Thesis advisor: Douglas Edmonds / Due to their low-lying position near the shoreline, river deltas are vulnerable to fluctuations in relative sea-level (RSL). Moreover, relatively little is known about fluvio-deltaic dynamics during RSL fall because the resulting deposits have low preservation potential. In this paper, I present a field-based study of the Goose River delta, coupled with numerical model simulations, that investigates the fluvio-deltaic response to RSL fall. The Goose River delta is a sandy fjord delta at the mouth of the Goose River located at the western end of Lake Melville, an inlet of the Labrador Sea, Canada and has experienced a RSL fall of 3 to 6 mm/yr in the past 5000 years due to post-glacial isostatic rebound. Aerial images show three abandoned delta lobes and one active lobe, suggesting that avulsions and lobe-switching occurred during RSL fall. Elevation analysis using Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM) data and optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating suggest that a series of downstepping terraced delta lobes formed at the mouth of the Goose River during a period of RSL fall. Similarly, Delft3D model runs show continued avulsions and formation of multiple terraced delta lobes deposited at progressively lower elevations. I show computationally that by decreasing delta lobe widths, deltas may remain aggradational during RSL fall, creating conditions favorable for lobe-switching during RSL fall. Observations from the field and model runs provide a critical link in understanding the geomorphic processes occurring during RSL fall, and in particular show that 1) incision and sediment bypass is not a necessary response to RSL fall and 2) lateral migration of a delta via avulsion can continue to occur with falling sea-level. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Geology and Geophysics.

This thesis looks at how the Cree people of Wemindji, James Bay, Québec, understand and live with ecological complexity and dynamism. The focus is on the interplay between variability, change, and continuity in the Canada goose (Branta canadensis) hunt. Looking at Cree goose-hunting in the light of cultural ecology and resilience thinking, the research suggests that Cree hunters are attentive and responsive to ecological fluctuations, fine-tuning local arrangements to local environmental conditions. Ecological variability and unpredictability, such as weather, goose population dynamics and migration patterns, are mediated by local management strategies in which goose hunting areas shift in space and time. However, whereas these strategies are still practiced nowadays, they are (to some extent) overwhelmed by changes occurring at larger scales. Some of these are related to climate change and anthropogenic disturbances; others are related to social-cultural changes that influence resource-use patterns. I discuss how these different drivers interact among themselves and impact the goose-hunt, and how the Wemindji Cree respond to these changes. / May 2008

This thesis looks at how the Cree people of Wemindji, James Bay, Québec, understand and live with ecological complexity and dynamism. The focus is on the interplay between variability, change, and continuity in the Canada goose (Branta canadensis) hunt. Looking at Cree goose-hunting in the light of cultural ecology and resilience thinking, the research suggests that Cree hunters are attentive and responsive to ecological fluctuations, fine-tuning local arrangements to local environmental conditions. Ecological variability and unpredictability, such as weather, goose population dynamics and migration patterns, are mediated by local management strategies in which goose hunting areas shift in space and time. However, whereas these strategies are still practiced nowadays, they are (to some extent) overwhelmed by changes occurring at larger scales. Some of these are related to climate change and anthropogenic disturbances; others are related to social-cultural changes that influence resource-use patterns. I discuss how these different drivers interact among themselves and impact the goose-hunt, and how the Wemindji Cree respond to these changes.

