Thesis (M.S.)--Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2008. / "Department of Zoology." Keywords: Cost effectiveness, Illinois, Management, Waterfowl. Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-141). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2008. / "Department of Agribusiness Economics." Keywords: Agriculture students, Recruitment. Includes bibliographical references (p. 52). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2008. / "Department of Educational Administration and Higher Education." Includes bibliographical references (pages 65-68). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University. / The purpose of this dissertation is to trace the development of the Southern Illinois Conference of The Methodist Church. The primary sources for the study were The Minutes of the Annual Conferences, The Minutes of the Illinois Conference, and the Journal of the Southern Illinois Conference. Secondary sources had to be used for much of the early history. Methodism began in England and was brought to America by Wesley's preachers. Francis Asbury supervised the spread of Methodism from the Eastern seaboard into the Ohio River Valley [TRUNCATED]

Foundational cultural theorist Antonio Gramsci noted in his theory of cultural hegemony that the subaltern class must develop and document their culture as it exists because this history counters the dominating message of the ruling class. My digitally recorded music album Ballads of Makanda: a Modern Folklore serves this idea through capturing the modern stories of the rural midwestern village of Makanda, Illinois and recreating them through American roots music. Using ethnographic and auto- ethnographic approaches to compose the music, these compositions, lyrically created from written and oral histories of residents and visitors of the village, speak to the identity of the community. It reveals several perspectives addressing untold, unexpected yet culturally significant narratives relating to gender, laws, myths, survival, and legacy. Not only do I address lyrical content, but the use of melody which has historically served as a tool for collective memory. My work explores the culture of small communities and my own experiences within, and synthesizes these stories into artistic practice to culminate into a music performance of the entire album featuring all the musicians, in order to fill in the narrative gaps of the human condition. Ultimately, I have created a cross-platform media, modern folklore to counter the established media representations that exist around small towns claiming they are culturally bereft, nondescript, uneducated, and poverty stricken due to financial irresponsibility. These messages have aided in the rural diaspora of younger generations seeking economic opportunity and culture in urban areas. These false ideas also create a history which informs an identity that people will assume. As a Southern Illinois local and Makanda resident, I see this project as a service to dispel stereotypes and celebrate the small town culture of Makanda. This is an attempt to preserve history and identity, and fill in the narrative gaps in the vernacular of the culture which inherently is an act of resistance from subjugation.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Southern Illinois University, Dept. of Secondary Education. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: l. 131-133.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Southern Illinois University, Dept. of Secondary Education. / Bibliography: l. 131-133. Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2008. / "Department of Geology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-61). Also available online.

Exotic plant species pose a great risk to restoration success in post-agricultural bottomlands, but little information exists on their dynamics during early succession of actively restored sites. Compositional trends of exotic plants may be similar to those published for natives in other systems, with an early peak in herbaceous richness followed by a decline as woody species establish. I established 16 sites in an 18-year chronosequence (1991-2008) of restored forests, with an additional four mature sites for comparison, within the Cypress Creek NWR, Illinois. Within each site, I identified all vascular plant species and quantified soil texture, total soil C, total soil N, and canopy openness at three strata (1.5m, 1.25m, & 0.75m). Trends in exotic assemblages were significantly correlated with canopy openness at all strata (all p < 0.0001). Richness of exotic herbaceous species and native herbaceous species were related to stand age consistent with a non-linear Weibull regression model (R2 = 0.543, p = 0.005; R2 = 0.483, p = 0.013, respectively). Average percent herbaceous species cover also showed a similar reduction in overall abundance for both native and exotic plants but followed an exponential decay model (R2 = 0.3777, p = 0.0039; R2 = 0.3003, p = 0.0124, respectively). Woody native richness over time conformed to a logistic model (R2 = 0.404, p = 0.012). Woody exotic plants exhibited no discernible relationship with stand age, although they were in sites of all ages. My results indicate that herbaceous exotic species exhibit successional trends similar to natives and therefore may not pose a lasting threat to restoration projects in these floodplain forests. In contrast, woody exotic species can establish earlier or later in succession, persist under closed canopy conditions, and may pose a lasting threat. Thus, bottomland restorations and mature forests are quite vulnerable to exotic plants even after canopy closure.