Digital Commons Network^™

Crisis Of Confidence: Cinematic Environmentalism Of The Seventies, Jacob Scott Starks

Theses & ETDs

In the 1970's, film played a reflective and contributory role in American environmental culture. Many films of the decade reflected a cultural environmentalism driven by a crisis of confidence in government and industry's ability to ensure a viable and natural environment. This project examines six films' content, cultural context of production, and reception, which indicate a notion of American uncertainty concerning government and industry's protection or conservation of the environment. The opening chapter provides a context for the economic and political conditions of the 1970's, explaining the American “crisis of confidence.” The second chapter examines the public‟s lack of faith …

America's Agricultural Industry: Chemical Consequences And Sustainable Alternatives, Jillian Walker

Theses & ETDs

Due to a number of historical factors such as a constant influx of immigrants, new technology, and sociopolitical and environmental circumstances, America faced a number of agricultural challenges from the 18th to the 20th century. These problems were met with innovative technological and scientific solutions, which, while producing initial bountiful yields, ultimately resulted in the simplification of land management. This simplification was largely centered on chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. The environmental and anthropogenic consequences resulting from widespread use of these substances has resulted in an economically and ecologically unsustainable method of food production in the United States. This thesis …

The Ethnobotany Of Saw Palmetto (Serenoa Repens (Bartr.) Small) In Florida, Bethany Highsmith

Theses & ETDs

Serenoa repens (Bartr.) Small, commonly known as saw palmetto, is a rhizomatic palm of the Arecaceae family that grows throughout the southeastern United States. Palms, in general, are acknowledged for their utility as construction materials, food, clothing, medicine and more (Balick and Cox, 1997). This local shrub in particular has not only served as such to the Seminole Indians and pioneers, but has generated its own growing industry. Every summer freelance workers scour the south Florida scrublands for ripe saw palmetto berries that sell by the pound in Immokalee (Thorner, 2003). Harvesting the fruit is an arduous and dangerous (albeit …

Lost In Legislation: The Cultural And Political Meanings Of "Organic", Lauren Alexandra Cardella

Theses & ETDs

In 2002, the United States Department of Agriculture launched the National Organic Program, which promises that any food labeled "organic" has been grown and processed according to nationally uniform and recognized standards. But what does "organic" mean? Organic agriculture has a long history in the United States as a radical, grassroots movement promoting human health, environmental stewardship, and a decentralized food system. The USDA has a long history of promoting chemical- and capital-intensive agriculture that leads to serious degradation of ecosystems, destruction of small farms and rural communities, and feeds a highly centralized, corporate-controlled food system. How did organic agriculture …

Interdisciplinary Approaches To Landscape Planning: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of European And American Land-Use Practices And Policy, Daniela Demaria

Theses & ETDs

In this thesis, I examine the meaning of landscape in a cultural context and how important ideas and individuals are to the formation of the physical landscape. I outline historical differences between Europe and America's land-use planning and development, examine contemporary problems they both face, and explore successful and unsuccessful examples of land-use policies in cities I have studied and lived in. I then discuss the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to land-use planning and management across nations that integrates research on place attachment, "sense of place" and quality of life. The European Landscape Convention serves as an example throughout …

Improving Student Retention Of Future Members Of The Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, And Business Workforce, Samuel L. Rohr

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ThisDissertation examined the relationship between various admissions selection criteria utilized by a small, Liberal Arts College in the Midwest. More specifically, the study examined if a higher college preparatory GPA, a higher aggregate score on the SAT, attending a larger high school, and beginning college at an older age helped predict the retention of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and business students. Data was gathered using historical enrollment data of 803 students. A logistic regression analysis was utilized to examine the impact of the four variables on retention of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and business students. College preparatory GPA, the aggregate …

Teaming: Advantages And Implementation, Kevin Van Gheem

Theses and Graduate Projects

Teaching for four years, I have first-hand experience of what it is like teaching in two distinctly different types of classrooms. My first year was difficult as I was often alone in my room with little guidance or help from fellow teachers. The following three years, our school began to implement teaming and I began to see the benefits of it right before my eyes. This paper will examine some of the benefits for students, parents, and teachers. It will also discuss different types of teams or professional learning communities that can exist in a school. And finally, this paper …

Integrating Quantitative Reasoning Initiatives With Writing Programs: A Strategy For Effective Program Development, Nathan Grawe, Carol Rutz

Economics Faculty Work

As an inherently interdisciplinary endeavor, quantitative reasoning (QR) risks falling through the cracks between the traditional “silos” of higher education. This article describes one strategy for developing a truly cross-campus QR initiative: leverage the existing structures of campus writing programs by placing QR in the context of argument. We first describe the integration of Carleton College’s Quantitative Inquiry, Reasoning, and Knowledge initiative with the Writing Program. Based on our experience, we argue that such an approach leads to four benefits: it reflects important aspects of QR often overlooked by other approaches; it defuses the commonly raised objection that QR is …

Caution, Lauren R. Barrett

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

The General Assembly in Review

Discounting China's Cdm Dams, John Copeland Nagle

Loyola University Chicago International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Forest Restoration Project In The Gordon Natural Area, Gerard Hertel

Gordon Natural Area Forest Restoration Project Documents

No abstract provided.

