Carleton University Research Articles

Data Mining Virtual Contaminated Sites to Develop an Educational Learning Tool supported by a k-NN Machine Learning Predictive Algorithm for use in Environmental Engineering Education

Recent work by Mumford et al. used high-resolution numerical simulations of contaminated sites to evaluate the state of practice for contaminated site investigation1. These simulations were originally developed in collaboration with academic and industry partners, including the U.S. Department of Defense's Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), as a training tool for environmental monitoring and performance optimization. This project focuses on the development of an algorithm to determine available borehole information in those simulations based on user-input, to help leverage this work to create an educational tool. The algorithm begins by validating user-specified coordinates to ensure they fall within an acceptable range. Leveraging principles from linear algebra and a grid-based mapping system, it identifies the nearest existing borehole on a predefined coordinate grid. To optimize efficiency, the algorithm utilizes a 2-D array to store and retrieve coordinate data. It calculates distances from the input coordinates to all available borehole locations on the grid, to identify the shortest distance and select the closest borehole, enabling students to map contamination within virtual sites. In addition to boreholes, the application incorporates data for Membrane Interface Probes (MIPs), monitoring wells, groundwater samples, and soil samples that are used to investigate contaminated sites, providing a comprehensive tool for training environmental professionals. The k-nearest neighbors (k-NN) algorithm predicts Membrane Interface Probe (MIP) Photoionization Detector (ECD) readings at future locations, which indicate chlorinated contaminant levels. Two models were evaluated: one using spatial data and ECD values, and another incorporating electrical conductivity (EC) and hydraulic conductivity (K), which are also measured by MIP. By making use of additional parameters, variations in soil properties were better represented, leading to more accurate predictions. Through iterative testing and refinement, the tool’s accuracy and user-interface have been enhanced, ensuring robust reliability for classroom applications. These tools are slated for integration into 4th-year subsurface contamination courses at Queen's University, Carleton, and the University of Iowa. By automating borehole selection, instructors can interact more with students and dedicate less time to data processing tasks. The k-NN application will enable the use of machine learning for site assessment to optimize MIP instrument placement to reduce bias. Assistance from Cole Van De Ven (Carleton University) and Jessica Meyer (University of Iowa) in collecting virtual contaminated site data is gratefully acknowledged.

Explore, Plan, Succeed!: A Career Development Study

This experiment aligns with the career construction theory, which emphasizes the importance of adaptability in navigating career transitions (Savickas, 2005). Data from 297 students enrolled in introductory psychology courses at Carleton University were assessed using hierarchical regression analyses to explore the effects of demographics (i.e., job number, job status, GPA, year of study), parental career-related behaviors (i.e., support, interference, and non-engagement) and participation in a brief planning intervention on career curiosity, career adaptability, career anxiety, and decision-making self-efficacy. This study further explored the relationship between these career attitudinal outcomes. Results indicated a significant role of specific parental career-related behaviors in developing confidence in decision-making. The development of career adaptability resources also explained variance in students' career decision-making self-efficacy and career anxiety. Our findings contribute to the career development literature and provide insights for academics and career professionals.

Digital Academia: Exploring Students' Attitudes on Online Learning

COVID-19 necessitated higher education institutions to adopt online learning for traditional undergraduate students. The implementation of online learning attained praise, especially from socially anxious students, yet it also enhanced hardships for others. The present study qualitatively explored undergraduate students’ attitudes toward online learning and the outcomes of the return to in-person learning on social anxiety. The sample comprised 1058 (Mage = 19.86, SD = 3.53 years) undergraduate students from Carleton University and the University of Waterloo. Results from thematic analysis revealed that most students preferred in-person learning for its numerous advantages including self-improvement, socialization, traditional university experience, and higher education quality. Moreover, a large proportion of respondents indicated traditional learning could hinder socially anxious students due to adjustments in course delivery, social connections, decreasing mental well-being, COVID-19 fears, and deficiencies in social skills. Findings will be discussed on strategies to support students using different learning modalities.

