Digital Commons Network^™

El Milagro De Almeria, Espana: A Political Ecology Of Landscape Change And Greenhouse Agriculture, Robert Tyrell Wolosin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate changes in the landscape of Almería in southeastern Spain, particularly in relation to the emergence of the 80,000-acre greenhouse sector. This thesis questions why the province of Almería has the highest concentration of greenhouses in the world and determines what processes led to this industry. The research focuses on local-global scale interactions and environmental history analysis within a political ecology framework. The methods for data collection included literature review of secondary sources and four months living in Almería conducting interviews and field observations. Located in Europe’s driest desert, the greenhouses of Almería …

Evaluating The Design And Management Of Community-Based Ecotourism Projects In Guatemala, Kassandra Lynne Miller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Community-based ecotourism (CBE) has become the newest buzzword in development circles for its purported ability to provide alternative income generation for families and incentives to protect natural resources. Organizations such as the World Bank, World Wildlife Federation and USAID have supported these small-scale projects across the globe. However, there has been much debate over the efficacy of these projects. They are often developed, managed, and even owned by NGOs, not by local communities. Economic benefits resulting from the project are often directed toward one or two people in prominent positions within the community and not evenly distributed. The increase in …

Conservation Of Pheasants In North West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Iftikhar Uz Zaman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Pheasants belong to the avian order Galliformes and are important environmental indicators. Among 49 species of pheasants in the world, 5 of them are endemic to Pakistan with distribution in the Himalaya and remote northern parts of the country. Due to increase in human population, encroachment, poaching, and habitat disturbance pheasants are threatened and vulnerable. Besides ecological importance of pheasants they have also aesthetic values which mainly contribute to their decline in population in wake of poaching in their native local habitat. Because cheer pheasant was extirpated locally and other pheasants were declared endangered or threatened by the 1UCN, the …

The Construction Of A Plutonic Complex In A Continental Arc Setting: The Skookum Butte Stock, Western Montana, Connie Lynn Brown

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study addresses the petrogenesis of a plutonic complex in a continental magmatic arc setting by examining the Skookum Butte stock (SBS), a satellite pluton of the Idaho-Bitterroot batholith (IBB). The SBS is part of widespread middle to Cretaceous to Eocene magmatism that occurred in the Cordilleran Interior and is dominated by biotite-muscovite granite/granodiorite and biotite-hornblende granite/granodiorite, to subordinate quartz monzodiorite, and monzogabbro. Both field evidence and geochemical data indicate that SBS magmas were generated from at least two distinct sources: a primitive source of mafic to intermediate composition and a more evolved felsic source. The mafic primitive members of …

Cenozoic Sedimentary Evolution Of The Helmville Basin, West-Central Montana, Julian Glenn Mccune

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Abstract McCune, Julian, Glenn, M.S., Spring 2008 Geosciences Cenozoic Sedimentary Evolution of the Helmville Basin, West-Central Montana Chairperson: Marc S. Hendrix The Helmville basin is an intermontane topographic depression located ~100 kilometers east of Missoula, Montana. The basin occurs within the Rocky Mountain Fold and Thrust Belt and is immediately north of the Lewis and Clark structural Lineament. The Helmville Basin contains sedimentary and volcanic fill of Paleogene and Neogene age, along with abundant Quaternary sediment. The purpose of this study is to document the geologic evolution of the Helmville basin through a combination of field-based geologic mapping and sedimentologic …

The Role Of Brownfields Redevelopment In The Rejuvenation Of An Older Industrial City: A Case Study Of Two Successful Brownfields Reuse Projects In Baltimore, Maryland, Gregory William Lewis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The industrialized world is littered with tens of thousands of acres of vacant, decaying, and often contaminated industrial and commercial sites. These sites, commonly referred to as “brownfields,” scar the landscape of communities, expose citizens to possible health risks, deteriorate surrounding land values, and erode the tax base of municipalities. Vacant and abandoned industrial sites are present in every state, but the blight associated with brownfields is worst in America’s “rustbelt,” the chain of once great industrial cites and towns stretching along historic canals and rail lines from Baltimore to Boston, and west to Milwaukee. This thesis investigates federal and …

