Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Using Landsat Tm Imagery To Monitor Vegetation Change Following Flow Restoration To The Lower Owens River, California, Lesley Crandell Bross

Dissertations and Theses

Rehabilitating river corridors to restore valuable riparian habitat consumes significant resources from both governments and private companies. Given these considerable expenditures, it is important to monitor the progress of such projects. This study evaluated the utility of using Landsat Thematic Mapper remotely-sensed data from 2002 and 2009 to monitor vegetation change induced by instream flow restoration to the Lower Owens River in central California. This study compared the results of an unsupervised classification with an NDVI threshold classification to appraise the resources required and effectiveness of each analysis method. The results were inspected by creating standard remote sensing accuracy error …

Coyotes On The Web: Understanding Human-Coyote Interaction And Online Education Using Citizen Science, Zuriel Anne Rasmussen

Dissertations and Theses

Coyote (Canis latrans) numbers are increasing in urban areas, leading to more frequent human-coyote interactions. Rarely, and particularly when coyotes have become habituated to humans, conflicts occur. Effective education about urban coyotes and how to prevent habituation reduces conflict. Citizen science, in the form of online education, can be used to engage and educate city dwellers about urban coyotes. In this research, I explore Portland Metropolitan Area (PMA) residents' baseline experiences with, and attitudes toward, urban coyotes. Next, I investigate citizen science as a tool for education. Using the Portland Urban Coyote Project (PUCP), a citizen science project, as a …

Advances In Autonomous-Underwater-Vehicle Based Passive Bottom-Loss Estimation By Processing Of Marine Ambient Noise, Lanfranco Muzi

Dissertations and Theses

Accurate modeling of acoustic propagation in the ocean waveguide is important to SONAR-performance prediction, and requires, particularly in shallow water environments, characterizing the bottom reflection loss with a precision that databank-based modeling cannot achieve. Recent advances in the technology of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) make it possible to envision a survey system for seabed characterization composed of a short array mounted on a small AUV. The bottom power reflection coefficient (and the related reflection loss) can be estimated passively by beamforming the naturally occurring marine ambient-noise acoustic field recorded by a vertical line array of hydrophones. However, the reduced array …

Tree Inventory Report: Soma District, Cody Graham, Jeremy Bigelow, Gary Shaw, Andrew Bailey, Katelynn Bisso, David Dunnington, Joshua Emmons, Morgan Farber, Cody Graham, Ryan Guidry, Max Joyner, Roger Klingelhoffer, Jonathan Newman, Nicholas Scarpelli, Geoffrey Duh

Asset Mapping: Community Geography Project

The SOMA tree inventory project was taken on by a group of fourteen students as a senior capstone at Portland State University, in September of 2015. Many of us came to this class with GiS background, however, there are others representing the diverse collection of studies offered at PSU, such as film, communication, and general sciences. Capstone courses are PSU’s requirement for all seniors that allow each student to take part in helping those in the surrounding community, by providing a benefit to organizations in need of a large group of volunteers. Our capstone course was designed to impart the …

Delivering Green Streets: An Exploration Of Changing Perceptions And Behaviours Over Time Around Bioswales In Portland, Oregon, Glyn Everett, Jessica Lamond, Anita T. Morzillo, Annie Marissa Matsler, Faith Ka Shun Chan

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Green Infrastructure (GI) is an increasingly popular means of dealing with flooding and water quality issues worldwide. This study examines public perceptions of, and behaviour around, bioswales, which are a popular GI facility in the United States. Bioswales are highly visible interventions requiring support from residents and policy-makers to be implemented and maintained appropriately. To understand how the residents’ perceptions and attitudes might develop over time, we interviewed residents of Portland, Oregon, living near bioswales installed 1–2, 4–5 and 8–9 years ago, to determine awareness, understanding, and opinions about the devices. We found no consistent patterns across time periods, but …

A Geographic View Of Expansion Choices By U.S. Firms In China, Rossitza Wooster, David Banis, Ayesha Khalid

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

How does geography matter for explaining the location patterns of U.S. companies in China? We combine insights from the literature on economic geography and spatial interdependence in foreign direct investment (FDI) activity, to provide a comparative analysis using both sectoral regression results and maps that illustrate patterns in the data. We use a unique sample of publicly traded U.S. firms who announced expansion of operations into China between 1980 and 2005. Regression results show that relative to the tertiary sector, firm characteristics matter more for primary sector firms, whereas province characteristics matter more for secondary sector firms. Additionally, our GIS …

Modeling Vegetation Mosaics In Sub-Alpine Tasmania Under Various Fire Regimes, Gabriel I. Yospin, Samuel W. Wood, Andrés Holz, David M.J.S. Bowman, Robert E. Keane, Cathy Whitlock

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Western Tasmania, Australia contains some of the highest levels of biological endemism of any temperate region in the world, including vegetation types that are conservation priorities: fire-sensitive rainforest dominated by endemic conifer species in the genus Athrotaxis; and fire-tolerant buttongrass moorlands. Current management focuses on fire suppression, but increasingly there are calls for the use of prescribed fire in flammable vegetation types to manage these ecosystems. The long-term effects of climate and alternative management strategies on the vegetated landscape are unknown. To help identify controls over successional trajectories, we parameterized a spatially explicit landscape-scale model of vegetation and fire …

