Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Mechanisms Of Value-Biased Prioritization In Fast Sensorimotor Decision Making, Kivilcim Afacan-Seref

Dissertations and Theses

In dynamic environments, split-second sensorimotor decisions must be prioritized according to potential payoffs to maximize overall rewards. The impact of relative value on deliberative perceptual judgments has been examined extensively, but relatively little is known about value-biasing mechanisms in the common situation where physical evidence is strong but the time to act is severely limited. This research examines the behavioral and electrophysiological indices of how value biases split-second perceptual decisions and the possible mechanisms underlying the process. In prominent decision models, a noisy but statistically stationary representation of sensory evidence is integrated over time to an action-triggering bound, and value-biases …

Rational Design Of Materials For The Protection Of Outdoor Metalworks, Natasja Alexandria Swartz

Dissertations and Theses

Protective coatings are commonly used to protect culturally significant works, such as outdoor sculptures and architectural elements. Given the valuable nature of such metalworks, there is a surprising lack of environmentally sustainable coatings available for their conservation. High performance clear coatings are not developed or thoroughly tested for compatibility and longevity on outdoor sculptures. This can make the implementation of both methods and materials, no matter how promising in a lab, a significant hurdle for the conservation science community. This dissertation work initially aims to replace high-VOC formulations such as acrylic lacquers and waxes currently used as protective coatings for …

Lifeblood Of The Earth: Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) Hydrological Knowledge And Perceptions Of Restoration In Two Southern Nevada Protected Areas, Kendra Lesley Wendel

Dissertations and Theses

In the arid landscapes of the southern Great Basin and northern Mojave Desert, issues surrounding water resource management are often politically contentious. Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) have known and managed these resources for thousands of years prior to Euro-American arrival in the region. A variety of factors, including federal policies that resulted in the creation of reservations and forced placement in boarding schools, as well as contemporary resource commodification, have influenced Nuwuvi knowledge and practice.

In this thesis, I examined the character of Nuwuvi ethnohydrological knowledge, including management knowledge, of two protected areas: Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (SMNRA), managed by …

Shaping The Future Past: Finding History, Creating Identity In The Kwan Hsu Papers, Lisa Chere' Donnelly

Dissertations and Theses

Dr. Kwan Hsu was neither a superstar nor a celebrity. Her name does not come up in conversations about important contributors to her field of biophysics nor is she instantly recognizable for her contributions to Portland State University's international program or the state of Oregon's business ties with China. Yet she was a contributor, a cog-in-the-wheel, at the very least, in all of these areas and more. She was a peripheral member of a well-known Chinese family, but few in the United States know of or perhaps have interest in, but otherwise, she had no great connections or family ties …

The Resurrection Of A River: The Umatilla And Its Salmon, Christopher Ward Shelley

Dissertations and Theses

Until the 1990s, salmon had been extinct from the Umatilla River for over 70 years. The struggle to bring salmon back to this river is a compelling story that exemplifies some of the new relationships in Columbia River Basin salmon management.

The Umatilla River and the disappearance of its salmon was a local issue. Irrigation interests had used the river so thoroughly it ceased to flow during the late summer and fall months-precisely when salmon needed it for migration. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation saw decided that they would change that: they would figure out a way …

The Angler As Environmentalist: Oregon Trout And The Fight To Save The Wild Salmon Of The Columbia River, John P. Rosenberg

Dissertations and Theses

This paper traces the history of Oregon Trout, an environmental organization in Portland, Oregon, from its beginning in the fall of 1983 through the spring of 1990, when it filed petitions on behalf of four stocks of Columbia and Snake River salmon under the Endangered Species Act. It focuses on Oregon Trout's efforts to preserve the wild salmon of the Columbia River as a contemporary example of anglers acting as environmentalists to conserve threatened or endangered species. According to historian John Reiger in American Sportsmen and the Origins of Conservation, hunters and anglers have been acting in this role …