Digital Commons Network^™

Fearless: Jessie Pierce, Jessie M. Pierce

SURGE

A vocal advocate for socio-environmental justice issues and a believer in the potential for social change in the developing world, Jessie Pierce ’14 fearlessly travels, volunteers, and researches to promote awareness and change. Studying abroad last year for both semesters, spending one semester in Denmark and one in India, gave Jessie the interest, skills, and drive to continue pursuing a deeper understanding of these issues while at Gettysburg. [excerpt]

"We Don't Have Any Of Those:" Looking For Leaders In The Horizontal Structure Of Occupy Portland, Aaron Martin Bach

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis documents and examines Occupy Portland's organizational structure and the impact of this structure on the leadership roles of participants. Interviews with key activists and participant observation reveal that the ideologically influenced horizontal organization employed by the movement disrupts the emergence of centralized authority and charismatic leadership. This, in turn, encourages the rise of a "distributed leadership" comprised of multiple, task driven leaders. It finds that these task-oriented leaders within Occupy Portland tend to fulfill three specific leadership roles; the facilitation of process, the construction of movement structures, and the organization of actions. This study provides an exploration of …

New Questions, Multiple Meanings : Exploring Attachment Theory, Self Psychology, And Anti-Oppression Perspectives On Human-Companion Animal Relationships In The Rural West, Sarah H. Winchester

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

In spite of burgeoning interest in the significance of human-companion animal relationships in social work and related fields, the theoretical conceptualization of these relationships in the context of mental health remains largely limited to the cross-species and cross-cultural application of Attachment Theory. Further, the literature on human-companion animal relationships through the lens of Attachment Theory reflects a narrow scope of research methodologies and demographic variables, thus leaving the unique, multiple meanings of these relationships – and their intersections with varying and marginalized sociocultural identities – largely unexplored. In order to address these gaps and expand theoretical discourse on the phenomenon, …

The Localism Movement: Shared And Emergent Values, Nancy B. Kurland, Sara Jane Mccaffrey, Douglas H. Hill

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

Localism, a movement to encourage consumers and businesses to purchase from locally owned, independent businesses rather than national corporations, has grown rapidly in the past decade. With several national, federated organizations and popular “buy local” campaigns, the localism movement has the potential to affect buying patterns, marketing, and distribution in American business. Yet localism remains understudied by researchers. This article, based on data from 38 interviews with localism leaders, identifies four of the movement’s priorities: independent ownership, local buying, local sourcing, and pragmatic partnering. In addition, we analyze the movement’s emerging values, including responsibility to workers and to the natural …

Priceless Property, Kirsten Matoy Carlson

Georgia State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

New Mexico's Nuclear Enchantment: Local Politics, National Imperatives, And Radioactive Waste Disposal In The Desert, Jennifer Richter

American Studies ETDs

The use of nuclear technologies has left an indelible mark on American society. The environmental, political, economic, and social costs of creating, producing, and utilizing technologies such as nuclear weapons and nuclear energy have left a legacy of radioactive waste. To date, there is no comprehensive path for disposing of the different kinds of waste produced by the nuclear industry, including spent nuclear fuel that is now held on site at nuclear power plants. The question of how to deal with nuclear waste has plagued the nuclear industry, governmental agencies, and the concerned public for most of the nuclear era. …

Course Catalog 2013-14, Wellesley College

The Wellesley College Catalogs

No abstract provided.

The Health Of Nations: Ecuador's Twenty Year Crusade To Establish Environmental Human Rights As Customary International Law, Annie Wilkinson

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Stein Center News - September 2013, Stein Center For Law And Ethics

Stein Center News

No abstract provided.

From Consultation To Consent: Community Approval As A Prerequisite To Environmentally Significant Projects, Nicholas A. Fromhertz

West Virginia Law Review

Since the United States enacted the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1969, nations all around the world have adopted similar statutes. What started as a unique response to the American environmental movement grew to become a nearly global standard. Although the details of the regimes vary from country to country, there are two constants: (1) the regimes force the government to consider environmental impacts before conducting or authoriz- ing projects, and (2) they allow some degree of public participation. This Arti- cle focuses on the latter of these two features. Public participation in NEPA-style regimes generally means public consultation: …

Potential Health Impacts Of Heavy Metals On Hiv-Infected Population In Usa, Xiaohui Xu, Hui Hu, Amy B. Dailey, Greg Kearney, Evelyn O. Talbott, Robert L. Cook

Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Purpose: Noninfectious comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases have become increasingly prevalent and occur earlier in life in persons with HIV infection. Despite the emerging body of literature linking environmental exposures to chronic disease outcomes in the general population, the impacts of environmental exposures have received little attention in HIV-infected population. The aim of this study is to investigate whether individuals living with HIV have elevated prevalence of heavy metals compared to non-HIV infected individuals in United States.

