School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations
Submissions from 2023
Port-of-Entry Simulation Model for Potential Wait Time Reduction and Air Quality Improvement: A Case Study at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas, USA, Benjamin Stewart, Hiram Moya, Amit U. Raysoni, Esmeralda Mendez, and Matthew Vechione
Visualizing Oceanographic Data to Depict Long-term Changes in Phytoplankton, Patricia S. Thibodeau and Jongsun Kim
Health and Safety Effects of Airborne Soil Dust in the Americas and Beyond, Daniel Q. Tong, Thomas E. Gill, William A. Sprigg, Robert Scott Van Pelt, Alexander Baklanov, Bridget Marie Barker, Jesse E. Bell, Juan Castillo, Santiago Gassó, Cassandra Gaston, and Amit U. Raysoni
Widespread dominance of methane ebullition over diffusion in freshwater aquaculture ponds, Renske J. E. Vroom, Sarian Kosten, Rafael M. Almeida, Raquel Mendonça, Ive S. Muzitano, Icaro Barbosa, Jonas Nasário, Ernandes S. Oliveira Junior, Alexander S. Flecker, and Nathan Barros
Lowland river sinuosity on Earth and Mars set by the pace of meandering and avulsion, Chenliang Wu, Wonsuck Kim, Ryan Herring, Benjamin T. Cardenas, Tian Y. Dong, Hongbo Ma, Andrew Moodie, Jeffrey A. Nittrouer, Frank Tsai, and An Li
Observed impacts of large wind farms on grassland carbon cycling, Donghai Wu, Steven M. Grodsky, Wenfang Xu, Naijing Liu, Rafael M. Almeida, Liming Zhou, Lee M. Miller, Somnath Baidya Roy, Geng Xia, and Anurag A. Agrawal
Life cycle assessment of calcium oxide pretreatment of corn stover with carbon dioxide neutralization for ethanol production, Jikai Zhao, Danyi Feng, and Juhee Lee
A Critical Review on Water Overconsumption in Lignocellulosic Biomass Pretreatment for Ethanol Production through Enzymic Hydrolysis and Fermentation, Jikai Zhao, Juhee Lee, and Donghai Wang
Isomerization of Galactose to Tagatose: Recent Advances in Non-enzymatic Isomerization, Jikai Zhao, Zhuo Wang, Qing Jin, Danyi Feng, and Juhee Lee
Sulfur cycling connects microbiomes and biogeochemistry in deep-sea hydrothermal plumes, Zhichao Zhou, Patricia Q. Tran, Alyssa M. Adams, Kristopher Kieft, John A. Breier, Caroline S. Fortunato, Cody S. Sheik, Julie A. Huber, Meng Li, Gregory J. Dick, and Karthik Anantharaman
Small Molecule EGFR Inhibitors as Anti-Cancer Agents: Discovery, Mechanisms of Action, and Opportunities, Tanzida Zubair and Debasish Bandyopadhyay
Submissions from 2022
Groundwater vulnerability assessment of shallow aquifer in the South Texas sand sheet using a GIS-based DRASTIC model, Syed Istiyak Ahmed, Chu-Lin Cheng, Juan L. Gonzalez, James Jihoon Kang, Jungseok Ho, and Leslie Soto-Sanchez
Floating solar power could help fight climate change — let’s get it right, Rafael M. Almeida, Rafael Schmitt, Steven M. Grodsky, Alexander S. Flecker, Carla P. Gomes, Lu Zhao, Haohui Liu, Nathan Barros, Rafael Kelman, and Peter B. McIntyre
Analysis of Urbanization and Climate Change Effects on Community Resilience in the Rio Grande Valley, South Texas, George Atisa and Alexis Racelis
From a Tabula Rasa to the Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation, Roseann Bacha-Garza, Juan L. Gonzalez, Christopher L. Miller, and Russell K. Skowronek
Impacts of anthropogenic contaminants and elevated temperature on prevalence and proliferation of Escherichia coli in the wild-caught American oyster, Crassostrea virginica in the southern Gulf of Mexico coast, Mohammad Maruf Billah and Md Saydur Rahman
