Digital Commons Network^™

Ethical Problems With Plastic In The Ocean, Brennan Cotter

Senior Theses

In the year 2018 this paper argues that plastic use and waste is destroying our oceans and that we should address the problem by fully adopting the principle and practices of sustainability. The first section outlines the advent of our plastic disposable culture. The second section gives evidence of how plastic waste is negatively affecting marine life. The third section draws from literature in environmental philosophy to develop the concept of sustainability, and the concluding section outlines several steps we can take as individuals and nations to practice sustainability.

Student Perception Of Industrial Agriculture: Effects On Migrant Workers And The Environment, Brigitta Bogue, Emma Sorensen

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Companies such as Tyson Foods and Costco are creating problems through their use of industrial farming practices in Nebraska, such as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and monocropping, to generate profit at the cost of humans and the environment. Those most affected are migrant farmworkers from Mexico. The environment is threatened because CAFOs generate greenhouse gases, and pollute nearby waterways with nitrogen. This paper addresses the following research questions: Are students’ perceptions of industrial agricultural companies, such as Costco and Tyson, positive or negative? Are students aware of these issues? How do these perceptions affect issues of sustainability and environmental …

Riding My Bike In Paradise With Margaret Fuller: A Phenomenological Study, Nanette Rasband Hilton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) was perhaps the most famous American woman during the nineteenth century. After her tragic death, reprints of her best-selling books were heavily edited and she was nearly forgotten. During and after her lifetime, Fuller fell victim to the phenomenological alterity identified and defined by theorists including Derrida and Edward Said as Othering. She spent her career combating Othering in all its forms. Through the lens of both social identity theory and multiple identity theory this study examines how Fuller grappled with social prescriptions. As an autodidact, she mined diverse literary resources to construct heterogeneous texts that cultivate …

Is Wind Energy A Better Option For The University Of Richmond?, Steven Yu

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

The purpose of this assignment is to answer the question of: Is Wind Energy the Better Option for the University of Richmond? This question is more than simply if wind power will supply the campus the greatest amount of energy, but also looks at the educational, social, environmental and political benefits that would also be associated with it. In order to understand the feasibility of wind power on the University of Richmond campus, I looked at factors such as: energy production from wind turbines, past wind patterns in Richmond, VA, impacts to the environment. This is only one part of …

Fostering University Collaboration And Building Capacity To Respond To Coastal Resilience Challenges In Virginia: Findings From The Rotating Resilience Roundtables Workshop Spring 2019, Wie Yusuf, Michelle Covi, Anamaria Bukvic, Tom Allen, Taiwo Oguntuyo

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

[from Background and Overview]

Communities in coastal Virginia, particularly in the urban region of Hampton Roads and the rural Eastern Shore peninsula, are experiencing the impacts of climate change as part of everyday life. Among the most apparent impacts are sea level rise and associated flooding, but increasingly residents of the region are observing changing ecosystems, health impacts and complex social challenges are made more difficult. The region is experiencing the fastest rate of relative sea level rise on the U.S. east coast due to interactions between ocean currents, global sea level rise, high-water tables and ground subsidence (Adapt Virginia …

2019 Collaborative Species And Habitat Conservation Efforts In San Diego County: A Systematic Needs Assessment To Guide The San Diego End Extinction Initiative, Tessa Tinkler, Michelle Ahearne, Mary Jo Schumann

Environment

This report, prepared by the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research documents the results of a systematic needs assessment prepared for the San Diego End Extinction (SDEE) initiative. The needs assessment was designed to assist SDEE to align its goals and priorities with San Diego County’s existing strengths and gaps in order to proactively prevent the loss of native plants and animals.

The Ethics Of Single-Use Plastics, Kiara Goodwine '19

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Dredged Material Ownership: Rights And Reuse, John Bobka, Beth Pindilli

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

This research paper explores ownership rights at sites with material from completed dredging projects, supplying a general overview of this issue. This paper also explores the question of whether quality dredged material stored on a publicly-owned upland site can be used later for other applications.

This abstract has been taken from Section I of the report.

