Digital Commons Network^™

Raising Grain In Next Year Country: Dryland Farming, Drought, And Adaptation In The Golden Triangle, Montana, Caroline M. Stephens

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate change has already and will likely continue to impact agriculture in the Western United States, threatening water supplies for both irrigated and rainfed agriculture (Calzadilla et al. 2010; Chambers and Pellant 2008; MacDonald et al. 2010; Pedersen et al. 2009). In the Golden Triangle, a region in north central Montana, known for its dryland grain production, the same is true. There is a need for in-depth, fine-grained, place-based, and qualitative research about the process of climate change adaptation in agriculture (Miller et al. 2013). Drought challenges farmers in the Triangle, which is semiarid and receives 10-15 inches of annual …

A Gis Assessment Of Ecoregion Representation In Chile's Existing And Proposed Integrated Network Of Protected Areas, Jessica Schutz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Chile's state designated protected areas are reported to show representation bias and to be unable to meet conservation goals. Private protected areas are considered an important tool to resolve these issues, which has led to support for increasing the role of private protected areas in Chile and creating an integrated public-private protected area network. But the validity of the capacity of private protected areas to fix Chile's state protected area network bias, and the advantage of creating an integrated protected area network, have not been assessed. This study uses the most recent data on Chile's state, private, and international protected …

A Public Revolt Against Spitting: Education And Politics In The Progressive Era, Patrick J. O'Connor

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Socioeconomic Influences On Health Care Seeking Behavior In Humla, Nepal, Hannah Kuehl

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Mobile medical camps (MMCs) are common in Nepal, as well as other parts of the world. MMCs in Nepal provide health care resources that are not available through the government health system, due to Nepal’s weak health infrastructure. Although MMCs are problematic for a variety of reasons, they continue to play a role in health care delivery in remote settings the world over. Despite the fact that MMCs are increasingly common in many countries around the world, their patient populations and their health outcomes are poorly understood. This thesis is an analysis of socioeconomic influences within a select group of …

More Is The Same, Tyler Reeves Nansen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Nansen, Tyler, M.F.A. Spring 2015

More Is The Same

Chairperson: Associate Professor Trey Hill

More is the Same is the result of my examination of the perception of space in relation to architecture and landscape. By embracing modern concepts of the grid, formalism and design, this compilation of personal experiences and memories, manifests as post-minimal sculptures. However, when considering the hierarchy of importance in my work this involves pure visual perception over any specific narrative. The final product is an exhibition which elicits a perceptual experience for its viewer.

My work is about space and the creation of visual interactions, …

Economic And Policy Factors Driving The Adoption Of Institutional Woody Biomass Heating Systems In The United States, Jesse D. Young

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

New biomass combustion technologies and adequate biomass supplies have empowered the United States (U.S.) to look beyond satisfying heating needs with traditional fossil-based fuels, but biomass heating is often overlooked by many commercial and institutional entities. This study uses county level Zero Inflated Negative Binomial (ZINB) cross sectional regression analyses to identify economic factors that are favorable to the adoption of decentralized woody biomass heating systems by institutions in the U.S. In addition, biomass policy efficacy with respect to decentralized biomass heating systems is analyzed and regression results are used to develop an expansion map that highlights counties in the …

Unearthing Connections In A Storied Landscape: The Flathead River Honoring And Place-Based Education In The Flathead Valley, Melissa Wardlow

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Avalanche Mitigation Planning For Developed Areas In The Rocky Mountain’S Of Colorado, Daniel Kozel

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Population Differentiation And Habitat Selection Of A Montane Red Fox Population In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Patrick Cross

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Montane red fox (Vulpes vulpes) populations across the western United States are genetically and morphologically distinct from foxes at lower elevations. These montane populations also share a preference for subalpine forest habitats. One hypothesis is that they stem from boreal forest-associated ancestors that expanded during the Pleistocene when boreal forests extended farther south than they do today. Forest habitat selection may therefore aid the persistence of native populations surrounded by non-native conspecifics. Alternatively, this behavior may be an avoidance mechanism in response to competition with larger coyotes (Canis latrans), or a product of the fox's natural adaptability. The red fox …

