This collection includes theses, dissertations, and professional papers from the University of Montana W. A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation. Theses, dissertations, and professional papers from all University of Montana departments and programs may be searched here.
Theses/Dissertations from 2024
QUANTIFYING WASTEWATER CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UPPER CLARK FORK RIVER, Claire Utzman
Theses/Dissertations from 2023
RETERRITORIALIZATION AND ENCLAVIC TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: A HISTORY OF ZONING AND ITS IMPACTS IN CORBETT TIGER RESERVE LANDSCAPE, INDIA, Rajiv Bhartari
Federal Funding Statutes and State-Federal Wildlife Authority: Did Congress Demonstrate a Preference for State Wildlife Management Authority with Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson?, James Vaughan Branch
INTERACTIONS AMONG CLIMATE, FIRE, AND ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES ACROSS MULTIPLE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL SCALES IN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FORESTS, Kyra Diane Clark-Wolf
INVESTIGATING INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF ACADEMIC PUBLISHING PRACTICES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON WILDLIFE CONSERVATION, Madeline M. Damon
NAVIGATING EXTREME CLIMATE EVENTS: UNCOVERING THE CHALLENGES OF SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM GOVERNANCE IN THE ANTHROPOCENE, Amber Waialea Datta
A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO THE MANAGEMENT OF A NON-NATIVE TROUT SPECIES, Kaeli Alexis Davenport
INSIGHTS FROM THE ENVIRONMENT: UNVEILING METHODOLOGICAL BIASES AND THE IMPACTS OF BEAVERMEDIATED ENVIRONMENTAL VARIATION ON AMPHIBIAN-PARASITE DYNAMICS, Leah Marie Fischer
Conflict and Recreation Behaviors Among Snowmobilers: The Role of Organizational Membership, Liam Carlson Harry Mr.
GREATER SAGE-GROUSE IN A GRAZED LANDSCAPE: HABITAT SELECTION, DEMOGRAPHIC RATES, AND POPULATION TRENDS IN CENTRAL MONTANA, Jennifer Evans Helm
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES AND HUMAN PERCEPTIONS OF MONTANA’S MOUNTAIN LAKES, Carly Innis
Evaluating the relative influence of soil water potential, soil moisture, and vapor pressure deficit on semi-arid vegetation dynamics, Kayla R. Jamerson
IRRIGATION IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES: OCCURRENCE, IMPACTS, AND SUSTAINABILITY, David Granger Ketchum
LINKING LIFE HISTORY AND POPULATION DYNAMICS OF AN ICE-ASSOCIATED SEABIRD, THE KITTLITZ’S MURRELET (BRACHYRAMPHUS BREVIROSTRIS), Michelle Lynn Kissling
The birds and the trees: Quantifying the drivers of whitebark pine decline and Clark's nutcracker habitat use in Glacier National Park, Vladimir Kovalenko
QUANTIFYING THE EFFECTS OF BEAVER DAMS AND STREAM RESTORATION ON HEADWATER SALMONID POPULATIONS, Andrew Biche Lahr
COLLECTIVE MEMORY IN A POST-INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY, ANACONDA, MONTANA: A MIXED METHODS APPROACH FOR UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY RESILIENCE AND TRANSITIONS, Megan Alison Moore
RESPONSES OF ELK TO MANGEMENT ACTIONS AND HUNTER ACCESS IN THE NORTHERN SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS, MONTANA, USA, Peter O. Mumford
Predicting mountain lion resource selection and abundance in North America, William Connor O'Malley
