Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

How Can Employers Contribute To Reducing Commuter-Generated Carbon Emissions? Evaluating Employer-Provided Commuter Benefits In Cambridge, Ma, Mary Richards

Masters Theses

Encouraging a more sustainable commuter mode shift and improving urban transportation systems have the potential to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), a major contributor to climate change. Replacing some single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips with alternative modes of transportation, such as public transit, walking, or bicycling, represents one approach to begin reducing transportation-related emissions. Collectively, these shifts in transportation patterns would help to reduce the negative social, economic, and environmental costs associated with high rates of personal vehicle use. Employer-provided benefits programs have the potential to influence commuter behavior by making sustainable, alternative commuting choices a more convenient and economically …

Enforcing Higher Standards For Flood Hazard Mitigation In Vermont, Tamsin Flanders

Masters Theses

The state of Vermont faces increasing risk of costly damage from catastrophic flooding events as climate change increases the frequency of heavy rains and cumulative precipitation. In addition to increasing flood inundation risk, extreme precipitation events are leading to high rates damage from fluvial erosion—erosion caused by the force of floodwater and the materials it carries. As in all U.S. states, flood hazard governance in Vermont is shared by multiple levels of government and involves a complex compliance model that relies on local governments to regulate private property owners to achieve community, state, or federal goals.

To encourage municipalities to …

New England’S Underutilized Seafood Species: Defining And Exploring Marketplace Potential In A Changing Climate, Amanda Davis

Masters Theses

New England’s seafood industry has been searching for opportunities to diversify their landings and build resilience as it faces socio-economic challenges from a changing climate. Developing markets for underutilized species is one way the New England community could help their seafood industry build resilience. This thesis identified New England’s underutilized fish species and explored their marketplace potential by examining their availability in a changing climate, current availability to consumers, and consumers’ responses. In Chapter I, I account how New England’s seafood preferences have changed over time. In Chapter II, I identify New England’s seven underutilized seafood species: 1) Acadian redfish …

Designing Surveys On Youth Immigration Reform: Lessons From The 2016 Cces Anomaly, Saige Calkins

Masters Theses

Even with clear advantages to using internet based survey research, there are still some uncertainties to which survey methods are most conducive to an online platform. Most survey method literature, whether focusing on online, telephone, or in-person formats, tend to observe little to no differences between using various survey modes and survey results. Despite this, there is little research focused on the interaction effect between survey formatting, in terms of design and framing, and public opinion on social issues, specifically child immigration policies - a recent topic of popular debate. This paper examines an anomalous result found within the 2016 …