Digital Commons Network^™

Csci 172.01: Introduction To Computer Modeling, Cheryl M. Galipeau

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2021-2025

No abstract provided.

Ecp 230.B01: Trauma, David H. Mcevoy, Marcus O. Granger

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2021-2025

No abstract provided.

Montana Kaimin, January 30, 2025, Students Of The University Of Montana, Missoula

Montana Kaimin, 1898-present

Student newspaper of the University of Montana, Missoula.

Montana Kaimin, January 23, 2025, Students Of The University Of Montana, Missoula

Montana Kaimin, 1898-present

Student newspaper of the University of Montana, Missoula.

Capstone Research On Missoula, Montana, Rental Market Impact On Undergraduate Students’ Well-Being, Alysa Curry, Aidan Rasmussen, Halston Witt, Tristan Clifford, Sadie Arnold

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This research project examined how rental housing challenges in Missoula, Montana, impacts the well-being of students at the University of Montana and Missoula College. With rising rent prices and limited affordable housing options, students face growing stress related to finances, housing stability, and academic life. To explore this, we created a survey asking students about their living situations, financial pressures, social support, and mental health. We calculated a Well-being Score based on housing stress, social support, and future confidence to identify the biggest factors affecting student well-being.

Despite facing challenges in distributing the survey and gathering responses, the results revealed …

On Creating Bog Bodies: The Effects Of Ph Value On Dna Decomposition In A Bog Environment, Gabrielle B. Giangreco

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Bog bodies have been a consistent area of interest in both archaeology and biological anthropology, due to their high rates of physical preservation. While there are many physical analyses that have been done on these remains, DNA analysis is lacking. Most studies focus on changes to the remains themselves or attempt to determine why they were placed in a bog. This study aims to examine the effects of pH level on the breakdown of DNA on remains placed inside a bog along with any larger differences in the preservation of the remains. The results of this study seem to point …

Theory Of Planned Behavior And Suicide Screening In Family Medicine, Jennifer Villa

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

General medical healthcare settings, particularly primary care and family medicine practices, serve as critical access points for addressing mental health concerns. This is especially true in rural communities, where specialized behavioral health services are often limited or unavailable. Given the elevated suicide risk in these settings and the shortage of mental health professionals, primary care providers are well-positioned to identify patients at risk through suicide screening. However, research shows that many established providers do not routinely screen for suicide, representing a missed opportunity for prevention, and little is known about resident attitudes towards suicide screening and prevention. Guided by the …

Restart (Re-Dash Entry Support, Training, And Reintegration For Today ), Ronaldo Broadbent, Marissa Harper, Maggie Gibbons, Aspen Nord, Bree Knutson, Gabbi Claxton, Alyssa Mendez, Brandon Smith

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Our project is about reducing friction for the re-entry of previously incarcerated, emerging adults. To contribute to the solution of the issues facing emerging adults returning from incarceration in the Missoula community, we will implement three workshop events to foster a sense of community and belongingness in the returning citizens population. The goal of these workshops is to aid in a smoother transition back into society, integrating components of social, personal, and community-based skill sets. We have found through surveying individuals who are currently or previously incarcerated in our targeted age range of 17-25 that a majority of those surveyed …

An Interdisciplinary Unit For Today's Learners: Integrating Science, English, And Art To Teach Climate Change, Sydney M. Ruby-Pasternak

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As today’s global challenges grow increasingly complex, interdisciplinary thinking is essential for students to make meaningful connections in their learning. Despite this need, high school students continue to have educational experiences in one-subject classrooms, often preventing them from engaging in integrated learning models. This professional project addresses the gap by developing a five-week interdisciplinary unit titled Brushstrokes of Change, which combines climate science with English language arts and visual arts to amplify student understanding of climate change concepts. This unit was designed for grades 9-12 and prioritizes 21^st-Century skills in critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration through …

Population Dynamics Of White-Tailed Deer In A Multi-Predator, Multi-Prey Context In Northern Idaho, Elizabeth J. Painter-Flores

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

My dissertation was motivated by a fundamental management question. If a manager wants to increase the population of species A, how will it affect ungulate species B and C, and predator species D and E, and which populations can be managed to support species A’s success? This question is pertinent for both predators and prey, and in northern Idaho, harvest is used to not only manage populations in an ecological sense but also as a service to the public in the form of hunting opportunities. Understanding these interactions will benefit managers in their decision-making process and ensure the long-term stability …

Climate Goodbyes: Reporting On Loss, Change And The Human Response In Montana, Madeline Jorden

