Digital Commons Network^™

Translocations Of North American Bison Across Large Climatic Gradients: Impacts On Thermoregulation, Body Size, And Helmintic Infection, Hayden Wolfe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Every year, one-eighth of all North American bison (Bison bison) are translocated, often across large climatic gradients. Over the last 16 years bison have been translocated from Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota to establish six herds across the United States central grasslands in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Kansas. Influence of climatic gradients on herd-level thermoregulation, body size, and helmintic infection were evaluated. Overall, 1174 thermal images and 1050 fecal samples were collected between 2021 and 2023. Physiological heat flux was used to measure thermoregulation, asymptotic body mass (ABM) was used for body size, and helminth genera abundance …

Which Side (Of The Balance Sheet) Are You On? Household Financial Resources And Participation In The 2020 Protests, Selina Miller, Stephen Roll, C.Taylor Brown, Laura Brugger, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The summer of 2020 was marked by widespread protests. Though research has often examined the predictors of protest participation, there exists little work examining the relationship between different types of wealth and protesting. Drawing on resource-based theories of protest participation and asset-based theories of civic engagement, we constructed regression models disentangling relationships between income, liquid assets, investment assets, homeownership, and protesting. Using a national survey administered during the protests, we find that liquid assets are negatively associated, homeownership is positively associated, and investment assets exhibit a non-linear association with protesting. These relationships hold when controlling for income, demographics, and ideology, …

Mandatory Supporting As A Radical Ethic Of Care: Supporting, Not Reporting, Black Disabled Mothers, Siobhan M. Pokorney

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Racism and ableism are intricately linked in the United States. Since the antebellum period, disability has been weaponized against the Black population. As the overriding punitive institution of white supremacy has shifted from slavery to mass incarceration with time, the experiences of Black disabled people within this institution have changed little. Black disabled individuals are at greater risk of harm at every step of the criminal legal system. Furthermore, the prison system exacerbates and creates debilitation and disability for those who are incarcerated. The family regulation system is the adjacent punitive system to mass incarceration, disproportionately impacting Black disabled women …

The Experience Of Growing Up Deaf In A Hearing-Abled Family: A Phenomenological Study, Alison B. Wetmur

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

d/Deaf Americans constitute a cultural and linguistic minority in America. Most d/Deaf people, 90–95%, are born to hearing-abled parents. By a wide margin, hearing-abled families prefer that their d/Deaf children learn spoken English and enroll their children in oral-education programs. Existing literature must highlight the unique struggles d/Deaf people face when growing up in hearing-abled families. By interviewing 14 d/Deaf adults born into hearing-abled families, this study explored the lived realities of growing up different in ability than other family members. These d/Deaf adults spoke about their childhood feelings of shame and isolation and ongoing frustrations. Respondents also often spoke …

Historical Trauma And The Disability Community, Susan Neely-Barnes, Melissa Hirschi, Laura Taylor

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The theory of historical trauma has emerged as an important perspective for understanding historically oppressed communities, especially communities racialized as black or brown. The theory has been given relatively little attention in disability studies and in practice with people with disabilities. People with disabilities have experienced historical marginalization, oppression, and genocide and continue to experience oppression today. This paper explores the elements of historical trauma and how they apply to the disability experience. Future research in disability studies and social work should consider the historical trauma perspective. An understanding of historical trauma would tie social work practice more closely with …

Using Focus Groups To Explore Older Black Men's Perception Of Dietary Interventions., Ashley R Shaw, Eric D Vidoni, Mickeal N Key, Brandon A Yates, Roland Thorpe

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Older Black men are underrepresented in research despite being disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and cardiovascular (CV) risk factors related to AD compared with non-Hispanic Whites. Although dietary interventions have shown promise to reduce modifiable CV risk factors related to AD, Black Americans have lower adherence likely due to lack of cultural considerations. Using a noninterventional convergent parallel mixed-methods approach, this study examined the cultural contexts that inform perceptions of dietary interventions among older Midwestern Black men. All participants completed an online demographic and dietary habit survey prior to focus group discussions. Two focus group discussion sessions were conducted …

A Tale Of Two Working Landscapes, Sage C. Sutcliffe

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

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 …

Paragenesis Of The Austin Chalk Formation In Southwest Texas, Mitchell C. Sherry

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Presented in this study is a detailed investigation of the paragenesis and diagenetic processes of the Austin Chalk Formation in southwest Texas, utilizing a combination of core-based, petrographic, mineralogic, SEM, and geochemical based analyses. This study is conducted on a single whole rock core from an oil and gas producing well in Webb County, Texas. At this distal shelf location within the Maverick Basin, the Austin Chalk Formation consists of foraminiferal wackestones, siliceous wackestones, foraminiferal mudstones, bentonites, and foraminiferal packstone facies. These facies were deposited below wave base through pelagic, hemipelagic, and gravity driven processes. Petrographic and SEM analyses reveal …

