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Water Resources Science and Technology Fall Seminar Series: Geary Schindel (Karst Works LLC)
No full textGeary Schindel is a world class karst hydrologist and is currently the president of Karst Work LLC. Before his retirement in 2022, he served as the chief technology officer for the Edwards Aquifer Authority. In this talk, he introduces karst formation, hydrology, and dye tracing techniques for tracing contaminants in the extremely heterogeneous karst aquifers
Water Resources Science and Technology Fall Seminar Series: Steven Siebert (San Antonio Water System)
No full textMr. Steven Siebert gave the audience an in-depth introduction of the mission and service capacity of San Antonio Water System (SAWS), as well as SAWS water planning for the next 5 years and beyond. He touched on the local, regional, and state level water policy, management, and governance, and how SAWS partners the various agencies to reach its planning parameters
Health & Humility by Proxy: Examining Medical Companions’ Perspective on Physician Humility
Get PDFHumility has been assessed from numerous angles in psychology. Previous research has examined physician humility and its relevance to quality of care and doctor-patient relationships. In the past, humility—as defined by the patient perspective—has been shown to increase patient trust, overall health outcome, and other positive factors. In the current study, we will explore humility from the perspective of medical companions (someone who accompanies thepatient to their doctor\u27s visit). Using an online study, 304 participants were asked to rate physician humility and list exemplary behaviors seen at their most recent visit. Patients usually have established rapport with their medical companions that they may not have with their physician. Therefore, we expect the perspective of medical companions on physician humility to offer new insights for comparison and measurement of physician humility, that will likely influence the overall interaction and doctor-patient relationship
THE EFFECTS OF URBAN LANDSCAPE, SOUNDSCAPE, AND LIGHT POLLUTION ON AVIAN DIVERSITY AND NESTING IN SOUTH SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
Get PDFAs critical habitat continues to dwindle due to the expansion of urbanization, alternative habitat in urban ecosystems becomes a necessary natural resource for the survival of birds. In the last decade, local San Antonio environmental authorities have focused their efforts on restoring the San Antonio Mission Reach. Ecological revitalization of the San Antonio Mission Reach could increase avian, and flora biodiversity with ongoing restoration, yet how birds use restored habitat has not been assessed. Additionally, south of the Reach, two more peri-urban sites have great potential to be high quality habitat for birds but have not been surveyed for nesting birds. I investigate how landscape, soundscape, and light pollution affect the diversity and breeding outcomes for birds in south San Antonio. We conduct point counts along the Reach, while nest searching and documenting vegetation cover across the Reach, Mitchell Lake, and the Texas A&M-SA Campus
Targeting Macrophytes: Increased Water Quality Through Optimized Vegetation Considerations for Constructed Wetlands
Get PDFThis study of constructed wetland design investigated relationships between macrophyte species selection and planting density for water quality improvement. A lab-scale wetland was compared against a pilot-scale wetland in San Antonio, Texas at Mitchell Lake to measure differences in effluent water quality improvement using three native macrophyte species. Using a novel, two-phase method, a targeting macrophyte was identified from among other species based on its marked capability for improving water quality factors, then was planted in varied majority densities to compare differences in treatment effectiveness. The results of this study showed that this complimentary approach to wetland design displayed significant improvement of certain treatment parameters than the evenly-planted species distribution of the pilot study. These findings demonstrate that constructed wetland design can be optimized by selecting and planting macrophytes based on their effectiveness in targeting site-specific water quality concerns by capitalizing on their individual traits within complex wetland systems
Decolonization of the Writing Classroom: Creating Space for Decolonial Theory, Tools, Anti-Racist Pedagogy, and Methods to Improve the Emerging Bilingual Student Experience
Get PDFIn this thesis, the author addresses the colonial roots of the secondary writing classroom and the origin of standard academic English which enables strict standardized testing and writing assessment requirements that in-turn incite linguistic violence towards emerging bilingual students. The author frames her study within the framework of April Baker-Bell and Asao B. Inoue through a reflective/reflexive study of her teaching in a ninth grade writing classroom in a primarily Hispanic school district in South Texas, which is assessed by the state of Texas through STAAR. This study seeks to identify instances of linguistic violence being perpetuated in the writing classroom and offers ways in which educators can cultivate linguistic justice for emerging bilingual students through the use of Baker-Bell and Inoue’s work to promote confidence in writing while simultaneously setting students up for success in terms of the stringent requirements of state testing in Texas
