Digital Commons Network^™

Influence Of Livestock And Electrified Fences On Livestock Depredation And Habitat Selection By Grizzly Bears In The Mission Valley, Montana, Kari Lynn Eneas

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Balancing protection between livestock and carnivores has been a long-standing challenge in conservation. When encounters between carnivores and livestock or humans result in conflict or livestock depredation, the safety of both wildlife and humans are at risk. Reducing livestock depredation by grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) will be important as populations continue to recover and expand beyond public lands in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. We used GPS locations from 8 female grizzly bears spanning 5 years in the Mission Valley, Montana, to evaluate the effect of livestock on habitat selection of grizzly bears. The Mission Valley is located on …

Programmatic Desensitization Of The Cough Reflex In Patients With Refractory Chronic Cough, Emma Bozarth Dailey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Aim: The purpose of this blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial was to determine the potential of treating refractory chronic cough (RCC) using a progressive desensitization model paired with behavioral cough suppression.

Methods: Twelve adults with chronic cough who had failed behavioral cough treatment enrolled in and completed the study. Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment (n=8) or placebo group (n=4). The study consisted of three phases. During Phase I, participants completed baseline testing, including cough sensitivity testing with capsaicin, the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ), urge-to-cough-testing, and 24-hour cough frequency testing. During Phase II, participants practiced behavioral cough suppression …

Social Climatology: An Age Comparison Of Women's Sustained Commitment To Collective Action Against Climate Change, Sara A. Humphers-Ginther

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate activists urgently emphasize action to prevent catastrophic and apocalyptic-like damage from climate change. The foundation of the institutional change needed to combat climate change is collective action, which I study here through a collective action frame. These frames can gain traction for policy agendas: they are solution- and action-oriented. I interviewed women climate activists to understand how they frame the problems from, causes of, and solutions to climate change, as well as how they urge others to act against climate change. I compared my informants based on age because beliefs, values, and lived experiences are important in how activists …

Ethical Eating: Overcoming Alienation In The Industrial Food System By Aligning Our Practices With Our Principles, André Kushnir

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis arose out of a moment of discord, while an environmental philosopher was eating blackberries in the middle of a blizzard in Missoula, Montana. What follows is an attempt to bridge the gap between our principles and our practices, by asking the questions: What does ethical eating look like? Is it possible within our current industrial food system? and If not, what needs to change? Responding to the publication of the 2019 EAT-Lancet report, this essay moves beyond thinking of ethical eating as “healthy” and “sustainable” and challenges the networks of suffering and labour that we take for …

Food Policy For A Healthy, Sustainable, And Equitable Local Food System: Recommendations For Missoula, Erika Berglund

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Over the last several decades, food policy councils (FPCs) have led the effort to place food on local government policy agendas. While FPCs continue to make progress in supporting local food systems, they also face institutional and organizational challenges. In recent years, a handful of cities and counties have endeavored to further food system reform with the establishment of full-time food policy staff positions. Currently, there are 19 confirmed food policy positions housed in local governments across the U.S. While there is considerable literature on FPCs, little research has been published regarding governmental food policy staff positions. This study uses …

An Exploration Of Zero Waste Policies And Recommendations For Missoula, Sarah Blyth Lundquist

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

“Zero Waste” is a concept and community goal that has arisen to challenge the current consumerist economic system and offer solutions for a number of environmental issues. In adopting this goal, individuals and communities pledge to reduce and divert at least 90% of their waste in a certain number of years. These goals can be reached by employing policies, programs, and other intervention tactics which establish Zero Waste infrastructure, ensure equitable and widespread access to Zero Waste services, and provide educational outreach and resources to the community. Missoula adopted a Zero Waste goal in 2016 and created a Zero Waste …

Belonging For Dementia Caregivers, Sabrina Singh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Wilderness Recreation Trends And Impacts: A Case Study Of The Sawtooth Wilderness, Chelsea E. Phillippe

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of The Watershed Education Network's Fish Week Program, Rennie Ann Winkelman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Watershed Education Network (WEN) is a nonprofit environmental education program that aims to foster knowledge, appreciation, and awareness of watershed health through water-based education programs and field science experiences. Their Fish Week program for 7^th graders at Washington Middle School has an overarching theme of watershed and ecosystem health and includes an introduction to aquatic invertebrates, native fish, fish habitats, bugs and dry fly comparison, and an introduction to fly fishing. This is a formative, outcome-based evaluation of the Fish Week program. I used pre and post program survey data from 2017 and 2018 as well as survey …

Nerve Endings, Danielle Nicole Cooney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

P O E T R Y

Hear Me Roar, Abigail R. Seethoff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Hear Me Roar, a compilation of personal essays interspersed with short forms, grapples with the nuances of compliance versus autonomy in the context of the male gaze, beauty standards, and pop culture. The collection also explores what it means to treasure something—another person, an object—and how to express and deepen that affection.

