Scholarworks

ScholarWorks is an open access repository for the capture of the intellectual work of Montana State University (MSU) in support of its teaching, research and service missions. MSU ScholarWorks is a central point of discovery for accessing, collecting, sharing, preserving, and distributing knowledge to the Montana State University community and the world.

MSU PHOTOS

Communities in Scholarworks

Select a community to browse its collections.

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1

Scholarship & Research

Recent Submissions

Drug-Use Safety Enhancement Model - Theory and Application
(Wiley, 2024-12) Dunbar Jr., Edward; Bartkowiak, Ania; Brennan, Alison L.
Harm reduction strategies mitigate the adverse effects of problematic drug use through overdose prevention, disease transmission reduction, and improved access to treatment resources. However, educational resources for safe drug use remain sparse and are predominantly focused on abstinence-based approaches. This manuscript introduces the Drug-Use Safety Enhancement Model (DUSEM), a comprehensive framework designed to foster informed and healthy relationships with drugs. Grounded in interdisciplinary research, DUSEM encompasses eight domains: knowledge, motivation, set (mindset), setting, dose, administration, recovery, and evaluation. Each domain offers practical strategies for educators, professionals, and drug consumers to enhance drug-use safety. For the purpose of this analysis, “drugs” include all psychoactive substances regardless of whether they are legal in the United States. Our approach is rooted in the ethical, legal, and cultural practices common in the United States, particularly those related to best practices for providing care to people who use substances. The American context shaped how we understand and talk about drug use, which reflects the American reality of clinical practice in the fields of mental health and addictions. From the perspective of evaluation of the traditional, American conceptualization of the issues around drug use, our model's development acknowledges the need for a shift from outdated abstinence-focused paradigms toward empowering individuals with informed practices for safer drug use. While serving as an educational guidepost, the model underscores the necessity for further research to refine its application, efficacy, and curriculum development. Helping professionals, such as teachers, counselors, social workers, and psychologists, can use this model in various educational, clinical, or institutional settings to help their audiences explore their own relationships with drugs. Ultimately, DUSEM aims to destigmatize drug use, foster healthier relationships with drugs, and improve safety for consumers.
Edible Weeds of the Caribbean: Agroecology and Use
(University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, 2025-01) Berríos ortiz, Laura; Morales‐Payan, J. Pablo
The Caribbean is a vital contributor to global ecosystem services. Also, the region is a major exporter of tropical products like coffee (Coffea arabica L.), sugar from cane (Saccharum officinarum L.), cacao (Theobroma cacao L.), banana (Musa spp.), and others. Climate change and economic interests threaten the agricultural production of the region, its food security, and its ecological balance. Promoting the use of edible non-crops, or “edible weeds,” serves as a strategy to mitigate environmental hazards, enhance agrobiodiversity, and increase Caribbean food sovereignty. A number of plants usually considered weeds when growing alongside major crops can be a valuable food source, but research on those species has focused mainly on their management as undesirable plants competing with crops. This article showcases the agroecological practices and uses of edible weeds in the Antilles. If species considered weedy, or marginally useful to humans, become more widely used, there is an opportunity to further explore their potential, integrating them into diverse agricultural systems as plants with economic value and as available food resources.
Development context influences fertility and reproductive health decisions in Greenland amid economic and environmental change
(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2025-07) Peterson, Malory; Rosing, Augustine; Reimer, Gitte Adler; Larsen, Christina V. L.; Haggerty, Julia; Schure, Mark; Rink, Elizabeth
