Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Stigma On Mental Health Treatment Engagement, Kali Diane Strickland

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Stigma is often cited as a significant barrier to mental health care (e.g., Andrade et al., 2014), but less is known about the impact of stigma on treatment engagement over time. The literature often calls for prospective studies (e.g., Clement et al., 2015). Additionally, little is known about label avoidance and its relationship to the other components of stigma, public and self-stigma. This study examined stigma’s association with mental health treatment engagement over time and the relationship between public stigma, self-stigma, and label avoidance. Specifically, the study assessed participants’ responses to stigma and related covariate measures. Approximately 5 weeks later, …

Fluvial Geomorphic Resilience In Alluvial Mountain Rivers To Large Floods, Riley T. Henson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As hydroclimatic extremes intensify, large floods increasingly reshape river systems and threaten infrastructure. Fluvial geomorphic resilience, defined as a river’s resistance to, and recovery from, flood disturbance, offers a useful framework for understanding river response and guiding management. We assessed resilience at two scales: (1) a detailed geomorphic and hydraulic analysis of the June 2022 flood on East Rosebud Creek, Montana, which was part of broader flooding in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and (2) a broad-scale comparison of 12 flood-impacted alluvial mountain rivers across North America and Europe. We quantified resistance using active channel width ratios (W_R) and …

Nonactin And Salinomycin Fragment Scaffold Derived Synthesis For Antibiotic Drug Discovery, Evelyn Amelia Schwartz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Antibacterial drug discovery is an important necessity across all medical practices in both treatment and prevention of antimicrobial resistance. Infections with antimicrobial resistant pathogens are likely to increase over the years, and new classes of antibiotics can address this issue directly. Traditional screening of natural product libraries unfortunately has exhausted these resourceful compounds so that few easily accessible medical drug candidates remain. Natural products have often been recognized for their unique and complex structures that are attributed to their biological activity. This esteemed trait also is linked to cytotoxic activity and difficult synthetic modifications. A fragment of the natural product …

When Does Might Make Right? The Role Of Race/Ethnicity And Implicit Bias On Teacher Reactions To Peer Aggression, Charlotte Jane Moss

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Educators must evaluate social interactions between children on a daily basis. Social evaluations are thought to be impacted by cognitive (e.g., perceived controllability) and emotional (e.g., anger, sympathy) processes, and the ways in which teachers respond to bullying incidents may be influenced by their own implicit racial biases. There is inadequate research examining how these variables influence teacher reactions to bullying scenarios. Additionally, within the bullying literature, many studies focus on the bully and/or the victim, with less emphasis on other roles, such as a student defending the victim. Moreover, researchers typically define defenders as a student who gets help …

Creating A Short-Form Label Avoidance Measure: A Psychometric, Julia Johanna Cameron

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Stigma is a commonly reported barrier to receiving treatment for mental health concerns. One aspect of stigma, label avoidance, specifically addresses the stigma involved when individuals deny their status as having a mental illness and avoid institutions that may mark them as someone with a mental illness. Despite the importance of label avoidance for understanding treatment seeking, there does not currently exist a psychometrically sound measure of label avoidance. In order to address this gap, the present study used a revised and shortened form of a preliminary measure of label avoidance, the LAM-16, to collect psychometric data over two time …

Indigenous Placemaking, Colonial Placetaking, And Indigenous Data Sovereignty: Implications Of Environmental Data Collection On Tribal Lands, Paige Nizhonii Kya'iyo Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This project investigates how Indigenous Data Sovereignty protocols apply to environmental data collected on Tribal lands by federal and state entities. The 2011 and 2014 flooding of the Missouri River and a need for further soil moisture data led the United States Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District to implement a Mesonet weather station monitoring network across the Upper Missouri River Basin (UMRB). Historically, the Army Corps of Engineers has not included Indigenous perspectives into their decision-making, and this has caused Tribes to be distrustful of partnerships with them. The UMRB monitoring network will span across the Upper Missouri River …

Advancing Wildfire Science Through The Application And Parametrization Of Process Based Fire Models, Anthony Albert Marcozzi

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Computational models of wildfires are an important tool for fire managers and scientists. However, representing fuel inputs with sufficient detail for process-based fire models to accurately reflect observed fire phenomena while remaining computationally tractable is a major challenge. This dissertation advances wildland fire science by applying and parametrizing such models to investigate complex fire-fuel interactions across multiple scales.

