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This study investigates the political, personal, and policy issues that drive citizens to seek unpaid, elected positions on Pennsylvania's public school boards. This research examines whether school board members are recruited to run for office and considers the role of various recruitment agents such as political parties, interest groups, and non-political community organizations. Trends in political and community engagement among school board members, their potential ambition to seek higher office, and the relationship between elected board members and appointed district superintendents are also examined. The study relies upon a unique dataset gathered through a survey distributed to all of Pennsylvania's nearly 4,500 school board members and a series of interviews with current state legislators who began their political careers by serving on their local school boards. Findings suggest that school board members are enormously engaged in the political and non-political life of their communities. It is also determined that school board members are principally self-starters who do not intend to use their positions as springboards to higher office. These findings are analyzed to help determine the implications for governance at the local level as well as to better comprehend the dynamics of party organizations, interest groups, and other community organizations within Pennsylvania school district politics and elections. / Political Science

The evolutionary history of genes across different species is a subject of research interest. For human genes, there is a particular focus on investigating the possible origins of genes. However, there has been limited research on the development process from an evolutionary perspective. Additionally, most previous studies have focused on model organisms and representative organisms from various eras, with less attention given to primates, which are evolutionarily more closely-related to humans. With the advancement of whole genome sequencing of primates, investigating the genes of various primate species has become a viable possibility. This dissertation work integrates computational insights into the topics of primate and human gene emergence, conservation, and loss. Specifically, this series of studies contributes to three aspects of the topic: (1) the environmental conditions in evolution history that are associated with the emergence of primate and human de novo genes, (2) the evolutionary dynamics of human cancer genes in primates, and (3) gene conservation and loss in primates. Results reveal that primate and human de novo genes and cancer genes share similarities in the time of emergence, peaking later than random human genes and tending to occur in local warm periods in the context of an overall trend of decreasing global surface temperature. Cancer genes are more conserved in their evolutionary origins than random human genes, with two peaks of emergence, one before primates and the other within 20 million years, and have different patterns within the two time periods. Genes with high expression in the human brain exhibit more conservation in their evolutionary origins than those in the immune system or random genes. On the other hand, genes expressed highly in the mouse brain tend to be either prevalent in primates or specific to mouse. Overall, this dissertation work charts the evolutionary history of a number of distinct primate and human genes, elucidates the potential association of ancient environmental factors with primate genomes, provides insights into the origin, conservation, and emergence of cancer genes in primates, as well as examines the conservation and loss of genes in different tissues. The hope is that these results will contribute to a greater understanding of the picture of gene evolution in primate and human genomes. / Doctor of Philosophy / Genes can be seen as tiny instructions inside human bodies that tell individuals how to grow and what they will look like. They are very important to understand how the human body works and to keep every person healthy. Each individual inherits genes from their parents, who carry on the genes from their parents (the individual's ancestors). Similarly, the entire human species collectively has inherited genes from our evolutionary ancestors. Each individual may also have genes that are unique to them due to reasons such as mutations. For a group of species or related species, this may also happen, resulting in genes called de novo genes. In this dissertation human de novo genes, which are unique to humans (Homo sapiens), and primate de novo genes, which are more broadly unique to the primates, are examined. Here, primates include several evolutionarily related species, including apes, monkeys, and humans. This dissertation first explored the emergence of primate and human de novo genes, as well as cancer genes that play certain roles in human cancer, in relation to global surface temperatures estimated at the time. The results suggested that these genes emerged more often during local warmer periods within the general trend of declining temperature in the recent 13 million years. Secondly, this series of studies looked at cancer genes compared to random human genes and found that many human cancer genes were inherited from primate ancestors. For those human cancer genes that were not inherited from such early ancestors, most have emerged within the last 20 million years. Lastly, genes highly expressed in the human brain were examined, and it was found that many such genes were also inherited from primate ancestors, more than those highly expressed in the immune system and random human genes. Genes that are highly expressed in the mouse brain, on the other hand, are often either inherited from common ancestors of mouse and primate or mouse de novo genes.

