Rapid changes in global climate have put many species at risk, particularly niche
specialists. The Chisel-toothed kangaroo rat, Dipodomys microps, is thought to specialize on the desert shrub Atriplex confertifolia. Because of this close relationship, D. microps was presumed to have tracked the shrub as its distribution shifted south during...
This thesis explores the gendered histories of slavery through the concept of haunting in two neo-slave narrative novels: Toni Morrison’s A Mercy and Octavia Butler’s Kindred. I offer readings of these texts through slavery’s geographic and temporal implications, in order to argue that the logics of antiblackness remain a fundamental...
“Mother Nature Branches Out” is a children’s story that incorporates developmental concepts important for early literacy development as well as developing skills related to social change and environmental activism. Incorporating and teaching about climate change within the context of a children’s story helps to expand the lens through which children’s...
Young children with developmental disabilities (< 12 years old) participate less in physical activity (PA) and experience motor skill deficits compared to young children without disabilities (Jung, Leung, Schram, & Yun, 2018; Liu, Hamilton, Davis, & ElGarhy, 2014; Whyatt & Craig, 2012). When taking account of a bi-directional relationship between...
:
___________________________________________________________________________
Megan MacDonald
Young children with developmental disabilities (< 12 years old
This thesis analyzes two Victorian fairy tales that feature queer endings, or endings that offer alternatives to the heteronormative fairy-tale tradition that idealizes heterosexual marriage and the biological family. In both George MacDonald’s The Wise Woman (1875) and E. Nesbit’s “The Island of the Nine Whirlpools” (1901), I argue that...
Children's early self-regulation skills have long-term implications for a variety of academic, social, and health outcomes. Unfortunately, children facing multiple family risk factors (e.g., harsh parenting, economic disadvantage) are more likely to struggle with early self-regulation. Despite early disparities in self-regulation, promising intervention evidence suggests that high quality prekindergarten experiences...
Increasing numbers of children are entering kindergarten without the behavioral skills needed to cope with the demands of the classroom environment. Moreover, a number of studies have documented that young children's behavioral regulation (including attention, working memory, and inhibitory control skills) plays an important role in later academic achievement (McClelland,...
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the number of edge-disjoint Hamiltonian cycles in de Bruijn graphs using ideas from finite field theory, particularly linear recurring sequences. It is known that the de Bruijn graph B(d,n) admits d-1 disjoint Hamiltonian cycles when d is a power of 2, and...
Operating speed is one of the best performance measures that can tell transportation agencies how well or how poorly the transportation system is functioning. Fluctuating operating speeds often mean there is a design flaw or something about the physical road design that violates drivers' expectations. A primary example of this...
Shell-boring polychaetes pose economic risks for oyster aquaculture industries as they reduce the aesthetic quality of oyster products by creating unsightly mud-filled blisters on the inside of the shell. Recently there has been a reported uptick in infested oysters on commercial farms along the west coast of the US, which...