Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Agriculture may result in soil disturbances, including contamination by rare earth elements (REE) and trace elements (TEs) from agricultural inputs (e.g. fertilizers, pesticides). Regulations concerning agricultural inputs currently do not consider TE background concentrations, concurrent use of inputs, and emerging contaminants. Therefore, they may not sufficiently protect against TE… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This thesis presents a case of the aquatic plant species Fanwort (Cabomba caroliniana) significantly naturalizing in Kasshabog Lake in bays where it had been invasive. This significant naturalization presents major implications for invasive species management and invasion biology because the naturalization of invasive species is a phenomenon that has been largely omitted from study… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) is a steeply declining shorebird that breeds across boreal North America. I studied nest survival in Anchorage, Alaska, USA and Churchill, Manitoba, Canada and nest site selection factors in Churchill. Nests were monitored at each site and daily nest survival rates (DSR) were calculated based on a maximum likelihood approach. Overall nest survival… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>I utilized analytical autoethnography to analyze and interpret my own experience of what caring for a child that died was like for me within the academic and institutional culture that I was educated and trained in (Chang, 2008). Themes of lack of preparedness, relationships, loss and emotion, death denial, and lasting impacts and growth were identified. Pediatric death and dying… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Amphibian biodiversity is in global decline, driven primarily by habitat loss and fragmentation arising from landcover alteration. For pond-breeding amphibians, larval abundance should be governed by aquatic breeding site quality, surrounding terrestrial habitat characteristics, and proximity to neighbouring populations. If safeguarding salamander populations is a priority, conservation… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The involvement of families in the care of their infant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) may be influenced by the unit environment (O'Brien et al., 2013). The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of the open pod NICU through the research question: What is the impact of unit design in the NICU at Kingston General Hospital (KGH) on the lived experiences of… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Ackuayi, Stephen Makafui, Thesis advisor (ths): Cater, Bruce, Thesis advisor (ths): Parker, James, Degree committee member (dgc): Cater, Bruce, Degree committee member (dgc): Parker, James, Degree committee member (dgc): Pollanen, Marco, Degree committee member (dgc): Kam, Eric, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Accurately forecasting financial distress in companies is crucial in the turbulent economic conditions of our time. This study highlights the potential benefits of incorporating qualitative data into financial distress prediction models. The study assessed the relative effectiveness of traditional distress prediction models against integrated models, determined which variables… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Climate change is a global challenge with profound environmental, health, andsocio-economic implications. Canada's diverse geography offers a unique lens to study
localized climate trends. This thesis models and clusters climate variables, focusing
on temperature trends, using Bayesian hierarchical models and clustering techniques
to uncover regional patterns and health impacts.… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Microplastics are intricate plastic particles (<5 mm in length) with complex chemical mixtures that are pervasive globally. Nonetheless, our understanding of microplastic contamination in the Canadian Arctic is limited. Therefore, this thesis aimed to investigate the concentration and characteristics of microplastics in and surrounding the community of Iqaluit, Nunavut. Our… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>It is well known that pain can heighten sensitivity to stimuli that signal threat in most species. In rodents, exposure to predator odor, such as 2,5-dihydro-2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline (TMT), induces anxiety and alters pain sensitivity. This study explored the effect of predator odor stress on mechanical pain sensitivity in a rat model of acute inflammatory pain induced by suboptimal… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Metaphors are a ubiquitous component of communication, which are either conventional (familiar) or novel phrases. Metaphors are useful for discussing abstract concepts such as emotions that can be difficult to discuss literally, and as such benefit social relationships (Nippold et al., 2017). Research on contributors to novel metaphor production is limited and previous methodologies have… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Prevailing rates of sexual violence have necessitated research on sexual consentcommunication to remedy these issues. Research has found that individuals possess sophisticated
knowledge of consent, and that discrepancies between people's attitudes and behaviours are
resulting in sexual violence and compliance behaviours. The BDSM community–with its greater
diversity and effective… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>In an effort to improve upon existing analytical methods, electrochemical sensors offer portable, cost-effective alternatives to traditional lab-based techniques. Recent advances in supramolecular chemistry offer a unique alternative to achieve high selectivity while also benefitting from facile scaling for mass production. Thus, by incorporating host-guest chemistry with electrochemical… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Reyes, Kyle Matthew Dabu, Thesis advisor (ths): Vreugdenhil, Andrew J, Degree committee member (dgc): Keske, Eric, Degree committee member (dgc): Zenkina, Olena V, Degree committee member (dgc): Adronov, Alex, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>The oil sands industry is producing large volumes of tailings waste reaching 2 billion cubic meters by 2034 In this study, the industrial standard flocculant, high molecular weight PAM, was grafted from the surface of activated carbon (AC). This material was designed to increase the flocculant's hydrophobicity and density. Different molecular weight PAM was grafted from AC with… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Calcium (Ca) limitation and sodium chloride (NaCl) toxicity tolerance are potential controllers of Daphnia populations. D. pulicaria neonates collected from 14 Kawartha Highland lakes were exposed to 6 Ca concentrations (0.5-5.0 mg Ca L-1) over 6 days. We did not find differences in maximum mass-specific growth rate or half-maximum thresholds between source lakes. Growth rates were… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>DNA methylation (DNAm) is a useful indicator of phenotypic expression and diversity, and can potentially inform adaptations to environmental changes. This thesis uses epigenetic techniques to investigate the mechanisms underlying phenotypic variation in white-tailed deer, black bear, and mountain goat, with a particular focus on age and body size. In the second chapter, we aimed to… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>We study a one-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model with disorder in charge and spin degrees of freedom. We calculate the time dependence of the entanglement entropy. While previous research on disordered interacting systems has typically focused on systems with either charge or spin, our model enables us to explore the interplay between charge and spin in shaping the behavior of entanglement… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Obinwanne, Uchechukwu Emmanuel, Thesis advisor (ths): Feng, Wenying, Degree committee member (dgc): Alam, Omar, Degree committee member (dgc): Xu, Simon, Degree committee member (dgc): Parker, James, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Recent developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly Large Language Models (LLMs), have provided powerful tools for Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks like sentiment analysis. However, their fine-tuning and deployment present challenges, specifically in terms of computational efficiency and high training costs. To address these challenges, this work applies optimization… more
