Electronic theses and dissertations from graduate students in the Ocean & Earth Sciences Department, Colleges of Sciences, Old Dominion University, since Fall 2016 are available in this collection. Backfiles of all dissertations (and some theses) have also been added.
In late 2025, all theses will be digitized and available here. In the meantime, consult the Library Catalog to find older items in print.
Theses/Dissertations from 2024
Dissertation: Hydrogen Sulfide as a Strong Ligand Affecting Trace Metal Cycling in the Pacific and Southern Oceans, Nicole R. Buckley
Dissertation: Impact of Climate Change on Carbon and Nitrogen Balance in Zostera Marina L. (Eelgrass), Malee Jinuntuya
Dissertation: Time Series Modeling to Ascertain Age in Fisheries Management, Kathleen Sue Kirch
Theses/Dissertations from 2023
Dissertation: History of Ice-Rafting in the Arctic Ocean During Glacial Maxima Through Marine Isotope Stage 6, Shannon M. Cofield
Thesis: Organic Carbon Decay Mediated by Mesopelagic Microbial Communities, Noah Jonathan Craft
Thesis: A New View of Chlorophyll Dynamics in the Southern Mid-Atlantic Bight from a Two-Year High-Resolution Spray Glider Survey, Francesco Lane
Dissertation: Tidal Flooding in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the US: Water Quality Effects in the Lower Chesapeake Bay, Alfonso Macias Tapia
Dissertation: Modeling the Impacts of Sea Level Rise in Coastal Virginia at Multiple Scales, George Murray McLeod IV
Thesis: Do Microplastics, Vibrio Bacteria, and Warming Water Temperatures Cause Disease in the Northern Star Coral, Astrangia poculata?, Heather Leigh Sheffey
Dissertation: Nitrogen Cycling in the Lower Chesapeake Bay and Mid- and South Atlantic Bight, Yifan Zhu
Theses/Dissertations from 2022
Thesis: Atlantic Surfclam (Spisula Solidissima) Population Demographics and Distribution Along the Middle Atlantic Bight, Mauricio González Díaz
Thesis: Using Stock and Flow Modeling to Address Knowledge Gaps in Marine Plastic Pollution Data, Daniel P. Martin
Theses/Dissertations from 2021
Thesis: Examining Melt Pond Dynamics and Light Availability in the Arctic Ocean via High Resolution Satellite Imagery, Austin Wesley Abbott
Dissertation: Towards an Integrated Assessment of Sea-Level Observations Along the U.S. Atlantic Coast, Brett A. Buzzanga
Dissertation: Shipboard Lidar as a Tool for Remotely Measuring the Distribution and Bulk Characteristics of Marine Particles, Brian Leigh Collister
Dissertation: Phytoplankton Community Response to Upwelling Events: Distribution and Abundance Investigated Using Genomic Methods, Sveinn V. Einarsson
Thesis: CODAR's Surface Flow at the Mouth of the Chesapeake Bay: Relation to Bay's and Atlantic's Forcing, Shelby Kathryn Henderson
Thesis: Estimating the Risk of Future Plastic Marine Debris Resulting from the Urban Coastal Built Environment, Kelly C. Jones
Dissertation: Understanding the Effect of Internal Climate Variability on 20th Century Indian Ocean Sea Level: Results from Newly Reconstructed Sea Level Data, Praveen Kumar
Thesis: Reconstructing Surface Water Carbonate Ion Concentration Changes in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific Across Glacial Transitions, Lenzie Gail Ward
Dissertation: Physiological and Molecular Responses of Eurythermal and Stenothermal Populations of Zostera Marina L (Eelgrass) to Climate Change, Carmen C. Zayas-Santiago
Theses/Dissertations from 2020
Thesis: Diatom Community Composition Shifts Driven by Coherent Cyclonic Mesoscale Eddies in the California Current System, Zuzanna Maria Abdala
Thesis: Constraining Respired Carbon Storage in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Over the Last 25 Thousand Years Using Benthic Foraminiferal Boron/Calcium Ratios, Brian James Close
