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Moab Local Food Guide 2024, Roslynn Mccann, Shiree Duncan Jan 2024

Moab Local Food Guide 2024, Roslynn Mccann, Shiree Duncan

All Current Publications

Thank you for picking up this Moab Utah Local Food Guide. Those growing and producing food within a 100 mile radius from Moab have been included in this guide to help YOU make locally sourced purchasing decisions!


Microbes Of Biotechnological Importance In Acidic Saline Lakes In The Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia, Katelyn Boase, Talitha Santini, Elizabeth Watkin Jan 2024

Microbes Of Biotechnological Importance In Acidic Saline Lakes In The Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia, Katelyn Boase, Talitha Santini, Elizabeth Watkin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Acidic salt lakes are environments that harbor an array of biologically challenging conditions. Through 16S rRNA, 18S rRNA, and ITS amplicon sequencing of eight such lakes across the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia, we aim to understand the microbial ecology of these lakes with a focus on iron- and sulfur-oxidizing and reducing microorganisms that have theoretical application in biomining industries. In spite of the biological challenges to life in these lakes, the microbial communities were highly diverse. Redundancy analysis of soil samples revealed sulfur, ammonium, organic carbon, and potassium were significant diversities of the microbial community composition. The most abundant …


Developing International Guidance To Make Impact Assessment Follow-Up Happen–Reflections On An Interactive Design Process, Angus Morrison-Saunders, Jos Arts, Annette Nykiel, Bruce Muir, Richard Morgan, Patricia Fitzpatrick, Ciaran O’Faircheallaigh, Alberto Fonseca, Charlotta Faith-Ell, Ainhoa González, Jan Albert Wessels, Gesa Geißler, Luis Sánchez, Urmila Jha-Thakur, William Ross, John Glasson Jan 2024

Developing International Guidance To Make Impact Assessment Follow-Up Happen–Reflections On An Interactive Design Process, Angus Morrison-Saunders, Jos Arts, Annette Nykiel, Bruce Muir, Richard Morgan, Patricia Fitzpatrick, Ciaran O’Faircheallaigh, Alberto Fonseca, Charlotta Faith-Ell, Ainhoa González, Jan Albert Wessels, Gesa Geißler, Luis Sánchez, Urmila Jha-Thakur, William Ross, John Glasson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

To advance impact assessment (IA) practice worldwide the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) has long promoted and published a series of international best practice principles, including the recently revised best practice principles for IA follow-up. IA follow-up refers to any kind of undertaking that seeks to ‘understand the outcomes of projects or plans’ that have been subject to IA. To support the implementation of these principles worldwide, a global guidance document has been developed (published by IAIA in 2024). The aims of this paper are to report on the approach undertaken to this guidance, applying a Delphi method, and …


Evaluating Road Environment Factors Impacting Cyclist Safety In Dublin City Using Geospatial Solutions, Niamh O' Reilly Jan 2024

Evaluating Road Environment Factors Impacting Cyclist Safety In Dublin City Using Geospatial Solutions, Niamh O' Reilly

Doctoral

Police Collision Reports (PCRs) are used as a measure of road safety but are subject to under reporting and biased to collisions involving motorised vehicles or serious injury outcomes. Understanding the extent and nature of cycling safety and how the road environment contributes to these requires detailed quality data on cyclist collisions. Hospital records, insurance claim records and travel diaries are frequently used to supplement these but provide little or no information about the road environment, particularly its location. This research investigates how effective alternative georeferenced bicycle safety data sources examined through a geospatial lens can address road safety issues …


Development Of A Regional Climate Change Model For Aedes Vigilax And Aedes Camptorhynchus (Diptera: Culicidae) In Perth, Western Australia, Kerry Staples, Peter J. Neville, Steven Richardson, Jacques Oosthuizen Jan 2024

Development Of A Regional Climate Change Model For Aedes Vigilax And Aedes Camptorhynchus (Diptera: Culicidae) In Perth, Western Australia, Kerry Staples, Peter J. Neville, Steven Richardson, Jacques Oosthuizen

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Mosquito-borne disease is a significant public health issue and within Australia Ross River virus (RRV) is the most reported. This study combines a mechanistic model of mosquito development for two mosquito vectors; Aedes vigilax and Aedes camptorhynchus, with climate projections from three climate models for two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), to examine the possible effects of climate change and sea-level rise on a temperate tidal saltmarsh habitat in Perth, Western Australia. The projections were run under no accretion and accretion scenarios using a known mosquito habitat as a case study. This improves our understanding of the possible implications of sea-level …


Beyond The Cage: A Story Book For Children, Seemi Batool, Fozia Parveen Jan 2024

Beyond The Cage: A Story Book For Children, Seemi Batool, Fozia Parveen

Institute for Educational Development Pakistan (IED-PK) Archives

This is an open and free resources created for parents and teachers to use in homes and classrooms.


