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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 …

Archives Of The Future, Ka Oskar Ly

Masters Theses

Archives Of The Future is a practice-based thesis that invokes the archive and the future as simultaneous.

This research insists on the recentering of HMong Indigeneity and its own rooted traditions of HMong Queerness and HMong Feminism as ancestral knowledge systems.

They are the medicine. To recover their cosmological capacity is to traverse centuries of systematic eradication by empires and patriarchy.

I treat artistic making, community encounter, memory, and materials as equally valid ways of knowing and as collaborators. Field research from 2020 to 2026 moves through kinship and artisan teachings. It spans Southeast Asia, France, the United States, and …

Adapting And Promoting Tourism For Children In Venice And The Lagoon Islands: A Comparative Analysis Of Food-Related Discourse Strategies In English And In Italian, Daniela Cesiri Prof.

International Journal of Islands Research

According to the latest available version of the Annual Tourism Survey drafted by the City of Venice, in 2023, 12,628,079 tourists visited Venice and the Lagoon Islands (Bettiol & Marini, 2025). This survey does not provide data on the age groups of these visitors, but they are available in the previous version of the same Survey (Bianchetto & Marini, 2022), which reports that 29% of tourists were in the 46-71 age group. Therefore, we can presume that, excluding the older age groups, quite a large proportion of visitors is likely composed of young tourists and families with children. This study …

Book Review: Through The Brazilian Streets: The Migration Of East African Athletes To Brazil, Joao Paulo Melleiro Malagutti, Fernando Augusto Starepravo

Journal of Global South Sport Studies

This review examines the book Through the Brazilian Streets: The Migration of East African Athletes to Brazil (Rojo, 2024), which analyzes the migratory processes of African road-running athletes competing in Brazilian races. Situated within the field of the Sociology of Sport, the book combines theoretical discussion on globalization and migration with empirical research based on interviews and documentary sources. The review highlights the analytical framework proposed by the author, which examines sports migration through cultural, political, economic, and personal dimensions. Particular attention is given to the study’s focus on migration flows between regions of the Global South, a perspective that …

Leveraging Geomarketing For Enhanced Visitor Experience And Sustainable Management In National Parks And Cultural Heritage Sites: An Examination Of Gis And Geofencing, Mark J. Sciuchetti Jr., Jianping Huang

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Mapping Unmanned Warfare: Analyzing Drone Usage In The Russo-Ukrainian War Using Open-Source Social Media Data, Kayla Barral, Carter Pedersen, Elise Stevens

Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Showcase

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, has expanded significantly in modern warfare, reshaping operational dynamics by enabling precision strikes while reducing personnel risk. At the same time, the growth of open-source and social media–based reporting has created new opportunities to analyze military activity through publicly available information. This study examines whether patterns in social media–reported drone strikes can provide meaningful insights into operational behavior in the Russia–Ukraine war.

Using open-source intelligence (OSINT) collected from Telegram posts between September and October 2025, this research compiles documented drone strike events conducted by both Ukrainian and Russian forces. Much of …

A Climatology Of Heat Domes Over North America, Paul C. Loikith, Siiri Bigalke, Graham P. Taylor, Dmitri A. Kalashnikov, Deepti Singh, Amanda Laverty

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

The term heat dome in reference to extreme heat events has grown in popularity. While a heat dome definition has recently been added to the Glossary of the American Meteorological Society, a quantitative meteorological definition is currently lacking. Here we present such a definition and use it to develop a novel 85-year climatology of extreme heat and associated mid-tropospheric circulation over mid-latitude North America. Our definition groups extreme heat objects (EHOs), defined daily as spatially contiguous regions where 2-m maximum temperature exceeds the May-September 99th percentile, into two categories: those directly associated with a 500-hPa closed anticyclone and those that …

Effects Of Recurving Western North Pacific Tropical Cyclones On Downstream Ridges Over Pacific-Western North America, Xiaoyu Bai, Dmitri A. Kalashnikov, Paul Loikith, Siiri Bigalke, Alex Mitchell, Mingfang Ting, Lance F. Bosart, Deepti Singh

