Digital Commons Network^™

Enst 420.50: U.S. Environmental Movement: Past, Present, And Future, Jacob S. Cowgill

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 396.00: Supervised Internship (Peas - Program In Ecological Agriculture And Society), Joshua H. Slotnick

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

She Sells Seawalls Down By The Seashore, Tricia Lee

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Comment argues that a bill similar to Assembly Bill 2943 should be proposed today because there has been a drastic shift towards a general acceptance of global warming since 2002. In addition, new environmental studies support the idea of curbing seawall construction along the California coast.

Section I will provide data regarding rising sea levels and the current state of seawall construction along the California coast. It will then explain why seawall construction is not a viable adaptation strategy and delve into its negative social, environmental, and economic impacts.

Section II will examine California’s current policies for protecting coastal …

Preyer, Mack Rivkin

Honors Projects

One of the most difficult obstacles I faced while working on this collection of writings was articulating exactly what this project is. It is, on the surface, a Research Honors Project, defined by Illinois Wesleyan University as "an opportunity for qualified seniors to engage in a significant research project under the guidance of a faculty advisor" ("Office of the Provost"). In my preliminary Research Honors proposal, I declared my intention to concoct a capstone project which, through ecopoetics, would honor my four years of study in the fields of Environmental Studies and English. I wanted to utilize my skills in …

Academic Librarians And The Sustainability Curriculum: Building Alliances To Support A Paradigm Shift, Madeleine K. Charney

Collaborative Librarianship

Sustainability is a fast evolving movement in higher education demonstrated by a proliferation of academic programs, co-curricular initiatives, and campus projects. Sustainability is now viewed as vital to the mission of many institutions of higher education, creating a paradigm shift that librarians can help advance with their collective interdisciplinary expertise. A review of LibGuides (online resource guides) showed that academic librarians are involved with sustainability efforts on many campuses and have a role in shaping curriculum-related activities. The author administered a survey to creators of sustainability LibGuides during the spring of 2011, posting the survey on library listservs as well. …

Panarchy: Theory And Application, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Lance H. Gunderson, C. S. Holling

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The concept of panarchy provides a framework that characterizes complex systems of people and nature as dynamically organized and structured within and across scales of space and time. It has been more than a decade since the introduction of panarchy. Over this period, its invocation in peer-reviewed literature has been steadily increasing, but its use remains primarily descriptive and abstract. Here, we discuss the use of the concept in the literature to date, highlight where the concept may be useful, and discuss limitations to the broader applicability of panarchy theory for research in the ecological and social sciences. Finally, we …

Introduction: Social-Ecological Resilience And Law, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Craig R. Allen, Craig Anthony Arnold, Lance H. Gunderson

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Environmental law is intimately connected to ecological concepts and understanding. The legal instruments, institutions, and administration of law in the United States are predicated on assumptions that nature is globally stable and that the inherent variability in ecological systems is bounded. This current legal framework is based upon an understanding of ecological systems operating near an equilibrium, or if disturbed, moving back toward an equilibrium. Such assumptions make much current environmental law ill-suited for many pressing environmental issues (Ruhl 1999; Garmestani et al. 2009; Craig 2010; Verchick 2010; Benson and Garmestani 2011). Emerging environmental challenges, such as cross-boundary water governance …

Anthropogenics: Human Influence On Global And Genetic Homogenization Of Parasite Populations, Dante S. Zarlenga, Eric P. Hoberg, Benjamin Rosenthal, Simonetti Mattiucci, Giuseppe Nascetti

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The distribution, abundance, and diversity of life on Earth have been greatly shaped by human activities. This includes the geographic expansion of parasites; however, measuring the extent to which humans have influenced the dissemination and population structure of parasites has been challenging. In-depth comparisons among parasite populations extending to landscape-level processes affecting disease emergence have remained elusive. New research methods have enhanced our capacity to discern human impact, where the tools of population genetics and molecular epidemiology have begun to shed light on our historical and ongoing influence. Only since the 1990s have parasitologists coupled morphological diagnosis, long considered the …

