10274 research outputs found
Sort by
He Who Holds Alaska Holds The World : Competing International Claims to the Alaskan Territory and North Pacific (1820-1945)
No full textPresentation by Kyley Canion Brewer, PhD candidate in the Department of History at Washington State University and recipient of the 2024 James W. Scott Regional Research Fellowship. Kyley Canion Brewer discusses research informing a larger doctoral dissertation regarding nuclear energy and Alaska during the Cold War. This presentation focuses particularly on the contests for ownership of Alaska, the Bering Strait and region during the nineteenth century (including interests and claims of Russia, the United States, Britain, Japan, Norway and Sweden)
For the Birds: An Exploration of the Corvid as a Reflection of the Anthropocene
No full textI was able to examine the topic of ornithology through a creative lens, focusing primarily on psychological and philosophical angles in which to observe corvids. This project illustrates both the scientific and environmental potentials of birds, as well as their impactful integration into the urban world we inhabit. I involved my own curiosity of corvid cognition and my understanding of the cultural perceptions around them to form an informative and thought-provoking product. Throughout the formation of this product, I incorporated readings I assigned myself from several anecdotal, informative, and symbolic books, which ultimately fed into the solidification or changing of my project perspectives. The form this product takes is that of a journal, influenced by daily observations, thoughts/wonderings, birdwatching, and ornithology books. Through the discussion of corvids, the journal seeks to connect readers further to the world around them and grow their appreciation for the many overlooked details within it
The Life of Maud Miner Biglow
Get PDFMany authors and illustrators have been forgotten as the years go on. My goal was to attempt to recover a local, Pacific Northwest illustrator by the name of Maud Miner Biglow. My research provides information on her life as well as the works that she has illustrated. I walk everyone through my process as well as my findings. My research is in the form of a research paper as well as a Wikipedia page so that everyone has access to the information on Maud Miner\u27s life
The Effect of Starting Position on Shoulder Joint Repositioning Error at Various Target Positions
Get PDFResearch on joint position sense at the shoulder suggests that acuity is affected by factors including muscle activation and external torque. Further research is necessary to determine the effect of starting position on repositioning acuity. The purpose of the current study is to examine the effect of three starting positions (at side (AS), 90º of abduction (Ninety), and full elevation (FE)) on two types of joint repositioning error (vector error and variable error) at four different target positions (50º, 70º, 90º, and 110º of elevation in the scapular plane). Twenty-four healthy participants were recruited for the study. The Pohemus Fastrak 3Space (Colchester, VT) was used with custom LABVIEW software (National Instruments, Austin, TX) to collect kinematic data. Two separate two-factor repeated measures ANOVA tests were run to examine the interaction and main effects of starting position and target position on repositioning error. There was no interaction of starting position and target position and no main effect of starting position on vector error or variable error. There were significant main effects of target position on vector error (p = .004, η2p = 0.175) and variable error (p = .009, η2p = 0.153). Post hoc testing revealed that vector error in the 90° target position was significantly greater than that in the 50° target position (p = .003). The lack of a difference in repositioning error with different starting positions may indicate that information regarding the distance from a starting position to a target position is not heavily relied upon during repositioning
Existing in the Hyphen: An Exploration of Identity in Transracial Chinese-American Adoptees
