Social scientists have studied people's responses to disasters for many decades, and behavioral commonalities and variations are summarized in different mental schemes/models in disaster studies. Integrating those findings from social science into evacuation simulation can improve simulation accuracy and eventually better support decision-making and disaster preparedness. However, this kind of...
This thesis will compare former OSU Professor Bernard Malamud’s life in Corvallis through primary sources and documents with his parallel experience in his 1961 novel A New Life. A close examination of Malamud’s literature and investigation of his life at OSU exposes an uneven balance between academic censorship and the...
Gene regulation is a complex mechanism that controls the spatial and temporal expression of genes in a living cell. My dissertation studies focus on two problems. First, tissue-specific gene expression prediction from DNA sequence and chromatin state, and second, the accurate discovery of small over-represented regulatory circuits in gene regulatory...
The aim of this research was to provide forest managers and researchers with a better understanding of individual tree defenses and tree responses to disturbances, within a Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program area. Forest restoration often aims to increase stand-level resistance to uncharacteristic changes, and stand-level resistance begins with tree-level...
Pasture legumes that persist under challenging agro-ecological conditions are crucial to ensure high lamb growth rates in dryland pastures. Pasture and lamb production from white clover (TF-Whc), birdsfoot trefoil (TF-Bft), balansa clover (TF-Bc) and subterranean clover (TF-Sc) planted with tall fescue either as binary mixtures or as a diverse combination...
Observations of annual growth and size and color of leaves and fruit are helpful in determining fertilizer needs. In addition, leaf analysis
indicates which elements are present in adequate, deficient, or excessive amounts. Soil analysis is useful in predicting the need for lime applications. Suspect a nutrient deficiency if poor...
Drought events have been shown to impact species distributions and are predicted to increase in frequency as the climate changes. As this occurs, ecologists predict species distributions will shift dependent upon species ability to track climate. These shifts in species distribution are expected to be particularly acute in arid and...
Climate change is increasing the severity of pest and pathogen infestations affecting forests. Resulting shifts in disturbance patterns can have substantial ecological, social, and economic impacts on forested ecosystems and their dependent communities. Researchers are actively investigating methods to improve tree resistance to specific pests and pathogens and enhance forest...
Drone strikes have become a defining strategy in the US War on Terror. Since the first combat drone strike in 2001, the executive branch has intentionally increased the deployment of drones for counterterrorism operations throughout the Middle East and North Africa. This thesis explores the moral and legal justifications for...