Digital Commons Network^™

Fire Management Provisions In Federal Wilderness Law, Erik D. Alnes

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Integrated Stress And Community Perceptions: Toward An Understanding Of Human-Cougar Tolerance, Lara Brenner

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Evidence suggests that cougars (Puma concolor) are beginning to recolonize their traditional range in the Midwestern and Eastern US, returning to a landscape and a social environment that have changed drastically in a century of absence. Any hope of the cougar’s persistence depends on both human tolerance of their presence and on cougar tolerance of disrupted habitat. In this thesis, we took advantage of diverse cougar policy in place in the Western US to explore variation in human attitudes and acceptability of cougars and in the cougar stress response. We validated a process to identify and extract cortisol …

Student Satisfaction With A Student-Written Textbook In An Introductory College Biology Course, Greg Peters

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Textbooks are ubiquitous tools in college classes, particularly in the sciences. Regular use of textbooks to complement science coursework can foster academic achievement and scientific literacy. Textbooks are chronically underused in college study due to high costs, challenging and time-intensive content, and perceived low value. In response, professors are increasingly using textbook alternatives including open textbooks, etextbooks, and wikis. Each has unique strengths and weaknesses.

Student-written textbooks are a less common, but growing, resource used to offer a low-cost alternative to publisher textbooks using collections of student research and writing. Student-written textbooks carry the possible benefits for students of supporting …

Moving Toward A Holistic Menstrual Hygiene Management: An Anthropological Analysis Of Menstruation And Practices In Western And Non-Western Societies, Sophia A. Bay

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Educating girls is not only their human right, but also proposed as one of the best investments for improving quality of life in developing countries (Montgomery et al. 2016, 2). Although menstruation is a universal, biological process, it is fraught with cultural stigmas and taboos throughout Western and non-Western societies. Menstrual-related absenteeism is believed to be a primary cause of missed attendance and early dropout rates, so the developing field of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is seeking to understand and evaluate what factors are contributing to these findings. After the analyzation of the current literature, a more holistic, nine-pronged approach …

Perceptions Of Environmental Change: Nikutoru, Tabiteuea Maiaki, Kiribati, Jaime Lynn Bach

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The comparisons of scientific measurements taken around the world show trends of climate change, which are affecting the traditions of vulnerable populations. In the Pacific, many island peoples are already feeling the effects of the changes and are facing the predictions of future impacts. Some nations, like the Republic of Kiribati, are addressing the present and projected problems with proactive policies, while engaging with international agencies and cooperating with citizens in order to develop appropriate approaches to the change. The contribution of local knowledge has been recognized as valuable in assessing the changes and in the development of response strategies. …

Forest Vegetation, Fuel, And Fire Hazard Development In Stands Treated To Resist Crown Fire, Justin Seth Crotteau

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Land management agencies across the western U.S. have urgently sought to restore forests with non-stand-replacing fire regimes to facilitate stand resistance to crown fire. Although silvicultural restoration has been shown to immediately reduce the probability of widespread crown fire, little is known about the mid- to long-term impacts of restoration on vegetation, fuel, and crown fire hazard development. This study examined mid-term (10-14 years) experimental restoration treatment effects in two different non-stand-replacing fire regimes: a frequent, low-severity regime, and an infrequent, mixed-severity regime. Restoration of frequent, low-severity fire regime was represented by fuel reduction treatments in the ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir forest …

From Dislocation To Disengagement: The Experiences Of Low-Income And First Generation College Students, Azure S. Mcginty

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this thesis, I examine the experiences of low-income and first generation college students who are enrolled members of the TRiO Student Support Program at the University of Montana. This program is designed to cater to the specific academic struggles of low-income and first generation college students. There is a wealth of scholarly literature concerning this population of students and their risk of dropping out of college. Researchers have found these students are susceptible to habitus dislocation, which causes many of these students to feel torn between acclimating to college and forfeiting their membership in the working-class. One of the …

A Comprehensive Case Report Of The University Of Montana Case 37, Cody M. Lawson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this professional paper I examine the human skeletal remains of one individual. The remains were analyzed to gain insight into the age, sex, ancestry, stature, weight, pathology, and trauma of the individual. Forensic anthropological methods were applied to UMFC 37. The remains of UMFC 37 represent a male, between the age of 40 and 60. He is likely a Caucasian. UMFC 37 is between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs between 148 and 167 pounds.

Everythingsfine, Reanna Schultz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Disarming discomfort through irony, material, and absurdity is at the center of my practice. I chose to describe my efforts of coping through installation instead of objects because I desire to create an immersive experience for viewers. Using a broadly recognized metaphor as weather allows me to reveal the silent yet ubiquitous nature that so many who suffer from anxiety and depression try to conceal. Depression often coexists with anxiety and both share the ability to alter one's perception of reality. The light bulb cloud installation includes hundreds of burnt-out incandescent bulbs to evoke the accumulation of listlessness, emptiness, and …

Caregiver Perspectives: A Phenomenological Study Of Group Education During An Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Program, Maggie Colstad

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to explore the benefits of a caregiver education, training, and wellness program to improve caregiver outcomes in the context of aphasia rehabilitation. Eight caregivers participated in one-hour group treatment sessions across four weeks as part of an intensive comprehensive aphasia program. Information about stroke and aphasia was provided in a didactic format, and facilitative communication strategies were discussed and practiced using Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning cycle model. This qualitative study adhered to Moustakas’ phenomenological approach. Participant post-treatment interviews were transcribed and coded for themes relating to their experiences throughout the treatment program. Caregivers described …

How Does The Million Baht Village Fund Impact Fertility In Thailand?, Kaci Felstet

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study evaluates the impact of Thailand’s Million Baht Village Fund program on household fertility decisions. Thailand’s fertility rates are alarmingly low and it is imperative to recognize the unintended consequences a microfinance program may have on fertility choices within Thailand. Using panel data from pre- and post-program years, this research identifies the change in number of babies in a household associated with getting a microloan from the Village Fund program. The quasi-experimental nature of the program and an instrumental variable model with fixed effects identifies a negative relationship between the number of babies within families and participation in the …

New Methods To Estimate Abundance From Unmarked Populations Using Remote Camera Trap Data, Anna K. Moeller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Abundance estimates are central to the field of ecology and are an important tool for wildlife managers. While many tools are available for estimating abundance from individually identifiable animals, it is much more difficult to estimate abundance of unmarked animals. Most species have no natural markings and capturing them to apply artificial marks is invasive. One step toward noninvasive abundance estimation is the use of passive “traps” such as remote cameras or acoustic recording devices. The continuous-time data from these traps can be used to estimate abundance, although most available methods still require individually identifiable animals. There is a great …

Evolution Of Molt Phenology In Dwarf Hamsters, Zachary Clare-Salzler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Environmental seasonality presents many challenges for survival. In response, organisms from across the tree of life exhibit adaptive phenology, which can facilitate survival from season to season. In particular, many species are white in the winter and brown in the summer where winter snow cover alters the visual environment. There is an extensive body of literature describing the physiological and cellular regulation of this trait in the Siberian dwarf hamster (Phodopus sungorus), but there are major shortcomings in our understanding concerning the evolution and molecular regulation of mammalian skin phenology. Notably, little is known about the genetic basis …

Aerodynamics And Ecomorphology Of Flexible Feathers And Morphing Bird Wings, Brett Klassen Van Oorschot

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Birds morph their wings during a single wingbeat, across flight speeds, and among flight modes. Such morphing may allow them to maximize aerodynamic performance, but this assumption remains largely untested. We tested the aerodynamic performance of swept and extended wing postures of 13 raptor species in three families (Accipitridae, Falconidae, and Strigidae) using a propeller model to emulate mid-downstroke of flapping during takeoff and a wind tunnel to emulate gliding. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that 1) during flapping, wing posture would not affect maximum ratios of vertical and horizontal force coefficients (CV:CH), and that 2) extended wings would …

The Ecology Of Montane Bengal Tigers (Panthera Tigris Tigris) In The Himalayan Kingdom Of Bhutan, Tshering Tempa

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Large carnivores are endangered across the globe. Loss of habitat and habitat fragmentation, prey depletion, and direct poaching for the illegal wildlife trade are the major causes driving them towards extinction. Although tigers (Panthera tigris) once roamed across Asia, they are now restricted to 7 % of their historical range and experiencing rapid population declines. This warrants a concerted, multipronged strategy that will halt further declines of tigers in the wild. One approach put forth by some scientists is to focus conservation on 6% of the presently occupied tiger habitat identified as tiger sources sites. Other scientists argued for a …

Stream Restoration Effects On Hydraulic Exchange, Storage And Alluvial Aquifer Discharge, Christine M. Brissette

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Stream restoration is increasingly being considered as a climate change mitigation tool, altering the storage and exchange capacities of streams and their adjacent alluvial aquifers. While previous research has shown that added geomorphic complexity and increased width-to-depth ratios can enhance hydraulic exchange and alluvial aquifer storage, few studies have used field data to link these changes in form to baseflow generation. In this paper, we quantify the effect of stream restoration on nested scales of hydraulic exchange and temporal patterns of alluvial aquifer recharge and discharge. Our work compares a restored and degraded reach on Ninemile Creek, Montana following extensive …

The Balancing Act: Ecological Interventions And Decision Tradeoffs To Preserve Wilderness Character, Lucy A. Lieberman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Global climate change, land use intensification and increasing development are impacting federal wildernesses in new and unprecedented ways. Ecological restoration is one tool that that wilderness managers are using to combat degradation, though the decision to intervene in wilderness is complicated by the Wilderness Act’s legal mandate to preserve wilderness character and demonstrate managerial restraint. The purpose of this study is to document a baseline of ecological interventions that have occurred in the NWPS over the last five years, and to understand how wilderness managers make decisions related to ecological interventions. I sent a quantitative survey to over five hundred …

Understanding The Client’S Experience Of Counseling In Bhutan, Michaela Maureen Sacra

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Bhutan is a small Himalayan country experiencing vast changes as its traditional, Buddhist, collectivist culture meets Westernized culture in the process of globalization. The significant differences in culture and the idealization of the West has led to an increase in mental health issues in Bhutan, especially among the youth population. The government has recognized this and supports the growth of mental health professions. Currently, there are few mental health workers in Bhutan, but they have recently initiated a Bachelors-level counselor training program and have provided brief training to teacher counselors in schools to better address the rising problems. However, there …

Understanding Patterns And Drivers Of Alaskan Fire-Regime Variability Across Spatial And Temporal Scales, Tyler J. Hoecker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Boreal forest and tundra ecosystems are globally important because the mobilization of large carbon stocks, and changes in energy balance could act as positive feedbacks to ongoing climate warming. In Alaska, wildfire is a key driver of ecosystem structure and function, and therefore fire strongly determines the feedbacks between high-latitude ecosystems and the larger Earth system. The paleoecological record from Alaska reveals the sensitivity of fire regimes to climatic and vegetation change over centennial to millennial time scales, highlighting increased burning with warming and/or increased landscape flammability associated with large-scale vegetation changes. This thesis focuses on two studies aimed at …

Assessing The Character Of Place To Guide Geotourism In Montana: A Case Study Of Whitefish And White Sulphur Springs, Montana, Michael E. Tipton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 2007 the governor’s Montana Tourism Advisory Council adopted the Montana Tourism and Recreation Charter. Its guiding principle of geotourism pledged to sustain and enhance the character of the places that the people of Montana call home. How can the state’s efforts to keep this pledge be assessed when “character of place” has never been clearly defined or understood in detail? To keep this pledge, and chart the future of geotourism in the state, it was important to clarify what is meant by character of place and identify the full range of present and potential problems that threaten the integrity …

High-Resolution Mapping Of Hierarchical Greater Sage-Grouse Nesting Habitat: A Grain-Spectrum Approach In Northwestern Wyoming, Robert T. Haynam Iii

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Our overall objective was to create a probabilistic nesting-habitat map for the Jackson Hole sage-grouse population that would have utility as a tool for future research, conservation, and management. The models that we developed for this purpose were specified to evaluate whether sage-grouse may be selecting nesting-habitat characteristics simultaneously at various spatial scales. Our spatially-explicit landscape-scale research was implemented primarily with readily available National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) data. All nesting data was collected from 2007-2010. We tested how a broad range of grain sizes (spatial resolution) of covariate values affected the fit to logistic regression models used to estimate …

Poison In Pink, Sydney V. Cook

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Humans slather, spray, mist, and cleanse their bodies with personal care products like lotion, hairspray, cologne, and shampoo every day. Our cupboards are stocked full of them, but few of us understand what is in those jars and bottles. We trust that if it’s on the shelf at the store, it’s safe. However, this is not always the case, and many personal care products contain chemicals that are harmful to human and environmental health.

My multi-disciplinary Environmental Studies thesis project combines evidenced-based research, interviews, nonfiction narrative, and science communication to create part of a book manuscript intended to educate general …

Assessing Stream Channel Restoration: The Phased Recovery Framework, Jacob M. Dyste

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Channel reconfiguration projects command a large portion of stream restoration resources, while long-term monitoring and research is severely underfunded and rarely implemented. This has led to a limited knowledge base about ecological response and efficacy. Although channel reconfiguration projects are being implemented to restore biological function to lotic systems, the document responses are highly variable and little evidence has shown these projects are reaching their target goals. I predicted the inconsistent response to these projects is the result of disturbance-induced successional processes and catchment-scale water quality impairment. To address how these endogenous and exogenous factors influence stream response to channel …

Growth Response Of Whitebark Pine (Pinus Albicaulis) Regeneration To Thinning And Prescribed Burn Release Treatments, Molly L. Mcclintock Retzlaff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) plays a prominent role throughout high-elevation ecosystems in the northern Rocky Mountains. It is an important food source for many birds and mammals, as well as a major player in high-elevation watershed maintenance, both slowing snowmelt and stabilizing soils. Whitebark pine is vanishing from the landscape due to three main factors – white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) invasions, mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreaks, and successional replacement by more shade-tolerant tree species historically controlled by wildfire. In the past century, human activity such as fire suppression has altered these …

Before Abandonment: Social Change In Pre-Colonial Housepit 54, Bridge River Site (Eerl4), British Columbia, Kathryn L. Bobolinski

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Housepit 54 at the Bridge River pithouse village in south-central British Columbia provides a glimpse into the complex cultural practices that occurred in this area in the past. This village, which includes approximately 80 semi-subterranean structures, was occupied during four periods, approximately 1800- 1600 cal. B.P., 1600-1300 cal. B.P., 1300-1000 cal. B.P. and 500-100 cal. B.P, firmly placing the site within both a historic and a pre-Colonial context. The two pre-Colonial floors, IIb (1288-1058 cal B.P.) and IIa (1184-1050 cal B.P.), that represent the occupation of Housepit 54 directly prior to the pre-Colonial villages abandonment are the focus of this …

Factors Influencing Cladophora Biomass Abundance In The Upper Clark Fork River, Montana., Nicholas J. Banish

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Sideline Concussion Screening Tools In An Athletic Setting, Steven Young

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper serves as a primer to healthcare professionals of the now and future of sideline screening for concussion. In the past decade, significant research into sports-related concussions has expanded understanding of what is as a very complex injury. As the definition of concussion has evolved, the impact they have is put into perspective. As more research into the short- and long-term effects of concussions brings to light the effects of continuing to participate after suffering a concussion, the importance of keeping concussed athletes off the field is now understood as a potential life or death situation. With the dangers …

Evolution Of The Kinetics And Dynamics Of Heme-Crevice Loop Regulating Chemistry In Human Cytochrome C, Shiloh M. Nold

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Cytochrome c, cytc, is a metalloprotein that plays primary roles in electron transport and intrinsic apoptotic pathways. Much of the chemistry that cytc is involved with is regulated by a highly conserved region known as the heme crevice loop, consisting of residues 70-85. Only three of these residues (those at positions 81, 83 and 85) are not universally conserved within the evolutionary timeline. Here I look to elucidate possible evolutionary roles for several of the key residues known to be important in regulating heme chemistry of cytc.

I first address the role that lysine …

Harvest And Persistence Of Wolf Populations: Variable Effects Of Harvest On Wolf Packs In The Rocky Mountains, Sarah B. Bassing

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Pubic harvest is a common method used to manage populations of wolves (Canis lupus) in North America. Although wolves appear resilient to the effects of harvest management the influences on demography and pack stability are uncertain. Packs generally drive population dynamics for wolves; thus, we were interested in how harvested populations were maintained and how harvest influenced the abundance and distribution of packs. We used noninvasive genetic data collected in Idaho, USA (2008–2014) and Alberta, Canada (2012–2014) to test whether immigration compensated for harvest mortality and helped maintain population densities. We further fit occupancy models to detection data …

Implications Of Rancher Decision-Making Patterns In Douglas County, Washington For Incentive-Based Conservation Of Sage-Grouse, Clancy Jandreau

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Conservationists are increasingly recognizing the importance of private land for the conservation of imperiled wildlife species while at the same time acknowledging the controversies with seeking Endangered Species Act protections. Recent and ongoing government-led efforts to conserve the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) through the Sage Grouse Initiative (SGI) provide an illustrative experiment in applying incentive-based conservation to private lands. However, whether the SGI program works because it provides an alternative to listing has not been empirically researched. In this study I apply a qualitative, exploratory approach to examine SGI participation among ranchers in Washington, a state with high …