Digital Commons Network^™

Indigenous Futures: Decolonizing Conservation And Restoring Ecological Sovereignty, Jasmine Beach

University Honors Theses

This study examines how members of Indigenous-led conservation organizations perceive the ecological and social implications of colonial conservation ideologies in the context of contemporary grassroots strategies. By analyzing the ongoing impact of conservation frameworks in Kenya, this research highlights the role of Indigenous-led initiatives in advancing sustainable, community-driven alternatives. Using a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, which integrates Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with Western scientific methods, the study employs qualitative, semi-structured interviews with leaders from Zawadisha, KENVO, Wildlife Works, and CER-Kenya. Findings indicate that these organizations, particularly those led by women, actively restore biodiversity, enhance climate resilience, and challenge exclusionary conservation policies. …

Plural Water Narratives: An Environmental Justice Lens On A Systematic Review Of Q-Methodology Water Research, Melissa Haeffner, Alida Cantor, Janet Cowal, Andrea Bryant, Darius Mani Yaw, Kinna Je Palacios, Daniela Serna, Bryce Sprauer, Abigail Tran-Gruver

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Environmental justice research has shown that people's experiences and perceptions of water differ because systematic inequalities shape the extent to which people access clean water and are exposed to water hazards. Q‐methodology is one technique that has been used to aggregate multifaceted subjective narratives and understand different perspectives on a topic. In this paper, we systematically review 77 case study articles applying Q‐methodology to water‐related topics, to inventory how people perceive their relationships with water. We create a classification system based on environmental justice theory to examine (1) distributive justice issues around alternative water sources and agricultural and urban water …

Pumped Storage Hydropower In The United States: Emerging Importance, Environmental And Social Impacts, And Critical Considerations, Surabhi Karambelkar, Alida Cantor, Thien-Kim Bui, Bethani Turley, Maryalice Fischer, Shannon Ames

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Pumped storage hydropower is a widely used, long-duration energy storage system that sits squarely at the water-energy nexus. Bold decarbonization goals have propelled a rapid resurgence of interest in pumped storage hydropower in the US, given its ability to provide bulk energy storage, manage grid reliability, and support increasing integration of variable renewable energy sources. Drawing on published research from both technical and social science perspectives, this paper provides an overview of pumped storage hydropower technology, the project development pipeline, potential social and environmental impacts, including a comparison of open-loop and closed-loop design configurations, and critical considerations for project development. …

Tree-Equity And Environmental Justice Discourses Among Urban Forestry Professionals In Portland: Current Impacts And Future Implications, Axcelle Deone Bell

Dissertations and Theses

Urban tree equity is critical for addressing environmental justice and mitigating the effects of climate change in cities. This study investigates how professionals in Portland's urban forestry sector conceptualize and implement tree equity, focusing on equity and justice discourses. Through 27 semi-structured interviews with 29 professionals from government agencies and NGOs, I examine how these discourses shape decisions regarding tree planting, distribution, and maintenance, particularly in underserved communities. The analysis draws on political ecology, systems dynamics, and structuration theory to explore the systemic barriers perpetuating inequities in tree canopy distribution. The findings reveal tensions between different approaches to equity, such …

Integrative Approaches To Climate Resilience Planning: Application Of A Plan Evaluation Framework, Maulsri Jha

Dissertations and Theses

In the last two decades, urban governments have streamlined and prioritized the creation and implementation of climate resilience plans to cater to the communities' vulnerabilities. Existing research illustrates that there is a gap in understanding how, or if, empirical (evidence-based) data are incorporated into the design and implementation of such plans and the extent to which their inclusion impacts outcomes in terms of vulnerability reduction. There is also a gap in the systematic study of their outcomes in terms of community resilience, and whether equity and environmental justice are promoted as priorities.

The purpose of the research is to understand …

Bulletin: General Catalog Issue 2025-2026, Portland State University

Bulletin & Curriculum Change Documents

No abstract provided.

