An Examination of Current Approaches to Integrative Indigenous and Western Knowledge System Implementation in Water Research and Management: A Case Study Encompassing the Colonized Geographies of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States

The commodification of natural resources and the pursuit of continuous growth has resulted in environmental degradation, depletion, and disparity in access to these life-sustaining resources, including water. Utility-based objectification and exploitation of water in some societies has brought us to the brink of crisis through an apathetic disregard for present and future generations. The ongoing depletion and degradation of the world’s water sources, coupled with a reliance on Western knowledge and the continued omission of Indigenous knowledge to manage our relationship with water has unduly burdened many, but particularly so for Indigenous communities. The goal of my thesis research is to call attention to and advance the value and validity of using both Indigenous and Western knowledge systems (also known as Two-Eyed Seeing) in water research and management to better care for water. To achieve this goal, I used a combined systematic and realist review method to identify and synthesize the peer-reviewed, integrative water literature, followed by semi-structured interviews with first authors of the exemplars from the included literature to identify the challenges and insights that researchers have experienced in conducting integrative water research. Findings suggest that these authors recognize that many previous attempts to integrate Indigenous knowledges have been tokenistic rather than meaningful, and that new methods for knowledge implementation are needed. Community-based participatory research methods, and the associated tenets of balancing power, fostering trust, and community ownership over the research process, emerged as a pathway towards the meaningful implementation of Indigenous and Western knowledge systems. Data also indicate that engagement and collaborative governance structures developed from a position of mutual respect are integral to the realization of a given project. The recommendations generated from these findings offer support for future Indigenous-led research and partnerships through the identification and examination of approaches that facilitate the meaningful implementation of Indigenous and Western knowledge systems in water research and management. Asking Western science questions and seeking Indigenous science solutions does not appear to be working; instead, the co-design of research projects and asking questions directed at the problem rather than the solution better lends itself to the strengths of Indigenous science.

Standard Essential Patent in Telecommunication Standard: United States and China Comparison

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

THE HEALTH OF YOUNG ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES IN THE UNITED STATES: THE COLLECTIVE ROLES OF RISK FACTORS IN SOCIAL ECOLOGIC FRAMEWORK

Background: Over the last few decades, the prevalence of young adults with disabilities (YAD) has steadily risen as a result of advances in medicine, clinical treatment, and biomedical technologythat enhanced their survival into adulthood. Despite investments in services, family supports, and insurance, they experience poor health status and barriers to successful transition into adulthood. Objectives: We investigated the collective roles of multi-faceted factors at intrapersonal, interpersonal and community levels within the social ecological framework on health related outcome including self-rated health (SRH) of YAD. The three specific aims are: 1) to examine sociodemographic differences and health insurance coverage in adolescence; 2) to investigate the role of social skills in relationships with family and peers developed in adolescence; and 3) to collectively explore the association of sociodemographic characteristics, social skills, and community participation in adolescence on SRH. Methods: Using longitudinal data (N=5,020) from the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS2), we conducted multivariate logistic regression analyses to understand the association between insurance status as well as social skills in adolescence and YAD’s health related outcomes. Structural equation modeling (SEM) assessed the confluence of multi-faceted factors from the social ecological model that link to health in early adulthood. Results: Compared with YAD who had private insurance, YAD who had public health insurance in adolescence are at higher odds of experiencing poorer health related outcomes in self-rated health [adjusted odds ratio (aOR=2.89, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.16, 7.23), problems with health (aOR=2.60, 95%CI: 1.26, 5.35), and missing social activities due to health problems (aOR=2.86, 95%CI: 1.39, 5.85). At the interpersonal level, overall social skills developed through relationship with family and peers in adolescence do not appear to have association with health related outcomes in early adulthood. Finally, at the community level, community participation in adolescence does not have an association with SRH in early adulthood. Conclusions: Having public health insurance coverage does not equate to good health. YAD need additional supports to achieve positive health outcomes. The findings in social skills and community participation suggest other potential factors may be at play for health related outcomes for YAD and the need for further investigation.

Lifetime and distribution of ozone and related pollutants in the eastern United States

Most major cities in the eastern United States have air quality deemed unhealthy by the EPA under a set of regulations known as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The worst air quality in Maryland is measured in Edgewood, MD, a small community located along the Chesapeake Bay and generally downwind of Baltimore during hot, summertime days. Direct measurements and numerical simulations were used to investigate how meteorology and chemistry conspire to create adverse levels of photochemical smog especially at this coastal location. Ozone (O3) and oxidized reactive nitrogen (NOy), a family of ozone precursors, were measured over the Chesapeake Bay during a ten day experiment in July 2011 to better understand the formation of ozone over the Bay and its impact on coastal communities such as Edgewood. Ozone over the Bay during the afternoon was 10% to 20% higher than the closest upwind ground sites. A combination of complex boundary layer dynamics, deposition rates, and unaccounted marine emissions play an integral role in the regional maximum of ozone over the Bay. The CAMx regional air quality model was assessed and enhanced through comparison with data from NASA’s 2011 DISCOVER-AQ field campaign. Comparisons show a model overestimate of NOy by +86.2% and a model underestimate of formaldehyde (HCHO) by –28.3%. I present a revised model framework that better captures these observations and the response of ozone to reductions of precursor emissions. Incremental controls on electricity generating stations will produce greater benefits for surface ozone while additional controls on mobile sources may yield less benefit because cars emit less pollution than expected. Model results also indicate that as ozone concentrations improve with decreasing anthropogenic emissions, the photochemical lifetime of tropospheric ozone increases. The lifetime of ozone lengthens because the two primary gas-phase sinks for odd oxygen (Ox ≈ NO2 + O3) – attack by hydroperoxyl radicals (HO2) on ozone and formation of nitrate – weaken with decreasing pollutant emissions. This unintended consequence of air quality regulation causes pollutants to persist longer in the atmosphere, and indicates that pollutant transport between states and countries will likely play a greater role in the future.

