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Fossil midge remains from a sediment core from Lake Stowell, Saltspring Island (48°46’54”N, 123°26’38”W) were used to produce quantitative estimates of mean July air temperature over the last 14,000 years. Chironomid and Chaoborus remains were identified, and multiple models of past temperatures based on transfer functions of northern North American calibration datasets were evaluated. The selected model was used to create the first quantitative paleotemperature estimates for the Gulf Islands region. Inferred paleotemperatures at Lake Stowell varied between 12.1 °C and 18.6 °C over the last 14,000 calendar years. Several major climate phases were identified based on changes in paleotemperature. The base of the record is characterised by a cool lateglacial interval with a minimum inferred July temperature of 12.1 °C. Inferred temperatures generally increased by ~4 °C between ~14,200 and 10,300 cal yr BP but this warming was interrupted by cooling, coincident with the Younger Dryas Chronozone, when inferred temperatures drop ~2 °C from the temperatures immediately preceding this interval. A warm early Holocene extends from ~10,300 to 8100 cal yr BP with temperatures regularly exceeding 16 °C. Following the early Holocene, inferred temperatures decreased to approximately 14.9 °C in the mid-Holocene. After a brief warm peak in the late Holocene, inferred temperatures cooled towards the present. Inferred changes in paleotemperature from Lake Stowell are consistent with other paleoenvironmental studies conducted in southern British Columbia and throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere. Temperature changes at Lake Stowell are muted in comparison to continental sites, which may be due to the influence of marine conditions. This research provides context for other studies in the region, and contributes to our understanding of environmental change since the last glacial maximum. / Graduate / 2017-08-17 / 0426 / 0793 / 0353 / jillian.lemmen@gmail.com

Stream ecosystems have experienced significant negative impacts from land use, resource exploitation, and urban development. Statistical models allow researchers to explore the relationships between these landscape variables and stream conditions. Weighting the relevant landscape variables based on hydrologically defined distances offers a potential method of increasing the predictive capacity of statistical models. Using observations from three grouped watersheds in the Portland Metro Area (n=66), I have explored the use of three different weighting schemes against the standard method of taking an areal average. These four different model groups were applied to four stream temperature metrics: mean seven-day moving average maximum daily temperature (Mean7dTmax), number of days exceeding 17.8 °C (Tmax7d>17.8), mean daily range in stream temperature (Range_DTR), and the coefficient of variation in maximum daily temperature (CV_Tmax). These metrics were quantified for the 2011 dry season. The strength of these model groups were also examined at a monthly basis for each of the four months within the dry season. The results demonstrate mixed effectiveness of the weighting schemes, dependent on both the stream temperature metric being predicted as well as the time scale under investigation. Models for Mean7dTmax showed no benefit from the inclusion of distance weighted metrics, while models for Range_DTR consistently improved using distance weighted explanatory variables. Trends in the models for 7dTmax>17.8 and CV_Tmax varied based on temporal scale. Additionally, all model groups demonstrated greater explanatory power in early summer months than in late summer months.

