Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Multi-Centennial Spatial Coherency Among Atlantic Tropical Cyclones From Simulated And Reconstructed Storm Records, Richard M. Sullivan, Elizabeth Wallace, Sylvia Dee, Gabiel A. Vecchi, Wenchang Yang, Kerry Emanuel

OES Faculty Publications

Proxy-based reconstructions of long-term Atlantic tropical cyclone (TC) variability reveal low-frequency oscillations in regional TC landfalls over the Common Era. However, the limited spatial coverage and increased uncertainty of the proxy records complicates assessments of this feature. Here we present a new multi-ensemble set of synthetic TCs downscaled from the Last Millennium Reanalysis project, which is based on sea surface temperatures that more accurately reflect past conditions. Throughout ensemble members, there are coherent multi-centennial shifts in landfalls with persistent intervals of increased (decreased) occurrence along the eastern US concurrent with inverse activity in the southwest Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, …

Master Of Social Work Portfolio: Rooted In Community, Whitney Wb Pratt

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Cultivating A Community-Based Food System In Western Montana, Elaina Lamphere

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Social Work Professional Portfolio, Anthony Hoffer

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Grounded Practice: Leadership And Integrity In Complex Systems, Tonja Smith

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This portfolio presents the integration of advanced social work competencies developed through the Master of Social Work program at the University of Montana. Grounded in evidence-informed practice, the work demonstrates applied skills in assessment, intervention, group facilitation, policy practice, and interagency collaboration across rural and multidisciplinary settings. Artifacts highlight structured approaches to Batterer Intervention Groups, Domestic Violence Inventories, Family Group Conferencing, and Supported Education, with an emphasis on accountability, safety, and culturally responsive engagement.

The narrative analyzes how positionality, reflective practice, and cultural humility shape professional judgment, particularly when navigating structural inequities and conflicting system demands. The portfolio illustrates the …

Colorado River Insights, 2025: Dancing With Deadpool, Colorado River Research Group

Books, Reports, and Studies

No abstract provided.

Crises, Coloniality, And Energy Transformations In Puerto Rico, Laura Kuhl, Marla Perez-Lugo, Carlos Arriaga Serrano, Cecilio Ortiz Garcia, Ryan Ellis, Jennie C. Stephens

Sociology Faculty Publications

Increased attention to inclusive processes is essential to ensure injustices are not perpetuated during energy transitions. Crises, such as the collapse of the electric grid in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, present the promise of opening windows of opportunity for new ideas and voices to inform the future, but they also create opportunities for powerful interests to reinforce existing power dynamics. While coloniality has been recognized as a barrier to sustainable energy transformations, greater integration of the literature on climate coloniality and sustainability transitions is needed. This chapter analyzes visions of the future of the energy system among diverse constituents …

Performance Is In The Eye Of The Beholder: Exploring The Moderating Role Of Psychological Perspective Distancing Within Thought Self-Leadership In An Organizational Context, Christopher Bryton Neck

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Self-leadership, or the process through which individuals perform various cognitive and behavioral strategies to attain the self-direction and self-motivation necessary to perform in desired ways, has consistently been evidenced to enhance individuals’ performance through promoting a variety of positive individual cognitions, such as self-efficacy, positive affect, and engagement and through diminishing key threatening mental states such as stress, negative affect, and dysfunctional thinking (Harari et al., 2021; Knotts et al., 2022). The cognitive component of self-leadership, thought self-leadership (TSL) has been found to be particularly impactful, aiding the individual to modify and adapt their dysfunctional thinking to be more constructive …

Three Essays On The Socioeconomics Of Drinking Water Pfas Contamination, Nabin Babu Khanal

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of over 15,000 synthetic compounds widely used for their resistance to heat, stains, grease, and water. While central to many modern conveniences, ingestion of PFAS is increasingly linked to adverse human health outcomes and are now detected globally in drinking water systems. This dissertation investigates three interrelated aspects of PFAS contamination in U.S. drinking water: (1) socioeconomic determinants and spatial patterns of contamination; (2) the economic impacts of contamination on residential property values; and (3) the effect of inconsistent PFAS regulations on public trust in environmental governance.