A primary contribution addresses fine-scale fuel characterization through a novel voxel-based technique converting Terrestrial Laser Scan (TLS) point clouds into three-dimensional (3D) fuel representations. This method was evaluated by comparing simulated fire behavior in the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), optimized using the …

Investigating Non-Invasive Survey Methods And Building A Predictive Occupancy Model For Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus Histrionicus) In Western Montana And Northern Idaho, Holli Ann Holmes

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus; HADU) are an imperiled sea duck that breeds along white-water mountain streams, but challenges in surveying them have made it difficult to understand population trends in their Northern Rocky Mountain breeding population. In this study we had two objectives: (1) evaluate non-invasive survey methods for detecting HADU on their breeding grounds in Western Montana and Northern Idaho, and (2) develop an occupancy model to predict potential breeding stream use for HADU across the region. First, we assessed the efficacy of ground-based foot surveys (GBS), environmental DNA (eDNA), and camera traps to detect breeding HADU during …

America's Highest Stage: Utopians, Capitalists, And Trail Runners On Pikes Peak, Mitchell Morris

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Since ancient times, Pikes Peak’s prominence on the land has endowed it with prominence in the minds of all who have lived around it. This ancient dynamic was reinforced in the nineteenth century by the famed expedition of Lieutenant Zebulon Pike in 1806 and the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush in 1858. Since then, the mountain has become a stage. Standing tall, visible from hundreds of miles around, and known from coast to coast, Pikes Peak is a platform that has attracted diverse historical actors to come and perform, elevate their endeavors to new heights, and demonstrate what they, and people …

Climate Goodbyes: Reporting On Loss, Change And The Human Response In Montana, Madeline Jorden

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This portfolio explores how climate-driven environmental change intersects with long-standing tensions over natural resource management, tribal sovereignty, and rural identity in Montana. It consists of three stories: a historically low water year at Flathead Lake that intensified disputes between tribal dam operators and non-tribal waterfront homeowners; the first confirmed presence of invasive smallmouth bass in the Bitterroot River, signaling warming stream conditions and ecological disruption; and a political narrative from Colstrip, where coal industry workers cling to promises of revival amid economic and regulatory decline. Each piece illustrates how climate change acts not only as an environmental force but also …

Fuel Break Effectiveness – Determining Ignition Thresholds Based On Radiant And Convective Energy Transfer, Daniel Michael Jimenez

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Extended fire seasons and increased fire severity in and around protected ecosystems and the wildland urban interface (WUI) will increasingly challenge fire suppression, impact communities and threaten property and resources. Addressing this growing threat through proactive management solutions that protect values at risk requires improved fire behavior prediction capabilities.

Here I explore the radiant and convective energy transfer mechanisms of fire ignition or extinction associated with fuel discontinuities. Through a series of wind tunnel experiments I identified energy and ignition thresholds unique to changing wind speed, fuel moistures and fire line characteristics, and developed a multi-variate linear regression model to …

Designing A Behavior-Supportive Literacy Block Using Ufli Phonics For First Grade Students With Behavioral Challenges, Julia Lynne Pugh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Students with behavioral challenges tend to struggle while engaging with structured academic instruction, particularly in foundational literacy blocks. In fact, in 2021, it was reported that 27.7% of children aged 3-17 struggle with a mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder. (Leeb et al., 2024) While programs such as UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) offer highly effective phonics instruction, these programs typically lack embedded support for individuals struggling with self-regulation, attention, and task persistence. As a result, these students are presented with a higher risk of falling behind in their reading skills. In this project, the author aims to develop a …

Untangling Mining, Past And Present: An Analysis Of Key Informant Interviews On The Prospects Of Renewed Mining Activity Near Cañon City, Colorado, Lauren E. Nelson, Brian C. Chaffin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Rocky Mountain West represents a distinct social-ecological region in a time of transition. As a subregion of the American West, it is defined by aridity, topography, and the physical, cultural, and economic impacts of mining across the landscape. Contemporarily, the region is increasingly shaped by an influx of tourism as well as seasonal and permanent residents who value the landscape for its recreational opportunities and aesthetic values. Most of the communities in the region owe their start to the mining booms of the 19th century, and many are still grappling with contamination left behind by mining. The transition between …

Changes In Efficiency And Magnitude Of Recharge Due To Climate Change For Headwater Catchments In The Mountain West, Harrison Mcgillen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Changes to groundwater recharge and stream flow were simulated from downscaled CMIP6 global climate models in a headwater catchment of the Blackfoot River, MT. A calibrated, 3-D, coupled surface and groundwater GSFLOW model, forced with minimum and maximum temperature, and precipitation from a downscaled CMIP6 simulation was used to quantify groundwater recharge and stream flow. The model was calibrated against measured groundwater head and stream flow using observed temperature and precipitation boundary conditions. The calibrated model was then forced with downscaled temperature and precipitation from the CANESM5 model for the SSP245, 370 and 585 scenarios, as well as a manual …

Depth Distribution Of Liquid Water In Greenlands Firn Layer Based On L-Band Radiometry, A Snow Physics Model, And Machine Learning, Taylor D. Moon

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The accurate estimation of the amount of meltwater retained by Greenland’s firn layer and its distribution over depth is essential for assessing both the current and future mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet. When meltwater infiltrates the firn, it exists as a quantifiable volume of liquid water, measurable as the one-dimensional liquid water amount, hereafter referred to as LWA. A promising new tool for estimating LWA is L-band passive microwave satellite radiometry, which can provide twice-daily estimates using empirical models of firn microwave emission. However, this method faces two primary limitations. First, retrievals are untested against field observations and …

Occupational Therapy Assistant Education: Exploring The Relationship Between Student Factors And Nbcot Examination Pass Rates, Micahela Parker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this retrospective quantitative study was to examine the predictive ability of gender, age, GPA, attendance and both Level II fieldwork scores (Fieldwork One and Fieldwork Two) on first attempt NBCOT exam success. To practice as an occupational therapy assistant, an individual must complete an accredited occupational therapy assistant (OTA) program and pass the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) exam. The NBCOT exam was developed to ensure entry-level occupational therapy assistants have the necessary knowledge to make safe and competent decisions.