Complexities Of Companionship: Exploring The Human-Dog Relationship Through Mtdna Analysis Of Bridge River Canine Remains, Seth Warnick

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) hold an unquantifiable level of cultural influence and companionship across swathes of societies all over the globe. While dogs are genetically very distinct from Homo sapiens, throughout human history the two organisms have spread across the world together and have biologically gone through similar selective, social, and environmental constraints. Today the biological makeup of dog breeds is incredibly diverse, however, the archaeological record and genetic research has provided insight into the humble beginnings of a relationship between humans and dogs that has transcended the fabric of emerging civilization itself. Located on the Northwest interior plateau, Bridge …

Shaping Outdoor Recreation In Protected Areas: Insights From Factors Influencing Brazilian Protected Area Professionals, Renata Burlamaqui Bradford

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The growing demand for outdoor recreation (OR) in protected areas has led to positive and negative impacts on natural and social environments. As stewards of these areas, protected area professionals (PAPs) are responsible for planning and managing this complexity, and yet we know little about the factors influencing their decisions and actions. This study fills this gap by examining how psychological and organizational aspects influence PAPs’ decisions and behavioral intentions toward OR in protected areas. Insights come from the PAPs working at the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), the Brazilian federal agency. ICMBio’s evolving approach toward OR provides …

Local Visions For Patagonia: Drivers And Dynamics Of Collaborative Environmental Governance In Aysén, Chile, Zachary J. Hummel

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Collaborative governance (CG) has emerged as a tool for addressing increasingly complex societal problems by engaging a diverse of set of cross-sector actors in a deliberative process with the aim of realizing consensus-driven outcomes. Emerson et al.’s (2011) Integrated Framework for Collaborative Governance (IFCG) attempts to improve understanding of these arrangements by articulating causal connections between collaborative drivers and dynamics across different contexts. Answering researchers’ call for more empirical support for the IFCG in non-US/European contexts, I used the framework to guide 10 interviews with collaborative governance practitioners in the comanaged marine protected area, AMCP-MU Pitipalena Añihue, located in Aysén, …

Ending The Doom Cycle: Redefining Historic Preservation And Reclaiming Total Heritage Through Community And Social Justice Advocacy, Nikki Marie Manning

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the wake of a global pandemic and escalating societal challenges, yet another attempt to examine familiar debates about what we preserve and why and the typical arguments for and against historic preservation, seem inconsequential and disconnected from addressing more urgent societal needs such as systemic racism, inequality, police brutality, LGBTQ+ rights, economic and healthy disparities, and environmental justice. The field of historic preservation has the potential, and even obligation, to emphasize and create meaningful impact on larger issues. It should be highlighting and celebrating the diverse stories of people and places that define our community, and the history embodied …

The Relationship Between Global Competence And National Identity Of The Isec Program Students In China, Jing Xu

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Global competence (GC) has become a crucial skill for students in higher education and has been prioritized in talent development objectives at colleges and universities in China, especially in the context of globalization. However, concerns have been voiced that the extensive exposure to global culture and values through mass media may lead to an alteration of college students’ national identity (NI) influenced by global culture and foreign values. Consequently, maintaining a delicate equilibrium between the fostering of GC and NI in college students becomes of paramount importance.

The main purpose of this quantitative non experimental causal comparative study was to …

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 …

Sustainability Starts Small: Initiatives From Cuba To The Bitterroot Valley, Kathryn Marie Simecek

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sustainability and sustainable business practices look different across every resource and industry.

From recreational scuba diving to grassroots recycling efforts, sustainability is driven by local communities with a vested interest in protecting their environments long-term. Access to these sustainability efforts and awareness about their existence are barriers that require intentional participation in sustainable resource use from relevant parties. In this professional paper, sustainability efforts will be examined across three domains. Food-grade glass is one of the easiest and most efficient items to recycle, but relatively little of it is recycled. Discarded glass can take various paths, from community-led recycling events …

Analysis Of The Transformations Of Laguna Melincué Wetland, Argentina, Bianca Giunti

