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Supporting the wholistic wellness of Métis children, youth, and families through prevention-based child and family support services
No full textThe mainstream child welfare system is failing to meet the fundamental needs for Métis children, youth, and families. While the impact of the child welfare system has been studied in depth, there remains a lack of attention toward understanding prevention-based services both within the context of Métis child welfare, as well as more broadly for Indigenous children and family services. This dissertation shares findings from a doctoral research study that was conducted in partnership with Lii Michif Otipemisiwak Family and Community Services (LMO), a Métis-specific Indigenous Child and Family Service Agency located on the lands of Tk'emlúps te Secwe̓pemc (Kamloops, British Columbia). Through learning from Métis Elders (n=20), LMO staff (n=27), and youth and families who have accessed services at LMO (n=18), this doctoral research examines the ways that reconnecting Métis children, youth, and families with their culture and identity can contribute to their wholistic wellbeing and safety. From a broader perspective, this research explores the ways in which Métis culture can contribute to a prevention-based Métis child welfare system.
This research presents and utilizes a Métis research framework, grounded in the Visiting Way methodology. The findings of this research are presented in two chapters: the first compiles the stories and teachings from Métis Elders on raising children and supporting families, and the second looks more specifically at wise practices for decolonizing Métis child welfare. The first section of findings present stories from the Métis Elders who generously participated in this research. The stories in this section—which draw from the Elders’ experiences from childhood and parenting—reveal teachings for Métis child-rearing. These teachings relate to identity, kinship and support, independence, and traditional values. The second section highlights wise practices for decolonizing Métis child welfare rooted in the perspectives of helpers, Elders, youth, and families at LMO. Alongside wise practices, the findings also examine what it means to be a helper in a Métis child and family agency; systemic and organizational challenges; and outcomes for Métis children, youth, and families. In bringing the findings together, this dissertation concludes with a discussion of Métis child welfare as an opportunity for cultural resurgence, fostering belonging, and strengthening prevention-based supports.Graduat
Rethinking blue economy governance – A blue economy equity model as an approach to operationalise equity
Get PDFThe blue economy was originally conceptualised as having a strong focus on social equity; however, in practice, these equity considerations have been overshadowed by neo-liberal capitalist agendas, which have become dominant in blue economy discourse. A continued expansion of ocean industry developments and activities has resulted in an inequitable share of the burdens and benefits of utilising ocean spaces and has exacerbated wealth disparities and power asymmetries. Therefore, finding mechanisms to reinstate equity as fundamental to blue economy governance and practice is increasingly important. However, there remain few practical examples that outline how to embed equity within blue economy governance and current frameworks for understanding equity are complex, often divergent and less focused on implementation. This paper outlines a new model for conceptualising equity that is clear and easily understood, captures equity’s key components and dimensions, and covers key ethical concerns that arise in blue economy development. Furthermore, this model can be practically applied and embedded into governance structures. To demonstrate the model’s application, the paper outlines one participatory approach to implementing the model in blue economy governance.The authors would like to acknowledge the support from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), that made this work possible.FacultyReviewe
Introgression and subtle population structure in Copper and Quillback rockfishes
Get PDFGenomic methods are increasingly being applied in fisheries to promote effective management and sustainability. Pacific rockfishes, genus Sebastes, inhabit inshore, shelf, and slope habitats along the North American west coast. Among these, Copper and Quillback rockfishes (abbreviated to Copper and Quillback) are closely related species known to hybridize, particularly within the Salish Sea in North America’s Pacific Northwest. Here, I investigate genetic population structure and introgression patterns in Copper and Quillback rockfishes from Alaska to California. Using low-coverage whole-genome resequencing (lcWGS) across a broad geographic range, I seek to (1) describe genetic differentiation between the rockfish species, (2) assess population structure within each species, (3) identify regions of the genome with unique patterns of differentiation between species, and (4) look for signatures of introgression in the genomes of both species. My analyses reveal that Copper exhibit higher levels of population differentiation compared to Quillback, especially between coastal and Salish Sea populations. In contrast, Quillback populations appear to be more panmictic, with lower overall differentiation. Several large haploblocks are found to be segregating between the species, with introgression patterns varying across genomic regions. These findings provide novel insights into the range-wide genetic structure of these species and highlight the role of genomic architecture in local introgression.Graduate2025-12-0
Computer Classification of News
Get PDFFacing the growing demand for psychological services, if we want computers to provide psychological services to humans, the first step is to identify human emotions accurately. This research is about how to enable computers to accurately identify text content, analyze it, and make judgments. In this process, the torchtext.datasets.AG_NEWS dataset was selected. AG_NEWS has four large classes ("World", "Sports", "Business", "Sci/Tech"). TfidfVectorizer was used to judge the importance of each word in a sentence. Common words like articles frequently appear in every sentence, so they are ignored. The importance of other words for sentence classification is judged based on their frequency of appearance – the higher the frequency of a word, the less weight it carries. Support Vector Machines are then used to optimize accuracy. The research showed AI tools can predict human emotions based on the interpretation of the text. If AI tools can accurately predict human emotions, this builds a foundation for the machines to respond appropriately to people needing psychological services.Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)UndergraduateReviewe
Feedback on English as an Additional Language Students’ Writing: Trends in Corrective Feedback Strategies
Get PDFWritten Corrective Feedback (WCF) has gained continuous attention in recent years. This growing interest is attributed to both the conceptual controversies surrounding feedback and the variety of available written corrective feedback strategies. While the diversity of options (and opinions) allows teachers to differentiate instruction and feedback, it also poses challenges such as confusion and insecurity, as teachers need to fully understand the characteristics of each strategy and which factors might influence them, in addition to understanding their students’ individual needs and abilities to make informed decisions concerning the most suitable strategy.
