Digital Commons Network^™

Women Objectifying Women: The Impact Of Social Power, Sarah E. Attaway

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Objectification Theory (OT) states that women’s humanity is reduced to being a physical object whose sole purpose is to give men physical pleasure; OT explains why men objectify women, and why women objectify themselves, but does not explain why women objectify other women (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Research has found that participants primed to experience high- or low-power objectified others in a work relationship more than those primed to experience equal-power (Schaerer et al., 2018). The current study aimed to examine if this finding would replicate to women engaging in sexual and beauty objectification and dehumanization towards other women. 330 …

The Impact Of Treatment Dosage On Cognitive-Linguistic Outcomes Of Patients With Aphasia: An Investigation Of Three Service Delivery Models, Adele J. Derendinger

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study addresses the gap in literature by directly comparing the effectiveness of Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Programs (ICAPs) and modified ICAPs (mICAPs) to usual care service delivery models for people with aphasia. Through a prospective study design, cognitive-linguistic function change scores across different service delivery models were examined. The findings reveal significant within-group improvements in cognitive-linguistic function for participants in ICAPs, with some improvement seen in mICAPs and usual care conditions. Intensive models demonstrated greater improvement compared to non-intensive usual care models, particularly evident in the Western Aphasia Battery – Revised and the Boston Naming Test – Second Edition. …

Puerto Rican Haplogroup Distribution: A Taíno History, Paige Mackenzie Williams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The extent to which Puerto Rico’s indigenous communities resisted, survived, and were transformed by colonization is unclear despite extensive ethnohistorical research. Historical claims of extinction are attributed to colonial census information but are strongly opposed by islanders who claim Indigenous Taíno ancestry (Nieves-Colón et al. 2019). Ethnic composition of Puerto Ricans is primarily European, African, and Indigenous and these compositions reflect migrations and admixture. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is of vast importance, as it permits tracing of the maternal line through a common female ancestor. In this, investigation of Indigenous haplogroup frequencies and their importance and relevance in Puerto Rican genetic …

Quantifying Wastewater Contributions To The Upper Clark Fork River, Claire Utzman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Though algae are at the base of food webs in many rivers, large algal blooms are increasing in frequency and can cause problems with nutrient cycling, depletion of oxygen supplies at night, and release of toxic chemicals. One leading cause of algal blooms is nutrient loading into rivers, and controlling nutrient release in wastewater is one approach that can help limit algal growth. To reduce the intensity of algal blooms in the Clark Fork River in western Montana, numeric nutrient standards were put in place that regulated the release of the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus into the river from wastewater. …

Coalescence: A Carnivore Coexistence Curriculum That Braids Indigenous & Western Ecological Knowledge Into A Relevant And Experiential Learning Opportunity For Youth, Stephanie Anne Barron

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horriblis) begin to reoccupy more of their historic range, and as humans and large carnivore populations continue to increase, incidences of human carnivore conflict are on the rise. A decolonial curriculum designed in collaboration with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe’s wildlife biologists stands to increase awareness of Indigenous ecological knowledge and teach youth about the importance of coexistence with carnivores. Additionally, this project could greatly influence youth perceptions of grizzly bears and other large carnivores. This research project examines the development and implementation of a carnivore coexistence curriculum for youth that is guided by …

From Recreation To Occupation: Exploring Access To The Outdoors, Eleanor R. Hall

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Questions of access and allocation are growing more pressing in today’s society as elements such as economic inequality, amenity migration and climate change create resource scarcity and complicate access to the outdoors. Whether it is apportioning the Colorado river, accessing busy National Parks, or owning land in an expensive mountain town, there are ample examples across the American West of the challenges posed when there are not enough resources to meet demand. At a time when natural resources are starting to feel more limited, allocation, ownership and access become increasingly important. For my Master’s Portfolio I reported three stories that …

Impact Of Forest Plantations On Energy Poverty: An Assessment Of Reforestation Efforts In Uganda, Matilda Kabutey-Ongor

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study investigates the socio-economic impacts of reforestation initiatives on energy poverty in three Ugandan districts—Hoima, Dokolo, and Nakasongola. Implemented by the Ugandan National Forest Authority, these efforts aim to mitigate the adverse effects of deforestation, exacerbated by a growing population and increased demand for forest products. We hypothesize that through sustainable afforestation, access to biomass and other renewable energy sources can be improved, thereby alleviating energy poverty. The study establishes a causal relationship between reforestation and reductions in energy poverty and general poverty using advanced econometric methods, such as Ordinary Least Squares regression, Weighting, and matching techniques including Propensity …

