Mountain Scholar

Mountain Scholar is an open access repository service that collects, preserves, and provides access to digitized library collections and other scholarly and creative works from Colorado State University and the University Press of Colorado. It also serves as a dark archive for the Open Textbook Library.

Communities in Mountain Scholar

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Colorado State University, Fort Collins 28310
Explore the Colorado State University community’s scholarly output as well as items from the University at large and the CSU Libraries.
Open Textbook Library Archive 25
A limited number of titles are available here. To see all OTL titles, please visit the Open Textbook Library at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks. Only Open Textbook Library staff have access to all OTL Archive titles held in Mountain Scholar.
University Press of Colorado 1088
Access is limited to University Press of Colorado members. Non-members: to purchase books, please visit https://upcolorado.com/.

Recent Submissions

Access status: Open Access ,
The economics of food rescue: deriving the value of variable food donations
(2026-05) Eisenreich, Mallory, author; Kroll, Stephan, advisor; Seidl, Andrew, committee member; Chenarides, Lauren, committee member
The emergence of food rescues in recent decades has filled a need to divert food waste from the landfill and distribute it for human consumption. This study aims to assign a dollar value to a year's worth of captured food waste by one food rescue in Colorado. Economic valuation of food waste has mainly been done from the supermarket's perspective. Other analyses of the value of food rescues are derived from the social value the resource itself provides, rather than the specific valuation of the goods it captures. This research provides a new and preliminary method to standardize food dollars across donor source types to create an approximate dollar value for food intake records. One food rescue in Northern Colorado was able to save $5.8 million worth of food from the landfill over one year by working with a variety of partners across the state. This method may provide a new means for food rescues to assign value when drafting reports for various stakeholders, and it may also offer a means of value estimation for communities looking to start a food rescue.
Access status: Open Access ,
Socioeconomic and environmental correlates of traffic accident hotspots: a spatial analysis of Denver County's road safety
(2026-05) Mia Krause, Mia, author; Guan, Yawen, advisor; Kasper, Victor, committee member
Traffic accidents remain one of the most preventable sources of injury and death in American cities, disproportionately affecting neighborhoods that receive the least amount of attention and resources. This study analyzes the spatial patterns of traffic crashes in Denver, Colorado from 2014 to 2024, examining how socioeconomic, demographic, and environmental characteristics relate to crash frequency, severity, and pedestrian involvement. Using spatial autocorrelation, cluster detection, and spatial regression modeling, this study evaluates whether lower-income and minoritized neighborhoods experience elevated crash risk and identifies the roadway and environmental conditions most strongly associated with severe outcomes. Results show that lower-income communities experience significantly higher traffic accidents, including pedestrian-involved crashes, reflecting a lack of safe road infrastructure in these vulnerable areas. Additionally, the share of minoritized residents exhibits a positive but marginally significant association with pedestrian crash risk. Environmental factors such as lighting conditions and roadway type strongly influence crash severity, with dark conditions and major roads associated with substantially higher odds of severe crash outcomes. These findings highlight persistent disparities in transportation safety and emphasize the need for targeted, equity-focused infrastructure investments. By identifying where risks are concentrated and which communities are most affected, this study provides evidence to support more equitable and effective transportation planning in Denver County.
Access status: Open Access ,
Fluid intracavity laser diode (FILD) sensor
(2005) Kumar, Dhiraj, author; Lear, Kevin, advisor; Rocca, Jorge, committee member; Henry, Charles, committee member