Trees, Schools, & Stakeholders: Building Partnerships For Schoolyard Greening With Portland Urban Forestry Learning Landscapes, Claire Brase

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Portland Urban Forestry Learning Landscapes is a city program offering free tree planting and establishment services to schools, community groups, and multi-residential zones in the city of Portland, Oregon. This project report, completed on behalf of Learning Landscapes, uses qualitative evidence from interviews with school district administrators, teachers, volunteers, grounds staff, city employees, and outreach experts to gain a deeper understanding of the factors leading to successful collaboration between local school districts and their external community partners. These conversations with school and outreach personnel across the city suggest that district staff are interested in collaborative greening organizations like Learning Landscapes …

Unseen Connections: A Storymap Exploring Case Studies In Water-Energy Transitions And Environmental Justice, Alida Cantor, Elizabeth Bartholomew, Kate Berry, James Blair, Dustin Mulvaney, Nancee Hunter

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate change is one of the most important challenges in the world today. Communities and decision makers at many levels, from local to international, are working to ensure that energy, water, and other societal infrastructures can transition and adapt to address climate change (IPCC, 2023). One major mitigation strategy involves the decarbonization of energy systems (Rockström et al. 2017). Despite wide recognition of the need to decarbonize globally, renewable energy infrastructures and technologies are often locally controversial, involving claims of environmental injustice and disputes over land and water (Cantor, Turley, and Maxfield 2023; Jerez, Garcés, and Torres 2021; Turley et …

Leaden Circles, Eternal Springs, And Rusty Pumps: Time, Nature, And Industry In Mrs. Dalloway, Katherine Evans

Anthós

This article explores often-overlooked ecocritical aspects in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, analyzing Woolf’s literary intersection of time, nature, and industry as a precursor to contemporary Anthropocene discourse. Acknowledging prevailing interpretations of Mrs. Dalloway through social lenses of trauma, class, and gender, Evans reveals how Woolf’s exploration of human-environment relationships is not only present but integral to interpreting the text fully. Drawing from textual close readings, scholarship on Woolf, and environmental humanities frameworks, Evans demonstrates how Woolf utilizes the Big Ben and a beggar woman to symbolize human-nature relationships. Evans’ ecocritical reading of Mrs. Dalloway repositions the 1925 novel within contemporary …

“I Have One More Hour Of Power And Many Miles Of Communication To Go”: Lessons Learned From Community Research Interrupted By Climate Crises, Antonia R.G. Alvarez, Sherry Manning, Teresa Dosdos Ruelas

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Ang Pagtanom og Binhi Project is a University–Community partnership and community-based participatory research project exploring the health benefits of food sovereignty practices in the Philippines. In late 2021, in the midst of data collection, Super Typhoon Odette made landfall in the Philippines causing massive environmental and structural devastation. In the aftermath of the storm, community partners in the Philippines and members of the research team in the United States shared photos, texts, and updates. These messages included descriptions of structural and environmental damage caused by the storm and stories of mutual aid efforts and actions taken by individuals and …

From The Ocean To Our Kitchen Table: Anthropogenic Particles In The Edible Tissue Of U.S.. West Coast Seafood Species, Summer D. Traylor, Elise F. Granek, Marilyn Duncan, Susanne Brander

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Microplastics (MPs) and other anthropogenic particles (APs) are pervasive environmental contaminants found throughout marine and aquatic environments. We quantified APs in the edible tissue of black rockfish, lingcod, Chinook salmon, Pacific herring, Pacific lamprey, and pink shrimp, comparing AP burdens across trophic levels and between vessel-retrieved and retail-purchased individuals. Edible tissue was digested and analyzed under a microscope, and a subset of suspected APs was identified using spectroscopy (μFTIR). Anthropogenic particles were found in 180 of 182 individuals. Finfish contained 0.02–1.08 AP/g of muscle tissue. In pink shrimp (Pandalus jordani), the average AP/g was 10.68 for vessel-retrieved and …

Re-Indigenizing And Collaboratively Tending Urban Greenspaces, Divinity Nnenne Adewale

University Honors Theses

This work details the active process of land tending with the intention of re-Indigenization in the Pacific Northwest at several Portland sites; The Native American Student Community Center, PSU Oak Savanna, and the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Land tending is an intuitive process, one rooted in love and respect for life of all forms as well as becoming the perpetual student; land tending is not a skill to be mastered, only practiced. Unlike environmental management, tending cannot be done separate from the earth, in a classroom or otherwise. Connections are what tending is built on top of: the foundation; effort …

Piloting A Zero-Emission Delivery Zone In Downtown Portland, Art Pearce, Sarah Pullman, Jacob Sherman

PSU Transportation Seminars

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) was awarded a nearly $2 million Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grant by the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) in Fall 2023 to pilot the country’s first regulated Zero-Emission Delivery Zone in downtown Portland and test digital infrastructure tools. This project will test an innovative set of incentives and regulations to better understand what technology and strategies municipalities can use to support and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the freight sector.

