Community-Based Research Commons^™

Perceptions And Management Of Ventenata By Producers In The Inland Pacific Northwest, Lisa Jones, John Wallace, Kathleen Painter, Pamela Pavek, Timothy S. Prather

The Journal of Extension

Ventenata is an annual grass that has invaded agricultural and wildland settings in the Inland Pacific Northwest, causing economic and ecological losses. We know little about producers’ perceived risks and management of ventenata. We present results of surveys in 2011 and 2014 targeting producers across affected counties in Idaho and Washington. Awareness of ventenata and costs to producers increased across that time interval. Respondents attending ventenata Extension events adopted recommended management strategies more than those who did not attend. Our study documents the importance of continued integrated pest management research in concert with stakeholder engagement and education.

Police, Ice, And Knox County: A Timeline Of The 287(G) And Detention Bed Contracts From 2017-2021, Taylor Dempsey

Select or Award-Winning Individual Scholarship

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) continues to heavily collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in spite of the consistent community opposition and ongoing legal ramifications that have resulted from Knox County’s 287(g) and detention bed contracts. Research on these programs and Knox County’s immigration enforcement involvement has largely focused on the logistics of enforcement mechanisms, the racism and xenophobia that construct the programs, and the legal challenges Knox County has faced as a result of their execution of the contracts. This creative project accumulates this research and utilizes public records received from Public Records Act and Freedom of …

A Community-Informed Exploration Of Immigrants' Pandemic Experiences With Pronoy Rai, Pronoy Rai

PDXPLORES Podcast

During the pandemic, many of the region's frontline workers were, and continue to be, members of immigrant communities. Assistant Professor Pronoy Rai has partnered with members of these communities and community-serving non-profit organizations to gain a better understanding of the immigrant experience of the pandemic and pandemic recovery. A human geographer, Professor Rai's research aims to improve policy and policy outcomes. Rai's work is supported by PSU's Metropolitan Engaged Research Initiative and Community-Engaged Research Academy.

Click on the "Download" button to access the audio transcript.

New And Transferable Digital Skills In The Era Of The Covid-19 Pandemic: Mobilizing Social Support, Molly-Gloria Harper, Anabel Quan-Haase, William Hollingshead

Sociology Presentations

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global crisis that has had profound impacts on people’s lives. Under these circumstances, social support can buffer against pandemic-related stress. Yet, the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic with its stringent health guidelines have created unique challenges to the mobilization of social support. These challenges particularly affect vulnerable groups with limited digital life skills. Based on a qualitative study of 101 semi-structured interviews with East York residents in Toronto, Canada conducted in 2013–2014, we investigate what new and transferable digital life skills are needed in the pre- and post-pandemic era to mobilize social support. Our …

Ginanaandawi'idizomin: Anishinaabe Intergenerational Healing Models Of Resistance, Zoe V. Allen

American Studies Honors Projects

Since the early 2000s, the opioid epidemic has had a devastating sweep across Indian Country. The White Earth nation declared the epidemic as a public health emergency back in 2011. Since then White Earth has developed community-based harm reduction and culturally grounded models of intervention for substance use disorder that continue to influence Native Nations across the U.S. This project centers on Anishinaabe approaches to the ongoing opioid public health crisis but also elaborates on Anishinaabe forms of healing and resistance. My primary method was conducting oral histories with White Earth community youth workers and advocates. My research project asks: …

How Do Co-Curricular Mentorship Programs Meet The Social-Emotional Needs Of Immigrant And Refugee Youth? A Case Study From Harrisonburg, Virginia, Katherine M. Clayton

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Immigrant and refugee youth are at greater risk of encountering the following stressors: trauma, acculturation, resettlement, and isolation. If neglected, these stressors can prove detrimental to one’s social-emotional wellbeing. Although a newcomer’s successful adaptation is often measured in terms of their academic success, social-emotional wellbeing and academic achievement are intertwined. Thus, a focus on social-emotional wellness for newcomer students benefits both the students and the school systems. Co-curricular mentorship programs can be utilized by schools to meet the social-emotional needs of their newcomer students. The Peer Leaders Program (PLP) of Harrisonburg, Virginia offers one such approach. Based on trauma-informed peer …

Where The Rainbow Ends: The Hidden Humanitarian Crisis For Members Of The Lgbtqia+ Community In International Business, John R. Krendel

