An overall systems design code was developed to model
an advanced in-core thermionic energy conversion based
nuclear reactor system for space applications at power
levels of 10 to 50 kWe. The purpose of this work was to
provide the overall shell for the systems code and to also
provide the...
The alien abduction phenomenon has garnered considerable media attention in the last fifteen years, including many representations in books, film, and television. An overview of significant abduction literature is presented. Contrasts and comparisons are noted between popular written accounts and both the visual representations they engender and reports outside the...
In recent years, several interrelated forces—prolonged drought, growing populations, height-ened environmental protections, sustained agricultural use, and hydrologic alterations due to climate change—have increased pressure on water users in the Western United States, where the agricultural sector accounts for up to 90% of total water withdrawals. Technology im-provements developed since the...
This thesis merges the fields of Ecology and Anthropology by applying Habitat Suitability Modeling to the relationship between people and plants in the Pacific Northwest. In it, I create and optimize two Maxent habitat suitability models for camas (Camassia spp.) in Oregon. The first model describes the physical environment of...
Energy issues are becoming one of the most pressing topics in today's political and cultural landscape, particularly in the midst of the climate crisis. Globally, a variety of renewable energy projects are under development to meet energy demand without continuing to overburden the natural environment of our planet, with profound...
Certain species of the orders Myxobacterales and Pseudo-monadales are well-known antagonists. Pseudomonas fluorescens
and Pseudomonas putida have been reported to produce bacteriostatic
and bactericidal substances. Among the myxobacteria there
are various species which are known for their ability to produce
lytic enzymes and antibiotics. Organisms from both of these groups...
Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii is a pathogenic fungus on Douglas-fir needles which has become a serious threat to timber production in the last decade along the Oregon coast This research was undertaken to describe the general biology and pathology of F. gaeumannii on Douglas-fir needles and how environmental variables affect fungal development....
The invasive annual grass ventenata (Ventenata dubia) has become an increasing problem within western rangelands. Forage quality of areas infested with ventenata is reduced as its high silica content makes it unpalatable to livestock and wildlife. In the following study, I examined whether significant presence of ventenata affects habitat use...
‘Lewis’ is a hazelnut cultivar developed by Oregon State University and released in January 1997. This cultivar is precocious, and it is more productive and has a smaller tree size than ‘Barcelona.’ Harvest is earlier than for ‘Barcelona,’ and the nuts have fewer defects.
Due to the effective antimicrobial properties of silver nanoparticles they represent a significant proportion of all consumer-‐related nanomaterials. The introduction of silver nanoparticles from these products into domestic and industrial wastewater streams poses potential complications for biological treatment systems. A critical component of biological treatment that is extremely sensitive to...
Two experiments were conducted on the invasive plant species Potentilla recta in northeastern Oregon to investigate both biological and ecological characteristics of the species. Growth analysis was conducted on the plant at three sites over a period of two years (2002 and 2003). Relative growth rate (RGR) was calculated for...
Since 1960 sheep have been used to reduce fuel accumulation on Fort Ord National Monument (FONM) grasslands. From 1997-2019 BLM’s monitoring projects were employed to determine livestock grazing impacts on Coyote Brush, bunchgrasses, and other native and non-native herbaceous vegetation. In 2014, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) determined that...
This dissertation seeks to understand Yi farmers’ livelihoods in the midst of an agricultural transition in Yunnan, Southwest China. This dissertation examines a community’s traditional knowledge related to wild edible plants (WEPs), analyzes socio-ecological vulnerability and resilience in the face of agricultural transition from subsistence farming to cash cropping, and...
This capstone study reports on global warming-induced changes to the Colorado subalpine zone climate and disturbance regimes. It assesses the impacts of these changes upon the dominant subalpine tree species and summarizes future species distribution modeling for these and other nearby species potentially suitable for the future subalpine zone in...
This thesis explore the effects of China's Grassland Contract policy on sedentary and mobile Inner Mongolian pastoralists' attitudes towards cooperation, current grassland management practices, and the future viability of livestock herding in New Barag Right Banner, Inner Mongolia. Semi-structured interviews, a scaled survey instrument, and participant observation were carried out...
In 2003, due to the dramatic growth of economy, China’s National Development and Reform Commission proposed to build 13 dams on the Nu River to fulfill the nation’s rapidly growing demand for hydropower. The 13 dams that comprise the Nu River Project (NRP) are considered among the biggest hydropower development...
Each NWR within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) provides landscapes that contribute to conservation of wildlife and the habitats they depend on at local, regional, and national levels. The Integrated Pest Management Plan (IPMP) for a given refuge is a guide to how...
From the 1960s to 1990s, the water quality of Dian Lake (滇池), China's sixth largest freshwater lake located outside the capital of Yunnan Province, Kunming City, rapidly declined causing livelihood disruption, decreased water availability, and biodiversity loss. Despite significant investments in remediation efforts, only small water quality improvements have been...
In an effort to supplement the recently completed NOAA fishing community profiles, three coastal Oregon communities were chosen as sites for a collaborative project designed to produce long-form profiles. In order to provide a representation of the coast Newport, Port Orford, and Garibali, Oregon were included based on community size,...