GOVERNING HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICT: A CRITICAL INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH TO DECOLONIZING CONSERVATION IN THE CHOBE ENCLAVE OF BOTSWANA, Jake Rayapati
Between Tradition and Transformation: A Feminist Investigation of the Role of Pastoral Women within Tanzania's Integrated Environment and Development Landscape, Kelli Erin Rogers
Beaver dam analogs (BDAs) alter carbon pools, fluxes, and concentrations of intermountain headwater streams, Hilary Schultz
ECOSYSTEM PHOSPHORUS NUTRITION: A SOIL PROCESS INVESTIGATION, Alanna Nicole Shaw
THE EFFECT OF PLACE ATTACHMENT AND LEISURE IDENTITY ON STEWARDSHIP PARTICIPATION IN THE RATTLESNAKE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA AND WILDERNESS, Elena Rene Thomas
IMPACTS OF CLIMATE AND WILDFIRE ON WESTERN LARCH REGENERATION, Spencer T. Vieira
IMPACTS OF CONIFER REMOVAL ON SONGBIRD DENSITY, REPRODUCTIVE OUTPUT, AND HABITAT SELECTION, Elise Catherine Zarri
Theses/Dissertations from 2022
GENETIC RESCUE OF ISOLATED CUTTHROAT TROUT, Donovan Alexander Bell
CALL YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS: IDENTIFYING PREDICTORS AND AUDIENCES FOR COLLECTIVE CLIMATE ACTION, Nathan Scott Bender
Looking to the Future of Wildlife Conservation: Durable Wildlife Policy for the 21st Century, Charlie R. Booher
APPLYING RESOURCE SELECTION PROBABILITY FUNCTION (RSPF) TO UNDERSTAND FLORAL RESOURCE USE BY A COMMON BUMBLE BEE, BOMBUS VANCOUVERENSIS, Rebekah Brassfield
FACILITATING AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES MANAGEMENT USING SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING AND MACHINE LEARNING FRAMEWORKS, Sean C. Carter
DERIVING SURFACE FUELS FROM UAS IMAGERY FORFIRE MODELS, Matthew R. Cunningham
EVALUATING THE MANAGEMENT AND CONSEQUENCES OF HYBRIDIZATION BETWEEN NONNATIVE RAINBOW TROUT AND NATIVE WESTSLOPE CUTTHROAT TROUT, Anthony James Dangora
Grizzly Bear Attractant Policies In Montana: How Regulations, Recommendations, And Resources Differ Among And Between Recovery Areas, Kenneth J. Edmo
SPATIAL BEHAVIOR, FORAGING, AND POPULATION DYNAMICS OF A SUBARCTIC UNGULATE, Elizabeth (Libby) Parr Williamson Ehlers
LiDAR-Landsat Covariance for Predicting Canopy Fuels, Margaret D. Epstein
The Genetic and Demographic Outcomes of Mixed-Source Reintroductions of Westslope Cutthroat Trout in Montana, Colter Austin Feuerstein
SMALL AREA ESTIMATION OF POSTFIRE TREE DENSITY IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES USING AN ANNUALIZED FOREST INVENTORY, George Chilton Gaines III
The Transfer of Federal Public Lands to Tribal Trust Ownership: Statutes and Cases from 1970 - 2020, Audrey L. Glendenning
RETHINKING RARE: NOVEL APPROACHES TO RARE SPECIES MONITORING AND CONSERVATION, Jessie Deanne Golding
CAUSES AND CONSQUENCES OF FIRE IN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS OF THE SELWAY-BITTERROOT WILDERNESS, Melissa Jaffe
Seeding Resilience: An Examination of the Impacts of a Seed Saving Network in Western Montana, Christina Leas
Climbing Management on National Forests, Christopher Ryan MacKay
Ecological effects of prescribed burning, mechanical cutting, and post-treatment wildfire for restoration of Pinus albicaulis, Enzo Paolo Martelli Moya
GROWING TINY PLANTS IN COMMON ENVIRONMENTS: ASSESSING PATTERNS AND MECHANISMS OF DROUGHT RESPONSE WITHIN SPECIES, Mariah Kathryn McIntosh
Evaluating the effects of tree community species composition on Larix occidentalis growth, Christian M. Mercado