"Art Should Comfort The Disturbed And Disturb The Comfortable:" Examining Twenty-First Century Aesthetics Through Banksy's Socially Engaged Art, Margaret Henry

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Taking Viktor Shklovsky’s notion of defamiliarization as its starting point, this paper considers two twenty-first century aesthetic shifts resulting from the conditions of post-Fordist capitalism: the appearance of socially engaged art practices as delineated by Nato Thompson in Living as Form and the prevalence of what Sianne Ngai refers to as “minor aesthetic categories” within those practices. This project explores the political efficacy and theoretical possibilities of socially engaged art practices--practices which necessarily utilize minor aesthetic categories due to their ubiquity--through close examination of the graffiti artist Banksy’s exhibit, Better Out Than In. Graffiti is associated with the destruction of …

Stewardship Contracting: Implementation Of An Innovative Resource Management Tool By Units Of The U.S. Forest Service, Cassandra J. Hemphill

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The U.S. Forest Service has an urgent need to restore forests to healthy conditions. To meet this need, in 2003 Congress authorized the agency to use the innovative stewardship contracting tool. However, eight years after authorization, implementation had not reached the expected or desired levels. This prompted this study, which asked ôWhy do some field units in the U.S. Forest Service implement and institutionalize stewardship contracting, while others do not?ö

Human Consequences Of Climate Change, Climate Refugees: An Exploratory Essay, Frederick A. Snyder-Manetti

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

While planning my course schedule for the 2009 Spring Semester, I found myself desperately short of elective credits toward my Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography in order to graduate by the end of the 2010 Autumn Semester. From the limited course choices offered for the spring semester, only two worked with the other required courses I needed as well: Cultural & Global Competence and Global Hot Spots. Little did I know at the time, but the latter would prove to be the most stimulating course of my entire undergraduate geography program. Not only did this course forge within me …

The History And Evolution Of North American Ski Resort Map Style And Design, Amy Elizabeth Lippus

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The first official ski resort in North America opened to the public in 1936 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Today, there are over 400 resorts across the continent in constant competition with one another for customers. Ski maps were first introduced as navigational tools, but quickly became a means for advertising what the resorts had to offer. The desire to outshine rival resorts has produced thousands of unique ski maps over the years, forming a collection of maps that has never been comprehensively analyzed until now. The first phase of the thesis involved the gathering of historical and modern ski maps …

A Zooarchaeological Study Of Generational Decision-Making: Modeling Subsistence And Demographic Change In Late-Holocene Occupations Of Housepit 54 At The Bridge River Site (Eerl4), Mid-Fraser, B.C., Matthew Joseph Walsh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Bridge River site is a winter pithouse village near the confluence of the Bridge and Fraser Rivers in the Mid-Fraser Canyon that was occupied periodically from as early as 1800BP to the mid-19th century. Prentiss et al. (2008) divide the range of occupations into four Periods: Bridge River (BR) 1, c. 1800-1600BP, BR2, c. 1600-1300BP, a short-lived BR3, c. 1300-1100BP (by the end of this period the village appears to have been largely abandoned), and BR4, a late reoccupation of the site, c. ~500 to 100BP (Prentiss et al. 2008, 2011, 2012). During BR2 and into BR3, between 1500-1100BP, …

The Habitat Of European Brown Bears In Northern Spain: Mapping Habitat Fragmentation And Potential Connectivity, Alma D. Pacheco

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The European brown bear in northern Spain is considered to be an endangered species whose habitat has been fragmented into two subpopulations due to habitat loss and lack of connectivity. The importance of improving connectivity and preventing more habitat destruction is vital to recover the species in this region. This research looks at spatial and temporal variations of brown bear habitat by mapping the conditions of habitat fragmentation and potential connectivity at a regional extent. This research examines net changes of brown bear habitat fragmentation between 1990-2000, 2000-2006, and overall 1990-2006; and the degree of brown bear habitat connectivity between …

