I would like to acknowledge the support of my thesis committee Craig E. Colten, Kent Mathewson, and Helen Regis. Thank you for your insight and attentiveness during this long process. In particular I would like to thank Dr. Colten and offer my sincere gratitude for his patience and support of my endeavors. His guidance helped to ease my transition as an international student, and his enthusiasm gave me the encouragement to pursue my research. I would also like to acknowledge the financial support I received for two summer research positions through a grant Dr. Colten received from CARRI (The Community and Regional Resilience Institute). I would also like to thank Dr. Stuart McCook for encouraging me to enroll in graduate school and Dennis DesRivieres for inspiring a love of geography in me.