Digital Commons Network^™

Irrigators' Vulnerability To Drought In The Flathead River Basin, Montana, Joel Brown Stephen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Irrigation has traditionally been used to buffer the effects of drought in agricultural communities. However, drought events can still lead to drought damage for irrigators by reducing irrigation water supplies, increasing crop water demand, and creating habitats for invasive pests and weeds. Further, drought will be increasingly problematic in irrigated areas as climate change continues to affect global climates and water resources. The Flathead River basin contains substantial areas of irrigated agriculture including the 128,000 acre Flathead Irrigation Project (FIP). The FIP is the largest irrigation project in Montana as well as the largest of the 16 Bureau of Indian …

Catechin, A Novel Root Exudate Of Centaurea Stoebe, Exhibits Pleiotropic Effects On The Soil Microbial Community And Individual Soil Isolates, And Undergoes Chemical Changes With Numerous Abiotic Factors From Soil, Jarrod Leroy Pollock

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Allelopathy has been studied for (±)-catechin, a root exudate of spotted knapweed, as a plausible mechanism that facilitates knapweed invasion in North America. Phytotoxic effects are observed in invaded fields as well as greenhouse experiments when employing catechin or growing spotted knapweed, demonstrating similar effects on native plant species. However, many studies ignore the impact of catechin on microbial populations in soil. Understanding the impact of catechin on microbial processes will greatly aid our understanding of how spotted knapweed invasion can alter soil chemistry and biological processes. Chapter 2 will address the impact of soil and media parameters on catechin …

The Effects Of Brief Psychoeducation On Adolescents' Depressive Symptoms And Perceptions Of Parenting, Mallory Mcbride

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Adolescent depression is a mental health disorder that occurs during the teenage years and involves chronic and persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest in usual activities, as well as a broad range of additional physical and emotional symptoms. These maladaptive symptoms have repercussions across all areas of adolescents' functioning. One area that is affected when an adolescent is depressed is how the adolescent perceives his/her world, experiences, and situations. Research demonstrates that depressed adolescents are likely to perceive a wide variety of events and situations in overly negative ways, including their parents' parental styles and behaviors. One avenue …

The Faithful Skeptics: Conservative Christian Religious Beliefs And Perceptions Of Climate Change, Wylie Allen Carr

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Global climate change presents one of the most challenging ecological and social problems facing the world today. In order to prevent potentially harmful ecological and social impacts from rising global average temperatures, Americans will need to drastically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; our willingness to do so though is questionable as opinion poll data suggests that addressing climate change remains an extremely low priority for most Americans. Social scientists from across a variety of disciplines have suggested a number of reasons why this may be case; however very few have focused on the ways that religious beliefs are …

Are Black Bears Declining In Montana? Inference From Multiple Data Sources In The Face Of Uncertainty, Julie Ann Beston

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Carnivores are managed both to maintain populations and reduce conflict with humans, but data-based decision-making is difficult due to the expense of data collection. When new fieldwork is impossible, we can benefit from available data in assessing populations. I used demographic and harvest data to assess the population status of black bears (Ursus americanus) in Montana.

I conducted a hierarchical Bayesian meta-analysis of black bear demographic studies to evaluate geographic structuring and estimate vital rates and population growth rate. Adult survival is higher in the west than the east, but the reverse is true for fecundity. The mean …

Accessibility, Affordability, And Flexibility: The Relationship Of Selected State Sociopolitical Factors And The Participation Of Adults In Public Two-Year Colleges, Joe Schaffer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This non-experimental, quantitative study examined the extent selected state sociopolitical factors relate to adult participation in public two-year colleges, and assessed how Montana compares to those states enrolling the most adult students. Utilizing archived data from the National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, and the National Association of State Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) annual survey, a cross-sectional sampling for the United States from 2003, 2005, and 2007 was analyzed to examine how eight sociopolitical factors (independent variables) influenced adult participation (dependent variable) in public two-year colleges. …

Mathematical And Computational Applications In Disease And Landscape Ecology, Erin Landguth

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Individualized Interdisciplinary Program (IIP) at the University of Montana allows students to work with faculty in the design of a graduate curriculum tailored to their unique academic, creative, and professional needs. The principal goal of the National Science Foundation's IGERT: Montana - Ecology of Infectious Diseases (MEID) program is to produce graduates with expertise to lead the collaborative, cross-, and inter-disciplinary efforts in education and research needed to address complex problems as exemplified by the ecology of endemic, epidemic, and emergent infectious diseases. Under the envelope of these two programs, I have developed a Ph.D. program in which I …

Developing Trust And Managing Differences In Perception: Building Relationships Between The Missoula Police Department And Local News Media, Melissa Jensen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Finding the right balance in the relationships that develop between law enforcement officers and members of the media can be difficult for both sides. Police officers who work with the media are trying to navigate through the process of informing the public of crime activity, while protecting those involved in the cases being reported on by the media. Reporters on the other hand are trying to navigate their way through the sometimes unclear process of gathering criminal justice information to report crime stories to the public, while learning the proper procedures for working with law enforcement.

