Field-application of pXRF in urban soils to inform soil management decisions and environmental justice. Doctoral dissertation defense in Environmental Engineering. Analysis of trace metal content in soils across Hartford, CT to determine whether pXRF can be used in the field for screening purposes of urban plots set for community reuse. Application of pXRF for residential soils in Hartford, CT and Mansfield, CT to compare urban and rural soil lead levels, and inform environmental justice perspectives for Connecticut.

Thesis Title : Investigation of The Relationship Between Cellular Senescence and The Gut Microbiome Biomedical Science Ph.D. Program - Genetics and Developmental Biology Graduate Program

Ben Oltsik defends his thesis, "Newton Polytopes, Symbolic Defect, and Analytic Spread." Field of study: Mathematics.

Dissertation Title: "Influence of Health Information Source Saliency and Sociodemographic Moderators in Surgical Decision-Making and Regret among Early-Stage Breast Cancer Survivors" Degree: Human Development and Family Sciences

Title: Advancing offshore wind prediction and assessment of climate change impacts on wind energy in the Northeastern United States Ph.D. Candidate: Tasnim Zaman Major Advisor: Dr. Marina Astitha Associate Advisors: Dr. Emmanouil N. Anagnostou, Dr. Guiling Wang, Dr. Ethan Gutmann and Dr. Timothy W. Juliano This study investigates the performance of a high-resolution Numerical Weather Prediction model in predicting hub-height wind speed in the U.S. Northeast Atlantic. It assesses improvements in wind and atmospheric turbulence prediction using a novel three-dimensional planetary boundary layer (3DPBL) scheme. Additionally, it introduces a statistical downscaling approach to evaluate climate change impacts on wind speed in offshore and onshore environments

Title: Reconstructing Evolutionary Histories: Genome Phylogenies, Syntenic Blocks, and Viral Selfish Genetic Elements Field of Study: Microbiology Topic: Firstly, the methodological development of whole-genome-based distance metrics, and secondly, the spread, distribution, and evolution of inteins within Actinobacteriophages.