The black-footed ferret is a meso-predator within the Great Plains region of North America. Before the 1900s, black-footed ferret populations were self-sustaining in large ecological patches throughout the geographical range of the Great Plains. During the 1900s, various factors such as the systematic extermination of prairie dogs (the primary food...
Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) systems aim to improve users’ understanding of AI but rarely consider the inclusivity aspects of XAI. Without inclusive approaches, improving explanations might not work well for everyone. This study investigates leveraging users’ diverse problem-solving styles as an inclusive strategy to fix an XAI prototype, with the...
This capstone study reports on global warming-induced changes to the Colorado subalpine zone climate and disturbance regimes. It assesses the impacts of these changes upon the dominant subalpine tree species and summarizes future species distribution modeling for these and other nearby species potentially suitable for the future subalpine zone in...
Since the decline of salmonid populations in the Pacific Northwest, supplementation programs have become frequently implemented by hatcheries as a way to protect and conserve wild stock. However, hatchery-reared fish have lower fitness than wild fish which is likely due to adaptation to the hatchery environment, i.e., domestication selection. Fish...
The ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) is a small, nocturnal, meso-carnivore that occupies mid-elevation forests in the southwest portion of Oregon. Ringtail are fully protected within Oregon, but a species of conservation concern as they may be vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation. Limited data exists regarding ringtail ecology in forested ecosystems,...
Legged robots have consistently captured our collective imagination through various forms of media, from Hollywood films, anime, and viral Youtube videos of robots accomplishing incredible feats of acrobatics. These robots have the potential to navigate our environments, capable of completing tasks that would otherwise require human intervention. However, developing controls...
The red tree vole (Arborimus longicaudus) is an arboreal Arvicoline rodent endemic to conifer dominated forests of western Oregon and northwestern California. While commonly associated with old forests, often inhabiting stands over 80 years old, tree voles have also been found in young forests between 20 and 80 years old....
This capstone report provides an overview of the emergence of the bigleaf maple sugaring industry in Oregon. This report consists of a literature review and three case studies. The literature review compiles information relevant to bigleaf maple sugaring within the wider context of maple sugaring in North America. The three...
This thesis challenges South Korea’s state-sponsored and activist-serving narratives about the Korean comfort women, who were forced to work as sex slaves in Japan’s wartime military brothels. Comfort women have provided testimonies about their wartime experiences that have drawn significant attention to the atrocities committed against them by the Japanese...
This thesis examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on farms in the Willamette Valley. Using semi-structured interviews, this study analyzes the economic and social challenges created by the pandemic and the adaptation strategies farmers employed to build resilience within the food system. This study found that the farmers experienced...