The study describes urban morphology and design strategies in the form of thoughts, imagination, and reality. It is a visual and verbal narrative that uses the metaphor of a Vertical Island as a viable tool. The criteria investigated relate to American cities, yet also to the city in general. The final design is the precise architectural translation of my first narrative For Elise and Forever / Repeating Islands: a Typology of a Living City, the story of a girl on a journey into her world of thoughts, fancying a city built at a right angle. The following work studies and reflects the urban qualities that are not only unique to European but also to American and, yet common to all cities. It represents a touchable and visible proposal of a healthy union of advantages and a living system where patterns repeat across time and scales. Participating in the world as a trade center, The Vertical Island PRAGMATOPIA: a Story of Translations, Real Dreams, and Other Cities brings a piece of the European city to the United States as well as a bit of the American city to Europe. / Department of Architecture

The purpose of this creative project was to develop a master plan for a 450-acre site based on the recently published Land and Natural Development (LAND) Code: Guidelines for Sustainable Land Development by Diana Balmori and Gaboury Benoit. Balmori and Benoit present environmentally conscious design principles that serve as a demonstration for tangible ways to create sustainable landscapes that balance function with the need to preserve natural resources. The outcome of this project includes a detailed master plan for a 450-acre portion of Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area (GPFWA) located in Linton, Indiana, which serves as a model for sustainable site design in addition to offering interpretive and recreational opportunities within the focus area. / Department of Landscape Architecture

This thesis looks at how the Cree people of Wemindji, James Bay, Québec, understand and live with ecological complexity and dynamism. The focus is on the interplay between variability, change, and continuity in the Canada goose (Branta canadensis) hunt. Looking at Cree goose-hunting in the light of cultural ecology and resilience thinking, the research suggests that Cree hunters are attentive and responsive to ecological fluctuations, fine-tuning local arrangements to local environmental conditions. Ecological variability and unpredictability, such as weather, goose population dynamics and migration patterns, are mediated by local management strategies in which goose hunting areas shift in space and time. However, whereas these strategies are still practiced nowadays, they are (to some extent) overwhelmed by changes occurring at larger scales. Some of these are related to climate change and anthropogenic disturbances; others are related to social-cultural changes that influence resource-use patterns. I discuss how these different drivers interact among themselves and impact the goose-hunt, and how the Wemindji Cree respond to these changes.

A water budget model was developed to estimate year-end lake volumes of Goose Lake, Oregon-California, to determine whether an accurate reconstruction of lake volumes/levels could be made with several synthesized or partial volumetric components. Components evaluated were the lake level/volume observations, precipitation, streamflow, and evaporation during the data-rich study period, 1946 to 1975. By regressing estimated year-end volumes against actual volumes (using actual volumes as the input at the beginning of each year) a correlation coefficient of 0.97 was obtained. By letting the series' year-end volumes be substituted for the following years' antecedent volumes a systematic error was created, identical in time and degree to irrigation consumptive use in the basin. The consideration of this additional component improved the self-generating series. The interaction of the components described by the model was then fed into a reconstruction model which used regression equations relating precipitation and runoff to annual tree-ring width indices. In this manner, a long-term synthetic runoff and precipitation record was developed for the basin for the period 1422 to 1964. Trends in the model output for the recent period (1830 to present) closely parallel recorded observations of lake level/volume although the range of reconstructed volumes was not as extreme as actually occurred. Nevertheless, the "actual" versus "synthesized" lake level series (1946 to 1964) were fairly well correlated (r=0.75), being significant to the 0.99 level. The study shows that tree rings are useful in the reconstruction of hydrologic and climatologic phenomena and are especially sensitive to changes in available water supply but do not show the high interannual variation seen in both precipitation and streamflow. Additionally, the tree ring record appears to be more sensitive to drought than to dry conditions in the basin and is therefore not well suited to determining the recurrence interval of high-water conditions.

