The goal of the Aquatic Indicators of Land Condition (AILC) project is to develop analytical tools that integrate land condition information with stream condition for improved watershed management within the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Based on the goal of the AILC, two objectives for this study were: to determine the effect of four GIS-derived distance measurements on potential relationships between common BLM landscape stressors (mining and grazing) and changes in benthic macroinvertebrate community structure; and to assess the effectiveness of individual questions on a commonly-used Bureau-wide qualitative stream assessment protocol, the proper functioning condition (PFC) assessment. The four GIS distance measurements assessed for biotic relevance included: straight-line distance, slope distance, flow length, and travel time. No significant relationships were found between the measured distance to stressor and macroinvertebrate community structure. However, the hydrological relevance of flow length and travel time are logically superior to straight-line and slope distance and should be researched further. Several individual questions in the PFC assessment had statistically significant relationships with the final reach ratings and with field-measured characteristics. Two of the checklist questions were significantly related to the number of cow droppings. This may indicate a useful and efficient measure of stream degradation due to grazing. The handling and use of the PFC assessment within the BLM needs further documentation and examination for scientific viability, and the addition of quantitative measurements to the PFC in determining restoration potential would be desirable. / Master of Science

This paper uses a qualitative approach to explore quantitative assessment tools and their use in art therapy research with patients with cancer. An archival method was used to gather articles on cancer research which were compiled from peer-reviewed journal articles available online. The author used a systematic analysis to select articles that met the specific research criteria of working with cancer patients in a medical setting, included the implementation of art therapy, and the administration of a pre- and post-test. Twenty-two quantitative assessments fit these criteria. Further exploration was conducted on the five most common assessment tools. These five assessments were further analyzed for emergent themes and characteristics. These common traits were that all of the assessments were self-report questionnaires, four out of five were Likert scales, the assessments were chosen for their accessibility, and many of the research studies were not accessible to a diverse population. It was concluded that these quantitative assessment tools are helpful in art therapy as they contribute towards creating quantifiable results in the research. It may be useful to implement these assessment tools in further art therapy research with cancer patients in order for art therapy to be more frequently employed in medical settings.

Patients who have/had cancer are often left with emotional distress, as well as, anxiety, and depression amongst other effects. Art therapy based curriculums have been utilized with patients that have/had cancer with promising results of decreasing emotional distress and other effects. Five different art therapy based curriculums are explored through archival research approach. Through this approach, information is collected to explore five research questions that are presented to understand how these art therapy-based curriculums can help patients who have/had cancer. These research questions explore the type of interventions being utilized in the curriculum when the curriculum is being implemented in the patient’s treatment, what the demographics are for the curriculums that are being used, the structure of the workshops where these curriculums are taking place and what the impact was of the curriculums. The significant finding was that interventions such as mindfulness, relaxation activities and reflection on self decreased emotional distress. A more extensive selection of curriculums would have been beneficial in finding more themes and provide evidence that art therapy based curriculums can help the patient that has/had cancer.