Overcoming Obstacles To Equitable Energy Transitions And Promoting Energy Sovereignty For Us Tribal Nations, Don Lee

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dissertation explores the potential of equitable energy transitions guided by the tenets of energy justice with a focus on Tribal energy sovereignty through renewable energy development. It contributes to the literature on the social acceptance of energy systems, public perceptions of renewable energy transitions, the ramifications of US federal Tribal law on Tribal energy development and sovereignty, and the implications of conforming to capitalist logics in the energy justice literature.

To understand the importance of building reciprocal and collaborative relationships, our team of researchers and Tribal members collaborated on the development of a methodology to survey respondents in a …

Death Of A Doctrine: The End Of Classical Deterrence In A Complex Multipolar World, Daniel H. Wang

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Today's deterrence is dramatically different from that during the Cold War. This thesis examines how changes in global geopolitics altered deterrent frameworks and how those changes threaten strategic stability. Traditional nuclear deterrence is built on clear adversaries, established escalation protocols, and predictable outcomes that are increasingly obsolete when facing modern realities. Adversaries employ hybrid strategies below the traditional thresholds of nuclear deterrence while integrating nuclear capabilities into these hybrid tactics, driving a distinct disadvantage for traditional deterrence frameworks. Russia uses nuclear signaling with gray zone operations, China combines multidomain operations with nuclear deterrence to employ a full spectrum of capabilities, …

Assessing Local Public Officials' Roles, Challenges, And Opportunities Encountered When Integrating Newcomers: A Case Study To Evaluate The Cities Of Rochester And Worthington., John Dassou

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

Immigrants’ integration plays an important part in policy concerns and goals in many local governments since it is a major issue for local officials to integrate immigrants and incorporate them into the host community successfully. Concurrently, it is important to know the roles of local public officials, host communities, and immigrants in the process. The purpose of this study is to assess the challenges that local officials face, and how they handle these encounters effectively and efficiently. Greater collaboration between all stakeholders, social cohesion, and collective efforts implies the idea that immigrants’ integration depends on many players and factors. It …

An Evaluation Of Kentucky’S Policy Landscape And Its Impacts On High-Growth Firms In The Commonwealth, Ivanna Patrick, Jordan Arnold, Devin Dunigan

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

There is significant research on high-growth firms (HGFs), though there is little research focusing on such businesses in Kentucky. By comparing Kentucky to two similar states that are economic competitors and in the context of the Kentucky Innovation Act of 2000, we find that Kentucky has a relatively fewer number of HGFs, even compared to itself at the time of the bill’s passage. Ultimately, we determined that there was a focus on high-tech firms in Kentucky that may be detrimental to the growth and success of HGFs in other industries; furthermore, it would serve the state to focus enhanced efforts …

Assessing High-Speed Rail (Hsr) Policy And Politics In Washington State: Avoiding The Mistakes Of The Past, Landen K. Hashimura

All Master's Theses

While international standard high-speed rail (HSR) has yet to be successfully completed in the US, there is a national interest in the topic, as evidenced by recent federal initiatives to research HSR across various corridors. The Cascadia Corridor has been identified as a region with high potential for HSR, leading to an ongoing study in the State of Washington. Given the tumultuous history of American HSR development, the Cascadia HSR initiative needs to avoid the mistakes of the past. Two major contributing factors to this failure to build HSR are uneven political support for HSR and poor policy frameworks. Despite …

Empowering U.S. Allies In The Indo-Pacific: An "America First" Approach To Great Power Competition, Nathaniel Benjamin

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The Indo-Pacific is the primary area for Great Power Competition between the United States and China. China’s rapid but cautious rise has allowed it to achieve a position that threatens to upset the norms and rules of the U.S.-led system in the region. The second Trump Administration has pursued an “America First” policy since taking office in January 2025, but pushing U.S. allies to take on more responsibility for their own defense will not be enough. U.S. allies are major regional players and should be trusted to uphold the principles of the current international system; therefore the U.S. must limit …

Indopacom Force Structure: A Trajectory Into The 2030s, Robert Burke

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Over the past ten years Taiwan has become a major point of friction between the United States and People’s Republic of China with both militaries preparing for a potential conflict over the island. China vastly expanded its military forces and capabilities over the past thirty years and is intent on obtaining the ability to both seize Taiwan by force and prevent the United States from generating enough combat power to intervene and defend the island. The Pentagon began to restructure its conventional forces in the Western Pacific at the end of the 2010s, implementing new operational concepts designed to fight …

Social Determinants Of Health And Aging In Africa: Structural Inequality, Vulnerability, And The Future Of Care, Aremu Umor Lukman, Sunkanmi Folorunsho, Abdulrauf Olaitan Taofeeq

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Population aging is accelerating across Africa yet remains underrepresented in research, policy, and public health planning. This review critically examines how social determinants shape aging experiences across the continent, focusing on health, care systems, and structural inequalities. While traditional African societies have historically valued older adults, modernization, migration, and economic hardship have eroded support systems, leaving many to face old age with limited resources. Older Africans, particularly women and rural residents, contend with lifelong disadvantages including low education, informal labor, poverty, and gendered caregiving roles that contribute to poor health and social vulnerability. Health systems remain poorly equipped to address …

From Campus To Career: Enhancing Career Support Services For Graduate International Students At The University Of Kentucky, Aku Fiagbeto, Ratwah Alhazmi

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

During the 2023–2024 academic year, the University of Kentucky enrolled a total of 1,285 international students, with 784 (61%) being graduate students. International students play a crucial role in enriching the university’s cultural and academic landscape. While UK has achieved record enrollment and improved student success rates, including a 66% graduation rate that places it among the top 100 public institutions in the U.S., it is important to consider whether these trends apply to international students as well. Retention and graduation rates for this demographic may differ from those of domestic students, highlighting potential challenges such as visa restrictions, financial …

Public University Gift Management Policies: Building A Best Practice Guide, Cristin Costello

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Currently, no consistent standards exist for how institutions of higher education should manage their non-endowed gift revenue. Good stewardship of gift funds is vital to ensuring the maintenance of donor relationships to create unions that bring further financial opportunities to universities for years to come. Public institutions, as recipients of government dollars, are especially vulnerable to the negative repercussions that could come with the scandal of misappropriated gift dollars. Overall cash donations to higher education have significantly increased in the past few decades as state appropriations fall short and the need to keep tuition rates stable increases. It is more …

Reforming Need: How Certificate Of Need Laws In North Carolina Can Be Reformed To Promote Rural To Regional Health Network Integration, Taylor Fulk

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Across North Carolina, many rural hospitals are facing closures, staffing shortages, and financial turmoil. Many hospitals, such as Morehead Hospital in Eden, NC (now UNC Rockingham), have utilized mergers with larger regional networks (e.g., UNC Health, Duke, Novant, Atrium) to stabilize operations and preserve local access to care. (deBruyn, 2017). However, even after successful integration efforts to bring some rural hospitals into larger regional networks, Certificate of Need laws in North Carolina are preventing these smaller, rural integrated hospitals from expanding their service offerings, thereby driving up healthcare expenditures for residents. As a result, patients experience longer-than-normal travel times and …

From Equitable Access To Equitable Usage: Moving Towards Data-Driven, Evidence-Based Cycling Assets Management, Kewei Ren, Yunping Liang, Chun-Hsing Ho

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Cycling is increasingly recognized for its wide range economic, environmental, and health benefits as a mobility option. However, disparities in the provision and the quality of bicycle infrastructure persists. Ensuring fair access and usage of these benefits for all presents a significant challenge. As a result, establishing effective methodologies to evaluate cycling equity is critically important. This paper synthesizes research on infrastructure asset management with a focus on equity considerations in bicycle infrastructure. A systematic review of 19 North American studies critically examines how existing research categorizes vulnerable populations and assesses fairness. The results reveal that most existing analyses focus …

Analyzing Car Theft Trends In Central Texas: A Comparative Study Of Waco, College Station, And Killeen, Daniel Njogu

