Trent University

Spatial reasoning and spatial structures are relatively new areas of research in mathematics education. In this study of children exploring spatial conceptions of grid structures, twenty-one children (ages 4-9) were given a series of tasks involving square grids during virtual interviews. As a result of an ideal-type analysis of the qualitative data, a typology of conceptions of grids emerged showing five distinct categories sequenced from very early conceptions of square grids (as a series of isolated cells) to more coordinated structuring (as related and intersecting rows and columns). The five categories - Single Cell Structuring, Partial Unit Building, Whole Figure and Parts-of-Figure Noticing, Composite Unit Structuring and Coordinated Structuring - are described through illustrative examples. Students' gestures, language and diagrams were considered together when constructing the types. Interestingly, the spatial structure of grids was not readily apparent to many students and in fact was found to be complex for students to conceptualize. With minimal research on grids as a spatial structure in the mathematics education research field, there is strong potential for further investigation in this area.

Author Keywords: Grids, Mathematics, Spatial reasoning, Young Children

The study examines the adaptive reuse of historical and heritage industrial sites in Peterborough, Ontario. Industrial-heritage sites face several challenges when being subjected to adaptive reuse. These challenges are largely concerned with the contamination of sites and how industrial buildings and sites can be transformed into reusable sites. The study adopted a qualitative research design and analysis. The study addressed the research gap about nature of adaptive reuse of historic and heritage sites in Peterborough. The study primarily focused on the challenges, best practices, stakeholder initiatives, and the nature of structures in contexts of adaptive reuse in Peterborough. Based on the findings of the study, COVID-19, political will, contamination and the design of heritage and industrial buildings or sites pose a challenge to implementing adaptive reuse practices. These findings provide evidence for policymakers and decision makers on how to apply best practices to adaptive reuse and cultural heritage.

Author Keywords: Adaptive reuse, Cultural, Heritage, Historical, Industrial, Structures

Many species of shorebirds depend on stopover sites to rest and refuel during their long-distance migrations. To determine how shorebirds use migratory stopover sites, we tracked three species of shorebirds at two stopover sites in British Columbia, Canada from 2018-2021 during northward and southward migration using automated telemetry. Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri) stayed longer at the Fraser River Estuary (4-8 days) compared to Tofino (2-6 days). We assessed habitat use of Sanderlings (Calidris alba), Semipalmated Plovers (Charadrius semipalmatus), and Western Sandpipers between beaches and mudflat at the Tofino stopover site. Time spent at the beach and mudflat habitats varied by species, tidal period, time of day, migration period, and human disturbance. This study shows that different stopover sites, and habitats within stopover sites, offer a unique set of characteristics used by birds exhibiting varying migration strategies, highlighting the importance of conserving a diversity of migration stopover locations and habitats.

Author Keywords: habitat use, human disturbance, length of stay, migration, shorebird, stopover site

ABSTRACT Patients who undergo chemotherapy often complain of a persistent 'brain fog' that can be present up to years after treatment ends. This fog is expressed as marked impairments in areas of learning, memory and mental health. As it stands, researchers have yet to determine the mechanism at fault for these impairments. The present experiment investigates if the neurogenesis that takes place in the subgranular zone of the hippocampus is suppressed as a result of chemotherapy treatment, and results in these impairments. In the following thesis, two models of chemotherapy are used to explore the treatment effects on Long-Evans rats. From here, three behavioural assessments and three measures of immunohistochemical techniques are used to explore the effects of Temozolomide on memory and anxious behaviour. Our findings support the current literature that suggests that Temozolomide suppresses adult hippocampal neurogenesis and results in cognitive and emotional impairments.

Author Keywords: adult hippocampal neurogenesis, Chemotherapy, Chemotherapy-Induced Cognitive Impairment, CICI, Long-Evans rats, Temozolomide

Chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), a chemically diverse family of organic compounds defined by their ability to absorb ultraviolet and visible light, is a critical constituent of numerous environmental systems, including freshwater lakes. Industrial operations in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR, Alberta, Canada) are major sources of acidic inorganic gases and organic contaminants to the atmosphere, the subsequent deposition of which posed the potential to alter the composition of natural CDOM within surrounding lake surface-waters. The objective of this thesis was to determine if OS sources measurably impacted CDOM quality within 50 regionally monitored acid sensitive lakes by means of a) altered acid-base chemical processes or b) industrial atmospheric CDOM inputs. Ultraviolet-visible light spectroscopy and excitation emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy were applied to characterize CDOM within regional lake surface-waters to identify the primary sources (e.g., natural, anthropogenic) and process (e.g., acid-base chemistry) influencing chromophoric organic matter quality. These spectroscopic techniques were further used to evaluate industrial CDOM within atmospheric aerosols and deposition to assist with the identification of industrial CDOM within lake waters. Spectroscopic analysis of regional lake surface-water found weak associations between CDOM and acid-base variables, suggesting that acid inputs from OS sources would have limited influence over surface-water chromophoric organic matter. A distinct fluorescent component (i.e., fluorophore) measured within the lake samples (C3) displayed decreasing emission intensity as a function of distance from OS sources and positive correlations with surface-water polycyclic aromatic compounds, implying industrial influence. Spectral similarity between C3 and industrial fluorophores observed from regional aerosol and atmospheric deposition samples further confirmed the lake fluorophore was linked to OS sources. This research suggests that EEM fluorescence spectroscopy could be used as a cost-effective technique to detect industrial pollution within lake surface-waters throughout the AOSR.

