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Representing Wilderness In The Shaping Of America's National Parks: Aesthetics, Boundaries, And Cultures In The Works Of James Fenimore Cooper, John Muir, And Their Artistic Contemporaries, Alana Jajko

Master’s Theses

This project studies the works of James Fenimore Cooper, John Muir, and their artistic contemporaries in relation to the shaping of America’s national parks and what it means for the parks and their attending wilderness to be symbolic of the nation. It seeks to reveal the national parks as artistic representations of a constructed wilderness, while also emphasizing the physical experience of the natural world as a means of supplementing our subjective views. Through the lenses of aesthetics, boundaries, and cultures, I narrow my study to focus on three distinct perspectives by which we can understand the national parks and …

Social Science Perspectives On Drivers Of And Responses To Global, Andrew K. Jorgenson, Shirley Fiske, Klaus Hubacek, Jia Li, Tom Mcgovern, Torben Rick, Juliet B. Schor, William Solecki, Richard York, Ariela Zycherman

Publications and Research

This article provides a review of recent anthropological, archeological, geographical, and sociological research on anthropogenic drivers of climate change, with a particular focus on drivers of carbon emissions, mitigation and adaptation. The four disciplines emphasize cultural, economic, geographic, historical, political, and social‐structural factors to be important drivers of and responses to climate change. Each of these disciplines has unique perspectives and makes noteworthy contributions to our shared understanding of anthropogenic drivers, but they also complement one another and contribute to integrated, multidisciplinary frameworks. The article begins with discussions of research on temporal dimensions of human drivers of carbon emissions, highlighting …

Integrated Ocean, Earth, And Atmospheric Observations For Resilience Planning In Hampton Roads, Virginia, Jon Derek Loftis, Molly Mitchell, Larry Atkinson, Ben Hamlington, Tom Allen, David Forrest, Teresa Updyke, Navid Tahvildari, David Bekaert, Mark Bushnell

CCPO Publications

Building flood resilience in coastal communities requires a precise understanding of the temporal and spatial scales of inundation and the ability to detect and predict changes in flooding. In Hampton Roads, the Intergovernmental Pilot Project’s Scientific Advisory Committee recommended an integrated network of ocean, earth, and atmospheric data collection from both private and public sector organizations that engage in active scientific monitoring and observing. Since its establishment, the network has grown to include monitoring of water levels, land subsidence, wave measurements, current measurements, and atmospheric conditions. High-resolution land elevation and land cover data sets have also been developed. These products …

Effects Of Land Development And Season On Heavy Metal Concentrations In Urban Streams, Helen Daigle

REU Final Reports

Although it is generally understood that urban development can impact the quality of urban streams, there are many factors that affect the concentrations of pollutants being transferred from the built environment to a given output. This study examines the impact of land use surrounding urban streams, specifically, the degree of development and presence or absence of green infrastructure (GI) in these areas on heavy metal (HM) concentrations in Portland, Oregon. After collecting 1021 water quality samples from 2010-2018, we examined the difference in concentrations of HM pollutants across different combinations of land use and season. Increased levels of calcium, magnesium, …

Postglacial Fire, Vegetation, And Environmental Change In The Sinlahekin Wildlife Area, Okanogan County, Washington (Usa), Kevin Haydon

All Master's Theses

Historically fire has played a key disturbance role in many ecosystems of the western United States. One of the most affected landscapes is the dry ponderosa pine-dominated forests of eastern Washington. Over the past decade, these forests have experienced a dramatic increase in large, high-severity wildfires, resulting in significant damage to natural resources, property, and habitat. Public land managers are now faced with the increasing challenge of maintaining these fire-dependent ecosystems in tandem with the projected impacts of future climate change. To do this, land managers need to make informed, adaptive decisions based on what it known in terms of …

Intertidal Habitat Utilization By Endangered Green Sturgeon (Acipenser Medirostris), Willapa Bay, Washington, Luke Stilwater

All Master's Theses

This study looks at a portion of the designated critical habitat for the threatened southern distinct population segment of green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) in Willapa Bay, Washington. Willapa Bay is an intermediate size (258.7mi2) estuary on the southwest coast of Washington State, approximately 30 miles north from the mouth of the Columbia River. Recent studies completed by the National Marine Fisheries Service have shown that significant aggregations of green sturgeon in Willapa Bay occur during the late summer months, and foraging activity for burrowing ghost shrimp (Neotrypaea californiensis) is evidenced by small round feeding pits (30-60 cm diameter) in the …

