Digital Commons Network^™

Evapotranspirative Controls In A Low Arctic Tundra Environment, Daring Lake, Nwt, Canada, Shawn Lecompte

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Determining the extent to which changes in vegetation assemblages influence evapotranspiration in the Arctic could potentially contribute to a more realistic estimation of evaporation in a warming climate.

This project aims to determine whether variations in PET and AET rates measured at six tundra vegetation communities can be attributed to the differing vegetation. This will provide a more realistic estimate of change in the water and energy cycles, as well as evaporative processes for a warmer future, caused by enhanced global warming. Predictions of temperature and precipitation regarding future climate in Canada’s Western low Arctic vary greatly. The majority of …

A Comparison Of The Perceptions Of Risk And Health Between Old Order Mennonites And Mainstream Society In The Grand River Valley: A Cross-Cultural Analysis, Ewa Dabrowska-Miciula

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The role of culture in the geography of health and technological hazard perception research is an important and relatively recent avenue of research. This dissertation contributes to this research by exploring cross-cultural differences in health and risk perceptions and by examining the relationship between health and place. It involves an in-depth examination of perceptions and meaning of health, as they exist in the local context. It is the first geographical research conducted with individual members of the Old Order Mennonite community considering perceptions of health, technological hazard and understandings of environmental risk.

The studied communities are situated at an agricultural/industrial …

Growing Up With Glen, Kathryn Miles

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Ecologists refer to it as 'shifting baselines.' Anthropologists call it 'environmental generational amnesia.' Both refer to the slow change in the ways we respond to and define the environment. As biologists and social scientists have deftly argued, definitions of environmentalism and sustainable resource use are often based on our earliest experiences with nature. We then use these memories as the basis for our understanding of the natural world and its use. Ultimately, this creates a generational approach to issues of conservation, particularly with regards to such contentious issues as water rights and the changing face of the American West. At …

The Ethics Of Wildlife Control In Humanized Landscapes, John Hadidian, Camilla H. Fox, William S. Lynn

Ecology Collection

The 21st century is witness to an unprecedented and rapid growth of human settlements, from urban centers to wilderness vacation resorts. Concurrent with this has been the growing tolerance and acceptance of many wild animals and humans for one another. This has created an expanding ‘zone’ of human-animal contacts, some number of which invariably result in conflicts. While the vast majority of our interactions with wild animals are undoubtedly benign, it is the conflict between wildlife and people that draws particularly close attention from the public. Animals viewed as vertebrate “pests” range from the small to the large, the timid …

Ethnoecology, Paul Faulstich

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Ethnoecology – the study of cultural explications of nature – generates insights into the interface between peoples and the more-than-human world. Ecology is the scientific study of the interrelationships between plants, animals, and the environment, and it has developed into the study of interdependent communities of organisms and their environments. But while most ecologists have been trained to seek knowledge solely from scholarly books or nonhuman nature, tremendous environmental information is stored in the minds, cultures, and arts of indigenous peoples.

Geophilia, Paul Faulstich

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Extrapolated from E. O. Wilson's concept of biophilia, geophilia asserts that humans have an organic propensity to find wildlands emotionally compelling. It exists as a human tendency to emotionally connect with natural landscapes.

Assessment And Classification Of A Modified Urban Stream: Schneider Creek, Kitchener, Ontario, J. Andrew Carnegie

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study has produced an assessment framework and classification designed specifically for urban modified streams. While many stream assessment frameworks do exist, most are designed for natural streams and as such have no provision for characteristics of urban streams such as concrete channelization, storm drains, and urban debris. Building upon previous assessment and classification schemes, both urban and natural, this framework satisfies this need. It strengths lie in its user-friendly, visual-based approach to assessment by employing representative photographs and qualitative information to aid the user. A total of ten variables were employed that are scaled on a spectrum of categories, …

Urban Particulate Matter 2.5 Mass Concentrations: A Comparison Between A Drive-Through And A Park Setting, Cheryl Robertson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The focus of this thesis was to determine if light-duty vehicles idling at drive-throughs elevated ambient PM 2.5 mass more than those emitted by natural sources at a near-by greenspace. Two low-volume samplers (MiniVols), obtained from the Meteorological Services of Canada Air Quality Processes Research Division (ARQP), were set up 1.4 km apart in the west end of Kitchener, Ontario between the months of August and November, 2002. Four diurnal sampling periods were conducted on various days to determine when PM 2.5 mass concentrations were higher and at which location. Although overall results determined that the control site had obtained …