While other cities in the United States have piloted voluntary Zero-Emission Delivery Zones (ZEDZs) to encourage the transition of commercial fleets to …

“You Could Have Did Us Better Than This”: Reparative Housing Policies And The Struggle To Right Harms To Black Communities, Amie Thurber, Lisa K. Bates, Susan Halverson, Keisha Muia

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper contributes to the burgeoning literature related to reparative planning, with an emphasis on housing policy. After exploring the state of theorizing related to reparative planning, this paper describes its three central dimensions: public recognition, material redistribution, and social/spatial transformation. The authors use these dimensions to evaluate a housing policy designed to repair harms to Black residents in Portland, Oregon. This in-depth analysis draws on survey, interview, and focus group data to explore the degree to which residents’ experiences of the policy reflect these three dimensions. The paper concludes with implications for other municipalities considering reparative housing policies, namely …

The Sphere Of Exposure: Centering User Experience In Community Science Air Monitoring, Marisa Westbrook, Valentina Serrano-Salomón, Jay Pecenka, Sumit Sankhyan, Aniya K. Hollo, Shelly L. Miller, Esther Sullivan

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Community science has increased in popularity in communities where residents hope to investigate the relationship between environmental issues and personal health. This study partnered with neighborhoods in the most polluted residential zip code in the US to conduct community science air quality monitoring. We conducted 60 semi-structured interviews after two monitoring deployments to understand participants’ subjective experiences of pollution exposure, their engagement with low-cost air quality monitors, and their data interpretation. We utilize the environmental health concept ‘exposure experience’ to analyze how participants use personal monitors, understand their data, and reinterpret their pollution exposure as a result. We further explore …

The Water-Climate Nexus: Intersections Across Sectors, Thushara Gunda, Alida A. Cantor, Emily Grubert, Angela R. Harris, Yolanda J. Mcdonald

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Water security and climate change are important priorities for communities and regions worldwide. The intersections between water and climate change extend across many environmental and human activities. This Primer is intended as an introduction, grounded in examples, for students and others considering the interactions between climate, water, and society. In this Primer, we summarize key intersections between water and climate across four sectors: environment; drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene; food and agriculture; and energy. We begin with an overview of the fundamental water dynamics within each of these four sectors, and then discuss how climate change is impacting water and …

The Foodpunk City: Advancing Portland's Food Security Through A Shared Ideology Of Adaptation & Resistance, Nickolas Hash

Dissertations and Theses

Food injustice is a form of violence perpetrated by state and corporate actors against a constituency under their governing power, particularly impacting marginalized and impoverished communities. It denies individuals access to nutritious food, perpetuating cycles of poverty, inequality, physical health risks, and social exclusion. Grassroots movements have emerged to challenge dominant paradigms and advocate for food sovereignty, agroecology, and food anarchy. In Portland, the movement represents a nontraditional approach to food security that closely resembles the reactionary ideology of urban "punk" culture. Both groups prioritize community autonomy over food systems, sustainable agricultural practices, and resistance to oppressive structures that perpetuate …

Climate And Extreme Weather Event Impacts On Administrators, Direct Care Staff, And Residents In Oregon Assisted Living, Residential Care, And Memory Care Communities, 2024, Dani Himes, Jacklyn Kohon, Madeline Fox, Laura Rodriguez, Sarah Dys, Diana Jacoby, Paula Carder

Institute on Aging Publications

This brief report on AL/RC staff and resident experiences with climate events highlights the voices of AL/RC direct care staff, former direct care staff, residents, administrators, and management representatives to promote well-being in these care settings. This study can inform Oregon’s efforts to support long-term care workforce readiness for future climate emergencies and inform future quantitative data collection on AL/RC and other long-term care workers, including those employed in home health agencies, nursing facilities, and adult foster homes.