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Before pursuing an international career, members of the LGBTQIA+ community must be aware of the hardship that may be exacerbated by living and working abroad. This study addresses the trends in laws, including employment and anti-discrimination laws, that provide and restrict certain rights of members of the LGBTQIA+ community in eight countries. These nations, both progressive and discriminatory, include the United States, England, Switzerland, Germany, Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Kazakhstan. Eight LGBTQIA+ business professionals spoke on their experiences living and working in each of these countries and provided advice to members of the community wishing to pursue an international …

Ethnographic Case-Study Design For Discovering Identities In Russian Post-Industrial Neighbourhoods, Elizaveta Polukhina

The Qualitative Report

In the 20th century of industrialization, case-study research design was related to organizations, however in the 21st century of deindustrialization the post-industrial neighborhoods could serves as an indicator of neo-liberal policies and as a reference space for identity studies. However, the instruments of these studies are still poorly described, which limits this type of research design and the comparative analysis of similar neighborhoods in the global context. This paper describes the methodology and insights from three ethnographic case-studies of neighbourhoods—a type of field research focused on detailed inquiry with multiple methods of data collection. This paper follows the Chicago School …

The Spatial Associations Between Crime And Economy In Chicago 2015-2020, Hongtao Huang

Honors Capstones

The severity of the crime is often the most intuitive reflection of whether a region is safe and the top factor for the public when evaluating a region. Economist's list of the safest cities in seven major North American cities, Chicago was ranked at six, just above Dallas. Chicago scored the lowest in personal security, which is closely tied to the crime. Against the backdrop of higher unemployment and prices, this study is interested in how property-based crimes are related to the economic decline in Chicago geographically. The study used the heterogeneity analysis tool Geodetector to investigate the correlation between …

Trends In Pediatric Obesity Of School-Aged Children During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Maryanna Schweininger, Amaani Faizal, Suzanna Hosein

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, children have been more sedentary due to nationwide school closures resulting in classes being held virtually. Due to restrictions, children could no longer participate in physical education classes and after school activities at the same frequency. The pandemic also placed a disproportionate burden on low-income families thus, potentially amplifying food insecurity. The aim of this study was to identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on childhood obesity.

The Start Of A New Revolution: Addressing Government Failure In Ending Homelessness In Nyc, Ruth Lovely Joseph

Publications and Research

Homelessness is a serious issue in New York City. This project involved research to establish the causes of the homelessness problem in NYC, investigate current solutions currently being implemented by the city, and finally to develop a detailed proposal about a community-based approach to homelessness.

The guiding research questions include: What are the major causes and effects of homelessness in New York City? What are the challenges and shortcomings of existing New York City programs addressing homelessness? What elements should a successful community-based organization include in order to address these shortcomings? What are the underlying biases and moralistic assumptions that …

Our Stories, Katelyn S. Lopez

Publications and Research

This semester, we participated in the “Our Stories” qualitative research project that involves learning more about students' first year, and first-semester experiences at City Tech during pandemic times. As we organized and read students’ posts, we journaled and practiced reflexivity, a qualitative research process that helps us examine how we are interpreting the data that we are engaging with. T Reflexivity is a process in qualitative research involving frequent examination of one’s position in the project. These positions include one’s assumptions, feelings, and so forth. An essential question for qualitative researchers, according to Leavy (2011), is “Has the researcher engaged …

The Great Resignation: A Content Analysis Of News Sources' Portrayals Of The Covid-19 Labor Shortage., Mackenzie Williams

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

When workers left the labor market in large numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, proclamations of a labor shortage emerged extensively throughout the news. In this study, I analyze the coverage of the worker shortage among three news sources with different political orientations. Several themes emerged from analyzing a total of 75 articles. The findings showed that the perspective shown in the article, the cause of the labor shortage, restaurant worker portrayal, support of solutions, and opinion of the labor shortage all differed based on the political identity of the news source. This research supports previous findings that show there is …

Indians In The Archives: A History Of Native Americans, Pakachoag Hill And Holy Cross, 1674-1973, Jack Hynick

Of Life and History

Native people are conspicuously absent from the official and popular history of the College of the Holy Cross. Extant records from the Holy Cross archives, the American Antiquarian Society, and digitized reports from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are filled with references to Native people at Holy Cross and the surrounding Worcester area. By addressing the history of the land, the experiences of Native people on Pakachoag Hill, the roles played by Holy Cross community members in settler colonialism, and the use of Native imagery, this paper hopes to correct a blinding omission in the story of the College.

