Graduate dissertations & theses
Following is a list of dissertations and theses that have been completed by students in the Curriculum in Ecology.
Doctoral Dissertation Titles
| Elizabeth Selig | 2008 Ph.D. |
Effects of Changing Temperatures on Coral Reef Health: Implications For Management |
| Dane Kuppinger | 2008 Ph.D. |
Post-fire vegetation dynamics and the invasion of Paulownia tomentosa in the southern Appalachians |
| David Luther | 2008 Ph.D. |
The evolution of communication in a complex acoustic environment |
| Amy Cooke | 2007 Ph.D. |
Subdividing the savanna: the ecology of change in northern Tanzania |
| Gabriel Cumming | 2007 |
Explorations in discursive ecology: addressing landscape change with rural North Carolinians |
| Brandie Fariss | 2007 |
Finding common ground: Conservation, development and indigenous livelihoods in the Huascaran Biosphere Reserve, Peru |
| Meghan McKnight | 2007 Ph.D. |
Broad-scale patterns and determinants of beta diversity |
| Eileen McDaniel | 2007 Ph.D. |
Are “Part-time Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)” effective? Empirical investigations regarding the biological and social aspects of designing MPAs for the real world |
| Todd Jobe |
2006 Ph.D. |
Biodiversity and scale: determinants of richness in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. |
| Bradley Lamphere |
2005 PhD |
Movement and gene flow in an actively sedentary stream fish, the mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdi) |
| Laura Jackson |
2005 Ph.D. |
The relationship of land-cover patterns to lyme disease. |
| William Messer |
2003 Ph.D. |
The evolution of dengue virus type 3 in association with the emergence of dengue hemorrhagic fever in Sri Lanka. |
| Jonathan Grabowski |
2002 Ph.D. |
The influence of trophic interactions, habitat complexity, and landscape setting on community dynamics and restoration of oyster reefs |
| Rebecca Brown |
2002 Ph.D. |
Biodiversity and exotic species invasion in southern Appalachian riparian plant communities |
| Susan Crate |
2002 Ph.D. |
Cows, kin and capitalism: the cultural ecology of Viliui Sakha in the Post-Socialist Era |
Gregory |
1999 Ph.D. |
Disturbance and predation mediated by ant-plant-wasp mutualisms |
| Jonathan Harrod |
1999 Ph.D. |
Disturbance history and ecological change in a southern Appalachian landscape: western Great Smoky Mountains National Park 1936-1996 |
| Flora Lu |
1999 Ph.D. |
Changes in subsistence patterns and resource use of the Huaorani Indians in the Ecuadorian Amazon |
| Guy DiDonato |
1998 Ph.D. |
An experimental investigation of interactions between two freshwater mussels, Elliptio Waccamawensis and Leptodea Ochracea, in Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina: effects of environment and scale |
| Jacob Kann |
1998 Ph.D. |
Ecology and water quality dynamics of a shallow hypereutrophic lake dominated by cyanobacteria (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) |
Claire |
1997 Ph.D. |
Local and regional variation in the vegetation of the southern Appalachian Mountains |
| James DeCoster |
1996 Ph.D. |
Impacts of tornados and hurricanes on the community structure and dynamics of North and South Carolina forests |
| Meg Falter |
1996 Ph.D. |
The impact of Megalopteran predators (Corydalus cornutus) on stream macrobenthic community structure |
Patti |
1995 Ph.D. |
Connection on the ice: environmental ethics in theory and practice |
| Joseph Poston |
1995 Ph.D. |
Male competition for mates and mechanisms of mate choice by females in the boat-tailed grackle (Quiscalus major). |
| Kathryn Rowland |
1995 Ph.D. |
An experimental study of the effects of phosphorus level and nitrogen:phosphorus ratio on zooplankton community structure |
| Jeffrey Nekola |
1994 Ph.D. |
Ecology and Biogeography of Isolated Habitats: Fens and Algific Talus Slopes in Northeastern Iowa |
| Margaret Wohlenberg |
1994 Ph.D. |
Ecology of a temperate coral |
| Jean Boal |
1993 Ph.D. |
An assessment of complexlLearning in octopuses |
| William Ehinger |
1992 Ph.D. |
Experimental studies of the effects of nutrients and Daphnia grazing on phytoplankton biomass and growth in a eutrophic lake (Agency Lake, Oregon) |
| Alice Carberry |
1991 Ph.D. |
Green-tree Impoundment and municipal sewage effects on abiotic phosphorus retention in a Piedmont bottomland wetland |
| Molly Anderson |