A History Of Non-Farm Rural Residential Development In Oxford County, Ontario And Its Impact On Farm Life, Jaime Lynne Patricia Gillespie

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This paper traces the history of non-farm rural residential development in Oxford County, Ontario from the early 1970s through to 2004 and investigates the impact of these non-farm uses on farm activities. In contrast to planning departments in the Province of Ontario that have been slow to develop restrictions on non-farm development, Oxford Country has a long history of safeguarding its agricultural heritage through its planning policies. This paper examines the effectiveness of Oxford County’s legislation in preserving agricultural land and in preventing non-farm rural residential development. The literature review presents an overview of agriculture in southern Ontario, Ontario’s agricultural …

Service-Learning In Watershed-Based Initiatives: Keys To Education For Sustainability In Geography?, James Eflin, Amy L. Sheaffer

Service Learning, General

A call for combining the strengths of geographic education with environmental education to produce an 'education for sustainability' addresses local problems for sustainable development. A place-based approach encourages civic responsibility among students. Using service-learning to extend education beyond the classroom in this case study connected students with local clients in a watershed-based initiative. Theoretical underpinnings of service-learning for geographic education are discussed, and the case study is viewed from instructor, student, and client perspectives to identify successful outcomes and provide suggestions for those who might adopt service-learning for the first time.

An Analysis Of Community Forest Implementation In British Columbia, Canada, Ryan C. Bullock

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The community forest is increasingly seen as an alternative to industrial forestry for its perceived potential to mitigate conflict in forest resource management and planning. Theoretically, a community-based approach affords the chance to assert local values, provide local benefits, and manage resources differently than established top-down approaches. Yet practical examples of community forest initiatives in Canada reveal a host of constraints. This research uses a multiple case study design to investigate the motivations for and challenges to implementing community forests in British Columbia, Canada. Observations are drawn from four case studies (Denman Island, Malcolm Island, Cortes Island, and Creston) in …

Modelling Relationships Between Road Access And Recreational Fishing Site Choice While Accounting For Spatial Complexities, Lenny Michael Hunt

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study examined the relationships between road access and the fishing site choices of northern Ontario recreational anglers. A revealed preference choice model (random utility model) was estimated with fishing trip data from an angling diary with resident anglers from the Thunder Bay and Wawa areas. The results showed that poor quality gravel roads and trails heavily and negatively impacted fishing site choices by Thunder Bay anglers who fished only during the open water season. Poorer quality roads and trails had much less impact on the fishing site choices of other Thunder Bay anglers. Wawa area anglers were, on average, …

Spatial Autocorrelation Of Deer-Vehicle Accidents In Vigo County, J. Scott Horn

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Deer-vehicle accidents (DV As) are a problem in many areas. They cause millions of dollars in property damage, personal injury, and loss of life each year. This thesis examines whether DVAs in Vigo County, Indiana during the year 2000 were spatially autocorrelated; and whether DV As selected by deer habitat were spatially autocorrelated. Specifically using Moran's I to test for spatial autocorrelation this study determined if and to what degree spatial autocorrelation existed among these DVAs. A Moran's I value of .0023 shows that the accidents occurred randomly. These DV A data were then used to plot a map which …

Lost And Found: The Imagined Geographies Of American Studies, Cindi Katz

Publications and Research

In the days after September 11th, 2001, and continuing until now, the national guard and other military personnel fanned out around New York City. Automatic rifles slung over their camouflaged shoulders, they "guarded" New York City's transportation stations, vital corners and thoroughfares, marquee buildings, and each and every bridge and tunnel entrance. Their comportment was usually cordial and rarely vigilant. Exuding the antithesis of an urban sensibility, they complemented the beefy boredom of the police who usually stood nearby, with an almost surreal sense of incredulity; not just "Why am I here?" but a sort of bafflement that anyone would …

Time-Series Analysis Of Clusters In City Size Distributions, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Craig R. Allen, K. Michael Bessey

