Sustainability Commons^™

Sustainable Bioproduction By Rhodopseudomonas Palustris Tie-1 Through Metabolic Engineering, Wei Bai

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The heavy reliance of the petroleum industry for raw material and the rising atmospheric CO2 caused by this reliance have driven the research and development of sustainable alternatives. Microbial production of chemicals, such as fuel and plastic, has been viewed as a feasible method. The wide selection of substrates by microbes enables them to produce chemicals using naturally abundant material or industrial waste, such as CO2, making the production sustainable. Compared to the model organisms such as Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, many non-model organisms have a broader selection for carbon, electron, and nitrogen sources, making them great candidates for sustainable …

Contextual And Organizational Factors In Sustainable Supply Chain Decision-Making: Grey Relational Analysis And Interpretative Structural Modeling, Zhaojun Yang, Xiaoting Guo, Jun Sun, Yali Zhang

Information Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

Sustainable supply chain emerges as a major business trend essential to long-term competitive advantage. Relevant corporate decisions concern a broad range of factors and require novel analytical models for critical control. This study conducts mathematical analyses to identify the factors that are vital yet receiving insufficient attention from researchers and practitioners. Valid survey observations were collected from 113 enterprises in China, the biggest emerging economy that faces the dilemma between development and sustainability. Grey relational analysis (GRA) and interpretative structural modeling (ISM) assess the importance levels of contextual and organizational factors and explore their joint effects. Validated with conventional expert …

Towards Equity In Energy Efficiency Analyses, John Wamburu, Emma Grazier, David Irwin, Christine Crago, Prashant Shenoy

Publications

The electric grid has begun a profound transition from primarily using carbon-intensive energy to instead using carbon-free renewable energy. In parallel, smart meters and other sensors are now providing us unparalleled visibility into the energy-efficiency of building and grid operations. Researchers are actively using building and grid energy data from these sensors to develop analytics techniques, e.g., using machine learning, that can improve energy-efficiency and facilitate the energy transition. Unfortunately, much of this research ignores the impact of these analytics on equity. That is, while current data analytics techniques may accurately identify energy-inefficiencies, they generally do not contextualize the underlying …

Diversity, Globalization, And Sustainability: Introduction To Human Geography, Toby Applegate

Sustainability Education Resources

Diversity, Globalization, and Sustainability is a wide-ranging introduction to the ways people shape the world they live in. We will study the themes and concepts of human geography through the current issues and large questions that guide them. Lectures and reading will focus on the geographic aspects of cultural diversity, population issues, states vs. nations, the global economy, development, urbanization and the human transformation of the earth. We will cover major subdivisions of human geography including cultural geography, population geography, economic geography, social geography, political geography and environmental geography.

Environmental Decision-Making, Ezra Markowitz

Sustainability Education Resources

Over the past 30 years, there has been a growing recognition amongst environmental advocates, resource managers, policymakers and researchers that the underlying cause of most environmental, conservation and sustainability issues is human behavior. As NRC and ENVIRSCI majors, you have received extensive technical training in how natural systems operate yet relatively little training when it comes to influencing or understanding how people make environmental decisions that affect those natural systems. Recognizing the fundamental role that human decision-making plays in shaping the environment reveals a new set of tools and approaches for both understanding the challenges we face and confronting those …

Fy 2021 Umass Amherst Waste Management Report, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year the Office of Waste Management publishes this report which totals recycling and refuse data for the campus.

Investigating The Development Of The Hemp Processing Industry In New York State, John Mather

Student-Created Sustainability Resources

No abstract provided.

Calling Binghamton Our Home: A Housing Market On The Rise, Leaving Many Behind, Trevor Fornara

Student-Created Sustainability Resources

No abstract provided.

Food Insecurity Within Broome County And Its Effect On Academic Performance In Children, Aidan Gajewski

Student-Created Sustainability Resources

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Role Of Transportation And Potential Barriers To Food Access In Binghamton’S North Side, Erin Zipman

Student-Created Sustainability Resources

In Binghamton, which is home to the Northside and First Ward food deserts, food insecurity is a significant community concern. Many emergency food aid networks operate in Binghamton, such as community pantries, the Binghamton Food Rescue, North Side Mutual Aid, and CHOW to address immediate needs; however, long-term food security requires removing barriers to food access, such as inadequate transportation. Food-insecure people without personal transportation either try to navigate public transportation, or choose to use more proximate outlets that may lack nutritious foods. Public transportation provided through the Broome County Bus System is limited in the scope of bus routes, …

Researching Broome County Farmers' Markets In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Caroline Burnham

Student-Created Sustainability Resources

The value of farmers markets has been shown through their contribution to community building by providing consumers with local food and giving farmers direct access to consumers. The direct connection between farmers and consumers can only be found at places like farmers markets. Having values such as the interaction between farmers and consumers and supporting locally grown food makes farmers markets important to their communities. However, the impact of farmers markets in their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic is unclear. By conducting interviews with people closely involved in farmers markets, I aim to find out how farmers markets in the …

The Relationship Between Small Businesses And Gentrification, Abigail Gifeisman

Student-Created Sustainability Resources

Gentrification is a process of displacement of marginalized or lower-class communities to make room for more affluent communities. While gentrification affects many areas of life, such as price of rent and the job market, this research focuses on small business and the effects gentrification has on them. Small businesses on Main Street and the surrounding downtown in Binghamton, NY will be defined and their role in the community will be explored. This research seeks to understand the latest developments in those areas. In the last six years the area has seen a large boom in new small businesses, giving the …

Internal And External Changes Within Food Organizations Due To The Pandemic, Samantha Goldman

