Digital Commons Network^™

Empirical Evidence For The Scale Dependence Of Biotic Interactions, Jonathan Belmaker, Phoebe Zarnetske, Sara Zonneveld, Sydne Record, Angela L. Strecker, Lydia Beaudrot

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Aim: Although it is recognized that ecological patterns are scale dependent, the exact scales over which specific ecological processes operate are still a matter of controversy. In particular, understanding the scales over which biotic interactions operate is critical for predicting changes in species distributions in the face of the ongoing biodiversity crisis. It has been hypothesized that biotic interactions operate predominately at fine grains, yet this conjecture has received relatively little empirical scrutiny. We use US woodpeckers as a model system to assess the relative importance of biotic interactions, environmental suitability and geographic proximity to other intraspecific occurrence sites, …

Localized Ecological And Educational Effects Of Environmental Service-Learning In Portland, Oregon, Steven Matthew Braun

Dissertations and Theses

Environmental service-learning is an intentional educational experience(s) wherein learners engage in meaningful activities designed to serve the environment. Environmental service-learning activities vary according to their learning and service goals and include ecomanagement, persuasion, legal action, economic action and political action. The purpose of this mixed methods research was to explore the ecological and educational impacts of grades 6-12 environmental education, with special attention to environmental service-learning throughout Portland, Oregon.

Ecological impacts considered restoration and conservation outcomes of several environmental service-learning programs including plant communities, soils, litter removal and trail maintenance. Educational outcomes considered aspects of environmental literacy including locus of …

Climate Change Assessment In Columbia River Basin (Crb) Using Copula Based On Coupling Of Temperature And Precipitation, Yueyue Qin

Dissertations and Theses

The multi downscaled-scenario products allow us to better assess the uncertainty of the variations of precipitation and temperature in the current and future periods. Joint Probability distribution functions (PDFs), of both the climatic variables, might help better understand the interdependence of the two, and thus in-turn help in accessing the future with confidence. In the present study, we have used multi-modelled statistically downscaled ensemble of precipitation and temperature variables. The dataset used is multi-model ensemble of 10 Global Climate Models (GCMs) downscaled product from CMIP5 daily dataset, using the Bias Correction and Spatial Downscaling (BCSD) technique, generated at Portland State …

Academic Incoherence: The State Of Sustainability Literature Today, Anthony Philip Stine

Student Research Symposium

The traditional tools associated with researching and presenting findings in contemporary sustainability literature include very little representation on moral forms of discourse. In the context of social sustainability this is problematic due to the inherently normative nature of the discourse. A citation analysis reveals very little representation of Christian moral environmental claims in the sustainability literature today despite growing concern amongst Christians for the state of the environment today.

Developing Key Sustainability Competencies Through Real-World Learning Experiences: Evaluating Community Environmental Services, Erin Lorene Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

This study focuses on sustainability in higher education and the competencies essential to address sustainability issues. Because sustainability issues are complex, "wicked", and dynamic, sustainability education programs need to reflect the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of the field. Graduates who are competent in sustainability research and problem solving will have the knowledge, skills, and attitude necessary to analyze a sustainability problem systemically and comprehensively, then will construct and implement interventions to reach optimal sustainability solutions. To prepare graduates, sustainability education programs should facilitate the development of key sustainability competencies (Wiek, Withycombe, & Redman, 2011). Such programs provide an interdisciplinary approach …

Kwakwaka’Wakw “Clam Gardens”: Motive And Agency In Traditional Northwest Coast Mariculture, Douglas Deur, Adam Dick, Kim Recalma-Clutesi, Nancy J. Turner

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast of North America actively managed natural resources in diverse ways to enhance their productivity and proximity. Among those practices that have escaped the attention of anthropologists until recently is the traditional management of intertidal clam beds, which Northwest Coast peoples have enhanced through techniques such as selective harvests, the removal of shells and other debris, and the mechanical aeration of the soil matrix. In some cases, harvesters also removed stones or even created stone revetments that served to laterally expand sediments suitable for clam production into previously unusable portions of the tidal zone. …

Urban, State, And Federal Regimes In Local Politics: The Role Of The Judiciary, Christopher Shortell

