Environmental Studies Commons^™

Oceans Of Space, Stephanie Steinbrecher '16

EnviroLab Asia

"Oceans of Space" relates my observations of the 2016 EnviroLab Asia Clinic Trip to Singapore and Sarawak, Malaysia. In this meditation, the concept of space serves as a lens to examine assumptions of geopolitical, historical, and philosophical positioning—regionally and globally. At the center of my inquiry is EnviroLab's connection to the Dayak communities in Baram, Sarawak. This region is experiencing dramatic social and ecological change as a result of industrial development. By triangulating my subjective impressions of this space, various knowledge systems, and the qualitative data EnviroLab gathered in Southeast Asia, I aim to untangle some paradoxes that complicate the …

Employment Proximity And Outcomes For Moving Toopportunity Families, Michael C. Lens, C. J. Gabbe

Environmental Studies and Sciences

The Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing Demonstration (MTO) randomly assigned housing vouchers to public housing residents in an experimental test of the effect of neighborhood and location on household outcomes. In terms of adult employment outcomes, the 2 treatment groups did not significantly differ from the control group. We use MTO data to examine whether spatial proximity to jobs and job growth explains this lack of treatment effect. We first estimate differences in access to jobs and job growth for the 3 MTO groups. We then use 2-stage least squares models to test relationships between employment accessibility and 2 …

Plastic Oceans: A New Way In Solving Our Plastic Pollution, Dakota S. Floyd

Master's Theses

By 2050, the world’s oceans will have more plastic than fish with potentially catastrophic consequences on sea life and the health of the ocean. Economically, countries with coastal boundaries will be heavily impacted as plastic pollution has already generated a 13 billion dollars in monetary losses. Considering that this is an extreme problem that we are currently facing the current solution is not enough in curbing our plastic pollution. While, recycling programs have been beneficial in reclaiming some plastic our mass consumption of plastic has outpaced the capabilities of recycling efforts. If we are to find a solution in our …

Nyc Waterfronts, Pollution And Access, Guglielmo Mattioli

Capstones

This capstone is about the waterfronts of New York and their relation with access and pollution.

The city has come a long way since the 80s in terms of cleaning up open waters, rivers, and creeks. Many new promenades have been open and development spurred along the city shores. Yet too many miles of waterfront are still not accessible to the one most in need.

Jamaica Bay, Newtown Creek, and Flushing Bay are some of the most representative examples of where there is little access to the water and pollution levels are still too high. This capstone, organized in two …

Wildlife Finds Its Way Back To Polluted Newtown Creek, Suzanna Masih

Capstones

The Newtown Creek in New York is one of the most polluted water bodies in the United States. Scores of chemical factories and industries lined its banks in the 1800s up until the 1950s. Toxic contaminants from these sites and sewage discharges from the city left the creek a barren wasteland. But now, decades of water conservation efforts in New York City have begun to revive the health of the waterway and are making it habitable for wildlife again. Yet, the fight for even cleaner waters continues.

Wabanaki Access To Sweetgrass (Hierochloe Odorata) Within Coastal Maine's Diminishing Open Land Tradition, Amanda Marie Ellis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nontimber forest products (NTFPs), refer to a class of resources (i.e. moss, fungi, mushrooms, plants, etc.) gathered in both rural and urban landscapes. NTFPs are utilized by a variety of cultures all over the world and are a critical part of medicinal, spiritual, dietary, and economic practices. In fact, some NTFP species are so critical to people that they are considered ‘cultural keystone species’ (Garibaldi and Turner 2004). This designation means that without access to the NTFP, cultural survival is at risk. This is the case in Maine where the Wabanaki, a confederacy of four tribes (Passamaqouddy, Penobscot, Mikmaq, and …

From Love Canal To The Flint Water Crisis: Government, Public Opinion, And Environmental Crises, Sarah Hughey

Honors Theses

After the rise of the modern-day environmental movement, environmentalism in the United States focused more and more on issues and crises related to the areas in which people lived and to the aspects that impacted public health. In particular, the crisis at Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York during the late 1970s and early 1980s provided a starting point to the awareness and activism of modern environmental history. Recently, an environmental crisis related to drinking water occurred in Flint, Michigan in the mid-2010s that showcases how various aspects of the environmental movement have developed over time since the Love …

From Land Grab To Agrarian Transition? Hybrid Trajectories Of Accumulation And Environmental Change On The Cambodia–Vietnam Border, Timothy Gorman, Alice Beban