It Is Normal: The Probability Distribution Of Temperature Extremes, Nir Y. Krakauer Jan 2024

It Is Normal: The Probability Distribution Of Temperature Extremes, Nir Y. Krakauer

Publications and Research

The probability of heat extremes is often estimated using the non-stationary generalized extreme value distribution (GEVD) applied to time series of annual maximum temperature. Here, this practice was assessed using a global sample of temperature time series, from reanalysis (both at the grid point and the region scale) as well as station observations. This assessment used forecast negative log-likelihood as the main performance measure, which is particularly sensitive to the most extreme heat waves. It was found that the computationally simpler normal distribution outperforms the GEVD in providing probabilistic year-ahead forecasts of temperature extremes. Given these findings, it is suggested …


Common Raven Resource Selection, Diet, And Behavior Around A Threatened Shorebird, Janelle Chojnacki Jan 2024

Common Raven Resource Selection, Diet, And Behavior Around A Threatened Shorebird, Janelle Chojnacki

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Human food subsidies have allowed populations of the common raven (Corvus corax) to expand and increase in density, especially in the western United States, which has amplified predation risk for other native species. Common ravens are well-documented nest predators of the federally threatened Western snowy plover (Anarhynchus nivosus nivosus) in Humboldt County, California; however, little is known about raven movement and foraging behavior in and around snowy plover habitat. Using GPS tracking and behavioral surveys, I examined movement and foraging behavior of beach-going ravens across snowy plover nesting habitat and I explored raven diet through stable isotope …


Comparison Of Test Performance Of A Conventional Pcr And Two Field-Friendly Tests To Detect Coxiella Burnetii Dna In Ticks Using Bayesian Latent Class Analysis, Maureen W. Kamau, Carmel Witte, Wynand Goosen, Mathew Mutinda, Jandouwe Villinger, Dennis Getange, Rua Khogali, Michael E. Von Fricken, Eric Maurice Fèvre, Dawn Zimmerman, Yvonne Marie Linton, Michele Miller Jan 2024

Comparison Of Test Performance Of A Conventional Pcr And Two Field-Friendly Tests To Detect Coxiella Burnetii Dna In Ticks Using Bayesian Latent Class Analysis, Maureen W. Kamau, Carmel Witte, Wynand Goosen, Mathew Mutinda, Jandouwe Villinger, Dennis Getange, Rua Khogali, Michael E. Von Fricken, Eric Maurice Fèvre, Dawn Zimmerman, Yvonne Marie Linton, Michele Miller

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Introduction: Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii)-infected livestock and wildlife have been epidemiologically linked to human Q fever outbreaks. Despite this growing zoonotic threat, knowledge of coxiellosis in wild animals remains limited, and studies to understand their epidemiologic role are needed. In C. burnetii-endemic areas, ticks have been reported to harbor and spread C. burnetii and may serve as indicators of risk of infection in wild animal habitats. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare molecular techniques for detecting C. burnetii DNA in ticks. Methods: In total, 169 ticks from wild animals and cattle in wildlife conservancies in northern Kenya …


Editorial: Invasive Pathogens And Arthropods: Biogeography, Drivers Of Invasion Success, Impacts On Indigenous Forest Trees And Emerging Management Strategies, Frank Chidawanyika, Komivi S. Akutse, Tendai Musvuugwa, Abdullahi A. Yusuf, Casper Nyamukondiwa Jan 2024

Editorial: Invasive Pathogens And Arthropods: Biogeography, Drivers Of Invasion Success, Impacts On Indigenous Forest Trees And Emerging Management Strategies, Frank Chidawanyika, Komivi S. Akutse, Tendai Musvuugwa, Abdullahi A. Yusuf, Casper Nyamukondiwa

