Sustainability Commons^™

Mathematical Modeling In Collaborative Courses: The Soup To Nuts Experience, Sarah Hews, Christina Cianfrani

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology: Education and Research

No abstract provided.

In Continuity With The Past: Indigenous Environmentalism And Indian Christian Visions Of Flora, James Ponniah

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article considers whether Indian Christianity can be said to have a distinctive ecological vision. The first two parts of the article examine Christian environmentalism in two native forms of Indian Christianity: Tamil Christianity and Tribal Christianity. Continuing with the theme of conformity to the local culture—though of the elite—the third part of the article investigates how Christian Ashrams function as dynamic centers for ecological praxis. The last part of the article considers how contemporary Indian Christian communities can respond to the ecological challenges confronting them.

A Mi’Kmaw Perspective On Advancing Salmon Governance In Nova Scotia, Canada: Setting The Stage For Collaborative Co-Existence, Shelley K. Denny, Lucia M. Fanning

The International Indigenous Policy Journal

Issues related to fisheries governance are a source of debate and tension between the Indigenous Mi’kmaq people of Nova Scotia and the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in matters concerning Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar. Within the context of the existing governance regime, this analysis compares the concept of salmon conservation and management from a Mi’kmaq perspective and proposes a collaborative co-existence approach for effective salmon governance in Nova Scotia. This approach begins by using co-management as a process, Two-Eyed Seeing as the design, and treaties as the model to achieve shared objectives of maintaining and improving ...

Culture And Conservation: Beyond Anthropocentrism, Nathan Poirier

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

No abstract provided.

Prioritizing Investment In Residential Energy Efficiency And Renewable Energy: A Case Study For The U.S. Midwest, Robert J. Brecha, Austin Mitchell, Kevin P. Hallinan, J. Kelly Kissock

J. Kissock

Residential building energy use is an important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and in the United States represents about 20% of total energy consumption. A number of previous macro-scale studies of residential energy consumption and energy-efficiency improvements are mainly concerned with national or international aggregate potential savings. In this paper we look into the details of how a collection of specific homes in one region might reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, with particular attention given to some practical limits to what can be achieved by upgrading the existing residential building stock. Using a simple model of residential, single-family home ...

Universities And Sustainable Food Practices: An International Comparison Along The Pacific Coast Of North America, Alexandra Schulte

Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

My research project examined sustainable practices in relation to food sources at three universities located along the Pacific Coast of North America. The academic institutions were the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), and the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. These schools were selected because while they each foster an abundance of “local” foods and food industries, they represent different stages in the three pillars of sustainability for food practices. My project sought to understand the role of each institution in building a local and sustainable food culture at each university. I ...

The Pinchot Wire: Private Cash, Public Lands - Why The Katahdin Woods And Waters National Monument Matters, Char Miller

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

Here’s how President Obama celebrated the National Park Service’s 100th birthday: with the stroke of his pen, he established the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine, one of the most innovative initiatives in U.S. environmental history. That’s because the 87,500-acre park, which encompasses some of the Pine Tree State’s most remarkable forests and waterways, is a gift of the Quimby family and comes with a $40 million endowment, a private-public partnership without parallel.

Biomass And Biofuels In Maine: Estimating Supplies For Expanding The Forest Products Industry, Jonathan Rubin, Kate Dickerson, Jacob Kavkewitz

Jonathan Rubin

This paper estimates the renewable energy potential of Maine’s forest resources, and how much energy these resources could potentially provide the state. Using the most recent state-specific data available, and a methodology similar to the Billion Tons Report, we find that ethanol production from Maine’s forest residues could potentially provide 18% of Maine’s transportation (gasoline) fuels with a fermentation wood to ethanol process. Making Fischer-Tropsch diesel (F-T diesel) using forest residues can replace 39% of Maine’s petro-diesel consumption. Actual levels of biofuels that can be produced will depend on conversion factors and forestry residue removals that ...

How Do Connection And Hopeful Action Support Resilient Community?, Catherine Gormley

Capstone Collection

This capstone arises from the course, Initiatives in Peacebuilding (IPB). As a graduate student focusing on Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation, IPB was a required course whose content propelled me toward the study of resource conflicts. Advancing from that study, I chose to practice strategies to lessen these conflicts by means of positive action. Facing two challenges—that Earth’s natural resources are finite and that excessive use of fossil fuels has caused destructive climate change—I wondered how to help transform human awareness to value the conservation of resources and the abatement of climate change. My research brought me to ...

Water, Growth And The Endangered Species Act, Holly Doremus

Holly Doremus

24 pages.

Water, Growth And The Endangered Species Act, Holly Doremus

Holly Doremus

24 pages.

Measurement Of The Ocean Economy From National Income Accounts To The Sustainable Blue Economy, Charles S. Colgan

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

The widespread efforts to incorporate the economic values of oceans into national income accounts have reached a stage where coordination of national efforts is desirable. A symposium held in 2015 began this process by bringing together representatives from ten countries. The symposium concluded that a definition of core ocean industries was possible but beyond that core the definition of ocean industries is in flux. Better coordination of ocean income accounts will require addressing issues of aggregation, geography, partial ocean industries, confidential, and imputation is also needed. Beyond the standard national income accounts, a need to incorporate environmental resource and ecosystem ...