Optimization Of A Chemical Genetic Screen To Identify Druggable Targets In U138 Cells Treated With Laromustine, Kathryn Coe

Honors Theses

Laromustine is an experimental sulfonylhydrazine prodrug used in late-stage clinical studies against acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Despite initial promise for both indications, clinical trials for GBM have not been as successful as those for AML. To investigate methods for improving the effectiveness of laromustine in GBM and to learn more about the mechanism of action of laromustine, a chemical genetic screen will be conducted to identify agents that sensitize GBM cells to the anti-proliferative effects of laromustine. The library, which will include approximately 450 FDA-approved drugs, will be screened using a newly optimized high throughput assay …

The Impact Of Dams On Nitrogen Cycling In The Messalonskee Stream, Rebecca K. Forgrave

Honors Theses

The Messalonskee Stream in central Maine has five hydroelectric dams on 16.6km. Each dam drastically changes the flow regime of the stream, dividing it into segments with different patterns of sediment settling and organic matter retention. I investigated how these disruptions impact nitrogen cycling, specifically nitrification rates above and below each dam. I expected higher nitrification rates above the dams, where levels of organic matter are higher, and lower rates below the dam where scouring removes organic matter and fine sediment from the streambed. I measured sediment nitrification rates with a nitrapyrin-inhibition assay and potential drivers of nitrification including sediment …

The Economic Impact Of Shale Gas Development: A Natural Experiment Along The New York And Pennsylvania Border, Brendan Cosgrove

Honors Theses

In the United States, the rapid increase in shale gas production has recently stimulated local economies. This paper investigates the regional economic impact of shale gas development. The border of New York and Pennsylvania provides a natural experiment for its economic impact because of the moratorium on fracking in NY and the supportive fracking regulations in PA. Using BLS data from 2001-2013, results show that shale gas development has a statistically significant impact at the industry level, but not across the entire economy. The findings contribute new evidence to the economic benefits and the boom-bust cycle of shale gas extraction.

2014 - 2015 Undergraduate Catalog, Armstrong State University

Armstrong Office of the Registrar: Undergraduate Catalogs (Archived)

Academic catalog for Armstrong State University.

Moving To A New Paradigm: A Reflection On Ethics, Sara Bajor '15

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Politics And Proximity In Sea Level Rise Policy Salience: A Study Of Virginia Legislators’ Perceptions, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Burton St. John Iii, Ivan K. Ash

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

The acceleration of sea level rise (SLR) has become a threat to the stability of nation-states worldwide and associated with risks to environmental sustainability, economic infrastructure, and public health. However, from both an international and U.S. perspective, there is a lack of research examining legislative decision makers’ perceptions about policies regarding SLR. This study addresses that gap by examining how politics and proximity affects Virginia state legislators’ perceptions of the saliency of SLR. A survey of these legislators reveals their perceptions of credible sources of information, SLR-related risk, and who should take the lead to address SLR. While this study …

Outsourcing Expert Services By State Transportation Departments: A Look At Effects On Cost, Quality, And Changing Employment Levels, Juita-Elena Yusuf, Lenahan O'Connell

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Privatization has increasingly become a policy option for government agencies struggling to meet rising demands for services but with fewer resources. In the transportation arena, many state departments of transportation (DOTs) have privatized by outsourcing highway functions to the private sector. But the outsourcing of technical and expert services such as those related to the design and construction of highway infrastructure may result in a smaller or less knowledgeable DOT workforce that is unable to perform the necessary contract management to ensure the quality of the work done by contractors. We posit an outsourcing process in which DOTs respond to …

Advance (Spring 2014), Georgia Southern Division Of Continuing And Professional Education

Division of Continuing & Professional Education

No abstract provided.

