Oregon has one of the five highest homeless occupancy rates in the U.S., according to the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (2021). Using the current governor of Oregon’s (Tina Kotek) plan to decrease homelessness, which focuses primarily on housing developments and strategies, this study will first examine the merits of permanent...
This MPP essay examines how states expand access to nutritious food for low-income families, focusing specifically on policies related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and farmers’ markets. Coalitions made up of nonprofits focused on hunger, farmers, and health collaborate to impact relevant policies in their respective states. The...
This thesis examines food insecurity in Oregon among food bank users over the course of The Great Recession. Analyzing data from the Oregon Food Bank, this thesis tells the story of the change that the recession brought upon low-income families. In examining the regional differences in food insecurity, the local...
Arthropods are important food resources for birds. Forest management activities can influence shrub-dwelling arthropods by affecting the structure and composition of understory shrub communities. Changes in abundance and species composition of arthropod communities in turn may influence the distribution and abundance of insectivorous birds. I examined relationships among bird abundance,...
Previous studies have indicated that roots from five tree species (Picea sitchensis, Tsuga heterophylla, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Pinus ponderosa, and Pinus contorta) decompose at different rates across an environmental gradient in Oregon. Measurements of wood chemistry from each tree species as well as moisture and
temperature from each location do not...
Using Current Population Survey data from 2008, 2009 and 2010 this paper explores the extent to which there is gender inequality in food insecurity among employed single adults without children. Gender inequality in the U.S. is well documented in a wide variety of spheres from the home to the world...
The purpose of this research is to hydraulically characterize an engineered wetland in Albany, Oregon. The wetland receives treated wastewater from both Albany Millersburg Water Reclamation Facility (AMWRF) and ATI Wah Chang. AMWRF's water is municipal waste water. ATI Wah Chang's water comes from its nearby metal processing plant. The...
Tropical forest-to-agriculture conversions contribute to ~20% of contemporary global C emissions. Current global C flux estimates assume C is lost from vegetation and soils over time due to this conversion, and that C stocks in agricultural lands are fairly uniform across the tropics. Global C stock and flux estimates may...
Quantifying and modeling processes involved in the global carbon cycle is important to evaluate the temporal and spatial variability of these processes and understand the effect of this variability on future response to changing climate and land use patterns. Biomass accumulation and Net Primary Productivity (NPP) are large components of...
Behavior of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) toward people was
studied by examining hikers' reports of grizzly bear observations
and by intensively observing grizzlies in an area of Glacier National
Park that was heavily used by day-hikers. Of concern were the apparent
habituation of grizzly bears to people in the study...