Digital Commons Network^™

An Assessment Of Fecal Water Contamination In The Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, Daniel Paul Pendergraph 5024527

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wilderness water sources are often defined as pristine or high quality due to the lack of point source pollution. Non-point source pollution from recreation to water resources can be extensive and is well-studied in protected areas globally. Bacterial contamination, specifically fecal bacteria, poses a significant threat to human health because of the risk for outbreaks of illness and disease. Water sources in designated Wilderness areas are particularly vulnerable to fecal water contamination due to high volume of backpackers and lack of backcountry waste facilities. To estimate the occurrence of fecal water contamination in Wilderness water resources, an exploratory analysis was …

The Republic Of Catatonia: A Novel, David Byron Queen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

My thesis, a novel titled The Republic of Catatonia, is a story of a broken family, and the one man trying to keep their legacy alive. An adrift academic named Miles Cata moves back to Northeastern Montana from New York City, when he learns about the death of his father. When he arrives, it turns out his father isn’t dead, and Miles soon learns of his father’s plan for building an autonomous micro-nation on the property of their Montana ranch. The novel is set in the '90s against the backdrop of the Bakken oil boom, and much of the …

The Anatomy Of Extinction: Stories Of People As Place, Mason Parker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Adaptation Under The Canopy: Coffee Cooperative And Certification Contributions To Smallholder Livelihood Sustainability In Santa Lucía Teotepec, Oaxaca, Meghan C. Montgomery

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The collapse and reorganization of global coffee markets associated with the “coffee crisis” have had profound, negative impacts on smallholder producer livelihoods throughout the world. In Mexico, the collapse of the International Coffee Agreement (ICA) coincided with withdrawal of government support for agriculture, which devastated producers dependent on coffee for their livelihoods. Smallholders responded by shifting livelihood strategies to diversify income, migrating, and converting primary forest cover to subsistence crops and pasture to support household livelihood security. In some instances, producers also joined or formed cooperative organizations to access specialty certifications that offer higher priced markets, extension information, and other …

Whitewater Ecotourism Development In Bhutan: Opportunities And Challenges For Local Communities, Kira E. Tenney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Whitewater raft and kayak ecotourism can provide environmental, social-cultural, and economic benefits and opportunities to local communities, but can also result in respective challenges. Globally, adventure ecotourism is seen as a potent win-win strategy for conservation and local community development; however, there is a significant proportion of adventure and whitewater tourism that do not meet ecotourism tenets, and there is a call for incorporating greater investment in local community involvement. Whitewater ecotourism is particularly significant because of the unique opportunities and challenges associated with rivers, the resource upon which the industry directly depends. Clean, free-flowing rivers provide a range of …

Local Knowledge And Climate Information: The Role Of Trust And Risk In Agricultural Decisions About Drought, Adam J. Snitker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate change is projected to dramatically impact agricultural production across the world. Agricultural producers must adapt to changing conditions by implementing practices and utilizing knowledge that creates resilient operations. This study explores how Montana farmers and ranchers use of different types of knowledge during periods of drought and how risk perceptions and trust influence the use of knowledge. To understand the role trust and risk in producers’ use of local knowledge and climate information, I conducted five focus groups with 34 Montana agricultural producers. Producers explained that they encounter many agriculture-related risks, including uncertain forecasts, financial losses, and adverse weather. …

Recovering Our Roots: The Importance Of Salish Ethnobotanical Knowledge And Traditional Food Systems To Community Wellbeing On The Flathead Indian Reservation In Montana., Mitchell Rose Bear Don't Walk

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis provides a culturally-comprehensive review of the plants utilized for food in the Bitterroot Salish tribe of northwestern Montana. As part of the larger Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CS&KT) of the Flathead Indian Reservation, the Bitterroot Salish historically utilized hundreds of plants for food, medicine and hygiene. This thesis aims to highlight food plants and their important cultural components. The information herein is a combination of history, ethnography, linguistics, ethnobotany, and first-hand experience with the current Salish community to provide a holistic framework of understanding traditional food plants today. A comprehensive plant list is provided with Latin, Salish …

Walking While Asking:Lessons From Agroecology Education In Chiapas, Mexico, Katherine E. Keller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Keller, Kate, M.S., December 2019 Environmental Studies