Bending Gen(Re)Der: A Negotiation Of Identity Through Language In Helene Cixous And The Self, Marley Mckenna

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Bending Gen(re)der: The Negotiation of Identity through Language in Hélène Cixous and the Self analyses the French author Hélène Cixous and her most recently published book, Love Itself in the Letterbox. The book cannot be said to fit into a specific genre but moves through a series of musings surrounding her personal history with France, New York, authors she has been influenced by, her relationship with mother, and most often the contemplation of her lover. Cixous’ use of ecriture feminine (women’s writing) layers the writing to create a playful, confusing, incongruent body of work in an attempt to subvert the …

The Meaning Of Pain In Cormac Mccarthy's Border Trilogy, Glenn Alton Jackson (Iii)

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

While the majority of McCarthy’s work graphically depicts brutal violence, it often avoids portrayals of subjective pain. Although his first four novels incorporate descriptions of subjective pain at crucial points in the narrative, in the Border Trilogy, McCarthy overtly elucidates the myriad ways we make meaning from pain. An analysis of the depictions of subjective pain in the Border Trilogy, this paper suggests, can aid in a more complete understanding of McCarthy’s entire oeuvre. This study approaches the problem of pain in McCarthy’s work from a perspective that joins medical science and the humanities to show how this nearly universal …

Sabotage! And Other Stories, Gregory Elliott Luther

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This is a collection of short stories written from 2008-2010.

The Skinny On Weight Watchers: A Critical Analysis Of Weight Watcher's Use Of Metaphors, Ashlynn Laura Reynolds-Dyk

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Founded in 1961, with 1.5 million people from around the world attending meetings every week today, Weight Watchers has become a socially and economically significant weight loss organization with the potential to affect the lives of many people. With that in mind, this study describes and analyzes the rhetorical strategies of Weight Watchers. More specifically, this study depicts the metaphors used by Weight Watchers to describe its 2009 program, the Momentum Program. Which metaphors are used, how those metaphors function to create a reality for dieters, how those metaphors produce and filter meaning, and the actions those metaphors encourage and …

Stewardship In West African Vodun: A Case Study Of Ouidah, Benin, Hayden Thomas Janssen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Indigenous, animistic religions inherently convey a close relationship and stewardship for the environment. This stewardship is very apparent in the region of southern Benin, Africa. The Fon peoples of this region practice a traditional religion termed Vodun, which manifested from the 17th century slave trade, and subsequently migrated to the Caribbean and Americas where it transmuted into Voodoo, among other religions. The migration of pre-colonial religious canon to the Western Hemisphere has garnered ample study; however, the pioneering religion, Vodun, has received far less scholastic attention, despite Benin’s recognition of Vodun as a national religion. In this thesis, I contend …

The Biogeography Of Ageratina Adenophora: A Mexican Trans-Global Invader, Heather Marie Evans

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Evans, Heather, Master of Science, May 2010 The Biogeography of Ageratina adenophora: A Mexican Trans-Global Invader Co-Chairman: Dr. Jeffrey Gritzner Co-Chairman: Dr. Ragan Callaway Invasive plants are a global problem often resulting in negative impacts upon populations of native plants and the environments in which they grow. Invasive plants inhibit native species and take over areas where they have been introduced. These invasive species create ecological problems for wildlife foraging, as they often transform the vegetation of native habitats resulting in conditions unsuitable for grazing. In addition, invasive plant species pose problems for humans in the areas of health, economics, …

The Discipline Of Identity: Examining The Challenges Of Developing Interdisciplinary Identities Within The Science Disciplines, Nicholas Richard Burk

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Conducting scientific research that integrates multiple disciplines is an increasingly important, and yet challenging endeavor. This study employs the construct of identity to characterize and examine the obstacles to successful interdisciplinary work. It is argued that identity provides a useful lens into the process of scientific investigation, because as a construct, it has been shown to influence the way one sees oneself, others, and the practice of “good science.” It is therefore assumed that scientists’ identities may be an under-examined, mitigating factor in whether they develop an interest and aptitude for interdisciplinary collaboration. This study qualitatively examines 20 postgraduate students …

