Scholarworks

ScholarWorks is an open access repository for the capture of the intellectual work of Montana State University (MSU) in support of its teaching, research and service missions. MSU ScholarWorks is a central point of discovery for accessing, collecting, sharing, preserving, and distributing knowledge to the Montana State University community and the world.

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Scholarship & Research

Recent Submissions

Planning Amidst Uncertainty: Identifying Core CCS Infrastructure Robust to Storage Uncertainty
(MDPI AG, 2025-02) Olson, Daniel; Yaw, Sean
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a critical technology for reducing anthropogenic CO2 emissions, but its large-scale deployment is complicated by uncertainties in geological storage performance. These uncertainties pose significant financial and operational risks, as underperforming storage sites can lead to costly infrastructure modifications, inefficient pipeline routing, and economic shortfalls. To address this challenge, we propose a novel optimization workflow that is based on mixed-integer linear programming and explicitly integrates probabilistic modeling of storage uncertainty into CCS infrastructure design. This workflow generates multiple infrastructure scenarios by sampling storage capacity distributions, optimally solving each scenario using a mixed-integer linear programming model, and aggregating results into a heatmap to identify core infrastructure components that have a low likelihood of underperforming. A risk index parameter is introduced to balance trade-offs between cost, CO2 processing capacity, and risk of underperformance, allowing stakeholders to quantify and mitigate uncertainty in CCS planning. Applying this workflow to a CCS dataset from the US Department of Energy’s Carbon Utilization and Storage Partnership project reveals key insights into infrastructure resilience. Reducing the risk index from 15% to 0% is observed to lead to an 83.7% reduction in CO2 processing capacity and a 77.1% decrease in project profit, quantifying the trade-off between risk tolerance and project performance. Furthermore, our results highlight critical breakpoints, where small adjustments in the risk index produce disproportionate shifts in infrastructure performance, providing actionable guidance for decision-makers. Unlike prior approaches that aimed to cheaply repair underperforming infrastructure, our workflow constructs robust CCS networks from the ground up, ensuring cost-effective infrastructure under storage uncertainty. These findings demonstrate the practical relevance of incorporating uncertainty-aware optimization into CCS planning, equipping decision-makers with a tool to make informed project planning decisions.
Prey depletion, interspecific competition, and the energetics of hunting in endangered African wild dogs, Lycaon pictus
(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2025-01) Creel, Scott et al.; Goodheart, Ben; Reyes de Merkle, Johnathan; Becker, Matthew S.
Large herbivores are in decline in much of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa, and true apex carnivores like the lion ( Panthera leo ) decline in parallel with their prey. As a consequence, competitively subordinate carnivores like the African wild dog ( Lycaon pictus ) are simultaneously experiencing a costly reduction in resources and a beneficial reduction in dominant competitors. The net effect is not intuitively obvious, but wild dogs’ density, survival, and reproduction are all low in areas that are strongly affected by prey depletion. To assess whether these correlations are causal, we tested the hypothesized mechanism, using data from 13 wild dog packs in two ecosystems to relate the energetic costs and benefits of hunting to variation in prey density, while controlling for the effects of local lion density, pack size, the number of dependent pups, and the level of protection. All of these variables affected the energetic costs and benefits of hunting. In areas with low prey density, the magnitude of movements and vectorial dynamic body acceleration (a measure of energy expenditure) both increased, the mass of killed prey decreased, and the number of kills per day did not change detectably. Programs to reduce or reverse the decline of large herbivore populations should be an effective means of improving the status of endangered subordinate competitors like the wild dog, and should be a high priority. Our results demonstrate the utility of research that integrates data from biomonitoring with direct, long-term observation of endangered species, their competitors, and their resources.
Comparative analysis of evapotranspiration (ET), crop water stress index (CWSI), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to delineate site-specific irrigation management zones in almond orchards
(Elsevier BV, 2024-12) Sapkota, Anish; Roby, Matthew; Rao Peddinti, Srinivasa; Fulton, Allan; Kisekka, Isaya
Management zones are an important aspect of precision agriculture as they help to define spatiotemporal areas that share homogenous attributes for site-specific management such as irrigation. In this study, we evaluated the potential of delineating irrigation management zones in almond (Prunus dulcis) orchards using three different variables: evapotranspiration (ET), crop water stress index (CWSI), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Multispectral and thermal images were collected on 11 days in June and July of 2020 using an instrumented aircraft flown over an almond orchard in the Central Valley of California. Obtained images were used to compute ET, CWSI, and NDVI. An unsupervised k-means clustering algorithm was used to delineate the field into management zones, and silhouette width was used to determine the optimum number of zones. Regardless of the input variable and collection date, the optimum number of irrigation management zones was identified as two. ET- and CWSI-based management zones addressed higher spatial variability in the field (up to 73.6 %) than NDVI (up to 68 %). Similarly, the level of agreement between management zones delineated using ET and CWSI was strong (kappa coefficient: 0.84 to 1.00). ET- and CWSI-based management zones also showed a trend (p < 0.1) in distinguishing the difference in the irrigation application and almond yield between the two delineated zones. This study shows that CWSI can be as effective as ET in delineating irrigation management zones, and both inputs sensitive to capture the vegetation responses to irrigation management during the summer growing season. Results from this study can be useful for growers and decision makers to practice precision irrigation management in woody perennial cropping systems.
Interview Data Report: Connecting Ecological Drought Monitoring Tools with Natural Resource Stakeholders in Montana
(Montana State University, 2023-09) Rhodes, E. Sale; Radulski, Brennan G.; McEvoy, Jamie; Church, Sarah P.; Haigh, Tonya
This report summarizes results from interviews conducted as part of NOAA NIDIS Coping with Ecological Drought grant titled “Connecting Ecological Drought Monitoring Tools with Natural Resource Stakeholders in Montana”. The research team conduced 25 semi-structured interviews with participants who work for government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at the local, state, and federal levels and play a role in managing and/or conducting research on forest, grassland, and/or riparian ecosystems in Montana. Qualitative coding, analysis of interview transcripts, and intercoder reliability tests were done using Nvivo software. The results outlined in this report provide qualitative and contextual insights on ecological drought indicators and impacts from science, research, and management stakeholders in Montana and should not be generalized.
Understanding the Onset of Impacts, Management Responses, and Utility of 30-m Evapotranspiration Data for Ecological Drought in Montana
(Montana State University, 2025-06) Rhodes, E. Sale; Stewart, Hannah; Church, Sarah P.; McEvoy, Jamie; Haigh, Tonya; Otkin, Jason
This report presents findings from two workshops conducted under the NOAA NIDIS Coping with Ecological Drought grant, aimed at understanding the onset of ecological drought impacts, management responses, and the utility of 30-meter evapotranspiration (ET) monitoring in Montana. The workshops—one in-person in Helena and one virtual—brought together 17 natural resource practitioners from diverse sectors and ecosystems across the state.