Life Sciences Commons^™

Biodiversity Information For Natural Resource Management: Information Needs And Practices In Southern Appalachia, Miriam Davis, Carol Tenopir

Annual Research Symposium of the College of Communication and Information

Introduction

Natural resource managers rely on high quality, current and complete environmental information to make decisions about how resources and landscapes are managed for biodiversity conservation and human use. As such, they represent a unique combination of research scientist, decision maker and practicing professional. In addition, given the applied nature of their work, relating to conservation, resource use and policy, they are frequently required to make timely decisions with real world consequences. However, wading through the vast amounts of currently available scientific and technical knowledge to find needed information can be a challenge. To be useful, this information must be …

The Mother-Infant Dyad Study: A Grounded Theory Inquiry Into The Day-To-Day Experiences, Between First-Time Mothers And Their Infants, That Influence Feeding Practices, Jennifer Jean Helvey

Masters Theses

Background: Inappropriate infant-feeding practices linked to excessive, rapid, early weight gain, are potentially powerful intervention points for reducing risk of later obesity. Understanding how and why these behaviors begin is currently the topic of much research. Because breastfeeding has been found to be somewhat protective against early rapid gain, and because low-income, Southeastern U.S. populations are significantly less likely to initiate and maintain breastfeeding, it is critical to focus efforts in these populations. Grounded theory methodology provides the optimal theoretical underpinnings for exploring development of these practices.

Research Objective: The objective was to explore, using grounded theory methodology, the set …

Factors Influencing Precision Farming Technology Adoption Over Time In Southern U.S. Cotton Production, Pattarawan Watcharaanantapong

Masters Theses

This study analyzed factors of farm and farmer characteristics that influenced the timing of PF technology adoption using Trivariate Tobit models for three PF technologies. Data from the Cotton Incorporated Southern Precision Farming (PF) Survey conducted in February and March of 2009 for the 2008 crop year were analyzed for PF adoption by Southern U.S. Cotton Producers. The number of years a cotton farmer had used yield monitoring (YMR), remote sensing (RMS) and grid soil sampling (GSS) were the dependent variables and farm and farmer characteristics were the independent variables.

Results of Trivariate Tobit model for YMR suggested that younger …

The Physiological And Psychological Connection: The Body’S Response To Ceased Exercise From Athletic Injury, Patricia Rotella Ligon

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

"When Are You Going To Get A Real Job?": An Experiential Sport Ethnography Of Players' Experiences On The Men's Pro Tennis Futures Tour, Jacob Cannon Jensen

Doctoral Dissertations

In this experiential sport ethnography, I examined the experience of former NCAA college tennis players competing on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Men’s Pro Futures Tour, the entry level of professional tennis. Limited research has focused on players competing on this tour, especially former top-level NCAA players transitioning from collegiate to professional tennis. The contributions of ethnographic studies are gaining greater recognition in sport psychology literature, and I conducted a year-long experiential ethnography in which I entered the field as a participant and researcher. I gained access to Futures tournaments and players by participating in the qualifying rounds and collecting …

“It Was Fight Or Flight...And Flight Was Not An Option”: An Existential Phenomenological Investigation Of Military Service Members’ Experience Of Hand-To-Hand Combat, Peter Richard Jensen

Doctoral Dissertations

Hand-to-hand combat is one of the more psychologically challenging performance environments for those in the military (Grossman, 1995). Even with the technological advances of modern warfare military leaders still believe hand-to-hand combat is an important and relevant challenge for service members (Blanton, 2007; Clark, 2009; Collins, 2007; Wojdakowski, 2007; Wood & Micaelson, 2000). Despite its importance, the hand-to-hand combat experience has, to date, attracted very little research attention. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore military service members’ experiences of hand-to-hand combat. To accomplish this objective, phenomenological interviews were conducted with 17 male military service members. Each participant …

Chenopodium Berlandieri And The Cultural Origins Of Agriculture In The Eastern Woodlands, Daniel Shelton Robinson

Masters Theses

The development of agriculture in the New World has been a topic of prominent historic interest, but one that has ignored some regions in favor of others. The woodlands of Eastern North America have felt this bias in the investigation of agricultural origins, but this has not prevented the development of theories to explain the emergence of a complex of indigenous agricultural plants in the region. Data collection and technological advances have in large part validated these theories, creating a model for domestication. By emphasizing farming over other cultural practices, however, these theories lack explanatory power with regards to the …

Economic And Environmental Effects Of Switchgrass Production On A Representative Cow-Calf Farm In Middle Tennessee, Hanna Leah Watts

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the economic tradeoffs and land use dynamics of incorporating switchgrass into the farm plan of a representative middle Tennessee cow-calf operation. A net revenue simulation and multi-year mathematical programming model was used to find the optimum mix of switchgrass and cow-calf enterprises that will maximize whole farm net revenues over 30 years on a representative middle Tennessee beef farm under both average and above average management. Land use changes predicted by the mathematical programming model were used to assess the carbon change associated with incorporating, or transitioning to, switchgrass production.

For a …

The Trans-Pacific Partnership And Japanese Politics, Eliot Francis Watson

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.