QSpace

Queen's Scholarship & Digital Collections

QSpace is an open access repository for scholarship and research produced at Queen's University. QSpace offers faculty, students, staff, and researchers a free and secure home to preserve and present their scholarship.

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Digital Collections 5940
This community includes digital collections produced by members of the Queen’s community, as well as digital special collections made available via W.D. Jordan Rare Books & Special Collections.
Exams & Syllabi 0
This community provides access for staff and students at Queen’s University to degree examination papers and syllabi. To access Exams & Syllabi off campus please login using your Queen's NetID and password.
Graduate Theses, Dissertations and Projects 10124
This community includes graduate theses, dissertations and projects produced by students at Queen’s University.
McGill-Queen's University Press 9
Scholarly Contributions 14446
This community includes Queen’s peer-reviewed research publications, including journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, and more.

Recent Submissions

Access status: Open Access ,
CROSS-DISCIPLINARY STRATEGIES FOR ADVANCING EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION IN GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION AND WORKPLACES
Hatherly, Sarah; Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering; Spencer, Christopher; Pedersen, Alexandra
This thesis investigates systemic marginalization in the geosciences with the aim of creating more inclusive working and learning environments. Geoscience remains one of the least diverse STEM disciplines, shaped by histories of racial, gender-based, and other forms of discrimination. To address these barriers, this research examines how equity-deserving groups experience the field and identifies strategies that can improve participation, support, and success. The three studies consider both global-scale professional and local-scale educational settings. They explore how external pressures, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, influence perceptions of productivity, particularly among women and early-career professionals who often judge themselves more harshly despite similar outputs. They also examine the impact of stereotype threat on students in geological sciences and engineering, revealing how it can undermine confidence, sense of belonging, and performance. Finally, the work evaluates inclusive teaching strategies, such as competency-based assessment, which show promise in improving student motivation, attitudes, and achievement. Together, these findings demonstrate how inequities shape experiences across the geosciences and provide practical, evidence-based recommendations for fostering more equitable pedagogy, institutional policy, and professional culture. The findings of this thesis aim to provide an assessment of sociocultural factors influencing I-EDIAA, creating an opportunity for institutions and organizations to evaluate their shortcomings and successes, and influence positive change. The overarching goal is to help transform the discipline into one that welcomes and supports a more diverse community of students and practitioners.
Access status: Embargo ,
Lifetime Occupational Exposure to Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals and Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Risk: A Montreal-based Case-control Study (2008-2011)
Reeves, Christina; Public Health Sciences; Richardson, Harriet; Ho, Vikki
Background: Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) suspected to increase cumulative lifetime estrogen exposure, may elevate postmenopausal breast cancer risk. Despite evidence from environmental studies, few studies on EDCs have analyzed lifetime occupational exposures and most fail to account for complex mixtures encountered in workplaces across susceptible windows of breast development. Objective: This thesis investigated the association between lifetime occupational exposure to select EDCs, grouped by biological mode of action, and postmenopausal breast cancer risk. Secondary analyses determined associations by hormone receptor subtype. Methods: Data from a Montreal-based case-control study (2008-2011) among postmenopausal women was used. Breast cancer cases (n=661) were frequency-matched to population-based controls (n=587) by age. Lifetime occupational history and risk factor data were collected by interview. Two industrial hygienists used occupational histories to assign exposure to 24 EDCs that were subsequently classified by their biological mode of action as, estrogenic, anti-estrogenic, or anti-androgenic. Exposure metrics derived included, ever/never exposed, duration of exposure (per 5-year increase), cumulative exposure (per interquartile range) and average concentration of exposure (per 1-unit increase on an ordinal scale of 1-low, 2-medium, and 3-high). Adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals [95% CI] were estimated using unconditional multivariable logistic regression to evaluate the associations between incident postmenopausal breast cancer and lifetime occupational EDC exposure, while adjusting for confounders identified using a directed acyclic graph. Results: Ever exposure antiestrogenic EDCs (OR=1.40 [0.99, 2.00]) and anti-androgenic EDCs (OR=1.49 [1.08, 2.08]) similarly increased postmenopausal breast cancer risk compared to estrogenic (OR=1.16 [0.82, 1.63]). This trend was also observed with the average concentration metric. Similar increases were observed for the duration (ORs=1.13 to 1.16) metric, whereas cumulative exposure was not associated with risk, both for all modes of action. Significant positive associations for anti-estrogenic and anti-androgenic EDC exposures were consistent across hormone receptor positive subtypes. Conclusions: Occupational exposure to EDCs, by mode of action, increases postmenopausal breast cancer risk, particularly for hormone receptor positive subtypes.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Neoproterozoic Throssell Range Group, Western Australia: A Peri-Marginal Continental Basin in Rodinia and Its Implications for the Centralian Superbasin
(Wiley, 2026-01-13) Campbell, Ross B.; Pufahl, Keir A.; Sinclair, Penelope; Martin, Erin L.; Cybulski, Lillian H.; Raye, Urmidola; Polito, Paul; Chruch, Rebecca; Joury, Marina; Layton-Matthews, Daniel