Walking While Asking: Lessons from Agroecology Education in Chiapas, Mexico

Committee Chairperson: Dr. Neva Hassanein

This professional paper presents an assessment of the most recent project of Schools for Chiapas (SfC), a U.S.-based solidarity organization working in collaboration with the Zapatista autonomous communities in Chiapas, Mexico. It examines the challenges and potentials of SfC’s efforts to implement food forests at 16 autonomous secondary schools. I contextualize this work within a larger conversation amongst food sovereignty activists and scholars around efforts to scale-out the use of agroecology through education. As the organization looks to …

The Impact Of Industrial Agriculture On Social-Ecological Resilience: A Case Study Of The Fairfield Bench, Montana, Anne Preston Harney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Agricultural systems can be understood as social-ecological systems, in which humans and the natural world interact with and influence each other. The concept of resilience within social-ecological systems has gained considerable attention in recent years. Resilience is generally defined as the system’s ability to absorb and adapt to stressors while still maintaining a similar functioning state. With the major challenges created by the overarching system of industrial agriculture, such as weed resistance to herbicides, water pollution, market consolidation, and declining numbers of farmers, resilience in agricultural systems is a critical concept to explore and understand. However, despite the popularity of …

Why Does My Town Smell Like Nail Polish?: Using The Toxics Release Inventory To Investigate Industrial Chemical Pollutants In Elkhart County, Indiana, Magdalena Lehman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis investigates 2017 industrial chemical air pollution in Elkhart County, Indiana starting with data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators model (RSEI). TRI requires facilities across the United States to report release amounts for certain chemicals known to cause adverse human health impacts. A related database, the RSEI model adds context to release amounts by modeling for toxicity and exposure. The resulting RSEI score approximates relative risk among releases. In combination, these tools are intended to allow communities to identify risks and provide oversight of point-source industrial chemical pollution in their neighborhoods. …

Investigation Of The Tribal Park Concept And Opportunities For The Blackfeet Nation, Iree Schmautz Wheeler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Tribal Park model is an emerging tool being used by indigenous groups in the United States and Canada for the management of unique and sacred natural areas, in some cases setting aside existing indigenous owned land, and in others regaining control of land management decisions in traditional territory. Currently in North America there are several sites that have self-identified as Tribal Parks. There is a lack of research regarding Tribal Park development in North America, which creates challenges for indigenous groups interested in pursuing a conservation designation of this type. Using an analysis of five Tribal Park case studies …

Metal Contamination And Food Web Changes Alter Exposure To Upper Trophic Levels In Upper Blackfoot River Basin Streams, Montana, Jack E. Landers, Sean Sullivan, Lisa Eby, Andrew C. Wilcox, Heiko Langner

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Reduced invertebrate abundance and diversity are common responses to metals contamination in mining-impacted streams. The resulting changes in community composition may have implications for metals accumulation and transfer through the food web. We investigated how changes in invertebrate community composition (abundance, species richness, and food web complexity) influence metals bioaccumulation and exposure risk to upper trophic levels along a contamination gradient in the upper Blackfoot River Basin, Montana. Invertebrate species richness exhibited the strongest decline with increasing sediment metals concentrations, driven by the loss of metals-sensitive taxa. These changes in invertebrate community composition resulted in a decline in the proportion …

October 2018 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

Enst 225.01: Sustainable Communities, Neva Hassanein

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 396.00: Supervised Internship (Peas), Joshua H. Slotnick

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 595.03: St: Environmental Justice: Issues & Solution, Robin Saha

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 494.01: Practicum In Sustainable Agriculture Education, Anthony Jason Mandala

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 191.01: St: Getting To Know Evst, Joshua H. Slotnick

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 335l.01: The Environmental Vision, Phil Condon

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 230h.01c: Nature And Society, Ashley L. Preston

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 580.01: The Politics Of Food, Neva Hassanein

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 595.02: Supervised Internship: Native Plants, Rosalyn Rae La Pier, Marilyn J. Marler

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 595.04: St: Conservation Without Borders, Leonard Broberg

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 570.01: Ethics And Restoration, Pedro Marques, Daniel T. Spencer

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 573.01: Environmental Writing, Phil Condon

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 489s.01: Environmental Justice Issues And Solutions Serv, Robin Saha

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 391.80: St: Energy And Climate Honors, Peter Mcdonough

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 367.01: Environmental Politics And Policies, Robin Saha

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 201.01: Environmental Information Resources, Peter Mcdonough

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Ensc 501.01: Scientific Approaches To Environmental Problems, Leonard Broberg

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.