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No full textAn award-winning work of poetry with the theme of equity, diversity, and human rights created by undergraduate student Rita Bunrayong, selected by celebrity judge Thembelihle (Thembie) Moyo.2024 On the Verge Writing Contest poetry honorary mentionUndergraduat
Bridging the divide: An inquiry into post-secondary decolonization policy and practice
No full textPost-secondary institutions in BC, Canada, continue to engage with reconciliation objectives and processes of decolonization, practices which are detailed in a growing body of literature, and which are informed by various developments and documents (e.g., the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act). Policy for these processes is diverse and ongoing. This dissertation aimed to understand some of the ways that policy and practice are connected in one Faculty at one post-secondary institution—the University of Victoria—using Narrative Inquiry. I interviewed administrative and teaching professionals to gain insight into some of the practices facilitating reconciliation and decolonization pathways. My findings included identifying policy as a relational process involving multiple interested parties—educators, administrators, and students, and involved policy as fluid, and dynamic from its creation to its implementation or enactment.Graduat
Across time, space and discourse: The elusive nature of visual novels
No full textIn software publishing as well as in recent academic scholarship, visual novels have come to be viewed as a type of story-driven video game originating in late 20th century Japan, conveying their stories through the mixture of text and audio-visual component, while being characterized by a number of formal elements (e.g. anime-inspired art, nonlinearity and eroticism). Although most academic conversations center on works produced during the 1990s and later, the period of 1980s - whose software I argue to be equally important in the context of how this perception of visual novel came to be - is largely omitted from discussion. This thesis offers a comprehensive analysis of the variety of sources connected to visual novels (e.g. game software, periodicals, visual novel databases, informal scholarship, online blogs, academic writing), reexamining the genre's current conceptualizations and classification criteria, highlighting the overarching trends and implications present in the 1980s visual novel precursors and employing the aforementioned findings in order to bridge the temporal, interregional and discursive gaps presently existing in the scholarly conversation, with the ultimate aim of discovering a more globalized lens for exploring the visual novel and its history in the academic setting. Illustrating its points through the means of various canonical as well as outlying game software, this thesis argues in favor of recognizing the menu-based mechanical paradigm and the perceived cultural point of origin as two underappreciated criteria that have so far been used to delineate the visual novel from other video game genres, and point to potential next steps in driving the global studies of this genre towards terminological unity.Graduat
Assessing the impacts of nonpoint source pollution in the Cowichan River
No full textThe Cowichan Watershed is located on south-central Vancouver island and covers an area of approximately 930 km2, with a mountainous topography achieving a maximum elevation of 1483m and descending to sea level (S. B. Foster & Allen, 2015). The 47 km-long Cowichan River flows out of Cowichan Lake, and east through the municipalities of Lake Cowichan and Duncan before emptying into the Pacific Ocean at Cowichan Bay. The watershed and surrounding area experiences warm, dry summers and mild rainy winters, with hydrology affected by both groundwater and precipitation effects, including snowmelt (S. Foster, 2014; S. B. Foster & Allen, 2015). The river is of great cultural and historical significance, particularity to the people of the Cowichan Tribes who have inhabited the region for thousands of years (Cowichan Tribes, 2024; Government of BC, 2023). It remains for them a vital food source, hosting tens of thousands of spawning chinook, coho, chum, and steelhead salmon each year, and four species of trout. The Cowichan is a designated heritage river, and its estuary is recognized as one of the world’s most biologically important areas for fish and wildlife (CVRD, 2024). In addition to its ecological importance and natural beauty, the river provides recreational value for fishing, swimming, and paddling, and is a major draw for the tourism industry on which the surrounding communities rely heavily on. The history of the river and its strong ties to the people is storied with community efforts to monitor and maintain the water quality of the river.Cowichan Watershed BoardGraduat
This is the Space I Take Up
Get PDFThis is the Space I Take Up is an ever-changing installation piece rooted firmly in self-portraiture. The work is concerned with the construction and reconstructions of the self through the lens of the gendered gaze and objectification. This focus reflects my personal and academic interest in the self. Through the manipulation of layers (be it paints or photos) I construct a composite of identity that is fragmented and ever-changing. I then invite others to look at the curated collection of a fractured self. This is the Space I Take Up provides an opportunity to reclaim and control my image. My work is in conversation with concepts such as Joey Soloway’s “{the} Female Gaze” and “Objectification Theory”, proposed by Barbara L Fredrickson and Tomi-Ann Roberts [1997].Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)UndergraduateReviewe
Advancing community-level health data collection and health impact assessment practices for First Nations in British Columbia, Canada
Get PDFThis dissertation explores the collection and management of community-level health data by a First Nation in British Columbia (B.C.), Canada. Due to the geographical proximity of their communities and territories, First Nations tend to experience adverse project-related effects associated with on-going industrial development across the province. Despite the growing interest in health impact assessment (HIA) as a means of evaluating how projects influence community health and wellness, little research has focused on the importance of community- level data to achieve this. Chapter 2 utilizes case study research to examine the types of health data collected at the community level and the alignment of this data with community health priorities and industrial development risks. Chapter 3 explores the perspectives of First Nation Department and Project Managers concerning their experiences in data collection and the challenges they encounter. Chapter 4 transitions away from the concept of ‘doing research for the sake of research’ to adopting an applied research approach by translating technical knowledge into a visually-styled information resource for First Nations in B.C. The dissertation concludes by reflecting on the implications of the findings for the field of HIA and First Nation communities, highlighting avenues for future research, practice and overcoming challenges at the local level.Graduat
Proper Rainbow Saturation in Graphs
Get PDFThis project explores graph theory, which is the study of networks (called “graphs”) with nodes called “vertices” and “edges” between pairs of vertices. A proper edge-colouring of a graph is an assignment of values to each edge of a graph such that edges that share a vertex receive different colours. This project specifically investigates the proper rainbow saturation problem, which is defined as follows: for a larger graph G and a smaller graph H, we say that G is properly rainbow H-saturated if G can be properly edge-coloured with no copy of H that has all different colours, but if any edge is added to G, then G always contains a copy of H with all different colours in any proper colouring. We seek to determine the proper rainbow saturation number, which is the minimum number of edges for G given a fixed graph H and a number of vertices for G. We improve on others’ results by finding exact values for the proper rainbow saturation number for specific graphs and proving general bounds for classes of graphs. This connects proper rainbow saturation to related graph saturation problems and reveals general patterns in the behaviour of these networks.Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)UndergraduateReviewe
Transparent Exopolymer Particles and Phytoplankton Nutrient Physiology in the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans
Get PDFThe export of organic carbon from the surface to the deep ocean is a key process that regulates the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, and is known as the biological carbon pump (BCP). The efficiency of the BCP is largely governed by biological influences in the upper layers of the water column, including the magnitude of primary production, and the sinking rate of particulate organic carbon (POC). However, these processes are still poorly understood in large parts of the ocean. A key factor affecting the BCP is the presence of transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) in the surface ocean. These particles originate from the exudation of organic exopolymeric substances by marine phytoplankton and form sticky carbon (C) gels that facilitate the aggregation of organic matter. These particles are less dense than seawater and affect the sinking of POC from the surface to the deep ocean, and therefore play an important role in the ocean’s C cycle. The overall objective of this thesis was to quantify key biological factors that affect surface ocean C cycling and to investigate the effects of variation in environmental conditions on the strengths of these factors. Over a 4-year study, I examined the concentrations and rates of production of TEP, phytoplankton nutrient physiology, and contributions of different sized phytoplankton to nutrient cycling in the Eastern Subarctic North Pacific (ESNP), and Pacific and Central Arctic regions. Measurements of TEP and a variety of biological and environmental variables were made across all regions in the ESNP and Arctic, and total and size-fractionated nutrient uptake rates of C, nitrate (NO3-) and silicic acid (Si(OH)4) were additionally measured across the ESNP. The concentrations of TEP were largely correlated with the amount of phytoplankton biomass and productivity, but also by environmental variables such as temperature, mixed layer depth, and nutrient concentrations. We used multivariate models derived from experimental observations measured during this study to produce novel estimates of surface TEP concentrations in the ESNP from 1998 to 2018. Model results show that the concentration of C in the form of TEP (TEP-C) in the surface of oceanic regions of the ESNP is estimated to be between 5-15μg C L-1 year-round. We further measured TEP concentrations relative to C fixation by phytoplankton and export potential (i.e., new production), providing the first quantitative comparison among these variables across large spatiotemporal gradients in the ESNP. Results show that low productivity regimes are characterized by higher concentrations of TEP-C (and higher estimates of TEP-C turnover) relative to C uptake and new production, which suggests these regions may undergo less efficient C export. This thesis presents the first field-based connection between excess C consumption by phytoplankton and TEP concentrations. Size-fractionated measurements reveal that small-sized phytoplankton (< 5 μm) are responsible for most of the nutrient uptake and TEP production in the oceanic and less-productive regions of the ESNP. The contribution of the small size-class to nutrient uptake rates did not appear to be influenced by environmental variations. Overall, this work provides new perspectives on surface ocean C cycling in the ESNP by shedding light on the main predictors of TEP, predicting TEP-C concentrations, and by relating TEP-C to total primary productivity and new production. It is also the first of its kind to measure total and size-fractionated Si uptake over large spatiotemporal scales.Graduate2025-04-1
