Digital Commons Network^™

The Farmer In Chief: Obama's Local Food Legacy, Sarah J. Morath

Akron Law Faculty Publications

As criticism over America’s food policy has grown, many scholars have offered suggestions for reform. Complementing this body of scholarship, The Farmer In Chief identifies and assesses recent changes to federal laws and policies as they affect ‘local food’ and describes local farmers’ awareness of and reaction to these changes. These changes and the farmers’ responses show greater recognition of local food by the President and federal government in three ways: increased inclusion of local food in legislation and policy discussions; increased awareness of the benefits of local food production and consumption; and increased consumer access to local food. But …

Eutrophication Weakens Stabilizing Effects Of Diversity In Natural Grasslands, Yann Hautier, Eric W. Seabloom, Elizabeth T. Borer, Peter B. Adler, W. Stanley Harpole, Helmut Hillebrand, Eric M. Lind, Andrew S. Macdougall, Carly J. Stevens, Jonathan D. Bakker, Yvonne M. Buckley, Chengjin Chu, Scott L. Collins, Pedro Daleo, Ellen I. Damschen, Kendi F. Davies, Philip A. Fay, Jennifer Firn, Daniel S. Gruner, Virginia L. Jin, Julia A. Klein, Johannes M. H. Knops, Kimberly J. La Pierre, Wei Li, Rebecca L. Mcculley, Brett A. Melbourne, Joslin L. Moore, Lydia R. O’Halloran, Suzanne M. Prober, Anita C. Risch, Mahesh Sankaran, Martin Schuetz, Andy Hector

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Studies of experimental grassland communities^1–7 have demonstrated that plant diversity can stabilize productivity through species asynchrony, in which decreases in the biomass of some species are compensated for by increases in others^1,2. However, it remains unknown whether these findings are relevant to natural ecosystems, especially those for which species diversity is threatened by anthropogenic global change^8–11. Here we analyse diversity–stability relationships from 41 grasslands on five continents and examine how these relationships are affected by chronic fertilization, one of the strongest drivers of species loss globally⁸. Unmanipulated communities with more species had greater …

The Southeastern Librarian V. 61, No. 4 (Winter 2014) Complete Issue

The Southeastern Librarian

The complete issue of The Southeastern Librarian v. 61, no. 4 (Winter 2014).

People News

The Southeastern Librarian

Recent Professional Developments from SELA Members.

Geog 140: Human Geography—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Katherine Nashleanas

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Large lecture classes, often of 100 students or more, present unique challenges to both teaching and learning. The common method of “delivery” by instructors is lecture, often augmented by a set of Power Point slides while the research literature shows that this more traditional way of teaching does not reach students in the way we hope and often assume. At the same time, most of the current students populating these classes are born of the Digital Age and have different expectations for learning, requiring new approaches in the classroom. Faculty are exhorted to incorporate more critical thinking in their classes …

Evaluation Of Cmip5 Simulated Clouds And Toa Radiation Budgets Using Nasa Satellite Observations, Erica Kay Dolinar

Theses and Dissertations

A large degree of uncertainty in global climate models (GCMs) can be attributed to the representation of clouds and how they interact with incoming solar and outgoing longwave (Earth emitted) radiation. In this study, the simulated total cloud fraction (CF), cloud water path (CWP), top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiation budgets and cloud radiative forcings (CRFs) from 28 CMIP5 AMIP models are evaluated and compared to multiple satellite observations from CERES, MODIS, ISCCP, CloudSat, and CALIPSO. The multimodel ensemble mean CF (58.6 %) is, on global average, under estimated by nearly 7 % compared to CERES-MODIS (CM) and ISCCP results, with an even …

Introduction To Aesthetics Of Everyday Life: East And West, Curtis Carter

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

'This Disc Is Not For A Bird Bath, It's For My Tractor': Exploring Gender, Sustainable Agriculture, And Networks In Western Montana, Eva Kathryn Rocke

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Women’s presence in agriculture as farmers, consumers, advocates, and activists has become ever more apparent over the last two decades as census data, popular media, and academic literature increasingly reflect their work. Many of the farmers in western Montana practicing sustainable agriculture are women and have built relationships with other women farmers in the region through existing agriculture-focused organizations like Homegrown and the Western Montana Growers’ Cooperative. Even with the strong presence of these organizations, some women farmers feel there is potential for the formalization of a women farmer network in western Montana that would increase the opportunities for socialization …

