In this study, I present a new approach to prey quantification in the context of the predator-prey relationship between an apex marine predator, the gray whale, (Eschrichtius robustus) and one of its primary prey, mysids (Family Mysidae) in a tertiary foraging area, in Clayoquot Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver, Island, British Columbia. With the use of a remote acoustical sounder, I first quantify mysid patches in the presence of foraging gray whales. Second, I address the biomass in those patches using a new approach to quantification. By creating an estimate of total biomass of mysids in the study area concurrently with the presence of gray whales, I demonstrate the effect that the foraging whales have on their prey. Tracking the changes of the number of whales and the number of patches, including the overall biomass of the patches provides evidence for this relationship. As the number of gray whales in the study area increases steadily from May to July, 2004, the number of mysid patches and biomass decrease during the same period. The number of foraging whales located in the study area ranged from only five in May to thirty-one on July 18th, in a region covering only 25 km of the southwest coast of Flores Island. After this period of foraging, the whales deserted the study area completely, and only one whale was seen during the month of August. The mysid population regroups slightly after the pressure of foraging whales is released, the number of patches and biomass increase a small amount, exhibiting the expected behavioral response of the prey to re-aggregate into tight swarms. The acoustic method for prey quantification is described in detail as this is a first application of this technology to the mysid-gray whale relationship. In this approach, l demonstrate that the Distorted Wave Borne Approximation model (DWBA) is useful to estimate mysid populations. This study provides a key piece in the progression of eight years of ongoing research on the foraging ecology of gray whales in Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia.

Koh Chang Marine National Park is a popular tourist destination located off the east coast of Thailand. Coral reefs are one of the park's main attractions, and thousands of visitors from around the globe enjoy the opportunity to snorkel or dive in the park's clear, warm waters. Rapid growth in Koh Chang's marine tourism industry over the last decade raises concerns about the ability of some reefs to sustain a healthy and attractive environment. Ecological and social impacts associated with increased levels of marine recreation can transform and even permanently destroy both the character of coral reef ecosystems and the quality of the recreation experience, ultimately resulting in declines in tourism demand. The broad objective of this study was to establish a baseline understanding of the social dimensions of the snorkeling industry in Koh Chang, Thailand, and to recommend a suite of management actions that will sustain economic benefits while still yielding the benefits of protecting aesthetic and biological values. The recreation carrying capacity, Recreation Opportunity Spectrum, and Limits of Acceptable Change concepts were used to guide and inform the research. Data were collected using three primary methods: participant observation, unstructured interviews, and structured questionnaires. Personal observations and unstructured interviews allowed for an assessment of the park's environmental, social, and managerial settings. The tour operator questionnaire was designed to measure the size and characteristics of the snorkeling industry, awareness of environmental impacts, and support for visitor management strategies. The questionnaire was completed by eight tour operators. The visitor survey was designed to gain an understanding of the demographics of snorkelers, satisfactions, knowledge and awareness, and crowding. The survey was completed by 716 snorkelers. Results of the visitor survey suggest that snorkelers have a similar demographic profile compared with reef visitors in other parts of the world. Features of the snorkeling trip that had the greatest potential to add to, or detract from visitor experiences were related to the quality of the natural environment, a finding that is consistent with other studies of snorkelers and divers in coral reef settings. The social conditions were rated among the least important influences on visitors' experiences, a somewhat surprising finding as the number of other people is an important indicator of quality of the visitor experience in terrestrial environments. Overall, visitors were generally satisfied with the physical, natural, and social conditions, but the degree of satisfaction varied among individual snorkeling trip features. The lowest levels of satisfaction were expressed for the social conditions and several features related to the quality and condition of the natural environment. Low levels of satisfaction were also expressed for a number of service features. Results from personal observations, unstructured interviews, and questionnaires suggest that the environmental impacts of use may be significant. On a daily basis, reefs were touched, abraded, kicked, and stepped on by snorkelers, and these inappropriate behaviours can cause considerable damage to benthic organisms and the aesthetic appeal of the reefs. Tour operators' perceptions of impact were close to those defined in the recreation ecology literature, but operators may not be aware of the impact of their own behaviour on the marine environment. Over half of visitors perceived the impact of snorkeling on the reef to be "large/very large", suggesting that visitors have some awareness of the environmental impacts of use. The social impacts of use were also significant, as over 90% of visitors reported feeling at least slightly crowded, and 20% felt extremely crowded. Study results also showed that snorkelers are not a homogenous group. Variability in visitor response was explained in part by the recreation specialization framework, and country of origin. Differences between visitors' level of commitment to snorkeling and the underwater world were apparent between specialists and generalists, and specialization helped explain variability in environmental preferences, sensitivity to environmental impact, knowledge and awareness, and sensitivity to crowding. Visitors with different cultural backgrounds also had significantly different participation characteristics, satisfaction levels, knowledge and awareness, and crowding perceptions. Snorkelers are not homogenous, but unfortunately, the recreation settings provided are. Results from personal observations and interviews suggest that tour operators provide a single, uniform type of snorkeling experience that can be characterized as undeveloped with low levels of regimentation and moderate to high levels of use. Given the variability in the visitor population, provision of a single recreation opportunity may leave many snorkelers less than fully satisfied. This study identified several imminent threats to the quality of the visitor experience, reef conservation, and the sustainable' of the snorkeling industry. Active visitor management planning and resource protection programmes are urgently needed to balance park uses with the capability of the reefs to sustain such use indefinitely. Recommendations that contribute to improved visitor management and reef conservation are provided.

