Digital Commons Network^™

Bridging Top-Down Values And Bottom-Up Practices: A Case Study On A Rebar Fabrication Facility, Kaitlynn J. Martin

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This study examines how alignment between top-down corporate values and bottom-up shop-floor practices influences culture and productivity within metal manufacturing. Using a qualitative case study of a rebar fabrication facility, observations were conducted across two periods to assess how leadership communication, safety culture, and teamwork evolved in response to management changes. The analysis integrates lean Six Sigma principles with organizational culture theory to evaluate how leadership behaviors shape safety adherence, cross-training, and operational performance. Findings reveal that when corporate values, particularly safety and collaboration, are actively modeled by local leadership, they become embedded in daily behavior, leading to improvements in …

Theatre Education At The University Of Montana: Providing Innovative Solutions To A Complex Problem, Natalie Renk

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This paper is part of a larger project that aims to provide solutions to assimilate the University of Montana’s theatre education program with those across the United States by providing budget conscious innovations. The focus of this paper will be the creation of two methods courses: THTR 438: Content for Secondary Theatre Education and THTR 439: Skills for Theatre Education, this paper discussing the former. The latter was designed by my research partner, Ren Shepherd. This course would offer comprehensive coverage of theatre practitioners, both historical and modern theatrical texts, hands on design and budgeting experience, as well as teaching …

“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 …

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 …

Small Mammal Population Dynamics And Torpor Use In A Changing Subnivean Environment, Derik Butts

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite global temperature increases, winter soil surface temperatures in some northern regions might actually be getting colder due to diminishing snowpacks exposing the soil surface to ambient winter conditions. Small mammal species in northern temperate areas often utilize a microclimate beneath the snow, known as the subnivium, to escape harsh winter conditions. Exposure to winter conditions without the subnivium as a buffer could cause small mammals to experience physiological stress and population declines. In this thesis, I explore the impacts of a declining subnivium from two complementary perspectives. In chapter 1, we used a structural equation model (SEM) to test …

Hormonal Decay After Death: Evaluating Dhea-S As A Potential Molecular Marker For Postmortem Estimation, Marisa Lydia Novak

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Post-mortem interval (PMI) estimation is a central component of forensic anthropological investigation, but traditional methods for estimating time since death lose accuracy after ~72 hours. Recent research indicates that some steroid hormones may undergo predictable degradation patterns after death, offering potential use as biochemical clocks for PMI estimation beyond this threshold. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and its sulfate form (DHEA-S) are of particular interest due to their metabolic stability, systemic influence, and association with trauma. This study investigates whether DHEA-S hormonal degradation patterns correlate with time elapsed since death and body temperature, evaluating their potential as biochemical PMI markers. 160 mL of …

Re-Establishing People And Industry: A Study Of The Historical Context Of The Winters Decision (1908) Involving Indian Agent William R. Logan, The Plantiffs In Winters, And Sugar Beet Agriculture On The Fort Belknap Reservation, Montana, 1856-1910, Kellen R. Neighbors

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 1905, Indian Agent William R. Logan filed an injunction to stop upriver irrigators from diverting Milk River water before it reached the Fort Belknap reservation. This culminated in Winters v. U.S. (1908) and became known as the Winters decision, the Winters Doctrine, or Indian Reserved Water Rights. This case is the foundation for Native American water rights cases today. This study explores the historical context of the case, specifically focusing on Fort Belknap Indian Agent William Logan’s role. William Logan was a devout Montana entrepreneur who carried his entrepreneurial spirit into his tenure as Fort Belknap Agent. This fact …

2025-2026 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.

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 …

Record Scratch: The Podcast, Kate Widmer

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

“Record Scratch: The Podcast” is an attempt to gather some of the history of Missoula’s alternative music scene from the 1990s until now, to contribute to documentation of Montana’s art scenes as well as to summarize and finalize my two and a half years of doing music reporting in Missoula. For the podcast, I interviewed four people who are active in Missoula’s music scene. Our discussions range from their youth through to the present day, giving several perspectives on Missoula’s changing music culture, as well as what it means to be a punk in Montana. My guiding reason for this …

Fractured Trust: Montana's Tribes Find Hope During The Chaotic First 100 Days Of Trump's Second Term, 2025, University Of Montana--Missoula. School Of Journalism. Native News Honors Project

Native News Honors Project, 1992-2026

An annual publication that is reported, photographed, edited, and designed by students in the University of Montana’s School of Journalism.