Get PDFThe One Child policy created a large group of transracial Chinese adoptees in the U.S. who are currently in emerging adulthood, a context in which ethnic racial identity (ERI) development is particularly salient (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014). However, ERI development may be a relatively more effortful task for transracial adoptees as cultural socialization, or the process by which parents transmit knowledge about race and culture to their children, is not inherent for transracial adoptive parents (Lee et al., 2006). Research on cultural socialization is almost exclusively focused on parents as agents of socialization (Hughes et al., 2006), though there is increasing empirical evidence centered around the role of peers as a source of cultural socialization (Azmitzia et al., 2008; Hu et al., 2017; Nelson et al., 2018; Syed, 2012). The present study sought to characterize the roles of socialization agents in the cultural socialization of transracial Chinese adoptees, and identify associations between these experiences of socialization and adoptees’ ERI development. Participants were recruited from adoptee organizations and completed an online survey. Results revealed that adoptees perceive parents to engage in more ethnic socialization and promotion of mistrust, and peers to engage in more preparation for bias. Stronger associations were also identified in the relationships between peer ethnic socialization and preparation for bias and ERI development in comparison to parents. These findings confirm the role of parents in the cultural socialization of Chinese adoptees and provide new evidence supporting the importance of peer cultural socialization for adoptees’ ERI development
Effects of Polysubstance Use on Bone Mineral Density
Get PDFBone mineral density (BMD) is a critical indicator of bone health used widely in forensic anthropology and clinical medicine for age estimation and disease diagnosis. This has prompted the investigation of BMD\u27s relationship with illicit polysubstance use, as it has not been thoroughly explored. This study investigated the impact of prolonged illicit polysubstance use on BMD across three age groups ranging from 20 – 70 years old for males and females. My total sample size was N=196 people, with n=68 individuals included in each age cohort. These age cohorts consisted of n=17 male and n=17 female illicit polysubstance users, along with n=17 male and n=17 female non-substance users. Only nine participants were available for the older substance-using female cohort.
I used the New Mexico Decedent Image Database (NMDID) and a simple picture archiving communication system (PACS) for the BMD analysis of the first and second lumbar vertebrae (L1 and L2) from computed tomography (CT) scans. This study integrated theoretical frameworks from forensic anthropology, medical anthropology, and clinical medicine, with aims to understand the consequences of extended illicit polysubstance exposure on bone health, discern potential disparities in the effects of illicit polysubstance use on BMD between males and females, and analyze whether female substance users are disproportionality affected in older age cohorts. My findings support that illicit polysubstance users experience an overall trend of BMD decline, but females were impacted more severely compared to males. To interpret this phenomenon, I discuss the biological processes that occur within the female sex that compound with prolonged polysubstance use
Shake it Out: Coseismic Holoce Activity & Precontact Land Use Patterns along the Birch Bay Fault, Whatcom County, Washington
Get PDFThe interrelationships between humans and their environment have been long studied, and the focus of cultural change along the Northwest Coast continues to rely heavily on adjustments regarding the stability of RSL. The location of coseismic activity in proximity to an archaeologically dense shoreline, allowed for a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of coseismic activity on past populations living in the Birch Bay area following the rupture of the Birch Bay fault around 1280 cal BP. This study investigated whether the abrupt uplift associated with a rupture along the Birch Bay fault led to the abandonment of a series of sites located along the uplifted margin. By analyzing the legacy data collected from site 45WH10, reconstruction of this site, radiocarbon dating, and correlation of this site to three others along and within the uplifted margin of the Birch Bay coastal plain, provided evidence that the 0.5-to-2-meter uplift did not likely cause long-term changes in settlement at these sites.
