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Digital Facsimiles Of The Paper Issues Of The Cultural Ecology Newsletter, Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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Special Issue: Native Food Production Knowledge Systems And Practices: Alternative Values And Outcomes-From The Guest Editors, Andrew Sluyter, Alfred H. Siemens

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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Los Orígenes Ecológicos Y Las Consecuencias De La Ganadería En La Nueva España Durante El Siglo Xvi, Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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High-Latitude Tertiary Migrations Of An Exclusively Tropical Clade: Evidence From Malpighiaceae, Charles C. Davis, Peter W. Fritsch, Charles D. Bell, Sarah Mathews

Faculty Publications

Explanations of tropical intercontinental disjunctions involving South America and Africa typically invoke vicariance of western Gondwanan biotas or long-distance dispersal. However, many plant groups originated and diversified well after the last direct connection between Africa and South America (ca. 105 million years before the present [mybp]), and it is unlikely that long-distance dispersal accounts for the distribution of all of these. A less commonly invoked explanation, the boreotropics hypothesis, indicates that some tropical disjunctions arose during the Tertiary via high-latitude land connections when northern forests supported tropical vegetation. Malpighiaceae are widely distributed across Africa and South America and have been …

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Crusoe The Isolato Daniel Defoe Wrestles With Solitude, Irene B. Beesemyer

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

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Domestic And Colonial Space In Humphry Clinker, Brett C. Mcinelly

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

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Review Of Geography Militant: Cultures Of Exploration And Empire, By Felix Driver, Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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Content Analysis Of The Leading General Academic Databases, Kelly D. Blessinger, Maureen Olle-Lajoie

Faculty Publications

Title lists from the three leading general academic databases were compared to evaluate journal content. Some of the elements that were analyzed include subject coverage, the quality of titles provided, accessibility issues, and trends over time for these databases. While database title lists are now readily available on the Internet for comparison, as our article illustrates, these lists need further evaluation for proper assessment.

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Coastal Lake-Sediment Records Of Prehistoric Hurricane Strikes In Honduras And Turks And Caicos Islands Of The Caribbean Basin, Jason Thomas Knowles

LSU Master's Theses

This study seeks to apply the geological method of paleotempestology to reconstruct past hurricane activities for Central America and the Caribbean. Landfalling hurricanes may deposit distinct overwash sand layers in coastal lake sediments through storm surges and tidal overwash processes that can be dated to establish a chronology of past hurricane strikes. Proxy records from lake-sediment cores were taken for this study in the spring and summer of 2003 from Lake Sophie, Providenciales Island, Turks and Caicos, and from Laguna de Los Micos, Honduras. Loss-on-ignition analysis revealed many changes in the sediment stratigraphies for both sites that appear to represent …

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A Louisiana Plantswoman: Margie Yates Jenkins, Gayna B. Veltman

LSU Master's Theses

This biographical study of the development of Marge Yates Jenkins into Louisiana's pre-eminent plantswoman examines the issues of culture and regional history, particularly the history of the horticultural industry in Louisiana. It traces how a self-taught botanist overcame the obstacles of gender and post-war depression to become an innovator in the nursery business, experimenting with native plants of the Southeast, as well as exotics imported from as far away as New Zealand. Her experiments and the plants that she introduced to the trade would eventually change the selection of plants used in the landscape industry in the Gulf Coast region. …

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Extreme Precipitation Events In East Baton Rouge Parish: An Areal Rainfall Frequency/Magnitude Analysis, Michelle Marie Russo

LSU Master's Theses

Severe rainfall events are one of the most frequent weather hazards in the United States. These events are particularly problematic for the southeastern United States because of its subtropical climate. For these reasons, and because of the recent urban growth in the parish, East Baton Rouge Parish officials are concerned whether the current stormwater drainage system can keep pace with development. As a result, this project evaluated the rainfall frequency/magnitude for parish-wide extreme events and their synoptic forcing mechanisms. To this end, this research mapped parish-wide storms and compared three interpolation techniques. It also compared two methods of areal summation …

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Travels In Louisiana: Journeys Into Ethnicity And Heritage By Two Hispanic Groups, Dominica Dominguez Ramirez

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis addresses how the notions of ethnicity and heritage are experienced, negotiated, and displayed by two Hispanic groups in Louisiana. Hispanic identity is a nebulous term anywhere and Louisiana is no exception. In this investigation the two groups- a heritage foundation of descendants of Canary Islanders and descendants of the of the Los Adaes communities- both profess Hispanic heritage, display it, and promote this heritage in divergent ways, with significant differences in the meaning of their heritages. Differences between groups are also reflected in the historical spatial representations of the two groups, with Isleños connecting with a far-away but …

