Digital Commons Network^™

Biodiversity Monitoring And Volunteer Motivations: A Case Study On The Imagined Communities Of Citizen Scientists In Meinung, Taiwan, Serena May Calcagno

Master's Projects and Capstones

The Asia Pacific’s biodiversity is under threat. One significant step that can improve conservation is gathering data on what species exist in different areas over time, which can provide insight into ecosystem health. This is especially important in biodiversity hotspots, where high levels of endemism and anthropogenic risk overlap. Though it is one of the few places in the Pacific not classified as a biodiversity hotspot, Taiwan has an unusually high saturation in terms of biodiversity data points. Investigating the motives of biodiversity monitoring volunteerism is already a topic of growing scholarly interest, but relatively few studies have focused on …

Addressing Uncertainties Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls In Schools, Alice Fan

Master's Projects and Capstones

Despite the potential neurological health deficits resulting from polychlorinated biphenyls, there is a lack of inhalation studies and regulations to protect students and teachers who are widely exposed to PCBs in older (1950 to 1979) schools. To estimate the extent of PCB detections in Los Angeles County schools, I applied a mathematical model to estimate the range of PCB detections in schools built between 1950 and 1984. I estimate the range of 17-34% PCB detections of open schools within Los Angeles County. Next, I reviewed exposure tools provided by the US EPA to bridge the uncertainty gaps between ingestion and …

A Living City: Food Accessibility And Urban Growth In New York City, Kat Coleman

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper examines the way in which food equity and localization initiatives, specifically in New York City, are a vital response to urban growth and sustainable food demand. Improvements to the current food system in the form of changing the way food is produced, procured, stored, transported, and distributed improves nutrition and contributes to urban sustainability. Chapter 1 provides data on urban environmental justice issues related to food equity, drawing on research from the United Nations and food justice organizations in New York City. Chapter 2 explores the ethical issues surrounding food access and food justice in an increasingly urban …

Joint Effects Of Ethnic Enclave Residence And Ambient Volatile Organic Compounds Exposure On Risk Of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Among Asian/Pacific Islander Women In The United States, Andrew D. Williams, Sandie Ha, Edmond Shenassa, Lynne C. Messer, Jenna Kanner, Pauline Mendola

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Asian/Pacific Islander (API) communities in the United States often reside in metropolitan areas with distinct social and environmental attributes. Residence in an ethnic enclave, a socially distinct area, is associated with lower gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) risk, yet exposure to high levels of air pollution, including volatile organic compounds (VOCS), is associated with increased GDM risk. We examined the joint effects of ethnic enclaves and VOCs to better understand GDM risk among API women, the group with the highest prevalence of GDM.

Methods:

We examined 9069 API births in the Consortium on Safe Labor (19 hospitals, 2002–2008). API ethnic …

Intangible Cultural Heritage: A Benefit To Climate-Displaced And Host Communities, Gül Aktürk, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Climate change is borderless, and its impacts are not shared equally by all communities. It causes an imbalance between people by creating a more desirable living environment for some societies while erasing settlements and shelters of some others. Due to floods, sea level rise, destructive storms, drought, and slow-onset factors such as salinization of water and soil, people lose their lands, homes, and natural resources. Catastrophic events force people to move voluntarily or involuntarily. The relocation of communities is a debatable climate adaptation measure which requires utmost care with human rights, ethics, and psychological well-being of individuals upon the issues …

Chemical Exposure From Manufactured Gas Plants: Public Health Risks?, Aneeza Hussain

Publications and Research

This project aims at identifying the chemicals and their risk factors to public health, which were found underneath Public Place, a brownfield next to the Gowanus Canal. The site is heavily contaminated with coal tar — a toxic chemical by-product of gas manufacturing, which happened at the site for 100 years until the gas plant closed down in the 1960s and the land was seized by the city. Recently, the city has planned to develop Public Place into “Gowanus Green” and which will be comprised of a school and low-income housing units on this site. The aim of this research …

Exploring Community Initiatives That Produce High Quality Volunteers: Citizen Science And Master Naturalist Programs In The United States, Travis Robbins, Alie Mayes, Julie Thomas

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Citizen science, which has contributed greatly to scientific understanding, works through partnerships between non-governmental and governmental organizations, academia, and most importantly, volunteers. In the United States, Master Naturalist training programs prepare adults as knowledgeable environmental stewards. Once certified, Master Naturalists are encouraged to log annual volunteer activity hours involving scientific research and education. Compared to untrained volunteers, individuals who have completed Master Naturalist training (or similar programs) exhibit greater project involvement and efficiency at collecting data. These traits align well with the goals of citizen science and point to a symbiotic relationship between citizen science and Master Naturalist programs. Here, …

Domestication, Eric Strauss

Module 12: Urban Wildlife

No abstract provided.

