Climate change, wildfire, timber harvest, and land conversion alter the availability of downed wood in forests of the western United States. Numerous taxa rely on downed wood for temperature and humidity refugia, and downed wood may play a key role in enabling the persistence of climate-sensitive, low-vagility species like terrestrial...
Juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodlands are native but expanding ecological communities that were historically limited by the natural fire return interval of the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) steppe. These woodlands are often a mix of pinyon pine (Pinus spp.) and juniper that have increased significantly over the last century. This expansion has...
The western United States has experienced large-scale degradation due to land use and land cover changes, invasion of annual grasses, and expansion of woody plants into grass and shrublands and the resultant altered fire regimes. These landscape-scale changes have coincided with declining mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations, making habitat loss...
Historically fire has been the primary disturbance factor in the sagebrush-steppe. The settlement of the West by Euro-Americans, grazing by domestic livestock, and the concomitant spread of invasive species have altered the historical fire regime. Understanding the long-term vegetation structure and fuel succession of the various sagebrush-dominated communities of this...
Using data collected from cannabis growers and traditional farmers, and the “Good Farmer” approach, this research provides a comparative analysis of the occupational identities of cannabis cultivators and traditional farmers in Colorado and Oregon. Though both growers and farmers within the study suggested that cannabis cultivation differed from conventional agriculture,...
In the last twenty years, human trafficking has gained attention in government agendas and media coverage, while anti-trafficking projects have burgeoned worldwide. Anti-trafficking efforts, however, have almost exclusively addressed the issue of sex trafficking with a focus on rescuing women, while overlooking other types of exploitation. This is noteworthy, given...
This dissertation examines development and the implications of information and communication technology, particularly computers, on issues relating to education, labor, and the overall wellbeing of Black and indigenous people in Bocas del Toro, Panama. It details the Black and indigenous legacy of dependency in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries on...
In 2010, Mexican cuisine was declared as intangible cultural heritage, integral to Mexican identity and necessary to preserve for the good of humanity. Despite this recognition, first-generation Mexican communities in the United States face an exacerbated likelihood of experiencing food insecurity. In most United States studies, understanding the relationship between...
This thesis explores the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at the Corvallis and Albany, Oregon Farmers' Markets and its role in food access for SNAP participants. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach combining a farmers' market survey and household interviews, the study investigated who uses SNAP at the farmers'...
This collection of three manuscripts serves to improve methods for collecting, interpreting, and utilizing autocorrelated data from headwater stream networks. Each stream network is comprised of linear segments. These segments lie within a unique branching structure that connects the segments via flowing water, and the connectivity provided by water varies...