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Complex systems, such as urban systems, emerge unpredictably without the influence of central control as a result of adaptive behavior by their component, interacting agents. This paper analyses city size distributions, by decade, from the south-western region of the United States for the years 1890–1990. It determines if the distributions were clustered and documents changes in the pattern of clusters over time. Clusters were determined utilizing a kernel density estimator and cluster analysis. The data were clustered as determined by both methods. The analyses identified 4–7 clusters of cities in each of the decades analysed. Cities cluster into size classes, …

On Joel Weishaus' Forest Park: A Journal, Rania Masri

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

How do we define place? How do we develop our sense of identity and how do we recognize that development? With our constantly changing locations and with our locations themselves constantly changing into more urbanized areas, how do we locate and understand ourselves within our idea of place? How does our relationship with 'nature' touch our lives? In essence, how do we live, with - and within - ourselves?

A Politics Of Place: Reading The Signs At Walden Pond, Joy Ackerman

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Pilgrimage begins with a vision of place. Look down! The holy is here beneath your feet. The boundary of heaven and earth is not the distant horizon, ever out of reach. It shimmers on the surface of the water. As Thoreau ponders the sky reflected in Walden Pond, he sees the earth encompassed within the spiritual realm. The concept of ‘sacred geography’ also suggests such an embrace. Through the recognition of a pattern in the landscape or the orientation of a temple in the holy city, sacred geography claims that the landscape is a map of the divine order, the …

Mapalester:Powerful, East-To-Use Gis Software Under Development, Brent Hecht

Geography Honors Projects

Many non-profits and K-12 schools would benefit from a GIS, but cannot afford expensvie GIS software. I have worked on developing a new GIS software package aimed at these and other organizations and individuals with small budgets. The software is particularly focused on ease of use and centralization, especially with regard to spaital analysis operations and date retrieval/organization. In the paper, I discuss my progress on the software, as well as the major problems I have encountered in developing it.

Wither The Fruited Plain: The Long Expedition And The Description Of The "Great American Desert", Kevin Z. Sweeney

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

The view from Pikes Peak is breathtaking. Situated where the Great Plains meets the Rocky Mountains, one feels as if the whole nation is laid out before you. It is the perfect vantage point from which to write an inspirational anthem to the environmental magnificence of the United States. In the summer of 1893, Katherine Lee Bates, a Wellesley College English professor, sat on the summit of Pikes Peak, inspired by the panorama to pen the words to "America the Beautiful." Her poem was set to the tune "Materna" by Samuel Augustus Ward two years later to become one of …

Bearing The Costs Of Human-Wildlife Conflict: The Challenges Of Compensation Schemes, Philip J. Nyhus, Steve A. Osofsky, Paul Ferraro, H Fischer, Francine Madden

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The 19th Century Excavation Of Kent's Cavern, England, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Joyce Lundberg

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

Between 1858 and 1880, William Pengelly developed revolutionary new techniques for the archeological and paleontological excavation of cave deposits. His work at Brixham Cave and Kent’s Cavern, England, yielded tens of thousands of specimens from the mid-Pleistocene to the Holocene, settled the intellectual debate over the co-existence of humans and extinct mammals, and accumulated an unparalleled resource for continued study. Although the Brixham Cave work was thoroughly summarized in print, Pengelly never published the plans of his much more thorough and extensive excavations at Kent’s Cavern. Here we present a reconstructed plan of the Pengelly excavations that we hope will …

Reconstructing Early Historical Landscapes In The Northern Santa Clara Valley, Alan K. Brown

Research Manuscript Series

The following essay, which is not a finished treatise upon any aspect of the early environmental history of the northern Santa Clara Valley, is also not intended to be a manual of procedures for investigating that subject. Although I would hope that elements ofboth purposes can be found here, the intention, more generally and tentatively, is to point out a few possibilities that may be incorporated into more rigorous and, in terms of practical consequences, more important future investigations by others. Because of the variety and incompleteness of the approaches that are followed here, no attempt has been made to …

The August 14th, 2003 Blackout: Implications For Future Disaster Preparedness In Toronto, Ontario, Kelly Marie Macgrandles

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Hazards, both natural and technological occur on a fairly regular basis. Timely and accurate communication of information before, during and after a disaster is essential for saving lives and property. This theme is the focus of this Master's thesis, in which the August 14th, 2003 blackout is used as a case study to assess how information is provided to the public during disaster events. More specifically, the thesis evaluates how agencies within the City of Toronto communicated risk information to the public. A news release analysis and interview analysis were then conducted to determine how closely the information in news …