Methods: We used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2010 to compare exposures to heavy metals including cadmium, lead, and total …

The Meaning Of Green Growth, Michael A. Livermore

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Although the term is still rarely used in the United States, in recent years “green growth” has become part of the lexicon of global environmental policy. Unfortunately, although it is frequently cited as a public policy goal, green growth has remained vague and ill-defined, leading to conflicting interpretations and confusion over the distinction between green growth and related concepts like sustainable development. This paper seeks to clarify the meaning of green growth as a distinct concept, defining a “green growth frontier” of policies that dominate along both environmental and economic dimensions. The green growth agenda can be understood as moving …

The Constitutionality Of California's Cap-And-Trade Program And Recommendations For Design Of Future State Programs, Thomas Alcorn

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Global climate change has emerged as one of the greatest challenges of our time. While action has stalled on the national stage, states have started to take action to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Confronted with the risk of severe impacts that could cost it tens of billions of dollars annually by the end of the century, California has taken the lead and developed the first comprehensive cap-and-trade program in the nation and seeks to achieve significant reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its economy. The success of California’s program will determine whether other states and the federal …

Comx 347.01a: Rhetoric, Nature And Environmentalism, Steven J. Schwarze

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Addressing Homeless Encampments On Public Right-Of-Way: A Knowledge Transfer Project, Andrée Tremoulet

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This technology transfer project provided practical information about how to address homeless encampments on public right-of-way to transportation professionals, including Federal Highway Administration officials, Oregon public works directors, transportation educators and students.

Through a previous project funded by OTREC and Oregon Department of Transportation, research had been conducted about the extent of the issue among state transportation agencies and how they were addressing it. The prior grant also provided for the development of a Best Practices Guide. The current project enabled staff to present the results of the research to transportation practitioners and policy analysts through multiple forums and media …

Enst 489s.01: Environmental Justice Issues And Solutions: Service Learning, Robin K. Saha

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 595.01: Environmental Justice Issues And Solutions, Robin K. Saha

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 391.01: Earth Ethics: Moral Dimensions Of Environmental Issues, Daniel T. Spencer

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Lining Up: Ensuring Equal Access To Vote, Gilda R. Daniels

All Faculty Scholarship

This booklet ( a joint project of the Advancement Project and the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law) provides an extensive overview of restrictive voting laws, especially concerning minority voters. Daniels begins with a summary of voter obstructions and intimidation in the 2012 election, and then places that within the context of the history of voting and race in America.

Most recently, the Section 5 protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were effectively removed by the Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court decision. Daniels then explains what this means practically and legally for minority voters and how …

Flavonol-Rich Dark Cocoa Significantly Decreases Plasma Endothelin-1 And Improves Cognition In Urban Children, Partha S. Mukherjee

Mathematics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Air pollution exposures are linked to systemic inflammation, cardiovascular and respiratory morbidity and mortality, neuroinflammation and neuropathology in young urbanites. In particular, most Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) children exhibit subtle cognitive deficits, and neuropathology studies show 40% of them exhibiting frontal tau hyperphosphorylation and 51% amyloid-β diffuse plaques (compared to 0% in low pollution control children). We assessed whether a short cocoa intervention can be effective in decreasing plasma endothelin 1 (ET-1) and/or inflammatory mediators in MCMA children. Thirty gram of dark cocoa with 680 mg of total flavonols were given daily for 10.11 ± 3.4 days (range 9–24 …

Mph Principles Of Public Health: Fall 2013 Syllabus, Nina Wallerstein, Robert Rhyne, Jonathan Eldredge

Principles of Public Health 2010-2017

No abstract provided.

The Collapse Of Place: Derelict Land, Deprivation, And Health Inequality In Glasgow, Scotland, Juliana A. Maantay

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

The population of Glasgow, Scotland has very poor health, compared to Scotland as a whole and the rest of the U.K., and even compared to other post-industrial cities with similar levels of deprivation and worklessness. This research maps and analyzes several health indicators to examine health inequities within Glasgow and explore the spatial correspondence between areas of poor health, high deprivation, and proximity to derelict land, much of which is contaminated from past industrial uses. People in high deprivation areas are significantly more likely to be hospitalized for respiratory disease and cancer; have low birth weight infants; and for men …

Allostatic Load Amplifies The Effect Of Blood Lead Levels On Elevated Blood Pressure Among Middle-Aged U.S. Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study, Ami R. Zota, Edmond R. Shenassa, Rachel Morello-Frosch

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Background

Scientists and regulators have sought to understand whether and how physiologic dysregulation due to chronic stress exposure may enhance vulnerability to the adverse health effects of toxicant exposures. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine whether allostatic load (AL), a composite measure of physiologic response to chronic exposure to stress, amplifies the effect of lead exposure on blood pressure among middle-aged adults.

