Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Using An Obcd Approach And Landsat Tm Data To Detect Harvesting On Nonindustrial Private Property In Upper Michigan, Riccardo Tortini, Audrey L. Mayer, Pieralberto Maianti

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Publications

Forest dynamics influence climate, biodiversity, and livelihoods at multiple scales, yet current resource policy addressing these dynamics is ineffective without reliable land use land cover change data. The collective impact of harvest decisions by many small forest owners can be substantial at the landscape scale, yet monitoring harvests and regrowth in these forests is challenging. Remote sensing is an obvious route to detect and monitor small-scale land use dynamics over large areas. Using an annual series of Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) images and a GIS shapefile of property boundaries, we identified units where harvests occurred from 2005 to 2011 using …

Policy Formulation, Policy Advice And Policy Appraisal: The Distribution Of Analytical Tools, Michael Howlett, Seck L. Tan, Andrea Migone, Adam Wellstead, Bryan Evans

Michigan Tech Publications

No abstract provided.

Mainstreaming And Beyond: Policy Capacity And Climate Change Decision-Making, Adam Wellstead, Richard Stedman

Department of Social Sciences Publications

Mainstreaming involves integrating climate adaptation measures into existing policies and programs. This article reviews the policy process and policy capacity of government organizations and suggests that both need to be incorporated into climate change adaptation assessments. A critical part of mainstreaming is evidence-based decision-making, which emphasizes that decision makers should have the best available information in order to make knowledgeable decisions. This requires policy work that involves a wide variety of statistical methods, applied research, and advanced modeling techniques to gauge broad public opinion and attitudes as well as more routine research techniques. A review of previous past quantitative studies …

Matteo Valleriani. Metallurgy, Ballistics, And Epistemic Instruments: The Nova Scientia Of Nicolò Tartaglia: A New Edition. Translated By, Matteo Valleriani, Lindy Divarci, And Anna Siebold, Steven A. Walton

Department of Social Sciences Publications

No abstract provided.

Historical Framework To Explain Long-Term Coupled Human And Natural System Feedbacks: Application To A Multiple-Ownership Forest Landscape In The Northern Great Lakes Region, Usa, Michelle M. Steen-Adams, Nancy Langston, Mark D.O. Adams, David J. Mladenoff

Department of Social Sciences Publications

Current and future human and forest landscape conditions are influenced by the cumulative, unfolding history of social-ecological interactions. Examining past system responses, especially unintended consequences, can reveal valuable insights that promote learning and adaptation in forest policy and management. Temporal couplings are complex, however; they can be difficult to trace, characterize, and explain. We develop a framework that integrates environmental history into analysis of coupled human and natural systems (CHANS). Our study demonstrates how historical data and methods can help to explain temporal complexity of long-term CHANS feedbacks. We focus on two sources of temporal complexity: legacy effects and lagged …

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

Department of Social Sciences Publications

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 …

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

Department of Social Sciences Publications

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 …

The Influence Of External Auditors, Capital Markets, And Main Banks On Earnings Manipulations: Evidence From Japan, Kazuhiko Kobori, Robert Hutchinson

College of Business Publications

The present study investigates the influence of main industrial banks, capital markets, and international audit firms on earnings manipulations in Japan using a sample of firms listed on Japanese stock exchanges. A modified Jones model is used to measure earnings management using discretionary accruals as proxy, and the findings suggest that the main industrial banks continue to play a primary role in Japan’s system of corporate governance. However, global capital markets and international accounting standards may be slowly eroding this influence. This may have significant implications for international investors and policy makers as Japan continues through a protracted economic recession.

Women, Cycling, And The Public Sphere: How Discursive And Community Practices Affect Engagement, Elsa L. Roberts

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

This thesis considers the impact that discursive and community practices have on women’s access to the public sphere by examining female cyclists and a cycling community in Miami, Florida via interviews and observation. In the interviews, female cyclists frequently reported fears for their safety, including concern over harassment, when riding in public space. I interviewed participants of the cycling community and observed Emerge Miami’s meetings and events, where publicly organized cycling excursions were a major component. Using the theoretical and methodological lenses of Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis and Communities of Practice, I examined the interviews to understand how participants discursively …

A Market-Based Approach To 3d Printing For Economic Development In Ghana, Wade Aitken-Palmer

