CWU's Cultural and Environmental Resource Management (CERM) Master's Program offers students an interdisciplinary resource management curriculum drawing from Geography and Anthropology, as well as Biology, Economics, History, Philosophy, and Political Science. CERM offers two emphases: Cultural Resource Management and Natural Resource Management. Program objectives include further qualifying students for management positions in resource fields and promoting wiser and more effective management of resources in the future.
This collection features theses from Master of Science students in the Cultural and Environmental Resource Management Program at Central Washington University.
Theses from 2024
Obsidian Occurrence and Frequency from the Upper Middle and Lower Upper Columbia River, Elizabeth Armstrong
Effects of Tillage on Soil Health in Dryland Triticum aestivum Fields of Mold, WA, Lisa Marie Matthews
Late Holocene Fire History Reconstruction of Beaver Lake in the Northwest Lowlands of the Olympic Peninsula, Grace McKenney
Measuring the Effectiveness of Carbon Pricing: The Impact on Corporate ESG Performance and Carbon Emissions, Betty Mittelstaedt
Echoes of Internment: A Study of the Removal and Reuse of Buildings from the Former Minidoka War Relocation Center, Idaho, Ian Lennon Reischl
Fire-Vegetation-Climate Interactions: An 8,000- Year Long Paleoecological Reconstruction from Round Lake, Idaho (USA), Audrey Scott
Quantifying the Ecological Effects of Salix fragilis on Riparian Habitat in Kittitas County, Washington, Landon Shaffer
LGBTQ+ Heritage in Kittitas County, Washington, Tiernan VanSuetendael
Theses from 2023
An Assessment of "Long-Thin" Airline Routes: Network Structure and Emissions Implications for Environmental Policy, Porter Burns
The Impact of Subjective Risk Analysis on Real Estate Prices in the Nisqually Region Following the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake, Ryan Espedal
WINDBLOWN SNOW BEDFORMS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON SNOW WATER CONTENT WENATCHEE RANGE, WASHINGTON, Ryan Hampton
Ballistic Experiments with a Sample of 3-D Printed Columbia Plateau Projectile Point Types, Aren Orsen
Zooarchaeology of the Grissom Site (45KT301), Kittitas Valley, Washington, Steven Spencer
Theses from 2022
Hanford Nuclear Site Cultural Resource GIS Analysis: A Case Study Investigating Pre-Contact Travel Networks and Site and Artifact Locations, Luciana R. Chester
A Contentious Crop: Exploring the Regulatory Debate of Solar Power Production Facilities in Kittitas County, Washington, Daphne Condon
Characterizing and Predicting Beaver Pond Habitat in Kittitas County, Washington, Kylie Vroman
Higher Education and Food Access: A Case Study of Food Access Initiatives and Their Community Impact, Rebecca Wheaton
Theses from 2021
Raw Material Usage and Stone Tool Manufacture in the Elwha River Valley, Zachary C. Allen
Rock Glacier Hydrological Significance in a Warming World: A Geoecological Transect in the North Cascades, Washington, Jessica Abadie Coffey
Evaluating the Analytical Contribution of 1/8-Inch (0.32 Centimeter) Lithic Debitage at the Sunrise Ridge Borrow Pit Site (45PI408), David R. Davis
A Regional Synthesis of Post-Glacial Fire History in the Eastern Cascades, Washington, Using Macroscopic Charcoal Analysis, Brynn Harrison
Quantifying the Impact of Remapping Floodplains on Residential Property Values in Snohomish County, Washington: A Hedonic Approach, Carson Joseph Risner
An Analysis of Tachylyte and Other Volcanic Glasses in Washington Archaeology, Mallory M. Triplett
Evaluating the Spatial Trends and Statistical Determinants of Residential Solar Uptake in Washington State, Caleb Michael Valko
Theses from 2020
