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Assessing Flood Resilience In West Virginia Communities: Integrating Physical, Institutional, Socioeconomic, And Environmental Dimensions, Anahita Mahmoudi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Flooding is one of the most frequent and damaging natural hazards in the United States, with impacts expected to intensify under changing climate conditions. In regions such as West Virginia, complex terrain, development patterns along river corridors, and socioeconomic disparities contribute to elevated flood risk. Traditional approaches to flood risk assessment often focus on single dimensions of vulnerability or rely on binary floodplain maps, which do not fully capture the spatial variability and multidimensional nature of flood resilience.

This dissertation develops an integrated, community-scale framework for assessing flood resilience in West Virginia by combining physical, environmental, institutional, and socioeconomic dimensions …

Powering The Machine, Draining The Planet: Whether U.S. Environmental Law Is Equipped To Regulate The Energy And Water Demands Of Ai Data Centers, Michael Marcu

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers have become one of the United States' fastest-growing and least-regulated sources of environmental stress. In 2024 alone, U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity more than the entire nation of Pakistan and consumed an estimated 17 billion gallons of water (IEA, 2025; Berkeley Lab, 2024). By 2030, electricity demand from these facilities is projected to reach 426 TWh, a 133% increase in six years (Pew Research Center, 2025). This paper examines whether the existing U.S. environmental regulatory framework put by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and the …

Reorienting Library Technology Through Slowness And Care, Sanjeet Mann

Library Faculty Publications & Presentations

Nearly all operations and services in contemporary libraries are mediated by technology. This makes systems and technology work an important place in the organization from which to address issues of time, power and culture.

In this essay, published as a chapter in a collection of essays about Slow Librarianship, I describe the origins of the associations between time, speed and technology in Western society. I articulate an alternative understanding of technology as relational, grounded in the needs and lived experience of those who work in and use libraries. I draw from several emerging concepts, including Slow Librarianship, feminist ethics of …

Follow The Cyclists: Everyday Navigation Of Richmond's Bike Infrastructure, Emily E. Schreer

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the embodied experience of cycling in Richmond, emphasizing the importance of centering firsthand, lived experience in cycling research and urban planning. While traditional transportation planning can often myopically prioritize efficiency and safety metrics to evaluate infrastructure, this project argues that such approaches overlook essential experiential, sensory, and emotional dimensions of cycling that determine how infrastructure is perceived, used, and ultimately succeeds or fails.

Through an ethnographic approach combining field observation of cyclist behavior and mental mapping sessions with Richmond cyclists, this study positions people who bike in Richmond as expert knowledge holders. Participant contributions, combined with observations …

Southside Greening Plan: Leveraging Community-Based Partnerships To Foster Resilience In Richmond, Virginia, L. Nicole Roemer

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Southside is a frontline community within the City of Richmond that disproportionately experiences urban heat island (UHI) effect and stormwater flooding. Southside residents are vulnerable to climate change and have a low adaptive capacity for resilience, largely because of disinvestment and reduced access to greenspaces. This makes them more vulnerable to heat-related and respiratory illnesses, more likely to experience higher energy bills and less affordable housing, and more likely to be impacted by extreme weather. The city master plan Richmond 300: A Guide to Growth, adopted in 2017 (amended in 2021), acknowledges this context. However, community-based organizations (CBOs) struggle to …

Redeveloping Underutilized Faith-Based Properties For Affordable Housing Through Education And Engagement Strategies, Ananya Joyita

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Across the United States, many faith-based institutions are confronting declining attendance, underused property, and growing financial strain while their surrounding communities face severe affordable housing shortages. This plan explores how structured education and engagement strategies can help congregations redevelop underutilized land for affordable housing, using Trinity Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia as a pilot site for a model that can be adapted by other churches across the Diocese of Virginia.