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This portfolio explores how climate-driven environmental change intersects with long-standing tensions over natural resource management, tribal sovereignty, and rural identity in Montana. It consists of three stories: a historically low water year at Flathead Lake that intensified disputes between tribal dam operators and non-tribal waterfront homeowners; the first confirmed presence of invasive smallmouth bass in the Bitterroot River, signaling warming stream conditions and ecological disruption; and a political narrative from Colstrip, where coal industry workers cling to promises of revival amid economic and regulatory decline. Each piece illustrates how climate change acts not only as an environmental force but also …

Space Use, Habitat Selection, And Flight Behavior Of Eagles Across Northwestern North America, Stephen Bernard Lewis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Understanding how behavioral strategies shape movement, space use, and risk exposure is essential for conserving long-lived raptors. In this dissertation, I use high-resolution GPS telemetry from bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) to examine how behavioral state, environmental context, and temporal dynamics structure raptor ecology across Alaska, British Columbia, and the western United States.

Chapter 1 used random forest classification of movement data from 43 bald eagles and 94 golden eagles to identify territorial, nesting, and floater seasons with high accuracy. Floaters comprised roughly one-third of all seasons in both species, and many individuals exhibited consistent state-specific …

Ecology-Driven Machine Learning For Predicting Risk Of Spread For Aquatic Invasive Species., Leif Eric Howard

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Effective management of aquatic invasive species (AIS) requires predictive tools that leverage environmental and ecological data to forecast spread into uninvaded areas. However, species distribution models (SDMs) often struggle to capture key invasion processes such as dispersal, propagule pressure, and biotic interactions. This thesis integrates ecological, dispersal, and environmental predictors within a machine learning framework to enhance AIS risk prediction and model transferability across space.

In Chapter 2, 61 novel predictors were developed for 2,203 Minnesota lakes to model zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) occurrence, incorporating variables related to propagule pressure (e.g., boat visitation), community composition (e.g., fish species …

Restoring Rattlesnake Creek: Using Citizen Science To Assess The Ecological And Morphological Impacts Of Dam Removal In Western Montana, Bethany Blakey

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

As dam removals increase in frequency across the U.S., most research has focused on the impact of larger dam removals, despite the removal of small dams being much more common. Given the hundreds of small dams in Montana, this research uses citizen science data collected over eight years spanning before and after a 2020 small dam removal in Rattlesnake Creek, Montana, to investigate impact on stream ecology and morphology. We analyzed pebble count grain size distributions and aquatic macroinvertebrate biotic indices from 2017 to 2024 to assess changes in sediment transport and macroinvertebrate population as well as evaluate the efficacy …

“It Is The Greatest Shame In The World”: Tomás Cerdán De Tallada’S Pioneering Analysis And Critiques Of Jails In The Spanish Golden Age, Riley Emerson Carney

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

During the 16^th century, prisons as we know them did not exist in Spain nor in most of Western Europe. Jails, as a temporary place to hold criminals before their trial, did exist but were quickly filling up with a wave of new criminals and debtors. This system of jails was poorly organized and poorly understood until Tomás Cerdán de Tallada wrote his treatise Visita de la carcel, which was the first in Spain to analyze the system of jails as a whole, and one of the first to offer criticisms of the system. Core to Cerdán’s understanding …

Establishing Metric Method’S To Identify Variation In Human Biological Sex Using The Upper And Lower Limb Bones Of Non-Population Specific Samples., Roland P. Sanchez

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sex estimation of human skeletal remains is a facet of the biological profile. The pelvis has been suggested as the best source to accurately predicting the biological sex, but not always available after the recovery of human remains. At times, only long bones of human skeletal remains are recovered for identification. It has been shown that metric measurements using long can accurately predict biological sex. The most common methods use discriminant functions to predict the likelihood an individual falls within a certain population. These studies rely on population specific collections of skeletal remains for increased accuracy. It’s advised to avoid …

The Relationship Between Deans’ Transformational Leadership And Teachers’ Work Engagement In Higher Education Institutions In Inner Mongolia, China, Lingbo Han

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between deans’ transformational leadership and teachers’ work engagement in Chinese higher education institutions, with a specific focus on Inner Mongolia. Against the backdrop of China’s ongoing higher education reforms and increasing emphasis on faculty development, understanding how leadership styles influence teacher motivation has become crucial for institutional advancement.