An Investigation Of Three Rehabilitation Models On Cognitive-Linguistic And Psychosocial Well-Being Outcomes For Stroke Survivors With Chronic Aphasia, Jenna Ray Griffin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Aphasia, a typically chronic language impairment that impacts expressive and receptive language but does not impact intelligence, occurs in approximately 30 - 40% of stroke survivors. Chronic aphasia negatively impacts functional communication, communicative participation, and psychosocial well-being in stroke survivors. Access to care during the post-acute phase of recovery is limited, requiring novel models of rehabilitation that are person-centered and holistic. The intensive comprehensive aphasia program (ICAP) model has shown proof-of-concept, feasibility, and acceptability to improve patient cognitive-linguistic outcomes, psychosocial well-being, and communicative participation. However, outcomes from an ICAP have not been compared to usual care aphasia therapy or to …

Sarmiento: A Town, A Lake And A Glimpse Toward The Global Water Crisis, Victoria Traxler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Sudden Oak Death, Jeffrey William Guay

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A novel set contemporaneously in rural Montana, Sudden Oak Death follows two protagonists, Wade and his teenage daughter Paige. Each are fighting different addictions, as Wade is in alcoholism recovery, and Paige recently came home from a drug treatment program. In order to succeed, Paige must reintegrate herself into public high school, despite suffering from undiagnosed dyslexia. Wade is raising his family as a single father, and struggles to maintain his emotional stability in the face of his own recovery.

The Influence Of Intensive Treatment In A Cohort Model On Psychosocial Well-Being Of Patients With Aphasia: An Investigation Of Patients’ Quality Of Life Across Three Service Delivery Models, Helena Riley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Aphasia, a common communication disorder following a stroke, significantly impacts psychosocial wellbeing and quality of life. Despite advancements in rehabilitation frameworks, traditional impairment-based interventions prevail, leaving gaps in addressing holistic needs. This study aims to compare patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) between intensive comprehensive aphasia programs (ICAP), modified ICAPs (mICAPs) and individual usual care (UC) service delivery models for aphasia intervention. Eighteen participants with aphasia were broadly recruited for this study. Each completed a series of PROMs pre-and post-treatment examining psychosocial wellbeing, communicative participation, and health related quality of life. Results indicate that intensive programs show potential for greater gains in …

Hydrogeomorphic Response To Flooding In Northern Yellowstone National Park, Zachary P. Deluca

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Understanding and predicting flood-induced geomorphic change, and the relative influences of fluvial forces and valley-bottom geometry on system response, are persistent quandaries in geomorphic process studies. We combine field surveys, remote sensing, and hydraulic modeling to assess the hydrogeomorphic effects of historic flooding in northern Yellowstone National Park (YNP) in a variety of channel configurations. We compare impulse, a metric that incorporates a flow duration threshold based on threshold channel theory, grain size, channel-bed slope, and flood depth and stream power estimates with hydrogeomorphic response. Measurements of pre- and post-flood active-channel width change in aerial photos captured geomorphic response associated …

“We’Re Left Picking Up The Pieces:” Use Of Grief Interventions In Rural Schools Since Covid-19 Pandemic, Jennifer Lynn Rotzal

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Research has indicated that individuals who have died from the COVID-19 virus will likely leave behind several grieving family members. For every person who dies of COVID-19, it was estimated that they would leave behind 2.2 children and 4.1 grandchildren (Albuquerque & Santos, 2021). The death of a parent or other loved one is often noted as one of the most potentially traumatic experiences for a child. During the COVID-19 pandemic, death became more prominent in hundreds of thousands of children’s lives, having a profound effect on the child, as well as on their family and surrounding community (Griese et …

Effects Of Mortality Risk And Ecological Conditions On Songbird Movement, Foraging, Parental Care, And Body Mass Management, Timothy Robert Forrester