Underutilizaiton Of Mental Health Services By Marginalized Populations, Jermaine Bennett, Anna Blum

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Underutilization of mental health services is a serious issue in the United States, particularly among marginalized groups. Previous research has not explored this issue in depth in the Inland Empire nor focused simultaneously on the federal protected classes of race, age, gender, and sexual orientation. This study expands the literature by using Systems Theory and Intersectional Perspective to determine whether there exists a difference in utilization of mental health services between marginalized populations and their non-marginalized counterparts in San Bernardino County. Through a non-probability sampling method, this study recruited 87 adults who completed a questionnaire on their participation in mental …

Contextualizing The 2019 “Chile Despertó” Movement: The Impact Of Historical Relational Processes On Mobilization And Repression, Tanya Leon

International Studies (MA) Theses

To expand our theoretical and empirical understanding of mobilization and repression in Latin America, this thesis asks three critical questions. Are economic indicators sufficient predictors of social movement emergence in Latin America? What other factors contribute to large-scale mobilization in Latin America? How do government’s respond to large-scale Latin American social movements? Specifically, when, and why do democratic governments choose to employ repression against social movements? Accordingly, I construct a quantitative model to test the correlation between rise in protest and worsened economic conditions. I apply it to a comprehensive dataset of political events in multiple South American countries throughout …

Transmission Risk Of Malaria Via Gas Flares In Africa, Elle Blake

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Gas flaring occurs at oil drilling sites around the world. It is a method to get rid of the extra gas, as well as to release pressure in emergency situations. The pollutants that are contributed to the air through routine gas flaring can be extremely harmful. Chemicals such as sulfur dioxide and methane are burned into the air we breathe (Baker Hughes, 2019). Not only does this have a direct impact on our health, but also on greenhouse gas emissions. The effects on greenhouse gas emissions impact diseases such as Malaria by increasing the temperature of our planet. The purpose …

Household Composition And Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake And Purchases Among Low Wage Workers, Salma Gudaf

Honors Scholar Theses

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are linked to preventable chronic health conditions that low-income individuals are susceptible to. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that American adults consume 145 daily calories from SSBs even though the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends 100-150 total calories of added sugar per day. The present study investigated SSB intake and purchases from a cohort of low-wage workers (N = 434) in different household (HH) types. HH composition was designated as “Households with children,” and “Households without children,” based on self-report. SSB consumption was measured on a 3-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), summed, and …

Batok: The Exploration Of Indigenous Filipino Tattooing As A Collective Occupation, Ana Cabalquinto, Carmela Dizon, Chelsea Ramirez, Mai Santiago

Occupational Therapy | Graduate Capstone Projects

Batok (also known as Fatek/Burik/Tatak/Batek/Patik) is an indigenous Filipino tattooing practice where the practitioner marks the skin by hand-tapping the ink using bone/wood implements. Previous research on tattooing has explored an occupational science perspective on Western tattooing and its engagement and implication on the individual - recognizing its practice to be considered as an occupation (Kay & Brewis, 2017). Framed in theories of Collective Occupation (Ramugondo & Kronenberg, 2015), Doing, Being, Becoming (Wilcock, 2002), and Belonging (Hitch et al., 2014) the research explores how batok as a collective occupation affects the experiences of Filipino communities. Three individual Filipino people with …

A Story Of The Social Life Of Yulupa Cohousing, Kayla Ho

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This capstone is a study of the lived social experience of one cohousing community. Cohousing communities are designed with the intention of fostering a community with a mixture of privately-owned units and publicly shared spaces and responsibilities. The study is conducted at a significant point in American history: these communities are a fast-growing phenomenon in the United States yet they remain unknown and/or unattainable to many Americans.

Qualitative information from the community’s current residents is gathered by using research tools of interviewing and photography. Interviews were completed virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photographs were created during a three-day visit …

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Immigrants In The United States, Isabelle Koslin

Honors Theses

When it comes to diversity research, immigrants have a long history of falling into an "invisible" group of people. This paper serves as an important first step into the vast amount of research that has yet to be done in regard to the lived experiences of immigrants that are legally living and working in the United States. Research for this project included open-ended, semi-structured individual interviews that took place with five immigrants. The participants immigrated to the U.S. on different visas, work in different industries, and are from different countries - thus allowing the interviews to reveal patterns of lived …

The Underbelly Of Residential Segregation, Bussing To Integrate And The Educational Ramifications: A Case Study Of Louisville Kentucky., Camara Douglas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Integration of the American public school system is often examined to figure out if integration worked. This dissertation examined busing to integrate into Louisville, Kentucky. Busing to integrate in Louisville, Kentucky, took place during that 1975-1976 school year. Louisville’s case is somewhat different. Not only did they finally follow federal mandates to integrate, they had to mix two totally separate school systems, one for the county (White) and one from the city (African American). The objectives are: (1) what were the experiences and perceptions of African American students in high school who lived in the West Louisville hyper-segregated neighborhoods and …

Police, Ice, And Knox County: A Timeline Of The 287(G) And Detention Bed Contracts From 2017-2021, Taylor Dempsey

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Intergroup Dialogue: Affecting Real Change, Lauryn Hulett

Honors Projects

Intergroup Dialogue (IGD) is a course adapted from The University of Michigan. In this Honors Project, a systematic literature review is done from eleven sources in hopes to theorize best practices and areas of improvement amongst applications of Intergroup Dialogue.

