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Interview With Susan Wiencke, Madison High School, 2013 (Audio), Susan Wiencke

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Susan Wiencke by Ciji Dieringer on May 15th, 2013.

The interview index is available for download.

Biochemical, Nutrient And Inhibitory Characteristics Of Streptomyces Cultured From A Hypersaline Estuary, The Laguna Madre (Texas), Luis E. Espinoza, Anita L. Davelos Baines, Kristine L. Lowe

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Streptomyces are common soil bacteria that produce secondary metabolites, including several antibiotics; however, the characteristics of marine Streptomyces are largely unknown. Sediment samples were taken from 3 sites in the Laguna Madre to isolate marine Streptomyces. Sediment was diluted, spread onto synthetic seawater media to estimate the total bacterial density of the samples and spread onto starch casein agar to isolate Streptomyces. Isolated Streptomyces were tested for salinity tolerance and optimal growth pH. Isolates were assayed using API 20E® test strips and BIOLOG™ plates to construct biochemical profiles and assess nutrient utilization abilities of the bacteria, respectively. Individual Streptomyces were …

Relating Air Quality In The Work Environment To Occupational Health Disease, Hussien Awad Alumar

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Comprehensive knowledge of the air pollutants effects on the human health generally is a crucial requirement in developing effective policies for reducing such adverse effects related to ambient air pollution. Such knowledge would be essential in helping various affected countries, including the less developed countries (LDCs), to develop effective regulatory frameworks for assessing and managing air quality in the workplaces. Developed and developing countries therefore need to develop effective techniques or strategies focused towards improving the workplace monitoring competence in diverse industrial environments. Such initiatives are essential in reducing or eliminating the industrial pollutants within the workplaces while also helping …

Effectiveness Of Environmental Impact Assessment Process In The Maltese Islands, Romina Sciberras

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

A successful Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) helps in contributing effectively to all spheres of sustainability namely environmental, social, cultural, and economic spheres. The objective of this study is to explore the extent of use in the EIA tool, to analyse the effectiveness of EIA throughout the entire cycle of the process focusing on the prediction and mitigation of impacts, public participation, monitoring and follow-up, and to assess the strengths and weaknesses of EIA in the Maltese Islands based on feedback from a variety of stakeholders involved in the named process, and to identify gaps and/or factors which limit effectiveness. The …

Economic Life Cycle Assessment Of Aeration Blowers Used In Waste Water Treatment Systems, Manogaran Shriram

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Economic Life Cycle Assessment of Aeration Blowers used in Waste Water Treatment systems A substantial amount of energy is needed in water supply and treatment systems to convert the unprocessed water into safe drinking water or to purify wastewater prior to discharge to the environment. There is lot of water and energy lost in the process of collection, discharge and delivery of the treated drinking water as well. Therefore the energy and water consumption by these systems have an indirect effect on the local municipality in terms of high energy consumption and in permissive waste of water. Thus, an exhaustive …

The Fierce Green Fire: Vol. 3 Issue 24, Wofford College Environmental Studies Program

The Fierce Green Fire

No abstract provided.

Reproduction And Functional Response Of Cornus Florida Across An Urban Landscape Gradient, Angela Redwine

Theses and Dissertations

Urbanization greatly alters plant and pollinator communities and can affect pollinator movement and subsequent gene flow. Plants persisting in urban areas must adjust to local environmental conditions often different from those in which they naturally evolved, and cultivation techniques for landscaping species have developed traits suitable for existence in urban habitats. Cultivated varieties and native conspecifics often exist in geographic proximity, and if pollinator movement is not blocked by urban structural components, functional differences may negatively impact spatially proximate native populations. I used spatial analysis of successful pollination of Cornus florida to estimate how pollinator movement is affected by urban …

Fluctuating Viability Selection On Morphology Of Cliff Swallows Is Driven By Climate, Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown, Erin A. Roche

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The extent to which fluctuating selection can maintain evolutionary stasis in most populations remains an unresolved question in evolutionary biology. Climate has been hypothesized to drive reversals in the direction of selection among different time periods and may also be responsible for intense episodic selection caused by rare weather events. We measured viability selection associated with morphological traits in cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in western Nebraska, USA, over a 14-year period following a rare climatic event. We used mark-recapture to estimate the annual apparent survival of over 26 000 individuals whose wing, tail, tarsus, and bill had been …

Climate Change Tipping Points: A Point Of No Return?, Elise Lequire

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Summer 2012 saw records fall for intensity of drought and number, size, and cost of wildfires in the Central and Western United States, and the climate forecast calls for more of the same in the near and distant future. When wildfire breaks out, emergency responders decide their immediate strategy based on past experience and quick judgment calls. But in the long term, land managers need to plan for a warmer climate on a time scale of decades, or even a century or more, to better reflect the life span of trees and forests. Studies supported by the Joint Fire Science …

Ecological Design In The Ozarks - Workshop And Lake Frances Charrette, Steven D. Patterson, Brian E. Haggard, Mark E. Boyer

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Factors Influencing Nest Site Selection By Wood Turtles (Glyptemys Insculpta) In An Altered Forest Landscape, Ellery Ruther

Theses & Honors Papers

There have been many studies concerning wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) nest site selection, including studies that evaluate nest site conditions when stream sand banks are not available. However, because of the unique landscape at our study site (high gradient, first order streams) and rapidly diminishing wood turtle populations in Virginia, I am evaluating wood turtle nest site selection. Nine physiographic and vegetative characteristics from nest, positive, negative-one and negative-two control locations were evaluated using binomial generalized linear models and then best fit models were chosen using Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC). It was found that in lieu of typical stream …

Cost-Benefit Analysis Of Farmer Training In Ghanaian Cocoa Farming, Michael Norton

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Undergraduate Honors Theses

While billions of dollars flow into low-income countries each year to help alleviate poverty, assessing the effectiveness of these dollars is a challenging task. The literature is rich in studies that measure the benefits of rural development programs. However, many of these studies lack a temporal dimension because they measure cost and benefits for only capital investments and for only a single, static year, while not accounting for skill enhancement. By only measuring net producer benefits during the life of the development program, the cost-benefit analyses (CBA) may not truly capture the full net benefits of a given program. In …

Modeling Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Net Return Implications For Cow-Calf Producers In The Ozark Highlands, Stephen Aaron Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cow-calf producers in the Ozark Highlands region are under continuous pressure to improve economic efficiency. Additionally, estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from cow-calf and forage production processes may become increasingly important as policy makers seek to mitigate or reduce agriculture's role in climate change. As such, this analysis had three objectives. Objective 1: Provide a model that could be used by cow-calf producers, extension agents, and researchers to evaluate GHG and net return (NR) repercussions when modifying site characteristics, production methods, and inputs. Objective 2: Develop a user guide such that the methodology for estimating cow-calf GHG emissions and NR …

Section Abstracts: Environmental Science

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of the Environmental Science Section for the 91st Annual Virginia Journal of Science Meeting, May 2013

Study Of Genes Relating To Degradation Of Aromatic Compounds And Carbon Metabolism In Mycobacterium Sp. Strain Kms, Chun Zhang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are produced from incomplete combustion of organic materials by human or natural activities. These polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are classified as pollutants because of their toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic characteristics. Mycobacterium sp. strain KMS, isolated from a contaminated soil, grows on the model polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, pyrene, with its degradation to water and carbon dioxide. This study locates genes on the chromosome and plasmids of isolate KMS relating to pyrene degradation, elucidates the influence of other carbon sources available in the habitats of isolate KMS on degradation of pyrene, and deduces possible metabolic pathways used by isolate …

Advocacy For Marine Management: Contributions To A Policy Advocacy Initiative In The Maldives, Neal Collins

Capstone Collection

On June 5, 2009 a 42-­‐km2 area of coral reef situated in the Alif Dhaalu (South Ari) atoll of the Republic of Maldives was designated the South Ari Atoll Marine Protected Area (S.A. MPA) due to a globally significant whale shark aggregation site. The whale shark is notorious for its gargantuan size and docile nature, which has led to a burgeoning tourist industry that gives people the opportunity to swim with the gentle giants in tropical sites such as the Maldives. The S.A. MPA receives tens of thousands of visitors a year that engage in whale shark excursions, however, there …

