Physical and Environmental Geography Commons^™

Research On Synthetic Rope And Its Future In Timber Harvesting, Joel N. Hartter, Jared Leonard, John Garland, Steve Pilkerton

Geography

Steel wire rope is used for many logging applications. It has served the industry well in terms of strength, durability, and longevity. However, steel wire rope is difficult to use because it is stiff, heavy, and unyielding. These characteristics can lead to fatigue and exhaustion, and may contribute to worker injuries. Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene synthetic rope has the potential to replace steel wire rope for selected logging applications. Research shows ergonomic gains and other operational effectiveness with its use. This paper presents research results, potentials, and issues in improving economic and ergonomic performance of ground-based and cable logging. Potential …

The Impact Of A One-Half Day Environmental Education Program On Elementary Students, David C. Pagel

Masters Theses

The hypothesis of this research is that elementary students benefit from the Kalamazoo Nature Center's (KNC) one-half day inquiry program, based upon data collected using a Likert scale instrument. The earth science inquiry program at KNC is intended to enhance student attitude about the natural environment. There are two primary components to the research. First, data were collected through a pre-/post-survey from elementary students who participated in the Kalamazoo Nature Center's one half-day environmental education program. The survey was based on the Test of Science Related Attitudes (Fraser, 1981). Second, data were analyzed to assess student attitudes and beliefs before …

How Earth Remote Sensing From The International Space Station Complements Current Satellite‐Based Sensors, Jennifer Gebelein, Dean Eppler

Jennifer Gebelein

The International Space Station (ISS) will provide an Earth‐and space‐observing platform that will support sensors built by 16 different countries and deliver data and images for local, regional and global research. When complete, it will be an exceptional platform for conducting remote sensing of the Earth, astrophysics, and space physics research programmes. Additionally, the ISS will operate as a testbed for engineering studies and complex technological developments that will benefit future Earth‐observing capabilities. ...

The Church As A Tool For Creating Environmental Awareness: A Case Study Of Anyigba Community, Nigeria, Olarewaju Oluseyi Ifatimehin

Olarewaju Oluseyi Ifatimehin

The ineffectiveness of environmental awareness in the society today has been a major source of concern to stakeholders. Environmental degradation and its problems are increasing geometrically with industrailization and agricultural intensification. This study examines the role of religious organizations especially the church in environmental matters. It x-rayed the level of environmental awareness in the church and suggests how the church can create environmental awareness among its members. Questionnaire were administered and analysed. The study revealed a low level of awareness among members of the church and their willingness to be enlightened on environmental issues. finally, the church accepted to be …

Bda Enhancement Methodology Using Situational Parameter Adjustments, Michael V. Carras Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

In the context of close ground combat, the perception of Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) is closely linked with a soldier’s engagement decisions and has significant effects on the battlefield. Perceived BDA is also one of the most complex and uncertain processes facing the soldier in live combat. As a result, the modeling and simulation community has yet to adequately model the perceived BDA process in combat models. This research effort examines the BDA process from a perception standpoint and proposes a methodology to collect the pertinent data and model this perception in the Army’s current force-on-force model, CASTFOREM. A subject …

The Muddy Creek Project: Evolution Of A Field-Based Research And Learning Collaborative, Alice Jones, Danita Sage, Tom Edwards

Alice Jones

For three years an on-going multidisciplinary research, teaching, and outreach collaboration has focused on the Muddy Creek Watershed in east-central Kentucky. At the core of the effort is a three-way partnership among a geologist, a geographer, and a biologist-two academic, one a state agency representative. The collaboration frequently includes additional academic partners, nonprofit and community members, and government agency personnel. It has produced graduate and undergraduate student learning experiences from individual student field projects, a course redesigned to include a major class project, and the incorporation of additional field-based components into existing coursework. Logistical and financial challenges require creativity to …

Regeneration Patterns And Facilitation Following Blowdown In A Self- Replacing Lodgepole Pine (Pinus Contorta) Stand In Central Oregon, Jennifer Michelle Karps

Dissertations and Theses

Nurse plant and object facilitation is an important factor mitigating abiotic stress, improving seedling recruitment, and shaping the fine-scale spatial patterns of many plant communities. I investigate the role of facilitation on lodgepole pine regeneration following blowdown in central Oregon. My objective is to examine the importance of nurse objects on seedling recruitment under varying stand conditions. I base my analysis on 1) the mapped locations and attributes of seedlings, saplings, trees, shrubs, snags, stumps, and sound and decomposed logs in each of five, 500 m² circular plots, 2) water holding capacity estimates of woody and leafy litter and …

An Analysis Of Urban Expnasion And Loss Of Vegetation Cover In Lokoja, Using Gis Techniques, Olarewaju Oluseyi Ifatimehin

