Graduate Dissertations

Dissertation Title: Ultrafast Optical Pulse Generation and Supercontinuum Generation in Chalcogenide Waveguides Candidate: Ashiq Rahman Field of Study: Physics Join Ashiq Rahman, PhD candidate in Physics at the University of Connecticut, as he presents his dissertation titled "Ultrafast Optical Pulse Generation and Supercontinuum Generation in Chalcogenide Waveguides." His work focuses on the generation of picosecond optical pulses in fiber lasers using graphene saturable absorbers and the development of broadband mid-IR supercontinuum sources in nonlinear chalcogenide waveguides. The study emphasizes mode-locking techniques, spectral broadening simulations, and planar waveguide integration for compact photonic systems.

Dissertation title: Transforming Elegies in Romantic Britain and Republican China Date: Monday, July 17 Time: 10 am to 12pm Place: SHH 236 Committee Charles Mahoney (Co-major advisor) Liansu Meng (Co-major advisor) Peter Zarrow (associate advisor) Peter Constantine (reader) Johannes Turk (external reader) Victor Zatsepine (reader) If you are not able to attend the Dissertation Defense in person, please see Webex meeting link below. Webex Meeting link: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/uconn-cmr/j.php?MTID=me16a76c50c43317ed83f93b7a097f4fe Meeting number: 2868 631 4780 Meeting password: nJPW2ncmX72 Join from a video system or application Dial 28686314780@uconn-cmr.webex.com You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number. Join by phone +1-415-655-0002 Toll Access code: 28686314780 Global call-in numbers https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/uconn-cmr/globalcallin.php?MTID=m03db380aee7590cee3bbc96c6f4d99c6

Rachel V. Tucker (Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Communication, University of Connecticut) will defend her doctoral dissertation titled, "Communicative Disenfranchisement During Childbirth: Examining the Outcomes Associated with and Role of Race/Ethnicity and Health Insurance Status in Shaping Black or African American, Hispanic or Latina, and White Women's Interactions with Providers During Childbirth" on Friday, July 18, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. EDT on WebEx. This study used the post-positivist articulation of the theory of communicative disenfranchisement to examine the outcomes associated with adverse interactions between healthcare providers and Black or African American, Hispanic or Latina, and White cisgender women (N = 230) receiving care for childbirth in the U.S., and the intersecting role of race/ethnicity and health insurance status in shaping such interactions. The findings from this study offer theoretical insights that extend our understanding of communicative disenfranchisement as a contextually dependent process, as well as practical insights regarding how to improve maternal healthcare interactions. A copy of the dissertation is available by emailing Michael J, Melnik at michael.melnik@uconn.edu.

Title: Advancing Marginal Likelihoods for Longitudinal Data Analysis Field of Study: Statistics This dissertation proposes a novel Bayesian method that decomposes the marginal likelihood into two distinct components, enabling better assessment of covariance structures conditional on the mean structure in repeated measures data.

You are invited to attend the Doctoral Dissertation Oral Defense of Falu Hong Department of Natural Resources and the Environment College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources. Dissertation title: Remote Sensing the Human Impact: Mapping Impervious Surface Dynamics, Primary Forest Loss, and Biodiversity Extinction Risk. Date and time: Monday, July 21, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. EST. Location: Room 109, Advanced Technology Laboratory (ATL), Bio Science Complex, University of Connecticut Virtual access: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/meet/fah20002 Falu Hong's dissertation leverages remote sensing/satellite observations to analyze the human impacts on Earth's environment. The research focuses on: (1) Mapping impervious surface dynamics across the conterminous United States during the past four decades, (2) Decoding primary forest loss in Haiti and the Dominican Republic (3) Forecasting the biodiversity extinction risk by simulating the future land cover changes. All are welcome to join, in person or virtually.

Elena is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Connecticut and PhD researcher with the ICArEHB center at the University of Algarve Portugal. Join us on zoom as she defends her dissertation - "Ancient Futures - Paleoclimate Changes and Social Resilience in late Quaternary Mozambique"

I am Kunze Li, a fifth-year PhD student majoring in Economics. The title of my dissertation is "Inequality in Labor Market Outcomes and Wealth: The Roles of Health, Intergenerational Return Rate Correlation, and Estate Taxation." I am writing regarding my dissertation defense. I plan to graduate this summer, and all of my advisors have already agreed to participate in my defense at this time. Therefore, I would like to schedule an oral defense.

Yijia Gao (Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Economics, University of Connecticut) will defend her doctoral dissertation titled, "Competitive Incentives and Environmental Regulation: Three Essays in Environmental Economics" on Wednesday, July 23, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. EDT on WebEx.