Short-Term Denitrification In The Metalimnion Of A Eutrophic Reservoir, Aki Kogo

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Denitrification in metalimnetic water was examined under different conditions to determine how of addition of nitrate (NO3-) and particulate carbon (PC), aeration, and concentrations of nitrate affect denitrification. In the first experiment, water samples from a metalimnion were treated with different combinations of NO3- and PC to find out how addition of NO3- and PC changes denitrification occurring in a metalimnion. The treatments included 1) control, 2) samples amended with 1 mg NO3− - N/L, 3) samples amended with both NO3− (1 mg NO3− - N/L) and PC (5.7 mg C/L), and 4) samples amended with 5.7 mg C/L. Changes …

Missouri National Recreational River 2012 Resource Brief, Isabel W. Ashton, Michael Prowatzke, Kara Paintner

United States National Park Service: Publications

Includes brief information on plant community monitoring, water quality monitoring, and weather and climate monitoring for the Missouri National Recreational River in the United States for 2012.

Amphibian Community Composition And Its Relationship To Salinity Along The Salt Creek In Wilderness Park, Lancaster County, Nebraska, Nicholas Arneson

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Amphibians serve as an indication of proper ecosystem health. Due to their permeable skin and cutaneous respiration, amphibians are prone to be adversely affected by intensified water quality parameters (Welsh and Olliver 1998) . Salinity (the measure of dissolved salts) can have a serious effect on amphibian reproduction and recruitment (Smith et al 2006). A research project was enacted during the 2012 summer field season in Wilderness Park located in Lancaster County, Nebraska to determine if a relationship exists between amphibian species richness and relative abundance with measures of salinity (ppm). Breeding sites were determined and placed in three relative …

Evaluation Of Dormant-Season Herbicide Treatment Methods For Chinese Privet At Congaree National Park, Karen Vaughn

All Theses

Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense Lour.) is a non-native invasive shrub that has become ubiquitous throughout the southeastern United States. There is a large infestation of privet at Congaree National Park in South Carolina, and the National Park Service is interested in controlling it with dormant-season foliar herbicide treatments. The primary objective of this study was to determine which combination of herbicide and applicator provides the most effective control of privet, while minimizing damage to non-target plants. Another objective was to document impacts of privet invasion on Congaree's plant communities.
Seven vegetation plots were installed in each of five large privet …

A Cradle To Farm Gate Life Cycle Analysis Of Water Use In U.S. Pork Production, Eric Boles

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this study was to analyze water use across a range of regions, scales and practices of the U.S. pork industry. A Life Cycle Assessment of water use within the pork supply chain was performed. Cumulative water use was the environmental impact category used in the LCA to evaluate the impacts of pork production processes throughout the pork supply chain. The functional unit for the analysis was the volume of water required to produce one kilogram of swine (live weight) at the farm gate.

A comprehensive literature review was used to design and propagate algorithms for the National …

Conserving Fish And Forests: Community Involvement And Its Limits In Resource Management On The Island Of Hawai'i, Amber W. Datta

Pomona Senior Theses

In this thesis I examine the limits of community involvement in accomplishing the conservation goals of biodiversity and ecosystem function in resource management by analyzing the multiple interest groups that compose community. Two case studies are presented to accomplish this goal. The first case study is the West Hawaii Fisheries Management Area, where a group of community stakeholders provide management recommendations that are then implemented by the state. The second case study is the Ka’u forest reserve, where community involvement is invited into the management decision-making process but is also limited in its ultimate political power by the state. Through …

Greening The Streets: A Comparison Of Sustainable Stormwater Management In Portland, Oregon And Los Angeles, California, Na'ama Schweitzer

Pomona Senior Theses

Stormwater runoff is one of the main sources of pollution for urban waterways. Stormwater has traditionally been managed through concrete-based storm drainage systems, but the past twenty years have introduced an alternative in the form of green infrastructure. Green infrastructure for stormwater management involves the use of low impact development (LID), often vegetated facilities to mimic natural hydrologic systems that capture and allow infiltration of rainwater where it falls and from impervious surfaces upstream, before entering the drainage system. Portland, Oregon and Los Angeles, California have adopted green infrastructure into their stormwater management plans. For this project, bioswales, a form …

A Policymaker's Guide To Feed-In Tariffs: Encouraging A Responsible Transition To Renewable Electricity In California, Roland P. Thayer

Pomona Senior Theses

The feed-in tariff is a flexible, yet effective mechanism in promoting the proliferation of renewable electricity in California. The tariff creates a stable investment environment that protects both the utilities and the renewable electricity generators. Not only does the system foster capacity growth, but also technological advancement to the point where renewable electricity can compete in the market without assistance. From an environmental standpoint, the feed-in tariff contributes significantly towards achieving the emissions reduction goals set forth by AB32 without causing harmful increases to electricity prices.