Decorating the Homes of the Nouveau Riche: Establishing Legitimacy Through the Antique
Get PDFThis research considers how Nouveau Riche Families used the aesthetics of the antique within the decoration of their homes to legitimize their position as Canada's upper class. The industrialization of the British Empire during the 19th and early 20th triggered the rise of a new class of wealthy industry magnates who accumulated their fortunes in a single generation and established themselves as a new type of elite. The insecurity of this new position led the Canadian Nouveau Riche to utilize aesthetics of the past to legitimize their status and attempt to establish themselves as Canada's landed gentry. British antique and antique aesthetics were believed to show sophistication and refinement and thus indicate British cultural superiority. By examining architectural and furnishing styles, this project explores how Canada's wealthiest families worked to assert economic, cultural, and racial superiority, which proved central to the justification of the colonial process and their position within it.Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)UndergraduateReviewe
Cross-layer scheduling and routing for ultra reliable and low latency communication
Get PDFThe success of recent communication and computing technologies has attracted growing interest from both academia and industry in developing advanced applications such as metaverse, digital twin, and intelligent transport systems, which are characterized by ultra-high reliability and low latency communication (URLLC) requirements. More importantly, they require guaranteed services and their performance will degrade quickly if any metric is not satisfied,
However, the existing routing and scheduling solutions may not fully support these applications. We observe one major reason is the lack of collaboration between each layer in the protocol stack and inefficient handling of network information.
To bridge the gap, we leverage a novel protocol architecture SET which enables flexible protocol assembling via control function decomposition. A new concept called protocol control agent (PCA) is introduced to enable in-network intelligence and enhanced adaptability. PCA leverages cross-layer network information and collaborations to support QoS requirements and improve resource efficiency. In addition, we consider the freshness of network information for designing new protocols based on SET. To this end, we develop a range of scheduling and routing solutions to support ultra-reliable and low-latency communications in different networks.
We start with the end-to-end delay guarantee problem in wired data networks. A novel distributed solution named delay-guaranteed scheduling and routing protocol (DSRP) is proposed to provide packet-level delay guarantees and differentiated services within an autonomous system. In DSRP, we adopt priority queues with fixed buffer sizes to guarantee per-hop delay bounds and serve traffic with different delay requirements, and leverage path diversity for multiplexing gains.
To address the congestion issue, we introduce a congestion-aware mechanism where neighboring nodes exchange queue information to reflect their congestion status. Given the rich routing decision space, a scheduling algorithm based on renewal optimization named DSROpt is proposed to maximize overall network utility.
Next, we investigate the scheduling problem for time-critical applications in a single-hop downlink wireless network. For time-critical applications, being late is as severe as being dropped. However, packets are normally left with a small delay budget at the last hop and are likely to exceed their delay requirement when there is a standing queue. To address this issue, we propose a delay-aware selective scheduling (DASS) algorithm that selects packets to serve. In DASS, we introduce a new output gain model based on delay laxity and packet priority for characterizing each scheduling decision and formulated a multi-objective optimization problem to determine the optimal scheduling policy. Due to the problem's complexity and uncertainty of the network environment, a deep reinforcement learning framework is proposed to find the Pareto optimal scheduling decisions that maximize network utility and guarantee per-packet delay requirement.
While many new applications operate in mobile networks, it is crucial to design QoS-guaranteed solutions with the consideration of more challenges such as mobility and dynamic channel conditions. Thus, we extend our research to the vehicular network. To address these issues, we propose a hybrid control framework leveraging global and local network information and taking advantage of the time-scale difference between the change rate of network typology and channel condition to perform control at different scopes.
Based on the framework, we first focus on the routing problem in vehicular networks. A QoS-guaranteed clustering and routing protocol (QCRP) is proposed. In QCRP, the global information, i.e., network topology is used for clustering and route planning to ensure per-cluster connectivity and routing path initialization while the local information, i.e., channel condition and vehicle location are used for re-routing. Next, to support efficient in-network communication under the constraints of limited network resources, a QoS-guaranteed medium access control (QMAC) protocol to perform resource allocation is required. Following the same framework, a centralized spectrum allocation combined with distributed power and error control solution is proposed.
Overall, in this thesis, we introduce a new perspective of supporting stringent QoS requirements and demonstrate the effectiveness of our solution in various network settings. Our work opens up new possibilities for research extensions and applications.Graduat