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This thesis presents the excavation and analysis of Structure D-6 at the Maya city of Ka'kabish in what is now North-Central Belize. Structure D-6, together with Structure D-7, comprise the site's only known ballcourt. Performance theory is used in tandem with the existing literature about the Mesoamerican ballcourt's crucial function within the legitimization strategies of Maya elites to understand Ka'kabish's position in its political landscape. Comparisons are also made between Ka'kabish and Lamanai's markers of elite activity to judge the plausibility of various degrees of political integration between the two sites. This study is significant as North-Central Belize is traditionally overlooked by scholars of the ancient Maya in favor of the more extensively analyzed Central Petén and Yucatan Peninsula, leading to simplified, static constructions of the region's political history. The findings of this study suggest a more dynamic, complex past for these cities and this area than previously thought.

Author Keywords: Ballcourts, Belize, Classic Maya, Monumental Architecture, Performance Theory, Sociopolitical Organization

Despite the extensive application of Baumrind's parenting style typology, some argue that it may not adequately capture the implicit warmth Chinese parents embrace. This study attempted to examine whether mind-mindedness could be a key indicator for helping children understand the benevolent intentions behind their mothers' authoritarian parenting practices. Specifically, this study investigated the variations in parenting styles, mind-mindedness, and children's behavior problems in Canada and China, the relationship among these variables, and the moderating effect of mind-mindedness on the relationship between authoritarian parenting and children's behavior problems. Participants were 83 Canadian and 136 Chinese mother-child dyads. Data on parenting styles, mind-mindedness, and problem behaviors were collected from maternal reports and lab observations. As expected, while Chinese mothers exhibited more authoritarian tendencies than Canadian mothers, their mind-mindedness buffer against the negative effect of maternal high-power strategies on children's behavior problems after controlling for maternal age and education. These results provide new perspectives on understanding Chinese parenting.

Author Keywords: culture, externalizing behaviors, internalizing behaviors, mind-mindedness, parenting styles, preschoolers

This thesis describes the preparation, optimization, functionalization, and characterization of activated carbon materials sourced from a petroleum coke feedstock for the tailored removal of heavy metal species in contaminated waters. The goal of this work is to develop an understanding of the mechanisms that drive adsorption of heavy metals onto activated carbon surfaces. By determining the mechanisms that drive adsorption, activated carbon materials can be modified to increase the efficiency of the adsorption process. The novelty of this work comes from the use, modification, and functionalization of activated carbon derived from petroleum coke, a waste by-product of the oil-sands extraction process, a source not prevalent in current literature. The novelty also comes from the determination of the methods by which heavy metals are adsorbed onto the given adsorbate as literature does not focus on the mechanisms themselves. The work presented sheds light on the specific adsorption mechanisms, with the aim of elucidating how a given material's surface can be enhanced to target a specific analyte. This work focused on the use of microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (MP-AES), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller theory (BET) to obtain the necessary data required for the determination of adsorption mechanisms, adsorption capacities, and surface characterization of the materials. MP-AES is used for the determination of the adsorption capacity of the materials produced. Surface characterization of the materials was done using XPS, and surface area and pore size distributions were determined using BET for surface area determination and nitrogen adsorption measurements following density functional theory for pore size distribution determination. XPS of the activated carbon post-chromium and post-arsenic adsorption show a reduction of the metals from chromium (VI) to chromium (III) and from arsenic (V) to arsenic (III). By increasing the amount of hydroxyl functional groups on the AC surface through a simple thermal-treatment, the chromium adsorption was increased from 17.0 mg/g to 22.4 mg/g. By loading a reducing agent onto the activated carbon surface, an increased number of potential binding sites for the arsenic are loaded onto the AC surface and the adsorption of arsenic increased from 8.1% to 51%.

Author Keywords: Activated Carbon, Adsorption, Adsorption Mechanisms, Arsenic, Chromium, Petroleum Coke

Sexual health education (SHE), specifically formal SHE, can play a key role in offering individuals the necessary information, motivation, and skills needed to maintain and improve their sexual health. This study used a survey-based approach to explore the relationship between Canadians' (N = 675) perceived quality of SHE and their feelings and behaviours related to sexual consent and communication, at two time points. This study was informed by two theoretical approaches: sexual script theory and the theory of planned behaviour. Hierarchical regressions were employed to determine how much the participants' education and demographics explained their attitudes, feelings, and behaviours. Perceived quality of SHE predicted consent feelings, and consent and communication behaviours during participants' first sexual experience, and only verbal communication during their most recent sexual experience. This research has furthered our understanding of the long-term impacts of SHE on feelings and behaviours related to sexual consent and communication.

Author Keywords: first sexual experiences, sexual communication, sexual consent, sexual health education, sexual script theory, theory of planned behaviour

This study examines the intersection between nuclear energy in Ontario, Canada, with popular forces acting upon it between the 1940s and the mid-1980s. It finds that nuclear energy was the target of changing epistemology as society shifted to a post-modern framework in its perception of technology. Technology was irreparably associated with potential encroaching governmental Technocracy. Nuclear was additionally impacted by a societal misunderstanding of the engineering design philosophy, success through failure, as a negative aspect. These factors then combined with the common psychological phenomenon of affective heuristics to produce a society that was fundamentally opposed to nuclear energy on intellectual principles, safety principles, and base psychological principles. It is the finding of this paper that these factors almost assuredly contributed to the cancellations of and shift away from nuclear power in Ontario. This study offers a rebuttal to the overarching popular misconceptions of, and apprehension toward, nuclear energy.