Department of Sociology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In recent years, thousands of Vietnamese migrant farmers have crossed the border into Cambodia and leased land for export-oriented rice and shrimp production. Based on case studies in two Cambodian border provinces, we argue that these land transfers represent an intersection of broader processes of agrarian change that is re-shaping the Cambodian borderlands into a hybrid socio-ecological zone. Cambodian landlords and intermediaries use unequal access to politico-legal authority and the exclusionary power of the border to leverage control over their migrant tenants, thereby capturing a significant portion of the surplus from the migrants’ high-value commodity production systems and potentially creating …

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Based Structure From Motion Biomass Inventory Estimates, Emily Jane Bedell

Dissertations and Theses

Riparian vegetation restoration efforts demand cost effective, accurate, and replicable impact assessments. In this thesis a method is presented using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) equipped with a GoPro digital camera to collect photogrammetric data of a 2.02-acre riparian restoration. A three-dimensional point cloud was created from the photos using Structure from Motion (SfM) techniques. The point cloud was analyzed and compared to traditional, ground-based monitoring techniques. Ground truth data collected using the status-quo approach was collected on 6.3% of the study site and averaged across the entire site to report stem heights in stems/acre in three height classes, 0-3 …

Factors Influencing Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Land Use, Land-Use Change, And Forest Activities, Pattarawan Watcharaanantapong

Doctoral Dissertations

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are a major global issue because of their effects on climate and the resulting environmental and human impacts. The primary greenhouse gases (GHGs), carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O), are emitted into the atmosphere from a myriad of human activities such as energy supply, manufacturing, transportation, commercial and residential buildings, and waste. Additionally, management activities on agricultural and forest lands can influence GHG emissions substantially. Even though GHGs can be released into the air via the sectors mentioned, GHGs, especially CO₂, can be removed from …

Review Of Environmental Education In China By Gerald A. Mcbeath And Jenifer Huang Mcbeath, Denise M. Glover

All Faculty Scholarship

Book Review

Fostering Household Energy Saving Behavior And Socialization Of Smart Grid Technologies: Outcomes Of A Utility Smart Grid Program, Josephine W. Munene Ms

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Smart metering and feedback technologies are designed to foster changes in demand side behavior. But the question, Do smart grids and smart technologies actually change behavior and promote more sustainable energy use? is yet to be answered—notably at the scale of a city. This study examines the way by which residential customers adopted and engaged with smart grid technologies, and the resulting changes in behavior from both these and pricing incentives from the utility. Data was obtained by analyzing a random sample of 240 respondents to three questionnaires (total n=1,303) implemented by a private sector consulting firm over summer in …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring For Scotts Bluff National Monument, 2016 Data Report, Molly B. Davis, Daniel J. Swanson

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2016 at Scotts Bluff National Monument (SCBL) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and Northern Great Plains Fire Ecology Program (NGPFire).

During the sixth full year of field work, crew members from NGPN visited eight long-term monitoring plots on May 23-25, 2016 to collect data on the plant communities at SCBL. This is part of a long-term monitoring effort to better understand the condition of the vegetation at SCBL. NGPN staff captured data relating to species richness, herb-layer height, abundance of individual native and non-native …

Analysis Of Professors’ Perceptions Towards Institutional Redevelopment Of Brownfield Sites In Alabama, Berkley Nathaniel King Jr.

Dissertations

This study was conducted to analyze professors’ perceptions on the institutional redevelopment of brownfield sites into usable greenspaces. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2011) refers to brownfields as sites, (either facility/land) under public law § 107-118 (H.R. 2869), which are contaminated with a substance that is classified as a hazard or a pollutant. Usable greenspaces, however, are open spaces or any open piece of land that is undeveloped, has no buildings or other built structures, and is accessible to the public (EPA, 2015).

Open green spaces provide recreational areas for residents and help to enhance the beauty and environmental quality …

Geri Fields Turf Improvement Project Environmental Impact Statement Bellingham, Wa, Willie Bethel, Courtney Langer, Kristi Mellum, Greg Richardson, Ryan Watson

College of the Environment Graduate and Undergraduate Publications

The purpose of this Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is to investigate the potential environmental impacts of upgrading the baseball fields at the Frank Geri Ball Fields (FGBF) complex from natural grass to synthetic turf. This would increase the year-round availability of the fields for recreational purposes. This assessment includes analysis of the proposed action in question, as well as an alternative action and a no action plan as mandated by the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).

