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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
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Improving The Programmability Of Networked Energy Systems, Noman Bashir
Improving The Programmability Of Networked Energy Systems, Noman Bashir
Doctoral Dissertations
Global warming and climate change have underscored the need for designing sustainable energy systems. Sustainable energy systems, e.g., smart grids, green data centers, differ from the traditional systems in significant ways and present unique challenges to system designers and operators. First, intermittent renewable energy resources power these systems, which break the notion of infinite, reliable, and controllable power supply. Second, these systems come in varying sizes, spanning over large geographical regions. The control of these dispersed and diverse systems raises scalability challenges. Third, the performance modeling and fault detection in sustainable energy systems is still an active research area. Finally, …
Reclaiming The Future Through Small-Scale Agriculture: Autonomy And Sustainability In The Caribbean, Dana M. Conzo
Reclaiming The Future Through Small-Scale Agriculture: Autonomy And Sustainability In The Caribbean, Dana M. Conzo
Doctoral Dissertations
My dissertation, “Reclaiming the future through Small-Scale Agriculture: Autonomy and Sustainability in the Caribbean,” is a political-economic analysis of land politics, foodscapes and foodsheds, and small-scale agricultural activities in plantation economies on the Caribbean island of St Kitts. Using ethnographic and geographic methods, such as participant observation, interviews, social network analysis, and foodshed mapping, I investigate the cultural and economic niche of local farmers, documented and analyzed the island’s foodshed, and provide a historical and economic background of St Kitts to link historical processes to contemporary spatial organization and agricultural practices. I consider the complexities of food inequalities and food …
Making Meaning In The Anthropocene: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Investigation Of College Student Response To Planetary Ecological Crises, Kristen Nelson
Making Meaning In The Anthropocene: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Investigation Of College Student Response To Planetary Ecological Crises, Kristen Nelson
Doctoral Dissertations
Higher education, with its core purpose in the generation and transmission of knowledge, has a particular role to play in society’s response to the global ecological crisis. Yet a key question is whether higher education is part of the problem or part of the solution. Sustainability educators insist that higher education, if it is to adequately address these challenges, must shift away from “mechanism” – a rationalist worldview that historically has shaped higher education’s culture and practices – toward an integrative worldview and epistemology that will guide teaching and learning in the new millennium. Emergent pedagogies and student development theories …
Robust And Sustainable Energy Pathways To Reach Mexico’S Climate Goals, Rodrigo Mercado Fernandez
Robust And Sustainable Energy Pathways To Reach Mexico’S Climate Goals, Rodrigo Mercado Fernandez
Doctoral Dissertations
As countries set climate change goals for adaptation and mitigation efforts, there are many questions regarding to how to reach these targets. These efforts will necessitate the transition of our electricity infrastructure from relying on conventional electricity generation technologies including natural gas, coal and oil, to clean energy generation with renewables. Through the three essays presented in this dissertation, we explore various pathways of development for the electricity system to reach long term climate change goals. We are interested in identifying: Is there a unique optimal development option or are there various? How do different mixes of electricity generation technologies …
Re-Thinking ‘Sustainability’: Management And Organization Theorizing For A More-Than-Human-World, Seray Ergene
Re-Thinking ‘Sustainability’: Management And Organization Theorizing For A More-Than-Human-World, Seray Ergene
Doctoral Dissertations
A widespread conversation has emerged around the concept of sustainability in management theory and practice today. The origins of this notion have forwarded a vision of economic development for improving social conditions in different parts of the world, as well as promoting environmental protection to reduce the harmful effects of economic activity on Earth (Brundtland Report, 1987). Emerging from these origins, solving sustainability problems today has come to signify attending to three seemingly distinct pillars: social equity, environmental protection, and economic development. In this dissertation I join these conversations by following recent theoretical discussions suggesting the pillars are actually interrelated …
Modeling The Economic And Environmental Performance Of Offshore Wind Energy, Alexana Cranmer
Modeling The Economic And Environmental Performance Of Offshore Wind Energy, Alexana Cranmer
Doctoral Dissertations