1989 Ph.D. |
Practices and values of North Carolina alternative farmers |
| Bradley Foster |
1988 Ph.D. |
The significance of body size variation in populations of the land snail Mesodon normalis |
| Barry Read |
1988 Ph.D. |
Bright leaf and red clay: family farming and soil conservation in Piedmont, North Carolina |
| Ernest Stevens |
1988 Ph.D. |
Kin selection and cooperative breeding in the stripe-backed wren (Campylorhynchus nuchalis) |
| Jerome Diamond |
1984 Ph.D. |
History, disturbance and colonization: effects on lotic macroinvertebrate assemblages |
| Mérida Mercado- Escobar |
1983 Ph.D. |
Natural resource conservation and small-scale farming in the eastern highlands of Puerto Rico: social and historical perspectives |
| Timothy Brown |
1982 Ph.D. |
Feeding habits, habitat distribution, and coexistence in two species of Chaoborus larvae |
| Kenneth Kneidel |
1982 Ph.D. |
Disturbance and diversity in communities of carrion-breeding diptera |
| Philip Ganter |
1981 Ph.D. |
The effect of population structure on growth rate, survivorship, reproduction, and aggregation behavior of Armadillidium nasatum and Armadillidium vulgare |
| Paul Carlson |
1980 Ph.D. |
Oxygen diffusion from the roots of Spartina alterniflora and the role of Spartina in the sulfur cycle of salt marsh sediments |
| Ronald Kneib |
1980 Ph.D. |
The sesponses of a soft-sediment intertidal community to experimental manipulations of the population size structure and density of a predator, Fundulus heteroclitus |
| Janet Schroeder |
1980 Ph.D. |
Whistled song as communication in the tufted titmouse (Parus bicolor) |
| Raymond Plotecia | 1979 Ph.D. |
Experimental analysis of chemically mediated interactions in populations of tree-hole mosquito larvae |
| Laura Yarbro |
1979 Ph.D. |
Phosphorus cycling in the Creeping Swamp floodplain ecosystem and exports from the Creeping Swamp watershed |
Elgene Box |
1978 Ph.D. |
Ecoclimatic determination of terrestrial vegetation physiognomy |
| Cleber Alho |
1977 Ph.D. |
Spatial distribution of Peromyscus leucopus in different habitats |
| Kerry Rabenold |
1976 Ph.D. |
Foraging strategies, diversity, and seasonality in Appalachian spruce-fir bird communities |
| Richard Reader |
1973 Ph.D. |
Leaf emergence, leaf coloration, and photosynthetic period-productivity models for the eastern Deciduous forest biome |
Master Theses & Reports
| Carly Apple | 2007 M.S. |
How we learn about climate change: Environmental education in North Carolina |
| Neville Handel | 2007 M.A. |
Habitat Loss and Fragmentation in the Landscape |
| Andrea Jones Gramling |
2006 M.S. |
A conservation assessment of Packera millefolium, a southern Appalachian endemic |
| Sarah Marcinko | 2006 M.S. |
Pattern and process in rare plant conservation: an assessment of the southeastern U.S. |
| Andrew George |
2006 M.A. |
Conservation management and public participation: addressing democratic decision-making for U.S. National Forests |
| Jessica Kaplan |
2005 M.A. |
The relation of understory grasses in longleaf pine ecosystems to fire and geography |
| Scott Ensign |
2004 M.S. |
Nutrient dynamics in coastal North Carolina streams: spatial/temporal variation and processes influencing nitrogen and phosphorus uptake |
| Kristin Taverna |
2004 M.S. |
Mature hardwood forests of the central Piedmont of North Carolina: landscape distribution and understory change |
| Jill Trufant |
2003 M.A. |
Holly Springs, N.C.: one place, two times, two questions of enviornmental justice: landfill siting and demographic change. |
| Michelle Cawley |
2003 M.A. |
Habitat modeling of invasive plants in Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
| Christy Geraci |
2002 M.A. |
The influence of land cover on the benthic macroinvertebrate community structure in the Little Creek and Morgan Creek watersheds |
| Sandra Maunz | 2002 M.A. |
Interactions of stream channel geometry, riparian species distribution and land cover in an urban watershed |
| Miriam Batchelder | 2002 M.A. |
Assessing the effects of landscape conditions on fish community structure at multiple scales: the impact of urbanization on North Carolina Piedmont streams |
| Mark Knott |
2001 M.A. |
Prescribed burning activity in remnant longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystems of North and South Carolina: patterns,uinfluencing factors, and policy recommendations |
