Digital Commons Network^™

Indigenous Conceptions Of Community Organization And Autonomy In Oaxaca’S Sierra Norte: Answers And Resistance To State-Sponsored Practices Of Internal Colonialism, Carter Minnick

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Over the past century, the Mexican government has continued to reproduce dominant, colonial relationships with its indigenous populations. Within the last few decades, clashes between harmful neoliberal visions of national development and continued demands for indigenous autonomy have only intensified. In the context of such events, this present work seeks to explore a specific conception of community identity, coined as la comunalidad, in the Sierra Norte region of Oaxaca. After the breakdown of its most fundamental tenets, I will attempt to both underscore its position as a framework of resistance in combatting historical and ongoing state-organized aggressions against these communities, …

Spatial Disparities: The Role Of Nativity In Neighborhood Exposure To Alcohol And Tobacco Retailers, Georgiana Bostean, Luis A. Sánchez, Jason A. Douglas

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Studies of retail environment, one of the social determinants of health, document racial/ethnic disparities in exposure to alcohol and tobacco (A and T) retailers, but have largely overlooked nativity. We examined associations between A and T retailer density and rates of foreign-born Latinx and foreign-born Asian residents in California census tracts (N = 7888), using spatial regressions and controlling for population and ecological confounders (e.g., population density, zoning, residential instability, urbanicity). Socio-demographic data came from the American Community Survey (2012–2016); census tract density of A and T retailers came from geocoded addresses from state license data for off-sale alcohol distributors …

Online Activism And Real Life Environmentalism, Emily Grace Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

Past and present human activities have created and accelerated an array of environmental catastrophes and various systems in the environment remain under threat as a result of human behavior. In hopes of mitigating environmental consequences, a social movement has arisen to encourage people to behave in ways that are more environmentally sustainable. Research shows that individual behavior choices impact the environment, and this influence can be used to positively affect the environment through engagement in pro-environmental behavior. Like with many other social movements, the internet has been a tool in spreading awareness of a cause and allowing people the opportunity …

People-Focused And Near-Term Public Transit Performance Analysis, Alex Karner

Journal of Public Transportation

Public transit ridership forecasts have long played a role in understanding the potential success of a policy or investment, but their limitations have led researchers and practitioners to identify other performance analysis approaches. Accessibility, or the ease of reaching opportunities, has become very popular and widely used for this purpose. But commonly used accessibility measures also embody weaknesses that are seldom acknowledged; these limit their utility for truly understanding the benefits of transit investments. In this paper, we identify the pros and cons of these competing approaches and offer a third strategy. Specifically, we describe how revealed travel behavior data, …

On The Street Where I Live: Mapping A Spectrum Of Antiracist Messages And Meanings, Carla Chamberlin

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This paper describes a critical media analysis of antiracist messages from both teaching and research perspectives. Antiracist discourse of public media (yard signs and websites) was collected in two communities in the Northeastern United States in 2020 and are discussed here, first as a site of social construction of antiracism, and second as a model for pedagogy. As a critical media analysis, this study reveals antiracist messages on continuums from passive to active, low-risk to high risk, self-oriented to other-oriented, and detached “not racist” postures to actively antiracist stances. These continuums encourage interrogation of what it means to be antiracist …

Finding The “Heart” In The Green: Conducting A Bibliometric Analysis To Emphasize The Need For Connecting Emotions With Biophilic Urban Planning, Christopher Tirri, Hunter Swanson, Mahbubur Meenar

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

Although there is a robust body of literature exploring the relationship between biophilic urban planning (BUP) and public health and well-being, there is a dearth of scholarship on the emotional components of BUP. It is crucial to understand these sentiment-related elements, so planners can assign “human value” to green spaces as a strategy for emphasizing the need to thoughtfully implement and properly maintain them in urban environments. Furthermore, humans’ emotional experiences with green spaces may also reveal hidden or unexpected functions of those spaces. To confirm this lack of emphasis on emotions in BUP, we used Scopus to conduct a …

Lone Star Wars: Lngs, Communities, And Globalization Versus Local Resistance In The Laguna Madre Region Of Coastal South Texas, Terence Garrett, Arthur Sementelli

Political Science Faculty Publications

Purpose: to theoretically contextualize the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) issue using Bauman and Debord. More generally, this research provides a theoretical and qualitative context to understand the LNG issue in discussions of environmental management, globalization, and local government.