Microbial Community Characterization And Pathogen Profiling Of Land-Based Aquaculture Systems Using Culture-Based And Molecular-Based Fingerprinting Techniques, Nicole S. Kteily

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The growing worldwide demand for fish production has prompted research towards intensive aquaculture. Innovative system designs, such as recirculating and flow-through aquaculture systems, have been developed to improve the efficiency and sustainability of intensive aquaculture practices. These LBAS systems exhibit a wide range of spatial and temporal heterogeneity. Although such heterogeneity suggests the potential for culture water to support a diverse and spatially complex assortment of microorganisms, there is a lack of information regarding the overall diversity and composition of microbial communities (including pathogens) in the different compartments of these systems. To better understand the diversity and functionality of microbial …

Restoration As Caring Practice: A Relational Perspective On Ecological Recovery, Daniel Avery Congdon

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ecological restoration is defined by the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) as “the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed” (9). In practice, restoration typically involves the removal of pollution, human-made structures (like dams or roads), invasive species, and other impediments to ecological health. Removing the sources of ecological impairment is coupled with the reintroduction of flora, fauna, and the physical structures that are necessary for healthy ecosystem function. The potential for restoration to dominate nature is a concern of environmental ethicists. In theory, domination might stem from the technology used in …

Landscape And Impervious Surface Mapping In The Twin Cities Metropolitan Area Using Feature Recognition And Decision Tree Techniques, Philipp Nagel

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) and Impervious Surface Area (ISA) are important parameters for many environmental studies, and serve as an essential tool for decision makers and stakeholders in Urban & Regional planning. Newly available high spatial resolution aerial ortho-imagery and LiDAR data, in combination with specialized, object-oriented and decision-tree classification techniques, allow for accurate mapping of these features. In this study, a method was developed to first classify LULC using an object-based classifier, and then use the resulting map as input for a decision-tree model to classify ISA in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area in Minnesota. It was …

The Impact Of Clean Energy On Economic Growth: An Econometrics Approach, Cheng Zhang

Pepperdine Policy Review

This paper reviews the relationship between economic performance and clean energy using country level data. A combined instrumental variable and fixed-effect regression model is adopted to determine the relationship. By examining data in the past 50 years, we conclude that developing alternative energy will harm GDP growth, but to a relatively small degree. Thus, policymakers can take advantage of alternative energy research and development as a long-term investment that will reduce reliance on traditional energy sources.

Atomic Spectrometry Updates. Review Of Advances In Elemental Speciation, Robert Clough, Chris F. Harrington, Steve J. Hill, Yolanda Madrid, Julian F. Tyson

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

A Full Greenhouse Gases Budget Of Africa: Synthesis, Uncertainties, And Vulnerabilities, R. Valentini, A. Arneth, A. Bombelli, S. Castaldi, R. Cazzolla Gatti, F. Chevallier, P. Ciais, E. Grieco, J. Hartmann, M. Henry, R. A. Houghton, M. Jung, W. L. Kutsch, Y. Malhi, E. Mayorga, L. Merbold, G. Murray-Tortarolo, D. Papale, P. Peylin, B. Poulter, P. A. Raymond, M. Santini, S. Sitch, G. Vaglio Laurin, G. R. Van Der Werf, Christopher A. Williams, R. J. Scholes

Geography

This paper, developed under the framework of the RECCAP initiative, aims at providing improved estimates of the carbon and GHG (CO2, CH4 and N2O) balance of continental Africa. The various components and processes of the African carbon and GHG budget are considered, existing data reviewed, and new data from different methodologies (inventories, ecosystem flux measurements, models, and atmospheric inversions) presented. Uncertainties are quantified and current gaps and weaknesses in knowledge and monitoring systems described in order to guide future requirements. The majority of results agree that Africa is a small sink of carbon on an annual scale, with an average …

Risd Fact Book 2014, Institutional Research

RISD Fact Books

The Office of Institutional Research is pleased to present the Rhode Island School of Design Fact Book 2014. The Fact Book is a summary of institutional data gathered from many areas of the College, compiled to capture the 2013 Fiscal and Academic Year, as well as the beginning of Academic Year 2013-14. Where appropriate, multiple years of data are provided for historical perspective. While not all-encompassing, the Fact Book provides pertinent facts and figures and is made available as a reference to administrators, faculty, staff and students.