Student Perceptions of Carleton University Mental Health Services

This Honours thesis is an exploration of student perceptions of Carleton University’s mental health services. There are a variety of issues facing emerging adults, such as the transition to post-secondary education, changing social roles, and difficulties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and online learning. These factors increased the need for effective mental health services. The research questions revolved around if participants accessed mental health services, if they found them helpful, and what stopped participants from accessing them. The data were examined using the thematic analysis. Results were collected during COVID-19 restrictions and revealed that most students did not access mental health services. Students who did access these services accessed two forms of mental health services: the disability centre and counselling services. The disability centre was largely found to be helpful, whereas opinions of counselling services were mixed. Forty-three percent of participants who did not access mental health services stated this was because they accessed services elsewhere or did not need them. This demonstrates that at least some of the remaining 57% may have not been able to access services when they needed them. This Honour’s thesis addresses how these services can better meet student needs and improve accessibility. This is novel research, which has not yet been discussed, which provides important information about improving these vital services.

Academic Engagement in a Post-Pandemic Environment

University students’ engagement in their academic experience has been linked to both greater retention and higher levels of academic achievement. Recognizing that COVID-19 had a negative effect on university engagement, the goal of this study was to measure the level of academic engagement post-pandemic. It was hypothesized that individual difference variables, such as academic self-esteem and resilience would significantly contribute to greater academic engagement, as would institutional variables, such as professor-student rapport. Online self-report questionnaires were completed by 271 second-year Carleton University students. Results indicated that academic self-esteem, resilience, and professor-student rapport were significantly and positively correlated with academic engagement. Professor-student rapport remained a significant predictor of academic engagement, even after controlling for individual levels of academic self-esteem. These findings indicate that students play an active role in their university engagement, and that support from professors can play a significant role in their university experience.

Impacts of Direct and Indirect Experiences of Climate Change on Life Satisfaction

The ongoing climate change crisis has significant effects on young people’s wellbeing. While existing literature highlights its impact on various dimensions of wellbeing, the relationship between climate change and life satisfaction is not well understood due to limited research in this area. To address this gap, we investigated whether university students who had personally or vicariously experienced climate-related events reported lower life satisfaction compared to students who had not experienced climate related events. Contrary to what was anticipated, our multiple regression analysis of data from 919 first- and second-year Carleton University students revealed that neither direct nor indirect climate change experiences predicted life satisfaction. We speculate that participants’ evaluations of life satisfaction may not solely rely on discrete moments but also consider factors beyond their control, such as extreme weather events. These findings underscore the need to explore how climate change affects personal wellbeing among younger populations.

ECR Spotlight – Mads Kuhlmann Andersen

ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-career researchers (ECRs) working in experimental biology but also the huge variety of animals and physiological systems that are essential for the ‘comparative’ approach. Mads Kuhlmann Andersen is an author on ‘ The freeze-avoiding mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) survives prolonged exposure to stressful cold by mitigating ionoregulatory collapse’, published in JEB. Mads Kuhlmann conducted the research described in this article while a postdoc in Heath MacMillan's lab at Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada. He is now a postdoc in the lab of Johannes Overgaard at Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Denmark, investigating comparative physiology and integrative biology with a main interest in how animals respond, adjust and adapt to different thermal environments.

Acoustic characterization and optimization of a subsonic closed loop wind tunnel

A low-speed closed-loop wind tunnel with an open-jet test section having a maximum windspeed of 60 m/s is being modified for future aero-acoustic testing. The wind tunnel is new to Carleton University as of 2021 and no acoustic characterization tests have been completed until recently. The objective of this research is to acoustically characterize the wind tunnel before and stepwise through its acoustic modifications. Multiple tests have been made using ¼-inch microphones at different locations inside the plenum to record the existing out-of-flow background noise. The first planned wind tunnel modification is a height extension to the current plenum with dimensions 0.74 × 1.8 × 1.3 m (H × L × W) to increase the observer distance for the microphones. Once the plenum volume is increased, acoustic treatment will be applied to the interior of the plenum to create a hemi-anechoic measurement environment. An in-flow microphone mount was designed and manufactured with computer-controlled vertical traversing; it will be installed after the plenum modifications are complete.

