Announcements

Title: Secure, Adaptive, and Efficient Heterogenous Federated Learning for Resource-Constrained Edge Intelligence
Major Professor: Koushik Sinha
Committee Members: Ansuman Bhattacharya, Abdur Rahman Bin Shahid, Gayan Amarasuriya Aruma Baduge
Date: May 15, 2026
Virtual Link: Join Sai Mani Teja Puppala 's Thesis Defense via Teams 
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Abstract: Federated learning enables distributed model training while preserving data privacy, but real-world edge environments remain difficult due to heterogeneous data, limited device resources, unreliable networks, high communication cost, and the need for personalization. This dissertation develops secure, adaptive, and communication-efficient federated learning frameworks for resource-constrained and heterogeneous edge intelligence. First, it introduces a self-regulated clustered federated learning system that forms clusters using data similarity, device capability, and geographical proximity. Driver nodes perform local aggregation, reducing global communication while improving robustness through checkpointing, peer-to-peer sharing, health verification, and dynamic driver selection. Second, the work extends federated learning to smart agriculture, where tractors and sensor-equipped edge devices operate under dynamic rural network conditions. The proposed architecture supports secure model-update transmission, adaptive clustering, checkpoint-based filtering, and network-aware communication while keeping raw agricultural data local. Third, a satellite-assisted hierarchical federated learning framework is proposed for large-scale precision agriculture. By combining ground-based learning with LEO and GEO satellite aggregation, the system improves connectivity, reduces communication cost, and supports fairness-aware learning across regions with unequal network access. Finally, this dissertation presents VGM$^2$, a personalized federated learning framework that communicates compact geometry-based statistics instead of model weights or gradients. Overall, this dissertation advances federated learning for secure, efficient, adaptive, and personalized model training across dynamic edge environments, with applications in smart agriculture, remote sensing, autonomous machinery, and distributed intelligent systems.

Title: Habitat Selection and Movement of Bobcats in a Fragmented Landscape
Major Professor: Clay Nielsen
Committee Members: Brent Pease, Eric Holzmueller, Jennifer Weber
Date: May 8, 2026
Virtual Link: Join Ellen Audia's Thesis Defense via ZoomLocation: Agriculture Building, Room 209
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Abstract: Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are a mesocarnivore capable of functioning as apex predators across many parts of North America. Despite their adaptability and generalist ecology, bobcats remain sensitive to habitat loss and fragmentation. In Illinois, bobcats were extirpated in the 1960s due to habitat loss and fragmentation as well as overexploitation but began recolonizing many areas in the late 1990s after receiving statewide protection. I investigated how a recolonized population of bobcats in the highly fragmented, agriculturally dominated landscape of north-central Illinois responds spatially to habitat loss and fragmentation by examining drivers of home range size, approaches for characterizing second order resource selection, and fine-scale habitat selection and movement behavior. Bobcats maintained substantially larger home ranges in north-central Illinois than populations in southern Illinois and other parts of their North American range, with larger home ranges containing less forest cover. Increased daily and monthly movement were the mechanisms behind larger home ranges. Despite challenges and tradeoffs associated with characterizing second order resource selection, I found that bobcats selected home ranges with greater forest cover that were generally concentrated along the Illinois River. Forests as well was their edges were also important at finer scales, with sex- and age- specific responses to them. Adult females and juvenile males generally exhibited different selection of forest edge types within bi-annual periods, whereas adult male selection was more consistent in direction across forest edge types. In contrast, adult males showed greater avoidance behavior of roads while juvenile males and adult females did not, however, all were generally more likely to move across roads in areas of greater forest cover. Overall, my research identifies mechanisms and patterns underlying bobcat spatial behavior in fragmented landscapes and provides insights relevant to bobcat and other mesocarnivore conservation and management in Illinois and similar Midwestern ecosystems.

