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Past Periphery, Lisa Nicole Jarrett

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Past Periphery examines a contemporary manifestation of the mammy archetype. The common threads between the works presented in the thesis exhibition are erasure, invisibility, and projection. The flattening of a person into icon is the equivalent of the One standing in for the Many. The One embodies surface qualities only and ultimately provides and inadequate summary of the individual or the group. This misrepresentation is the face offered up for public consumption and becomes the foundation for commodity as well as identity. We label, package, sell, and consume this icon as true and correct. But it becomes impossible to define …

Explorations In Leadership Education: The Role Of Leadership Education In Higher Education Outcomes, Douglas G. Mcbroom

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There has been much criticism of academic leadership programs for not adequately preparing leaders. This is the case for all of the major programs: business administration, educational leadership, military science, and public administration. However, these evaluations themselves are limited inasmuch as they are typically concerned with such dimension as students' satisfaction and faculty credentials and performance while organizational outcomes attributable to leadership are ignored. The present research investigates the relationship of institutional outcomes for colleges and universities and the presence or absences of presidents with formal leadership training. The outcomes indicators are those contained in the Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data …

A Comparison Study Of Montana's Intermediate And K-8 Schools With Regard To Student Performance On A Criterion Referenced Test, Incidence Of At-Risk Behaviors, And Perceptions Of Educators From Both Grade Configurations, Robert Jeffrey Watson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Within the last ten years, middle schools have been criticized for focusing too much on social development while ignoring academics. Several large school districts around the country are transforming their middle schools into K-8 schools. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to compare K-8 schools with intermediate schools in the State of Montana. Quantitative research examined the relationship between school grade configuration and student performance on a criterion referenced test. Descriptive analysis examined the relationship between school grade configuration and incidence of at-risk behavior among students. Additional data was collected through 1-1 comparison interviews with educators from both …

Decomposing The Increase In Reported Levels Of Subjective Well-Being In South Africa From 1993 To 1998, Benjamin Fitch-Fleischmann

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Reported levels of household life satisfaction, also referred to as subjective well-being, increased dramatically in South Africa following the end of Apartheid. This study uses household surveys from 1993-1994 and 1998 in South Africa to investigate why. Models of subjective well-being are estimated following previous literature and a Oaxaca decomposition is then applied, which allows subjective well-being and the determinants of subjective well-being to be examined in a new framework. The decomposition determines what portion of the life satisfaction increase in South Africa is due to improvements in living conditions and what portion is due to changes in the way …

Genetic Population Structure And Dispersal Of Two North American Woodpeckers In Ephemeral Habitats, Jennifer Christy Pierson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Disturbance-dependent species regularly colonize ephemeral habitat patches. In this research, I used patterns of genetic variation to estimate the dispersal dynamics of black-backed woodpeckers (Picoides arcticus), a fire specialist, and compared these patterns to hairy woodpeckers (Picoides villosus), a generalist. I then examined how frequent colonization of ephemeral habitat patches versus stable migration among static habitat patches shapes the genetic structure of species.

I examined patterns of genetic variation in mtDNA and microsatellites in both black-backed and hairy woodpeckers to determine large-scale spatial structure. Black-backed woodpeckers have high genetic connectivity across the boreal forest and lower genetic connectivity among sites …

Guidelines For A Pluralist Society: Could Rawls Help With Struggles Over Identity, Blake Benjamin Francis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

According to Kwame Appiah, “the great liberal struggle” since the Enlightenment has concerned whether the state should treat citizens as self-directed individuals or acknowledge them in terms of social identities—ethnicity, culture, religion, or gender. Some thinkers, Appiah among them, have proposed solutions to this struggle and advocate for amending liberalism to include space for the recognition of difference. These “solutions” share at least one thing in common: critiques of John Rawls. However, Rawls seems to have a palatable answer to “the great liberal struggle,” though it seems he would frame it differently. Indeed, he acknowledges “the fact of pluralism,” as …

Injury Rates, Severity Of Injury, And Access To Specialty Health Care Of American Indian High School Athletes In Montana, Drew Anthony Babcock

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Introduction: Athletics are an integral part of American Indian (AI) life and culture. However, with participation there is a risk of receiving an injury. Sustaining an injury can be devastating to AI athletes that live on or near a reservation due to the rural location and disparities in health care. Objective: To determine Montana’s AI high school athletes’ injury rates, severity of injury, the current level of medical supervision, and type of health care they seek/receive. Methods: The procedure for collecting data consisted of sending out surveys to head coaches at 11 high schools that met the inclusion criteria. Analysis: …

On This Piece Of Ground: Landowner Perceptions Of Restoration In The Deer Lodge Valley, Sarah Carvill