Reflecting On Efforts To Design An Inclusive Citizen Science Project In West Baltimore, Amanda E. Sorensen, Rebecca C. Jordan, Shannon L. Ladeau, Dawn Biehler, Sacoby Wilson, John-Henry Pitas, Paul T. Leisnham

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Citizen science (CS) has been an increasingly utilized means by which scientists leverage members of the public to increase the amount of data collected and analyzed. However, the underrepresentation of individuals from certain socio-cultural groups can have consequences that can manifest in the scientific outcomes of those CS projects such as biases in the data. Additionally, this underrepresentation can potentially affect long-term viability and support of CS as a community of practice. CS programs that promote greater inclusivity would likely provide opportunities for communities to define, investigate, and address pressing issues in collaboration with professional scientists. In this paper we …

Climate Justice Movement Building: Values And Cultures Of Creation In Santa Barbara, California, Corrie Grosse

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

This article analyzes how young people in the climate justice movement cultivate a prefigurative culture centered on justice as a response to the threat of climate change. Employing grounded theory and drawing on data from in-depth interviews with 29 youth activists and participant observation in Santa Barbara County, California, the birthplace of both the environmental movement and offshore oil drilling, I argue that four key values—relationships, accessibility, intersectionality, and community—enable movement building, a stated goal of the climate justice movement. These values emerge from interviewees’ words and practices. Drawing on John Foran’s (2014) notion of political cultures of creation, I …

Evaluation Of An Educational Campaign To Improve The Conscious Consumption Of Recreationally Caught Fish, Corey A. Krabbenhoft, Susan Manente, Donna R. Kashian

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Consumption guidelines are a common way of improving conscious consumption behaviors in areas where game fish are known to contain contaminants. However, guideline information can be difficult to distribute, and effectiveness difficult to measure. To increase the distribution and effectiveness of guideline information for the Detroit River, an educational campaign was launched in 2010, which included distribution of pamphlets with consumption information, posting of permanent signs at popular fishing locations, and hiring River Walkers to personally communicate with anglers. In 2013 and 2015, we conducted in-person surveys of active shoreline anglers to determine the effectiveness of education and outreach efforts. …

Waste Size: The Skinny On The Environmental Costs Of The Fashion Industry, Elisha Teibel

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

The fashion industry is a web of complex global markets currently valued at $3 trillion that employs somewhere around sixty million people worldwide and is estimated to be one of the most labor-intensive industries on the planet. Over the past couple of decades, the industry has evolved into a highly fragmented sector with complicated supply chains and completely unstandardized production practices, which vary by factory and by country. The most significant facet of the fashion trade is the clothing and textile industry. The current total value of the clothing and textiles trade is estimated at $726 billion and a staggering …

Public Attitudes About Private Forest Management And Government Involvement In The Southeastern United States, Melissa M. Kreye, Renata Rimsaite, Damian C. Adams

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

In the southern United States the country’s top wood-producing region, factors such as intergenerational land transfer and population spillover from urban areas have resulted in forestland conversion and reduced production of critical ecosystem services associated with forest systems (e.g., timber, clean water supply, wildlife habitat). Public attitudes, which drive forestland policy prescriptions, may also be evolving due to the way people experience and perceive forests (e.g., recreation), and think about the role of government in private forest decisions. These changes have significant implications for forestland management and the forest-based economy, both locally and globally. We present the results of a …

Containing The Jeremiad: Understanding Paradigms Of Anxiety In Global Climate Change Experience, Brian Glaser

English Faculty Articles and Research

This essay uses Bion’s concept of “containing” to read the psychological dynamics of jeremiads about global climate change, arguing that their structure reveals a strategy of communication that may be useful for more broadly raising awareness about this challenging state of the planet. More specifically, I argue that contemporary global climate change jeremiads have a structure that first elicits alarm and then moves to discuss solutions, and that this structure may be beneficial to those who are awakening to the reality of global climate change by rendering anxiety bearable and therefore open to purposive and creative response.

