Digital Commons Network^™

Integrating Methods To Investigate Phytoplankton Dynamics Along Gradients Of A Major Urban River, Nicholas Sheldon

University Honors Theses

Waterways that support human society and life on Earth host superabundant microorganisms which support all ecosystems and food webs: phytoplankton. This study aimed to identify and quantify phytoplankton in the Willamette River in order to understand the dynamics between different phyla. Building on previous studies, which showed that communities of phytoplankton change with the river environment, this work determined how eukaryotic and prokaryotic phytoplankton vary with one another while inhabiting the same river conditions. The approach involved sampling the Willamette river over a weekly time series and combined analytical techniques of qPCR, flow cytometry, and image cytometry to assess population …

Why Democracy Has Lost The Trust Of Modern People In The Modern Era, Erica Rubel

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines the growing crisis of democratic legitimacy among young people in the 21st century. Across the United States and globally, young people are increasingly disillusioned with formal democratic systems, not because they are disengaged or apathetic, but because they feel systematically excluded from structures that claim to represent them. Through an interdisciplinary framework rooted in political theory, affect studies, intersectionality, and critical media analysis, this research argues that democratic trust cannot be repaired without emotional truth, structural accountability, and reimagined participation.

Drawing on the work of Lipset (1959), Crenshaw (1989), Cohen (2020), Papacharissi (2015), and Spade (2020), this …

An Erotics Manifesto: Developing Critical Feminist Theory Through Erotic Fiction, Cairn Des Lions

University Honors Theses

Erotic literature provides a unique lens through which feminists can develop theory because it reveals the natures of our gendered relations in the contexts of our desires. By either writing or critically reading erotic literature, feminists can explore questions about what and why we desire, how we act upon our desires, and what our desires and actions reveal about our relationships to each other. This thesis uses feminist theory to analyze the potential of fiction focused on eroticism to aid in rethinking gender and sexuality norms.

Buddy Team 9: The Legacies Of Hiv/Aids Caregiving (New York City, 1990-1993), Jeff Donaldson-Forbes

University Honors Theses

An autoethnographic thesis asks, How were the volunteers of Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) Buddy Team 9 (NYC, circa 1990-1993) impacted by HIV/AIDS caregiving? The author, a former member of GMHC Buddy Team 9, provides context to the HIV/AIDS crisis in a particular era (1990-1993), place (New York City), and cultural setting (via volunteer work supporting a major AIDS service organization).

Online Crime Reporting: Procedural Justice And Victims' Psychological Outcomes, Sarah M. Fridrich

University Honors Theses

Online crime reporting is a newly emerging reporting method that is gaining popularity among law enforcement agencies globally for its efficiency, yet, little is known about the potential impacts of these systems on victims. This study aims to determine whether or not online systems are delivering a procedurally just experience to property crime victims, and to what extent this may impact their psychological well-being. The study uses survey responses from victims (N=788) using the Portland Police Bureau’s online reporting system. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify significant relationships between a variety of procedural justice factors and control variables. Significant …

Indigenous Science And The Legacy Of Fire: Resilience, Fuels, Mosaics, And Eco-Cultural Landscapes In Oregon’S Coastal And Cascade Range, Julia Alcalá

University Honors Theses

Most of Oregon's western Cascade and Coastal range is a landscape that has historically been considered devoid of mid to low-intensity fires by Western science. However, for time immemorial, Indigenous peoples have been stewarding the forests through the use of "good fire," creating diverse and heterogenous landscapes with mixed fire regimes, ranging from less than a decade to several centuries since the last fire, resulting in a mosaic of patchy forest, oak savannas, prairies, and wetlands. Yet centuries of Indigenous displacement, cultural assimilation, and suppression of cultural burning contributed to this prevailing belief. Despite that, in recent decades, Western scientists …

Is Sharing Always Caring: Critical Discourse Analysis On The Parasociality Of Family Influencing Content On Tiktok, Riley Brown