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As politicians tout a new �restoration economy� and environmentalists seek more innovative ways to conserve open space and rehabilitate degraded ecosystems, ecological restoration holds increasing cachet in many western states. To what extent do restorationists� visions align with the experiences of the rural agricultural communities where restoration is taking place? How might restoration initiatives driven by state and federal policy and by environmental interests meaningfully involve and include the people who live alongside proposed projects? I attempted to answer these questions by examining local involvement in restoration in one Montana watershed. Facing a major Superfund cleanup with a high-profile restoration …

Scale Dependent Genetic Structure Of Idaho Giant Salamanders (Dicamptodon Aterrimus) In Stream Networks, Lindy Beth Mullen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Stream network structure constrains population processes of freshwater organisms, with individual, population and community level consequences. This consistent structure provides a framework in which examination of life-history influences on population genetic structure may provide general insight. I examined how stream network structure affects gene flow and genetic structure of the facultatively paedomorphic Idaho Giant salamander, Dicamptodon aterrimus in Idaho and Montana, USA. I used microsatellite data to test population structure models by (i) examining hierarchical partitioning of genetic variation in stream networks and (ii) testing for genetic isolation by distance along stream corridors versus overland pathways. Replicated sampling of streams …

State-Wide Assessment Of Status, Predicted Distribution, And Landscape-Level Habitat Suitability Of Amphibians And Reptiles In Montana, Bryce Alan Maxell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Beginning in the late 1980s herpetologists began to realize that amphibians around the world had undergone, and were continuing to undergo, declines, extirpations, and extinctions. In most cases, detections of declines and determinations of the underlying causes has been hampered by a lack of available baseline information on distribution and status. This project was a cooperative effort to address these data deficiencies for amphibians and reptiles in Montana. Watersheds with greater than 30 percent federal or state land ownership were randomly selected for survey in each of 11 geographic strata. Visual encounter and dipnet surveys of all standing water bodies …

A Review Of Appeals And Litigation Over Timber Sales Between 1999 And 2008 On The Lolo National Forest, Matthew Shaffer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A review of litigation and appeals over timber sales on the Lolo National Forest for the years 1999 thru 2008 revealed that of the 157 timber sales that could have been appealed or litigated, 27%, representing 55% of the timber volume in all the reviewed sales, had some form of appeal or litigation.. The categories of timber sales with the highest percentage of appeals and/or litigation in relation to their representation within the population as a whole were those that were performed to improve forest health or to meet stewardship goals. The silvicultural prescription that had the highest percentage of …

A Spatial Analysis Of 24hl1085: A Prehistoric Site In The Bear's Paw Mountains, Jessica Jo Bush

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis is a spatial analysis of 24HL1085 and attempts to discern the use areas of two prehistoric components, Late Archaic and Late Prehistoric, through the identification of spatial patterns created by the excavated lithics, faunal remains, and fire cracked rock (FCR). I also wanted to show that understanding the spatial layout of FCR is just as important as understanding the spatial layout of lithics and faunal remains. In order to complete this analysis the three ring model developed by Stevenson (1985) was adapted and combined with the trend surface analysis created by Hodder and Orton (1976). Theory behind this …

An Examination Of Error In The Application Of Pubic Aging Techniques, Ellery Kate Lungmus

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examined six methods of skeletal age-at-death estimation from the pubic symphysis in order to determine the significance of sex as a contributing source of error to the inaccuracy of each method. These six methods included Todd (1920), McKern-Stewart (1957), Gilbert-McKern (1973), Hanihara-Suzuki (1978), Suchey-Brooks female-specific (Brooks and Suchey 1990), Suchey-Brooks male-specific (Brooks and Suchey 1990), and the Berg female-specific Suchey-Brooks 7th phase addition (2008). Three hundred and ninety-six individuals were randomly selected from the William M. Bass (WMB) Donated Skeletal Collection housed at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and were evaluated without knowledge of actual age for age-at-death …

Worlds Apart: Social Mechanisms Of Contrasting Fertility In European American And Native American Populations On The Northern Plains, Janet Mary Bush

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between fertility and household economy on Montana's Northern Plains. Low fertility and outmigration in European American communities have led to dramatic depopulation of the region. At the same time, isolated Indian reservations in the area have grown in population due to high fertility and return migration.

