Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Detection And Mapping Of Phragmites Australis Using High Resolution Multispectral And Hyperspectral Satellite Imagery, Nicholas J. Lantz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mapping invasive plant species is important to establish an invasion baseline, monitor plant propagation, and to implement an effective plan to deal with the invasion. In this thesis, methods are proposed to map invasive Phragmites australis in a Great Lakes coastal wetland. Chapter 2 presents an object-based Phragmites extraction method using Worldview-2 high-spatial-resolution satellite imagery. For the 4024 ha study area at Walpole Island,Ontario, 94% overall accuracy was achieved.

Chapter 3 uses CHRIS PROBA hyperspectral satellite imagery for mapping the pixel abundance of Phragmites using a spectral mixture analysis method. An evaluation method was developed to assess the accuracy of …

Emotional Geographies Of Home: Place Identities Among Senior Women Residing In A Long-Term Care Facility, Malgorzata M. Milczarek

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This research aimed to document the meanings and identities attached to the concept of ‘home’ among older women residing in long-term care. The study is based upon semi-structured, open-ended interviews with eleven senior women who reside in a long-term care home in The City of London, Ontario. This study contributes towards theoretical and methodological debates by combining critical humanism, feminism and the newly developing body of work called ‘emotional geographies’ in its approach. Along with the interview, the novel method of using the body as an ‘instrument of research’ is utilized (Longhurst, 2008). The methodology allows for ‘emotional spaces’ occupied …

Obesogenic Neighborhoods: The Impact Of Neighborhood Restaurants And Convenience Stores On Adolescents' Food Consumption Behaviors, Meizi He, Patricia Tucker, Jennifer D. Irwin, Jason Gilliland, Kristian Larsen, Paul Hess

Geography & Environment Publications

To examine the relationship between the neighbourhood food environment and dietary intake among adolescents. Cross-sectional design using: (i) a geographic information system to assess characteristics of the neighbourhood food environment and neighbourhood socio-economic status; (ii) the modified Healthy Eating Index (HEI) to assess participants' overall diet quality; and (iii) generalized linear models to examine associations between HEI and home and school food environmental correlates. Mid-sized Canadian city in Ontario, Canada. Participants Grade 7 and 8 students (n 810) at twenty-one elementary schools. Students living in neighbourhoods with a lower diversity of land-use types, compared with their higher diversity counterparts, had …

Geography, News Media Discourse, And Water Management: A Case Study Of The Devils Lake Outlet, Daniel J. Bednar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis explores the print news media discourse surrounding the dispute between Manitoba and North Dakota over a flood mitigation plan in Devils Lake North Dakota. In order to do so, critical discourse analysis was applied to news media from a seventeen year period during the dispute. Findings were compared between media sources as well as to pertinent policy documents. The thesis finds that the political arena provided by local newspapers as well as the discourses of scale, confrontation, history, and economics had the largest effect on the dispute’s public face. A total of nine findings within these areas are …

Diatoms In Castor Lake (North-Central Washington, Usa) – Proxies Of Climate And Hydrologic Variation, Kelly D. Hollingshead

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This research provides a high temporal resolution (1 sample / 2-3 years) record of hydrologic variation for the last 2,000 years using a lake sediment record from Castor Lake, a closed-basin system in Washington, USA. The core was dated using ¹³⁷Cs, ¹⁴C, and tephrochronology. Approximately 600 diatoms were identified and enumerated in 198 samples from a Castor Lake freeze core and Livingstone-piston core. A diatom-inference model for salinity was applied to reconstruct fossil diatom salinity. Diatom-inferred salinity for the last century tracked Palmer Drought Severity Index, indicating diatom community composition tracks effective moisture and can be used to …

The Cross-Border Migrant Experience In Lang Son Province, Northern Viet Nam, Donald Hickerson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The crossing of national borders between nations of the developing world provides opportunities for the poor who seek sources of livelihood, while putting migrants, especially women migrants, at risk of exploitation and abuse. It is against the backdrop of these contradictory effects of migration for poor women that this thesis examines the experiences of a group of daily cross-border migrant women in northern Viet Nam. The study focuses on the role of networks in their lives. Based on 22 in-depth interviews with Vietnamese women migrants who work at the Viet Nam-China border region, I develop an analytical framework that seeks …

Attracting And Retaining The Highly Skilled In Medium-Sized City-Regions Of Ontario, Kyle Clemens

