Digital Commons Network^™

Ballot Measure 26-151, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

Community Controlled Forests, Carbon Sequestration And Redd+: Some Evidence From Ethiopia, Abebe D. Beyene, Randall Bluffstone, Alemu Mekonnen

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, “plus” afforestration) is a tool that supports forest carbon-enhancing approaches in the developing world in order to mitigate and hopefully reverse climate change. A key issue within REDD+ is to appropriately bring in the almost 25% of developing country forests that are effectively controlled by communities. Many authors have discussed the social aspects of appropriateness, but there is limited analysis of the actual carbon sequestration potential of better-managed community controlled forests (CCFs). Drawing on an analytical framework that relies heavily on the common property and social capital literatures, our paper contributes to …

Assessing The Potential Contribution Of Vacant Land To Urban Vegetable Production And Consumption In Oakland, California, Nathan Mcclintock, Jenny Cooper, Snehee Khandeshi

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

As urban agriculture grows in popularity, researchers are attempting to quantify its potential contribution to local food systems. We present the results of a vacant land inventory conducted in collaboration with the HOPE Collaborative, a multi-stakeholder, community-based initiative in Oakland, CA, USA. Vacant lots, open space, and underutilized parks with agricultural potential were identified using GIS and aerial imagery. Using visual interpretation, we identified 1201 ac (486.4 ha) of public land and 337 ac (136.4 ha) of private land that could potentially be used for vegetable production. Based on USDA loss-adjusted consumption data, we calculated the potential contribution of these …

Urban Ecology & Conservation Symposium 2013: 11th 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 …

Bulletin: General Catalog Issue 2013-2014, Portland State University

Bulletin & Curriculum Change Documents

No abstract provided.

Back To The Clam Gardens, Nancy J. Turner, Kim Recalma‐Clutesi, Douglas Deur

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the following story, Kwakwaka’wakw Clan Chief Adam Dick, known by his traditional name Kwaxsistalla, travels back to the clam gardens off the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, where his grandparents raised food and passed down a huge body of traditional ecological knowledge.

The story also documents the first of a series of trips to be undertaken over the next two years to document waxsistalla’s unique and detailed knowledge and experiences of the food harvesting and other resource‐based activities of his Qawadiliqallalan of the Tsawataineuk people of Kingcome Inlet.

The Paradox Of “Acting Globally While Thinking Locally”: Discordance In Climate Change Adaption Policy, Daniel A. Mazmanian, John L. Jurewitz, Hal T. Nelson

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

The paradox motivating this article is why California has acted globally by enacting a comprehensive mitigation policy to reduce the emissions of Greenhouse gases, a true public good since the benefits will be shared across the planet, but has not mustered the will to act locally through the adoption of an equally comprehensive adaptation policy for the state to protect its own public and private assets and interests. We attempt to explain the paradox by identifying what it is that differentiates climate change adaptation from mitigation, both substantively and politically. The paradox notwithstanding, we identify several imaginable adaptation policies and …

Meaningful Sustainability Learning: An Action Research Study Of Sustainability Pedagogy In Two University Courses, Heather Burns

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Educators are increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability and the need to educate for sustainable change within higher education. This article addresses the growing need to focus on how teaching and learning can be re-oriented towards sustainability, and more specifically how educators can effectively address increasingly well-known sociocultural and ecological problems in ways that transform learners and empower them to make change based on a sense of civic responsibility and sustainability. This research study draws on the Burns Model of Sustainability Pedagogy, which integrates ecological design, systemic and interdisciplinary learning, multiple perspectives, an active and engaged learning process, and …

Metagenome Sequence Analysis Of Filamentous Microbial Communities Obtained From Geochemically Distinct Geothermal Channels Reveals Specialization Of Three Aquificales Lineages, Cristina Takacs-Vesbach, William P. Inskeep, Zackary J. Jay, Markus J. Herrgard, Douglas B. Rusch, Susannah G. Tringe, Mark A. Kozubal, Natsuko Hamamura, Richard E. Macur, Bruce W. Fouke, Anna-Louise Reysenbach, Timothy R. Mcdermott, Ryan Dem. Jennings, Nicolas W. Hengartner, Gary Xie

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Aquificales are thermophilic microorganisms that inhabit hydrothermal systems world- wide and are considered one of the earliest lineages of the domain Bacteria. We analyzed metagenome sequence obtained from six thermal “filamentous streamer” communities (∼40 Mbp per site), which targeted three different groups of Aquificales found in Yellow- stone National Park (YNP). Unassembled metagenome sequence and PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene libraries revealed that acidic, sulfidic sites were dominated by Hydrogenobac- ulum (Aquificaceae) populations, whereas the circum-neutral pH (6.5–7.8) sites containing dissolved sulfide were dominated by Sulfurihydrogenibium spp. (Hydrogenothermaceae). Thermocrinis (Aquificaceae) populations were found primarily in the circum-neutral sites with undetectable …

Beyond Adaptive Capacity Checklists: Examining The Construction Of Capacity In Mexico City And Santiago, Patricia Romero-Lankao, Sara Hughes, Angélica Rosas-Huerta, Roxana Borquéz, Melissa Haeffner

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cities are vulnerable to a range of environmental hazards that are likely to be exacerbated by climate change: floods, droughts, poor air quality, and heat islands are a few examples. Assessments of this vulnerability often include an evaluation of a city’s adaptive capacity, or its potential to respond to changes in the frequency or severity of environmental hazards as well as its ability to take advantage of or mitigate these changes. For example, at the city (e.g., institutional) level, a common metric of adaptive capacity is the availability and effective use of information. In many cases, a city would receive …

Urban Ecology & Conservation Symposium 2012: 10th 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 …

Negative Transfer In The Writing Of Proficient Students Of Russian: A Comparison Of Heritage Language Learners And Second Language Learners, Daria Aleeva

Dissertations and Theses

This study explored the phenomenon of negative transfer from English in the writing of proficient heritage vs. second language learners of Russian. Although a number of studies have examined negative transfer from English into Russian, and other studies have compared the performance of heritage language learners (HLLs) to second language learners (SLLs), little research has investigated the phenomenon of negative transfer in the writing of both HLLs and SLLs and compared the two groups. Thus, this study employed an exploratory approach to empirically investigate the differences in language transfer between the two groups of learners. Specifically, the study addressed the …

Bulletin: General Catalog Issue 2012-2013, Portland State University

Bulletin & Curriculum Change Documents

No abstract provided.

Building A Sustainable And Desirable Economy-In-Society-In-Nature, Robert Costanza, Gar Alperovitz, Herman E. Daly, Joshua C. Farley, Carol Franco, Tim Jackson, Ida Kubiszewski, Juliet Schor, Peter A. Victor

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

This report is a synthesis of ideas about what this new economy-in-society-innature could look like and how we might get there. Most of the ideas presented here are not new. The coauthors of this report have published them in various forms over the last several decades, and many others have expressed similar ideas in venues too numerous to mention. What is new is the timing and the situation. The time has come when we must make a transition. We have no choice. Our present path is clearly unsustainable. As Paul Raskin has said, "Contrary to the conventional wisdom, it is …

Sustainability Education As A Framework For Enhancing Environmental Stewardship In Young Leaders: An Intervention At Tryon Creek Nature Day Camp, Andrea Nicole Lawrence

Dissertations and Theses

UNESCO established Sustainability Education as a top priority when it declared 2005 - 2014 to be the global decade for sustainability. Sustainability education can be implemented in outdoor programs such as nature summer camps in order to build environmental stewardship and ecological literacy in counselors and campers. This study sought to determine the extent to which an ecology and leadership training given to assistant counselors at Tryon Creek State Natural Area day camp achieved the goals of sustainability education--for the assistant counselors to learn about ecology, develop stewardship attitudes and behaviors toward the environment, and become positive role models for …

