In the case of material choice, we hypothesized that females’ oviposition site selection would be influenced by the presence of egg predators, and that they would choose to lay eggs in either dead leaves or aquatic vegetation at differing rates depending on predator exposure. In the case of predation, we hypothesized that the predation rate would change depending on the material the eggs were wrapped in, if any. And in the case of development, we hypothesized that the two different egg wrapping materials used by newts would impact embryonic growth and development. To test these hypotheses, we ran three experiments in the springs of 2023 and 2024.
The first laboratory experiment, outlined in Chapter 1, investigated whether the presence of an egg predator - Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) tadpoles - would affect females’ oviposition site choice of dead leaves or live aquatic vegetation. To do this, we utilized growth chambers and individual aquariums to provide controlled conditions that would allow the females to be exposed to visual and chemical cues from the tadpoles without the tadpoles able to access the eggs laid. We predicted that females housed with tadpoles (N = 10) would choose to wrap their eggs in dead leaves presumably because of enhanced predator protection by deal leaves, and females housed without tadpoles (N = 10) would choose to wrap their eggs in live aquatic vegetation presumably because of 7 additional oxygen provision to the embryo. I ran this experiment twice, and both times there were not enough eggs laid to test these predictions.
Chapter 2 outlines a laboratory predation experiment to investigate whether different egg-wrapping materials affected predation rates using Wood Frog tadpoles and Eastern Newt eggs. I collected Eastern Newt eggs that were wrapped in either dead leaves or aquatic vegetation, a portion of which I then unwrapped. I then exposed groups of these eggs (N = 25 per treatment) to Wood Frog tadpoles for them to predate. We predicted that eggs wrapped in dead leaves would be eaten at the lowest rate, unwrapped eggs at the highest rate, and eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation between the two. Eggs wrapped in dead leaves were eaten significantly less than eggs with no wrapping, but there was no significant difference between eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation and eggs with no wrapping, and no significant difference between eggs wrapped in dead leaves and eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation.
Finally, Chapter 3 outlines a laboratory experiment investigating whether the two different egg-wrapping materials - dead leaves or live aquatic vegetation - impact newt embryo development. We collected Eastern Newt eggs wrapped with the two different materials from mesocosms, in which gravid female newts were kept, and placed them in individual containers in growth chambers programmed to mimic outdoor conditions (N= 20 per treatment), then measured body size and larval period of the hatchlings. We predicted that eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation would hatch faster and larger than eggs wrapped in dead leaves. Embryos from eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation hatched on average three days earlier than those wrapped in dead leaves. However, the embryos from eggs 8 wrapped in live aquatic vegetation had shorter body length compared to those from eggs wrapped in dead leaves. Despite their smaller body sizes, the growth rate for eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation was significantly higher than that of eggs wrapped in dead leaves.
The results from the studies outlined above suggest that the types of wrapping materials, dead leaves and live aquatic vegetation, have varying effects on larval development and predation rates. The results indicate that live aquatic vegetation confers developmental benefits to the embryos such as increased growth rate and shorter hatching time, while dead leaves are likely to provide improved protection from aquatic predators. We also found that larvae from live aquatic vegetation hatched smaller than larvae from eggs wrapped in dead leaves, and the predation rates between eggs wrapped in live aquatic vegetation and dead leaves were similar. These findings underscore the need for further research with increased sample sizes into the mechanisms underlying the unique oviposition site selection behaviors of Eastern Newts
A BROAD RANGE OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT AND ASSOCIATED MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES
Full text linkCollege women are at a high risk of experiencing sexual misconduct (SM) (Graham et al., 2022). Research shows a connection between sexual victimization and psychological distress (Graham et al., 2022). The lack of research on a broader range of SM and associated mental health outcomes is a lacuna that must be addressed. SM is a widely understudied issue, and approximately 1 in 5 college women will experience it at least once during their time on campus (Muehlenhard et al., 2017). Women are not only at a high risk of experiencing SM during their time in college, but research shows a strong link between sexual victimization and psychological distress (Graham et al., 2022). On university campuses across the US, SM is a pressing issue that impacts many, especially those who identify as women. The present study uses a mixed methods approach to expand on Liz Kelly’s concept of a continuum of SM, where Kelly argued that SM should be regarded as a continuum, not as separate categories (Kelly 1987). A quantitative survey assessed the current prevalence of SM at Bucknell University and its connection to participant trauma responses and mental health. A qualitative interview asked participants to expand on experiences that occurred at Bucknell and or with another Bucknell student. The online survey was administered to a random sample of Bucknell students. Results indicated that rates of SM are higher in women and that victim-survivors experience significantly higher rates of psychological distress than non-victims. The qualitative interview was administered over Zoom to a subsample of students who had taken the survey. Future research should focus on recruiting a larger and more diverse sample
A Phenomenological Approach to Addiction
No full textThis paper proposes a phenomenological investigation of addiction, with the goal of describing how it is experienced from within, as an embodied and existential phenomenon. I begin by establishing a conceptual framework—drawn from the works of existential phenomenologists Heidegger, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty—outlining the key structures of everyday experience such as being-in-the-world, freedom, embodiment, bad faith, and sedimentation. I then turn to a description of the lived experience of addiction by drawing on various first-person addiction memoirs, showing how the aforementioned existential structures are experienced in active addiction and how pathways to sobriety reflect and are experienced as targeting these structures. I argue that addiction is experienced as a deeply sedimented process, one that is both shaped by and reinforced by the existential conditions that structure everyday life
From War to Walls: U.S. Intervention and the Rise of Carceral Society in El Salvador
No full textThis thesis examines the historical and contemporary impact of US foreign policy on El Salvador’s security landscape. El Salvador’s gang crisis, largely driven by the deportation of gang members from the US in the 1990s, is rooted in a complex history shaped by US intervention during the Salvadoran civil war, which intensified political, social, and economic inequalities. These inequalities, along with the rise of international gangs such as La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and 18th Street, have contributed to El Salvador’s ongoing security challenges. This thesis demonstrates how US involvement in the Salvadoran civil war indirectly fueled the growth of gang violence, which has since overwhelmed the country’s institutions. It also analyzes the controversial responses of the Salvadoran government, particularly under President Nayib Bukele, whose iron fist approach, exemplified by the construction of the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), has sparked both praise and criticism. While Bukele’s policies have led to a reduction in crime, they have also raised serious concerns about human rights abuses and the erosion of democratic principles. By investigating the US-El Salvador relationship, the evolution of gang violence, and the context of El Salvador’s security policies, this thesis offers a comprehensive understanding of how US foreign policy has shaped El Salvador’s carceral and policing systems, with important implications for the country’s future in balancing security, human rights, and democracy
BURNOUT IN FEMALE COLLEGIATE ATHLETES: RELATIONS WITH STRESS, BODY CONCERNS, COPING, AND SPORT TYPE
No full textBurnout occurs when an athlete experiences stress and fails to cope with this stress, resulting in loss of interest in sport, emotional and physical exhaustion, and negative attitudes towards an athlete’s abilities. Female collegiate student-athletes suffer disproportionately from exhaustion, stress, and body image concerns compared to their male counterparts. The present study explored the relationship between stress and burnout among female collegiate athletes while also investigating how body image dissatisfaction (BID), weight pressure, and coping moderated this relationship and individually correlated to burnout and stress. Comparisons were made between sport type, lean versus non-lean, on stress, burnout, body concerns, weight pressure, and coping. Participants were female Division I collegiate student-athletes (N=133) from Bucknell University (N=117), Syracuse University (N=3), and University of Vermont (N=13). Of the participants, 63 were lean sport athletes and 70 were non-lean sport athletes. Using a self-report methodology, participants completed several questionnaires. Results indicated significant correlations between stress and burnout, stress and BID, stress and weight pressure, burnout and BID, burnout and weight pressure, coping and stress, and coping and burnout. No evidence of moderation was identified for any variable, suggesting that the relationship between stress and burnout did not depend on external factors and that stress was the main predictor of burnout. Non-lean and lean sport athletes were found to significantly differ on the study variables in that non-lean participants tended to have higher levels of BID, burnout, and more adaptive coping skills than lean sport athletes