Earth Sciences Commons^™

Groundwater Monitoring Analysis And Management Recommendations In California: Cuyama And Santa Cruz Mid-County, Kayla M. Souza

Master's Projects and Capstones

Groundwater is an essential water resource, accounting for about 40 percent of supply in California and 80 percent in the Central Coast hydrologic region, but significant monitoring data gaps have limited sustainable management efforts. Twenty-four basins within the Central Coast hydrologic region were identified as critically overdrafted in 2014. For this study, two basins were chosen based on differing sustainability concerns so that a comparative analysis could be performed on the groundwater monitoring methods. I obtained original groundwater elevation data reported (2000-2020) from the various groundwater monitoring organization wells to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) within the Cuyama …

A 60- Year Record Of The Demotechnic Index Of States, 1960-2019, Gavin James Kellough

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A country’s dependency on energy resources can be interpreted through the calculation of energy indices. The Demotechnic Index (DI) was used to determine the trajectory of energy efficiency of each state in the United States over the period 1960-2019. The DI serves as a measure of the energy intensity of states and a proxy for energy sustainability of each state.The DI is the ratio of total energy use to total metabolic energy demand of a population. Mathematically, DI = (E_T-E_M)/E_M E_T represents the total energy used (metabolic energy + technological energy in kilojoules annually, kJ/y), while EM represents the basic …

Save Water Drink Wine: Challenges Of Implementing The Ethnography Of The Temecula Valley Wine Industry Into Food-Energy-Water Nexus Decision-Making, Zaida E. Darley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study demonstrates the interrelationships of people, food, energy, and water associated with Temecula Valley’s wine industry and reveals contradictions and biases in how people view these resources, which ultimately shape management and policies. The FEW (Food, Energy, and Water) Nexus is an approach increasingly used by policy- and decision-makers to understand the interrelationship of several resources. However, a FEW Nexus approach often lacks in social aspects that influence environmentally and economically sustainable outcomes, especially in the wine and wine tourism industry. When quantitative and qualitative data are available, the other challenge is which assessment to use. Two assessments often …

Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Ammonia Volatilization From Soil Amended With Excreta From Ruminants Fed Alternative Forage-Based Diets, Samuel Park

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Forage-based ruminant diets supplemented with condensed tannins or polyphenolic-containing legumes may alter nitrogen (N) metabolism in the animal and reduce gas emissions from soil receiving excreta. The objective of the study was to determine if soil receiving urine or manure from sheep fed forage diets supplemented with condensed tannin or polyphenolic-containing legumes would decrease N gas emissions. Two field trials were conducted: in the first trial, sheep were fed alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) silage diets supplemented with 0, 9, 18, or 27% sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneate [Dumont de Courset] G. Don) (n = 4). In the second trial sheep were …

Hydrogeologic Characteristics And Groundwater Sustainability Of A Deep Bedrock Aquifer System In Illinois, Luis Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

Population growth and climate change has made groundwater an increasingly important freshwater resource. This study uses MODFLOW to estimate sustainable yield of a deep St. Peter Aquifer in Bloomington, IL. The city of Bloomington has installed two high capacity wells into the St. Peter Sandstone to meet its growing water demands. The St. Peter Aquifer is confined, receiving almost no modern recharge and is experiencing overexploitation in parts of Northern Illinois. I hypothesize that existing fast depletion of the deep St. Peter occurs due to lower-than-expected aquifer parameters of the aquifer. Further, current pumping of groundwater from the St. Peter, …

Keeping Pace With Relative Sea Level Rise: Marsh Platform Monitoring Shows Minimal Sediment Deficit Along The Louisiana Coast, Kelly Marie Sanks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent reports estimate that the marshes of the Mississippi Delta receive just 30% of the sediment necessary to sustain current land area1. An extensive monitoring campaign by the USGS and LCPRA provides direct measurements of sediment accumulation, subsidence rates, and deposit characteristics along the coast over the past 10 years2, allowing us to directly evaluate this sediment balance. By interpolating bulk density, organic fraction, and vertical accretion rates from 273 sites, a direct measurement of organic and inorganic sediment accumulation can be made. Results show that a total of 82 MT/year of sediment is delivered to the coast. Using a …

Benefits And Obstacles To Installing Wind And Solar Energy Systems On University Campuses: A Texas Study, Andrew G. Lafavers

Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertations

There is much known about renewable energy including solar and wind. However, there is little information available regarding the use of wind and solar energy on college and university campuses. As educators and shapers of the next generation of society, colleges and universities can be important leaders in the transitioning to renewable energy, and in educating their students about renewable energy. In addition, college and university campuses are in an economic downfall now, with the high costs of education and decreased state funding. Institutions of higher education must find ways to save money and decrease costs; utility bills could potentially …

Effects Of Switchgrass Related Land-Use Changes On Aquatic Macroinvertebrates, Latha Malar Baskaran

Doctoral Dissertations

This research examines if switchgrass-based land-management practices have the potential to influence aquatic macroinvertebrates through changes in stream flow and water quality. The number of taxa in Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera orders (EPT taxa richness/EPT-TR) is analyzed as an aquatic macroinvertebrate bioindicator in the context of regional environmental effects, and changes in stream flow and water quality. This dissertation is structured as three manuscripts that link together to address the overall research question.