The proposed action is to upgrade all four fields at the FGBF complex from their natural grass surface to a synthetic turf playing surface, …

Aiddata Gis International Fellowship: Ghana West-Africa, Jason N. Ready

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

My internship, or fellowship as it was commonly referred to, was funded by a non-profit organization out of Williamsburg Virginia called AidData. This fellowship took place in in the country of Ghana, West-Africa beginning in May of 2016 and continued for 14 weeks with 40 hours each week. The objective of this internship was to provide in-depth training on the use of geographic Information Systems to Private and Public sectors within the country to allow for increased efficiency, and transparency through data visualization. In accordance with the requirement of Clark Universities GISDE master’s program this paper will delve into the …

The Future Of Transportation Alternative Fuel Vehicle Policies In China And United States, Jiyi Lai

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

The number of passenger cars in use worldwide has been steadily increasing. This has led to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants, and new efforts to develop alternative fuel vehicles to mitigate reliance on petroleum. Alternative fuel vehicles include a wide range of technologies powered by energy sources other than gasoline or diesel fuel. They use electricity, biofuels, and other alternative energy sources. Governments around the world are working to encourage the development and adoption of alternative fuel vehicles, including production mandates, tax subsidies, and other incentives. This paper discusses and compares the programs and policies …

The Development Of Self In Multicultural Experiences, Dennise Jackson

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Be yourself. What does that mean? The “self” is a complex phenomenon constructed and deconstructed in various ways to accommodate or complement the social environment one is in. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Self as, “a particular part of your personality or character that is shown in a particular situation” (Merriam-Webster). Many theorist, behaviorist and sociologist continue to capitalize on the role that the external environment such as cultural trends, values and beliefs play in the construction of self. As humans we have the unique ability to adapt and assimilate to the way of living in a new environment as a …

Investigating The Effect Of Gasoline Prices On Transit Ridership And Unobserved Heterogeneity, Hojin Jung, Gun Jea Yu, Kyoung-Min Kwon

Journal of Public Transportation

Based on a unique scanner panel data set on debit and credit card transactions, we examined the effect of gasoline prices on individual choices between private vehicle use and public transit ridership. The unique feature of our data allowed us to address possible heterogeneity in the effect of gasoline prices and to explicitly incorporate the link between private vehicle use and public transit ridership. A series of empirical analyses reveal that there is significant heterogeneity in the effect of gasoline prices on fuel consumption and that financial constraints and commitment to vehicle use determine individual sensitivities to the price of …

Passenger Satisfaction And Mental Adaptation Under Adverse Conditions: Case Study In Manila, Andra Charis Mijares, Mio Suzuki, Tetsuo Yai

Journal of Public Transportation

Public transportation systems in several developing cities face congestion, air pollution, and safety problems, yet many passengers use them regularly. This study examines the structure of passenger satisfaction and the role of mental adaptation under such conditions. Metro Manila MRT-3 was analyzed as a case study.

The actual and perceived conditions at the MRT-3 were assessed using surveys. Results of the waiting time and PM_2.5 monitoring surveys revealed that passengers queue for 30 minutes, on average, while being exposed to unsafe levels of PM_2.5. The questionnaire survey results show some discrepancies between actual and perceived values, suggesting …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring For Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, 2016 Data Report, Aaron T. Rasor, Daniel J. Swanson

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2016 at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument (AGFO) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN).

During the sixth full year of field work, crew members from NGPN visited six long-term plant community monitoring (PCM) plots and the Northern Great Plains Fire Effects Crew (NGPFire) visited nine fire plant community monitoring (FPCM) plots to collect data on the plant communities at AGFO. This effort is part of a long-term monitoring program established to better understand the condition of the mixed-grass prairie, riparian, and upland regions in AGFO. …

Ethnobiology In The City: Embracing The Urban Ecological Moment, Marla R. Emery, Patrick T. Hurley

Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

More than half the world's human population resides in cities (United Nations Economic and Social Affairs Population Division 2015). Unpacking this singular statistic, it becomes clear that people come to live in urban environments via numerous routes. Some have lived in cities all their lives and are descendants of city dwellers. In other cases, cities spread and encircle them (Hurley et al. 2008; Unnikrishnan and Nagendra 2015). Increasingly, rural residents are national and transnational migrants to cities, pushed by armed conflict, natural disasters, and economic need or opportunity (United Nations Economic and Social Affairs Population Division 2013). In the case …

