Honors Projects

Showing 511 - 520 of 564 Items


Impacts of eelgrass (Zostera marina) on pore-water sulfide concentrations in intertidal sediments of Casco Bay, Maine

Date: 2016-05-01

Creator: Sabine Y Berzins

Access: Open access

Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is a perennial seagrass that provides many vital ecosystem services including stabilizing sediments, maintaining water clarity, and providing complex habitat in the intertidal and shallow subtidal coastline. Historically, Maine supported dense eelgrass beds in shallow waters surrounding islands and along the coastal mainland. However, in 2012, high population densities of European green crabs (Carcinus maenas), which physically disturb and remove eelgrass as they forage, were correlated with widespread eelgrass declines. Over 55% of the area of eelgrass in Casco Bay was lost, mainly between 2012 and 2014. Eelgrass typically grows in low-oxygen sediments that produce a chemically reducing environment. Sulfate-reducing bacteria in these reduced sediments produce hydrogen sulfide, a toxin that can intrude into eelgrass tissues and impair the plants’ ability to photosynthesize. When eelgrass is not present, sulfide can build up in the pore-water. When eelgrass is present, it can oxygenate the sediments through its roots, thereby preventing the intrusion and buildup of toxic hydrogen sulfide. However, if the substrate is de-vegetated, oxygen levels drop as sedimentary organic matter is decomposed, and the accumulation of sulfides to harmful concentrations in the pore-water may make recolonization of eelgrass difficult or perhaps impossible even in the absence of green crabs. In an effort to monitor characteristics of Casco Bay eelgrass beds and determine spatially where eelgrass may be more likely to recover, four Casco Bay sites with varying degrees of vegetation loss were sampled in 2015 for pore-water sulfide concentration, sediment carbon and nitrogen content, and sediment grain size analysis. Measurements of sulfide concentrations showed correlations with the timing of eelgrass loss, such that vegetated sites had low pore-water sulfide concentrations and sites that had been de-vegetated for longer periods of time had high sulfide concentrations. Carbon and nitrogen content in the sediment was higher at de-vegetated sites, likely due to a higher percentage of finer sediments at those locations. Coarser sediments were more highly vegetated than finer sediments, perhaps displaying a preference of green crabs to forage in finer sediments. Catastrophic loss of eelgrass in Casco Bay has likely led to differences in sulfide levels, carbon and nitrogen content in the sediment, and grain size distribution, depending on degree of vegetation. Eelgrass restoration in Casco Bay will likely be limited by high pore-water sulfide concentrations.


Peace Be Dammed? Water Power and Water Politics in the Tigris-Euphrates Basin

Date: 2015-05-01

Creator: Camille E. Wasinger

Access: Open access



The Price of Carbon: Politics and Equity of Carbon Taxes in the Middle Income Countries of South Africa and Mexico

Date: 2015-05-01

Creator: Bridgett C McCoy

Access: Open access

This study provides the first analysis of the politics and ethics behind carbon taxation in South Africa and Mexico. Using the preexisting scholarly frameworks of climate change policy, tax policy, and Robert Putnam’s two level games, I determine that in both cases, international pressures from multilateral negotiations and international development funding sources initiated the carbon tax policymaking process within the environment and treasury ministries of both countries. Once environment ministry bureaucrats initiated the carbon tax a lack of politicization of climate change (both countries) and an additional gain of raising revenue (Mexico) allowed the taxes to become law. I then turn to the laws themselves, analyzing their implications for climate justice. In both cases, the government did not adopt any proposals made interest groups representing environmental concerns and poverty groups, and instead shaped the bills so as to tailor to the interests of heavy manufacturing. This policy decision had the main effect of weakening the climate change mitigation impact of the carbon tax, and exacerbating issues of regressivity by not recycling revenues towards projects aimed at poverty reductions. I conclude this paper with an analysis of the ethics of such a carbon tax in developing countries. The carbon taxes, as they currently exist, sacrifice the rights and needs of the present poor for those of the future generation while an ideal policy that addresses poverty betters the condition of both groups. In order to ensure climate justice and for all groups and prevent political backlash, policy makers in middle-income countries must make carbon reduction policies with the unique challenges of poverty and climate change mitigation in mind.


