Digital Commons Network^™

Environmental Justice And Social Work: A Study Across Practice Settings In Three U.S. States, Lisa Reyes Mason, Sierra Roach Coye, Smitha Rao, Amy Krings, Julia Santucci

Graduate School of Social Work: Faculty Scholarship

Environmental justice is essential for improved quality of life and sustainable wellbeing. This study examines how environmental issues and related injustices are surfacing in U.S. social work practice and social work readiness to respond, and what resources social workers are most interested in. Data are from an online survey of U.S. social workers (N = 337) in Colorado, Ohio, and Tennessee. Participants answered questions about their social work background, current job, environmental issues in practice, resources, and demographics. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. For nine issues, at least 30% of participants reported these as surfacing sometimes or often, with …

Exploring Indigenous Climate Change Perceptions Through Tribal Talking Circles In The Colorado Plateau, Bayli Hanson, Roslynn Brain Mccann, Danielle Smiley

Environment and Society Student Research

Marginalized communities, including Indigenous populations, experience climate change at a more extreme rate given where they live, despite their knowledge of and connection to the land. Due to this interconnection, there have been many negative impacts on cultural identities in correlation with climate change. For example, Indigenous communities that continue growing food, hunting and foraging on traditional lands now face increasingly limited resources due to changes in the land itself. To better understand Tribal experiences with our changing climate, this qualitative research study involved talking circles with Tribal members in the Colorado Plateau region of the United States. Specifically, our …

Applying The 5ps Of Cultural Ecosystem Services For Urban Agricultural And Natural Resources Programming, Mayra I. Rodriguez Gonzalez

Journal of Extension

Beyond adapting extension programs for an urban audience, Urban Extension strives to reach an underserved audience that hugely overlaps with marginalized populations. This means that cultural competence is crucial for successful program implementation. The following article outlines the application of the 5P framework of Cultural Ecosystem Services as a tool for laying out the base to a culturally competent extension program. Although originally intended for urban planners, when applied widely for program development it allows accounting for place, past, people, practices, and purposes in a simple manner without overlooking importance context pertaining the target audience.

Review Of Radical Utu: Critical Ideas And Ideals Of Wangari Muta Maathai, Wanjiru G. Mbure

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Future Land, Futures Lost: Planning The Crisis On The Louisiana Coast, Sheehan Moore

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

South Louisiana is rapidly losing coastal land to the combined forces of subsidence, sea-level rise, and worsening storms, accelerated by the effects of flood control engineering and extractive industrial development. With erosion threatening homes and industry alike, the state has marshaled a response on a massive economic and geographic scale: its Coastal Master Plan recommends $50 billion in river sediment diversions, barrier island restoration, and other projects over fifty years. This dissertation is about the emergence of Louisiana’s coast as a place from this knot of human and environmental relations, as an object for governance and a container for political …

Reclaiming Healing Spaces: A Phenomenological Study On The Transformative Power Of Outdoor Therapy From The Lived Experiences Of Black Clinicians Working With Black Clients, Lynn Murphy

Dissertations

This phenomenological study involved assessing the experiences of Black therapists who engaged Black clients in outdoor therapeutic contexts. The study was founded on the existing literature that shows the quality of the therapeutic relationship is pivotal for client retention and the Western standards that have historically favored treatment within indoor environments. To contextualize this research, a comprehensive literature review was commenced, covering topics such as the decolonization of therapy, the historical and present-day relationship between Blacks and the outdoors in the United States, sedentary lifestyles, the psychological benefits of time spent in nature, various types of outdoor therapy, and the …

An Assessment Of Drinking Water Equity In South Carolina: Access, Affordability, Quality, And Private Well Resources, Catherine Lippert Min

Theses and Dissertations

Universal access to good quality, affordable drinking water is a goal that has not yet been reached in the United States. Recently, national studies have investigated drinking water burdens including lack of access to complete plumbing, unaffordability, and poor quality individually. However, no study has examined all of these drinking water burdens together to identify communities facing multiple burdens. This study addresses this gap by analyzing disparities in access to complete plumbing, affordability of public water sources, and drinking water quality of community water systems in South Carolina and identifying communities that face multiple burdens. This study also provides the …

Housing Buyouts At The Intersection Of Flooding And Toxins: A Case Study Of Cheraw, South Carolina, Victoria Ponds