Tekison Cave: A Case Study in Archaeological Collection Rehabilitation and Accessibility, Jackey Anderson
Sampling the Local Fare: Fishes at the Sam Israel House Pit (45GR76), Soap Lake, Washington, Adam Fruge
Investigating the Spatial and Statistical Dimensions of Mortuary Choice in the Historical-Period Old City Cemetery in Roslyn, Washington, Sarah Rain Hibdon
Modeling Cle Elum Reservoir Shoreline Erosion: GIS Analysis to Support Cultural and Environmental Resource Management, Yakima Basin, Washington, Michael H. Horner
Recovering Lost Information From Avocational Projectile Point Collections, Mackenzie Hughes
The Economic Impact of Forest Harvest Practices on Washington State Park Visitation, Tyler Humphries
A Resource Management Analysis of Olympia and Pacific Oysters in Puget Sound, Liliana Kaeding
A Functional Analysis of Recorded Pre-Contact Archaeological Sites on Lopez Island, Washington, Julia Kunas
Comparing Rusle LS Calculation Methods across Varying DEM Resolutions, Amanda Moody
Distribution of Invasive Plant Species on Debris Cones at Mount Rainier National Park, Shaun Morrison
Evaluation of the Relationship Between Land Use and Water Quality in Kittitas County, WA, Lindsay Schulz
The Economic Impacts of Soil Remediation Efforts at Lead Arsenate Contaminated Sites in Yakima County: A Hedonic Approach, Seth Urbanski
Theses from 2019
Identifying the effects of land use and policy on disturbance regimes in the Teanaway Community Forest, Washington, Savannah Bommarito
Rock Imagery: A Cultural Landscape Analysis in the Yakima Uplands, Jessica Eliana Delgado-Morris
Post-Glacial Fire History of Horsetail Fen and Human-Environment Interactions in the Teanaway Area of the Eastern Cascades, Washington, Serafina Ferri
Faunal Analysis of the Mesa 12 Archaeological Site (45GR144): Grant County, Washington, Justin Fitzpatrick
Measuring Trace Element Concentrations in Artiodactyl Cannonbones using Portable X-Ray Fluorescence, Joshua L. Henderson
Estimating the Economic Value of Rock Climbing in Smith Rock: An individual travel cost approach, Cassandra Koefod
Suction Dredge Mining Impacts on Pacific Lamprey Populations and Habitat in Washington State: A Case Study of the Entiat River, Jaime Liljegren
Incorporating User Data in Cross Boundary Trail Mangement: A case study of the foothills trail systemnear Wenatchee, WA, Beth Macinko
Terminal Illness: The Political Ecology and Political Economy of the Millennium Bulk Coal Export Terminal, Longview, WA, Paige McNorvell
Holocene Fire History Reconstruction of a Mid-Evaluation Mixed-Conifer Forest in the Eastern Cascades, Washington, Zoe Rushton
Water and Life. A Cross-Sectional Study on Determinants of Beverage Consumption and Water Access in One Tribal Community, Christina White
Theses from 2018
Variability in the Debitage of the Early Holocene Lithic Assemblages of the Sanders (45KT315) Site, Alexis Dyson
Embodying The Hyphen: An Ethnography On Korean Adoptees, Barbara Hammersberg
Postglacial Fire, Vegetation, and Environmental Change in the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area, Okanogan County, Washington (USA), Kevin Haydon
Rock Features of the Upper Klamath Basin: An Integrated Approach to Identification, Roman Jakien
Abandoned Mine Land Impacts on Tributaries in the Upper Yakima River Watershed, Eastern Cascades, Washington, Scott Kugel
Evaluating Floodplain Hydrologic Connectivity, Yakima River, WA, Cristopher Morton
Geomorphic Consequences of Hydroelectricity and Transportation Development near Celilo Falls, Lower Mid-Columbia River, Washington, Noah I. Oliver
Residential solar in Washington State, Sam Pfeifer
Two Post-Glacial Sagebrush Steppe Fire Records at the Wildland-Urban Interface, Eastern Cascades, Washington, Dusty Pilkington