Growth Response And Soil-Plant Water Relations Of 4 Dominant Psammophyte Species With Soil Moisture In Central Inner Mongolia, Yuanrun Zheng, Lianhe Jiang, Yong Gao, Xi Chen, Geping Luo, Xianwei Feng, Hideyuki Shimizu

Turkish Journal of Botany

Soil-plant water relations are crucial for understanding the mechanisms by which plants adapt to their environments. An experiment was conducted to understand the responses of 4 dominant psammophyte shrub species to different sandy environments. Pots were filled with tap water or sand, and pots planted with different species and filled with sand with and without pot covers were kept in 4 growth cabinets at 15/25 °C and with a water supply of 75 mm per month. Soil water content; dry weights of roots, shoots, and leaves; and leaf area were measured. The relative growth rate (0.039-0.042 g g^{-1} day^{-1}) was …

A Promiscuous Wallflower: The Rare Zayante Sandhills Endemic Erysimum Teretifolium (Brassicaceae) Benefits From Outcrossing, Miranda Kathleen Melen

Master's Theses

The Zayante sandhills ecosystem of Santa Cruz County, California, contains a rich mosaic of plants and animals adapted to unusual soils and microclimates. In this environment, local adaptation of populations is expected to lead to greater endemism and outbreeding depression. Anthropogenic fragmentation has further isolated populations, however, which paradoxically could result in inbreeding depression. One of these plants, Erysimum teretifolium (Ben Lomond wallflower) is an endangered endemic herb in the Brassicaceae family. This study assessed genetic mixing across remnant patches of E. teretifolium in order to estimate the effects of fragmentation and the reliance on pollinators. A captive breeding colony …

Coast Redwood Community Structure And Composition Following Selective-Harvest: A Case Study Of Byrne-Milliron Forest, Amy K. Petersen

Master's Theses

The effects of selective-harvest on forest composition and structure in the southern range of the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forest have not been well documented. This case study was focused on the Byrne-Milliron Forest located in Santa Cruz County, where selective-harvest is currently the primary method of timber extraction. The purpose of this research was to determine how forest structure and composition changed in relation to time since the last harvest re-entry, the percentage cut per hectare and number of harvest re-entries. The study design consisted of 100 plots located within the Byrne-Milliron Forest, spanning over five harvest …

Characterization And Development Of An Extended Cavity Tunable Laser Diode, Fnu Traptilisa

Master's Theses

A laser diode emits a narrow range of frequencies. However, drifts in

frequency occur over time due to many factors like changes in laser temperature, current, mechanical vibrations in the apparatus, etc. These frequency drifts make the laser unsuitable for experiments that require high frequency stability. We have used an atomic transition in rubidium as a frequency reference and used Doppler

free saturated spectroscopy to observe the reference peak.

We have designed an electronic locking circuit that operates the diode laser at a specific frequency. It keeps the laser at that frequency for a long period of time with very …

Wastewater And Water Quality Changes In Lower South San Francisco Bay, 1957-2013., Simret Kesete Yigzaw

Master's Theses

The San José-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility (Facility), located in the Lower South Bay (LSB), is the largest advanced wastewater treatment plant in San Francisco Bay. From 1957 to 2013, the Facility added a series of expansions and upgrades that increased treatment capacity and improved the quality of treated effluent.

This study addressed the questions: (1) To what extent have expansions and upgrades in the treatment plant during the past six decades resulted in improvements to Facility effluent quality? (2) How and to what extent have the changes in the Facility effluent translated into changes in the water quality of …

An Analysis Of An Andean Cosmovisión: Nature, Culture, Ecology, And Cosmos, Christian Ardeleanu

Master's Theses

Modern life may offer certain benefits for humanity, but it can also create a barrier between humans and the natural world. In contrast, the millenarian Aymara culture of the Bolivian Andes exhibits a harmonic interrelation with nature, ecology, and the cosmos, and it also represents a living system of indigenous knowledge and knowledge production/transformation. The Aymara system of knowing and knowledge production, like other indigenous systems, should not be mistaken for antiquated elements of culture and folklore but should be seen as a distinct and dynamic epistemology. The Aymara cosmovisión is similar to the philosophy of ecology, sharing some general …

Environmental Education As A Catalyst For Changing Students' Environmental Attitudes: A Survey Of Ten Universities In The Tokyo Bay And San Francisco Bay Areas, Minako Nishiyama

Master's Theses

Environmental education has been internationally recognized as a key tool to counter increasing threats to the environment. Previous studies have found that environmental values and beliefs are the fundamental factors that shape various pro-environmental behaviors. This study aimed to increase our understanding of how environmental education during childhood and university periods influence students' sense of connectedness to nature and ecological worldview. Two measures, the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) and the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale, were used for this purpose. A total of 1,266 students in 10 universities in the San Francisco Bay Area and Tokyo Bay Area participated …

