My research examines how primary stakeholders interact with Texas' most harvested big game animals: white-tailed deer, which are increasingly impacted by chronic wasting disease (CWD), and feral hogs, which impact the landscape but effectively have no management strategy. Drawing on literature on wildlife governance in Texas, managing property and the commons, and disease landscapes, and broadly framed by themes of political and historical ecology, my research asks: (1) how do management goals for deer and feral hogs compare to hunting practices and hunting culture in Texas? (2) How are deer commodified by the Texas deer breeding industry? (3) How does the commodification of deer by breeders impact deer hunting practices in Texas? To examine how local stakeholders manage CWD and feral hogs, I conducted interviews among 21 stakeholders, including hunters, game wardens, game ranch managers, and deer breeders in Texas, as well as conducting participant observation at three deer conferences. Analysis shows that contrary to my expectations, not all participants viewed feral hogs negatively, with some viewing them as profit-making ventures. Inversely, how stakeholders contend with and understand CWD varies by a stakeholder's ability to generate profit from deer breeding. Furthermore, the majority of participants identified deer breeding operations as …

Software as a service (SaaS) is a primary working pattern and a significant application model for next generation Internet application. Web GIS services are the new generation of the Software as a service that can provide the hosted spatial data and GIS functionalities to the practical customized applications. This study focused on developing a webGIS based application, Soil Moisture-Based Irrigation Scheduling Tool (SMIST), for predicting soil moisture in the next seven days using the soil moisture diagnostic equation (SMDE) and the upcoming seven precipitation forecasts made by the National Weather Service (NWS), and ultimately producing an accurate irrigation schedule based on the predicted soil moisture. The SMIST is expected to be capable of improving the irrigation efficiency to protect groundwater resources in the Texas High Plains and reducing the cost of energy for pumping groundwater for irrigation, as an essential public concern in this area. The SMIST comprised an integration of web-based programs, a Hydrometeorological model, GIS, and geodatabase. It integrates two main web systems, the soil moisture estimating web application for irrigation scheduling based on the soil moisture diagnostic equation (SMDE), and an agricultural field delineation webGIS application to prepare input data and the model parameters. The SMIST takes …

Texas is the leading producer of renewable energy in the U.S, and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) is the largest metropolitan area in the state. Texas has a deregulated energy market, with three types of providers: privatized, public-owned, and co-operatives. Privatized providers compete in the deregulated market, and consumers choose between hundreds of electricity retailers. Public-owned providers are owned by the municipality, and electricity consumers that live within the city limits must use the municipal provider. Electric co-operatives operate similarly where customers within the region must use the co-operative, but instead of being owned by the city, co-ops are owned by the members (customers). To date, the availability, cost, accessibility, and outreach of renewable electricity among these provider types remains unclear. For this reason, my research examines the renewable energy market in DFW by asking: (1) Who has access to renewable energy and how do they understand it? (2) How do electricity retailers distribute and make renewable energy available? and (3) If consumers can choose their provider, why do they select certain electricity plans over others? My findings suggest that while many consumers want or are open to using renewable energy, uncertainties surrounding how to find or choose a provider, price, and …

This study of lithic analysis shifts attention from typological studies to explicitly behavioral analyses, complimenting studies of both intrasite and intersite patterns of variability and change. Analysis of several assemblages from the Placitas Arroyo site complex reveals changing patterns of raw material procurement and selection, core reduction strategies, as well as tool production and discard. The most striking result thus far is the quite uniform emphasis on flake production from well-prepared cores, and the near absence of manufacture or maintenance of bifacial tools, especially projectile points. Associated with common ground stone artifacts, the flaked stone materials may well represent intensive food processing. Regardless, the technological patterns being revealed by this approach illustrate a productive new means to gain insights into changing behaviors in the Jornada Mogollon cultural tradition.