Laser based microfluidic devices, especially ones in which a microfluidic channel is an integral part of the laser cavity, are very attractive for biomedical diagnostics applications. The fluid intracavity laser diode (FILD) sensor constructed in this research work is an electrically pumped vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) based microfluidic device. It has the potential to detect different biological cells in a fluid. The FILD sensor was constructed by attaching a bottom emitting VCSEL above an external dielectric mirror with an intervening ~10 ?m thick photoresist spacer which forms the sidewall of the fluidic channel. The VCSEL contained a complete top DBR mirror and gain region, but only a partially reflecting bottom mirror so that the external dielectric mirror completed the resonator cavity. The external dielectric mirror was made on a BK7 polished substrate with a high reflective coating (~99%) at the laser wavelength (980nm). The sensor was assembled by heating the dielectric mirror with patterned photoresist at 125 °C and attaching the VCSEL die to the softened photoresist. The result was a closed fluidic cavity formed between the dielectric mirror and the VCSEL diode. This closed fluidic channel allowed fluids and other biological samples through the reservoirs to the cavity of the laser. Lasing operation of FILD sensors were observed under CW and pulsed input current conditions. Output power vs. input current characteristics of various FILD sensors were measured under pulsed, room temperature conditions, for different fluids inside the fluidic cavity. The majority of the sensors exhibited a trend of increase in slope efficiency and decrease in threshold current with increase in fluid index of the fluidic cavity. Spectral measurements of a FILD sensor were also performed, which showed ~1nm wavelength shift with change in homogeneous fluid index from 1 to 1.33. Modulation of transverse confinement of laser beam was also observed when 10 ?m diameter polystyrene spheres, used as prototype biological cells, were flown inside the FILD's fluidic cavity. Several theoretical phenomena were investigated to explain the modulation trends of FILD's output characteristics due to change in fluid index. Complete qualitative and quantitative analysis of these phenomena are presented in the form of a thesis chapter and appendices.
Access status: Open Access ,
Angler workshop report: improving equity and participation in recreational fishing in Colorado
(2026-05) Lavoie, Anna, author; Teumer, Meghan, author; Colorado State University, publisher
On February 9, 2026 we held a workshop that brought together 13 participants from state agencies, nonprofits, community organizations, and recreation stakeholders to discuss barriers and opportunities related to increasing participation in recreational fishing among women and other underrepresented communities in Colorado. Workshop attendees worked in groups to identify barriers and solutions to inclusivity and access. Across groups, participants emphasized that barriers to participation are deeply interconnected, spanning structural, cultural, economic, informational, and institutional dimensions. Participants also identified collaborative and community-centered solutions that could improve long-term access and belonging.
Access status: Open Access ,
Interdisciplinary analysis on the Iliad: character traits and their correlations with modern Western perceptions of strength and weakness
(2026-05) Simons, Katelynn, author; Fulford, Devon, advisor; Hutchins, Zach, committee member
The myths and culture of Ancient Greece have shaped, and continually shape, many aspects of the modern Western world. Therefore, it may also affect Western ideals of strength and weakness. Across the board, modernly and historically, Western societies tend to celebrate strength over weakness—strengths are meant to be celebrated and enriched, and weaknesses are meant to be minimized and overcome. If behaviors are misaligned with these sociocultural perceptions, the resulting discomfort—within the individual and others—may incite disturbances and conflicts. Furthermore, individuals tend to use these expectations and representations to shape their sense of self, including those present in entertainment media. The Iliad is an example of entertainment which was consumed in Ancient Greece and in the modern day, making it a relevant focal point of analysis. Using character traits and related plot progression, four sub-traits of strength and four sub-traits of weakness were extracted. When characters displayed sub-traits of strength, their actions were predominantly rewarded. Similarly, when characters displayed sub-traits of weakness, their actions were predominantly punished. These sub-traits, and textual context thereof, were individually compared against relevant, modern research findings on Western societal perceptions of strengths and weaknesses. All eight sub-traits experienced correlations with the reviewed research. Overall, textual evidence aligned with the sociocultural beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and expectations found in the reviewed research on Western society—strengths were favored, weaknesses were unfavored, and correction is insighted when social expectations are broken. This analysis can be used to identify how historical cultures may correlate with modern ideals, and thus, how individuals may associate with representations in stories via those ideals. Findings are limited to correlational analysis of external research, as no experiments were conducted. Findings are, also, constrained to character traits, sub-traits, and related plot progressions in the Iliad. No other Greek poems, mythos, or literature were used in analysis.