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recurving tropical cyclones (TC) in the Western North Pacific can affect the atmospheric circulation over Pacific‐Western North America (PWNA) via interactions with the midlatitude circulation. Using reanalysis and tropical cyclone best‐track data, we examine how recurving TCs that make extratropical transition modulate 500‐hPa ridge characteristics over PWNA during the peak (June‐September) and late (October–December) seasons. TCs recurving at lower latitudes are associated with more intense and poleward‐centered ridges relative to TCs recurving at higher latitudes, and TCs that recurve farther west are associated with relatively westward‐centered ridges. Characteristics of the prevailing midlatitude flow such as its amplitude and positioning relative …

The Applicability Of Artificial Intelligence In Tour Guiding: Perspective Of Sustainable Service Innovation In Tourism With Technology, Chiranjib Kumar Choudhary Phd, Aditi Choudhary

International Journal of Tour Guiding and Visitor Attraction Research

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly transforming various sectors of the tourism, travel, and hospitality industry. Among these, the role of tourist guides remains crucial, as they act as cultural ambassadors representing destinations and nations. The primary objective of this study is to explore the applications of AI in developing intelligent audio-visual tour guides and assistive devices that enhance tourists’ real-time experiences at heritage sites, tourist attractions, and places of archaeological significance. The research adopts a qualitative approach, utilising secondary data gathered from academic literature, printed and electronic resources, online databases, and expert opinions from tourism professionals. The collected data were …

Automation, Migration, And Development: Geography Of Job Precarity In South Asia And North Africa, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

This article examines how accelerating automation and the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in advanced economies reshape labor markets across the Global South through interconnected channels of production, migration, and remittances. Drawing on the theories and practices of economic geography, labor economics, and development studies, the analysis conceptualizes automation as a transnational shock that contracts demand for migrant labor while simultaneously amplifying employment precarity in labor-surplus economies. The article advances a geographically grounded framework linking technology adoption in core industries with labor displacement, youth unemployment, and urban labor saturation in South Asia and North Africa. It further highlights the macroeconomic …

Who Gets Better Buses? Studentification, Bus Geographies, And Transit Privilege In Postindustrial Upstate New York, Carlos Jose Gonzalez

Theses - ALL

Decades of deindustrialization have forced several American cities to seek other sources of economic life for their shrinking populations and increasingly impoverished populations. One sector that has shown much potential for revitalization has been the “meds and eds” of hospitals and universities. The growth of higher education is fueled by a rise in enrollment that has transformed the demographic, economic, and social atmospheres of university neighborhoods. Yet an important transformation missed by these “studentification” scholars are the accompanying reconfigurations of public transit. Given that students, and young people generally, are less likely to own their own car, universities have to …

Assessing The Impact Of Land Use Land Cover Change On Habitat Quality In Onondaga County, New York: A Thirty-Year Spatial Analysis., Favour Nkwando Sedwaa

Theses - ALL

The Earth's terrestrial surface is experiencing rapid and unprecedented transformation driven by human land use activities. An estimated 75% of the global land area has been altered, and land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) is widely recognized as the largest contributor to biodiversity loss worldwide. Habitats, the ecological spaces that sustain biodiversity, are particularly vulnerable to the compounding pressures of habitat loss and fragmentation associated with urbanization and agricultural intensification. This study investigates the impacts of LULCC on landscape fragmentation and habitat quality in Onondaga County, New York, over a 30-year period from 1994 to 2024. Using Annual National Land Cover …

Evapotranspiration Everywhere, All The Time: Towards A Unified View From Earth Observation, Joshua B. Fisher, Martha C. Anderson, Diego G. Miralles, Kanishka Mallick, Paul C. Stoy, Youngryel Ryu, Wim G. M. Bastiaanssen