ACCUMULATION BY DISPOSSESSION IN PROTECTED AREAS, A LITERATRUE REVIEW AND CASE STUDY TO CREATE A MORE UNIFIED UNDERSTANDING, Leon Russell Miller
MAKING “HABITAT QUALITY” MEANINGFUL: QUANTIFYING DEMOGRAPHIC EFFECTS OF HABITAT IN TWO SYMPATRIC SPECIES, Anna Katherine Moeller
QUANTITATIVE SOCIAL SCIENCE METHODS, SOCIAL NETWORKS, AND SCALAR MISMATCHES: ADVANCING SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS SCIENCE TOWARDS ADAPTATION AND TRANSFORMATION, Holly Kathleen Nesbitt
Conservation in Ecuador's Sangay-Podocarpus Connectivity Corridor: A Study of Coproductive Capacities, Gabriel Isaac Oppler
UNDERSTANDING THE UTILIZATION OF WOODY BIOMASS THROUGH THE PERSPECTIVES OF SOUTHWEST UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE LAND MANAGERS: A QUALITATIVE STUDY, Mary-Ellen Reyna
GENETIC MONITORING AND RESCUE IN MID-ATLANTIC BROOK TROUT (SALVELINUS FONTINALIS) POULATIONS, Zachary Lorn Robinson
RANCHER PERSPECTIVES ON LIVELIHOOD DIVERSIFICATION OPTIONS IN MONTANA'S BLACKFOOT RIVER WATERSHED, Sara N. Schmidt
Agricultural Adaptation to Climate Change: How Montana Farmers Make Proactive Changes Despite Unpredictable Conditions, Austin Schuver
ADAPTATION IN RANGELAND SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS: A MIXED-METHODS, CROSS-SCALE EXAMINATION OF FACTORS INFLUENCING RANCHERS’ ADAPTATION TO DROUGHT AND CLIMATE CHANGE, Ada Parkhurst Smith
Feeling the Burn: Assessing the Effects of Fire Severity on Elk Nutritional Resources and Resource Selection, Lauren Ashley Snobl
In the Shadow of the Megadrought: Opportunities and Challenges for Addressing Loss and Damage from Climate Change in Chile and Eastern Montana, USA, Elizabeth Grace Tobey
EVALUATING THE USE OF CAMERA TRAPS TO MONITOR POPULATIONS OF UNGULATE PREY IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST, Scott Johnston Waller
Relationships Between Water, Sediment, Basal Resources, and Aquatic Insects in a Mine-Contaminated River on a Longitudinal and Habitat Patch Scale, Chelsea A. Wisotzkey
Theses/Dissertations from 2021
LARGE CARNIVORE RECOLONIZATION RESHAPES POPULATION AND COMMUNITY DYNAMICS IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS: IMPLICATIONS FOR HARVEST MANAGEMENT, Tyler James Clark
Monitoring the wetland landscape: white-faced ibis (Plegadis chihi) breeding habitat as a model assemblage, Shea P. Coons
THE PLACE OF COMMUNITY FOOD FORESTS: A REVIEW AND CASE STUDY OF COMMUNITY FOOD FORESTS AND THEIR UNTAPPED POTENTIAL, Sarah Eiden
Transboundary Marine Management in the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape, Lindsey G. Ellett
Wildlife-Friendly Fence Policy on Federal Public Lands Managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, Joshua D. Elliott
EFFECTS OF WOLF AND GRIZZLY BEAR RECOVERY ON COUGARS IN A MULTI-USE SYSTEM, Jennifer A. Feltner
SERVICE LEARNING, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, AND THE TOURISM SECTOR IN CONFLICT-AFFECTED BAMYAN, AFGHANISTAN, Kelly Elizabeth Franklin
SUSTAINABILITY IN A CHANGING LANDSCAPE: IDENTIFYING THE EFFECTS OF LAND USE ON VEGETATION AND MAMMAL COMMUNITIES, Christopher Paul Hansen
From the Eyes of Yellowstone National Park Visitors: Current and Future Desired Conditions, Glenna J. Hartman
A REINTRODUCTION RETROSPECTIVE: COMPARATIVE FISHER (PEKANIA PENNANTI) SURVIVAL AND PREY HABITAT USE IN THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON STATE, Tanner S.T. Humphries
