Species' distributions across the landscape are perhaps the least understood yet most conspicuous features of life on earth. Ecologists have long studied species' distributions; yet, many questions remain about why species occur where they do. Such questions persist largely because species' distributions are complex systems with challenging properties like non-linearity,...
This dissertation presents the results of statistical analyses of large climate datasets from two time intervals – the 20th century instrumental record and the proxy record of the last deglaciation – in order to understand the forcings and mechanisms of past climate variability.
A longstanding question in climate dynamics concerns...
The purpose of the present study is to examine consumers' privacy concerns in the online shopping context. Drawing from Social Contract Theory, the present study proposed a structure equation model to examine how consumers' evaluations of online shopping experiences (perceived benefit, risk and fairness) and attitudes (trust, moods, and repurchase...
The vegetation in Yosemite National Park changed during the 20th century and may change in the 21st century in response to climate change. Vegetation surveys made during the 1930s and the 1990s provide benchmark records separated by 60 years. This study uses the MC1 dynamic global vegetation model to forecast...
Cephalosporium stripe (Cephalosporium gramineum) is an important disease limiting adoption of conservation tillage practices in the Pacific Northwest. The disease can cause severe loss of grain yield and quality in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Modified cultural practices can reduce disease incidence, but are not always dependable because of variation...
The growing population of Oregon’s Willamette River Basin places an increasing demand on the basin’s surface waters. Watershed-scale research addressing spatial trends of dissolved nitrogen (DN) and its relationship with landuse and soil N dynamics, such as N mineralization, is sparse in the Willamette Basin. I measured DN along 124...
This thesis presents a detailed seismotectonic investigation of the Himalayan region and the Tibetan plateau as part of project HiCLIMB to explore the state of stress and the kinematics of the world’s largest continental collision zone. Using full regional waveforms for moment tensor inversion, source parameters for 107 earthquakes were...
The dominant narrative of Asian Americans in higher education is one of high achievement, success, and wellness. Dominant voices of white supremacy have primarily constructed this narrative. Asian Americans are regarded as the model minority or the dichotomous “model” while simultaneously maintaining “minority” status. This study centers on seven Asian...
This thesis builds on a modeling tool that has been developed to link thermodynamic modeling and concrete performance. This tool is intended to predict the performance for modern concrete mixtures made with ordinary portland cement (OPC), conventional and novel supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), and limestone (Ls). The first part of...
Catastrophic earthquake and tsunami events that resulted in significant loss of life and property over the past two decades have raised the global awareness regarding the need to understand the response of communities and their built environment to multi-hazard extreme events. In recognition to this impending threat to the coastal...