Browsing by Author "Shen, Yi"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Data sharing practices, information exchange behaviors, and knowledge discovery dynamics: a study of natural resources and environmental scientists
    Shen, Yi (SpringerOpen, 2017-02-06)
    Background: This paper presents a deep-dive examination of the cross-boundary data practices of natural resources and environmental scientists in the context of Virginia Tech’s institutional visioning and strategic development efforts. The goal is to understand scientists’ actual data information behaviors, their communication and exchange dynamics, and their knowledge discovery mechanisms for effective and productive data sharing and reuse. A focus group and multiple individual interviews were conducted using critical incident, story telling, and scenario building techniques. Results: The results reveal the subtle importance of interpersonal communication and interactive discussion in deciphering nuances, discovering novelty, and revealing insights in data, all of which enable productive exchange and effective reuse. In the new transformative and disruptive research environments, novel discoveries are catalyzed by scientific knowledge, driven and inspired by research curiosity and creativity, and enabled by unique and rich data collections. Conclusions: As such, an integrated view of social and technical factors must be figured into the holistic design of data repository, discovery, and learning system. Libraries have significant roles to play to advance both social and technical infrastructures of a research data ecosystem in a strategic, targeted, and synchronized fashion.
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    Evaluating Ecological Influences of Altered Flow Regimes Using Two- and Three-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Models
    Shen, Yi (Virginia Tech, 2009-09-09)
    Reservoir releases for generating power need to be reconciled with efforts to maintain healthy ecosystems in regulated rivers having irregular channel topography. Fluctuating, complex flow patterns near river obstructions such as boulders and large woody debris provide unique habitat for many aquatic organisms. Numerical modeling of the flow structures surrounding these obstructions is challenging, yet it represents an important tool for aquatic habitat assessment. Moreover, efforts for modeling the morphologically and biologically important transient flows, as well as quantifying their impacts on physical fish habitat during the unsteady-flow period remain rare. In this dissertation, the ability of two- (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) hydraulic models to reproduce the localized complex flow features at steady base and peak flows is examined first. The performance of the two hydraulic models is evaluated by comparing the numerical results with measurements of flow around a laboratory hemisphere and boulders located at a reach of the Smith River in Virginia. Close agreement between measured values and the velocity profiles predicted by the two models is obtained outside the wakes behind these obstructions. However, results suggest that in the vicinity of theses obstructions the 3-D model is better suited for reproducing the circulation flow behavior favored by many aquatic species over a broad range of flows. Further, time-dependent flow features affecting channel morphology and aquatic physical habitat are investigated using the numerical models for the same reach in the Smith River. Temporal variation measurements of water surface elevation and velocity profile obtained in the field during a reservoir release are in good agreement with the numerical results. A hypothetical "staggering" flow release scenario simulated by the 3-D model leads to reduced erosional area and longer refugia availability for juvenile brown trout during hydropeaking. Finally, an unsteadiness parameter β is proposed for determining whether an unsteady flow regime can be either modeled using a truly dynamic flow approach or a quasi-steady flow method.
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    Faculty Research Practices in Civil and Environmental Engineering: Insights from a Qualitative Study Designed to Inform Research Support Services
    Hayes, Whitney; Pannabecker, Virginia; Shen, Yi; Smith, Erin M.; Thompson, Larry (Virginia Tech, 2018-12-14)
    This qualitative study analyzes and reports on in-depth interviews with eight faculty from the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. This project is part of a larger series of studies from Ithaka S+R on the research support needs of scholars by discipline. Ithaka S+R provided guidance on research methodology and data analysis.The goal of the study was to better understand the overall and day to day research practices of civil and environmental engineering (CEE) faculty to inform priorities and needs for research support services. The interviewees represented different career levels (Assistant, Associate, and full Professor) with at least one being from each of the Virginia Tech CEE department’s five fields of focus. Findings address five thematic areas from the interview transcripts: research, collaboration, data practices, information discovery and management, and research communication and dissemination. Implications identify four major support needs and service opportunities: supporting faculty goals to share more of their work in open access venues, supporting use of Google Scholar as a major research tool, data education and services for all - from students to faculty, and the continuing importance of student training in information source evaluation and critical appraisal.
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    Influences of Fluctuating Releases on Stream Fishes and Habitat in the Smith River, below Philpott Dam
    Orth, Donald J.; Diplas, Panos; Dolloff, C. Andrew; Newcomb, Tammy J.; Krause, Colin W.; Novinger, Douglas A.; Anderson, Marcy R.; Buhyoff, G. Matthew; Hunter, Anne K.; Shen, Yi (Virginia Tech, 2004-12)
    Operations of Philpott dam for flood control and peak power generation since 1953 have substantially altered downstream ecosystem conditions in the Smith River from the dam to Martinsville. We have described in intensive detail aspects of habitat and fish populations in the tailwater over the past four years (2000 to 2004), analyzed the limited historical information available to develop a better understanding of the mechanisms behind observed changes in the tailwater, and recommend appropriate actions to improve depressed fish populations and environmental conditions. Our research emphasizes that there are no “silver bullet” solutions and the most successful path toward improving the tailwater will reflect numerous tradeoffs to balance environmental, economic, and recreational goals. However, it is clear that enhancing conditions in the Smith River hinge on mitigating the effects of fluctuating releases from Philpott Dam through a combination of flow management (e.g. characteristics of dam operations during baseflow and peak flow periods) and habitat improvement (e.g. channel restoration, temperature management, enhanced biological productivity). In addition, removal or modification of Martinsville Dam to enhance flow, habitat, and fish and sediment passage would benefit fish populations and environmental conditions in the lower tailwater. Current fishery management strategies which are ineffective for enhancing brown trout should be re-evaluated after habitat and flow changes are instituted. Management actions for improving flow and habitat also should be assessed in light of the presence of the Federally Endangered Roanoke logperch Percina rex that also appear to be limited by degraded environmental conditions in the tailwater.
