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Understanding And Measuring Net Positive Business Strategies, Luke Ruffner Robinson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite their attempts to mitigate ecological impacts through sustainability initiatives, businesses are a major cause of the world's ecological problems. Some progressive businesses are attempting to move beyond “net zero” in terms of achieving neutral environmental impacts and instead are now pursuing a goal of net positive. Net positive refers to the idea that business activities could contribute value-added benefits to earth’s ecological systems, for example, by using technologies that sequester and store carbon. However, except for a handful of high-profile corporate case studies, little is known about how companies are developing their strategies to become net positive and …

Partitioning Variation In Vegetation And Landscape Functionality In Arid Land Piosphere, Eahsan Shahriary

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A piosphere is an interaction between vegetation community, watering point, and grazing livestock/wildlife. In this Dissertation, I begin by reviewing the concept of the piosphere, and the progress, knowledge gaps and common statistical approaches and errors in piosphere research. Landscape functionality, plant community distribution and their influencing factors on a piosphere in Iran are then investigated.

A total 862 piosphere publications of multiple types from 68 countries and 10 different languages during the period of 1915 â?? 2018 were reviewed. Australia was the most productive country followed by South Africa, the USA, Botswana and Argentina. Ivan Thrash is the most …

Modeling Community Resource Management: An Agent-Based Approach, Maya M. Lapp

Senior Independent Study Theses

As the human population continues increasing rapidly and climate change accelerates, resource depletion is becoming an international problem. Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) has been suggested as a method to conserve resources while simultaneously empowering traditionally marginalized communities. Because classical equation-based modeling methods fail to capture the complexity of CBNRM, Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) has emerged as a primary method of modeling these systems. In this investigation, we conduct a sensitivity analysis and thorough evaluation of an existing ABM of community forest management. We then modify the original model by providing a new enforcement mechanism that improves the validity of both …

Perspectives And Challenges Of Green Hotel In Thailand, Pornwajee Sangmanee

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The hotel business is intense resource consumption such as water, energy, and non-durable products to delight customers, leading to environmental problems. With this regard, the transformation of the green hotel and environmental saving programs can dwindle the hotel property's adverse impacts. The purposes of this paper are 1) to study the perception of hotel practitioners and stakeholders toward the critical challenges of green hotel transformation and 2) to propose the recommendations for green hotel operations and certification scheme in Thailand. The study employed mixed methods to collect the data. The in-depth interviews were along with field observation; the interviews data …

City-Wide Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Options To Support Global Climate Goals: Case Studies Of Bangkok, Chiang Mai, And Rayong, Thailand, Sittisak Sugsaisakon

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The action of city on climate mitigation becomes a crucial role. The aims of this study were to quantify greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission, identify feasibility of mitigation options in selected provinces, and to evaluate the performance of local capacity to support Thailand's Nationally Determined Contributed (NDC) and 1.5oC limit pathway. Three provinces, including Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Rayong of Thailand were selected as case studies. The results revealed that stationary energy was the greatest contribution to the city's GHGs emissions in all case studies. Transportation was the second largest emitter in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, whereas IPPU was the second …

Sustainable Business Development Through Sufficiency Economy Practice : A Case Study Of Thai Listed Companies, Veerawin Korphaibool

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The purpose of the research is to determine the sufficiency economy philosophy (SEP) performance through annual and sustainable development reports and simplify the outcomes by representing through a scoring system. Each of the SEP elements was aligned with each GRI sub-topic to generate a SEP scoring system. Then, the results from the scoring system were verified by testing the relationship between SEP performance and firm-specific risk of 34 Thai listed companies from 2013 to 2018 via panel data analysis. The global reporting initiative (GRI) standards were used as the fundamental scoring system as it's widely used and accepted in academic …

Arising: Hurricane (Superstorm) Sandy’S Impact On Design/Planning Professionals, Maxinne R. Leighton

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Standing by my bedroom window, looking out at the ocean, a huge wave comes and swallows up my building. Everything around me is gone, including me. I wake up. I am 13 years old and living in the Coney Island Houses on Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. With ongoing anthropogenic changes to the natural environment such as sea level rise and intensifying storms, coastal communities, especially ones segregated by class and culture, are particularly vulnerable in this context that challenges a way of life, and in some instances, threatens that life's survival. This dissertation focuses specifically on what one massive …