The first manuscript focuses on identifying regional environmental variables that influence EPT-TR across ecoregions in Tennessee. The influences of temperature, precipitation, geology, soil, stream flow and velocity …

How Do Designers Of The Built Environment Attempt To Make Ecological Sustainability Sensory Legible?, Carly L. Bartow

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper attempts to provide a theoretical framework for making ecosystem function and ecologically sustainable design more perceptible or sensible to people through architecture and the built environment. Design features of the Bertschi School Science Wing and the Bullitt Center in Seattle, Washington are incorporated to illustrate the sensory legibility of ecological sustainability criteria.The criteria are available to designers to help educate a building's occupants on environmentally sustainable design and motivate more sustainable behavior.

The Urban Heat Island Effect In Malta And The Adequacy Of Green Roofs In Its Mitigation, Jonathan Scicluna

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Urbanisation is a reality of every major western society. The growth of cities, however, often results in major environmental impacts that not only effect the natural world but also humanity as well. One of these impacts is the Urban Heat Island (UHI) a phenomenon that influences the temperature inside built-up areas, often resulting in uncomfortably hot air temperature, especially in summer. However, as global climate change predictions keep forecasting warmer periods for regions such as Malta, UHI has the potential to transform from a nuisance to a deadly reality more often than in the present.

This work strives to get …

Global And Regional Assessments Of Unsustainable Groundwater Use In Irrigated Agriculture, Danielle S. Grogan

Doctoral Dissertations

Groundwater is an essential input to agriculture world-wide, but it is clear that current rates of groundwater use are unsustainable in the long term. This dissertation assesses both current use of groundwater for country- to global-scale agriculture, and looks at the future of groundwater. The focus is on 1) quantifying food directly produced as a result of groundwater use across spatially-varying agricultural systems, 2) projecting future groundwater demands with consideration of climate change and human decision-making, and 3) understanding the system dynamics of groundwater re-use through surface water systems. All three are addressed using a process-based model designed to simulate …

Insomniac Of The Soil: A Collection Of Poetry And Essays, Sarah E. Golibart

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

“Insomniac of the Soil” is a homage to a landscape that has deeply informed Sarah Golibart's life and her artistic voice – the tidewater flatlands of Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay peninsula where her family lives and where Golibart has worked on farms since high school. Both her poems and essays are earthy, imagistic, and grounded – quite literally – in the soil as well as in a sensibility of ecological ethics and sustainability. “Insomniac of the Soil” is also a love song to the fervent and fallow cycles of the soil.

Growing The Urban Ecosystem In Detroit, Michigan, Sean Basalyga

Social Sciences

Many views of the future are seen as bleak and devoid of the life where once stood beauty and abundance. However, the Living Cities Design Competition challenges these views and calls for a vision of the future that inspires hope, biodiversity, and a healthy interaction between human and natural systems. We chose to redesign the city of Detroit, Michigan to be a living city by the year 2035. As the earth scientist on an interdisciplinary team, I acted as an ecological consultant. By developing the urban ecosystem of Detroit, a number of social, economical, and environmental problems can be solved. …

A Prospective Analysis On The Sustainability Of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Austin Bailey Porter

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A Study Of The Sustainability Of Wild Capture Salmon In The Pacific Northwest, Justin D. Hansen

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

The Malawi Project: From Conventional To Holistic Decision Making, Grace Wetmore

Animal Science

How the Cal Poly Malawi Appropriate Technologies Team, and other development groups, can use Holistic Management to aid developing countries in an effort towards a sustainable future.

Water Centrality For Water And Society, Ute Goeft

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The current approach to water management in Western societies, including Australia, is based on allocating water between different users. Appropriate for commercial uses, this commodity view of water has proved difficult for the inclusion of environmental and social concerns. Issues, such as which aspects have precedence, how much water should be allocated to each and how to make trade-offs in cases of insufficient water, pose problems that are yet to be worked out. In addition, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the identification of environmental as well as social water needs. The latter has prompted the writing of this …

Extending The Season For Sustainability In Utah, Britney Hunter

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The importance of providing fresh produce on a local level is becoming a widespread consideration among people concerned with the character of their food. For regions without an opportune growing climate, extending the growing season can drastically advance productivity. High tunnels are one way to effectively and profitably extend the growing season in cold climates. The benefits of growing in a high tunnel go beyond raising the temperature. High tunnels contribute to higher quality small fruits and vegetables. The benefits of growing in high tunnels have been explored in other states and could be exploited by Utah growers. Utah's climate …