University Honors Theses

Sharenting, the practice of parents sharing images and information about their children on social media, is a growing, cross-platform phenomenon threatening the privacy and safety of children, especially on TikTok. As this content gained popularity it became monetizable through influencer marketing, or paid partnerships with brands, and created a form of sharenting referred to as family influencing. Influencer marketing encourages the development of parasocial relationships (PSRs) to build a loyal audience for financial success. PSRs develop when a viewer forms a non-reciprocal relationship with a figure through a series of one-sided, mediated interactions simulating face-to-face or intimate interactions. The present …

Contemporary Echoes From The Progressive Era: A Historical Reclamation Project Of Caroline Pratt And Her Play-Based Pedagogy, Charleen Lynn Kepner

University Honors Theses

Caroline Pratt is the early childhood educator most never heard of. Pratt was a progressive era educator and reformer in 1900s New York City. Pratt developed a play based theory of education. She opened City & Country School in 1914 and her school is still operating utilizing many of the methods Pratt developed. Using first hand field research, archival research, and scholarly articles, I examine how Pratt developed her methods and how modern educators can use them today. The study of Pratt's work and her school reveal a pragmatic approach to learning that educators today can adopt. In conclusion, play …

Fear, Trembling, And Wonder: Psalms Of Awe, Solomon Aleph

University Honors Theses

This thesis proposes an expansion of genre form criticism within the Book of Psalms to include an additional category: Psalms of Awe. Building on scholarship that emphasizes the Psalms as expressions of religious experience, it draws from philosophical, theological, and critical scholarship to define the experience of awe as a distinct religious experience not fully captured by form critical scholarship. The thesis argues that awe is reflected in the Psalms through the combination of three key Hebrew roots: ירא (fear/reverence), פחד (fear/dread), and פלא (wonder). This is done by analyzing several psalms to explicate how each term captures a different …

Surface Temperature Analysis Report: Kellogg Creek Restoration & Community Enhancement Project, Dalton Palin

University Honors Theses

Kellogg Creek is located in the Kellogg-Mt Scott watershed which flows through downtown Milwaukie, Oregon into the Willamette River. At the confluence of Kellogg Creek and the Willamette River is the Kellogg Dam. This dam impedes salmon, steelhead, and lamprey movement up Kellogg Creek, which is known historically as a salmon and steelhead rearing and migrating habitat. A plan to remove Kellogg Dam and restore 14 acres of Kellogg Creek is in progress by North Clackamas Watersheds Council (NCWC) and partners. Water temperature studies in Kellogg Creek have been conducted for the past several years, this report analyzed thermal surface …

Not Just An Ad: Exploring Exposure, Persuasion Knowledge, And Health Misinformation On Social Media, Danielle Murray

University Honors Theses

This study explores how exposure to sponsored health and fitness content on social media influences users' perceptions of influencer motivation and belief in health-related misinformation. Drawing on parasocial interaction (PSR), attribution theory, and influencer marketing research, this study investigates two hypotheses: that frequent exposure to branded content is positively associated with (1) perceptions of influencers as commercially motivated and (2) belief in pseudoscientific health myths. A cross-sectional online survey (N = 104) was conducted using convenience sampling of adult social media users. Results partially supported the first hypothesis: exposure frequency was positively correlated with recognition of persuasive intent, but …

Identity, Bodies, And Time: Analysis Of Transgender Education Curricula In K Through 12 Grades, Dean Weiler-Zilberman

University Honors Theses

The author analyzes lesson plans that focus on education around gender and transgender subjects--sourced from Sexual Orientation and Gender Institute (SOGI) 123 and Advocates for Youth (AFY)--and puts them in conversation with key literature on transgender education. What surfaces from their interaction are clear strong areas that support transgender education and gaps that fail transgender students.

