Digital Commons Network^™

Mindfulness Training For Pre-Service Teachers Using Ecological Momentary Assessment, Emily A. Hattouni

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There is a high-rate of burnout among teachers around the US often linked with the increasing stressors and demands (e.g., Iancu, Rusu, Măroiu, Păcurar, & Maricuțoiu, 2018). Additionally, Jennings and Greenberg (2009) demonstrated the importance of teachers’ social and emotional competence for promoting well-being and academic success in classrooms. Stress that is overwhelming or unaddressed can lead to teacher burnout, but there may be effective ways of promoting self-care among teachers, such as mindfulness-based practices. The current project included psychoeducation on the applications of mindfulness for teachers and repeated collections of self-report questionnaires to investigate the utility of mindfulness-training for …

Developmental, Ecological, And Life History Influences On Predator-Induced Plasticity In Songbirds, James Christopher Mouton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Predation is a ubiquitous ecological force that plays a major role in the evolution of phenotypes. Where the predation risk is predictable and variable, prey species are expected to evolve plasticity in traits that reduce the likelihood of being killed and eaten by predators. Such plasticity may be especially critical for the survival of dependent offspring because they are particularly vulnerable to predators and suffer high levels of predation across taxa. Yet the fitness effects of predator-induced plasticity can vary across life stages, differ between parents and offspring, or be mediated by interactions with other species in the community. The …

A Dual State Hierarchical Ensemble Kalman Filter Algorithm, William J. Cook, Jesse Johnson, Marko Maneta, Doug Brinkerhoff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dynamic models that simulate processes across large geographic locations, such as hydrologic models, are often informed by empirical parameters that are distributed across a geographical area and segmented by geological features such as watersheds. These parameters may be referred to as spatially distributed parameters. Spatially distributed parameters are frequently spatially correlated and any techniques utilized in their calibration ideally incorporate existing spatial hierarchical relationships into their structure. In this paper, a parameter estimation method based on the Dual State Ensemble Kalman Filter called the Dual State Hierarchical Ensemble Kalman Filter (DSHEnKF) is presented. This modified filter is innovative in that …

Exploitation Or Empowerment? Women’S Experiences In The Cam Modeling Industry, Ekaterina Bays

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sex work and the experiences of women within it have been studied in-depth over the past four decades. However, the majority of studies on sex work focus on women who work in prostitution, overlooking rapidly growing cam modeling industry and its female workers. Over the past ten years cam modeling has become an increasingly popular adult entertainment industry, gradually displacing traditional pornography from the online sex market (Senft 2008). In this study, I used theoretical frameworks of radical and liberal feminists as well as polymorphous paradigm to investigate if the cam modeling industry is either an empowering or an exploitative …

Xflow: An Algorithm For Extracting Ion Chromatograms, Mathew M. Gutierrez, Rob Smith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Abstract: Mass spectrometry is a fundamental tool for modern proteomics. The increasing availability of mass spectrometry data paired with the increasing sensitivity and fidelity of the instruments necessitates new and more potent analytical methods. To that end, we have created and present XFlow, a feature detection algorithm for extracting ion chromatograms from MS1 LC-MS data. XFlow is a parameter-free procedurally agnostic feature detection algorithm that utilizes the latent properties of ion chromatograms to resolve them from the surrounding noise present in MS1 data. XFlow is designed to function on either profile or centroided data across different resolutions and instruments. This …

Soil Moisture Drives Canopy Water Content Dynamics In The Western U.S., Drew S. Lyons

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Drought stress is a major contributing factor to adult tree mortality and limits regeneration across the globe. Drought effects are often studied on a site level, but recent advances in remote sensing allow for observations of plant water status across broader geographic scales. The vegetation optical depth (VOD) derived from satellite sensor microwave backscatter has been shown to be sensitive to canopy water content, and can therefore provide useful information on how plant water status changes over time. We develop an index which quantifies the normalized difference between diurnal VOD retrievals (nVOD) across the western U.S. to determine where plant …

A Comprehensive Forensic Case Report For The University Of Montana Forensic Collection Case #141, Nohely Gonzalez

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In order to satisfy the requirements for the Master of Arts (MA) degree in Forensic Anthropology, this professional project will examine the human skeletal remains of UMFC Case #141. This professional paper consists of the various and diverse range of forensic methods employed in order to gain insight into the biological profile of the individual such as age, sex, ancestry, stature, trauma and pathology, in addition to a skeletal inventory of the skeletal remains and an assessment of the minimum number of individuals (MNI) represented in this case.