The overarching research focus was to understand the extent of one or more of …

Authenticity Can Be Costly: Understanding School Belonging Among Latine Immigrant High School Students, Deborah A. Ith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

School belonging is strongly associated with positive outcomes, including overall wellness and higher educational attainment. These outcomes can have lasting impacts on the lives of students. The construct of school belonging is defined as the degree to which a student feels accepted, supported, valued, and comfortable expressing themselves authentically within the school community. Students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, especially recent immigrants, often have experiences within the school setting that interfere with the development of a strong sense of school belonging. Unfortunately, much of the prior research on school belonging has relied on survey data, correlational studies, or teacher …

Structural And Dynamic Properties Of Gas-Phase Molecules In High-Order Harmonic Generation: Insights From Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory Calculations, Christopher Michael King

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

High-order harmonic generation, or HHG, is a highly nonlinear quantum optical process capable of generating X-ray/ultraviolet radiation. An atom or molecule is irradiated with a mid-IR laser at high intensity, ionizes, and then emits high-frequency light at integer multiples of the driving laser frequency when an ionized electron recollides with the molecular ion. A convenient tabletop source of coherent XUV light and a common seed for free-electron lasers, HHG can also serve as a self-probe of the source atom or molecule. In the latter case, the HHG spectrum can provide valuable insight into the structure and dynamics of the species …

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 …

Echoes Of Heritage: Understanding The Impact Of Subtractive Bilingualism On Emotional Well-Being And Bicultural Identity In First- And Second-Generation Immigrants, Anna Reszewicz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The effects of emotional well-being and cultural identity have been widely examined, yet little research has examined these outcomes among subtractive bilinguals. This study aimed to fill the gap in the literature by exploring the relationship between emotional well-being and bicultural identity among first- and second-generation immigrants in the United States who were identified as subtractive bilinguals and non-subtractive bilinguals. Subtractive bilinguals are defined as individuals who learn a second language (L2) while experiencing a decline in proficiency or usage of their heritage language (L1). Using self-report measures, 170 participants were recruited and completed an eligibility survey that included the …

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 …

Identity Construction Of Post-2000s Class Monitors In The Public University Of China, Guoming Li

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The identity construction experiences of a key group of student leaders in China’s public universities, class monitors born after the year 2000, were explored through a descriptive phenomenological approach guided by Giorgi’s (2019) framework. From the in-depth interviews with 14 participants, how these student leaders interpret and make meaning of their experiences within the unique context of China’s student cadre system was investigated. Three central dimensions of identity construction were showed: (1) alignment with servant leadership discourses that emphasize responsibility, care, and moral commitment to peers; (2) navigation of a complex followership process involving compliance and responsiveness to institutional supervisors; …

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 …

Enhancing School Counselor Preparedness: The Effect Of Emotional Regulation Training On Outcomes Of Emotional Regulation, Self-Efficacy, And Wellness Measures, Allison Lynn Bristow

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

School Counselors in Training (SCITs) face distinctive challenges while developing their clinical skills and managing the complexities of school counseling. These challenges can lead to emotional strain and burnout, making it essential for SCITs to cultivate strong emotional regulation skills. Counseling and education researchers have discussed various strategies to assist counselors in enhancing emotional regulation skills. However, limited research has assessed the effectiveness of specific trainings on emotion regulation, especially for SCITs. This quantitative study investigates the effectiveness of an emotional regulation (ER) training program offered to SCITs during their field placements in schools. The central research question is whether …

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 …

The Hardheaded Got To Feel It To Believe It, Magdalene Eden Luna-Buckelew

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Memoire short stories about the author’s experiences in Southern California working as an artist, exotic dancer, and going through various 12 step recovery programs and therapies to heal from childhood trauma.

Recovering The Nium Trail: A Journey Through Collaboration And Multidisciplinary Mapping, Crystal West

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study explores and maps an ancient, historic, and contemporary travel corridor that follows the San Joaquin River in the Central Sierra Nevada of California. It is called the Nium or People’s Trail by the North Fork Mono Tribe, the French Trail in historic archives, and the Mammoth Trail on contemporary US Forest Service maps. When I agreed to the request by Chairman Ron Goode of the North Fork Mono Tribe to map the Nium Trail, I was saying yes to a different, more broad and inclusive approach than I had previously taken as an archaeologist documenting archaeological sites and …

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 …