Environmental Education Commons^™

Queer Ecologies: A Final Syllabus/Zine Product Of Our Independent Study, Yeh Seo Jung, Ray Craig

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

This zine is the product of our independent study course Queer Ecologies, which is an exploration of bio-social systems using a queer and feminist theoretical lens. We aim to look critically at knowledge formation and construct alternative visions for more just and sustainable relationships between science, nature, and ourselves. While queer theory most directly interrogates the normative structure of heterosexuality both in humans and in biology more broadly, these studies include analyses of hierarchy, power, and value. Queer Ecology can be used to examine phenomena such as climate change, extinction, pollution, species hierarchies, agricultural practices, resource extraction, and human population …

Climate Change And Modern Education: Preparing For A Sustainable Future, Poulomi Chakravarty, Sai Gattupalli, Stephen Mcginty

College of Education Student Publication Series

Climate change is a global phenomenon that has attracted widespread attention in recent decades due to its profound impact on the environment and society. Although climate change is a phenomenon occurring since the inception of Earth, anthropogenic activities such as fossil fuel consumption due to industrialization, transportation and domestic usage, deforestation and land use changes due to urbanization have accelerated the process. Climate education has become an important part of modern education as it helps raise awareness of the issue and promote behavior of climate consciousness which leads to climate action in a positive direction. The authors highlight the values …

Leading Climate & Environmental Action In The San Diego Region, Tessa Tinkler, Eo Hanabusa, Emily Young, Darbi Berry, Connelly Meschen

Environment

Leading Climate & Environmental Action in the San Diego Region presents the state of environment-focused nonprofits in the San Diego region and their legacies that position them to continue impactful climate action. Findings in this report are synthesized from quarterly public opinion pollings (San Diego Residents Survey), surveys of 30 local environmental nonprofit leaders (Nonprofit Leaders Survey), the latest nonprofit data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and data on foundation grants awarded to local nonprofits (Candid). The environmental nonprofit sector in the San Diego region is relatively small, but it has worked on the frontlines for many years to …

Women’S Voices From History: Gond Rani Durgawati And Rani Lakshmibhai, Nandini Sengupta, Moupia Basu

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

Two strong women are compared and contrasted in this article. Gond Rani Durgawati (1524-1564) led a resistance movement in Jabalpur against the Mughal rule of Akbar. Rani Lakshmibai (1828-1858) organized the people of Jhansi against Sir Hugh Rose, an officer defending the interests of the British East India Company. Both women continue to be remembered for their bravery and their loyalty to the people they ruled.

An Examination Of Gandhian Economic And Political Thought And Its Relevance To The Empowerment Of Women, Purnima Mehta Bhatt

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) sought to alleviate poverty and empower women. His commitment to nonviolence and the economic ideal of “small is beautiful” continue to inspire grassroots movements around the globe. This article discusses the Chipko movement of northern India, the protection of rain forests in Kerala’s Silent Valley, the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), and Medha Patkar’s valiant though ultimately futile attempt to save the Narmada River from a massive government damming project. The ongoing legacy of these movements can be found in AWAG, the Ahmedabad Women’s Action Group and Women’s Shanti Sena (Peace Force).

Identites Of Women In Indian Art And History, Nalini Rao

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

The stereotypical image of Indian women portrayed in the art of stone sculpture is often interpreted as images of beauty that are sensuous, religious as well depict social life. There are historical reasons for depicting her as such. This paper inquires into the changing depiction and social forces that influenced feminine imagery. This paper examines the portrayal of beauty through idealization of female body which has evolved over the centuries in India. It also aims to understand their changing status and explores issues of feminine identity, status, and empowerment largely in ancient and medieval India. It also provides a brief …

Constructing Jain Goddess Padmavātī In Gujarati Literature, Venu Mehta

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

Worship of the goddess Padmāvatī emerged more than a thousand years ago. This article explores three songs about her in Gujarati by Paṇḍit Vīrvijayajī (1773-1852). By analyzing the style and form of his work, one learns a great deal about devotional liturgies that commemorate goddess Padmāvatī’s protection of the Jina Pārśvanātha and, in turn, his protection of her.

