Digital Commons Network^™

Annual Report - 2011, Nctr

U.S. DOT Reporting

No abstract provided.

Engaging With Environmental Justice: Governance, Education And Citizenship., Bernardo Heisler Motta, Michael Cotton

Faculty Books

Engaging with Environmental Justice: Governance, Education and Citizenship presents a range of works about the impact of science, economy, laws, education, practice, and policy on social groups and their surrounding environments. The chapters in this E-book go from the philosophical underpinnings of the causes of environmental injustices to case studies of the empirical work of practitioners who faced first hand the successes and failures of environmental practices and research. As a true inter-disciplinary compilation, this volume shows the links and the gaps between theory and practice and between viewpoints and disciplines. It exposes both the current fragility of the current …

Park Access And Distributional Inequities In Pinellas County, Florida, Kyle Ray Hirvela

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although environmental justice research has traditionally focused on environmental disamenities and health hazards, recent studies have begun to examine social inequities in the distribution of urban amenities such as street trees and parks that provide several direct and indirect health benefits to local residents. This thesis adds to this knowledge by evaluating distributional inequities in both distribution and access to parks in Pinellas County, the most densely populated and one of the most racially segregated counties in Florida. An important objective was to determine if neighborhoods with lower levels of park access are more likely to contain a significantly higher …

An Examination Of The Impacts Of Urbanization On Green Space Access And Water Resources: A Developed And Developing World Perspective, Heather E. Wright Wendel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the impact of urbanization and land use change on the availability and accessibility of two urban amenities that are often inequitably distributed: green space and water features. Diverse methodologies were utilized in order to gain a better understanding of the role of these amenities in improving urban quality of life and integrated water management. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this research provides a unique perspective within both a developed and developing world context by evaluating aspects of urbanization to emphasize more sustainable and integrated approaches to development.

A preliminary analysis highlights potential drivers of green space revitalization in …

Towards Understanding Water Conservation Behavior In Southwest Florida: The Role Of Cultural Models, Bernard T. (Terry) Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This applied anthropology dissertation aims to enhance public policy and best practices for conserving potable water resources, using the Tampa Bay region of southwest Florida as a case study. It addresses not how humans conserve, but why they may or may not choose to do so. To date, a limited anthropological focus on water conservation behavior in western, urban settings has created a gap in the role culture plays in understanding why people conserve. The research problem is to identify how water conservation behavior in Tampa, Florida can be enhanced through a better understanding of beliefs and values reflected in …

Dorsey Serves As Environmental Justice Ambassador, August 27, 2010, Melanie Marquez

USF St. Petersburg Campus News and Press Releases

No abstract provided.

A Pilot Study Of Small-Scale Spatial Variability In Aldehyde Concentrations In Hillsborough County, Florida, To Establish And Evaluate Passive Sampling And Analysis Methods, Amanda M. Evans

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde are listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) as urban air toxics. Health effects due to significant exposure to these air toxics include increased incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer, myeloid leukemia, and exacerbation of asthma. Determining the spatial variation of air toxics, such as acetaldehyde and formaldehyde, is important for improving health risk assessment and evaluating the effectiveness of source control and reduction programs.

Here, a pilot study was designed and performed to investigate small-scale spatial variability in concentrations of aldehydes using passive samplers. A literature review was first completed to select and evaluate current …

Crow's Nest, April 26, 2010, Crow's Nest Staff

Crow's Nest

The April 26, 2010, issue of the Crow's Nest.

Crow's Nest, April 19, 2010, Crow's Nest Staff

Crow's Nest

The April 19, 2010, issue of the Crow's Nest.

Articulating Social Change In Puerto Rico: Environmental Education As A Model For Youth Socio-Political Development And Community-Led School Reform, Federico Cintrón-Moscoso

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent attempts at developing an environmental education agenda in public schools emphasize the need to foster greater public awareness about environmental rights, issues, and solutions, while producing citizens with the knowledge and skills needed to address the ecological challenges of contemporary society. However, some scholars have argued that the attempt to integrate environmental principles into the school curricula has created a conflict between the politically-oriented goals of environmental education and the more passive practices of uncritical assimilation and reproduction found in many schools today (Stevenson 2007). Moreover, although there is a need for public schools to take on the challenge …

Annual Report - 2010, Nctr

U.S. DOT Reporting

No abstract provided.

