STRATA

STRATA, the STudent Research, Academic, and Talent Archive, is a collection of selected Fort Lewis College student work, including undergraduate research, senior seminar papers, published works, conference presentations, and other creative and artistic projects. Search by name, subject, title, or academic department.

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Ambushed: Comparing Strategies for Mitigating Invasive Plant Species on the Animas River in Durango, Colorado
On the Animas River in Southwestern Colorado, invasive plant species saltcedar tamarisk (Tamarix ramosissima), Russian-olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), and Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila) have become abundant throughout the river corridor. These invasive species have a range of negative effects on the river's ecosystem, including the suppression of native species and altered natural habitats. This research examined the efforts of local land management experts in the town of Durango, Colorado, a municipality which relies on the river for water, recreation, and other benefits. Through interviews I found that a variety of mitigation efforts have been put into practice to manage these invasives, including chemical treatments and manual removal efforts. The "cut-and-treat" management technique, utilizing herbicidal treatment and manual removal, was the most widely discussed method by all experts, however, biological control methods should be further explored as a technique for invasives species management in this area due to the success of treating saltcedar tamarisk on other riparian ecosystems, including the Colorado River.
American Realpolitik and the Evolution of the Russo-Finnish Winter War, 1939-1940.
My work centers on the Russo-Finnish Winter War that started on November 30, 1939 and ended with the Moscow Peace Treaty on March 13, 1940. Contextually this conflict fits into the early part of World War II. After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in September 1939, the Soviets turned their territorial interests to the Baltic States and Finland. The popular narrative asserts that the United States, under legal restrictions from the Neutrality Laws enacted by Congress in the 1930's, was obliged to watch the Finnish Republic stand up to the substantially larger Red Army of Stalin and the Soviet Union. While neutrality was a huge factor in America's lack of involvement, my research suggests that the United States had an agenda. Using memoranda of conversations and other correspondences from the U.S. State Department's publication of Foreign Relations of the United States: 1939 vol. 1 and 1940 vol. 1, I have found evidence that suggests the United States purposefully failed to provide aid to Finland in an attempt to stay on good relations with the Soviet Union in hopes of aligning them with the Allies against Nazi Germany. Using the Neutrality Law of 1939, which was signed twenty-six days before the outbreak of the Winter War, I argue that legal neutrality was not relevant during the Winter War. My research suggests, rather, the United States was using realpolitik to control power in Europe at the expense of Finland.
An 18-KA Glacial Lake Outburst Flood From Glacial Lake Durango: Southern San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Keywords: Glacial Lake Durango, Southern San Juan Mountains, Cosmogenic Nuclide, Granite, Sandstone, Animas River, Palynology Study, La Plata Mountains, Geology, Geomorphology, Physical Geography, Sedimentation Analysis, Landforms, Mountains Cosmogenic nuclide (10Be) surface exposure ages were obtained on granite and sandstone boulders from a boulder field south of Durango, Colorado. The rounded boulders in the boulder field: (1) measure 2-4 meters in diameter; (2) occur at elevations between 2006 and 2028 meters; (3) are in a remote location approximately 96 meters above the modern Animas River; (4) are located approximately 9.4 km down-gradient from the southernmost, Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) terminal moraine; and, 5) are located approximately 22 km down-gradient from the closest granite outcrop. The boulder field was thought to have been emplaced by a glacial lake outburst based on the size of the boulders, elevation, location, local geology and geomorphology. Two boulders from the boulder field, a granite and a sandstone, yielded exposure ages of 18.2 ± 2.5 and 18.1 ± 2.2 ka, respectively. The exposure age dates indicate that the glacial lake outburst flood occurred close to the LGM for this area (19.4 ± 1.5 ka; Guido, et. al, 2007). Another granite boulder, resting at an elevation of 2012 meters, from a different boulder field, was also exposure age dated and yielded an anomalously young exposure age of 2.5 ± 0.4 ka. The second boulder field: (1) is located approximately 4.5 km down-gradient from the LGM terminal moraine; and, (2) contains a cluster of boulders that form a linear array in a gully along the north face of Smelter Mountain (in Durango). The exposure age date of the second granite boulder likely represents the age of the last downslope movement of the boulder in the north-facing gully. It is reasonable to suggest that the downslope movement of 2-4 meter diameter boulders occurred as a result of a significant (regional or local) precipitation event. Remarkably, the 2.5 ± 0.4 ka exposure age on the granite boulder correlates well with the onset of regional climate change recorded in the nearby La Plata Mountains. A palynology study by Petersen and Mehringer (1976) indicates that an upward advance in the La Plata Mountain timberline position began around 2.55 ± 0.075 ka, and peaked at a mean of about 2.0 ka.