1. Geodetic Constraints On Slip Rates Of Large Central Asian Faults 2. Earthquake Emergency Education In Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Solmaz Mohadjer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

1. Geodetic constraints on slip rates of large Central Asian faults Deformation throughout the Hindu Kush-Pamir-South Tien Shan section of the Alpine-Himalayan collision, as measured with GPS, shares characteristics in common with neighboring regions in Iran and Tibet, particularly the presence of numerous large faults with relatively low slip rates and large areas of distributed high elevation, suggesting similarities in regional dynamics. The convergence rate between India and Eurasia across this region is 27 ± 2 mm/yr, accommodated over more than 500,000 km2 on thrust faulting north of the Peshawar Basin, the Hindu Kush, and within the Pamir (12 ± …

Pressure-Temperature Evolution Of Metapelites Within The Anaconda Metamorphic Core Complex, Southwestern Montana, Erin Haney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study shows the complete metamorphic evolution of metapelitic footwall rocks in the Anaconda metamorphic core complex, located in southwestern Montana. Pseudosections were constructed using the computer program THERMOCALC (v. 3.26) in conjunction with the internally consistent dataset of Holland and Powell (1998, version 5.5, updated Nov. 2003) in the model system NCKFMASH (Na2O-CaO-K2O-FeO-MgO-Al2O3- SiO2-H2O). Microprobe data reveals that garnet is very almandine rich and contains very little manganese, thus not requiring MnO as a component in the model system. X-ray mapping of garnet within metapelites indicate only one growth phase. Petrographic analysis in conjunction with pseudosections reveal peak metamorphism …

Recreation Visitor Attitudes Towards Management-Ignited Prescribed Fires In The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, Montana, William T. Borrie, Katie Knotek, Alan E. Watson, Joshua G. Whitmore, David Turner

Society and Conservation Faculty Publications

Research at the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex in Montana explored differences in recreation visitors’ attitudes towards the use of management-ignited prescribed fires in the wilderness. A mail-back survey of visitors (n = 291) during the 2004 season revealed that over half of visitors would accept prescribed fires in wilderness. This support did not vary by ignition purpose: (a) to restore the natural role of fire or (b) to reduce hazardous fuels and potential for fire escaping to non-wilderness lands. Local visitors, however, were significantly more accepting of prescribed fires than non-local visitors across both ignition purposes. A smaller proportion of …

Landslide Susceptibility Zonation Gis For The 2005 Kashmir Earthquake Affected Region, Benjamin Growley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The October 8, 2005 Kashmir earthquake triggered several thousand landslides throughout the Himalaya of northern Pakistan and India. A spatial database, which included 2252 landslides, was developed and analyzed using ASTER satellite imagery and geographical information system (GIS) technology. A multi-criterion evaluation was applied to determine the significance of event-controlling parameters in triggering the landslides. The parameters included lithology, faults, slope gradient, slope aspect, elevation, land cover, rivers and roads. The results were broken down into four classes of landslide susceptibility. The results indicated that lithology had the strongest influence on landsliding, particularly when the rock is highly fractured, such …

Geodatabase Design For Resource And Land Management Gis: Missoula Field Office Blm Case Study, Mark English

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is in the process of improving their geographic information system (GIS). The main intention is to upgrade their data and present their employees with the geospatial means necessary to accomplish their resource and land management responsibilities. Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI„µ) designed the geodatabase model, which provides multiple advantages in organization, management, and maintenance of geographic data. The geodatabase model implements advanced relationships between geospatial features and database tables, creates platforms available in organization and editing, and instills GIS functionality to ensure data integrity. The main goal of this work is to investigate the …

Assessment And Mitigation Of Water Related Environmental Health Impacts In The Bagrami District Of Kabul Province, Mumtaz Ahmad

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

My paper includes: (1) an analysis of cases of waterborne diseases in Bagrami District from 2003-2007; (2) a review and assessment of the effectiveness of three recent water supply and sanitation projects carried out by aid organizations; (3) a description of a Bagrami water sanitation project that I helped manage in 17 villages in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in spring 2008; and (4) my recommendations on how to improve the effectiveness of water supply and sanitation projects in Bagrami and other areas of Afghanistan based on insights gained from this study.