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In Argentina, freshwater wetlands are threatened by land use changes, unsustainable irrigation practices, and climate change. Twenty-three wetlands cover 5,176,578 ha of the Argentinian territory and have been designated as wetlands of international importance by the Convention of Wetlands (Kandus et al., 2008; Ramsar Sites Information Service, 2022). These figures are significant given Argentina’s unique geographic location on a central migratory bird flyway and the profound biological diversity found in these wetlands (Jahn et al., 2013; Red Aves Internacionales, 2015). The Government of Argentina has recently moved to implement wetland protection and conservation policies. Nevertheless, policy and governance efforts to …

Acceptability Of Anal Human Papillomavirus Home Self-Sampling And Clinician Sampling Among Sexual And Gender Minority Individuals In Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The Prevent Anal Cancer Self-Swab Study, Jenna Nitkowski, Anna R Giuliano, Tim Ridolfi, Elizabeth Chiao, Maria E Fernandez, Vanessa Schick, Michael D Swartz, Jennifer S Smith, Alan G Nyitray

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Anal cancer has disproportionately high incidence among sexual minority men. We compared acceptability of home versus clinic human papillomavirus (HPV) anal swabbing.

Methods: The Prevent Anal Cancer Self-Swab Study recruited sexual and gender minority individuals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Eligible participants were randomized to a home or clinic arm. Home participants received a mailed anal HPV self-sampling kit. Clinic participants attended a clinic appointment where a clinician collected an anal HPV swab. We examined acceptability (overall thoughts, comfort with method, pain, and future willingness to swab) of home versus clinic swabbing using postswab survey responses.

Results: A total of 191 …

Full Issue, Socio-Legal Review

Socio-Legal Review

No abstract provided.

Cultivating Attentiveness To Law In India Through Legal Anthropology, Deepa Das Acevedo, Jahnavi Chamarthi

Socio-Legal Review

This Article reviews and analyses scholarship at the intersection of anthropology and law. The first half of the Article provides context for understanding the boundaries, animating concerns, and tensions that have characterised the anthropology of law as an area of interdisciplinary inquiry. We focus especially on the subdiscipline’s Anglo-American history and show how a promising early period of engagement dissipated as both anthropologists and legal scholars lost enthusiasm for each others’ insights and methods. Then, we expand our analysis outward. Because legal anthropology belongs within, and is increasingly attentive to, the broader field of law and society scholarship, we explore …

Poldarking The Past: Contested Heritage, Tourism And Identity In Post-Mining Cornwall, Alexander Rowe

Plymouth Business School Theses

This thesis aimed to examine representations of Cornish identity and Poldark at heritage sites in Cornwall and how the local communities responded to these fictionalised representations. This thesis adopted an interpretivist qualitative approach. In total, 37 semi-structured interviews were conducted with local residents, heritage professionals and other associated tourism stakeholders. A further 21 online interviews were conducted with tourists. These interviews were triangulated with a range of documentary sources. Data collected from the interviews and documentary sources were analysed using a thematic analysis framework.An original contribution of the thesis was the conceptualisation of ‘imaginative heritage dissonance’ which combines the notions …

What Can We Learn From A Co-Creation Journey For A Quick Scan Digital Transformation Maturity Assessment Tool For Development Ngos?, Anand Sheombar

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This paper describes the approach and lessons learned from a co-creation process with Dutch development NGOs to create a practical and easy-to-use assessment tool for practitioners to assess the organisation's maturity level of digital transformation. For this study, we applied a design science research methodology, specifically a six-step co-creation approach suitable for developing maturity models. The digital maturity assessment tool (quick scan) created is a domain- specific digital transformation maturity tool for development NGOs rather than a generally applicable tool. This artefact was evaluated using an eight-point Requirements framework for the development of digital maturity assessment tools. By developing a …

Exploring The Relative Contribution Of Humans On Genetic Differentiation Among Speyeria Callippe Populations In The California Coast Ranges, Laura K. Heller

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The distinction between populations due to environmental factors like climate and geography are well-known and expected, therefore it is not illogical to believe more disjunct habitats would also impact genetic structure. Through Restriction Site Associated DNA Sequencing (RADseq) and Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis the genetic structure and differentiation (fixation index, Fst) of Speyeria callippe across four regions in California: the North Coast Ranges, Bay Area, Diablo Range, and South Coast Ranges were analyzed. The influence of geographic distance, human population density, and forest cover were explored as factors influencing the genetics of these populations. The combination of mtDNA and RADseq …

The Bridwell Quarterly. Issue 22, Winter 2024, Michelle Ried

Bridwell Library Publications

No abstract provided.