Author Keywords: atmospheric brown carbon, atmospheric deposition, atmospheric pollution, dissolved organic matter, fluorescence spectroscopy, lake chemistry

Decades of sulphur and nitrogen deposition acidified forest ecosystems across northeastern North America causing declines in pH and exchangeable base cation concentrations, negatively affecting biota. To assist natural recovery, researchers are investigating using alkaline soil amendments such as wood ash. However, much remains unknown about its use. This thesis evaluated the effects of non-industrial wood ash application (between 0 – 12 Mg ha-1) on soil chemistry, understory vascular plant communities and sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) regeneration in central Ontario. Wood ash increased soil pH and concentrations of calcium, magnesium and several metals. Vascular plant species abundance, richness, and diversity exhibited no consistent treatment effect. Sugar maple seedling survivorship was adversely affected by wood ash applications > 4 Mg ha-1, while growth was unaffected. These results support related research regarding the ability for wood ash to increase soil pH and base cation status but raises uncertainty regarding consequences for vascular plants.

Author Keywords: Acer saccharum, Acid deposition, Ecosystem regeneration, Soil amendment, Understory vegetation, Wood ash

This thesis introduces a weather-driven bio-economic optimization model for agricultural planning and decision-making. The model integrates weather simulations—including precipitation, temperature, relative humidity, and reference evapotranspiration (ETo)—to estimate crop yields using the AquaCrop simulator. These yield estimates are then incorporated into a multi-objective optimization (MOO) model that aims to maximize gross profit and economic water productivity (ET), while minimizing land use. The MOO model's results provide insights into key agricultural planning questions, such as what, where, when, and how much to plant.The findings demonstrate the model's potential to enhance agricultural decision-making by offering optimized crop combinations that improve both economic returns and land use efficiency. This research contributes to the development of a dynamic agricultural planning model by integrating weather forecasting, crop simulation, and multi-objective optimization.

Author Keywords: AquaCrop, Artificial neural network, Markov chains, Multi-objective optimization, Reference evapotranspiration, Stochastic differential equation

In 1995, Donald Judd's Chinati Foundation held its inaugural symposium titled "Art in the Landscape". During the roundtable discussion, walking artist Hamish Fulton asserted that there are fundamental differences between his art and American Land Art. Drawing on Fulton's assertion, this dissertation argues for the redefinition of British environmental art, conventionally called Land Art after the American tradition. Through the exploration of the work of several contemporary and living British artists, the British School of Aesthetic Chorography is articulated. The practice of aesthetic chorography involves an embodied experience of place, such as walking or gardening, which results in a creative response. This creative response is the place-work of aesthetic chorography and can take a plethora of forms including the attachment of language to place, the creation of an ephemeral marker, an image or a representation or the creation of a printed object which recalls the place in some way. Derived from the unfolding of this place-work, the role of language in art is a theme which is carried through the dissertation. The role of language in childhood, memory and constituting knowledge claims is also explored particularly as this relates to place and to loss and the conservational potential of language with respect to place is theorized in a place theory of language and a recollective theory of place. The conservational element of this work is further developed through the articulation of aesthetic chorography as a parochial tending practice which devotes attention to place as an experienced phenomenon. The persistence of parochial places and vernacular tending practices, however, require conservation. The heritage work of the Common Ground Trust in the UK which seeks to promote the "local distinctiveness" of places is explored and the keeping place is raised as a way of thinking about the engaged and living preservation of vernacular places, particularly in the face of environmental crisis.

Keywords: Aesthetics, Aesthetic Chorography, Art, Common Ground Trust, Concrete Poetry, Conservation, Critical Topography, Environmental Aesthetics, Environmental Ethics, Epistemology, Heritage, Keeping Place, Land Art, Landscape, Language, Lieu de Mémoire, Local, Memory, Monument, Parochial, Place, Place-work, Tending, Vernacular, Walking, Jonathan Bordo, Lionel L. Ferguson, Alec Finlay, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Hamish Fulton, Andy Goldsworthy, Donald Judd, Richard Long, Robert Macfarlane, Brian Nichols, Ferdinand de Saussure, Richard Skelton, Robert Smithson, James Turrell, W.J.T. Mitchell

Author Keywords: Aesthetic Chorography, Critical Topography, Heritage, Keeping Place, Landscape, Place

From the early days of colonization, the use of stereotypes has negatively impacted Indigenous women. One mode of transmitting those stereotypes is through fiction. This thesis examines Indigenous female characters in contemporary crime fiction, written by non-Indigenous Canadian authors, for evidence of stereotype depiction. Two novels were selected for this study, The Last Good Day by Gail Bowen, and Cold Mourning by Brenda Chapman. The books were critically scanned using characterization analysis for evidence the Indigenous female characters were depicted as stereotypical Indian Princess or squaw. Results indicated the characters did possess some traits associated with the stereotypes, but overall, the characters reflected a realistic depiction of Indigenous women. The characters are authentic, relatable Indigenous women in the two books discussed, and are examples of how characters who are Indigenous can be respectfully depicted in Canadian crime fiction.

Author Keywords: Colonization, Crime Fiction, Indigeneity, Indigenous women, Relationships, Stereotypes

Video games have always been intrinsically linked with the technology available for the progress of the medium. With improvements in technology correlating directly to improvements in video games, this has recently not been the case. One recent technology video games have not fully leveraged is Cloud technology. This Thesis investigates a potential solution for video games to leverage Cloud technology. The methodology compares the relative performance of a Local, Cloud and a proposed Hybrid Model of video games. We find when comparing the results of the relative performance of the Local, Cloud and Hybrid Models that there is potential in a Hybrid technology for increased performance in Cloud gaming as well as increasing stability in overall game play.

Author Keywords: cloud, cloud gaming, streaming, video game