Enlightening Leadership: A Phenomenology, Kevin M. Mays

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The mechanistic, seventeenth century paradigm that has informed the leadership of our organizations has evolved into the quantum realm. This scientific renaissance is revealing a depth of knowledge that is stirring a new found interest in wisdom traditions as the truths of modern science appear to mirror knowledge found in ancient philosophic and meditative practices. Such Eastern spiritual practices have entered into the American mainstream and are becoming validated from a scientific perspective.

Continuing research on meditation has revealed its effectiveness in producing many of the characteristics deemed essential in the field of transformational leadership. Congruently meditation centers are proliferating, …

2008-2009 Course Catalog, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of The Registrar

University of Montana Course Catalogs, 1895-2024

An annual catalog of courses and course descriptions offered at the University of Montana.

A Simple Gis Approach To Predicting Rare Plant Habitat: North Central Rocky Mountains, United States Forest Service, Region One, Erin Elizabeth Nock

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Understanding the potential distribution of rare species is a key component in managing and regulating land-use activities. Predictive modeling of plant distributions rests on the assumption that correlations exist between the presence or absence of a species and selected climate, topographic, substrate, and land-cover variables. Using the DOMAIN algorithm along with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques, a biophysical envelope model was applied to 21 rare plant species listed on the Region One Regional Forester’s Sensitive Species List. Environmental variables, including annual precipitation, mean May temperature, slope, aspect, elevation, geologic material and dominant vegetation type, were used as predictors. Model output …

Impacts Of A Teacher Geospatial Technologies Professional Development Project On Student Spatial Literacy Skills And Interests In Science And Technology In Grade 5 – 12 Classrooms Across Montana, Jeffrey Willard Crews

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study utilized participants in a teacher geospatial technologies professional development project. Data was collected on the impact this professional development model, and the corresponding classroom implementation of the curriculum, had on student spatial literacy skills and students' interest in science and technology. Twenty teachers from across Montana with demonstrated competency in the use of geospatial technologies were selected for participation in this project. These twenty teachers were broken into two cohorts, cohort one served as the experimental group and cohort two served as the control group. Students within these classrooms ranging in grades 5 - 12, took two assessments, …

Assessment And Potential Adjustments To The Snow-Related Algorithms In Biome-Bgc, V4.2, Deana Ann Dewire

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Many watersheds throughout the mountain west are snow-melt dominated. Recent studies suggest that climatic shifts throughout the 20th century have diminished snowpack around the west, a trend that may accelerate in the future. Loss of critical snowpack could negatively affect the ecosystems and communities that have come to depend on it. Process models offer a way to illuminate the effects of climate change on snowpack. BIOME-BGC, a well established eco-system process model, contains a simple snow melt model for predicting daily snow water equivalent (SWE). The model requires standard daily meteorological data and can, therefore, be extrapolated over long periods …

Residential Development Patterns In Flathead County, Montana, Louis Anthony Jarvis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Population growth in the Non-Metropolitan West has increased over the last two decades. Many researchers have argued that natural amenity concerns, the quality and diversity of the environment, and the rural nature of the non-metropolitan West are the chief factors influencing individuals’ decisions to settle. This research examines a single high-amenity county in Western Montana, Flathead County, and analyzes the factors affecting land values and the probability of residential development at the parcel level. This research develops spatial variables thought to affect land values in an ArcGIS 9.2 environment and develops a regression model that estimates land values based on …

Recreating Beowulf’S “Pregnant Moment Of Poise”: Pagan Doom And Christian Eucatastrophe Made Incarnate In The Dark Age Setting Of The Lord Of The Rings, Scott Davis Howard

