Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 1998

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Technology, Sydney, 2002.

<p> In this thesis, I examine how digital technology can benefit recording and interpretation methodology for archaeological rock art sites. The thesis is based on data collected at Walnut Canyon National Monument during a summer internship at the Flagstaff Area National Monuments in Arizona. Walnut Canyon is known for the Sinagua cliff dwellings that visitors can view from the trails. Though there are also many rock art panels within the monument&rsquo;s boundaries, the panels are still relatively unknown by archaeologists and inaccessible to visitors by both trails and lack of interpretive materials. The thesis is theoretically based in critical and multivocal approaches, which engage with power relations between professionals and non-professionals and add outside perspectives to archaeological interpretation, by examining how digital technology affects accessibility and public participation. To investigate how digital technology can enhance recording and interpretation of rock art, I use 3D photogrammetry, GigaPan high-resolution panoramas, 360-degree panoramas, oblique flash photography, Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), high dynamic range (HDR) photography, and DStretch photo enhancement software. What I find is that the digital recording methods I use for the project have much to offer both the public and researchers. While the methods do not replace a physical visit, a virtual visit could go far beyond many interpretive exhibits. Each method has its own considerations for how to be implemented effectively, so researchers and interpreters should consider any constraints they have and only select the methods that are most effective for their project goals. </p><p>

<p> Characterization of bacteria community and evaluation of anthropogenic and natural disturbances in surface waters quality of Sabana River in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico. This doctoral dissertation research focused on the bacterial characterization, and evaluation of anthropogenic, and natural disturbances in the surface waters quality of the Sabana River in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico. Monthly samples were taken at seven stations along the river during one year, and physicochemical factors such as temperature, pH, conductivity, DO and salinity were measured to explore their effect in the bacterial community. The effect of recreation was evaluated at El Puente, and at La Paila in the Sabana River, and at Puente Roto in the Mameyes River, from August 4 to September 8, 2012. Samples were collected up-river (before), on-site, and down-river (after) primary contact recreation activity. The number of bathers, and the temperature of the water were recorded. Also, four monthly sampling events were conducted under low flow conditions between May 2015 and August 2015, at two sites in the Sabana River impacted by non-point sources. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), pyrosequencing, and Colilert and Enterolert Test-System, were used for the bacterial community characterization. It was found that number of phylotypes of the bacterial community increases from upriver to downriver as anthropogenic disturbances proliferate along the river, and that bacteria are adapted or acclimated to in situ temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, salinity and pH, therefore, show little variation in time and space. Pyrosequncing revealed that a total of 12 bacteria classes, 27 orders, 33 families, 82 genera and 186 species were found in the Sabana River. There is an increase in families and species through the three stations, with the largest amounts observed downriver at station # 7. <i>Vogesella</i> spp. was the most abundant specie at the three stations, with 59% at station # 1, 67% at station # 4, and 53% at station # 7. A significant positive and strong correlation was found between the amount of <i>E. coli</i> and the number of bathers at MPRS (R = 0.919; p-value = 0.027), which means that a high number of bathers coincides with a high concentration of <i> E.coli</i>. </p><p> Also, there is a significant positive and strong correlation between the concentration of <i>Enterococci</i> and the number of bathers at Pai.S (R is 0.908; p-value = 0.033). There were not significant differences between the bacterial community up-river, on site and down river of the two non-point sources.</p><p>

abstract: Arts and culture function as indispensable parts of humans’ lives. Numerous studies have examined the impact and value of arts and culture, from individual quality of life to overall community health. However, research has been less focused on identifying the influence of crucial dimensions of arts and culture on overall community well-being, and contributing to understanding the intertwining connection between these elements and community well-being. To explore the dimensions of arts and cultural resources and community well-being, and in turn, to present the relationship between them in a community, this dissertation was based on three subsequent studies. A total of 518 counties were included in the analysis. Specifically, this study is unique in that it sought evidence based on county-level data drawn on the Local Arts Index (LAI) from Americans for the Arts (AFA) and County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHRR) variables to provide an arts-community measurement system suggesting critical and meaningful variables among a wide range of existing data. The results revealed the positive impacts of arts and cultural resources on community well-being. Each arts and cultural domain also has critical relationships with community individual, social, and economic well-being. Specifically, the ‘arts business’ domain was considerably associated with community individual well-being and comprehensive community well-being. The ‘arts consumption’ domain showed synthetically significant associations with community’s individual and economic well-being, and by extension, influenced comprehensive community well-being. Lastly, the ‘arts nonprofits’ domain was related to all the components of community well-being. In conclusion, residents’ arts consumption and the existence of arts and cultural/creative industries, including arts nonprofits, are constantly suggested as key to improving county-level community well-being. This study centers on presenting a more realistic vision of how arts and cultural resources are associated with community well-being components. Recognizing the power of arts and cultural resources in society and bolstering them to promote community well-being is a global issue of the utmost pertinence. Thus, research utilizing a longitudinal data-driven approach is likely to continue measuring the impact of arts and culture, and examining how they are related to and can strengthen community well-being. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Community Resources and Development 2016