In the 2004 Supreme Court of Canada case of British Columbia v. Canadian Forest Products Ltd. Justice Binnie spoke of "public rights in the environment that reside in the Crown." He then canvassed the public trust doctrine, a well developed concept in the United States, even though none of the parties argued as such. I argue that this signals a shift in Canada towards recognizing the public's right of access to common resources. A new reading of John Locke's natural law theories provides the theoretical basis for limiting property rights, for the common good. I argue the public trust doctrine, a forgotten aspect of the common law, is a fiduciary duty that the state to maintain the right of perpetual access to common resources. Understanding its historical foundations the public trust doctrine has the potential, if articulated from an ecological perspective, to provide for state supervised sustainability for future generations.

A grounded theory study (Charmaz, 2006) explored health care providers' (HCPs) hope processes (hopework) caring for cancer patients facing end of life. A critical social work perspective was used to investigate experiences of nurses, doctors and social workers and counsellors in their work with psychosocial and emotional end of life issues. Health care providers' engaged in a core process of hopework as they faced the ambiguous and uncertain terrain of end of life care. They searched for realistic hope by shifting their professional and personal hopes. This core process was achieved by meaning-based actions that enabled HCPs to tolerate tragic circumstances and to build emotional scaffolding to sustain themselves. The findings indicate that HCPs engage in a parallel process of hopework with their patients to achieve `realistic hopes'. Although concepts of hopework are not easily defined, the processes of hope need to be addressed in the professional training of HCPs to optimize patient care and to prevent damage to patients' vulnerable hopes.

This thesis examines the invasiveness of English ivy (Hedera helix L..: Araliaceae). an exotic horticultural species, in 14 near-urban parks in Greater Victoria. British Columbia. Using descriptive notes from field observations, the overall invasiveness of H. helix is assessed in each park, particularly near park boundaries. Land use associated with the fragmentation of natural habitat directly outside each park is characterised and related to invasion inside the park. Only three of the 14 representative parks examined are not invaded by P. helix. and four are very extensively invaded. ' The analysis of administrative park boundaries supports the hypothesis that H. helix begins invasion inside park boundaries that are adjacent to established residential areas. H. helix is found in moist forest communities of grand fir (Abies grandis) bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) and western redcedar (Thuja plicata). Communities c f Garry oak (Quercus garryana) with black hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii) and English hawthorn (C. monogyna) are heavily invaded and vulnerable to invasion' However. Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forest communities are most heavily invaded and especially at risk of invasion. H helix climbs at least 17 species of trees and tall shrubs. with Douglas-fir trees providing the tallest supports. Other areas in parks vulnerable to invasion by H. helix include woodlands with rich soils, slight canopy gaps. windthrown forest edges, park entranceways and accessways. During the growth season, H. helix shoots were monitored in both heavily and less invaded sites. On average, shoots on the forest floor grew 22 cm per month. and on host trees, shoots grew 17 cm per month. Another growth characteristic of H. helix is that where it is long established on host trees, its stems have radial growth rings viewable in cross-section. These rings are likely annual and sensitive to annual climatic variability. The spread of an introduced liana, a plant form not present in the indigenous flora, has several implications for near-urban forest ecology including altered physical forest structure, hastened tree death and suppression of understory species (e.g. seedlings and shrub species such as salal - Gaultheria shallon and possibly red huckleberry - Vaccinium parvifolium). The increased concentration and range of exotic, horticultural species such as H. helix, in near-urban park and forest fragments, signifies that an exotic species management strategy is urgently needed for habitat and ecosystem conservation.