Rebellion In The Streets: Activist Art As A Tool For Resistance, Anika Nichols

University Honors Theses

This paper explores the connection between art, anarchism, and Black liberation through the works of Emory Douglas, the AfriCOBRA collective, and Betye Saar. It argues that these artists create a visual language as an expressive form of resistance. One that challenges state violence, capitalist exploitation, and the cultural distortion and marginalization of Black individuals. Framed through anarchist theory, including April Carter's The Political Theory of Anarchism along with writings by Emma Goldman and Lucy Parsons, the project places activist art within a broader tradition of anti-authoritarian ideology. Therefore, by staying rooted in community and rejecting centralized control, these creative practices …

"I Just Kind Of Wish People Knew We Existed:" Rethinking Queer Visibility, Identity, And Belonging In Rural America, Alyson C. Hagen

University Honors Theses

This thesis explores how LGBTQ+ individuals in rural America navigate identity, visibility, and belonging amid the pressures of metronormativity--the dominant cultural narrative that equates queerness with urban life. Through qualitative interviews with five queer adults who lived in rural settings, the study shows that rural queer life is shaped by not only structural erasure and limited resources but also adaptive strategies, emotional labor, and creative community-building. Participants described environments where queerness was often unspoken or denied, yet they developed contingent forms of visibility, online belonging, and grassroots kinship to survive and thrive. Although all participants had migrated to urban areas, …

Alloparenting And Male Infant Care Behaviors In Varecia Rubra (Red-Ruffed Lemur), Noelle Wilcox

University Honors Theses

Nonhuman primates are known for their complex social structures that sometimes includes cooperative breeding strategies. In recent years there has been an increase in investigating alloparenting (infant care provided by an adult or subadult that is not a genetic parent) and male infant care, and how such behaviors contribute to the overall assistance to the extreme energetic investment and costs of the mother for the rearing of offspring. There is also debate to how male care has evolved in the primate clade, be it through the theory of kin selection or theory of mutualism. However, there is not enough research …

East Portland Grid: Supporting Clean Industry And Residents, Allison Kirkpatrick, Andrew Azar, Diego Joao Murphy-Mendez, Evan Howington, Kate Carroll, Maura Paxton

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Supporting clean industry and residents in ways that are mutually beneficial requires a diversity of efforts. The Columbia Salmonry Group, working for the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, finds that designating the Sumner-Parkrose-Argay Terrace neighborhoods as a Green Resilient Industrial District (GRID) can, with the following recommendations, build on the work of community and city partners to sustain and grow clean industry in Portland. This area is well suited to be a GRID due to the close proximity of industry and residents, a history of over-planning and under-delivering of investment, and the engaged community. Focusing on the needs of …

Bridgeless To Better Burnside: Reclaiming Burnside, Reconnecting The West Side, Michael Azierski, Brian Bill, Eric Gasper, Alex Gill, Jackson Morrison, Michel Rojas

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

This report, produced for Better Block PDX, is a resource for shaping the future of lower West Burnside Street during and after the 2028–2033 Burnside Bridge closure. It captures current conditions, community input, principles of transportation planning and placemaking, and recommended interventions to build a shared vision for transforming the corridor from a barrier into a pedestrian-friendly, vibrant street. Framed around a two-phase timeline, temporary interventions during the bridge closure and permanent improvements after the new bridge opens, it offers a snapshot of community visions and a blueprint for turning those visions into action. Recommended interventions for the new bridge …

Building Adaptive Capacity Through Community Visioning, Silas Carr, Isaiah Jackman, Brandon Huezo, Lara Opeifa

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

East Portland represents one of Oregon’s most diverse communities. This rich cultural tapestry reflects the strength and resilience of communities who have built vibrant neighborhoods despite facing systemic exclusion and displacement. This project focuses on community engagement efforts undertaken in collaboration with the Rosewood Initiative, a community-based organization operating in East Portland. However, the legacy of discriminatory policies and practices has created concentrated challenges in East Portland, which have relegated many residents to areas with inadequate infrastructure, limited access to services, and heightened exposure to environmental hazards. Climate change intensifies these challenges, with East Portland experiencing more severe urban heat …

Time Synchronization For 5g And Tsn Integrated Networking, Zixiao Wang, Zonghui Li, Cheng Long, Yiming Zheng, Bo Ai, Xiaoyu Song

