Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Trust And Contexts: A Conceptual Framework For Understanding Coastal Household Preparedness, Ogechukwu M. Agim Nwandu-Vincent

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

Despite research findings that show the benefits of being prepared for increasingly tumultuous natural and coastal hazard events, studies on hazard preparedness indicate that low levels of preparedness may occur in vulnerable areas due to the uncertainty around hazard risks, expected hazard onset and impact strength, as well as associated effects. Study findings indicate that trust may impact the uncertainty and complexity faced by people dealing with unfamiliar, infrequent, and complex hazards, as well as contexts such as factors such as age, gender, prior hazard experience, and homeownership.

While studies have looked at the relationship between trust and compliance (desired …

Examining Melt Pond Dynamics And Light Availability In The Arctic Ocean Via High Resolution Satellite Imagery, Austin Wesley Abbott

OES Theses and Dissertations

As the Arctic experiences consequences of climate change, a shift from thicker, multi-year ice to thinner, first-year ice has been observed. First-year ice is prone to extensive pools of meltwater (“melt ponds”) forming on its surface, which enhance light transmission to the ocean. Changes in the timing and distribution of melt pond formation and associated increases in under-ice light availability are the primary drivers for seasonal progression of water column primary production and warming. Observations of melt pond development and distribution require meter scale resolution and have traditionally been limited to airborne images. However, recent advances in high spatial resolution …

Institutional Stretching: How Moroccan Ngos Illuminate The Nexus Of Climate, Migration, Gender And Development, Shelby Mertens

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The global migration crisis the world has experienced thus far is only the tip of the iceberg. As the earth’s temperature continues to warm and extreme weather conditions worsen, millions of people across the globe will be displaced, and women in particular will face more difficult challenges. What the climate migration literature fails to study is these longer-term impacts beyond sudden onset disasters. Governments and institutions will be forced to respond and adapt to the new reality resulting from the climate crisis. This research provides a case study of Morocco and, by using institutional ethnography, investigates how NGOs working in …

Understanding The Effect Of Internal Climate Variability On 20th Century Indian Ocean Sea Level: Results From Newly Reconstructed Sea Level Data, Praveen Kumar

OES Theses and Dissertations

Densely populated low-lying coastal zones of countries that border the Indian Ocean are at risk due to sea level rise. However, sea level change in the Indian Ocean is poorly understood primarily due to short and sparse tide gauge observations. Although satellite altimetry provides accurate basin-wide sea level measurements, trends computed from its relatively short (~27-year) data record are heavily influenced by interannual to multi-decadal variability. To accurately project future Indian Ocean sea level trends using altimeter data it is imperative that trends associated with fluctuating internal variability (interannual-decadal) be identified and extracted, which in turn requires long (~100-year) data. …

Climate Change Games As Boundary Objects: Fostering Dialogic Communication Within Stakeholder Engagement, Megan L. Mckittrick

English Theses & Dissertations

Rising waters and the increasing devastation of flood events make coastal resilience a significant issue in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, particularly in the city of Norfolk. Enhancing resilience requires ongoing stakeholder engagement designed to invite dialogue while encouraging cross-jurisdictional collaboration and comprehensive problem-solving. Climate change games have been employed to support these endeavors. This dissertation provides a response to the following research questions: 1) What is the origin of the climate change game genre? 2) Why are key stakeholders in coastal resilience using climate change games? And 3) how do these games operate for these key stakeholders? To …

Throw Me A Lifeline: A Comparison Of Port Cities With Antithetical Adaptation Strategies To Sea-Level Rise, Claudia Marie Risner

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Sea-level rise (SLR) is a manifestation of climate change that is particularly hazardous to port cities that must remain on the waterfront to function, yet are increasingly battered and flooded by encroaching storms, and sinking into the rising saltwater. Despite sharing a common high level of risk, port cities are choosing antithetical adaptation strategies that range from hard-engineered structural flood protection, to behavioral modifications, to innovative soft-engineered measures, to doing nothing at all. Why is this? Are transnational city networks, such as C40 Cities, a lifeline to drowning cities? Do differences in governance structure, financial capacity, risk tolerance to the …