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Scientists want to know everything, everywhere, and all the time. This is particularly true in Earth science, where we seek to understand processes that span from the molecular to the planetary scale in how the world works, how it affects us, and how we impact it—especially the water cycle. Evapotranspiration (ET) was the last component to be measured in closing the water cycle: for decades, closing the water budget meant adding up all the measurable components, then inferring ET as the residual. Early measurements relied on water loss from pans and weighing lysimeters, followed by sensors inserted into plants to …

Resilience In Place Names: German-Hehe War Memories And Cultural Identity In Iringa Toponyms, Claudio G. Kisake, Sophilini M. Yisega, Spemba E. Spemba

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Toponyms, or place names, act as vital markers of historical memory, cultural identity and resilience. In Iringa, Tanzania, toponymy offers valuable insights into the enduring impacts associated with the German-Hehe War (1890–1898), and colonial encounters on indigenous communities. This study explores how place names—such as Kitanzini (‘a place with a noose for hanging people’), Ilundamatwe or Lundamatwe (‘a collection of slaughtered heads’), and Gangilonga (‘the speaking stone’)—convey narratives of Hehe war superiority, resistance, and survival. Using a qualitative approach, the research incorporates archival sources, oral histories, and linguistic analysis to investigate the stories behind naming and renaming, the role of …

Walking The Map: Exploring Illinois Using Giant Traveling Maps, Irenea Walker, Kim Carthans

The Great Lakes Social Studies Journal

While it is common for any social studies discipline to receive limited instructional time in the elementary classroom, geography would be among the least taught (Bauml, 2023; Hinde, 2014). As a result, many students lack even the basic knowledge of geography, such as state capitals, geographical locations, and major landmarks. It is even more alarming that elementary students are unaware of the geography of their own state. National Geographic Society introduced giant floor traveling maps over a decade ago through each state’s National Geographic Alliance (2025). The gigantic floor map helps students get a sense of the map's places through …

Spatial Analysis Of Heavy Metal Leaching Threats From North Dakota Landfills To Drinking Water Aquifers, Leila Campbell

Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Showcase

Groundwater is a primary fresh water source for most rural communities in North Dakota. The EPA acknowledges that landfill leakage is not a matter of if but when, and early detection can be extremely difficult. This project identifies which counties and aquifers face the greatest threat from landfill heavy-metal leaching based on proximity, waste types, and groundwater vulnerability, thereby indicating which landfills warrant the closest monitoring and regulatory compliance.   The methodology combines two indexes. The DRASTIC index identifies aquifer vulnerability to surface pollution based on hydrogeologic factors. These factors are weighted by their significance to produce a score that reflects …

Hotspot Analysis Of Nitrate And Arsenic Concentrations In Minnesota Well Water, Jadyn Keeler

Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Showcase

Water contamination is one of the biggest threats to water supply and can have long term human health consequences. It is key to identify vulnerable regions to develop better management strategies. This project utilizes hotspot and outlier geospatial analysis to locate areas across Minnesota with elevated levels of nitrate and arsenic in well water and better understand potential factors that might be influencing this. Statistically significant hotspots and cold spots were identified with up to 99% confidence. Hotspots of nitrate were located mainly in the south-central region while hotspots of arsenic were located primarily in the western and south-central portions …

Change Of Accessibility In The Izu Islands Before And After Tourism Development In The Pre-World War Ⅱ Period, Kantaro Takahashi

International Journal of Islands Research

This study compares accessibility on the Izu Islands, an inhabited archipelago. part of Tokyo Prefecture, from around the 1910s to the 1930s, during the early years of tourism development. Most islands in the archipelago started attracting tourists during the economically prosperous 1960s and 1970s; uniquely, Izu Oshima, the largest island, had been a tourist destination since before World War II. Tourism research on this region and period has predominantly employed a descriptive approach; quantitative studies have been rare owing to the dearth of data. Addressing this gap, this study conducts a network analysis of data acquired from the books of …

What’S In A Map?: Evaluating Mapping Techniques And Measures Of Culture To Inform Equitable Cultural Planning In Dallas, Texas, Kena Nicol