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This study examines motor vehicle theft (MVT) trends from 2019 to 2023 in three Central Texas cities—Waco, College Station, and Killeen—using temporal analysis, geospatial hotspot mapping, and make/model data. In Killeen, thefts generally rose over the period, with notable peaks in October and on Mondays. College Station saw an overall decline in thefts but experienced a seasonal spike each March, and Waco’s thefts increased until around 2021 before beginning to fall. Local festivals—such as the Spirit of Texas in College Station and the Heart O’ Texas Fair in Waco—appear to coincide with these seasonal upticks. Hyundais and Kias were most …

Urban Isolation In The Digital Age- Examining The Sociological Impact Of The Digital Divide On Civic Life In U.S. Cities, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

The digital divide remains a persistent barrier to civic participation and social inclusion in urban America, particularly in historically underserved communities. This mixed-methods study investigates how digital lack of access affects civic engagement, social capital, and community cohesion in U.S. cities, with a focus on Chicago’s South Side, Harlem New York, St. Louis, and Orlando. Drawing on quantitative data from recent surveys and qualitative insights from peer-reviewed literature, the research applies four sociological frameworks, Urban Sociology, Social Capital Theory, Critical Race Theory, and Symbolic Interactionism. These were used to examine the structural and interpretive aspects of digital isolation. Findings reveal …

The San Francisco Bay Area’S Vulnerability To Sea Level Rise: Integrating Community Engagement And Equity Into Sea-Level Rise Adaptation Planning, Isabella Marie Carreon

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis examines the San Francisco Bay Area’s vulnerability to sea-level rise (SLR), highlighting the importance of equity and community engagement in adaptation planning. The study integrates geospatial data and qualitative community input using a GIS Story Map to identify Points of Interest (POIs)—such as schools, hospitals, and public transportation routes—and assess SLR vulnerabilities across social, economic, geographic, and contamination dimensions. Case studies, such as the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan, demonstrate the limitations of large-scale policies in accommodating diverse communities and highlight the effectiveness of community-driven strategies. The thesis also explores innovative approaches to community engagement in educational settings and …

From Feedlot To Floor Vote: ​​How Animal Agribusiness Wields Power To Capture The American State, Hannah Hughes

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis examines how large-scale animal agriculture operations exercise disproportionate political influence to shape regulatory policy in their favor, often at the expense of environmental protection and public health. Through analysis of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), this study demonstrates how the animal agribusiness industry has systematically captured regulatory processes at federal, state, and local levels. The research traces industrial animal agriculture's development in the 21st century and its environmental consequences. The analysis reveals significant gaps in federal oversight, examining how the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act have proven inadequate in regulating CAFO operations. At the state level, …

The Permanent Supportive Housing Of Central Virginia’S Aged Out Foster Youths: The Permanent Supportive Housing Of Central Virginia’S Aged Out Foster Youths A Plan To Increase Regional Capacity, Fill Gaps In Service, And Identify Potential Sites., Matthew Snow

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

As of 2024, Virginia’s Central Region continues to produce one of the highest rates of foster care emancipations in the state, despite having minimal infrastructure to support young adults transitioning out of care. Each year, dozens of foster youth in the region age out of the system without reunification, adoption, or other forms of permanency, disproportionately entering adulthood without the stability of housing, employment, or accessible services. Although permanent supportive housing (PSH) has emerged as a nationally validated model for housing and service integration, few PSH developments in Virginia are designed specifically for aged-out foster youth or their families.

This …

Richmond Handbook: The Future Of Youth Engagement In The Planning & Design Sector Of Richmond, Virginia, Chanté C. Holt

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Storefront for Community Design is a non-profit organization in Richmond, Virginia that works to make design programs and resources accessible to all. While honoring this commitment, the organization also devotes resources to educating K-12 students on urban planning processes in the City of Richmond. Using this as a framework, the research creates parameters that guide the best practices for stakeholders such as the client Storefront for Community Design who are invested in producing urban planning educational material and programming. To effectively create recommendations for this client, the professional plan establishes the current state of urban planning education in the Richmond, …

Transit-Oriented Development On Aquidneck Island: Considering The Costs And Benefits Of Restoring Passenger Rail Between Fall River, Massachusetts, And Newport, Rhode Island, Maeve M. Newton