Leading Toward Solutions To America’S Overcrowding And Underfunding Environmental Preservation Issues, James Seth Caudill

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This research aims to better comprehend how the environmental preservation issues of underfunding and overcrowding of America’s parks, recreation areas, and environmental surroundings are solved through quality leadership. These environmental issues are national, state, and community problems. Currently, there exists a wealth of literature on the environmental problems caused by overcrowding and underfunding. Unfortunately, the successful problem-solving ideas identified throughout these works often do not connect with an element of leadership. This research helps fill this identified gap in the currently available environmental preservation resources. This mixed methods study explored the perceptions, ideas, and successful solutions exhibited by environmental preservation …

Your Friend, Wildfire, Elizabeth Riddle, Aubrey Frissell, Mackenzie Weiland, Katherine Wendeln, Rory Mclaverty, Lillian Hollibaugh

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The frequency and severity of wildfire has increased around the world within the past two decades, due to shifts in land management practices, climate change, and other factors. The effects of these fires have led to an inaccurate public perception of wildfire as a whole. This overly-simplified, vilified perception of all fire obscures the role that it has played in shaping landscapes for thousands of years, and how indigenous peoples have applied fire to take care of landscapes.

Positive public perception of using fire as a tool for land management creates a more supportive environment for healthy landscape management. Thus, …

Field Tests Of A Uav-Compatible Spectrometer To Evaluate Its Suitability For Detailed Soil Radon Potential Mapping, Alexandria Briahnne Thomas

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

As part of ongoing research on radionuclide mapping and radon hazard characterization, field tests were performed to evaluate the suitability and limitations of a UAV-compatible gamma spectrometer. To date, this data set includes completed stationary data collection, mobile ground collection, multi-level UAV flights over a known material transition, as well as redundant ground and multi-level UAV data collection over a relatively uniform area. Total counts were used as a measure of soil radionuclide levels for our data collected above background. Although our test sites were in regions underlain by bedrock with high indoor radon levels, uranium counts were barely above …

Water Literacy In Drought-Prone Regions: Case Studies From Aurora, Colorado, Usa And Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, Meghan Mccarroll

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Water managers around the world must reevaluate their approach to water security as challenges continue to grow. Supply-focused paradigms that aimed to capture, control, and commodify water resources are increasingly unreliable and often depend on environmentally and socially damaging practices. Of particular concern are regions experiencing climate shocks and aridification from rising global temperatures. In order to stretch limited water resources using equitable water policies, conservation programs, and alternative water sourcing, water managers must invest in a water literate citizenry. Water literacy is the culmination of water-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. The benefits of a water literate citizenry abound, including …

Environmental Education In The Classroom: Selected Early-Career Teachers' Experiences Navigating Pre-Service And In-Service Activity Systems, Sarah Mcguire Nuss

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Recent publications argue that to prepare teachers of all grade levels to be confident and competent in incorporating environmental education into their classrooms, pre-service teacher training is effective (e.g., J. T. McDonald & Dominguez, 2010). But the systems in which teachers learn and work are complex, making professional learning about, and implementation of, environmental education both disparate and limited (Franzen, 2017). This study sought to understand the nature of participants’ experiences within and between teacher preparation and in-service learning systems as they relate to environmental education. Cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) provided a framework to allow for deeper understanding of …

Evaluating Biophilic Design Characteristics In Lincoln Public Schools, Sarah Burr

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

A mixed qualitative-quantitative study was conducted in Lincoln, Nebraska to observe and evaluate the biophilic design characteristics in Lincoln Public Schools (LPS). There is a significant lack of nature in urban environments, especially in older buildings and schools, therefore incorporating natural elements in school buildings can promote the success of students and contribute to improved well-being. The research question this study aims to address is: How and to what degree are Lincoln Public Schools integrating biophilic design characteristics in their high school buildings? Four high schools were toured utilizing an evaluation form with 10 biophilic design characteristics and a 5-point …

Proposing Urban Agroforestry Designs For Lincoln, Nebraska: A Model From Berlin, Germany, Noah Johnson