The Phenomenon Of Living Close To Nuclear Power Plants, Jacquelynn Isabel Miles

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Communities near nuclear power plants are at potential risk from natural and man-made failures at the nuclear power plants located within those communities. This study explored the concerns and rationalizations of residents of a community who live within a 10-mile evacuation zone of the nuclear power plant located there. Using the general theory of deliberative democracy, the purpose of this qualitative study was to understand and explore why individuals continue to live close to nuclear power plants. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 individuals who live within a 10- mile radius of a nuclear power plant in the …

Stakeholder Effects On Shaping Public Policy In Stormwater Management, Galates Sera

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Washington, DC, historical data are used to adequately size for rainfall events, and efforts to increase stormwater management requirements are fought against by internal stakeholders. In urban planning, extreme rainfall events, that may occur more frequently than expected, are often not a consideration when designing for green infrastructure facilities. The purpose of this case study was to explore how internal and external stakeholders influence stormwater management policies related to extreme rainfall events in Washington, DC. The power and politics organization theory, which focuses on how individuals obtain influence, and the resource dependency theory, which explores how organizations benefit from …

Best Practices To Encourage Landfill Diversion In Waste Management Programs, Sondra Abruzzo

Scripps Senior Theses

Waste generation in the United States is at an all time high. Over half of the country’s waste goes to landfill, yet 70 percent of this waste can be recycled or composted. Since landfills pose one of the largest manmade threats to the environment, sustainable waste management strategies should focus on landfill diversion. A successful waste recovery program needs to engage the public, and ensure individuals participate correctly in available waste management systems. This paper sheds light on effective education and awareness strategies used to encourage participation in local waste management systems and promote landfill diversion. By highlighting successful programs …

Lead In Tap Water Of Public Schools Near Dayton, Ohio, Baylee Stark

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Lead (Pb) is a human-health concern, especially with regard to exposures of children. Lead contaminated drinking water is a primary route of exposure for children; however, water sampling for Pb is voluntary in schools with a public water supply. This study examined Pb in tap water from public schools around Dayton, OH. Schools were selected to span a range of ages (construction year) and community socioeconomic status. Of the 28 schools contacted, seven responded "affirmatively" to sampling, two responded "negatively", and 19 did not respond. None of the schools that were sampled had Pb concentrations exceeding the U.S. EPA guidelines …

Factors Affecting Superfund Hazardous Waste Site Cleanups, Leili Solatyavari

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

My dissertation focuses on assessing environmental equity in neighborhoods hosting hazardous waste lands known as Superfund sites. I define environmental equity as equal and timely removal of Superfund sites regardless of the demographic profile of hosting communities. In the first chapter, I introduce the Superfund program and various steps that need to be taken by the EPA in order to remove a hazardous site from a neighborhood. The second chapter discusses theoretical frameworks that motivate the empirical analysis by visualizing the Superfund enforcement and cleanup process.

The third chapter objectives are twofold. First, I investigate the factors that may affect …

In The Eye Of The Storm: Houston After Hurricane Harvey, Brandon Tolentino-Serrano

Pomona Senior Theses

Situated in one of the wettest climates in America, Houston, TX has had a long history of heavy rains and unprecedented floods. Unfortunately, floods have become more common over the last few decades as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of hurricanes around the globe. To complicate matters further, Houston has quickly sprawled to accommodate over 2.5 billion people. Rapid urbanization has rendered the landscape even more susceptible to floods through excess concretization and watershed disturbance. This thesis traces the history of the Bayou City in relation to the damages caused by Hurricane Harvey. By mapping out the original …

Hazardous Waste Site Proximity And Type 2 Diabetes: From Youths To Adults, Theresa Ann Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in adults and youths. Persistent organic pollutants and endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as pesticides, dioxins, and organochlorines, are omnipresent and persist in the environment with potential for human exposure via contaminated air, waterways, soil, and human food supply. EDCs have been correlated with diabetes incidence and risks. Residential proximity to hazardous waste sites (HWS) has been correlated with increased hospital admission rates for diabetes. The study used a sample population (N = 1,724), ages ≥ 12 years from the 2005-2012 Continuous NHANES and HWS data from the National Priorities List of Superfund Sites. …

Emergence: Developing Worldview In The Environmental Humanities, Rhonda D. Davis

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

While the environment has long played a role in humanistic expressions and investigations, the need for a more integrated look at the human-environment relationship has become ever more pressing. More than ever, humanities scholars are recognizing their ability to mobilize critical and creative action to address pressing socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and socioenvironmental problems. Teaching and engaging students through interdisciplinary methods, connecting students and communities, developing a sense of agency and responsibility for planetary sustainability has become a visible focus in higher education. My study aimed to understand how an environmental humanities class affects, if at all, the way students construct worldview. …