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The purpose of this report is to create the foundation for further study of a market-based approach to 3D printing as an instrument for economic development in Ghana. The delivery of improved products and services to the most underserved markets is needed to spur economic activity and improve standards of living. The relationship between economic development and the advancement of technology is considered within the context of Ghana. An opportunity for market entry exists within both the bottom of the economic pyramid and the mid-segment market. 3D printing (additive manufacturing) has proven to be a disruptive technology that has demonstrated …

Examining Policy Capacity Initiatives Within Climate Change Frameworks In Three Us And Canadian Sectors Using Nvivo Content Analysis, Mehjabeen Rahman

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The climate change narrative has changed from one of mitigation to one of adaptation. Governments around the world have created climate change frameworks which address how the country can better cope with the expected and unexpected changes due to global climate change. In an effort to do so, federal governments of Canada and the United States, as well as some provinces and states within these countries, have created detailed documents which outline what steps must be taken to adapt to these changes. However, not much is mentioned about how these steps will be translated in to policy, and how that …

Writing A Community Guidebook For Evaluating Low-Grade Geothermal Energy From Flooded Underground Mines For Heating And Cooling Buildings, Edward Peace Louie

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

When underground mines close they often fill with water from ground and surface sources; each mine can contain millions to billions of gallons of water. This water, heated by the Earth’s geothermal energy, reaches temperatures ideal for heat pumps. The sheer scale of these flooded underground mines presents a unique opportunity for large scale geothermal heat pump setups which would not be as economically, socially, and environmentally feasible anywhere else. A literature search revealed approximately 30 instances of flooded underground mines being used to heat and cool buildings worldwide. With thousands of closed/abandoned underground mines in the U.S. and a …

A Naturalistic Computational Model Of Human Behavior In Navigation And Search Tasks, Brandon S. Perelman

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Planning, navigation, and search are fundamental human cognitive abilities central to spatial problem solving in search and rescue, law enforcement, and military operations. Despite a wealth of literature concerning naturalistic spatial problem solving in animals, literature on naturalistic spatial problem solving in humans is comparatively lacking and generally conducted by separate camps among which there is little crosstalk. Addressing this deficiency will allow us to predict spatial decision making in operational environments, and understand the factors leading to those decisions. The present dissertation is comprised of two related efforts, (1) a set of empirical research studies intended to identify characteristics …

The Hydrosocial Costs Of High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing: A Tale Of Two Counties In Michigan, Amanda Kreuze

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Although natural gas has been praised as a clean and abundant energy source, the varying impacts and uncertainties surrounding the process of extracting natural gas from unconventional sources, known as horizontal high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) or “fracking,” have raised important concerns. The practice of HVHF is expanding so quickly that the full impacts are not yet known. This thesis project, using a grounded theory methodological approach, explores the risks and benefits associated with HVHF as recognized by the residents of two Michigan counties, one that currently produces natural gas by HVHF (Crawford County) and one that does not (Barry County). …

Evaluating The Oil Sands Reclamation Process: Assessing Policy Capacity And Stakeholder Access For Government And Non-Governmental Organizations Operating In Alberta’S Oil Sands, Tyler Patterson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

By employing interpretive policy analysis this thesis aims to assess, measure, and explain policy capacity for government and non-government organizations involved in reclaiming Alberta's oil sands. Using this type of analysis to assess policy capacity is a novel approach for understanding reclamation policy; and therefore, this research will provide a unique contribution to the literature surrounding reclamation policy. The oil sands region in northeast Alberta, Canada is an area of interest for a few reasons; primarily because of the vast reserves of bitumen and the environmental cost associated with developing this resource. An increase in global oil demand has established …

Exploration Of The Mtsat2 Satellite Capabilities For Real Time Detection And Characterization Of Volcanic Emissions, Nicholas R. Stewart

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

In this report, we attempt to define the capabilities of the infrared satellite remote sensor, Multifunctional Transport Satellite-2 (MTSAT-2) (i.e. a geosynchronous instrument), in characterizing volcanic eruptive behavior in the highly active region of Indonesia. Sulfur dioxide data from NASA's Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) (i.e. a polar orbiting instrument) are presented here for validation of the processes interpreted using the thermal infrared datasets. Data provided from two case studies are analyzed specifically for eruptive products producing large thermal anomalies (i.e. lava flows, lava domes, etc.), volcanic ash and SO₂ clouds; three distinctly characteristic and abundant volcanic emissions. Two primary …

Net Asset Valuation Of Whiting Petroleum’S Acquisition Of Kodiak Oil And Gas, Alexander M. Beeker