Commencement Convocation Program, Tampa Campus, December 12, 2009, University Of South Florida

USF Graduation and Convocation Programs

King O'Neal Scholars - Lena Champlin, Eva Chase, Lauren Cox, Seon Jeon, Jessica Jones, Jake Laun, Katie Laun, Michael Maiorana, Jonathan Minch, Akash Parekh, Willmarie Ramirez Vega, and Danielle Rudisill; Outstanding Senior - Christopher James Griesbach

Commencement Convocation Program, Usf, Graduate, December 12, 2009, University Of South Florida

USF Graduation and Convocation Programs

Honorary Doctor of Public Health - Samuel P. Bell III

Florida Sentinel Bulletin, December 11, 2009, Gwen Hayes

Florida Sentinel Bulletin Collection

The December 11, 2009, issue of the Florida Sentinel Bulletin.

A Case Study Of Job Access And Reverse Commute Programs In The Chicago, Kansas City, And San Francisco Metropolitan Regions, J.S. Onésimo Sandoval, Eric Petersen, Kim L. Hunt

Journal of Public Transportation

The 1996 federal welfare-to-work legislation generated significant debate regarding what role public transportation should play in facilitating lower welfare rates. Given this debate, transportation has been called the “to” component of welfare-to-work. In this paper, we present findings from three case studies that examine job accessibility and reverse commute transportation programs in the Chicago, Kansas City, and San Francisco metropolitan regions. We explored how institutional and/or grassroots support prevented or fostered the innovation and implementation of non-traditional Access-to-Jobs and Reverse Commute (JARC) programs. Our findings suggest that institutional support and grassroots support are necessary ingredients for the implementation of innovative …

Florida Sentinel Bulletin, November 3, 2009, Gwen Hayes

Florida Sentinel Bulletin Collection

The November 3, 2009, issue of the Florida Sentinel Bulletin.

Fireproofing The Lawn: Reclaimed Water And Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers In Tampa Bay, Ryan C. Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reclaimed water has increased in popularity as a means to recycle water and thus decrease the amount of wasteful water use. This process is widely used in Tampa Bay for watering of lawns. This increase in popularity and use has raised questions as to what contaminants are in the reclaimed water.

The purpose of this study was to analyze reclaimed water for contaminants believed to be detrimental to health and conduct interviews to ascertain perceptions of risk in the local population. As water reuse grows in popularity further research will need to be conducted to address potential human health concerns. …

Mercury Perception, Community Awareness And Sustainability Implications For The Tampa Bay Region, Florida, Trina Halfhide

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over one million acres of land and water in Florida has been classified as impaired by mercury. Approximately 80% of national fish advisories are issued due to mercury contamination. There have been a number of consumption advisories in the Tampa Bay Region for locally eaten fish such as largemouth bass (

Micropterus salmoides), bowfin (Amia calva), and alligator gar (Lepisosteus osseus). The main purpose of this study was to determine if there is adequate dissemination of mercury related risk information by government agencies to recreational and subsistence fishermen in the Tampa Bay Region. This research …

Green Local Governments In Florida: An Analysis Of Sustainability And Green Building Policies, Naimish S. Upadhyay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sustainable development is increasingly being integrated within local government planning across United States. Many communities are attempting to translate this general principle into specific and measurable terms. The urban sustainability planning literature has mostly focused on descriptive case studies of pioneering cities that have been characterized as true innovators in their sustainability efforts. Noticeably absent from the literature, however, has been an examination of the sustainable development claims made by local governments undergoing 'green' certifications. This study evaluates the commitment and efforts of municipalities and counties of Florida within the framework of Florida Green Building Coalition's 'Green …

Air Toxics And Equity: A Geographic Analysis Of Environmental Health Risks In Florida, Angela Gilbert