Determination Of Metals And Microplastics In Sediment From Oyster Reefs In The Mississippi Sound, Shelby Goza

Honors Theses

This research centers on the determination of metals (Cd, Pb, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) and microplastics (MPs) in marine sediment from oyster reefs in the Mississippi Sound Estuary. Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) are a vital part of the Gulf Coast economy, but their population has dramatically declined in recent years due to multiple stressors, including oil spills and fluctuations in salinity from flooding. Increasingly frequent flooding events also introduce high loads of MPs and sediments containing heavy metals from the Mississippi River. These pollutants can have deleterious effects on oyster biology; however, they have not been adequately …

Choosing Life Stories: Body As Teacher, .O Love, S. M. Curry, Scott F. Gilbert

Biology Faculty Works

Biological science and the larger society interact with each other. Biologists tell stories--stories such as fertilization, body development, and evolution--using the narrative structures given to them by the larger society. These stories have to be consistent with the scientific data; but what data are collected is also a social judgement. The stories that biologists have told have often emphasized competition and have often marginalized cooperative efforts. New research has shown that these competitive stories offer a very incomplete version of what is happening in our bodies, and that mutual cooperation is a major part of how the body develops and …

Evaluating Urban Parks Accessibility And Equity: A Case Study Of Hartford, Ct And New Haven, Ct, Natalie Roach, Mara Tu

Honors Scholar Theses

Public parks provide cities with environmental benefits, positive health effects, recreational opportunities, community building, educational spaces, and public amenities. However, certain populations have been systematically denied their fair share of these benefits because of unjust practices in the creation and maintenance of urban parks. With a lens of environmental justice, the goal of this research was to assess park quality and accessibility of two Connecticut cities, Hartford and New Haven, by gathering publicly available information as well as using GIS tools.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) has an existing ParkScore rating system that evaluates the quality of a city’s …

Environmental Racism In A Growing City: Investigating Demographic Shifts In Salt Lake City's Polluted Neighborhoods, Emma Nathel Jones

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Studies investigating the spatial distribution of environmental hazards have repeatedly demonstrated the existence of environmental racism -- the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on communities of color. We aim to contribute to research on environmental racism by asking how relationships between race and hazard exposure change over time. Our study area, Salt Lake City (SLC), UT, USA is one of the largest cities in the intermountain west and is expected to see continued population growth. SLC was 99% white from 1860-1950. 2019 census estimates indicate that SLC is becoming more racially diverse with 35.6% of the population identifying as racial …

Eelgrass Restoration In San Francisco Bay: An Interdisciplinary Stated Preference Classroom Experiment, Camille M. Antinori

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

This paper aims to integrate experiential, interdisciplinary approaches into environmental economics courses through a stated preference analysis for eelgrass beds harboring aquatic plants foundational to many estuaries and coastal zones. It argues that such approaches are necessary in undergraduate education to support real-world needs in oceans and climate policy. Through collaboration with ecologists and peers, students developed willingness-to-pay measures of $35 and $42 for a 10-year restoration program for 200 acres of eelgrass (Zostera marina) in the San Francisco Bay based on open- and closed-ended elicitation formats. The experiment provides an example of overcoming the challenge of orienting …

Reading - Environmental Justice Narrative, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 02: Land Use

No abstract provided.

Lesson Plan - Mystery Of The Dancing Cat, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 04: Hazardous Waste

This lesson continues on the topic of ecological impacts of hazardous waste and focuses specifically on the process of biomagnification. Students will read a case study about mercury poisoning in Minimata, Japan. Students will construct a food web diagram of a Minimata Bay ecosystem and then they will create a graph of mercury concentrations versus food chain position. This lesson also incorporates the idea of environmental justice.

Overheads - Autopsy Report, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 04: Hazardous Waste

No abstract provided.

Student Pages - Mercury Case Study: Mystery Of The Dancing Cat, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 04: Hazardous Waste

No abstract provided.

Reading - What Is Urban Ecology?, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 01: Introduction to Urban Ecology

No abstract provided.

Student Handout - What Are The Different Lenses We Can Use To View Ecosystems?, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 01: Introduction to Urban Ecology

No abstract provided.

Lenses Handout, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 01: Introduction to Urban Ecology

No abstract provided.

Earth Law And The Rights Of Nature A New Generation Of Laws Built For Nature, Lindsey Kayman, Paul Bartlett, Milena Popov, Grant Wilson

Open Educational Resources

Earth Law and the Rights of Nature: A New Generation of Laws Built for Nature

Wilson, Grant, Kayman, Lindsey, Bartlett, Paul, and Milena Popov John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Earth Law Center, Environmental Education Fund

Forget doom and gloom. Let’s educate students about the Rights of Nature, an inspiring, evolving legal development which is gaining traction in the US and around the world, and which can promote the cultural shift needed to address our overlapping intersecting environmental crises — climate change, accelerating species extinction, and ecosystem collapse. The Rights of Nature is one aspect of Earth Law. Some of …

Civic Agriculture In Review: Then, Now, And Future Directions, Allison Kaika, Alexis Racelis