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Emerging industrial applications involving robotic collaborative operations and mobile robots require a more reliable and precise wireless network for deterministic data transmission. To meet this demand, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is promoting the integration of 5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology (5G) and Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN). Time synchronization is essential for deterministic data transmission. Based on the 3GPP’s vision of the 5G and TSN integrated networking with interoperability, we improve the time synchronization of TSN to conquer the multi-gNB competition, re-transmission, and mobility problems for the integrated 5G time synchronization. We implemented the improvement mechanisms and systematically validated the …

Joint Analysis Of The Npod-Virus Group Data: The Association Of Enterovirus With Type 1 Diabetes Is Supported By Multiple Markers Of Infection In Pancreas Tissue, Sarah J Richardson, Teresa Rodriguez-Calvo, Jutta E Laiho, John S Kaddis, Julius O Nyalwidhe, Irina Kusmartseva, Sofia Morfopoulou, Joseph F Petrosino, Vincent Plagnol, Kathrin Maedler, Margaret A Morris, Jerry L Nadler, Mark A Atkinson, Matthias Von Herrath, Richard E Lloyd, Heikki Hyoty, Noel G Morgan, Alberto Pugliese, Npod-Virus Group

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Aims/hypothesis: Previous pathology studies have associated enterovirus infections with type 1 diabetes by examining the enterovirus capsid protein 1 (VP1) in autopsy pancreases obtained near diabetes diagnosis. The Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes (nPOD) has since obtained pancreases from organ donors with type 1 diabetes (with broad age and disease duration) and donors with disease-associated autoantibodies (AAbs), the latter representing preclinical disease. Two accompanying manuscripts from the nPOD-Virus Group report primary data from a coordinated analysis of multiple enterovirus indices. We aimed to comprehensively assess the association of multiple enterovirus markers with type 1 diabetes.

Methods: The nPOD-Virus …

What Language Are We Speaking?: Marketing Information Literacy On University Library Websites, Aleksandar Golijanin

Communications in Information Literacy

This study investigates how Canadian university libraries communicate information literacy (IL) to non-library faculty members on faculty-facing web pages. A content analysis was conducted of websites from institutions affiliated with the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (n = 25) to identify trends in the terminology used to describe IL. The findings reveal that the term "information literacy" appears with varying frequency across website headings, subheadings and body text, while terms like “research skills” and “critical information use” may appear in its stead. University libraries may intentionally be employing these terms to enhance faculty engagement in response to the existing …

Contract Quality Feature Extraction Using Llm, Aaron C. Washington

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the potential insights generated from linguistic complexity measurements and large language model (LLM) based assessments on the quality of contract documents. By combining structured True/False prompts with log-probability analysis and ambiguity scoring, the study introduced novel contract-quality assessment methods. Results support a feature-driven approach to contract evaluation, one that offers automated, scalable insights for triaging risk and improving drafting practices. These assessment methods contribute to the growing field of legal natural language processing by offering modular tools for effective contract analysis.

Equiangularity From Compatible Orthobiangularity, Tyler J. Myers

Theses and Dissertations

An equiangular tight frame (ETF) is an equal norm sequence of vectors in a Hilbert space whose coherence achieves equality in the Welch bound. Such sequences necessarily have minimal coherence and thus are, in some sense, as "spread out" in space as possible. ETFs have a variety of applications, such as compressed sensing and waveform design. The main problem in the study of ETFs is determining the pairs (D, N) for which an ETF with N vectors in a D-dimensional space exists. Real ETFs are moreover equivalent to a special subset of a well-studied class of graphs known as strongly …

Rotating Scatter Mask System Optimization Study For Determining Optimal Image Recreation, Seth L. Grover

Theses and Dissertations

The Rotating Scatter Mask (RSM) system is a radiation imaging technology currently limited by the mask design and governing identification algorithm parameters. To optimize the RSM design, Dakota—an optimization software—was integrated with a ray tracing code that simulates particle interactions with the RSM detector, and with the Locally Competitive Algorithm (LCA), which reconstructs the source image based on the ray tracing code’s Detector Response Matrix (DRM). Since the original ray tracing code was developed in MATLAB, it was translated into Python to improve compatibility with both Dakota and LCA. The Python version of the ray tracing code was then integrated …