Developing An Odonate-Based Index For Monitoring Freshwater Ecosystems In Rwanda: Towards Linking Policy To Practice Through Integrated And Adaptive Management, Erasme Uyizeye

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Worldwide, the decline of biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems is occurring at an alarming rate, due to anthropogenic threats, which directly impact humans in a variety of ways. Freshwater ecosystems occupy an integral part of political, socio-economic and ecological spheres. Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) and Adaptive Management (AM) conceptual frameworks provide an underpinning holistic platform from which to evaluate the performance of policies and actions on the ground in relation to freshwater ecosystem management. I investigate the extent to which environmental policies and practices embrace IWM and AM frameworks in Rwanda. Furthermore, this dissertation develops an odonate-based ecological monitoring tool, referred …

Monitoring Environmental Change Using A Participatory Modified Photovoice Approach With Indigenous Knowledge Holders In Kakisa, Northwest Territories, Kaitlin Kok

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In response to growing pressures from climate change and the lack of a monitoring strategy for food security at a local and regional level in the Northwest Territories, there is an urgency for residents to record their own images of change in relation to harvester safety. This thesis explores the connection between geographic information systems, sustainable food systems, indigenous knowledge and the importance of place. The objective of this study is two-fold: (a) to develop a monitoring system in conjunction with the community of Kakisa and (b) to increase the resilience of the local food system. The methods used derive …

An Evaluation Of Ground-Freezing Methods In The Zone Of Discontinuous Permafrost, Northwest Territories, Elzbieta Mastej Ms

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Northwestern Canada is one of the most rapidly warming regions on Earth. The southern limit of the discontinuous permafrost zone is highly sensitive to small climatic fluctuations and presently experiencing a rapid landscape change due to accelerated permafrost thaw, which is further exacerbated by anthropogenic disturbances such as seismic exploration. Recent research has begun to examine both natural and mechanical approaches to minimize permafrost loss, although the utility of such methods in peatland environments is not well understood. This study explored the efficiency of natural and artificial ground cooling processes in a peatland environment by evaluating snow exclusion and thermosyphon …

Reconstructing Hydrologic Conditions And Metals Supplied By The Peace River To The Peace-Athabasca Delta, Jelle André Faber

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD) in northern Alberta, Canada, is recognized internationally for its ecological, historical, and cultural significance. The delta is mostly within Wood Buffalo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance. The construction of the WAC Bennett Dam (1967) and the Site C Dam (ongoing, 2024) on the Peace River, and expansion of the Alberta Oil Sands industry along the Athabasca River have raised concerns over water quantity and quality in the delta. When industry operations began, effective monitoring had not been implemented. Consequently, pre-industrial reference conditions are unknown and can …

Comparing Coastal Storm Impact To Decadal Change In Barrier Island Ecosystems, Philip A. Tuley

Theses and Dissertations

Highly dynamic coastal systems respond to disturbance events with a combination of topographic and vegetative changes. Sea level rise impacts on barrier islands have been quantified, but storm effects on vegetation are limited. Here we quantified barrier island vegetation change in response to an isolated storm event and compared to long-term periods. We hypothesized that disturbance-resisting areas with high woody vegetation cover and/or high foredune elevation would experience minimal transitions after a storm event, whereas disturbance-reinforcing areas with low vegetation cover and low foredune elevation would experience greater transitions between ecosystem states after a storm event. Patterns of dissonance were …

Minimizing The Detrimental Effects Of Hydro-Peaking On Riverbank Instability: The Lower Osage River Case, Wesam Sameer Mohammed-Ali

Doctoral Dissertations

"The fluctuation of water level downstream from dams due to hydropower flow releases negatively affects the riverbank stability. Therefore, this research aims to examine the feasibility of using an optimization technique to mitigate the riverbank instability resulting from the outflow variation of hydropower plants. The effects of the water releases from the Bagnell Dam were investigated by computing a series of safety factors for 78 cross sections along the 81-mile stretch of the lower Osage River in relation to outflow events by using the integrated BSTEM model incorporated into the HEC-RAS model. The 1-D sediment transport and unsteady flow in …

Research And Innovation As A Catalyst For Food System Transformation, A.C.L. Den Boer, K.P.W. Kok, M. Gill, J. Breda, Jean Cahill, C. Callenius, P. Caron, Z. Damianova, M. Gurinovic, L. Lahteenmaki, T. Lang, R. Sonnino, G. Verburg, H. Westhoek, T. Cesuroglu, B.J. Regeer, J.E.W. Broerse

Research and Innovation - Other

Background Food systems are associated with severe and persistent problems worldwide. Governance approaches aiming to foster sustainable transformation of food systems face several challenges due to the complex nature of food systems.