Reducing data volume in big data: Parallel processing based data filtering techniques

Reducing data volume in big data: Parallel processing based data filtering techniques Professor Shikharesh Majumdar from Carleton University examines reducing data volume in big data, focusing on parallel processing based data filtering techniques. Volume, velocity, and variety are three well-known characteristics of big data. The large data volumes often introduce formidable challenges to processing such data in a timely and economical manner. Research on data filtering is underway under the leadership of Shikharesh Majumdar at the Real Time and Distributed Systems Research Centre at Carleton University. Users are often interested only in a subset of the raw data.

STEMinism is for everyone

The Biochemical Society identifies and celebrates outstanding science communication talent in the molecular biosciences with its annual Science Communication Prize. Candice Harris, from Carleton University, won first prize in the media category for students in higher education. Candice’s entry is titled ‘STEMinism is for everyone (Bioscience Edition!)’.

Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Barbara Petchenik Children’s Map Competition and exploring directions for the future

Abstract. The thirty-year anniversary of the Barbara Petchenik Children’s Map Competition, created by the International Cartographic Association (ICA) in 1993, will be celebrated at the 31st International Cartographic Conference (ICC 2023) in South Africa. It was initiated under the leadership of Professor D. R. Fraser Taylor, then ICA President, and its aim was to promote creative graphic cartographic representation of the world by children. A commemorative UNICEF poster was produced to support the initiative, and over past decades, Brazil has engaged in intensive school mapping work with children and researchers, some of this presented in commemorate books, including Dra. Carla de Sena’s new book “Children’s Maps: The History of the Lívia de Oliveira Competition” (2021). From 2005, ICA in collaboration with prestigious publishers (Esri Press, SinoMaps, National Geographic Institute of Spain) produced the "Children Map the World" series, which currently counts with six volumes. Submitted drawings are also used in other periodical publications as journals and books published by international and national organizations in different countries. The competition maps are sent to Carleton University Library where they are processed for digital and physical archiving and all the entries are then made publicly available at - https://childrensmaps.library.carleton.ca/. This special anniversary presents as a pivotal moment to commemorate, advance and expand the reach and import of children mapping their worlds. This presentation will review the developments in the Barbara Petchenik Childrens Map Competition over the years, and discuss some exciting new developments and directions for the future.

Settler Colonialism, Illiberal Memory, and German-Canadian Hate Networks in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries

AbstractThis article is part of the collaborative research project Populist Publics. Housed at Carleton University (www.carleton.ca/populistpublics), it applies a data-driven analysis of online hate networks to trace how false framings of the historical past, what we call historical misinformation, circulates across platforms, shaping the politics of the center alongside the fringes. We cull large datasets from social media platforms and run them through a variety of different programs to help visualize how harmful speech and civilizational rhetoric about race, ethnicity, immigration, multiculturalism, gender equality, and LGBTQ+ rights are circulated by far-right groups across borders, noting specifically when and how they are taken up in the mainstream as legitimate discourse. Our interest is in how the distortion of the historical record is used to build alternative collective memories of the past so as to undermine minority rights and cultures in the present. We began with a basic question: To what extent is this actually new? As much as the atomized publics of our current day create ideal conditions for radical ideas to fester and circulate, it was obvious to us that we needed to look for linkages across time, drawing on interdisciplinary methods from the fields of history, media and communication, and data science to identify the tactics, strategies, and repertoires among such groups and individuals. By analyzing German-Canadian relations in particular, what follows is a first attempt to piece together some of these connections, with a focus on far-right hate groups—homegrown and imported—in the settler colonial project that is today's Canada.

