Local ecological knowledge (LEK) is a useful method to capture environmental or resource changes when there is an absence of biological data. Since the bonefish fishery is data limited, this study aims to understand the trend of bonefish decline over the last 40 years using LEK and to assess whether varying fisher experience and fisher type would influence perception of bonefish decline. Semi-structured surveys and key informant interviews were conducted to collect LEK data. Along with perceiving an overall decline (p

<p>This thesis presents the findings of a study carried out in brothels in Khon Kaen, Thailand. The study examined efforts of the "voiceless" sex workers to organize in order to increase their control over decision-making processes. It also analyzed the difficulties, social forces, structures and ideologies which maintain an inequitable distribution of power. The broader aim was to clarify the notion of people's participation in order to make it operationally more useful with respect to AIDS prevention intervention to sex workers. A technocratic approach to issues of AIDS prevention and control among sex workers was rejected. The study embraced a number of complementary activities including: situation analysis of AIDS in the Thai context, specifically in the northeast, ethnographic study of the sex industry, and participatory action research.</p> <p>This study was initiated in late 1991 and completed in 1993. It was carried out in six brothels in downtown Khon Kaen. The study occurred in 4 phases: 1) situation assessment in which historical and documentary analysis were utilized ethnographic research on sex workers which served as a basis for constructing culturally appropriate interventions, 3) participatory action research emphasizing self determination of sex workers on AIDS prevention and control, and 4) evaluation of this "experiment." The research attempts to balance "classic ethnography" and "applied participatory research" to an AIDS prevention program for sex workers in Thailand. It was carried in collaboration with health professionals, landlords, pimps, and sex workers. Groups met and worked together in brothels to discuss the findings. Results were also presented to local health authorities.</p> <p>This study illustrates the opportunities for and the formidable difficulties of participation by sex workers in Thailand. Without strong support for non-formal AIDS education and self determination by sex workers, there is little chance that they can negotiate safe sex and make decisions concerning AIDS prevention.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) in recent years is beginning to become more popular. This project evolves around the development of the field as well as critiques of the field. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of CSR, it lends an interesting way to understand religion as well as religious experiences. One of those religious experiences, conversion, is examined and explored through the use of conversion narratives from western women who were formally Christian but converted to Islam. Many themes arise out of this research that paves the way for trying to understand religious experiences. Overall, the project focuses on interpreting the conversion narratives to gain a better understanding of religious conversions for the sake of anthropology, philosophy, and cognitive psychology.

Primate hair is both a substrate upon which essential social interactions occur and an important host-pathogen interface. As commensal microbes provide important immune functions for their hosts, understanding the microbial diversity in primate hair could provide insight into primate immunity and disease transmission. While studies of human hair and skin microbiomes show differences in microbial communities across body regions, little is known about the nonhuman primate hair microbiome. In this study, we collected hair samples (n=159) from 8 body regions across 12 nonhuman primate species housed at 3 US institutions to examine 1) the diversity and composition of the primate hair microbiome and 2) the factors predicting primate hair microbiome diversity and composition. If both environmental and evolutionary factors shape the microbiome, then we would expect significant differences in microbiome diversity across host body sites, host sex, host housing institutions, and host species. We found that the hair microbiomes of these captive primates contained high abundances of gut-, respiratory-, and environment-associated microbiota rather than skin-associated microbiota. We also found that host species identity is the strongest predictor of both hair microbiome diversity and composition, while sex and body region are strong predictors of taxonomic richness and microbiome composition, and institution is a moderate predictor for both diversity and composition. Our results suggest that hair microbial communities are affected by both evolutionary and environmental factors and vary both within and across primate species, and that there may be transmission of microbes across primate body regions. These findings have important implications for understanding the biology and conservation of both wild and captive primates.

While it is true that historic cemeteries are places that contain a wealth of knowledge about the history of a community they are sometimes not well maintained. The information within can be lost as grave-markers are damaged either by natural causes or human interaction. In larger cemeteries preserving these significant places can sometimes be difficult due to a number of different factors. Therefore focusing preservation efforts on specific locations where damage is more likely to occur is crucial to ensure that the monuments that are the most at risk are preserved. One possible way of accomplishing this is through the utilization of a geographic information system (GIS) to determine the shortest distance path an individual may take to reach a specific grave-marker. This can be accomplished by conducting a near analysis between an origin point and every grave-marker. These paths would also show each grave-marker that an individual passes indicating the potential for purposeful or accidental interaction. With this information efforts such as photogrammetry can be applied effectively for digital heritage preservation. Such methods would permit individuals to manipulate three-dimensional representations of grave-markers in order to preserve a large portion of the information it contains.

