Envisioning a New Public Space

This thesis challenges the way we design and inhabit urban public space. This architectural thesis project envisions a new public space. A framework for expression: a place where people physically create the spaces around them through architectural manipulation and expression of ideas, art and performance. The framework is inspired by translating the principles of garment design into architectural strategies: joinery, materiality, structure, response, and adjustability. As the architecture changes, so do the programs and ways of expressing. The site of this exploration is on the coast of Maine, in the city of Portland; acting as a gateway into the city from the ocean, as well as a connector, bridging the Downtown and East End districts. The concept is explored by creating architecture for an urban public space through architectural strategies that respond to the people, site, and city that promotes expression, gathering, and becomes a physical connection to the city. By implementing a framework for expression in a urban public setting, people will be able to communicate through architecture by changing the physical spaces that surround them. Individual expression spurs the connection of people. The connection of people spurs the connection of a city. And, ultimately a city with meaningful connections, both physical and otherwise, will develop a more socially engaged society

Arbor Edge Defense (AED) Sales Training

Due to a change in revenue policy, an organization that sells products in the DDoS attack solution space embarked on a journey to fundamentally change the strategy they employed to sell their DDoS solution. The offering from the organization was a combination of two products that provided a comprehensive DDoS solution. The solution was made up of a cloud solution combined with an on-premises appliance. Because most of the cloud portion was owned by another organization and the profit margins were small, they decided to sell their portion to the other organization. Once sold, they decided to change the sales strategy to lead an opportunity with the on-premises appliance and augment with the cloud solution even though the typical strategy previously was vice versa. Sales behavior required change simply because the previous approach to lead with the cloud solution was easier to sell. This training will be designed to help the sales stakeholders in understanding the value for customers in the adoption of the on-premises appliance first with augmentation from the cloud solution as a secondary priority. This training will provide the knowledge to support the new strategy and the assets for the sales stakeholders to test that knowledge to ensure full adoption

Intraspecific Variation in Vertical Habitat Use by Tiger Sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) in the Western North Atlantic

Tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) are a wide ranging, potentially keystone predator species that display a variety of horizontal movement patterns, making use of coastal and pelagic waters. Far less, however, is known about their vertical movements and use of the water column. We used pop-up satellite archival tags with two data sampling rates (high rate and standard rate tags) to investigate the vertical habitat use and diving behavior of tiger sharks tagged on the Puerto Rico–Virgin Islands platform and off Bermuda between 2008 and 2009. Useable data were received from nine of 14 sharks tagged, tracked over a total of 529 days. Sharks spent the majority of their time making yo-yo dives within the upper 50 m of the water column and considerable time within the upper 5 m of the water column. As a result, sharks typically occupied a narrow daily temperature range (~2°C). Dives to greater than 200 m were common, and all sharks made dives to at least 250 m, with one shark reaching a depth of 828 m. Despite some similarities among individuals, a great deal of intraspecific variability in vertical habit use was observed. Four distinct depth distributions that were not related to tagging location, horizontal movements, sex, or size were detected. In addition, similar depth distributions did not necessitate similar dive patterns among sharks. Recognition of intraspecific variability in habitat use of top predators can be crucial for effective management of these species and for understanding their influence on ecosystem dynamics

Convergence of marine megafauna movement patterns in coastal and open oceans

The extent of increasing anthropogenic impacts on large marine vertebrates partly depends on the animals’ movement patterns. Effective conservation requires identification of the key drivers of movement including intrinsic properties and extrinsic constraints associated with the dynamic nature of the environments the animals inhabit. However, the relative importance of intrinsic versus extrinsic factors remains elusive. We analyze a global dataset of ∼2.8 million locations from >2,600 tracked individuals across 50 marine vertebrates evolutionarily separated by millions of years and using different locomotion modes (fly, swim, walk/paddle). Strikingly, movement patterns show a remarkable convergence, being strongly conserved across species and independent of body length and mass, despite these traits ranging over 10 orders of magnitude among the species studied. This represents a fundamental difference between marine and terrestrial vertebrates not previously identified, likely linked to the reduced costs of locomotion in water. Movement patterns were primarily explained by the interaction between species-specific traits and the habitat(s) they move through, resulting in complex movement patterns when moving close to coasts compared with more predictable patterns when moving in open oceans. This distinct difference may be associated with greater complexity within coastal microhabitats, highlighting a critical role of preferred habitat in shaping marine vertebrate global movements. Efforts to develop understanding of the characteristics of vertebrate movement should consider the habitat(s) through which they move to identify how movement patterns will alter with forecasted severe ocean changes, such as reduced Arctic sea ice cover, sea level rise, and declining oxygen content

A history of the kokanee in Detroit Reservoir

"Kokanee were originally stocked in Detroit Reservoir in 11959. This species was introduced in hopes that it would utilize pelagic zoo plankton and provide a more varied sport fishery. The trout fishery in the reservoir depends primarily on heavy plants of legal-sized rainbow trout, supplemented by stocking fingerling rainbow. As the introduction of the kokanee has been somewhat successful in this fluctuating impoundment, a compilation of all known biological data would be of interest and aid in the future management of this species." (From Introduction