SYNTHETIC PRODUCED WATER TREATMENT BY DIRECTIONAL SOLVENT EXTRACTION IN A SEMI-CONTINUOUS SYSTEM
Get PDFDirectional Solvent Extraction (DSE) is a system used to remove salts from brine water, utilizing organic solvents such as Diisopropylamine (DIPA); it is a well-studied system where the results obtained are promising because the removal of salts can be greater than 94%. The high demand of pure water for the oil and gas industry increases each year as access to fresh water is becoming complex and expensive. It is necessary to develop new technologies with higher recovery rates and environmentally friendly waste disposal. With a proposed semi-continuous system, divided into four stages, an analysis on retention times (RT), and a variation on the formulation for the brine water were conducted with a semi-continuous system and the results of this study showed the solvent performed better within a 24-hour of RT and the improvement of removing salts up to 98%, a recovery rate of 73% for TDS, and a 8% of water recovery rate with the possibility of incrementing due to the prospect of recirculation that the system offered
Focused on Pedagogy: QR Grading Rubrics for Written Arguments
Get PDFInstitutional assessments of quantitative literacy/reasoning (QL/QR) have been extensively tested and reported in the literature. While appropriate for measuring student learning at the programmatic or institutional level, such instruments were not designed for classroom grading. After modifying a widely accepted institutional rubric designed to assess QR in written arguments, the current mixed method study tested the reliability of two QR analytic grading rubrics for written arguments and explored students’ reactions to the grading tools. Undergraduate students enrolled in a business course (N = 59) participated. A total of 415 QR artifacts from 40 students were assessed; an additional 19 students provided feedback about the grading tools. A new QR writing rubric included three main criteria (numerical evidence, conclusions, and writing), while a second rubric added a fourth criterion for assignments with data visualization. After two coders rated students’ QR assignments, data analysis found both new QR rubrics had good reliability. Cohen’s kappa found the study’s raters had substantial agreement on all rubric criteria (κ = 0.69 to 0.80). Both the QR writing (α = 0.861) and data visualization (α = 0.859) grading rubrics also had good internal consistency. When asked to provide feedback about the new grading tools, 89% of students shared positive comments, reporting the rubrics clarified assignment expectations, improved their performance, and facilitated the writing process. This paper proposes slight modifications to the phrasing of the new rubrics’ writing criterion, discusses best practices for use of rubrics in QR classrooms, and recommends future research
Sexual Experiences and GPA among First Time College Freshmen
Get PDFThe college experience presents newfound freedom to explore risky behaviors, such as drinking, drug use, or unprotected sexual activity. Previous research reveals that risky sexual behaviors can lead to multiple sex partners, STIs, and unwanted pregnancies. Few studies examine how college students’ sexual experiences relate to their academic performance. This study tested if sexual activity and the number of sexual partners were associated with GPA. 111 first-year students reported whether they had ever had vaginal intercourse and their number of sexual partners in the last six months. Regression models revealed that freshmen who reported ever having sex had a lower GPA compared to students who never had sex. Furthermore, students who had two or more sexual partners in the past six months had a lower GPA than students with zero sexual partners. We discuss these findings in the context of cultural sexual scripts at a predominantly Hispanic university
British Imperialism and Cultural Anxieties in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market
Get PDFGoblin Market (1862) by Christina Rossetti is a narrative, fantasy poem about two sisters, Lizzie and Laura, who face temptations from goblin men who, on the surface, sell fruit at a market, but whose addictive wares physically debilitate their customers to the point of death. Given that the release of this poem in the thick of England’s Victorian era coincides with the reign of the British Empire, I read and understand it in light of that historical context. In this reading, Goblin Market conveys cultural anxieties about what the British Empire means for England, specifically as it deals with commercial relationships with its subjects. Understanding that this poem covertly showcases cultural anxieties about British imperialism provides just one of many examples of the impact of British imperialism on the literary culture of its time