Restoring Relationship: How The Methodologies Of Wangari Maathai And The Green Belt Movement In Post-Colonial Kenya Achieve Environmental Healing And Women's Empowerment, Casey L. Wagner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effects of the colonial project in Kenya created multi-faceted damages to the land and indigenous people-groups. Using the lens of ecofeminism, this study examines the undergirding structures that produce systems such as colonization that oppress and destroy land, people, and other beings. By highlighting the experience of the Kikuyu people within the Kenyan colonial program, the innovative and ingenious response of Wangari Maathai's Green Belt Movement proves to be a relevant and effective counter to women's disempowerment and environmental devastation in a post-colonial nation. The approach of the Green Belt Movement offers a unique and accessible method for empowering …

Enhancing And Expanding Intersectional Research For Climate Change Adaptation In Agrarian Settings, Mary Thompson-Hall, Edward Carr, Unai Pascual

Sustainability and Social Justice

Most current approaches focused on vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation to climate change frame gender and its influence in a manner out-of-step with contemporary academic and international development research. The tendency to rely on analyses of the sex-disaggregated gender categories of ‘men’ and ‘women’ as sole or principal divisions explaining the abilities of different people within a group to adapt to climate change, illustrates this problem. This framing of gender persists in spite of established bodies of knowledge that show how roles and responsibilities that influence a person´s ability to deal with climate-induced and other stressors emerge at the intersection of …

Unsettled: How Climate Change Challenges A Foundation Of Our Legal System, And Adapting The Legal State, Victor B. Flatt

BYU Law Review

One of the fundamental goals of law is to end disputes. This push to “settlement” is foundational and has historically worked to increase societal efficiency and justice by engendering legitimate expectations among the citizenry. However, the efficient nature of much legal finality, settlement and repose only exists against a background of evolution of the physical environment that is predictable and slowpaced. That background no longer exists. The alteration of the physical world, and thus, the background for our societal structure and decisions, is accelerating rapidly due to human-caused climate change. This creates a mismatch between the law’s tendency to finality …

Do We Need To Use (And Discard) So Many Plastic Bags Each Year?, Meg K. Scharf

UCF Forum

Much of the time I hate plastic bags.

On The Micropolitics And Edges Of Survival In A Technocapital Sacrifice Zone, Peter C. Little

Faculty Publications

This article explores the industrial sacrifice zone of Endicott, New York, which in 1924 became the birthplace of International Business Machines Corporation and quickly established itself as an industrial launching pad for the production and innovation of modern computing technologies. Drawing on ethnographic research and taking a micropolitical ecology approach, I consider industrial decay and community corrosion key agents for understanding the sedimentary record of neoliberal “technocapitalism” [Suarez-Villa, Luis. 2009. Technocapitalism: A Critical Perspective on Technological Innovation and Corporatism. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press]. In particular, I explore here how the flip-side of local narratives of deindustrialization and economic …

Continental-Scale Quantification Of Landscape Values Using Social Media Data, Boris T. Van Zanten, Derek B. Van Berkel, Ross K. Meentemeyer, Jordan Smith, Koen F. Tieskens, Peter H. Verburg

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Individuals, communities, and societies ascribe a diverse array of values to landscapes. These values are shaped by the aesthetic, cultural, and recreational benefits and services provided by those landscapes. However, across the globe, processes such as urbanization, agricultural intensification, and abandonment are threatening landscape integrity, altering the personally meaningful connections people have toward specific places. Existing methods used to study landscape values, such as social surveys, are poorly suited to capture dynamic landscape-scale processes across large geographic extents. Social media data, by comparison, can be used to indirectly measure and identify valuable features of landscapes at a regional, continental, and …

Three Essays On Sustainable Development In China: Social, Economic And Environmental Aspects, Ying Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

The first essay focuses on the role of the hukou (i.e. Household Registration System) with full awareness of the economic system it operates under, and the development model it assists. I find that hukou’s main role in the planned economy was to assist socialist industrialization while averting the Lewis development model, a development strategy based on unlimited supply of labors from the rural sector, largely adopted in developing countries. In the market reform period, hukou performed exactly the opposite function, which is to assist the Lewis model based on the unlimited supply of rural surplus labor “released” from the …

The Economics Of Climate Adaptation On America’S Coasts: A Washington Conversation, Dr. Charles Colgan

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Report of a colloquium on the economics of coastal climate change adaptation held in Washington D.C. on April 16, 2015. The event was sponsored by The Center for Blue Economy of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and the Urban Coast Institute of Monmouth University. Participants included Michael Conathan, Center for American Progress; Frank Nutter, Reinsurance Association of America; Dr. Robert Kopp, Rutgers University; Josh Sawislak, Council on Environmental Quality; Tony MacDonald, Urban Coast Institute; Jason Scorse and Charles Colgan, Center for the Blue Economy