Mid-Atlantic Oil Spill Workshop: Are We Ready? A Regional Workshop As Part Of The National Academies And Sea Grant Collaborative Workshop Series, G. Walker, M. Covi

OES Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) In 2017, the Gulf Research Program (GRP) and the Health and Medical Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a workshop to prepare for and respond to major marine oil spills. To address gaps identified at the workshop, GRP reached out to the Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Program to host a series of regional workshops. The Sea Grant Oil Spill team, based in the Gulf, partnered with state Sea Grant programs across the country to plan and deliver regional workshops in 2018-2019. The goals of the workshops were to raise awareness of …

Paper: An Ecowomanist View On The Dakota Access Pipeline, Ariana Raya

Womanist Ethics

This paper examines the Dakota Access Pipeline using ecofeminist and ecowomanist philosophies, provides a brief historical background of African American and Native American communities, explains the dangers of the pipeline to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, and offers constructive alternatives.

How Does The New Urban Agenda Align With Comprehensive Planning In U.S. Cities? A Case Study Of Asheville, North Carolina, Matthew Cohen, Geoffrey Habron

Earth and Environmental Sciences Publications

Despite growing interests in sustainable urban development, planning lacks unifying themes or directives for achieving sustainability in cities. While professional rating systems provide some guidance, they can be context-specific by country and may at best target weak sustainability as their intended outcome. The United Nations’ New Urban Agenda attempts to offer a singular vision for urban sustainability, and its language appears flexible enough to apply across contexts. In this research, we explore the extent that emergent themes from the New Urban Agenda can guide urban planning for sustainability, specifically in the United States (U.S.). We develop inductive codes from the …

Trash Talk: The Effects Of Plastic Pollution On Seabirds In Narragansett Bay, Erin A. O'Neill

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Plastic pollution in the ocean is a global concern with more than 8 million tons of plastic dumped into our oceans every year. This policy paper assesses plastic pollution in Narragansett Bay and the negative implications it holds on local seabird populations. Also, essential background information on plastic production and throwaway culture is provided. Moreover, the biological significance of seabirds is described, highlighting the vital role such populations play in local ecosystems such as Narragansett Bay. This paper contributes research to the global issue of plastic pollution by observing declining native wildlife life populations, such as seabirds, on a local …

Climate Futures 1| Climate Futures, Design And The Just Transition, Schedule, Liberal Arts Division, Ncss Graduate Program

Climate Futures Symposia

Schedule of events distributed at the Symposium.

Challenges Towards Sustainable Port Development In India : The Adverse Effects Of Port Development On Coastal Ecology And Community In Ennore : Case Study, Balaji Balasubramanian

World Maritime University Dissertations

Ports and shipping play a crucial role in the coastal development, however, it possesses numerous potential risks to the marine environment and the coastal community. Sustainable development is a key concept which integrates the triple bottom line: economic, environmental and social elements into all aspects of decision making. This paper explores and analyses the challenges towards the progression of sustainable development of Indian ports, taking the Ennore port in India as a case study. My objectives in this research were to highlight the lack of consensus on the importance of the two pillars, environmental and social in the concept of …

Challenges Towards Sustainable Port Development In India : The Adverse Effects Of Port Development On Coastal Ecology And Community In Ennore : A Case Study, Balaji Balasubramanian

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Addressing Environmental Gentrification: Improving Environmental Health For Children And Youth Without Displacement, Tania Schusler, Amy Krings

Center for the Human Rights of Children

This research brief aims to consider how community members and policies might improve environmental amenities within contaminated communities without displacing existing residents. To this end, we will first introduce a concept known as environmental gentrification. We will then summarize some of the existing literature that explores the relationships between urban greening and brownfield redevelopment projects in relation to gentrification. Brownfields refer to properties where the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant may complicate the property’s expansion, redevelopment, or reuse (https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/overview-brownfields- program). Our review of literature indicates that the degree of gentrification associated with sustainable development …