Why New Zealand’s Indigenous reconciliation process has failed to empower Māori fishers: Distributional, procedural, and recognition-based injustices, Hekia Bodwitch, Andrew M. Song, Owen Temby, John Reid, Megan Bailey, and Gordon M. Hickey
Islands in the mud: The South Texas banks provide crucial mesophotic habitat for coral communities, Maria Bollinger, Keir J. Macartney, Erin E. Easton, and David Hicks
Where to Invest Project Efforts for Greater Benefit: A Framework forManagement Performance Mapping with Examples for Potato Seed Health, C. E. Buddenhagen, Y. Xing, J. L. Andrade-Piedra, G. A. Forbes, P. Kromann, I. Navarrete, S. Thomas-Sharma, Robin A. Choudhury, K. F. Andersen Onofre, and E. Schulte-Geldermann
The Effects of Teaching Undergraduate Freshmen Biology Courses in Spanish and English, Angela M. Chapman, Amy A. Weimer, Mirayda Torres-Avila, Cristina Trejo, and Alexis Racelis
Stability of fishes assemblage structure over a lustrum in coastal wetlands under different disturbances in an industrial zone of the central Gulf of Mexico coast, Carlos E. Cintra-Buenrostro and Alejandro Fierro-Cabo
Identifying available resources and agricultural practices useful in soil fertility management to support orange-fleshed sweet potato cultivation on smallholder farms in Mozambique, Rafaela Feola Conz, Engil Isadora Pujol Pereira, Abdul Naico, Maria Isabel Andrade, and Johan Six
Quantitative relationships between river and channel-belt planform patterns, Tian Y. Dong and Timothy A. Goudge
Vocal babbling in a wild parrot shows life history and endocrine affinities with human infants, Rory Eggleston, Nurialby Viloria, Soraya Delgado, Astolfo Mata, Hilda Y. Guerrero, Richard Kline, Steven R. Beissinger, and Karl S. Berg
Red Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus F. Smith; Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Preference for Cover Crop Seeds in South Texas, Lilly Victoria Elliott-Vidaurri, Daniella Rivera, Adrian Noval, Robin A. Choudhury, and Hannah J. Penn
Centering Community Voices in Mining Governance, Anna Erwin, Zhao Ma, Emma Patricia Salas O'Brien, Jonathan Bauchet, Nelly Ramirez Calderon, Eliseo Zeballos Zeballos, Glenn Roberto Arce Larrea, Ruxandra Popovici, Laura Zanotti, and Chelsea A. Silva
Reducing adverse impacts of Amazon hydropower expansion, Alexander S. Flecker, Qinru Shi, Rafael M. Almeida, Héctor Angarita, Jonathan M. Gomes-Selman, Roosevelt García-Villacorta, Suresh A. Sethi, Steven A. Thomas, N LeRoy Poff, and Bruce R. Forsberg
Effects of Biochar Production Methods and Biomass Types on Lead Removal from Aqueous Solution, Paola Granados, Sergio Mireles, Engil Isadora Pujol Pereira, Chu-Lin Cheng, and James Jihoon Kang
A Nematode Community-Based Integrated Productivity Efficiency (IPE) Model That Identifies Sustainable Soil Health Outcomes: A Case of Compost Application in Carrot Production, A. Habteweld, A. Kravchencko, Parwinder Grewal, and H. Melakeberhan
Histological evidence of the lunar reproductive rhythm of Atlantic sea urchin Arbacia punctulata in the Gulf of Mexico, Eleazar Hernandez, Omar A. Vazquez, and Md Saydur Rahman
Impact of Different Wind Representations on Resonant Ocean Near-inertial Motions in the Gulf of Mexico, Chuan‑Yuan Hsu, Jongsun Kim, Ping Chang, and Steven F. DiMarco
Globally-distributed microbial eukaryotes exhibit endemism at deep-sea hydrothermal vents, Sarah K. Hu, Amy R. Smith, Rika E. Anderson, Sean P. Sylva, Michaela Setzer, Maria Steadmon, Kiana L. Frank, Eric W. Chan, Darlene S. S. Lim, and John A. Breier
Iron and Magnesium Impregnation of Avocado Seed Biochar for Aqueous Phosphate Removal, James Jihoon Kang, Jason Parsons, Sampath Gunukula, and Dat T. Tran
Surface Warfare: Plant Structural Defenses Challenge Caterpillar Feeding, Ishveen Kaur, Sakshi Watts, Cristina E. Raya, Juan Raya, and Rupesh R. Kariyat
Saturating relationship between phytoplankton growth rate and nutrient concentration explained by macromolecular allocation, Jongsun Kim, Gabrielle Armin, and Keisuke Inomura
Potential mechanisms of Na+/K+-ATPase attenuation by heat and pesticides co-exposure in goldfish: role of cellular apoptosis, oxidative/nitrative stress, and antioxidants in gills, Brittney Lacy, Md Sadequr Rahman, and Md Saydur Rahman
Interactive effects of high temperature and pesticide exposure on oxidative status, apoptosis, and renin expression in kidney of goldfish: Molecular and cellular mechanisms of widespread kidney damage and renin attenuation, Brittney Lacy and Md Saydur Rahman
Native and non-native plant species differentially affect arthropod community dynamics with consequences for crop production in Lower Rio Grande Valley, Kaitlynn Lavallee, Pushpa G. Soti, Alexis Racelis, and Rupesh R. Kariyat
Irrigation Decisions in Response to Groundwater Salinity in Kansas, Juhee Lee and Nathan P. Hendricks
Microbiome diversity and metabolic capacity determines the trophic ecology of the holobiont in Caribbean sponges, Michael P. Lesser, M. Sabrina Pankey, Marc Slattery, Keir J. Macartney, and Deborah J. Gochfeld
Using Stable Isotope Analyses to Assess the Trophic Ecology of Scleractinian Corals, Michael P. Lesser, Marc Slattery, and Keir J. Macartney
Combined Effects of Scarification, Phytohormones, Stratification, and Soil Type on the Germination and/or Seedling Performance of Three Tamaulipan Thornscrub Forest Species, Paula Luera and Christopher A. Gabler
Depth-dependent trophic strategies of Caribbean sponges on mesophotic coral reefs, Keir J. Macartney, M. Sabrina Pankey, Amelia Clayshulte Abraham, Marc Slattery, and Michael P. Lesser
Spatial Variation of False Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica) Bacterial Microbiota in the Lower Missouri River, United States, Joseph D. Madison, Madeline M. Butterfield, Drew R. Davis, and Jacob L. Kerby
Comparative Assessment of Pollutant Concentrations and Meteorological Parameters from TCEQ CAMS Sites at Houston and Rio Grande Valley Regions of Texas, USA in 2016, Esmeralda Mendez, Jonathan Rodriguez, August Luna, and Amit U. Raysoni
Fine Particulate Matter Concentrations during Independence Day Fireworks Display in the Lower Rio Grande Valley Region, South Texas, USA, Esmeralda Mendez, Owen Temby, Dawid K. Wladyka, Katarzyna Sepielak, and Amit U. Raysoni
Using Low-Cost Sensors to Assess PM2.5 Concentrations at Four South Texan Cities on the U.S.—Mexico Border, Esmeralda Mendez, Owen Temby, Dawid K. Wladyka, Katarzyna Sepielak, and Amit U. Raysoni
Now you see me: “first” records of the greater amberjack Seriola dumerili at Rapa Nui range extension or increased scientific effort?, Naiti Morales, Amy Rose Coghlan, Erin E. Easton, Alan M. Friedlander, James J. Herlan, and Carlos F. Gaymer
Improved soy protein adhesives by lignin and polyamide-epichlorohydrin: Adhesion performance and properties, Sarocha Pradyawong, Nataniel H. Brown, Jikai Zhao, Guangyang Qi, Yi Zheng, Xiuzhi Susan Sun, and Donghai Wang