Student-Created Sustainability Resources

Over the decade preceding the pandemic, the number of people in the U.S. relying on subsidiary benefits such as SNAP, free meals from schools, and food pantries have been increasing. This gradually increasing need over time has been accelerating and was exacerbated by the pandemic. With the pandemic causing increased unemployment and forcing school closures, the number of people reliant on food resources outside of those provided by the government have increased. SNAP recipients reliant on sources outside of food stamps, rose from 27% to 60% between 2018 and October of 2020. Between March 9 and March 23 of 2020, …

Student Environmental Conservation And Awareness On College Campuses, Olivia Lopes Dasilva

Student-Created Sustainability Resources

In the midst of a climate crisis, it’s crucial to question how our younger generations view their role in environmental conservation, activism and awareness, and how they implement greener values into their day-to-day lives. This research analyzes student perspectives on their role in environmentalism on their college campuses and if it’s changed through the Covid-19 pandemic. Additionally, this research questions how universities and higher education play a role in shaping these views and ideals among their student body. Through a series of interviews and surveys dispersed to students at both Binghamton University and SUNY Stony Brook, I will draw comparative …

Erosion And Accretion Trends Of New Hampshire Beaches From December 2016 To March 2020: Results Of The Volunteer Beach Profile Monitoring Program, Larry G. Ward, Rachel C. Morrison, Alyson L. Eberhardt, Wellsley J. Costello, Zachary S. Mcavoy, Caitlin P. Mandeville

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

New Hampshire Atlantic beaches were monitored from December 2016 to March 2020 to determine seasonal changes in morphology and elevation, assess the response of the beaches to storms with respect to erosion and subsequent recovery, and develop a baseline to determine long-term trends in beach size, elevation, and position. A unique aspect of this study was the involvement of community volunteers working together with the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, UNH Cooperative Extension, New Hampshire Sea Grant, and the New Hampshire Geological Survey. The monitoring network consisted of thirteen stations located at six of …

Master's Project: The Green Burial Movement & Conservation Burial Grounds, Katherine B. Berdan

Rubenstein School Masters Project Publications

This Master’s project investigates the green burial movement and its relevance as a tool for land conservation organizations. This movement has the potential to change the standard cemetery landscape in the United States by informing consumers of alternative practices and materials that support natural environmental processes and sustainable land management practices. Until a decade ago, the green burial movement had largely taken place at the community and individual level. It is now an established and growing national movement with certifying organizations, standards and practices, and strategic goals. Opportunities exist within this movement to develop partnerships between the burial grounds and …

Nanomaterials In The Environment, Human Exposure Pathway, And Health Effects: A Review, Arindam Malakar, Sushil R. Kanel, Chittaranjan Ray, Daniel D. Snow, Mallikarjuna N. Nadagouda

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Nanomaterials (NMs), both natural and synthetic, are produced, transformed, and exported into our environment daily. Natural NMs annual flux to the environment is around 97% of the total and is significantly higher than synthetic NMs. However, synthetic NMs are considered to have a detrimental effect on the environment. The extensive usage of synthetic NMs in different fields, including chemical, engineering, electronics, and medicine, makes them susceptible to be discharged into the atmosphere, various water sources, soil, and landfill waste. As ever-larger quantities of NMs end up in our environment and start interacting with the biota, it is crucial to understand …

Soaking Up Stormwater Through Education And Stewardship In The Lake Champlain Basin And Beyond, Lake Champlain Sea Grant, University Of Vermont Extension

Lake Champlain Sea Grant Institute

The health of Lake Champlain and other waterbodies in the Lake Champlain basin, which lies within portions of Vermont, New York and Quebec, are negatively impacted by nonpoint sources of pollution, including phosphorus, nitrogen, sediments, chloride, and bacteria. All of this pollution is carried to waterbodies in stormwater runoff. Thus, it is critical that everyone understand what stormwater is, and how to help clean it and reduce its volume before it enters local waterways.

Stormwater is water from rainfall and melting snow or ice that moves over the land, collecting pollutants as it makes its way to lakes, ponds, streams …

A Cross-Cultural, Participatory Approach For Measuring And Cultivating Resilience On Small And Medium Farms, Hans Estrin, Walter Poleman, Aura M. Alonso-Rodríguez, Edgardo Gonzalez, Maria A. Juncos-Gautier, Chistopher Nytch, Ethan Thompson

USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Center

One of the greatest leverage points in fostering the transition to sustainability can be found in the realm of food systems. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the critical importance of small farm resilience to the well-being of communities around the world. We explored the role of small and medium farms in promoting sustainable social-agricultural systems, and investigated how the resilience of these farms can be both measured and amplified. W e integrated concepts from the fields of food systems sustainability and resilience, agroecology, and positive deviance to identify indicators that can help measure and track farm resilience. …

Amplifying Agroecology In Vermont: Principles And Processes To Foster Food Systems Sustainability, Martha Caswell, Rebecca Maden, Nils Mccune, V. Ernesto Mendez, Gabriela Bucini, Janica Anderzen, Victor Izzo, Stephanie E. Hurley, Rachelle K. Gould, Joshua W. Faulkner, Maria A. Juncos-Gautier

USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Center

Agroecology is grounded in principles that support transitions toward economic, social and ecological sustainability and proposes that real and lasting change will require a significant transformation of our agri-food systems. Evidence for agroecology’s potential continues to grow, both through word of mouth by farmers and social movements, and through recent scientific assessments of its performance. With endorsements from the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), national governments in both the global north and south, and social movements, it is developing the web of ‘thick legitimacy’ required for even broader adoption (Montenegro de Wit & Iles, 2016). “...Agroecology …