This collection includes theses, dissertations, and professional papers from the University of Montana Division of Biological Sciences. Theses, dissertations, and professional papers from all University of Montana departments and programs may be searched here.
Theses/Dissertations from 2024
Habitat selection and connectivity of mountain lions (Puma concolor) across anthropogenic barriers on the Olympic Peninsula: a multi-method comparison, Thomas R. Barbee
GENOMIC AND PHENOTYPIC INSIGHTS INTO THE MECHANISMS OF ADAPTATION IN HIGH-ELEVATION DEER MICE, Keely R. Corder
The Hare and The Hawk: Predator, Prey, and Coat Color Mismatch in a Polymorphic Snowshoe Hare Population, Amanda Shuler Emmel
EFFECTS OF MORTALITY RISK AND ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS ON SONGBIRD MOVEMENT, FORAGING, PARENTAL CARE, AND BODY MASS MANAGEMENT, Timothy Robert Forrester
DRIVERS AND FATES OF PRIMARY PRODUCTION IN A DAMMED, EUTROPHIC RIVER, Laurel Genzoli
SIKSIKAITSITAPI RETURNING THE GAZE ON HUMAN & WILDLIFE INTERACTIONS, Celina C. Gray
INTEGRATING INDIVIDUAL AND SPECIES TRAITS TO BETTER IDENTIFY RISKS TO PERSISTENCE AND SURVIVAL IN AMPHIBIAN POPULATIONS, Ross Kenneth Hinderer
GABA TRANSPORTER LOSS-OF-FUNCTION MUTATIONS IN PEDIATRIC EPILEPSY: NEURAL MECHANISMS AND A NOVEL FATTY ACID BASED THERAPEUTIC APPROACH, Alessandra G. Jester
STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF GLUN2A-SELECTIVE NEGATIVE ALLOSTERIC MODULATORS, James Scott Lotti
LEAVING THEM IN STITCHES: NOVEL METHODS FOR SPLICE-AWARE SEQUENCE ANNOTATION, Alexander Nord
Theses/Dissertations from 2023
HOW AQUATIC INSECTS MITIGATE TEMPERATURE-OXYGEN CHALLENGES VIA BEHAVIORAL, MORPHOLOGICAL, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PLASTICITY, Jackson H. Birrell
REGULATION OF INNATE IMMUNE RESPONSES TO RIFT VALLEY FEVER VIRUS INFECTION THROUGH ALTERNATIVE SPLICING OF RIOK3, Thomas Charles Bisom
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
INDIVIDUAL AND POPULATION RESPONSES TO HYDROLOGIC VARIABILITY IN A HEADWATER STREAM SALAMANDER, Madaline Cochrane
VIBES: A Workflow for Annotating and Visualizing Viral Sequences Integrated into Bacterial Genomes, Conner J. Copeland
INVESTIGATING INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF ACADEMIC PUBLISHING PRACTICES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON WILDLIFE CONSERVATION, Madeline M. Damon
SEASONALITY AND DEPTH VARIABILITY IN THE MICROBIAL ECOLOGY OF A LARGE, OLIGOTROPHIC LAKE, Kate A. Evans
CAUSES OF LOW LEAF-SHREDDING INSECT DIVERSITY IN NEOTROPICAL STREAMS, Pavel Ernesto Garcia Soto
Steady-State Regulation of Secretory Cargo Export and ER Homeostasis by Inositol Trisphosphate Receptors and Penta-EF-Hand Proteins, Aaron J. Held
GREATER SAGE-GROUSE IN A GRAZED LANDSCAPE: HABITAT SELECTION, DEMOGRAPHIC RATES, AND POPULATION TRENDS IN CENTRAL MONTANA, Jennifer Evans Helm
ECOLOGICAL ADAPTATION AND SPECIATION IN CHIPMUNKS, Nathanael David Filer Herrera
Seedy Business: Unveiling Fruit-Frugivore Interactions in Loango National Park, Gabon, Diandra Mary Lewis
A BIOPHYSICAL APPROACH TO MODELING ELEVATIONAL RANGE SHIFTS IN COLORADO MAMMAL COMMUNITIES, Ryan T. Mahar
RESPONSES OF ELK TO MANGEMENT ACTIONS AND HUNTER ACCESS IN THE NORTHERN SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS, MONTANA, USA, Peter O. Mumford
SAGEBRUSH STEPPE SONGBIRD CONSERVATION: INFERENCES USING REMOTE SENSING DATA AND A NOVEL REPRODUCTION MODEL, Kaitlyn Marie Reintsma
A DUAL-FUNCTION FILAMENTOUS PF BACTERIOPHAGE PROTEIN MODULATES PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA VIRULENCE POTENTIAL, Caleb Michael Schwartzkopf
INVESTIGATING CHANGES IN ER-TO-GOLGI PROTEIN TRANSPORT FOLLOWING A SHORT CALCIUM PULSE: ROLES OF ALG-2 AND PEFLIN, ALAA MOHAMMED YOSRI SHAHEEN
EVOLUTION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF THE NOVEL CHLOROPHYLL D-BASED PHOTOSYNTHETIC APPARATUS, Nikea Jonelle Ulrich
LIFE AFTER ICE: ECOLOGY OF MOUNTAIN LAKES ACROSS GLACIAL AND ELEVATION GRADIENTS, Joseph William Vanderwall
VARIATION IN BODY COMPOSITION IN DEER MICE: THE BIOGEOGRAPHY AND ECOPHYSIOLOGY OF ENERGY ALLOCATION, Cole Joseph Wolf
IMPACTS OF CONIFER REMOVAL ON SONGBIRD DENSITY, REPRODUCTIVE OUTPUT, AND HABITAT SELECTION, Elise Catherine Zarri
Theses/Dissertations from 2022
THE EVOLUTION OF MORPHOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND SEXUAL DIMORPHISM IN STICK AND LEAF INSECTS, Romain Pascal Gilbert Eric Boisseau
Looking to the Future of Wildlife Conservation: Durable Wildlife Policy for the 21st Century, Charlie R. Booher
Juvenile temperature regulation in Apis mellifera (Honey bee) and the impacts of brood temperature requirements on the colony, Scott Debnam
BACTERIOPHAGE INFECTION INDUCES INTRACELLULAR POLYAMINE ACCUMULATION AS A DEFENSE MECHANISM IN PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA, Camilia Dornelles de Mattos
THE CONTRASTING PHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF TWO DISTINCT MIGRATORY STRATEGIES, Joely Gabriel DeSimone
A novel pathway for the production of poly-N-acetylglucosamine by Borreliaceae, Adam Matthew Drobish
COMBINED EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE AND HEAVY METALS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE GIANT SALMONFLY., James Frakes, Amanda Andreas, Benjamin P. Colman, and Aurthur Woods
COMBINATORIAL ADMINISTRATION OF SYNTHETIC TLR4 AGONIST INI-2002 AND NOVEL MINCLE AGONIST UM-1098 DELIVERED VIA A-SNPS RESULTS IN SYNERGISTIC IL-1β PRODUCTION IN HUMAN PRIMARY CELLS AND ENHANCES TH1 AND TH17 RESPONSES IN VIVO, Grace D. Jones, Asia Marie Stephanie Riel, Alexander Riffey, and Cassandra Buhl
SPERMATOGENESIS MOLECULAR EVOLUTION IN MURINE RODENTS, Emily Emiko Konishi Kopania
An Integrative Investigation of the Synechococcus A/B Clade During Adaptive Radiation at the Upper Thermal Limit of Phototrophy, Christopher L. Pierpont
GENETIC MONITORING AND RESCUE IN MID-ATLANTIC BROOK TROUT (SALVELINUS FONTINALIS) POULATIONS, Zachary Lorn Robinson
EVALUATING THE USE OF CAMERA TRAPS TO MONITOR POPULATIONS OF UNGULATE PREY IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST, Scott Johnston Waller
ALTERNATIVE SPLICING REGULATES THE INNATE IMMUNE RESPONSE TO VIRAL INFECTION, Luke A. White
Theses/Dissertations from 2021
Monitoring the wetland landscape: white-faced ibis (Plegadis chihi) breeding habitat as a model assemblage, Shea P. Coons
