Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Timber Island: A Screenplay, Lucas Cunningham

Pomona Senior Theses

A screenplay about the legacy of land use in the Pacific Northwest:

A family from old timber money looking to sell their expansive Pacific Northwest island estate. Two Parks Service surveyors, a Native American scientist, and a developer competing for the bid. A forest with its own agenda.

Against a backdrop of cedar trees and saltwater, tensions boil, ideologies clash, and buried secrets bubble to the surface.

Who will walk away with the deed to Timber Island? And what will it cost?

On The Brink Of Extinction: The Fate Of The Pacific Northwest's Southern Resident Killer Whales, Sabrina Wilk

Pomona Senior Theses

The killer whales that roam the northeastern Pacific Ocean have been the objects of studies since the 1970s, making them the most well-studied population of orcas in the world. Three distinct ecotypes of killer whales (Orcinus orca), known as residents, transients, and offshores, share these waters. The ecotypes are morphologically and behaviorally distinct to the extent that some scientists consider them separate species, with residents eating salmon, transients specializing on marine mammals, and offshores preferring Pacific sleeper sharks and Pacific halibut. Resident populations have endeared themselves to the region's locals with their striking black and white markings and …

Reforestation, Renewal, And The Cost Of Coal: Opposing A Manichean Worldview In Central Appalachia, Elizabeth R. Hansen

Pomona Senior Theses

Surface coal mining is a major form of land change and environmental degradation in Central Appalachia. Traditional mine reclamation iresults in unmanaged, unproductive grasslands that fail to mitigate many of the environmental costs of coal mining and are of minimal use to communities. Forestry reclamation is an alternative reclamation tactic that has the potential to address both environmental and socioeconomic concerns in Central Appalachia. A case study of Laurel Fork Mine in Eastern Kentucky is included.

Spreading The Char: The Importance Of Local Compatibility In The Diffusion Of Biochar Systems To The Smallholder Agriculture Community Context, Laura C. V. Munoz

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis enters the context of smallholder agriculture communities in the developing world. It explores the potentials of biochar and what biochar systems could bring to the smallholder communities while simultaneously bringing environmental benefits. It then acknowledges the challenges of diffusion –the spreading of an unfamiliar innovation. It seeks to answer the question of what will make diffusion of biochar systems more successful in the smallholder context, fixating on the characteristic of compatibility as well as the role local community members can play in making a new biochar system more visible to the rest of the communities.

Conserving Fish And Forests: Community Involvement And Its Limits In Resource Management On The Island Of Hawai'i, Amber W. Datta

Pomona Senior Theses

In this thesis I examine the limits of community involvement in accomplishing the conservation goals of biodiversity and ecosystem function in resource management by analyzing the multiple interest groups that compose community. Two case studies are presented to accomplish this goal. The first case study is the West Hawaii Fisheries Management Area, where a group of community stakeholders provide management recommendations that are then implemented by the state. The second case study is the Ka’u forest reserve, where community involvement is invited into the management decision-making process but is also limited in its ultimate political power by the state. Through …

Agricultural Efficiency And The End Of The Oil Age; Building A Future Of Longevity, Keith Mchugh

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis uses an efficiency analysis of agricultural systems to assert that, in lieu of rising prices of fossil fuel, people need to come into more direct contact with their food systems. With a switch to smaller, more efficient farms that rely less on fossil fuel and are connected with the communities they supply for, we can avoid an energy crisis turning into a famine. These smaller-scale systems can help create self-contained, carbon-neutral communities.

Neustonic Plastic In The Los Angeles River, Annie M. Tran

Pomona Senior Theses

The characterization of neustonic plastic found in the Los Angeles River was completed in this study. 3 water samples were collected from the river on April 30, 2011 in Long Beach, CA using a 0.5 mm manta trawl. The plastic was separated from organic material, divided into 3 class sizes (0.5 mm, 1.4 mm, and 2.44 mm), and identified and sized under a microscope. Plastic was found in all three samples and categorized into seven categories. Paper, plastic, and styrofoam were present in all three samples. Styrofoam contributed the greatest percentage of the plastic found among the samples. Plastic film …