Digital Commons Network^™

Not Everyone Gets A Tree: Housing Values, Street Trees, And Equity In Portland, Matthew Moller

University Honors Theses

Street trees are positively associated with Portland home sale prices, but exposure and capitalization are uneven by race/ethnic neighborhood context. Urban trees are ecological assets, but their economic and equity implications remain uneven. This thesis examines street-tree exposure and 2023 residential sale prices in Portland, Oregon (n = 6,414) using a mixed-methodology hedonic design. Ordinary least squares models measure inventoried street-tree counts within 20m, 50m, and 100m buffers together with structural controls and census-block racial and ethnic context. Trees are positively and significantly associated with logged prices at all radii, with scale-sensitive magnitudes and modestly better fit as wider buffers. …

Multimodal Machine Learning For Soil Burn Severity Mapping Across California Wildfires, Sanjana Checker

Master's Theses

Accurate mapping of soil burn severity (SBS) is critical for post-fire watershed management, erosion risk assessment, and ecological recovery planning, yet traditional field-based approaches remain costly, time-intensive, and spatially limited. This thesis presents a machine learning pipeline for wall-to-wall SBS classification across California wildfires using multi-sensor satellite imagery, terrain derivatives, and bioclimatic covariates. Field-collected SBS observations (n = 2,180) from 52 wildfires occur- ring between 2013 and 2025, sourced from the U.S. Forest Service and CAL FIRE, were used to train and evaluate multiple classification architectures within a Google Earth Engine and Google Cloud-based prediction framework. After upsampling the unburned …

Draft Final Bpsou Unreclaimed Sites: Ur-46 Remedial Action Work Plan (Rawp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Public Acceptance Of Meat-Reduction Policies Across Cultures: Comparing Singapore And Switzerland, Bianca Wassmann, Shu Tian Ng, Mark Chong, Angela K. Y. Leung, Michael Siegrist

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Purpose – As meat-reduction policies are discussed across the globe, many are met with public resistance. Cultural values may help explain this pushback, yet their role in shaping support for food policy remains poorly understood. This study is the first to apply cultural cognition theory to food policy by examining how cultural worldviews shape the acceptance of meat-reduction interventions in Singapore and Switzerland—two economically developed countries with contrasting cultural profiles. Design/methodology/approach – In an online survey, participants (Singapore: n = 357; Switzerland: n = 495) rated their acceptance of 11 meat-reduction interventions (e.g. taxes, subsidies, labelling). We then analysed to …

Potential Recyclable Materials In Buildings: A Framework For Greenhouse Gas Emissions Assessment Of Residential Buildings In Singapore, Pradeep Alva, Riccardo Talami, Wanyu Pei, Goran Sibenik, Martin Mosteiro-Romero, Clayton Miller, Rudi Stouffs

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

As countries aim to reduce resource consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA) has become a vital method for quantifying embodied and operational GHG emissions. However, few studies have conducted WLCA on an urban scale, often addressing operational or embodied GHG emissions in isolation without considering their cumulative impact. This study introduces a city-wide WLCA framework to assess the potential recyclable materials of urban building stock, using Singapore as a case study with 5915 public residential buildings. Upfront GHG emissions are calculated from material intensity and building information, while operational emissions are based on energy use …

Spatiotemporal Pah Patterns In Size-Fractionated Particles (Pm>10-Pm0.1) From Northern Thailand Biomass Burning Via Sentinel-2, Phakphum Paluang, Watinee Thavorntam, Sarawut Sangkham, Phuchiwan Suriyawong, Hisam Samae, Thaneeya Chetiyanukornkul, Masami Furuuchi, Worradorn Phairuang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Biomass burning, particularly from forest fires and crop residue burning during the dry season, is a major source of particulate pollution across many Asian countries. However, accurately identifying these emissions remains challenging due to uncertainties in burned area estimation and the limited availability of country-specific emission factors. This study quantified the spatiotemporal distribution of emissions from biomass burning using satellite imagery. Burned areas were classified using a random forest (RF) algorithm implemented on the Google Colaboratory (Colab) platform. The RF model showed strong performance, with a kappa coefficient of 0.85 and an average accuracy of 0.81. Emission estimates for the …

Climate-Driven Stochastic Modelling Of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever Transmission In Uganda, P. G. Kpatchana, J. Aduda, K. M. Agboka

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a climate-sensitive tick-borne zoonosis that remains a significant public health concern in Uganda, where temperature and vapour pressure deficit influence tick ecology and consequently disease transmission. This study aimed to develop and analyse a climate-driven stochastic model for CCHF transmission among ticks, livestock, and humans under environmental variability in Uganda. A compartmental transmission model was formulated and extended into a stochastic differential equation framework by incorporating multiplicative environmental noise. Climate-dependent tick recruitment, development, and mortality were parameterized using district-level temperature and vapour pressure deficit data to capture spatial heterogeneity in transmission risk. Theoretical analyses based …