Theses and Dissertations

As climate change increases extreme weather events, efforts of managed retreat will also increase, particularly through housing buyout programs. The largest scale housing buyout programs are run through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). These buyout programs focus primarily on flood hazards and exclude anthropogenic hazards. This policy is problematic in the modern technological age where compound hazards, including those involving toxin releases, are occurring more frequently. In this thesis, I investigate how disaster policies account for the intersection of these hazards in Community Development Block Grant-Mitigation buyouts in Cheraw, South …

Comparing Shade And Impervious Surface Area With Extreme Heat And Environmental Equity: An Analysis Of The Urban Heat Island Effect In Santa Clara County, California, Jamsheed R. Mistry

Master's Theses

In the modern epoch of the Anthropocene, the rapid rise in urban sprawling has prompted a disproportionate exposure to extreme heat within underserved communities. As the global populace becomes increasingly urbanized, the inevitable formation of urban heat islands is becoming an imminent cause of concern for environmental and social justice. Due to an increase in urbanization, anthropogenic activities have not only increased the energy demand for cooling initiatives but also have increased the intensity of heat-related illnesses, such as heart attacks, dehydration, and respiratory diseases. Additionally, urbanization has yielded an unequal distribution of heat exposure and heat-related illnesses, particularly in …

Solar Photovoltaics As Climate Change Adaptations For Farmers In West Bengal, India: Barriers Within A Food-Water-Energy Nexus Approach, Emily Rochford

Capstone Collection

This capstone research project seeks to identify and address barriers to the use of solar photovoltaics (PV) as an adaptation method to climate change for farmers in West Bengal, India. These barriers are examined within the context of the food-water-energy nexus, particularly concerning the ability of many small holder farmers to produce their own food and sustain their livelihoods. Previous studies have examined both energy access and renewable energy development in West Bengal, and also the food-water-energy nexus in its application to climate change. However, there is minimal literature on how renewable energy development should be applied within the nexus …

Author Biographical Notes

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Working Together For Working Lands: Knowledge Braiding And Adaptive Capacity At The Confluence Of Rangelands, Climate Adaptation, And Watershed Stewardship, William Wesley Munger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Working lands are a mosaic that hold critical opportunities for biodiversity, rural community wellbeing, and climate change adaptation. This landscape mosaic is made up of public lands, tribal lands, and private ranches, farms, and forests. The current era of ecological restoration and climate adaptation requires engaging in working lands conservation because the most promising strategies require working across multiple ownership boundaries. This dissertation argues that supporting working lands conservation, climate adaptation, and ecological restoration is a joint venture. Building adaptive capacity for climate change involves both social and ecological components. Adaptive capacity consists of building social collaborative capacity and ecological …

Gender, Security, And Climate Change Nexus: Taking Violence Prevention Seriously In The Global South, Laila Hanifah Ms

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

According to prior studies, a significant proportion of individuals affected by conflict regularly demonstrate that women experience violence to a greater extent. As the Cold War era came to an end, trends in major armed conflicts began to shift. Climate change has emerged as a new non-traditional security threat around the world, similar to traditional security challenges. The UNFCC recognises that women are disproportionately vulnerable and bear a greater burden from the impacts of climate change. Yet despite this, women are often marginalised from discourses on security. Research on security, gender and climate change shows that the consequences of climate …

Critical Geospatial Data Science: Principles For Curating, Analyzing, And Sharing Geospatial Data, Daniel Beene

Geography ETDs

Critical geospatial data science (CGDS) offers principles for engaging with geospatial data, methods, and translation by pulling from critical epistemologies in geography. CGDS interrogates objective “truths” in science by actively engaging in critique of geospatial data and methodologies. Specifically, CGDS contends with the political context and motivations behind geospatial data science (GDS) while using GDS methods to understand how social-spatial arrangements manifest and are reinforced through data. CGDS explicitly aims to inform practices for criticality from within GDS and provides opportunities for multidisciplinary research that incorporates social theories, contextualizes geospatial data, and critically evaluates the effects and ethics of (under)representation …

Resources In Northeast Nebraska's Waste Could Power The Future, Reese Vanosdel, Emma Kurtz, Tyler Knaak

Project Energy Nebraska: Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, summer 2024

A poster titled Resources in Northeast Nebraska's Waste Could Power the Future for clients City of Norfolk, Nebraska (Steven Rames) and City of Wayne, Nebraska (Wes Blecke and Sandy Brown).