Equity + Catalyst Framework Guide, Naomi M. Silas

Culminating Experience Projects

There has been a shift in society, in light of Covid-19 and the global pandemic, more people have begun to recognize the structural and institutional injustices that exist in this country. Social innovation allows collaboration between people from different sectors, disciplines, industries, and backgrounds; in order to create sustainable change to complex social issues. Design thinking is an iterative process used in business to create innovation and products; it’s also used for social impact.

The goal of the Equity + Catalyst Framework is to bridge concepts that include design thinking, and embodiment, as well as lived experiences and community care …

Citizenship Matters: Non-Citizen Covid-19 Mortality Disparities In New York And Los Angeles, Jason A. Douglas, Georgiana Bostean, Angel Miles Nash, Emmanuel B. John, Lawrence M. Brown, Andrew M. Subica

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

U.S. non-citizen residents are burdened by inequitable access to socioeconomic resources, potentially placing them at heightened risk of COVID-19-related disparities. However, COVID-19 impacts on non-citizens are not well understood. Accordingly, the current study investigated COVID-19 mortality disparities within New York (NYC) and Los Angeles (LAC) to test our hypothesis that areas with large proportions of non-citizens will have disproportionately high COVID-19 mortality rates. We examined ecological associations between March 2020–January 2021 COVID-19 mortality rates (per 100,000 residents) and percent non-citizens (using ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTA) for NYC and City/Community units of analysis for LAC) while controlling for sociodemographic factors. …

More Than Just Virtual Communication: Examining Canadian Volunteers’ Virtual Contact Experiences With Refugees, Maria Besselink

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Canada plays a key role in addressing the ‘global refugee crisis’ as it accepts more refugees per capita than any other country. Although Canadians increasingly view support for immigration and multiculturalism as integral components of their national identity, the number of immigrants and refugees Canada accepts yearly is an increasingly polarized issue. In line with the Intergroup Contact Hypothesis, the current study investigated how Canadian volunteers’ repeated virtual contact experiences with refugees affected their generalized attitudes towards refugees over time. Our findings did not suggest that the quality and quantity of participants’ virtual contact experiences affected their attitudes. The findings …

Farmers Markets And Social Cohesion In A Post-Covid-19 World, Daniel Falknor

Culminating Experience Projects

The sense of belonging to a community, or social cohesion, is established in food spaces enabled by three separate and unique mechanisms: proximity, frequency, and interactions. This study looks specifically at the Fulton Street Farmers Market in Grand Rapids and the effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on the social benefits derived from the mechanisms of social cohesion, in an attempt to identify and discover new ways to leverage social cohesion in food spaces. Three populations were identified at the farmers market: customers, vendors, and market staff. Surveys and informal interviews provided evidence that proximity to and within the market, higher …

Youth Empowerment: Case Study And Learning Strategy, Andrew Blum, Nohelia Ramos

Kroc IPJ Research and Resources

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is invested in preventing violence and reducing recidivism. To achieve these objectives, PSN has committed to supporting lived experience mentoring, often called credible messenger mentoring, through grants made to community organizations in San Diego and Imperial Counties.

This document consists of two separate research products that align with these two objectives. The first is a case study of Youth Empowerment. The case study has several goals: first, to document the work of Youth Empowerment and allow others to learn in a detailed way about lived experience programming; second, to place the …

Albuquerque Public School’S Vision Zero For Youth Initiative: Engaging Student Youth In Designing A School District Transportation Safety Program, Cordell S. Bock

Architecture and Planning ETDs

The APS (Albuquerque Public Schools) Vision Zero for Youth Initiative adopts the global Vision Zero traffic safety movement’s goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and injuries to pedestrians and cyclists from vehicular crashes. The APS Vision Zero for Youth Initiative is comprised of a traffic-safety curriculum for K-8 students, an action plan that sets traffic-safety goals and progress evaluation frameworks for the school district, and a campaign to build a new culture of traffic safety for students, families, and local communities.

This project employs participatory methods that build the capacity of students enrolled in local public schools to produce and share …