The Economic Impact of the Oso Landslide: A Hedonic Approach, Sarah Pratt
Internal composition, structure, and hydrological significance of rock glaciers in the Eastern Cascades, Washington, Adam Riffle
Water Demand, Adaptive Capacity, and Drought: an Analysis of the Upper Klamath Basin, Oregon and California, Patricia Snyder
The Origin of Dark Mats at the Sunrise Ridge Borrow Pit Site (45PI408) Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, Sean Stcherbinine
Intertidal Habitat Utilization by Endangered Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris), Willapa Bay, Washington, Luke Stilwater
Ecological Effects of Overwater Structures on Subtidal Kelp, Northern Puget Sound, Washington, E. Jhanek Szypulski
Theses from 2017
The Hidden History of Western Washington Logging Camps: St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company’s Camp #5 ca. 1934-1947, Kayley Bass
Data Potential of Archaeological Deposits at the Chelan Station Site, Matthew J. Breidenthal
Monitoring Reduction Efforts for PM2.5 in Ellensburg,WA Using Community-Based Social Marketing to Examine Behavioral Change, Kelsey Gibbs
Vertebrate Faunal Analysis of The Anderson Creek Site (45KP233), Robert Holstine
The Economic Impacts of Forest Timber Methods in Washington State: a Hedonic Approach, Kaleb Javier
Upland Land Use and Intersite Lithic Assemblage Variation Across Two Rockshelter and Three Open-Air Archaeological Sites in Mount Rainier National Park, Caitlin Limberg
Tracing Ainu and Pre-Ainu Cultural Continuity Through Cladistic Analysis of Faunal Assemblages, Christopher Lowry
The Economic Impacts of Soil Contamination in Wenatchee, WA, Jessica R. Martin
Comparing a Surface Collection to an Excavated Collection in the Lower Skagit River Delta at 45SK51, Sherri M. Middleton
The Economic Impacts of Cougars in Western Washington, Todd Stoothoff
Fracked Perceptions: Changes in Perception Regarding Hydraulic Fracturing Among Residents of Dimock, Pennsylvania., Brian Straniti
Why Now?: A Case Study of Split Estate and Fracking Activity in Garfield County Colorado, Janessa Zucchetto
Theses from 2016
Land Use Variation on Mid-Columbia Plateau Upland and Lowland Archaeology Sites, Cathy J. Anderson
Alternatives to Charcoal for Improving Chronometric Dating of Puget Sound Archaeological Sites, James W. Brown
Hiker Trash and Trail Dogs: An Ethnographic Inquiry into Human Nature in the Trail Space, Jody A. Chinchen
The Role of Fire in Montane Forest Environments in the Willamette National Forest, Oregon, Tamara G. Cox
In Search of Heterotopia: Immersive Experiences in the Museum, Nicolas Crosby
Species Identification of the Stylohyoid Bone for North American Artiodactyls, Thomas A. Hale
The Life Cycle of Dams: An Analysis of Policy Change on the Rogue River, Oregon, Wendy McDermott
An Economic Approach to Modeling Archaeological Settlement Patterns in Central Idaho, Anthony J. Saunders
Defining Biodiversity: A Local Assessment of the Tahuayo River, Peru Using Self-directed Photography, Rozsika D. Steele
Mapping and Radiocarbon Dating Archaic Period Monuments: La Alberca Structure Complex, Highland Michoacán, Mexico, Mark F. Steinkraus
Sustainable Safari Practices: Proximity to Wildlife, Educational Intervention and the Quality of Experience, Ryan Devine Tarver
Everyday Farm Life in the Moxee Valley 1915-1950: Historical Ethnography, Terri Towner
Theses from 2015
A Zooarchaeological Analysis of the Monashka Bay Site (KOD-026) Kodiak Island, Alaska, Ayla Aymond
The Economic Impacts of Forest Pathogens in Washington State: A Hedonic Approach, Logan Blair
Using Particle Size Analysis to Separate the Deposition of a Bonebed and Artifact at the Wenas Creek Mammoth Site, Genevieve Brown
SIGNIFICANCE EVALUATION OF THE FORGOTTEN CREEK SITE, Joy D. Ferry