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UNB Scholar is an institutional repository initiative of UNB Libraries intended to collect, preserve, showcase, and promote the open access scholarly output of the UNB community. Use UNB Scholar to explore specific collections, or search all content in the repository. Material submitted to the repository will also be freely discoverable online through Google and other major search engines.
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Item type:Item, Dietary patterns of Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) during fall staging(University of New Brunswick, 2026-06) Toner, Charlotte; Nocera, Joseph J.Agricultural ecosystems present complex trade-offs between human and conservation priorities, especially for migratory or at-risk species whose life cycles depend on managed habitats. Many avian species can provide valuable ecosystem services in agroecosystems, such as pest and weed control, yet these roles are often poorly quantified, especially during energetically demanding periods such as prior to migration. The Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) is a long-distance migratory grassland passerine and species-at-risk with a distinct knowledge gap surrounding its dietary function within ecosystems, as well as its dietary patterns during pre-migratory staging. My study examines Bobolink diet during the post-breeding, pre-migratory staging period of July and August. I collected fecal samples across eight agricultural sites in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, Canada. Using DNA metabarcoding of fecal samples, I identified the dietary composition of plants and insects over time, between age groups, and in relation to plant origin and insect pest status. My results indicate that the Bobolink consumes a diverse dietary community of both plants and insects, including weeds and pests. This composition shifted significantly over time as migration approached, and insect dietary composition differed significantly between adults and juveniles. This study provides the first DNA metabarcoding analysis of the Bobolink, as well as the first fine-scale identification of the fall staging diet of the Bobolink. Together, these findings indicate that the Bobolink may contribute ecosystem services within agroecosystems while simultaneously shifting its diet to meet the energetic demands of migratory staging. By contributing to the knowledge of the Bobolink during a potentially limiting period of the life cycle, I hope to improve conservation management techniques by identifying important prey sources and emphasizing the value of this species-at-risk in agricultural ecosystems.Item type:Item, A qualitative inquiry into the transition to adulthood for autistic youth in New Brunswick(University of New Brunswick, 2026-06) Thebeau, Danielle; Dombrowski, StephanBackground: The transition to adulthood is a critical developmental period often defined by goals such as post-secondary education, employment, and independent living. For autistic youth, this transition can be more complex due to systemic barriers, service gaps, and social challenges, and their lived experiences remain underexplored, particularly within the New Brunswick context. Method: Four autistic youth (ages 19–24) and four caregivers in New Brunswick participated in semi-structured interviews. A basic qualitative descriptive design with purposive sampling was used to explore experiences following high school, access to adult services, and perspectives on psychosocial outcomes. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Three themes were identified: (a) what success means to us, (b) a road full of challenges, and (c) taking it at our own pace. Conclusion: Findings suggest that successful transitions are individualized, highlighting the need for person-centered, coordinated services informed by autistic perspectives.Item type:Item, Financial information extraction with Large Language Models(University of New Brunswick, 2026-06) Moreno, Miguel; Cook, PaulStock market predictions are highly sensitive to the information contained in financial articles released daily. While large language models (LLMs) excel on financial tasks such as named entity recognition, their effectiveness for specialized information extraction of financial types (monetary financial aspect of a company such as revenues, dividends, and cash flows) remains understudied. This work evaluates methods to improve financial information extraction (IE) with LLMs. We examine how model size and inclusion of domain specific information in prompting impact performance. We compare a smaller (GPT-4o-mini) and larger (GPT-4o) model using two approaches: (1) constrained generation, where models are constrained to select financial types from a list, and (2) inclusion of definitions in prompts to clarify ambiguous terms. Our findings reveal that constraining the model’s output does not outperform post-processing an unconstrained model, definitions in prompts are only beneficial for larger models, and smaller models can sometimes outperform larger models.Item type:Item, New Brunswick Population and Demographic Counts Update: 2025 Data(DataNB, 2026-08-28) Beykzadeh, Ali; Jones, Bethany; McDonald, Ted; Miah, PabloThis seventh report in DataNB’s population and demographic counts series provides an annual update on New Brunswick’s population from January 2022 through December 2025. Drawing on administrative data, the report presents total population counts, demographic and geographic characteristics, and migration flows into and out of the province. The analysis highlights both growth and decline across different categories of residents, including Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents such as study and work permit holders. Findings show that New Brunswick’s population reached 861,040 at the end of 2025, continuing a trend of annual growth but at a slower pace than in recent years. First time arrivals declined sharply in 2025, particularly among non citizens, coinciding with increased federal limits on immigration that are expected to expand in coming years. Out migration also increased among study and work permit holders.Item type:Item, Sensitivity-based analyses of WECC load model parameter identification accuracy under various voltage dip characteristics(University of New Brunswick, 2026-06) Joy, Sakib Shahriar; Cardenas Barrera, Julian L.; Rahimi, TohidThis thesis presents a sensitivity-based parameter identification framework for the WECC Composite Load Model under varying voltage sag conditions. The developed MATLAB implementation of the WECC model, including simplified DER_A, is first validated through frame-by-frame comparison with the standard WECC reference model, showing excellent agreement in both active and reactive power responses. The original model consists of 56 parameters for combined active and reactive power estimation. Through the application of a windowed normalized RMS-based sensitivity analysis, this parameter set is reduced to 38 parameters, representing an approximate reduction of 32.1% and significantly reducing the search space. Particle Swarm Optimization is then applied for parameter estimation under multiple disturbance scenarios. The optimized results closely match the reference responses, demonstrating that reduced-parameter estimation maintains high accuracy while improving computational efficiency. The proposed approach enables more robust and practical parameter identification for large-scale power system studies.