Scope and approach In this commentary we argue that addressing these governance challenges requires the development and adoption of novel research and innovation (R&I) approaches that will provide evidence to inform food system transformation and will serve as catalysts for change. We first elaborate on the complexity of food systems (transformation) and stress the need to move beyond traditional linear R&I approaches to be able to respond to …

Coral Reefs In The Gulf Of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem: Conservation Status, Challenges, And Opportunities, Diego L. Gil-Agudelo, Carlos E. Cintra-Buenrostro, Jorge Brenner, Patricia Gonzalez-Diaz, William Kiene, Caitlin Lustic, Horacio Perez-Espana

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The importance of coral reefs (CR) within marine ecosystems has become widely recognized. Although shallow CR are not as abundant in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) as in other areas such as the Caribbean, their uniqueness, singularity, isolation, and conservation status make their conservation highly important. Corals and CR, both shallow and deep, are more widely distributed throughout the GoM than previously thought, providing new venues of research but also new challenges for their sustainable management. They are widely present in the three countries circumscribing the GoM (Cuba, Mexico, and the United States). Corals are also distributed throughout different depths, …

Predicting Student Sustainability Knowledge, Attitudes, And Behaviors: Effects Of Demography, Environmental Science Education, And Sustainability Intervention Programs At Georgia Southern University, Bailey Chandler

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This mixed-methods research approach assesses trends in sustainability knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in the student population at Georgia Southern University (GS). Students completed a baseline survey in order to determine their knowledge and attitudes about sustainability and what sustainable behaviors they perform. A total of 1,328 useable responses to the baseline survey were gathered. Effects of race, academic class, gender, and prior completion of an environmental science course were tested, as well as the effect of campus (Statesboro and Armstrong). Previously taking an environmental science course and race/ethnicity were the two strongest indicators of knowledge score. Males scored higher than …

The Role Of Topography, Soil, And Remotely Sensed Vegetation Condition Towards Predicting Crop Yield, Trenton E. Franz, Sayli Pokal, Justin P. Gibson, Yuzhen Zhou, Hamed Gholizadeh, Fatima Amor Tenorio, Daran Rudnick, Derek M. Heeren, Matthew F. Mccabe, Matteo Ziliani, Zhenong Jin, Kaiyu Guan, Ming Pan, John Gates, Brian Wardlow

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Foreknowledge of the spatiotemporal drivers of crop yield would provide a valuable source of information to optimize on-farm inputs and maximize profitability. In recent years, an abundance of spatial data providing information on soils, topography, and vegetation condition have become available from both proximal and remote sensing platforms. Given the wide range of data costs (between USD $0−50/ha), it is important to understand where often limited financial resources should be directed to optimize field production. Two key questions arise. First, will these data actually aid in better fine-resolution yield prediction to help optimize crop management and farm economics? Second, what …

A Comparison Of High-End Methods For Topographic Modelling Of A Coastal Dune Complex, Chen Suo, Eugene Mcgovern, Alan Gilmer, Conor Cahalane

Articles

In recent years, increasing tourism and development in the coastal dune area of the South East of Ireland have resulted in greater pressure on the environment, resulting in issues including soil erosion, flooding and habitat loss. Topographic mapping across a dune field is important for the development of targeted land management actions that maintain biodiversity and ecological functions. Developments in surveying technology, including LiDAR, terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) and aerial surveying from Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), have enabled high-resolution and high-accuracy spatial data to be gathered quickly and relatively easily for 3D topographic modelling of a coastal dune complex. …

Growing Season Air Mass Equivalent Temperature (Te) In The East Central Usa, Dolly Na-Yemeh, Rezaul Mamood, Gregory Goodrich, Keri Younger, Kevin Cary, Joshua D. Durkee