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A Bio-Mems Device For Separation Of Breast Cancer Cells From Peripheral Whole Blood, Juan Feng

LSU Master's Theses

This work demonstrates the application of Bio-Micro Electro Mechanical System (Bio-MEMS) technology for early breast cancer detection and diagnosis. Early breast cancer detection and diagnosis typically uses conventional mammogram screening followed by biopsy, which can be problematic since mammography can only detect highly calcified tumors greater than 1 cm in size. A micro-device was developed to identify and specifically collect tumor cells of low abundance (1 tumor cell among 10⁷ normal blood cells) from circulating whole blood. By immobilizing anti-EpCAM (Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule) antibodies on polymer micro-channel walls by the chemical surface modification of PMMA, breast cancer cells …

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Estimating Impervious Surfaces From A Small Urban Watershed In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Using Landsat Thematic Mapper Imagery, Kurt Johnson

LSU Master's Theses

Many urban areas are using estimations of impervious surfaces as a means for better environmental management. This is because research over the last two decades indicate a consistent, inverse relationship between the percentage of impervious surfaces in a watershed and the environmental problems urban areas are experiencing. Although various methods for estimating impervious surfaces can be identified, few result in accurate and defensible estimations by which environmental problems can be assessed. This is especially important to rapidly expanding urban areas such as Baton Rouge, Louisiana where detailed records and planimetric data are lacking. Numerous studies have shown a potential for …

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Excavations At The Bayou Grande Cheniere Mounds (16pl159): A Coles Creek Period Mound Complex, Timothy M. Schilling

LSU Master's Theses

The Bayou Grande Cheniere Mounds are a large Coles Creek mound group in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Excavations in January 2003 returned materials that allowed the site to be dated. Further analysis also suggests how these materials were used at the mounds. A settlement pattern study was undertaken and the results indicate that the social organization of coastal Coles Creek culture was sharply different than Coles Creek culture in the Lower Mississippi Valley. When viewed together, the material analysis and settlement analysis illustrates the processes and people that built the Bayou Grande Cheniere mounds.

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Assessing Increases In Violence: An Analysis Of Homicide Cases From Orleans Parish, Louisiana, Helen Virginia Bouzon

LSU Master's Theses

Analysis of homicides in different cities can provide valuable research information. The information gathered from such an analysis can be used to aid those who are the primary targets of homicide. Such studies can also be used to understand the nature of homicide and what measures can be taken to decrease the rates of homicide. Information on the nature of homicide and who is primarily affected can be used by police departments and public organizations to develop methods to decrease the amount of homicide in any area. This study is an analysis of homicide cases from the Orleans Parish coroner's …

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Bayou Boogie: The Americanization Of Cajun Music, 1928-1950, Ryan Andre Brasseaux

LSU Master's Theses

Bayou Boogie by Ryan A. Brasseaux outlines the evolution of Cajun music from 1928 to 1950. This thesis highlights obscure recordings by lesser-known Cajun artists to demonstrate how the Cajun-American discourse took place across Fredrik Barth's ethnic boundaries model. This study acknowledges the complexities of the Cajun experience by examining the regional and national socio-cultural contexts in which commercial Cajun recordings flourished. The birth of commercial Cajun music, John and Alan Lomax's 1934 Louisiana field recordings, and Cajun swing (Cajun inflected-western swing) are all discussed in detail to paint a picture of the complexities that shaped south Louisiana's fertile musical …

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Application Of Stochastic Downscaling Techniques To Global Climate Model Data For Regional Climate Prediction, Suchita Potta

LSU Master's Theses

Global warming is the most important issue of the present day that affects the climate drastically. This research was carried out to find out the effects of Global warming on Louisiana in future on a very finer spatial and temporal scale. For this purpose spatial downscaling technique is used, where finer resolution climate information is derived from a coarser resolution Global Climate Model (GCM) output. Empirical/statistical downscaling method is used in which sub grid scale changes are calculated as a function of large scale climate. For this purpose a stochastic weather generator and two Global models are considered. The two …

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Hidden Landscapes Of The Ancient Maya: Transect Excavations At Arvin's Landing Southern Belize, Bretton Michael Somers