Recommendations For Instream Flow Rights On National Forest Lands In Montana, Andrew Marias Fischer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A unique opportunity exists to create instream water rights on national forest lands in Montana as a result of the US Forest Service Reserved Water Rights Compact between the US Forest Service (USFS) and the state of Montana, which went into law in 2007. Instream water rights on national forest lands are important because they have the potential to protect streamflows that support many vital ecosystem functions in our forests from water development pressures. Montana Trout Unlimited has an interest in advancing and accelerating this effort by providing stream recommendations to the USFS for the establishment of future water rights. …

Scale And Source Of Geospatial Data For Wildfire Risk Assessments: Comparing National Data With Local Data In The Deschutes National Forest, Julie Marie Gilbertson-Day

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Widespread use of geospatial data in environmental decision-making tools such as wildfire risk models has called attention to questions of availability, quality, and currency of input data layers. As wildfires are modeled with growing confidence and knowledge of how resources respond to fire is increasing, challenges must be addressed before geospatial data are acquired and used to represent resources of high value in wildfire risk assessments. Researchers at the Rocky Mountain Research Station and the Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Center of the USDA Forest Service employ a framework for assessing wildfire risk to a range of human and ecological …

You Got The Job, Now What?: An Evaluation Of The New Employee Orientation Program At The University Of Montana, Shiloh M. A. Sullivan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

When new members begin their employment with an organization, they make a transition from being an outsider to an insider. A significant moment arranged by the organization to facilitate socialization is the New Employee Orientation (NEO). This evaluation examines NEO in relation to the encounter stage of the socialization process. Focusing on what and how information is provided during the NEO program at the University of Montana (UM), this evaluation is based on research of the informational components of Klein and Weaver (2000) and the socialization tactics from Van Maanen and Schein (1979). General conclusions regarding NEO and socialization as …

What Is Orientation In Reality? A Philosophical Exploration Of Technology, Placement, Enchantment And Wonder, Patrick Maurice Burke

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis gives an account of the ontological basis of the profound sense of disorientation in contemporary society and attempts to discover through a phenomenological account of orienting experience that which holds the possibility of authentic orientation in reality. Martin Heidegger’s understanding of “being-in-the-world,” the “there” of Dasein, and the epochal revealing of reality as resources in modern technological society is the philosophical backdrop for the thesis. This philosophical foundation is elaborated upon by showing that the challenging-revealing of the real as resources within the “framework” of technology results in the ontological “dis-traction” of reality. This dis-traction pulls apart the …

“The Season Of Famine” As A Challenge To Food Security In Northern Rural Togo: Addressing Seasonal Hunger Through Household Coping Strategies, Jennifer Gorsegner

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Improved understanding about food security has led researchers to develop increasingly holistic approaches to studying the effects of household food insecurity. This research, based in the remote prefecture of Dankpen in Togo, West Africa, presents insights into the lives of rural subsistence farmers, the role of population pressures, and the effectiveness of both international and national development work. Originally I wanted to identify positive deviants who were food secure living in the Dankpen prefecture. I conducted group interviews in five villages surrounding the prefectural capital, Guérin-Kouka in December 2009 and January 2010. There was combined total of 61 men and …

Assessing Effects Of An Overwinter Dewatering On The Egg-To-Fry Survival Of Brown Trout In A Montana Stream, Christa Lyn Torrens

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Natural instream flow regimes are necessary for the ecological health of streams, including the maintenance of healthy fish populations. Economic interests such as agriculture, mining, and other industries remove water from streams, which can negatively affect fish populations. Wintertime diversions of water affect autumn-spawning salmonids such as brown trout and bull trout; they occur at the critical egg-to-fry development phase, possibly reducing oxygen flow to the eggs and increasing the rate of sub-gravel freezing. This study was designed to examine the effects of a wintertime industrial water diversion on redd building and egg-to-fry survival of wild brown trout in Warm …

Assessing Macroinvertebrate Community Recovery In Post Restoration Silver Bow Creek, Montana, Sean Patrick Sullivan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Since the turn of the twentieth century, mining activities have contaminated the floodplain and streambed of Silver Bow Creek, Montana, resulting in a streambed devoid of life and severely contaminated with heavy metals. In the mid nineteen seventies, up-stream water treatment facilities were upgraded and water quality improved, bringing benthic invertebrates back to reaches of Silver Bow Creek. The extent and concentration of toxicants in and around the streams of the Upper Clark Fork River Basin resulted in the designation of over 100 miles of river as Federal Superfund sites. Since 1999 reclamation and restoration efforts have been implemented on …

