Digital Commons Network^™

Delia Peets: A Montana Suffragist, Anyssa M. Queen

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

I will explore the role of Delia Peets, a resident of Butte, Montana, in women’s organizations in the area from the 1890’s to 1930. I conducted research in federal census records, Montana city directories, Silver Bow County marriage records, records from the Montana State Historical Society, local newspapers, books, journals of the Grand Army of the Republic, journals from the National Convention of the Women’s Relief Corps, and Archives and Special Collections at Mansfield Library. My research on Delia Peets focuses on her extensive involvement in various women’s clubs in Montana and their effect on the suffrage movement, particularly until …

The Construction Of A Graphic Novel, Emma Thorp

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

A graphic novel is a book of any genre told through the medium of comic panels. Each picture drawn is literally worth a thousand words of the story. Comic books of the ‘50s were the beginning of this phenomenon, but their popularity really rose after the recession of 2008 as a unique form of storytelling. I have been studying graphic novels, comic theory, and the lives of comic artists since a young age. Over my studies, I have written many short comic strips and an eighteen-page comic book. My art has improved, my understanding of the comic medium has increased, …

Biotic And Abiotic Associations With Westslope Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus Clarkii Lewisi) Occurrences In The North Fork Flathead River In British Columbia, Ca And Northern Montana, Usa Under Current And Future Climate Scenarios., Kadie Heinle, Lisa Eby, Clint Muhlfeld, Vincent D'Angelo, Amber Steed, Andrew Whiteley, Mark Hebblewhite

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Westslope Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi; hereafter WCT) is an economically and ecologically important trout subspecies in western North America. WCT populations are declining across much of their native range due to a number of threats such as habitat degradation and fragmentation, competition with non-native species, and climate change. Understanding how habitat characteristics (e.g., stream temperature) impact distributions of nonhybridized populations of WCT throughout relatively pristine ecosystems is needed to inform management and conservation efforts for WCT. We analyzed field habitat data, fish presence/absence data, and temperature predictions in a mixed effects logistic regression analysis of WCT presence …

Frieda Fligelman: Feminist Academic, Marias Mckenzie Blundell

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

In this sketch, the life and accomplishments of Frieda Fligelman will be explored in depth. Frieda Fligelman was a suffragist based out of Helena, Montana who made great strides for women in higher education and scholarly work. Frieda Fligelman comes from a family of feminist activists with her sister Belle Fligelman Winestine working on Jeanette Rankin’s campaign and working as her secretary. Frieda was the first woman ever admitted to the Ph.D. program of Columbia’s Political Science field. She worked with renowned anthropologist Franz Boas, as well as breaking major ground in the field of Linguistic Anthropology with her work …

South China Chimes Volumes 10-11, 1937-1938

South China Chimes

This file contains seven issues of South China Chimes: Volume 10, number 9 (November 1937) and Volume 11, numbers 1-6 (January-September 1938). South China Chimes was published ten times per year.

The Pursuit Of Wholeness: Benefits Of Integrating Social-Emotional Learning In A Primary Classroom, Patricia Lopez-Chavez

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

Students with low socioeconomic backgrounds have not, historically, had adequate opportunities to develop emotional intelligence through high-quality Social Emotional Learning curriculum. This capstone acknowledges the concept of Social-Emotional Learning (also known as SEL) in primary education. The purpose of this research is to identify the benefits of SEL and to explore ways to implement SEL curriculum into the classroom. This research aims to answer the following questions: (1) What are the benefits of teaching SEL in elementary classrooms for students?; (2) How can SEL be integrated into the classrooms on a daily basis? Research methods include reviewing scholarly literature and …

The Israeli Occupation Of The West Bank From 1993 To 2018, Kelcie J. Murphy

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

I hesitantly begin writing this, a research paper and memoir on one of the most notable controversies in contemporary historical debate: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I really don’t know if that’s even a subject, a concoction of both historical research and memoir, written in undergraduate, graduate, or even postgraduate theses. I want to be as honest to myself as I can in this documentation. What if I get it wrong? What if I miss something? As a Jew, an American, and a peace activist, I have examined what I could, I have lived where I could, and I have thought what …

Repurposing Wasted Food In Missoula, Lia Volpa, Sarah Griffin

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Studies show that wasted food alone accounts for approximately 15 percent of total municipal solid waste in the United States. With the addition of all other compostable and recyclable materials, the total amount of waste that can be salvaged, repurposed, and redirected from landfills reaches 86.9 percent. Missoula’s ZERO by FIFTY plan attempts to answer the question: How can the City of Missoula reduce waste production 90 percent by 2050?