LSU Master's Theses

Transect excavations at Arvin’s Landing in southern Belize revealed evidence of ancient Maya settlement indiscernible from surface inspection. The synthesis of archaeology and geography in field and laboratory methods and analysis provided the framework for this thesis. This study involves a transect survey with systematic shovel tests. Artifacts were recovered and recorded in the field and analyzed in the LSU archaeology laboratory in Punta Gorda, Belize. The entire survey area was mapped by transit and measurements and coordinates were combined with artifact data in a GIS. Prior research at Arvin’s Landing had revealed a Postclassic mound on the bank of …

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"Honduran Memories": Identity, Race, Place And Memory In New Orleans, Louisiana, Samantha Euraque

LSU Master's Theses

During the decade preceding the height of the civil rights movement, a small population of Hondurans established residence in the New Orleans area. This Honduran migration was largely due to the trade relationship that existed between Honduras and New Orleans. Honduras was also experiencing political unrest and economic instability due to military coups, fruit company strikes and floods during the late 1950s. In response, the advent of the 1960s brought with it the first wave of Hondurans. According to the 2000 Census there were 64,340 people of Hispanic origin in the four parishes included in the New Orleans metropolitan area, …

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Quality Assurance Testing Of The Eclox-M In Detecting Terrorism Threats In Louisiana's Public Drinking Water Systems, Jessica Coleman

LSU Master's Theses

A quality assurance testing of the ECLOX-M™, a rapid water quality indicator used in potential terrorist attacks, was evaluated for its adequacy in nine regional Louisiana water systems. The ECLOX-M™ system uses enhanced chemiluminescence to measure toxicity in water by integration of a mixture of luminol (C₈H₇O₃N₃), and an oxidant in the presence of a catalyst enzyme - horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Water samples were tested for chemiluminescence, chlorine content, pH, and arsenic and/or nerve agent/pesticide contamination. In addition, three toxic industrial chemical standards were evaluated (mercury, a volatile liquid mixture, and a …

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The Road To Redevelopment: New Urbanism, Nostalgia, And The Process Of Downtown Revitalization In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Jennifer Speights-Binet

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study focuses on a planning process in Baton Rouge, Louisiana called Plan Baton Rouge, which began in the summer of 1998 and continues through the present. The overriding goal of the Plan Baton Rouge process is to revitalize downtown Baton Rouge and promote economic and cultural vitality while implementing the design practices of New Urbanism. New Urbanism is a design methodology that condemns suburban sprawl while promoting denser, early-twentieth-century-style townscapes and urban centers, focusing on mixed land use, pedestrianism, and aesthetic and architectural continuity. Through participant observation, this ethnographic account of New Urbanism in practice provides an in-depth …

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Pan African Narratives: Sites Of Resistance In The Black Diaspora, Anita Louise Harris

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Africa as a point of reference for Africans dispersed from her shores and their descendants in the Diaspora has perpetuated discourse of longing and ambivalence. For centuries these various sentiments have emerged in Black literary expressions. The quest of this study is to advance Black narrative tradition by proposing a theoretical framework informed by these constructs and predicaments to establish a genre of literature referred to here as Pan African narratives. This work looks at Black response to the dilemma of dispersal and dislocation in the Diaspora from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. More specifically, it examines the emergence …

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Cinéma Sénégalais: Évolution Thématique Du Discours Filmique Dans Les Oeuvres De Sembene Ousmane, Djibril Diop Mambety, Moussa Sène Absa, Jo Gaye Ramaka Et Alain Gomis, Moussa Sow

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This work aims at filling a gap in African cinema studies. The plurality in film production has been neglected or overseen by Africanist critiques as well as most of the filmmakers from the continent. Such continental shield of a monolithic Africa has been carried by European anthropologists and fostered in part by the Negritude movement in the late 1930s, still conveyed by mimetic writing. We begin by assessing such a uniform vision and explaining the ways in which it resisted time after more than 40 years of cinema in Africa. Then we introduce the notion of national cinema by exploring …

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Geography, Coloration And Speciation In A Genus Of Neotropical Reef Fishes (Gobiidae: Elacatinus), Michael S. Taylor