In The Clear: Timber Harvest Informs Elk Summer Nutrition And Resource Selection In A Densely Forested Landscape, Trevor C. Weeks

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As wildlife and habitats face unprecedented challenges in the form of landscape conversion, shifting disturbance regimes, and climate change, it becomes increasingly important for land and wildlife managers to find avenues for collaboration as they seek to maintain habitat to support robust wildlife populations. Timber harvest may provide one such avenue for collaboration. It has been shown to increase the quality and quantity of ungulate nutritional resources by reverting stands to early successional stages. Additionally, timber harvest may allow for a more precise application of such effects, as managers choose where and how to harvest timber. However, the exact effects …

Meant To Burn: Wildfire In The West (2025), University Of Montana--Missoula. School Of Journalism

Byline

Learning to Live -- Behind the Fireline -- Nowhere to Hide -- Empowered to Fight -- Mann Gulch -- A Way of Life

Foraging Opportunists: Encouraging Reconnection With The Land, Madelyne Miller, Sylvia Blodorn, Aine Fannon, Ada Scott, Luke Pruitt

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Contextualizing the history of opportunist and native plant species opens options for land management and reconnection to cultural land practices. By recognizing that opportunist species often spread as a result of relocation for practical usage, we determine that reintroducing these uses can lead to an escalation in harvesting these plants. Uses of opportunist plants are diverse and include food sources, artistic practices, and medicine. Foraging also leads to improved human-land-connectedness as well as a deeper connection to ancestral and cultural traditions, which has been found to improve mental health. Focusing on this method of land management will limit the need …

No Evidence For Warming-Driven Extirpation Of Tallgrass Prairie Plants, Emily D. Horner, Meredith Zettlemoyer

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

More and more species face extinction as our climate warms. Understanding how climate change influences local extinctions may help us comprehend and predict global extinctions. Ultimately, local extinctions stem from declines in vital rates such as survival, growth, and reproduction. One way to examine how warming might have affected local extinctions is to compare responses between locally extinct versus extant (still present) species. In this comparative framework, more negative effects of warming on locally extinct species’ (but not extant species’) vital rates would suggest a role of warming in their local extinction. We also expect that locally extinct species would …

Poor Little Woman And Sybil Of The Rhine: Code Switching In Hildegard Of Bingen’S Writing, Bridgett Meskis

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Hildegard of Bingen (1098- 1179) was a twelfth century German Benedictine abbess, mystic, author, composer, and theologian. Despite the heavily patriarchal and restrictive culture of her day, Hildegard managed to gain autonomy and authority within her community. She benefited from a boom in popularity in the mid-1990s, which saw a broadening of research subjects, including focus on the gender dynamics at play in Hildegard’s life. This scholarship has died down significantly since. Given the breadth and depth of her work, Hildegard of Bingen’s work deserves to be revisited through more recent theoretical lenses that can provide significant insights into her …

Exploring The Impacts Of Secondary/Foreign Language Development On Childhood Development, Malone A. Ingram

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The central topic of my research project explores the positive impacts that early second language acquisition has on childhood development . I examine its effect through the lens of bilingual education in Missoula County Public Schools, identifying possible shortcomings in the language education programs in elementary schools, as well as feasible solutions. I approach this research from two distinct directions: a literature review and original data collection. I will analyse existing studies and information relating to bilingualism and its positive impact on childhood development. This will provide context and support for my interview questions. Next, for my own independent research, …

A Good Neighbor Gone Bad: Exploring U.S. Foreign Policy, Corporate Interests, And The Rise Of Communist Activity In Guatemala And Honduras, 1954, Ava Mae Debourg

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This paper examines the U.S. foreign policy response to the 1954 Honduran General Strike, where nearly 15% of the workforce mobilized against the exploitative practices of the United Fruit Company (UFCO). What began as a labor dispute among dock workers on Honduras’ northern coast quickly escalated into a nationwide protest, drawing support from students, teachers, and artisans against the UFCO and the national oligarchic elite. Using State Department documents, CIA reports, and media coverage from Time and The New York Times, this study analyzes how U.S. officials in Honduras and Washington, D.C. responded to the strike. Despite a history …

Joann: Analyzing The Downfall Of America’S Beloved Crafting Retailer, Savanna Solano

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

No abstract provided.