Trinity’s 1.2-acre campus along Columbia Pike presents both urgent challenges and strong redevelopment potential. The church operates at a financial deficit, uses only a small portion of its facilities, and …

Turning Local Strength Into Regional Change: An Operational Plan For Capacity Building In Virginia’S Tobacco Region, Ellie Plisko

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Virginia's Tobacco Region possesses meaningful community assets including committed local leadership, established social networks, and demonstrated resilience, yet many localities consistently struggle to translate those strengths into high-impact economic development projects. The gap is not one of vision or funding, but of organizational capacity: the ability to develop, manage, and implement complex projects over time.

This capstone plan was developed for the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission (TRRC) to address that gap directly. Drawing on semi-structured stakeholder interviews, document and case analysis, and comparative institutional assessment, the research identifies the structural, relational, and process-based conditions that distinguish successful projects from …

Quantifying Parkland: Data-Informed Classification System Recommendations For Chesterfield County, Megan F. Negri

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This plan evaluates and redefines the park classification system for Chesterfield County Department of Parks and Recreation to improve how parks are understood, managed, and planned over time. It responds to limitations in the County's existing acreage-per-capita level of service (LOS) standard, which does not accurately account for park function, provision of amenities, or equitable distribution in relation to population density. Using a comprehensive park inventory and SPSS two-step fixed cluster analysis, the study developed and evaluated three alternative classification models consisting of four, five, and six park categories. Findings indicate that park function is strongly defined by amenity composition …

Cultivating Diversity In Sustainable Food Systems: Black Farming And Lived Experience In Rural Southern Ontario, Kadeem Jerofy Morgan-Adamson Mr.

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research examines the lived experiences of Black food growers in rural Southern Ontario to understand how their perspectives challenge dominant narratives of rurality and inform broader discussions on food sovereignty in Canada. Grounded in postcolonial theory, the study highlights how historical dispossession and persistent inequities shape the access of Black communities to land and resources. Using a mixed-methods approach that includes surveys, semi-structured interviews, and reflexive journaling within a community-based research framework, the study documents the barriers Black food growers face. These include limited land access, insufficient funding, inadequate training pathways, and experiences of racial isolation in rural contexts. …

Understanding Wage Theft: Beyond The Numbers Through Community Practice, Lived Experience, And Research, André Simões Da Silva, Lenita Reason, Cristina Araujo Brinkerhoff

Gastón Institute Publications

Wage theft is a widespread form of labor exploitation that disproportionately affects immigrant and other vulnerable workers. This report examines the scope and impact of wage theft in Massachusetts by analyzing case data from the Brazilian Worker Center (BWC) alongside wage and labor enforcement data from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO). The analysis demonstrates how wage theft affects immigrant workers across industries, with particularly high numbers of cases in construction, cleaning, and hospitality. The data also reveal significant gaps in the reporting and enforcement of wage violations, particularly among domestic workers, whose cases are likely substantially underrepresented in available …

Tourism And Local Access On The Public Beaches Of Paros, Greece, Maria Kouidi

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines how tourism development affects public beach access on the island of Paros, Greece. In recent years, Paros has experienced significant tourism growth, which has contributed to economic development while also placing pressure on natural resources, infrastructure, and coastal spaces. Beaches are protected as public goods under the Greek constitution; however, there are concerns regarding commercialization, overcrowding, and the illegal privatization of these public spaces. This thesis uses a qualitative research approach to explore how these changes are experienced and understood by different stakeholder groups. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted in Paros in July 2025. Participants …

Maintaining Trust In Uncertain Times: Funding Pauses And The Ethical Cost To Community-Engaged Research, Brynn E. Sheehan

Department Psychiatry & Behavioral Science Faculty Publications

Federal funding pauses, once considered rare, are increasingly disrupting the stability and continuity of community‐engaged research. Even projects with active, awarded grants are experiencing the strain of funding uncertainty, raising substantive concerns among research teams and community partners. These disruptions extend beyond operational delays; they jeopardize the continuity of relationships developed through sustained, collaborative engagement. In the absence of clear information about a project's future, uncertainty undermines trust and challenges the ethical principles that guide human subjects research, particularly beneficence and justice. This paper draws on direct experience and insights from the broader field to examine the practical and ethical …

The State Of Short-Term Rentals – 2024, Elena Bigart, Melissa Weddell, Jesse Wheeler, Sophie Morris, Jenna Asnault

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report examined the role short-term rentals (STRs) play in Montana’s housing challenges, building on earlier ITRR research (Bigart et al., 2021). Using a mixed-methods approach, the study analyzed STR and housing data from 2019 to 2023 and incorporated interviews with local officials to assess evolving regulations, occupancy patterns, and perceptions of STR impacts. Findings highlight that STRs interact with broader market forces contributing to tight housing conditions and underscore the need for balanced policy approaches that support housing supply and affordability while sustaining tourism-related economic activity.