Water Throughout The Green Energy Transition: Hydrosocial Dimensions Of Coal, Natural Gas, And Lithium, Joshua J. Cousins, Alida Cantor, Bethani Turley

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Energy transitions are reshaping hydrosocial relations. How they will be reshaped, however, depends on location and water's material relationship to other resources and industrial activities embedded within energy transitions. To highlight this, we focus on three different resources—coal, natural gas, and lithium—to signal how the water–energy nexus will be reworked in a transition away from fossil fuels. We examine the water–coal nexus as an example of a resource relationship that is transitioning out, or that is being moved away from in the green energy transition. Natural gas represents the “bridge fuel” used through the transition. Lithium illustrates a resource inside …

Working (Around/Within/Against) Prior Appropriation: Diverse Hydrosocial Practices To Secure Water For Rivers, Alida Cantor, Jillian Farley, Thien-Kim Bui, Zachary Boyce

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Water scarcity in the Western US, through the lens of political ecology, can be understood as inextricably shaped by power dynamics, governance structures, and legal practices of resource allocation. Water allocation in the region is determined largely by the legal doctrine of Prior Appropriation, the 'first in time, first in right' principle. However, prior appropriation is fundamentally based in anthropocentric and settler colonial assumptions, and in light of drought, climate change, and shifting social and environmental values, the system has been critiqued as inadequate to meet contemporary water challenges. Despite challenging historical legacies, water managers in the Western US are …

Lithium And Water: Hydrosocial Impacts Across The Life Cycle Of Energy Storage, James J. A. Blair, Noel Vineyard, Dustin Mulvaney, Alida Cantor, Ali Sharbat, Kate Berry, Elizabeth Bartholomew, Ariana Firebaugh Ornelas

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

As a key ingredient of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), lithium plays a significant role in climate change mitigation, but lithium has considerable impacts on water and society across its life cycle. Upstream extraction methods—including open-pit mining, brine evaporation, and novel direct lithium extraction (DLE)—and downstream processes present different impacts on both the quantity and quality of water resources, leading to water depletion and contamination. Regarding upstream extraction, it is critical for a comprehensive assessment of lithium's life cycle to include cumulative impacts related not only to freshwater, but also mineralized or saline groundwater, also known as brine. Legal frameworks …

"We're Going To Tear Up The Caldera So We Can Have An Electric Car": Competing Perceptions And Spatial Dimensions Of Open-Pit Lithium Mining In The Mcdermitt Caldera, Oregon, Elizabeth Bartholomew

Dissertations and Theses

As the world attempts to pivot away from fossil fuels and other greenhouse gas-emitting activities that fuel climate change, the proposed technological solutions all require raw materials, resources, and land; each of which have their own logistical and political dimensions. Lithium, a federally recognized critical mineral that is considered a crucial element in modern battery production, plays a vital role in decarbonizing efforts. Under the banners of national security, resource independence, and carbon mitigation goals, the United States has incentivized domestic lithium extraction, expediting exploration throughout the American West. The McDermitt Caldera, spanning from southeastern Oregon into northern Nevada, is …

Participatory Mapping Of Tree Equity, Preferences, And Environmental Justice In Portland, Oregon, Kate Gregory, Idowu Ajibade

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this study, we examine community lived experiences, preferences, and narratives about tree equity in Portland, Oregon. Using an environmental justice framework combined with participatory mapping, focus group discussions, and semi-structured interviews, we examine values, perceptions of canopy cover, and everyday relationships with trees across different racial and socio-economic backgrounds. Results show that participants from neighborhoods with histories of investment and privilege had different lived experiences compared to those with histories of disinvestment and marginalization. While participants overall valued trees, concerns about tree-related risk and safety varied in ways that reflected racial and class identities. Furthermore, memories and historic knowledge …

Impacts Of Stream Habitat Restoration On Macroinvertebrate Assemblages: A Systematic Literature Review, Morgan E. Seitzer

University Honors Theses

Globally, river restoration has become a popular tool for improving the health of a watershed and restoring ecosystem services, but still has significant knowledge gaps. In certain areas and scientific communities, special attention has been given to the response of macroinvertebrates as a measure of restoration success. This systematic literature review aims to highlight and discuss the patterns in studies that have comparable before-and-after restoration data on macroinvertebrates after reconnecting stream channels to their floodplains. Macroinvertebrate sampling is a simple if not time-consuming task that can reveal important data about habitat quality. Because they serve as an important food source …

