The Pacific Northwest has become one of the nation’s premier sweet cherry,
Prunus avium, production areas. As production of sweet cherries has flourished in
Oregon and Washington, so has powdery mildew, caused by the fungus
Podosphaera clandestina, which infects both foliage and fruit causing severe
economic damage to growers. Sweet...
A series of studies and replicated field sites were implemented in the Oregon Coast Range within Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) sapling plantations infected with varying levels of Swiss needle cast (SNC) caused by the fungus, Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii (Rhode) Petrak (PG). This research was conducted to understand the effects of...
In this dissertation we study the electromagnetic properties of plasmonic metamaterials. We develop an analytical description to solve the fundamental problem of free-space scattering in planar plasmonic systems by utilizing anisotropic metamaterials. We show with exact numerical simulations that these manufactured materials do completely eliminate the scattering, and even in...
The enlargement of 21 canopy gaps associated with the root pathogen Heterobasidion annosum (Fr.:Fr.)
Bref. (; Fomes annosus (Fr.) Karst.) in the mixed-conifer forest of Yosemite Valley was monitored between 1971 and
1998. Mean expanded gap area was 232 m2 (range 38–802 m2) in 1971 and 1455 m2 (range 150–4216...
Agricultural revenues, the product of stochastic prices and yields, lead to markets which are
incomplete, thereby entreating and complicating economic inquiry. The following three essays
explore the incomplete nature of agricultural markets and consider the implications of
incompleteness for a range of policy questions and economic tools.
The first essay,...
The food distribution system in the U.S. is complex. Many players—including middlemen—produce, manufacture, transport, distribute, market, and sell every type of food product imaginable. By the time a product is placed on a grocery store shelf, it has traveled countless miles and has been handled by many people. Each person...
On average, the water column of Lake Superior is undersaturated with respect to dissolved oxygen and supersaturated with respect to carbon dioxide during the summer-stratified period. On the basis of temporal changes in water column dissolved oxygen, we calculate rates of oxygen consumption that range from 0.19 to 0.75 mmol...
This study evaluates the functional organization of stream fish assemblages in response to streamflow factors and biotic interactions across a range of spatial scale. The study area for this project includes 109 stream reaches located on tributaries to the upper Missouri River in the northern Great Plains. Fish distribution data...
This dissertation has two objectives. The first objective is to determine where best to situate the study of mentoring (i.e. the 'making of scientists') on the landscape of the history of science and science studies. This task is accomplished by establishing mentoring studies as a link between the robust body...