The Sensitivity Of Soil Respiration To Soil Temperature, Moisture, And Carbon Supply At The Global Scale, Andrew Hursh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Soil respiration is one of the most important terms in the global carbon budget, yet we know very little about how important environmental factors control this process at the global scale. Soils contain more carbon than terrestrial biomass and the atmosphere combined and contribute ten times more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year than the burning of fossil fuels. This study provides new insight on the factors driving soil respiration at the global scale by assimilating satellite observations of soil moisture, temperature, and net primary productivity with the Global Soil Respiration Database (SRDB).While temperature, moisture, carbon supply and other …

The Effect Of Mulch And Watering On Tomato Yields And Potential For Adoption During The Dry Season In Nanjara Village, Tanzania, Emily A. Okal

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Impact Of Using Moodle As An E-Learning Tool For Students In An English Language Institute, Nada I. Alhothli

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Legal Tools For Local Control Of Oil And Gas Development: Successes, Challenges, And Opportunities – Focusing On Select Eastern And Western U.S. States With Current And Potential Oil/Gas Development, Gabrielle M. Ostermayer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In response to the rise in unconventional oil and gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing, coupled with concerns over local environmental, social, and health impacts, and weak state regulatory oversight, many communities have chosen to assert zoning or regulatory control over oil and gas development. However, the legal framework that enables and constrains local government powers varies by state, based on diverse statutory and constitutional language as well as the preemption of local control by state agency regulations governing industry development. Through a series of case studies, this article identifies successful, legally defensible strategies for local control of oil and gas …

The Science Behind The Selection Of Native Plant Materials: Local Adaptation, Response To Invasion, Cytotypic Variation, And Seed Transfer Zones, Alexis Gibson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The use of locally adapted native plant materials is promoted as a mechanism for improving revegetation and restoration outcomes and increasing the long-term ecological function of a site. Challenges arise in the use local native plant materials, however, when the conditions in which they are used differ from those to which they are adapted, like in heavily disturbed sites undergoing restoration or invaded ecosystems, or when local adaptation is not the only genetic consideration for fitness (polyploidy). In addition, managers need to select among multiple guidelines for how far to move seeds, each of which comes with its own assumptions …

Economic Efficiency Of Fuel Reduction Treatments In The Home Ignition Zone To Mitigate Wildfire Risk In Montana, Usa, Howard L. Williams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wildland-urban interface growth and factors increasing the probability of wildfire suggest that annual spending on wildfire risk mitigation and suppression will continue to increase. With limited information about the benefits and costs of risk mitigation, land managers and homeowners may under- or over-invest in risk mitigation, where costs are disproportionate to the expected benefits of the strategy. This study accounted for expected increases in wildfire risk (due to growth of the WUI, climate change and vegetation growth) over time in Flathead County, Montana, and estimated the expected avoided loss in structure values associated with three treatment levels that would require …

Cultural And Ecological Relationship Between The Nisqually Indian Tribe And Plants Of Mount Rainier National Park, David Alan Hooper

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Throughout the history of the National Park Service, the question of whether Native AmericanÆs still have rights to traditionally used natural resources found within park lands has been debated. This debate is largely held in political, legal, and philosophical arenas, but there are ethnographic and ecological questions that need to be addressed in order for policy makers to make informed decisions. Addressing these questions also provides insight into how cultures develop sustainable harvesting practices. One of the parks that has been addressing traditional plant harvesting is Mount Rainier National Park, which has been working with the Nisqually Indian Tribe to …

The Use Of Three-Dimensional Gps Observations For Tectonics And Hydrology In Northeast Africa, Yelebe Birhanu Amere

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

1. 27 campaign and 17 continuous GPS sites spanning the Ethiopian Highlands, Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), and Somali Platform in Ethiopia and Eritrea were measured for varying durations between 1995 and 2014. Velocities at these sites show that present day finite strain rates in NE Africa can be approximated at the continent scale by opening on a simple tectonic boundary within the Ethiopian Rift. Observations from the Somali Platform require relative velocities within the Somali plate to be less than 1 mm/yr. Observations from the Ethiopian Highlands allow relative velocities no greater than 1-2 mm/yr within the Nubia plate; statistically …

Missoula Historic Underground Project: Urban Archaeology, Landscape, And Identity, Nikki Manning