Survival And Recovery Following Wildfire In The Southern Range Of The Coast Redwood Forest, Rachel Lazzeri-Aerts, Will Russell

Faculty Publications, Environmental Studies

Fire plays a central role in determining structure, composition, and recruitment in many forest types. In coast redwood forests, the role of fire is not well understood and scant literature exists on post-fire response, particularly in the southern part of the range. In order to better understand patterns of survival and recruitment following fire for coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens [lamb. ex D. Don] Endl.) and associated tree species, three sites in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA, were sampled following wildfire. Randomly selected 10 m diameter plots were used to collect data on survivorship and post fire regeneration in order …

Sustainability As A Business Strategy, Nancy E. Landrum

School of Environmental Sustainability: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Message Matters: Application Of The Theory Of Planned Behavior To Increase Household Hazardous Waste Program Participation, Amy Dyer Cabaniss

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Removing household hazardous waste (HHW) from the municipal solid waste stream is important to protect health, safety and the environment. Communities across the U.S. separate HHW from regular trash for disposal with hazardous waste, however nationally, participation rates are low with only five to ten percent of households estimated to participate in any given collection. This two-part study used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to understand individuals’ beliefs and attitudes toward HHW collections, and to develop a print message intervention to increase participation. In Study 1, respondents (N = 983) completed a survey administered to homeowners in the Connecticut …

Effects Of Dissolved And Dietary Microcystin On Clearance Rates Of Wedge Clams (Rangia Cuneata) In The Tidal Fresh James River, Spencer Tassone, Paul Bukaveckas, Joe Wood

Undergraduate Research Posters

Benthic filter feeders are important organisms in estuaries due to their ability to remove algal and non-algal particulate matter from the water column. Microcystin (MC) is a cyanotoxin that is known to have adverse effects on diverse consumers, though its effects on benthic filter-feeders are not well-studied. In this study, we examine the effects of microcystin on the filtering activities of Rangia cuneata, a common and often dominant filter-feeder in tidal freshwaters. Clams and seston obtained from the James River were used along with commercially-available microcystin to measure clearance rates of Rangia across a gradient of dissolved microcystin concentrations. We …

Hydrologic Modeling In Semi-Arid Agricultural Region : An Integrated Approach To Study Water Resources In Southern San Joaquin Valley, California, Sagarika Roy

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Drought is one of the most severe natural hazards in the world. This research aims at assessing the limited water resources for better crop-water irrigation and conservation of a drought affected agricultural area in California.

Evapotranspiration (ET) is one of the most important parameter to study crop water use for irrigation scheduling and water management. The remote sensing based ET estimation using Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) is the efficient way to understand crop water use. Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI) quantifies plant stress under different field conditions. The remote sensing approach allows efficient irrigation by applying water …

Geochemical And Rock-Magnetic Analyses Of Kasten Cores And Surface Grab Samples From The Joinville-D'Urville Trough, Northeastern Antarctic Peninsula : Results And Correlation With The Western Antarctic Peninsula, Rachel B. Darley

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Two sediment cores were recovered from the Joinville-d’Urville Trough on the Northeastern Antarctic Peninsula (AP) during United States Antarctic Program cruise LMG04-04. KC3 was recovered from a sediment drift off Joinville Island. KC16 was recovered from a small basin west of the drift. Both cores show a two-part magnetic susceptibility profile: the upper section shows regularly spaced highs and lows, followed by a large amplitude drop. The susceptibility profiles of these two cores are similar to those found on the western side of the AP. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the same processes drive magnetic susceptibility …

Climate Change Triage, Noah M. Sachs

Law Faculty Publications

Climate change is the first global triage crisis. It is caused by the overuse of a severely limited natural resource—the atmosphere’s capacity to absorb greenhouse gases—and millions of lives depend on how international law allocates this resource among nations.

This Article is the first to explore solutions for climate change mitigation through the lens of triage ethics, drawing on law, philosophy, moral theory, and economics. The literature on triage ethics—developed in contexts such as battlefield trauma, organ donation, emergency medicine, and distribution of food and shelter—has direct implications for climate change policy and law, yet it has been overlooked by …

Catalog Denison University 2014-2015

Denison University Catalogs

Denison University Course Catalog 2014-2015