The present study examined the role of one's own self-perceptions of leadership in predicting both leadership prototypes and leadership perceptions of others. Additionally, this study explored gender differences in leadership prototypes and perceptions of leadership. Participants completed a measure of their own self-perceptions of their leadership traits (i.e., sensitivity, intelligence, dedication, and dynamism) and an instrument that assessed their leadership prototypes (i.e., sensitivity, intelligence, dedication, and dynamism). Next, participants were presented with a 22 minute tape of four actors (2 male, 2 female) portraying mutual fund mangers in a simulated work setting. Participants then rated one male (Bob) and one female (Sue) actor on the specific leadership characteristics (i.e., sensitivity, intelligence, dedication, and dynamism) they exhibited on the tape as well as an overall assessment of leadership emergence and effectiveness. The results demonstrated that leadership prototypes mediated the relationship between self-perceptions of leadership abilities and ratings of leadership characteristics for Bob and Sue. It was also found that the match between perceptions of Bob and Sue and an individual's leadership prototype predicted overall ratings of leadership emergence and leadership effectiveness. Finally, the results from the present study suggested that men and women perceive leadership similarly. / Ph. D.

The primary purpose of this research was to extend current knowledge of the individual differences that are traditionally associated with leadership emergence and to determine whether the individuals characterized by individual differences attributed to transformational leaders were also likely to emerge as a leader in a leaderless group. Leadership behaviors and followers' perceptions of emergent leadership of individuals with Ross and Offermann's (1997) enabling and forceful personality patterns were examined in an emergence setting that facilitates transformational leadership. A secondary purpose of this research was to further our knowledge of the process of leadership. The leadership process defined by Lord and his associates (Lord, Fot & Phillips, 1982; Lord, Foti & DeVader., 1984) was expanded to include relevant elements of Mischel's theory of personality (Mischel, 1999). The contextual influence of the task situation and feedback from others were examined. Individuals did not differ on transformational leadership behavior, but forceful individuals did exhibit a greater proportion of initiating structure behaviors than other individuals and were rated highest on leadership. In addition, there was no evidence of changes in the leadership process due to feedback based on the perceptions of others. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed. / Ph. D.

As organizations utilize less hierarchical forms of leadership, the study of how leadership emerges within teams continues to grow in importance. Despite many theoretical perspectives used to study leadership emergence, little is understood about the actual process by which a collective structure emerges. In the current work, I address two of the primary limitations within this literature: imprecise theoretical perspectives and methodological challenges in studying emergence. Specifically, although there are many conceptual works that describe the leadership emergence process, these descriptions do not have enough precision to be able to design a model with formal rules, a necessary requirement for studying emergence. Additionally, studying leadership emergence requires the study of newly formed teams frequently over time, which is challenging to accomplish using existing methods. To address the two above limitations, in the current work, I translate two dominant process-oriented perspectives of leadership emergence (social interactionist and social cognitive) into formal theories that include a series of testable hypotheses. In doing so, these theories outline the essential elements and process mechanisms of each theoretical perspective. Next, I use these theories to design two agent-based models to simulate the process by which leadership emerges within teams, under each perspective. Using the software NetLogo, I simulate 500 newly formed teams over the initial period of 500 dyadic interactions (i.e., hours). Finally, after simulating these models, I use the resulting data to test the predictions from each theoretical perspective. In addition to testing the hypotheses from each model, I also utilize agent-based modeling to systematically test the relative importance of the unique individual-level elements and process mechanisms from each model. From this entire process, I generate results about (1) how well the agent-based models represent the respective perspectives, and (2) the relative influence each perspective's unique elements and mechanisms have on team outcomes. Overall, results generally supported the core concepts from each perspective, but also identified areas where each perspective needs to revisit for theory on leadership emergence to advance. Specifically, the results illustrated that certain individual-level elements were most influential for leadership emergence. For the social interactionist perspective, it was the comparison between implicit leadership theories and self-prototypical leadership characteristics. For the social cognitive perspective, it was leader self-schemas. Additionally, results indicated that future work may need to revisit the conceptualization of both leadership structure schemas, as well as the dynamic process of weighting implicit leadership theories. Finally, predictions about the rate of leadership emergence over time within the social cognitive perspective were the only predictions that were not supported. From these results, I present multiple themes as a conceptual road map for the advancement of leadership emergence theory. I argue that the lack of support regarding leadership emergence trajectories presents opportunities for a reconceptualization of emergence at the event level, as well as new modeling procedures to capture emergence as it occurs. I also present future study ideas that can directly test the competing assumptions from each perspective. In total, I argue that this work advances the study of leadership emergence by adopting a method that helped integrate two dominant perspectives of leadership emergence, possibly laying the groundwork for the development of a combined formal theory. / Doctor of Philosophy / The purpose of this dissertation was to understand how specific individuals in teams become viewed as a leader, when there is no formal hierarchy. This represents the process of leadership emergence. Most research studying leadership in teams focuses on who becomes a leader. As a result, little is known about the exact process by which certain individuals emerge as a leader. Fortunately, there are theories that represent potential ideas for how this process occurs. However, these theories are difficult to test, as this type of research requires the study of newly formed teams over time, a great methodological challenge. In my dissertation, I attempt to address this challenge by simulating newly formed teams over time using a form of computer simulation called Agent-Based Modeling (ABM). In using ABM, I aimed to learn how two theoretical perspectives both compare and contrast to one another, in how they both explain the process of leadership emergence. In my primary analysis, I simulated 500 teams, working together over a period of hours. After using this data to test a series of predictions, I found that most predictions were supported across each theoretical perspective. This provided evidence that the simulations represented each theoretical perspective. However, the results also showed that certain parts of each theoretical perspective need more research. In recognizing the weaknesses in each perspective in modeling leadership emergence, I introduce multiple opportunities for theoretical integration, in that ideas from both models can be combined into one. Therefore, the findings from this research lay the groundwork for the development of one single theory for how leadership emerges in groups. Ultimately, this could help understand how leadership in teams occurs, which can lead to new interventions to improve team leadership and performance.