Planning Masters Professional Reports

The City of Dallas developed a neighborhood typology map to assess cultural resource distribution as part of its 2018 Cultural Plan, representing a relatively new approach that remains underexplored in academic literature. In the same plan, stakeholders identified equity as a central value, highlighting the need for tools that better support equitable cultural planning. This study evaluates the outcomes of two mapping techniques–cultural asset mapping and opportunity mapping – to examine how each represents cultural resource distribution across Dallas and supports equity-oriented analysis. Cultural asset mapping, the standard approach in cultural planning, identifies the spatial distribution of physical cultural infrastructure. …

What In The Fukushima Should We Do? Analyzing The Costs Of The Fukushima Daiichi Disaster And Japan’S Reactions, Sara Deal, Mary Blair Dellinger

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, which resulted from the Tōhoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami on 11 March 2011, has caused much debate about the future of the nuclear power industry.  Japan has shut down all of its 54 nuclear reactors and increased power production through fossil fuel plants to make up the difference (Foster 2012).  This paper analyzes Japan’s decision to shut down its nuclear reactors and investigates the environmental, economic, and health costs of this decision. Nuclear power is compared with other forms of power in regards to life cycle cost, land use, CO₂ emissions, and deaths on …

The Queer Family Farm: Exploring Agrifood Justice And Management Philosophies Among Lgbtq+ And Family Farmers In Minnesota And Wisconsin, Julia I. Castellano

Geography Honors Projects

Agriculture in the US countryside has long been idolized as a symbol of traditional American values via the “family farm” while queerness has become associated with avant-gardism and urbanity. This study contributes to the nascent but growing scholarship at the convergence of these seemingly opposing propositions: queer farming. Specifically, I contextualize LGBTQ+ farmers in Minnesota and Wisconsin through historical and modern perspectives on the dominant heteronuclear family farm and industrial agricultural landscape to understand how they approach farming in the absence of traditional gender roles and as predominantly small, alternative farmers. The family farm as we imagine it today is …

Food Sovereignty In Post-Apartheid South Africa: A Case Study Among Gardeners And Non-Gardeners In Genadendal, Western Cape, Timothy P. Delventhal

Geography Honors Projects

In post-Apartheid South Africa, large-scale commercial farming is promoted by the state as the only viable agricultural development model, while small-scale agriculture is marginalized in development discourse and the national land reform program aimed at addressing historical wrongs. However, food sovereignty movements across the Global South, such as Via Campesina, have promoted small-scale gardening for communities to gain control over their food systems and prevent the distancing of food from the labor that produced it. The research question investigated is whether people in the Genadendal area who grow their own food from gardens have better dietary diversity outcomes and increased …

Increasing Access To Rural Resources: A Spatial Exploration Of The Social Implications Of Mobility In Appalachian Kentucky., Anna Morris

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Mobility and accessibility are key predictors in the way that people navigate their communities. However, many rural areas lack holistic transportation systems that support the needs of a diverse range of users. As a result, rural residents, especially rural non-drivers, often face barriers to equitable mobility and access to necessary resources, like healthcare. This study examines the role that mobility plays in facilitating access to healthcare facilities for driving and non-driving populations in Appalachian Kentucky. The study pairs the Enhanced 2-Step Floating Catchment Area method with a demographic index to evaluate mobility equity through spatial accessibility to primary care facilities. …

Splitting Shores: Comparative Analysis Of Italy’S And Spain’S Reactions To Immigration, William E. Montgomery V

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

The divergence in public immigration sentiment between Italy and Spain, two countries with striking historical, geographic, and demographic similarities, is seen as a mystery for popular theoretical frameworks. Although both nations transitioned from net emigration to net immigration beginning in the 1970s and 1980s, Italy has consistently exhibited more negative attitudes toward immigration relative to the European average, while Spain has seen sustained improvement in immigration sentiment despite receiving immigrants at historically unprecedented levels. Employing a Most Similar Systems Design and drawing on quantitative demographic and survey data, primary legislative texts, and secondary scholarly literature, this thesis tests Group Threat …

