Christine Karugu, Yaw Twumasi, Zhu Ning, Ugwu Peace

Switzerland's beekeeping industry makes a significant contribution to the country's economy by pollinating both commercial and natural plants and by creating honey, pollen, and wax. This study examines important apicultural facts for Switzerland and reveals that the country has a thriving beekeeping industry, with roughly 17,500 beekeepers looking after 165,000 bee colonies. This is equivalent to 10 colonies per beekeeper on average.

The study's objective is to identify critical species of trees that provide honeydew, especially coniferous and deciduous kinds, as well as essential honey plants that support Swiss apiculture. The study's analysis of the distribution of apiaries throughout Switzerland should highlight a significant disparity in apiary density, which is particularly noticeable in Alpine cantons like Grisons and Uri. Lower human population density may be closely associated with low apiary density, which would lower the number of potential beekeepers.

The study henceforth provides significant insights for sustainable apiculture practices by examining the relationship between apiary distribution, geographical characteristics, and human population density. It also throws light on Switzerland's apicultural dynamics and how they can be improved

Priscilla Loh, Yaw A. Twumasi, Zhu Ning, Matilda Anokye, Recheal Armah

Factors contributing to the degradation of water bodies have become subjects of growing concern, necessitating a thorough assessment of water resources. Remote sensing techniques have over the years offered enormous advantages to traditional techniques, in providing cost-effective systematic observations of large water systems. This study leverages the use of earth observation data to examine water quality parameters including chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a), Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM), Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) and turbidity, and Water Temperature (WT). Applying this to the lower Mississippi River in Louisiana, this study employs ESA’s high resolution (10m) Sentinel 2 observations between 2017 to 2023 to retrieve critical parameters of the water. This is to understand the factors influencing the conditions of the river over time through a spatio-temporal time series analysis of the different water quality parameters. Ultimately, the results of this analysis seek to map out temporal fluctuations and stability of the retrieved water quality parameters in the Lower Mississippi River over the study period. Furthermore, the findings of existing field-related research studies will be reviewed to support the validity of results in employing remote sensing techniques in assessing water quality parameters. Hence, this research will significantly contribute to ongoing monitoring, conservation, and sustainable use of the Mississippi River's aquatic ecosystem.

Christine Karugu, Yaw Twumasi, Zhu Ning, Ugwu Peace

The current era has witnessed dramatic growth of urban centers and industrial activities which has in turn led to increased soil and air pollution, posing threat to health of urban trees. The study aims to investigate the complex relationship between physiological processes of trees in East Baton Rouge parish and pollution. The study focuses on the effects of pollutants such as heavy metal, particulate matter, and dangerous gases to trees in the region.

The objective of the study is to unravel the long-term impacts of these pollutants to the composition of the tree species, their growth and resilience in the ecosystem. The study will examine data from both polluted and unpolluted areas to determining possible extents to which permanent damage may occur. 

The findings of the study will be beneficial to urban planners, environmental policy makers, conservationists, as it will assist in providing crucial information regarding interplay between pollution and physiological health of trees. In this case, it will be possible to develop sustainable strategies meant to control harmful effects of pollution to urban trees in East Baton Rouge.

Curtis VanderSchaaf

A pine species trial comparing loblolly and longleaf was established on six acres in central Mississippi south of Crystal Springs on the MAFES Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station. This location roughly corresponds to the northerly historical range of longleaf pine in this region. The site is defined to be fine-silty, mixed, active, thermic Typic (Oxyaquic) Fragiudalf. Over the past 20 years, the site was an annually harvested hay pasture of improved grasses, receiving no fertilization. A broadcast chemical site preparation treatment was conducted in October, 2022. Harvesting of hay caused compaction, and therefore the site was ripped/subsoiled in mid-December on 16-foot planting centers with a single shank to a depth near 15 inches. Seedlings ($210.00 per thousand) were hand planted in March of 2023. Both species were planted at 454 seedlings per acre; 16 feet between rows and 6 feet among seedlings within a row. A first-year herbaceous weed control treatment was conducted in late April. A historical drought occurred during 2023 beginning on July 17 until around November 9; essentially no precipitation occurred (0.73 inches). From July 17 to October 4, the daily maximum temperature exceeded 90°F a total of 70 days, maximum daily temperature averaged 96.44°F. Despite correct planting depths (loblolly deep and longleaf shallow), survival rates were 8.3% and 1% at the end of January 2024, respectively. The surviving loblolly pine averaged 13.41 inches in height.