This dissertation draws on ethnographic data and political ecological theory to analyze the experience of residents living in the IBM-Endicott Superfund site in Endicott, New York. Combining in-depth narratives and quantitative measures from a household survey, it highlights residents' perceptions of 1) environmental health risk, 2) risk mitigation, 3) deindustrialization...
Development in China over the last thirty years has emphasized infrastructural and economic advancement. Despite enormous gains in living standards in the industrialized eastern provinces, much of China's interior and western provinces remain relatively underdeveloped. Populated mostly by ethnic minorities, the southwest province of Yunnan (meaning south of the clouds)...
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Bryan D. Tilt
Development in China over the last thirty years has emphasized infrastructural
Oregon’s coastal communities grew from the booming logging and fishing industries of the 19th century, but in recent decades have faced not only major declines in both timber and fish resources but also an increasing reliance on tourists and retirees and the resultant glut of seasonal service-sector jobs. As a...
Thesis research focused on: 1) Water and fertilizer gradients
within the plant root zone, and effects of chemical and physical
gradients on Trichoderma harzianum populations. 2) Regulation of root
growth physically with permeable fabric containers and chemically with
copper compounds. 3) Effects of copper coatings for fabric containers
on Glomus...
A pest management program for variegated cutworm (VC), Peridroma
saucia (Hubner), in Oregon peppermint was developed based on studies
of pheromone trapping, sampling methods, and economic thresholds.
Pheromone traps effectively trapped VC males and were used to
reflect development and oviposition trends. Trap height was linearly
correlated to moth catch...
The relationships of serum T₄
(thyroxine) levels and liver
nicotinamide nucleotide coenzyme (NAD and NADP) levels with production
of traits of beef cattle were investigated at both weaning (182
kg) and following performance testing (363 kg). In addition, the value
of these parameters as selection criteria for improved performance
was...
The public concern for clearcutting in the United States in the 1970s pushed for changes in the natural resources policies. A facet of forest management that came under scrutiny was forest aesthetics. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the impact of harvest designs on stand aesthetics using...
Hazardous materials data from business and industrial chemical information and incident databases were analyzed to study the types of chemicals located in Linn, Benton, and Lincoln Counties, Oregon. Federal and Oregon Department of Transportation data were analyzed to study traffic patterns and truck and railroad traffic levels. Results indicate more...
In Culture and Imperialism, Said illustrates that we have no "autonomous cultural forms," but rather "impure" ones that are the products of historically "discrepant experiences." American culture has an interesting relationship with the history of imperialism. The Europeans that settled the U.S. imported slave labor to assist in the growth...
The majority of research in environmental education (EE) has focused on measuring knowledge, attitudes, and behavior using quantitative tools and methods. Few studies have attempted to elicit and characterize children's conceptions of the environment or nature, particularly those resulting from a residential EE experience, which contextualize knowledge, attitudes, and may...
The dissertation introduces community-based adaptive watershed management (CAWM) as a holistic conservation framework. The CAWM
framework integrates social and ecological suitability to achieve conservation outcomes. The core theoretical concepts consist of adaptive management, adoption-diffusion,
symbolic interactionism, community-based conservation, spatial analysis and watershed management. The CAWM framework is applied to the...
Deciduous shrubs are an integral component of mixed conifer forests of the interior Pacific Northwest by providing structural complexity, forage, and niche habitat. Currently, these species are under pressure from high levels of ungulate herbivory and forest management activities such as fuels reduction treatments. Ungulate herbivory is influential in the...
The purpose of this study was to compare the self-perceived
leadership styles, range and adaptability of
women managers in higher education and non-education management positions. Specifically, the study sought to
investigate the: (1) self-perceived leadership styles and
adaptability of women managers in higher education and non-education,
(2) self-perceived leadership styles...
This ethnographic research aims to discover the implications of the
commodification of production processes amongst the Ersu Tibetans of Sichuan,
China. This thesis examines the commodification of Ersu agriculture and ethnic
identity in the historical context of both China and the world-system. Ethnohistorical
and ethnoecological methodologies are utilized to answer...
The increasing focus on internationalization in Taiwan’s language-in-education policy has expanded the use of cross-cultural co-teaching pairs consisting of a native English-speaking teacher and a local non-native English-speaking teacher. While the model holds great potential for combining unique strengths, navigating cross-cultural communication in these co-teaching collaborations can be complex. This...
This paper examines equitability of critical facilities within resilience planning efforts and how it relates to accessibility and utilization for Latinx community members along the Oregon coast in relation to natural hazards including the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with emergency management personnel and Latinx coastal...
This ethnographic research examines socioeconomic vulnerabilities to resettlement from a large hydropower dam and agricultural commodification in a Tibetan village in Yunnan Province, Southwest China. After providing an initial background on the dynamics of the research region and hydrodevelopment on its rivers, the research framework of examining vulnerability through a...
The goal of the work in this dissertation was to identify alternative soil amendments to improve plant growth and yield during establishment of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium hybrid). Woody materials, such as sawdust and wood chips, have a high carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio and low water holding capacity, which can...