Digital Commons Network^™

Advocacy Networks In The Marcellus Shale Area: A Study Of Environmental Organizations In Northeastern And Southwestern Pennsylvania, Erin Pischke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research identifies and analyzes the breadth and depth of the network of non-profit environmental organizations, sportsmen-oriented conservation groups, county conservation districts and state parks that advocate for or against Marcellus Shale drilling within northeastern and southwestern Pennsylvania where drilling occurs. The purpose of this study is to identify where resources are being mobilized and where environmental activities that focus on Marcellus Shale issues are underrepresented in the state. Results show that the counties with a higher number of gas wells do not necessarily have a higher level of environmental advocacy and that a lack of resources is a common …

When There's No Home To Prepare: Understanding Natural Hazards Vulnerability Among The Homeless In Central Florida, Marc Settembrino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study explores the social construction of natural hazards vulnerability by examining the perceptions of emergency management personnel, homeless service providers and homeless men living in Central Florida. The matrix of vulnerability is proposed as a framework for studying disaster vulnerability, wherein vulnerability is viewed as a complex process consisting of social and physical risk, human agency and time. Using the matrix as a guiding framework, this study examines the risks that natural hazards present to the homeless living in Central Florida and the strategies used by the homeless to manage these risks. This study argues that because the …

Becoming A Food Citizen, Nicole Hornung

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Environmental citizenship is positioned as a platform where the rights of social and environmental justice converge with civic engagement and responsibility. As industrialized economies continue to exhaust the limits of finite natural resources and exacerbate conditions of global climate change, scholars have questioned if environmental citizenship models offer a method for deepening obligations to a sustainable movement. In the material culture enjoyed by Western civilizations, existing research supports that an individual’s purchases are seen as an indicator of their values and identities. Consequently the commitment to responsible buying behavior or sustainable consumption is in a sense an expression of eco-citizenship. …

Christian Progress And American Myth: A Deep Cultural Analysis Of Spatiality And Exceptionalism In Struggles Over American Indian Lands, Bradley J. Klein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although typically characterized in politico-economic, social, and environmental terms, land struggles involving American Indian communities can be more accurately and valuably characterized as deep culture conflicts over the problem of space. As scholars like Vine Deloria Jr. and Tink Tinker contend, a significant distinction can be noted between the traditional American Indian and White Western approaches to this problem regarding how human communities should relate to particular spatial locations. In short, while Indian peoples tend to situate their identities relative to clearly defined places or lands, individuals of European descent are inclined to subordinate spatial relations to temporal concerns. Considering …

Implicating Bitzer's Rhetorical Situation In Comparative And Non-Violent Rhetoric: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Three Ecofeminist Movements From East To West, Shahreen Mat Nayan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the study of social movement rhetoric, scholars often focus on movements based in Western nations, foregoing study of social change in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and other parts of the world. Similarly, the focus on non-violent rhetoric has also been lacking, despite its use by great leaders such as Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King. This dissertation contributes to the study of social change in a globalized world, by taking a comparative approach to non-violent rhetoric in three diverse case studies. As sub-areas, both comparative rhetoric and non-violent rhetoric require further deliberation due to the numerous debates concerning …

Macroscopic Crash Analysis And Its Implications For Transportation Safety Planning, Chowdhury Kawsar Siddiqui

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Incorporating safety into the transportation planning stage, which is often termed as transportation safety planning (TSP), relies on the vital interplay between zone characteristics and zonal traffic crashes. Although a few safety studies had made some effort towards integrating safety and planning, several unresolved problems and a complete framework of TSP are still absent in the literature. This research aims at examining the suitability of the current traffic-related zoning planning process in a new suggested planning method which incorporates safety measures. In order to accomplish this broader research goal, the study defined its research objectives in the following directions towards …

The Role Of Forensic Nurses In Communities Experiencing Environmental Contamination, Wendy Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to provide an understanding of the self-perceived physiological and psychosocial needs of persons living in communities which have been exposed to environmental contamination, and to provide an understanding of how forensic nurses can be utilized in these communities.

Background

This study was conducted to provide an opportunity for forensic nurses to advance their profession by finding ways that they can move beyond their traditional roles. Dixon and Dixon's Integrative Environmental Health Model was the theoretical framework.