Teams link: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_M2ZlODdlMDktYjkyZC00ODAyLWJlMTAtYjhiZTA1YTIzZTlm%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2217f1a87e-2a25-4eaa-b9df-9d439034b080%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22c5f0ddeb-2f39-4b47-b6da-1231299c5b0a%22%7d

Hemp Hurd Fiber: A Viable Substitute for Peat Moss in Container Production of Horticultural Crops   Growers are interested in alternative, sustainable substrates to replace peat moss due to rising costs and awareness of the environmental damage caused by peat mining. Cultivation of hemp (Cannabis sativa) in the United States for the textile industry is expanding. A significant byproduct of hemp stem manufacturing is hurd, which consists of fibers that are too short for textile use. The feasibility of using hurd as a substitute for peat in the production of a range of crops, including potted flowering plants, vegetables, and ornamental shrubs and herbaceous perennials, was explored.

Dissertation Title: More Than Trauma-Bonded: Shared Strengths and Its Cognitive, Behavioral, and Affective Benefits for Intraminority Solidarity. Field of Study: Social Psychology

Samuel Haiden is a student in Dr. Gerald Berkowitz' lab. Since the Farm Bill of 2018, hemp-cannabis has been eligible for research in the US. Since, the Berkowitz lab has been a leader in the molecular genetics of trichome development and cannabinoid synthesis. This presentation is the culmination of Sam's research on photoperiodism and minor cannabinoid production in this novel field of research.

Field of Study: Systems Genomics Dissertation Title: Generation of TCR-mimic Antibody Libraries Targeted Towards NRAS Mutant Q61R

Dissertation Title: Multi-compartment proteomic signatures of sex-specific responses to exercise-heat stress and acclimation. Department of Kinesiology, CAHNR.

A primary goal in the design of resonant substructures is to introduce auxiliary dynamics to existing materials and systems, thereby facilitating passive regulation and tunable control of vibratory oscillations. To implement this control, metastructures may be engineered with spatially localized couplings, which transfer energy between the vibrating host and peripheral subsystems to modulate elastodynamic properties and responses. The traditional approach often builds upon a fixed design architecture, which may successfully unlock unconventional behaviors, but remains static in nature and thus difficult to adapt in variable or uncertain conditions. In addressing this challenge, this dissertation explores design, synthesis, and realization across a suite of passively operated, tunable electroelastic metastructures to tailor the dispersive characteristics of elastic wave propagation and suppress vibrations. The research focuses on passively tuned local resonance, integrated within the elastic host material via piezoelectric and electromagnetic coupling mechanisms. Emphasis is placed on preserving the practicality and scalability of each implementation, while quantifying sensitivities to parametric uncertainty, parasitic effects, and other functional dependencies. Each is designed to maintain compatibility and relevance under practical constraints, without relying on active control or geometric alterations of the host media. Dynamic features are first characterized using Lagrangian-based analytical models and numerical simulations, followed by experimental validation to demonstrate their effectiveness and explore practical enhancements for improve sensing and performance. In this doctoral thesis, three complementary strategies for electrically tunable, elastodynamic control are investigated and developed. The first approach utilizes traditional piezoelectric LC-resonators arranged with spatial gradings to engineer dispersive properties and steer elastic wavefronts. A comprehensive modeling framework based on the transformation matrix method predicts unit cell behavior and informs waveguiding calibration through the Generalized Snell's Law. Advancing the state of the art, a signal-correlation filtering technique is developed to achieve robust phase-modulation sensing near the locally resonant bandgap, where low-transmission levels have traditionally obscured measurements in noise. Building on this, uncertainty quantification is carried out to investigate experimentally observed discrepancies in waveguiding performance, highlighting the role of spatially distributed parametric uncertainty on measurable outcomes. The second strategy employs temporal modulation of piezoelectric shunt circuitry, forming multiple sideband resonances and corresponding transmission bandgaps. Implemented via a unique analog architecture, this approach offers smooth modulation across a broad frequency range, offering a compact, scalable, and reliable solution for multi-band wave filtering. The third approach extends the concept of piezoelectric LC-resonators to a fully non-contact electromagnetic coupling mechanism based on eddy-currents. With appropriate tuning and impedance compensation, this configuration implements—for the first time—a passively controlled wireless modulation of elastic waves, eliminating the need for physical connections to the host material. A lumped-parameter model captures the magneto-mechanical dynamics, supporting the design of wave-blocking metasurfaces and tuned beam dampers. Together, these three approaches contribute scalable, adaptable solutions for elastic wave modulation and suppression in diverse environments. This dissertation provides a comprehensive investigation into adaptive resonant metamaterials, contributing analytical models, robust measurement techniques, uncertainty quantification, and innovative tunable mechatronic syntheses. The findings not only advance capabilities in wavefield manipulation and vibration suppression but also offer fundamental insights into considerations and challenges relevant for future progress in smart, reconfigurable metastructures.

Tools for Establishing the ECCP in Connecticut Soils   Decades of manure application have raised phosphorus (P) in most Connecticut (CT) soils to excessive levels. While essential for crop growth, excessive soil P can pose a water quality risk as it may be lost due to leaching or runoff. The environmental critical concentration of P (ECCP) is the soil test P above which the risk of phosphorus leaching or runoff is high. An ECCP for CT soils has not been established. The ECCP of a soil can be estimated through soil extraction methods. In this presentation, selected extraction methods are compared across farm-scale management strategies and P-source histories. Alternative approaches and future recommendations for establishing an ECCP are discussed.