Digital Commons Network^™

Environmental Movements In El Paso And Ciudad Juarez: Possibilities And Limitations Of Cross-Border Organization At The U.S.-Mexico Border, Vanessa Maria Almada

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

At the U.S.-Mexico border, the anthropogenic and nationalistic construction of the landscape has accelerated urbanization and unequal development without establishing effective binational institutions for governance over a shared commons. Borderlanders, then, contest unsustainable development with the added complexity of navigating a barrier which creates diverse socioeconomic and political realities that challenge cross-border cooperation. This qualitative research analyzes environmental organizations in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. Through ethnographic study of mobilization in response to environmental legislation and administrative action in each city, the immediate barriers to cross-border cooperation and limitations of nationalistic institutions in the borderlands can be better understood.

The New York Times: A Strategic Audit, Kaylee Campbell, Cassidy June, Keira Cummins, Tanner Maas, Alyssa Fjelstad

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The New York Times is a legacy newspaper that has navigated a great many changes since its founding in 1851. The company rose to success with its traditional print journalism, but has now transformed into a largely digital, subscription-based business model that provides subscribers with access to news, games, recipes, podcasts, product recommendations, and more. This provides an excellent foundation for a strategic audit to understand how one of the giants of a dying industry has not only managed to stay alive, but to thrive.

A PESTEL and Porter’s Five Forces analysis reveals that The New York Times operates in …

Kroc Ipj Border Fellows Report 2024 — English, Rebeca Cázares Adame

Kroc IPJ Research and Resources

The Kroc Border Fellows Program brings together change agents from academia, civil society, the public sector, and the private sector to build a more inclusive and peaceful Mexico-U.S. border region through action-oriented research and meaningful community partnerships.

The non-residential fellowship spans 10 months and provides financial and technical support for Fellow-designed and -implemented projects. This model reflects a core belief that those closest to border communities' challenges are best positioned to develop effective solutions — and that lasting change must be built on existing community assets and strengths.

Throughout the fellowship, cohort members meet regularly to foster collaboration, mutual learning, …

Public Pool Usage As Adaptation Against Urban Heat, Stefan Borsky, Eric Fesselmeyer

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper examines the relationship between urban heat and outdoor public pool usage. Using attendance data from all 53 outdoor public pools in New York City, we analyze nonlinear effects of heat on pool usage across socioeconomic contexts. Pool attendance rises sharply with heat, especially in low-income neighborhoods where alternative coping options are likely limited. We also find that public pools reduce heat-related emergency medical service calls. Our findings highlight the need for equitable investment in blue infrastructure to enhance urban climate resilience and demonstrate how this type of adaptive infrastructure can play a critical role in managing urban heat.

Toward An Integrative Anthropological Ecology; Pluralism, Power, And Socioecological Futures, Komang Ariyanto

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

No abstract provided.

Energy Transitions By Wire? The Spatial Politics Of Transmission Development In New England, Maddy Kroot

Student Publications [Scholarly]

This data set is a corpus of de-identified transcripts from a doctoral research project examining local opposition to two high-voltage transmission lines in northern New England. The corpus includes 41 transcripts from interview participants who consented for their de-identified transcripts to be posted to the Clark Digital Commons. This research was supported by the NSF Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences Doctoral  Dissertation Research Improvement Award (#2400991).

Advancing Sdg 7.2: China's Global Renewable Energy Transition, Maria Clara Machado Corrêa

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

In light of China's dominance in the renewable energy sector, this article analyzes the extent to which Chinese investments are increasing the global share of renewable energy, achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 7, target 2. It assesses two modes of intervention: the development of the Chinese renewable energy industries domestically, its impact in emerging economies, and the extent to which the manufacturing of electric vehicles further supports Beijing's energy transition. It concludes that China has rapidly scaled clean energy by utilizing a centralized state-led and top-down approach, driven by the need to guarantee its own energy security, while disproportionately impacting …