Linking Social Entrepreneurship To Crime Reduction Among Young African Americans In Chicago’S South And West Sides, Grady C. Wheaton Jr.

All Student Theses and Dissertations

This study examined community members’ perceptions of social entrepreneurship as an employment-centered strategy for addressing youth violence among African Americans on Chicago’s South and West Sides. The study was guided by the following research question: Can social entrepreneurship be leveraged to reduce youth violence among African Americans on Chicago’s South and West Sides, as perceived by community members? Using Fillmore Laundry, a healthcare linen-processing social enterprise located in North Lawndale, as a case example, this quantitative, cross-sectional study collected survey data from 99 eligible community members recruited through community-based partnerships. The survey assessed perceived youth- and community-level program benefits, evaluations …

From Margin To Mandate: Examining Community Development Strategies That Support Black Lgbtq+ Youth Experiencing Homelessness, Martel Okonji

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Black LGBTQ+ transitional-aged youth (TAY) experiencing homelessness navigate intersecting systems of marginalization that shape their access to safety and stability. While community development organizations play a critical role in addressing these inequities, limited research examines how these strategies are implemented. This study explored how a community development organization supports Black LGBTQ+ TAY experiencing homelessness. Using a qualitative single case study design, data was collected through semi-structured interviews with leadership, staff, and youth, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Grounded in community development theory and ethical leadership, the study examined how organizational practices shape outcomes. Findings revealed an affirming, relational approach centered …

Legibility Grabs: Contesting Hegemony And Water Governance In Western Bahia, Brazil, Rowan A. Compton, Gustavo De L.T. Oliveira

Geography

This article examines how irrigated agribusiness interests in western Bahia, Brazil, are capturing the infrastructure of water governance itself — the basin committees, digital monitoring platforms, and fee structures through which water becomes visible and governable. Drawing on Gramscian theories of hegemony and James Scott's analysis of state legibility, we develop the concept of ‘legibility grabs’ to describe how dominant actors appropriate not only resources but the institutional mechanisms that render those resources objects of governance. Based on documentary analysis and 48 interviews conducted during fieldwork in 2024–2025, we demonstrate how agribusiness has waged wars of position within participatory institutions, …

Scoring Equitable Transit: A Data-Driven Framework For Affordable Transit-Oriented Development In California, Ahoura Zandiatashbar, Anton Rozhkov, Stephanie Nemet, Atticus Washington, Mounashree Prasanna

Mineta Transportation Institute

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is a cornerstone of California’s climate and land use policy, promising walkable, compact neighborhoods near high-quality transit. However, these benefits are not always distributed equitably. This study introduces a scalable framework for identifying and scoring Affordable Transit-Oriented Development (A-TOD) across the state’s High-Quality Transit Areas (HQTAs). The goal is to equip policymakers, planners, and housing agencies with tools to evaluate station areas based on their physical form, affordability, and equity outcomes. Using a 1.5-mile network-based pedestrian buffer around over 66,000 transit stations, the research team developed a three-stage clustering and scoring system. Station areas were classified by …

Mapping Climate Risks & Building Resilience: A Participatory Approach To Harvester Safety In Kakisa, Nwt., Susan Kerubo Ombwori

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation (KTFN) community in the Northwest Territories is experiencing rapid environmental changes which are driven by climate change. These changes are threatening the community’s food security. The community is seeing a disruption to its traditional land-based food systems due to increasing climate risks such as unpredictable weather, thawing permafrost, wildfires, and flooding. These changes are reducing access to traditional foods and intensifying threats to harvester safety. Building on the existing relationship with the community through previous projects, this thesis examines the impacts of climate risks on the availability and access of the KTFN’s on the land …