Leadership In Higher Education And The Impact On Faculty Satisfaction And Retention, Theresa A. Petersen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Leadership In Higher Education And The Impact On Faculty Satisfaction And Retention, Theresa Petersen, Frances O'Reilly

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Synchrony: An Aspect Of The Abilities Of Steppe Horse Archers In Eurasian Warfare (525 Bce – 1350 Ce), Chris Hanson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Animals moving in unison as a group are quite intriguing to observe. Horses can run across terrain and change directions without jostling each other. They appear to move as if they know how to avoid crashing into others and run fluidly through their environment. This ability to maneuver without hindering herd is called synchrony and also extends to other animals including fish in schools and birds in flocks. Humans, on the other hand, need to create orderly formations in battle to move without interfering with adjacent warriors. For example, the Romans, Greeks, Persians, Chinese, and Byzantines trained their infantry and …

Public Satisfaction With Forest Management In Western Montana: An Evaluation Of Trust And Public Engagement, Haley R. Hodge

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Trust is an integral component of the public engagement process involving land management agencies and local stakeholders. Traditional methods of public engagement, such as public meetings and comment periods, often result in low public satisfaction with the participation process and management outcomes. Two components of public engagement, process control and decision control, are critical for successful engagement processes and satisfaction with management decisions. Process control requires providing opportunities for public input, whereas decision control involves the public perceiving influence over management decisions. While recent studies have examined the relationships among process control, decision control, and public satisfaction, trust in a …

Assessing The Effectiveness Of An Electronic Environmental Education Curriculum With Applied Use Of Trail Camera Photographs, Lucas Martin Coccoli

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Place-based conservation education programs are continuously adapting to ever evolving technological advancements to remain effective and connected to K-12 schools and students. One response to this challenge was an inquiry based, learner centered pedagogy which teaches science-based concepts via real life images captured on trail cameras.

This paper will describe the benefits of a distance learning program which teaches students about wildlife science using trail camera photos and associated lessons. In a time when students are more disconnected from the outdoors than ever. The use of trail cameras, based on these experiences, has the potential to reconnect students to the …

School Counselor Self-Advocacy And Trait Emotional Intelligence As Predictors Of Professional Quality Of Life In School Counselors, Kindle Dawn Lewis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

School counselors are integral to the holistic success of students and are needed now more than ever as high rates of youth mental health issues, traumatic events at schools and global crises have become part of every school year. Unfortunately, as with most helping professions, many school counselors are struggling with maintaining a healthy professional quality of life due to chronic stress work environments. School counselors who have higher levels of compassion fatigue (burnout and secondary traumatic stress) and lower levels of compassion satisfaction are more likely to have decreased quality of care for students, decreased self-efficacy, decreased overall wellbeing …

Measuring Development Across The Rural Urban Continuum In The United States Northern Rocky Mountain Region, Morgan E. Anderson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In recent years, the U.S. Northern Rocky Mountain Region has undergone a broad shift in landscape resulting in previously working agricultural, forestry, or other natural resource-based lands transitioning into residential and commercial development. Sprawl, exurban development, loss of crop and forest land have been identified as development concerns in the region. The region is unique because it is generally comprised of smaller metropolitan and micropolitan centers and highly dispersed rural towns making haphazard development issues a concern across the rural‑urban continuum. To identify and describe shifts in development patterns from 2001 to 2016, structural landscape metrics were used to measure …

Buffalo Renaissance: The Northern Plains Tribes' Path To Self-Determination, Elizabeth Louise Johns

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This long-form journalistic story and photo essay is about the Blackfoot Tribes in the United States and Canada and their efforts to restore bison to their land, their diet, and their culture. In 2014, ten tribes from the United States and Canada came together at Blackfeet Nation in Browning, Montana to sign the Buffalo Treaty, a commitment to bringing wild buffalo back to parts of their historical range. The Treaty signing marked the first time in more than 150 years that a diverse group of tribes, some historical enemies, came together in the name of restoring the animal they evolved …

Addressing Long-Standing Water Contamination Issues In Diné Communities Using Indigenous And Western Scientific Approaches, Ranalda Lynette Tsosie

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The intent of this study was multifaceted and based on a research framework that incorporated the Diné worldview and Diné Science. Diné Science describes a holistic approach to conducting scientific research. It encompasses Diné foundational concepts and philosophies and applies them to the scientific method and western scientific approaches. The four major philosophies, Nitsáhákees (Thinking), Nahat’á (Planning), Iiná (Implementing/Living) and Siih Hasin (Reflection/Assurance), were applied to this research process.