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

In July 2014, it was announced that Whiting Petroleum would acquire Kodiak Oil & Gas in an all-stock deal valued at $6 billion. Both companies are headquartered in Denver and operate primarily in the Bakken but in a deal of this size it is possible for executives to hold ulterior motives for mergers such as higher compensation and golden parachutes. Acceptable motivating factors for engaging in a merger include cost savings through synergies and economies of scale, increased market power, asset diversification, and price volatility. A net asset valuation was used to help determine if shareholders should vote in favor …

Object-Based Classification Of Earthquake Damage From High-Resolution Optical Imagery Using Machine Learning, James Bialas

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Object-based approaches to the segmentation and supervised classification of remotely-sensed images yield more promising results compared to traditional pixel-based approaches. However, the development of an object-based approach presents challenges in terms of algorithm selection and parameter tuning. Subjective methods and trial and error are often used, but time consuming and yield less than optimal results. Objective methods are warranted, especially for rapid deployment in time sensitive applications such as earthquake induced damage assessment.

Our research takes a systematic approach to evaluating object-based image segmentation and machine learning algorithms for the classification of earthquake damage in remotely-sensed imagery using Trimble’s eCognition …

Engaging Metis: Exploring An African Woman's Negotiation Of Change, Ruby Pappoe

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

African women’s emerging visibility as social and political actors has received a lot of attention in the past two decades. Scholars have explored women’s political movements and sociocultural activism from various perspectives to expose their contributions to social change. Although this scholarship has expanded to incorporate multiple voices as well as expose the contemporary strategies of resistance women engage in to overcome difficult challenges, there seems to be little research on ordinary women as they also confront their daily challenges in hope of improving their situations. This research takes up this gap by exploring a Ghanaian woman’s resistance in the …

Impacts Of Distraction On Driving: An Analysis Of Physical, Cognitive, And Emotional Distraction, Jason Sterkenburg

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Traditionally, driver distraction has been categorized into four types: visual, biomechanical, auditory, and cognitive. However, the place of emotion in distracted driving research is undefined. This research investigates the influence of emotional distraction on driving performance. In total, seventy-eight participants were recruited and placed into one of four conditions: physical (visual-biomechanical), cognitive (cognitive- auditory), emotional (anger), and control. The results demonstrated that emotional distraction degrades driving performance as much as or more than other distraction types. The causes for these results, underlying mechanisms, and other considerations are mentioned in the discussion section.

A Case Study Of Data In The Management Of Water Resources In The Gunnison River Basin, Colorado, Rhianna L. Williams

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

In the American Southwest, a growing population combined with climate change induced weather pattern changes are creating growing conflict for uses of the over appropriated Colorado River System. Water managers use a variety of tools and data to make decisions at the local and regional level which will impact access for future users. The purpose of this study is to understand how water managers use data and knowledge to manage current and future access to water resources in a water scarce region. A case study of the Gunnison River Basin located within the larger Colorado River Basin was conducted over …

Multi-Mode And Single Mode Polymer Waveguides And Structures For Short-Haul Optical Interconnects, Kevin L. Kruse

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Single mode and multi-mode polymer optical waveguides are a viable solution for replacing copper interconnects as high speed and large bandwidth short-haul optical interconnects in next-generation supercomputers and data servers. A precision laser direct writing method is implemented for producing various single mode and multi-mode polymer waveguide structures and their performance is evaluated experimentally showing agreement with theoretically developed models. The laser direct writing method is the optimal solution for low-rate cost-effective prototyping and large area panel production.

A single mode polymer waveguide bridge module for silicon to glass optical fibers is designed, modeled, fabricated, and measured. The bridge module …

The Crisis Of Images: A Reading Of Feed A Child’S Controversial 2014 Advertisement, Marcel Tchatchou

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

This work reads Feed A Child’s 2014 South African fund raising campaign advertisement (http://goo.gl/cRboV7) through Stuart Hall’s Encoding/Decoding model of communication. Utilizing concepts from Stuart Hall’s model this paper draws attention to racial questions raised by the commercial. Even though the commercial’s stated purpose is to raise awareness of unequal social conditions in South Africa, its visual elements are racially offensive. The turmoil generated by the commercial is the consequence of the complex structure of its message, and the fact that its meaning is not determined solely by the organization’s stated intentions. This work explores the way that the processes …

