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“For the shame of bein’ young, drunk, and alone” : how apathy and a need for social connection influence alcohol consumption in Vermont
Get PDF1 online resource (86 pages)Includes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 67-77, 82).Alcohol consumption is higher in rural areas of the United States in comparison to its urban and suburban counterparts. In the Northeast state of Vermont, rates of alcohol consumption and binge drinking are higher than surrounding states and the national average. The literature covering alcohol consumption uses quantitative research methods to report the rates of consumption, but there is a limited amount of qualitative research surrounding the reasons behind why people consume alcohol in rural areas. This research looks at how social connection and apathy influence the rates of alcohol consumption in Vermont. This study uses qualitative interviews to collect primary data from four participants living in and around the village of Pittsfield, Vermont. Participants were asked questions about their social life, hobbies, alcohol consumption habits, and their own thoughts on the research question. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, then
analyzed and coded for social and cultural norms, environmental influences, and personal strains. Social connection, cultural norms, apathy, boredom, and personal strains had an influence on both the likelihood that the participant was going to consume alcohol in a particular situation and the amount of alcohol that is consumed in a single period
ImpACT Me burnout intervention
Get PDF1 online resource (91 pages) : charts, graphsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 62-79).Effective evidence-based interventions to support workforces in preventing and reducing burnout are required. A longitudinal, randomized wait-list control study (N = 89 leaders) was conducted to test the effectiveness of a three-week app-based burnout intervention
(ImpACT Me) grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. This was the next iteration of a recent successful burnout intervention (Wellness Leadership Program; Gilin et al., 2023). Overall, the intervention increased self-efficacy related to the workplace factors of burnout in the intervention group compared to the control group, but burnout scores did not significantly change. Therefore, it is possible that the active intervention period did not last long enough and that the content and method of delivery of this intervention through an app is not currently sufficient enough to observe significant changes in burnout within leaders
Assessing functional ecological connectivity for protected area design in Southwest Nova Scotia
Get PDF1 online resource (x, 69 pages) : colour maps, colour graphsIncludes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 63-67).Ecological connectivity is vital for maintaining healthy ecosystems, facilitating essential
processes such as species dispersal, gene flow, and adaptation to changing environments. However, this connectivity is increasingly threatened by human activities such as road construction, deforestation, and agricultural practices, which fragment landscapes and impede species movement. This study in Southwest Nova Scotia addresses these challenges by aiming to enhance ecological connectivity in fragmented forest landscapes. Through the identification of potential corridors between protected areas and the assessment of species resistance to movement, the research seeks to provide valuable insights into protected area designs aligning with environmental goals. Utilizing habitat suitability modeling and spatial analysis techniques including least cost path modeling and circuit theory analysis, seven species sensitive to fragmentation are analyzed. Major findings highlight the importance of maintaining and restoring ecological corridors, identifying pinchpoints and barriers to species movement, and suggesting areas for restoration to enhance connectivity in fragmented landscapes. By offering insights into landscape-scale connectivity patterns and providing guidance for conservation strategies, this research aims to support ecologists and landscape planners in Nova Scotia in their
efforts to balance wildlife conservation with human development needs. Ultimately, the study contributes to the broader goal of preserving interconnected landscapes and safeguarding biodiversity in the face of ongoing environmental challenges
Pollinator communities important to agriculture in the Bay of Fundy dykelands of Nova Scotia
Get PDF1 online resource (136 pages) : colour illustrations, colour maps, charts (some colour), graphs (some colour)Includes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 105-127).In the Bay of Fundy dykelands, efforts are underway to determine the trade-offs of ecosystem services between maintaining man-made dykes and restoring them back to the salt marsh habitat that existed in their place prior to European colonization. Dykes protect
agricultural land but are at risk due to sea level rise, and there is a lack of resources to keep them functioning. Salt marsh restoration is being proposed due to their ability to protect coastlines while also providing other benefits such as carbon storage, but prior to this it must be known what impacts restoration could have on other ecosystem services. Pollination is one such service, and I assessed pollinator importance to agriculture and the community composition of the wild pollinators providing this service. To determine pollinator importance to crops, I excluded flowers of apple, tomato, and squash from pollination using mesh bags and compared them to those in which pollination was permitted. I found that pollinators increase both fruit set and weight in apple and tomato, but was unable to get conclusive results in squash. Apple was completely reliant on pollinators for successful fruit production, with tomato benefitting from pollination to a lesser, but still significant, degree. Sweep net and bowl-trapping surveys were conducted to determine the species that visited these crops, and I found that wild ground-nesting
bees were the most important pollinators of all crops (72% of all bees collected), being found in higher abundances than even domesticated honey bees. Notably, many of these bee species were also detected in a past study in dyke and salt marsh habitats, with Agapostemon virescens and Lasioglossum leucozonium being amongst the most abundant species. Given the importance of wild pollinators found in this study, pollinator conservation measures should be undertaken within agroecosystems to ensure the continued delivery of this ecosystem service to farmers, while allowing for salt marsh restoration on a case-by-case basis
Forced/coerced sterilization of hiv-positive women in the Southern African region in the context of reproductive justice and intersectional gender-based violence
Get PDF1 online resource (123 pages) : colour mapsIncludes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 104-122).HIV-positive women have been targets of forced and coerced sterilization which persists despite research showing that if managed correctly the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV can be reduced to less than 1%. This study draws on reproductive justice, the intersectionality framework, and feminist content analysis to examine how different identities such as poverty, age, lower educational level and racism intersect to make the HIV+ women who are victims of forced and coerced sterilization additionally vulnerable to that form of oppression. My research amplifies the voices of the HIV+ women who are victims of forced sterilization and contributes to feminist scholarship by expanding the use of the intersectionality framework in Africa and how other less researched identities such as poverty, level of education, and age intersect in HIV+ women who are targeted for sterilization
An institutional analysis comparing the World Bank and Vatican’s discursive and ideological orientations on their anti-poverty activities : how different are they really?
Get PDF1 online resource (iv, 59 pages)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 55-59).Two of the most influential global institutions that pursue the eradication of poverty are the
World Bank and the Vatican (Banchoff 2015). Both the World Bank and the Vatican have a
tremendous political and economic influence, with the World Bank having projects in over 170 countries, Caritas is the largest Catholic development and relief organization, operating in over 160 countries, beyond this, 17% of the World identifies as Catholic (World Bank 2024d; Caritas 2024b; Llywelyn, 2022). These institutions appear very different on the surface, with the World Bank presenting itself as a rational and economically grounded institution, dedicated to macro- economic policy on the basis of purportedly objective, scientific, and dispassionate analysis. The Vatican, on the other hand, presents itself as an explicitly religious and ideological institution, combining a
deeply personal and emotional Christian mission, aimed at winning hearts and souls, with pragmatic pursuits aimed at bottom-up social change. Given this, they also differ greatly in their discourse, with the World Bank using technical, financial, language filled with data, whereas Vatican discourse is religious, Christian moral language. I will argue that despite stated differences in their approaches, the often-held difference between the World Bank and the Vatican along the lines of rational/economic and ideological/social are much less significant than they first appear
2024-12-13 Senate Minutes and Agendas
No full textMinutes and agenda for the December 13th, 2024 meeting of Saint Mary’s University Senate
Protestant associational culture in early twentieth century Louisbourg : a case study of Samuel Moody, Loyal Orange Lodge Number one seven seven seven
No full text1 online resource (98 pages) : illustrations, mapsIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 91-98).The Orange Order was established in Nova Scotia by the mid-nineteenth century. Despite
this, the presence of the Order in eastern Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, has yet to be
examined. By contextualizing the rapid rise of industrialization on Cape Breton Island, this thesis explores Protestant associational culture in Louisbourg by analyzing the membership of Samuel Moody, Loyal Orange Lodge No. 1777 in the early twentieth
century. This thesis demonstrates that the membership of the Orange Order in Louisbourg
consisted of mainly Presbyterians, many of whom were the descendants of Scottish
Highlanders
Anthropogenic materials and feathers incorporated in European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) nests and their effects on reproductive success
Get PDF1 online resource (88 pages) : colour illustrations, charts, graphsIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 15-20, 34-37, 51-56, 73-77, 82-87).There are numerous hypotheses that may explain why certain materials are used in nest building. I tested the availability and age hypotheses on an eastern Canadian population of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). The percentage of nests containing anthropogenic materials was positively associated with number of garbage items within the surrounding area. No relationship was detected between anthropogenic materials within nests and age of either parent. I found no effect of the amount of anthropogenic materials on nestling brood condition; however, a negative relationship between fledging success and cigarette butts within nests existed. When determining if feather colour effected hatching success, I found a positive relationship with pigmented feathers. Previous research showed species have a preference for white coloured nesting materials. When offered different coloured nesting materials, starlings frequently choose white and silver. These findings increase our understanding of how nest materials and their colours affect avian reproduction
Embroidery and textile narratives as community resilience in a group of women weavers in the village of San Miguel (Colombia)
Get PDF1 online resource (153 pages) : colour illustrations, colour maps, graphsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 140-147).This study examines the impact of women-led initiatives on community resilience in San Miguel, Colombia, after the reported armed conflict that occurred between 1990 and 2004. I investigate the importance of embroidery and textile production in community resilience and the restoration of social fabric and its significance in preserving the historical memory of this community. I analyze the historical context of violence and conflict in the region, to later examine theoretical concepts such as trauma, collective trauma and community resilience as the central topics. By focusing on the interaction between individual, social, and cultural factors and symbolic analysis of embroidery, this study enriches our understanding of different processes of building community resilience in a community deeply affected by armed conflict. As a research methodology, I used thematic analysis, interviews, participant observation, and symbolic analysis of community-made artifacts