Dissertation: In the Margins: Reconsidering the Range and Contribution of Diazotrophs in Nearshore Environments, Corday R. Selden
Thesis: Sodium-Calcium Ratios in the Planktic Foraminifera Trilobatus Sacculifer as a Proxy for Sea Surface Salinity, Colton Steele Watkins
Theses/Dissertations from 2019
Thesis: Persistence of Depositional Features in a Strongly Seasonal, Tide-Dominated Delta, Kallie Flaxington Brown
Thesis: Submarine Groundwater Discharge in the Southern Chesapeake Bay: Constraints From Numerical Models, Charles Louis Carlson
Thesis: The Evolution of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and Tropical Pacific Climate Across the Last Deglaciation, Ryan Hunter Glaubke
Thesis: Nutrient Controls Over Cyanobacterial Synthesis of the Neurotoxin β-N-Methylamino-L-Alanine (BMAA) and Its Potential Accumulation in the Blue Crab (Callinectes Sapidus), Madeline M. Hummel
Thesis: Sediment Resuspension in a Microtidal Estuary: Causative Forces and Links with Algal Blooms, Samantha C. McGill
Dissertation: Coupling Metaproteomics with Taxonomy to Determine Responses of Bacterioplankton to Organic Perturbations in the Western Arctic Ocean, Molly P. Mikan
Dissertation: Circum-Arctic Mineralogy & Pan-Arctic Chronostratigraphy of Late Pleistocene Sediments: Developing a Comprehensive Age Model for the Western Arctic Ocean Using Unique Ice-Rafted Signals, Wesley Blake Myers
Thesis: Lipid Biomarkers of Bering and Chukchi Sea Euphausiids and Their Application to Diet History, Rachel L. Pleuthner
Thesis: The Effect of Evapotranspiration on the Groundwater Dome and Past Drought Conditions at Cape Henry, Virginia, Bryce Omar Shoup
Theses/Dissertations from 2018
Thesis: Regional Sea Level Rise Along the United States Coasts, Alessandra G. Burgos
Thesis: Plastics and Microplastics as Vectors for Bacteria and Human Pathogens, Amanda Lee Laverty
Thesis: Advances in Amino Acid Analysis for Marine Related Matrices and Its Application to Coastal Shelf Settings in The Canadian Arctic, Rachel M. McMahon
Thesis: Biogeochemical Cycling of Selenium in the Arctic Ocean, Kyle M. McQuiggan
Thesis: Wet and Dry Atmospheric Deposition of Nutrients and Bioactive Trace Metals to Coastal Waters of the Mid-Atlantic Bight, Christine Sookhdeo
Theses/Dissertations from 2017
Dissertation: High Resolution Spectra of Carbon Monoxide, Propane and Ammonia for Atmospheric Remote Sensing, Christopher Andrew Beale
Thesis: Precipitation and Sea Level Rise Impacts on Groundwater Levels in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Brett A. Buzzanga
Dissertation: Analysis of Virginia Barrier Island Shoreline Movement and Correlations to Sea Level, Wave Height Changes, and Teleconnection Patterns, James Daniel Haluska
Thesis: Groundwater and Tidal Controls on Wetland Hydrology, Julie J. Metz Wetland Mitigation Bank, Woodbridge, Virginia, Benjamin Stuart Hiza
Dissertation: Influence of Tides and Mesoscale Eddies in the Ross Sea, Stefanie Lynn Mack
Dissertation: Life History and Management Methods for Blueline Tilefish (Caulolatilus microps) from the United States Mid-Atlantic Region, Michael A. Schmidtke
Thesis: Hydrologic Response Caused by Wetland Expansion at Huntley Meadows Park in Hybla Valley, Virginia, Stephen Fraser Stone
Thesis: Selenium Distribution and Cycling in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean, Zoe Wambaugh
Theses/Dissertations from 2016
Dissertation: Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Photochemistry of Zostera Marina L., Billur Celebi
Thesis: Distributions of Euphausia Superba, Euphausia Crystallorophias, and Pleuragramma Antarcticum with Correlations to Environmental Variables in the Western Ross Sea, Antarctica, Linnea Brynn Davis