| Chris White |
2001 M.S. |
Harvesting as Healing: The significance of a land-based economy in Northern Canadian Aboriginal Communities |
| Mary James |
2000 M.A. |
Legumes in loamy soil communities of the Carolina sandhills: their natural distributions and performance of seeds and seedlings along complex ecological gradients. |
| Rebecca Vidra | 2000 M.A. |
Developing a landscape approach to ecological restoration |
| Rebecca Crist | 1999 M.S. |
Man in the Forest: A critique of National Park Service forest management policy in Glacier National Park, Montana |
| Seth Lambiase | 1999 M.A. |
Interspecific life history variation in the land snail genus Mesodon |
| Alaä Wally |
1999 M.A. |
Seedling Recruitment of an endangered Appalachian endemic (Sarracenia jonesii) and implications for site management |
| Rickie White |
1999 M.A. |
The impacts of Hurricane Fran on a North Carolina Piedmont woodland |
| Patricia D'Arconte | 1998 M.A. |
The effect of different suburban housing densities on stream macroinvertebrate assemblages |
| Sarah Rollins | 1997 M.A. |
Calcareous Glade Communities in the Central Basin of Tennessee: the effects of scale on community classification |
| Adam Smith |
1996 M.A. |
Local versus regional processes in lotic macroinvertebrate communities: the control of species diversity across scales |
| Stephanie Wilds |
1996 M.A. |
Gradient analysis of the distribution of flowering dogwood (Cornus florida L.) and dogwood anthracnose (Discula destructiva Redlin.) in western Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
| Gwen Thunhorst |
1995 M.A. |
The Seed Bank as a Buffer to Change in Population Size, Distribution, and Genetic Composition in the Rare Plant Rhexia aristosa at Antioch Church Bay with Implications to Conservation |
| Pablo Suarez |
1994 M.A. |
Socio-cultural silhouettes of colonists in the Ecuadorian Amazon: a case for a participatory approach to people/environmental relations |
| Keith Taulbee |
1994 M.S. |
Incorporation of farm-level survey data into a GIS: preliminary analysis in the Pacayacu region, northeast Ecuador |
| Merri Hart White |
1994 M.A. |
Patterns of movement of benthic macroinvertebrates: potential upstream effects of pollution |
| Clayton | 1992 M.S. |
The question of Antarctica: environmental protection and international policy-making |
| Suzanne Krolikowski |
1992 M.A. |
Interactions between bacteria, carbon, and chlorophyll a in an experimental freshwater ecosystem |
| Kwang-Cheng Liu |
1991 M.A. |
Effects of ammonium:nitrate supply ratios on the outcome of phytoplankton resource competition |
| Brian Palmer |
1991 M.A. |
Regulating and evaluating the introduction of exotic and transplanted species of fish: the state of the art and the state of the practice |
| Thomas Margolis |
1990 M.A. |
A history of land use changes in Sao Paulo, Brazil: the patterns and forces behind environmental degradation |
| Martin Martinez |
1990 M.A. |
Municipal solid waste management in developing countries |
| Christopher Prescott |
1988 M.A. |
Sources of predatory mortality in the bay scallop, Argopecten irradians: interactions with seagrass and epibiotic coverage |
| Edwards | 1985 M.S. |
The distribution and abundance of epilithon in small woodland streams |
| Sue Ann Gardner Shreve |
1985 M.A. |
The effect of clumping on population dynamics in the ribbed mussel, Geukensia demissa |
| Abby Goldsmith |
1985 M.A. |
Ecological implications in biomonitoring water quality |
| Govert | 1983 M.S. |
Biological diversity: its meaning, preservation and management |
| Nancy Kleer |
1983 M.S. |
Terrestrial effects of acid deposition: a review of the evidence and policy considerations |
| John Pye |
1983 M.A. |
Erosion and windrowing: soil losses due to intensive forestry practices |
| David Conlin |
1976 M.A. |
Distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates in a Mid-Atlantic Piedmont reservoir with localized effects due to sodium chloride and eutrophication |
| Ronald Kneib |
1976 M.A. |
Feeding, reproduction, growth and movements of killifishes on a North Carolina salt marsh |
| Yolande McCurdy |
1975 M.A. |
An ecosystematic analysis of the vegetation of Hanging Rock State Park, Danbury, North Carolina |
| James Summers |
1975 M.A. |
An ecological approach to suitability and alternatives analyses: the proposed Shearon Harris nuclear power plant |