Offshore wind is a growing source of energy globally. Like any energy technology, it has impacts on the environment. In the case of renewable energy, we need a way to consider the environmental benefits as well as the environmental costs. This dissertation develops a set of models to examine the economic and environmental costs and benefits and the trade-offs between them. We ask how much offshore wind energy should be sited, and where should that offshore wind energy be located? The first model estimates the economic impact of wake interactions between wind farms. Wind farm sites are chosen through a …
Multi-Criteria Decision Making When Planning Sustainable Multimodal Transportation Routes In A Linear Corridor, Marie Louis
Multi-Criteria Decision Making When Planning Sustainable Multimodal Transportation Routes In A Linear Corridor, Marie Louis
Doctoral Dissertations
In urban and suburban locations, public transit can be seen as an effective mode of daily transportation. The majority of the time, travelers would seek the cheapest, shortest, and possibly most eco-friendly means of transit. When designing public transit network systems, transportation planners and decision-makers, with input from stakeholders, should strive to optimize transportation services to meet the needs of the population most efficiently and at the lowest cost, that is, providing a transportation system that s the three E's of the sustainability concept: environment, social equity, and economic. Previous studies have focused on sustainability as the primary concern in …
Sustainability In The Apparel Industry: A Study Of Self-Regulatory Institutions And Logic Hybridization Processes, Yoojung Ahn
Sustainability In The Apparel Industry: A Study Of Self-Regulatory Institutions And Logic Hybridization Processes, Yoojung Ahn
Doctoral Dissertations
Scholars have sought to understand the relationship between organizations and institutions, and research to date has generated findings that speak to both the top down effects of institutions on organizations as enabling and constraining, and the bottom up influence of organizations shaping institutions. This dissertation explores the context of sustainability in the apparel industry and inquires how organizations participate in self-regulation to influence institutional change, using a mixed methods approach to understand this question. In particular, I observe the process of building a specific self-regulatory institution – the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC). First, I study the impact of a reputation …
Sustainable Public Intellectualism: The Rhetorics Of Student Scientist-Activists, Jesse Priest
Sustainable Public Intellectualism: The Rhetorics Of Student Scientist-Activists, Jesse Priest
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation is a qualitative study of the experience of undergraduate students learning how to teach issues of sustainability to their campus communities through an innovative outreach program at a large northeastern research university. While most previous work on science writing and rhetoric focuses on disciplinary, publishing, or genre practices, I examine the holistic student experience by placing outreach, writing, and the classroom in conversation with each other, illuminating how discourses can cross institutional and contextual borders. Furthermore, while most previous work involving student engagement has focused on the positive and rewarding aspects of engagement, I examine how tension and …
Emerging Climate Change Publics: Cultivating Sustainability And Justice In The Pioneer Valley, Vanessa Adel
Emerging Climate Change Publics: Cultivating Sustainability And Justice In The Pioneer Valley, Vanessa Adel
Doctoral Dissertations
Climate change is setting off erratic weather patterns and environmental changes that threaten the livelihood, stability, and survival of the planet. Communities and institutions around the globe are sounding the clarion call about these devastating impacts, advocating for sustainable practices and deep changes to every facet of our lives. This dissertation research consists of an ethnography of a local network of actors and organizations who are responding to climate change, centered on those who define sustainability as integrally connected to justice. I analyze this network of activity through the lens of the concept of an emerging public. I start from …
Corporate Sustainability And The Role Of The Consumer: Three Essays, Jeffrey Gauthier
Corporate Sustainability And The Role Of The Consumer: Three Essays, Jeffrey Gauthier
Doctoral Dissertations
The challenge of sustainability has become an increasingly important concern for organizations. Sustainability raises new questions of legitimacy for organizations, compelling them to address stakeholder expectations of economic, environmental, and social performance. Although consumer stakeholders act as the ultimate arbiter of legitimacy for many firms, we know little about how consumers may influence corporate sustainability. This dissertation consists of three essays that examine the role of consumers in influencing corporate sustainability. The first essay examines how companies may attempt to manage sustainability ratings assigned by ratings agencies in an attempt to retain consumer stakeholder support. I argue that an understanding …