Thesis: Reevaluating the Geologic Formations of the Upper Coastal Plain in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Bradley Aaron Fitzwater
Dissertation: The Marine Cyanate Cycle, Brittany Widner
Theses/Dissertations from 2015
Thesis: Doppler Shifted Internal Waves in a Shallow Water Region, William D. Boll
Thesis: A Survey of Aquatic Organisms for the Cyanotoxin Beta-Methylamino-L-Alanine (BMAA), Ian M. Sammler
Thesis: Potential for Biocontrol of Environmental Vibrio Spp. by Predatory Bacteria Bacteriovorax, Patrick Tennis
Theses/Dissertations from 2014
Thesis: Crustal Accretion and Mantle Geodynamics at Microplates: Constraints from Gravity Analysis and Numerical Modeling, Katherine Ames
Dissertation: The Impact of Multiple Nursery Areas on the Population Structure of Atlantic Menhaden, Brevooria tyrannus, Kristen A. Anstead
Thesis: Predation Thresholds in Marine Microbial Communities Applied to Environments with Low Prey Abundances, Bonnie Bailey
Dissertation: Organic Copper Binding Ligands and Thiol Compounds Produced by Bacteria and in the Elizabeth River, Virginia, Christina Louise Dryden
Thesis: Comparison of Two Separation Methods for Biological Particles: Field-Flow Fractionation (FFF) and Sucrose Density Gradients, Cody E. Garrison
Thesis: A Comprehensive Evaluation of C25 Highly Branched Isoprenoid Alkenes of Marine Diatoms as Proxies for Sea Ice Extent in the Arctic Ocean, Tetiana Muniak
Thesis: Implications of Climate Change for Cyanobacteria Over the Western Florida Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico, Ivy Mara Ozmon
Thesis: Spatial and Temporal Variability in Net Community Metabolism in the Middle Atlantic Bight, Georges Bank, and Gulf of Maine: Observations of Net Heterotrophic Phases in the Highly Productive Coastal Zone, Cory James Staryk
Theses/Dissertations from 2013
Thesis: Evaluating the Contribution of Groundwater to Wetland Water Budgets Central Piedmont Virginia, Kerby Morgan Dobbs
Dissertation: Modeling Studies of Antarctic Krill (Euphausia superba) Survival During Transport Across the Scotia Sea and Environs, Bettina Andrea Fach
Thesis: Phosphorus Cycling in Tropical Carbonate Sediment-Seagrass Systems, Zachary Howerton
Thesis: Environmental and Physiological Influences on Productivity and Carbon Isotope Discrimination in Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.), Meredith Leigh McPherson
Thesis: Hydrogeologic Variations Across a Barrier Island that Influence Inter-Dune Wetlands False Cape State Park, Virginia, Matthew Collier Richardson
Dissertation: Observations and Modeling Forcing Mechanisms for the Coastal Dynamics of the Upper Gulf of Thailand, Suriyan Saramul
Thesis: Response of Natural Estuarine Algal Communities to Nitrogen Additions, Christopher Schweitzer
Thesis: Assessing the Release of Bioactive Trace Elements from Coal Fly Ash into Natural Fresh Waters, Candace E. Wall
Theses/Dissertations from 2012
Thesis: Population Structure and Connectivity of an Important Pelagic Forage Fish in the Antarctic Ecosystem, Pleuragramma antarcticum in Relation to Large Scale Circulation, Jason W. Ferguson
Thesis: A New Phase Speciation Leaching Procedure for the Determination of Metals in Oxic and Anoxic Sediments, Brandon R. Gipson
Dissertation: Assessing Movement of Fish Through Spectral Analysis of Otolith Life History Scans, Renee Reilly Hoover
Dissertation: Eukaryotic Microbes in the Deep Sea: Abundance, Diversity, and the Effect of Pressure, Danielle Morgan-Smith
Thesis: Fecal Indicator Bacteria in Knitting Mill Creek with a Comparison of Methods Used to Enumerate E. Coli, Manju Nagarajan
