The following thesis proposes solutions to problems in two main areas of focus, computer vision and machine learning. Chapter 2 utilizes traditional computer vision methods implemented in a novel manner to successfully identify overlays contained in broadcast footage. The remaining chapters explore machine learning algorithms and apply them in various manners to big data, multi-channel image data, and ECG data. L1 and L2 principal component analysis (PCA) algorithms are implemented and tested against each other in Python, providing a metric for future implementations. Selected algorithms from this set are then applied in conjunction with other methods to solve three distinct problems. The first problem is that of big data error detection, where PCA is effectively paired with statistical signal processing methods to create a weighted controlled algorithm. Problem 2 is an implementation of image fusion built to detect and remove noise from multispectral satellite imagery, that performs at a high level. The final problem examines ECG medical data classification. PCA is integrated into a neural network solution that achieves a small performance degradation while requiring less then 20% of the full data size.

This study uses a mixed methods approach to investigate how individuals perceive nature and engage with Texas state park (TSP) programs and resources while also identifying major barriers that visitors perceive/encounter when visiting TSPs. This study looks through the anthropological lens by using theoretical frameworks such as habitus, presentation of the social self, space and place, as well as communities of practice (CoP), to better understand the factors that influence the establishment and maintenance of an individual's relationship to nature and participation in related practices. This study illustrates how an individual's relationship to nature is influenced by experiences in early life that involve activities, landscape or bioregion, and social factors. Relationships with nature are strengthened through social support especially when CoPs are involved. By understanding park visitor experiences through motivations and limitations to participating in the outdoors, parks can expand engagement tactics, foster existing and create new CoP related to nature that aid in the introduction and adoption of outdoor learning and experiences creating lifelong stewards. The study offers recommendations on how TSPs can address visitor barriers and increase nature affinity with the use of targeted outreach and engagement methods through agency interpretive resources and programs with the goal of …

The aim of this thesis is to narrate and analyze lynching and atypical violence in Denton County, Texas, between 1920 and 1926. Through this intensive study of a rural county in north Texas, the role of law enforcement in typical and systemic violence is observed and the relationship between Denton County Officials and the Ku Klux Klan is analyzed. Chapter 1 discusses the root of the word lynching and submits a call for academic attention to violence that is unable to be categorized as lynching due to its restrictive definition. Chapter 2 chronicles known instances of lynching in Denton County from its founding through the 1920s including two lynchings perpetrated by Klavern 136, the Denton County Klan. Chapter 3 examines the relationship between Denton County Law Enforcement and the Klan. In Chapter 4, seasons of violence are identified and applied to available historical records. Chapter 5 concludes that non-lynching violence, termed "disappearances," occurred and argues on behalf of its inclusion within the historiography of Jim Crow Era criminal actions against Black Americans. In the Prologue and Epilogue, the development and dissolution of the St. John's Community in Pilot Point, Texas, is narrated.

This qualitative study utilized the protective action decision model to explore the risk perceptions and hazard adjustments to the earthquake risk of residents in El Reno, Oklahoma.

This work describes ethnographic research completed in order to understand how local community members in Denton, Texas define, conceptualize, and speak about sustainability. The goal of this research is to encourage a more representative approach to sustainability initiatives within the City of Denton by uniting community ideas with local governance. Data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews with residents, participant observation at community meetings, and quantitative survey analysis. Through the use of a Foucauldian framework for analysis, in conjunction with David Harvey's "entrepreneurial city," and work done in the field of environmental justice, this study highlights a potential link between neoliberal approaches to city governance and community perceptions of sustainability. This research concludes by calling for more representation of all community members within local sustainability initiatives, and provides several suggestions for how this can be achieved.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Pb and hypoxia co-exposure on Pb toxicity and Ca homeostasis in early life stage (ELS) zebrafish (Danio rerio). Previous evidence indicates that exposure of ELS zebrafish to hypoxia (~20% air saturation) reduces Ca uptake, likely through down-regulation of the apical epithelial Ca channel (ECaC). Considering that Pb and Ca are known antagonists and compete for uptake pathways, it was hypothesized that co-exposure of Pb with hypoxia would decrease Pb toxicity by reducing Pb uptake (likely mediated through a reduced number of ECaCs). However, it was shown that at 96 hpf, whole body accumulation of both Pb and Ca was lower at 40% air saturation compared to 100% and 20% air saturation. This result closely aligned with the 96h LC50 results which showed the highest mortality of zebrafish at 40% compared to the other air saturation levels. This suggests that toxicity is likely the result of exacerbated hypocalcemia at 40% air saturation due to both Pb competition for Ca binding to Ca uptake channels/transporters, such as ECaC, and potentially reduced expression of such channels/transporters in response to this level of hypoxia. Overall, it appears that ELS zebrafish respond differentially to …

The #noDAPL movement was an Indigenous-led environmental social movement occurring between 2015 and 2017, in which the Standing Rock Sioux and other American Indian tribes comprising the Oceti Sakowin garnered support to oppose the 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline. Pipeline opponents agreed that the pipeline's construction posed a threat to the health and safety of tribal members and other residents of the area and that the pipeline's path crossed previously-designated tribal treaty boundaries, compromising tribal sovereignty. In this body of work, I utilize Facebook data from the Sacred Stone Camp Facebook page to locate and identify collective action frames and core framing tasks, adhering to social movement framing theory. Further, I provide insight into the movement's most used collective action frames and how their use enabled to movement to maintain occupation at protest camps along the Missouri River, garner resources from participants and gain international social support. I also draw on concepts of pan-Indianism and supratribalism to discuss indigenous collective identity, as well as concepts like relational values and Indigenous traditional knowledge to better assess the nuances of Indigenous environmental activism and how this movement evoked discussions of modern day settler colonialism.

There has been a rapid surge toward "organic" products devoid of GMOs, MSGs, and other common compounds found in processed foods that continue to indicate an association with an increased risk for disease. These consumers seek nutrients and vitamins that are lacking in their diet and lifestyle in the form of nutraceuticals for disease prevention and treatment as well as overall lifestyle enhancement. However, these products generally lack clinical evidence as well as legal definition. Due to this ambiguity, nutraceuticals are neither considered a food product nor a pharmaceutical product. Furthermore, due to their alleged natural properties allowing for safe, therapeutic effects, nutraceuticals are being eagerly sought after by consumers in the place of pharmaceuticals. Additionally, since nutraceutical substances are "naturally" derived, there is a general lack of regulation regarding the manufacturing and distribution process. This mismanagement leads to lack of quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) protocols strictly implemented to define appropriate production and storage parameters. Without these critical measures, consumers are subjected to contamination of their products resulting from improper storage conditions and unmanaged production. These contaminants often include heavy metal impurities, pesticides, bacterial activity, and may also be adulterated with illicit drugs, all leading to detrimental …

This study examines the relationship between proposed desalination plants and increased plastic pollution along the Texas Gulf Coast. It specifically focuses on their expected impact on communities in the area and was conducted for Society of Native Nations. The goal was to gather information about environmental ideologies and experiences from different environmental experts and scientists to educate community members and inform policy recommendations. The study relied on semi structured interviews and archival research to understand how environmental experts and scientists envision the future, how they interpret the impact of desalination plants as related to plastic pollution. Ideas that guided this research include decolonial methodologies, political ecology, Indigenous research agendas, environmental justice and knowledge, cultural hybridity, and the anthropology of the borderlands. This research provides actionable steps and recommendations to improve environmental education in Texas Gulf Coast communities on the U.S./Mexico border and to reduce plastic pollution in order to ensure that these communities have ample amounts of water supply without relying on desalination plants.