abstract: This dissertation begins with a simple question: By what process(es) have remote prehistoric ruins and natural wonders, particularly in the American Southwest, been transformed from interesting curiosities of the unknown frontier to American "national monuments"? If monuments, in their various forms, are understood as symbols of national and regional identities, then the National Park Service's (NPS) Flagstaff Area National Monuments (Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater Volcano, and Wupatki) have been preserved for more than just their historic or scientific value. By tracing the story of these monuments from the era of European contact through the 1930s New Deal, when the NPS assumed full control, this dissertation explores the relationship between a community's sense of place or history and the creation - perhaps even invention or imagining - of some of America's first national monuments. I argue that there are three general cycles through which these sites progressed: periods of exploitation, ownership, and protection. In short, the possessive nature of natural and cultural resource exploitation (through early lumbering, ranching, pothunting, tourism, and the like) had the eventual effect of creating a sense of ownership of those resources, which, in turn, brought about the desire for their protection from exploitation and wholesale destruction. These shifts occurred as the people of Flagstaff developed a sense of place or history - a kind of intellectual ownership - through which Walnut Canyon, Wupatki, and Sunset Crater Volcano became an integral part of local, regional, and national identity. Each phase is therefore not mutually exclusive and changed only through the influence of external forces, like the federal government and the passage of legislation, but rather is part of a gradual process through which change is brought about on a number of levels - internal and external, local and national, individual and community-wide. The work that follows is based on a reading of the relevant literature in cultural resource management, as well as extensive research in period manuscript, newspaper, and photographic collections from Flagstaff to Washington, D.C. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. History 2013

<p> Many promising tools and methods developed in water resources systems analysis research have seen little uptake outside of academia. This may be due to a lack of effective communication about the research to water managers, or it may be because the tools are not ultimately useful or usable in practice. Current predominant research frameworks do not provide insight into these issues or facilitate the incorporation of industry needs into research agendas.</p><p> This dissertation introduces a structured research approach called the Participatory Framework for Assessment and Improvement of Tools (ParFAIT) that formally connects researchers and water managers in purposeful, iterative exercises to educate about promising tools, evaluate their usefulness and usability, and draw practitioner feedback into academic agendas. The process is founded on co-production concepts and involves two workshops which are designed to ultimately result in: a broadly relatable vehicle to demonstrate the tool (a testbed), practitioner feedback about the tool resulting from hands-on workshop experience, tool-specific as well as more general industry context, and definitive suggestions for increasing the relevance of future research.</p><p> ParFAIT is demonstrated by testing Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA)-assisted optimization for long term water utility planning with a group of Front Range, Colorado, water managers. The first workshop informed the creation of the Eldorado Utility Planning Model, a complex but hypothetical testbed designed to be widely relatable to participants. MOEA-assisted optimization was performed on the testbed using workshop-informed formulations of planning decisions, objectives, constraints, and planning scenarios. The optimization results formed the basis of a second workshop at which managers worked directly with testbed output in structured activities and discussions.</p><p> This ParFAIT study found that practitioners consider the information provided by MOEA-assisted optimization to be useful for several aspects of their long term planning processes, but that there are important considerations for ensuring usability of the tool itself and its output. One important consideration is the interpretation of complex MOEA results. Based on this feedback, this work presents a novel application of Multivariate Regression Tree analysis to extract system insights from MOEA-assisted optimization results.</p><p>

<p> The National Park Service&rsquo;s mission is to preserve and protect cultural heritage sites that have value to the American public. In the summer of 2016, I interned with Zion National Park Cultural Resource Program to conduct archaeological stabilization and preservation of a prehistoric site through public outreach. During my internship, I discovered the program did not adequately address imminent and long term needs to manage cultural resources threatened by human-caused disturbances. The lack of understanding towards prehistoric populations that lived in Zion Canyon and difficulties in past management practices contributed to increasing vulnerability to valued cultural resources. Discontinuous management practices throughout the park&rsquo;s history led to unknown, vulnerable cultural resources deteriorating due to natural and human-caused disturbances including erosion, vandalism, and neglect. Public archaeology and outreach contributed to a large portion of the project and I developed important procedures to include and train the public who find value in protecting and preserving cultural resources in our National Parks. </p><p> In this thesis, I examine cultural resource management practices at Zion National park pertaining to the stabilization and preservation of a prehistoric site and analyze data from the site to provide a more encompassing site history for future researchers and the development of management practices. The review of past management practices and regional prehistoric history will enable me to create better procedures for managing vulnerable cultural resources at Zion National Park. The management procedures will include best practices for initiating public outreach programs in order to include audiences beyond the archaeological community to help preserve and protect cultural heritage at our National Parks.</p><p>

This whole research project evolved to ultimately understand how and why human resource practitioners across several industries discover, adopt or implement certain human resource management trends into their industries and organisations. Since the explosion of information technology and the effects of globalisation it was interesting to explore and discover intimate knowledge from various human resource management experts. Through exploratory research, a series of in-depth interviews were set up with several human resource (HR) directors and managers across various global companies and industries in South Africa. This research investigated the views of these human resource experts and how various human resource trends impact and influence the human resource practitioner in this ever evolving global economy. The outcome of this research can facilitate human resource practitioners in enhancing their knowledge and understanding in the human resource field with regards to making them more competitive in attracting, maintaining and retaining talent for their organisations, by certain human resource management trends. Furthermore, the research may provide an insightful understanding of how and why certain human resource management trends become disseminated into various organisations for the human resource manager. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted