Much of the Columbia River Basin has been cultivated for agriculture, which has reduced and fragmented the native shrub-steppe habitats. As a result, the range of the Washington ground squirrel (Spermophilus washingtoni) has been significantly reduced, prompting the states of Washington and Oregon to review their status. Consequently, I investigated...
This thesis investigates Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL) as a method of instruction for natural resources education. The research follows the adoption of CTL in the K-12 classrooms of six teachers focusing on natural resources education at two rural schools in Western Oregon. CTL is being investigated because it connects...
Understanding the degree to which topography of erosional landscapes in active mountain belts encode the rates and patterns of active deformation in the upper crust is a primary goal in the field of tectonic geomorphology. In particular, the convolved influence of variations in rock mass quality and the erodibility of...
There has been an increasing realization of the value of innovativeness, the orientation toward innovation, for firms thriving to gain competitive edge. The US forest products industry is no different in this respect and many companies have active initiatives to bring about creativity from their own employees. At the same...
Policy makers in the United States (US), following recommendations made by the international scientific community, have drafted national emissions reduction legislation in hopes of minimizing the harmful effects of global climate change. Included in this legislation is a national cap-and-trade system with provisions for carbon offsets. Specific provisions for forest...
The influence of large-scale processes on natural communities has become one of the central issues of modern ecology. I combined field and laboratory studies to investigate the effects of variation in coastal upwelling on rocky intertidal communities along the central Oregon coast. I examined whether the growth of intertidal barnacles...
The reading of world literature, literary works from cultures other than one’s own, offers
an effective means of creating greater awareness and sensitivity towards others. Research
on the subject makes it clear that world literature can help lay the groundwork for a sense
of world citizenship in students. To what...
My project is designed to determine how the English major and English Studies exist at OSU, through the collection of perceptions and opinions about English Studies at OSU from students and faculty (both inside and outside of the English department) via email surveys. I used secondary research to determine how...
Parcellization of the rural landscape threatens the provision of social, ecological and economic benefits to society due to loss of economies of scale. A continued provision requires new approaches to forest management for multiple, interconnected goals. I used interviews, archival records and field measurements to learn how select, experienced owners...
The vast majority of terrestrial plant species live in symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). AMF and plants live in complex networks, with roots of individual plants hosting multiple AMF, and single AMF colonizing multiple plants concurrently. Through the exchange of resources, the two partners of this symbiosis can have...