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

With the ongoing global anthropogenic climate change, a silent war rages in forests, the lungs of the earth. Invasive pathogens and insect pests are decimating native trees, compromising ecological function, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Many of the processes surrounding successful biotic invasions are broad and have been previously analyzed (Hobbs et al., 2006; Blackburn et al., 2011). For invasive insect pests and pathogens, globalization, the rise in human population and associated environmental disturbances are recognized as fundamental drivers of introduction of propagules of non-native species to novel environments. Superior tolerance of extreme climate environments, in particular temperature, is also associated …


Maurer Environmental Law Expert Is Lead Author On Science Insights Policy Forum Article, James Owsley Boyd Dec 2023

Maurer Environmental Law Expert Is Lead Author On Science Insights Policy Forum Article, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Environmental champions and conservationists will mark the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act later this month. That is the law requiring federal agencies to use all methods necessary to prevent extinctions and ensure that federal actions not jeopardize the continued existence of species on the brink of disappearing from the face of the Earth.

In the leadup to the December 27th anniversary, several publications have begun examining the Act’s history and impact over five decades.

Science, the world’s third-most influential scholarly journal based on Google Scholar citations, invited experts from around the country to look ahead as well …


Role Of Urban Parks In Carbon Sequestration– A Case Study Of Safari Park, Karachi, Pakistan, Amna Bano, Minzah Shehzad, Hasnain Kazmi, Jamshaid Iqbal Dec 2023

Role Of Urban Parks In Carbon Sequestration– A Case Study Of Safari Park, Karachi, Pakistan, Amna Bano, Minzah Shehzad, Hasnain Kazmi, Jamshaid Iqbal

Journal of Bioresource Management

Urban parks besides their recreational use can be the potential source of climate mitigation through carbon sequestration. Present study aims to identify the carbon sequestration potential of Safari Park which is by far the largest public park of Karachi established in 1970 covering an area of 0.72 km2. A total of 153 individual trees belonging to 25 species and 14 families were included in the study. Five dominant species with highest Important Value Index (IVI) were Cocos nucifera (14.62 %), Azadirachta indica (14.21 %), Guaiacum officinale (9.93 %), Washington robusta (9.31 %) and Delonix regia (7.11 %). The …


Analysis Of Community-Based Pattern Of Water Demand And Supply, Ishaku Dibal Joshua, Abdullahi Chado Salihu, Ayuba Musa Mshelia, Nchedo Nnedinma Ubachukwu Dec 2023

Analysis Of Community-Based Pattern Of Water Demand And Supply, Ishaku Dibal Joshua, Abdullahi Chado Salihu, Ayuba Musa Mshelia, Nchedo Nnedinma Ubachukwu

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Gombi rural community of Adamawa state, Nigeria, has witnessed significant growth in human population, which has contributed to an increase in water demand. Thus, the study analyzed water demand and supply patterns in Gombi communities of Adamawa State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics such as mean and percentages and inferential statistics like Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), chi-square, and linear regression were adopted for the analysis. The results on socioeconomic characteristics showed that the majority were females, with low household income levels, large household sizes, and in their active ages. Hand-dug well water was the …


Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia Dec 2023

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …


Climate Monitoring In The Caumont Cave And Quarry System (Northern France) Reveal Near Oxygen Isotopic Equilibrium Conditions For Carbonate Deposition, Ingrid Bejarano-Arias, Carole Nehme, Sebastian Breitenbach, Hanno Meyer, Sevasti Modestou, Damase Mouralis Dec 2023

Climate Monitoring In The Caumont Cave And Quarry System (Northern France) Reveal Near Oxygen Isotopic Equilibrium Conditions For Carbonate Deposition, Ingrid Bejarano-Arias, Carole Nehme, Sebastian Breitenbach, Hanno Meyer, Sevasti Modestou, Damase Mouralis

International Journal of Speleology

The study of modern cave deposits forming under near isotopic equilibrium conditions can potentially help disentangle the processes influencing the oxygen isotope system and suitability of stalagmites as archives of past hydrological or thermal changes. We used cave monitoring to evaluate the impact of kinetic isotope fractionation and assess the conditions under which modern cave carbonates form in the Caumont cave and quarry system, located in Normandy, northwest France. Over 20 months, we collected climatological data, dripwater, and modern carbonate samples at 2–4-week intervals at three different stations inside the Caumont cave and quarry system. We find highly stable (10.4 …


Chromium-Contaminated Sites: Migration Characteristics And Monitoring Using Dual-Frequency Ip Method, Wei Kaiyao, Liu Zhimin, Liang Chen, Zhang Jie, Ma Qiang Dec 2023

Chromium-Contaminated Sites: Migration Characteristics And Monitoring Using Dual-Frequency Ip Method, Wei Kaiyao, Liu Zhimin, Liang Chen, Zhang Jie, Ma Qiang

Coal Geology & Exploration

Given that the migration process of chromium-contaminated sites is subjected to various uncertainties, it is difficult to investigate the migration characteristics and explore the monitoring process using experiments. Based on the basic law of groundwater flow and the migration mechanisms of pollutants, this study conducted a simulation analysis of the migration characteristics of static chromium contamination sources and the law of changes in the migration characteristics using the COMSOL software. Then, this study verified the reliability and accuracy of numerical forward simulations through physical simulation experiments on a static soil bin. Specifically, using the model of chromium contamination source migration …


Coal-Based Solid Waste From The Panyi Mine In The Huainan Mining Area: Fine-Scale Chemical Structure And Ecological Risk Assessment Of Heavy Metals, Yin Wenwen, Zhang Liqun, Ding Dan, Shan Shifeng, Chen Yongchun, An Shikai, Zheng Liugen Dec 2023

Coal-Based Solid Waste From The Panyi Mine In The Huainan Mining Area: Fine-Scale Chemical Structure And Ecological Risk Assessment Of Heavy Metals, Yin Wenwen, Zhang Liqun, Ding Dan, Shan Shifeng, Chen Yongchun, An Shikai, Zheng Liugen

Coal Geology & Exploration

The utilization of clean coal-based solid waste is a pressing issue in the ecological construction of mining areas. To address this issue, the key is to ascertain the structures and morphology of heavy metals in coal-based solid waste. This study investigated the coal gangue and fly ash samples from the Panyi Mine in the Huainan mining area, Anhui Province. First, this study characterized the coal-based solid waste using microanalysis methods, such as X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Then, it examined the fine-scale chemical structure and heavy metal dissemination …


Community Resilience And Creating Capacities For Risk Reduction In First Nations Communities, Case Study In Minegoziibe Anishinabe (Pine Creek First Nation), Brittany S. Lavallee Dec 2023

Community Resilience And Creating Capacities For Risk Reduction In First Nations Communities, Case Study In Minegoziibe Anishinabe (Pine Creek First Nation), Brittany S. Lavallee

Capstone Collection

The colonization of Indigenous peoples in Canada has serious consequences on First Nations, including forced removal and displacement from their ancestral lands, environmental degradation, declining resources and capacities, and human rights violations. First Nations communities are currently facing the amplified effects of human-driven climate change. Sustainability of the environment is not just a concept, but a practiced way of life, that recognizes the interdependence of all living things. This deep respect for Aki (earth) is at the foundation of First Nations cultures and continues to guide their actions to insure better futures for Seven Generations. The community of Minegoziibe Anishinabe …


Challenges And Countermeasures For Treatment And Remediation Of Contaminated Mega-Sites In China, Xiaoyong Liao, Yixuan Hou, You Li, Tianyi Wang Dec 2023

Challenges And Countermeasures For Treatment And Remediation Of Contaminated Mega-Sites In China, Xiaoyong Liao, Yixuan Hou, You Li, Tianyi Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The treatment and remediation of pollution at contaminated mega-sites poses a significant challenge in the environmental science both domestically and internationally. Contaminated mega-sites are characterized by their widespread impact, multiple types of pollutants, and significant ecological and environmental threats. The environmental behavior cognition and efficient remediation at contaminated mega-sites face enormous challenges, among which key technological issues such as the formation mechanism of soil and groundwater pollution, accurate identification of pollution sources, and intelligent decision-making optimization urgently need to be solved. In China, contaminated mega-sites are concentrated in economically developed regions such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and …


Scenario Simulation Of “35 Goals” And “50 Vision” For Beautiful China Initiative, Huiyi Zhu, Linsheng Yang, Wei Qi, Erqi Xu, Jiewei Chen, Quansheng Ge Dec 2023

Scenario Simulation Of “35 Goals” And “50 Vision” For Beautiful China Initiative, Huiyi Zhu, Linsheng Yang, Wei Qi, Erqi Xu, Jiewei Chen, Quansheng Ge