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The study of urban politics often focuses on the ability of urban regimes to successfully pursue their interests and goals. However, scholars of urban politics only peripherally consider the role that courts play. And when courts are incorporated, they are treated as exogenous to the political system. This paper argues for the importance of treating the judiciary as endogenous to the local political system. Courts are themselves political institutions and should be understood as such in the study of politics at the local level. Doing so offers several benefits, including accounting for the ways in which state-level preferences operate as …

Urban Ecology & Conservation Symposium 2015: 13th Annual (Abstracts), Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium Of Portland/Vancouver

Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver

The UERC is a consortium of people from various universities and colleges, state and federal agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations and independent professionals interested in supporting urban ecosystem research and creating an information-sharing network of people that collect and use ecological data in the Portland/Vancouver area.

UERC Mission Statement:

To advance the state of the science of urban ecosystems and improve our understanding of them, with a focus on the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan region, by fostering communication and collaboration among researchers, managers and citizens at academic institutions, public agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations, and other interested groups.

The principal organizers span …

Sustaining Change: Successes, Challenges, And Lessons Learned From Twenty Years Of Empowering Students Through Community-Based Learning Capstones, Seanna M. Kerrigan

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

More than four thousand students engage in the community-based learning capstone program every year by enrolling in one of 240 senior-level courses that culminate their undergraduate education. In this article, the author shares the context and history of the program, its foundational principles and processes, and the nuts-and-bolts details of the ongoing operation of the largest community-based learning capstone program in the United States.

Research & Strategic Partnerships: Quarterly Review, Volume 2, Issue 1, Portland State University. Research & Strategic Partnerships

Portland State Research Magazine

This Review describes connections among Portland State University, society's needs, and innovation: engineer Evan Thomas’s public health program in Rwanda, chemist Steve Reichow's protein research in the Collabo­rative Life Sciences Building, environmental historian Catherine McNeur's look back at urban agriculture in New York City, the "My Life" mentoring program for foster teens, and "Reclaiming Futures" interventions that help at-risk kids avoid incarceration.

It also focuses on EXITO. EXITO, Portland State University's largest-ever federal grant, awarded by the NIH to a team headed by Professors Carlos Crespo and Tom Keller. In the next decade, EXITO will help hundreds of underrepresented students …

Bicyclists' Uptake Of Traffic-Related Air Pollution: Effects Of The Urban Transportation System, Alexander Y. Bigazzi

Dissertations and Theses

While bicyclists and other active travelers obtain health benefits from increased physical activity, they also risk uptake of traffic-related air pollution. But pollution uptake by urban bicyclists is not well understood due to a lack of direct measurements and insufficient analysis of the determinants of exposure and ventilation (breathing). This knowledge gap impedes pollution-conscious transportation planning, design, and health impact assessment.

The research presented in this dissertation generates new connections between transportation system characteristics and pollution uptake by bicyclists. The primary research questions are: 1) how do urban bicyclists' intake and uptake of air pollution vary with roadway and travel …

Four Decades Of Systems Science Teaching And Research At Psu, Wayne Wakeland

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Systems science (SySc) is defined, and a brief background is provided regarding some of the systems science-related societies, conferences, journals, research institutes, and educational programs. The SySc program at Portland State University in Portland, OR, USA, is described in detail, including its history, curriculum, students, faculty, and degrees granted. Dissertation topics are summarized via word diagrams created from dissertation titles over the years. MS degrees, student placement, and undergraduate courses are also mentioned, and future plans for the program are described including its support for sustainability education.

Raps Sheet, October 2014, Retirement Association Of Portland State

RAPS Sheet: Monthly Newsletter

No abstract provided.

A City Club Report On Measure 92: Gmo Labeling, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

2014 Commencement Program (Morning Ceremony), Nicholas D. Kristof

Commencement Archives 2010-19

The program for the Portland State University 2014 Commencement, Morning Ceremony: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, held June 15, 2014.

Lorry I. Lokey and Nicholas D. Kristof received honorary degrees; Kristof delivered the commencement address.

