Scholarship & Research
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Item An investigation modeling risk of wildlife-vehicle collisions in Montana, USA(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2019) Bell, Matthew Andrew; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Yiyi Wang and Damon Fick (co-chair)Road ecologists and transportation engineers have been exploring new methods to adapt to the environmental and motorist safety concerns involving wildlife-vehicle collisions. There are over one-million crashes with large-bodied wildlife every year in the U.S. that result in substantial property damage and personal injuries. Recent studies modeling these collisions identify where they cluster, and the landscape, road, and driver characteristics that influence the likelihood of a collision along short road corridors and small geographic regions. This research expands on current knowledge and attempts to model the risk of wildlife-vehicle collisions on a large geographic scale. This research investigates different analysis methods and creates predictive models that will estimate the risk of a wildlife-vehicle collision as drivers travel across multiple ecosystems. Different analysis units were created to extract two similar datasets that are modeled against two different response variables -- reported collisions and roadkill locations. Regularization is used to help with feature selection. Negative binomial regression models are built to predict risk. Random forest machine learning helps better understand the percent of variance explained by the variables in each model. A range of statistical measurements were taken to compare the non-nested models. The best performing model is applied to the seasonal division of data. Yearlong and seasonal risk is mapped onto the road network and color-coded to show the differences in risk on Montana's road network. The maps capture the changes in risk throughout the year, they generally match where wildlife-vehicle collisions actually happen, and even coincides with published work on the locations of collision hotspots in Montana. This research is the basis for future complex real-time risk-mapping models that can be integrated into smart technology and developed into on-board driver alert systems. With the advancements of autonomous vehicle, it is possible to incorporate real-time driving data into models that will analyze wildlife-vehicle collision risk based on vehicle location, season, time of day and driving habits. This can increase driver safety by informing them when they are traveling in areas where wildlife-vehicle collisions are more likely to happen, and can be especially helpful while driving on unfamiliar roads.Item A phytoestrogen from Pinus ponderosa assayed by competitive binding with 17-estradiol to mouse uterine control(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1982) Wagner, William DouglasItem Ecological effects of weather modification, Bangtail Ridge, Bridger Range, Montana : relationships of pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides) to time of snow melt(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1972) Haglund, Brent MarshallItem Developmental gene expression in Eimeria bovis : characterization of stage specific genes of sporozoites and merozoites(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1995) Clark, Timothy GriffinItem Using experience as a way to make pictures(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 1986) Reuter, Beth M.My present work deals with minimal and at times abstract images of animals combined with a visceral handling of paint. it is most important that the images are recognizable as animals, not what type of animal they may be. For me, painting elements of dally life is a continual and ongoing proposition. I deem importance to the visually recurring everyday experience. Animals are an important part of my life;, therefore, they are currently the mainstay of my art. In the act of painting, artists use their own collection of experiences as a base for expression. Therefore, the art is an extension of the artist. My images appear from a very thin and gradual layering of paint, just as people are made up of layers of their past. We retain past experiences and may recall a previous event or create a visual picture at any given moment.Item Animals and artifacts : specimen exchanges and displays in Yellowstone National Park, The National Museum, and The National Zoo, 1846 to 1916(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2012) Smith, Diane Marie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Mary Murphy.While much has been written about Yellowstone National Park, few historians have discussed the history of its wildlife, particularly before 1916 when the National Park Service was established. "Animals and Artifacts" investigates how Yellowstone came to be identified as wildlife's last refuge in the American West while also trying to understand how the U. S. Cavalry concurrently trapped and shipped animals to the National Zoological Park and, eventually, to zoos around the country. It also questions how animal displays and exchanges came to be so integral to the Park's administration, overall mission, and national identity during these formative years. This study relies on primary documents from the National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution, including annual reports and correspondence dating from the establishment of the Smithsonian in 1846 until 1916 when the cavalry turned administration of the Park over to civilian control. Additional sources, including publications and newspapers from the period, were also consulted, as were secondary sources as appropriate. The research documents that the Smithsonian Institution, with its own well-established culture of specimen exchange initiated during its earliest years, viewed Yellowstone National Park as a primary source of specimens. In particular, it looked to the Park for animals of the American West, both living and dead, to display in Washington, D. C., entering excess specimens into its network of exchange. This special relationship helped define Yellowstone National Park's development and eventually transformed it into a center of animal displays. To understand how Yellowstone managers still haze animals back into the Park today requires a better understanding of how tourists, military administrators, and Smithsonian scientists alike all looked to Yellowstone to protect the wildlife of the American West while also expecting to see those animals on display. "Animals and Artifacts" looks at the early history of Yellowstone to better understand how this all came to pass.