Short-Tailed Temperature Distributions Over North America And Implications For Future Changes In Extremes, Paul C. Loikith, J. David Neelin

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Some regions of North America exhibit nonnormal temperature distributions. Shorter-than-Gaussian warm tails are a special subset of these cases, with potentially meaningful implications for future changes in extreme warm temperatures under anthropogenic global warming. Locations exhibiting shorter-than-Gaussian warm tails would experience a greater increase in extreme warm temperature exceedances than a location with a Gaussian or long warm-side tail under a simple uniform warm shift in the distribution. Here we identify regions exhibiting such behavior over North America and demonstrate the effect of a simple warm shift on changes in extreme warm temperature exceedances. Some locations exceed the 95th percentile …

A Geospatial Tool For Wetland Prioritization At The Watershed Scale, Debra Sue Blackmore, Heejun Chang

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

There is an increasing demand for assessing ecosystem functions for freshwater wetlands, especially when comparing or prioritizing among wetlands at the watershed scale. We estimated the relative potential of selected ecosystem functions for freshwater wetlands within a watershed using widely available geospatial data. We developed four functions to estimate 1) flood storage, 2) late season flow, 3) sediment retention and 4) temperature control in four pilot watersheds in Oregon (Tualatin, Coquille, Upper Grande Ronde and Sprague). These watersheds are geographically separated from each other representing diverse ecoregion environments. Spatial analysis and geographic information system (GIS) were designed for maximum re-use, …

Evaluating User Interaction With A Web-Based Group Decision Support System: A Comparison Between Two Clustering Methods, Martin Swobodzinski, Piotr Jankowski

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Task-Technology Fit theory and the Technology Acceptance Model identify system utilization as an important indicator for the performance of complex software systems. Yet, empirical evaluations of user interaction with group decision support systems are scarce and often methodologically underdeveloped. For this study we employed an exploratory evaluation of user interaction in the context of web-based group decision support systems. Specifically, we used information-rich server logs captured through a web-based platform for participatory transportation planning to identify groups of users with similar use patterns. The groups were derived through multiple sequence alignment and hierarchical cluster analysis based on varying user activity …

A Critical Physical Geography Of Urban Soil Contamination, Nathan Mcclintock

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Anthropogenic lead (Pb) is widespread in urban soils given its widespread deposition over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries via a range of point- and non-point sources, including industrial waste and pollution, leaded paint, and automobile exhaust. While soil scientists and urban ecologists have documented soil Pb contamination in cities around the world, such analyses rarely move beyond proximal mechanisms to focus on more distal factors, notably the social processes mediating Pb accumulation in particular places. In this paper, I articulate a critical physical geography of urban soil Pb contamination that considers the dialectical coproduction of soil and …

Who Is At The Forest Restoration Table? Final Report On The Blue Mountains Forest Stewardship Network, Phase 1, Rebecca J. Mclain, Kirsten Wright, Lee Cerveny

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Forest collaboratives have emerged throughout the western U.S. as a governance model to address complex ecological challenges that occur at the landscape scale across multiple landownerships and jurisdictional boundaries. Collaborative groups typically involve multiple parties with diverse interests working together to address complex management challenges. Collaboratives often provide input on or make recommendations about public lands actions and decisions. The Blues Stewardship Project was developed to better understand the size, composition, participation, and diversity of forest collaboratives and to identify organizations that may not currently be represented at the collaborative ‘table.’

The study focuses on five collaborative groups in the …

The Right To Dream: Assessing The Spatiality Of A Homeless Rest Site In Portland, Oregon, Stephen Przybylinski

Dissertations and Theses

The continued increase in homelessness in Portland, Oregon is in part a result of the systemic restructuring of the welfare state as well as a shift in local governance purviews. Primarily this has eradicated the affordable housing stock in the city which is compounded by the limited availability of emergency shelter spaces. These and other financial constraints have left a depleted service support system to cover a rising homelessness problem. In response to this, contemporary social movements have been focusing attention on economically marginalized groups such as the homeless, calling for rights to access resources in cities such as housing. …

Geography Standard Posters: The Use Of Geography, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University

Instructional Materials

The poster looks at applying geography to interpret the past and applying geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.

Geography Standard Posters: Physical Systems, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University

Instructional Materials

The poster looks at shaping the earth's surface and the ecosystems of the world.

Geography Standard Posters: Places And Regions, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University

Instructional Materials

The poster looks at the physical and human characteristics of place, how people create regions, and the culture influences people's perceptions.

Geography Standard Posters: The World In Spatial Terms, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University

Instructional Materials

The poster looks at how to use maps, using mental maps, and how to analyze spatial organization.

Let's Explore: History Using Maps - Teacher Guide, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University, Teresa L. Bulman, Morgan Josef, Gwyneth Genevieve Mckee Manser

Instructional Materials

Teacher activity book. Inside, you will find interactive activities that will help you explore Oregon’s history using maps!

