Stephen Michael Via

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Assistant) at Norfolk State University

Remnant explosive devices are a deadly nuisance to both military personnel and civilians. Traditional mine detection and clearing is dangerous, time-consuming, and expensive. And routine production and testing of explosives can create groundwater contamination issues. Remote detection methods could be rapidly deployed in vegetated areas containing...

The widespread use of civilian, industrial, and military munitions has led to pollution by explosive compounds in aquatic and terrestrial environments. Each step in the life cycle of a munition from production, transport, storage, distribution, and destruction can introduce explosives as pure liquid or solids via leaching, contaminant spills, trace...

Due to their position at the land‐sea interface, barrier islands are vulnerable to both oceanic and atmospheric climate change related drivers. In response to relative sea‐level rise, barrier islands tend to migrate landward via overwash processes which deposit sediment onto the backbarrier marsh, thus maintaining elevation above sea‐level. In this...

Quantifying vegetation response to explosive compounds has focused predominantly on morphological impacts and uptake efficiency. A more comprehensive understanding of the total impacts of explosives on vegetation can be gained using a multivariate approach. We hypothesized that multiple variables representing morphological and physiological respons...

Natural selection processes are constantly influencing vegetation community composition. In the presence of anthropogenic contaminants additional forces act as filters controlling persistence of naturally occurring species. Classical species diversity and richness metrics can miss subtle changes under disturbance regimes while species composition a...

Barrier islands provide the first line of defense against storms for millions of people living in coastal areas. Upland vegetation (i.e. grassland, shrubland and maritime forest) has received little attention even though this land surface is most strongly affected by development pressures. We use remote sensing analysis to assess state change on se...

Background/Question/Methods Soils contaminated with explosive compounds, a global concern, pose a number of threats to all levels of biota. Many of the studies which have focused on explosive compounds in the soil investigate individual or species level impacts while the larger plant community questions are often ignored. Our goal was to fill that...

Soils contaminated with explosive compounds occur on a global scale. Research demolition explosive (RDX) (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine) and trinitrotoluene (TNT) (2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene) are the most common explosive compounds in the environment. These compounds, by variably impacting plant health, can affect species establishmen...

Background/Question/Methods Coastal barrier systems may be among the most sensitive of all ecosystems to effects of global climate change as ecological processes are closely coupled to both atmospheric and oceanic drivers. Ecosystem state changes are large-scale, abrupt shifts to a new state that may not be as easily reversible. Recent worldwide ph...

Background/Question/Methods Vegetative ecological processes plays an important role in the movement of explosives through soil. Vegetation near a buried landmine may uptake explosive compounds via bulk water movement into roots. Explosives accumulate in leaf tissues which may lead to physiological stress. Our objective was to determine the potent...

Surrounding vegetation is exposed to a variety of potentially toxic compounds due to unexploded ordnances leaching explosive compounds into the soil. These compounds are absorbed by roots, transported through the vascular system, and distributed throughout plant tissues. Research Demolition Explosive (RDX) (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine)...

Background and Aims Explosives released into the environment from munitions production, processing facilities, or buried unexploded ordnances can be absorbed by surrounding roots and induce toxic effects in leaves and stems. Research into the mechanisms with which explosives disrupt physiological processes could provide methods for discrimination o...

Background/Question/Methods Environmental integrity has risen to the foreground of the public mind with relation to anthropogenic activities. Explosives contamination has been a particular topic of interest because of its unique biological interactions. The objective of this study was to determine whether explosive contamination in soils would impa...