Body size explains much of the interspecific variation in the physiology, behavior, and morphology of birds, such as metabolic rate, diet selection, intake rate, gut size, and bill size. Based on mass-specific metabolic requirements and relative energetic costs of activities, being a certain body size has both advantages and disadvantages. In particular, avian herbivores such as geese possess a relatively simple digestive system, consume foods with low digestibility and poor nutrient content, and have increased energetic demands compared to other bird taxa; therefore, any effects of body size on foraging strategies should be readily apparent in this foraging guild. The influence of body size on the behavior and management of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) and Cackling Geese (B. hutchinsii) as avian herbivores has not been well studied. My dissertation explores the role of body size in comparative foraging behavior, habitat selection, and winter conservation planning for two congeneric geese, the Dusky Canada Goose (B. c. occidentalis; hereafter Duskys) and the Cackling Goose (B. h. minima; hereafter Cacklers). These two taxa share the same over-winter foraging environment (grass seed fields) in the same restricted geographic area (the Willamette Valley) during winter. Duskys and Cacklers differ by more than a factor of two in body size and have different relative bill sizes and social organization. Because of smaller body size, Cacklers have greater relative energy demands and less fasting endurance compared to Duskys; however, Cacklers have comparatively low energetic costs for flight and transport. Duskys, however, have higher total energy requirements than Cacklers. Additionally, Cacklers form large, high-density flocks and have a total over-wintering population size in the study area of about 200,000. Duskys occur in relatively small family groups and have a total over-wintering population size of about 13,000. My study demonstrated that interspecific differences in body size between Cacklers and Duskys was associated with differences in foraging behavior, movements, and habitat selection. Cacklers foraged a greater percentage of time (30%) in all habitats and across the entire winter compared to Duskys. Cacklers had higher peck rates (up to 100 pecks min⁻¹ greater) than Duskys in all foraging habitats expect pasture. The pecking rate of Cacklers was greatest in fields of young grass (200 pecks min⁻¹), which may indicate that Cacklers had relatively high intake rates in this foraging habitat. Based on differences in foraging behavior among habitats, Cacklers may have the foraging strategy of energy intake maximizers, whereas the foraging strategy of Duskys is more towards time-energy expenditure minimizers, at least for part of the winter. Cacklers moved across the landscape very differently from Duskys, exhibiting less site fidelity and greater commuting distances to foraging areas. Cacklers showed a preference for young grass during all periods of the winter, reaffirming that Cacklers are specialized grazers on short green forage, whereas Duskys preferred young grass and pasture. Fields of young grass were the preferred foraging habitat of Cacklers, had less standing crop biomass, and may have enabled higher foraging efficiencies, which may have led to higher intake rates. The ability of the landscape to support wintering geese changed across the winter because total available plant biomass fluctuated with the rate of grass regrowth. The estimated carrying capacity of the landscape for geese decline by almost one-half during mid-winter (mid-December to mid-February) compared to early winter or late winter periods. Although Cacklers have lower individual energy requirements compared to Duskys, due to a much larger target population size, Cacklers required 89% more foraging habitat than Duskys. Forage requirements encountered a bottleneck during mid-winter, when grass regrowth rates were low and day length was short. Commensurate with this pattern of forage availability, goose body condition declined during the mid-winter period. To support Pacific Flyway target populations for geese, approximately 18,000 ha of total grazing habitat in young and mature grass is needed in the Willamette Valley to support a total over-wintering population composed of 340,000 geese belonging to four subspecies. The role of body size in influencing the foraging behavior and decisions of over-wintering geese has important implications for conservation planning of goose populations. Small-bodied Cacklers are selective in field choice, yet more likely to redistribute across the landscape. Disturbances (e.g., hunting, hazing, or predation) will have a disproportionate effect on the movements of smaller-bodied geese compared to larger geese. These characteristics of Cacklers will make conservation planning to retain geese on public land more difficult. Coordinated management with private landowners and farming practices that maximize preferred goose foraging habitat on public lands may attract geese to utilize protected areas and minimize conflicts with agriculture in the Willamette Valley. Availability of resources during critical periods in winter is an important factor affecting the distribution of geese, but may affect small and large bodied geese differently. Management could be targeted during these critical time periods. By considering the role of body size in the context of life history characteristics, foraging behavior and habitat selection, appropriate management strategies can be developed and implemented to reduce the effects of agricultural depredation by geese, while promoting the future conservation of wintering geese in the Willamette Valley. / Graduation date: 2013

Within this document, the writer hopes to present a thorough study of the various methods and materials which are available for the beginning, intermediate, and advanced band classes of the Goose Creek Independent School District, Goose Creek, Texas, taking into consideration the organization of the school system as it exists at the present time.