Analysis And Detection Of Hfo-1234ze, Alberni V. Ruiz, Ben R. Miller

STAR (STEM Teacher and Researcher) Program Posters

Alberni Ruiz

Abstract

Refrigerants have been one of the causes of ozone depletion and the buildup of greenhouse gases in past decades. When the international agreements the Montreal Protocol, which has the goal of eliminating ozone depleting compounds, and the Kyoto protocol which has the goal of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions, where implemented they paved the way to replace past and current refrigerants with alternate compounds that are less detrimental to the atmosphere. New compounds that where green-lit by the EPA for use as refrigerants in 2011 where HFO-1234ze and HFO-1234yf, both of these compounds have a very low Global ...

Lignin-Based Li-Ion Anode Materials Synthesized From Low-Cost Renewable Resources, Nicholas William Mcnutt

Doctoral Dissertations

In today’s world, the demand for novel methods of energy storage is increasing rapidly, particularly with the rise of portable electronic devices, electric vehicles, and the personal consumption and storage of solar energy. While other technologies have arguably improved at a rate that is exponential in accordance with Moore’s law, battery technology has lagged behind largely due to the difficulty in devising new electric storage systems that are simultaneously high performing, inexpensive, and safe.

In order to tackle these challenges, novel Li-ion battery anodes have been developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory that are made from lignin, a ...

Reducing Pollen Dispersal Using Forest Windbreaks, Carol Auer, Thomas Meyer, Vernie Sagun

Plant Science Articles

The adoption of genetically engineered (GE) crops has created a demand for practical methods to mitigate pollen dispersal and gene flow. The goal of this project was to measure the ability of a narrow forest windbreak to reduce downwind pollen fluxes from switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), a North American grass and model biofuels feedstock. Switchgrass fields were established in two identical plots where one had a forest windbreak and the other was in an open (control) site. Switchgrass reproduction, pollen dispersal, wind speed, and wind direction were measured over two years. Daily release of switchgrass pollen peaked at 11:00-13 ...

Embers, Char Miller

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

After living in Southern California for nine years, I should be used to fire season—and the fact that there is something called fire season—but I’m not.

My wife and I moved to the Southland in late summer 2007, and within the month we saw some of the region’s most horrific firestorms consume vast stretches of chaparral-cloaked foothills, deep canyons filled with alder and oak and, at higher elevations, thick stands of pine and cedar.

The Influence Of Training On Guides And Their Environmentally Responsible Behaviors And Transformational Leadership Abilities, Nancy Qwynne Lackey

Dissertations & Theses in Natural Resources

The ecotourism and interpretive fields were established, in part, to protect natural environments. This goal is achieved by implementing environmentally responsible practices and by providing transformative experiences for visitors. Previous research suggests that ecotour and interpretive guides play a vital role in implementing environmentally responsible behaviors (ERBs) and creating transformative visitor experiences. Other researchers have found that guide training yields many benefits for guides and their abilities, but few have explored the influence of training on guides in detail. The purpose of this research was to explore the influence of established training programs on guides and their ERBs and transformational ...

Leopold Letter Summer 2016, Leopold Center For Sustainable Agriculture

Leopold Letter

THE IOWA NUTRIENT REDUCTION STRATEGY: How is the Leopold Center tied to these recommendations? Director Mark Rasmussen explores the era of tuberculosis-contaminated milk before regulations were put in place. Fred Kirschenmann reviews the book "Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight For Life." The RFP is open for 2017 grant proposals. Read about the people behind the Local Foods Program. Also, guest writer Gene Lucht reports on a great farmer panel who were the guest speakers for the annual Shivvers Lecture.

Transdisciplinary Weed Research: New Leverage On Challenging Weed Problems?, N. Jordan, M. Schut, S. Grahan, J. N. Barney, D. Z. Childs, S. Christensen, R. D. Cousens, A. S. Davis, H. Eizenberg, David E. Ervin, C. Fernández-Quintanilla, L. J. Harrison, M. A. Harsch, S. Heijting, M. Liebman, D. Loddo, S. B. Mirsky, M. Riemens, P. Neve, D. A. Peltzer, M. Renton, M. Williams, J. Recasens, M. Sønderskov

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Transdisciplinary weed research (TWR) is a promising path to more effective management of challenging weed problems. We define TWR as an integrated process of inquiry and action that addresses complex weed problems in the context of broader efforts to improve economic, environmental and social aspects of ecosystem sustainability. TWR seeks to integrate scholarly and practical knowledge across many stakeholder groups (e.g. scientists, private sector, farmers and extension officers) and levels (e.g. local, regional and landscape). Furthermore, TWR features democratic and iterative processes of decision-making and collective action that aims to align the interests, viewpoints and agendas of a ...

Prioritizing Investment In Residential Energy Efficiency And Renewable Energy: A Case Study For The U.S. Midwest, Robert J. Brecha, Austin Mitchell, Kevin P. Hallinan, J. Kelly Kissock

Kevin Hallinan

Residential building energy use is an important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and in the United States represents about 20% of total energy consumption. A number of previous macro-scale studies of residential energy consumption and energy-efficiency improvements are mainly concerned with national or international aggregate potential savings. In this paper we look into the details of how a collection of specific homes in one region might reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, with particular attention given to some practical limits to what can be achieved by upgrading the existing residential building stock. Using a simple model of residential, single-family home ...