Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Influences On Growth: Development Beyond Conventional Wastewater Infrastructure, Kendrick J. Curtis

Doctoral Dissertations

Wastewater treatment has long had a powerful restraining influence on land use patterns in the United States. The limited availability of central sewers confined intense property development to the sewered areas of cities and towns. The drawbacks associated with septic systems restrained even moderate-density development in areas with inappropriate soils. The advent of decentralized wastewater systems abolished these restraints, however. This technology made it possible to develop land at even high densities with no regard for the proximity of sewers and little for soil quality. This presented an opportunity for developers to pursue projects wherever attractive conditions prevailed. It also …

Estimating Potential Economic Net Carbon Flux From U.S. Agriculture Using A High Resolution, Integrated, Socioeconomic-Biogeophysical Model, Chad M. Hellwinckel

Doctoral Dissertations

Estimation of the carbon abatement potential of a national carbon market upon U.S. agricultural lands is needed by climate analysts, policymakers, and carbon market brokers. A high resolution, integrated, socioeconomic-biogeophysical model is developed in this research by linking the economics of land management with spatial data on soils and land use. The economic component of the model functions at the county level with biophysical data at the sub-county level of resolution.

The model is used to estimate changes in net carbon flux induced by incentives for conservation tillage on nine major crops. The economic potential reduction in net carbon flux …

Capturing Pre-Evacuation Trips And Associative Delays: A Case Study Of The Evacuation Of Key West, Florida For Hurricane Wilma, Melany Strike Noltenius

Doctoral Dissertations

The time it takes for the residents to evacuate an area is calculated as an evacuation time estimate (ETE). In theory, these time estimates are calculated based on a number of inputs, including clearance time, the impact of traffic management techniques, and the time for the public to prepare to evacuate (Dow, 2000). Evacuation models can calculate clearance times, as well as incorporate the temporal impact of traffic management techniques, like contra-flow traffic. However, these models do not include delays associated with pre-evacuation trips. Because these trips are not well represented in hurricane evacuation models, the evacuation time estimate may …

Crossing The Rubicon: The Demise Of Segregation And The Origins Of Divergence In South Africa And The American South, Kyle Thomas Rector

Doctoral Dissertations

South Africa and the American South have long shared historical and socioeconomic commonalities. Of these similarities, their histories of governmentally-mandated racial segregation are what most often led people to draw comparisons between the two areas. Likewise, South Africa and the American South for much of the 20th century were considered atypical or exceptional when compared to their geographically proximate neighbors. Hence, research by Fredrickson, Cell, Sparks, and others identify how these two areas, though halfway around the globe from one another, have mirrored and impacted one another.

With the demise of governmentally-mandated segregation in both areas, it is worth asking …