In Conversation with Menna Agha

Menna Agha is the newly appointed Assistant Professor of Design and Spatial Justice at Carleton University. She is a third-generation displaced Fadicha Nubian, a legacy that infuses her research interests in race, gender, space, and territory. Among her publications are the articles: “Nubia Still Exists: On the Utility of the Nostalgic Space” in Humanities (2019); “The Non-Work of the Unimportant: The shadow economy of Nubian women in displacement villages,” in A Journal for Body and Gender (2019), and “Liminal Publics, Marginal Resistance,” in IDEA Journal (2017).

From the Chair: Summer in Chicago

The last time I was in Chicago, a chapter of my life had just ended. I had just graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, MN, and took a summer road trip with family south and east from the Carleton campus to the Windy City. We caught a Cubs game at the iconic Wrigley Field, watched the July 4th fireworks over Navy Pier, and posed for photos under the Bean. As I basked in a glorious Chicago summer week, I wasn’t sure what the next chapter of my life would be. Applying for library school was still a year away.I look forward to returning to Chicago this month, over ten years later, at the closing of another chapter of my professional life. It has been a true honor to serve as the Chair of the Government Documents Round Table over the past year. It has been a pleasure working with my colleagues on the GODORT Steering Committee, promoting GODORT and our services to the broader association and membership, and thinking about how we can continue to be instrumental in promoting access to government information in libraries.

The Enlightened Patrolman: Early Law Enforcement in Mexico City. By Nicole von Germeten

Journal Article The Enlightened Patrolman: Early Law Enforcement in Mexico City. By Nicole von Germeten Get access The Enlightened Patrolman: Early Law Enforcement in Mexico City. By Nicole von Germeten (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2022. 350 pp. $30.00). Sonya Lipsett-Rivera Sonya Lipsett-Rivera Carleton University, Canada sonyalipsettrivera@cunet.carleton.ca Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Social History, shad028, https://doi.org/10.1093/jsh/shad028 Published: 20 June 2023

Learning management systems and online tools to support continuous workplace learning in academic libraries

In today’s evolving academic landscape, which has been made even more changeable by the COVID-19 global pandemic, library managers and administration must consider accessible and sustainable methods for providing continuous workplace learning programmes for library staff. Establishing sustainable continuous workplace learning and professional development initiatives is critical for library staff to remain confident in their service delivery and use of digital tools. It is possible for libraries to develop online continuous workplace learning programmes that employ an array of online tools that are already in use by the library, such as those used for course delivery, internal documentation and online communication. Specifically, as many libraries make use of learning management systems (LMS) to embed their information literacy programming for faculty and students, there is an opportunity to strategically use LMS to support professional development and continuous workplace learning for library staff. Drawing from examples for Carleton University Library, this paper explores how the use of an LMS and other online tools for continuous workplace learning can provide library staff with equitable online access to develop essential technical and practical skills, while helping to build a workplace culture that prioritises learning and skill development. Employing these tools in continuous learning and training programmes can allow libraries to become ‘learningful’ workplaces where staff at all levels are supported and are confident in their work.

BPA modulates the neutrophil response and cytokine environment in a model of tail fin regeneration

Abstract The ER-α and β ligand bisphenol A (BPA) is used in the production of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. BPA presents a potential environmental challenge to both human and wildlife immunity due to its widespread use and its resulting presence in surface water and wastewater runoff. We observed that BPA exposure downregulates the expression of a neutrophil-recruiting chemokine in both mice (cxcl1) and zebrafish (cxcl8) and that BPA exposure decreases neutrophil recruitment to a tail injury in zebrafish. Neutrophils are essential for the removal of damaged tissue and invading microbes, thus facilitating tissue regeneration of the tail fin. To investigate BPA’s effects on larval zebrafish tail regeneration, we induced a tail injury at day 3 post fertilization (dpf) and found that fish exposed to 100 ng/ml BPA regenerate a smaller tail fin area at 3 dpi (p-value < 0.01). We hypothesized that neutrophil recruitment could be tied to regeneration by altering the expression of inflammation- and regeneration-related genes. 3 dpf embryos exposed to BPA show modulated levels of background wnt10aand il-10expression compared to controls. BPA exposure reduces the 3 hour post-injury inflammatory response by decreasing both il-1and il-6expression. By modifying the cytokine environment both prior to and following infection and injury, BPA impacts both the inflammatory response and tissue regeneration. Multiple cytokine and chemokine genes are regulated by the transcription factor NF-kB and Wnt plays a key role in tissue regeneration; these two proteins also cross regulate one another. The impact of BPA on wnt10aand nfkbexpression following tissue injury and LPS exposure will be discussed. Supported by Carleton College.