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Realizing the Beautiful China Initiative is the general goal of China’s ecological civilization construction in the next 30 years. The overall goal includes two phased goals: “35 goals” and “50 vision”. This study first expounds the understanding of the goal from the aspects of ecosystem elements, structure, process, and function, and then constructs an index system to describe the goal and simulates the “35 goals” and “50 vision” under the trend of climate change, population decline and economic growth. The results show that, by 2035, China will have a population of 1.44 billion (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) and …


Ten Problems And Solutions For Restoration Of Karst Ecosystem In Southwest China, Xiaoyong Bai, Sirui Zhang, Chen Ran, Luhua Wu, Chaochao Du, Lei Dai, Xingyi Yang, Zilin Li, Yingying Xue, Mingkang Long, Minghui Li, Shu Yang, Qing Luo, Xiaoyun Zhang, Xiaoqian Shen, Fei Chen, Qin Li, Yuanhong Deng, Zeyin Hu, Chaojun Li Dec 2023

Ten Problems And Solutions For Restoration Of Karst Ecosystem In Southwest China, Xiaoyong Bai, Sirui Zhang, Chen Ran, Luhua Wu, Chaochao Du, Lei Dai, Xingyi Yang, Zilin Li, Yingying Xue, Mingkang Long, Minghui Li, Shu Yang, Qing Luo, Xiaoyun Zhang, Xiaoqian Shen, Fei Chen, Qin Li, Yuanhong Deng, Zeyin Hu, Chaojun Li

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The karst areas in southwest China are one of the key but difficult areas targeted in the “Beautiful China” construction initiative, which focuses on soil erosion, proportion of farmland, water pollution, karst drought, ecological restoration, carbon sink, ecological effects of urbanization, rocky desertification management indicators, and biodiversity and sustainability assessment. The study synthesizes the knowledge accumulated during ecological restoration practice in karst areas into 10 problems and solutions that are strong, universal and empirically supported. These problems and solutions help to explain the challenges of achieving sustainability in karst ecology restoration and thus point to solutions. They constitute a core …


Evolution Of Urbanized Area’S Entities And Flow Space Towards High-Quality Development Path In China, Mingxing Chen, Liangkan Chen, Yue Xian, Jiafan Cheng, Longwu Liang, Jing Ma Dec 2023

Evolution Of Urbanized Area’S Entities And Flow Space Towards High-Quality Development Path In China, Mingxing Chen, Liangkan Chen, Yue Xian, Jiafan Cheng, Longwu Liang, Jing Ma

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The eco-environmental conservation and Beautiful China have entered the critical phase. Urbanized areas serve as important spatial carriers in the Beautiful China initiative scenarios, but the most prominent challenges in human-environment relationship and difficult points in building Beautiful China. This study focuses on the physical urban area, and utilizing big data technology to reexamine the spatiotemporal distribution and grouped evolution characteristics of impervious surface in cities, as well as the structural features of urban flow networks from space of flows. Moreover, preliminary thoughts and policy recommendations are provided for promoting high-quality development in urbanized areas of the new era. More …


Five Issues And Countermeasures Of China Cropland Resource Use, Sijing Ye, Changqing Song, Changxiu Cheng, Peichao Gao, Shi Shen, Wangshu Mu Dec 2023

Five Issues And Countermeasures Of China Cropland Resource Use, Sijing Ye, Changqing Song, Changxiu Cheng, Peichao Gao, Shi Shen, Wangshu Mu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Understand the cropland use situation, analyze management countermeasures, and explore the regional suitable cropland use mode are important prerequisites for the implementation of the strictest protection of cultivated land strategy with Chinese characteristics. At present, the cropland resource utilization in China is facing the five issues of non-agricultural, non-grain, fragmentation, marginalization, and ecological degradation. This study estimates the spatial-temporal changes of these cropland use issues in China, analyzes the challenges of cropland use governance from the aspects of complex driving factors, phase characteristics, cognitive differences of responsible subjects, and dynamic changes of external factors. On this basis, the countermeasures of …


Taking Science To The Streets: Participatory Research Approaches To Improve Environment, Health, And Quality Of Life In Urban Areas, Na'taki Osborne Jelks Dec 2023

Taking Science To The Streets: Participatory Research Approaches To Improve Environment, Health, And Quality Of Life In Urban Areas, Na'taki Osborne Jelks