Using data from the U.S. …

Civic Participation And Meaning In Life: Similarities And Differences Across Diverse Youth, Yue Ni, G. John Geldhof, Richard A. Settersten, Shauna L. Tominey

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Civic engagement is an important component of youth thriving, but prior research—focused primarily on political engagement—has found a “civic engagement gap” between youth with marginalized identities and those with privileged social identities. Research is needed to understand youth involvement in other civic activities, patterns of disparities, and any implications of these differences for youth well-being. In this study, we examined differences in community service activities, political activities, and expressive activities and their relationships with meaning in life 2 years later across 11 groups of 1,088 adolescents defined by intersections of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and nativity. Findings reveal great diversity in …

Development Of Physics-Based Deterioration Models For Reinforced Soil Retaining Structures, Amr Morsy, Islam Ebo

Mineta Transportation Institute

Reinforced soil walls are key earth retention features in the transportation infrastructure. They are used to support and retain soil in a wide variety of crucial structures, such as highways, bridges, and railways, to ensure stability. They also provide solutions for constructing embankments and slopes in constrained spaces, allowing for efficient land use and improved infrastructure planning. This study used advanced numerical modeling to improve the understanding of the behavior and long-term performance of the aging reinforced soil walls from the 1970s for asset management purposes. An asset-scale model was created to simulate the effects of weather on these walls. …

Understanding Mobility-Related Challenges For Aapi Older Adults: A Preliminary Study In Southern California, Yongping Zhang, Priscila Salgado Inzunza, Carol Kachadoorian, Wen Cheng, Calvin Wong

Mineta Transportation Institute

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) Nationwide, the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community is projected to constitute 11 percent of people 65 years and older in the United States by 2050 (He et al., 2005). The challenges limiting the transportation and mobility of AAPI older adults include, but are not limited to, language barriers, cultural barriers, anti-Asian hate, accessibility to public transit, traffic safety and public security concerns, and changes to mobility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This project conducted an extensive literature review and a preliminary multi-language survey in Southern California to better …

Conceptual Critical Success Factors Model On Infrastructure Sustainability Rating System For California Construction Projects, Joseph J. Kim, Jose A. Arroyo-Turcios

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report addresses the sensitivity and reliability of the sustainability rating systems by comparing each category’s verified scores with its respective submitted scores to evaluate how points are awarded for infrastructure projects, examine which categories present the most challenges for verification, and identify the best category for verification in the sustainability rating system. The authors conducted three analyses using credit score data obtained from fourteen actual civil infrastructure projects certified under Envision. First, the Natural World category had the highest average score from the submitted and verified data. Pairwise comparisons using t-tests indicate that the mean value of one category …

Nuclear Deterrence Strategies And The Balance Of Power In Europe, Chick Edmond

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

The beginning of the Cold War era indubitably defines nuclear deterrence strategies in Europe by reinforcing and re-strategizing security dynamics amongst European States. The balance of power in Europe has been geopolitically influenced by NATO and Russia in a quest to avoid any kind of security dilemmas from either side. In order to maintain a strategic deterrence balance posture, this complex security navigation scenario therefore act as stabilizing factor in the region as well as preventing any future conflict on the Europe continent resulting from security imbalances. NATO eastward enlargement has maintained a significant strategic balance of power in the …

The Role Of Economic Sanctions In Shaping International Trade Relationships Case Study: Russia, Chick Edmond

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Economic sanctions play an influential role in international relations by shaping the behavior of states. To address security threats and uphold international norms, countries seek to punish those responsible in violating these principles through the use of economic sanctions. The paper examines the impact of economic sanctions on trade relationships and its consequences on the Russian Economy. It also seeks to analyze the evolution of trade embargo during the post-cold war era to a more resilient and sophisticated measures in the age of globalization. Through this historical perspective, this analysis examines an important case study such as Russia by evaluating …

Psychometric Properties Of The Gad-7 Among College Students: Reliability, Validity, Factor Structure, And Measurement Invariance, Agnes E. White, Justin E. Karr

Psychology Faculty Publications

The GAD-7 (seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale) is a brief, freely available questionnaire measuring anxiety, which is a common mental health problem among college students. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the GAD-7 among undergraduate students from a public midwestern university (n = 582; M = 19.0 +/- 1.0 years old; 79.4% women; 81.6% White) who completed the GAD-7, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait subscale (STAI-T), and Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Scale-Reward subscale (BIAS-R). The psychometric properties of two GAD-7 models were examined: a one-factor model, equivalent to a single total score, and a two-factor model, including cognitive-emotional and somatic …

Renewal Of Cocaine Seeking Using Social And Nonsocial Contextual Stimuli, Bree A. Humburg, Michael T. Bardo

Psychology Faculty Publications

Rationale Various nonsocial cues have been used as stimuli to examine the contextual control of drug seeking behavior, but little is known about the role of social stimuli.