Advisor: David Gosselin

Water Management And Conservation In India Fostering Water Justice: Arguing For Adopting Just Sustainability In Water Governance, Gayathri D Naik Dr, Sanjay Shenoi P

Articles

The water sector is characterised by everyday water injustices where factors like social discrimination, economic disparities, and political preferences influence the determination of water resource access, allocation, and management. The increasing anthropogenic impacts on water resources and consequent threats to sustainability add to the water injustices, often impacting the poorer, socially downtrodden communities that bear the brunt of water scarcity and cannot afford alternatives. The current water governance patterns, prioritising equality over equity, fail to address the issues of water injustices created by social, political, and economic factors in water management and sideline the ecological impacts on water resources. Moving …

Extractivism And The Defense Of Life And Territories: An Account Of Latin American Environmental Thought, Pedro Monque

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

We are living today through an environmental crisis of planetary proportions. Recent decades have seen the proliferation of distinct environmentalisms around the world. In Latin America, a unique environmental vocabulary is being born out of resistance to northern framings of the environmental crisis whose proposed solutions often deepen environmental injustice vis-à-vis the global south.In this dissertation, I provide an account of the key themes in this lively but undertheorized tradition that I call Latin American environmental thought.

The conceptual core of Latin American environmental thought, I argue, are the concepts of extractivism, the defense of life and territories, and alternatives. …

Towards More Inclusive Practices In Applied Linguistics: A Study Of Journal Editors’ Views On Using ‘Who’ With Nonhuman Animals With Implications For Language Education, Denise Dillon, George M. Jacobs, Meng Huat Chau

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

Like racism or sexism, speciesism highlights how people fail to give due respect to nonhuman animals. After more than 20 years since the publication of Dunayer’s (2001) seminal work, Animal Equality: Language and Liberation, speciesism appears to remain a controversial issue. In this article, we explore the issue of speciesist language by considering the views of journal editors on one point raised in the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2020): that the relative pronoun who should only be used with humans and not with other animals. The results of this study suggest that while …

Not Just A Walk In The Park: Environmental Injustice In New York City’S Green Spaces, Greta Laine Mclaughlin

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper examines inequities in New York City’s green spaces, and it discusses the discrepancies in the quality and sizes of parks in lower- versus higher-income and white versus non-white areas. Although organizations herald the city’s parks as some of the best and most accessible in the country, marginalized residents face unsafe and insufficient surroundings. Chapter One considers the state of NYC’s green spaces. The chapter uses quantitative data collected by city agencies and non-profits to illustrate the disparities in the conditions of parks among various communities. By framing the issue using ecosystem services, the paper emphasizes the importance of …

Exploring And Assessing Sustainable Flood Mitigation Strategies In Response To Rising Sea Levels In Boston, Elizavyeta Dmitrieva

Master's Projects and Capstones

With projections indicating up to a 30 cm rise in sea level along the US coastline by 2050, flooding emerges as a critical hazard for coastal communities. Boston, a pivotal urban center, anticipates experiencing 50-70 flood days per year by 2050. Addressing the inevitability of these events necessitates the implementation of robust and equitable flood mitigation strategies to alleviate stress on the city and its residents. This paper delves into the causes of sea level rise, flooding projections for Boston, and the City’s plans to mitigate these risks. Concentrating on the two neighborhoods most vulnerable to flooding—East Boston and South …

Evaluating Climate Migration Through Discourse Analysis Of International Policy Framework And “El Progreso” Community Blog, Olusola Akanni

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Environmental changes are driven by global warming, such as rising temperatures, melting ice, and increased natural disasters which directly affect the living conditions of huma thereby driving migration. This study highlights the inadequacies of current migration management policies as the United States is seeing a significant influx of migrants from Central America. The focus of this discourse analysis is on the role of inadequate policies and the failure of international efforts like the Paris Climate Agreement in addressing the issue of climate-induced migration effectively. Despite the goals set by such international agreements to mitigate the effects of climate change …

Biodiversity Loss & Urban Heat: A Nature- Based Wildlife Policy For The Las Vegas Metro, Zachary Billot

Student Research

As the population of the Las Vegas Metro continues to grow, new developments expand on the periphery. As Las Vegas continues to increase in size and develop further into wildlife habitat, not only are native animals and plants endangered, but residents are at risk of increasingly dangerous urban heat given the increase in impervious cover that makes Las Vegas the 2nd fastest warming metro in the U.S. This policy brief examines current policy and practice in place to highlight the need for positive human-wildlife interaction that will address the growing threat of biodiversity loss and heat vulnerability. This policy brief …

Deforestation In Brazil’S Amazon And The Effects On Its Position In International Politics, Jeb Hinkle

