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Graduate Writing Samples |
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Graduate Research Prject Proposal: Evaluating Hays County Communities for Wildfire Evacuation Vulnerability 5/2023
Introduction:
The fastest growing land use type in the US is the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)-loosely defined as the
area where houses meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland
vegetation (Radeloff et al. 2005). This growth presents a challenge to urban and emergency
planners because of land use types, the WUI poses the greatest risk of wildfire due to the
adjacency of human development and flammable vegetation (Radeloff et al. 2005, Radeloff et al.
2018). This argument is not without support, between 1990 and 2009, 7075 buildings were
destroyed by wildfire in the California WUI, and wildfires in the Colorado Front Range continue
to set annual records in terms of number of structures burned (Calkin et al. 2014, Kramer et al.
2021). Much of the expansion of the WUI has been attributed to amenity-driven growth outside
of metropolitan areas, the general de-concentration of population and housing, and population
shifts to the West and Southeast (Hammer, Stewart, and Radeloff 2009). This growth is
expected to continue and may be exacerbated by the retirement of the baby boomer generation
(Hammer, Stewart, and Radeloff 2009). Coupled with the increasing risk due to expansion of the
WUI is the added risk that comes from climate change. It is projected that the WUI will
experience substantially higher risk of climate-driven fires in the coming decades due to the
increased severity and frequency of drought, and the lengthening of the fire season (Jolly et al.
2015, Schoennagel et al. 2017).
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Environmental Methods: The Environmental Impacts of Contemporary, High-Severity Wildfires on Forest Ecology, Air Pollution, Soil Degradation, and Water Pollution 5/2022
Introduction:
The fastest growing land use type in the US is the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)-loosely defined as the
area where houses meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland vegetation (Radeloff et al. 2005). This
growth presents a challenge to urban and emergency planners because of land use types, the WUI faces the
greatest risk of wildfire due to the adjacency of human development and flammable vegetation (Radeloff et
al. 2005, Radeloff et al. 2018). The risk wildfires pose to the built environment may provide the attention
needed to advance wildfire mitigation and forest restoration thereby reducing the damage to natural
systems and the built environment. This could be accomplished through existing environmental laws such as
the Clean Air Act (Williams 2021). However, approaching wildfire and forest management through environmental
laws for the purpose of lessening risk to the built environment first necessitates an understanding of the
environmental impacts caused by wildfires. To this end, this review investigates and describes the literature
surrounding the environmental impacts of wildfire related to four aspects of the environment: forest
ecology, air pollution, soil degradation, and water quality....
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Quantitiative Methods Research Paper: Modeling COVID-19 Vaccine Hesistancy Based on CDC County Level Estimates 11/2021
Abstract:
A multiple regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the ability of metrics relating to healthcare
access, race, education, income, political leaning, sex, and age, to predict COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy as
estimated at the county level by the CDC, based on a Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey conducted
between March 3rd and March 15th, 2021 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). 16
variables were evaluated and 6 were found to be valid for use in the multiple regression analysis: median
household income, percent of population in poverty, percent of population identifying as non-Hispanic
black, percent of population with less than a bachelor’s degree, percent of population without health
insurance, and the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index. A best-subsets regression evaluation was
conducted on the possible combinations of these 6 predictors and the best model was found to be the
model making use of all 6 input variables. Together, these predictors accounted for 37 percent of the
variance in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy across counties, and all of the variables were significant
predictors...
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Undergraduate Writing Samples |
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Historic Literature Review 12/2017
Climate oscillations are cyclic, temporal shifts in climactic variables such as wind patterns, ocean surface temperatures,
ocean currents etc. El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the name given to the oscillation that describes the warming of
the upper ocean near the equatorial, eastern Pacific Ocean. The purpose of this research is to provide a timeline and
description of the initial discovery and the most significant research advances that have led to the current scientific
understanding of the El Nino Southern Oscillation. The intent is to provide a review of both the series of papers by Gilbert
T. Walker in the early 1900’s that are considered to be the discovery of the phenomenon, and the paper by Jacob Bjerknes in
the 1960’s that provided a geophysical mechanism by which the phenomenon discovered by Gilbert, could be explained. A description
of the advances since Bjerknes that have led to the current multidisciplinary scientific understanding of ENSO will also be
included. Information on ENSO and the series of publications will be obtained through major professional reference sources
such as the Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change, and the Encyclopedia of Geomorphology, and papers from contributors
through databases such as JSTOR and ScienceDirect. The oldest applicable research was that of Walker in the 1920’s, published
by the Royal Academy of Meteorology, which is available through the JSTOR database.
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Academic Research Paper 4/2018
Over the past decade, climate change has become a wildly polarized issue in America. Political conservatives ostensibly believe
that the science is wrong, that the problem is not an American issue, or even that climate change is a hoax altogether. This
rhetoric is not only absurd, it is dangerous to Americans and the world as a whole. The U.S. is the second largest emitter
of CO2, the primary cause of climate change, and yet the current administration is actively revoking measures to reduce emissions
(Greshko et al. 2018). Contrary to the beliefs of many U.S. policymakers, climate change is real, it is already impacting the U.S.,
and we are running
out of time to act.
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Profile Essay 3/2018
The American Southwest is known for its rugged landscape, its sweeping views, and its rich history. Travelers flock from
far and wide to visit the region in parks like Zion, Arches, and the Grand Canyon. Soon, however, the southwest may be
in the spotlight for an entirely different reason: The Wall. The 30-foot, or possibly 65-foot masterpiece of our Great
Leader -who builds the best walls- may soon span the deserts of the Southwest. Attendance will spike in Big Bend as droves
of visitors line up for a view of the “physically imposing” yet “aesthetically pleasing” monstrosity of reinforced ego
and concrete (“Physically Imposing & Aesthetically Pleasing”). As outlandish as this sounds, the wall could be a reality,
and the $26 Billion price tag will pale in comparison to the ecological damage. Wildlife doesn’t conform to political
boundaries. The proposed barrier would split wildlife populations in two, degrade thousands of acres of habitat, and
further threaten dozens of endangered species.
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Personal Narrative 1/2018
What marks the beginning of your year? Is it New Year’s Day? The first day back to work after the holidays? The first
day of the spring semester? For the past four years, my year has started the day I get back from Big Bend National Park.
I spend this day unpacking my gear, catching up on the news, and checking and double checking my class schedule.
Within a week the spring semester starts and I’m back in my usual routine. A month goes by and the first round of tests
flood the campus. The lines at the coffee shops grow longer and all of my favorite library spots are taken. I don’t
mind though, I secretly love tests. I suppose I’m a bit of an outcast in that I not so secretly love learning. Earth
sciences fascinate me and at one point I would have been content to make studying my career. Lately though I see less of
the projector screen and more of the walls. There are eight of them. Four walls of a classroom enclosed within four walls
of the building. Twelve if you count the ceiling, floor, roof and ground. Twelve walls separate learning science from
experiencing it. I say that my year starts the day I get back because that’s when the longing starts. An incessant
nagging builds in me from the moment I get back until it peaks and by the end of the year I have to escape again. I cannot
say what this longing is, only that the wilderness of Big Bend holds the key. This year I was determined to find the answer.
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Chad Ramos |