C - Michigan Technological University

AcknowledgementsThis work would not have been possible without the dedicated mentorship of myadvisor Seth Donahue, who challenges his students but knows when to back down, too.As I told more than one faculty member at Tech, Seth’s students work so hard becausehe’s just so….nice. Yeah, I don’t understand it either. I would also like to thank mycommittee members Hannah Carey, Jeremy Goldman, and Megan Frost who providedhelpful advice throughout my time at Michigan Tech. Hannah Carey was especially kindin inviting me on her safari trip in Namibia when we were there for the IHS conference in2008. Rupak Rajachar and Ryan Gilbert also gave me invaluable advice throughout mytime at Michigan Tech, and listened to me pontificate on more than one occasion. Iappreciate the time they spent with me. Sarah Gray and David Heiden, a.k.a. Team BS,were my personal undergraduate servants and spent many an hour following my nitpickyinstructions on experimental ideas. Often, my ideas didn’t work out…but, hey, that’sscience—right guys? I’d like to thank Team BS for all the help they gave me on myproject. And, of course, how would I have managed 4 years at Michigan Tech without myfriends in the Bone Lab (especially Sam Wojda, Matt Barron, Meghan McGee-Lawrence,Ashley Shultz, and Team BS) and the other grad students in the department (especiallyLaura Walz, Melissa Roberts, Katie Snyder, Eric Minner, and Chris Rivet). Mostimportantly, I wouldn’t even have come to Michigan Tech had my dad not offered to loanme the money to pay off my car. So I need to give my parents an extra special thanks.How much do I owe you again?xiv