When disasters occur, new or informal groups often emerge to assist with the response or have resources that can aid professional disaster managers involved in the crisis. Historically, incorporating these groups into the formal disaster response system under conditions of urgency and uncertainty has been difficult. This mixed-methods, three-article dissertation explores two cases of interorganizational collaboration in which public administrators working to manage the COVID-19 pandemic facilitated and integrated emergent actor participation in the response. The findings of the study point to the potential for disaster managers to routinize the anticipation of emergence by considering those organizations that may be best positioned to facilitate different emergent actors, ways of engaging them before crises occur, and mechanisms that might break down barriers to formal/informal responder collaboration during an acute response. The results of this study have implications for public administration, interorganizational collaboration, and disaster management. / Doctor of Philosophy / Large-scale disasters involve acute dangers to human and environmental health, and often property, creating significant disruption to society. This disruption may challenge public administrators' abilities to manage the size and scope of the impacts, creating an opportunity to work with groups not normally involved in managing disasters but that have unexpected but needed resources. As these new groups may not have the background or knowledge of formal disaster response systems and processes, they may not know how to identify or work with the officials managing the disaster. The COVID-19 pandemic, a complex and relatively uncommon disaster, provides an opportunity to explore the ways in which disaster managers incorporated novel resources and groups as they reacted to the ever-changing demands of the crisis. This dissertation explored two examples of groups of organizations working together in the state of Virginia to manage aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to understand the ways in which disaster managers may be better able to plan for, facilitate, and incorporate new groups into disaster management efforts. The results of this study indicate several ways in which new groups might be integrated into disaster management efforts, including differential implementation of disaster policy, the use of community liaisons to external groups, and technological innovations that reduce barriers to collaboration. Though we can never predict where the next major disaster will strike or what type of hazard it might involve, we can predict that first, it will happen and second, it will bring new groups into the response effort, as well as the need for disaster managers to collaborate with those new groups. As the findings from this project suggest, by considering the ways in which new groups might be better integrated during a disaster, it might be possible to better leverage critical resources to help communities better respond to a disaster.