Sustainability Seminar Series

Environmental justice communities, those disproportionately affected by pollutants, are simultaneously exposed to multiple environmental stressors and also experience social and cultural factors that may heighten their health risks in comparison to other communities. Availability of fine-grained, community-level data is limited to support said communities’ appeals for public health practice, planning, and policy changes. In Northwest Atlanta, Georgia’s Proctor Creek Watershed community residents (watershed researchers), academics, and non-profit organizations have leveraged local, community knowledge; community science methods; and participatory approaches to identify, document, and analyze the impacts of local environmental hazards and quality of life stressors. This highly collaborative and interdisciplinary …


Final 2023 Residential Metals Abatement Program (Rmap) Brw/Belgrade Borrow Submittal, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc. Dec 2023

Final 2023 Residential Metals Abatement Program (Rmap) Brw/Belgrade Borrow Submittal, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.


Mitigation Of Impacts To Historic Features At The Butte Reduction Works (Brw) Smelter, Kate Mccourt Dec 2023

Mitigation Of Impacts To Historic Features At The Butte Reduction Works (Brw) Smelter, Kate Mccourt

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.


Dryland Vegetation Mapping Using High Spatial-Temporal Resolution Satellite Imagery In New Mexico: A Comparison Of Phenological Time-Series Transformation Methods, Pratistha Sharma Dec 2023

Dryland Vegetation Mapping Using High Spatial-Temporal Resolution Satellite Imagery In New Mexico: A Comparison Of Phenological Time-Series Transformation Methods, Pratistha Sharma

Geography ETDs

New Mexico's drylands are undergoing notable vegetation changes due to rising aridity, higher temperatures, and shifts in precipitation with changing climate. Mapping drylands through remote sensing is challenging compared to mesic systems due to the irregular patterns of rainfall-driven phenology and weaker vegetation absorption signals. This study aims to enhance vegetation mapping in New Mexico, utilizing a high-resolution, frequently revisited PlanetScope dataset with multispectral capabilities, specifically chosen for its suitability for time-series analysis. The challenge with high spatial and temporal data lies in the overwhelming volume, leading to issues like the curse of dimensionality, overfitting, data redundancy, collinearity, and visualization …


Clean Energy Transition Threatens Indigenous Land Rights, Jonnathan M. Pulla Dec 2023

Clean Energy Transition Threatens Indigenous Land Rights, Jonnathan M. Pulla

Capstones

Indigenous communities in Jujuy, Argentina are protesting a constitutional reform that could lead to their displacement without consultation or exposure to contamination from extractive projects. The story is told from the perspective of Milagros Lamas, a 19-year-old indigenous woman who joined the movement known as the Third Malón de la Paz.


Targeting Macrophytes: Increased Water Quality Through Optimized Vegetation Considerations For Constructed Wetlands, Austin Mcbrady Dec 2023

Targeting Macrophytes: Increased Water Quality Through Optimized Vegetation Considerations For Constructed Wetlands, Austin Mcbrady

Masters Theses (Archived)

This study of constructed wetland design investigated relationships between macrophyte species selection and planting density for water quality improvement. A lab-scale wetland was compared against a pilot-scale wetland in San Antonio, Texas at Mitchell Lake to measure differences in effluent water quality improvement using three native macrophyte species. Using a novel, two-phase method, a targeting macrophyte was identified from among other species based on its marked capability for improving water quality factors, then was planted in varied majority densities to compare differences in treatment effectiveness. The results of this study showed that this complimentary approach to wetland design displayed significant …


Solar-Powered Microgrids In Northern California: An Opportunity For Resilience, Marina Riddle Dec 2023

Solar-Powered Microgrids In Northern California: An Opportunity For Resilience, Marina Riddle

Master's Projects and Capstones

Planned and unplanned power outages have been increasing in frequency and duration, negatively impacting all public sectors, and threatening public safety. These outages are deadly to those who rely on medical devices. As climate change-fueled extreme weather events (wildfires, earthquakes, storms, etc.) also increase in frequency, our electrical grid must be prepared to bounce back. Microgrids provide necessary redundancy and reliability. Through a novel GIS suitability analysis, based on solar radiation, land use type, local energy demand, distance to transmission lines, distance to roads, and slope, optimal locations for solar-powered microgrids throughout Northern California were determined. The counties of Fresno, …