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Examining why species vary in behavior and life history strategies is a fundamental part of ecology and evolution. Yet, due to the difficulties of quantifying behavior in the field, we know surprisingly little about how species spend their time and energy daily, why interspecific differences occur, and what are the physiological and demographic consequences of these differences. In this dissertation, I use songbirds to examine the influence of ultimate selection pressures (e.g., mortality risk) and proximate ecological conditions (e.g., temperature) on foraging and reproductive behavior. I also examine the influence of reproductive behaviors on fitness correlates (e.g., body mass, reproductive …

Bloom: A Microbial Self-Portrait, Emily Lauren Mulvaney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Exchange Rate Pass-Through To Inflation For Bangladesh: An Empirical Analysis, Saila Sarmin Rapti

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Assessing the impact of exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) on inflation is a crucial concern for policymakers in both developed and developing economies. The study evaluates both short- and long-term pass-through effects, shedding light on the relationships between the exchange rate movements and inflation rates in Bangladesh. In this regard, this paper applies an Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model and Engle and Granger cointegration test with Error Correction Modeling (ECM) to estimate ERPT in Bangladesh based on monthly data spanning 2010 to 2023 to provide a more robust and rigorous investigation of the long-run and short-run pass-through of exchange rates. …

An Examination Of The Relation Between Memory Self-Efficacy And Working Memory Within The Cognitive Reserve Framework, Genna Marie Mashinchi Ma

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dementia has been found to negatively affect multiple aspects of cognitive functioning. Despite an increasing prevalence of cognitive decline, many aging adults do not experience reduced cognitive functioning. The reason as to why some experience cognitive decline and others do not is still unclear. One leading theory thought to explain this phenomenon is the cognitive reserve theory (CR), which proposes that certain lifestyle factors (e.g., educational attainment, occupational attainment, and leisure activity participation) prolong one’s cognitive functioning and reduce the risk of cognitive decline. Memory self-efficacy (MSE), defined as one’s beliefs in their memory ability, was found to be positively …

Traditional Chinese Medicine And The Argument For Future Application In The United States, Kylie Nicole Frohlich

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Motion And Rest, Claire M. Tuna

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Motion and Rest is a collection of lyric, experimental, and hybrid poems that feature transit as a recurring trope. The speaker of these poems travels through town on a bicycle, through the sky on a plane flying backwards in time, on a train through the countryside, and, among water aerobicizers, from one end of the pool to the other. Along with physical space, the speaker traverses emotional space, moving through boredom, worry, curiosity, aching, inertia, presence, and play, slowing at times, but avoiding a full stop.

Conveyance is also investigated as it pertains to communications sent and received. The speaker …

Three Stories On Urban Wildlife, Kevin J. Moriarty

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Breathing Hard In Beautiful Places, Lars Chinburg

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Chinburg, Lars, M.S., Spring 2024

Breathing Hard in Beautiful Places, Abstract

In Breathing Hard in Beautiful Places, Lars Chinburg explores his connections to the people and places that have made him who he is in a collection of personal essays. The collection is inspired by the talents of many writers–Bill Bryson’s wry travel observations, Norman Maclean’s lyricism on the interplay of nature and family, Sigurd Olson’s gorgeous descriptions of place, and David Sedaris’ knack for drawing hilarity out of the prosaic, among many others.

Many of the essays touch on the power of play as a force for good and …

Density Anomaly Leads To Rift Initiation: Quantifying Active Rifting And Comparison To The East African Rift Zone, Chloe Boucher

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Active rifting, elastic failure in the lithosphere from rising density anomalies in the mantle, is fundamental to the Wilson Cycle which describes the cycle of tectonic plates. Active rift zones are common in the oceanic lithosphere but are less common in the thicker continental lithosphere. The current largest active continental rift zone is the East African Rift Zone (EARZ). Although active rifting is fundamental to plate tectonic theory, the mechanics and parameters needed for a density anomaly to initiate a rift have not been undertaken. This model aims to solve the problem of a density anomaly initiating a continental rift …

A Tale Of Two Working Landscapes, Sage C. Sutcliffe

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Characterizing Mountainous Bedrock Groundwater Systems Across Gradients In Topography And Lithology In Western Montana, David L. Baude