A Comparative Financial Analysis Of Fast Pyrolysis Plants In Southwest Oregon, Colin Brink Sorenson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There are millions of acres of forestland in the Western United States that could benefit from fuel reduction treatments to improve forest health and reduce wildfire fuels. These treatments generate forest residues that are typically piled and burned. However, with increasing concerns about energy security, high oil prices, air quality from pile burning and climate change, there is great interest in examining ways to economically use these residues as a renewable energy source. Pyrolysis of forest biomass is one method that shows promise, though the financial feasibility of doing so has not been previously investigated. This study presents the expected …

Evaluating Population Estimates Of Mountain Goats Based On Citizen Science, Jami J. Belt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Citizen science programs that use trained volunteers may be a cost-effective method for monitoring wildlife at large spatial and temporal scales. However, few studies have compared inferences made from data collected by volunteers to professionally collected data. In Glacier National Park (GNP), Montana, I assessed whether citizen science is a useful method to monitor mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) populations. I compared estimates of mountain goat abundance by volunteers at 32 sites throughout GNP to estimates by biologists and raw counts from aerial surveys at a subset of 25 and 11 sites, respectively. I used multiple observer surveys to calibrate the …

Masculine Domesticity In The Mining West: An Archaeological Investigation At Coloma Ghost Town, Margaret Anne Thurlo

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The recovery of a scorifier, or roasting dish, at Feature 131 in Coloma, Montana led to the theory that the feature represented an assayer’s household. Historical documentation, in the form of a personal diary, revealed that the assayer at Coloma, Chester Pray, shared a cabin with another man. This revelation led to a particular question: what would the material record of an all-male household look like? The majority of previous engendered investigations into 19th century households focused on the role of women. Gender is often equated with women in historical and archaeological studies, and it became necessary to integrate literature …

Discourse, Identity, And Culture In Diverse Organizations: A Study Of The Muslim Students Association (University Of Montana), Burhanuddin Bin Omar

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examined the relationship between discourse, identity and culture within the diverse membership of the Muslim Students Association, University of Montana. Previous organizational identity research has discussed how identity is fluid, how identity regulation occurs between the organization and membership, and that identity is formed through discourses. Additionally, the literature also shows us how these identity influencing discourses are themselves influenced by culture. This study expands the literature through an exploration of the identity formation of organizational members who share Islam as a religion within a culturally diverse MSA. This study utilizes a poststructuralist lens to explore the discursive …

The Last Standing Bear: A Documentary Film On The Life And Work Of Charles Jonkel, Shannon Kelly Donahue

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Last Standing Bear: The life and work of Charles Jonkel is a documentary film about Dr. Charles Jonkel, a pioneer of polar bear biology, and his contributions to science, conservation and community. Jonkel was among the first scientists to capture and handle black bears and polar bears, was instrumental in developing international conservation and management strategies for polar bears, and has influenced generations of biologists, conservationists, activists, and students through his scientific research, teaching, advocacy, and character. The Last Standing Bear attempts to interpret Jonkel’s contribution to science, conservation, and community. Using direct cinema, the film examines Jonkel’s life …

Bio/Organic Compound Detection Using Sodium Sulfate Minerals: Implications In The Search For Life On Mars And Europa, Charles Doc Richardson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

With the discovery of Na-sulfate minerals (thenardite, mirabilite) on Mars and Europa, recent studies using these minerals have focused on their ability to assist in the detection of biosignatures. On Earth, biotic and biotic processes can assist in the formation and deposition of these minerals. A primary objective of these studies is the detection of bio/organic compounds that may be associated with the mineral. These biosignatures would imply biological involvement during mineral formation. The following research presents a series of natural and synthetic investigations to determine if biological activity is associated with Na-sulfate mineralization, and if these minerals can assist …

The Discipline Of Happiness, Courtney Leigh Christopher

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A deeply personal Journey, “The Discipline of Happiness” blends fundamental philosophy with the power of visual art. In a 42‐year quest for purpose certain theories have been tried, championed, discredited, and discarded. The distillation of these ideas into my current theory provides, more saliently than the theory itself, a venue for discussion of the creative process. My creativity often manifests itself in visual terms. Through the medium of an extended artist statement I reflect on the virtues of thinking in both a linguistic and spatial manner. Orchestrating the dual modes of inquiry, semantic and visual, into a single narrative highlights …

Quitting Versus Not Quitting: The Process And Development Of An Assimilation Program Within Opportunity Resources, Inc., Amanda N. Stovall

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

To assist Opportunity Resources, Inc. (ORI) in lowering its turnover rate, an assimilation program was designed to be implemented within the ogranization to enhance communication difficulties and training deficiencies. Information was collected from 17 current and former employees (management and staff) of Missoula, MT's ORI. Based from the results, a Job Rotation Position (JRP) Assimilation Program was developed and tailored using Myers and Oetzel's (2003) interactive assimilation model.