The purpose of this study was to aggregate the findings of three distinct areas of research into one model of team effectiveness. Specifically, it was hypothesized that, in accordance with prior research findings, aspects of personality related to social intelligence would predict informal leadership emergence. Furthermore, it was predicted that multiple leaders within a team would positively influence that team's subsequent level of performance, through the mediating influence of team mental model similarity and team mental model accuracy. Participants included 40 computer science and engineering teams, who completed their surveys at time one, whereas performance criterion measures were collected at time two. Contrary to prediction, results indicated that social intelligence was not a significant predictor of leadership emergence, and leadership dispersion did not directly impact team performance. However, leadership dispersion positively impacted team mental model accuracy, and team mental model accuracy and similarity positively affected subsequent team performance, as hypothesized. Therefore, the current study provides partial support for a model of team performance that takes into account multiple leadership within teams and its positive influence on the dissemination and development of important, task-related knowledge structures among team members. / Master of Science

Many ecosystems are losing biodiversity, raising concern for the services they provide. However, the extent of loss is uncertain, especially for insects that use freshwater during their life. Further study is needed to assess freshwater insect abundances and diversity. In Central Appalachian streams, macroinvertebrate diversity declines in response to mining-induced salinization and resulting changes to ecosystem processes remain largely unknown, such as how the availability and movement of macroinvertebrate biomass is altered in stream food webs. However, taxa observed are dependent upon sampling effort that could bias diversity-process interpretation. Taxon sampling curves can be used to estimate sampling effort that maximizes the probability of complete community characterization. We sampled six streams in the Central Appalachian region for benthic macroinvertebrates and explored the number of samples needed to capture taxonomic richness in salinized streams. Sampling effort did not differ between reference and salinized streams, though more uneven distributions of macroinvertebrates in salinized streams seemed to necessitate greater sampling effort relative to reference streams. We also used taxon and trait-based sampling curves to expand our understanding of biodiversity and functional responses to environmental change. Because macroinvertebrate biomass and emergence can assess the movement and changes in organic material and energy in response to a salinization gradient, we added them as additional metrics. Macroinvertebrates may have varied responses to a stressor dependent upon life stage, suggesting that assessments relying only on immatures may not fully characterize the effects of salinization. We sampled benthic macroinvertebrate biomass and emergent insect biomass from six streams in the Central Appalachian region to be representative of a salinization gradient. We predicted benthic biomass would either decrease, be maintained by greater density and biomass of salt-tolerant taxa, or increase from a salt subsidy effect, while emergent biomass would decrease disproportionately relative to benthic biomass due to late instar and pupae succumbing to stress. Our results suggest that total benthic macroinvertebrate biomass is maintained along a salinization gradient despite the loss of salt-sensitive mayflies due to compensation by salt-tolerant taxa that experience a subsidizing effect. Emergent biomass was variable among streams with peak emergence occurring in spring, with no apparent negative response to increasing conductivity. The present study can help to further develop metrics of stream ecosystem processes in response to a disturbance gradient. / Master of Science in Life Sciences / Freshwater salinization is a growing, global concern. Pollution and accelerated weathering of rock, caused by human activities, introduce salts to streams and other freshwaters. Surface coal mining is a common land use in the Central Appalachian region and increases leaching of sulfate and other major ions that increase stream salinity, leading to losses of aquatic insect species. Aquatic insects are important to stream processes, such as providing food to other animals, and they can serve as the bioassessments when impacts are suspected. For example, the impacts of salinization on streams are not fully understood despite bioassessments. We sampled aquatic insects from six Appalachian streams with varying levels of salinity. We estimated the sampling effort needed to characterize aquatic larval insect communities in streams with low salinity compared to streams with high salinity. We found that about six samples captured 80 percent of estimated total taxa and that insect communities with greater unevenness required more sampling effort. Such comparisons will allow us to make more informed decisions when sampling aquatic insects and assessing the effects of salts on streams. We also estimated insect biomass in streams using two life stages, larvae and adults, to determine if these life stages would respond differently to salinization. As we expected, total larval biomass slightly increased as the concentration of salt increased, but mayfly biomass decreased. Mayflies are an important and diverse group of insects in Appalachian streams and decreases in their biomass can have consequences for insect communities and stream food webs. Even though emergent insect biomass was found to represent only a small proportion of the larval biomass observed in streams, they represent critical food for terrestrial animals. Estimates of benthic and emergent biomass could be considered to refine bioassessments that support future management and policy regarding surface mining and the rising issue of freshwater salinization.