<p>In many interpretations of hunter-gatherer settlement systems, archaeologists have assumed implicitly or explicitly that a pattern of mobilitybased on seasonally-scheduled movements between different site locations waspracticed. This pattern of mobility is often characterized as a seasonal round, where different locations are used during specific times of the year for different purposes. An implication of this pattern of mobility is that short-term occupation sites are visited annually, approximately at the same time each year and longer-term residential sites can span multiple seasons. To interpret seasonality, indirect indicators are often used but the high-resolution methods presented in this study provide direct evidence of seasonal site occupation. The Pacific Northwest Coast provides an ideal landscape to examine seasonality since many of the staple resources, particularly salmon, were available on a seasonal basis. Contrary to longstanding assumptions of regular seasonal movement between sites, the analysis of shell samples from multiple archaeological sites from distinct regions in British Columbia show complex patterns of multi-seasonal occupation at smaller campsites and specific seasonal or multi-seasonal emphasis in occupation and/or shellfish harvest at longer-term residential sites.</p> <p>To identify patterns of shellfish harvest, stable oxygen isotope analysis and high-resolution sclerochronology were applied to the bivalve <em>Saxidomus gigantea</em> (butter clam). Combined with shell growth increment analysis to examine relative levels of harvest pressure, local rates of shellfish collecting are also interpreted. To examine regional variability in seasonality and resource use in British Columbia, three environmentally and historically distinct areas were selected spanning approximately 6000 years of history. These regions include the central coast in the tradition territory of the Heiltsuk, and two areas on the northern coast, specifically the Dundas Islands Group and Prince Rupert Harbour in the traditional territory of the Tsimshian. The results of the analysis show site-specific trends in shellfish harvesting on the central coast; a pattern which is not as clear on the northern coast. Sites on the Dundas Islands show multi-seasonal collection and a stronger emphasis on winter shellfish harvesting. The results also show that shellfish were harvested more intensively in the Dundas Islands area relative to the central coast. The pattern of seasonal shellfish harvesting on the mainland coast at village sites in Prince Rupert Harbour is similar to the pattern found at long-term residential sites on the central coast. With respect to the dietary importance of clams, another longstanding issue in Northwest Coast archaeology, the results show a mix of patterns including casual resource use at most campsites, intensive multi-season harvest in some regions and strategic multi-season harvest and spring consumption at some residential sites.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Writings in support of my visual thesis, including some background, and bibliographic information: Oregon/Death/Animation/Vocation and the artist as an agent of potential.

This thesis examines a specific type of instance that bridges the divide between seeing sacred texts as merely vehicles for content and as objects themselves: self-reference. Doing so yielded a heuristic system of categories of self-reference in sacred texts based on the way the text self-describes: Inlibration, Necessity, and Untranslatability. I provide examples of these self-referential features as found in various sacred texts: the Vedas, Āgamas, Papyrus of Ani, Torah, Quran, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, and the Book of Mormon. I then examine how different theories of sacredness interact with them. What do Durkheim, Otto, Freud, or Levinas say about these? How are their theories changed when confronted with sacred texts as objects as well as containers for content? I conclude by asserting that these self-referential features can be seen as ‘self-sacralizing’ in that they: match understandings of sacredness, speak for themselves, and do not occur in mundane texts.

Widely found throughout the archaeological and artistic records in capacities ranging from burial contexts to early evidence of artistic expression, red ochre has been studied in archaeological and art conservationist communities for decades. Despite this, literature discussing binders is disparate and often absent from accessible arenas. Red ochre is important historically because its use can be used to help further the understanding of early humans, their predecessors, and their cognitive capabilities. However, there is not much written speculation on the processes involved in binder selection, collection, and processing. Based on the idea of these three activities associated with binders, I propose a schema for what the use of already prepared and obtained items doubling as binders might look like in the archaeological record. Using an experiment in which I used red ochre mixed with various binders to paint standardized shapes on a rock surface, I propose ways in which more experiments could be done in this vein. I suggest ways in which scales of desirability can be created based on different traits painters might have found important in the binder selection process, such as ease of paint reconstitution, texture of the paint, and the appearance of the paint mixture once on the stone. This research is one small step in the direction of expanding and diversifying the literature on binders in prehistoric paintings, and opening new avenues of conversation about the choices and motivations of early painters.