I hypothesized that Douglas-fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii) standing apart from other trees ('open-grown') will intercept more rainfall than Douglas-fir trees standing near other trees ('closed-canopy'). Open-grown trees differ structurally and are more common in urban settings, yet have been infrequently studied. Existing literature, based primarily on closed-canopy trees, suggests Douglas-fir trees in Pacific Northwest forests intercept approximately 25% of rainfall annually. Because open-grown trees have more vertical leaf area than individual trees in closed-canopy forests, I expected to find higher interception by open-grown trees. I collected throughfall under four open-grown Douglas-firs using six static collectors ('buckets') per tree, and two closed-canopy Douglas-firs using six buckets per tree. I compared their throughfall to the incident rainfall in two adjacent open-field buckets. Gross interception was measured in 53 collections during rainy weather from 16Nov07 to 31Mar08. Over the same period, rainfall per hour, wind speed, gust speed, wind direction, temperature and relative humidity were collected at a weather station located within 1 km of the site. For comparison, average hourly rainfall at Portland International Airport from 1950 to 2005, for the same months of the collection period, showed a comparable number of medium- to high-intensity storms, but more low-intensity storms. I found that incident rainfall for the adjacent open-field buckets totaled 65.6cm and 71.6cm over the study period. Interception values for closed-canopy trees averaged 26%, corresponding to the literature, with results of 22 and 30%. Interception values for open-grown trees averaged 31%, with results ranging from 15 to 45%. Three of the 24 buckets returned overall negative interception rates over five months. Given the lower storm intensity of 2007-08, interception rates may be somewhat high, compared to the historical average. The negative interception rates at three buckets were likely due to their locations under high drip points, as has been observed in other studies. Considering the wide range of canopy architecture among open-grown trees, the high variability in interception was not surprising. My hypothesis was supported by the data, but requires more testing to better generalize these results. Future studies that link open grown tree canopy morphological characteristics to interception are warranted.

This qualitative study of representative bureaucracy examines the extension and limitations of liberal democratic rights by connecting environmental and social history with policy, individual decision making, gender, race, and class in American history. It documents major cultural shifts in a homogeneous patriarchal organization, constraints, advancement, and the historical agency of women and minorities. "Creating a Multicultural Forest Service" identifies a relationship between natural and human resources and tells a story of expanding and contracting civil liberties that shifted over time from women and people of color to include the differently-abled and LGBT communities. It includes oral history as a key to uncovering individual decision points, relational networks, organizational activism, and human/nature relations to shape meaningful explanations of historical institutional change. With gender and race as primary categories, this inquiry forms a history that is critical to understanding federal bureaucratic efforts to meet workforce diversity goals in natural resource organizations.

From 1976 to 1992 Portland General Electric (PGE) -- a private utility based in Portland, Oregon -- operated the Trojan Nuclear Plant near Rainier, Oregon, on the bank of the Columbia River. Trojan was the first commercial nuclear facility in the Pacific Northwest and was the largest such facility in U.S. history. From its origins, Trojan was the focus of growing conflict over atomic energy facilities and their environmental effects, risks, and costs. This thesis traces the history of Trojan, including the conditions in which PGE decided to build the plant as well as the changing conditions in which the environmental movement in Oregon worked to impact the operation of Trojan and the development of further atomic energy facilities in the region. Two sets of values, largely endemic to the region, came into conflict in the debate over Trojan: one which valued preservation of vital natural systems over all else, and another that elevated technological progress to supreme importance in achieving the ultimate social good. Supporters of Trojan and anti-nuclear activists both viewed misinformation about nuclear power as one of the central problems in the way that Oregon residents viewed nuclear power. Although there were many loyal supporters of Trojan, particularly in Columbia County, there were also a great number who viewed the technology cautiously. While both PGE and nuclear opponents worked diligently to sway public opinion, many activists did so by attempting to uncover and publicize hidden information about the design and operation of Trojan, and the nuclear fuel cycle in general. This included efforts throughout the plant's lifetime to develop opportunities for intervention in administrative proceedings, government hearings, and other arenas which often discourage citizen involvement. Related to the public debate over Trojan were ongoing operational difficulties and changing economic conditions, which contributed to the decision PGE announced in 1993 that Trojan would be permanently shut down. This study is based primarily on coverage from newspapers and periodicals, new and extant oral history interviews, documents from the personal files of activists, as well as various archival materials associated with PGE, activist groups, and government agencies.