Walden: A Sacred Geography, Joy Whiteley Ackerman

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

In this study, I explore Walden as a place of pilgrimage. Walden Pond is located in Concord, Massachusetts, a place associated with Henry David Thoreau, a 19th century icon of American environmentalism. The site of his simple dwelling (and the focus of his book by the same name) is now a state park and national landmark that receives over half a million recreational users and tourists each year, in addition to visitors with a particular interest in Thoreau’s life and writing. I took two approaches to Walden’s sacred geography, using phenomenological methods to explore the poetics of pilgrimage and a …

Accuracy Of Neural Network Classifiers In Humid Tropical Areas, Genong Yu

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research develops a better understanding of the use of neural networks in the context of tropical land cover characterization using multiple scale remotely sensed data. Results of the research contributed to developing a robust neural network classifier suitable to use for humid tropical land cover classification in areas such as Altamira, Brazil. Research was focused upon the following: (1) performance ofneural networks with different ancillary data- such as DEM (digital elevation model) and its derivatives; (2) effect of spatial scale on neural network classifiers using remote sensing data from IKONOS, Landsat TM, ASTER, and MODIS; (3) accuracy of neural …

A Spatial Analysis Of The Impact Of Development On Wetland Habitat In Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Jenna Medlin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In response to growing concerns over wetland habitat loss and the associated impact on water resources, federal and state legislation has been enacted to protect vulnerable wetland habitats from the impacts of humans. In order to examine the efficacy of current coastal resource policy and its implementation, a study was conducted in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, a coastal city of the Atlantic, focusing on the quantification of wetland habitat change over time within a specific area of interest. The study incorporated an assessment of the effects of escalating population pressures and subsequent urban development on local wetland habitats due to …

Agroforestry, Elephants, And Tigers: Balancing Conservation Theory And Practice In Human-Dominated Landscapes Of Southeast Asia, Philip J. Nyhus, R L. Tilson

Faculty Scholarship

Large mammal populations theoretically are best conserved in landscapes where large protected areas are surrounded by buffer zones, connected by corridors, and integrated into a greater ecosystem. Multi-use buffer zones, including those containing complex agroforestry systems, are promoted as one strategy to provide both economic benefits to people and conservation benefits to wildlife. We use the island of Sumatra, Indonesia to explore the benefits and limitations of this strategy. We conclude that conservation benefits are accrued by expanding the habitat available for large mammals but more attention needs to be focused on how to reduce and respond to human–wildlife conflict …

Characterizing Human-Tiger Conflict In Sumatra, Indonesia: Implications For Conservation, Philip J. Nyhus, Ronald Tilson

Faculty Scholarship

Human-tiger conflict occurs in Indonesia but there is little recent information about the scope of the problem, and adequate policies are not in place to address the conflict. Published and unpublished reports of conflict between Sumatran tigers Panthera tigris sumatrae, people and their livestock were collected and analysed to characterize the extent, distribution and impact of human-tiger actively conflict on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Reportedly, between 1978 and 1997, tigers killed 146 people and injured 30, and killed at least 870 livestock. Conflict was less common in protected areas and more common in inter- mediate disturbance areas such as …

An Unusual Lava Cave From Ol Doinyo Lengai, Tanzania, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Joyce Lundberg, Frederick Belton

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

A new type of lava cave is described from the summit crater of Ol Doinyo Lengai, a unique active carbonatite volcano in Tanzania. This and other similar caves on Ol Doinyo Lengai are formed by thermal erosion and aqueous dissolution of otherwise solid spatter cones. Meteoritic water and endogenous condensates act to form speleothems of complex mineralogy up to 3 m in length. We propose the new classification of “polygenetic spatter cone cave”.

Reconfiguring Childhood Boys And Girls Growing Up Global, Cindi Katz

Publications and Research

Children are a spur, a commitment, a way of imaging the future—but all too often these sorts of phrases just rattle around a vacuum, their utterance the beginning and end of the commitment. We emphasize “the best interests of the child,”but this gloss provides a moral imperative to all manner of uncompleted projects and unfulfilled policies. Likewise, the use of children’s images or presence in public forums of all types gives a patina of honorableness to practices and plans that never actually make good on the promissory note of childhood. The 1992 Rio Earth Summit is a notable example. Such …