The spatial arrangements of artifacts and features within archaeological sites have often been used to isolate activity areas and draw inferences about site function. This approach assumes that objects found in close proximity were used for the same task, and that artifacts are usually discarded where they were used. However, the location of artifact abandonment often has more to do with patterns of discard and use/reuse of the site throughout time than with the function or location of activities. This dissertation uses a comparative framework to address how the observed spatial structure of Middle Paleolithic sites in France sites was formed through centrifugal dispersion of lithic artifacts, i.e. the displacement of artifacts between their creation and the final location of their abandonments. Seven Middle Paleolithic sites were included in this study. The sites were excavated over large areas, from 200 to more than 2000 m². They range from small single component occupation sites to lithic raw material workshops with assemblages of more than 15,000 artifacts. The movement of artifacts is tracked through an analysis of sets of refitted lithics and through comparisons of the distributions of multiple classes of artifact across areas of the sites with differing artifact densities. Studying the distribution of lithic technological classes and tracking their movement through refitting sets provides new perspectives on the ways Paleolithic archaeological assemblages and sites were formed. The temporality of site use had a much greater impact on site structure than did activities that took place at any one point during a site's occupation. These data enabled me to assess the relative lengths and numbers of occupations for the seven sites in this study. The approach taken in this study not only provides a clearer understanding of site formation and structure than do studies that strive to isolate "activity areas," but it also provides information about the sizes of past human groups and the ways they moved among different localities on the landscape. Such insights are integral to the study of land use, mobility and economic adaptations among Paleolithic hunter-gatherers.

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The Greater than Class C (GTCC) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) evaluated the potential impacts from the construction and operation of a new facility or facilities, or use of an existing facility, employing various disposal methods (geologic repository, intermediate depth borehole, enhanced near surface trench, and above grade vault) at six federal sites and generic commercial locations. For three of the locations being considered as possible locations, consulting tribes were brought in to comment on their perceptions on how GTCC low level radioactive waste would affect Native American resources (land, water, air, plants, animals, archaeology, etc.) short and long term. The consulting tribes produced essays that were incorporated into the EIS and these essays are in turn included in this collection. This essay was produced by the Wanapum Tribe for the Hanford Site.

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Effective conservation requires efficient population monitoring, which can be challenging for rare species like the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). We compared two alternative survey methods that can be used to monitor tortoise populations: distance sampling and site occupancy estimation. In 2005 and 2006 combined, we surveyed 120 1-km transects to estimate density and 40 3-ha plots with five presence-“absence” surveys to estimate occupancy of Sonoran desert tortoises in two mountain ranges in southern Arizona. We found that monitoring programs based on an occupancy framework were more efficient and had greater power to detect linear trends. We also found that habitat use by Sonoran desert tortoises was influenced most by slope and aspect, contrasting with patterns observed in the Mojave Desert. Given its efficiency, power, and ability to gauge changes in distribution while accounting for variation in detectability, occupancy offers a promising alternative for long-term monitoring of Sonoran desert tortoise populations.

Transposons are DNA segments that can move or transpose themselves to new positions within the genome of an organism. Biologists need to predict preferred insertion sites of transposons to devise strategies in functional genomics and gene therapy studies. It has been found that the deformability property of the local DNA structure of the integration sites, called Vstep, is of significant importance in the target-site selection process. We considered the Vstep profiles of insertion sites and developed predictors based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Support Vector Machines (SVM). We trained our ANN and SVM predictors with the Sleeping Beauty transposonal data, and used them for identifying preferred individual insertion sites (each 12bp in length) and regions (each 100bp in length). Running a five-fold cross-validation showed that (1) Both ANN and SVM predictors are more successful in recognizing preferred regions than preferred individual sites; (2) Both ANN and SVM predictors have excellent performance in finding the most preferred regions (more than 90% sensitivity and specificity); and (3) The SVM predictor outperforms the ANN predictor in recognizing preferred individual sites and regions. The SVM has 83% sensitivity and 72% specificity in identifying preferred individual insertion sites, and 85% sensitivity and 90% specificity in recognizing preferred insertion regions.

This study investigated the transplantation of understory plants within the Cu-Ni smelterdamaged urban forest of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, to increase plant biodiversity in an area where natural colonization of understory species is delayed. The goal of my study was to evaluate establishment of 16 m2 vegetation mats along a gradient of smelter disturbance and to relate successful establishment to abiotic and biotic site characteristics. Specific investigations were conducted to determine whether soil quality influenced root growth and transplant establishment. Variables associated with smelter emissions and soil temperature were the best predictors of successful transplant establishment of understory plant species, but relationships were species specific. Also, root growth was not limited to organic soils of the transplant mat and roots were able to grow into receptor site soil. Knowledge of environmental factors influencing establishment will help to determine site locations and to select species to introduce when transplanting understory species in future reclamation projects.

This thesis explores the process of remediation and renewal in the context of decommissioned gold mining operations in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. The work aims to demonstrate that architecture can facilitate understanding and bring awareness to the processes involved in reclaiming industrial sites by creating places for observation, interaction and refl ection. Existing mine infrastructure will be adapted and augmented to support phytoremediation processes, clean energy generation and municipal waste treatment for adjacent Yellowknife residents. These interventions are based on a series of studies involving mineral extraction processes, historic mine development and geological formations. The architectural interventions are phased and are intended to be prototypical strategies for decommissioned mine sites in general, but are specifi cally relevant to those located in sub-arctic climates.

Aggregate mining in Ontario is a highly contentious landuse activity between many stakeholder groups. Land use activities, within a watershed, including anthropogenic infrastructure and anthropogenic changes to the natural infrastructure (such as aggregate pits and quarries), may increase susceptibility of an aquifer by modifying contaminant migration pathways, which is an issue of water security. The purpose of this research is to apply the Vulnerability Scoring Tool to test its utility in the field of water security. The methodology is applied to an aggregate extraction site in the Grand River Watershed in Ontario, and presents an example of how changing land use may change exposure pathways. In particular, the case study results indicate an increase in vulnerability once the aquitard had been penetrated, through aggregate excavation. Applying vulnerability and risk models to future aggregate mining sites can be a useful decision-making tool when investigating impacts of aggregate extraction sites on water security. / Canadian Water Network

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