The killer whales that roam the northeastern Pacific Ocean have been the objects of studies since the 1970s, making them the most well-studied population of orcas in the world. Three distinct ecotypes of killer whales (Orcinus orca), known as residents, transients, and offshores, share these waters. The ecotypes are morphologically and behaviorally distinct to the extent that some scientists consider them separate species, with residents eating salmon, transients specializing on marine mammals, and offshores preferring Pacific sleeper sharks and Pacific halibut. Resident populations have endeared themselves to the region's locals with their striking black and white markings and their tendency to frolic in waters near the shore. However, both of the two resident populations on the coast of British Columbia and Washington State are at risk, with northern residents numbering some 300 and southern residents at just 74 individuals as of December 2018. Three deaths in the span of four months in spring and summer of 2018 brought widespread attention to the southern residents' plight. Live captures of killer whales for aquaria heavily impacted the population in the 1960s and 1970s, and today they face a combination of prey shortages, pollution, and disturbance from vessel traffic. If southern resident killer whales are to persist, federal, local, and state agencies need to quickly take mitigative action.

Climate changes brought on by global warming are expected to have a significant affect on the Pacific Northwest hydrology during the 21st Century. Current research anticipates higher mean annual temperatures and an intensification of the hydrological cycle. This is of particular concern for highly urbanized basins, which are considered more vulnerable to changes in climate. Because the majority of previous studies have addressed the influences of either climate or urban land cover changes on runoff, there is a lack of research investigating the combined effect of these factors. The Rock Creek basin (RCB), located in the Portland, OR, metropolitan area, has been experiencing rapid urban growth throughout the last 30 years, making it an ideal study area for assessing the affect of climate and land cover changes on runoff. Methods for this assessment include using a combination of climate change and land cover change scenarios for 2040 with the semi distributed AVSWAT-X (Arc View Soil and Water Assessment Tool) hydrological model to determine changes in mean runoff depths at the monthly, seasonal, and annual scales. Statistically downscaled climate change results from the ECHAM5 general circulation model (GCM) found that the region would experience an increase of 1.2°C in the average annual temperature and a 6% increase in average annual precipitation between 2030 and 2059. The model results revealed an amplification of runoff from either climate or urbanization. Projected climate change plus low-density, sprawled urban development for 2040 produced the greatest change to mean annual runoff depth (+5.5%), while climate change plus higher-density urban development for 2040 resulted in the smallest change (+5.3%), when compared to the climate and land cover of 2001. The results of this study support the hypothesis that the combination of both climate change and urbanization would amplify the runoff from the RCB during the 21st Century. This has significant implications for water resource managers attempting to implement adaptive water resource policies to future changes resulting from climate and urbanization.

There is growing awareness of the importance of public outreach in archaeology. Many professional archaeologists argue that in order to ensure continued funding we must communicate the relevance of our discipline to the public in a more effective manner. Furthermore, it is often argued that public outreach and education provides perhaps the only reliable defense against looting and rampant psuedoarchaeology. Current outreach activities, however, tend to focus on what archaeologists have discovered about the past. While this type of outreach is important, a more effective model for public outreach would focus on the methods of archaeology, rather than the results. Archaeology, with its focus on multiple lines of evidence, intertwining of the sciences and humanities, and multi-cultural perspective provides a unique model for addressing and answering questions, a model which could serve as a base for education. Promoting the methods of archaeology as an educational model, or at the very least, remembering the methods in our outreach activities, may be, in the long run, the most effective method for establishing the relevance of our discipline.

Construction of the Pacific Northwest-Pacific Southwest Intertie (also known as the Pacific Intertie) began in 1964, following the culmination of a series of interrelated negotiations which included: 1) the planning for the construction and operation of the Pacific Intertie; 2) the passage of federal legislation that put limits on the export of electricity from the regions where it was generated; and 3) the full ratification of the Columbia River Treaty between the United States and Canada. By 1970, with construction complete, the Pacific Intertie allowed for the movement of more than 4,000,000 kilowatts of power among the electrical systems of British Columbia and eleven Western states, including 243 rural electrical cooperatives, municipal systems, and other public agencies. It had essentially become the backbone of the largest electrical grid in the Western world. In addition to widening the marketing area available to power producers throughout the grid, the Pacific Intertie also integrated the operations of the nation's largest hydropower system (Bonneville Power Administration), the largest privately owned electrical system (Pacific Gas & Electric), and the largest municipal power system (L.A. Department of Water and Power) in the country.