This proposal addresses wasted food through expanded food redistribution programs and the implementation of city-wide three-bin systems (compost, recycle, and landfill infrastructure, also known as zero-waste stations). This proposal was …

Flipped: The Lives Of Those With Mental Disorders, Teresa K. Hoskins

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

This collection of four short stories focus on how society perceives those with mental disorders, the stigma associated with those disorders, and how both of these affect the people who have mental disorders. The stories are designed to give a general audience insight into the lives of those with various mental disorders. In everyday settings, these stories revolve around ordinary actions of the characters, with and without mental disorders. Each story will contain two parts, the first part is a record of the incident from the perspective of a person without a mental health diagnosis and who is unrelated to …

Investigating The Role Of Oxidative Stress In Mediating Excitotoxicity Following In Vitro Ischemic/Reperfusion Insult, Isabella Sturgeon, Moira Shea

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death annually in the United States, resulting in nearly 130,000 deaths per year. Ischemic stroke is the most common form of stroke and occurs when a blood vessel leading to the brain is blocked. This blockage leads to deprivation of oxygen and nutrients to brain tissue, resulting in a phenomenon known as delayed neuronal death (DND). In the hippocampus, a region susceptible to DND, there is high expression of glutamatergic AMPA receptors (AMPARs). The majority of AMPARs expressed in the hippocampus contain an edited form of the GluA2 (Q607R) subunit, and therefore are …

Noxious Weed Monitoring At The Rock Creek Confluence Site, Ira Moll, Patrick Benson, Jordan Barnes, Mike Nonemacher, Katie Andrews

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Disturbances such as fire, flooding, and compaction are important in determining and maintaining the diversity and composition of plant assemblages in ecosystems. While they can have a stabilizing effect, they can also open niches that can be exploited by noxious fast growing weeds. Controlling the abundance and spread of noxious weeds is a top priority for land managers, but can be challenging with limited resources. Therefore it is essential to establish a baseline to determine levels of weed encroachment. We have partnered with Five Valleys Land Trust (FVLT) to establish this baseline at their Rock Creek Confluence Property by using …

The Quest For Zero Waste, Trevor J. Finney, Melody Hollar

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Missoula’s waste stream is increasingly becoming a problem. Republic services – the primary landfill for the city – estimates that it will reach maximum capacity in just 62 years if current trends continue (Kidston 2018). This, and other concerns regarding the environmental impacts of a linear extraction-based economy, underscore the importance of Missoula’s efforts to reduce waste by 90% by 2050. Our research indicates several steps that may be taken to significantly reduce Missoula’s contribution to landfills, increase diversion to recycling and composting facilities, and encourage a local transition away from a linear economy.

We propose the following policies that …

A Software Pipeline For Analyzing Viral Sequences In Bacterial Genomes, Conner J. Copeland, Patrick Secor, Travis J. Wheeler

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic bacterium that can cause serious infections in individuals with compromised immune systems or conditions such as cystic fibrosis. Pseudomonas infections are known to become worse after the bacterial population in a patient has been infected by a group of prophages, a type of virus that insert its genetic sequence into its host’s genome. To help researchers investigate and understand why these viral sequences have this effect on Pseudomonas, we have developed a software pipeline that identifies and analyzes viral insertions into bacterial genomes. This pipeline searches Pseudomonas genomes against the sequences of 50 phages known …

A Hydrogen-Bond Stabilized Mechanism For Oxygen Evolution In Photosystem Ii: A Proposed Computational Experiment, Christopher King

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The ability of plants to take in water and release oxygen into the atmosphere is crucial to the survival of life on Earth. During photosynthesis, water is oxidized to O₂ (dioxygen) at the Oxygen Evolving Complex (OEC) of Photosystem II. Structurally, the OEC resembles a box with an open lid, consisting of metal atoms (four manganese and one calcium) bridged by oxygen atoms. The mechanism of action of this complex, however, is not well understood. Various mechanisms have been proposed in recent years to explain how the OEC oxidizes water to dioxygen, but all of these mechanisms contain gaps …

The Role Of Male Flight Performance In The Evolution Of Extreme Sexual Dimorphism In Leaf Insects, Lexi J. Klawitter

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

In many insect groups, males display a smaller size than their respective females. While selection of larger sizes through fecundity benefits is rather well understood in females of such systems, selection for smaller sizes in males through increased mobility is often evoked but rarely tested empirically. I studied the relationship between male body size and flight performance in males of the leaf insect Phyllium Philippinicum to determine if larger males indeed display reduced mobility. With graduate student Romain Boisseau, we recorded videos of 17 individuals flying in ultra slow motion and used Matlab to mark the head and the tail …

Cardiovascular Responses To Woodsmoke During Exercise, Kesley A. Wood, Selene Y. Tobin, Toria L. Woodin