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Equivalent temperature (TE), which incorporates both dry (surface air temperature, T) and moist heat content associated with atmospheric moisture, is a better indicator of overall atmospheric heat content compared to T alone. This paper investigates the impacts of different types of air masses on TE during the growing season (April–September). The study used data from the Kentucky Mesonet for this purpose. The growing season was divided into early (April–May), mid (June–July), and late (August–September). Analysis suggests that TE for moist tropical (MT) air mass was as high as 61 and 81 C for the early and mid-growing season, respectively. Further …

The Introduction Of A Carbon Market: A Regression Analysis Of The Impacts On Participating Firms, Zachery Sehnert

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

In this study, we strive to analyze the economic impacts on the firms participating in an emission trading system. Many studies have analyzed the impact on emission control and whether or not it is an effective tool in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This was achieved by running a log regression of sales against emissions from before and after the introduction of the carbon market. The statistical technique of Difference in Differences (DID) was used to observe the outcome against a control group, or those that had not participated in said market. The Korea Emission Trading Scheme (KETS) was the focus …

A Study Of The Relationships Between Environments And Human Death Practices, Carly Elizabeth Thody

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This paper analyzes connections between environmental factors and human death practices from several locations throughout the world. Using a thorough literature review, a thematic analysis is applied to combine a variety of sources to draw conclusions regarding how death practices are influenced and evolve over time. Environments, broken down into physical geography, religious, social, and political influences, are examined for the United States, Mexico, Japan, The Torajans of Sulawesi, Indonesia, and Tibet. Factors such as religion and culture have been an important component in the development of many societies’ practices revolving around death. The interconnectedness of cultures makes it difficult …

A Study Of Environmental Attitudes Between Rural And Urban Students, Sabrina Severin

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

With growing environmental concern and climate change rapidly occurring, it is important to understand how these issues will impact different areas of the world. Both urban and rural areas will be impacted in different ways. In order to tackle these climate issues and create environmental policies, it is important to understand environmental attitudes of residents in all areas. Understanding environmental attitude may help understand environmental behavior. An environmental attitude is a psychological tendency expressed by evaluating the natural environment with some degree of favor or disfavor (Milfont and Duckitt, 2010). A literary analysis was conducted to determine if there is …

Late Quaternary Sea-Level History Of Saipan, Commonwealth Of The Northern Mariana Islands, Usa: A Test Of Tectonic Uplift And Glacial Isostatic Adjustment Models, Daniel R. Muhs, Eugene S. Schweig, Kathleen R. Simmons

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

In 1979, S. Uyeda and H. Kanamori proposed a tectonic model with two end members of a subduction-boundary continuum: the “Chilean” type (shallow dip of the subducting plate, great thrust events, compression, and uplift of the overriding plate) and a “Mariana” type (steep dip of the subducting plate, no great thrust events, tension, and no uplift). This concept has been used to explain variable rates of Quaternary uplift around the Pacific Rim, yet no uplift rates have been determined for the Mariana Islands themselves, one of the end members in this model. We studied the late Quaternary Tanapag Limestone, which …

Relating Recharge Mechanisms To Chemical Changes In An Updip Appalachian Coal Mine Discharge: A Case Study From Lambert Run, West Virginia, Matthew Lewis Bell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Impaired drainage from active and abandoned mines degrades the water quality of receiving streams and aquifers. Coal mine drainage (CMD) has been studied for decades in Appalachia, but unknowns and uncertainties are still present, including the influence of mine hydrogeology on the outflow chemistry of above-drainage mines. To evaluate the influence of recharge type on above-drainage mine chemistry, samples were collected every two weeks at a CMD outflow treatment system in Harrison County, West Virginia.