Four Decades Of Systems Science Teaching And Research In The Usa At Portland State University, Wayne Wakeland

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

Systems science is defined in general fashion, and a brief background is provided that lists some of the systems science-related societies, conferences, journals, research institutes, and educational programs. The Systems Science Graduate Program at Portland State University in Portland, OR, USA, is described in detail, including its history, curriculum, students, faculty, and degrees granted. Dissertation topics are summarized via word diagrams created from dissertation titles over the years. MS degrees, student placement, and undergraduate courses are also mentioned, and future plans for the program are described including its support for sustainability education.

U-54 Building Infrastructure Leading To Diversity (Build) National Institutes Of Health: Enhancing Cross-Disciplinary Infrastructure Training At Oregon, Carlos J. Crespo

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentation focuses on the NIH Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Initiative (U54) that was awarded to Portland State University.

Urban Ecology & Conservation Symposium 2014: 12th Annual (Abstracts), Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium Of Portland/Vancouver

Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver

The UERC is a consortium of people from various universities and colleges, state and federal agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations and independent professionals interested in supporting urban ecosystem research and creating an information-sharing network of people that collect and use ecological data in the Portland/Vancouver area.

UERC Mission Statement:

To advance the state of the science of urban ecosystems and improve our understanding of them, with a focus on the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan region, by fostering communication and collaboration among researchers, managers and citizens at academic institutions, public agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations, and other interested groups.

The principal organizers span …

Curriculum Change 2014-2015, Portland State University

Bulletin & Curriculum Change Documents

No abstract provided.

Sense Of Place And Stakeholder Involvement In Rural Environmental Management, Jessica Lynn Beutler

University Honors Theses

There is a growing need for involvement of local communities in environmental management in order to develop dynamic and holistic management strategies. Communities have direct impact on the ecosystems they live in; therefore, it is vital to understand the environmental values and knowledge of environmental threats held by those communities. Integrating the community’s knowledge into local environmental management can help engage instead of alienate them. The relationship between rural communities and their local environment in Puget Island, WA was investigated by conducting interviews with residents, examining at their values and understanding of environmental issues. Additionally, this research investigates how sense …

Framing Transportation Planning Pedagogy For Sustainability Generalists, Beth Sweeney, Ann Scheerer, Vicki Elmer

TREC Final Reports

This paper describes a pilot graduate sustainable transportation course developed at the University of Oregon to provide hands-on project experience for students studying sustainability. New approaches to sustainability and transportation pedagogies will provide a galvanizing force for tomorrow’s graduates, who must respond to concerns about climate change and the environment, social equity, and an uncertain economy. They will require an aptitude for both technical skills and collaborative leadership and communication skills. The course was guided by a framework founded in five themes from the literature on sustainability education and transportation planning and engineering education: leading with sustainability’s cornerstones of people, …

Food Sovereignty: An Alternative Paradigm For Poverty Reduction And Biodiversity Conservation In Latin America, M. Jahi Chappell, Hannah Wittman, Christopher M. Bacon, Bruce G. Ferguson, Luis Garcia Barrios, Raúl Garcia Barrios, Daniel Jaffee, Jefferson Lima, V. Ernesto Méndez, Helda Morales, Lorena Soto-Pinto, John Vandermeer, Ivette Perfecto

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Strong feedback between global biodiversity loss and persistent, extreme rural poverty are major challenges in the face of concurrent food, energy, and environmental crises. This paper examines the role of industrial agricultural intensification and market integration as exogenous socio-ecological drivers of biodiversity loss and poverty traps in Latin America. We then analyze the potential of a food sovereignty framework, based on protecting the viability of a diverse agroecological matrix while supporting rural livelihoods and global food production. We review several successful examples of this approach, including ecological land reform in Brazil, agroforestry, milpa, and the uses of wild varieties in …

Assessing Cultural Ecosystem Services Using Gis-Based Landscape Values Mapping. Case Study: Olympic Peninsula Human Ecology Mapping Project, Diane Besser, Rebecca J. Mclain, Lee Cerveny, David Banis

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

This presentation focuses on the Olympic Peninsula mapping project objectives:

• Develop and test a method for mapping sociocultural values at a Bioregional scale
• Test techniques for analyzing spatialized sociocultural values data
• Explore ways to integrate spatialized sociocultural values into forest management planning