Title: Nitrogen Dynamics in Riverine Wetlands of the Leveed Middle Mississippi River Floodplain
Major Professor: Jonathan Remo                                                                                                      
Committee Members: Marjorie Brooks, Steven Esling, Scott Hamilton-Brehm
Date: May 8, 2026                                                                                                                      
Location: Parkinson Laboratory Room 104
Time: 9:00 a.m.                                                                                                                      
Abstract: Excess dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) exported from agricultural landscapes within the Mississippi River basin degrades aquatic ecosystems and drinking water quality. Riverine wetlands can mitigate these impacts by providing hydrologic and geochemical conditions that support sediment microbial processes such as nitrification and denitrification, which convert reactive nitrogen to inert atmospheric gases. Wetlands associated with higher order rivers receive large DIN loads and therefore have high potential value for nutrient processing. This dissertation evaluates the capacity of wetland microecosystems to remove DIN within riverine wetlands along the middle Mississippi River (MMR), with a focus on the role of hydrologic connectivity. The MMR floodplain historically supported extensive wetlands, but levee construction and drainage reduced floodplain inundation and disconnected much of the valley from direct river flooding. Using an integrative, two-year field study, this research quantified water exchange, nitrogen dynamics, redox conditions, carbon availability, and microbial community composition within representative river connected and river disconnected wetlands. Methods included hydraulic measurements, calibrated surface water and groundwater models, stable isotopes, nutrient monitoring, sediment incubations, and 16S rRNA microbial sequencing. Results show that only river connected wetlands consistently support DIN removal. Episodic river flooding creates alternating oxidizing and reducing conditions that promote coupled nitrification and denitrification, resulting in nitrate reductions exceeding 87% within hyporheic splay sediments during spring and summer. River disconnected wetlands lack this hydrologic sequencing and instead function as net nitrate sources due to partial nitrification of groundwater derived DIN. Microbial analyses corroborate these findings, revealing greater diversity and functional potential for complete denitrification in connected wetlands. Collectively, these results demonstrate that hydrologic connectivity is a necessary condition for sustained DIN removal in MMR floodplain wetlands and highlight the importance of preserving or restoring river–floodplain interactions for basin scale nitrogen mitigation.

Title: Habitat Selection and Movement of Bobcats in a Fragmented Landscape
Major Professor: Clay Nielsen 
Committee Members: Brent Pease, Eric Holzmueller, Jennifer Weber
Date: May 8, 2026                                                                                                                 
Virtual Link: Join Ellen Audia's Thesis Defense via Zoom 
Time: 9:00 a.m.                                                                                                            
Abstract: Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are a mesocarnivore capable of functioning as apex predators across many parts of North America. Despite their adaptability and generalist ecology, bobcats remain sensitive to habitat loss and fragmentation. In Illinois, bobcats were extirpated in the 1960s due to habitat loss and fragmentation as well as overexploitation but began recolonizing many areas in the late 1990s after receiving statewide protection. I investigated how a recolonized population of bobcats in the highly fragmented, agriculturally dominated landscape of north-central Illinois responds spatially to habitat loss and fragmentation by examining drivers of home range size, approaches for characterizing second order resource selection, and fine-scale habitat selection and movement behavior. Bobcats maintained substantially larger home ranges in north-central Illinois than populations in southern Illinois and other parts of their North American range, with larger home ranges containing less forest cover. Increased daily and monthly movement were the mechanisms behind larger home ranges. Despite challenges and tradeoffs associated with characterizing second order resource selection, I found that bobcats selected home ranges with greater forest cover that were generally concentrated along the Illinois River. Forests as well was their edges were also important at finer scales, with sex- and age- specific responses to them. Adult females and juvenile males generally exhibited different selection of forest edge types within bi-annual periods, whereas adult male selection was more consistent in direction across forest edge types. In contrast, adult males showed greater avoidance behavior of roads while juvenile males and adult females did not, however, all were generally more likely to move across roads in areas of greater forest cover. Overall, my research identifies mechanisms and patterns underlying bobcat spatial behavior in fragmented landscapes and provides insights relevant to bobcat and other mesocarnivore conservation and management in Illinois and similar Midwestern ecosystems.