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

This thesis considers the costs and benefits of restoring historic infrastructure as transit-oriented development on Aquidneck Island, and its potential to bridge social and economic gaps between the urban communities of Newport, Rhode Island, and Fall River, Massachusetts. There is a direct need for more robust public transportation on Aquidneck Island along with environmentally friendly planning initiatives, and reinstating the Newport Secondary Rail Line for passenger rail service to the new Fall River MBTA station is one important way for historic preservation to be utilized for the improvement of sustainability and socioeconomic equity in the region. Original research will be …

Socio-Economic And Infrastructural Determinants Of Response Time Disparities Across Emergency Service Agencies, Alice N. Ottah

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This study comprehensively analyzes the determinants of disparities in emergency response times for EMS, Fire, and Police agencies in San Francisco from 2021 to 2023, utilizing a multilevel modeling framework and publicly accessible data. Contrary to a primary reliance on structural neighborhood factors, this research reveals that while neighborhood disadvantage statistically significantly interacts with agency type to influence response times, its direct effect is weak and not uniformly consistent across services. Specifically, the analysis demonstrates that variance in call response times across neighborhoods is minimal (Intraclass Correlation Coefficients < 0.02), the effects of disadvantage are agency-specific (null effects for Police and Fire), and even when significant (for EMS calls only), response times are faster in more disadvantaged neighborhoods. These findings challenge the existing literature on emergency response times and highlight the need for tailored policy interventions that consider both neighborhood context and agency-specific operations to promote equitable emergency response.

Factors Contributing To Fatalities In Helicopter Emergency Medical Service Accidents, Jenna Korentsides, Joseph R. Keebler, Mihhail Berezovski, Alex Chaparro

Publications

INTRODUCTION: T his study aimed to update and reinforce previous research on helicopter emergency medical service accidents in the United States. By investigating predictors of fatalities after helicopter emergency medical service crashes through the application of machine learning techniques, we updated existing data sets and sought to uncover patterns that traditional analysis might not reveal.

METHODS: Using the National Transportation Safety Board database, the authors analyzed a dataset of 267 helicopter emergency medical service accidents between 1991–2022. We first calculated fatalities odds ratios for each condition. We then plotted geospatial locations of all reported accidents. Finally, we used XGBoost regression …

Ineligible Partners: Tribal Nations And Cooperative Federalism In The Historical Development Of National Forest Law And Policy, James H. Baker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Lands within the National Forest System (NFS), like all federal public lands, are rooted in Aboriginal Title and were once exclusively inhabited by Indigenous peoples and communities. Through the process of treaty-making, the federal government amassed millions of acres of ceded Tribal lands, many of which are now managed by federal public land agencies, including 194 million acres managed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Several Tribes reserved various use and property rights on these lands that are protected by the U.S. Constitution’s Treaty and Supremacy Clauses. The federal government also has an overarching trust obligation to Tribes – a …

2025-2026 Craft Academy Student Handbook, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Communications and Marketing Publications Archive

The 2025-2026 Craft Academy Student Handbook.

Assisted Living, Residential Care, And Memory Care Staffing Level Dynamics: Oregon, 2017–2023, Sarah Dys, Ozcan Tunalilar

Institute on Aging Publications

Objectives

To examine changes in staffing levels over time in Oregon assisted living and residential care (AL/RC) communities between 2017 and 2023.

Design

Longitudinal study of licensed AL/RC communities.

Setting and Participants

A total of 1720 setting-year observations from 535 individual AL/RC communities in Oregon between 2017 and 2023.

Methods

Primary data were collected through the Oregon Community-Based Care (CBC) study. Staffing levels were estimated as care staff hours per resident per day and reported overall and by staff type, including registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, certified medication aides, unlicensed care staff, life enrichment staff, and social …

Implementing Gross National Happiness In Bhutan As A Development Model And Governance Tool – Perspectives Of Policy Influencers, Tashi Dorji, Angus Morrison-Saunders, David Blake

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Bhutan’s development philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH) prioritises the collective wellbeing of its people over economic growth through a multidimensional index that informs policy. While GNH has received global recognition, persistent challenges in conceptual clarity and practical implementation are argued and debated. This qualitative study examines the role and utility of GNH as a development model and its implementation as a multifaceted governance tool in Bhutan. The findings reveal that GNH is conceptualised in diverse ways, ranging from personal happiness to a more generic communal philosophy. While its strengths lie in its culturally grounded framework, key limitations include a …

