Forest disturbances, such as wildfires, pine beetle outbreaks, and floods are important features of many landscapes and ecosystems. Many disturbances are increasing in size, frequency, and intensity due to changing climates and land management decisions. The changing ecological and aesthetic conditions following a disturbance can lead to negative short- and...
Residents in South Falls City, a small town in the foothills of Oregon's Coast Range, battle intense flooding during the rainy season. Disagreements about surface water management pit neighbor against neighbor, but preliminary evidence suggests that groundwater flooding is an underlying cause. OSU researchers pair the emerging literature on groundwater...
Strategic planning for forests subjected to multiple uses is important for management that sustains and balances these many uses. In the wildland urban interface where forests are in the backyards of members of the public who avidly recreate in them, it is also important to include the community in the...
This dissertation examines learning driven adaptations in salmon recovery efforts and water resources management in Oregon. The case study utilizes a framework highlighting the connections between human and natural systems. Semi-structured interviews are used to analyze interactions between rural riparian landowners and watershed council staffs living and working in Oregon’s...
This thesis combines elements of forestry, interpersonal communication, and rhetoric to describe where residents of Coos Bay and North Bend Oregon obtain information about forests and forest uses, and how they view the credibility of that information. As a qualitative exploratory study, grounded theory methodology was used to develop theme...
Higher education is faced with ever-increasing challenges, which require fundamental changes in order to ensure its relevance in the future. Business leaders and academic scholars urge organizations to continuously reshape and renew through learning and innovation to assure viability and sustainability. Organizational climate serves as a foundation that can promote...
As more people become interested in rock climbing, the need to understand climbers and their preferences and how their activities impact the resource are more vital than ever. With increased use, and with little empirical data about the Yosemite climbing community, park managers cannot adequately develop a comprehensive climbing management...
Collaborative management of subsistence fisheries in the Philippines requires policies that devolve authority to the local level. This involves creating mechanisms to hold managers accountable for creating opportunities for active participation by fisher folk communities. The Philippines has created a comprehensive national framework for the co-management of coastal resources at...
Organizational trust refers to the tendency of individuals or groups within an organization to trust each other. Tschannen-Moran (2004) describes trust as one's "willingness to be vulnerable to another based on the confidence that the other is benevolent, honest, open, reliable, and competent" (p. 17). The purpose of this study...
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...