Additional goals of this thesis were to publish data from the 1970 field school that was undertaken at site 45WH10, explore a large volume of new paleoenvironmental data, and synthesize the archaeological work that has been conducted in Birch Bay over the last 50+ years. This data was then analyzed to determine whether these archaeological sites fit within the Birch Bay cultural model spatially, temporally, and geologically since it was first introduced by Larsen in 1971, and how these fit within the larger Strait of Georgia and Northwest Coast cultural chronologies. This study indicates that this model is no longer applicable, as it is unlikely the area was settled 11,000-10,000 cal BP based on paleoenvironmental conditions. Two strong correlations between site types and landforms that were also supported by radiocarbon dates and paleoenvironmental considerations. These correlations show that shell midden sites located on the 5–7-, and 12-meter terraces likely date to around 3500 cal BP, or the Locarno Beach phase, and sites along the modern shoreline typically date to around 1500 cal BP, or the Strait of Georgia phase. A lack in sites dating from around 2500-1500/1000 cal BP, or the Marpole phase, cannot be explained at this time, but may be related to a lack of secure radiocarbon dates and a bias in sampling procedures. A third but weaker correlation of site types and landforms indicates that cobble tool sites with shell midden components likely date to around 6000-5000 cal BP but likely represent special activity areas/resource acquisition sites that supported the larger shell middens below that date to the Strait of Georgia period. At this point in time, it appears that the cultural history of Birch Bay is not representative of a localized expression but is representative of a general Developed Northwest Coast cultural history that occurred throughout the Late Holocene
An Observational Heat Budget of the Swinomish Clam Garden
No full textClam gardens are a traditional resource management technology that have been used by the Indigenous communities of the Pacific Northwest for at least 3,500 years. A clam garden is built by constructing a low rock wall in the intertidal zone, which through sediment accumulation over time extends the favorable habitat for clams. Not only do clam gardens increase yield of shellfish, but they are also culturally important, providing food security and strengthening communities. However, the physical properties that govern this observed increased clam productivity have not been quantified using Western scientific methods.
A two-week field campaign was conducted in June 2024 at the clam garden recently constructed by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (SITC), located on Kiket Island, Washington. This intertidal clam garden experiences a tidal range of -0.75m to 3.8m during spring tides, which results in garden transitioning from being completely submerged to fully exposed in one tidal cycle. Over the deployment, recorded water temperatures ranged from 11°C to 18°C, with sharp spikes occurring after low water during spring tides. This pattern is likely due to bed and surface heating of a small volume of water at low tide, followed by rapid cooling as offshore water floods the clam garden. This is critically important to poikilothermic clams, whose metabolism and survival depends on water temperatures, with extremes causing fatality. Therefore, understanding the drivers of temperature variability within the garden is essential.
To quantify the sinks and sources of heat in this intertidal system, and to calculate total heat content at varying tidal stages, we used in situ temperature and meteorological data in the framework of a heat budget. Heat content and surface flux terms have been resolved, but the budget remains unclosed. This could be due to bed heating at low tide or advective mechanisms, both of which can be investigated with further analysis. Understanding heat flux dynamics at this site supports Indigenous resurgence by quantifying the physical factors that influence temperature variability and ecological processes in a Western scientific context. This information will aid SITC, along with other communities building clam gardens, by providing physical context helpful for clam garden management, site selection and restoration.
[An explanation of the poster is included in the Notes section of the slide.
NSEA Community Program Intern
No full textMy role as a Community Program Intern was to engage with community members at restoration work party\u27s hosted around the Bellingham area. Every Saturday, I worked upwards of eight hours leading community work parties either as an NSEA independent event or a partnered event with organizations like Whatcom Land Trust and the City of Bellingham. I gave instructions on how to properly plant native species in order to boost watershed habitats as well as instructed a tool safety demo and provided history on the sites we were working on. I was expected to show up every day present and prepared to spark conversation with volunteers. After leading work parties, I cleaned all the tools used by volunteers, put away all our used gear, and debriefed about the day with my team
City Sprouts Farm Food Systems Intern
No full textAs a food systems intern, I completed tasks such as harvesting produce, planting cover crops, and putting away supplies for the season. At this point in the year, the farm is finishing up the growing season and preparing for winter. Harvested foods included carrots, broccoli, squash, beets, tomatoes, and beans. Work on the farm also focused on sustainable practices. Planting cover crops protects the soil from wind and rain throughout the winter. It allows for nitrogen fixation in the soil and ensures that the beds will be ready for produce in the spring without the use of tilling. Additionally, we participated in a compost workshop. At the workshop we made a thermophilic compost pile. Heat created by reproducing bacteria killed pathogens and weed seeds. This created soil that would not require the use of fertilizers and chemicals while effectively using plant waste from the farm. At the end of the internship, tasks included rolling up drip tape, cleaning tools, and deconstructing tunnels in final preparation for the winter