Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Confessions Of A Collaborator: Shoesole And Stewardship Alliance Of Northeast Elko County, Nevada, Robin Boies

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Abstract – The Shoesole Management Team (Shoesole) and the Stewardship Alliance of Northeastern Elko (SANE) are place-based, landowner-organized, natural and human resource conservation initiatives. The Shoesole was organized in 2002 to take a more holistic approach to grazing management issues on two federal livestock grazing allotments. This effort provided the foundation for SANE, which was organized in 2012 by representatives of eight ranches in northeastern Nevada in response to the potential listing of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse). Shoesole and SANE came together voluntarily, as a rancher organized initiative, with a common goal of creating a better …

The Gunnison Basin Sage-Grouse Strategic Committee: A Colorado County’S Fight For Conservation Self-Determination, James Cochran, Jonathan Houck, Greg Peterson

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Since 1995, sage-grouse (Centrocercus spp.) conservation planning in the western United States has largely been based upon local working groups comprised of federal, state and local governments, environmental groups, landowners, interested citizens. In this article, we review the history and process of these local working groups in western Colorado. These groups are generally convened by one or more government agencies, operate on the general principle of consensus, and have little or no administrative or financial support. The local working groups were generally comprised of field biologist, rancher/landowners, members of local environmental groups and occasionally representatives from local governments. The …

Utah’S Watershed Restoration Initiative: Restoring Watersheds At A Landscape Scale, Alan G. Clark, Tyler W. Thompson, Jason L. Vernon, Alison Whittakker

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Abstract: The Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative (WRI) is a partnership-based program, administered by the Utah Department of Natural Resources, which seeks to improve the functional capacity of high priority watersheds throughout the state. Since its inception in 2006, the WRI partnership has completed nearly 1,500 projects to restore and rehabilitate over 526,091 ha in Utah watersheds. The WRI program is unique to the west, in that it transcends jurisdictional boundaries, and local, state, and federal management authority to focus finite resources on completing high priority conservation projects. We surveyed selected WRI selected participants in 2015 to determine what factors they …

Wyoming Sage-Grouse Working Groups: Lessons Learned, Thomas J. Christiansen, Lorien R. Belton

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) has been the subject of multiple status reviews under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Wyoming accounts for approximately 38% of the range-wide population. Since 2000, 2 statewide and 8 local citizen working groups have been established in Wyoming to developed conservation plans and advise state policy. The first statewide plan for the conservation of sage-grouse was formally adopted in 2003. The statewide plan established local sage-grouse working groups charged with developing and facilitating implementation of local conservation plans. Those 8 plans were completed in 2007 and 2008, and updated in 2014. From 2005-2017, …

Of Rats And Men, Thomas S. Walsh

Capstones

This capstone is a data-driven investigation into New York City's rat problem. By using publicly available government data to map rat activity in NYC, I identified several socio-economic variables that correlate with rat populations at the community district, borough, and city-scale. I used these findings (mainly that rat problems are linked to lower incomes) as the basis of an investigation, which includes interviews with residents, experts, and city officials. Prof. Bobby Corrigan, urban rodentologist and formerly with the NYC Department of Health criticizes the city's efforts for the first time on the record.

https://thomasseiyawalsh.wixsite.com/ratstone

Hazmat Storage Near Nyc Waterways Endangers Communities, Brett E. Dahlberg, Nicole Acevedo

Capstones

New York City has 520 miles of shoreline--that’s more than Miami and Los Angeles combined. These waterfronts are home to some of the city’s most polluted sites because major part of it is zoned for industrial use. Dozens of industrial plants in this area store toxic chemicals in flood zones: substances that are hazardous to our health, like Benzene, which is used in rocket fuel, toluene, a paint thinner, and lead a neurotoxin. In a flood, these chemicals can easily get caught up in moving waters and pollute entire neighborhoods.

That’s exactly what happened when Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012. …

Envisioning Recovery: A Social-Ecological Systems Analysis Of Maine’S Co-Managed Sea Urchin Fishery, Kimberly L. Ovitz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Maine’s sea urchin resource has provided a critical source of income and cultural value to resource harvesters across the state, yet in the absence of adequate governance mechanisms, the urchin resource quickly succumbed to overharvest and persisting stock decline. Following collapse, the urchin fishery transitioned to an advisory co-management system characterized by increased collaboration between urchin harvesters and resource managers. As collaborative dialogue and decision-making continue, fishery participants are collectively envisioning a more sustainable future for this important natural resource.