Municipality Of Bayamón V. Exxon Mobil Corp. (2025): Bringing Racketeering Charges For Climate Justice, Ilinca C. Johnson

Pace Environmental Law Review

Environmental justice communities should have their climate change damages heard in the courtroom. One means to increase environmental justice claims is through claims under the federal Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Using Municipality of Bayamón v. Exxon Mobil Corp. (2025) as a model, this Article suggests a novel RICO case strategy to pursue climate damages for marginalized communities. Fundamentally, environmental justice RICO claims involve careful case design based on the climate-related damages a marginalized community has faced because of the long-term deception by fossil fuel actors upon those communities. Pursuing such claims forwards the intersectional issues faced by …

Role Of Technical Assistance In Pollution Prevention In Massachusetts Craft Breweries, Shubhechchhya Regmi

Graduate Masters Theses

This study aims to examine pollution from Massachusetts craft breweries, and if it can be lessened through a pollution prevention program. This study analyzed data from two assessments with the aim of analyzing the role of technical assistance in pollution prevention across eight impact categories. The first assessment was conducted on 29 MA breweries between 2022 and 2024, and 23 were assessed a second time (in summer 2024 and summer 2025). Craft breweries face several constraints in adopting pollution prevention practices the pollution prevention program known as BetterBev helps to bridge this gap by providing technical assistance, identifying inefficiency practices …

Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Diggings East Final 100% Remedial Design Package Submittal, Josh Bryson

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area Approved Final Principles For A Greener Cleanup Report, Woodard & Curran

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Oregon State Rank Assessment For Straggling Gilia (Allophyllum Gilioides), Lindsey K. Wise

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

Oregon state conservation status assessment for Straggling gilia (Allophyllum gilioides) using NatureServe methodology, 2026.

Mining And Sustainable Development In Sierra Leone: The Role Of Institutional Quality, Ibrahim Massaquoi

Journal of Sustainable Mining

While mining can drive economic growth, create jobs, and promote infrastructural development, it also poses risks to the environment, human health, and social well-being. Therefore, to achieve sustainable development, responsible mining is crucial. This study empirically examines the role of institutional quality in the mining-sustainable development nexus in Sierra Leone. With the use of the planetary pressures-adjusted human development index (PHDI) as a comprehensive measure of sustainable development, the study is able to integrate economic, social, and environmental dimensions. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model confirms the existence of both short-run and long-run dynamics. The results of the study show …

A Review Of Full-Lifecycle Management Practices For Blue Mining Centered On Sustainable Development And Resource Efficiency, Hou Zhengmeng, Zhang Shengyou, Chen Qianjun, Sun Wei, Zhang Tian, Cai Nan, Huang Liangchao, Wang Qichen, Shi Tianle, Xu Xiaochuan

Coal Geology & Exploration

Against the backdrop of China’s goals of peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality, along with the growing demand for critical minerals, this study presents a systematic review of domestic and international literature and engineering cases. Based on the Blue Mining concept proposed by Langefeld’s team of the Clausthal University of Technology and from the perspective of planning forward, this study organizes key technologies, treatment pathways, and essentials of full-lifecycle management used to transition mines from single-purpose stopes to multifunctional infrastructures. Centered on four guiding principles, i.e., energy, ergonomics, water resources, and circularity, this study reviews the synergetic planning process …

Advances In Research On Eco-Geological Environment Monitoring Of Underground Coal Mining Areas Based On Airborne Remote Sensing, Li Jun, Zou Zhaohui, Zhang Chengye, Wang Yi, Cheng Yang, Xu Lianhang, Zhang Jinhe, Liu Chuanrui, Liang Lixia

Coal Geology & Exploration

Background Timely and effective monitoring of the current status of eco-geological environment holds great significance for scientific decision-making regarding both geological environment protection and ecological restoration in underground coal mining areas. Owing to its advantage of large-scale and rapid monitoring, airborne remote sensing technology has emerged as an important approach to the eco-geological environment monitoring of mining areas. Advances This study first clarifies relevant concepts of eco-geological environment monitoring, as well as the monitoring requirements and contents specific to underground coal mining areas. Accordingly, it presents a summary of the advances in research on airborne remote sensing technology for the …

Instruments For Simulation Experiments On Coal-Rock Dynamic Disasters In China: Current Status And Key Challenges, Yuan Liang, Tang Haopeng, Ma Yankun, Wu Hua, Zhang Yachao, Jiao Biao, Wang Hao