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Canada’s medium-sized cities have recently experienced a significant net loss in human capital growth attributed alone to internal migration. Subsequently, the largest cities in the country have received a net growth in human capital in part due to internal migration. Using mixed qualitative methods in the form of a policy document analysis and in-depth key informant interviews, this study aims to understand how and to what extent institutional relations are leveraging post-secondary education institutions in medium-sized city-regions of Ontario to attract and retain the highly skilled. The results of this study reveal that limited collaboration to leverage the post-secondary education …

“Winds Of Change”: Explaining Support For Wind Energy Developments In Ontario, Canada, Chad Jr Walker

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis addresses a major gap in the wind turbine and risk assessment literatures. It explains local support for wind energy in some areas in spite of vocal opposition in others. Findings from Port Burwell and Clear Creek, Ontario indicate that social and contextual forces may help explain much of the difference in opinion between the two communities. The case study was focused through 21 in-depth interviews. The interviews were analyzed verbatim using NVIVO 9 software. The findings were found to be consistent with Kasperson’s theory of the Social Amplification of Risk and seem to explain why Port Burwell is …

Economic Development In A Changing Global Economy: Examining The Perspectives Of Practitioners In Ontario, Canada, Maxwell Taabazuing

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Although economic development has been a long standing tradition within policy agenda of municipalities, it has nevertheless undergone significant changes as a way of gaining competitiveness over the years. Since the 1990s, however, economic development has become a critical component on municipalities’ agenda, partly as a result of local municipal level conditions and partly due to global economic changes. The emerging dynamics are leading to a more rapidly evolving field of economic development. In view of the recent trends, many scholars of economic development have argued that municipalities will need to substantially reconfigure and change their approaches in order to …

“We Should Be Listening To Our Elders”: Evaluation Of Transfer Of Indigenous Knowledge Between Anishinabe Youth And Elders, Kassandra Kulmann

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Indigenous knowledge (IK) (knowledge held by Indigenous peoples regarding local environments, ways of life and culture) can potentially improve health and environment conditions. This thesis examines IK transfer between Anishinabe Elders and youth. A knowledge translation intervention was applied to address community concerns regarding decline of IK transfer between Elders and youth.

Youth were hired to participate in a summer school and interview Elders regarding environment and health issues. Qualitative interviews were conducted with youth before and after their internships to evaluate their experiences and IK uptake. The summer school and internships were effective for facilitating IK transfer between Elders …

Experiences Of Socio-Spatial Exclusion Among Ghanaian Immigrant Youth In Toronto: A Case Study Of The Jane-Finch Neighbourhood, Mariama Zaami

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Social and spatial exclusion of immigrants is an emerging phenomenon in Canadian cities. While many of the existing studies have looked at the deprivation of visible minority immigrants in education, labour market and housing patterns, little attention has so far been given to the broader issue of their socio-spatial exclusion in Canadian cities. To help fill this gap in the literature, this study assesses the nature and characteristics of socio-spatial exclusion experienced by Blacks in Canada, using Ghanaian immigrant youth in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood as a case study. The study uses a qualitative methodological approach consisting of in-depth …

A Case Study Comparison Of Direct Selling Alternative Food Networks In Belo Horizonte, Brazil And Toronto, Canada, Erin M. Pratley

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines two local direct-selling AFNs: one in the Global North, in Toronto, Canada, and the other in the Global South, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. It considers the experiences and roles of farmers within these two AFNs, using the findings to assess the potential and limitations of these two networks in what are two very different geographical locations. A comparative case study approach was taken, using a qualitative methodology. To the researcher’s knowledge, the comparison of a Northern AFN to a Southern AFN has not been documented, and thus this study provides a unique opportunity to observe how the …

Sensing Commute Spaces And Automobilized Places By Foot, Bike And Car In Vancouver, Bc, Denver V. Nixon

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Some scholars argue that different modes of mobility produce different ways of knowing the world. Automobiles and their associated physical and social constructs are accused by some of alienating their drivers and those outside the car, whereas others see the human-machine hybrids they create as inherently connecting. Bicycling and walking are often seen as providing a more connected experience of places traversed, though the “automobilization” of these environments may conversely alienate cyclists and pedestrians through a host of social and environmental injustices, both local and global. Little empirical research has attended to this debate. This dissertation research is founded upon …

Changes In The Hydrological Regime In The Upper Bow And Upper Athabasca Watersheds During The 20th Century, Heather A. Haines