Internal Composition, Structure, And Hydrological Significance Of Rock Glaciers In The Eastern Cascades, Washington, Adam Riffle

All Master's Theses

Low summer river base flow places a strain on natural and economic resources of the Eastern Cascades. A major contributor to stream flow in this region is snow pack which has declined over the past few decades because of a warming climate. In addition, glacial runoff, which contributes significantly to base flow in summer dry periods, will diminish from glacial recession. However, rock glaciers, because their internal ice (i.e., permafrost) is insulated by an outer debris layer, react slowly to climate change, thus acting as sinks for ice and liquid water storage in mountain environments. This study utilized ground penetrating …

Ecological Effects Of Overwater Structures On Subtidal Kelp, Northern Puget Sound, Washington, E. Jhanek Szypulski

All Master's Theses

There are more than 9,000 overwater structures in the Puget Sound casting an estimated 9 km² of anthropogenic created shade to the seafloor. Subtidal kelp, over 20 species in total, are abundant in the Sound but little data exists on how they are impacted by these overwater structures. The purpose of this research is to quantify various overwater structures’ impacts on the productivity and distribution of subtidal kelp beds and to create a subtidal kelp monitoring protocol. Three sets of floating docks and paired controls were sampled twice during the summer of 2017 for subtidal kelp distribution, biomass, photosynthetically …

Two Post-Glacial Sagebrush Steppe Fire Records At The Wildland-Urban Interface, Eastern Cascades, Washington, Dusty Pilkington

All Master's Theses

Recent increases in large fires in the rapidly developing wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas of central Washington, where development intermixes with wildland fuels, contribute to federal firefighting costs exceeding of $1 billion annually. In addition, cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) invasion and anthropogenic-caused warming shorten fire return intervals while lengthening fire seasons. These climatic, ecological, economic, and social factors combine with fuel accumulation resulting from historic fire suppression to threaten lives and property in the WUI. To plan for safe growth in WUI areas, long-term fire histories are needed to expand understanding of past fire regimes in an understudied ecosystem, sagebrush …

Water Demand, Adaptive Capacity, And Drought: An Analysis Of The Upper Klamath Basin, Oregon And California, Patricia Snyder

All Master's Theses

Freshwater demand and scarcity issues are an issue of global concern, in particular for the American West as global climate models suggest precipitation regime changes and an increase of drought. This research conducts a case-study of the Upper Klamath Basin, located in south-central Oregon and northern California, a microcosm of the arid and semi-arid American West that experienced an economically, socially, and ecologically impactful drought in the early 2000s. Through a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods this research: 1) identifies key stakeholders, their goals and key policies; 2) conducts an adaptive capacity assessment of water management within the basin; …

Geomorphic Consequences Of Hydroelectricity And Transportation Development Near Celilo Falls, Lower Mid-Columbia River, Washington, Noah I. Oliver

All Master's Theses

Along the Columbia River, hundreds of miles of transportation infrastructure and over sixty hydroelectric dams have been constructed. This altered a rich cultural landscape with evidence of 10,000 years of continuous occupation. Researchers have attempted to understand the impacts of anthropogenic factors on the Columbia River, focusing on the riverine environment. However, the effect of transportation and hydroelectricity developments to eolian landforms on the floodplains and adjoining slopes have not been studied. Focusing on 2,800 acres near Celilo Falls, this study 1) establishes a baseline condition of eolian landforms from 1805 to 1900; 2) conducts an air photo increment analysis …

Effects Of Manual And Mechanical Ammophila Arenaria Removal Techniques On Coastal Dune Plant Communities And Dune Morphology, Monique R. Silva Crossman

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The removal of invasive species as part of the restoration process can allow natives organisms to rebound. An ecosystem that incurs damages from invasive species is coastal sand dunes, which are dynamic systems. Some coastal sand dunes on the west coast of the United States have been invaded by Ammophila arenaria. The invasive grass, A. arenaria, is thought to alter and stabilize foredune morphology and reduce populations of native species. The objectives of my research are to examine the effects that manual and mechanical A. arenaria removal techniques have on coastal sand dune morphology and vegetative cover over time. …