This thesis investigates the potential advantage of using remote sensing techniques to assess underground transmission tower corrosion. The data used in this study was collected from three electrical transmission towers in the Lower Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada. A comprehensive assessment of the corrosive environments have included the following factors: climate, soil pH, soil moisture content, soil resistivity, overlying plant spectral reflectance, and heavy metal content in soil and vegetation. The principal method of protection against steel tower corrosion is zinc galvanization. As zinc serves as a sacrificial coating, once corroded, it leaches into the soil, and is then absorbed by surrounding vegetation. High concentrations of heavy metals may negatively influence plant growth. Plant Root Simulator (PRS™) probes were used to assess heavy metal supply rates by continuously adsorbing charged ionic species while in soil. Heavy metal content analysis was also conducted on sampled tower vegetation using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer (ICP-AES). Remote sensing techniques, such as field spectroscopy, have great potential for monitoring spectral reflectance variations of various vegetation types and biophysical characteristics. The energy-matter interactions in the UV, VIS, NIR and IR wavelength regions can be used for chemical analysis of compounds and mixtures. The combination of remote sensing analysis techniques, such as NDVI, leaf structural index R110/R810, water content index R900/R970, first order derivative analysis, and continuum removal can provide non-intrusive and continuous monitoring methods for the impact and content of certain heavy metals in plants growing in contaminated soils. However, in this study, the high zinc concentrations recorded from the PRS™-probes and ICP-AES could not be correlated to the reflectance spectra measured by the field spectrometer. Although using zinc as a spectral corrosion identifier was not successful in this thesis, the presence of a chemical process in which by-products were produced and leached into the soil was evident. The integration of remote sensing techniques and underground corrosion explored in this thesis presents unique opportunities for further research in this area of study.

This thesis considers the current Canadian Criminal Code provisions on animal cruelty, and the most recent proposal to amend these provisions, Bill C-50, An Act to amend the Criminal Code in respect to cruelty to animals. The paper argues that Bill C-50, much like the current Criminal Code provisions are reformist in nature and do not signify a fundamental re-conception of the status of animals in Canada. Yet, despite the Bill's shortcomings for many animals and their advocates, the paper argues that Bill C-50 should not be rejected outright as too incremental or ineffectual. Bill C-50 ought to be supported by animal advocates as a significant and positive (albeit modest) stepping stone toward the improved status and welfare of animals in Canada.

This thesis explores the group method of Circlework as an emancipatory tool for social work practice. The intention of this thesis is to better understand how socially popular forms of group work, such as Circlework, can ally with critical feminist, anti-oppressive practice towards personal, interpersonal and community liberation. This thesis draws upon the experiences of five graduate women from a two-year Circlework training program. This thesis begins by examining how Circlework helped to support the women heal and empower their relationships with their bodies, shifting from an alienated to an integrated experience between the body and self. This thesis then examines how the act of bearing witness and being witnessed through Circlework facilitates personal experiences of validation and self-esteem, promotes awareness to our interconnectedness and interrelation with others, and strives to support intentional community building.

As an indigenous leader and member of parliament questions: "What good would having a hundred indigenous members of parliament be, if the system itself is not going to be changed, precisely if we do not propose a structural change? We have to break down the structural system if we really want democracy, if we want to move forward" (Jose Bailaba, Bolivia, August 2003). The thesis looks at the strategies for governance of the indigenous peoples of the Lowlands of Bolivia. It is a journey with key informants from the indigenous movement of the Amazon basin that raises the mariner in which strategies may vary among the peoples over time and in different contexts, while the vision itself remains constant: a vision of governance as nations. It situates their strategies in a context of transnational alliances and negotiations, with varying perceptions of the role of the state and its institutions. The research is based on six years of accompaniment of the indigenous peoples of the Lowlands of Bolivia, as well as on in-depth interviews with leaders who have held roles as community leaders, national leaders, municipal Councillors and Members of Parliament.

The purpose of this thesis is to construct an index of adolescent health and wellness for British Columbia, Canada, using the most recent available data. A three- round Delphi study is used in order to decide on what indicators to include in the index and each indicator’s relative weight. Spatial multi-criteria analysis (MCA) is utilized to combine the indicators into a single measure. The spatial MCA, technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) method was applied to the adolescent population as a whole and to examine male and female variation. This revealed that adolescent health and wellness is not experienced equally across the province. The Health Service Delivery Areas (HSDAs) Fraser South and Fraser North proved to have the greatest levels of adolescent health and wellness while the Northwest has the least. A rural/ urban gradient in adolescent health and wellness was revealed at the HSDA level. Male and female adolescents also experience health and wellness differently, with females achieving higher health and wellness across all HSDAs in the Province when directly comparing the two genders. The findings of this research are useful in informing discussions of resource allocation for reducing inequalities and inequities and in order to target future research.