New Ways To Manage Information As A Good That Improves With Use, Ida Kubiszewski

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Information has some unique characteristics. Unlike most other goods and services, it is neither rival (use by one prevents use by others) nor non-rival (use by one does not affect use by others), but is enhanced with increased use, or ‘additive’. Therefore a unique allocation system for both the production and consumption of information is needed. Under the current market-based allocation system, production of information is often limited through the exclusive rights produced by patents and copyrights. This limits scientists' ability to share and build on each other's knowledge. We break the problem down into three separate questions: (1) do …

Historical Vegetation Of Central Southwest Oregon, Based On Glo Survey Notes : Final Report To Usdi Bureau Of Land Management, Medford District, O. Eugene Hickman, John A. Christy

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

Historical vegetation at the time of European settlement is of great interest to both the public and land managers, but is poorly documented. One source of data are the earliest land survey records of the General Land Office (GLO). Rectangular township surveys in Southwest Oregon were initiated in the mid 1850’s as settlers began to claim homesteads in the Bear Creek Valley surrounding what is now Medford. We examined GLO land survey field notes and plats (maps) accompanying the surveys, transcribed GLO landscape data into an Access database, and classified the data set into very general vegetation types for mapping. …

Thirdhand Tobacco Smoke: Emerging Evidence And Arguments For A Multidisciplinary Research Agenda, Georg E. Matt, Penelope J. Quintana, Hugo Destaillats, Lara A. Gundel, Mohamad Sleiman, Brett C. Singer, Peyton Jacob, Jonathan P. Winickoff, Prue Talbot, Suzaynn Schick, Yinsheng Wang, Bo Hang, Manuela Martins-Green, James F. Pankow, Melbourne F. Hovell, Neal L. Benowitz, Virender K. Rehan, Jonathan M. Samet

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is broad consensus regarding the health impact of tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure, yet considerable ambiguity exists about the nature and consequences of thirdhand smoke (THS). We introduce definitions of THS and THS exposure and review recent findings about constituents, indoor sorption-desorption dynamics, and transformations of THS; distribution and persistence of THS in residential settings; implications for pathways of exposure; potential clinical significance and health effects; and behavioral and policy issues that affect and are affected by THS. Physical and chemical transformations of tobacco smoke pollutants take place over time scales ranging from seconds to months and include …

2011 Summer Commencement Program, Commencement

Commencement Archives 2010-19

The program for the Portland State University 2011 Summer Commencement ceremony, held on August 13, 2011.

Rabbi Joshua Stampfer and Peter W. Stott received honorary degrees from PSU President Wim Wiewel and Provost Roy Koch; Kirubel B. Mersha delivered the student address.

2011 Commencement Program, Commencement

Commencement Archives 2010-19

The program for the Portland State University Commencement ceremony held June 12, 2011.

The Honorable Betty Roberts, J.D., received an honorary doctorate. Scott Davis, Chairman and CEO of UPS, received an honorary doctorate and delivered the commencement address.

Interview With Ethan Beck, Ethan Beck Homes, 2011 (Audio), Ethan Beck

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Ethan Beck by Sara Scott at Portland State University on June 2nd, 2011.

The interview index is available for download.

Leadership In Sustainable Chemicals Policy: Opportunities For Oregon, Jennifer H. Allen, Alexis Dinno

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Oregon is uniquely positioned to lead in the development of safer alternatives to toxic chemicals. Existing chemicals policy in the United States does not comprehensively protect human health or the environment from the potential impacts of chemical exposure. Very few of the 84,000 chemical substances produced, processed or imported for commercial purposes in the United States have been studied for health and environmental impacts. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has access to only limited information about potential health or environmental hazards. Manufacturers have the right to withhold what they consider to be confidential business information. Because of this lack of …

Factors For Improved Fish Passage Waterway Construction, David N. Sillars, Hamid Moradkhani, Nicholas Tymvios, Trevor D. Smith