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    Strategic Planning for a Data-Driven, Shared-Access Research Enterprise: Virginia Tech Research Data Assessment and Landscape Study
    Shen, Yi (ACRL, 2016-07)
    The data landscape study at Virginia Tech addresses the changing modes of faculty scholarship and supports the development of a user-centric data infrastructure, management, and curation system. The study investigates faculty researchers' current practices in organizing, describing, and preserving data and the emerging needs for services and education. The results demonstrate the changing nature of faculty demands regarding data documentation, storage, and archiving and identify opportunities for libraries to develop a coherent service, research, and education system to address the evolving needs.
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    Supporting the Changing Research Practices of Civil and Environmental Engineering Scholars
    Cooper, Danielle; Springer, Rebecca; Benner, Jessica G.; Bloom, David; Carrillo, Erin; Carroll, Alexander; Chang, Bertha; Chen, Xiaoju; Daix, Daix; Dommermuth, Emily; Figueiredo, Rachel; Haas, Jennifer; Hafner, Carly A.; Hayes, Whitney; Henshilwood, Angela; Krogman, Alexandra Lyn Craig |Kuglitsch, Rebecca Zuege; Lanteri, Sabine; Lewis, Abbey; Li, Lisha; Marsteller, Matthew R.; Melvin, Tom; Michelson-Ambelang, Todd; Mischo, William H.; Nickles, Colin; Pannabecker, Virginia; Rascoe, Fred; Schlembach, Mary C.; Shen, Yi; Smith, Erin M.; Spence, Michelle; Stacy-Bates, Kris; Thomas, Erin; Thompson, Larry; Thuna, Mindy; Wiley, Christie A.; Young, Sarah; Yu, Siu Hong (Ithaka S+R, 2019-01-16)
    Ithaka S+R’s Research Support Services Program investigates how the research support needs of scholars vary by discipline. In 2017 and 2018 Ithaka S+R examined the changing research methods and practices of civil and environmental engineering scholars in the United States with the goal of identifying services to better support them. The goal of this report is to provide actionable findings for the organizations, institutions, and professionals who support the research processes of civil and environmental engineering scholars. The project was undertaken collaboratively with research teams at 11 academic libraries in the United States and Canada.[1] We are delighted to have the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as project partner and sponsor. Angela Cochran, Associate Publisher at ASCE, served as a project advisor. The project also relied on scholars who are leaders in the field to engage in an advisory capacity. We thank Franz-Joseph Ulm (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Antonio Nanni (University of Miami), Anand Puppala (University of Texas at Arlington), and Roger Ghanem (University of Southern California) for their thoughtful contributions. Many of the challenges civil and environmental engineering researchers face are shared with other STEM disciplines – a competitive funding landscape, a fraught peer review system, complex data management requirements. Yet this applied field presents unique opportunities for academic support service providers. Fundamentally focused on finding practicable solutions to real-world problems, civil and environmental engineering is highly collaborative, interdisciplinary, and close to relevant industries. Yet these synergies are largely built on old-fashioned research infrastructures. Inefficient systems for sharing data impede innovation, tools for discovering data and gray literature are inadequate, and career incentives discourage investment in the industry partnerships that shape the field’s future directions. Successful interventions will need to recognize and leverage the field’s strength in building personal, targeted, collaborative relationships, both within academia and between academia and industry. This report describes the distinctive ways in which civil and environmental engineering scholars conduct their research and draws out broad implications for academic libraries, universities, publishers, research technology developers, and others.
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    Transdisciplinary Convergence: Intelligent Infrastructure for Sustainable Development
    Shen, Yi (2021-06-02)
    The fast-developing intelligent infrastructure landscape catalyzes transformative new relationships of human, technology, and environment and requires new socio-technical configurations of information practice and knowledge work. With a focus on data as the source of intelligence, this paper aims to explore the shifting scenarios and indicative features of data science solutions for intelligent system applications and identify the evolving knowledge spaces and integrative learning practices in the "smart" landscape. It projects and discusses the democratization of data science platforms, the distribution of data intelligence on the edge, and the transition from vertical to horizontal data solutions in solving intelligent system problems. Through mapping the changing data research landscape, this work further reveals essential new roles of knowledge architects and social engineers in enabling dynamic data linking, interaction, and exploration for transdisciplinary data convergence.
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    Virginia Tech Data Landscape and Environmental Assessment: Technical Briefing on Data Curation
    Shen, Yi (2015)
    A Virginia Tech Research Data Assessment and Landscape Study was conducted in 2015 to take stock of the data assets being created and held within the institution and to examine data sharing practices and expectations of VT faculty researchers. Targeted at a multifaceted and multilevel assessment, this research assesses current repository strategies and user needs, and identifies changing modes of scholarly communication.
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    Virginia Tech Data Landscape and Environmental Assessment: Technical Briefing on Data Preservation and Repository System
    Shen, Yi (2015)
    A faculty-wide data environmental scan and landscape study at Virginia Tech was conducted in 2015 and concluded with 652 responses received from Teaching & Research Faculty and Research Faculty in 8 different colleges. The survey asked basic characteristics and special features of digital research data that faculty currently create and hold in the course of their research. This study also explored faculty researchers’ data storage and backup options, their data handling challenges and reuse concerns as well as needs and requirements for technical support and services.