The student guide can be found here: https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/27714

Let's Explore: History Using Maps - Student Guide, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University, Teresa L. Bulman, Morgan Josef, Gwyneth Genevieve Mckee Manser

Instructional Materials

Student activity book. Inside, you will find interactive activities that will help you explore Oregon’s history using maps!

The teacher guide can be found here: https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/27715

Whose Urban Forest? The Political Ecology Of Foraging Urban Nontimber Forest Products, Patrick T. Hurley, Marla R. Emery, Rebecca J. Mclain, Melissa R. Poe, Brain Grabbatin, Cari L. Goetcheus

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Drawing on case studies of foraging in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, we point to foraging landscapes and practices within diverse urban forest spaces. We examine these spaces in relation to U.S. conservation and development processes and the effects of management and governance on species valued by foragers. These case studies reveal the everyday landscapes of urban foraging and suggest that ideas about what constitutes the suite of appropriate human-environment interactions in the sustainable city are contested and accommodated in diverse ways.

Geography Standard Posters: Human Systems, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University

Instructional Materials

The poster looks at characteristics of human populations, the complexity of earth's cultural mosaics, patterns of economic independence, patterns of human settlement, how do urban and rural areas differ, and the division and control of Earth's surface.

Let's Learn: All About Geography (Pre K - 3rd Grade) Teacher Guide, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University, Teresa L. Bulman, Morgan Josef, Gwyneth Genevieve Mckee Manser

Instructional Materials

Teacher activity book. Inside you will find fun activities to help you learn about maps and geography. Keep an eye out for Sandy, the Chinook Salmon, for fun facts and helpful hints along the way!

The student guide can be found here: https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/27719

Let's Learn: All About Geography (Pre K - 3rd Grade) Student Copy, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University, Teresa L. Bulman, Morgan Josef, Gwyneth Genevieve Mckee Manser

Instructional Materials

Student activity book. Inside you will find fun activities to help you learn about maps and geography. Keep an eye out for Sandy, the Chinook Salmon, for fun facts and helpful hints along the way!

The teacher copy can be found here: https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/27716

Let's Learn: All About Maps - Student Guide, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University, Teresa L. Bulman, Morgan Josef, Gwyneth Genevieve Mckee Manser

Instructional Materials

Student activity book. Inside you will find fun activities to help you learn about maps and how they are used in everyday life.

The teacher guide can be found here: https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/27718

Let's Learn: All About Maps - Teacher Guide, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University, Teresa L. Bulman, Morgan Josef, Gwyneth Genevieve Mckee Manser

Instructional Materials

Teacher activity book. Inside you will find fun activities to help you learn about maps and how they are used in everyday life.

The student guide can be found here: https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/27717

Geography Standard Posters: Environment And Society, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University

Instructional Materials

The poster looks at how human actions modify the environment, resources use and distribution, and the environmental effects on human systems.

Overcoming Uncertainty And Barriers To Adoption Of Blue-Green Infrastructure For Urban Flood Risk Management, Colin R. Thorne, E. C. Lawson, Connie P. Ozawa, Samantha Hamlin, Leonard A. Smith

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) are increasingly recognised as vital components of urban flood risk management. However, uncertainty regarding their hydrologic performance and lack of confidence concerning their public acceptability create concerns and challenges that limit their widespread adoption. This paper investigates barriers to implementation of BGI in Portland, Oregon, using the Relevant Dominant Uncertainty (RDU) approach. Two types of RDU are identified: scientific RDUs related to physical processes that affect infrastructure performance and service provision, and socio-political RDUs that reflect a lack of confidence in socio-political structures and public preferences for BGI. We find that socio-political …

Discourses Of Deflection: The Politics Of Framing China’S South North Water Transfer Project, Britt Crow-Miller

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite significant financial, ecological and social trade-offs, China has moved forward with constructing and operationalising the world’s largest interbasin water transfer project to date, the South-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP). While it is fundamentally linked to broader political-economic goals within the context of China’s post-Mao development agenda, the SNWTP is frequently discussed in apolitical terms. Based on extensive discourse analysis and interviews with government officials across North China, I argue that the Chinese government is using "discourses of deflection" to present the project as politically neutral in order to serve its ultimate goal of maintaining the high economic growth rates …

Self-Reported Experiences Of Climate Change In Nigeria: The Role Of Personal And Socio-Environmental, Idowu Ajibade, Frederick Ato Armah, Vincent Kuuire, Isaac Luginaah, Gordon Mcbean

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this study, we examined the individual and socio-environmental factors that mediate differential self-reported experiences of climate change in coastal communities in Lagos, Nigeria. Binary complementary log-log multivariate regression was used to model residents’ experiences of changing rainfall patterns, ocean surges, and flood events. An analysis of both compositional and contextual factors showed that there were urban communities where vulnerability to flooding tends to be clustered, and that this was not fully explained by the characteristics of the people of whom the community was composed. This study, thus, underscores the importance and complex nature of the interaction between personal and …