EXPOSURE TO EXTREME HEAT EVENTS AND CHRONIC RESPIRATORY DISEASES AMONG A NATIONALLY REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF THE UNITED STATES POPULATION

Previous studies have shown that extreme weather events are on the rise in response to our changing climate. Such events are projected to become more frequent, more intense, and longer lasting. A consistent exposure metric for measuring these extreme events as well as information regarding how these events lead to ill health are needed to inform meaningful adaptation strategies that are specific to the needs of local communities. Using federal meteorological data corresponding to 17 years (1997-2013) of the National Health Interview Survey, this research: 1) developed a location-specific exposure metric that captures individuals’ “exposure” at a spatial scale that is consistent with publicly available county-level health outcome data; 2) characterized the United States��� population in counties that have experienced higher numbers of extreme heat events and thus identified population groups likely to experience future events; and 3) developed an empirical model describing the association between exposure to extreme heat events and hay fever. This research confirmed that the natural modes of forcing (e.g., El Niño-Southern Oscillation), seasonality, urban-rural classification, and division of country have an impact on the number extreme heat events recorded. Also, many of the areas affected by extreme heat events are shown to have a variety of vulnerable populations including women of childbearing age, people who are poor, and older adults. Lastly, this research showed that adults in the highest quartile of exposure to extreme heat events had a 7% increased odds of hay fever compared to those in the lowest quartile, suggesting that exposure to extreme heat events increases risk of hay fever among US adults.

Eighty years 'Owre the Sea': Robert Burns and the early United States of America, c. 1786-1866.

This thesis represents the first extensive critical study of the relationship between Robert Burns and the early United States of America. Spanning literature, history and memory studies, the following chapters take an interdisciplinary approach towards investigating the methods by which Burns and his works rose to prominence and came to be of cultural and literary significance in America. Theoretically, these converging disciplines intersect through a transnational, Atlantic Studies perspective that shifts emphasis from Burns as the 'national poet of Scotland' onto the various socio-cultural connections that facilitated the spread of his work and reputation. In addition to Scottish literary studies, the thesis contributes to the broader fields of Transatlantic, Transnational and American Studies. Previous studies have suggested that Burns's popularity in the early United States might be attributed to his kinship with 'national' American ideals of freedom, egalitarianism and individual liberty. While some of the evidence supports this claim, this thesis argues that it also wrongly assumes a spatiotemporal unity for the nineteenth-century American nation. It concludes by suggesting that future critical studies of the poet must heed the multifarious complexities of 'national' paradigms, pointing the way to further work on the reception and influence of Burns in other 'global' or, indeed, transnational contexts.

"Let Us Sing as We Go": The Role of Music in the United States Suffrage Movement

Music played a prominent role in the United States women’s suffrage movement (1848–1920). Suffragists left behind hundreds of compositions supporting their cause and historical accounts indicate that musical performances were common at suffrage events. With only a few exceptions, scholars have disregarded the music used in this movement, and have underemphasized its significance. This study examines the use of music in the suffrage movement from three perspectives: music with lyrics, titles, and images that espouse women’s enfranchisement; music performed at national suffrage conventions held by the National American Woman Suffrage Association; and music accompanying suffrage parades. Though the music used varies in each case, it is clear that music played an important role in unifying suffragists and underscoring the ideals and goals of the movement.

Visitor guide, United States Botanic Garden.

"4/08."

Visitor guide, United States Botanic Garden.

"8/08."

Visitor guide, United States Botanic Garden.

"10/2011."

Investigation of un-American propaganda activities in the United States : Hearings before a Special Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Seventy-fifth Congress, third session-Seventy-eighth Congress, second session, on H. Res. 282, to investigate (1) the extent, character, and objects of un-American propaganda activities in the United States, (2) the diffusion within the United States of subversive and un-American propaganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a domestic origin and attacks the principle of the form of government as guaranteed by our Constitution, and (3) all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Congress in any necessary remedial legislation.

Martin Dies, chairman.

Conference Report of the First Meeting of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, 21-23 May 2009, Department of American Indian Studies, University of Minneapolis, Minesota, United States of America

Report provided back by Bronwyn Fredericks on her participation at the First Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Meeting held 21-23 May 2009 in Minnesota, United States of America.