Greenland is experiencing profound effects of climate change that impact hunting and fishing economies and livelihoods for Kalaallit, the Inuit people of Greenland. While environmental change has indirectly influenced fertility outcomes in hunting-dependent communities of North Greenland, little is known about the role of climate change in shaping fertility decisions elsewhere in the country. Given existing fertility and reproductive health disparities among Kalaallit individuals relative to other Arctic populations, understanding how climate change may interact with social, economic, and cultural conditions that influence reproductive health is critical. This study explored how social, economic, and environmental factors influence fertility decisions in Greenland. Grounded in principles of community-based participatory research, we conducted 35 semi-structured interviews with reproductive-aged (18–49 years) men (n = 16) and women (n = 19) from two communities, examining the social, cultural, environmental, and economic resources that shape their fertility decisions. Findings indicate that improving community capacity to address housing, education, and economic inequities is essential for supporting individual fertility and reproductive health, irrespective of climate change impacts. While participants widely observed climate change effects, they expressed confidence in Kalaallit ability to adapt and capitalize on benefits of climate change. This study highlights the importance of addressing development disparities to improve reproductive health outcomes, as well as climate adaptation in Greenland.
Sea cucumber grazing linked to enrichment of anaerobic microbial metabolisms in coral reef sediments
(Oxford University Press, 2025-01) Maritan, Andrew J.; Clements, Cody S.; Pratte, Zoe A.; Hay, Mark E.; Stewart, Frank J.
Sea cucumbers have been overharvested world-wide, making assessments of their ecological effects challenging, but recent research demonstrated that sea cucumbers increased coral survival via disease suppression and were therefore important for facilitating reef health. The mechanisms underpinning the sea cucumber-coral interaction are not well understood but are likely mediated through sea cucumber grazing of microbes from reef sediments. We explored how sea cucumber grazing alters the sediment microbiome by leveraging a healthy sea cucumber population on a reef in French Polynesia. We used quantitative PCR, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and shotgun metagenomics to compare the sediment microbiome in cages placed in situ with or without sea cucumbers. We hypothesized that grazing would lower microbial biomass, change sediment microbiome composition, and deplete sediment metagenomes of anaerobic metabolisms, likely due to aeration of the sediments. Sea cucumber grazing resulted in a 75% reduction in 16S rRNA gene abundances and reshaped microbiome composition, causing a significant decrease of cyanobacteria and other phototrophs relative to ungrazed sediments. Grazing also resulted in a depletion of genes associated with cyanotoxin synthesis, suggesting a potential link to coral health. In contrast to expectations, grazed sediment metagenomes were enriched with marker genes of diverse anaerobic or microaerophilic metabolisms, including those encoding high oxygen affinity cytochrome oxidases. This enrichment differs from patterns linked to other bioturbating invertebrates. We hypothesize that grazing enriches anaerobic processes in sediment microbiomes through removal of oxygen-producing autotrophs, fecal deposition of sea cucumber gut-associated anaerobes, or modification of sediment diffusibility. These results suggest that sea cucumber harvesting influences biogeochemical processes in reef sediments, potentially mediating coral survival by altering the sediment microbiome and its production of coral-influencing metabolites.
Microbial ecology of serpentinite-hosted ecosystems
(Oxford University Press, 2025-02) Colman, Daniel R.; Templeton, Alexis S.; Spear, John R.; Boyd, Eric S.
Serpentinization, the collective set of geochemical reactions initiated by the hydration of ultramafic rock, has occurred throughout Earth history and is inferred to occur on several planets and moons in our solar system. These reactions generate highly reducing conditions that can drive organic synthesis reactions potentially conducive to the emergence of life, while concomitantly generating fluids that challenge life owing to hyperalkalinity and limited inorganic carbon (and oxidant) availability. Consequently, the serpentinite-hosted biosphere offers insights into the earliest life, the habitable limits for life, and the potential for life on other planets. However, the support of abundant microbial communities by serpentinites was only recognized ~20 years ago with the discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents emanating serpentinized fluids. Here, we review the microbial ecology of both marine and continental serpentinization-influenced ecosystems in conjunction with a comparison of publicly available metagenomic sequence data from these communities to provide a global perspective of serpentinite microbial ecology. Synthesis of observations across global systems reveal consistent themes in the diversity, ecology, and functioning of communities. Nevertheless, individual systems exhibit nuances due to local geology, hydrology, and input of oxidized, near-surface/seawater fluids. Further, several new (and old) questions remain including the provenance of carbon to support biomass synthesis, the physical and chemical limits of life in serpentinites, the mode and tempo of in situ evolution, and the extent that modern serpentinites serve as analogs for those on early Earth. These topics are explored from a microbial perspective to outline key knowledge-gaps for future research.