Individuals who are parents and students on TANF experience challenges accessing and persisting in higher education. This study explored the experiences of TANF recipients who are navigating a return to higher education and the impact of college on how they construct a future self. Two theoretical frameworks were used to...
The Northern Rubber Boa (Charina bottae) is a small, secretive boa native to the Pacific Northwest. Despite this being possibly the highest latitude boas and one of only two boas native to the continental U.S., it has received surprisingly little attention. Most of the research on the natural history of...
The objective of this dissertation is to enhance the monitoring of forest ecosystems through the utilization of remotely sensed data to address the exigencies posed by the Anthropocene. On a global scale, rising temperatures and fluctuating precipitation patterns have strained forests and produced shifts in natural disturbance regimes. Additionally, the...
Little is known about the fall and winter ecology of hibernating bats in western North America. Filling knowledge gaps for these populations has become more urgent with the westward spread of the white-nose syndrome, a disease that infects bats during hibernation. Due to the thermal requirements of the fungal pathogen...
The Hanford Nuclear Reservation drew public ire during the 1980s and 1990s when activist groups forced the declassification of 19,000 documents and discovered proof of accidental and intentional releases of radioactive materials into the environment. These releases had been kept from the public. Although many locals had for decades wondered...
The dominant narrative of Asian Americans in higher education is one of high achievement, success, and wellness. Dominant voices of white supremacy have primarily constructed this narrative. Asian Americans are regarded as the model minority or the dichotomous “model” while simultaneously maintaining “minority” status. This study centers on seven Asian...
Metal-oxo clusters can be described as soluble pieces of metal-oxide frameworks. Metal-oxo clusters are also the building blocks for the Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and coordination polymers. A better knowledge of metal-oxo clusters helps fundamentally understand geosciences, molecular engineering, catalysis, single-molecule magnetism, and MOFs for synthesis, design, and modification of these...
Analysis of observations on sequential events over time is common in real life. Sequential measurements over time describing the behavior of systems are usually called time series data, which have been collected in a wide range of disciplines. Over the years there have been multiple research areas in studying stochastic...
Women’s history is often not included in K-12 classes. However, women are an essential part of American history and should be better represented in the K-12 curricula and classrooms. The purpose of this thesis is to both acknowledge that women’s history is often missing in K-12 classrooms and to provide...