Research Design

This cross-sectional triangulated study used quantitative and qualitative methods. The Community Environmental Health and Rights …

Species Composition, Demographics, And Ecosystem Services Of Residential Trees In Louisville, Kentucky., Shannon A. Scroggins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Trees in urban residential neighborhoods provide valuable ecosystem services. Urban trees also face threats from disturbances, such as storms. In 2008, the Urban Forest Effects model was used to estimate abundance and species composition of residential trees and their ecosystem services in 10 of 26 council districts in Louisville, Kentucky. Ten tree species were found to compose half of the estimated 822,576 residential trees in the ten districts, with Celtis occidentalis being most numerous. The ability of sociodemographic and housing variables to predict the distribution of trees and ecosystem services was weak. The strongest relationships were found between % single …

Rawls's Theory Of Justice A Necessary Extension To Environmentalism, Andrew Greene

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

John Rawls‟s stated intergenerational justice scheme, known as the just-savings principle, does not include an institutional concern for the environment and is therefore incomplete and incapable of maintaining meaningfully just relations between generations. The theory‟s emphasis on economic theory and capital accumulation demonstrates a misinterpretation of environmental issues and concerns as well as their underlying causes and repercussions. This lapse in Rawls‟s intergenerational scheme exposes flaws in his larger theory of justice by leaving the stability of society in question and placing arbitrary burdens on generations and peoples without institutional recourse. However, by supplementing justice as fairness (JAF) with Rawls‟s …

Climate Change And Indigenous Peoples In Latin America, Amy C. Rademacher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research focused on the detrimental effects of climate change on indigenous peoples in Latin America. Indigenous peoples throughout the region tend to live subsistence livelihoods, which tie them closely to their land and the surrounding environment. This close relationship often means that indigenous peoples acutely experience the effects of climate change and are more susceptible to its negative outcomes than other populations. Further, indigenous peoples in the region lack the mitigation and adaptation capacities to deal with damaging climatic effects.

This research was designed to view the impacts of climate change on indigenous peoples through a human rights framework, …

Hurricane Katrina And The Perception Of Risk: Incorporating The Local Context, Nnenia Campbell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper identifies social conditions that shape perceptions of risk to environmental toxins among residents in the Gulf Coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina. Demographic information from a randomly selected sample of 2,548 residents was used to explore the concept of the "White male effect" as discussed in previous literature, which has found that white males are particularly risk accepting compared to all other race and gender groups. This analysis also evaluated the influence of trust in government and beliefs about environmental justice on perceived exposure and compared responses from residents within and outside the City of New …

Towards A Land Conservation Ethic In Zimbabwe: An Ethical And Religio-Cultural Analysis Of Land Conservation Policies And Practices In Communal Areas, Maaraidzo Elizabeth Mutambara

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study I analyze the problem of land degradation in Zimbabwe's Communal Areas (CAs) from the viewpoint of the Shona of Zimbabwe with the aim to formulate a land conservation ethic that motivates people in CAs to promote ecological stability. The Shona in CAs are proximate agents as well as victims of environmental degradation. The imperative to survive in a situation characterized by drastic inequalities in the allocation of land and an exploitative global economic system, forces them to engage in unsustainable land use practices. Land conservation policies in Zimbabwe marginalize Shona values and norms, especially as they relate …

Collaborative Dispute Resolution In Superfund Enforcement:Does The Resolution Approach Vary By Community-Level Sociodemographic, Mary Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines environmental dispute resolution as applied to Superfund site cleanup and how the use of collaborative dispute resolution approaches, in particular Alternative Dispute Resolution and Community Involvement, are related to a community's socioeconomic and demographic profile. It examines the sociodemographic characteristics of residents living in census tracts containing Superfund sites in relation to the type of dispute resolution technique used. I hypothesize that collaborative dispute resolution techniques, as opposed to traditional settlement and/or litigation, are less likely to occur in Superfund communities with high poverty levels and high minority populations than in those with low poverty levels and …