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Summers in the Rocky Mountain West are notorious for wildfires. By virtue of event frequency, inhalation of woodsmoke particulate matter (PM) may potentially impact cardiovascular health. While field based studies have provided some insights, well controlled lab studies that quantify cardiovascular function before and after smoke inhalation are the next step. In order to better understand the physiological effects, we examined autonomic-sensitive cardiovascular responses to exogenous particulate during exercise using lab simulated exposure to filtered woodsmoke (Western Larch dried to 15% water content). High heart rate variability (time difference between cardiac cycles in an ECG) and low pulse wave velocity …

The Effect Of Vented Helmets On Heat Stress During Wildland Firefighter Simulation, Skyler J. Hilden

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Uncompensable heat from Wildland firefighter (WLFF) personal protective equipment decreases the physiological tolerance while exercising in the heat. Purpose: This study compares heat accumulation at simulated working conditions while wearing standard non-vented WLFF helmets (H) versus a vented helmet (VH). Method: Ten male subjects with VO2max of 59.8 ± 3.6 ml/kg/min completed two trials. Following a 10 minute acclimation period, subjects walked 180 minutes (at 3.5 mph, 5% grade) in a heat chamber (35℃ and 30% relative humidity) with three intervals of 50 minutes of exercise and 10 minutes rest followed by a work capacity test to exhaustion. Separated by …

Modeling Surface Mass Load Displacements In The Western Us, Cody T. Norberg

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The surface of the Earth is under constant stress from a variety of mass loads. Surface mass loads, such as oceans, atmosphere, glaciers, seasonal snowpack, and ground water reservoirs, exert forces on the surface of the Earth, causing elastic crustal deformation. Surface mass loads migrate across the Earth’s surface on a range of time scales from daily to several thousand years. Horizontal and vertical displacement responses of the Earth can be recorded using Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. Modeling and removing surface-mass loading signals, which are present in all GPS time series, can reduce the variance in these time series. …

The Impact Of Terrain And Other Factors On Wild Fires, Matthew L. Kingston

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Wild fires have become an annual concern in the United States, and despite the vast amount of resources and manpower used to combat the spread of wild fires, the success rate tends to vary. With this in mind, a research project has commenced which is primarily aimed at discovering the relationship between environmental factors and wild fire growth, or lack of growth. This research analyzes data available in the Google Earth Engine and includes geographical features such as roads and elevation. Using Google Earth Engine programs, the goal is to establish meaningful relationships between a fire’s growth and various environmental …

Viewing The Chromosphere Of The Sun In The Near Infrared Spectrum, Joseph Kelly

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The outermost layer of the sun, the chromosphere, cannot normally be seen due to the overwhelming brightness of the photosphere, the layer beneath it. However, in certain wavelengths of light, the chromosphere outshines the photosphere, meaning it can be seen when these wavelengths are selected for. One such wavelength of light is in the near infrared spectrum, centered around 670 nm. When the infrared filters are removed from regular cameras, they are able to see far enough into the infrared spectrum to detect light of these wavelengths. Unfortunately, the atmosphere absorbs most incoming radiation in the near infrared spectrum, meaning …

Assessment Of Riparian Ecosystem Structure In Restored Reaches Of Ninemile Creek, Klemensas Krasaitis, Alyssum Ahler-Mull, Danielle Novotny, Eamon Peterson

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Like many streams in the northern Rocky Mountains, Ninemile Creek in Western Montana was degraded by placer mining. This type of gold mining leaves a legacy of physical transformation to the stream, characterized by a highly incised and straightened river channel and loss of the floodplain. These changes to the physical structure lead to hydrology characterized by low-flows during much of the year punctuated by large pulses of water during spring snowmelt. This combination renders it an unsuitable habitat for many invertebrates, fish species, and mammals including beaver. Recently, several phases of restoration in the Ninemile Creek watershed led by …

Familiarity Affects Interaction: Social Behavior Differences In Pairs Of Stranger And Cagemate Degus, Stephen F. Cooke

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The brains of social animals are adapted to form new relationships. Studying this has been difficult because we lack measures for relationship learning. To address this, we studied pairs of stranger degus, a rodent native to Chile, to see how their behaviors changed while learning about each other. Degus are a highly social animal making them a valuable research model. In this experiment we monitored behavior in same sex dyads of degus (male and female) to identify interaction patterns as they learn about one-another. Degus were separated for 24 hours prior to 20 minute pairing sessions. Dyads were paired 5 …

