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Cultivating Wildness, Christopher Reed

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The thesis discusses wildness within the context of agriculture. Wildness can be characterized as autonomous, innate and Other. As autonomous, wildness can never be fully controlled. Because it is innate, wildness is inborn in human beings and inherent in the Other-than-human world. As Other, wildness cannot be fully understood. Because wildness is Other, our only avenue to knowledge is experience of the Other-than-human world through which wildness is present.

Our ultimate concern is the wildness inherent in humans. By experiencing manifestations of wildness, we provide ourselves with opportunities for co-creation. Co-creation requires humans to be receptive to the Other-than-human world …

Utilizing Craniometrics To Examine The Morphological Changes To Homo With The Advent Of Processing Food By Cooking, Julia Schorr

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines the extent to which the development of cooking by early humans contributed to morphological changes in the human skull, hypothesizing that the cooking of food by early humans had a direct effect on human evolution, leading to smaller face shape, larger body size, and larger brain development, which can be measured in the skull using craniometrics. Beginning with Homo erectus around 1 million years ago, early humans began cooking food. By beginning the process of physical and chemical breakdown of food prior to consumption, humans were able to better access calories and nutrients already found in their …

What Do You Think I Am?: On Perceiving Unintelligibility In The Nonbinary Gender Experience, James Warwood

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

What does it mean to be “retired from gender,” and what role does such an identity play in daily life? Engaging with the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Judith Butler, this project attempts to elucidate the experience of nonbinary – that is, external to the male/female gender binary – gendered individuals, and the ultimate unintelligibility of that experience. Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological approach to perception allows for an exploration of the social norms and regulations that determine how gender is defined in Western culture; combined with Butler’s significant work on gender and its performativity, phenomenology proves a useful tool for revealing the …

Adapting Near-Ultraviolet Colorimetry For Long-Term In Situ Monitoring Of Hexavalent Chromium In Groundwater Aquifers, Janine Carter

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper briefly describes sources of hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] and the risk it poses to human health and the environment; current methods used to regulate, monitor, and measure Cr(VI); the basic design of a submersible, direct-reading sensor in development for long-term monitoring of Cr(VI) concentration in natural waters; and the means developed to correct sensor readings for two common analytical interferences, turbidity and pH, that could lead to an incorrect measurement of Cr(VI). The principal purposes of this study are to analyze the current methods used to compensate for sample turbidity, to develop methods to compensate for sample pH, and …

Bicycle Mobility In Glacier National Park: Assessing Going-To-The-Sun Road Travelers' Attitudes, Knowledge, And Perceptions Of Bicycling, Brian G. Battaglia

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The central aim of this thesis assessed whether Going-to-the-Sun Road (GTSR) travelers have a positive or negative association with roadway bicycling and the degree of public support for GTSR bicycling in Glacier National Park (GNP). Secondarily, this thesis tested a control and treatment group’s knowledge of roadway cycling laws to determine the effectiveness of a “Bicycles May Use Full Lane” sign and brochure, which both reflected Montana’s cycling laws. Finally, an analysis of the necessity of GNP’s partial bicycle restriction on the GTSR was conducted by comparing the characteristics of two road segments using GIS, and by assessing the attitudes, …

Why Saving Hawaii's Taro Means Losing Hawaiian Taro, Breana Milldrum

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Density Management In Young Western Larch Stands: Tree Growth, Stand Yield, And Carbon Storage 54 Years After Thinning, Michael S. Schaedel

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Long-term silvicultural experiments can be used to test novel ecological hypotheses and answer contemporary management questions that were not envisioned at study initiation. We used a 54-year old western larch precommercial thinning (PCT) study in northwest Montana to examine two sets of questions: (1) how different PCT regimes affect long-term stand yield and tree growth, and (2) how PCT affects total aboveground carbon (C) storage and distribution among C pools. The study has three target densities (494 trees ha^-1, 890 trees ha^-1, and 1680 trees ha^-1) and three numbers of entries to achieve those …

The Bridge River Dogs: Interpreting Adna And Stable Isotope Analysis Collected From Dog Remains, Emilia Tifental

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Excavations at the Bridge River site have been on-going since 2003, increasing our understanding of the communities that inhabited the Middle Fraser Canyon, British Columbia over 1,000 years ago. The most recent excavation at Housepit 54 in the summer of 2014 supplied further data regarding relationships between people and their dogs. Dogs are well documented in the Middle Fraser Canyon through both archaeological excavations and traditional knowledge. A household's possession of a dog has been linked to other prestigious materials, and therefore been interpreted as an indicator of wealth and status. The present study was aimed at further investigation of …

The Bitterroot Socio-Natural Model: Applying Bunkhouse Creek Archaeological Project Data To Test Resilience, Kailin Hatlestad

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

A Case For Untrammeledness As The Foundational Goal Of Wilderness Management, Robert A. Mcglothlin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis addresses the quandary faced by wilderness managers in a time of heightening anthropogenic change, who are tasked with the conflicting goals of leaving wilderness untrammeled from management control, while simultaneously maintaining natural conditions free from human influence. I explain how this debate between conflicting management goals reflects a deeper rift between two competing philosophical paradigms of wilderness stewardship, which I term the Naturalness- paradigm and the Untrammeledness-paradigm. The Naturalness-paradigm embraces a techno-centric view of wilderness stewardship that exalts the role of managers in shaping wilderness ecosystems, whose persistence it considers to be dependent upon human provisioning. The Untrammeledness-paradigm …

Resin Duct Defenses In Ponderosa Pine During A Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreak: Genetic Effects, Mortality, And Relationships With Growth, Sean Pinnell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite formidable tree defenses against insect pests, including resin produced in resin ducts, bark beetles have recently caused extensive outbreaks in western North American forests. To date, our understanding of the extent to which resin duct defenses remain effective at the peak of an outbreak, the relative genetic vs. environmental controls on resin duct production, the degree to which drought reduces resin defenses in naturally occurring outbreaks, and whether and when defense production competes for resources with growth remains limited. Resolving these questions is relevant in the face of climate change, and increased risk of outbreaks. I took advantage of …

More Than Zero: Variation In The Tattooed Population, Zachary Reiter

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sociological research treats all individuals with more than zero tattoos as being part of the tattooed population. This type of categorization fails to capture the significant differences between tattooed individuals. For example, a gang member with a criminal insignia tattooed on his or her neck would be part of the same research population as long term tattoo artists with their entire body covered in tattoos or even a middle aged man with a single tattoo on his bicep. By interviewing tattoo artists, this thesis details the unique nature of tattooing as an occupation, the changing nature of the modern tattooing …

Long-Term Impacts Of Fuel Treatments On Tree Growth And Aboveground Biomass Accumulation In Ponderosa Pine Forests Of The Northern Rocky Mountains, Kate A. Clyatt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In western North America, many low-elevation, dry forest types historically experienced frequent, low-severity fires. However, European settlement and fire suppression policies have contributed to over a century of fire exclusion, substantially altering forest structure and composition. There is considerable interest in restoring fire resilient characteristics to these forests through fuel reduction treatments. One limitation of current research on the impacts of fuel treatments is treatment longevity, as few studies have been able to quantify long-term responses to commonly applied treatments. This research evaluated tree growth and aboveground biomass responses 23 years after treatment in two silvicultural installations with different underburning …

Aquatic Food Webs And Heavy Metal Contamination In The Upper Blackfoot River, Montana, Jack E. Landers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Acid mine drainage (AMD), characterized by low pH and abundant heavy metals, is a widespread problem affecting water quality and fish habitat in Montana. Montana’s upper Blackfoot River exhibits impaired water quality from historic mining that has significantly degraded aquatic habitat and reduced fish and invertebrate abundance in impacted streams. The goal of this study is to investigate the direct and indirect effects of mine-related heavy metals contamination on aquatic ecosystems by examining changes in aquatic community composition, bioaccumulation, and toxicity risk of heavy metals along a contamination gradient in the upper Blackfoot River. Three primary research questions were addressed …

Improving Mental Health Care For Transgender Consumers: Providers’ Attitudes, Knowledge, And Resources, Hillary Gleason

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Transgender individuals may present for treatment with a variety of mental health needs, both related and peripheral to their gender identity and expression. Compounding stigma and other life stressors elevate mental health risks in transgender communities, and the barriers to mental health services are manifold. As such, the current research study was designed to determine the competency of mental health care providers to address the unique needs of transgender consumers. Online surveys gauged mental health providers’ knowledge of transgender issues, implicit and explicit transphobic attitudes, as well as treatment decisions with transgender and cisgender consumers; moreover, workplace resources and infrastructure …

Using Fine Arts To Implement Inclusive Education: Inspiring The School Through A Schoolwide Art Project, Desiree Valentino

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper chronicles the development and completion of a schoolwide living mural project created through the cooperation of every student in an elementary school in Northwest Montana as a way to facilitate inclusive education. The project was fashioned to allow students who are educated in a self-contained classroom the chance to interact with their peers through a schoolwide art project. This involved creating two murals to experience the benefits of the arts; to educate the student body on how to interact with students with disabilities; to demonstrate to general educators how to facilitate the inclusion of all students; and to …

Smoking Cessation For Patients In Multidisciplinary Pain Treatment Settings: A Preliminary Test Of Acceptance And Commitment Therapy, Anayansi Lombardero

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Smoking and chronic pain are significant public health concerns. Patients with chronic pain smoke at higher rates than the general population (Zvolensky, McMillan, Gonzalez, & Asmundson, 2009), and the pain-smoking relationship appears to be influenced by factors such as pain-related anxiety (Ditre, Zale, Zvolensky, & Kosiba, 2013) and depression (Goesling, Brummett, & Hassett, 2012). To address a gap in the knowledge base, the current study examined the effectiveness and feasibility of a 5-session, telephone-delivered ACT intervention for smoking cessation among 45 participants recruited from two multidisciplinary pain treatment centers. The ACT intervention was compared to an enhanced treatment-as-usual (TAU) control …

The Design And Synthesis Of Small Molecule Drugs To Inhibit Epigenetic Alterations Caused By Dna Methyltransferase 1, Patrick Anthony Barney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The acquisition of genomic alterations is a defining feature of human cancers. Many cancer chemotherapies rely upon an apoptotic pathway to eradicate cells containing those alterations. One such alteration is the epigenetic methylation of cytosine in DNA, which occurs at CpG sites in dense clusters of CpG dinucleotide repeats within the gene promoter region. The maintenance of appropriate methylation levels of DNA is necessary during normal DNA replication. Disruption of correct and appropriate methylation patterns leads to DNA associated with transcriptional silencing. Cytosine methylation is catalyzed by DNA methyltransferase enzymes (DNMTs), which transfer a methyl group from S-adenosylmethionine to the …

Analysis Of Envelope Glycoprotein Complex Of Arenaviruses, Sundaresh Shankar

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Arenaviruses, the causative agents of severe hemorrhagic fevers, are endemic in rodent populations and can be transmitted to humans by contact. Without effective treatment or licensed vaccines, these viruses pose serious public health and biodefense concern. The sole treatment option is the off-label use of the nucleoside analog ribavirin, which is effective only when given at an early stage of infection and shows significant toxicity in humans. Hence, there exists a clear need for developing better therapies. Arenavirus entry into the cell is initiated by the virus envelope glycoprotein complex (GPC), primed to undergo conformational changes triggered by the acidic …

Determining The Associations Between Sibling Relationships And Their Amount Of Physical Activity, And The Risk Of Childhood Obesity, Samantha Dalton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Seventy percent of children who are obese will grow up to be an overweight or obese adult, increasing their risk for mental, physical and health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, and joint problems (CDC, 2012). The sibling relationship consists of four major domains: 1) warmth and affection, 2) hostility and conflict, 3) rivalry, and 4) relative status/power (Furman, Buhrmester, 1985). These domains may be associated with sibling levels of physical activity (PA) and risk for obesity. Very few studies have assessed how sibling relationships affect one another’s PA and how these variables are related to the risk of childhood obesity. …

Protecting The Crown Of The Continent Ecosystem: A History Of Conservation In The Blackfoot And Swan Valleys, Montana, Verena Henners

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Conservation strategies are essential tools for protecting landscapes and ecosystems. The Blackfoot and Swan Valleys in Montana, which are analyzed in this study, are considered to be prime examples of conservation efforts. Key conservation agencies in the study area include the Blackfoot Challenge and Swan Valley Connections. This study analyzes the history of conservation in the Blackfoot and Swan Valleys, current conservation practices, and contributors to successful conservation. The study uses the theoretical background of game theory and contributes to conservation theory and aims to contribute to the field of mountain geography. The methodological approach of the study is qualitative …

Better Talking Heads: Concerning Fuller "Experience" In Environmental Philosophy, Christina Bovinette

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Through this project, I demonstrate how professional environmental ethics is constrained by, what I call, a rationalist bias and I offer a different approach to environmental questions in the face of this observation. Intellectual life depends on material conditions and our necessary physical ties to Earth. I suggest that an emphasis on our physical connections with the planet can benefit professional environmental ethics. I draw from some feminist understandings to discuss the advantages of a professional environmental ethics that respects and integrates experiences outside of rational deliberation. I attempt to bring my discussion of experience, environmental ethics, and some feminist …

Individuals’ Perceptions Of Disordered Eating Pathology: Development And Validation Of The Inventory For Disordered Eating Attributions (Idea), Lindsay Katherine Crosby

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Eating pathology may be triggered by a number of biological, environmental, personal, and social experiences. Research in the field of disordered eating has uncovered numerous intrinsic and extrinsic vulnerabilities to developing abnormal eating behavior, and these etiologies often impact the onset, severity, type, and prognosis of disordered eating behavior in varying ways. Further, a limited number of measures have been created to examine individualsÆ beliefs about why they are experiencing various mental health conditions (e.g. reasons for depression, developing substance dependence, etc.), which has implications for tailoring assessment and intervention. However, there is currently no such measure for individuals experiencing …

Evaluation Of Social Preferences For Woody Biomass Energy In The Us Mountain West, Robert Marshall Campbell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There are substantial opportunities for mechanized thinning treatments to reduce the likelihood of severe and damaging wildfires and improve forest health in the public forests of the Western US. These treatments could also produce woody biomass that can be used to generate renewable energy and displace fossil fuels. Although woody biomass energy is often not financially competitive with fossil fuels, financial analysis alone is an incomplete method of comparison because of the significant negative environmental externalities imposed by the burning of fossil fuels, and potential positive externalities associated with woody biomass energy generation. It is possible that when non-market costs …

Pavlovian To Instrumental Transfer In The Peak Procedure: Insights Into Time, Benjamin Robert Eisenreich

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Responding in the peak procedure has long been utilized as a prototypical model of timing behavior in animals (Church, 2002). Part and parcel to this approach has been the assumption that peak intervals and peak rates are representative measures of two independent constructs, timing and motivation respectively. However, recent investigations into motivational influences and the biological underpinnings of timing behavior have resulted in converging models that indicate responding in the peak procedure may actually be a combination of motivational and timing factors (Kirkpatrick, 2014). In pursuit of this, the present study utilized two experimental manipulations to examine the impact of …

Mule Deer Population Dynamics In Space And Time: Ecological Modeling Tools For Managing Ungulates, Mark A. Hurley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ecologists aim to understand and predict the effect of management actions on population dynamics of animals, a difficult task in highly variable environments. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) occupy such variable environments and display volatile population dynamics, providing a challenging management scenario. I first investigate the ecological drivers of overwinter juvenile survival, the most variable life stage in this ungulate. I tested for both direct and indirect effects of spring and fall phenology on winter survival of 2,315 mule deer fawns from 1998 – 2011 across a wide range of environmental conditions in Idaho, USA. I showed that early winter precipitation …

Development Of Replication-Competent Vsv-Based Vaccines For Protection Against Hantaviruses, Joshua Ovila Marceau

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study looks at the effects of the position and numbers of foreign immunogens in the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) genome on vector attenuation and vaccine efficacy. To generate the recombinant vaccine vectors, a VSV Indiana strain was modified by removing the native VSV glycoprotein and replacing it with one or two foreign glycoproteins; one derived from the filovirus Zaire ebolavirus (ZEBOVgp) and the other from the hantavirus Andes virus (ANDVgpc). Two monovalent (rVSVΔG-ANDVgpc and rVSVΔG-ZEBOVgp) and two bivalent (rVSVΔG-ANDVgpc-ZEBOVgp and rVSVΔG-ZEBOVgp-ANDVgpc recombinant vectors were compared. All vectors were attenuated in cell culture and in immunocompetent hamsters when compared to …

Characterization Of The Assembly Of Human Cytomegalovirus Gh/Gl/Go And Gh/Gl/Ul128-131 Complexes And Studies On Their Functions During Virus Entry And Tropism, Momei Zhou

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a human pathogen that can cause severe diseases in immunocompromised individuals, and also is a leading cause for congenital infection, making it a major public health concern. Currently, there is no effective vaccine available and antiviral treatment is often associated with problems, like drug toxicity, and drug resistance. Intervention in the virus entry process during the replication cycle could serve as a useful therapeutic strategy. The overall aims of the research in this dissertation are to characterize the roles of HCMV two gH/gL glycoprotein complexes during virus entry and tropism, and to study the molecular basis …

Modulating Male Aggression And Courtship: Detecting External Pheromonal And Nutritional Information, Jonathan C. Andrews

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Survival and reproduction in the natural world requires an organism to identify and react to the presence of environmental stimuli in a time and cue dependent manner. Such temporal specificity requires the development and use of specialized sensory organs that receive this external sensory information. Neurons within the specialized sensory organs respond to touch, taste, pheromones, chemicals, and light, and transduce this information to the central brain. In many systems, gustatory and olfactory chemosensation in particular, provides critical information regarding sex and species identification as well as the status of food resources. The output of neurons which receive chemical information …

Src Family Kinases Mediate Individual Cell Responses To Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Signaling In Neuroblastoma Cells, Juan Enrique Palacios Moreno

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Receptor Tyrosine Kinases (RTKs) are involved in proliferation, differentiation, cellular metabolism, and homeostasis. More than half of the RTKs in the human genome are expressed in neuroblastoma cell lines. RKTs activate downstream signaling pathways including the canonical pathways of ERK, AKT, PLCγ, and SRC Family Kinases (SFKs). Phosphoproteomic data showed high expression and phosphorylation levels of SFK scaffold PAG1, and SFKs FYN and LYN in neuroblastoma cell lines and endosomes. We hypothesized that FYN and LYN distinguish between proliferation- and differentiation-inducing signals from different RTKs in neuroblastoma cells.

To test this hypothesis, we measured changes in FYN and LYN’s intracellular …