Angela Liese, Director of Thesis

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my most sincere appreciation to my thesis director, Dr. Angela Liese, who has provided boundless advice, encouragement, and generosity throughout this process. Her vast knowledge and expertise has been enormously helpful to the completion of this thesis but, more notably, to the development of my research abilities as a whole. I have been truly fortunate to witness her kindness and passion for research and can never thank her enough for her countless thoughts and suggestions. Dr. Christine Blake and Dr. Bethany Bell, my thesis committee members, have consistently dedicated their time and superb insights for which I am very grateful. Additionally, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Jihong Liu for her contributions to my thesis work and her valuable support and guidance as my academic advisor over the past two years. Finally, I would like to acknowledge Xiaoguang Ma and James Hibbert for their work behind the scenes and valued assistance with the dataset. i