A mixed methods research approach was used to explore the relationship between fertility and social acceptance of communal household economic strategies. Census data and birth records described differences in fertility and household economy between European American and Native American populations in six Plains Indian …

Thermodynamics And Kinetics Of Iso-1-Cytochrome C Denatured State, Franco Ollan Tzul

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Various diseases result from protein misfolding. Curing these conditions requires understanding the principles governing folding. Efforts toward understanding how proteins fold have focused on the transition state rather than the earliest folding events. We study these initial events using the assumption that protein folding must involve the formation of the most primitive structure possible – a simple loop. Our laboratory has developed a system of studying simple loops in the denatured state using c-type cytochromes. New insights into how the properties of these loops impact the denatured state are outlined in this thesis. First, studies on a 22-residue loop revealed …

Expeditionary Learning, Angie Susag

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

My final creative project began as an effort to be a quality educator who offered a memorable education to my students. I believe that students should be more involved with their education which is where my idea to research expeditionary learning came from. I had to design, plan and execute many activities in order to provide these expeditions. I planned a trip to Europe for the first expedition. This trip took place in the summer of 2008. I brought eight students along with two parents on this adventure. We went to London, Paris, Florence, Assisi, and Rome. This expedition proved …

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Responses To Biochars In Soils - Potential Mechanisms Of Interaction And Observed Responses In Controlled Environments, Daniel Warnock

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The following thesis is a two-part study, investigating the influences of biochar (charcoal) on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). The first part of this study is a critical examination and conceptual overview of the literature regarding biochar and AMF available before July 2007. In the second part, I present three experiments all designed to evaluate the influences of biochar applications on AMF abundance in primarily temperate, neutral pH soils. This course of research was selected through an exstensive review of the literature suggesting that biochar presence can strongly affect both soil microbial populations, including mycorrhizal fungi, and biogeochemistry. As both biochar …

Recreation Allocations On National Forests: The Claims And Frames Of Recreationists, John C. Adams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

While demand for outdoor recreation experiences on national forests is increasing, many existing recreation allocations on national forests are outdated or jeopardize the environment. Accordingly, the U.S. Forest Service is revisiting recreation allocations on many national forests. The Forest Service is not guided by any clear policy regarding the appropriate method or rationale for making allocations between incompatible experience opportunities, or what criteria should be considered in allocating particular trails and areas. Instead individual decisionmakers must make judgments between competing claims advanced by different types of recreationists.

This project was designed to facilitate understanding of the claims that recreationists make …

Changes In Fire Season Precipitation In Idaho And Montana From 1982-2006 , Ann Marie Hadlow

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Abstract. Fire season precipitation trends were investigated using daily rainfall data obtained from seventy-six Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) across Idaho and Montana for the period 1982 to 2006. Missing and erroneous values from each station were corrected with gridded data from the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), creating temporally consistent, comparable records. Monthly precipitation was then analyzed during the core fire season (July-Sept) and biweekly precipitation was analyzed for the start of fire season (June). The end of the season was examined using October precipitation data and through identification of season slowing rain events (SSE). These analyses reveal significant …

Study On Regional Responses Of Pan-Arctic Terrestrial Ecosystems To Recent Climate Variability Using Satellite Remote Sensing, Ke Zhang

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

I applied a satellite remote sensing based production efficiency model (PEM) using an integrated AVHRR and MODIS FPAR/LAI time series with a regionally corrected NCEP/NCAR reanalysis surface meteorology and NASA/GEWEX shortwave solar radiation inputs to assess annual terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP) for the pan-Arctic basin and Alaska from 1983 to 2005. I developed a satellite remote sensing based evapotranspiration (ET) algorithm using GIMMS NDVI with the above meteorology inputs to assess spatial patterns and temporal trends in ET over the pan-Arctic region. I then analyzed associated changes in the regional water balance defined as the difference between precipitation (P) …

The Distribution Of /S/ In Blackfoot: An Optimality Theory Account, Ryan Denzer-King

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this thesis I propose that the distribution of /s/ in Blackfoot can be explained by positing that /s/ is inherently moraic in Blackfoot, and explore this hypothesis via two proposals about moraic /s/. The first is that /s/ in complex onsets, e.g., stsiki, ‘another’, is extrasyllabic, and that a moraic /s/ reduces the markedness of these extrasyllabic segments. The second is that because /s/ is moraic, it can act as a syllable nucleus, which explains why the distribution of geminate /ss/ is more similar to long vowels than to geminate consonants. In Blackfoot, clusters of more than two consonants …

Curriculum Improvement: The Teacher Perspective On Change In The Classroom, Heather C. Davis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study explored the curriculum change experiences of five social studies teachers, from three high schools within one school district located in a western Montana city, integrating an economics curriculum in their eleventh grade U.S. history classrooms for the first time. A review of the related literature on this topic revealed several areas of consideration regarding teachers' curriculum change experiences which guided the data collection and analysis process: commitment, workload, capacity, collaboration, and perception of the teaching profession. This qualitative, within case study was designed to add to the body of quantitative research on curriculum change. Data collection sources include: …

