abstract: The pace of exoplanet discoveries has rapidly accelerated in the past few decades and the number of planets with measured mass and radius is expected to pick up in the coming years. Many more planets with a size similar to earth are expected to be found. Currently, software for characterizing rocky planet interiors is lacking. There is no doubt that a planet’s interior plays a key role in determining surface conditions including atmosphere composition and land area. Comparing data with diagrams of mass vs. radius for terrestrial planets provides only a first-order estimate of the internal structure and composition of planets [e.g. Seager et al 2007]. This thesis will present a new Python library, ExoPlex, which has routines to create a forward model of rocky exoplanets between 0.1 and 5 Earth masses. The ExoPlex code offers users the ability to model planets of arbitrary composition of Fe-Si-Mg-Al-Ca-O in addition to a water layer. This is achieved by modeling rocky planets after the earth and other known terrestrial planets. The three distinct layers which make up the Earth's internal structure are: core, mantle, and water. Terrestrial planet cores will be dominated by iron however, like earth, there may be some quantity of light element inclusion which can serve to enhance expected core volumes. In ExoPlex, these light element inclusions are S-Si-O and are included as iron-alloys. Mantles will have a more diverse mineralogy than planet cores. Unlike most other rocky planet models, ExoPlex remains unbiased in its treatment of the mantle in terms of composition. Si-Mg-Al-Ca oxide components are combined by predicting the mantle mineralogy using a Gibbs free energy minimization software package called Perple\_X [Connolly 2009]. By allowing an arbitrary composition, ExoPlex can uniquely model planets using their host star’s composition as an indicator of planet composition. This is a proven technique [Dorn et al 2015] which has not yet been widely utilized, possibly due to the lack of availability of easy to use software. I present a model sensitivity analysis to indicate the most important parameters to constrain in future observing missions. ExoPlex is currently available on PyPI so it may be installed using pip or conda on Mac OS or Linux based operating systems. It requires a specific scripting environment which is explained in the documentation currently stored on the ExoPlex GitHub page. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Astrophysics 2018

An examination of previously unaccessioned and overlooked specimens has added 16 species to the vascular flora of the 3800 ha Rocky Fork Tract in northeastern Tennessee. One species was deleted because of a prior misidentification for a net gain of 15 species and a total of 764 species. One species, Solidago lancifolia (Torr. ex A. Gray) Chapm., is listed as Endangered in Tennessee. All additions except two, represent county records. ©2018 Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

This research study and evaluation is based on educational philosophy that acknowledges the values of music education in the institutions of higher learning in the United States, also the place of instrumental music as a part of the music education program. There is, however, a feeling of controversy over the values and place of the football show band within the instrumental music program. In the Rocky Mountain area, every college and university has a football show band. To many administrators and music educators, including band directors, it may seem that the importance of the show band has been exaggerated, and the band itself oversold. The show band, however, appears to be a part of the music program and on a permanent basis. Therefore, it seemed desirable that a study be made to evaluate the show band from a musical and an educational standpoint as it function a within the music program.

Beginning with Native American activism in the 1960's and bolstered by the Indian Self Determination Act of 1975, tribes have been actively attempting in recent decades to increase tribal sovereignty and self-determination and revitalize tribal communities. One way they are doing this at Rocky Boy's Reservation in North Central Montana, is by taking control of the production of tribal narratives through institutions like the tribe's Internal Review Board and the completion of the first tribal history written completely by tribal members (2008). Another way is by looking back at the history of past researchers to the reservation and having important dialogues about the impacts and legacies of those researchers' work with the community. Out of this dialogue an "oral tradition" has emerged at Rocky Boy centering largely on Frank Bird Linderman (1869-1938) and Verne Dusenberry (1906-1966). These two researchers are often remembered very differently by tribal members: Linderman emerges as a hero due to his political aid for the Chippewa Cree in helping them acquire a reservation homeland, while Dusenberry more often serves as a representative of the troubled relationship between researchers and the tribe in the past. This dissertation examines the creation of historical narratives about Rocky Boy's Chippewa Cree, focusing on the effects of "contests" over cultural authority between key researchers to the reservation and tribal leaders in the making of those narratives. This dissertation makes a comparative analysis of the similarities and differences between the two researchers' claims to cultural authority by returning them to the contexts of their relationships with Chippewa Cree, and the stories and legacies that emerged around their work on the reservation. It explores the responses of tribal leaders to Linderman and Dusenberry and attempts by Chippewa Cree leaders (Little Bear, Big Rock, Rocky Boy, and Four Souls) to recontextualize and reclaim cultural authority and tribal historical narratives in their interactions with these researchers. By making these comparisons, this dissertation examines the ongoing effects these battles over cultural authority have had on tribal self-determination and revitalization efforts both past and present. Two of four chapters detail the lives and textual works of Frank Bird Linderman and Verne Dusenberry. These two men serve as a nexus point for the complex, interwoven and historically-layered "contexts" and "contests" over authority--both past and present, inter-culturally and intra-tribally, as writing and material forms, between outsiders and the living reservation that are the focus of this dissertation. This dissertation intervenes into previous histories written about Rocky Boy that have largely failed to recognize how complexly intertwined and often shared the processes of creating histories about the Rocky Boy's Reservation have been between outside researchers, tribal leaders and the reservation community. It also intercedes in the ongoing dialogue and debate about the role of researchers, cultural authority and protocols and tribal history in tribal revitalization and self-determination for the tribe.