This master’s thesis explores Maine’s urchin fishery as a complex and coupled social-ecological system (SES) and documents harvester and scientist …

Deflection, Disassociation, & Acknowledgement: A Content Analysis Of The 2011-2014 Media Framing Of Hydraulic Fracturing And Oklahoma Earthquakes, Alicia Mason, Catherine Hooey, James Triplett

Faculty Submissions

In June of 2014, geologists reported that, for the first time, more earthquakes greater than magnitude 3.0 occurred in Oklahoma than in California [Terry-Cobo, 2014]. In Oklahoma, the frequency of earthquakes that are strong enough to be felt has increased 44 times in recent years and this has been correlated to a dramatic increase in high-volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing (HVHHF) operations [Hume, 2014]. The aims of this study are: (1) to determine how hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, and Oklahoma earthquakes are framed by print-based media at the local, national, and international levels; (2) to understand how the association between …

Understanding And Finding Solutions To The Problem Of Sedimentation In The National Wildlife Refuge System, Max Post Van Der Burg, Karen E. Jenni, Timothy L. Nieman, Josh D. Eash, Gregory A. Knutsen

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System) is a collection of public lands maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for migratory birds and other wildlife. Wetlands on individual National Wildlife Refuges (Refuges) may be at risk of increased sedimentation because of land use and water management practices. Increased sedimentation can reduce wetland habitat quality by altering hydrologic function, degrading water quality, and inhibiting growth of vegetation and invertebrates. On Refuges negatively affected by increased sedimentation, managers have to address complex questions about how to best remediate and mitigate the negative effects. The best way to account for these …

Policy Analytics For Environmental Sustainability: Household Hazardous Waste And Water Impacts Of Carbon Pollution Standards, Kustini

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Policy analytics are essential in supporting more informed policy-making in environmental management. This dissertation employs a fusion of machine methods and explanatory empiricism that involves data analytics, math programming, optimization, econometrics, geospatial and spatiotemporal analysis, and other approaches for assessing and evaluating current and future environmental policies.
Essay 1 discusses household informedness and its impact on the collection and recycling of household hazardous waste (HHW). Household informedness is the degree to which households have the necessary information to make utility-maximizing decisions about the handling of their waste. Such informedness seems to be influenced by HHW public education and environmental quality …

Protecting And Maintaining Silicon Valley’S Liquid Gold, Paul Mark Fulcher

Master's Projects

Public sector leaders and decision makers in the California water industry have learned from previous severe drought conditions that to sustain water supplies during extremely dry seasons, there is a substantial need for behavioral changes associated with water conservation efforts among the businesses and residents of the community to maintain an adequate water supply. The intent of this study is to compare four California water agencies that have been designated as sustainable groundwater agencies (GSA), and determine what current programs and/or practices those agencies are using to meet the mandated requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 (Act …

A Conceptual Framework For Sustainable Water Management: The Case Of The Piracicaba River Basin, Brazil [Abstract], Amós Nascimento

Amós Nascimento

2 pages.

A Fix For A Thirsty World - Making Direct And Indirect Reuse Legally Possible, Heather Payne

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Reliably providing safe drinking water to the public is an essential function of state and local governments. Across the United States, government officials and public water system managers are exploring mechanisms for ensuring water security. One method for increasing public drinking water security that has garnered the attention of water officials and the public is returning treated wastewater to the drinking water supply. However, in the absence of federal regulations on water reuse, states need guidance to develop the statutory framework necessary to make potable reuse legal. This Article details the processes of direct and indirect potable reuse and reviews …

Water, Lead, And Environmental Justice: Easing The Flint Water Crisis With A Public Water Contamination Liability Fund, Jonathon Lubrano

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Pope Francis, Laudato Si', And U.S. Environmentalism, Jonathan Z. Cannon, Stephen Cushman

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Murky Skies Ahead! Analyzing Executive Authority And Future Policies Regarding Corporate Disclosure Of Greenhouse Gases, Chandler Crenshaw

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Frameworks For Understanding And Promoting Solar Energy Technology Development, Chelsea Schelly