The human skeletal remains of UMFC Case #141 are consistent with that …

Recovering Our Roots: The Importance Of Salish Ethnobotanical Knowledge And Traditional Food Systems To Community Wellbeing On The Flathead Indian Reservation In Montana., Mitchell Rose Bear Don't Walk

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis provides a culturally-comprehensive review of the plants utilized for food in the Bitterroot Salish tribe of northwestern Montana. As part of the larger Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CS&KT) of the Flathead Indian Reservation, the Bitterroot Salish historically utilized hundreds of plants for food, medicine and hygiene. This thesis aims to highlight food plants and their important cultural components. The information herein is a combination of history, ethnography, linguistics, ethnobotany, and first-hand experience with the current Salish community to provide a holistic framework of understanding traditional food plants today. A comprehensive plant list is provided with Latin, Salish …

Genomic Inference Of Inbreeding In Alexander Archipelago Wolves (Canis Lupus Ligoni) On Prince Of Wales Island, Southeast Alaska, Katherine Emily Zarn

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Habitat loss and climate change are increasingly resulting in reduction and fragmentation of wildlife populations. Populations that have experienced fragmentation and decreases in abundance are at heightened risk of inbreeding due to reduced opportunities to mate with unrelated conspecifics. Prolonged or extensive inbreeding can result in inbreeding depression via the exposure of deleterious alleles in long runs of homozygosity. Alexander Archipelago wolves (Canis lupus ligoni) on Prince of Wales Island (POW) in Southeast Alaska are a small, isolated population of conservation concern that have experienced habitat loss and high harvest rates, and present an ideal system in which …

Walking While Asking:Lessons From Agroecology Education In Chiapas, Mexico, Katherine E. Keller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Keller, Kate, M.S., December 2019 Environmental Studies

Walking While Asking: Lessons from Agroecology Education in Chiapas, Mexico

Committee Chairperson: Dr. Neva Hassanein

This professional paper presents an assessment of the most recent project of Schools for Chiapas (SfC), a U.S.-based solidarity organization working in collaboration with the Zapatista autonomous communities in Chiapas, Mexico. It examines the challenges and potentials of SfC’s efforts to implement food forests at 16 autonomous secondary schools. I contextualize this work within a larger conversation amongst food sovereignty activists and scholars around efforts to scale-out the use of agroecology through education. As the organization looks to …

Patterns Of Wildfire Risk In The United States From Systematic Operational Risk Assessments – How Risk Is Characterized By Land Managers, Erin Kathleen Noonan-Wright

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Since the turn of the 21st century, the complexity and costs of wildfires have increased substantially. There is a need to evaluate entrenched fire management practices that encourage status quo decision making to suppress fires. Data stored in mandated reporting systems collected during wildfires may provide a perspective on fire management decision-making needed to change wildfire governance structures. The Relative Risk Assessment (RRA) resides within a federally mandated workflow process necessary for all longer duration federal wildfires since 2010. Land managers rate hazard, probability and values at risk as high, moderate or low throughout the course of an incident to …

The Impact Of Industrial Agriculture On Social-Ecological Resilience: A Case Study Of The Fairfield Bench, Montana, Anne Preston Harney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Agricultural systems can be understood as social-ecological systems, in which humans and the natural world interact with and influence each other. The concept of resilience within social-ecological systems has gained considerable attention in recent years. Resilience is generally defined as the system’s ability to absorb and adapt to stressors while still maintaining a similar functioning state. With the major challenges created by the overarching system of industrial agriculture, such as weed resistance to herbicides, water pollution, market consolidation, and declining numbers of farmers, resilience in agricultural systems is a critical concept to explore and understand. However, despite the popularity of …

An Investigation Of Historic Euro-American Inscriptions At Madison Buffalo Jump, Jay Thomas Vest

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis explores the cultural significance and interpretive potential of historic inscriptions left behind by primarily Euro-Americans at Madison Buffalo Jump; a Native American bison jump situated in the Madison Valley of southwestern Montana. The inscriptions are analyzed through the lens of Cultural Landscape Theory and their typology, distribution, and content are examined in detail. By looking at these inscriptions in this manner, opportunities for ongoing research are highlighted, the future potential of these types of inscriptions to contribute to a new interpretive is examined, and the challenges of appropriate conservation strategies is considered. This thesis presents the argument that …

