Digital Commons Network^™

Variation Of Tool Mark Characteristics In Frozen Bone As It Relates To Dismemberment, Elena Hughes

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The act of dismembering a body leaves identifiable marks on the bone. These marks, whether they be from knives, saws, axes, or any other tool, can help provide law enforcement with information about the type of tool they should be looking for. While there has been considerable research done on the marks left by different types of weapons, a factor that has not been examined is the differences in tool marks based on the condition of the body at the time of dismemberment. This study will initiate this new avenue of research by analyzing the differences seen in tool mark …

Zoning And Complementary Incentives To Protect Farmland: A Case For Missoula County, Kaitlin Mccafferty

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Urban sprawl reflects an inefficient use of land that diminishes both rural landscapes and quality of life turning farms, ranches and open space into siloed suburban communities. This results in less walkable cities with more traffic and air pollution, among other negative consequences. Farmland constitutes a particularly important resource that often faces degradation or loss due to sprawl. Higher quality agricultural soils are particularly desirable for development because they are flat and well-drained. Farmland is also important for urban communities concerning food security, environmental health, and economic well being. As American cities continue to grow, farmland around urban areas has …

Managing Mining Pollution: The Case Of Water Quality Governance In The Transboundary Kootenai/Y, Ashley Juric

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis addresses current water quality management challenges in the transboundary Kootenai/y River Basin, and how these challenges are shaped by historical, economic, political, and social factors. The water quality of this basin, both in the United State and Canada, has been severely affected by coal mining that has occurred in British Columbia over the last hundred years and continues to be threatened by several proposed mining expansion projects. The goals of this research are to uncover the forces shaping water management and to determine the potential for interested and affected parties to participate in crafting water quality protection measures. …

Avian Community Responses To Bison Grazing In North American Intermountain Grasslands, Danielle A. Fagre

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Grassland and shrubland songbird species are a guild of conservation concern in North America. Many of these species have experienced severe population declines, due to habitat loss and land use change. This makes the conservation and management of remaining habitat of crucial importance for this guild. Grazing by large herbivores is an ecosystem process in grassland systems, and in North America, one of the major historic grazers was the Plains bison (Bison bison). Bison are considered ecosystem engineers, because they modify habitat to be more or less suitable for other species, such as grassland and shrubland songbirds. Bison …

Biotic Pulses, Bryotic Pulses And The Effects Of Mosses On Communities And Ecosystems, Mandy Lynn Slate

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Non-vascular mosses are known to be ecologically influential and structure communities through their physiological and physical attributes. My dissertation had two objectives. The first goal was to understand how fundamental differences in the physiology of mosses might drive much of their ecological impact. Mosses frequently and rapidly fluctuate between dehydration and rehydration. During these transitions, the cellular integrity of moss is compromised and intra-cellular contents (carbohydrates, amino acids, and ionic compounds) are released. Thus during wet-dry transition periods, mosses have the potential to release pulses of nutrients which may have important effects on other species. However, few studies have explored …

The Ethosophy Of The Grizzly Man: Timothy Treadwell's Three Ethologies, Blake L. Ginsburg

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper explores the ethical appropriateness and significance of Timothy Treadwell’s life among the bears and foxes of Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve. In an attempt to reveal the formative and transformative aspects of Treadwell’s project, I rely upon an ethological framework developed by Matthew Calarco that moves beyond the narrow conception of ethology as a scientific practice aimed at systematic and rigorous documentation of the quantifiable aspects of animal behavior. While many people might be hesitant to conceive of Treadwell’s project as an ethological one, I hope to illuminate the ways in which his life among bears and …

Policy Analysis: Alaska Salmon Hatcheries, Jessica Eller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Using an adapted Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) - Evaluation, this study analyzes policy regulating Alaska salmon hatcheries to evaluate its effectiveness at sustaining wild salmon runs.When Alaska became a state in 1959, its salmon industry was suffering from years of overfishing. Runs were at an all-time low, prompting constitutional drafters to mandate management of salmon via the sustained yield principle. The hatchery system that operates today and is responsible for a third of the commercial catch each year was put in place in the 1970s to help supplement depressed salmon runs. The effects of hatchery salmon on wild salmon populations …

40 Years On The International Flathead: An Assessment Of Transboundary River Governance, Jedd Sankar-Gorton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Global population growth, climate change, and industrialization, are putting extreme pressures on worldwide freshwater supplies (Cosens 2010). Of the global freshwater supplies, transboundary water sources play a crucial role in sustaining populations. Over 40% of humans on Earth rely on a transboundary river or lake for access to water, and 90% of the world’s population lives in countries that share bodies of water with at least one other country (UN 2008). Taken together, the motivations for improving governance of transboundary water systems have never been stronger. To meet the challenges associated with transboundary water governance, researchers working at multiple scales …

Neuromuscular Responses To Exhaustive Bouts Of Sprint Running In Non-Steady Speed Trials, Brandon C. Gruver, Matthew W. Bundle

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Conflicting Hydraulic Effects Of Xylem Pit Structure Relate To The Growth-Longevity Tradeoff In A Conifer Species, Beth Roskilly

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Consistent with a ubiquitous life history tradeoff, trees exhibit a negative relationship between growth and longevity among and within species. However, the mechanistic basis of this life history tradeoff is not well understood. In addition to tradeoffs among multiple traits based on resource allocation conflicts, life history tradeoffs may arise from tradeoffs based on single traits under opposing selection. While a myriad of factors likely contribute to the growth-longevity tradeoff in trees, we hypothesized that conflicting functional effects of xylem structural traits contribute to the growth-longevity tradeoff. We tested this hypothesis by examining the extent to which xylem morphological traits …

Understanding The Food Water Nexus: Characterizing The Impact Of Climatological Anomalies On Agrosystems, Patrick M. Wurster Jr.

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate variability at global and regional scales is escalating with increased atmospheric carbon and is expected to magnify the intensity and duration of meteorological extremes, especially droughts. From the many environmental stresses that diminish crop production (e.g., soil salinity, frost, soil erosion) drought is one of the most prevalent. This study focuses on the sensitivity of three key crops produced in the northwestern United States to climatological anomalies, while controlling for attribution using anomalies in price. The study differs from similar studies in that we focus on variability in production which captures both yield (tonnes/ha) and cropping area (ha), as …

Directional Non-Covalent Interactions: Exploring The Nuances Of Halogen Bonds And Hydrogen Bonds In Solution And The Solid-State, Nicholas Blouin Wageling

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Molecules interact in numerous ways. Halogen bonding is one of the most newly discovered and poorly understood non-covalent interactions. However, this attractive force may be a useful tool for chemists in various disciplines. The directional nature, and competitive strength of the interaction makes it a promising alternative to hydrogen bonding based molecules. Indeed, through crystal structures and solution phase anion titrations, this work has shown that a halogen bonding scaffold can outperform its hydrogen bonding analogue not only in overall interaction strength, but also in resistance to inactivation from polar solvents (an important feature in anion receptors, organocatalysts, and many …

Greening Of The Arctic: Plot-Scale Analysis Of Interactions Between Climate, Vegetation, And Permafrost At Toolik Lake, Alaska (1995 - 2017), Brianna Rick

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Air temperatures across the Arctic have increased in recent decades, and through complex feedbacks, vegetation and permafrost (frozen ground) are actively responding as climate warming continues. This study investigates the trends and interactions of observed air, soil-surface temperature (SST), and active-layer thickness (ALT) at Toolik Lake on the Alaskan North Slope between 1995 and 2017, as well as vegetation change over time.

Time series between 1995 and 2017 at CALM site U12B, a 1 ha plot near Toolik Lake, reveal an increase (0.50 °C/decade) in mean summer (Jun-Aug) air temperatures and a decrease (­0.23 °C/decade) in mean summer SST. In …

Transfer Of Graphing Skills From Math To Chemistry, Brittany Danielle Busby

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Most students begin their university studies with adequate mathematical skills to succeed in general chemistry. However, students have a demonstrated difficulty with the application of math in a chemistry context. The ability to apply skills to new contexts is known as transfer, and understanding and enhancing transfer of graphing skills into the context of chemistry is the primary purpose of this investigation. Graphing skills were selected as the area of emphasis because they provide a strong conceptual link between math and chemistry.

This is a two-phase, sequential, quasi-experimental, mixed-methods study. In the first phase of the study, the quantitative research …

Wonder Woman: A Case Study For Critical Media Literacy, Adriana N. Fehrs

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

To better grasp the messages Wonder Woman is sending to its audience, a Critical Media Literacy (CML), ideological, and feminist framework is used to examine whether, and if so how, Wonder Woman succumbs to stereotypes that are often portrayed in the media. These theories will be used in the ensuing project to build a curriculum aimed at high school students.The curriculum positions students to examine the hegemonic ideologies that are represented in pop culture, specifically Wonder Woman.

Effect Of Neuromodulation Of Short-Term Plasticity On Information Processing In Hippocampal Interneuron Synapses, Elham Bayat Mokhtari

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Neurons convey information about the complex dynamic environment in the form of signals. Computational neuroscience provides a theoretical foundation toward enhancing our understanding of nervous system. The aim of this dissertation is to present techniques to study the brain and how it processes information in particular neurons in hippocampus.

We begin with a brief review of the history of neuroscience and biological background of basic neurons. To appreciate the importance of information theory, familiarity with the information theoretic basics is required, these basics are presented in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3, we use information theory to estimate the amount of …

Chipping Through Time: The Evolution Of Lithic Spatial Organization At The Bridge River Pithouse Village, British Columbia, Ethan P. Ryan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Archaeological investigations at Housepit 54 within the Bridge River site have, to date, exposed 15 discreet floors primarily dating to ca. 1500-1000 cal. B.P. In this thesis, the spatial distributions of lithic artifacts from every floor are examined. Questions will be addressed specifically towards formation processes and the potential relationships between the patterning of lithic distributions as they relate to hearth-centered activity areas or domestic areas and fluctuations in estimated population. In addition, this thesis explores spatial organization as a cultural trait or concept that can be transmitted through time. Using the same methodological and theoretical approach for each floor, …

Healing Self And Community: Living Pluralism In The Anishinaabe Paradigm, Andrea A. Fitzpatrick

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Abstract: Healing Self and Community: Living Pluralism in The Anishinaabe

This thesis is a study of pluralism through Anishinaabe writers Winona LaDuke, Basil Johnston, Lynn Anderson, and others, focusing on their perceptions and pedagogies and how those perceptions inform pluralistic living. Anishinaabe methodology tends to be innately interconnected, and pluralistic. As such, it can enlighten, heal self-identity structures, and perceptions of the biosphere. I will contextualize how it is necessary to investigate the stories we learn and those we tell, how it is vital to understand where they come from. Included is analysis of how pluralism shows up in mine …

Predictive Spatial Modeling Of Wildfire Occurrence And Poaching Events Related To Siberian Tiger Conservation In Southwest Primorye, Russian Far East, Conor N. Phelan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) populations worldwide have been drastically reduced in number over the past several decades. The Primorye region of the Russian Far East remains one of the final strongholds for the estimated 400 Siberian tigers remaining in the wild. As a flagship species, Siberian tigers play a crucial socio-economic role in helping agencies and non-profits to motivate, fund, and implement broader conservation efforts. Even while defended by organizations such as the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Siberian tigers in Primorye face an onslaught of threats to their continued existence. Profound land use changes due to the …

Impacts Of Elephant Crop-Raiding On Subsistence Farmers And Approaches To Reduce Human-Elephant Farming Conflict In Sagalla, Kenya, Sophia Weinmann

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As human and elephant populations grow in Kenya, elephants increasingly leave parks to eat farmers’ crops while foraging, which creates epicenters of human-elephant conflict (HEC). This conflict compromises farmers’ food and economic security, impedes elephant conservation initiatives, and threatens the safety of humans and elephants. In recent years, the situation has been exacerbated by drought and national-level infrastructure development that bisects key elephant habitat. Although researchers have widely studied elephant populations, few have examined the cultural, economic, and emotional effects of HEC on subsistence farmers. This project utilized a mixed methods approach to address this knowledge gap and understand the …

Meat Reimagined: The Ethics Of Cultured Meat, Valan Anthos

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this paper I explore a relatively new technology that is being developed to try and solve some of the major issues with modern animal agriculture called cultured meat. I cover the short history of this technology and where it is at currently before addressing two different ways of evaluating the ethics of cultured meat. Responding to much of the praise for cultured meat based on consequentialist ethics, I lay out reasons for skepticism and how some of these estimates might be overblown due to those people advocating for it being situated in the ideology of ecomodernism. I argue that …

Pig Trauma Models: A Civilian Perspective On Ar-15 Post-Cranial Skeletal Trauma, Lauren M. Kenney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the last decade, our country has seen an unprecedented wave of terror that has been punctuated by increasing events of gun-related violence. Consequently, the use of firearms against civilians or upon targets containing civilians has inevitably had a direct impact on the health of the individuals affected, and in many cases these events have concluded with mass number fatalities. The driving force for this research falls to the lack of available literature regarding traumatic skeletal injuries associated with high-velocity firearms outside of realm of the military. The effects of these types of weapons on civilians, which result from their …

Ecology, Epidemiology, And Evolutionary Genetics Of Canine Distemper Virus Spillover In African Lions, Julie Kay Weckworth

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The impact of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) on the health and persistence of wildlife populations is an increasing conservation concern. Large carnivores are particularly vulnerable to EID impacts because they often occur in small, isolated populations with demographic and genetic challenges to long-term persistence. Ecological forces that isolate carnivore populations, e.g. agricultural intensification, simultaneously increase the probability of disease exposure from domestic species and can amplify population susceptibility to infection.

Canine distemper virus emerged as a conservation threat to African lions when an explosive epizootic caused the death or disappearance of a third of the Serengeti lion population in 1994. …

The Sylvan Blindspot: The Archaeological Value Of Surface Vegetation And A Critique Of Its Documentation, John S. Harris

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Surface vegetation at archaeological sites is a resource overlooked in cultural resource management. Drawing upon comparative documentary surveys of site forms and human surveys of 161 archaeologists in 12 U.S. states, this thesis explores why surface vegetation offers archaeological data potential; how archaeological documentation is an artifact of archaeologists, shaped by various subjectivities; and how improvements can be made for vegetal description in cultural inventory site forms. The surveys offer a critique on how the site form records are a product of disciplinary training oversights, differing work background experience, cultural bias, limitations in botanical knowledge, regional differences in U.S. archaeological …

Quantum Mechanics Investigation Of The Photophysical Properties Of Ruthenium(Ii)-Based Complexes Combined With The Development Of Their Force Field Parameters Using Molecular Mechanics And Molecular Dynamics Simulation, Sanaa Saad Alabbad

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The focus of this study is to develop a theoretical strategy that can help guide the design of novel organometallics with desirable photophysical properties for molecular engineering. This computational study includes proposed complexes and others for which experimental data are available. The agreement between the computational results and the experimental observations confirms the validity of our procedure and the level of theory we applied in this study. The ground singlet (S0) and excited triplet (T1) electronic states and corresponding optical spectra of a series of cationic complexes —[RuH(CO)L(PPh3)2]+ (L=2,2´-bipyridyl) (Rubpy), 4,4´-dicarboxylic-2,2´-bipyridyl (Rudcbpy), bis-4,4’-(N-methylamide)-2,2´-bipyridyl (Rudamidebpy), bis-4,4’-(methyl)-2,2´-bipyridyl (RudMebpy), [Ru(CO)2dcbpy(PPh3)2]2+ (Ru(2CO)dcbpy), [Ru(H)2dcbpy(PPh3)2] (Ru(2H)dcbpy), …

The Power In Dice And Foam Swords: Gendered Resistance In Dungeons And Dragons And Live-Action Roleplay, Rachel M. Just

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Much of the existing research on gaming suggests that women are often excluded from or discriminated against in gaming communities. However, few scholars focus on women’s positive experiences within those communities, and even fewer examine tabletop and live-action roleplaying games. In this thesis, I utilized Jurgen Habermas’ theory of communicative action, Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity, and James C. Scott’s theory of hidden transcripts to analyze how in-game and out-of-game comradery among players created a space in which passive resistance against normative gender expectations was possible. Specifically, the question I wanted to answer was how do women communicatively enact …

Bottom-Up And Top-Down Controls On Food Webs In Headwater Streams, Miriam O. Bayer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Headwater streams account for 70% of stream channel length in the USA and are important as hotspots of nutrient uptake and native biodiversity. Biofilm, the mixed auto- and heterotrophic microbial community covering stream substrates, is where the majority of nutrient processing occurs, and forms the base of stream food webs, particularly in heavily shaded, oligotrophic streams. Both bottom-up (e.g., nutrients, light) and top-down (i.e., consumption) processes are known to affect periphyton, the autotrophic component of biofilm, but little is known about what controls the biofilm community as a whole. Top-down effects are common in streams, where fish are often the …

Exploring Population Change Detection By Monitoring Effective Number Of Breeders, Brian Trethewey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Detecting if a population is in decline is an important objective for biologists and conservationists who are monitoring threatened populations. As genetic methods improve effective population size (N_e) and effective number of breeders (N_b) continue to gain popularity as a way to monitor species. Using simulated populations and linkage disequilibrium, we explored detecting population decline through N_b in age structured populations. Through comparisons of sensitivity (1 – false negatives) and specificity (1- false positives) over 1000 replicates, we explored how factors such as starting N_b, number of SNPs, number of individuals …

Involvement Without Panic: Essays On Shakespeare, Woolf, And Munro, John L. Cowden

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis portfolio is comprised of an introductory essay and three essays of literary critique. The introductory essay is a general commentary upon reading, literature, and criticism, and introduces the three subsequent essays. The first essay is on William Shakespeare’s play, Measure for Measure. The second essay is on Virginia Woolf’s novel, The Waves. And, finally, the third essay is on the stories of Alice Munro.

Response Of Amphibian And Invertebrate Communities To Wetland Mitigation In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Leah K. Swartz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wetlands play a critical role in supporting freshwater biodiversity and ecosystem services, but human activities have resulted in large-scale loss and degradation of these habitats across the globe. To offset the decline of wetland area, mitigation wetlands are now frequently constructed, but their ability to replace the functions of natural habitats, including providing habitat for native fauna, remains uncertain. A recent highway reconstruction project in northwestern Wyoming caused impacts to and the destruction of multiple natural wetlands. To mitigate this loss, new wetlands were constructed along the highway corridor. To evaluate the performance of these created wetlands relative to reference …