Chelsea Schelly

In this paper, the contrasting theories of metabolic rift and ecological modernization theory (EMT) are applied to the same empirical phenomenon. Metabolic rift argues that the natural metabolic relationship between humans and nature has been fractured through modernization, industrialization and urbanization. EMT, in contrast, argues that societies in an advanced state of industrialization adopt ecologically benign production technologies and political policies, suggesting that modern societies could be on course to alleviate the ecological damage caused by capitalism. These two theories are fundamentally different in their assumptions about modern economies and technologies, yet both can be used as a theoretical lens …

What’S Political About Solar Electric Technology? The User’S Perspective, Chelsea Schelly

Chelsea Schelly

Scholars in science and technology studies have debated the various ways in which technologies are (or are not) political. Here, I examine how users themselves understand and articulate the politics of a specific technology—residential solar electric technology—and how understandings of politics interact with motivations to adopt. Based on interviews with 48 individuals in 36 households across the state of Wisconsin who have adopted residential solar electric technology, I consider the user’s perspective on the question: “What’s political about residential solar electric technology use?” These users were asked about the politics of this technology and how their understanding of the technology’s …

Renewable, Ethical? Assessing The Energy Justice Potential Of Renewable Electricity, Aparajita Banerjee, Emily Prehoda, Roman Sidortsov, Chelsea Schelly

Chelsea Schelly

Energy justice is increasingly being used as a framework to conceptualize the impacts of energy decision making in more holistic ways and to consider the social implications in terms of existing ethical values. Similarly, renewable energy technologies are increasingly being promoted for their environmental and social benefits. However, little work has been done to systematically examine the extent to which, in what ways and in what contexts, renewable energy technologies can contribute to achieving energy justice. This paper assesses the potential of renewable electricity technologies to address energy justice in various global contexts via a systematic review of existing studies …

Biobased Products And The Leed® Rating System, Meredith Chambers, Mikesch Muecke

Mikesch Muecke

At the beginning of the 20th century, over 40% by weight of all the materials consumed through the production of goods within the United States were comprised of renewable resources (Matos and Wagner 1998). In contrast, by the end of the 20th century renewable material usage had dropped to less than 8% by weight (Matos and Wagner 1998). Combined with both an increase in the overall rate at which we consume resources as well as growing awareness of the inherently finite availability of nonrenewable resources, the early decades of the 21st century may mark the beginning of a shift back …

Negative Impacts Of Illegal, Unreported And Unregulated Fishing Perpetrated By Mozambican Fishers, Catarina Maria Arminda Elias Vasco

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Review Of Egypt’S First Ndc : Using A Purpose-Made Matrix While Investigating The Need For A Maritime Component, Mohamed S. Rowihil

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Safety In The Fishery Sector Of Pakistan: Exploratory Research, Mirza Zeeshan Baig

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Study On The Effectiveness Of The Ism Code On The Seafarers' Awareness Of Safety Culture, Min Jung

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Analysis On Wreck Related National Laws Of The Republic Of Korea Considering The Nairobi International Convention On The Removal Of Wrecks, 2007, Byoung-Yun Lee

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Towards An Integrated Ocean Governance Regime And Implementation Of The Sustainable Development Goal 14 In Nigeria, Taoheed Olalekan Folami

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Exposure And Vulnerability Of Senegal To The Introduction Of Harmful Aquatic Organisms And Pathogens By Ballast Water, Awa Camara

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Causes And Possible Methods Of Dealing With Mangrove Deforestation In Mozambican Coastal Areas: A Case Study Of Quelimane District In Zambézia Province, Mustafa Cesar Paulino Unaite

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of The Effectiveness Of Implementation Of The Marpol 73/78 Convention In Nigeria, Ikpi Ofem Akpama

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Three Essays On The Theory Of Environmental Regulation: Hybrid Price And Quantity Policies And Regulation In The Presence Of Co-Pollutants, Insung Son

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation contains three original essays in the economic theory of environmental regulation. The main motivations for this work are two problems: the design of greenhouse gas (GHG) policies when emissions of these gases interact with so-called co-pollutants and the design of hybrid price and quantity policies to deal with the uncertainty in the benefits and costs of controlling GHG emissions. Abstract Concerns about how best to control GHGs have generated intense interest in the co-benefits and adverse side-effects of climate policies. Efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions can reduce emissions of flow pollutants that are emitted along with CO …