Grant-Proposal Writing As A Craft And Potential Ways To Improve Grant-Proposal Writing Knowledge And Application Readiness For Students Seeking Funding Assistance Attending Postsecondary Education, Eileen L. Flannigan-Lewis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The goal of this dissertation is to examine grant-proposal writing as a craft and potential ways to improve grant-proposal writing knowledge and application readiness for students seeking funding assistance attending postsecondary education. In doing so, this research answers the question: What might experts and professionals in the field recommend to students involved in grant-proposal writing to assist them to better understand the process, develop the necessary skills, utilize the available resources, and explore the possible avenues to writing grant-proposals to enable students to be more successful in their funding pursuits? The objectives that address the specific research actions that have …

Methods For Estimating Mountain Goat Occupancy And Abundance, Molly Mcdevitt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Abundance and occupancy are two parameters of central interest to the field of ecology. Furthermore, accurate (both precise and unbiased) estimates are key pieces to the puzzle of effective wildlife management decision-making. While there exist a variety of sampling techniques and statistical models for effectively estimating population parameters for frequently encountered and large mammals, methods for sampling unmarked and rare species are few and far between. The first step to acquiring usable parameter estimates is through the use of sampling theory and incorporation of probabilistic sampling designs to collect count-data and occurrence-data. Often, it is assumed that probabilistic sampling designs …

Anatomy Of Breath, Melissa C. Phelan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Jubah And Nashoba: An Artful History, Theodore Cecil Decelles

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This creative dissertation unites art and history by writing a play using extensive historical research. The main body of work focuses on events surrounding the Natchez Revolt of 1729. The Natchez nation and colonial Louisianans attempted to accommodate each other by reaching a middle ground. Nonetheless, incivility culminated in a massacre at Fort Rosalie. The Natchez experienced profound sociopolitical changes that resulted in a downgrade of female power. North American history asserts many female chiefs interacted with colonial male leaders. Even so, female chiefs have remained at the margins of history. This creative work focuses on the hidden history behind …

Optimization Of Simulations In Opensimpplle, Robin Lockwood

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Computer software has become an integral tool in exploring scientific concepts and computational models. Models, such as OpenSIMPPLLE, use a complex set of rules developed by experts to predict the impact of fires, disease, and wildlife on large scale landscapes.

OpenSIMPPLLE’s simulations are time-consuming when projecting far into the future. OpenSIMPPLLE needs to execute more efficiently to allow for faster completion of simulations. The increase in speed will also enable users to run simulations with more timesteps in shorter periods. There are plenty of ways to accomplish this.

The work described here identifies three different methods for increasing efficiency. The …

The Application Of Contemporary Numerical Methods To The Modeling, Analysis, And Uncertainty Quantification Of Glacier Dynamics, Jacob Zachary Downs

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Warming temperatures have led to accelerating ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet, contributing to global sea level rise. Understanding the stability of the Greenland ice sheet to further warming is crucial to estimating rates of sea level rise over the next century. Estimating sea level rise is complicated by uncertainties in the physical mechanisms governing ice motion as well as uncertainties in the broader Arctic climate system of which the ice sheet is an integral part. In chapter 2, we focus on how surface melt water input to the ice sheet bed influences the rate of basal sliding, which …

Investigation Of The Tribal Park Concept And Opportunities For The Blackfeet Nation, Iree Schmautz Wheeler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Tribal Park model is an emerging tool being used by indigenous groups in the United States and Canada for the management of unique and sacred natural areas, in some cases setting aside existing indigenous owned land, and in others regaining control of land management decisions in traditional territory. Currently in North America there are several sites that have self-identified as Tribal Parks. There is a lack of research regarding Tribal Park development in North America, which creates challenges for indigenous groups interested in pursuing a conservation designation of this type. Using an analysis of five Tribal Park case studies …

Learning From The Landscape: Industrial Processes And Placer Mining Landscapes In The Elk Creek Mining District, Western Montana, Brent Stephen Rowley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 1865 gold was discovered in the Garnet Mountains of Western Montana. This was one of the last of a series of gold rushes in the American West that began with the California Gold Rush in 1849. During this time period miners carried knowledge of geology of placer deposits and placer mining techniques out of California and into the interior west where they encountered quite different geologic conditions. This study examines how miners perceived and learned from these new environments during the construction of placer landscapes in the Garnet Mountains, especially in the Elk Creek Mining District, through a process …

Cultural Property Protection And Preservation During Counterinsurgency Operations: A Handbook For Archaeologists Choosing To Serve With The American Military In The Global War On Terrorism, Thomas Joseph Livoti

