This thesis presents the first modeling study on long-term carbon dynamics for the University of Guelph Elora Agricultural Research Station and the Environment Canada Borden Forest Research Station at the daily and half-hourly time-step. The daily version of the CENTURY (DayCENT) model and the Carbon- and Nitrogen-coupled Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CN-CLASS) model were validated for quantifying the effects of agricultural management and component respiration on the carbon budget. DayCENT indicated that conventional tillage (CT) enhanced the annual heterotrophic respiration relative to no-till (NT) by 38.4, 93.7 and 64.2 g C m-2 yr-1 for corn, soybean and winter wheat, respectively. The seasonal variation of total soil organic carbon (SOC) pool was greater in CT than NT due to tillage effects on carbon transfer from the active surface SOC pool to the active soil SOC pool at a rate of 50-100 g C m-2 yr-1. NT accounted for a 10.7 g C m-2 yr-1 increase in the slow SOC pool (20-year turnover time) at a site in Elora, Ontario, Canada. I found that the plant phenology algorithms used in CN-CLASS were not constructed and validated for crop growth, resulting in a high degree of uncertainty in the simulations. Therefore, I designed and tested a new agricultural module for CN-CLASS. The regression analysis indicated that the new crop module improved the net ecosystem productivity (NEP) simulation for a cornfield, with the coefficient of determination (r2) of annual NEP increasing from 0.51 in the original CN-CLASS to 0.78 in the modified version of the model. I verified CN-CLASS to simulate the dynamics of component respiration for tracing the contributions from litterfall, SOC and root respiration in a deciduous mixedwood forest in Borden, Ontario, Canada. The model estimated that the annual ecosystem CO2 respiration was 1366 g C m-2 yr-1, contributed by heterotrophic respiration (57%), maintenance respiration (37%) and growth respiration (6%). The annual accumulated soil respiration was estimated at 782 g C m-2 yr-1, which was dominated by CO2 emissions from soil organic matter (60%). The base respiration rates required further verification based on field measurements. Based on the verified modeling approach in this thesis, the modeling core of DayCENT can be constructed as an integral platform for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada National Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Verification System. The crop phenological module in CN-CLASS allows us to conduct further agricultural studies concerning global carbon budget and environmental change. The validated respiration algorithms in CN-CLASS would be helpful in developing global biological CO2 transport model for tracing emission sources. / Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada

This Thesis presents a framework for modelling species-specific site quality index (SQI) at a spatial resolution of 250 m by integrating biophysical variables of growing degree days (GDD), soil water content (SWC), and incident photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) in descriptions of potential tree growth. Development of GDD maps is based on processing and blending remotely-sensed data acquired with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the Terra satellite and ETM+ sensor on Landsat-7 satellite at spatial resolutions of 250 m and 28.5 m. Descriptions of SWC are based on a temperature-vegetation wetness index (TVWI) that relies on MODIS-based optical and thermal image products. PAR is estimated with an existing solar-radiation distribution model. SQI is defined as a function of species vital attributes and species environmental response to GDD, TVWI, and PAR. The methods are applied to a balsam fir [bF; Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.] dominated region in northwest New Brunswick. Comparisons between SQI and field-based estimates of site index and enhanced vegetation index showed that about 66 and 88% of the values corresponding to a series of Forest Development Survey lines (691 in total) were within 16% of SQI values. On average 92.1% of high bF-content stands (> 50% composition) in the area fell on medium-to-very high SQI values (> 0.50). Based on these agreements, SQI can be perceived as a good predictor of potential tree-species growth in the selection of optimal sites for biomass and wood fibre production.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