Hybrid conferences: opportunities, challenges and ways forward, Eleonora Puccinelli, Daniela Zeppilli, Paris V. Stefanoudis, Annaig Wittische-Helou, Marjorie Kermorgant, Sandra Fuchs, Lenaick Menot, Erin E. Easton, and Alexandra A-T. Weber
Assessment of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) at two near-road schools and residence in El Paso, Texas, USA, Adan Rangel, Amit U. Raysoni, Mayra C. Chavez, Soyoung Jeon, Juan Aguilera, Leah D. Whigham, and Wen-Whai Li
A Socio-Ecological Model to Assess Tuberculosis in Migrant Farmworkers in the US-Mexico Border Region, Amit U. Raysoni
Meningococcal Meningitis in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review, Amit U. Raysoni
Characterization of Particulate Matter Species in an Area Impacted by Aggregate and Limestone Mining North of San Antonio, TX, USA, Amit U. Raysoni, Esmeralda Mendez, August Luna, and Joe Collins
Defining the current distribution of the imperiled Black-spotted Newt across south Texas, USA, Padraic S. Robinson, Drew R. Davis, Sean M. Collins, and Richard Kline
Development and assessment of an environmental DNA (eDNA) assay for a cryptic Siren (Amphibia: Sirenidae), Krista M. Ruppert, Drew R. Davis, Md Saydur Rahman, and Richard J. Kline
Development and validation of an eDNA protocol for monitoring endemic Asian spiny frogs in the Himalayan region of Pakistan, Muhammad Saeed, Muhammad Rais, Ayesha Akram, Maggie R. Williams, Kenneth F. Kellner, Syed A. Hashsham, and Drew R. Davis
Pre-Growth Environmental Stresses Affect Foodborne Pathogens Response to Subsequent Chemical Treatments, Amandeep Singh and Veerachandra K. Yemmireddy
Exploring the potential impacts of machine learning on trust in fishery management, Antonia Sohns, Gordon M. Hickey, and Owen Temby
Biomass residues improve soil chemical and biological properties reestablishing native species in an exposed subsoil in Brazilian Cerrado, Thaís Soto Boni, Engil Isadora Pujol Pereira, Adriana Avelino Santos, Ana Maria Rodrigues Cassiolato, and Kátia Luciene Maltoni
Disaster Resilience Versus Ecological Resilience and the Proposed Second Causeway to South Padre Island, Juliet Vallejo, Katia Sanchez, Evelyn Roozee, and Owen Temby
Production of distilled spirits using grain sorghum through liquid fermentation, Thomas Weiss, Jikai Zhao, Ruijia Hu, Meicen Liu, Yonghui Li, Yi Zheng, Gordon Smith, and Donghai Wang
A participatory assessment of nitrified urine fertilizer use in Swayimane, South Africa: Crop production potential, farmer attitudes and smallholder challenges, Benjamin C. Wilde, Eva Lieberherr, Engil Isadora Pujol pereira, Alfred Odindo, and Johan Siz
Global food insecurity and famine from reduced crop, marine fishery and livestock production due to climate disruption from nuclear war soot injection, Lilia Xia, Alan Robock, Kim J. N. Scherrer, Cheryl S. Harrison, Benjamin Leon Bodirsky, Isabelle Weindl, Jonas Jaegermeyr, Charles G. Bardeen, Owen B. Toon, and Ryan F. Heneghan
Effects of particle size on biomass pretreatment and hydrolysis performances in bioethanol conversion, Yang Yang, Meng Zhang, Jikai Zhao, and Donghai Wang
Effect of ultraviolet light treatment on microbiological safety and quality of fresh produce: An overview, Veerachandra K. Yemmireddy, Achyut Adhikari, and Juan Moreira
First report of Avicennia germinans (Acanthaceae) as a larval host of Junonia litoralis (Nymphalidae) causing higher foliar damage in seedlings than trees, Carlos Zamora-Tovar, Alejandro Fierro-Cabo, Roberto Lindig-Cisneros, and Ilka C. Feller