Samples were collected to measure geochemical changes taking place in the mine workings and along the flowpath of the passive treatment system. Samples were divided …

Advancing Quantitative Understanding Of Escherichia Coli Concentrations In A Contemporary Mixed Land-Use Watershed, In West Virginia, Usa, Fritz Petersen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A scarcity of field-based research investigating the relationships between E. coli (fecal matter) concentration, suspended particulate matter (SPM; including size distribution), physicochemical parameters (water temperature, pH, SPC, DO, chloride) and land use practices and the importance of these relationships, particularly for human health, policy makers, and water resource managers, provided the impetus for this research. A 22-site, nested-scale, experimental watershed study design was implemented to investigate E. coli concentrations and the aforementioned relationships in a contemporary mixed land use watershed in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States. Results from a reduced (n=4 sites) study showed SPM in the …

Leaf Angle And Leaf Stomata Responses To Experimental Drought In Quercus Velutina And Acer Saccharum, Brittany Nichole Casey

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The possibility of increased severity and frequency of drought conditions, as a result of global climate variability, greatly complicates our ability to forecast future forest functions such as productivity and carbon sequestration. Assessing how tree species vary in their response to drought can aid in predicting the impact on forest ecosystems as a whole. Throughfall exclusion (TfE) experiments are potentially useful tools to simulate realistic drought conditions within intact forest ecosystems. We employed a TfE experiment during the 2018 growing season within the WV Land Trust’s Elizabeth’s Woods Nature Preserve, near Morgantown, WV, to assess the leaf angle and leaf …

Coal Mining Sector Contribution To Environmental Conditions And Human Development Index In East Kalimantan Province, Kunny Izza Indah Afkarina, Sindhung Wardana, Poerborini Damayanti

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Coal mining has been one of the issues that led to pros and cons in Indonesia. Research shows that mining activities are one of the factors that affect people’s incomes and local and national economic development. However, mining is a lucrative activity that leads to construction booms that attract population growth and lead to deforestation, thus affecting the environmental conditions of a region. The coal mining industry of Indonesian province of East Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, provides most of the economic base needed to build the infrastructure and provide energy of the country. Kalimantan Province accounts for approximately …

Agronomic Or Contentious Land Change? A Longitudinal Analysis From The Eastern Brazilian Amazon, Stephen Aldrich, Cynthia S. Simmons, Eugenio Arima, Robert T. Walker, Fernando Michelotti, Edna Castro

Department of Earth and Environmental Systems

Since 1984, nearly 1,000 people have been killed in the Brazilian Amazon due to land conflicts stemming from unequal distribution of land, land tenure insecurity, and lawlessness. During this same period, the region experienced almost complete deforestation (< 8% forest cover by 2010). Land conflict exacts a human toll, but it also affects agents’ decisions about land use, the subject of this article. Using a property-level panel dataset covering the period of redemocratization in Brazil (1984) until the privatization of long-term leases in the eastern Amazon (2010), we show that deforestation is affected by land conflict, particularly in cases of expropriation of property for agrarian reform settlement formation. Deforestation on these settlements is much greater when soils are poor for agriculture and when the land has been the object of past conflict. Deforestation and conflict are episodic, and both agronomic drivers and contentious drivers of land change are active in the region. Ultimately, the outcome of these processes of contentious and agronomic land change is substantial deforestation, regardless of who was in possession and control of the land.

Green Strategic Planning Approach For International Shipping Activities, Xiaofang Wu, Luoping Zhang, Huan Feng

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Sustainability is a long-term and ultimate goal for international shipping, although it is slowly making progress. The shipping perspective that moves away from “port-to-port” operations to “door-to-door” services also requires international shipping to take a long-term and holistic view instead of fragmented efforts. How to achieve the long-term sustainability goal becomes a key issue for door-to-door international shipping. Hence, green strategic planning for door-to-door international shipping was proposed with green development that puts forward the eco-centric point of view as its basic theory for sustainability. This study used a strategic decision-making approach, a so-called multi-dimensional decision-making (MDDM), coupled with the …

Direct And Indirect Effects Of Temperature And Prey Abundance On Bald Eagle Reproductive Dynamics, Joshua H. Schmidt, Judy Putera, Tammy L. Wilson

United States National Park Service: Publications

Understanding the mechanisms by which populations are regulated is critical for predicting the effects of large-scale perturbations. While discrete mortality events provide clear evidence of direct impacts, indirect pathways are more difficult to assess but may play important roles in population and ecosystem dynamics. Here, we use multi-state occupancy models to analyze a long-term dataset on nesting bald eagles in south-central Alaska with the goal of identifying both direct and indirect mechanisms influencing reproductive output in this apex predator. We found that the probabilities of both nest occupancy and success were higher in the portion of the study area where …