Solar Power & Nyc Schools: Good Government And Electric Sparkplug, Robert Delay

Fordham Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lumad's Struggle To Claim Ancestral Domain Right In The Armm: The Tlmadc Perspective, Elena Chiong-Javier

SDRC Publications

No abstract provided.

Nafta Chapter 11 As Supraconstitution, Stepan Wood, Stephen Clarkson

Comparative Research in Law & Political Economy

More and more legal scholars are turning to constitutional law to make sense of the growth of transnational and international legal orders. They often employ constitutional terminology loosely, in a bewildering variety of ways, with little effort to clarify their analytical frameworks or acknowledge the normative presuppositions embedded in their analysis. The potential of constitutional analysis as an instrument of critique of transnational legal orders is frequently lost in methodological confusion and normative controversy. An effort at clarification is necessary. We propose a functional approach to supraconstitutional analysis that applies across issue areas, accommodates variation in kinds and degrees of …

Adaptation To Climate Change: A Vulnerability Assessment For Sudan, Sumaya Ahmed Zakieldeen

East Africa

Sudan is typical of other least developed countries in Africa in being highly vulnerable to climate change and climate variability. The interaction of multiple stresses—endemic poverty, ecosystem degradation, complex disasters and conflicts, and limited access to capital, markets, infrastructure and technology—have all weakened people’s ability to adapt to changes in climate. This study assesses Sudan’s vulnerability to climate change. By overlaying maps of population distribution, poverty, rainfall distribution and variability, and incidence of environmental hazards, it has been possible to identify the states which are most vulnerable to climate change. It also outlines some of the actions being taken to …

Adaptive Water Governance: Assessing The Institutional Prescriptions Of Adaptive (Co-)Management From A Governance Perspective And Defining A Research Agenda, Dave Huitema, Erik Mostert, Wouter Egas, Sabine Moellenkamp, Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Resul Yalcin

All UNF Research

This article assesses the institutional prescriptions of adaptive (co-)management based on a literature review of the (water) governance literature. The adaptive (co-)management literature contains four institutional prescriptions: collaboration in a polycentric governance system, public participation, an experimental approach to resource management, and management at the bioregional scale. These prescriptions largely resonate with the theoretical and empirical insights embedded in the (water) governance literature. However, this literature also predicts various problems. In particular, attention is called to the complexities associated with participation and collaboration, the difficulty of experimenting in a real-world setting, and the politicized nature of discussion on governance at …

The Land Use Stabilization Wedge Strategy: Shifting Ground To Mitigate Climate Change, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article describes how local governments, through the clever application of existing land use techniques, can mitigate climate change. This strategic path follows one developed by Princeton professor Robert Socolow, who identified and described fifteen categories for organizing society’s climate change mitigation efforts. Five of Socolow’s strategic categories fall within the reach of local land use authority: reduced use of vehicles, energy efficient buildings, vegetative carbon sequestration, wind power, and solar power. Through the aggregation of these local land use techniques, significant energy savings and carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction can be achieved. After making some background points, this article describes …

Learn In The City, Lead In The World, Northeastern Illinois University, 2009-2010 Academic Catalog, Northeastern Illinois University

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

The Nature Of Boulder-Rich Deposits In The Upper Big Flat Brook Drainage, Sussex County, New Jersey, Gregory A. Pope, Andrew J. Temples, Sean I. Mclearie, Joanne C. Kornoelje, Thomas J. Glynn

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The upper reaches of the Big Flat Brook drainage, northwest of Kittatinny Mountain, contain a variety of glacial, pro-glacial, and periglacial deposits from the Late Quaternary. The area is dominated by recessional moraines and ubiquitous ground moraine, along with meltwater deposits, drumlins, and possible postglacial periglacial features. We have identified a curious boulder-rich deposit in the vicinity of Lake Ocquittunk and Lake Wapalanne on upper Big Flat Brook. The area where these boulder deposits occur is mapped (1:24,000 surficial geology) as till. As mapped and observed, larger cobbles and boulders within the till are quartz-pebble conglomerate, quartzite, sandstone, and shale. …

Graduate Degree Completions, 1999-2008, University Of New Hampshire. Institutional Research And Assessment