Unveiling Long-Term Impacts Of Forest Cover Changes And Carbon Storage Assessment In Nan Province, Thailand, Jiratiwan Kruasilp, Sura Pattanakiat, Siam Lawawirojwong, Thamarat Phutthai, Poonperm Vardhanabindu, Warinthorn Kiadtikornthaweeyot Evans, Anne Jacquine

Applied Environmental Research

Forests serve as carbon sink by storing and sequestrating carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Forest cover loss adversely affects communities by increasing risks to the shortage of carbon storage. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of forest fragmentation and assessment of forest cover changes impacts on carbon storage over Nan province during 1990 to 2019. Spatial and temporal patterns were explored using landscape metrics analysis. Forest areas declined 10.69% over 30 years using random forest classifier based on Google Earth Engine platform, with an overall accuracy of 97.10%. The highest rate of forest cover changes was 5.27% (2010 to 2014), …

Geospatial Modelling Of Flood Susceptibility Of The Calabar City, Cross River State, Nigeria, Joel Efiong, Eme Efiong, Oluyemi Akintoye, Ebin Inah, Obianuju Awan, Francis Ogban

Applied Environmental Research

Flooding remains a major environmental problem in many parts of the world including Nigeria, causing untold losses. This study modelled the flood susceptibility of Calabar Metropolis using frequency ratio and geographical information system (GIS). Direct field observation and key informant approaches were used to obtain 127 previous and current flood locations in the study area from which a database of historical flood occurrence was developed. Using the geostatistical analyst tool within a geographical information environment the flood locations were split into two parts in the ratio of 70:30 percent for the training and testing processes, respectively. Eight flood conditioning factors …

Microplastic Contamination In Table Salt: A Study Of Consumer Behavior In Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Sk Abid Md Saad, Faijunnesa Rashid, Maisha Miskat, Mukul Chandra Sarker, Arman Khan, Mustafizur Rahman

Applied Environmental Research

Plastic particles resulting from the breakdown of bigger plastics may be introduced directly as micro- and nano-sized particles polluting the marine ecosystem, including ocean-extracted table salt. This study investigated the presence of microplastic (MP)-like particles in table salt from Bangladesh, focusing on both locally refined and commercially branded varieties. Local salt samples from Sadar and Moheshkhali Sub-district of Cox’s Bazar contained an average of 23.4 and 12 particles kg-1, respectively. In contrast, no particles were detected in commercial brands, likely due to their complex refining processes. The study also explored factors influencing local salt consumption, finding it influenced by the …

Spatial Analysis Of Socioeconomic Factors At Found Locations Of Orphaned Mammals In Champaign County, Illinois, Usa, Colleen Elzinga, Stephanie Heniff, William Sander, William Marshall Brown, Csaba Varga, Samantha Sander

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Young mammals make up a significant portion of animals brought into wildlife rehabilitation centers. Unfortunately, some of these presumed orphaned individuals are inappropriately removed from their native habitat. As such, there is a need for educational community outreach centered on the proper identification of orphaned wildlife that benefit from human intervention, while maximizing limited resources of rehabilitation facilities. This study evaluated found locations of common mammalian orphans presenting from Champaign County to the University of Illinois Wildlife Medical Clinic, Illinois, USA, between 2015 and 2020. The found locations of the orphans (99 Virginia opossums [Didelphis virginiana], 80 common …

Methodological Challenges In Conducting Cross-Cultural/Language Research With Spanish Speakers: The Role Of The Researcher/Translator, Catherine Flores Ph.D.

The Qualitative Report

With the increase in global research, it is common for researchers to investigate topics in intercultural settings, both in their own home countries and abroad. Although findings from this research are prolific, rarely are detailed examples given or practical suggestions offered, particularly in relation to the role of the translator/researcher. The significant and often undervalued role of the translator/researcher in cross cultural/language qualitative research warrants methodological considerations at the onset and throughout the research. Nonetheless, few qualitative studies transparently report the process of how the translation findings were developed. This paper addresses this gap by examining a Latinx postgraduate student’s …

Democratic Accountability And Tax Enforcement, Joshua D. Blank, Leigh Osofsky

Faculty Publications

One of the most powerful charges that can be leveled against the IRS is that it is targeting taxpayers. Charges of political targeting have dogged the IRS for over a century, including in major controversies such as the alleged Tea Party auditing scandal in 2013. Commentators and scholars have long critiqued the IRS for focusing audit resources on some of the lowest-income Americans. And, most recently, a group of researchers estimated that the IRS audits Black taxpayers at a 2.9 to 4.7 times greater rate, as compared to non-Black taxpayers. In response, legislators demanded action, there was widespread public consternation, …