The Role Of Hybridization And The United States Fish And Wildlife Service Biologists’ Discretion In The Implementation Of The Endangered Species Act, Jennifer F. Lind-Riehl

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires that the “best available scientific and commercial data” be used to enable the protection of critically imperiled species from extinction and preserve biodiversity. However, the ESA does not provide specific guidance on how to apply this mandate. In addition, the interpretation of scientific data can be uncertain and controversial, particularly regarding species delineation and hybridization issues. US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) field biologists must decide what the best science is and how to interpret and apply it in their recommendations. As a result, FWS field biologists often have considerable discretion when it comes …

Assessment Of Land Cover And Riparian Zones For The Ford Research Forest - Hickey Creek/Sturgeon River And Falls River Subwatersheds, Fay Dearing

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

For landowners, knowing the contents of their land is always a primary concern. Traditional field based assessments can be challenging and expensive for large landholdings as well. However, by utilizing remote sensing and GIS models the land cover/land use and riparian areas can be more easily identified on a larger landscape level. To this end two remote sensing techniques were explored to create a land cover/land use map for the study area. The first, utilizing object-oriented techniques and high spatial resolution generated an overall accuracy of 71.97% which indicated a moderate agreement with the classified image and the field truthed …

Envisioning Queer Through Digital Media: Developing A Community-Based Workshop In Media Analysis For Lgbtqia+ Youth, Cynthia Delaney

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

This project consists of a proposed curriculum for a semester-long, community-based workshop for LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual or ally, "+" indicating other identifications that deviate from heterosexual) youth ages 16-18. The workshop focuses on an exploration of LGBTQIA+ identity and community through discussion and collaborative rhetorical analysis of visual and social media. Informed by queer theory and history, studies on youth work, and visual media studies and incorporating rhetorical criticism as well as liberatory pedagogy and community literacy practices, the participation-based design of the workshop seeks to involve participants in selection of media texts, …

An Analysis Of China’S Biofuels Policy And Chinese Discourse On Land Acquisition For Biofuels In Africa, Xuna Yang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

China has recently undertaken a very ambitious biofuel production program. However due to a lack of arable land domestically, this program has necessitated the leasing of arable land elsewhere (e.g., in Africa). This thesis first conducts a policy analysis of China’s biofuel policy using a historical institutionalism ends-and-means framework. The analysis reveals the ways in which China achieves its biofuel production goals through adopting various levels of policy means. China’s success in biofuel development is partly due to its unique policy-making and policy-assessment system, which ensures that biofuel production goals can be met. The second chapter analyzes China’s discourse on …

The Routine Disaster: A Case Study In El Salvador, Tyler M. Barton

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

A 2010 report by the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination ranked El Salvador as the most vulnerable country in the world to natural disasters, with roughly 95% of the population at risk. The combination of recurring natural disasters and high vulnerability in a relatively small country has led to repeated exposure of local residents to significant natural phenomena of all sorts, including earthquakes, flooding, landslides, volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes.

The effect of disaster assistance can be multi-faceted and this report examines the case of flooding hazards of a small town in the south-eastern San Miguel region of the country, called …

Development Of A Fundamental Rating System For Identifying Sprawl: A Case Study Utilizing Small Cities In Michigan, Jonathan T. Riehl

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Urban sprawl research generally fits into one or more of four realms including definitions, causes, components, and consequences. Although research on consequences continues to thrive, research on components is in its adolescence, primarily due a lack of consensus on definition. Recent studies such as Ewing et al. 2014 have narrowed the list of sprawl metrics to about 20 within four factors including development density, land use mix, activity centering, and street accessibility.

This main product of this research is a Sprawl Scorecard for small Michigan cities varying in size from Traverse City, nearly 50,000 people in the urban cluster, down …

Development Of The Intelligent Graphs For Everyday Risky Decisions Tutor, Margo Woller-Carter

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Simple graphical visual aids have now been shown to be among the most effective means of quickly improving people’s ability to evaluate and understand risks (i.e., risk literacy), particularly for diverse and vulnerable groups (e.g., older adults, less educated, less numerate, minority and immigrant samples). Although well-developed theory and standards for user-friendly graph design exist, guidelines are often violated by designers faced with constraints like conflicts of interest (e.g., persuasion and marketing vs. informed decision making). Even when information is presented in well-designed graphs, many people struggle with appropriate data interpretation. Can basic computerized graph literacy training improve essential graph …