Design/methodology/approach: this article uses Boje’s narrative case study approach to analyze the politics around localized resistance movements to LNG production in the Rio Grande Valley. Specifically, the study examines data collected from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), personal interviews, and public declarations (newspapers, blogs, social media) to create an historiographical account of LNGs in the RGV to analyze the Laguna Madre …

Climate Change And The Ancestors: Rain, Gender And Politics In An African Water Catchment, Jessie Fredlund

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Uluguru, a small mountain range in eastern Tanzania and one of the rainiest places in East Africa, serves as the principal water catchment for Tanzania’s largest city, Dar es Salaam, and for commercial farms along the country’s central coast. Home to smallholder farmers who cultivate a variety of crops on mostly rain-fed farms, the catchment has been a site of struggle over water and nature since the nineteenth century. Today, climate change has rendered rainfall increasingly unpredictable, and a wave of “sustainable development” interventions has pressured farmers to change their practices and to engage in unpaid forms of ecological labor …

Afterlives Of Discovery: Speculative Geographies In The Colombian Political Landscape, Heidi A. Rhodes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation considers how the temporal remains of the Age of Discovery and its doctrine persist in a racial-geographical ranking of human and non-human, terrestrial and planetary life and worth. Across this work, I interpret a series of historical moments and their objects of speculative geographic cultural production: a state mapping program, a painting, a biomedical project, a de-monumenting protest action. As repositories of codified belief and repertoires of Discovery’s political and affective modes of racialized domination, I read these materials from the Colombian archives of coloniality and liberalism to illuminate their implications for Colombia’s national becoming as a liberal …

Urban Food Policy, Planning, And Security: A Location Analysis And Potential Impacts Of Creating Community Gardens In Dekalb County, Ga, Artis Trice

Symposium of Student Scholars

As food insecurity grows in complexity, the methods used to combat it must also evolve. In the Atlanta metropolitan area, direct community engagement and partnerships have led to the creation of small community garden and urban agriculture operations on public lands. However, food insecurity continues to be a problem, particularly in low-income areas where resources are fewer, such as areas within DeKalb County, Georgia. This project seeks to understand ways in which integrating food policy and planning into existing green infrastructure can mitigate issues related to food insecurity in DeKalb County and considers the following questions: How can food policy …

A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Educational Spaces And Black Identity Development, Kala Burrell-Craft, Danielle R. Eugene

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

Guided by Critical Race Theory, Racial Space Theory, and Black Identity Development through the lens of the Nigrescence model, this mixed-methods study explored the links between educational spaces/places and Black identity development in a sample of Black professional adults (n=39). Correlation analysis revealed a weak positive relationship between space and Black racial identity and little to no correlational effect between place and Black racial identity. Three themes were identified: educational spaces, HBCU versus PWI debate, and stages of Black identity development with each providing more depth of understanding of how educational spaces influence Black identity development. Study implications are discussed.

Representation Justice As A Research Agenda For Socio-Hydrology And Water Governance, Melissa Haeffner, Dana E. Hellman, Alida Cantor, Idowu Ajibade, Vinka Oyanedel-Craver, Maura Kelly, Laura Schifman, Lisa Weasel

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

We propose representation justice as a theoretical lens for socio-hydrology and water governance studies. An exploratory survey of 496 water sector employees in the United States revealed that self-identifying females felt more strongly discriminated against due to their gender and other social factors, compared to self-identifying males. Responses unveiled how macro- and microaggressions impede career pathways to leadership positions and, therefore, representation. We identify ways in which socio-hydrology can benefit from a representation justice lens by considering the following: (1) how power and politics shape the composition of the water sector and decision-making processes; (2) how available quantitative data do …

Anticipating Change: Multi-Tier Framework For A Sustainable Energy Transition, Francesca Cresta

Capstone Collection

Transitioning the Energy Sector from fossil fuels to renewable energy is perhaps the biggest opportunity to sustainably mitigate climate change. This paper presents a multi-tier holistic framework to score and visually represent the key features of sustainability that could influence the long-term success of the energy transition in different social, ecological, and economic contexts. The framework is applied in detail to Morocco and Italy. The complexity of the concept of sustainability calls for a tool that can help stakeholders locate and address priority areas. Five dimensions of sustainability have been described: institutional, environmental, social, economic, and technical. These are divided …

Action Research: A Culturally Specific Case Study On Organizational Capacity-Building To Battle Addiction In The Oneida Native-American Community, Anita F. Barber, Mark Gordon

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

The Healing Society (coded to mask) is a new and developing organization operated by a volunteer board created by Oneida Nation community members. Leaders were seeking strategic direction to build organizational capacity and sustainability for this new organization. They sought to make positive social change after a well-known community member died from an overdose. The purpose of this post-positivist, constructionist qualitative case study was to gather empirical data from the perspectives of internal and external stakeholders through a SWOT analysis. Their answers addressed: (a) the organizational strengths and weaknesses of The Healing Society to ensure short-term strength and long-term growth, …