Uganda: Factors Affecting Low Vaccination Rates, Aubrey Mullins

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

According to the most recent available research, just over half of all Ugandan children are fully vaccinated. Every year more than 1 million child mortalities in developing countries are due to vaccine preventable diseases. Drawing on available studies and health reports, this paper examines the factors that contribute to low vaccination rates of Ugandan infants and children. It will also explore the current qualitative observations and experiences of Ugandan physicians in Iganga, Uganda regarding barriers that influence infant and child vaccination rates. Reviewing factors like maternal education, socioeconomic considerations, maternal health care utilization and availability, vaccination availability, and other cultural …

Behavioral Impacts Of Octopamine Release On A Global Vs. Local Scale, Thomas Bisom, Elizabeth L. Catudio-Garrett, L. Sherer, Sarah J. Certel

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Out -of-context aggression is being recognized more in disease and injury states. In the Certel Lab, we are using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism to understand the cellular mechanisms that regulate aggression, and we are particularly interested in the roles of neuromodulators, such as monoamines, in regulating aggression. Monoamines are released at synaptic sites via synaptic vesicles, but they are also released at extrasynaptic sites, such as the cell body, via large dense-core vesicles (LDCVs). In Drosophila, the monoamine octopamine (OA) is similar in structure and function to norepinephrine, and it is required for male aggression. In the current …

Wets, Drys, And Hypocrites: Women And The Repeal Of Prohibition, Kathleen Resch

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The main concern for both sides of the prohibition debate of the 1920s for women was the safety and well-being of Americans, but both sides offered different solutions. The WONPR advocated for the repeal of Prohibition and the WCTU sought better enforcement of Prohibition. Women flocked to the repeal movement in the 1920s and 1930s because Prohibition failed to live up to the expectations set by temperance groups prior to the ratification of the 18th Amendment. The crime rates were not lowered, people did not quit drinking, and the speakeasies were substituted for saloons. The idea that all women must …

Developing Proportional Reasoning Through Gears Investigation, Colt J. Davidson

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The understanding of ratio and the ability to use proportional reasoning are essential to a middle school student’s future success in the fields of math and science. For a student to achieve proficiency in this domain, they must be introduced to a variety of interpretations of rational number concepts. It was my objective in this research to help understand if students can learn these concepts through the investigation of gears as a model for proportional relationships. This research attempted to answer two primary questions through an intervention. Does structured investigation of gear-pairs lead to students’ ability to abstract ratio settings? …

Language Contributions To Early Word Reading Success, Kelsey Johnson, Janis Nelson, Sarah Floyd

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Literacy success depends on various language components such as, morphological awareness, phonological awareness, and orthographic knowledge. Morphological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate morphemes, the smallest meaningful parts of language. Phonological awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate speech sounds and sound patterns. Orthographic knowledge is the ability to store and recall written forms of words. Currently, morphological awareness is not taught until later elementary and middle school years despite emerging evidence that morphological awareness develops before the onset of formal reading instruction. Evidence also suggests that morphological awareness intervention may boost literacy skills for children with …

Movement Patterns Of Westslope Cutthroat Trout Populations In Isolated Headwater Streams Of Montana, Michael J. Krummel

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

A long-held belief regarding stream-resident salmonid populations is that fish are predominately sedentary, termed the restricted movement paradigm. The existing literature has addressed whether fish are mobile and undergo long-range movements, or are sedentary and remain in small (20-50 m) reaches of the stream, or a combination of both. The restricted movement paradigm suggests resident salmonid populations are sedentary, however, limited studies exist on the restricted movement paradigm with respect to small, isolated riverine salmonid populations. We tested the restricted movement paradigm in four isolated Westslope Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi )populations on the east side of the continental …

Identifying Causes Of Unregulated Cell Proliferation And Changes Body Length In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Mikaya H. Terzo

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The regulation of cell divisions is an essential process that contributes to the normal growth and division as well as the prevention of tumor formation. The decision to enter mitosis is mediated by a network of proteins which effect the cyclin B–Cdk1 complex. After noticing a potential increase in length of fbf-2;cyb-2.1(h) worms, we started to investigate the relationship between abnormal somatic cell proliferation and hyperactive cyb-2.1.

Similar findings in research on C. elegans transcription factor, rnt-1, (Nimmo, Antebi, and Woolard 2005), lead to our hypothesis that over-production of CYB-2.1 could increase the rate of cell entry into mitosis leading …

A Convolutional Neural Network To Trim Sequence Alignment Overextension, Jack Roddy

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

A key component of modern molecular biology is sequence annotation - labeling the contents of biological sequence. Annotation largely depends on identifying relationships between sequences through the use of sequence alignment. Modern methods for sequence alignment are remarkably good at recognizing when a substring of one sequence is related (aligns) to a substring of another sequence, but are also prone to a form of error known as alignment overextension, in which the alignment extends beyond the true bounds of relatedness. The impact of overextension is substantial - for example, in the annotation of transposable elements in the human genome, we …