A Multi-City Comparison Of Front And Backyard Differences In Plant Species Diversity And Nitrogen Cycling In Residential Landscapes, Dexter H. Locke, Meghan Avolio, Tara Trammell, Rinku Roy Chowdhury, J. Morgan Grove, John Rogan, Deborah G. Martin, Neil D. Bettez, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Peter M. Groffman, Sharon J. Hall, James B. Heffernan, Sarah E. Hobbie, Kelli L. Larson, Jennifer L. Morse, Multiple Additional Authors

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

We hypothesize that lower public visibility of residential backyards reduces households’ desire for social conformity, which alters residential land management and produces differences in ecological composition and function between front and backyards. Using lawn vegetation plots (7 cities) and soil cores (6 cities), we examine plant species richness and evenness and nitrogen cycling of lawns in Boston, Baltimore, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, Los Angeles (LA), and Salt Lake City (SLC). Seven soil nitrogen measures were compared because different irrigation and fertilization practices may vary between front and backyards, which may alter nitrogen cycling in soils. In addition to lawn-only measurements, …

Wolbachia Modifies Thermal Reference In Drosophila Melanogaster, Amy Michelle Truitt, Martin Kapun, Rupinder Kaur, Wolfgang J. Miller

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Environmental variation can have profound and direct effects on fitness, fecundity, and host symbiont interactions. Replication rates of microbes within arthropod hosts, for example, are correlated with incubation temperature but less is known about the influence of host-symbiont dynamics on environmental preference. Hence, we conducted thermal preference (Tp) assays and tested if infection status and genetic variation in endosymbiont bacterium Wolbachia affected temperature choice of Drosophila melanogaster. We demonstrate that isogenic flies infected with Wolbachia preferred lower temperatures compared to uninfected Drosophila. Moreover, Tp varied with respect to three investigated Wolbachia variants (wMel, wMelCS and wMelPop). While uninfected individuals preferred …

Transferring Sustainability Solutions Across Contexts Through City–University Partnerships, Lauren Withycombe Keeler, Fletcher Beaudoin, Amy M. Lerner, Beatrice John, Richard Beecroft, Kaidi Tamm, Arnim Wiek, Daniel J. Lang

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

The urgency of climate change and other sustainability challenges makes transferring and scaling solutions between cities a necessity. However, solutions are deeply contextual. To accelerate solution efforts, there is a need to understand how context shapes the development of solutions. Universities are well positioned to work with cities on transferring solutions from and to other cities. This paper analyses five case studies of city–university partnerships in three countries on transferring solutions. Our analysis suggests that understanding the interest, the action on sustainability, and the individual and collective sustainability competences on the part of the city administration and the university can …

Developing A Unified Approach To Sustainable Consumption Behaviour: Opportunities For A New Environmental Paradigm, Vivienne Byers, Alan Gilmer

Articles

Politicians and national policy makers seek to encourage individuals to engage in a wide range of pro-environmental practices to address both discrete environmental problems and major global challenges such as climate change. Theoretically, the field of behavioural management in environmental consumption which seeks to change holarchic open human systems, is much contested. This paper proposes to develop a synthesized conceptual framework embracing a unified approach that addresses the systematic, structural, and institutional perspectives on how consumption, through public policy initiatives, can be developed and changed to reflect a deeper ecological foundation. This approach considers the debate regarding policy and behavioural …

Conservation, Development, And Dispossession: The Implications Of Unesco World Heritage Designation For The Bayei People In The Okavango Delta, Botswana, Jamie Shinn

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

In December of 2012, I visited the village of Jao for the first time. The village, located on a small patch of dry land deep in the heart of the Okavango Delta in Northern Botswana, is one of the only remaining settlements in the Delta’s interior and all residents are members of the water-based Bayei tribe. Jao is also one of the few settlements located within the boundaries of a recent World Heritage site designation of the Okavango Delta by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). While much attention has been paid to the unique ecological qualities …

Environmental Governance And Climate Change Adaptation In The Okavango Delta, Botswana, Jamie Shinn

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Increased environmental variability as a result of climate change will continue to intensify in coming decades, with particularly acute consequences for those living in already marginal conditions. The impacts of these biophysical changes require new approaches to environmental governance to facilitate successful forms of climate change adaptation for individuals and communities in changing social-ecological systems.