Comparative evaluation of physicochemical and fermentative responses of three sorghum varieties from dryland and irrigated land and the properties of proteins from distillers’ grains, Jikai Zhao, Thomas Weiss, Zhenjiao Du, Shan Hong, Scott R. Bean, Yonghui Li, and Donghai Wang
Elucidating thermochemical pretreatment effectiveness of different particle-size switchgrass for cellulosic ethanol production, Jikai Zhao, Yang Yang, Meng Zhang, Charles W. Rice, and Donghai Wang
Submissions from 2021
Climate change may impair electricity generation and economic viability of future Amazon hydropower, Rafael M. Almeida, Ayan Fleischmann, João P.F. Brêda, Diego S. Cardoso, Hector Angarita, Walter Collischonn, Bruce Forsberg, Roosevelt García-Villacorta, Stephen K. Hamilton, and Phillip M. Hannam
Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Storage in Natural and Prop-Scarred Thalassia Testudinum Seagrass Meadows, Rachel Noel Arney, Alison K. Shepherd, Heather D. Alexander, and Abdullah Rahman
Land-use dynamics associated with mangrove deforestation for aquaculture and the subsequent abandonment of ponds, Aslan Aslan, Abdullah F. Rahman, Scott M. Robeson, and Muhammad Ilman
Complete mitochondrial genomes of two species of Stichopathes Brook, 1889 (Hexacorallia: Antipatharia: Antipathidae) from Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Cynthia M. Asorey, Javier Sellanes, Daniel Wagner, and Erin E. Easton
Influence of microbial priming and seeding depth on germination and growth of native wildflowers, Daniela Barrera, Juan Luera, Kaitlynn Lavallee, and Pushpa Soti
A drone-based survey for large, basking freshwater turtle species, Amy P. Bogolin, Drew R. Davis, Richard Kline, and Abdullah Rahman
Antioxidant Properties of Pecan Shell Bioactive Components of Different Cultivars and Extraction Methods, Cameron Cason, Veerachandra K. Yemmireddy, Juan Moreira, and Achyut Adhikari
Soil fertility maintenance with organic amendments to orange fleshed sweetpotato, Rafaela Feola Conz, Johan Six, Maria Isabel Andrade, and Engil Isadora Pujol pereira
Nuclear Niño response observed in simulations of nuclear war scenarios, Joshua Coupe, Samantha Stevenson, Nicole S. Lovenduski, Tyler Rohr, Cheryl S. Harrison, Alan Robock, Holly Olivarez, Charles G. Bardeen, and Owen B. Toon
Importance of low-relief nursery habitat for reef fishes, Michael A. Dance, Ray R. Rooker, Richard Kline, Antonietta Quigg, Gregory R. Stunz, R. J. David Wells, Kirsten Lara, Jessica Lee, and Bobbie Suarez
New Amphibian and Reptile Distribution Records from Eastern South Dakota, USA, Drew R. Davis
Identifying Regional Environmental and Sustainability Issues: Adoption of an Interdisciplinary Design Charrette Approach, Frank J. Dirrigl, Anita M. Chavez, and Hudson R. DeYoe
Elevated CYP1A expression detected in pinfish collected from a coastal lagoon in the southern Texas Gulf Coast: indicative of exposure to microplastics or pollutants?, Stephanie R. Dubois, Brittney Danielle Lacy, Abdullah Rahman, and Md. Saydur Rahman
Linking migration to community resilience in the receiving basin of a large-scale water transfer project, Anna Erwin, Zhao Ma, Ruxandra Popovici, Emma Patricia Salas O’Brien, Laura Zanotti, Chelsea A. Silva, Eliseo Zeballos Zeballos, Jonathan Bauchet, Nelly Ramírez Calderón, and Glenn Roberto Arce Larreah
Enhancing the seed germination process of Montezuma cypress (Taxodium mucronatum Ten.), Alejandro Fierro-Cabo and August Plamann
