Digital Commons Network^™

The End Of Everything: The Physical And Figurative Impacts Of Landscape On American Ideology, Wyatt Alger

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature of Bard College.

Don’T Talk To Me Until I’Ve Had My Coffee: An Analysis Of Colombia’S Changing Coffee And Agricultural Sector In The Face Of Climate Change, Nita Vemuri

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Abstract

“With each year that passes, Atlantic and Pacific cyclone generating areas have experienced higher sea surface temperatures and increases in the intensity and duration of tropical storms.” (Sherbinin et al., 2007) While climate change remains a myth to some, it has become a reality for many, especially those whose livelihoods depend on climate-vulnerable fields and occupations. Latin American countries are especially subjected to climate change consequences because of their vast agricultural sectors and their reliance on ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) patterns, “There is a clear relationship …

Potentials Of Pleurotus: Reimagining The Relationship Between Cattle And Brewer's Spent Grain, Zoe Stojkovic

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Brewer’s spent grains (BSGs), a byproduct from beer production, are generated in excess globally. Most often, they are sold or given to proximate cattle farmers for use as feed. However, spent grain can also be used as a medium for fungal cultivation. Given that certain fungal species have the capability to degrade lignin and produce protein, the cultivation of fungi on spent grains may serve to enhance the nutritional profile of the grains for their use as cattle feed. This project is an effort to determine the compatibility of fungal cultivation with BSGs in order to both improve upon cattle …

Possibilities & Potential Of Perennial Wheat: A Comparison Of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Diversity And Abundance Between Winter Wheat And Kernza, Tess Noble Strohm

Senior Projects Spring 2021

In an effort to harness the benefits of perenniality on soil health, a perennial wheatgrass called Kernza (Thinopyrum intermedium) has been developed for commercial use at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. The effects of a cultivar of Kernza intended for the Hudson Valley, NY were examined in this study using Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) as an indicator of soil health. AMF are an obligate symbiotic fungi known to provide physical and biological benefits to soil and plant systems. Fields containing one and four year old Kernza, as well as a field of an annual winter wheat were sampled to …

The Effects Of Priming Eruca Sativa Seeds With Short-Chain Ahl C6-Hsl At Bard Farm, Shannon M. Ryan

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Many gram-negative bacteria use quorum sensing to assess population densities and cooperate with another. The quorum sensing autoinducers N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) have been found to cause altered gene expression patterns in plants, resulting in increased root and shoot growth as well as induced pathogenic resistance in various species. Researchers have begun exploring the ways AHLs may be used in agricultural systems to reduce the use of environmentally harmful synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. In this study, the effect of priming arugula (Eruca sativa) seeds with the short-chain AHL C6-HSL was investigated at Bard Farm in Annandale-On-Hudson, New York. Leaf lengths …

Rezistance: Diné Grassroots Organization And Modes Of Activism, Eric Robert Dougherty

Senior Projects Spring 2020

This ethnography looks at themes of Indigeneity and activism as it exists in the everyday realities of young people living in or around the Navajo reservation in the southwest United States. Through work-related projects of hogan construction, land reclamation, watershed management, and language restoration Navajo youth are given opportunities to take control of their present circumstances and imagine a different future for themselves and their families. Besides work, youth and activism are constituted through other mediums and spaces that allow people to express who they are, what they care about, and why these things are important to them. The consistent …

From Colonial Agriculture To Community Resilience: A History Of The United States Gulf Coast, 1718-2005, Olivia Champion Johnson

Senior Projects Fall 2020

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Assessing Food Insecurity In The Hudson Valley Through The Capabilities Lens, Nicole Grace Vascimini

Senior Projects Spring 2020

In the Hudson Valley Region in Upstate New York there is an existing conundrum in which despite all areas of the region being covered by farmland with an abundance of fresh food available in every county; there are still people going hungry and experiencing food insecurity. Low-income communities as well as low-access communities are disproportionately dealing with the inequities of the Hudson Valley food system. This project looks at past and existing frameworks towards assessing and measuring food security and discusses these approaches in relation to the methodologies being employed by local organizations to assess the prevalence of food insecurity …

The Fungus Among Us: The Effect Of Copper Fungicide On Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi And Implications For Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Francois J. Hartnett

Senior Projects Spring 2018

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Resilience Theory In Climate-Based Agriculture Development Projects: Useful Framework Or Popular Buzzword?, Rebecca Ann Chillrud

Bard Center for Environmental Policy

International development organizations are increasingly attempting to improve the resilience of the communities they serve through their projects in these communities. However, these projects often fail to address key concepts from the resilience theory literature, calling into question their ability to effectively promote resilience. This thesis attempts to locate these gaps in understanding by analyzing proposal documents from projects intending to promote agricultural resilience to climate change. A content analysis approach was used to analyze 55 projects from three international development groups—the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank, and the United Nations Development Program—proposed or completed between 2006 and 2016. …

Small Landholders Battle The Leaf Folder: Improving Livelihoods In The Solomon Islands, Dalia Tayseer Najjar

Bard Center for Environmental Policy

Sweet Potato is an important staple food crop grown by subsistence farmers in the Solomon Islands. It plays an important food security role and a major source of nutrition and livelihood in the rural areas as well as urban areas in the country. However, the spread of agricultural pests, in particular, the green leaf folder pest (Psara hipponalis), has significantly increased in recent years leaving many smallholder farmers with reduced yields and food insecurity. In this thesis, I reviewed the literature on the common mechanisms used to evaluate the drivers of pest presence and identified the major factors …

The Environmental And Cultural Effects On The Conquest Of Mexico, Tristan Siegel

Senior Projects Spring 2012

In this work I examine the environment and cultural attitudes of Mesoamericans, specifically the Mexica (Atzec), and how these factors played a role in the Conquest of Mexico by Hernan Cortes. I begin by examining Mesoamerican agriculture, lithic technology, and metallurgy. I conclude by examining how these factors played out in the Conquest.