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien recreates the “pregnant moment of poise” that inspired him in his study of Beowulf. Tolkien believed that this moment was a brief period of “fusion” which occurred in the Dark Ages as paganism was in decline and Christianity on the rise, when the dueling notions of Doom and salvation briefly coexisted in the hearts and minds of the Anglo-Saxon people. Derived from a careful study of Tolkien’s fiction, lectures, letters, and the writings of his contemporaries, instructors, and friends, in combination with many Dark Age texts, the works of various Tolkien critics, historians, …

The Rewilding Of New York's North Country: Beavers, Moose, Canines And The Adirondacks, Peter Aagaard

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This project examines the restoration histories of beavers (Castor canadensis), moose (Alces alces americana), and wild canines (Canis spp.) within the Adirondack Highlands of northern New York. Devastated by the depredations of nineteenth century woodsmen, the populations of these large mammals rebounded during the twentieth century. Numbering fewer than ten in 1895, the Adirondacks’ remnant beaver population recolonized the region’s lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers over the next twenty-five years, assisted by the presence of prime habitat, a state-enforced moratorium on beaver trapping, and timely reinforcements. Hunters shot the last of the Adirondacks’ moose near Raquette Lake in 1861. Moose …

Structure Activity Relationships For Intracellular Loop 2 Of The 5ht1a Serotonin Receptor, Brian Patrick Hall

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Hall, Brian, Ph.D., May 2008 Pharmacology/Pharmaceutical Sciences

Structure Activity Relationships for Intracellular Loop 2 of the 5HT1A Serotonin Receptor

Chairperson: Dr. Keith Parker

The human (H) serotonin (5-hydroxytrptamine; 5HT) 1a receptor (R) has been implicated in various physiological processes such as mood regulation, vascular and temperature control, anxiety, depression, and migraine headache. This seven transmembrane domain (7TMD), G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) is negatively coupled to adenylyl cyclase (AC). This work was designed to better understand the coupling and activation requirements of intracellular loop 2 (ic2) with Gi in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. 10 MER peptides that are derived from …

Using 3-D Geometric Morphometric Techniques To Further Understand The Relationship Between Neanderthals And Homo Sapiens, Jolen Anya Minetz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The relationship between hominids in the middle and late Pleistocene has been a heated subject of debate since Neanderthals were first recognized. Neanderthals are either a distinctly separate species from Homo sapiens that were replaced by Homo sapiens without any genetic interaction, which supports the taxonomical title for Neanderthals as Homo neanderthalensis, or there was at least a minimal genetic interaction between contemporaneous Neanderthals and early humans, designating Neanderthals as a subspecies with a taxonomic title of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. The purpose of this research was to further explore this issue by conducting a quantitative analysis on several aspects of …

The Traditional Wilderness Conception, Postmodern Cultural Constructionism And The Importance Of Physical Environments, Matthew Adam Gray

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Recently, a heated debate has emerged between advocates of the traditional wilderness concept and those who believe that this concept is merely a cultural construction. The traditional wilderness conception viewed wilderness as an objective place separate from humans that is defined by being primarily shaped by natural forces, possessing natural origins and being free of human inhabitants and structures. This view culminated in the definition of wilderness featured in the 1964 Wilderness Act. A postmodern critique of the traditional wilderness conception began in the 1980s. In this view, the traditional wilderness conception is thought to be a product of Euro- …

Perceptions Of Borough Incorporation Held By Community Leaders In Delta Junction, Alaska, Michelle Albus Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Regional governments exist in an overwhelming majority of the United States and are often considered a necessary and natural progression of a developing region. Alaska offers a unique opportunity to explore perceptions of regional incorporation, as it is the only remaining state in the Union to have unincorporated area. Thus, after a rural region of Alaska petitioned the state legislature to politically incorporate, I conducted qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews with local community leaders to explore their perceptions of the proposed incorporation. Existing literature often refers to leaders as either elite, self-interested individuals or as functional, community-interested individuals. This study explored …