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Studies of speciation in the marine environment have historically compared broad-scale distributions and presumed larval dispersal to infer the geographic barriers responsible for allopatric speciation. However, many marine clades show high species diversity in geographically restricted areas where barriers are not obvious and larval dispersal should bring sister taxa into contact. Genetic differentiation at spatial scales <1000 km could facilitate speciation by mechanisms other than the gradual accumulation of reproductive isolation during extended allopatry, such as ecological adaptation to local environmental conditions or the rapid evolution of genes tied to mate recognition. The role of each of these possibilities has not been simultaneously explored for any species-rich marine taxon. The most species-rich genus of Neotropical reef fishes is Elacatinus (Gobiidae), with 27 species. I examine potential mechanisms underlying this richness through analyses of three genetic markers to investigate genetic and ecological differentiation between closely related taxa and among island populations. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that sister taxa of Elacatinus occur within the same oceans but occupy geographically separate ranges. Sister taxa usually differ by coloration, and distantly related sympatric species frequently differ by habitat. These differences suggest that some combination of coloration and ecological differences may facilitate assortative mating in sympatry or at range boundaries. The ranges of several Elacatinus taxa adjoin at Mona Passage and in the central Bahamas, both in the Caribbean Sea. These boundaries separate island populations by as few as 23 km, yet these populations are genetically distinct. Populations not separated by these breaks also show strong genetic structuring. Coalescent analyses suggest these populations have been demographically closed for up to 800,000 years. Such strong genetic structuring suggests that pelagic larvae are retained at natal populations, despite a three week larval duration (determined from otolith growth rings). My results suggest that local retention of pelagic larvae, coupled with biogeographic breaks, has generated or maintained strong genetic population structure which may facilitate adaptation to local ecological conditions. Such adaptations may explain observed divergence along ecological and coloration gradients. Repeated radiations among allopatrically distributed sister taxa may explain much of the high diversity in Elacatinus.

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Herbivore Movement And Spatial Population Dynamics In A Heterogeneous Landscape, Kyle Jonathan Haynes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

To date, few metapopulation studies have isolated the effects of the intervening matrix from other attributes of landscape structure (e.g., patch geography or quality) that might influence dispersal among patches. Furthermore, there has been little exploration of the mechanisms underlying effects of the matrix on the spatial ecology of species. In this dissertation, I examine how the movement and distribution of the planthopper Prokelisia crocea within and among host-plant patches (prairie cordgrass, Spartina pectinata) is affected by the composition of the matrix (the invasive grass smooth brome [Bromus inermis], native non-host grasses, or mudflat). First, using a mark-recapture study in …

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From Oklahomans To "Okies": Identity Formation In Rural California, Toni Ann Alexander

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Throughout the twentieth century difficult economic circumstances have resulted in reduced employment opportunities. In-migrants have long borne the brunt of these limitations, facing open hostilities from residents who felt that these "outsiders" were undeserving of employment and social services. Within the context of the 1930s Depression in the Central Valley of California, such negative public sentiment was often directed at "Okies," the 315,000 former residents of the "Western South" who crossed the California state line in search of employment in the agricultural fields of the Golden State. In this dissertation, I examine the changing conceptualizations of Okie identity throughout the …

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Routes Of Freedom: Slave Resistance And The Politics Of Literary Geography, Judith Louise Kemerait

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation integrates rhetorical, historical, and spatial analysis in an effort to expand our understanding of the cultural work performed by antebellum narratives that take slavery in the United States as their subject matter. Specifically, it focuses on the complicated relationship between place and human praxis as revealed in five texts: The Confessions of Nat Turner, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Dred, Martin R. Delany’s Blake, Frederick Douglass’s “The Heroic Slave,” and Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno. In my attention to literary geographies, I trace spatial patterns in which considerations of organized resistance and slave rebellion are repeatedly placed in “wild-spaces” such as …

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Analysis Of Bacterial Diversity And Biogeography At The Central Arizona-Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research (Cap Lter) Site, Brian Anthony Rash

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The limiting factor involved in past assessments of soil bacterial diversity when using culture-independent techniques has often been the lack of sampling and replication. As a result, analyses of community structural shifts across soil environments have lacked statistical power. In this study, 23 16S rRNA gene clone libraries consisting of over 11,000 clones were constructed from soils at the Central Arizona Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER) site. Subsequent ARDRA fingerprinting and partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing allowed for a more robust investigation of various components that may explain any observed variations in bacterial species composition. The designated land …

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Flesh And Spirit Onstage: Chronotopes Of Performance In Medieval English Theatre, Gregory Lee Cavenaugh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study uses Mikhail Bakhtin's chronotope, which is the informing principle of one's experience of space and time, to explore different relations among space, time, actors, and audience in medieval theatre. Relations between the material and spiritual worlds as understood in the Middle Ages are considered in the context of relations between performers and audience members with two goals. First, I explore how the ontological status of the metaworld created through performance changed in the context of specific chronotopes. Second, I explore how diverse religious discourses affected medieval modes of representation. This study posits three chronotopes of performance informing medieval …