Examining Geographic Access To Specialty Education In Richmond, Virginia, Nonso Akunwafor

UROP Posters

This study examines how the geographic distribution of selective admissions schools (SAS) in Richmond, Virginia, affects student enrollment patterns and access to specialized education. It aims to (1) identify whether spatial distribution and transportation availability create barriers to accessing SAS and (2) evaluate possible solutions for improving access to specialty education. SAS in Richmond are secondary schools with specialized and rigorous academic programs, requiring a selective process for admissions. Existing research has explored the equity implications of the admissions processes of these types of schools, but limited research addresses access from a geographic perspective, particularly for Richmond Public Schools (RPS), …

Conceptual Critical Success Factors Model On Infrastructure Sustainability Rating System For California Construction Projects, Joseph J. Kim, Jose A. Arroyo-Turcios

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report addresses the sensitivity and reliability of the sustainability rating systems by comparing each category’s verified scores with its respective submitted scores to evaluate how points are awarded for infrastructure projects, examine which categories present the most challenges for verification, and identify the best category for verification in the sustainability rating system. The authors conducted three analyses using credit score data obtained from fourteen actual civil infrastructure projects certified under Envision. First, the Natural World category had the highest average score from the submitted and verified data. Pairwise comparisons using t-tests indicate that the mean value of one category …

Political Turbulence And Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis Of Political Stability's Effects On Aviation Accidents, Léa Faure, Lilliam Maria Cáceres Malachowski

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency. Political instability can indeed have profound effects on reducing overall public safety in a variety of domains through its influence on public policies. Reduced regulations and governance efforts can appear in contentious contexts for less-prioritized fields. This could influence the reemergence of technical aviation risk factors like crew training and performance, maintenance issues, infrastructure problems, human errors, etc. This would highlight a correlation between such political instability and weaker aviation safety regulations, investments …

Social Susceptibility-Driven Longitudinal Tornado Reconnaissance Methodology: 2021 Midwest Quad-State Tornado Outbreak, John W. Van De Lindt, Wanting "Lisa" Wang, Blythe Johnston, P. Shane Crawford, Guirong Yan, Thang Dao, Trung Do, Katie Skakel, Mojtaba Harati, Tu Nguyen, Robinson Umeike, Silvana Croope

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

With the impact of climate change, the intensity and frequency of tornado events have been increasing. Enhancing tornado reconnaissance methods can comprehensively capture building damage and recovery data following tornado events and outbreaks, thereby strengthening community resilience against the threat of future tornado events. Advancements in tornado data reconnaissance research have embraced remote sensing techniques to assess building damage after tornado events, supplanting traditional reconnaissance methods relying on handheld cameras with GIS mapping. Community resilience research offers a groundbreaking perspective, stressing the importance of assessing buildings throughout their recovery cycle-from damage and functionality to recovery-and considering their socioeconomic stability in …

Yucatan Hurricane Activity Highlights Common Era Tropical Cyclone Dipole, Richard M. Sullivan, Peter J. Van Hengstum, Elizabeth J. Wallace, Sloan Coats, Jeffrey P. Donnelly, Robert Korty, Shawna N. Little, Martin G. Maas Vargas, Luis Mejia-Ortiz, Eduard G. Reinhardt, Courtney Schumacher, Anne E. Tamalavage, Tyler S. Winkler

OES Faculty Publications

Tropical cyclone (TC) impacts along the western Atlantic and Caribbean margin are not spatially uniform. Proxy based reconstructions of Common Era TC activity highlight this non-uniform distribution at centennial-millennial timescales. However, the sparse geographic scope of these reconstructions impedes our assessment of TC landfalls across broader spatial domains. This work presents a compilation of new and existing TC reconstructions from the Yucatan Peninsula for comparison with a contemporaneous compilation from New England, showing that these regions occupy distal nodes of a low-frequency TC dipole. Increased Yucatan (New England) storminess is closely linked to intervals of Northern Hemisphere warming (cooling) and …