TREC Final Reports

Streambeds are important fish passageways in Oregon; they provide for the necessary habitats and spawning cycles of a healthy fish population. Oregon state law requires that hydraulic structures located in water properly provide fish passage. Increasingly stringent state and federal regulations apply to these fish passageways, and designers must become more cognizant of conditions over a range of flows to accommodate fish movement and avoid expensive structural failure of these passageways. Fish passage structures are built when roads cross streambeds and may include culverts, or bridges. When these structures are built, the streambeds are re-created using a technique called “roughened …

Statistical Comparisons Of Watershed-Scale Response To Climate Change In Selected Basins Across The United States, John Risley, Hamid Moradkhani, Lauren Hay, Steve Markstrom

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In an earlier global climate-change study, air temperature and precipitation data for the entire twenty-first century simulated from five general circulation models were used as input to precalibrated watershed models for 14 selected basins across the United States. Simulated daily streamflow and energy output from the watershed models were used to compute a range of statistics. With a side-by-side comparison of the statistical analyses for the 14 basins, regional climatic and hydrologic trends over the twenty-first century could be qualitatively identified. Low-flow statistics (95% exceedance, 7-day mean annual minimum, and summer mean monthly streamflow) decreased for almost all basins. Annual …

“Up On The Mountain”: Ethnobotanical Importance Of Montane Sites In Pacific Coastal North America, Nancy J. Turner, Douglas Deur, Carla Rae Mellott

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Pacific Coastal Mountains of western North America have immense ethnobotanical significance. Since time immemorial, Indigenous Peoples have journeyed from permanent settlements in lowland regions to upland sites in order to harvest and process a range of plant resources –foods, materials and medicines– as well as to hunt and fish, and undertake spiritual activities. Two culturally significant montane areas, widely separated geographically, are described as case examples: pt-e´n’i (Botanie Valley) in Nlaka’pmx territory of southern interior British Columbia, famous for its abundance of edible root resources; and iwamkani, an iconic huckleberry picking location for the Klamath in southern Oregon. Patterns …

Teaching For Transformation: (Re)Designing Sustainability Courses Based On Ecological Principles, Heather Burns

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

If educators are to effectively prepare learners with the knowledge, skills, and values they will need for creating more sustainable places and communities, a transition must be made from transmissive teaching models to transformative learning processes. But how can courses be designed or redesigned so that they create opportunities for transformational sustainability learning, and how can ecological principles guide this process? The Burns model of sustainability pedagogy provides a practical model for course design that is rooted in ecological principles. The Burns model is comprised of five key dimensions: (1)Content; (2)Perspectives; (3)Process; (4)Context; and (5)Design and seeks to: (1) increase …

A Study Of Riders' Noise Exposure On Bay Area Rapid Transit Trains, Alexis Dinno, Cynthia Powell, Margaret Mary King

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Excessive noise exposure may present a hazard to hearing, cardiovascular and psychosomatic health. Mass transit systems, such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, are potential sources of excessive noise. The purpose of this study was to characterize transit noise and riders' exposure to noise on the BART system using three dosimetry metrics. We made 268 dosimetry measurements on a convenience sample of 51 line segments. Dosimetry measures were modeled using linear and non-linear multiple regression as functions of average velocity, tunnel enclosure, flooring, and wet weather conditions, and presented visually on a map of the BART system. This …

Urban Ecology & Conservation Symposium 2011: 9th 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 …

Bulletin: General Catalog Issue 2011-2012, Portland State University

Bulletin & Curriculum Change Documents

No abstract provided.

Riparian Wetland Response To Livestock Exclusion In The Lower Columbia River Basin, Sarah Ann Holmen

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of riparian plant communities along a succession gradient of livestock exclusion in the Lower Columbia River Basin (LCRB). Livestock exclusion is an example of a passive restoration practice throughout the region. However, few studies have focused on the effects of livestock or livestock exclusion on riparian wetland ecosystems in this area. Two passive restoration sites, 3 and 13 years since livestock exclusion, and a control site with a continued livestock grazing presence were examined. It was hypothesized that native plant species richness would be lower in the excluded wetlands than …