Olarewaju Oluseyi Ifatimehin

Since Lokoja became an administrative headquarters of Kogi State in 1991, it has been experiencing rapid expansion, urbanization and significant changes in its physical landscape – land use and land cover changes. This study uses remote sensing and GIS techniques combined with field checks and survey to map land use and land cover changes and to measure the rate of urban expansion and loss of vegetation in Lokoja between 1987 and 2005. There was a considerable change in land use types over the said period of the study. The built-up area, vacant land, cultivated land and other land use type …

Winds Of Change?: Projections Of Near-Surface Winds Under Climate Change Scenarios, S C. Pryor, Justin T. Schoof, R J. Barthelmie

Publications

Changes in near–surface wind speeds due to global climate change may have profound geophysical and societal impacts. However, Global Climate Models (GCMs) are unable to replicate the historically observed magnitude and spatial variability of wind speeds, so we apply a downscaling technique to generate probability distributions of wind speeds at sites in northern Europe for historical periods (1961–1990 and 1982–2000) and two future periods (2046–2065, 2081–2100). Projections for the twenty-first century (C21st) indicate no evidence of substantial evolution relative to the end of the twentieth century (C20th), although there is increased divergence of results from downscaling of different GCMs toward …

Sacred Space/Place, Paul Faulstich

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Landscape, space, and place are three concepts that merge together to create the human experience of the environment. Space is the most basic concept of geography; it is the three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur. Landscapes and places are both contained within space.

Ethnoecology, Paul Faulstich

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Ethnoecology – the study of cultural explications of nature – generates insights into the interface between peoples and the more-than-human world. Ecology is the scientific study of the interrelationships between plants, animals, and the environment, and it has developed into the study of interdependent communities of organisms and their environments. But while most ecologists have been trained to seek knowledge solely from scholarly books or nonhuman nature, tremendous environmental information is stored in the minds, cultures, and arts of indigenous peoples.

Geophilia, Paul Faulstich

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Extrapolated from E. O. Wilson's concept of biophilia, geophilia asserts that humans have an organic propensity to find wildlands emotionally compelling. It exists as a human tendency to emotionally connect with natural landscapes.

An Evaluation Of Two Gcms: Simulation Of North American Teleconnection Indices And Synoptic Phenomena, Justin T. Schoof, S C. Pryor

Publications

We evaluate the ability of two coupled atmospheric–oceanic GCMs – the Hadley Center’s third generation coupled climate model (HadCM3) and the Canadian Center for Climate Modeling and Analysis second-generation coupled model (CGCM2) – to simulate the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the Pacific North American teleconnection pattern (PNA), and map patterns in the Midwest region of the United States, relative to NCEP/NCAR reanalysis (NNR) data. The observed (NNR-derived) and GCM-derived probability distributions and temporal behavior of the daily teleconnection indices exhibit agreement over the 1990–2001 reference period, and both GCMs successfully reproduce the range of 500-hPa map patterns over the study …

An Analysis Of Community Forest Implementation In British Columbia, Canada, Ryan C. Bullock

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The community forest is increasingly seen as an alternative to industrial forestry for its perceived potential to mitigate conflict in forest resource management and planning. Theoretically, a community-based approach affords the chance to assert local values, provide local benefits, and manage resources differently than established top-down approaches. Yet practical examples of community forest initiatives in Canada reveal a host of constraints. This research uses a multiple case study design to investigate the motivations for and challenges to implementing community forests in British Columbia, Canada. Observations are drawn from four case studies (Denman Island, Malcolm Island, Cortes Island, and Creston) in …

Lives, Livelihoods, And Landscapes: A Study Of Land Use And Social Change In Northeastern Nepal, Jennifer Leigh Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores the forces of change in lives and landscapes that have altered the Lamosangu-to-Everest route in northeastern Nepal and shows how a transect in photographs and conversations across the east-central Himalaya allows us insight and a greater understanding into the processes and consequences of this change.

Three forces of change over the last twenty-five years dominated discussions with local informants: the rise of the "People's War"-Nepal's Maoist Insurgency beginning in 1996; the Democratic Revolution of 1990; and dependence on tourism for livelihood after the establishment of Sagarmatha National Park in 1976. Understanding the cultural-historical context for these forces …

Oxygen Demand Trends, Land Cover Change, And Water Quality Management For An Urbanizing Oregon Watershed, Michael Karl Boeder

Dissertations and Theses

In-stream aquatic habitat depends on adequate levels of dissolved oxygen. Human alteration of the landscape has an extensive influence on the biogeochemical processes that drive oxygen cycling in streams. Historic datasets allow researchers to track trends in chemical parameters concomitant with urbanization, while land cover change analysis allows researchers to identify linkages between water quality trends and landscape change.

Using the Seasonal Kendall's test, I examined water quality trends in oxygen demand variables during the mid-1990s to 2003, for twelve sites in the Rock Creek sub-watershed of the Tualatin River, northwest Oregon. Significant trends occurred in each parameter. Dissolved oxygen …