This paper presents a new interpretation of an early Neoproterozoic cratonic basin. Its depositional history is a record of fault reactivation and differential subsidence in a heterogeneous basement during Rodinia's breakup. Globally, the reactivation of deep structures in older Proterozoic lithosphere surrounding the Archaean cratonic cores probably controlled the development of Neoproterozoic cratonic basins. These structures may also have provided conduits for mineralizing fluids. The Throssell Range Group (TRG) is a 1–3.5km thick siliciclastic succession, topped by a carbonate platform, in the Paterson Orogen of north-western Australia. It hosts the c.2 Mt. Nifty Cu deposit. It is among several successions attributed to the large continental Centralian Superbasin, thought to have its origin in crustal sagging at c.840Ma. However, the TRG includes deep water strata unusual for continental sag basins, and the ages of intrusions suggest that it is older than 840Ma. Based on detailed logging of recent drill core, two sedimentary sequences separated by a disconformity are recognised. This differs from previous work which interprets the TRG as a single conformable succession. Sequence 1 consists of three lithofacies associations, interpreted as the record of dep osition in half-graben sub-basins, bounded by basement faults reactivated by extensional stresses related to Rodinia's breakup. Sequence 2 comprises four lithofacies associations, interpreted as recording a period of reduced clastic sediment supply in a peri-marginal continental basin exposed to wind-driven upwelling of nutrient-rich oceanic water. The subsidence of thin, more juvenile Proterozoic lithosphere produced a flooded margin between the Pilbara and North Australian Cratons. As sea level rise slowed, a carbonate platform prograded over the basin. More generally, this suggests that the Centralian Superbasin, and other Neoproterozoic cratonic basins, may best be thought of as mosaics of roughly coeval sub-basins, each with a specific history de termined by local basement reactivation.
Access status: Open Access ,
Understanding Provider Experiences in Caring for 2SLGBTQI+ Populations: A Qualitative Systematic Review and Phenomenological Study to Advance Culturally Humble, Person-centred Care
(2026-04-15) Glass, Tyler; Nursing; Galica, Jacqueline
Background: Persistent inequities in health care access and quality affect Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and other sexual and gender diverse (2SLGBTQI+) populations, particularly in rural settings where isolation and limited resources shape care. Cultural humility, grounded in ongoing reflection and responsiveness to relational, organizational, and systemic contexts, is essential to culturally safe person-centred care (PCC). Purpose: To examine how cultural humility is enacted within PCC for 2SLGBTQI+ populations in rural primary care. It investigates qualitative evidence and reflective experiences of rural primary care nurses (PCNs) to address gaps in access, navigation, and culturally humble practice. Methods: Guided by a constructivist worldview and informed by PCC, cultural humility, and the Behavioural–Ecological Framework of Healthcare Access and Navigation (BEAN), a multi-method qualitative design was used. This included a Joanna Briggs Institute–informed qualitative systematic review (QSR) and a descriptive phenomenological study with PCNs in rural Ontario community health centres (CHCs). The phenomenological component functioned as structured self-reflection on beliefs, values, and practices in caring for 2SLGBTQI+ populations. Results: Findings were compared using convergence–divergence analysis and interpreted against prior literature. Experiential learning was foundational, appearing retrospectively in the QSR and immediately in rural practice. Ethical self-awareness and values-based practice differed in temporal framing: retrospective in the QSR and continuous in rural care. Relational strategies emerged as guideline-informed communication in the QSR and adaptive interactions in practice. Professional confidence developed through preparation and mentorship in the QSR, and relationally through real-time decisions in rural CHCs. Participants described environmental adaptations, attention to pronouns and identity, community engagement, and advocacy as expressions of cultural humility. Integration of BEAN, cultural humility, and PCC provided a multi-level lens across individual, relational, organizational, and system levels. Conclusions and Implications: Culturally safe PCC relies on sustained reflection and responsive practice. Organizational supports, mentorship, and inclusive infrastructure embed cultural humility in care. Nursing education should cultivate reflexivity and structural competency, and health systems must strengthen inclusive environments and partnerships. Future research should evaluate humility-based interventions using participatory approaches centring 2SLGBTQI+ voices.
Access status: Embargo ,
Roles of PKR in High Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer
(2026-04-15) Afzali, Farzaneh; Biomedical and Molecular Sciences; Postovit, Lynne-Marie
High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSC) is characterized by dissemination within the peritoneal cavity, a process that critically depends on dynamic regulation of cell adhesion, migration, and invasion rather than primary tumor growth. Protein kinase R (PKR; EIF2AK2) is classically described as a stress-activated kinase within the integrated stress response (ISR); however, its role in ovarian cancer metastasis remains poorly defined. In this study, we investigated the functional contribution of PKR to HGSC progression using integrated in-vitro, in-vivo, and multi-omics approaches. Genetic depletion of PKR in HGSC cell lines resulted in marked impairment of migratory and invasive capacities, particularly under three-dimensional and extracellular matrix-engaging conditions. In-vivo, PKR-deficient cells exhibited reduced metastatic dissemination and delayed tumor progression in both immunodeficient and syngeneic mouse models. Proteomic analyses of ascites and tumor-derived samples revealed consistent enrichment of adhesion-, focal adhesion-, and extracellular matrix-related pathways, with convergence on integrin signaling, cytoskeletal organization, and matrix remodeling factors across models. Notably, the majority of shared deregulated proteins were adhesion-associated, underscoring a central role for PKR in regulating metastatic mechanics rather than proliferation or survival. Mechanistically, basal PKR phosphorylation and downstream ISR activation were not detected under steady-state conditions, and re-expression of kinase-dead PKR rescued the invasive defects observed in PKR-null cells, indicating that PKR potentially regulates HGSC invasion mostly through kinase-independent mechanisms. These findings suggest a structural or scaffolding role for PKR within adhesion-related signaling networks. Preliminary protein interaction and phosphoproteomic analyses further support the involvement of PKR in multi-protein complexes linked to cytoskeletal dynamics. Collectively, this work identifies PKR as a non-canonical regulator of adhesion-driven metastasis in HGSC and highlights functions of PKR as critical determinants of ovarian cancer dissemination.