Mckaughly Wing, Justin Hoffman

This study was conducted in order to better understand the habitat selection and movements of the Baird's pocket gopher (Geomys breviceps) in a residential landscape. The first objective was to estimate the home range of the gophers. The second objective was to determine which habitat variables best predict presence or absence of gopher activity. To determine home range gophers were tracked using radio transmitters. To determine habitat selection data on 19 habitat variables were collected and a multimodel selection approach was used to determine which variable(s) best predicted gopher activity. The average home range of all gophers was found to be 469.44 m2 and ranged from 106.78-830.71 m2. The average home range of adult females was found to be 502.02 m2 and the adult male 371.71 m2. Distance to a forest edge, sodium, sulfur, and farthest distance to an edge were found to best predict the presence or absence of gopher activity. Sulfur was found to have a significant negative relationship with gopher activity, while distance to a forest edge possessed a significant positive relationship. A one-way analysis of variance detected that the variables sodium and distance to a forest edge were significantly different between plots with and without gopher activity.  Plots with gopher activity had soils with a higher sodium than plots with no gopher activity and a mean distance that was closer to a forest edge than plots with no activity. 

John Bosco Namwamba, Yaw Twumasi, Judith Oppong, Caroline Akinrinwoye, Priscila Loh, Joyce Peralta, Ronald Okwemba, Benir Mbabasi, Festin Osimbo

The homeless population in the United States has been increasing over decades. From 2016 to 2023 it has risen fast. Every night thousands of people lack places of their own to stay. Most of them also do not have the luxury of choice on basic requirements. Research shows that experiencing homelessness may affect human mental health symptoms. For those with a history of mental illness, homelessness and length of time spent in it have been linked to increased psychiatric distress, increased alcohol consumption, and worse reported recovery. The objectives of this study are to model the total homeless population in the United States with respect to the national annual mean housing rent and years respectively, for a defined range of time and predict the homeless populations and annual mean by 2050. Boolean Algebra will be applied to prove that if policies are not introduced to shelter all the homeless, their population will keep on rising. The concept of the homeless population concerning the annual mean rent and the application of Boolean Algebra to explain trends in the homeless population constitute the gap of this study. The data for the United States homeless population will be accessed from published data on the Internet. Statistical and spatial analysis software will be used for modeling and mapping. The study will propose the use of environmental health-promoting and education as mitigatory projects for homelessness at the national level and trauma therapy.

McKenzlea Wise, Kasey Moore, Sarah Moore, Cynthia Doffitt

Trematodes (Platyhelminthes) are parasitic flatworms with specific life cycles involving two to three different host species. While these hosts could potentially be one of a variety of vertebrate species, at least one of the hosts is an aquatic snail species (Gastropoda). This distinctive life history may facilitate predictions about vertebrate host populations based on trematode presence in local snail populations. In 2021 and 2022, aquatic snails (n=1332) (Physa sp and Planorbella sp) were collected from Natchitoches National Fish Hatchery (Natchitoches, LA) fish production ponds. Snails were monitored for 14 days to detect the release of juvenile trematodes (cercariae) from the snail hosts; 2.10% (28/1332) of sampled snails were infected with cercariae. Identification of cercariae was based on morphological and genetic traits. Three distinct types of cercariae were observed and generally classified based on morphology as either echinostome-, armatae-, or furcocercous-types. Cercarial DNA was isolated and amplified using platyhelminthes-specific touchdown PCR, followed by Sanger sequencing. The genetic analysis suggests that these parasites may be members of Glypthelmins, Tylodelphys, Plagiorchis, and Euparyphium. Future research aims to confirm the morphological and genetic identification of the cercariae. Definitive identification of these trematode species may allow for predictions about the populations of vertebrate host species present within the surrounding ecosystem.