Comparing Heavy Metal Content Found In Spinach (Spinacia Oleracea) Grown On The Roof And Ground Sites At Portland State University, Tyler Robin, Gwynn R. Johnson, Olyssa Starry

McNair Symposium

As a result of urbanization, fresh, healthy food can be expensive and easily contaminated but space for local farming is limited. Roofs can be underutilized in densely populated cities and can offer a space for local fresh farming. The purpose of this study is to find if growing leafy vegetables on the roof can limit heavy metal exposure from air pollutants. By growing Spinach on five roofs and five ground locations around the Portland State University campus, at varying heights, we can extract the heavy metals found in these greens and compare them to each other. The expected results show …

Insignificant Impacts Of Covid-19 Stay-At-Home Orders On Chicago Air Quality, Adam W.T. Steffeck

DePaul Discoveries

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports of air quality improvements around the world resulting from the stay-at-home orders were widespread. However, for Chicago, no significant air quality improvements occurred despite large reductions in private vehicle transportation due to the lack of commuters. The city of Chicago is a nexus for long-haul transportation by trucks and trains, which did not decrease during the pandemic. These transportation sources use mostly diesel fuel engines and emit NO_X, a precursor to tropospheric ozone, and PM_2.5, both of which are harmful air pollutants. Using open access EPA air quality …

The Catholic Peacebuilding Network: Lessons Learned, Gerard F. Powers

The Journal of Social Encounters

As one of the world’s largest transnational institutions, the Catholic Church is deeply engaged in a wide variety of peacebuilding activities at all levels through many different types of institutions and organizations. This essay examines one of these entities, the Catholic Peacebuilding Network (CPN), a network of university institutes, episcopal conferences, development agencies, and independent peace organizations. It considers CPN’s mission, activities, contributions to the Catholic community’s wider work for peace, and the challenges it faces as it seeks to accompany the Catholic community in areas of conflict. By looking at this one actor, this essay offers insights into Catholic …

Gis Map Report Of The Robert Porter Allen Natural Area At The Sylvan Dell Environmental Center, Matthew Semeraro

Student Project Reports

No abstract provided.

"Not In My Town": A Community's Response To Water And Soil Pollution, Karolina Staros

Dissertations

At the core of this dissertation is the acknowledgment that social movements are complex networks of people who face many obstacles in their efforts to achieve social change. One critique of social movements is that their goals and mission are limited to short term ideas and not long-term, systemic transformation. The lack of long term, systemic change can be observed when social movement groups mobilize for the same cause over and over again with what appears to be little progress over a period of time. The exact blueprint for a social movement’s success does not exist, but it is posited …

Smith Neilson Library: The Sustainability Story, Smith College

The New Neilson Library

The complete "Sustainability Story" of the New Neilson Library project.

Environmental Rhetoric And An Ecology Of Transcendence: A Rhetorical Criticism Of Awake, A Dream From Standing Rock, Alyssa Kahn

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

My project blends Burkean theory with Indigenous rhetoric to argue that the counter- story of Awake proposes an ecology of transcendence to make sense of human-nature relationships. I wanted to analyze Awake A Dream From Standing Rock. The documentary is explicitly about Indigenous peoples. This documentary tells the story of the peaceful protests and resistance led by Native people at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation or Lakota Tribe in North Dakota. The activists were protecting the water otherwise known as water protectors/warriors from the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The assembly of DAPL is intended to carry perforated …

Mopping Up Or Turning Off The Tap? Environmental Injustice And The Ethics Of Plastic Pollution, Katharine A. Owens, Katie Conlon

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Opinion article

Decades of scientific research confirm that plastic pollution poses a threat to many species, to water resources, and to economies around the world (Laist, 1997; Barnes et al., 2009; Gregory, 2009; Teuten et al., 2009; Chen, 2015; Newman et al., 2015; Rochman, 2015). Experts demonstrate that oceanic plastic pollution is increasing at astounding rates (Eriksen et al., 2014; Geyer et al., 2017). Research indicates harmful levels of toxicity in everyday plastic items (SCP/RAC, 2020). Scientists find this issue so important that they have recommended plastics …

Alienation, Modernization, And Animal Welfare: Human-Animal Relationships At The Farm, State, And Country Levels, Michael D. Briscoe

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Our relationships with animals are important for us as humans, for the environment, and for the animals themselves. In this dissertation I look at the relationships between humans and animals at three scales: farm, U.S. state, and country. Specifically, I address how factors like economic growth, technological innovation, and globalization affect human relationships with animals. Understanding how these factors influence human-animal relationships is important for improving these relationships and deciding which directions will most contribute to sustainable outcomes. I address the social factors that influence human-animal relationships in three studies.