Risk, Uncertainty And Precaution: Lessons From The History Of Us Environmental Law, Robert V. Percival

Faculty Scholarship

Globalization and expanding world trade are creating new pressures to harmonize environmental standards. Countries increasingly are borrowing legal and regulatory policy innovations from one another, moving toward greater harmonization of regulatory policies. Regulatory policy generally seeks to prevent harm before it occurs, but the reality is that it usually has been more reactive than precautionary, responding only after harm has become manifest. As regulators seek to improve their responses to new and emerging environmental risks, it is useful to consider what lessons can be learned from past experience with regulatory policy. This chapter reviews controversies over regulatory policy through the …

When The Sap Flows: Affection And Industry In The Maple Woods, Nicholas R. Littman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis arises from my time waiting for, collecting, and boiling sap from maple trees into syrup. I spent four months in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York working for a modern commercial sugaring operation and sugaring in the old-fashioned manner—with buckets and a wood-fired evaporator.

The narrative follows my journey as a lifelong Westerner traveling east to learn an old tradition with my hands. Instead of observing how the warmth of a changing climate was affecting maple sugaring, I was thrust into a landscape defined by cold, during one of the coldest winters on record in the Northeast. …

"It Was My Job To Keep My Children Safe": Sandra Steingraber And The Parental Rhetoric Of Precaution, Mollie Katherine Murphy

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Advancing the environmental movement requires overcoming a number of rhetorical challenges. Rhetors must negotiate the significant dichotomies of environmental rhetoric including human/nature, public/private, and science/experience. Moreover, they face the challenge of educating and mobilizing uninformed citizens to take action. This analysis focuses on how Sandra Steingraber, an ecologist, writer, and environmental activist, negotiates these challenges. I argue that Steingraber negotiates these challenges by turning to three interrelated rhetorical strategies: the feminine style, autobiography, and synecdoche. I illustrate this through an analysis of two texts Steingraber wrote after becoming a mother: Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood, and Raising Elijah: …

Geography Newsletter, 2013-2014, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Geography.

Geography Newsletter

Inside this issue:

-- Faculty and Graduate Student Travel to the Canadian Arctic for Research Project
-- Geography Continues Success with NSF REU Program
-- In Memory of Irina Childinova (1984-2013)
-- Welcome Bing Liang
-- UNI to Become a National Focus Center for Research on Sustainable Development in the Arctic
-- Congratulations to Dr. Owusu on His Promotion
-- Recognition to Outstanding Individuals
-- Lu Lecture in Biblical Geography
-- New Director
-- 2013 Awards Banquet

Table Of Contents

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

The first issue of Volume XVIII of the Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest, the 2014 edition of the General Assembly in Review.

Ccs 485.01b: Environmental Citizenship - Service Learning, Robin K. Saha

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Undergraduate Catalog, 2014-2015, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg.

Undergraduate Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Cultivating Human-Nature Relationships: The Role Of Parents And Primary Caregivers In Development Of Environmental Identity, Anne E. Bremer

Pitzer Senior Theses

Industrialized societies have been characterized by a trend of disconnecting humans from our natural environment, leading to environmental and psychological damage. Therefore, in order to work toward repairing such damage, reconnecting humans and the natural environment is critical. One way of conceptualizing human-nature relationships is through “environmental identity,” a term that describes self-identification as part of a larger ecosystem, aesthetic, spiritual, or recreational enjoyment of nature, environmentally positive behaviors, and a social, political, or moral identification with environmentalists. Despite the literature having emphasized childhood experience in nature as being essential to the development of an environmental identity, parental influence in …

Fossil Fuel Divestment: The Power And Promise Of A Student Movement For Climate Justice, Jessica Grady-Benson

Pitzer Senior Theses

In the face of dire threats posed by anthropogenic climate change, a growing international Movement for Fossil Fuel Divestment has emerged to challenge the political and economic power of the fossil fuel industry. Building off a history of college and university divestment campaigns, students are spearheading the movement to rid their institutions’ endowments of investments in the top 200 companies with the largest reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas. Highlighting perspectives from within the movement and drawing from literature in social movement theory and Climate Justice, I explore three crucial components of the student Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement: Climate …

Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment Of Alternative Passenger Vehicles, Nuri Cihat Onat, Murat Kucukvar, Omer Tatari

Faculty Bibliography 2010s

Sustainable transportation and mobility are key components and central to sustainable development. This research aims to reveal the macro-level social, economic, and environmental impacts of alternative vehicle technologies in the U.S. The studied vehicle technologies are conventional gasoline, hybrid, plug-in hybrid with four different all-electric ranges, and full battery electric vehicles (BEV). In total, 19 macro level sustainability indicators are quantified for a scenario in which electric vehicles are charged through the existing U. S. power grid with no additional infrastructure, and an extreme scenario in which electric vehicles are fully charged with solar charging stations. The analysis covers all …

Conserving Wetlands For Humans And Amphibians: A Multidisciplinary Approach To Understanding The Social And Ecological Effectiveness Of New England's Wetland Policies, Jessica Veysey Powell

Doctoral Dissertations

Freshwater wetland ecosystems are a valuable resource, but current policies fail to prevent their continuing destruction. Policy-makers increasingly use decentralized wetland-buffer programs to address such policy failings, but scant research has evaluated whether these programs are both ecologically and socially effective. In the following dissertation, I address this gap using two complementary projects.

For the first project, I assessed whether forested buffers are an effective tool for maintaining viable populations of pool-breeding amphibians. Such species spend their early life stages in vernal pools, which are small, highly productive wetlands, but use the surrounding forest during juvenile and adult life-stages. Though …

Brownfield Action: Dissemination Of A Sencer Model Curriculum And The Creation Of A Collaborative Stem Education Network, Peter Bower, Ryan Kelsey, Joseph Liddicoat, Doug M. Thompson, Angelo Lampousis, Bret Bennington, Bess Greenbaum Seewald, Arthur D. Kney, Saugata Datta, Lawrence D. Lemke, Briane Sorice Miccio, Tamara Graham

Publications and Research

Brownfield Action (BA) is a web-based environmental site assessment (ESA) simulation in which students form geotechnical consulting companies and work together to solve problems in environmental forensics. Developed at Barnard College with the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, BA has been disseminated to ten colleges, universities, and high schools, resulting in a collaborative network of educators. The experiences of current users are presented describing how they have incorporated the BA curriculum into their courses, as well as how BA affected teaching and learning. The experiences demonstrate that BA can be used in whole or in part, is …

An Evaluation Of Soil Extracellular Enzyme Activity In Response To Burning As A Forest Restoration Technique, William M. Steward

Honors Theses

Burning is a method of forest restoration with the goal of returning natural tree species to ecosystems. Burning has a wide range of effects on an ecosystem, including the alteration of important soil processes and characteristics. One of the key components of soil is the activity of extracellular enzymes, which can be used to provide insight into the nutritional requirements of soil microbes as well as nutrient availability and cycling. Because enzymes are important in the overall functioning of soil and can be used to assess soil health, there is great need to examine the effects of burning on soil …

Archaea Diversity In The Coastal Waters Of West Peninsular Malaysia / Saw Suet Yit, Suet Yit Saw

Student Works (2010-2019)

In this study, we explored the archaea diversity in four locations (Kuala Selangor, Port Klang, Port Dickson, Sungai Muar) along the Straits of Malacca using the cloning method. Four 16S rDNA clone libraries were constructed with archaea specific primers (Arc21F and Arc958R), and in total, 1074 randomly selected clones were screened by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis using three different restriction enzymes (RsaI, CfoI, and DdeI). Majority of the sequences from three clone libraries were affiliated to Euryarchaeota whereas one clone library (Kuala Selangor) was dominated by Thaumarchaeota sequences. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA sequences showed high archaea diversity …