This research was conducted on three study areas on elk winter ranges in Northeast Oregon. One was on the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range and the others were in the same vicinity. Plant appendages, spring and fall defoliation and fall growth of bluebunch wheatgrass were evaluated in terms of quality of nutrient content during September through April of 1986-87 and 1987-88. Four treatments were applied. Plants were clipped to a 2.5 cm and 7.6 cm stubble height in the spring before the boot stage of phenological development; plants were clipped to a 7.6 cm stubble height in the fall after plant maturity in September; plants were not clipped during the year. Percent crude protein, dry matter digestibility (DMD), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and lignin were evaluated monthly. Samples from the four treatments were also analyzed from October to April to determine monthly changes in nutrient contents. Production of growth from all treatments was measured in October and March each year. Leaf material had higher percent crude protein and DMD, with lower percent ADF and lignin than the inflorescence and culm. The third leaf (the youngest plant material) had the highest nutrient value of all appendages. The culm and inflorescence values were not statistically different. Growth following spring defoliation treatments produced higher percent crude protein and DMD (P<.05), with a lower percent ADF and lignin than non-treated plants in both years. This was particularly pronounced during 1986 when precipitation in late summer initiated fall growth. Growth following spring defoliation and bluebunch wheatgrass not defoliated did not produce crude protein or DMD values sufficient to meet minimum dietary maintenance requirements for elk. Fall precipitation adequate to promote fall growth occurred only in 1986. Growth after fall defoliation had the highest percent crude protein and DMD with the lowest ADF and lignin values of all vegetation sampled. However, without 3-5 cm of late summer/early fall rains, fall growth does not occur. This happened in 1987. When growth does occur in fall the quality of the growth exceeds the minimum dietary maintenance requirements for elk. Freezing and thawing of fall growth plant material had minimal effect on forage quality. There were differences (P<.05) between the monthly values for percent crude protein and ADF starting in October and ending in April. However, the percent DMD and lignin from October to April were not different (P<.05). / Graduation date: 1993

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 185 p. : ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 156-167).

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For the Asiniskow Ithiniwak (Rocky Cree), the Missinipi (Churchill River) holds many traditional resource areas and cultural landscapes with oral histories that transfer knowledge through the generations (Linklater 1994; Castel and Westfall 2001; Brightman 1993). In recent decades, hydroelectric development in north central Manitoba has impacted Cree livelihood by altering resource use, limiting access to significant cultural landscapes and accelerating the erosion of campsites and ancestral burials into the water. Even with existing provincial heritage legislation, some of these heritage resources remain threatened by land-based developments because of the limitations related to their identification, documentation and presentation in the cultural resource management field. The tendency to focus on physical manifestations of heritage such as archaeological sites, heritage objects and built heritage overlooks other resources of heritage such as places known in the local language. I argue that these biases result from cultural divergences that exist in the understanding and definitions of heritage, particularly Indigenous heritage. In this dissertation, I articulate how underlying theoretical assumptions of reality influences our understandings of heritage. I present a postcolonial understanding of heritage as interpreted from the perspective of the Asiniskow Ithiniwak using an Indigenous research paradigm, methodologies and the nīhithow language, in conjunction with knowledge based on Western intellectual traditions. The use of a bicultural research model led to new ways in identifying heritage resources important to the Asiniskow Ithiniwak and meaningful interpretations of archaeological materials based on legal traditions. Further, this case study demonstrates that there is no singular or universal definition of heritage for Indigenous peoples. For successful heritage resources protection, I illustrate that understandings of heritage need to be contextualized locally through a community’s language, culture, customary laws and local landscape. This view, promoted by UNESCO, emphasizes that the values and practices of local communities, together with traditional management systems, must be fully understood, respected, encouraged and accommodated in management plans if their heritage resources are to be sustained in the future (Logan 2008; UNESCO 2004). This outcome demonstrates the need to reexamine the practices, policies, legislation and procedures concerned with Indigenous knowledge in cultural and natural resources management in Canada.

For the Asiniskow Ithiniwak (Rocky Cree), the Missinipi (Churchill River) holds many traditional resource areas and cultural landscapes with oral histories that transfer knowledge through the generations (Linklater 1994; Castel and Westfall 2001; Brightman 1993). In recent decades, hydroelectric development in north central Manitoba has impacted Cree livelihood by altering resource use, limiting access to significant cultural landscapes and accelerating the erosion of campsites and ancestral burials into the water. Even with existing provincial heritage legislation, some of these heritage resources remain threatened by land-based developments because of the limitations related to their identification, documentation and presentation in the cultural resource management field. The tendency to focus on physical manifestations of heritage such as archaeological sites, heritage objects and built heritage overlooks other resources of heritage such as places known in the local language. I argue that these biases result from cultural divergences that exist in the understanding and definitions of heritage, particularly Indigenous heritage. In this dissertation, I articulate how underlying theoretical assumptions of reality influences our understandings of heritage. I present a postcolonial understanding of heritage as interpreted from the perspective of the Asiniskow Ithiniwak using an Indigenous research paradigm, methodologies and the nīhithow language, in conjunction with knowledge based on Western intellectual traditions. The use of a bicultural research model led to new ways in identifying heritage resources important to the Asiniskow Ithiniwak and meaningful interpretations of archaeological materials based on legal traditions. Further, this case study demonstrates that there is no singular or universal definition of heritage for Indigenous peoples. For successful heritage resources protection, I illustrate that understandings of heritage need to be contextualized locally through a community’s language, culture, customary laws and local landscape. This view, promoted by UNESCO, emphasizes that the values and practices of local communities, together with traditional management systems, must be fully understood, respected, encouraged and accommodated in management plans if their heritage resources are to be sustained in the future (Logan 2008; UNESCO 2004). This outcome demonstrates the need to reexamine the practices, policies, legislation and procedures concerned with Indigenous knowledge in cultural and natural resources management in Canada.