Electronic Thesis or Dissertation

Sinkholes are one of the major geohazards in karst areas, causing significant economic damage and even occasional loss of life. Sinkhole formation mechanisms vary depending on geological conditions but are initiated by dissolution of bedrock (generally carbonates or evaporites) below the ground resulting in ground surface deformation and eventual collapse. The process may be accelerated by natural events like storms or heavy rains and droughts, or human activities like water pumping or loading of the land surface. In Florida, limestone dissolution leading to sinkhole development often results in the formation of surface depressions that are often water-filled and develop into depressional wetlands.
Previous studies using near-surface geophysical imaging techniques (including seismic refraction) in Central Florida have shown the correspondence between depressional wetlands and sinkholes originated in deep-seated interstratal karst with a variable overburden. However, these geophysical techniques are often unable to reach the karst interface which may typically be positioned at depths exceeding < 50-60 m. This research investigates the use of ground-based seismic reflection techniques to image deep paleokarst relief and better understand sinkhole development and extent below the overburden. This approach follows earlier studies by others using seismic reflection methods to identify sinkholes under lakes in Central Florida. While these previous studies deployed the method over water, the approach here investigates how land-based near-surface seismic reflection surveys may provide similar results below depressional wetlands. A total of three different locations with depressional wetlands under similar geological conditions (but somewhat variable depth to the karst interface) are investigated, including the Disney Wilderness Preserve near Poinciana (FL), the Allapattah Flats Wildlife Management Area near Palm City (FL); and the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area in Palm Beach County (FL).

This thesis examines Indigenous environmental justice discourse within the context of the U.S. carceral settler-state to advance a conceptual framework I name discursive frontierism. I use rhetorical analysis informed by critical and cultural theory to help make visual—and visible—the ways in which colonial frontierism operates in discursive spaces. I analyze the language of the carceral settler-state, including embodiment and affect as communicative language, as well as the language of Indigenous and Indigenous-led resistance. In the first half of the thesis, I argue that the language of the settler-state discursively constitutes Indigenous peoples as criminals and colonial subjects in order to justify their removal. The second half of this analysis finds the language of Indigenous land and water protectors to model and declare “survivance”—an active and continuing “sense of presence over absence” that both renounces dominance and victimry, and preserves traditional knowledge systems and ancestral connections (Vizenor 2018). I conclude that discursive iterations of Indigenous survivance meaningfully thwart the U.S. state’s efforts to advance occupation of discursive territory and further settle the discursive frontier.

We collected, with FWC, taxa inventory and numerical abundance data at three sites, a restoration concurrent with sampling, an older completed restoration, and an unimproved reference site, from 2014 to 2018 in the Central Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida. We examined effects in response to estuary habitat restoration and water quality on nekton food web structure among sites over time. A binary matrix of plausible interactions among trophic species, classified by size, was used to produce 51 individual food webs and nine trophic structure metrices within the R: Package Cheddar. Interactions of site and restoration, i.e., pre- vs. post-restoration samples, were found to be not significant in repeated-measures ANOVAs for each food web metric. Random forest analysis only identified Secchi depth as an important predictor of food web generality. Our findings suggest that generality and Secchi depth are inversely correlated and relatively stable within the Central Lake Worth Lagoon sites.

The Witcher book series by Andrzej Sapkowski and the corresponding The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt video game by CD Projekt RED intersectionally relate the feminine to the natural in their joint secondary world of the Continent, and in doing so rely on the “key feminine,” a term to describe a female character who embodies the feminine ideals of the secondary world while also saving it from environmental disaster, yet not being representative of it, deconstructing the goddess and witch dichotomy. Geralt’s predispositions as a witcher places him in conflict with nature, but his moral code and decisive silence allow for a space in which, though the two occur independently and jointly, the voice of the feminine and the voice of the nonhuman world can be heard on their own terms, instead of through the objective filtering of the hero. Yet, in this space of voices and silence, the natural world remains opposed to the protagonists, which CD Projekt RED elevates to monstrifying the natural in opposition to the player, giving voices to some zoomorphic and anthropomorphic monsters, but leaving other nonhuman ecomorphic creatures without voice, encouraging anthropocentric dominance over the environment.