Methods

We analyzed associations between blood lead levels and blood pressure in a nationally representative sample of 8,194 U.S. adults (aged 40-65 years) participating in the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey, 1999--2008. Outcomes were elevated systolic …

Assessing The Equity Of Transit Supply Distribution In Metropolitan Areas Using Lorenz Curves And Gini Coefficients, Kelly L. Bertolaccini

Master's Theses

The equitable distribution of transit services is a major concern of transportation planners and policymakers worldwide. In the US, planners are required by law to consider equity concerns when investing in new transportation infrastructure and services. However, equity can be difficult to assess in a consistent, objective, and quantitative way. Australian researchers recently developed a single, system wide measure which reflects the horizontal (or spatial) equity of transit service distribution in a metropolitan area. This measure, a variation of the Gini coefficient, specifically measures how well transit supply meets transit demand. While using a single measure to assess the equity …

Patronage Politics And Natural Resources: A Historical Case Study Of Malaysia And Singapore, H. Varkkey

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

As the modernisation of agribusiness became a more important driver of development for many Southeast Asian states, the region’s environment has become severely degraded. This paper argues that throughout the developmental history of Southeast Asia, the role of patronage politics has been a key factor behind environmental degradation. This paper focuses on Malaysia and Singapore as select case studies to show how political realities encourage patronage politics in the pursuit of development. It presents historical evidence concerning the circumstances preceding and surrounding early appearances of patronage networks in these countries, particularly within the natural resource sector. It argues that upon …

Banking On The Impossible: The Political Life Of Wetlands In Southern Louisiana, Michael Kantor

Geography and the Environment - Theses

Wetland banking is an increasingly prominent environmental governance strategy in the United States. Associated with larger trends toward the financialization of ecosystem services, wetland banking acts as a mode of social regulation while stabilizing a particular regime of accumulation. Its use by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the development of wetlands has certain implications for the distribution of and access to land, water, and capital. This thesis investigates a particular wetland development project in southeastern Louisiana and its relation to a local wetland bank, the Army Corps of Engineers, and a multinational oil …

Sustainability And Collegiate Recreational Sports Facilities., Thomas Bradley Stinnett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sustainability is a hot topic in higher education. Buzz words such as green and renewable have helped brand modern environmentalism. A greater emphasis on facility planning, development, and management is contributing to sustainability efforts. Collegiate recreational sports programs often include facilities that pose a challenge to the green movement, due to their size and operational requirements. To identify efforts within the collegiate recreational sports industry, this dissertation focuses on assessing the state of facility sustainability. The purpose of this study was to assess levels of personnel familiarity and institutional level of adoption related to sustainable initiatives at collegiate recreational sports …

Fractured Communities: Natural Gas, Resource Control, And Social Response In Bradford County, Pa, Chad F. Spade

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis examines natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation through a case study and research conducted in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Drawing upon the literatures of environmental justice and accumulation by dispossession, this thesis examines the impacts natural gas drilling has on the local community. Themes of economic benefits, leasing procedures, environmental concerns, social fracturing and political power are explored as they relate to the natural gas industry's impact on the local community. Viewed through the theories of accumulation by dispossession and environmental justice, this thesis examines the role resource control plays in the development and exploitation of natural …

Toward A Global Organizational Public Sphere: Non-Governmental Organizing And Democratic Legitimacy In A Postmodern World, Rachel Stohr

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation refigures Jürgen Habermas’s public sphere theory for the contemporary world in which organizations are key actors. I develop a concept of the “global organizational public sphere” to explore the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in narrowing the democratic legitimacy gap currently prevailing in the international arena. A case study of the NGO, the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), gauges the extent to which WEDO (and, by extension, NGOs) serves as a global intermediary that performs the double task of translating needs from the grassroots to global institutions and adapting international policies to local communities. Three problematics structure …

Business Motivations For Implementing Sustainability-Focused Projects: P3 Program, Lessons Learned, Ayna Kekilova

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Partners in Pollution Prevention (P3) Program is an outreach assistance program, in which student interns provide clients with a business assessment reports and suggestions for waste minimization and resource conservation.

The goal of this study is to examine the motivations of business managers toward the implementation of P2 suggestions. This can influence education of the students and providers of the pollution prevention technical assistance. Methods used in this study included analysis of the reassessments and survey results. A group of 60 clients representing various sectors and reassessed in 2005-2011 was contacted, 43% returned the survey.

It was found that: …