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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 …

As The Creek Trickles: Land Use Debates In The Rock Creek Drainage, Carly Christine Phillips

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Rural areas in Montana are increasing in population as more and more people move to or buy second homes in these areas in search of scenic amenities and a better quality of life. Academics, policy makers, and the general public are concerned that such development pressure may have negative consequences for important habitat, ecosystems, rural communities, people’s livelihoods, and social networks. Rock Creek, Montana is a small, rural area that has seen a large increase in population in the last twenty years. Population increase and development pressure in the area has led to many debates about proper land use on …

The Use Of Tooth Pit And Tooth/Jaw Measurements To Identify Carnivore Taxa Responsible For Damage On Scavenged Bone, Jennifer L. Foust

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Forensic anthropologists are often asked to analyze and interpret human remains that have been modified or damaged by predators and/or scavengers (White 2000; James et al. 2005; Dupras et al. 2006). The goal of this study is to determine whether it is possible to distinguish carnivore tooth mark characteristics from other carnivore tooth mark characteristics through two separate analyses: first by examination of tooth pitting and second from carnivore tooth and jaw measurements. This is accomplished by visual analysis and measurements of tooth pits left on faunal bones processed by an experimental wolf group as well as carnivore tooth and …

Using Patchy Plant Invasions To Understand How Diffuse Interactions Modify Facilitation And Competition, Kerry Lee Metlen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Indirect interactions among plants promote conditionality in competitive outcomes that affect plant community structure and function. I utilized spatially patchy distributions of two invasive exotic plants, Centaurea stoebe and Bromus tectorum, to explore conditionality in plant interactions and the implications of this conditionality for community invasibility. Additionally, I expanded this research to investigate how these two invaders interact with each other as they overrun native ecosystems. Throughout intermountain prairie of western Montana Centaurea was found at high abundances in open prairie, but was a relatively minor component of the plant community under isolated Pinus ponderosa. In contrast, Bromus …

August Stream Discharge Trends Portend Impacts Of Climate Change In The Northern Rockies, Jason Christopher Leppi

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis is composed of two potential professional papers written to be independent of each other. Both papers were written to explore changes in late summer discharge patterns across the Northern Rockies (NR). Water in the interior western United States is a vital resource and the demand for this resource has increased. Watersheds in the NR are mainly snowmelt dominated in that they depend on the seasonal flux of snow-melt during dry periods. During the summer months August is a critical time for aquatic ecosystems due to typical low discharge and warm air temperatures. During this period water temperatures can …

Disquietude, Pamela A. Caughey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

ARTIST STATEMENT In a post 9/11 world, the global war on terrorism influences our thinking and casts a perpetual shadow that is inescapable. We live in a state of disquietude. Amidst unspeakable events and traumas, we experience censored media, invasion of privacy in the name of heightened "homeland security," eroded freedom of speech, and constant rhetoric serving the politics of fear. Art in the age of terrorism is an attempt to bring interpretation and meaning to these timely issues by portraying multiple perspectives, which address the philosophical, social, political and cultural interventions that the war against terrorism has created. It …

Inbetween, Cathryn Sugg

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

“I work in the gap between art and life.” So said Robert Rauschenberg, of his own art, decades ago. Little did I know that my experiences in graduate school, and the translation of those experiences into artworks, would be defined by “gaps”: the physical gap of 450 miles, separating me from my husband, the intellectual gap representing the types of conversation I found myself engaging in, the illusive gaps between the different “roles” I have always used to define myself. In the past three years I developed an awareness of my social situation, during which I have found (and continue …

Recollection, Rebecca Gehres Weed

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Recollect is an investigation of personal histories and myths relative to the experience of time and willful manipulation of said time. Depicted in the traditional medium of oil painting an autobiographical account is laid out. Not in chronological order, nor in any sense depicting actual events, these paintings are an attempt to identify and recreate distinguishing factors in my life. Acquiring a personal mythology is the prerogative of any and all people. History on a global scale has been written and rewritten under the influence of many factors. The factors that cause us to manipulate our own personal pasts are …

Resource Debate In Southwest Alaska: The Bristol Bay Fishery And The Pebble Mine, Ethan Jerome Gottschalk