An Analysis of Attainable Patterns in Alien Tiles
Alien Tiles is a puzzle solving game played online in which the player creates colorful patterns in a grid. By clicking a square in the grid, each square in the chosen row and column changes colors. The objective is to transform the starting board of all red tiles to a given pre-established pattern. This project will analyze the paper by Peter Maier and Werner Nickel, "Attainable Patterns in Alien Tiles." Specifically, we determine whether or not a pattern can be created, and give an algorithm for finding a series of clicks that creates the pattern. Next, a method is introduced which calculates the number of all possible attainable patterns on a playing board of any size.
An Analysis of GPS and Remote Sensing Data of Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat, During the July 2003 Dome Collapse: Implications for Detection of Ash Plumes and Vertical Deformation
A 210 Mm3 dome collapse of the Soufrière Hills Volcano (SHV) occurred on July 12th, 2003. Five continuous GPS receivers collected data at 30 sec intervals covering the massive dome collapse. GPS data were processed with GOA-II (v. 5) using high-rate (30 s) final, precise orbit, clock, and earth orientation parameter products, while treating the antennae as a kinematic buoy. During the peak dome collapse event while ash venting and significant plumes were most prominent, one GPS station, HERM, located 1.6 km northeast of the dome, recorded a maximum vertical displacement of 1.98 m from its mean elevation of 437m above sea level, with negligible horizontal movement. This estimate of vertical site displacement was an order of magnitude larger than those estimated at other sites on SHV. Both HERM and another station, SOUF, are in close proximity to the path of the pyroclastic flows resulting from the dome collapse; the SOUF site shows a maximum vertical displacement over the same time of only 0.43 m. Full resolution GOES satellite imagery from the event were examined and correlated with the timing of apparent vertical displacement from HERM to test the relative contributions of tropospheric interference from co-collapse ash plumes. GOES infrared imagery was used to verify the temporal and spatial progression of ash plumes and cloud cover by extracting gray scale values ranging from 0 to 255 for specific pixels proximal to the location of each GPS station. No variation was observed between gray scale values in the GOES infrared band for specific pixels centered on the GPS sites. In addition, the GPS-derived zenith-wet-delay from HERM shows a slight decrease in moisture during the peak dome collapse, when the ash plume was at its maximum intensity. These data are not consistent with a significant moisture contribution from a volcanic plume. Accordingly, the moisture content associated with the ash plume cannot solely account for the apparent vertical displacement of 1.98 m observed at the HERM site and that some significant portion of the displacement is related to actual crustal motion during the peak collapse event.
An Analysis of Wilderness First Responder Self-Efficacy
The purpose of this study was to measure self-efficacy of Wilderness First Responders (WFRs) over time post-certification to determine the impact of time, number of re-certifications, and frequency of skill use on self-efficacy. Previous research studied self-efficacy post-certification in Wilderness First Aid students which is a much shorter version of the Wilderness First Responder certification. This study had two parts utilizing the same survey asking participants to rate their perceived self-efficacy levels of executing different WFR skills. The longitudinal study measured self-efficacy levels in the same 10 WFRs directly after certification and again at 3 months post-certification. The broad study included 65 WFRs at any point in their certification to take the survey. To analyze results, Microsoft Excel was used to run paired t-tests to compare mean scores. Statistical significance was determined at p<0.05. Results indicated a statistically significant decrease in self-efficacy in participants after 3 months of certification. The broad self-efficacy study trends indicate self-efficacy slightly decreasing over-time, but results were not statistically significant. There was also a statistically significant increase in average self-efficacy of those who had been re-certified 3 times compared to those on their first certification. Finally, those who practiced skills seasonally or never proved to have statistically significant lower average self-efficacy scores than those who practiced skills monthly. WFR self-efficacy is incredibly important to ensure the confidence of an outdoor professional in medical scenarios and these results provide insight into factors affecting the increase and decrease of this self-efficacy. Knowing how certain factors impact WFR self-efficacy can help improve the wilderness medicine field in the future.
An Analysis of the Development of US Foreign Policy Attitudes Toward Humanitarian Intervention in the Post Cold War Era
In the years leading up to the end of the Cold War, the United States followed along traditional realist notions of foreign policy when considering any actions taken abroad. These realist notions placed U.S. national, security, and economic interests as the priority for any involvement in the international scene. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, a new era of U.S. dominance and leadership came to light, as well as a new global order and new issues facing the world concerning humanitarian concerns. Given this context, new questions have arisen concerning the stances U.S. foreign policy makers have made concerning the intervention of U.S. military and diplomatic forces in cases of severe humanitarian crisis. I hypothesize that since the early 1990's, a shift has occurred from realist principles of foreign relations towards more pluralist and solidarist notions, which claim the relevance of morality as a motivator and key component in humanitarian intervention. The analysis begins with four case studies--U.S. involvement or lack thereof in Somalia (1993), Rwanda (1994), Darfur (2004), and Libya (2011). By doing a qualitative study of the independent variable of policy attitudes, as measured by a rhetorical analysis of presidential and administrative speeches and addresses, as it relates to the outcome variable of actual intervention, as operationalized by boots on the ground, humanitarian aid, and diplomatic action, I am able to see not only how policy attitudes have affected decision-making, but also how those attitudes and actions have shifted in the past 40 years of American foreign policy. In conclusion, my hypothesis is both confirmed and complicated. Though there have been slight shifts in foreign policy attitudes in the Post-Cold War Era, this movement has been small, often case by case, and not linear in any fashion. The most pressing deduction is that the United States does not have a comprehensive or definable foreign policy framework in place—which has implications for the future of its entanglements abroad.
An Assessment of Fort Lewis Student Perceptions and Emotional Reactions to Climate Change and Their Usefulness for Motivating Pro-Environmental Behaviors
Climate change is one of the most urgent problems facing modern civilization, threatening to undermine the resiliency of ecosystems, the stability of societies, and the livelihoods of many human beings. This research project examines two psychological theories of motivation, expectancy-value theory, and affective motivation theory, using primary data gathered through a questionnaire administered to 116 Fort Lewis upperclassmen and analyzed using SPSS to explore students' understanding of climate science and how they perceive and react emotionally to climate change in order to determine whether these theories of motivation can help motivate pro-environmental behaviors. This research found that Fort Lewis students generally have a firm understanding of climate science. Responses from environmental studies majors were compared with the responses of students from other majors, which revealed that non-environmental studies majors are less likely to consider climate change to be one of the biggest problems facing society requiring urgent attention. In contrast, environmental studies majors experience more sadness and worry about climate change, are more likely to believe that they could make a meaningful difference individually toward mitigating climate change, and engage in more pro-environmental behaviors. The data generally supported both the expectancy-value theory and affective motivation theory. The presence of negative affective states associated with climate change coupled with high expectancy and value may be useful for motivating pro-environmental behavior.
An Examination of Electron Field Emission from Porous Silicon
Electron field emission from a collection of porous silicon (PSi) samples was studied in this project. This project also focused on the design of anodization equipment and the production of PSi. A numerical model was made in Matlab to describe Fowler-Nordheim electron field emission from PSi emitters. Silicon wafers were etched with different current densities and etching times. Electron field emission current measurements were taken for two of the samples. Field emission was observed from one sample which was etched for 30 seconds with a current density of 30 mA/cm2 and in a 49% hydrofluoric acid and ethanol solution. This sample's current and voltage characteristics were plotted as a Fowler-Nordheim curve and were determined to be linear, which strongly indicates field emission. In ongoing work, an atomic force microscope will be used to attempt to correlate the pore size, density of pores, and thickness of the porous layer to the observed electrical properties. The results obtained will then be correlated with the Matlab model. The main goals of this research are to produce porous silicon with favorable electron field emission characteristics and to determine which samples have the best field emission properties. This provides the possibility to maximize field emission current for a given applied voltage on a sample of porous silicon. In the future, students may continue testing the parameter space that was created and may discover the conditions which are needed to maximize field emission from porous silicon emitters.
