Digital Commons Network^™

Bite-Sized Quantitative Reasoning Essays: A Review Of Numbers Don’T Lie: 71 Stories To Help Us Understand The Modern World (2020), By Vaclav Smil, Samuel L. Tunstall

Numeracy

In Numbers Don’t Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World (2020), Vaclav Smil draws on his interdisciplinary background in science, public policy, and history to provide readers with 71 short essays that help us better understand aspects of the world–including its people, environment, energy consumption, and present crises (among other things). In most of his essays, Smil utilizes both data and reasoning with data to shed light on diverse topics, with issues ranging from happiness rankings and vaccine payoffs to chicken production and diesel engines. Though the book arguably has some flaws, its easy-to-digest essays–many of which …

A Review Of Farmers/Herders Clashes In Nigerian Environment: Consequences And The Way Forward, Timothy O. Ogunbode, Iyanu-Oluwa A. Ayodele, Victor O. Oyebamiji, Oluwatobi O. Faboro

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

A peaceful environment is a necessity for meaningful growth and development in human society. This review was thus, carried out to examine both immediate and remote causes of Fulani herdsmen/local farmers’ crises in Nigeria, its consequences and the probable way forward. The review which involved searching for both online and offline information on the theoretical basis for the crises and, also the interview of the stakeholders for hands-on information. The crises which was noted to have dated back to 1960s has resulted into loss of lives and property. Apart from this, many homes have been displaced and means of livelihood …

Ensemble Of Deepwater Horizon 2010 Oil Spill Simulations Using The Oil-Cms Model To Estimate Surface Oil Concentrations And Sedimented Oil Mass, Natalie Perlin

C-IMAGE data

The dataset contains the results of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill incident at Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, obtained from the ensemble of numerical simulations using an updated version of the oil application of the Connectivity Modeling System (CMS) or oil-CMS. The ensemble modeling is a well-established approach in a field of numerical prediction that provides a probabilistic framework for the analysis, aimed at improving the reliability of model estimates and at demonstrating the integrity of modeling studies. The dataset includes the main case scenario of a DWH blowout starting on 2010-04-20 and ten additional simulations …

An Anthropology With Human Waste Management: Non-Humans, The State, And Matters Of Care On The Placencia Peninsula, Belize, William Alex Webb

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The management of human waste is a seldom studied phenomenon in anthropology. Yet across the globe, in countries both rich and poor, it presents pervasive and difficult to tame problems. This dissertation draws on complimentary theories of management and entanglements to explore the practices and processes of organizing human waste on the Placencia Peninsula, Belize. The results illustrate how problems are conditioned and defined by messy relations between institutions, people, technologies, materials, and ecological life.

Fieldwork and analysis for this work was a culmination of years of interdisciplinary collaboration between other anthropologists and engineers at the University of South Florida. …

In The Scope Of Paris Agreement Of Environmental Policies Changes Of Potential Impact On Tourism, Mehmet Bahar, Sabri Bozca

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Since the Paris Agreement is globally accepted, it obliges the decisions taken to change the paradigm for the future of all sectors. The ecological and environmental problems brought about by the increasing touristic mobility make it difficult for tourism to reach low carbon targets in line with the provisions of the Paris Agreement. The problems brought by climate change were discussed in the article, the process leading to the Paris Agreement was mentioned and finally the agreement's connection with tourism and the environment has been evaluated. The rapid increase in tourism mobility (mobility), especially after the Second World War, due …

Review Of A Framework For Sustainable Thinking: Is Ql For Citizenship Even Possible?, Nathan D. Grawe

Numeracy

Van Antwerp and Heun's A Framework for Sustainability Thinking offers an extensive collection of data related to sustainability with an emphasis on energy. Intended for a primary audience of undergraduate students, the authors set the data in the context of the IPARX identity which notes that impacts (I) are the product of population (P), affluence (A), resource intensity of economic activity (R), and impact of the resources (X). In addition to being a useful text for seminars focused on sustainability and energy use, the book provides a context for contemplating the roles of expertise vs. general quantitative literacy when addressing …

Thoughts On How New Zealand Could Progress As A More Regenerative Tourism Host, Stephen Bradley

Journal of Sustainability and Resilience

New Zealand has a chance to reset the way we view and manage tourism. We must take this chance to make some changes that will ensure that we have a clean green country to promote as a high quality tourism destination in the future. This perspective advocates that measures such as a high visitor levy, educating tourists and better management of the way tourists travel around the country, can lead to achieving more sustainable tourism industry.