Fused-Silica Microelectromechanical Systems For Relative Gravimetry, Ethan Doerstling

Theses and Dissertations

Gravimeters are devices that measure gravitational acceleration which can be used by the United States Air Force (USAF) in the areas of navigation and remote sensing. Fused-silica microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices offer capabilities to make inexpensive relative gravimeters with higher thermal stability than common silicon devices while maintaining good gravitational sensitivity. The fused-silica devices in this research were designed, simulated, fabricated, and tested to observe their performance as gravimeters. The devices exhibit properties of highly sensitive accelerometers but the current designs do not qualify as gravimeters. This study provides information to improve the sensitivity and stability of these fused-silica MEMS …

Leveraging Large Language Models (Llms) For Automated Generation Of Sysml V2 State Machines In Guidance, Navigation, And Control (Gnc) Systems, Andrea Louise Ames

Theses and Dissertations

Modern defense systems continue to grow in complexity, placing increasing pressure on engineering workflows to be faster and more adaptable. While Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) with the emerging SysML v2 standard provides a framework for capturing system behavior, its practical use is often limited by the expertise and time required for manual modeling. This research investigates whether large language models (LLMs) can help overcome that barrier by automatically generating SysML v2 state machines from Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) textual inputs. Three LLM Flowise-based models were developed and evaluated: the Structured Transformation Model (STM), which uses a structured extraction and …

Constraining Nuclear Data Uncertainty Requirements For The 19F(A, N)22Na Reaction For Non-Proliferation Applications, Tyler R. M. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the requirements on nuclear data uncertainties needed for the use of the ¹⁹F(α, n)²²Na reaction for nuclear non-proliferation applications. An overview of how neutrons are produced from alpha decays in a UF₆ medium is discussed. Calculation demonstrate the role nuclear data uncertainties effect the neutron yield and energy spectra as a function of enrichment.

Visual Literacy Instruction At Scale: Developing Asynchronous Learning Objects For First-Year Art And Design Students, Jacqueline Huddle, Sarah Carter

Communications in Information Literacy

While learning modules are not new to academic librarianship, student-centered, asynchronous learning modules are an innovative approach not commonly considered within the academic librarianship literature. This article discusses the development and implementation of visual literacy asynchronous learning modules created by two librarians for a cohort of first-year studio art students. In creating these modules, the goal was to offer studio art students visual literacy instruction specific to their personal interests and future careers. Specifically, this article discusses the module design process and how student-centered learning can be incorporated into modules in order to offer deep learning opportunities.

Exploring Positional Knowledge: Using Theory To Teach Bias, Thomas C. Weeks, Melissa E. Johnson

Communications in Information Literacy

In this article, the authors explain how librarians can use positionality theory to understand how students produce value judgments around questions of bias, authority, and credibility. Librarians can help guide students to recognize the student’s own positionality when approaching issues of bias. Students are often instructed to choose credible sources for their research, which they often interpret as sources that avoid bias. Source evaluation tools and checklists, such as the CRAAP test and SIFT, also tell students to watch out for biased language. Unfortunately, many people, students and librarians alike, misunderstand bias and fail to recognize its significance in the …

Rebuilding Consent: Fear, Trust, And The Future Of Nuclear Energy, Austin Dunham

University Honors Theses

This thesis traces the cultural and emotional roots of nuclear fear in the United States and explores how those inherited anxieties continue to shape public resistance to nuclear energy in the face of a worsening climate crisis. Drawing on personal narrative, risk perception theory, and the history of nuclear discourse - from Hiroshima to Chernobyl to today - the research examines how trust, rather than technology, remains the largest barrier to progress. By analyzing the stories we tell about energy, disaster, control, and overall perceived risk, this work asks what it would take for Americans to imagine nuclear energy not …