A quantitative, non-experimental causal-comparative design was employed to examine how four dimensions of transformational leadership - charisma, vision, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation - relate to teachers’ work engagement. Using multiple analytical approaches including correlation analysis, regression modeling, and comparative statistical tests, the study …

Integrating Spatial Statistics And Decision Analysis For Wildfire Risk Mapping: A Case Study Of The Kootenai National Forest, Elijah Kordieh Mensah

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wildfire risk in the western United States has intensified in recent decades due to intersecting forces of climate change, systematic fire suppression, and expanding human settlement in fire-prone regions. This thesis presents a comprehensive spatial assessment of wildfire risk in the Kootenai National Forest (KNF) and its surrounding landscape in northwestern Montana, integrating wildfire likelihood, suppression difficulty, evacuation vulnerability, and building exposure into a unified spatial statistical framework. The research addresses a critical gap in spatial wildfire risk modeling by focusing on the need to assess fire threats in relation to local operational constraints and community vulnerabilities.
Drawing on geospatial …

Indigenous Placemaking, Colonial Placetaking, And Indigenous Data Sovereignty: Implications Of Environmental Data Collection On Tribal Lands, Paige Nizhonii Kya'iyo Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This project investigates how Indigenous Data Sovereignty protocols apply to environmental data collected on Tribal lands by federal and state entities. The 2011 and 2014 flooding of the Missouri River and a need for further soil moisture data led the United States Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District to implement a Mesonet weather station monitoring network across the Upper Missouri River Basin (UMRB). Historically, the Army Corps of Engineers has not included Indigenous perspectives into their decision-making, and this has caused Tribes to be distrustful of partnerships with them. The UMRB monitoring network will span across the Upper Missouri River …

Predicting Language And Literacy Success In Children With And Without Developmental Language Disorder, Melissa Catherine Phelan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the roles of phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness in predicting language and literacy success for children with developmental language disorder (DLD), DLD with dyslexia, and typically developing (TD) children. DLD, a prevalent yet underdiagnosed condition, is associated with significant psychosocial and academic challenges, including a roughly 50% likelihood of developing dyslexia. Current identification systems rely on inconsistent parent/teacher referrals, which miss approximately 60% of children with DLD and over 33% with dyslexia, limiting access to effective interventions. This study longitudinally examines whether kindergarten screenings of three metalinguistic skills—phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness—predict …

Designing A Behavior-Supportive Literacy Block Using Ufli Phonics For First Grade Students With Behavioral Challenges, Julia Lynne Pugh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Students with behavioral challenges tend to struggle while engaging with structured academic instruction, particularly in foundational literacy blocks. In fact, in 2021, it was reported that 27.7% of children aged 3-17 struggle with a mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder. (Leeb et al., 2024) While programs such as UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) offer highly effective phonics instruction, these programs typically lack embedded support for individuals struggling with self-regulation, attention, and task persistence. As a result, these students are presented with a higher risk of falling behind in their reading skills. In this project, the author aims to develop a …

Structural And Dynamic Properties Of Gas-Phase Molecules In High-Order Harmonic Generation: Insights From Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory Calculations, Christopher Michael King

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

High-order harmonic generation, or HHG, is a highly nonlinear quantum optical process capable of generating X-ray/ultraviolet radiation. An atom or molecule is irradiated with a mid-IR laser at high intensity, ionizes, and then emits high-frequency light at integer multiples of the driving laser frequency when an ionized electron recollides with the molecular ion. A convenient tabletop source of coherent XUV light and a common seed for free-electron lasers, HHG can also serve as a self-probe of the source atom or molecule. In the latter case, the HHG spectrum can provide valuable insight into the structure and dynamics of the species …

From Plumes To People: Constraining The Emissions, Chemistry, And Health Impacts Of Western U.S. Smoke, Lixu Jin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wildfires are a significant source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the western U.S., emitting hundreds to thousands of species that play key roles in tropospheric oxidation, ozone production, and secondary organic aerosol formation. Many VOCs have only recently been identified and quantified in laboratory burning experiments, leaving uncertainties about their emission estimates from wildfires, their roles in plume OH oxidation chemistry, and their evolution during smoke aging. This dissertation aims to improve our understanding of the emissions, chemistry, and health impacts of VOCs in wildfire smoke using detailed in-situ measurements made during the summer 2018 Western Wildfire Experiment for …

Queer In & Out Of Montana: Oral Histories Of The Lgbtq+ Exodus From Montana, Erin T. Heaton

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This project will summarize findings from six oral histories of LGBTQ+ people who lived in Montana, but have left or are leaving in the near future. This project will explore the questions: Why are queer and transgender people leaving Montana? What are common experiences for LGBTQ+ people living in Montana? The answer to these questions will be derived from the stories of the Narrators who provided their oral histories. The questions utilized in the oral histories covered topics of identity, “coming out,” living history, cultural observations, community experiences and perceptions, well-being, healthcare, laws, and reasons for leaving. Thematic Analysis was …

An Overview Of Nagpra And The 2024 Revisions, Emily V. Owens-Barber

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Section 11 of the National Museum of the American Indian Act (NMAIA) was added to public law in 1989. This required the Smithsonian Museum to repatriate any human remains or funerary objects associated with Native American Ancestry back to their tribes. In 1990, The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was added to federal legislation expanding on this section and requiring that every federally funded institution in the United States that held Native American Remains or funerary objects in their collection must follow this regulation to continue to receive federal funding. Nearly 33 years later in the autumn …

Feminine Felons: Violent Offenders' Intersectional Experiences In Twentieth-Century Montana, Cassidy Ann Vander Voort

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper explores the treatment of violent female offenders in Montana in both the media and prison system from 1900-1960. Women of all races faced gender discrimination from both the carceral system and popular media. Local newspapers sensationalized crimes committed by female offenders, portraying them as women who lived outside of the expectations of womanhood in the twentieth century. Newspapers and courts placed women into two categories: “mad/sad” female offenders, who received forgiveness for their crimes; or unforgivable, “bad” offenders. Crime did not determine these categorizations; instead, gender expectations of the white middle class shaped female criminals’ treatment. If these …

Aspen Stands Enrich Bird Communities Following A Wildfire In A Montane, Mixed Conifer Forest, Cody Q. Lane

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Fire is a major ecological force in most terrestrial systems, but the responses of animal communities to fire vary markedly across ecosystems due to variability in fire regimes and vegetation communities. Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is unique within coniferous forests of western North America for its ability to regenerate following wildfire via vegetative resprouting. As managers employ techniques to restore fire regimes and conserve declining aspen forests, it becomes important to understand how aspen alters postfire communities. Our objectives were to (1) assess how aspen interacted with fire severity and years since fire to influence avian species and …

The Relationship Between Principals’ Transformational Leadership And Teachers’ Organizational Citizenship Behavior Within Public Primary And Middle Schools In Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China, Chuxuan Yin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This non-experimental causal-comparative study was designed to explore the relationship between principals’ transformational leadership and teachers’ organizational citizenship behavior within public primary and middle schools in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China, as well as the differences in principals’ transformational leadership and teachers’ organizational citizenship behavior based on demographic characteristics. A sample of 142 principals and 675 teachers was recruited. Data collection utilized two validated instruments: the Transformational Leadership Questionnaire for evaluating principals’ transformational leadership level, and the Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale for Primary and Middle School Teachers for measuring teachers’ organizational citizenship behavior level. Both descriptive statistics (frequency distribution, mean, standard …

Penta Ef-Hand Protein Alg-2 Regulates Copii Activity At Eres In Response To Calcium Signaling, Jacob Ryan Lapka

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Intracellular protein trafficking is critical for maintaining cellular homeostasis, relying on highly regulated vesicular transport pathways originating from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Central to this process is the COPII coat complex, which governs cargo export at ER exit sites (ERES) by selectively packaging secretory proteins into transport vesicles. Recent studies highlight the regulatory role of calcium (Ca²⁺) signaling at ERES, where the Ca²⁺-binding Penta EF-hand proteins ALG-2 and peflin modulate COPII coat dynamics and cargo sorting in a context-dependent manner. In Chapter 2, we show that knockdown of the Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor-3 (IP3R-3) in normal rat …

Positive Allosteric Modulation Of Glun1/Glun3 Nmda Receptors, Mia Ruth Johns

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are ionotropic glutamate receptors that mediate excitatory neurotransmission in the central nervous system (CNS) where they play critical roles in normal and pathological brain functions and neurodevelopment. While the glutamate/glycineactivated GluN2-containing NMDA receptors (GluN1/GluN2) have been extensively studied, the physiological roles and pharmacology of glycine-activated GluN3-containing receptors (GluN1/GluN3) remain less understood. Although GluN1/GluN3 receptors exhibit unique functional properties and play distinct roles in neuronal development and synapse maturation, studies of their precise roles in neurophysiology and circuit function are impeded by limited availability of GluN3-selective pharmacological tools. This study describes UCM-A86, a novel GluN3-selective positive allosteric …