The Northern Rubber Boa (Charina bottae) is a small, secretive boa native to the Pacific Northwest. Despite this being possibly the highest latitude boas and one of only two boas native to the continental U.S., it has received surprisingly little attention. Most of the research on the natural history of...
The ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) is a small, nocturnal, meso-carnivore that occupies mid-elevation forests in the southwest portion of Oregon. Ringtail are fully protected within Oregon, but a species of conservation concern as they may be vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation. Limited data exists regarding ringtail ecology in forested ecosystems,...
Oomycete and fungal pathogens threaten food, fiber, and forests around the world. With climate change, these pathogens are expected to emerge more frequently. Evolution can facilitate their emergence through mechanisms such as mutations that change or expand host range. Characterizing evolutionary mechanisms in plant pathogens will contribute to our ability...
Investigation on barley genotype contribution to beer flavor is a relatively new area of research but has interest from members of the malting barley supply chain. This body of work builds upon previous studies by approaching it from new angles that further supports the malting and brewing industries’ interests around...
This dissertation argues for rooting genealogies and origin stories of Disability Studies and Mad Studies in women of color feminist scholarship-activism. Turning to women of color feminist work as “alternative origin stories” shifts Disability Studies and Mad Studies away from limiting and often racist eurowestern models of Madness/disability. Women of...
The primary goal of this research was to determine the concentration and composition of nucleotides, as nucleoside monophosphates and nucleobases, in the underutilized reproductive organs (milt and roe) of Alaska pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) and yellowfin sole (Limanda aspera). Changes in concentrations of these nucleotides and nucleotide analogs were observed with...
This thesis offers a theory of queer materiality as a way of understanding the interconnectedness of freaks, ghosts, and madness in Victorian culture, and how these elements coalesce in Victorian literature to destabilize the knowable materiality of normative social structures and forms of embodiment, leading to the production of queer...
Coastal and estuarine flooding and erosion events are usually driven by the cumulative effect of multiple individual processes like waves, streamflow, storm surge, and/or tides. This dissertation focuses on separating the influence of the regional and local-scale geomorphologic and hydrodynamic processes driving variability in the magnitude and impacts of extreme...
The complex, dynamic nature of microbial communities in both natural and engineered environments complicates the work of scientists and engineers who wish to channel microbial interactions for societal good. The successful management of these communities towards engineering goals is dependent on developing predictive linkages between community structure and functional outputs....
Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) are important economically, ecologically, and culturally as an indigenous species in western Oregon. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) observed declines in black-tailed deer populations since the late 1980’s and attributes these declines to reduction in quality and availability of habitat, following the...