LEARNING BY DOING: THE BENEFITS OF ADOPTING AN ONLINE NEGOTIATION SUPPORT SYSTEM INTO AN ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES COURSE

The paper reports on the benefits of imbedding an online negotiation support system (NSS) into the experiential learning framework of an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course. Proponents of experiential learning projects in the second/foreign language classroom emphasize the benefits of learning by doing. To test the claim, the performances of students in two advanced level EAP courses at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, were compared. One course was developed with the principles of content-based (CBI) instruction, with input primarily from academic texts; the other course also used content-based instruction but was enhanced by an experiential learning project for which the online negotiation system was adopted. Participation in the project provided a novel learning experience for second language learners at Carleton, with counterparts from universities in three additional countries (Austria, Poland, and Taiwan) also participating. A statistical analysis of student grades showed that the students in the EAP course enhanced by the experiential learning project obtained significantly higher grades on the final assignment in comparison to the students in the “traditional” CBI course.The paper also demonstrates that this teaching and training system enhances learning by promoting learner autonomy, critical thinking, and academic language development. Relevant aspects of the experiential learning project led to enhanced learning outcomes, supporting the claim that learning by doing benefits language acquisition. The paper proposes a new experiential learning model, applicable to ESP/EAP instruction, i.e., the sustained-content experiential learning model which can be applied to any project that emphasizes learning through direct experience. The model depicts the importance of sequencing academic content tasks that build on each other allowing learners to accumulate knowledge and language and prepare them to engage in a meaningful, authentic communication. It also illustrates the importance of using reflection as an effective learning tool that helps develop critical thinking and analysis, skills necessary for academic success.

About the Contributors

Other| April 01 2023 About the Contributors GLQ (2023) 29 (2): 301–303. https://doi.org/10.1215/10642684-10308661 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation About the Contributors. GLQ 1 April 2023; 29 (2): 301–303. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/10642684-10308661 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll JournalsGLQ Search Advanced Search Amalia L. Cabezas is associate professor of media and cultural studies at the University of California, Riverside. Her publications include Economies of Desire: Sex and Tourism in Cuba and the Dominican Republic (2009), multiple peer-reviewed journal articles, and two coedited books: Una ventana a Cuba y los estudios cubanos (2010) and The Wages of Empire: Neoliberal Politics, Repression, and Women's Poverty (2007). She is completing a book on the sex worker movement in Latin America and the Caribbean.Ann Cvetkovich is professor in the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation at Carleton University. She was previously Ellen Clayton Garwood Centennial Professor of English, professor of women's and gender studies, and founding director of LGBTQ Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of Mixed Feelings: Feminism, Mass Culture, and Victorian Sensationalism (1992); An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality, and Lesbian Public Cultures (2003); and Depression: A Public... You do not currently have access to this content.

The Broken Years: Russia’s Disabled War Veterans, 1904–1921 by AlexandreSumpf. Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. 322 pp. $99.99. ISBN 978‐1‐0090‐4729‐6

The Russian ReviewEarly View BOOK REVIEW The Broken Years: Russia’s Disabled War Veterans, 1904–1921 by Alexandre Sumpf. Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. 322 pp. $99.99. ISBN 978-1-0090-4729-6 Erica L. Fraser, Corresponding Author Erica L. Fraser [email protected] Carleton University Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author Erica L. Fraser, Corresponding Author Erica L. Fraser [email protected] Carleton University Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author First published: 16 March 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/russ.12478Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue RelatedInformation