This PhD by project is an examination of process-based architectural design. It offers an examination of one approach to undertaking process-based experimentation in architecture - based on reflection of my own practice and body of work - through which I have been able to consider a complex array of questions and issues that are associated with working in this way. By

abstract: This thesis paper, Something about Self: Moving the Creative Flow Within, explores the progression of the author's abilities as a facilitator in a creative context through her project presentation SELF(ish): grow(tru)thOUGHT. Along with the subjective assessment of creative facilitation, the underpinnings of the author's creative process and artistic vision are exposed through relevant literature, significant inspirations, personal insight, process comparisons, and imaginative metaphors. The author/artist offers a unique perspective on personal interests collected over the course of her graduate studies. Waugh expounds upon pertinent content such as intuition in creativity, the emotional link to the mind-body connection, dance movement therapy and its effects on states of being, self-realization and self-transcendence. Each of these contextual elements contributed to the creation of exercises for movement generation used in a performative dance work. Ultimately, this paper elucidates a transparent, versatile creative practice and the evolution of a unique, passionate artistry that is based on a balance between structure and flow. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.F.A. Dance 2012

Collaboration is a sought-after competency in the 21st-century knowledge economy in which the value of collective ideas and innovations are emphasized. Educational institutions have a role to play in preparing graduates to work well in collaborative teams. However, collaborating with peers is often received with mixed feelings. Students raise concerns about group members’ motivation and engagement, in anticipation of unsatisfactory social and learning outcomes. Facing motivation challenges in collaboration is a common occurrence, but limited research examines how students working in groups manage motivation challenges in that context. The purpose of this multi-paper dissertation was to examine undergraduate students’ regulatory responses to motivation challenges during online collaborations. Three empirical studies comprising this dissertation examined: the interrelated process involved in groups’ regulation of the socio-emotional aspect of collaboration (Bakhtiar, Webster, & Hadwin), the tactics and strategies students enacted in response to salient motivation challenges (Bakhtiar, Hadwin, & Järvenoja, 2019), and the dynamic interplay between individual- and group-level regulation during motivationally challenging situations (Bakhtiar & Hadwin, 2019). The first study was a comparative case analysis between two groups with contrasting socio-emotional climates. Groups’ self-report and observational data (collected before, during, and after a 90-minute collaboration) were examined in relation to the COPES-model of regulation to identify the similarities and differences between groups’ prevailing conditions, operations, products, evaluations, and standards in regulation. In Study 2, group members’ perceptions of motivation challenges that emerged during planning, early, and towards the end of a semester-long collaborative project were explored. Students’ open descriptions of strategies adopted in response to their salient motivation challenges were qualitatively coded. Study 3 was another comparative case analysis between two groups, who experienced high levels of motivation challenges during collaboration but achieved contrasting group perceptions of team learning productivity. The groups’ use of self-, co-, and socially shared-regulation of motivation in three collaborative sessions were examined and contextualized using group members’ self-reports and log data. Findings across the three studies were discussed in terms of their contributions to the COPES scripts of regulating motivation in collaboration, to develop a catalogue of individual and social strategies for regulating motivation, and to identify adaptive forms of motivation regulation in collaboration. Overall, groups that experienced a more positive outcome regarding motivation regulation had group members who (a) were more prepared going into the task, (b) engaged in proactive forms of regulation, (c) more metacognitively attuned to individuals’ and groups’ diverse needs and challenges, (d) used diverse types of strategies, and (e) regulated each other in a positive and encouraging way. Future directions are discussed in terms of examining the metacognitive information students base on when regulating motivation individually, for others, and as a team, as well as designing tools and instructions to support motivation in collaboration. / Graduate