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The American West’s urban undergrounds are laced with mystique and lore. Well-known historic undergrounds exist throughout the American West in cities such as Portland, Pendleton, Seattle, Boise, and Butte. Tales exist of secret underground passages to houses of prostitution, Chinese opium dens, and Prohibition-era alcohol smuggling operations. While in some cases these stories can be based in fact, it appears that many underground spaces were less nefarious than imagination might suggest. In Missoula, Montana, a local, urban archaeological survey was conducted to see what evidence remained of the puzzling historic underground landscape. This study of Missoula’s subterranean archaeological features included …

Disturbed Waters – A Montana Chemist Searches For The Source Of A Persistent Poison, Kindra Mcquillan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In December 2008, when Montana's great Clark Fork River tested its historic banks for the first time in 100 years, a crowd of hundreds gathered to watch the removal of Milltown Dam at the confluence of the river with the Big Blackfoot. After a century of pollution from Butte's copper mines, the river was undergoing the nation's largest­yet restoration project, the Upper Clark Fork River Superfund Complex.

But in a windowless laboratory a mile away, University of Montana chemist Heiko Langner had troubling news. Toxic methylmercury flowed through the river at concentrations of concern, undetected and undermining the project. It …

The Effects Of The Fur Trade On Aboriginal Households In The Middle Fraser Region Of British Columbia, Lisa Michelle Smith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ethnographic literature of First Nations groups in the Middle Fraser region of British Columbia describe communities that were hierarchically organized with elite, commoner, and slave classes, underwritten by elite ownership of keystone resources, and perpetuated by competitive feasting events used to maintain debt relations, unequal distribution of food and raw materials, and possibly elite control over trade networks. Narratives of the ethnographic present are commonly utilized to describe cultural patterns of the deeper past, despite the fact that we lack knowledge of the effects of European colonialism and the role it may have had in shaping the socioeconomic and political …

Language Socialization, Revitalization And Ideologies In The Salish-Pend D'Oreille Community, Rebecca Jo Wood

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The goal of this thesis is to examine the language socialization practices and ideologies of the Salish-Pend d’Oreille community in order to understand language and cultural change in this community. This cultural group has become predominately monolingual in the non-traditional language, English; yet as my research demonstrates, the traditional language, Salish, continues to convey important epistemological perspectives valued in traditional society. By analyzing instances of Salish language use and non-use, I define some of the social factors that influence language use, as well as how children are socialized to use the language in culturally significant ways. When Salish is used, …

An Anxious State: The Search For Identity And The Struggle For Peace In Irish And Palestinian Literature, Benjamin Patrick Sweeney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis works to connect the literature of two geographically and historically disparate people – the Irish and the Palestinians. One can observe patterns of disjuncture, identity crisis, and identity formation in the history of one people; one can then apply the principles learned to analogous historical situations. I argue that the Irish and the Palestinians share a kind of communal psychological trauma brought about by the experience of imperial/colonial domination, violence, and especially diaspora. Because of this shared trauma, Ireland’s historical experience can offer insight into that of Palestine. The situations are unique, but at certain human levels they …

The Causes And Consequences Of Migration: How Displacement And Change Affect The Well-Being Of Humli Tibetans In Katmandu, Ruth Ann Guthrie

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Humla, one of the most remote regions in the Himalayan nation of Nepal, has undergone tremendous upheaval due to the Maoist insurgency of 1996-2006. As a result, numerous groups from rural Nepal such as those from Humla, have been displaced or chosen to migrate to urban areas, seeking to improve their lives or simply to survive. Pressure from Maoists has caused the displacement of many individuals who make up the community of Humlis now living in Kathmandu. This study aims to understand these causes of displacement and migration, as well as its consequences for Humlis. As a consequence of displacement …

Evaluating Morphoscopic Trait Frequencies Of Southeast Asians And Pacific Islanders, Melody Dawn Ratliff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

When assessing ancestry in a forensic context, individuals are generally classified into one of four categories: belonging to European, African, Asian, or Native American ancestry. With only these four assessments, individuals from Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands are usually phenotypically classified as Asian. While the oceanic regions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands will most likely have trait frequencies similar to those of mainland Asia because of their shared ancestral lineages, there is still a great deal of variability in this region that could cause these trait frequencies to differ. To address this variability, sixteen morphoscopic traits were …