Research has consistently shown that LGBTGEQIAP+ individuals experience pervasive health disparities, including eating disorders (ED; e.g., Mensinger et al., 2020). Unfortunately, LGBTGEQIAP+ people report negative ED treatment experiences, particularly concerning cultural sensitivity, gender-affirming care, and other barriers to diagnosis and treatment (Duffy et al., 2016; Hartman-Munick et al., 2021; The Trevor Project, 2020). Sonneville and Lipson (2018) advocated for developing inclusive screening tools to address current deficits in multicultural ED research and practice. The present study sought to fill this gap by developing and validating a new screening tool for LGBTGEQIAP+ individuals: the Multidimensional Eating and Body Image Screening (MEBIS). Following Lambie et al.’s (2017) guidelines, the researcher developed an initial item pool based on a comprehensive ED literature review. An expert panel of reviewers and a small sample of LGBTGEQIAP+ individuals provided additional feedback to enhance item clarity, content validity, and affirming language. The researcher began the recruitment process after receiving approval from the university’s Institutional Review Board. Participants included LGBTGEQIAP+ adults (18 years of age or older) from the community. Two separate samples were collected via an online survey for exploratory factor analysis (EFA; N=400) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; N=339) procedures. The EFA revealed a nine-factor structure accounting for 61.1% of the variance in the model. The factors were labeled as follows: (1) Gender, Media, and Disconnection; (2) Binging and Emotional Eating; (3) Compassion and Awareness; (4) Communities of Support; (5) Relationship with Food; (6) Affectional Orientation Sociocultural Factors; (7) Restriction, Dieting, and Compensatory Behaviors; (8) Racial/Ethnic Sociocultural Factors; and (9) Family and Cultural Support. According to CFA results, the nine-factor model suggested adequate fit (robust x2 (df = 866)=2479.62; CFI=.903; RMSEA=0.74; SRMR=.084). Additional psychometric analyses revealed acceptable internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.888) and evidence of convergent validity with the well-established ED screening, the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26; Garner et al., 1982). These results pose significant implications for culturally responsive and inclusive ED treatment, which are addressed.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is an influence of bilingualism as well as musical experience and training on performance during tasks of executive function using electrophysiological (EEG) measures. The aims included: 1) analyzing differences across groups of bilinguals, monolinguals, bilingual musicians, and monolingual non-musicians on executive function tasks in their performance as well as in their corresponding event-related potentials (ERPs) to evaluate the effects of experience-dependent neuroplasticity, and 2) correlating the ERP measures during executive function tasks with measures of bilingualism and musical training.
We used three questionnaires to determine the level of bilingualism, years of instrument use, and musical experience, which were provided online in the first phase of the study through Qualtrics. For the second in-person testing phase of the study, three cognitive tasks that measured stimulus evaluation and working memory (Oddball), response inhibition (Go/No-Go), and cognitive flexibility (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; WCST) were administered. Also, three behavioral tasks: Digit Span, Short Term Visual Memory Binding, and Corsi block tapping test assessed differences in working memory across the groups.
Latency differences were observed for bilingual musicians in Standard trials at frontal electrodes, and faster reaction times to Deviant stimuli were observed in bilingual musicians compared to bilinguals, with no other significant results in response inhibition and cognitive flexibility. Therefore, this study demonstrated that musical experience may influence an individual’s speed in performing a task that uses working memory and stimulus evaluation of unexpected stimuli, as well as in their cognitive efficiency of updating as reflected by earlier peaks in the P300 ERP component.