Environmental forcing on zooplankton distribution in the coastal waters of the Galápagos Islands: spatial and seasonal patterns in the copepod community structure, Diego F. Figueroa
Deep-sea biodiversity at the extremes of the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges with implications for conservation, Alan M. Friedlander, Whitney Goodell, Jonatha Giddens, Erin E. Easton, and Daniel Wagner
Reproductive characteristics of Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus on artificial reefs in different jurisdictions, Catheline Y. M. Froehlich, Adam M. Lee, Ramiro Oquita, Carlos E. Cintra-Buenrostro, and J. Dale Shively
In-depth analysis of N2O fluxes in tropical forest soils of the Congo Basin combining isotope and functional gene analysis, Nora Gallarotti, Matti Barthel, Elizabeth Verhoeven, Engil Isadora Pujol pereira, Marijn Bauters, Simon Baumgartner, Travis W. Drake, Pascal Boeckx, Joachim Mohn, and Manon Longepierre
Disentangling diverse responses to climate change among global marine ecosystem models, Ryan F. Heneghan, Eric Galbraith, Julia L. Blanchard, Cheryl S. Harrison, Nicolas Barrier, Catherine Bulman, William Cheung, Marta Coli, Tyler D. Eddy, and Maite Erauskin-Extramiana
On inter-organizational trust, control and risk in transboundary fisheries governance, Gordon M. Hickey, Hunter T. Snyder, Jasper R. deVries, and Owen Temby
Protistan grazing impacts microbial communities and carbon cycling at deep-sea hydrothermal vents, Sarah K. Hu, Erica L. Herrera, Amy R. Smith, Maria G. Pachiadaki, Virginia P. Edgcomb, Sean P. Sylva, Eric W. Chan, Jeffrey S. Seewald, Christopher R. German, and Julie A. Huber
Reconstructing primary production in a changing estuary: A mass balance modeling approach, Jongsun Kim, Mark J. Brush, Bongkeun Song, and Iris C. Anderson
Pre-Sowing Treatments Improve Germinability of South Texas Native Plant Seeds, Kaitlynn Lavallee, Pushpa Soti, Hansapani Rodrigo, Rupesh R. Kariyat, and Alexis Racelis
Universal Peptide Hydrogel for Scalable Physiological Formation and Bioprinting of 3D Spheroids from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, Quan Li, Guangyan Qi, Xuming Liu, Jianfa Bai, Jikai Zhao, Guosheng Tang, Yu Shrike Zhang, Ruby Chen-Tsai, Meng Zhang, and Donghai Wang
Effects of Scarification, Phytohormones, Soil Type, and Warming on the Germination and/or Seedling Performance of Three Tamaulipan Thornscrub Forest Species, Paula Luera, Kimberly Wahl-Villarreal, Bradley O. Christoffersen, Abeny Treviño, Pushpa Soti, and Christopher A. Gabler
Environmental Drivers of Mesophotic Echinoderm Assemblages of the Southeastern Pacific Ocean, Ariadna Mecho, Boris Dewitte, Javier Sellanes, Simon van Gennip, Erin E. Easton, and Joao B. Gusmao
Evaluating the Impacts of Dam Construction and Longshore Transport upon Modern Sedimentation within the Rio Grande Delta (Texas, U.S.A.), Samantha Moore, Elizabeth A. Heise, Marty Grove, Anthony Reisinger, and Jude A. Benavides
Identifying nitrogen source and seasonal variation in a Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans) communityof the south Texas coast, Ashley Elizabeth Murphy, Carlos E. Cintra-Buenrostro, and Alejandro Fierro-Cabo
Comparative study of Leachate Characterization: Implication for Sustainable Environmental Management, Osakpolor Marvellous Omorogieva and Victory Itua Igberase
Miscanthus as Raw Materials for Bio-based Products, Valentina Pidlisnyuk, Larry E. Erickson, Donghai Wang, Jikai Zhao, Tatyana Stefanovska, and John R. Schlup