Power, Knowledge, And Environmental Justice: The Dakota Access Pipeline Controversy, Mya Chapman

Honors Projects

In a time of rife political conflict and debate, it is important to understand the underlying power dynamics that permeate our society in America. As devised by French historian and philosopher Michel Foucault, power and knowledge are mutually constitutive forces that shape our social relations. Through the actions of certain discourses, distinct truths are cultivated that in turn, reinforce existing power structures. In this study, these concepts are applied to the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy in the form of a Foucauldian discourse analysis to understand how the pipeline remained operational in the face of great opposition. Written discourse in the …

Beyond Victimhood, Expanding Narratives: A Generative Inquiry With Trafficking Survivors, Giacomo Chiara, Celiane Camargo-Borges, Diego Romaioli, Alberta Contarello

The Qualitative Report

This study is a generative inquiry with survivors of trafficking from a social constructionist perspective. Inspired by the principles of Appreciative Inquiry, its focus is collaboration between researchers and trafficking survivors with a view to shaping and understanding their trafficking experiences together, expanding understanding of the topic and co-constructing a relational space in which counter-narratives on victimhood can be generated. It consisted of 10 interviews with women survivors of trafficking at the Italian Anti-Trafficking System. These women were from a range of nations and their experiences of exploitation varied. Taking a constructionist approach to research, we formulated an episodic-generative interview …

Holding The Line: The Existential Threat To Dei Language And Values, Terrance Fitzsimmons, Larry Martinez, Jennifer Bishop, Darryl Rice, Florence Villesèche

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose – This article critically analyses and critiques the operationalisation of the Trump administration’s anti- DEI policies on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the United States of America and beyond. It specifically examines the attempt to silence DEI scholarship and practice, assessing the broader implications for social justice and global progress towards equity. The article also positions these attacks as an existential threat to DEI scholarship, scholars and practitioners, with the potential to reverse progress made since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The article serves as a call to action, urging the …

Engaging Young People In Sustainable Finance: Opening Up Opportunities For Transformation, Allison Guerette

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

The field of sustainable finance could benefit from more meaningful engagement with young people, who offer a unique perspective and have a vested interest in addressing climate change and other global issues that will shape their future. In this post-qualitative study, three young people document what they see, hear, and experience as they attend a symposium for experts on sustainable finance and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. These raw tellings are used in the cocreation of a youth sustainable finance assemblage and analysis tool, which the young people then apply to the Return on Sustainable Investment (ROSI™) methodology. Relationality, …

Master Of Social Work Faculties Integration Of Gender And Sexuality Diverse Content: A Cross-Sectional, Quantitative Study, Lynn Mazur

Social Work Doctoral Dissertations

Master of social work (MSW) students may be entering into field practice without meeting the necessary competencies for practice to address the needs of the gender and sexuality diverse (GSD) population. The literature supports that GSD content may be absent from course content. This cross-sectional design study aimed to understand what factors influence MSW faculty to incorporate GSD content into their coursework. MSW faculty at Council on Social Work Education (CSWE, 2022) accredited programs were invited via email to complete an online, anonymous, and voluntary survey. The results suggested strong support for the integration of GSD content into the coursework, …

An Equity Analysis Of Battery Electric Vehicles During Evacuation Considering Social And Financial Disadvantage, Divyamitra Mishra

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The increasing share of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the transportation system is introducing new challenges to the emergency evacuation planning and management. During Hurricane Milton (2024), incidents involving BEVs, including battery fires, attributed to saltwater exposure risk, and advisories recommending relocation to higher ground, highlighted operational vulnerabilities unique to this technology. These emerging risks are likely to be experienced heterogeneously, as access to charging infrastructure, available resources, and evacuation flexibility varies across the population. This raises critical questions about how BEV-specific constraints interact with existing inequalities during evacuation. Motivated by this context, the dissertation investigated inequity in BEV evacuation …