Toward A New Social Contract: A Tripartite Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Social Sustainability At Three Land-Grant Universities, Lyndsay Josephine Agans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increasingly, colleges and universities in the United States are adapting toward a model of behavior that incorporates issues of sustainability. This adaptation in universities and in society has implications on the organizational and nation-state level, the very core of which may serve to reshape the social contract between the two. In addition to supplying a strong counter-hegemonic argument that alters the competitive economic agenda-setting paradigm, this study serves as a tripartite comparative case study analysis of university adaptation toward social sustainability. By employing a social capital lens to understanding social sustainability in higher education, this study seeks to examine the …

Ecocritical Perspectives On African Literature : Place, Literary Identity, And The Natural World / Anna K. Smith, Anna K. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Silence, Absence, And Mystery In Linda Hogan's Mean Spirit, Solar Storms, And Power, Kathryn Erickson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Mean Spirit, Solar Storms, and Power, Linda Hogan uses the devices of silence, absence, and mystery to articulate the oppression and marginalization of Native Americans. Specifically, because of the environmental crises that produce conflict in each novel, the project benefits from ecocriticism, ecofeminism, and ecopsychology. Also, because of various interpretations that open up when silence is examined, theories of deconstruction strengthen the thesis. Ultimately, Hogan's characters move from silence as a form of tyranny to silence as a form of reconnection with tribal ways. As the characters discover pathways to native traditions, they also discover spiritual connections with the …

Public Participation In Transportation: An Emperical Test For Authentic Participation, Jorge Cesar Figueredo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the public participation activities of State Departments of Transportation (SDOTs) in the United States. A review of existing literature and legal frameworks suggests that an "authentic" public participation results when dimensions of representativeness, use of public inputs, interactiveness, and quality of citizen inputs have been achieved. The study sought to identify conditions that serve as measurements that must presumably be satisfied for authenticity to exist in public participation. The result was a Model of Authentic Public Participation that served as the basis for creation of a new four-tiered methodology to assess the performance of these districts relative …

Participation: A Model Of Individual Willingness To Participate In The Transportation Planning Process, Michael Neidhart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to identify the key determinants that lead individuals to participate in the transportation planning process. Two models of participation, one for the short-term and another for the long-term, were developed to test whether the key internal and external determinants are responsible for influencing a person's willingness to participate. The data for this study came from a mail-back survey that was administered to a random sample of 570 individuals throughout the State of Florida for a response rate of 37.37 percent. The results indicate that the internal motivational determinants exert more influence on a person's short-term willingness to …

Social Work Values And Hospital Culture: An Examination From A Competing Values Framework, Amanda Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to assess the perceptions of social workers employed in Florida hospitals in relation to the core values of their profession and the alignment of those values within the culture of their current work setting. The conceptual framework for the study was from organizational behavior theory specific to culture, values, and trust. The Competing Values Framework (Cameron & Quinn, 1999) provided a method to distinguish co-existing competing values within an organization. The research findings indicated that 65% of the professional social workers who participated in the study perceived that the core values of their profession …

Environmental Equity: Gradient Measures Of Race And Social Class In The Areas Surrounding Pennsylvania Superfund Sites, Mark A. Jablonski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the socioeconomic and racial characteristics of the areas surrounding the 120 National Priority List Superfund hazardous waste sites in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Using three distinct concentric distance measures, the study uses 1990 census tract data to determine whether Nonwhite and low-income populations live in closest proximity to Pennsylvania's most toxic sites and consequently bear the brunt of the negative externalities associated with having Superfund sites nearby. The results of the study suggest that environmental inequities are not prevalent in the areas surrounding Pennsylvania Superfund sites. Rather, the areas between 1.667 and 3.333 miles away from the …

Exposure Matters: Examining The Physical And Psychological Health Impacts Of Toxic Contamination Using Gis And Survey Data, Christine A. Bevc

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the grassroots environmental movement brought national attention to the issues related to inequities in environmental quality. Previous research addressing these environmental inequities has progressively increased and advanced methodologically. However, the arguments and focus have been primarily limited to examining the socio-demographics in an ongoing debate of race and class. This thesis extends past the methodological stalemate focusing on the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) using survey data in an environmental justice case study of a community in south Florida. This approach examines the social, health and environmental impacts of a Superfund site …

Environmental Justice : A Statistical Model Of Landfill Development In Mississippi, Perry Denoa Hawkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.