In the first study I surveyed and interviewed dairy farmers …

Embodying Equity: Change Management Strategies For Addressing Racial Equity In Environmental Nonprofits, Brittany Jezouit

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Nonprofit Studies Capstone Projects

Recent social movements and the urgency of the climate crisis have heightened awareness of the exclusion of people of color within the environmental movement. While many environmental nonprofits are working to address racial equity within their organizations, they are often not well-equipped with the tools, tactics, and change management strategies to successfully execute their goals. Using data from case studies via qualitative interviews with local Richmond, VA environmental nonprofit leaders, this study aims to combine insights from nonprofit leaders doing racial equity work with key theories of change from the ProSci ADKAR model, John Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading Change, …

Using Google Street View To Examine Urban Context And Green Amenities In The Global South: The Chilean Experience, Monica Haddad, Zachary Christman, Hamil Pearsall, Melinda Sanchez

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

This study evaluates the use of virtual, human-interpreted, field observations using Google Street View (GSV) to examine the presence of conditions that may be used to analyze green gentrification in the Global South. We propose that green gentrification is characterized by the introduction or improvement of green amenities (such as parks) as well as corresponding changes to the urban context (such as facade materials). While virtual field observations have been used to examine neighborhood context for other applications, this method has not yet been applied to the study of green gentrification, nor in the Global South. Using one urban park …

Enhancing Civic Engagement Through Leadership Education, Lori E. Kniffin Ph.D., Sonalini Sapra

Leadership Faculty Publications

Many civic engagement courses within higher education require students to work with community members to make progress on complex problems, which in itself can comprise leadership practice. Yet, there is little evidence that leadership development is strategically incorporated into such civic engagement courses in general. The authors taught eight leadership sessions over two semesters in the Principled Problem Solving Scholars program at Guilford College. The study discussed in this article examined the perceived impact of a leadership curriculum on the personal leadership practices and the civic engagement of 14 undergraduate students. The authors present their findings in the context of …

The Potential Of Ecofeminism To Develop ‘Deep’ Sustainability Competencies For Education For Sustainable Development, Susan V. Iverson

The Seneca Falls Dialogues Journal

Education for sustainable development (ESD) has gained much currency in the literature; yet, less attention has been given to understanding or defining learning outcomes, or rather, what competencies for sustainability should students develop and be able to demonstrate. In this position paper, I ask (and answer) the question, “What might be gained by bringing a feminist lens, and specifically an ecofeminist perspective, to ESD?” I argue that infusing ecofeminism into ESD can develop students’ sustainability competence beyond individual level change to thinking and acting systemically; it can develop the critical consciousness, activist skills, and deeper sustainability knowledge needed to foster …

A Ground-Based Assessment Framework For Validating Diesel Particulate Emission Models And Applicability In Portland, Or, Kirsten Marie Sarle

Dissertations and Theses

Exposure to diesel emissions causes a range of health effects throughout the body, impairing; respiratory, cardiovascular, central nervous, renal, and cognitive systems. Diesel particulate matter (DPM) in Portland, Oregon is prevalent due to the layout of highly trafficked roadways, rail lines, and marine ports exposing a dense population to high levels of exhaust pollution. These high concentrations of ambient diesel emissions disproportionately impact minority and low-income populations.

Ground-based monitoring and modeling are two ways to assess ambient DPM. However, there are uncertainties in modeled DPM due to knowledge gaps in emissions inventories as well as lack of model validation against …

Learning From The Seed: Illuminating Black Girlhood In Sustainable Living Paradigms, Toni Powell Powell Young

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The contemporary image of sustainable living presents a culturally narrow view of its participants and the manner of engaging in sustainable living paradigms. Through crystallization (Ellingson, 2009) I present a mixed methods approach that emphasizes participant observation, visual, mediated, and discursive analyses, as well as demonstrates the efficacy of Culture Centered Black Feminist Auto/Ethnography. This project seeks to highlight and place within historical context, the ways in which African American girls, who are largely left out of the prevailing image of sustainability, perform and articulate sustainability for themselves, in their homes, and throughout their home communities.

In their everyday lives, …

Riyadh Neighborhood Residents’ Use And Satisfaction With Urban Green Spaces, Tahar Ledraa, Majed Hallawani, Awad Al-Qahtani

Emirates Journal for Engineering Research

Neighborhood urban green spaces are indispensable elements for residents’ rest and recreation. They are also of paramount importance to enhance quality of life within neighborhoods. However, these urban green spaces did not receive much research interest, particularly in cities of the developing world. Larger city parks seem to have been the focus of studies. The present study is undertaken under the contention that dissatisfaction with a service is the difference between what is expected from that service and what is really experienced out of it. The gap between expectancy and what is experienced in reality would lead to how satisfied …