Assessing Tourism-Induced Impacts In Communities Around The Indiana Dunes National Park, Charles James Kovacs

Masters Theses

This project aims to examine the effects of the tourism industry in and around a new National Park within the United States’ National Park system (NPS). The Indiana Dunes National Park (IDNP) received National Park designation in 2019. The park, situated on the south shore of Lake Michigan, is a roughly fifty-minute drive east of Chicago. This project seeks to ask and answer how the tourism industry has grown and continues to impact the lives of residents near the IDNP. Two communities, Michigan City and Chesterton, serve as the primary study areas along with the park itself. Qualitative methods, centered …

Gis-Based Trail Accessibility Assessment At Lime Hollow Nature Center, Ashley Siergiej

Honors Theses

Outdoor recreation, such as hiking, is an important component of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, especially in regions such as Central New York where natural areas are abundant. Hiking trails provide opportunities for people to connect with the environment, making it important that individuals of all abilities can access and experience these spaces. However, many environmental and physical factors can influence the difficulty and accessibility of hiking trails. This study evaluates trail accessibility at Lime Hollow Nature Center in Cortland, New York using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and field-based data collection. Field observations were collected along the Art Meadow Loop and …

Distribution Mapping And Modeling Of The Invasive Japanese Knotweed, Jossalyn Rogalski

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates the distribution of invasive Japanese knotweed across Michigan. This plant poses significant challenges to land management due to its rapid growth, environmental impacts, and difficulty of removal once established. Using geographic information systems (GIS), remotely sensed data, and secondary environmental datasets, this research maps current infestations and analyzes key factors influencing the species’ growth and dispersal, such as soil composition, hydrology, land use, and a range of environmental variables, including climatic (annual mean temperature, temperature seasonality, annual precipitation, precipitation seasonality), elevation, vegetation and hydrological indices (NDVI, EVI, NDWI), percent tree cover, and distance to roads. Spatial analysis …

Creating A Gis-Based Site Suitability Index For A Major Sports Stadium In Kansas City, Theodore E. Blair

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

There are many considerations taken when siting major sports stadiums. Most literature, though, has focused on the political and economic considerations, the negative outcomes of using public money for private projects. However, geographic considerations play a major part in deciding where to site a stadium. These considerations are wide-ranging and can change with the times. This thesis determines ten modern site suitability criteria, and with them, creates a site suitability index using GIS to determine and quantify more and less suitable areas for stadium development. It applies this index to the Kansas City area, as the city is currently in …

On The Trail, In The Towns: Visitor Use And Community Perspectives Along Montana’S Continental Divide Trail, Ava Worbets, Kika Bradford, Melissa Weddell

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

As outdoor recreation participation has steadily increased nationwide over the past decade, reaching record levels in 2024 amid long‑term growth trends (OIA, 2025), the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) is drawing rising numbers of hikers traveling through Montana’s gateway communities. Yet little is known about who these hikers are or how their presence affects the towns that support them. This report examines CDT hikers and their relationships with Montana gateway communities from two complementary perspectives. First, understanding hikers’ demographics, spending patterns, and trail behaviors using data from 507 respondents who completed Montana’s CDT sections between 2022 and 2024. Second, exploring how …

Immigration Related Stress As A Social Determinants Of Health Among Immigrants In Santa Cruz County, Jose Manuel Martinez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Immigration related stress is a major public health issue for undocumented immigrants and mixed status families. That is linked towards the social determinants of health associated with mental health, stress, and disparities. This capstone project was implemented at Santa Cruz County Immigration Project, a program within the Community Action Board in Watsonville, California, that provides legal assistance and support towards the community. The purpose of this project was to evaluate & analyze collected data from clients feedback through bilingual surveys & intake forms that were distributed in person, email, text, and QR code. A total of 50 surveys were collected, …