Graduate Student Dissertation and Thesis Defense Notices

Isogeny-Based Cryptography For A World With Quantum Computers

Defense: July 8, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Innovation E425 and Teams

Advisors: Joseph Near and Christelle Vincent 

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Computer Science

The Effect of Dietary Phosphorus Concentration on a Fully Acidogenic Prepartum Nutritional Strategy on Peripartum Mineral Metabolism and Subsequent Lactation Performance in Holstein Cows

Defense: July 7, 2026, 9:00 a.m., Kalkin Building, Room 007 and Teams

Advisor: Dr. Heather Dann

Degree: Master of Science

Department: Animal Biosciences

Beyond Mass Univariate Analyses in Neuroimaging: Multivariate and Multifaceted Approaches to Connecting Brain and Behavior in Adolescence

Defense: June 30, 2026, 10:00 a.m., Innovation E325 Conference Room and Teams

Advisor: Nicholas Allgaier, Ph.D.

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Complex Systems and Data Science

A Stochastic Time-Series Analysis of Evolving Extreme Weather Events In Burlington, Vermont

Defense: June 30, 2026, 10:00 a.m., Votey 207 and Teams

Advisor: Dr. Arne Bomblies

Degree: Master of Science

Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering

Mind-Wandering During Naturalistic Reading: Multimodal Tracking, Decoding, and Disrupted Brain-Language Alignment

Defense: June 29, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Innovation E325 Conference Room and Teams

Advisor: David C. Jangraw, Ph.D.

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Electrical and Biomedical Engineering

Timing and Specificity in the Immune Transcriptome: Modeling Splicing Dynamics with Computational Regulatory Genomics

Defense: June 25, 2026, 11:00 a.m., MedEd 100

Advisor: Dev Majumdar, Ph.D.

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences

Quantifying Chronic Stress: A Reproducible Method for Measuring Allostatic Load with Wearable Sensors

Defense: June 22, 2026, 10:30 a.m., Innovation E425 and Teams

Advisor: Juniper Lovato

Degree: Master of Science

Department: Computer Science

Advancing Pediatric Mental Health Intervention Through Multimodal Digital Phenotyping: From Behavioral Insights to Family-Facing Tools

Defense: June 17, 2026, 11:00 p.m., Innovation E210 and Zoom (Meeting ID: 259 099 3701, Passcode: 12142)

Brynn Loftness Defense Website

Advisor: Nicholas Cheney, Ph.D.

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Complex Systems and Data Science

Developing a Highly-Scalable and Robust IoT Network Emulator Using Process-Based Isolation and File System Abstractions

Defense: June 5, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Innovation E425

Advisor: Christian Skalka

Degree: Master of Science

Department: Computer Science

Learn more at www.brynloftness.com/phddefense/

Developmental and Pathological Determinants of Pial Collateral Dependent Perfusion of the Ischemic Penumbra

Defense: June 3, 2026, 9:00 a.m., HSRF 400 and Zoom

Advisor: Marilyn Cipolla

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Department: Neuroscience Graduate Program