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

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

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

In their everyday lives, …

How Audiovisual Composition Reveals Gendered Limitations And Possibilities In Lady Bird In The Wake Of #Metoo, Chandler Micah Reeder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the film Lady Bird and the historical coincidence of its release one month after the online movement #MeToo began. By giving frame and sound equal importance in my analysis of the film, rather than opposing these elements, I emphasize audiovisual composition and reveal the mutual dependence within what are considered traditional divisions of theory in cinema. These oppositions relate to control and escape, as they are portrayed through the mother and daughter characters, Marion and Lady Bird, as well as through image and sonic elements. My work demonstrates how the audiovisual composition of the film mediates …

An Ecology Of Care: Training In Dependence And Caretaking In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Elizabeth Rossbach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project investigates the popular open-world fantasy RPG, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt RED 2015) and the ways in which the Witcher 3 brings questions of care and dependence to a digital medium so often thought of in terms of violence and/or mastery. Much of the previous discourse on video games, particularly role-playing games, has tended to center on violence and what this might mean for players behavior or the potential real world effects of this violence. Departing from a focus on violence I argue that the Witcher 3, reveals the potentials of open-world RPG video games to …

Off-The-Grid In An On-Grid Nation: Household Energy Choices, Intra-Community Effects, And Attitudes In A Rural Neighborhood In Utah, Eileen Smith-Cavros, Arianna Sunyak

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

This research is an investigation of the perceived positive and negative aspects of off grid living in a middle to upper-class neighborhood in rural Utah in which no public utility grid was available for connection. Off-grid living is defined as unconnected to a public utility power grid, water, or sewer system. In the researched community, all individuals lived off-grid on minimum twenty-acre lots of land with single-household dwellings. We used surveys with closed and open-ended questions to qualitatively explore the local social effects (from individual attitudes to group identity to household economics to conservation attitudes) off-grid living had on individuals …

The Case For The Green Kant: A Defense And Application Of A Kantian Approach To Environmental Ethics, Zachary T. Vereb

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Environmental philosophers have argued that Kant’s philosophy offers little for environmental issues. Furthermore, Kant scholars typically focus on humanity, ignoring the question of duties to the environment. In my dissertation, I turn to a number of underexploited texts in Kant’s work to show how both sides are misguided in neglecting the ecological potential of Kant, making the case for the green Kant at the intersection of Kant scholarship and environmental ethics. I build upon previous literature to argue that the green Kant matters for both sides. Rather than a liability, Kant is indeed a conceptual resource. Though many conceive of …

Equity Assessment For Emerging Transportation Technologies: A Comprehensive Literature Review And Case Study, Yujie Guo, Amy L. Stuart, Xiaopeng Li, Yu Zhang

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Emerging transportation technologies (e.g. connected vehicles) and services (e.g. shared mobility) provide efficient, sustainable and cost-effective alternatives to traditional travel modes. However, whether these innovative technologies bring benefits to different population groups in an equal and reasonable manner is still an open question. This report aims to tackle this question and is divided into the following two parts: transportation equity literature review and a case study on bike-sharing systems. The first part of the report comprehensively surveys the literature about methodologies for analyzing transportation equity for traditional and emerging transportation technologies in terms of economy, environment and public health. It …

The Influence Of Tropical Forests And Climate Change On The Fates Of Select Organic Pollutants In A Jamaican Watershed, Kayon Barrett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many organic compounds, although beneficial, are associated with negative health and ecological impacts. It is therefore imperative to understand the environmental fates of these contaminants. Whereas the fates and health impacts of many persistent organic pollutants have been extensively examined, there is limited research characterizing the fates of these and the less persistent organic compounds in tropical multi-use watersheds. This study therefore aimed to evaluate the roles of forests and climate change on the environmental fates and health impacts of select organic chemicals in the Rio Cobre watershed, a tropical river basin in Jamaica. A total of 16 organic compounds …

Evaluation Of Soil As A Risk Indicator For Human Leptospirosis In Coastal, Rural Ecuador, Chad Allen Weddell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Leptospirosis, a zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic spirochete bacteria (family Leptospiraceae, genus Leptospira), is endemic in developing tropical regions of the world. It occurs in epidemics and is endemic in Ecuador where environmental conditions are ideal for maintenance. The role of soil as a long term reservoir has been previously been documented. Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) technology was used in our study to further explore the role of soil as an environmental reservoir and its potential use as a static risk indicator for disease. Red, Green, Blue (RGB) spectral band data from known leptospire …

Context-Dependent Conservation Responses To Emerging Wildlife Diseases, Kate E. Langwig

KIP Articles

No abstract provided.

Pages - Past Global Changes Magazine Formerly Pages News, International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme

PAGES

No abstract provided.