Com a tecnologia digital, as redes de comunicação têm sido de fundamental importância para o bom funcionamento das subestações de energia elétrica. Criado em 2002, o padrão IEC 61850 busca harmonizar a diversidade de equipamentos e fabricantes, e possibilitar a integração de dados para que o máximo de benefícios possa ser extraído. Nesse contexto, o protocolo GOOSE (Generic Object Oriented Substation Event), pertinente ao padrão IEC 61850, é um datagrama multicast concebido para funcionar na rede local ou de longa distância que interliga as subestações de energia elétrica. Nos ambientes de longa distância, o tráfego de dentro para fora, e vice-versa, deveria passar por um firewall. Porém, a tecnologia de firewall atual não é capaz de inspecionar as mensagens GOOSE reais ou originadas a partir de um ataque, e afeta o tempo de transferência das mesmas, que, no enlace de comunicação, não deve exceder 5ms. Dessa forma, o objetivo deste trabalho é desenvolver um firewall em hardware reconfigurável, por meio da plataforma NetFPGA, de modo que o incremento no tempo de propagação de uma mensagem GOOSE, Tipo 1A (Trip), ao transpor o dispositivo de segurança, não ultrapasse 20% do tempo total destinado ao enlace de comunicação. Por ter a capacidade de ser um acelerador, construído por meio de hardware reconfigurável FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), a NetFPGA conduz enlaces Gigabit, e torna possível examinar e estabelecer regras iniciais de autorização ou negação para o tráfego de mensagens GOOSE, manipulando os campos do quadro ISO/IEC 8802-3. O incremento no tempo máximo de propagação de uma mensagem com 1518 bytes foi de 77,39 μs, com 77,38 μs de tempo médio. Um algoritmo de criptografia e outro de autenticação também foram testados e mensagens falsas não conseguiram transpor o firewall. No momento atual da pesquisa, concluiu-se que o firewall em NetFPGA, pertinente ao conjunto de recursos de hardware e software destinados a garantir a segurança de uma rede, é capaz de rejeitar mensagens GOOSE falsas e fornecer segurança aos dispositivos ativos de uma subestação, sem atrasos adicionais superiores a 1ms. / With the digital technology, the communication networks have been of fundamental importance for the good performance of power substations. Created in 2002, the IEC 61850 standard seeks for harmonization of the different equipment and manufacturers, enabling the integration of data for maximum performance. In this context, the GOOSE (Generic Object Oriented Substation Event) message, concerning the IEC 61850 standard, is a multicast datagram, designed to operate in LAN or WAN that connects power substations. In the long-distance environment, the propagation time in the communication link must not exceed 5ms. The current firewall technology is not able to differ true GOOSE messages from the ones originated from an attack, and it affects the transfer time of messages. The objective of this research is to develop a reconfigurable firewall hardware, using the NetFPGA platform, so that the increase in propagation time of a GOOSE message, Type 1A (Trip), does not exceed 20% of the total time allocated to the link communication. Due to the ability of NetFPGA of being an accelerator, and having been built by using reconfigurable FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) leading to Gigabit links, it was possible to examine and establish initial rules of authorization or denial of GOOSE messages by manipulating some of the fields from the table ISO/IEC 8802-3. The increase in the maximum propagation time of a message of 1518 bytes was 77.39 μs, with the average of 77.38 μs. Fake messages failed to cross the firewall. Results from a process of authentication and encryption were also presented. At the present study, it has been concluded that the firewall using NetFPGA, concerning the hardware and software in order to ensure the security of a network, is able to reject false GOOSE messages and provide security to devices of a power substation without time increments greater than 1ms.