Improving the methods used for the detection and estimation of fissile material mass content is essential to nuclear security and safeguards to ensure special nuclear material (SNM) accountability, control, safety and security. With the continued expansion of the nuclear industry and the need for safe management of spent fuel, improving...
The conservation of open space will become increasingly important as populations expand and undeveloped land is converted to urban uses. The benefits derived from open space conservation include protecting and improving water quality, providing wildlife habitat, maintaining scenic amenities and rural character, and supplying certain recreational opportunities. This study utilizes...
Himalaya blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) is a widespread, exotic, invasive plant now common over much of western Oregon and Washington. An observational experiment revealed that disturbance to a monoculture of Himalaya blackberry allows the soil seed bank to be expressed and return the inhabited area to an earlier successional stage. This...
The Oregon State University TRIGA® Reactor (OSTR) has a number of irradiation
facilities providing a wide range of neutron energies and fluxes. These facilities include a
pneumatic transfer tube, a rotating rack, a thermal column, four beam ports, in-core irradiation
tubes, a clyogenic gas transfer system and a large vault...
This thesis presents the results of a formal evaluation of a new AOGCM, GENMOM, demonstrating its ability to simulate present-day climate and ENSO dynamics. The model is applied to simulate climate for the Last Glacial Maximum, deglacial, and Holocene time periods. The model output is evaluated against the best available...
Due to public and regulatory restrictions, genetic containment technology is critical for research and development of transgenic trees in forestry. A multi-year field trial demonstrated that the RNAi-LFY construct successfully induces sexual sterility in 6K10 poplar (Populus alba) without visible effects on vegetative development. However, its limited number of replicates...
Successful ecosystem restoration requires an understanding of the ecological processes directing succession. One of the challenges in the semi-arid grasslands of western United States is replacement of native species by invasive annual grasses. Solutions to this problem require identifying and manipulating ecological processes that direct succession to favor desired vegetation....
The economic analysis of land use decisions provides insight into incentive structures faced by landowners and the impacts of landowner decisions on others. Qualifying and quantifying these incentives and impacts offers insight into the relevant characteristics of decision-making. In turn, this allows the researcher to model and predict land use...
Stephen Biko was a black leader in South Africa who
died in police custody on September 12, 1977. Biko's death
echoed within the Republic of South Africa and around the
world, showing that racial tensions in that country were
severe. At his death he was a hero to the black...
Transformation is a major bottleneck for genetic engineering and gene editing in forest tree species. This includes most genotypes of Populus and Eucalyptus, which are some of the world’s most widely-cultivated genera of plantation forest trees. To provide new tools for transformation, I tested the transcription factor-protein chimera consisting of...