LINKS BETWEEN INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: A MECHANISTIC INVESTIGATION WITH A DIRECTLY-TRANSMITTED ZOONOTIC SYSTEM, Andreas Elefttheriou
A REINTRODUCTION RETROSPECTIVE: COMPARATIVE FISHER (PEKANIA PENNANTI) SURVIVAL AND PREY HABITAT USE IN THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON STATE, Tanner S.T. Humphries
AQUATIC LOCOMOTION IN BIRDS – BIOMECHANICS, MORPHOMETRICS, AND EVOLUTION, Anthony Barrett Lapansky
CALCIUM SIGNALING AND ALG-2 IN THE REGULATION OF CONSTITUTIVE SECRETION, John Robert Sargeant
FUN CTIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF DUAL TRANSMITTING NEURONS ON AGGRESSION, Lewis Michael Sherer II
TROPICAL PLANT-ANIMAL INTERACTIONS: LINKING DEFAUNATION WITH SEED PREDATION, AND RESOURCE-DEPENDENT CO-OCCURRENCE, Peter Jeffrey Williams
Theses/Dissertations from 2020
Characterizing the requirements for the matricellular protein, dCCN, in nervous system function, Elizabeth L. Catudio Garrett
Heat for the Masses: Thermal Ecology of the Western Tent Caterpillar, Victoria Dahlhoff
Dynein Light Chain 1 Functions as a Cofactor for Post-Transcriptional mRNA Regulation and RNA Granule Assembly, Nicholas Day
Resource Selection and Calving Success of Moose in Colorado, Forest P. Hayes
Managing Forest Disturbances: Effects on Mule Deer and Plant Communities in Montana's Northern Forests, Teagan Ann Hayes
ADAPTIVE HARVEST MANAGEMENT OF WOLVES: THE ROLE OF RECRUITMENT AND HIERARCHICAL DEMOGRAPHY IN POPULATION DYNAMICS OF A SOCIAL CARNIVORE, Allison Christine Keever
FINDING FISHERS: DETERMINING THE DISTRIBUTION OF A RARE FOREST MESOCARNIVORE IN THE NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAINS, Jessica M. Krohner
Selection of Forage and Avoidance of Predation Risk by Partially Migratory Mule Deer, Collin Jeffrey Peterson
THE PHENOTYPIC FLEXIBILITY OF THERMOGENIC CAPACITY: FROM PHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISM TO EVOLUTIONARY IMPLICATIONS, Maria Stager
IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS: AN EXPLORATION OF SMALL RNAS AND SELFISH GENETIC ELEMENTS OF THE HUMAN BACTERIAL PATHOGENS COXIELLA BURNETII AND BARTONELLA BACILLIFORMIS, Shaun Gregory Wachter
Investigating the coordinate regulation of stem cell proliferation and differentiation by FBF proteins, Xiaobo Wang
IMPACTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES ON DEER MOUSE SURVIVAL IN THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES, Emily C. Weidner
Theses/Dissertations from 2019
CAUSES OF VARIATION IN DISPERSAL DISTANCE IN THE STREAM SALAMANDER GYRINOPHILUS PORPHYRITICUS, Brett Rebekah Addis
ENVIRONMENTAL VARIATION AND SEXUAL SELECTION IN THE MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD (SIALIA CURRUCOIDES), Sara A. Berk
QUANTIFYING COAT COLOR PHENOLOGY OF SYMPATRIC SNOWSHOE HARES AND WEASELS, Brandon Murray Davis
SHAPING THE TOOLS OF BATTLE : SEXUAL SELECTION, CONTEST DYNAMICS, AND WEAPON DIVERGENCE IN THE ASIAN RHINOCEROS BEETLE TRYPOXYLUS DICHOTOMUS, Jillian F. del Sol
CELL SIGNALING PATHWAYS IN CONTROL OF NEUROBLASTOMA AND HUMAN NEURAL CREST DEVELOPMENT, Lauren Elizabeth Foltz
ANALYSIS OF RIFT VALLEY FEVER VIRUS HOST-PATHOGEN DYNAMICS, Katherine Elizabeth Havranek