Nitrogen Dynamics and Transport along Flowpaths in a Rural Wetland-Stream Complex, Colton Kyro
SPECIES SELECTION AND PLANTATION MANAGEMENT IN ENRICHMENT PLANTING WITH NATIVE TIMBER SPECIES IN THE PANAMA CANAL WATERSHED, Abigail A. Marshall
UNGULATES SEARCH FOR THE IDEAL HOME: HOW PREDATION AND FORAGE DIFFERENTIALLY AFFECT MALES AND FEMALES IN A PARTIALLY MIGRATORY POPULATION, Hans William Martin
ESTIMATING WOLF PREDATION METRICS, PATTERNS, AND DYNAMICS ACROSS TIME AND SPACE IN THE MULTI-PREY SYSTEM OF YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Matthew Caldwell Metz
EFFECTS OF WEATHER, PARENTAL BEHAVIORAL PLASTICITY, AND LIFE HISTORY TRAITS ON OFFSPRING GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT, AND ENERGY EXPENDITURE IN SONGBIRDS, Adam Elliot Mitchell
COMMUNITY-BASED DEER MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY IN MISSOULA, MT, Taylor Ingle Mudford
LINKING HABITAT, POPULATIONS AND POLICY FOR CARIBOU IN THE FACE OF INCREASING DISTURBANCE, Eric Charles Palm
CONCENTRATION AND COMPOSITION OF NANOPARTICLES AND COLLOIDAL PARTICLES IN A MINE-WASTE CONTAMINATED RIVER, Kaitlin Rose Perkins
ALL IN DUE TIME: MULTI-TRAIT ASSESSMENT OF ELK ACCLIMATION TO TRANSLOCATION, Ellen Marie Pero
CONTROLS ON NO3-N DYNAMICS IN THE UPPER CLARK FORK RIVER, MONTANA, Jacob Anthony Prater
Sula study revisited: 20-year post-fire regeneration in the southern Bitterroot Valley, Montana., Luke Alan Rymniak
EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATURE CONNECTEDNESS AND BELONGING WITH PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR IN BRAZILIAN NATIONAL PARKS, Sonia Maria Sfair Kinker
MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION OF WESTSLOPE CUTTHROAT TROUT IN AN IMPACTED, CONNECTED RIVER SYSTEM, Troy Weant Smith
ECOTOXICOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF SALINITY ON AMPHIBIANS, Brian James Tornabene
Theses/Dissertations from 2020
Learning from wilderness fire: restoring landscape scale patterns and processes, Julia Kittleson Berkey
Shuttles in Wonderland: Assessing the Perceived Impact to Residents’ Quality of Life Based on the Proposed Implementation of a Voluntary Shuttle System in West Yellowstone, MT, Carter Wyatt Bermingham
DEVELOPING TOOLS TO UNDERSTAND STRESS AND NEST ABANDONMENT IN BIRDS, Hannah Elena Beyl
DECOUPLED DIEL SOLUTES: LINKING PRIMARY PRODUCTION AND NITRATE UPTAKE IN A MONTANE STREAM, Kimberly Bray
Using Satellite Observations of Soil Moisture to Improve Modeling of Terrestrial Water Cycles, Colin W. Brust
Investigating Wildfire as a Catalyst for Community-Level Resilience, Lily J. Clarke
An Exploration of the Adaptive Capacity of Community-Based Organizations in Northern Botswana in Response to a Hunting Ban, Katherine Kellam Coe
Water for Fish and Farms: An Examination of Instream Flow Programs in Montana Using Spatially-Explicit Water Rights Data, Anna Leigh Crockett
A NON-REPRESENTATIONAL FOCUS ON WILDERNESS AFFECT, Mark Lane Douglas
Influence of Livestock and Electrified Fences on Livestock Depredation and Habitat Selection by Grizzly Bears in the Mission Valley, Montana, Kari Lynn Eneas
Organizational Influence on Knowledge Co-production, Evora Dakota Glenn
GOLDEN EAGLE RESOURCE SELECTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL DRIVERS OF REPRODUCTION IN THE NORTHERN RANGE OF YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, David Brown Haines