The feed-in tariff model has been used in countries all over the world and …

Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics In Agriculture: Model Development And Application From Daily To Decadal Timescales, Matthew P. Pelton

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Soil carbon (C) is the largest terrestrial C pool globally, containing more C than the atmosphere and biosphere. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a source and sink of CO₂ emissions to and from the atmosphere, thus influencing future climate change. Understanding SOC dynamics is also important for maintaining C stocks to sustain and improve crop yields. An existing model to estimate changes in SOC due to respiration was modified to operate in three computational platforms: MS Excel, MS Excel with Visual Basic for Applications, and supercomputing. This model was validated against CO₂ flux data from a 9-year field …

Environmental Economics: A Case Study For The Big Cottonwood Canyon Watershed, Robert Hull

Pomona Senior Theses

Environmental economics is the application of economic principles to the study of how natural resources are developed and managed. The methodologies used attempt to value ecosystem services provided by healthy, functioning natural lands and ecosystems. Ecosystem services attributed to natural lands contribute significant human welfare benefits that go largely undervalued or misrepresented in the decision-making process for the development of land. As environmental valuation methodologies and techniques continue to advance, policy decisions will be better able to create outcomes that maximize benefits for targeted populations and landscapes. The purpose of this paper is to first describe the methodologies used in …

Floatovoltaics: Quantifying The Benefits Of A Hydro-Solar Power Fusion, Abe Mckay

Pomona Senior Theses

To slow climate change, humans should take immediate and widespread action. One way to slow climate change is by switching to switch to renewable power plants such as solar fields. Recently, pioneering companies have built solar fields on water bodies. This study found that such a pairing of water and solar could increase production efficiency by 8-10% through panel cooling, save millions of liters of water from evaporation, and produce energy with under-utilized space.

A Social–Ecological Approach To Conservation Planning: Embedding Social Considerations, Natalie C. Ban, Morena Mills, Jordan Tam, Christina C. Hicks, Sarah Klain, Natalie Stoeckl, Madeleine C. Bottrill, Jordan Levine, Robert L. Pressey, Terre Satterfield, Kai M. A. Chan

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Many conservation plans remain unimplemented, in part because of insufficient consideration of the social processes that influence conservation decisions. Complementing social considerations with an integrated understanding of the ecology of a region can result in a more complete conservation approach. We suggest that linking conservation planning to a social–ecological systems (SES) framework can lead to a more thorough understanding of human–environment interactions and more effective integration of social considerations. By characterizing SES as a set of subsystems, and their interactions with each other and with external factors, the SES framework can improve our understanding of the linkages between social and …

Dispersal Ecology Of Desert Mosses Along Gradients Of Elevation, Wildfire Disturbance And Local Niche, Robert Joseph Smith

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Much of the variation in plant communities can be explained by the dispersal of individuals across landscapes, an ecological process that contributes to clinal variation, post-disturbance recovery and habitat occupancy. The role of dispersal is of particular concern for Mojave Desert plant communities that may not be able to tolerate recent departures from historical fire regimes. The aim of this thesis was to infer how dispersal is reflected by patterns of diversity in disturbed and undisturbed bryophyte communities in the Spring Mountains of southern Nevada. Chapter 2 presents an examination of sub-surface bryophyte communities (propagule "soil-banks") along a 1400 m …

Wildland Firefighter Smoke Exposure Study, George Anthony Broyles

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This report addresses exposure to smoke from wildland and prescribed fires encountered by wildland firefighters. Smoke from vegetation as well as off-gasses from equipment such as chain saws, pumps, and drip torches are accounted for. Section II provides an overview of industrial hygiene science and techniques. Section III is a discussion and literature review of the components in wildland smoke, and section IV identifies the health concerns associated with smoke inhalation and a review of the current literature on exposure to inhalation irritants. Section V covers research that has been done on wildland firefighter smoke exposure. Section VI is an …