Miniature of The effect of early life adversity on basolateral amygdala projections to the prefrontal cortex in male and female rats during development
The effect of early life adversity on basolateral amygdala projections to the prefrontal cortex in male and female rats during development
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      Date: 2023-01-01

      Creator: Khushali N Patel

      Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community



        Miniature of Phenylisonitrile Ligand Synthesis and Coordination to Cobalt to Form a Catalyst for the Selective Dimerization of Linear Alpha Olefins
        Phenylisonitrile Ligand Synthesis and Coordination to Cobalt to Form a Catalyst for the Selective Dimerization of Linear Alpha Olefins
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        • Restriction End Date: 2026-06-01

          Date: 2023-01-01

          Creator: Colleen Hughes McAloon

          Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community



            Do Voters Reward Incumbents for Service Provision? Electoral Accountability in South African Elections

            Date: 2023-01-01

            Creator: Rory Mayne Devlin

            Access: Open access

            Democratic theory suggests that voters reward or punish incumbent political parties in elections by evaluating parties’ ability to provide services. But do voters reward incumbent parties for service provision in practice? This project explores the relationship between municipal-level service provision and voting in the South African context. I test whether the local provision of services, such as electricity, piped water, internet, trash collection, and flush toilets, impact the performance of South Africa’s two major political parties, the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) in municipal and national elections between 2009 and 2021. I observe this relationship in ANC- and DA-controlled municipalities using municipal-level data on public service provision, election results, and nighttime brightness levels. The municipal-level results show that DA-controlled municipalities with higher levels of service provision in 2016 offered more support for the DA in the 2021 and 2019 elections. However, ANC-controlled municipalities with higher levels of 2016 service provision did not support the ANC at higher rates. Additionally, ANC-controlled municipalities that improved service provision between 2011 and 2016 supported the ANC at higher rates in the 2021 and 2019 elections than they did in previous elections. DA vote share did not increase in DA-controlled municipalities where services improved over time.


            Searle’s Mind: Brains, Subjects, and Systems

            Date: 2023-01-01

            Creator: Saul Cuevas-Landeros

            Access: Open access

            Throughout this project, I ‘step into the Chinese Room’ presented by philosopher John R. Searle and develop the areas where the Chinese Room Argument succeeds. I have aimed to pick out where Searle has succeeded with the Chinese Room Argument and introduce how it fits in with his school of biological naturalism, as it seems that he already had some conception of it when presenting the Argument. From here, I introduce some of the primary arguments against the Chinese Room Argument because they do not fit with Searle’s overarching theme of biological naturalism. Particularly, Searle’s conception of systems and system features is something he endorses for the biological but immediately labels as silly for the Chinese Room. Following the exposition of systems and system features, I expand on how there is a disconnect between Searle’s use of system features and his view of the Chinese Room Argument. What is so special about Searle’s conception of systems and the systems present in the Chinese Room Argument? Searle should claim that the Chinese Room is simply not the kind of thing that can think. Ultimately, Searle’s philosophy of mind leaves us with either a muddled philosophy or an invalid argument in the Chinese Room, but with much to learn and not forget to consider in the philosophy of mind, such as the important role of subjectivity in our conscious life.


            Miniature of Infant and Maternal Health Outcomes Following Improved Substance Use Disorder Treatment for Pregnant Women
            Infant and Maternal Health Outcomes Following Improved Substance Use Disorder Treatment for Pregnant Women
            This record is embargoed.
              • Embargo End Date: 2026-05-18

              Date: 2023-01-01

              Creator: Emma A. Bomfim

              Access: Embargoed



                Miniature of Agent-Based Modeling of Asset Markets: A Study of Risks, Preferences, and Shocks
                Agent-Based Modeling of Asset Markets: A Study of Risks, Preferences, and Shocks
                This record is embargoed.
                  • Embargo End Date: 2026-05-18

                  Date: 2023-01-01

                  Creator: Evan Albers

                  Access: Embargoed