Narrative Strategies In Presidential Environmental Policymaking: An Examination Of The Executive Impacts Of Presidential Narratives, Gorgin Mansourian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

In this dissertation, I examine how U.S. presidents employ narrative strategies to shape environmental policymaking through both rhetorical and institutional mechanisms. Specifically, I investigate how Presidents Donald J. Trump and Joseph R. Biden constructed, communicated, and institutionalized environmental narratives during their first terms, highlighting the relationship between presidential narratives and executive orders. Using the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) and Richard Neustadt’s Presidential Power Theory (PPT), this study conceptualizes presidential narratives as both rhetorical tools and instruments of persuasion within institutional contexts. This synthesis advances the NPF by highlighting the role of institutional positions on narrative credibility, by emphasizing the roles …

A Qualitatively Driven Approach Integrated With Quantitative Analysis Applied To Decision Making In Institutional Administration Of Higher Education, Cristo Leon Ph.D., James Lipuma Ph.D., Michelle Kudelka

STEM for Success Resources

A qualitatively driven mixed methods study on decision-making in higher education administration. The article integrates Constructivist Grounded Theory, thematic analysis, participatory design, and quantitative dashboard analytics to examine interdisciplinary collaboration, institutional research management, and user-centered data visualization. It offers a practical framework for designing accessible and context-sensitive academic dashboards that support evidence-informed governance, resource allocation, and research strategy in universities

Do Purpleair Monitors Democratize Data For The Environment?, Christopher Rick, Kyla Lorden

Student Publications

PurpleAir monitors may serve a vital role in marginalized or under-monitored communities nationwide. These low-cost monitors—roughly $300—give communities the ability to monitor their air quality at local geographies in ways that are infeasible for expensive, regulatory-grade air monitors. They also have the potential to aid community advocacy efforts around environmental and transportation policy by giving community members literal ownership over the monitoring, including precise locations, and philosophical ownership over the advocacy efforts. To determine the potential democratization of air quality data by PurpleAir monitors in socially disadvantaged communities, we analyze the sociodemographic characteristics of neighborhoods with PurpleAir monitors. We find …

Dairy Cows And Doughnut Holes: The Class Politics Of Municipal Boundaries And Logistics Land Use In Inland Southern California, Anthony Rumbos-Perez , ‘26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Msw Portfolio: Grounded In Perpetuity And Well-Being Of The Future Generation, Silver A. Little Eagle

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

The MSW Portfolio, Grounded in Perpetuity and Well-being of the Future Generation, by Silver Little Eagle (Northern Cheyenne), is an Advanced Integral Practice portfolio submitted in partial fulfillment of the Master of Social Work degree at the University of Montana. Integrating the core competencies outlined by the University of Montana School of Social Work and the Council on Social Work Education, this portfolio draws on the author's identity as an Indigenous social work practitioner, as a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, as a Tsé-tsėhéstaestse naa Só'taeo'o woman, as an eldest sister raised by her grandmothers, and as a Youth …

Investigating Social Justice Implications Of Glyphosate Residues In Human Urine, Ananya Malhotra

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background: Glyphosate, the nominal active ingredient in professional-grade Roundup weed and grass killer, is the most extensively used herbicide globally and in the United States (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2020). An increasing level of concern has surfaced regarding its health consequences, particularly because of contamination of our food supplies. Recent research indicates distressing levels of detection of glyphosate in human blood and urine samples, revealing many instances of frequent human exposure (Conrad et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2020).Most of the research about exposure is focused on agricultural workers or individuals living in close vicinity to agricultural lands.  Few …

Empowering Change: Building Environmental Sustainability Initiatives And Becoming A Sustainability Champion, Amanda C. Karls

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

In an era marked by escalating environmental challenges and an urgent need for sustainable development, higher education institutions (HEIs) are increasingly positioned as critical actors in advancing sustainability within the communities they serve. Regional comprehensive universities (RCUs), in particular, occupy a distinctive position as access‑oriented, community‑embedded public institutions; yet sustainability efforts at these institutions often unfold under conditions of limited resources, diffuse responsibility, and informal governance. This dissertation examines how individual actors at RCUs effectively advance environmental sustainability initiatives in the absence of centralized infrastructure or formal authority.