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Given the threat of a worsening climate crisis, there is a strong need for community and ecosystem resilience. Diverse urban agroforestry systems have the potential to accomplish both and meet many of the objectives outlined in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska’s climate action plan. Additionally, Berlin, Germany could provide an effective model for Lincoln in this regard given the city’s extensive history of established urban agroforestry systems. The objective of this study then is to develop a design for an urban agroforestry site modeled on Berlin’s allotment gardens and tailored to Lincoln’s needs. The methods for creating this design included …

Survey Of Energy Literacy In Lincoln, Ne Households, Bella Devney

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Energy consumption results in increased greenhouse gas emissions, a significant contributing factor to climate change and the rise of global temperatures. The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of energy literacy in Lincoln, Nebraska households, hypothesizing that a more informed public will result in a reduction of energy use and improvements in emission rates, positively impacting climate change. The study engaged private citizens through surveys in Lincoln, Nebraska to gain data on the level of energy literacy in Lincoln households. Electronic surveys were distributed through local neighborhood associations to understand the gaps in residential energy conservation in Lincoln, …

Nitrates In Nebraska, Michelle Zenk

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

For my senior thesis project, I decided to study nitrate pollution to better understand and analyze how college students in Nebraska viewed and understood the complex issue of nitrate pollution. From my study only half of college students surveyed viewed nitrate pollution as a problem. Only 15 percent of college students test their water for nitrates, and most college students were knowledgeable on how nitrate pollution occurs. Due to the negative impacts of nitrate pollution within human health, soil health, and ecosystem function further work needs to be completed to raise awareness and knowledge on the impacts of nitrate pollution.

Off The Rails: Cinematic Trains As Technological Controls Of The Natural World, Trinity Thompson

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Short train rail lines across the United States are seeing increased national funding to reduce toxic chemical spills caused by train derailments, the most notable of which happened in February 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio. A year prior, the film White Noise (2022) featured a similar toxic train derailment incident, taking place, too, in Eastern Ohio, and featuring actors from the town of East Palestine. In considering other films featuring trains, I identified a pattern of environmental conflict, leading me to question the relationship between trains and the natural environment as portrayed in popular cinema. To conduct my research, I …

Turfgrass Alternatives For The Modern Yard, John Lonowski

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

The considerable maintenance and irrigation required of turfgrass lawns can often be seen as a fruitless endeavor, as it consumes substantial resources but yields minimal economic benefit. The goal of this paper is to highlight the resource needs of traditional turfgrass lawns and identify and test alternative lawn types that are still aesthetically pleasing while being more sustainable than traditional turfgrass. To obtain the results, the experiment was conducted in Alda, Nebraska employing a randomized complete block design, which tested four entries at two separate locations, each with three replications. The entries include: 1. Buffalograss, 2. Tall Fescue, 3. White …

Breakwater: Anti-Blackness In Geoscience Lessons From Long Beach, Ca, Christina Marsh

Pomona Senior Theses

Breakwaters are more than just physical structures that protect against storm surges and in the context of Long Beach, CA, my hometown, they are actualizations of economic, social, environmental, geologic, and policy challenges. Inspired by Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape by Lauret Savoy, and Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks, I use an extended metaphor and autoethnographic approach to connect a chronology of my educational life to the physical structure of a breakwater. Where the breakwater also acts as a signifier of my personal experiences of seeing it, questioning its purpose, and not always finding an answer. …

Indigenous Stitch-Arts Of India: Tradition And Revival In A Global Age, Punam Madhok

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

Stitch art allows for the creative expression and economic support of countless women throughout India. This article examines four notable styles: chikankari, flora and fauna stitched in white thread on fine white cotton, rabari, the stitching of mirrors into colorful cloth, phulkari, resplendent flowery motifs sewn into shawls in Punjab, and kantha, Bengali patch work yielding quilts and seating mats. In addition to describing each technique, this article discusses how women have been economically empowered through this art by such organizations as Self-Help Enterprise (SHE) in Kolkata and Adithi, a women’s cooperative, in Bihar.