Objectives This study determined if renewal of cocaine seeking is differentially controlled using a context consisting of either a social peer and/or house light illumination.

Methods In Experiment 1, male and female rats trained to self-administer cocaine in the presence of a same-sex social peer and house light illumination (context A). Following self-administration, rats were randomly assigned to either an AAA (control) or ABA (renewal) group for extinction. For AAA rats, extinction …

Appalachian Primary Care Patients’ Quit Readiness And Tobacco Treatment Receipt, Jessica L. Burris, Abigayle R. Feather, Asal Pilehvari, Sarah Cooper, Amie M. Ashcraft, Roger Anderson, Amy K. Ferketich

Psychology Faculty Publications

Introduction: Healthcare providers should facilitate smoking cessation, and primary care is an ideal setting for delivering this evidence-based care. This study’s objective was to describe readiness to quit smoking combustible cigarettes among adult Appalachian primary care patients and determine their providers’ implementation of an established tobacco treatment model.

Methods: As part of a randomized clinical trial, 298 providers in 10 health systems across 4 states received tobacco treatment training. Periodically between January 2022 and June 2023, anonymous surveys were distributed to patients after primary care visits. The survey included questions about demographics, visit type, smoking status, readiness to quit, and …

Provider’S Attitudes Towards Telehealth And Parenting Interventions During Covid‑19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Cross‑Sectional Study From Brazil And Mexico, Marina Kohlsdorf, Cole Hooley, Alejandro L. Vazquez, Mariana M. Juras, Grant Decker, Taylor Iskalis, Kayla Miller, Quinn Thompkins, Nancy G. A. Buenabad, Michela Ribeiro, Acileide F. Coelho, Ana A. Baumann

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges for mental health providers all over the world, since they had to abruptly change from in person assistance to remote meetings. The adverse effects from social isolation were critical in Latinx populations such as Brazil and Mexico, since these countries faced a great amount of social, health, and economic burden during the pandemic, which affected families’ access to care and increased inappropriate parenting practices.

Objective This study aimed to understand the impacts of adapting parenting interventions to online sessions for Brazilian and Mexican providers, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods Sixty-two Brazilian and 49 …

Review Of Boats, Bones & Bison: Archeology And The First Colonization Of Western North America, Alexander E. Curry

Nebraska Anthropologist

Dr. Dixon in his text Boats, Bones & Bison: Archeology and the First Colonization of Western North America has written a masterclass in archeological synthesis and analysis. In order to dispel long held myths of the first group to colonize the Americas solely being big game hunters. Dixon’s consolidation of dozens of archeological sites paints a picture of relatively earlier settlement time marked by water vessel usage and notable fishing activity. This text is a wonderful read for anyone interested in archeology concerning the peopling of the Americas, as its light analytical elements combined with extensive documentation of the …

Review Of Marginality And Global Lgbt Communities: Conflicts, Civil Rights, And Controversy, Patrick Barchett

Nebraska Anthropologist

Review of Marginality and Global LGBT Communities: Conflicts, Civil Rights, and Controversy (2020) by Sheri R. Notaro.

Review Of Origin: A Genetic History Of The Americas By Jeniffer Raff, Patrick Barchett

Nebraska Anthropologist

Review of Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas (2022) by Jeniffer Raff.

Review Of 3d Data Acquisition For Bioarcheology, Forensic Anthropology, And Archeology, Alexander E. Curry

Nebraska Anthropologist

3D Data Acquisition for Bioarcheology, Forensic Anthropology, and Archeology (2019) by Noriko Seguchi and Beatrix Dudzik is a first of its kind text that looks to educate the buddings 3D analyst on the popular methods and practices of data acquisition within contemporary 3D imaging software. While the text does assume a lot of the reader heading into it, especially so mathematically, the authors do a wonderful job explaining how 3D imaging works, and then how to accurately and precisely collect data from these images. Being sure to explain potential sources of error and how to present and interpret the data …

The Black-Market Commodification Of Human Organs And Bones: A Marxist Perspective, Erik Schulz

Nebraska Anthropologist

The trade and treatment of human remains, while seemingly straightforward, have increasingly become subjects of ethical and moral debate. Over time and in light of recent events, questions have emerged regarding the appropriateness of how human remains are handled and exchanged. This paper examines these issues through the lens of Marxist framework and the perspective of forensic anthropology. The objective is to provide contextual understanding and encourage a reevaluation of current practices, particularly within academic settings, to ensure that human morals, dignity and ethical standards are upheld.