Guided by the overarching research question—How can individual actors at regional comprehensive …

From Reclamation To Restoration: Remaking Nature On Portland's Peninsula, Theus Richards

University Honors Theses

This environmental history of the North Portland Peninsula is a critical case study of a landscape in transition, where new "natures" have been constructed through shifting projects of reclamation and restoration. The Port of Portland, who controlled the Peninsula, transformed the marshy bottomlands near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers to accommodate greater networks of industrial infrastructure and expand their capacity for global trade. Beginning in 1967, the Port began dredging operations to fill Ramsey Lake to make way for the construction of Rivergate Industrial District. Through this process, Smith & Bybee Lakes were set aside as a …

An Assessment Of Historical Planning Processes And Greenspace Distribution (1975–2024): A Case Study Of Portland, Oregon, Usa, Quadri Olatunbosun Taiwo, Vivek Shandas, Damilola Emmanuel Oluyege

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Portland study examined past planning regulations and greenspace distribution over the period of fifty years, with particular attention given to neighborhood differences between invested and non-invested neighborhoods. This exploratory study examined spatial greenspace using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) imagery. We tested the study hypothesis using the GIS Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression test to predict how key sociodemographic characteristics affect the provision of greenspace in non-white disinvested neighborhoods. The key findings suggested a consistent pattern of greenspace inequality, heavily shaped by historically disadvantaged ethnic status. Areas with higher non-white populations may have significant less greenspace (p < 0.001). Although median household income had a minimal negative impact, educational attainment showed a slight positive correlation. We employed multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks such as historical institutionalism, urban political ecology, and environmental justice. The study illustrated how historical decisions may have established path dependencies that are currently perpetuating greenspace inequalities. Policy solutions advocate for integrating restorative justice principles and rigid enforcement of 3-30-300 greenspace equity legislation to offset these long-term disparities.

Identity Restoration Theory: Reclaiming Cultural Identity As A Pathway To Reintegration, Sigifredo Castell Britton

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

This article introduces Identity Restoration Theory (IRT), a new theoretical framework that explains what formerly incarcerated individuals need to reconnect with disrupted cultural identities as a pathway to reintegration. Grounded in qualitative fieldwork with Raizal ex-offenders and community leaders on San Andrés Island, Colombia, IRT is designed to conceptualize reintegration, not as institutional resettlement, but as a culturally rooted process of re-embedding identity within community and place. The framework delineates five interdependent constructs—cultural memory, place reconnection, narrative repair, communal belonging, and agency activation—that emerged inductively from participant narratives. Anchored in the postcolonial context of an Afro-Caribbean island society, IRT provides …

Advancing Environmental Justice Through Chemical Education: Perspective From New Orleans’ Water And Air Quality Challenges, Ja’Lynn Keller, Sita Aggarwal, Rami A. Al-Horani, Morewell Gasseller, Navneet Goyal

Faculty and Staff Publications

New Orleans, Louisiana, faces profound environmental vulnerabilities arising from the convergence of industrial pollution, urban runoff, and climate change–driven weather events. This paper examines systemic challenges affecting water and air quality in the region, with particular focus on low-income and marginalized communities disproportionately burdened by environmental degradation. Drawing on educational and community-based monitoring initiatives at Xavier University of Louisiana and Southeastern Louisiana University, we highlight the integration of student learning with real-time data collection of contaminants such as fecal coliforms, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina revealed significant fecal contamination in sediment layers, …

The Relevance Of Fr. John A. Kaiser For Human Rights And Peace Advocacy Today, Otieno Ombok

The Journal of Social Encounters

This essay explores the relationship of the work of Fr. John Anthony Kaiser to Kenya’s 2010 Constitution. His life, work, and death embody the very principles and struggles that the new constitution was designed to address. The author also discusses how to continue the work for peace and justice in the spirit of Fr. Kaiser.