Producing A Biblical Atlas, Elizabeth Anne Hertz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this thesis was to develop a procedure for simplifying the production of a biblical atlas. The atlas was to be designed specifically for those people interested in the geography of the Bible, and looking at the themes and events in the Bible in a spatial way. The procedures used in developing the contents involved the use of interviews with different experts and reviewing different biblical atlases. Telephone and email interviews were given to twelve experts to gain information about producing a biblical atlas. The participants in the interviews were selected based upon their knowledge of the specific …

Causes And Consequences Of Displacement Decision-Making In Banhine National Park, Mozambique, Chad Edward Dear

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Decision-making is looming regarding the displacement of people resident in and reliant on resources in strict protected areas around the world. This research investigated the causes and consequences of displacement decision-making in Banhine National Park (BNP), Mozambique. I investigated causes using political-economic, actor-centered, and post-structural perspectives on power. I investigated consequences using the Impoverishment Risk and Reconstruction (IRR) framework. Methods included interviews, focus groups, and observations involving BNP-area residents; park staff; district, provincial, and national-level government employees from various sectors; NGO and World Bank staff; and private consultants. I also analyzed numerous government and donor policies, plans, reports, and legal …

Fire In My Backyard: Place Meanings And Landowner Views On Fire And Fuels Management On The Kootenai National Forest, Mt, Michael Anthony Cacciapaglia

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Federal land management agencies are currently striving to become more democratic and open to citizen participation in decision-making. Recently, the build-up of hazardous forest fuels and ensuing increase in high-intensity wildland fire events across the western U.S. has led to growing interest in integrating local communities and their views and interests into the planning process for fuel reductions projects. One way to investigate local perspectives and make them available to local fire management officers is through qualitative research into relationship to place and preferences for proposed management actions using in-depth interviews with landowners residing in the wildland-urban interface. This study …

Geomorphological Mapping Of The K2 Area, Pakistan Using Gis And Remote Sensing, Deborah Jeanne Belden

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Geomorphological mapping assists in evaluating the polygenetic role of glaciation, mass movement denudation, and fluvial erosion in landscape development. A series of thirteen 1:100,000 geomorphological maps covering the area between Skardu and K2 were produced using field mapping and photography, GPS measurements, ASTER satellite imagery, and digital elevation model (DEM) analyses. Satellite and morphometric analyses were performed using GIS software. The landforms are described in relation to geology, geomorphological processes, and altitudinal zones. Case studies include flash flood deposits, active landslide areas, sackungen, and rock avalanches. The Skardu Basin has tills preserved on many higher slopes, and sand dunes cover …

Human Bonds With Public Wildland Places: Segmenting Communities To Inform Natural Resource Management, Neal A. Christensen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Public land managers must consider a broad range of information to develop effective and equitable plans for addressing contentious management issues. Appropriately designed social science research may contribute to better understanding of public interests regarding resource use, thus reducing conflict and contributing to cooperative solutions. This dissertation describes a social science methodology for developing understanding of human / place bonds using indicators of human expression of behaviors, beliefs, and emotions. The dissertation develops the concept of human / place bonds with a goal to better reflect the publics' views and desires for management of public lands. The purpose of the …

Dynamic Human Relationships With Wilderness: Developing A Relationship Model, Bob G. Dvorak

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dvorak, Robert, Ph.D., Summer 2008 Forestry

Dynamic human relationships with wilderness: Developing a relationship model

Chair: William T. Borrie

Wilderness managers are charged with the challenging goal of balancing resource protection and experience quality across a broad, value-laden landscape. While research has provided insight into visitor motivations, psychological outcomes, and meanings, a struggle exists to implement experiential concepts within current management frameworks. A need also exists to manage wilderness for concepts outside of setting attributes. This research posits the human experience of wilderness to be an evolving, enduring relationship. Therefore, research needs can be addressed by investigating and conceptualizing an …