Coal Geology & Exploration

Background Coal-rock dynamic disasters represent engineering disasters caused by the instability of the multi-phase and multi-field coupling of coal strata under mining disturbances, severely restricting the safe exploitation of deep coal resources. Elucidating the disaster-inducing mechanisms lays the foundation for exploring effective monitoring and early warning, along with prevention and control technologies, while instruments for simulation experiments provide crucial tools for investigating the mechanisms. Gradually increasing scientific and technological level has contributed to the continuous improvement in China's independently developed instruments for simulation experiments on coal-rock dynamic disasters. However, as engineering activities progressively extend toward deep parts, the multi-phase and …

Evaluating Wildfire Mitigation And Wildfire “Hot Spots” In The Northern Bay Area, Nicholas W. Jones

Master's Projects and Capstones

Wildfire risk in the Northern Bay Area is increasingly shaped by climate driven vegetation dryness, expansion of the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) and the fragmentation of environmental policy making. This paper investigates how Alameda, Contra Costa, and Sonoma Counties differ in their wildfire exposure and asks whether county level policies align with the areas of highest hazard and human exposure overlap. This project uses a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) overlay to overlay CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZ), and WUI data to identify wildfire hot spots where WUI areas intersect with High or Very High FHSZ classifications. This spatial …

Comparative Analysis Of Transportation Emissions And Policy In Lahore And Los Angeles, Laiba Rehman

Master's Projects and Capstones

In 2023, exposure to air pollution killed 7.9 million people globally, becoming the second leading cause of death worldwide. Transportation emissions are among the primary drivers of this burden especially in rapidly urbanizing cities where vehicle fleets are growing faster than regulatory frameworks respond. This study examines the contribution of transportation emissions to urban air quality, public health and climate change in Lahore, Pakistan and Los Angeles, California. First, it employs a secondary data analysis of PM_2.5 and ozone concentrations and vehicle fleet composition in each city, followed by an analysis of emission inventories. Second, it evaluates the regulatory …

The Role Of Intermittent Nutrient Loading In The San Francisco Bay, Rebecca M. To

Master's Projects and Capstones

A harmful algal bloom in 2022 shattered the illusion that the highly enriched San Francisco Bay is resilient to eutrophication. This event provided justification for the San Francisco Water Board to issue restrictions on nitrogen in wastewater effluent, the largest source of nitrogen in San Francisco Bay. Recognizing San Francisco’s fragile status even with this recent regulation, this study analyzes other anthropogenic sources of nutrient pollution, and it examines nature-based solutions to drawdown nutrient loading. This research utilizes a nutrient budget review to account for nitrogen inputs, a relative source contribution to quantify sanitary sewer overflows, a geospatial analysis to …

Photocatalytic Advanced Oxidative Processes (Aop) As A Promising Agricultural Runoff Treatment Solution For The California Central Valley, Briana Miller

Master's Projects and Capstones

Pesticide pollution in the California Central Valley (CV) is a major concern for aquatic toxicity. This research will determine if photocatalytic advanced oxidation processes (AOP), an emerging water treatment technology, could be implemented within the CV to degrade pesticides. A case study, literature review, comparative analysis, and policy analysis were conducted to identify pesticides of concern within the CV, if photocatalytic AOP can degrade those pesticides, how photocatalytic AOP compares to current technologies, and regulatory challenges with implementing photocatalytic AOP. Between 2019 and 2023, the top 30 most applied pesticides were identified, with 12 chemicals identified as aquatic toxicants, seven …

Productive Armature, Gabriel Ofem Peter

Masters Theses

What if water was all you had, what if your only source of survival was a body of water? I shudder to think that some people get to be put in this situation in the world we live in. As I understand the importance of water to survival, it is obvious that water can be the only lifeline of survival for a community. This is the experience for residents of Makoko, Lagos. Their survival depends on the Lagos Lagoon, a large body of water flowing in from the Atlantic Ocean. This research looks beyond the surface of what this community …

Somatic Prosthetics For Planetary Resonance, Disha Dharesh Kumar R

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates how industrial design can transcend extractive technological paradigms in favor of relational interfaces that foster planetary attunement. Framing the climate crisis as a 'crisis of imagination', the research challenges the Western bifurcation of nature and culture by drawing on Indic cosmologies- which recognize stones, plants, and ecosystems as conscious at different levels and participants in a shared cosmic field. By synthesizing research in Biosemiotics, Quantum Information Pansycishm, and Neuroscience, the project redefines intelligence as a distributed, more-than-human phenomenon.