Title: Listening to Fire - Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring to Detect and Explain Prescribed Fire Effects on Avian Communities in Oak-Hickory Forest of the Central Hardwood Region
Major Professor: Logan Park
Committee Members: Jay Needham, Clayton Niesien, Jonathan Remo, Charles Ruffner
Date: April 30, 2026
Location: Agriculture Building, Room 209
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Abstract:This dissertation demonstrates that acoustic indices derived from passive acoustic monitoring can reliably detect prescribed fire effects on terrestrial soundscapes, while also showing that interpretation of these changes requires complementary species level approaches. Although acoustic indices effectively identify shifts in soundscape structure, they do not alone reveal the ecological processes driving those changes. To address this limitation, a detection weighted analytical framework is developed to isolate the species contributing most strongly to observed soundscape change, enabling comparisons at ecologically meaningful scales. Application of this framework reveals that prescribed fire can simultaneously increase total vocal activity while reducing acoustic complexity, illustrating how species level dynamics can underline counterintuitive soundscape patterns. For land managers, this approach provides a scalable and efficient pathway for linking rapid acoustic pattern detection to ecological interpretation within adaptive management contexts. The results caution against interpreting acoustic indices as direct proxies for biodiversity without species level validation but highlight their value for monitoring when integrated with automated biodiversity assessment tools. As acoustic data volume expands and automated identification systems continue to improve, frameworks that explicitly connect soundscape patterns to ecological mechanisms will be increasingly essential for applied monitoring and management.

Title: Nutrient Leaching and Yield Dynamics from Varying Fertilizer Treatments and Winter Wheat, Cereal Rye, and Fallow Rotations within a Corn-Soybean System
Major Professor: Karl Willard
Committee Members: Jon Schoonover, Amir Sadeghpour
Date: April 29, 2026
Location: Agriculture Building, Room 209
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Abstract: Recent declines in waterbody health globally have been attributed to excess nutrient loads from non-point sources such as urban and agricultural land uses. In 2015, the state of Illinois produced the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NRLS) to specifically reduce nitrogen and phosphorus entering local waterbodies. Sustainable agricultural techniques suggested by the Illinois NLRS include using cover crops, which are planted during traditionally fallow seasons to provide environmental benefits such as nutrient management and erosion control. Cereal rye is the most common cover crop planted within the Mississippi River Basin, and it is best known for its ability to scavenge for nitrate. Double crops are also planted during winter seasons, and their primary benefit is through the financial incentive of harvest. Unlike cover crops, there is limited knowledge as to whether double crops, like winter wheat, can provide environmental benefits. This randomized complete block design study in Carbondale, IL incorporated winter wheat and cereal rye into a traditional two-year, corn-soybean rotation on a non-tile drained field. There were three varying fertilization intensities across plots that include winter wheat. Pan, suction cup, and ion exchange resin (IER) lysimeter soil water data were collected to determine nitrate-N and dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) leaching loads. The primary objectives were to determine how winter wheat could potentially reduce nitrate-N, total nitrogen (TN), and DRP leaching compared to cereal rye and fallow and analyze how fertilization intensity impacted both wheat yields and nutrient leaching. Winter wheat and cereal rye both significantly reduced nitrate-N loads after 3-years of rotation. In winter 2023-24, fallow plots experienced up to four times as much nitrate-N leaching compared to either winter cover, or the three winter wheat treatments leached significantly less nitrate-N on average compared to cereal rye. Winter wheat plots cumulatively leached an average of 25 kg nitrate-N ha-1 or between 50-80% less than fallow plots in winter 2023-24. DRP nutrient loads also decreased significantly over the course of the study, but there were no differences between individual treatments. Loads decreased between 85-98% between winter 2021-22 and summer 2024. Wheat yields were unaffected by fertilization intensity across all seasons, but they were impacted by seeding rates. Winter 2021-22 had a seeding rate nearly 40% lower than winter 2023-24, and winter 2023-24 winter wheat grain yield was more than two times greater than the following season. Soybean yields experienced a potential yield penalty from winter wheat in summer 2022 with winter wheat plots yielding 0.401 Mg DW ha-1 on average. This pattern was not consistent in the following summer 2024 season. There were also no differences in yield-based TN leaching in the winter wheat seasons or the summer 2022 season. In summer 2024, cereal rye was most effective at reducing TN leaching under the greatest soybean yield. Incorporating winter wheat into a corn-soybean rotation resulted in significant water quality benefits and no cash crop yield penalties, and it should be considered by Midwestern agricultural producers as a viable option to increase revenue and help reach water quality goals.