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines 20^th century regime changes for the headwaters of the Bow (1911-2005) and Athabasca (1971-2005) Rivers. Changes in precipitation and temperature associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation dominate the Bow streamflow record. Higher snowfall, lower mean temperatures, and greater annual discharges occur during the “cool” PDO phase (1947-1976) with lower snowfall, higher mean temperatures, and lower annual discharges during the “warm” (1925-1946, 1977-2005) phases. Any long-term linear trends in the Bow record are masked by these multidecadal trends. The Athabasca record is too short to compare to the PDO but available data show patterns similar to the …

Heavy Handed: A Multi-Level Approach To Understanding Regional Variation In The Use Of Force By Police, Zachary R. Young

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Using data from the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2004 (ICPSR 4572) from the United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, the goal of this paper is to determine whether or not there are regional variations in the way in which American police officers use force at the time of arrest. Specifically, this paper suggests that lower levels of police-suspect violence are present in the Southern United States owning to a culture of violence. Conversely, higher levels of police-suspect violence are likely to be found in the Northern United States as a result of …

The Influence Of Local Food Environments On Adolescents' Food Purchasing Behaviors, Meizi He, Patricia Tucker, Jason Gilliland, Jennifer D. Irwin, Kristian Larsen, Paul Hess

Geography & Environment Publications

This study examined the relationship between the neighborhood food environment and the food purchasing behaviors among adolescents. Grade 7 and 8 students (n = 810) at 21 elementary schools in London, Ontario, Canada completed a questionnaire assessing their food purchasing behaviors. Parents of participants also completed a brief questionnaire providing residential address and demographic information. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to assess students' home and school neighborhood food environment and land use characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the influence of the home neighborhood food environment on students' food purchasing behaviors, while two-level Hierarchical Non-Linear Regression …

Critical Research Agendas Within The Metropolis Project: Reflections On A Study Of Precarious Housing And Hidden Homelessness Among Refugees, Asylum Seekers And Immigrants In Montréal, Toronto And Vancouver, Damaris Rose

Migration and Ethnic Relations Colloquium Series

No abstract provided.

Natural And Unnatural Disasters: Responding With Respect For Indigenous Rights And Knowledges, Richard Howitt, Olga Havnen, Siri Veland

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

A key challenge for contemporary democratic societies is how to respond to disasters in ways that foster just and sustainable outcomes that build resilience, respect human rights, and foster economic, social, and cultural well-being in reasonable timeframes and at reasonable costs. In many places experiencing rapid environmental change, indigenous people continue to exercise some level of self-governance and autonomy, but they also face the burden of rapid social change and hostile or ambiguous policy settings. Drawing largely on experience in northern Australia, this paper argues that state policies can compound and contribute to vulnerability of indigenous groups to both natural …

Area-Based Differentials In Childhood Cancer Incidence In Australia, 1996–2006, Danny R. Youlden, Peter D. Baade, Patricia C. Valery, Timothy E. Hassall, Leisa J. Ward, Adele C. Green, Joanne F. Aitken

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Background. International studies examining the association between the incidence of childhood cancer and characteristics of the area in which the patient lives have generally reported inconsistent patterns. Area-based differentials in childhood cancer throughout Australia have not been previously published at a national level. Procedure. Population-based information from the Australian Paediatric Cancer Registry was used to identify all children aged 0- to 14-years old diagnosed with invasive cancer or intracranial and intraspinal tumors of benign or uncertain behavior between 1996 and 2006. Age-standardized incidence rates per million children per year and the corresponding incidence rate ratios were calculated, categorized by remoteness …

Utilising Indigenous Seasonal Knowledge To Understand Aquatic Resource Use And Inform Water Resource Management In Northern Australia, Emma Woodward, Sue Jackson, Marcus Finn, Patricia Marrfurra Mctaggart

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Indigenous ecological knowledge can inform contemporary water manage- ment activities including water allocation planning. This paper draws on results obtained from a 3-year study to reveal the connection between Indigenous socio-economic values and river flows in the Daly River, Northern Territory. Qualitative phenological knowledge was analysed and compared to quantitative resource-use data, obtained through a large household survey of Indigenous harvesting and fishing effort. A more complete picture of Indigenous resource- use and management strategies was found to be provided by the adoption of mixed methods. The quantitative data revealed resource-use patterns including when and where species are harvested. The …