The main motivation is first and foremost to improve the quality of life of the Diné people especially those living in close proximity to abandoned mines and who are continuing to …

An Exploration: How Voluntourism Conservation Projects Coordinate With And Contribute To Conservation Efforts In Madre De Dios, Peru, Alejandrina R. Ocanas

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Mirroring trends in international tourism, alternative tourism, and ecotourism, the voluntourism industry has grown, developed and diversified significantly since 2005. Scientific attention to voluntourism has grown, too, focusing mainly on participant motivations and outcomes. However, explicit research on the outcomes and impacts voluntourism projects generate for their host communities and environments is sparse. As voluntourism becomes increasingly frequent, it is critical to design and implement projects that maximize potential for positive impacts and minimize negative impacts. This study reaches toward that goal by investigating (1) the operational characteristics of voluntourism conservation projects in Madre de Dios, Peru, a global conservation …

Negative Allosteric Modulation Of Nmda Receptors With Glun2a Gain-Of-Function Mutations, Jill Christine Farnsworth

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are calcium permeable, glutamate-gated ion channels that mediate many forms of synaptic plasticity in the central nervous system. Due to their pivotal role in regulating synaptic plasticity, a canonical correlate of the molecular and cellular basis for learning and memory, they are implicated in the pathophysiology of various neurological disorders. Recently, advances in genome sequencing has identified the NMDA receptor to be intolerant to genetic variation, as variation often leads to disease. For example, mutations in the GluN2A subunit of the NMDA receptor are implicated in the etiology of severe epilepsy-aphasia spectrum disorders. Here we selected …

Disentangling The Relations Between Acute Stress, Chronic Stress, And Prospective Memory, Brandon Taylor Stewart

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Given the importance and prevalence of Prospective Memory (PM) in daily life and the common experience of stress, it is critical to understand the relations between them. Despite a growing literature base, the answers to some of the simplest questions about these relations remain unanswered. The present study was designed to investigate the relations between both acute and chronic stress and time- and event-based PM. Several methodological features make this study unique and may contribute to a broadening of our understanding of PM in daily life. The results of the present study revealed that chronic stress was negatively correlated with …

Native American Conservation Corps Programs: Cultural Heritage As An Approach To Community Well-Being, Michaelle Anne Machuca

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis features a case study and research survey to expand awareness of the ways in which Native American communities use and are impacted by culturally specific, relevant, and useful qualities of cultural heritage and cultural resource management (CRM). The case study and survey are framed by theoretical backdrops that include colonialism, post colonialism, and decolonization. Using the Southwest Conservation Corps Ancestral Lands (SCC AL) Program as the subject of this case study, this thesis addresses whether and how participants in the SCC AL Program observed the program’s potential to generate societal benefits that positively influence and/or contribute to individual …

Developmental, Ecological, And Life History Influences On Predator-Induced Plasticity In Songbirds, James Christopher Mouton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Predation is a ubiquitous ecological force that plays a major role in the evolution of phenotypes. Where the predation risk is predictable and variable, prey species are expected to evolve plasticity in traits that reduce the likelihood of being killed and eaten by predators. Such plasticity may be especially critical for the survival of dependent offspring because they are particularly vulnerable to predators and suffer high levels of predation across taxa. Yet the fitness effects of predator-induced plasticity can vary across life stages, differ between parents and offspring, or be mediated by interactions with other species in the community. The …

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. …

Mindfulness Training For Pre-Service Teachers Using Ecological Momentary Assessment, Emily A. Hattouni

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There is a high-rate of burnout among teachers around the US often linked with the increasing stressors and demands (e.g., Iancu, Rusu, Măroiu, Păcurar, & Maricuțoiu, 2018). Additionally, Jennings and Greenberg (2009) demonstrated the importance of teachers’ social and emotional competence for promoting well-being and academic success in classrooms. Stress that is overwhelming or unaddressed can lead to teacher burnout, but there may be effective ways of promoting self-care among teachers, such as mindfulness-based practices. The current project included psychoeducation on the applications of mindfulness for teachers and repeated collections of self-report questionnaires to investigate the utility of mindfulness-training for …

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 …

Patterns Of Wildfire Risk In The United States From Systematic Operational Risk Assessments – How Risk Is Characterized By Land Managers, Erin Kathleen Noonan-Wright

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Since the turn of the 21st century, the complexity and costs of wildfires have increased substantially. There is a need to evaluate entrenched fire management practices that encourage status quo decision making to suppress fires. Data stored in mandated reporting systems collected during wildfires may provide a perspective on fire management decision-making needed to change wildfire governance structures. The Relative Risk Assessment (RRA) resides within a federally mandated workflow process necessary for all longer duration federal wildfires since 2010. Land managers rate hazard, probability and values at risk as high, moderate or low throughout the course of an incident 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 …