An Examination of Ferric Iron and Nitrate Reduction Activity in Acidobacterium Capsulatum
Acidobacterium capsulatum is an acidophilic, heterotrophic, aerobe ubiquitous to soils and aquatic environments throughout the world. It is capable of growing on glucose as its sole carbon source. Comparative studies of Acidobacteria genomes suggests A. capsulatum may be capable of reducing Fe(III) and nitrite, while other Acidobacteria may be able to reduce nitrate. Additional in situ studies showed iron reduction capabilities in Acidobacteria is prevalent. The ability to reduce Fe(III), nitrite and nitrate allows these organisms to potentially play a significant role in carbon, nitrogen and iron cycling in soil and aquatic environments. In order to test this hypothesis and better understand these capabilities, A. capsulatum was grown in defined media containing an insoluble Fe(III) substrate, Goethite (FeOOH), or KNO3 for several days, with glucose as the sole carbon source. Ferrozine was used as the indicator of Fe(II) in solution and protein concentration was used as a measure of bacterial growth. Under these conditions it was confirmed that A. capsulatum can reduce Fe(III), however, little evidence coupled iron reduction with cell growth. It also lacks the ability to reduce nitrate. Surprisingly, A. capsulatum growth was completely inhibited with 1.0% potassium nitrate. Future studies continued to define the relationship between iron reduction, nitrate toxicity, growth and glucose consumption. Other studies will focus on the putative nitrite-reducing gene (NirBD) in A. capsulatum to determine whether this is for dissimilatory or assimilatory nitrite reduction. Additionally, Arsenic species, Arsenite [As(III)] and Arsenate [As(V)], reduction is being investigated. These studies will enable us to better understand A. capsulatum's ability to grow in soil and provide a crucial role in soil maintenance.
An Experimental and Modeled Comparison of Diffraction in Imaging Systems
The resolution limit of imaging systems is ultimately limited by diffraction. However, diffraction is often neglected in the analysis and design of both front and back illumination imaging systems in favor of the simpler ray tracing model. In many systems, paraxial optics provides a reasonable model for the design of systems with high resolution. This is certainly true for the majority of front-illuminated imaging systems; however, in back illuminated (shadowgraphic) imaging systems resolution is very strongly affected by diffraction. We present a detailed experimental comparison of imaging resolution differences between front and back illuminated imaging systems for non-scattering and scattering environments. Additionally, modeling results of both systems are compared with the experimental results and classical optical theory. Preliminary results and calculations show that physical optics creates a stronger effect on resolution in front illuminated systems in either scattering or non-scattering environments despite original predictions.
An Independent Test of a Simple Age at Death Estimation Method Based on the Morphology of the First Rib
There are many well tested and widely used techniques for determination of age-at-death of human skeletal remains. Dental development, morphology of the pubic symphysis, and cranial suture progression are all trusted techniques, either on their own or in combination, in making such determinations. Despite the apparent abundance of ways in which determine age-at-death, there is still considerable interest and research in developing more methods based on other bones. The ribs in particular have been the subject of much research in developing new age estimation techniques. Kunos's method (1999) involved analysis of three different variables for each of the three epiphyseal regions of the first rib for a total of nine individual traits (some based on metric measurement) in estimating age to an upper limit of 20 years. In addition, the technique utilizes five different variables for each of three different features for a total of 15 traits in estimating age after 20 years old. This study was successful in its accuracy but is unfortunately difficult and time consuming in practice. DiGangi et al (1990) attempted to simplify and test the technique. DiGangi et al used the traits, descriptions, and scoring protocol described by Kunos and applied them to male remains from a mass grave of modern origin in Yugoslavia. The most pertinent change in the technique from the Kunos study to the DiGangi study is that DiGangi et al were able to narrow the technique down to two traits, the geometric shape of the costal face (CF1) and the surface texture of the tubercle facet (TF3). The purpose of this study is to perform a test of the DiGangi method on a sample population that will include female individuals. The methods will be applied exactly as described by DiGangi in an attempt to determine if the test may be used as is, if it needs to be modified for the population being studied, or if it is completely unusable the way it is. The potential usefulness of this technique lay in its simplicity and the high likelihood of finding usable first ribs or first rib fragments. The locations of the features being utilized at the ends of the rib also make it possible to use fragmentary ribs, as long as both features are intact.

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