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Bristol Bay, in Southwest Alaska, is the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world. After an almost total collapse of salmon numbers in the mid 1970’s, the salmon have returned and average in the tens of millions every year. The salmon play a vital economic, cultural, and subsistence role in the lives of the people who call Bristol Bay home. At present there is a plan to develop a low-grade, but substantial, mineral deposit that consists primarily of copper, gold, and molybdenum. The estimated value of the minerals present is more than $500 billion. This plan is known as the …

Resource Selection And Abundance Estimation Of Moose: Implications For Caribou Recovery In A Human Altered Landscape, Wibke Peters

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are threatened across Canada due to human disturbance altering predator-prey dynamics. The niche specialization of caribou enables them to survive in nutrient-poor habitats spatially separated from other ungulates and their shared predators. The conversion of old-growth forests to young seral stands is hypothesized to increase the abundance of moose (Alces alces), the dominant prey for wolves (Canis lupus), resulting in apparent competition. We first examined habitat selection of moose in 2 regions with differing intensities of human disturbance in west-central Alberta and east-central British Columbia to assess how human disturbance affects the spatial separation of …

Ruffled Feathers: Shared Narratives In The Sage-Grouse Management Conflict In Sublette County, Wyoming, Maureen A. Essen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The tense conflict over sage grouse management in the West, where livelihoods have been pitted against the possibility of an endangered species listing, has been ongoing for many years and has been described as being as tense as the spotted owl conflict in the Northwest in the 1990s. This research is designed to highlight the different frames or narratives within the sage grouse debate in Sublette County, Wyoming while exploring a resurging research methodology. Q methodology, a method intended to identify distinct viewpoints within a sample was employed to understand the different narratives among these conflict parties. The Q method …

Rooted: A New Generation Of Farmers And Ranchers In Montana, Beth Jeannette Gibson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Rooted tells the stories of a new generation of farmers and ranchers in Montana through still photography and written profiles; the project is the result of 13 site visits and interviews. I define “new farmer” as a person operating their own agricultural business for 10 years or fewer, though this definition gets blurred and complicated when referring to people who return to their family’s farm or ranch. Admittedly, this project features only a few of the beginning farmers and ranchers in Montana. My intention is not to provide an exhaustive study of the next generation of farmers and ranchers in …

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 …

Influence Of Prion Protein Expression On Function Of Excitatory Amino Acid Transporters In Mouse Primary Astrocytes, Melissa Selvy Pathmajeyan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Prion protein (PrP) is expressed on a wide variety of cells and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. However, its normal function remains unclear. Mice that do not express PrP exhibit deficits in spatial memory and abnormalities in excitatory neurotransmission suggestive that PrP may function in the glutamatergic synapse. Here we show that transport of D-aspartate, a non-metabolized L-glutamate analog, through excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) was faster in astrocytes from PrP knockout (PrP KO) mice than in astrocytes from C57BL/10 SnJ wildtype (WT) mice. Experiments using EAAT subtype-specific inhibitors demonstrated that in both WT …

Lead Exposure In Large Carnivores In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Thomas Alan Rogers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Exposure to heavy metals is a potential challenge to the conservation of wildlife. One source of heavy metal exposure known to negatively affect avian wildlife is ingestion of lead rifle bullet fragments found in discarded hunter-harvested ungulate gut piles. Some large mammalian carnivores, such as grizzly bears (Ursus arctos), are also known to target these gut piles as a food source while others, such as cougars (Puma concolor), avoid areas with high levels of human hunting pressure. I investigated whether large carnivores in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem were exposed to lead, and if so, if ammunition ingested from hunter-harvested gut …

Assessing Cumulative Human Impacts On Northern Woodland Caribou With Traditional Ecological Knowledge And Resource Selection Functions, Jean Lieppert Polfus

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are federally listed and declining across Canada because of the cumulative impacts of human infrastructure development. The Atlin northern mountain herd, in the territory of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation (TRTFN), British Columbia, is less affected by development than southern herds. However, recent low productivity in this herd suggests that the impacts of development (i.e., roads, mines, cabins and towns) may be accumulating. To predict the cumulative impact of human development on the Atlin herd, we developed seasonal resource selection functions (RSF) at 2 spatial scales with data from 10 global positioning system collared …

Biological Control: Effects Of Tyria Jacobaeae On The Population Dynamics Of Senecio Jacobaea In Northwest Montana, Kimberly Kay Crider

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Biological control, using introduced, specialist insects is a common strategy for controlling plant invasions. However, the efficacy of biological control agents in controlling their host plants is rarely quantified population level. I quantified the impact of a specialist biological control agent, the cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) on its host plant, tansy ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) in northwest Montana. Cinnabar moth damage and its effects on important plant vital rates were tested with and without specialist herbivores. The presence of moth larvae corresponded to a reduction in population growth rates to less than one, compared to herbivore-free controls, indicating the potential for …

Elemental Stoichiometry Of Freshwater Hyporheic Microorganisms, Alejandra Valenzuela

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The work presented herein is part of the Microbial Observatory Project in the Nyack Floodplain. The Nyack Valley Floodplain is a glacier-carved floodplain in the Middle Fork of the Flathead River on the south west border of Glacier National Park and north of the Great Bear Wilderness in northwest Montana. The study focuses on the bacterial diversity including elemental stoichiometry along a hyporheic flowpath underlying the Nyack floodplain. We isolated and characterized 44 bacterial strains, sampled microbial biofilm communities across the floodplain, characterized the bacterial isolates and determined elemental ratios (C:N:P). We tested the hypothesis that while the elemental stoichiometry …

Escaping The Extinction Vortex: Identifying Factors Affecting Population Performance And Recovery In Endangered Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep, Heather Elizabeth Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

An extinction vortex is one of the greatest threats to endangered species; when demographic, environmental, and genetic stochasticity interact with each other and with deterministic factors, such as habitat quality, to reinforce the demise of a small population. To successfully escape an extinction vortex and enable species recovery, all processes that affect endangered populations should be comprehensively assessed and incorporated into conservation plans. For my dissertation, I worked in conjunction with California Department of Fish and Game to develop a comprehensive research program to guide recovery efforts for federally endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, the rarest subspecies of mountain sheep …

Expanding The Role Of Criterion A2 In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Daniel Evan Dewey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Posttraumatic stress disorder is a psychiatric construct that refers to symptoms that may follow exposure to a traumatic event. The current definition of a traumatic event differentiates between the objective event, criterion A1, and an individual’s subjective response, criterion A2. This study investigated the importance of criterion A2 and other intense negative emotions in the development of PTSD. Self-report measures were used to determine the presence or absence of the event criteria A1 and A2, PTSD symptoms, and intensity of emotion type at the time of an event. Criterion A2 emotions at the time of the event were associated with …

The Influence Of An Ecosystem Engineer On Nutrient Subsidies And Fish Invasions In Southwestern Montana, Magnus Mccaffery

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Streams and associated riparian zones are among the world's most highly valued yet threatened ecosystems. Interest in using the ecosystem engineering behavior of beaver tomeet watershed conservation goals is becoming more pervasive, owing to substantive work documenting the physical effects of beaver impoundments on freshwater ecosystems. However, it is unclear how beaver modify ecological processes linking abiotic factors to changes in the surrounding biotic community. I investigated how beaver impoundments influence local food web processes, as well as impact native fish species threatened by nonnative invasions.

I showed that beaver impoundments enhanced aquatic resource availability to terrestrial consumers. Beaver impounded …

Conformationally Gated Electron Transfer Studies Of Iso-1-Cytochrome C, Swati Bandi

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Protein folding is important because all proteins must fold to achieve their active conformer. In many cases, misfolding is the cause of disease and thus, understanding folding may lead to cures for disease. This thesis focuses on the dynamics and thermodynamics of partially unfolded states of proteins that lie near the bottom of a folding funnel. Various studies have provided evidence that partially unfolded proteins can be key intermediates in metabolic processes and in aggregation diseases. Partially unfolded proteins also provide insight into the types of structures that guide/misguide the process of protein folding. Less is known about how stability …

The Meaning Of Markets: How The Domestic Fair Trade Association Understands Creating Social Change Using Market Initiatives, Emily Elizabeth Thorn

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Agriculture in North America has tended toward consolidation and industrialization in the past century. Responding to the narrowing of market advantage for small-scale organic farmers and the plight of farm workers, as well as to both the failures and potentials of international fair trade and organic initiatives, members of the nascent Domestic Fair Trade Association (DFTA) seek to insert social justice into the North American food system using a market-based initiative mediated by independent that conform to stringent criteria. This study examines the meaning of fair trade in a North American context; the challenges facing domestic fair trade initiatives, and …

The Postmortem Interval: A Systematic Study Of Pig Decomposition In West Central Montana, Hillary Renee' Parsons

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The postmortem interval (PMI) is an important piece of information used by forensic and criminal investigators to help investigate crimes and other unattended deaths. Time since death estimations assist law enforcement in providing a reference with which to compare a suspects alibi, identify victims of crime, and solve cases. Studies of decomposition have been conducted at the University of Tennessee’s Anthropological Research Facility in Knoxville, TN; however, decomposition at high altitude climates characterized by colder temperatures and arid conditions is poorly understood. Further, the lack of postmortem interval studies in west central Montana has hindered the investigation and identification of …

Exploring Perspectives On Landscape And Language Among Kaike Speakers In Dolpa, Nepal, Corrie Maya Daurio

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The majority of the world’s languages are in danger of extinction within this century. Of the more than 6000 languages in the world, 4000-5000 are spoken by Indigenous peoples. Accompanying the loss of languages is the loss of the capacity for these peoples to transmit those aspects of their environmental knowledge systems which are embedded and expressed in their languages. The Kaike speakers of Tichurong in Dolpa, Nepal represent one of these endangered language communities, with approximately 800 speakers remaining. The purpose of this research was to engage Kaike speakers in an exploration of the relationships among their language, environment, …

Fatigue Risk Management: Modeling The Sleep/Wake-Based Dynamics Of Performance, Peter J. Mccauley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Several biomathematical models have been developed to predict cognitive performance impairment due to sleep loss and/or circadian misalignment. In essence, these models are all based on the Two-Process Model (TPM) which contains a homeostatic process for the build-up and decline of sleep pressure across days, and a circadian process to keep track of time of day. The TPM has been used successfully to predict performance under conditions of total sleep deprivation. However, for conditions of chronic sleep restriction, the TPM predicts a rapid stabilization of performance impairment (within a day or two)---which is not in agreement with experimental observations. This …

Investigating The Relationships Between Seventh And Eighth Grade Science Teachers' Background, Self-Efficacy Toward Teaching Science As Inquiry, And Attitudes And Beliefs On Classroom Control, William T. Joern

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

An important component of science reform is the teaching of science as inquiry. Many barriers toward teaching science as inquiry have been documented but the list is incomplete. This study utilized a non-experimental correlational design to examine middle school science teachers' background and the relationships this has with teacher efficacy toward teaching science as inquiry and teachers' attitudes and beliefs toward classroom control. Because science inquiry activities involve greater classroom control skills by the instructor as opposed to teacher-centered instruction, the relationship between teacher efficacy toward teaching science as inquiry and teachers' attitudes and beliefs toward classroom control were important …

Surface Water And Groundwater Exchanges In Fine And Coarse Grained River Bed Systems And Responses To Initial Stages Of Dam Removal, Milltown, Montana, Anthony Joseph Farinacci

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

More than 620,000 miles of rivers are affected by over 79,000 dams in the United States. The dams are a valuable asset, however dams block fish passage, and disrupt the physical and biological systems, and alter hyporheic exchange. In efforts to remediate rivers impacted by dams, dam removal is being proposed. Changes in the location and timing of groundwater and river water exchanges in post dam remediated river systems are typically not identified. The goal of this study was to examine the factors controlling surface water and groundwater exchange rates and locations in river systems during dam removal. Specific tasks …

Aptamer Selection For Oxidative Dna Lesions, Brandon Lloyd James

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Aptamer science is a growing field of both chemistry and biochemistry. Aptamers bind to specific target molecules, potentially allowing for identification and quantification. The methodologies for selection of aptamers are growing and ever-changing. There is a number of different selection protocols, some specialized and others more general. All have their advantages and limitations. Here I describe a host of these protocols and relate them towards the selection of an aptamer for oxidative DNA lesions, specifically the oxidation products of guanine. Guanine has the lowest reduction potential of the four DNA bases, and as such is the most readily oxidized. The …

Adaptive Variation In Microbes: Insights From Wild And Experimental Populations Of Escherichia Coli, Margaret Ann Kinnersley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Intraspecific differences in genome composition and gene regulation are widespread in both natural and artificial prokaryotic systems. Understanding the molecular basis, population dynamics and fitness consequences of these differences can provide useful insight into many aspects of microbial ecology and evolution. The work presented here is a study of molecular variation in both natural and experimental populations of E. coli, conducted with the ultimate goal of gaining a better understanding of niche adaptation and the nature of molecular variation in microbes. In Chapter 2, the mechanistic basis of adaptation and diversification in a polymorphic experimental population of E. coli that …