Mountain Scholar
Mountain Scholar is an open access repository service that collects, preserves, and provides access to digitized library collections and other scholarly and creative works from Colorado State University and the University Press of Colorado. It also serves as a dark archive for the Open Textbook Library.
Communities in Mountain Scholar
Select a community to browse its collections.
- Explore the Colorado State University community’s scholarly output as well as items from the University at large and the CSU Libraries.
- A limited number of titles are available here. To see all OTL titles, please visit the Open Textbook Library at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks. Only Open Textbook Library staff have access to all OTL Archive titles held in Mountain Scholar.
- Access is limited to University Press of Colorado members. Non-members: to purchase books, please visit https://upcolorado.com/.
Recent Submissions
Digitizing CSU campus into Esri's ArcGIS
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Hartshorn, Alexander, author; Bombaci, Sara, advisor; Horton, Kyle, advisor
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) offer unparalleled opportunities to organize, analyze, and display data. For this project, a digitized map of CSU's campus was created in ArcGIS to act as a database for spatial information of layers such as buildings, streets, trees, bike racks and other prominent outdoor objects. Measurements and details about each layer were also recorded and included within attribute tables and captioned metadata listed inside the project. Steps of the project can be divided into collecting vast amounts of data in the field, organizing it into software applications using code and Excel, and completing small projects with the data within R and ArcGIS. The resources provided by this map offer many applications for students and faculty needing detailed spatial information about CSU and serve as great baseline data for more detailed and up to date mapping in the future.
Influence of pre-fire beetle kill on post-fire hairy woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus) abundance in the Southern Rocky Mountains, Colorado
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Jones, Lilly N., author; McTigue, Leah, advisor; Kanatous, Shane, adviosr
Increasing wildfire frequency and severity in the western United States, combined with widespread bark beetle outbreaks, have significantly altered forest ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains. These interacting disturbances are reshaping post-fire habitats, particularly for cavity-nesting birds such as the Hairy Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus). This study aimed to assess how proximity to beetle-killed forest stands influenced Hairy Woodpecker relative abundance following the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire in the Southern Rocky Mountains, Colorado. We deployed automated recording units (ARUs) at 19 sites within and around the burn perimeter during summer 2023. Recordings of bird calls were analyzed using acoustic identification software to quantify woodpecker detection. Distances to beetle-killed areas were calculated using U.S. Forest Service data and geospatial analysis. A linear regression model revealed a significant negative relationship between woodpecker abundance and distance to beetle-killed forest stands (p < 0.01), with closer proximity associated with higher abundance. These results provide valuable insight into habitat selection by cavity-nesting woodpeckers, demonstrating how forest structure shaped by beetle activity can influence post-fire wildlife use. As climate change drives more frequent and intense disturbances, it is important that forest management strategies account for the lasting impacts of compound events like beetle outbreaks and wildfire to promote wildlife resilience.
Twelve-tone technique and procedural poetics
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Ferry, Mae, author; Steensen, Sasha, advisor; Cooperman, Matthew, advisor
Poetry and music have a deeply connected history, beginning with the Ancient Greek performance tradition and continuing with poets such as Susan Howe reading to an experimental jazz soundtrack. In contemporary poetry, these musical influences are often subsumed by the teaching and art of poetry to the point of roteness; rhythm is barely considered, despite its ubiquity, and poetry as an audible performance is further and further distanced from the public ear. To combat this contemporary distance between music and poetry, the author conducted the following poetic experiment: can music be used as a generative source for poetry?
A case study of the emergence and modern use of "alpha male"
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Grant-Hudd, Rosanna, author; Dewey, Tanya, advisor; Goldstein, Liba, advisor
Alpha male is a term used in both animal societies and human popular culture today. Defined as the "dominant male", this term is misunderstood often, mostly in human society. This paper aims to trace the history of the alpha male concept and distinguish its origin in animal research on social hierarchies, explore the current impacts of this term on human society, and identify three key factors that led to this term being misused by popular culture in modern-day society. By exploring its history and current use, this paper suggests that uncareful language, misogyny in the scientific community, and the popularization of scientific terminology in nonscientific landscapes are the key contributors to the current misunderstanding of the alpha male. Identifying these major factors provides a basis for future actions, such as increasing diversity on research teams and peer reviewing the diction of scientific literature.
Heavy metal and its direct, necessary ties to traditional and evolving masculinity
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025-05-07) Jackson, Gedaliah L., author; Amberg, Marti, advisor; Sink, Elizabeth, advisor
Heavy metal is a polarizing genre of music that began in the 1970's and has continued evolving with each passing decade. As heavy metal has evolved, so has the concept of masculinity. From the sexual objectification of women, to dominance and anger, to combating the stigma surrounding men and mental health, heavy metal has served as both a creative and interpretive outlet for men to express their emotions towards the world they are living in. Different techniques utilized by heavy metal artists, such as power chords, palm muting, distortion, screaming, and tremolo/sweep picking directly coincide with traditional masculine traits, like the suppression of "weak" emotions, anger, and violence. This paper allows for an interpretation of how the genre of heavy metal grew and evolved to fit men's emotional and psychological needs.