Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16783
Context-dependent representation of within- and between-model uncertainty: Aggregating probabilistic predictions in infectious disease epidemiology
Probabilistic predictions support public health planning and decision making, especially in infectious disease emergencies. Aggregating outputs from multiple models yields more robust predictions of outcomes and associated uncertainty. While the selection of an aggregation method can be guided by retrospective performance evaluations, this is not always possible. For example, if predictions are co
Authors
Emily Howerton, Michael C. Runge, Tiffany L. Bogich, Rebecca K. Borchering, Hidetoshi Inamine, Justin Lessler, Luke C Mullany, William J.M. Probert, Claire P. Smith, Shaun Truelove, Cècile Viboud, Katriona Shea
A novel non-destructive workflow for examining germanium and co-substituents in ZnS
A suite of complementary techniques was used to examine germanium (Ge), a byproduct critical element, and co-substituent trace elements in ZnS and mine wastes from four mineral districts where germanium is, or has been, produced within the United States. This contribution establishes a comprehensive workflow for characterizing Ge and other trace elements, which captures the full heterogeneity of s
Authors
Sarah M. Hayes, Ryan J. McAleer, Nadine M. Piatak, Sarah Jane White, Robert R. Seal
Stochastic watershed model ensembles for long-range planning: Verification and validation
Deterministic watershed models (DWMs) are used in nearly all hydrologic planning, design, and management activities, yet they cannot generate streamflow ensembles needed for hydrologic risk management (HRM). The stochastic component of DWMs is often ignored in practice, leading to a systematic bias in extreme events. Since traditional stochastic streamflow models used in HRM struggle to account fo
Authors
Ghazal Shabestanipour, Zachary P Brodeur, William H. Farmer, Scott Steinschneider, Richard M Vogel, Jonathan Lamontagne
Climate change hotspots and implications for the global subsea telecommunications network
A global network of subsea telecommunications cables underpins our daily lives, enabling >95% of global digital data transfer, $trillions/day in financial trading, and providing critical communications links, particularly to remote, low-income countries. Despite their importance, subsea cables and their landing stations are vulnerable to damage by natural hazards, including storm surges, waves, cy
Authors
M.A. Clare, I.A. Yeo, L. Bricheno, Y Askenov, J. Browning, I.D. Haigh, T. Wahl, J. A. Hunter, C. Sams, Jason Chaytor, B.J. Bett, L. Carter
Structured decision making to prioritize regional bird monitoring needs
Conservation planning for large ecosystems has multiple benefits but is often challenging to implement because of the multiple jurisdictions, species, and habitats involved. In addition, decision making at large spatial scales can be hampered because many approaches do not explicitly incorporate potentially competing values and concerns of stakeholders. After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, estab
Authors
Auriel M. V. Fournier, R. Randy Wilson, Jeffrey S. Gleason, Evan M. Adams, Janell M. Brush, Robert J. Cooper, Stephen J. DeMaso, Melanie J. L. Driscoll, Peter C. Frederick, Patrick Jodice, Mary Ann Ottinger, David B. Reeves, Michael A. Seymour, Stephanie M. Sharuga, John M. Tirpak, William G. Vermillion, Theodore J. Zenzal, James E. Lyons, Mark S. Woodrey
Juxtaposition of intensive agriculture, vulnerable aquifers, and mixed chemical/microbial exposures in private-well tapwater in northeast Iowa
In the United States and globally, contaminant exposure in unregulated private-well point-of-use tapwater (TW) is a recognized public-health data gap and an obstacle to both risk-management and homeowner decision making. To help address the lack of data on broad contaminant exposures in private-well TW from hydrologically-vulnerable (alluvial, karst) aquifers in agriculturally-intensive landscapes
Authors