The research materializes as a speculative design artifact: a device that functions as a somatic prosthetic for planetary resonance. …

Environmental Mercury Alters Immune Pathways Linked To Autoimmune Risk In Mice Mirroring Humans, Maurgan Lee, Paul Stemmer, Randall Gill, Allen Rosenspire, Anil Aranha, Heather Gibson

Medical Student Research Symposium

Background and Purpose: Mercury is a pervasive environmental contaminant, and human epidemiologic studies have linked chronic low-level exposure to increased autoimmune disease-risk. Dysregulated lymphocyte activation and impaired signaling tolerance are central mechanisms in human autoimmunity. Protein phosphorylation governs lymphocyte differentiation and function, alterations in phosphoproteomic networks may represent a signature of immune disruption. This study evaluates how low dose mercury exposure modifies B and T cell abundance and intracellular signaling patterns in BALB/c and Diversity Outbred (DO) mice.

Methods: BALB/c and DO mice were exposed to low dose HgCl2 in their water for two weeks or provided standard water controls. …

Characterization Of Mixed Metal Biogenic Manganese Oxide Materials For Catalysis And Rare Earth Element Sequestration, Elisa Morales, Jeremy Brown, Chloe Runge, Madeline York, Genesis Dennis, Cole Johnson, Anthony M. Baudino, Norman Paz-Ramirez, John Rey A. Romal, Kari Stone, Sarah E. Shaner

Chemistry Department Faculty Articles

This study explores the potential of utilizing biogenic manganese oxides (BMOs) produced by Mn-oxidizing Pseudomonas putida MnB1 to facilitate metal cation uptake for rare earth element (REE) sequestration and the synthesis of novel materials. Previous studies have shown that P. putida MnB1 efficiently oxidizes environmental Mn(II) to Mn(IV)-oxides, producing BMOs with unique physicochemical properties. Unlike their abiotic counterparts, BMOs exhibit high surface area, reactivity, and amorphous, poorly crystalline structures, making them promising platforms for adsorbing metal cations. This research study, building on the prior work, demonstrates the incorporation of ten different main group, transition, and rare earth metals into the …

Innovation Strategies For Small And Medium-Sized Construction Companies In Nigeria, Olabode Akinkunmi Akindele

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Ecological Interest Theory Of “Lucid Waters And Lush Mountains Are Invaluable Assets” And Its Application In The Yellow River Basin, Guangqian Wang, Deyu Zhong

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

To address the core challenges of quantifying ecological value and converting it into economic gains, this study proposes a theoretical framework of ecological interest (EI) based on the principle that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”. Three fundamental origins of ecological interest are explained, including the temporal value discount, the spatial ecological compensation, and the civilizational occupation-compensation balance. These three dimensions establish the logical connection between ecological and economic values. Setting a 5% annual simple interest rate as the benchmark and adopting “Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains” green certificates as the standardized ecological assets for property rights delineation …

Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Butte Reduction Works Smelter Area Intermediate 60% Remedial Design Submittal, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc., Atlantic Richfield Company

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Unquaint Pigs’ Stakeholder Perspectives On Wild Swine In Central Western Florida, Tyler Koerner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Anthropocene presents important questions for how to address the continuous transferal of new species into new spaces and the cascading impacts of environmental transformations. Novel ecosystems present one such outline for conservation that acknowledges the modification of historic ecosystems and the social entanglements that arrive with new species. I argue that novel ecosystems can benefit from further anthropological integrations that aid in describing the entanglements of introduced species and the pursuit of best managerial outcomes. For wild swine in Florida, the adoption of a novel approach is especially relevant because of entanglements with historic and modern Floridian stakeholders and …

Quantifying Co2 And Ch4 Fluxes In A Semi-Arid Floodplain: Assessing Spatial And Temporal Drivers, Miles E. Kelsey

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Rivers transport sediment and carbon across Earth’s surface, and their floodplains can store carbon over decades to millennia, making them important to terrestrial carbon management. While soil carbon can persist long term, it may be released as greenhouse gases through processes like methanogenesis and heterotrophic respiration. Environmental controls on these fluxes remain poorly constrained across floodplains in different climate and geomorphic setting, but especially in semi-arid systems where measurements are limited. To address this gap, we quantified CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes along the Middle Rio Grande (New Mexico, USA) using 227 chamber measurements collected May to November 2025 at three …

Heavy Metal And Metalloid Accumulation In The Gallinas River Following The Hermit's Peak / Calf Canyon Wildfire, Olivia A. Kelly

Geography ETDs

This study evaluates the persistence and bioavailability of heavy metals and metalloids in the Gallinas River three years after the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Wildfire of 2022 using a multicompartment sampling framework that includes water, sediment, and benthic macroinvertebrate tissue analysis via inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results indicate that the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire continues to influence the hydrogeochemical condition of the Gallinas River. Sediments contain elevated concentrations of several metals and metalloids, and these same elements are detectable in macroinvertebrate tissues, linking sediment contamination to biological uptake. Zinc (Zn), silicon …