Title: Integrating Aviation - Themed STEM Disciplines into Mathematics Instruction: Effects on Pre-Service Teachers’ Content Knowledge Development in Taiwan
Major Professor: Cheng-Yao Lin
Date: April 30, 2026
Location: WHAM 202
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Abstract: This study examined the effects of a STEM-integrated pedagogical approach on pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) mathematical content knowledge and affective dispositions. The primary focus was on domain-specific knowledge (statistics, geometry, algebra) and knowledge types (factual, procedural, conceptual). A quantitative-dominant design with qualitative support was employed with 58 PSTs in Taiwan. Data were collected through pre-, post-, and delayed tests, questionnaires, and interviews. Results showed significant improvements in content knowledge across domains, with distinct patterns in knowledge type development and evidence of knowledge retention. Changes in affective dispositions were modest, as the intervention primarily emphasized conceptual understanding rather than affective outcomes. Qualitative findings highlighted increased engagement and shifts toward student-centered perspectives. Based on these findings, a STEM-Integrated Mathematical Knowledge Development Model (SIM-KDM) is proposed to conceptualize PSTs’ learning within a STEM-integrated context.

Title: Compliance
Major Professor: Alex Lopez
Date: March 31, 2026
Location: Glove Factory Surplus Gallery
Time: 12:30 p.m.

Title: With Love, Shruti
Major Professor: Karla Berry
Committee Members: Kevin Mercer, Farrah Freibert
Date: April 1, 2026
Location: Northlight Studio Room 1251, Communications Building
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Abstract: This body of work has emerged from an enquiry into the shifting landscape of dating, desire, romance, intimacy, rest, and sleep—especially within the context of our increasingly digital lives. The evening will include an interactive exhibition with two installations, prints, and a live shadow puppetry performance at 8:00 PM. I’ll also be sharing Love Letters I Never Sent, a collection of love letters gathered over the past two semesters through a public art project inviting people to slow down and revisit the intimacy of handwriting a love letter.

Title: The Problem of Dislocation
Major Professor: Randall E. Auxier
Committee Members: Andrew Youpa, David Johnson, Ken Stikkers, John Shook
Date: March 30, 2026
Location: Faner Hall 2031
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Abstract: This dissertation develops a systematic narrative ontology grounded in the lived experience of dislocation and the ongoing work of placemaking. Rather than treating persons, things, and places as fixed units, it argues that reality is composed through passage, the rhythmic movement by which potential becomes actual and by which identity is continually revised. Dislocation is a structural condition of existence, not a rare crisis. We live in the passage between what might be and what becomes real, and our lives take shape through the cuts and decisions that continually settle that tension. The project advances a triadic framework. Ontologics describe the structural realities of person, thing, and place. Implicatives name the inherited pressures, histories, and orientations that press forward into the present. Explicatives are the visible practices, institutions, and performances that stabilize those pressures in shared form. These domains are gathered through encompassing, a general term for existential inclusion, the process by which beings are taken up into relational configurations that both shape and are shaped in return. Shaping, in this account, is reciprocal formation. We are formed by the worlds we inhabit, and we help form those worlds through our conduct. Modern life intensifies dislocation through commodification and technological acceleration. When persons and places are reduced to exchangeable units, relational depth thins and belonging becomes fragile. Stability is misidentified with control, and growth becomes an unquestioned imperative. This work argues instead for a pragmatic reeducation of normativity, stability, and belonging. Stability is reconceived as patterned endurance through passage. Belonging is negotiated participation rather than possession. Normativity is a revisable guide for conduct within living networks, not an absolute endpoint. Drawing in part from process philosophy, pragmatism, actor-network theory, and phenomenology, the dissertation offers an ethics of regard grounded in proportion. Practices such as migration, fasting, ritual, and memorialization are examined as sites where absorption, purification, and resistance to commodification can be tested. Placemaking is understood not as sealing oneself against dislocation but as learning how to inhabit it well. This project reframes the good life as the disciplined cultivation of proportion within a world always in motion accepting the reality of dislocation. To engage the future is to compose dislocation responsibly, sustaining relational integrity among persons, things, and places while remaining open to renewal.