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Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Digital Facsimiles Of The Paper Issues Of The Cultural Ecology Newsletter, Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

Special Issue: Native Food Production Knowledge Systems And Practices: Alternative Values And Outcomes-From The Guest Editors, Andrew Sluyter, Alfred H. Siemens

Faculty Publications

Los Orígenes Ecológicos Y Las Consecuencias De La Ganadería En La Nueva España Durante El Siglo Xvi, Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

High-Latitude Tertiary Migrations Of An Exclusively Tropical Clade: Evidence From Malpighiaceae, Charles C. Davis, Peter W. Fritsch, Charles D. Bell, Sarah Mathews

Faculty Publications

Crusoe The Isolato Daniel Defoe Wrestles With Solitude, Irene B. Beesemyer

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

Domestic And Colonial Space In Humphry Clinker, Brett C. Mcinelly

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

Review Of Geography Militant: Cultures Of Exploration And Empire, By Felix Driver, Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

Content Analysis Of The Leading General Academic Databases, Kelly D. Blessinger, Maureen Olle-Lajoie

Faculty Publications

Coastal Lake-Sediment Records Of Prehistoric Hurricane Strikes In Honduras And Turks And Caicos Islands Of The Caribbean Basin, Jason Thomas Knowles

LSU Master's Theses

A Louisiana Plantswoman: Margie Yates Jenkins, Gayna B. Veltman

LSU Master's Theses

Extreme Precipitation Events In East Baton Rouge Parish: An Areal Rainfall Frequency/Magnitude Analysis, Michelle Marie Russo

LSU Master's Theses

Travels In Louisiana: Journeys Into Ethnicity And Heritage By Two Hispanic Groups, Dominica Dominguez Ramirez

LSU Master's Theses

A Bio-Mems Device For Separation Of Breast Cancer Cells From Peripheral Whole Blood, Juan Feng

LSU Master's Theses

Estimating Impervious Surfaces From A Small Urban Watershed In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Using Landsat Thematic Mapper Imagery, Kurt Johnson

LSU Master's Theses

Excavations At The Bayou Grande Cheniere Mounds (16pl159): A Coles Creek Period Mound Complex, Timothy M. Schilling

LSU Master's Theses

Assessing Increases In Violence: An Analysis Of Homicide Cases From Orleans Parish, Louisiana, Helen Virginia Bouzon

LSU Master's Theses

Bayou Boogie: The Americanization Of Cajun Music, 1928-1950, Ryan Andre Brasseaux

LSU Master's Theses

Application Of Stochastic Downscaling Techniques To Global Climate Model Data For Regional Climate Prediction, Suchita Potta

LSU Master's Theses

Hidden Landscapes Of The Ancient Maya: Transect Excavations At Arvin's Landing Southern Belize, Bretton Michael Somers

LSU Master's Theses

"Honduran Memories": Identity, Race, Place And Memory In New Orleans, Louisiana, Samantha Euraque

LSU Master's Theses

Quality Assurance Testing Of The Eclox-M In Detecting Terrorism Threats In Louisiana's Public Drinking Water Systems, Jessica Coleman

LSU Master's Theses

The Road To Redevelopment: New Urbanism, Nostalgia, And The Process Of Downtown Revitalization In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Jennifer Speights-Binet

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Pan African Narratives: Sites Of Resistance In The Black Diaspora, Anita Louise Harris

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Cinéma Sénégalais: Évolution Thématique Du Discours Filmique Dans Les Oeuvres De Sembene Ousmane, Djibril Diop Mambety, Moussa Sène Absa, Jo Gaye Ramaka Et Alain Gomis, Moussa Sow

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Geography, Coloration And Speciation In A Genus Of Neotropical Reef Fishes (Gobiidae: Elacatinus), Michael S. Taylor

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Herbivore Movement And Spatial Population Dynamics In A Heterogeneous Landscape, Kyle Jonathan Haynes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

From Oklahomans To "Okies": Identity Formation In Rural California, Toni Ann Alexander

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Routes Of Freedom: Slave Resistance And The Politics Of Literary Geography, Judith Louise Kemerait

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Analysis Of Bacterial Diversity And Biogeography At The Central Arizona-Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research (Cap Lter) Site, Brian Anthony Rash

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Flesh And Spirit Onstage: Chronotopes Of Performance In Medieval English Theatre, Gregory Lee Cavenaugh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations