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Mapping Mesic Resilience In Western Rangelands: Productivity Trends, Predictors, And Targeting Frameworks, Kristopher Robert Mueller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Mesic ecosystems in riparian areas and wetlands make up only 2% of western U.S. rangelands but support 80% of wildlife during dry periods, providing vital late-season forage and refuge when surrounding uplands dry out. Yet, mesic habitats are often overlooked in landscape-scale conservation planning. This thesis addresses two key gaps: understanding how mesic productivity responds to environmental change and developing frameworks to incorporate these habitats into current conservation strategies. Using 40 years of Landsat imagery (1984–2024), we examined long-term trends in late-season mesic vegetation productivity and its relationship with drought across the sagebrush biome. From 1984 to 2004, mesic productivity …

Space Use, Habitat Selection, And Flight Behavior Of Eagles Across Northwestern North America, Stephen Bernard Lewis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Understanding how behavioral strategies shape movement, space use, and risk exposure is essential for conserving long-lived raptors. In this dissertation, I use high-resolution GPS telemetry from bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) to examine how behavioral state, environmental context, and temporal dynamics structure raptor ecology across Alaska, British Columbia, and the western United States.

Chapter 1 used random forest classification of movement data from 43 bald eagles and 94 golden eagles to identify territorial, nesting, and floater seasons with high accuracy. Floaters comprised roughly one-third of all seasons in both species, and many individuals exhibited consistent state-specific …

Impacts Of Fire-Driven Vegetation Changes On Evapotranspiration In North American Boreal Forests, Tyler Glen Albrethsen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A growing body of evidence suggests that land cover change could be impacting evapotranspiration (ET) trends more than the direct impacts of climate change (Dashti et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2015). In boreal forests, one of the Earth’s most important carbon sinks (Kang et al., 2006), climate and disturbance-driven land cover change is progressing rapidly, threatening the resilience of conifer-dominated forests (Baltzer et al., 2021; Massey et al., 2023). The spread of deciduous trees and the changing structure of boreal forests likely have large implications for the magnitude and seasonality of ecosystem water fluxes (Young-Robertson et al., 2016). This …

Causes And Consecuences Of Gene Expression Divergence In The Rodent Placenta, Luis Fernando Rodriguez Caro

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Understanding the origin and diversification of reproductive traits is a central goal in evolutionary biology. In mammals, the placenta represents a key evolutionary innovation that reshaped developmental strategies and enabled the ecological success of the clade. Yet despite its importance, the genetic mechanisms and selective pressures driving placental evolution remain poorly understood, due in part to methodological challenges and the limited phylogenetic and genomic scope of prior studies. This dissertation research addresses these gaps by integrating comparative genomics, transcriptomics, and new analytical tools to investigate placental gene regulation across closely related rodent species. Chapter one presents an extensive comparison of …

How Perceptions Of Trauma Impact The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Events And Drinking Habits Of College Students, Caitlin M. Ward

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have been consistently linked to alcohol misuse across the lifespan; however, little research has examined how individuals’ perceptions of these experiences contribute to risky drinking behaviors. The present study investigated the associations among ACEs, perceived traumatic impact of childhood adversity, gender identity, and alcohol use among 211 undergraduate students ages 18 to 25 at the University of Montana (Missoula). Participants completed measures assessing ACE exposure, perceived trauma impact, depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), adult adverse experiences, and alcohol use (AUDIT). ACE scores significantly predicted higher AUDIT scores in an unadjusted model; however, this relationship was no longer significant …

Whole Genome Sequencing From Snowshoe Hare Fecal Samples, Jessica J. Powell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Genomic analyses can provide powerful insights into important issues in conservation biology, including rapid estimates of overall genetic diversity and related population genetic parameters. Noninvasive DNA sampling from fecal samples is an affordable, efficient, and broadly applicable sampling method that has been used in many targeted genetic analyses. However, the efficacy of whole genome sequencing from fecal samples remains relatively unexplored in most taxa. Here, we present results from two experiments designed to test the quantity and quality of whole genome resequencing data obtained from snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) fecal pellets. Extensive previous research has used genetic analyses …

Climate Change And Behavioral Plasticity: Migration, Parturition, And Phenological Mismatch In Northern Rockies Elk, Tara Kelly Meyer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The survival and reproduction of large herbivores depend on the synchronization of life-history events with ephemeral resource availability. Migratory ungulates have navigated this seasonality by relying on environmental cues (e.g., snowmelt or green-up) to predict when to migrate to distant foraging areas. However, anthropogenic climate change is rapidly altering environmental baselines. This dissertation investigates the intersection of climate change, behavioral plasticity, and reproductive ecology in a partially migratory elk (Cervus canadensis) population in Alberta, Canada. Integrating 22 years of longitudinal monitoring data (2002–2024) of individual elk with remotely sensed NDVI and statistical modeling, I examine how three coexisting migratory tactics …

Ecology-Driven Machine Learning For Predicting Risk Of Spread For Aquatic Invasive Species., Leif Eric Howard

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Effective management of aquatic invasive species (AIS) requires predictive tools that leverage environmental and ecological data to forecast spread into uninvaded areas. However, species distribution models (SDMs) often struggle to capture key invasion processes such as dispersal, propagule pressure, and biotic interactions. This thesis integrates ecological, dispersal, and environmental predictors within a machine learning framework to enhance AIS risk prediction and model transferability across space.

In Chapter 2, 61 novel predictors were developed for 2,203 Minnesota lakes to model zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) occurrence, incorporating variables related to propagule pressure (e.g., boat visitation), community composition (e.g., fish species …

Counselor Educators’ Understanding Of Ableism: A Mixed Methods Study, Cynthia Renee Boyle

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ableism, defined as beliefs and practices that prioritize able-bodiedness and lead to disability discrimination, is a prevalent but often overlooked form of oppression rooted in the historical American legacy of other forms of prejudice, discrimination, and is foundationally rooted in higher education through eugenics. Despite the counseling profession's mandate for multicultural competence, disability issues and ableism are often excluded from mainstream curriculum, contributing to a knowledge gap among counselor educators. This convergent mixed methods study explored and analyzed counselor educators’ understanding of ableism using a cross-sectional questionnaire administered to 48 participants. Quantitative results indicated a positive correlation between more formal …

A Retrospective Assessment Of Post-Fire Planting In The Us: Aligning Actual And Optimal Planting Sites To Address The Reforestation Gap, Lewis Faller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The natural regeneration processes that maintain semi-arid North American conifer forests are being disrupted. Increasingly, large wildfires burn core areas beyond the typical seed dispersal range of surviving adult trees and even when seeds are present, climate conditions increasingly are unsuitable for conifer recruitment, establishment, and survival. The USDA Forest Service (USFS), mandated to maintain forest cover in response to harvest or disturbance, now faces a planting backlog of over 3.8 million acres. Here, we conduct a retrospective assessment (1986–2023) of USFS post-fire reforestation to evaluate (1) whether historical planting patterns align with the goal to close the national reforestation …

Resilience, Adaptability, And Transformation: School Principal’S Response To Critical Events, Justine Jean Alberts

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

School principals face critical events as part of their professional roles. These critical events can profoundly impact their ability to lead, which is why this phenomenological study explored the central question, how do principals experience critical events that include perceived trauma? Using Moustakas’ (1994) process of transcendental phenomenological analysis, this research investigated the multifaceted emotional, professional, and personal responses of these educational leaders, revealing the complexities and consequences of their experiences. Semistructured interviews with fourteen current and former principals provided rich, in-depth qualitative data that captured the essence of their experiences. Findings indicated that principals often transition from their day-to-day …

Culture & Contamination On The Fort Hall Indian Reservation, Sidney Upsis Fellows

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The land-based culture of our Shoshone-Bannock Tribes reflects our ability to live a healthy and good life by connecting to the land physically and spiritually in ways of respect, accountability, and other traditions that uphold land-human relations. In consideration of the settler colonialism that has spread across Turtle Island (a.k.a., North America) over the past 500 years, appropriation and contamination of land puts land-based cultures at stake. For the Shoshone-Bannock, two Superfund sites, a result and ongoing issue of settler colonialism, present an issue of environmental justice for the Tribes. This thesis seeks to provide a holistic understanding of our …

Traditional Chinese Medicine And The Argument For Future Application In The United States, Kylie Nicole Frohlich

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

The Other Identity Politics: Political Turning Points And Political Identity Development In College-Going Emerging Adults, Kaetlyn Jeanette Cordingley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Emerging adulthood is a critical developmental period, especially for identity– the development of our sense of who we are internally and relative to others. This research sought to investigate one understudied aspect of identity development: political identity. Five questions guided this research: first, is political identity related to broader identity development? Second, does political identity development differ based on political ideology (liberal, moderate, conservative)? Third, do individuals’ self-identified political turning point events differ based on political ideology? Fourth, how is political identity development related to political turning point narratives? Fifth, how does meaning making interact with political identity development and …

Zooming In On A Snapshot Of Care: Adapting The Index Of Care For Historical And Modern Individuals In The Terry Collection, Felicia Robyn Sparozic

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This dissertation adapts the Index of Care (IOC), traditionally focused on prehistoric contexts, to historical (1840-1950) and modern (post-1950) individuals from the Smithsonian’s Terry Collection, to account for those individuals with extensive records. By introducing sister methodologies for both historical and modern contexts, this research bridges the methodological gap in care analysis, enhancing the original IOC with contextual environmental variables and, for modern individuals, DNA analysis.

The study utilizes a selected cohort from the Terry Collection, emphasizing the investigation of caregiving practices across different sexes and ancestral backgrounds. Contrary to initial hypotheses predicting sex-based differences in care provision, findings show …

The Influence Of Sex Hormones On The Physiological Response To Exercise In Females, Katherine Sue Christison

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The overall aim of this dissertation was to investigate the influence of female sex hormones on the response to exercise in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Study one examined the effect of menstrual cycle phase on thermoregulation during prolonged exercise in the heat. Notably, elevated core temperature and basal aldosterone was apparent in the mid-luteal phase corresponding with elevations in estrogen and progesterone. Aldosterone significantly increased following exercise in the heat but remained elevated in the mid-luteal phase, suggesting a previously unexplored menstrual phase-aldosterone hormonal additivity under the stress of uncompensable heat. Study two was a survey-based investigation with the aim …

Wildfires Are Burning Less Frequently And More Severely Than Historically In The Western Us: A Novel Approach To Calculating Fire-Regime Departures, Jeffrey Ryan Chandler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Changing climate, vegetation, and fire exclusion are altering and homogenizing fire-regime attributes compared to historic conditions. Fire-regime changes are commonly quantified using departure metrics, which are often based on measures of central tendency (i.e. changes in the mean). These metrics can mischaracterize complex changes to the distributional characteristics of fire-regime attributes. Here we develop a fire-regime departure metric that quantifies nonparametric distributional changes to fire-regime attributes over time. We use this metric to compare fire frequency and severity between historical (~1600-1880) and contemporary (1880- 2021) time periods in western US forests. Our analysis revealed that 89% of Western US forests …

Brat Olympics, Caroline Ganci Patterson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

brat olympics is an exploration of feminine disgust, apprehension, and disorientation contextualized through interpersonal relationships and societal shapeshifting. It pays particular attention to gender performance, surburban queerness, and strangerness. The manuscript plays on the history of the bildungsroman, but instead of one consistent singular timeline, it provides three separate attempts at a characterization of a life. These disparate approaches to a singular life’s characterization stress the mundanity of documentation.

This multinarrative approach satirizes the ideal of the singular confessional, and presents a discursive approach to the way we choose to build our worlds. Building off the works of the New …

Tracing Socio-Ecological Resilience In The Milpa, The Monte, And The Kitchen: Milpero And Campesino Perspectives From Tiholop, Yucatan And La Union Libertad, Oaxaca, Mexico, Marisela Chavez

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Agrobiodiversity, the diversity of crops that been co-produced through humanenvironment interactions over millennia, constitutes an important part of humanity’s cultural heritage. Agrobiodiversity is as much about the local ecosystem and biotic resources, such as soil, water, pollinators, and microbes, as it is about human processes like sociocultural and linguistic practices, including farming methods, knowledge, skills, and natural resource management. At the center of these dynamics are the smallholder farmers who engage in a range of stewardship practices that contribute to the diversification and evolution of the native crops that in turn support their food security. This research focuses on understanding …

Green Poems, Lillian I. Emerick Valentine

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

With broad lyric range, the ecopoems in Green center around the ideology and ethics of the American West. The speaker’s position within that as a descendent of settler laborers is interrogated, as well as language itself. Grammar is used as a tool to perform deconstructive work, examining how labor intersects with colonialism and climate change. Melding intellectual analyses of etymology with the physical act of agricultural labor, these poems range from the conversational and playful to lyric explorations of loss.

Interwoven with this is the speaker’s self-examination of femininity and matrilinear inheritance. How do we use the language we’ve been …

Where And When The Antelope Play: Drivers Of Pronghorn Distribution And Demography Across Space And Through Time, Molly Cutler Mcdevitt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this dissertation, I aim to (i) advance the understanding of pronghorn ecology and population responses to environmental variability, and (ii) test analytical tools linking environmental habitat factors to demographic processes. In doing so, I answer the following questions: How should we expect pronghorn demographic rates to vary from year to year? How do environmental conditions influence pronghorn survival? How do long-term impacts from environmental conditions directly affect pronghorn demographic trends like survival or abundance? Do environmental conditions influence pronghorn density and distribution in the same way? If not, how do they differ? Finally, in an increasingly changing landscape, what …

Under The Influence: Pf Bacteriophage Modulate Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Virulence & Pathogenesis, Amelia Kass Schmidt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram-negative opportunistic bacterial pathogen which is as ubiquitous in the natural environment as it is within hospital settings, where it is a readily acquired nosocomial pathogen. Bacteriophages, viruses which infect bacteria, are a central component of the arsenal P. aeruginosa leverages to combat the stresses of infecting mammalian hosts. Over 60% of P. aeruginosa clinical isolates are chronically infected with temperate phages within the family of Inoviridae. These phages, referred to as Pf, have a filamentous virion structure which accommodates genome sizes between 10-20kbp. Pf is capable of integration into the bacterial chromosome where they can …

A Narrative Map Of Fort Missoula: Silence, Stillness And Death In Living Cultural Memory, Daniel A. Goldhamer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Fort Missoula is a rare site of history, memory, and narrative. This project seeks to trace the complex web of identities and relationalities at the Fort through a narrative map: a method that combines site-based ethnography and qualitative storytelling relying on first-person perspective. This methodological framework reveals that Fort Missoula’s distinct character lies in its role as a living archive of cultural memory, accessible through the past, present, and future narratives of its places and spaces. Engaging with the theories of Foucault (1972), de Certeau (1984), and Low (2017), the narrative map of Fort Missoula is a work that investigates …

Better Understanding The Barred Owl, Adam Lee Potts

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis research presents an analysis of barred owl nest site selection in an understudied region of their expanded range. The barred owl has dramatically expanded its range westwards over the last 150 years, prompting multiple conflicting reinterpretations of their species account. Hypotheses of range expansion are reviewed to provide context for this study’s research. This study gathers empirical data on nest site selection in the mixed conifer forests of Montana’s Seeley-Swan and Mission Valleys. Eight barred owl nests were located following extensive territory surveys. Field measurements of tree height and diameter using USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plot …

The Effects Of Beaver Dam Anaolgs On Linked Aquatic-Terrestrial Communities In Western Headwater Streams, Michelle Elyse Fillion, Benjamin P. Colman, Rachel L. Malison

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In response to stream degradation resulting from the near eradication of American Beavers (Castor canadensis), managers of freshwater systems have turned to using beaver dam analogs (BDAs) as one means of restoring waterways from stream and riparian degradation. Though BDAs have been shown to restore physical traits of riparian areas, their influence on macroinvertebrates and linked aquatic-terrestrial systems is not well understood. To examine how BDAs influence aquatic habitats, macroinvertebrate communities, and riparian insectivores, we compared unrestored reference stream segments to BDA-restored segments with 7-14 BDAs in three western Montana headwater streams. We collected physical stream measurements and quantitative samples …

The Influence Of Intensive Treatment In A Cohort Model On Psychosocial Well-Being Of Patients With Aphasia: An Investigation Of Patients’ Quality Of Life Across Three Service Delivery Models, Helena Riley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Aphasia, a common communication disorder following a stroke, significantly impacts psychosocial wellbeing and quality of life. Despite advancements in rehabilitation frameworks, traditional impairment-based interventions prevail, leaving gaps in addressing holistic needs. This study aims to compare patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) between intensive comprehensive aphasia programs (ICAP), modified ICAPs (mICAPs) and individual usual care (UC) service delivery models for aphasia intervention. Eighteen participants with aphasia were broadly recruited for this study. Each completed a series of PROMs pre-and post-treatment examining psychosocial wellbeing, communicative participation, and health related quality of life. Results indicate that intensive programs show potential for greater gains in …

Navigating Conservation Planning For A Small Land Trust, Megan Elise Euclide

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the face of ongoing biodiversity loss and limited resources, the urgency for effective conservation strategies and planning is vital. This paper explains key components and principles of effective conservation planning, applicable across various temporal and spatial scales, institutional contexts, and motivations for conservation. These components encompass framing the conservation planning problem, devising solutions, and implementing strategies. Effective planning efforts are supported by principles such as formulating a clear purpose statement, establishing objectives, addressing critical uncertainties, integrating knowledge into decision-making processes, and embracing flexibility and iteration. Incorporating these elements into conservation planning enhances decision-makers' ability to make informed decisions, ultimately …

The Blackfeet Nation’S Bison Conservation Herd Management Plan, Brandon Kittson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This document is meant to act as a guide to understanding Bison reintroduction on the Blackfeet reservation and serve as a resource for bison management. This report and plan will: 1) review bison ecology and the history of reintroduction efforts on the reservation; 2) identify potential issues and barriers to successful reintroduction; 3) present a summary of current land policies and patterns of land use on the reservation; and 4) provide recommendations for dealing with those potential issues. Recommendations will be based on analyses of previous knowledge of bison and bison behavior.

An Investigation Of Three Rehabilitation Models On Cognitive-Linguistic And Psychosocial Well-Being Outcomes For Stroke Survivors With Chronic Aphasia, Jenna Ray Griffin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Aphasia, a typically chronic language impairment that impacts expressive and receptive language but does not impact intelligence, occurs in approximately 30 - 40% of stroke survivors. Chronic aphasia negatively impacts functional communication, communicative participation, and psychosocial well-being in stroke survivors. Access to care during the post-acute phase of recovery is limited, requiring novel models of rehabilitation that are person-centered and holistic. The intensive comprehensive aphasia program (ICAP) model has shown proof-of-concept, feasibility, and acceptability to improve patient cognitive-linguistic outcomes, psychosocial well-being, and communicative participation. However, outcomes from an ICAP have not been compared to usual care aphasia therapy or to …

Csn-5: A Tumor's Friend Or Foe In The C. Elegans Germline?, Kellie C. Kuch

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The COP9 signalosome is a highly conserved eukaryotic complex regulating protein degradation via deneddylation of Cullin-RING E3 ligases. CSN5, the COP9’s fifth component, contains the catalytically active domain for CSN deneddylation. The complex is inactive without CSN5; however, CSN5 engages in COP9-independent binding with several other proteins, typically promoting either destruction or stabilization of its partners. Many of its confirmed interaction partners are also implicated in tumorigenesis (prominent examples being p27 and p53) and a complex cancer interactome has been established for CSN5. Additionally, CSN5 overexpression has been documented in a staggering array of cancers of diverse origins. This discovery …