Review Of The Land Of Open Graves: Living And Dying On The Migrant Trail, Lillie Turpin

Nebraska Anthropologist

Jason De León’s The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trailis (2015), a raw and unwavering multidisciplinary exploration of the human cost of United States border policies, and this review reflects on his ability to meld ethnography, archaeology, forensic science, and narrative. De León exposes the brutal realities of the Sonoran Desert, where the U.S. policy of Prevention Through Deterrence (PTD) turns the landscape itself into a weapon. PTD directs illegal immigration away from more populated areas and instead towards the harsh deserts found occupying the border. De León holds a commitment to honoring the …

Should Human Remains Be On Display In Museums?, Erik Schulz

Nebraska Anthropologist

The debate of should human remains be displayed in museums, exhibits, classrooms, and other public areas has been a topic of discussion in recent years. This article aims to explore the positives and negatives of displaying remains through scientific racism, decolonization, ethics, and forensic anthropology. Although these characteristics may not always be present in a collection, they are common concerns, and they are also not the only concerns for displaying remains. The objective of examining this issue from multiple perspectives is to propose viable solutions for the ethical and appropriate display of human remains. This research will be geared more …

Thinking Beyond Ourselves: Using Interdisciplinary Exploration And Speculative Scenarios To Understand The Human Experience, Shannon Kundey

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This essay presents an interdisciplinary seminar in honors that challenges students to move beyond the limitations of human experience and examine cognition and behavior across species, environments, and hypothetical extraterrestrial minds. A Choose Your Own Adventure structure encourages reflection on cognitive biases, thereby fostering a nuanced understanding of intelligence, perspective, and sociality. Author observes that students benefit from frameworks that disrupt human-centered biases and suggests that engaging students in speculative scenarios prompts confronting and questioning assumptions about intelligence, ethics, and social dynamics.

Parenting Support Groups Outcomes, Christina Howell

Graduate Research Papers

According to the American Psychological Association 48% of parents find their stress to be completely overwhelming as compared to 26% of other adults. Sixty percent of parents struggle to focus, and 41% of parents report feeling so stressed that they cannot function (American Psychological Association (APA), 2024). In this study three questions are addressed 1) Are Online parenting support groups successful at supporting caregivers and children? 2) What are the outcomes for caregivers and their children when their caregivers participate in parenting support groups? 3) Are parenting support groups successful at supporting caregivers who have experienced trauma? The findings of …

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Chronic Absenteeism Among Undergraduate Students At A Historically Black University: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Patrick Whitehead, Ronald Leonhardt, Malisha Mishoe, Dorene Medlin, Emily Woodruff, George Darrisaw

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This research examines chronic absenteeism at an American public, historically Black university. Chronic absenteeism, which became a problem during and following the COVID-19 pandemic, has contributed to rising failure rates and a 34% graduation-to-retention rate among students. Using the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) method, the authors, who are college instructors, interviewed 13 students with histories of absenteeism. Student cases were analyzed separately and together to identify relevant absenteeism themes. Significant themes include life conflicts (such as a flat tire or illness), lack of perceived relevance of courses (such as courses that fall outside of a student's major), and lack of …

Wondrous Uncertainty: Transforming Student Educational Experiences Using Restorative Practices, Zachary C. Schafer

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

One of the primary purposes of education is to help students make sense of their lived experiences. In the process of becoming, students navigate multiple relationships (school, peers, adults, and with self). These relationships often cause conditions of uncertainty which can be managed and transformed using restorative practices in tandem with the academic disciplines taught in school. Over the last decade this has been my inquiry puzzle, “As educators, how can we embrace uncertainty with students as a way of helping to empower them through their dignity, with the academic disciplines as a lens through which relational learning occurs in …