The Legal Debate: Corner Crossing And Public Land Access, Kaden Leverenz

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Is it legal to cross from one corner of public land to an adjacent corner of public land across checkerboarded landscapes in the American West? This question regarding corner crossing has become one of the most prominent and unresolved issues in public land access. Although federal courts in Iron Bar Holdings v. Cape (2025) confirmed corner crossing, without touching or damaging private land, does not constitute trespass, the legal landscape still remains unsettled. Public land users play a significant role in shaping the direction of this issue, as demonstrated by past public mobilizations against large-scale land sell-offs. Therefore, this paper …

Balancing Timber Harvest And Biodiversity: Impacts Of Selective Logging On Wildlife In The Chiquibul Forest Reserve, Belize, Kilynn Groen

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Selective logging is often promoted as a sustainable forestry practice that maintains biodiversity and ecosystem function, yet its ecological consequences remain under examined, particularly in tropical forests. This study investigates how selective logging affects wildlife communities in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve, Belize. Using remote camera trap data from 22 sites (9 unlogged forest sites and 13 logged (stump) sites), we assessed species richness, trophic structure, and environmental predictors of wildlife abundance. While overall wildlife captures and species richness did not differ significantly between forest and stump habitats, principal component analysis revealed strong community-level separation, with stump habitats supporting distinct species …

Master Of Social Work: Portfolio, Beth Alma Krueger

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

The MSW portfolio comprises a comprehensive professional portfolio developed during the pursuit of a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree. The content reflects academic and field experiences structured around core social work competencies established by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). These competencies include ethical and professional behavior, engagement with diversity and difference, advancement of human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice, practice-informed research, and policy practice.

The document includes personal reflections, case narratives, and analyses demonstrating the integration of theoretical knowledge with practical skills in a variety of settings, including internships and community-based programs. Specific attention is …

Master Of Social Work Portfolio, Derek Thrush

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Duty Of Competence For Attorneys Using Generative Ai, Anna C. Conley

Faculty Law Review Articles

Ethical duties appear poised to be the primary regulatory tool for responsible use of generative AI (“GAI”) by attorneys. This reality necessitates a clear understanding of what the duty of competence requires for attorneys using GAI. Recent state bar and American Bar Association (“ABA”) guidance have coalesced around a foundational concept of informed decision-making, which requires that attorneys have sufficient knowledge about the GAI tool they are using and the specific task at hand to make an informed decision that employing the tool for that task is in the client’s best interests. Competence also requires attorneys avoid automation bias and …

The Utmost Rights And Interests Of The Indians: Tribal Law Interpretations Of The Indian Civil Rights Act, Kekek Jason Stark

Faculty Law Review Articles

It has been more than fifty years since Congress enacted the Indian Civil Right Act (hereinafter “ICRA”) and more than forty years since the United States Supreme Court in Martinez articulated that the tribal courts are the proper forum for the adjudication of ICRA claims. In the decades since, tribal courts have developed a rich body of intertribal common law pertaining to the implementation of the ICRA. This comes after over a century of assimilative policies in which the federal government attempted to eradicate native culture and traditions and subjected Indians to the deprivation of individual rights by federal and …

Social Work Professional Portfolio, Anthony Hoffer

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Master Of Social Work Portfolio: Rooted In Community, Whitney Wb Pratt

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Spiriling Transcendence - The Integration Of Ideas, Ideals & Social Work Practice, Peter J. Donaldson

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Cultivating A Community-Based Food System In Western Montana, Elaina Lamphere

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.