Author Keywords: nuclear, Ontario, post-modern, risk, technology

Institutional claims of university-community engagement in support of the public good and planning for teaching, learning, and research have largely remained in the realm of rhetoric. This thesis analyzes the 2019-2021 Trent University Lands and Nature Areas Plan and public consultation process, which at times was marked by the complete absence of consultation and at other times, wholly inadequate consultation with regards to developments affecting its on-campus food growing system and correlate pedagogy. Using methods from Institutional Ethnography, Participatory Action Learning and Action Research, and the BIAS FREE Framework, I explore how Trent University manages its approach to land-use planning and public consultation, revealing that it is ultimately working at cross-purposes with its foundational principles. I advise that Trent University's current land-use planning model, lacking critical examination and intervention, puts the institution's academic reputation, campus ecological functions, and university-community relations at risk. If perpetuated, this model will be detrimental to the university's capacity to generate new knowledge for teaching, learning, and research, as well as context-specific solutions for its land-use planning. My findings define a new concept of fait accompli planning to describe how and why Trent's public consultation process fell significantly short of both its institutional mandate and claims of robust and comprehensive engagement. I conclude that post-secondary institutions (and beyond) need to implement dialogic approaches to planning that abandon predetermined outcomes and instead foster genuine dialogue toward a collaborative milieu of shared, informed, and deliberate planning practices.

Author Keywords: consultation, fait accompli planning, higher education, land-use planning, organizational behaviour, university-community engagement

This thesis creates an adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest that reshapes the play through a focus on queer identities. Specifically, through setting the play at a Drag club and changing the characters accordingly a nuanced view of how gender roles shape the interactions we have with ourselves, our society, and our environment. The chapters that proceed the adaptation provide evidence and supporting clarification for the ideas brought up in the adaptation.

Author Keywords: Adaptation, Drag, Gender, Queer, Shakespeare

We studied the physiological and molecular responses of lab-grown Daphnia pulex to shifts in dietary (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and cyanobacteria) and growth media (calcium) nutrient supply using a set of potential biomarkers via qPCR. Each examined nutrient had a strong effect on Daphnia mass-specific growth rate, and we found significant dose-dependent effects of treatment level (medium and low) on the gene expression of selected indicator genes. Furthermore, linear discriminant analysis models using different combinations of treatment levels could separate the animals between nutritional treatments with 86-100% prediction accuracy. This would suggest that Daphnia appear able to respond to nutrient limitation by adjusting their growth rate and associated molecular pathways to deal with an insufficient supply of nutrients. While this study provides valuable information regarding Daphnia's ability to adjust physiological and molecular processes under controlled laboratory conditions, more validation needs to be conducted before applying these potential biomarkers to wild populations to assess the type and intensity of nutritional stress.

Population cycles are characterized by predictable temporal oscillations in population size and are influenced by densities of both predators and prey. These oscillations are influenced by the predator functional response, i.e. the influence of prey density on predator kill rate. The Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) is a predatory mammal with cyclic northern populations driven by snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) density. Despite some understanding of the drivers of lynx cycles, we lack understanding of how lynx hunting behaviour, including kill site selection, is influenced by the spatio-temporal distribution of prey. These concepts are explored in chapter one of this thesis.

In chapter two, we (coauthors and I) built on work in Kluane region of the Yukon where lynx and hare populations have been tracked through several population cycles. Over six winters, we deployed GPS collars on >40 individual lynx, some of which were fitted with satellite transmitters, accelerometers, and audio recorders. We validated the use of these technologies for identifying hare kills with an accuracy of >87%. This validation is the foundation for chapter three of this dissertation.

In chapter three, we investigated the drivers of spatial variation in lynx kills. Using snow track transects through four winters of declining hare density, we developed a robust model of habitat-specific hare abundance over time. Using model predictions, in combination with lynx Utilization Distributions derived from GPS locations and related habitat associations, we determined the importance of hare abundance, lynx spatial use, and landscape characteristics such as vegetation density in determining patterns of lynx kills and space use. Lynx kill sites were most strongly predicted by lynx space use, followed by the relative abundance of hares, an index of tree cover density, and elevation. Lynx space use itself was not strongly predicted by hare relative abundance, but rather by a shift to the use of more open habitats when hares were abundant to higher use of denser habitats as hare populations declined; this apparently corresponded to temporal changes in hare distribution. This thesis helps to disentangle the drivers of spatio-temporal variation in predator foraging behaviour, with important implications for understanding predator-prey dynamics.

Author Keywords: animal behaviour, biologging, foraging, habitat selection, Lynx canadensis, predator-prey dynamics

Transracial adoption places the child with a family of a different ethnicity than their own. In the current study we qualitatively examine concerns associated with transracial adoption and investigate the relation between parent-child relationships and child social-emotional problems. Twenty-two adopted girls from China, 20 nonadopted Caucasian girls, and 23 nonadopted Chinese-Canadian girls, between 10-14 years, and their mothers were included. Thematic content analysis of interviews with adoptive mothers revealed that the transracial adoption experience had positive, negative, and neutral aspects. This included the parent-child relationship, the adopted child's view of their physical appearance, and the incorporation of cultural elements into the home. Quantitative analyses revealed no significant differences between the three groups on measures of parent-child relationship quality and child social-emotional functioning, which confirmed findings from the qualitative analysis. In the entire sample there were significant negative relations between quality of parent-child relationship and social-emotional functioning. These results suggest that early age of adoption may help decrease the likelihood of problematic parent-child relationships and social-emotional functioning in adopted children. It would be important to re-examine this question during adolescence when racial identity forms.

Author Keywords: Cultural Socialization, Developmental Psychology, Parent-Child Relationship, Social-Emotional Behaviour, Transracial Adoption