To address such complexity in feedback choices, this study takes a content analytic approach to synthesize and compare 48 empirical studies of written corrective feedback on English as an Additional Language (EAL) students’ writing published between 2011 and 2019. The main aim of this content analysis is to investigate written corrective feedback trends over the years and identify potential factors that could impact the effectiveness of these WCF strategies. Results indicate that written corrective feedback can foster improved language accuracy and help EAL students to enhance their second language writing skills. However, feedback’s efficacy is mediated by certain variables that include the learners’ proficiency levels, age, the learning environment, previous content and metalinguistic knowledge, and students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the corrective feedback. Furthermore, the duration of exposure to both the target language and the WCF strategy also plays an important role in the effectiveness of the feedback.Graduat
Insights and dynamics of circular business model in developing countries' context: The empirical analysis of the returnable glass bottles process
No full textDespite the growing understanding that circular business models (CBMs) play a pivotal role in facilitating the transition from a linear to a circular economy, there is a lack of relevant literature on how CBMs can be implemented in businesses in developing countries. This study addresses this significant gap in the literature by revealing the insights and dynamics of the implementation of a CBM in a typical developing economy—Nigeria. A notable business model adopted by breweries and beverage companies in Nigeria—a returnable glass bottle process—was investigated through an in-depth exploration of six companies in a qualitative case study that involves collecting data through interviews, exploratory field observation, and documented evidence (literature). The study generated empirical-based evidence on how CBM can be implemented in a business value chain where formal and informal actors co-exist and interact. It also discloses several barriers and enablers associated with CBM implementation in the context of developing economies. Collaboration, social inclusiveness, waste management, durable product design, and cost reductions are some of the enablers identified in the study. The key barriers are largely external and conspicuously linked to the socio-economic disadvantages peculiar to developing economies such as the absence of effective legislature, lack of infrastructure, lack of technological innovation, unavailability of finance, and the emergence of large retail stores that operate on a disruptive business model. Finally, the current research provides practical suggestions and recommendations for the appropriate designing and transitioning of CBMs in developing countries' context.This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.FacultyReviewe
Westward Ho! Evidence of Longitudinal Migration in Silver-haired Bats from Hydrogen, Carbon, and Nitrogen Stable Isotopes
Get PDFMigration is an energetically demanding process and North America’s migratory bats are facing the additional pressure of mortality from rapidly expanding wind energy facilities. Knowledge of bat migrations can be used to identify critical habitat and direct siting and mitigation measures to reduce the impact of wind turbines, but methods to study these movements remain limited. Silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) are a widely distributed bat species in North America that undergoes substantial migrations between their summer and winter locations. Studying these movements has long been a challenge, but technological advances such as the application of stable isotopes to animal migration studies make this more feasible. To date, the majority of the research conducted on silver-haired bat migrations has been focused on their movements east of the Continental Divide. Coastal influences and complex topography have been an impediment to the utilization of stable isotopes in bat migration studies west of this divide. To overcome this challenge, I systematically sampled silver-haired bats for multiple stable isotopes, hydrogen (δ2H), carbon (δ13C), and nitrogen (δ15), across a broad range of geography representative of western North America. Using Generalized Additive Models, I found geographical and climatological correlates of δ2H, δ13C, and δ15N distributions and used these to create the first species-specific stable isotope distribution maps (isoscapes) for silver-haired bats in western North America. I applied these isoscapes in a continuous-surface assignment framework to determine the most-probable migratory origins of silver-haired bats overwintering in coastal regions of southern British Columbia and western Washington State. The stable isotope signatures of these individuals indicated that the majority of them had spent their summers across a broad area further to the east, providing the first empirical evidence of longitudinal migration in silver-haired bats and indicating that coastal areas of British Columbia and Washington State are important overwintering habitat for this species. This work proves that with careful selection of both the samples and stable isotopes used, along with thoughtful consideration of the underlying geographic and climatological processes that drive their ratio distributions, stable isotopes can be used to track seasonal movements of animals in regions of complex topography. These results also emphasize the importance of coastal areas to overwintering silver-haired bats, and the need for strict regulation of wind turbines sited along likely migratory corridors connecting these coastal areas to interior summer habitat.Graduat