Paul M. Bradley, Dana W. Kolpin, Darrin A. Thompson, Kristin M. Romanok, Kelly L. Smalling, Sara E. Breitmeyer, Mary C. Cardon, David M. Cwiertny, Nicola Evans, R. William Field, Michael J. Focazio, Laura E. Beane Freeman, Carrie E Givens, James L. Gray, Gordon L. Hager, Michelle Hladik, Jonathan N. Hoffman, Rena R. Jones, Leslie K. Kanagy, Rachael F. Lane, R. Blaine McCleskey, Danielle Medgyesi, Elizabeth Medlock-Kakaley, Shannon M. Meppelink, Michael T. Meyer, Diana A. Stavreva, Mary H. Ward
Potential effects of climate change on Appalachian stoneflies (Remenus kirchneri, Acroneuria kosztarabi, and Tallaperla lobata)
Plecoptera (stoneflies) are an order of insects where most species rely on clean, fast-moving freshwater for an aquatic larval stage followed by a short terrestrial adult stage. Most species of Plecoptera seem to be restricted to specific stream types and thermal regimes. Climate-driven changes are likely to alter stream temperatures and flow, resulting in physiological stress, reduced reproductiv
Authors
Marta P. Lyons, Catherine A. Nikiel, Olivia E. LeDee, Ryan Boyles
Drivers and facilitators of the illegal killing of elephants across 64 African sites
Ivory poaching continues to threaten African elephants. We (1) used criminology theory and literature evidence to generate hypotheses about factors that may drive, facilitate or motivate poaching, (2) identified datasets representing these factors, and (3) tested those factors with strong hypotheses and sufficient data quality for empirical associations with poaching. We advance on previous analys
Authors
Timothy Kuiper, Res Altwegg, Colin Beale, Thea Carroll, Holy Dublin, Severin Hauenstein, Mrigesh Kshatriya, Carl Schwarz, Chris Thouless, Andy Royle, E.J. Milner-Gulland
Sound-side inundation and seaward erosion of a barrier island during hurricane landfall
Barrier islands are especially vulnerable to hurricanes and other large storms, owing to their mobile composition, low elevations, and detachment from the mainland. Conceptual models of barrier-island evolution emphasize ocean-side processes that drive landward migration through overwash, inlet migration, and aeolian transport. In contrast, we found that the impact of Hurricane Dorian (2019) on No
Authors
Christopher R. Sherwood, Andrew C. Ritchie, Jin-Si R. Over, Christine J. Kranenburg, Jonathan Warrick, Jenna A. Brown, Wayne Wright, Alfredo Aretxabaleta, Sara Zeigler, Phillipe Alan Wernette, Daniel D. Buscombe, Christie Hegermiller
Gross alpha-particle activity and high 226Ra concentrations do not correspond with high 210Po in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain aquifers of the United States
210Po, which is of human-health concern based on lifetime ingestion cancer risk, is indirectly regulated in drinking water through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s gross alpha-particle activity (GAPA) maximum contaminant level of 15 pCi/L (picocuries per liter). This regulation requires independent measurement of 226Ra for samples exceeding the GAPA screening level of 5 pCi/L. There is n
Authors
Zoltan Szabo, Charles A. Cravotta, Paul Stackelberg, Kenneth Belitz
Tectonics, geochronology, and petrology of the Walker Top Granite, Appalachian Inner Piedmont, North Carolina (USA): Implications for Acadian and Neoacadian orogenesis
The Walker Top Granite (here formally named) is a peraluminous megacrystic granite that occurs in the Cat Square terrane, Inner Piedmont, part of the southern Appalachian Acadian-Neoacadian deformational and metamorphic core. The granite occurs as disconnected concordant to semi-concordant plutons in migmatitic, sillimanite zone rocks of the Brindle Creek thrust sheet. Locally garnet-bearing, the
Authors
Arthur J. Merschat, Robert D. Hatcher, Scott D. Giorgis, Heather E. Byars, Russell Mapes, Crystal G. Wilson, Matthew P. Gatewood
A pilot biodiversity inventory and monitoring protocol in support of coastal adaptation projects in tidal and nearshore subtidal habitats of Boston Harbor Islands
The Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (BOHA) is at high risk to the impacts of sealevel rise (SLR) and erosion from coastal storms. In June 2021, the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the islands as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places due to climate change. BOHA partners have been working to find climate adaptive solutions to protect and sustain critical
Authors
Michelle Staudinger, Marc Albert