UNH Factbooks

University of New Hampshire factbook data from the 2008-2009 academic year

Avian Use Of Harvested Crop Fields In North Dakota During Spring Migration, Alegra M. Galle, George M. Linz, H. Jeffrey Homan, William J. Bleier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Broad-spectrum herbicide applications and improved harvesting efficiency of crops have reduced the availability of weed seeds and waste grains for game and nongame wildlife. Over the last decade, corn and soybean plantings have steadily increased in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North Dakota, while sunflower plantings have declined. The PPR is an important corridor for migratory birds, and changes in food availabilities at stopover habitats may affect how food resources are used. In early spring 2003 and 2004, we compared bird use of harvested fields of sunflower, soybeans, small grains, and corn in the PPR of North Dakota. Across …

Looking Ahead, University Of Michigan Law School

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

Timeline – Looking Back – Looking Ahead: The New Academic Building and Law School Commons – Transformative Architecture

The Mental Demands Of Marine Ecosystem -Based Management: A Constructive Developmental Lens, Verna Gerard Delauer

Doctoral Dissertations

Ecosystem-based Management (EBM) is a relatively new and promising approach to the management of marine systems. EBM is holistic by seeking to include ail stakeholders affected by marine policy. Stakeholders may include individuals from ail levels of government, academia, environmental organizations, and marine-dependent businesses and industry. This dissertation lays out the substantive differences of marine EBM stakeholder engagement processes versus other, single sector processes. EBM processes are more complex than existing stakeholder engagement mechanisms, to sufficiently require a more sophisticated conceptual understanding of the process and the people involved. There are implicit cognitive, interpersonal, and intra-personal demands of EBM that …

Determination Of Geotechnical Properties Of Seafloor Sediment Using A Free Fall Penetrometer, Gopala Krishna Mulukutla

Doctoral Dissertations

A study was conducted to determine the penetration behavior of a cylindrical probe free falling to the seafloor and to utilize the data obtained to evaluate the engineering properties of surficial sediment. Two experimental probes, each equipped with accelerometers, pressure sensors and optical backscatter sensors were deployed in different sediment regimes. The data collected was used to derive the sediment type and determine physical properties such as undrained shear strength, coefficient of consolidation and shear modulus for soft fine-grained sediment.

Acceleration signals from drops of a free fall penetrometer contain information about the nature of the seafloor. A simple sediment …

A Wild Web: The Tangled History Of Attitudes Toward Wildlife In A Dynamic New England Culture, 1945--1985, Mary H. Hopkins

Doctoral Dissertations

Attitudes toward wildlife are considerably more complex than one might suspect. This dissertation started with a hypothesis that population growth would correlate with increasing negative attitudes toward wildlife, but historical evidence only partially supports this hypothesis. Information about the frequency and types of wildlife references appearing in newspapers between 1945 and 1985 was gathered from a systematic sampling of six New Hampshire newspapers that represented towns with differing growth trends. While analysis of quantitative data minimized any correlation between growth and negative attitudes, qualitative data from newspaper articles, archival sources, government reports, books and articles, and other sources provided evidence …

Doc 2007-04 A New Vision For The University Of Dayton's Honors Program, University Of Dayton. Honors And Scholars Program

Senate Documents

Official, approved document of the Academic Senate of the University of Dayton. This document was originally classified as DOC I-07-04.

Jumping Onto The Bandwagon: New Librarians Navigating The Science/Technology Librarianship, Nedelina Tchangalova

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

The terminology of engineering is daunting to the novice librarian without any science background. Library information school (LIS) students without training in scientific disciplines express concerns about pursuing a career in engineering librarianship. Why don’t they get onto the science/technology (sci/tech) bandwagon? What information and inspiration are necessary to sail toward the science and engineering horizons of our profession? A successful transition from graduate student to practicing engineering librarian requires a complex combination of knowledge and skills. The support and assistance of colleagues is critical and the establishment of support groups for various research needs can provide a mechanism …

Book Review: Embracing Watershed Politics By Edella Schlager And William Blomquist, Sandra K. Davis

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The analysis presented in each chapter is focused on concepts that are examined and applied in a case study to explain the existing system of governance. Although the concepts are not integrated into a framework, the authors’ careful use of concepts provides insights into watershed decision making. Just as concepts are not integrated into a grand framework, there is no prescription for the best type of governance. This may disappoint those seeking the answer to watershed governance, but the book provides realistic analyses of the complex management problems of watersheds. Perhaps in the future, additional research will more definitely link …

Book Review: The Great Sand Hills: A Prairie Oasis Text By Rebecca L. Grambo, Bram Noble

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The Great Sand Hills region of southwestern Saskatchewan is among the largest and, unfortunately, last intact native prairie ecosystems in the Great Plains. The Great Sand Hills: A Prairie Oasis is thus a fitting title. Filled with spectacular photography alongside narrative text telling the story of the prairie’s past, present, and future, this 124-page book was a finalist for the 2007 Saskatchewan Book of the Year Award as well as in the nonfiction and scholarly writing categories.