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

"Civic agriculture," a term first coined by rural sociologist Thomas Lyson, refers to forms of agriculture that occur on a local level, from production to consumption, and are linked to a community's social and economic development. Sixteen years since its original articulation, the term "civic agriculture" has taken on greater significance in research, political activism, and community organizing. Grown from the roots of civic community theory, civic agriculture functions as a new branch of civic community theory that is ripe for theorization. In revisiting the foundations of the term, this review paper seeks to consolidate current and future research in …

Unprecedented Migratory Bird Die-Off: A Citizen-Based Analysis On The Spatiotemporal Patterns Of Mass Mortality Events In The Western United States, Di Yang, Anni Yang, Jue Yang, Rongting Xu, Han Qiu

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Extensive, severe wildfires, and wildfire-induced smoke occurred across the western and central United States since August 2020. Wildfires resulting in the loss of habitats and emission of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds pose serious threatens to wildlife and human populations, especially for avian species, the respiratory system of which are sensitive to air pollutions. At the same time, the extreme weather (e.g., snowstorms) in late summer may also impact bird migration by cutting off their food supply and promoting their migration before they were physiologically ready. In this study, we investigated the environmental drivers of massive bird die-offs by …

Applying Social Science To Bring Resident Stakeholders Into Pollution Governance: A Rural Environmental Justice Public Health Case Study, Sherrie M. Steiner, Jordan M. Marshall, Atefeh Mohammadpour, Aaron W. Thompson

Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture Faculty Publications

The purpose of this engaged public sociology study was to use social science to bring resident stakeholders into the process of governing pollution production in a rural community. The community has cancer clusters. Residents have concerns about direct exposure to pollution production in their neighborhood by a steel recycling plant that has been cited numerous times for environmental violations. The facility has been under voluntary remediation since 2009, but neighborhood residents were marginalized from the governance process. This case study details how social science was used to bring neighborhood residents’ concerns about direct exposure to toxic air pollution into remediation …

Coastlines, Coastal Cities, And Climate Change: A Perspective On Urgent Research Needs In The United States, Paul A. Sandifer, Geoffrey I. Scott Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This paper builds upon Friedman et al. (2020) and other reviews and statements but provides an explicit focus on research needed to improve the resilience and survivability of coastal communities as they face existential threats from climate change. It does not attempt a prescriptive analysis of potential research emphases, but instead recommends some key research areas that we believe will help provide a solid foundation for community adaptation. Our perspective is based on our experiences over a combined nearly 95 years of work in research, management, and policy, much of it related to coastal environments and their communities, rather than …

Bipoc Communities And Environmental Humanities, Liza Gonzalez

Bryant University Undergraduate Journal

No abstract provided.

West Chester Borough Urban Forest: An Environmental Benefit For All, Michael B. Dunn, Joan Welch

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

No abstract provided.

Environmentally Marginalized Populations: The "Perfect Storm" For Infectious Disease Pandemics, Including Covid-19, Gabriella Y. Meltzer, Oyemwenosa Avenbuan, Christina Awada, Oluwakemi B. Oyetade, Tricia Blackman, Simona Kwon Drph, Mph, Esther Erdei Phd, Judith T. Zelikoff Phd

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

COVID-19 has exacted a severe toll on the United States population’s physical and mental health and its effects have been felt most severely among people of color and low socioeconomic status. Using illustrative case studies, this commentary argues that in addition to COVID-19 health disparities created by psychosocial stressors such as the inability to socially distance and access quality healthcare, environmental justice communities have the additional burden of disproportionate exposure to toxic contaminants that contribute to their higher risk of COVID-19. Environmental contaminants including heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants found contaminating their nearby environments can alter the immune response, …

Faith, Farming And Food Justice, Catherine Curran

Charles Rice Post-Graduate Research Fellowship

Through a liberationist lens, religion and social justice are more similar than different. Food illuminates opportunities for building collective agency and community resilience in which religion and social justice might serve one another (White 2018). Specifically, faith communities can contribute to local food systems by using church-owned lands to provide access to farmland for beginning and BIPOC farmers, improve access to fresh, healthy produce, and enhance food security (FaithLands 2021). Faith communities are shifting mindsets from charity to justice and scarcity to abundance while addressing rural child hunger (Lietz-Bilecky 2020). Overall, this paper explores unique ways the Christian food movement …

A Narrative Review Of Grocery Store Interventions On Improving Healthy Food Purchases, Kylie Serie

Health and Nutritional Sciences Graduate Students Plan B Capstone Projects

Objective: The objective of the literature review was to understand and review current research in the area of grocery store interventions to improve purchasing of healthy foods.
Methods: PubMed and web-based searches were done for original research literature that looked at supermarket and grocery store interventions promoting healthy food choices. The literature could include qualitative and quantitative data. Keywords that were used include: “grocery store,” “interventions,” “healthy eating,” “supermarket,” “healthy foods,” “store intervention,” “food retail intervention,” “convenience store.”
Results: The review showed that there are studies on supermarket interventions. Interventions that showed positive outcomes were those that had direct …