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

Latin America is a land of potential for economic growth, the expansion of democracy, and international political influence. The United States has historically had political and economic influence in the region; however, Latin American nations have long seen the United States as imperialists, only serving their own interest at the expense of smaller Latin nations. As China’s global ambitions grow, many Latin American nations have turned towards the Chinese for investment and trade. The United States needs to combat China’s influence and the nations of Latin America wish to build a better future for themselves. The solution is strategic partnership …

Conceptualising And Enacting Pathways To Transformative Climate Justice: Examples From The Philippines, Justin See, Anne Shangrila Fuentes, Emma Porio, Brooke Wilmsen

Sociology & Anthropology Department Faculty Publications

Scholarship on climate change adaptation is increasingly moving from incremental responses to climate injustice towards transformative approaches that deliberately change systems to achieve just and equitable outcomes. A transformative understanding of climate justice is relatively new and evidence of how this could be achieved is in its infancy. In this paper, we conceptualise transformative climate justice as comprised of three subcomponents: (1) inclusive justice (seeking to ensure that no one, especially the most vulnerable, is left behind), (2) epistemological justice (drawing upon diverse knowledges and worldviews), and (3) restorative justice (healing and restoration of communities and the environment). We then …

Chronic Inequities: Environmental & Structural Racism During Covid-19 And Hurricane Laura Disaster Recovery, Tomeka M. Robinson, Sabrina Singh

Critical Disaster Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the realities of systemic health inequities within the United States. While the virus has severely impacted the entire country, people of color bear the brunt of this pandemic, from surges of COVID-19 cases in their communities to spikes in unemployment rates. Simultaneously, citizens are dealing with the impacts of natural disasters such as hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. The common denominator concerning these two stressors is that they can be exacerbated by institutional racism. This can be seen in the case of a small city in Southwest Louisiana, namely, Lake Charles, which has become a …

'My Body Is Fertile Ground': Exploring Relational Agriculture Through Gender, Body, And Local Food Policy, Erin M. Tansimore

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This master's portfolio, "'My Body Is Fertile Ground': Exploring Relational Agriculture Through Gender, Body, and Local Food Policy," explores the concept of relational agriculture through multiple forms of practice. It comprises three parts: a personal essay discussing the author's experiences with the land as a young woman with a turbulent relationship with her own body; a literature review on gender dynamics in alternative agricultural spaces; and a survey report and a USDA Census of Agriculture data brief produced during an internship with two local food entities.

The first piece, "My Body Is Fertile Ground," details the author's experience with an …

And Food Justice For All: Advancing Access To Just And Sustainable Food Systems, Makenna Grace Landry

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

A collection of work exploring food justice and food access programming in Western Montana, as well as a critique of the Bayer-Monsanto merger.

Factors Influencing Donation Decisions To Environmental Nongovernmental Organizations, Fernando Alferd Crocheron

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

While philanthropic studies have been conducted for centuries, little information exists regarding factors that impel donors to make financial donations to environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs). The phenomena surrounding human motivation have been studied via numerous lenses providing information focused on various domains of interest e.g., poverty alleviation, provisioning of educational opportunity, disease eradication, disaster relief, etc. The theoretical framework for this study was Self-Determination Theory (SDT). This study focused specifically on U.S. citizens and the motivational factors that impel said citizens to make monetary contributions to ENGOs. Ten participants ages 18 and over who had donated to an ENGO in …

Expanding A Fixed Route Bus System With The Lower Anthracite Transit System, Devin T. Johnson, Ben R. Shimer, Kyle R. Crichton

Final Reports in ENST 411: Environmental Community Projects

We worked in partnership with the Lower Anthracite Transit System (LATS) to develop a proposed bus route in the town of Sunbury, PA, expanding their system to include more of Northumberland County. This bus route is predicated upon community-based feedback through surveys, where we designed and implemented a survey analyzing general transportation desires and interest in the route. We collected 207 total responses, where community feedback in these responses informed decisions about stop locations along the route. Survey responses are hugely beneficial for LATS, allowing them to understand what aspects of their transportation services work well and what can be …

An Anthropogenic Mass Extinction: Speculation About The Future Of Humanity And Other Species, Grace M. Nelson

Student Theses 2015-Present

This thesis will address the possibility of a sixth mass extinction at the hands of humanity and the adaptations ecosystems may undertake in recovery. Today, the world is witnessing incredibly fast changes in climate conditions that are causing severe biodiversity loss. Haiti is a region that encompasses the impacts of both environmental degradation and humanity’s social influences on the environment. Haiti will be examined throughout this thesis to provide an understanding of how climate change impacts people and the natural world today. Non-anthropogenic rapid climate change is the root of most past mass extinctions. However, after these events, ecosystems have …