Dissertation: Modeling the Dispersion of Eastern Oyster Larvae (Crassostrea virginica) and its Effects on the Movement of Disease Resistant Genes in the Delaware Bay Estuary, Diego A. Narvaez
Thesis: Gravity Anomalies Along the East Scotia Ridge: Constraining the Relative Importance of Magmatic and Tectonic Controls on Crustal Accretion, Briton Lee Nicholson
Dissertation: Grazing on Synechococcus spp. by the Red-Tide Dinoflagellate Karenia brevis: Implications for Bloom Dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico, Leo A. Procise
Theses/Dissertations from 2011
Dissertation: Population Dynamics of Sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus; Walbaum 1792) in the Chesapeake Bay Region: A comparison to Other Areas and an Assessment of Their Current Status, Joseph Charles Ballenger
Dissertation: Evaluating Methods for Optimizing Classification Success From Otolith Tracers for Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) in the Chesapeake Bay, Stacy Kavita Beharry
Thesis: The Effect of an Offshore Wind Turbine Array on Circulation in an Idealized Coastal Ocean, Mahmoud Kamel
Dissertation: Controls on the Formation of Algal Blooms in the Lower Chesapeake Bay and Its Tributaries, Ryan Eric Morse
Dissertation: Circulation of the Western Antarctic Peninsula: Implications for Biological Production, Maria Andrea Piñones Valenzuela
Thesis: Effect of Reworking and Bioturbation on Sedimentary Reactive Iron Within a Microtidal Estuary, Amy Kathleen Pitts
Thesis: Model-Based Analyses of Nitrogen on the Mid-Atlantic Bight Continental Shelf, Tian Tian
Theses/Dissertations from 2010
Dissertation: Interannual Differences in Nutrient Dynamics During a Brown Tide Bloom (Aureococcus anophagefferens) and the Interaction of A. anophagefferens with Heterotrophic Bacteria, George Eric Boneillo
Dissertation: Concentrations, Distributions and Chemical Speciation of Zinc and Cadmium in the Equatorial and South Atlantic Ocean, Gonzalo G. Carrasco
Dissertation: Oxygen Isotopes as a Tracer of DOM Processes in River-Estuary Systems, Joy Ashley Matthews
Dissertation: Trace Metal Biogeochemistry in the Western North Pacific, Peter Lynn Morton
Thesis: Phosphorus Uptake in Rhodomonas salina (Wislouch) and Its Effect on Allocation and Elimination in Acartia tonsa (Dana), Danna Palladino
Theses/Dissertations from 2009
Dissertation: Reactivity and Chemical Characterization of Dissolved Organic Matter in an Estuary, Hussain A. Abdulla
Dissertation: Factors Affecting Adult Foraging and Chick Growth of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) off the Western Antarctic Peninsula: A Modeling Study, Erik W. Chapman
Thesis: Biogenic Tracers Through the Holocene on the Alaskan Shelf, Carie A. Curry
Thesis: A Bio-Optical Model for Syringodium filiforme Canopies, Margaret A. Stoughton
Dissertation: Characterization of Antibiotic Resistance in Vibrio cholerae Isolated From Ships' Ballast and Other Environmental Sources, Frank Kornegay Thomson III
Dissertation: Changing Fecundity and Reproductive Output in Females of a Chesapeake Bay Population of Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus, Shannon L. Wells
Theses/Dissertations from 2008
Dissertation: Microtextures of Cyanobacterial Mats in Siliciclastic Sedimentary Environments (Modern & Ancient): Applications to the Search for Life on Mars, Dina M. Bower
Dissertation: Nutrient and Carbon Dynamics in the Chesapeake Bay Outflow Plume and Their Effect on the Coastal Ocean Environment, Katherine C. Filippino
Thesis: Spatial Analyses and Repletion of Gargathy Coastal Lagoon, Loreto Herraiz Gomez
Dissertation: Modeling the Seasonal Sea Ice Cycle in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, Yusuf Sinan Hûsrevoğlu