The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in various networks is being matched by an increase in related cybersecurity risks. To help counter these risks, big datasets such as Bot-IoT were designed to train machine learning algorithms on network-based intrusion detection for IoT devices. From a binary classification perspective, there is a high-class imbalance in Bot-IoT between each of the attack categories and the normal category, and also between the combined attack categories and the normal category. Within the scope of predicting botnet attacks in IoT networks, this dissertation demonstrates the usefulness and efficiency of novel machine learning methods, such as an easy-to-classify method and a unique set of ensemble feature selection techniques. The focus of this work is on the full Bot-IoT dataset, as well as each of the four attack categories of Bot-IoT, namely, Denial-of-Service (DoS), Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS), Reconnaissance, and Information Theft. Since resources and services become inaccessible during DoS and DDoS attacks, this interruption is costly to an organization in terms of both time and money. Reconnaissance attacks often signify the first stage of a cyberattack and preventing them from occurring usually means the end of the intended cyberattack. Information Theft attacks not only erode consumer confidence but may also compromise intellectual property and national security. For the DoS experiment, the ensemble feature selection approach led to the best performance, while for the DDoS experiment, the full set of Bot-IoT features resulted in the best performance. Regarding the Reconnaissance experiment, the ensemble feature selection approach effected the best performance. In relation to the Information Theft experiment, the ensemble feature selection techniques did not affect performance, positively or negatively. However, the ensemble feature selection approach is recommended for this experiment because feature reduction eases computational burden and may provide clarity through improved data visualization. For the full Bot-IoT big dataset, an explainable machine learning approach was taken using the Decision Tree classifier. An easy-to-learn Decision Tree model for predicting attacks was obtained with only three features, which is a significant result for big data.

Bonefish Albula vulpes are an economically important sport fish that has historically bolstered the recreational flats fisheries of the Florida Keys and The Bahamas; an industry with an annual economic impact of US$465 million and US$169 million, respectively. Analyses of fishing guide logbooks and guide interviews indicate that the population of bonefish in south Florida has declined. Due to the economic and cultural importance of these fisheries, protection of spawning and nursery habitats is integral to population recovery and stability. However, knowledge gaps persist in how abiotic and biotic habitat factors influence reproduction and recruitment. Without clear delineation of spawning and recruitment habitats, bonefish populations remain vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbances. Bonefish partake in a unique three-point spawning migration, migrating from shallow-water home flats to form nearshore pre-spawning aggregations (PSA) before moving offshore to spawn. Using active acoustic telemetry, sonar imagery, and CTD profiles, the first complete account of offshore spawning movements and novel deep diving behavior was accomplished. Bonefish reached depths of 137.9 m and spawned at 67.3 m, a depth associated with the pycnocline/thermocline. Previous efforts show spatiotemporal plasticity in spawning, a behavior counter to other aggregation forming fishes.

This dissertation examines some of the challenges women face in the public sector in New York City. Workplace communal and agentic attributes and transactional and transformational leadership provided the theoretical frameworks through which women are viewed when they ascend to executive or managerial positions in city agencies. Communal and agentic attributes delve into feminine and masculine roles, the leadership challenge and biases toward women, and the preference in leadership style for women and men.
Scholars organize these attributes to help us understand gender stereotypes whereby men are described as independent, assertive, and initiating, while women are described as caring, emotionally expressive, and responsive to others. Because leadership has been associated with men for centuries, women leaders’ evaluations create incongruencies. Perceived social norms are activated in people’s minds about women not conforming to their gender role and communal attributes and the expectations of what a leader should be. Therefore, the perceived dissimilarity creates a dilemma and potential for prejudice against women leaders. Some policies, non-discriminatory laws, and different administrations changed some of those perceptions and enabled women to lead numerous city agencies in New York City. Nevertheless, challenges remain.

“Midsummer Night’s Poems”—as the thesis’ title suggests—is based on Shakespeare’s play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The thesis’ poems reflect a very dream-like state of progression, starting with overall harmony in terms of relationships and followed by the consequences resulting from immature love’s fickle nature. The poems, however, are not meant to be read as grave or humorless even though their tone is sometimes overdramatized. The poems’ tone is lighthearted, while engaging the suffering of love’s hardships. It keeps the reader’s perspective comparable to Bottom’s. The thesis’ message is that we should not take ourselves so seriously. Finally, the thesis’ poems act as a mirror to Shakespeare’s play since common themes emerge in both. In sum, the thesis’ tone shadows the lightheartedness of the play’s and yet conveys that while “The course of true love never did run smooth,” true love always finds a way to bring us peace.