Throughout our teacher training program, we have noticed that students struggle to see the reason with writing task designs that are short and concludes upon the end of the lesson. Therefore, this degree project aims to gain an insight to whether the methods used in process writing and its various concepts can be used efficiently within schools to assist students in reaching higher grades and have higher rates of academic success, as well as discover the impacts of motivation tied in with the use of these specific task designs. This paper will firstly introduce an overview of the different theories and concepts that are tied to process writing, such as feedback, rubrics use. In prior studies made, researchers have found that academic success is influenced by the use of strategies that correlate to the methods in process writing, and also describes how this impact is made. Secondly, this degree project is based on interviews made with three active 7-9 English teachers and 15 students (in years 8-9) in the southern of Sweden to research the possibility of motivation being affected in any way through the use of these task designs that, according to researchers, will lead the students to higher rates of academic success. The major conclusions of this study are that (I) students and teachers feel that it is useful to utilize the different key concepts tied to process writing in order to gain proficiency in the English language, (II) teachers often use at least one, if not more, of the methods included in process writing, and feel that they have an impact on student learning within the subject, (III) students feel that their motivation can be impacted through the use of these strategies, and be affected differently based on teacher instruction, (IV) many of the schools that were visited have grade-oriented students that can affect student motivation to learn, and the reasons for learning, (V) in addition to how well the students feel engaged to work with a task depending on their interests. (VI) Lastly, it also has an impact at what stage the teacher decides to assess their students, while working with process writing tasks.

Dans le cadre de l’étude de l’évolution du système climatique terrestre, comprendre la composition gazeuse et particulaire de l’atmosphère est un enjeu majeur dans notre compréhension de la Terre et de son atmosphère, de son passé et de son évolution à venir. Les aérosols secondaires, i.e. formés par nucléation, représentent la source la plus importante en nombre des aérosols atmosphériques mais prédire où, quand et en quelle proportion ces aérosols sont formés dans l’atmosphère demeure à ce jour un exercice peu fiable. C’est dans ce contexte que cette étude s’est attachée à compléter nos connaissances des processus conduisant à la formation et à la croissance des particules atmosphériques secondaires. Des études réalisées à partir de mesures de terrain à long terme sur différents sites d’altitude en Europe ont permis de mettre en évidence différentes spéciations verticales de la nucléation démontrant que ce phénomène semble être jusqu’à deux fois plus fréquents à la frontière avec la basse troposphère libre que dans la couche limite planétaire. D’autre part ces mêmes études ont pu mettre en évidence que les mécanismes conduisant à la nucléation de nouvelles particules se différencient avec l’altitude impliquant un rôle plus important de la voie de formation induite par les ions ainsi que des composés organiques volatils. La contribution de cette dernière famille de composés à la nucléation a été également testée durant plusieurs campagnes d’expérimentation en systèmes réactifs ainsi qu’en chambre de simulation atmosphérique. Différents comportements et paramétrisation de la nucléation selon la nature chimique du composé parent ont pu être mis en évidence. Enfin, des études numériques réalisées à partir de données de terrain et d’expérimentation ont permis d’explorer, d’infirmer, de confirmer et de proposer différentes approches numériques afin de simuler les évènements de formation des aérosols secondaires. / As part of the study of the evolution of Earth’s climate system, understanding the composition of gaseous and particulate atmospheric matter is a major issue in our understanding of Earth and its atmosphere, its past and its evolution. The secondary aerosols, i.e. formed from nucleation, represents the largest source in a number concentration of atmospheric particles but predicting, where, when and in what proportion these aerosols are formed in the atmosphere are still challenging. It is in this context that this study focused to complete our understanding of the process leading to the formation and growth of atmospheric secondary particles. Investigations conducted from long term field measurements at different altitude sites across Europe have made possible to highlight different vertical speciation of the nucleation process and that this phenomenon seems to be occur two times more frequently at the interface between the planetary boundary layer and the free troposphere than in the low planetary boundary layer. In addition these studies have been able to show that different nucleation path are enhanced according to the altitude, implicant a greater role in the process of formation induced by ions and volatile organic compounds at altitude sites. The contribution of this last family of compounds to the nucleation has also been examinated through numerous experimenal campaigns using reactive system as well as smog chambers experiments. Different behaviors of the new particle formation and nucleation parametrization depending on the chemical nature of the parent compound were pointed out. Finally, numerical studies based on both field and smog chamber experiments were conducted to confirm or explore, different numerical approaches to simulate the new secondary aerosol formation.

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