The Hope Industrial Complex: Resisting Manufactured And False Hope With Critical Hope In Peace Education, Thailand's Refugee Context, Staci B. Martin, Hayso Thako, Rey Ty, Sudarat Tuntivivat, Rattanak Ly

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Our Point of Departure (POD) argues that the type of hope fostered within the Karen refugee community in Thailand – manufactured, false, or critical – shapes the impact of peace-building and higher education efforts. Through a dialogue among a Karen scholar, his supervisor, and a migration researcher, we demonstrate that manufactured hope, often driven by external aid, sustains dependency and overlooks core conflicts. In contrast, false hope arises from the gap between student desires and institutional barriers, leading to unmet expectations. We aim to show that by applying critical hope, the pedagogical approach enables the Karen community to enhance its …

Repairing Estranged Death: Care, Politics And Ecology In The Us Funeral Industry, Cecilia Catherine Rodriguez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The industrialization of death practices in the US has separated humanity from natural cycles while centering white settler colonial norms that marginalize other cultural ways of caring for the dead. Through necropolitics, the contemporary death industry embodies capitalist values of commodification and a monopolization of care, separating death from community and its ecological cycles. Black and Indigenous feminist knowledges understand death as not a discrete event but instead as an ongoing process that shapes our relationships with both the human and more-than-human worlds. Engaging with feminist political ecologies, I extend a conversation about care and repair to contemporary death practices …

A Collective Micro Food Farming: Maximizing The Limited Space Of Urban Neighborhood, Arnis Rochma Harani, Fathurrahman Nur Azmi, Kelfin Ilyas Prassetyo, Cheong Peng Au-Yong

ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement

This paper examines the concept of urban farming in residential areas with limited space to provide food security while improving the environment. The practice of cultivating food crops, vegetables, fruits, or medicinal plants in small spaces such as yards, rooftops, balconies, walls, terraces, or indoor spaces is a form of domestic adaptation with significant ecological and social impacts in urban areas. This study is part of a community service program that aims to maximize limited space for food production and green space. Three phases of the activity methodology are involved in this program, including collecting spatial data to identify potential …

Building Community In Counseling Master’S Programs: A Grounded Theory, Ellise Nolan, Anthony Slaske, Chimdiogo Onyeani Nwosu, Madeline Clark

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

The purpose of this study was to create a theory explaining the process of community building in counseling education master’s programs. Researchers utilized a grounded theory methodology to study the process of building a sense of community in counseling master’s programs. Researchers discovered how a sense of community or lack thereof develops over time as counseling master's students experience a series of certain positive or negative interactions with their peers and faculty. Researchers recognized themes of the process of developing community such as program supports, benefits and barriers of community, and lack of community outcomes. Furthermore, recommendations to facilitate belonging …

Music And Sustainable Development Goals: Telling The Story, Mark Reimer

Journal of Global Awareness

Now, 10 years after the United Nations adopted its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the music profession continues to work toward being a responsible partner in the health and preservation of the planet and its inhabitants. By transcending social barriers, music promotes cultural awareness and mutual understanding, encourages creativity, and enhances emotional well-being, outcomes vital to the global goals of health, freedom, peace, education, equality, prosperity, and environmental sustainability. The article includes various examples of how music performers, educators, composers, and scholars are creating or adopting new practices that are mindful of reducing the carbon footprint, yet financially feasible in their …

Disaster Risk Reduction In Rural Indonesia: Evaluation Of The Japan Red Cross Program In Pujiharjo Village, Meyralda Dara Adisa, Pujo Widodo, Anwar Kurniadi, Wilopo Wilopo

Preventia: The Indonesian Journal of Public Health

Pujiharjo Village in Malang Regency, Indonesia, is highly vulnerable to natural disasters. In 2021, the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) partnered with the Japanese Red Cross Society (JRCS) to implement a community-based disaster preparedness program. This study evaluates the program's effectiveness in terms of community participation, institutional support, and alignment with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030. Using a qualitative case study, data were collected through document analysis of Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments (VCA), Community Action Plans (CAP), and local SOPs. Thematic analysis explored disaster risk perception, governance, mitigation investment, and emergency preparedness. The program successfully improved risk awareness, …