Applications Of Lidar And Field Reconnaissance In The Rapid Assessment Of Karst-Based Surface Morphology, Coconino National Forest, Arizona, Kyle Rowinski

KIP Data Sets and Technical Reports

Kyle Rowinski, Geological Society of America GeoCorps Program, Summer 2015 Subsurface analysis using data obtained from an aerial platform may be regarded as impractical, however recent advancements in Very High Resolution (VHR) remote sensing have rendered the collection of terrain data with a vertical resolution of up to 30 cm highly feasible. Obtained via a process termed Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), data collected provides a 3-dimensional representation of surface morphology with high resolution. Input of LiDAR data into geospatial analysis software such as ArcMap or ArcScene allows for the identification of subtle topographic changes across a land surface. Considering …

Springshed Assessment Methods For Paleozoic Bedrock Springs Of Southeastern Minnesota, Jeffrey A. Green

KIP Data Sets and Technical Reports

Jeffrey A. Green 1, John D. Barry 1, and E. Calvin Alexander, Jr. 2 1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources 2Department of Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota Introduction: Springs are the natural discharge points for groundwater. They provide baseflow for streams and in the case of trout streams are critical sources of isothermal water. They are commonly found emerging from the Paleozoic sedimentary rocks of southeastern Minnesota where river valleys cut deeply through the water-bearing bedrock layers. The different lithology and hydraulic properties (hydrostratigraphy) of the rock types makes some settings more likely for springs. Our research on springs focused on …

Pages - Past Global Changes Magazine Formerly Pages News, International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme

PAGES

No abstract provided.

Nitrogen Inputs And Losses In Response To Chronic Co2 Exposure In A Subtropical Oak Woodland, B. A. Hungate, B. D. Duval, P. Dijkstra, D. W. Johnson, M. E. Ketterer, Peter Stiling, W. Cheng, J. Millman, A. Hartley, D. B. Stover

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations may alter the nitrogen (N) content of ecosystems by changing N inputs and N losses, but responses vary in field experiments, possibly because multiple mechanisms are at play. We measured N fixation and N losses in a subtropical oak woodland exposed to 11 years of elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. We also explored the role of herbivory, carbon limitation, and competition for light or nutrients in shaping the response of N fixation to elevated CO₂. Elevated CO₂ did not significantly alter gaseous N losses, but lower recovery and deeper distribution in the …

Pages - Past Global Changes Magazine Formerly Pages News, International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme

PAGES

No abstract provided.

Proceedings Of The Thirteenth Multidisciplinary Conference On Sinkholes And The Engineering And Environmental Impacts Of Karst Multidisciplinary Conference On Sinkholes And The Engineering And Environmental Impacts Of Karst Nckri Symposia 2, Lewis Land, Daniel H. Doctor, J. Brad Stephenson

KIP Talks and Conferences

Open Access - Permission by Publisher See Extended description for more information.

Pages - Past Global Changes Magazine Formerly Pages News, International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme

PAGES

No abstract provided.

Climate, Neo-Spinozism, And The Ecological Worldview, Nancy M. Kettle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The global community faces ecological problems with the natural environment and cultural impediments to solving them. Natural systems are constantly changing and so are cultural practices. Humans need to address both: the interaction between those dynamic systems, the natural and cultural, because what happens in one system changes things in the other. The changes to the ecosystems are rapid and sometimes irreversible while dealing with them has been inadequate. Environmental movements, including deep ecology, have been at the forefront of the efforts to engage the public, various groups, politicians, and world governments to address environmental problems on a coordinated large …

Pages - Past Global Changes Magazine Formerly Pages News, International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme

PAGES

No abstract provided.

Rural Communities: How Do Individuals Perceive Change When Industry Enters The Area?, Katherine Danielle Ferrari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the landscape of the United States changes and world resources face depletion, shale gas development has become a major social justice issue. Social workers may be called upon to help support communities undergoing change from industry as well as the environmental and social justice concerns that are arising in areas with rich natural resource supplies.

This research examines how a rural population perceives change when industry enters an area. It explores community change and social justice concerns that are occurring with shale gas development in order to help determine implications for social work practice.

Using a phenomenological approach, this …

Ecological Diversity In Hillsborough County, Florida: Correlations Between Landscape Metrics And Socio-Demographic Variables, David Godfrey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Landscape metrics, a means of quantifying landscape attributes, are frequently used in landscape ecology to describe the spatial characteristics of a landscape, but they have been less often used in anthropology. Using geographic information system (GIS) software, this study tests a method that investigates statistical correlations between groundcover landscape metrics and socio-demographic variables in Hillsborough County, Florida. Statistically significant correlations were found, illustrating the potential utility of this exploratory method. Wealthier areas with fewer ethnic minorities tend to be more fragmented and diverse in terms of groundcover; these areas also tend to have a lower percentage of impervious surfaces. The …

Removal Of Bisphenol A Model Compounds And Related Substances Using Octolig®, Rachael Josephine Alessio

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bisphenol A used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins is ubiquitous in the environment. The raw material is released to the environment during the manufacturing process and by leaching from consumer products. Recent studies are suggesting that low-dose amounts of Bisphenol A may have adverse health effects on humans. The possibility of removing Bisphenol A from natural water sources or from solvents used to extract the material from consumer products before they enter the market has been studied. The use of model compounds and related substances (4-isopropylphenol, 4-(t-butyl) phenol, and nitrophenols) have been used to study their …

Pages - Past Global Changes Magazine Formerly Pages News, International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme

PAGES

No abstract provided.