Islamic Relief As A Transnational Advocacy Network In Building Global Solidarity For Gaza, Nura Alanda Nabila, Zhafirah Fatin Azzah, Nuraeni -, R. Dudy Heryadi

The Journal of Social Encounters

This article examines the role of Islamic Relief in supporting Palestine from the perspective of the Transnational Advocacy Network. The conflict in Palestine, particularly in Gaza, raises the central question of how non-governmental actors contribute to global advocacy efforts amid the large-scale civilian suffering. The article is based on qualitative research, utilizing a literature review as a data collection technique, with constructivism as the theoretical framework. This study positions Islamic Relief as a transnational humanitarian organization whose work is shaped and rooted in Islamic values. The findings showed that the efforts to address the crisis in Gaza are carried out …

Ecomusicological Representation Of Climate Change And Environmental Sustainability In Selected Bongo Fleva Lyrics In Tanzania, Auson N. Wincheslaus

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This article critically explores how Bongo Fleva’s lyrics engage with environmental themes; and the interrelationship between nature and culture in the context of the Anthropocene. The data were purposively sampled from YouTube via content analysis, from which 50 Bongo Fleva songs were listened to, and only 10 environmentally-themed songs were analysed. Then, the selected songs were subjected to transcription (from oral to written form), translation (from Kiswahili into English), and close reading and textual analysis. The close reading of the selected songs focused on the employed aesthetic and rhetorical strategies, such as anthropomorphism, symbolism, antithesis, apocalyptic tones, solastalgia, rhetorical questions, …

Using A Place-Based Harms Typology To Inform Community Practice And Research: Illustrative Cases And Contexts, Jason Sawyer, Greer A. Hamilton, Amie Thurber, Amy Krings

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Place-based harms comprise direct threats to community wellbeing within the spaces where people live. These harms, rooted in structural and cultural violence, are codified in policies and programs that contribute to poverty, homelessness, over-policing and surveillance, and environmental injustices. This paper argues, although community practitioners are needed to work alongside communities impacted by place-based harms, there are critical tensions and tradeoffs embedded within the place-based strategies. To illustrate this, we draw from the Contested Places Typology and present cases that highlight key tensions, tradeoffs, and nuances associated with its six approaches: (1) Reparation, (2) Remembrance, (3) Regeneration, (4) Resistance, (5) …

The Human Rights Fulcrum: Using Environmental Rights As Leverage For Change, Rebecca Bratspies

Pace International Law Review

“Give me a lever long enough and a firm place on which to stand and I will move the earth." That is how Archimedes famously described the power of levers and the possibility they create for moving something that otherwise seems immovable. His point was that with the use of distance, a fulcrum, and a lever, nothing is really immovable. This same characterization has been applied to human rights law, and its attempts to disrupt patterns of structural dispossession, discrimination and oppression that bedevil human society. Indeed, the metaphor that human rights are a lever for change is relatively common …

Rupturing The Sport Management Classroom: Zine-Making For World-Making, Roc Rochon, Chen Chen

Sport Management Collection

The on-going COVID-19 pandemic (and the pandemic of capitalism, white supremacy, imperialism, and colonialism, etc.) calls for imaginative, relevant, and critical approaches in sport management education to address diverse, socially, and culturally dynamic students. Yet the bulk of existing educational resources remain rooted in reinforcing systems of domination and the structure of on-going settler colonialism (Chen & Mason, 2019; hooks, 1994). A major challenge in traditional approaches to “updating” the curriculum fall short in challenging the banking mode of education (Freire, 1970). Following Amis and Silk’s (2005) call for a “rupture” of the reproduction of the status quo within sport …