Bringing Mutuality And Reciprocity Into Focus: A Case Study On Sustaining University-Community Partnerships For Local Systems Change And Student Learning, Jessica L. Lucero, Lucas Martin, Jayme Walters

Transforming Communities

This case study explores a long-term university-community partnership focused on addressing homelessness, highlighting the principles of mutuality and reciprocity in achieving systemic change. Over nearly a decade, the partnership has evolved to engage university resources, faculty, and social work students through research, courses, and outreach activities, such as community surveys, the Point-in-Time Count, strategic planning, advocacy, and service system expansion. These collaborative efforts have contributed to enhanced public awareness, increased state funding, and the establishment of vital services, including a warming center. The case study also underscores the challenges inherent in community-engaged scholarship, including capacity constraints like funding and staffing …

Developing Outreach Strategies To Sustain Diversity And Inclusion In Interfaith Partnerships With Local Government, Dora Muhammad

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Local government has been hindered by a lack of sustained interfaith engagement. Faith leaders have not been consistent stakeholders in policymaking decisions. This gap in practice stemmed from a lack of research of self-transcendence within public administrative settings. Grounded in a review of 70 years of research into the conceptual framework of government needs analysis, this study’s purpose was to explore principles and concepts of civic engagement and partnership shared among faiths. Qualitative research was designed to answer, “How do faith leaders describe the current civic participation, partnership, diversity, and inclusive strategies within their faith communities as they relate to …

What My Church Mother Taught Me: A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Maternal Messages Given To Black Christian Women On How To Cope With Trauma, Melanie Joyce Coates

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Black women in Churches of Christ as they perceive and interpret maternal messages about coping with and managing the effects of traumatic experiences. For this study, maternal messages was defined as advice, support, mentorship, or guidance from older Black Christian women to younger Black Christian women. It was important to understand the ways in which older Black women teach younger Black women in navigating mental health challenges within the context of a complex trauma history among African Americans. The first theory that guided this study was …

Building Community Resilience For Disasters In The Wabash Valley, Nathan Myers

2025 Fall Reports (Terre Haute)

As part of the 2025 Indiana State University Sustainable Cities Initiative, we worked on two interconnected research projects: conducting a community needs assessment (as requested by Catholic Charities) and developing a climate-related disaster plan for the City of Terre Haute, Indiana. To complete this work, a student research team examined current statistical information for the Wabash Valley region (including Vigo, Clay, Parke, Vermillion, and Sullivan counties), as well as conducting and analyzing interviews, focus groups, and survey data to determine strengths, challenges, opportunities, and threats related to community resilience in the area. This same information, in conjunction with information from …

Proceedings Of The 25th International Symposium On Adapted Physical Activity, Catherine Carty, Gerard Masdeu Yelamos

Publications

This volume presents the Proceedings of the 25th International Symposium of Adapted Physical Activity (ISAPA 2025), hosted by Munster Technological University under the Patronage of UNESCO. It is intended as a permanent scholarly record of the symposium, its themes, and its contributions across research, practice, policy, culture, and inclusion in line with CoARA principles.

“Tag, You’Re It!”: Catalyzing Latino Success Through A Latino-Centered College Access Program In Boston, Ilyitch Nahiely Tábora

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed-methods case study examined the impact on Latino students of a Latino-centered college access program, the Talented and Gifted (TAG) Latino Program, based at Boston’s only public university (the University of Massachusetts Boston). Centering on the experiences of predominantly—but not exclusively—Latino alumni, the study triangulated quantitative survey data from 127 participants, qualitative data from 27 “Cafecito" focus groups involving a total of 120 alumni, and content analysis of 27 documents developed collaboratively during Cafecitos. Through this approach, the study amplified alumni voices to define the TAG program’s impact on their academic, social, personal, and professional advancement, illuminating the characteristics …