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Mountain aquifer groundwater systems remain one of the least understood hydrologic systems in upland hydrology. In this study, we aim to characterize bedrock groundwater system dynamics and bedrock-saprolite interactions across a variety of landscape positions and lithology. We investigate groundwater hydraulics, recharge temperature and elevation, residence times, and bedrock recharge rates across two mountainous headwater catchments in west central Montana. We used a suite of environmental tracers (³H, CFCs, SF₆, and ⁴He) and residence time distribution models to estimate groundwater mean residence times over a range of timescales from decades to millennia. Tracers were sampled …

Retrospective And Interactive Analyses Of Parent-Adolescent Storytelling About Alcohol, Kiersten Marie Falck

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Parent-child communication about alcohol is a beneficial method for protecting adolescents against the risks of alcohol use, and may be particularly helpful among adolescents in the athletic community, where membership is a risk factor for alcohol use. Communicated Narrative Sense-Making theory (CNSM) was used as a guiding framework to ask 10 parent-adolescent dyads in youth sports to jointly tell a story about alcohol. Analyses were conducted thematically as well as through quantitative coding of Interactional Sense-Making (ISM) behaviors. Results show that in joint storytelling about alcohol in this study, parents often communicated tragedy, sought out their child’s thoughts about alcohol, …

The Role Of Face Threats In Understanding Target’S Interpretation Of A Tease, Shawn M. Deegan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Teasing is a common phenomenon used across the lifespan, but what teasing is and what makes it prosocial or antisocial is strongly contested. This study argues that viewing teasing as a communication strategy helps researchers focus on the content of the teasing message. Goffman’s Facework Theory was used to explore negative and positive face threats, redressive signals, and relational closeness to help explain why the tease is seen as prosocial or antisocial. In an experimental study, participants were asked to take turns engaging in a teasing game about elements of the other’s identity. The study found that negative face threat …

A Home For All: Innovative Management And Research Methodologies For Historic Archaeologists At Federally Regulated Landscapes At The Garnet Ghost Town, Andrea Jean Shiverdecker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This is a proposal for the Spring 2024 graduation of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology dissertation completion at the University of Montana. The dissertation work being submitted focuses on developing new and innovative cultural resource management methodologies for practical use by federal archaeologists through six archaeological research essays on the Garnet Ghost Town of Garnet, Montana. The goal of this archaeological investigation is to seek or solve, or at least significantly impact discussions on developing an explanation or understanding of the diversity of identities at Garnet while also developing new innovative technologies with recommendations for federal policy to be utilized …

Zooming In On A Snapshot Of Care: Adapting The Index Of Care For Historical And Modern Individuals In The Terry Collection, Felicia Robyn Sparozic

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This dissertation adapts the Index of Care (IOC), traditionally focused on prehistoric contexts, to historical (1840-1950) and modern (post-1950) individuals from the Smithsonian’s Terry Collection, to account for those individuals with extensive records. By introducing sister methodologies for both historical and modern contexts, this research bridges the methodological gap in care analysis, enhancing the original IOC with contextual environmental variables and, for modern individuals, DNA analysis.

The study utilizes a selected cohort from the Terry Collection, emphasizing the investigation of caregiving practices across different sexes and ancestral backgrounds. Contrary to initial hypotheses predicting sex-based differences in care provision, findings show …

Federal Funding Statutes And State-Federal Wildlife Authority: Did Congress Demonstrate A Preference For State Wildlife Management Authority With Pittman-Robertson And Dingell-Johnson?, James Vaughan Branch

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937 now known as Pittman-Robertson and Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act of 1950 now known as Dingell-Johnson are federal statutes which stand as the original and perhaps most significant federal funding statutes supporting state wildlife conservation and management. Congress’s decision to pass these statutes may be argued to be a prima facie endorsement of state wildlife agencies (SWA) as the primary managers of wildlife since each statute dedicated substantial federal excise revenue to SWAs. We hypothesized we would find consistent evidence in favor of primary state management authority over wildlife. …

Wet Specimen, Abigail Lee Raley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Cystic fibrosis is a condition which thickens the mucus throughout the body of the afflicted patient. Bob Flanagan, in his book The Pain Journal, ventures to record that sort of physical experience, as it pertains to the daily practices of his art, leading up to his death. Flanagan expounds on given relationships between his sadomasochistic performance art and the pain of his body in his poem “Why.” Richard Siken, too, in his book Crush, explores the embodied violence of gay lust, love, and obsession. WET SPECIMEN finds itself amongst these traditions, as it ventures to explore the animality …