Embodied Urban Political Ecology Of Oil: Social Reproduction In Oil ‎Geographies Case Study: Ahwaz, Khuzestan, Iran, Maryam Amiri

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation examines the transformative impact of the oil industry on social ‎reproduction ‎‎within the urban and ecological landscapes of Khuzestan Province, Iran, and ‎its center, the city ‎of Ahwaz. Specifically, the study sought to understand the effects of ‎the oil industry on social ‎reproduction in three key areas: gender relations, race/ethnic ‎relations, and daily life ‎amidst ‎environmental pollution caused by the oil industry.

‎This is explored through three sub-questions: 1) How are hierarchical socio-‎spatial ‎relationships perpetuated through practices of ‎everyday life? 2) How are gender ‎relationships redefined and ‎reproduced in the oil city? 3) How ‎are ethnic relationships ‎redefined …

Building Climate Resilience: How Climate Groups Can Channel Anxiety And Grief Into Action, Martin J. Lemke

University Honors Theses

As the impacts of climate change increasingly stress the ecological and social systems of the planet there is also a greater incidence of psychological struggles related to climate instability. Climate change is a significant source of psychological distress for many individuals, often manifesting as climate anxiety and grief. This thesis explores research and therapeutic experience that has been generated as the discipline of psychology seeks to meet this rising challenge. In particular, the fields of ecopsychology, psychodynamic therapy, existential psychology and Indigenous knowledge contributed the majority of the insight to the conclusions drawn along with contributions from potentially applicable emotions …

An Assessment Of Equity, Compounding Disasters, And Climate Change In Hazard Mitigation Planning For The Portland Metro Region, Chris Lower

Geography Masters Research Papers

Hazard mitigation plans (HMPs) are strategic documents or policies developed by governments, communities, and organizations to identify risks and reduce the impacts of natural and human- made hazards. These plans aim to minimize loss of life, property damage, and disruption from floods, wildfires, snowstorms, heatwaves, and other disasters. While useful, these plans infrequently and unevenly address the lived experiences of marginalized populations who bear the disproportionate impacts of recurrent disasters. Technocratic planning goals exacerbate these impacts by failing to center inclusive and equity-focused approaches, thus eroding the resilience capacities of many vulnerable groups including the poor and communities of color. …

Moss Biomonitoring Of Lead Emissions From Hillsboro Airport, Daria Kolpakov

University Honors Theses

The objective of this experiment was to use biomonitoring as a method to determine lead concentration levels around Hillsboro Airport in Hillsboro, Oregon. Twenty-two samples were collected within a 2 km radius around Hillsboro Airport using a randomized sampling strategy. The concentrations of lead within the samples were determined using ICP-MS. The average lead concentration was (2.8 ± 5.0) mg/kg with a peak value of 21.6 mg/kg 0.57 km from Hillsboro Airport. As the average lead concentration was substantially skewed, Hillsboro Airport is likely to be the source of the lead increase.

"Your Food Is Who You Are": Food Sovereignty Within A Native Urban Community Garden, Zoe Buhrmaster

University Honors Theses

This paper explores the concept of food sovereignty within the context of a community garden managed by the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) in Portland, based on interviews with key garden coordinators and community members. The garden, initiated in 2019, emphasizes the cultivation of First Foods and traditional medicinal plants, serving as a space for cultural revitalization and community health. Food sovereignty, as defined by interviewees, encompasses a relational approach to plants as relatives, community control over food systems, and access to healthy, ancestral foods. The garden's history highlights its development amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and its role …

Economic Impacts Of Industry Shifts: Evaluating The Decline Of The Coal Industry In Indonesia's Transition To Renewable Energy, Sebastian Ming Lopez

University Honors Theses

Worldwide usage of coal in energy production is declining. Agreements on carbon reduction and decreasing reliance on non-renewable energy systems are occurring at differing rates. Developed countries are quick to adapt and switch to renewable energy systems using their greater resources, technological advances, and government support. Developing countries however are at a disadvantage due to a lack of resources and prior investments in older, polluting, technology. This study aims to look at the potential effects of the decline of the coal industry within Indonesia, a fast-growing developing country that relies heavily on its coal sector. Indonesia as a country is …