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This dissertation is dedicated to an applied archaeological approach as stated in the mission declaration of UMDA’s Ph.D. program in Cultural Heritage and Applied Anthropology: “An overlapping concern of the Ph.D. program is applied anthropology, the use of the anthropological perspective to solve real-world problems, including cultural heritage, medical anthropology, and a host of international development issues. At the heart of our program is a strong commitment to employ anthropological theory to engage contemporary relevant issues with focused research for communities. While some that [sic] are awarded a Ph.D. in Anthropology from [sic] University of Montana will look toward teaching …

The Genetic Mechanisms Underlying Pigmentation And Their Evolutionary Importance In Birds, Nicholas David Sly

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Integumentary pigmentation is a phenotype of fundamental importance to animals, with major impacts on survival and fitness. Thus, understanding the mechanisms underlying pigmentation can help illuminate general principles about how adaptive variation is generated and maintained in populations. Here, I present a dissertation that is aimed at understanding the developmental, regulatory, and genetic mechanisms that underlie variation in avian plumage color, and their evolutionary importance.

In my first chapter, I addressed how the modular organization of plumage traits may impact their evolution. The production of color in developing feathers is a modular process, with several mechanisms combining to produce the …

Reproduction Of Space In The Mountains Of Morocco: A Case Study In The Western Rif, Ismail Medkouri

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The environmental history of the mountains in Morocco was written under the French colonial administration; and its revision upon independence was biased toward an Arabist perspective. These historical narratives significantly influence the study of contemporary spatial phenomena, typically by undermining the validity of the vernacular mode of production of space. This study (1) reviews key myths pertaining to the spatial history and transformation in mountainous areas in Morocco; and (2) analyzes the contemporary mountain settlement of Ain Mediouna, Province of Taounate in light of a revised environmental narrative. Methods include the following: (1) historical document analysis; and (2) morphogenetic analysis …

Policy Analysis: Alaska Salmon Hatcheries, Jessica Eller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

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

Implications Of Modulating Glaciers And Snow Cover In Mongolia, Caleb Gikai Pan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Mongolia’s cryosphere (glaciers and snow cover) drives ecosystem services and in turn, supports emerging economies in the water-restricted country. However, as Mongolia experiences long-term drought conditions and an increase in annual air temperatures at twice the global rate, the potential adverse effects of the changing cryosphere during a period of climate uncertainty will have cascading implications to water availability and economic development. Using several data sources and methods, I partitioned my dissertation into two components to determine the hydrologic and economic implications of modulations in Mongolia’s cryosphere. The first component is an examination of glacier recession in Mongolia’s Altai Mountains, …

Polar Gigantism And Sea Spiders: A Study Of Respiratory Scaling, Steven Joseph Lane

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

All animals must breathe to survive. The types of primary respiratory structures vary across the metazoa, and the overall size and components of these structures scale with body size. The scaling of respiratory structures has been well studied in vertebrate lungs and gills, but very few, if any studies, have looked at it in terms of cutaneous gas exchange, the process where oxygen moves across the outer integument via diffusion. My dissertation has sought to fill this gap in knowledge by studying animals that use cutaneous respiration, and my work has determined both how the components of their respiratory surfaces …

The Enduring Importance Of Wildness: Shepherding Wilderness Through The Anthropocene, Patrick Ram Kelly

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wilderness and wildness have long been essential values at the heart of American conservation. Both have played critical roles in the formation of environmental ethics, providing a conceptual foundation for the belief that the non-human natural world is valuable for its own sake (Nash, 2001). After grounding and inspiring much of 20th century environmentalism, their influence in the current century has grown increasingly tentative. The arrival of what some have called the “Anthropocene epoch” – a term meant to capture the planetary scale impacts of human activity – now threatens the continued viability and relevance of wilderness and wildness to …

Investigating The Thru-Hiking Experience: A Study On The Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, Taylor Rose Cole

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The phenomena of thru-hiking has been on a dramatic rise, spurring hikers to venture onto increasingly remote and challenging trails over extended periods of time. Despite the recent popularity of thru-hiking, the field remains relatively unstudied. In recreation, the expectations held beforehand have been linked to perceptions after an activity, but this has not been explored in thru-hiking. For example, there is little known on the challenges associated with thru-hiking and how these challenges are navigated. Additionally, the social experience associated with thru-hiking on and off the trail has not been studied. Further, research is lacking on immersive experiences such …

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

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

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