Monitoring mercury (Hg) exposure in avian populations is critical to understanding the effects of this neurotoxin. Avian Hg exposure is commonly evaluated by measuring Hg concentrations in internal tissues, blood, and feathers. Feathers are a popular sampling matrix due to ease of sampling and limited stress to birds. However, it...
Honko Mangrove Conservation and Education is a Western non-governmental organization based in Madagascar that serves as a source of public science education and caters to diverse audiences. My thesis examines barriers of culture, language and epistemology that may constrain Honko’s ability to conduct effective public education, if they decide to...
The newest pilot project at Tarangire National Park (TAR) is Income Generating Programs (IGP) where community groups organize themselves around an activity that earns income. TAR initiated the project by paying for ten members from each of the three existing community groups on the park’s northern end and fifteen members...
Plant litter decomposition plays an important role in the global carbon cycle, and contributes large amounts of carbon to soils, which store more carbon than any other terrestrial pool of organic matter. Decomposition plays a fundamental role in nutrient cycling and alters soil properties that shape plant community composition and...
The Mark 0. Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC)
public education opportunities include interpretive programs
offered along the Estuary Nature Trail. The purpose of this
study was to determine the effectiveness of three informal
education programs, interpretive signs, a self-guided trail
brochure, and guided naturalist walks, in imparting
information on the...
Sea turtles are endangered species that can be censused with aerial surveys, but the number of turtles in an area must be extrapolated to include animals that are submerged. Twenty-one satellite tags were attached to juvenile loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in North Carolina. I analyzed surfacing and dive behavior...
Volcanism is an agent of major disturbance in many parts of the world. While the effects of volcanic disturbance are fairly well-known among some groups of species, few studies have been performed in bird communities. Likewise, few studies have attempted to compare how communities in temperate and tropical biomes respond...
Surveys of amateur artifact collections in southwest Oregon indicate
that traditional settlement pattern models for this region may be in error.
Based on the distribution of major styles of projectile points, at least
two distinct periods of occupation are definable. The Early period is
tentatively dated between 1000 B.C. and...
The portion of the Oregon coast extending from Cape Blanco south into California has long been recognized as a distinct physiographic region, with probable ramifications for prehistoric subsistence and settlement patterns. Several researchers have proposed models outlining a greater reliance upon marine/littoral resources among groups within this region, while more...
Sea turtles are endangered species that can be censused with aerial surveys, but the number of turtles in an area must be extrapolated to include animals that are submerged. Twenty-one satellite tags were attached to juvenile loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in North Carolina. I analyzed surfacing and dive behavior...