THE GENETIC BASIS OF LOCAL ADAPTATION AND THE EVOLUTIONARY CONSEQUENCES OF HYBRIDIZATION IN SNOWSHOE HARES (LEPUS AMERICANUS), Matthew R. Jones
The effects of forest gaps on animal communication networks, Cedar Arran Mathers-Winn
METHODS FOR ESTIMATING MOUNTAIN GOAT OCCUPANCY AND ABUNDANCE, Molly McDevitt
DEVELOPMENTAL, ECOLOGICAL, AND LIFE HISTORY INFLUENCES ON PREDATOR-INDUCED PLASTICITY IN SONGBIRDS, James Christopher Mouton
WHY THE WEIRD WINGS? Investigating the morphology, function, and evolution of unusual feathers in pigeons and doves (Columbidae), Robert Lawrence Niese
ECOLOGICAL STOICHIOMETRY IN WATERSHEDS: FROM LAND TO WATER IN THE QINGHAI LAKE BASIN, Ze Ren
THE GENETIC MECHANISMS UNDERLYING PIGMENTATION AND THEIR EVOLUTIONARY IMPORTANCE IN BIRDS, Nicholas David Sly
Theses/Dissertations from 2018
COLONIZATION OF AND ADAPTATION TO TIDAL MARSHES IN THE SAVANNAH SPARROW (PASSERCULUS SANDWICHENSIS), Phred M. Benham
BREAKING DOWN A GENOME: DEGENERATIVE GENOME EVOLUTION IN THE CICADA ENDOSYMBIONT HODGKINIA, Matthew A. Campbell
LIFE ON THE EDGE: RISK OF PREDATION DRIVES SELECTION OF HABITAT AND SURVIVAL OF NEONATES IN ENDANGERED SIERRA NEVADA BIGHORN SHEEP, Shannon Forshee
CONSEQUENCES OF ARYL HYDROCARBON RECEPTOR ACTIVATION: THYMIC ATROPHY AND THERAPEUTIC LIPOSOMAL NANOPARTICLES, Joanna Michelle Kreitinger
POLAR GIGANTISM AND SEA SPIDERS: A STUDY OF RESPIRATORY SCALING, Steven Joseph Lane
On the Evolution of "Extreme" Morphology: Patterns of Cost and Benefit in Sexually Selected Weapons, Devin Mackenzie O'Brien
Conflicting Hydraulic Effects of Xylem Pit Structure Relate to the Growth-Longevity Tradeoff in a Conifer Species, Beth Roskilly
WHY DOES DROUGHT KILL TREES? INTERACTIONS BETWEEN WATER, CARBON, AND FUNGAL SYMBIONTS, Gerard Sapes de Moreta
BIOTIC PULSES, BRYOTIC PULSES AND THE EFFECTS OF MOSSES ON COMMUNITIES AND ECOSYSTEMS, Mandy Lynn Slate
EVOLUTION AND REPRODUCTION IN AMBROSIA BEETLE FUNGAL SYMBIONTS, Daniel Douglas Vanderpool
An Interdisciplinary Approach To The Target Elucidation of Novel Antibiotic 31G12, Larissa A. Walker
Theses/Dissertations from 2017
THE ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION OF AVIAN ALARM CALL SIGNALING SYSTEMS, Alexis Chandon Billings
Evolution of Molt Phenology in Dwarf Hamsters, Zachary Clare-Salzler
CONTRIBUTIONS OF GENE COPY NUMBER VARIATION TO GENOME EVOLUTION AND LOCAL ADAPTATION OF THE CYANOBACTERIUM ACARYOCHLORIS, Amy L. Gallagher
Soil Properties and Plant Community Productivity Mediate the Population Level Consequences of Rodent Seed Predation, Ryan James Hegstad
A BIOGEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE ON THE IMPACTS AND IMPORTANCE OF RODENT GRANIVORY ON NATIVE VS. INVASIVE PLANTS, Jacob Elias Lucero
AERODYNAMICS AND ECOMORPHOLOGY OF FLEXIBLE FEATHERS AND MORPHING BIRD WINGS, Brett Klassen Van Oorschot
¬MULTILOCUS PHYLOGENY OF THE LICHEN FAMILY MEGASPORACEAE, Tim B. Wheeler
Theses/Dissertations from 2016
EXTREME HYBRID GROWTH, GENOMIC IMPRINTING, THE LARGE X EFFECT, AND THE DRIVERS OF SPECIATION IN MAMMALS, Thomas David Brekke
Analysis of Envelope Glycoprotein Complex of Arenaviruses, SUNDARESH SHANKAR