Temporal And Geochemical Signatures In Granitoids Of Northwestern Nevada: Evidence For The Continuity Of The Mesozoic Magmatic Arc Through The Western Great Basin, Kenneth L. Brown, William K. Hart, Richard J. Stuck

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Granitoid magmatism in the Basin and Range Province of northwestern Nevada remains an important gap in our understanding of the along-strike variability of Mesozoic Cordilleran arc systems. We present a comprehensive investigation on a suite of intrusions within the Santa Rosa Range (SRR) and Bloody Run Hills (BRH) of northwestern Nevada. Petrography, whole-rock geochemistry, and zircon U-Pb geochronology indicate two distinct magmatic systems in the SRR: an older, mafic, and metaluminous pulse (Santa Rosa/Andorno [SRA] group—ca. 102–100 Ma) and a younger, felsic, and peraluminous pulse (Granite Peak/Sawtooth [GPS] group—ca. 94–92 Ma). Within the BRH to the south, the Flynn (ca. …

Evaluating Wildlife Vulnerability To Mercury Pollution From Artisanal And Small-Scale Gold Mining In Madre De Dios, Peru, K. E. Markham, Florencia Sangermano

Geography

Illegal, artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) often occurs in remote highly biodiverse areas, such as the Madre de Dios region of Peru. Mercury used in gold mining bioaccumulates in the environment and poses developmental, hormonal, and neurological threats to wildlife. The impact of ASGM on biodiversity remains largely unknown. We used geographic information science to create a spatial model of pollution risk from mining sites, in order to predict locations and species assemblages at risk. Multicriteria evaluation was used to determine how flow accumulation, distance from mining areas, total suspended sediment load, and soil porosity influenced the vulnerability of …

Offshore Wind Energy: Simulating Local Offshore Wind Turbine, Ian P. Aquino

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Dominion Virginia Energy is looking at the possible creation of an offshore wind plant as a renewable source of electricity to be located off the coast of Virginia Beach. This thesis reports on a computer simulation based on local wind conditions and possible single wind turbine installation.

The National Buoy Data Center keeps records of the local wind conditions gathered in real time and available to the public. These data give a general overview of the wind conditions in Virginia Beach which is used to simulate atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) flow conditions and is subsequently used as input data for …

Hydrogeology And Water Management In The Arkwright Underground Coal Mine, Pittsburgh Seam, Northern West Virginia, Bryant D. Mountjoy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Arkwright #1 is a closed underground mine in the Pittsburgh coal seam near Morgantown, West Virginia USA. Arkwright shares perimeter boundaries/barriers with three other closed Pittsburgh seam mines (Osage #3, Jordan #93, Federal #1) and is partially overlain by flooded Sewickley seam mines, 25 m above it. This mine is significant primarily because it manages and treats water diverted from nearly 20 other closed mines over a 600 square kilometer area. This study examines water levels, pump records, and mine maps to describe the hydrogeology of Arkwright Mine. After closure in 1995, Arkwright and the adjacent northern Osage mines began …

Impacts Of Drainage Systems On Stormwater Hydrology: Rocky Branch Watershed, Columbia, South Carolina, Logan Ress

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of urbanization and associated land use changes, specifically increases in impervious surfaces, have long been the focal point of urban hydrologic research. However, studies and calculations that consider impervious surfaces alone do not encompass all factors that influence urban hydrologic response. Artificial structures such as storm sewer (SS) systems and road networks increase rates of stormwater conveyance, yet these artificial networks are rarely considered in computations of drainage densities and associated hydrologic alterations. This study examines several hydrologically relevant descriptors that can be used to better understand the impact of urbanization on small watersheds. Rainfall and stormflow data …

An Examination Of Beta Diversity Indices And Their Predictors In Two Large-Scale Systems, Philip Schroeder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biodiversity is what conservation biology was developed to conserve. It is the physical manifestation of life as a concept and, be it for practical or idealistic reasons, all conservationists seek to protect or, in some cases, enhance it. Because of its monolithic importance to the field, much effort has been expended trying to better measure and understand it. Recently, greater attention has been paid to the partition of diversity; the observation that the total diversity of a system (γ) can be broken down into within-site diversity (α) and between-site diversity (β). In particular, it has been noticed that the β …

Policy Guideline On Disaster Risk Reduction For Climate Change Adaptation : A Case Of Klong Yan Watershed Resourse Conservation And Rehabilitation Network, Suratthani, Siwaporn Promdaen

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Thailand is one of South-east Asian countries that have been suffered from extreme events resulting from the impacts of climate change. One consequence of changes is the severity and frequency of extreme events leading to disasters in all regions of Thailand. These effects provided losses and damages at all levels. To solve such problems, water resource management under climate change adaptation has been set up under policy guidelines to reducing the disaster risk from the climate change. The objective of this study is to study the policy guidelines on disaster risk reduction for climate change adaptation on water resource management …

Traditional Ecological Knowledge Of Indigenous Peoples On Climate Change Adaptation : A Case Study Of Sea Nomads “Orang Suku Laut”, Lingga Regency, Riau Islands Province, Indonesia, Wengki Ariando

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

At the international community, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEKs) have been recognized and acknowledged the important roles of indigenous peoples to tackle climate change. The cultural practice, cultural belief and adaptive capacity in managing nature by the Orang Suku Laut (OSL), Indonesian indigenous group who are living as nomads in the sea, would be considered as the key drivers to achieve the effectiveness of climate change adaptation (CCA). This research aimed to study the TEKs of indigenous peoples on CCA of the OSL, Lingga Regency, Riau Islands Province, Indonesia, for appropriate CCA policy implemented at their communities. Data collection was obtained …

Local Knowledge Framework For Sustainable Utilization Of Mangrove Forest : A Case Study Of Klong Khone Sub-District, Mueang District, Samut Songkhram Province, Thailand, Wipapan Adulcharoen

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

A development of local knowledge or local knowledge life cycle for locally appropriate sustainable utilization of mangrove ecosystem services was influenced by factors that were specific to ecological and social-cultural conditions and varied relying a change of the targeted mangrove ecosystem services for utilization. This study aims 1) to identify the factors in the local knowledge life cycle during two phases of mangrove stand initiation and young forest regrowth at Klong Khone sub-district, Samut Songkhram province, Thailand and 2) to propose the local knowledge framework for the sustainable utilization of mangrove ecosystem services and lessons learned through the local knowledge …

The Efficacy Of Best Management Practices On Peak Discharge And Contaminant Loads In Agricultural Drainage Systems, Blue Earth River Watershed, South-Central Minnesota, Usa, Zach Hilgendorf

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Conversion of native land cover to row crop agriculture and anthropogenically modified hydrology, correlates with increases in peak discharge, annual discharge, sediment and nutrient loads in agricultural land-use dominated watersheds within the Mississippi River basin. This results in environmental issues related to turbidity, eutrophication-hypoxia, loss of biodiversity, natural resource degradation, reduction in tourism, and more. In no place is this more obvious than the ever-growing "Dead Zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. The Minnesota River basin, the largest tributary to the Mississippi River in Minnesota, is a disproportionately large contributor of sediment (~80-90%), nitrogen (~56%), and phosphorus (~45%) to the …

Walls And Wilderness: Analyzing The Impacts Of Border Barriers On U.S. Government Lands Of The United States - Mexico Border, Bryce Garrett Fugate

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper seeks to describe the impacts of physical structures (fences, walls, barricades, etc.) on five selected areas of federally-protected U.S. lands along the U.S.-Mexico border that fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The five selected areas are: Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Big Bend National Park, Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument, the Tohono O'odham Nation Reservation, and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The research looks into the historical development of structures put in place on the U.S. - Mexico border, how they have become ever more ubiquitous in the region, and what …

Cerium Levels In Fine And Coarse Airborne Particulate Matter In El Paso, Texas - A Geospatial And Temporal Investigation, Esenam Adzo Fumador

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Paso Del Norte airshed is shared by two cities, El Paso, Texas, U.S.A. and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Population growth in both cities and their desert climate has created persistent challenges in meeting air quality standards for particulate matter, which is generated from both natural and anthropogenic sources.

In Europe, ceria or cerium dioxide (CeO2), introduced into diesel road fuel as nanoparticles, has significantly reduced emissions as well as increased vehicle mileage. Concerns have been raised there about the fate and potential health risks associated with the nanoceria (n-Ce) emitted in diesel exhaust. In the U.S.A on-road use of …