Randomness In Tree Ensemble Methods, Joran Elias

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Tree ensembles have proven to be a popular and powerful tool for predictive modeling tasks. The theory behind several of these methods (e.g. boosting) has received considerable attention. However, other tree ensemble techniques (e.g. bagging, random forests) have attracted limited theoretical treatment. Specifically, it has remained somewhat unclear as to why the simple act of randomizing the tree growing algorithm should lead to such dramatic improvements in performance. It has been suggested that a specific type of tree ensemble acts by forming a locally adaptive distance metric [Lin and Jeon, 2006]. We generalize this claim to include all tree ensembles …

Assessing The Performance Of Sampling Designs For Measuring Abundance Of Understory Plants After Forest Restoration, Ilana Abrahamson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Accurate estimation of the responses of understory plants to natural and anthropogenic disturbance is essential for understanding efficacy and non-target effects of management and restoration activities. However, ability to assess changes in abundance of understory plants that result from disturbance may be hampered by inappropriate sampling methodologies. Conventional methods for sampling understory plants may be robust for common, well-distributed species, but may fail to adequately characterize the abundance of less-common species, which are often the taxa of management concern. I tested conventional and novel approaches to sampling understory plants to determine their efficacy (in terms of number of replicates and …

Mass Spectrometric Characterization And Fluorophore-Assisted Light Inactivation Of Human Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter, Ran Ye

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Glia-expressing excitatory amino acid transporter 2 (EAAT2) mediates the bulk of glutamate re-uptake in the human central nervous system (CNS) and is associated with a variety of neurological disorders. Our understanding of the structure and mechanism of this integral membrane protein is limited. The goal of this study was to use pharmacological, mass spectrometric (MS) and photochemical approaches to probe EAAT2. For MS characterization, a hexahis epitope was incorporated into the N-terminus of human EAAT2. The recombinant protein was functionally expressed in HEK 293T cells and purified through a single-step nickel column. In-gel and in-solution trypsin digestions were conducted on …

Glucocorticoid Physiology And Behavior During Life History Transitions In Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria Immutabilis), Rachel Seabury Sprague

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Organisms have different life history stages where their energetic priorities differ between the goals of growth, survival, and reproduction. Behavioral decisions within stages and in the transition between stages have significant repercussions for future success so the timing of behaviors is extremely important. In this dissertation, I ask: How do intrinsic and extrinsic factors control the timing of behavioral decisions during tradeoffs within life history stages (the tradeoff between reproduction and self maintenance in breeding adults), and transitions between life history stages (the transition to independence in young animals) in a pelagic seabird, the Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis).

First, I …

Ren Leadership: An Interpretive Biography Of Bai Fangli, Jin Zhou

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this qualitative interpretive biographical study was to enhance our understanding of leadership by exploring the life of Bai Fangli through the lens of Confucian virtues. This study followed Denzin's (1989a) qualitative design of interpretive biography by exploring Bai's epiphanies to offer multiple perspectives on the significance of the epiphanies and their impact on Bai's life and his influence as a modern Chinese leader. This study was guided by the central question: What is the essence of the life and leadership of Bai Fangli as explored through the lens of Confucian virtues? In order to answer this study's …

“No Hay Guerra Y No Hay Dinero” There Is No War, And There Is No Money: A Case Study Of The Organic Coffee And Ecotourism Programs Of Uca Miraflor, Nicaragua, Jeffrey Alan Gutierrez

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the face of persisting unequal relations between the global North and South, what strategies can rural Southern peasants use to ensure the protection of their livelihoods and resources? The Union of Agribusiness Cooperatives (UCA) in Miraflor, Nicaragua has developed and implemented organic coffee and ecotourism programs designed to sustain local peoples’ land and the health of the population as well as providing long-term economic diversification. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of these programs in providing actual long-term economic, ecological, and social benefits, as well as regular income, to members involved in the organic coffee and ecotourism programs. Through in-depth …

The Allometry Of Bird Flight Performance, Brandon Edward Jackson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Avian flight performance decreases with body size in birds, but previous work has been unable to define the underlying mechanism. Wingbeat frequency is hypothesized to ultimately constrain flight performance via muscular mechanical power output because frequency decreases with body size. I measured maximal burst take-off and vertical accelerating flight in 32 species of songbirds (Passeriformes), including the entire range of body mass in this clade (5-900 g). Jump forces against the ground were recorded with a forceplate. High-speed digital video captured the movement of morphological landmarks in order to estimate aerodynamic power requirements and dynamic morphology in flight. Surgically implanted …

The Development And Testing Of A Relational Model Of Competence In The Context Of Nature-Based Tourism, Christine Marie Oschell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Communication competence is a framework that has been used in many disciplines to understand communication events and their success or failure in achieving objectives. The model most often used to describe competence is the relational model proposed by Spitzberg & Cupach (1984) which includes three elements: knowledge, knowing what behavior is best suited for a given situation; skill, having the ability to apply that behavior in the given context; and motivation having the desire to communicate in a competent manner. This study used the model of relational competence to understand the communication process between guide and client in a nature-based …