Carbon Dynamics In The Future Forest: The Importance Of Long-Term Successional Legacy And Climate–Fire Interactions, E. Louise Loudermilk, Robert M. Scheller, Peter J. Weisberg, Jian Yang, Thomas E. Dilts, Sarah L. Karam, Carl Skinner

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Understanding how climate change may influence forest carbon (C) budgets requires knowledge of forest growth relationships with regional climate, long-term forest succession, and past and future disturbances, such as wildfires and timber harvesting events. We used a landscape-scale model of forest succession, wildfire, and C dynamics (LANDIS-II) to evaluate the effects of a changing climate (A2 and B1 IPCC emissions; Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory General Circulation Models) on total forest C, tree species composition, and wildfire dynamics in the Lake Tahoe Basin, California, and Nevada. The independent effects of temperature and precipitation were assessed within and among climate models. Results …

Calculating Energy Consumption For Building Materials, G. Antons, M. Hoover, W. Uebelacker, Sergio Palleroni, Huafen Hu, Ben Deines

Research-Based Design Initiative

Sustainability is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. With that, Life Cycle Assesment (LCA) was born and is now a standard tool in measuring how sustainable we are in building from material extraction to end of life.

Architects have adopted the responsibility to lead the building industry down a green and sustainable path; as a part of this, many architecture firms have expanded their practices to include studios that work specifically on green buildings or green energy audits for clients. Throughout history sustainable design has used …

Making Streets Into Complete Streets: An Evidence-Based Design Manual, Marc Schlossberg, John Rowell

TREC Final Reports

The predominant approach toward street function on major roads in the United States is to emphasize mobility and throughput of vehicles. The “Complete Streets” movement challenges some of this paradigm, emphasizing that streets should accommodate multiple modes of travel and should often be considered destinations themselves. Often, efforts to transform streets into Complete Streets face resistance from both professional communities of traffic engineers and from the public that their design will reduce throughput and vehicle flow..Complete Streets advocates, in some cases, counter that while their designs often create pedestrian and cycling space from areas that were previously occupied by automobiles, …

Subsistence And Resistance On The British Columbia Coast: Kingcome Village’S Estuarine Gardens As Contested Space, Douglas Deur, Nancy J. Turner, Adam Dick, Daisy Sewid-Smith, Kim Recalma-Clutesi

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

A case study is presented on the contested land ownership of the estuarine gardens in Kingcome Village, British Columbia (BC) between white settlers and the native Kwakwaka'wakw Indian Nation during the 19th century. The role that the natural resources of Kingcome Village's estuarine gardens played in white colonists' settlement of the Kingcome Village area is discussed.

Front Matter Volume 4, 2010, Mcnair Scholars Program

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

Front matter includes program background, Table of Contents, and a complete listing of 2010 Portland State McNair Scholars.

The View From The Table: An Analysis Of Participant Reactions To Community-Based Dialogues On Food And Justice, Jennifer Turner

Dissertations and Theses

While Portland, Oregon's sustainable food movement wins accolades for explicitly situating itself in opposition to the industrialized global food system, it often fails to address systems of oppression that are reproduced within the alternative agri-food movement itself. This demonstrated aversion towards the messy, complex, contingent nature of the social world reflects larger processes of "de-politicization" of the overall sustainability agenda, which leads to the favoring of technological and/or spatial solutions that may undermine the social equity and justice dimensions of the "triple bottom line." This thesis focuses on an action research project involving a series of community dialogues that provided …

The Wicked Problem Of Chemicals Policy: Opportunities For Innovation, Jennifer H. Allen

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Many environmental challenges facing society today, such as climate change and integrated water management, have been described as “wicked problems” due to their biological, physical, and social complexity. Wicked problems extend across media such as air, land, and water; across political jurisdictions and landscape boundaries; and across traditional policy arenas. Traditional policy approaches that are media-specific, rely on single agencies for implementation, and that do not effectively engage stakeholders and partners outside of government are generally ineffective in addressing these issues. The management of toxic chemicals is a classic “wicked problem.” Existing toxics policies often exacerbate the “wicked” nature of …