Construction of a Magneto-Optical Trap to Create Ultracold Rubidium Ensembles
Get PDFUltracold atoms are a desirable substrate for experiments in quantum optics due to their highly coherent nature. Magneto-Optical Traps (MOTs) are a commonly used apparatus for producing clouds of cold, neutrally charged atoms such as Rubidium. The method relies on the effect of Doppler cooling, where laser light that has been detuned slightly below an atomic resonance results in a net cooling effect on the atoms, and magnetic trapping, where a linear magnetic field gradient results in a position dependent restoring force that traps the desired atoms at a central point. In the UVic AMO lab, we aim to build a MOT that is capable of producing ultracold rubidium clouds with temperatures on the order of 10μK.Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)UndergraduateReviewe
Chères Lumières : Une étude comparative de la colonisation de l’imaginaire et de la vision sexuée de l’autochtonie dans Lettres d’une Péruvienne (1747) et Lettres iroquoises (1755)
No full textCette thèse examine les liens entre les visions sexuées de deux romans épistolaires, les Lettres d’une Péruvienne (1747) de Françoise de Graffigny et les Lettres iroquoises (1755) de Jean-Henri Maubert de Gouvest, qui participent d’une vogue littéraire en France au XVIIIe siècle reposant sur l’appropriation du point de vue de l’Autre. En prenant les figures d’une princesse inca et d’un marchand de fourrures iroquois comme protagonistes, les deux auteurs révèlent des problématiques propres à la société française des Lumières et témoignent de la construction européenne de l’autochtonie imaginaire. La mise en opposition de ces deux textes permet notamment l’analyse de la condition de la femme et de l’imaginaire social de la France au XVIIIe siècle et les idéologies coloniales qui proviennent de cette période culturelle. Afin d’interroger les thèmes abordés dans cette thèse, une partie recherche-création rompra le texte par des lettres de nature personnelle et réflexive.
This thesis examines the links between the gendered visions of two epistolary novels, Lettres d'une Péruvienne (1747) by Françoise de Graffigny, and Lettres iroquoises (1755) by Jean-Henri Maubert de Gouvest, who participated in an 18th-century literary vogue in France which appropriated the point of view of the Other. Taking as their protagonists an Inca princess and an Iroquois fur trader, the two authors reveal both the distinctions within the French society of the Enlightenment and the construction of a European indigenous imaginary. Comparing these two texts instigates an analysis of the status of women and of the social imaginary in 18th-century France, and a critique of colonial ideologies that emerged from this cultural period. To interrogate the themes confronted in this thesis, a research-creation section will break up the text in the form of letters of a personal and reflexive nature from the author.Graduat
Characterization of epigenetic changes in Rana [Lithobates] catesbeiana tissues during natural and induced thyroid hormone-dependent metamorphosis using mass spectrometry
Get PDFThyroid hormone (TH) signaling is critical for proper development, growth and metabolism in all vertebrates. Amphibian metamorphosis is a TH-dependent developmental process that requires coordinated physical and biochemical changes to facilitate the transition from a tadpole to a frog. Metamorphosis involves extensive tissue-specific changes in the gene expression of differentiated tissues. Rana catesbeiana (American bullfrog) metamorphosis can be precociously induced by treatment with exogenous TH. However, metamorphosis is temperature-dependent and does not proceed at 5°C even in the presence of TH. Remarkably, a subsequent shift to permissive temperatures (24°C) results in an accelerated metamorphosis, implying that TH establishes a molecular memory at 5°C. Previous studies suggest that epigenetic processes, including histone variant incorporation and post-translational modifications, are involved in TH-signalling during natural metamorphosis and during temperature-modulated, TH-induced metamorphosis. Herein, we use mass spectrometry to characterize the histone composition of R. catesbeiana blood, liver, and tailfin during natural and temperature-modulated induced metamorphosis. The natural metamorphosis model identified tissue- and developmental stage-specific changes in histone abundance and PTMs. The temperature-modulated TH-induced metamorphic model demonstrated temperature- and tissue-specific changes in the abundance and PTMs of histones and other chromatin-binding proteins. To our knowledge, this represents the first unbiased analysis of the chromatin-associated proteins during amphibian metamorphosis. The findings presented herein expand our understanding of putative epigenetic factors involved in regulating TH-dependent development, which has broad relevance to all vertebrate species due to the conserved nature of TH action.Graduate2025-12-1