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A large number of quantitative studies have examined social inequities in the geographic distribution of air pollution. Although previous research has made strides towards understanding the nature and extent of inequities, they have been limited methodologically in three ways. First, the presence of pollutants have been rarely linked to their adverse health effects, with many studies using proximity to sources as a proxy for risk. Second, there has been a tendency to study a single pollution source instead of assessing multiple types of sources. Finally, conventional statistical methods such as multivariate regression have been limited by their inability to discern …

Editors' Introduction, Robert K. Hitchcock, Samuel Totten

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Indigenous peoples—those people who consider themselves, or are considered by others, to be Aboriginal, ‘‘First Nations,’’ native peoples, Fourth World peoples, or ‘‘original occupants’’ of specific places on the planet—have faced genocide, cultural destruction, and forced removal from their ancestral areas for thousands of years. Over the centuries, colonization—the expansion of populations into new areas and the exploitation of natural and human resources there—has led to significant declines in the populations of indigenous groups. As Patrick Brantlinger notes, ‘‘One of the main causes for these declines is not mysterious: violence, warfare, genocide.’’1

Full Issue 4.1

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

A Report From The Field: The Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples—Implementation And Implications, Lori Garcia-Alix, Robert K. Hitchcock

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Over nearly two-and-a-half decades, indigenous peoples and their supporters expended enormous energy on developing a declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples that both protects and promotes their individual and collective rights. The debates surrounding the declaration focused on issues ranging from self- determination to the rights of indigenous peoples to practice their cultures and to participate in decision making. The declaration establishes the requirement for fair and adequate compensation for violations of rights and directly addresses the issues of ethnocide and genocide. The United Nations General Assembly passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on 13 September …

Annual Report - 2009, Nctr

U.S. DOT Reporting

No abstract provided.

Condition | Recondition: Reconstruction Of The City And Its Collective Memory, C Lopez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Worldwide, dense urban spaces have been organized and transformed by cultural values. However, in many cases, changes in economic and social conditions have resulted in fragmentation of neighborhood typologies, in terms of their physical characteristics and uses. Such spaces are a manifestation of development, expansion, dislocation and marginalization; a condition that can be improved through an architectural and urban strategy which inscribes emerging forces into the neglected zones of marginal territories. The contemporary context calls for a re-evaluation of public space. To fully engage the people, it is a necessary function of public space to blur landscape, architecture and infrastructure, …

Linking Health Hazards And Environmental Justice: A Case Study In Houston, Texas, Marilyn Marie Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to extend quantitative research on environmental justice and address methodological limitations of previous studies by: (a) using new indicators of exposure to air pollution and contemporary risk modeling techniques; (b) assessing disparities in human health risks, instead of focusing only on potential exposure or proximity to pollution sources; and (c) using multivariate regression models that consider the effects of spatial dependence. The case study examines racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in the geographic distribution of exposure to airborne toxic emissions from industrial point sources in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria metropolitan statistical area. Industrial pollution sources for this study comprise facilities …

Public Opinion And The Introduction Of Congressional Environmental Legislation, 1973-2002, Hugh Eugene Jarvis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between public opinion about the environment and the introduction of congressional legislation on environmental issues. Using public opinion data gathered by the General Social Survey from 1977 to 2002, this work examines correlations between how the public views the environment in each and the number of bills introduced in the U.S. House and Senate addressing environmental issues. The findings indicate that there is a correlation between overall concern felt in the public and congressional action on certain aspects of environmental protection. The results also highlight the potentially disturbing finding that the race and economic class …

Assessing Environmental Equity Related To Local Air Pollution In Tampa, Fl, Amy L. Stuart, Sarntharm Mudhasakul, Watanee Sriwatanapongse

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Commencement Convocation Program, Tampa Campus, December 15, 2007, University Of South Florida

USF Graduation and Convocation Programs

Outstanding Senior - Amanda Day; Global Leadership Award - Carol Bellamy and Juan Vázquez; King O'Neal Scholars - Michelle Denise Frey and Steven Martin Wilson

Performance Measures To Evaluate The Effectiveness Of Public Involvement Activities In Florida: Technical Memorandum #1 - Literature Review, Jeff Kramer, Kristine M. Williams, Christina Hopes

Transportation Planning, Policy, and Processes (TP3) Final Reports

No abstract provided.