Digital Commons Network^™

Louisiana's Water Innovation Cluster: Is It Ready For Global Competition?, Stephen C. Picou

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The rapid growth of Louisiana's coastal restoration science and technology assets is paralleled by the growth of business resources to fulfill myriad project needs. Many institutions and organizations in Louisiana seek to further develop the state's research, education, engineering and related restoration assets into a globally competitive set of industries with exportable expertise and products that help the state capitalize on its water challenges. Globally, similar efforts are identified (and often branded) as water technology innovation clusters (or more simply water clusters). This paper explores the phenomenon of the development of water clusters by public-private partnerships and initiatives, nationally and …

Sea-Level Rise, Storm Surges,And Extreme Precipitation Incoastal New Hampshire: Analysis Of Past And Projected Trends, Frederick Chormann, Rob Flynn, Matt Huber, Paul Kirshen, Kevin Knuuti, Steve Miller, Ann Scholz, Mary Stampone, Cameron P. Wake, Thomas Wysmuller, Sherry Godlewski

The Sustainability Institute Publications

No abstract provided.

Prediction And Dissemination Of Bathing Water Quality In England And Wales – A Pilot Study, Juzer F. Dhondia, Deborah Tyrrell, Daniel Twigt, Ian Dunhill

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

Water quality at some bathing waters can be adversely affected by heavy rainfall resulting in water running off the land, picking up faecal contaminants from the catchment and discharging this to bathing waters. The Environment Agency of England and Wales analyzed the relationship between water quality and rainfall at each bathing site. This relationship between rainfall and water quality depends on the intensity and duration of the rainfall and considering each bathing sites individual characteristics such as tidal flows, wind, run-off from surrounding catchment. This paper describes a Pilot study for setting up an operational bathing water quality prediction system …

New England Food Vision: Healthy Food For All, Sustainable Farming And Fishing, Thriving Communities, Molly Anderson, Amanda Beal, Joanne Burke, Brian Donahue, Linda Berlin, Tom Kelly, Mark Lapping, Russell Libby, Hannah Ramer

Population Health & Health Policy

A New England Food Vision proposes changes in food production, distribution, and consumption reaching from the most rural areas to the densest cities—across the entire food system.

The New England Food Vision Writing Team has been working since 2011 to produce a bold vision that calls for our region to build the capacity to produce at least 50% of clean, fair, accessible and just food for New Englanders by 2060. The Vision includes a set of guiding assumptions and calculations that sketch a future in which diverse local and state food systems are supported by and in turn support a …

Delivering And Evaluating Multiple Flood Risk Benefits In Blue-Green Cities, Nigel G. Wright, Colin Thorne

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

In the UK a research consortium has been funded to develop new strategies for managing urban flood risk as part of wider, integrated urban planning intended to achieve environmental enhancement and urban renewal in which multiple benefits of Blue-Green Cities are rigorously evaluated and understood. This approach is very much part of the resilience paradigm and seeks to develop the socio-technical tools required to fully evaluate resilience options as part of a wider system. The Consortium’s objectives are to: Put competent authorities, businesses and communities at the centre of the research by establishing feedback pathways between them and the FRM …

Vulnerability Index For Urban Flooding: Understanding Social Vulnerabilities And Risks, Mae Brigitt Bernadel Loyloy Villordon, Philippe Gourbesville

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

According to the World Risk Report released by the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, the Philippines is ranked third globally in terms of disaster risk. One of those disaster risks is flooding which poses a serious challenge to development and the lives of the people. Public health risks and social vulnerability were usually overlooked, undermined and only very little attention is given. Thus, this study focuses on these aspects. This study was an exploratory step towards assessing vulnerability particularly to fluvial flooding, it was a rapid assessment of the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) of the …

Uni Grad Student News, V11n5, August 2014, University Of Northern Iowa. Graduate College.

UNI Grad Student News

Inside this issue:

-- Message from the Dean
-- Graduate Student Information Meeting
-- Michelle Czarnecki - May 2014 Commencement Speaker
-- Current Student Profile: Evan Schares
-- Graduate Alumni Profile: Jacqui Kalin
-- Graduate Faculty Profile: Dr. Darcie Davis-Gage
-- Spanish Students Present at World Languages Conference
-- Explore the Arts at UNI
-- Graduate College Assistants
-- HPELS Students Attend NASPA Conference
-- Doctoral Students' Presentations Accepted for World Leisure Congress
-- Kong Chen: Summer Update
-- Unique Places to Study on Campus
-- Congratulations on Post-Graduation Plans
-- Resume & CV Appointments
-- Thinking about Graduate School …

News From Hope College, Volume 46.1: August, 2014, Hope College

News from Hope College

No abstract provided.

Community Practice Social Entrepreneurship: An Interdisciplinary Approach To Graduate Education, Monica Nandan, Manuel London, Terry C. Blum

Faculty Articles

The rapidly changing global environment for community practice social workers (CPSWs) has challenged these practitioners to devise innovative intervention strategies. Some practitioners are utilising community organising, community planning, community development and policy practice intervention strategies simultaneously to create sustainable changes and are unwittingly, or purposefully, acting as social entrepreneurs. This article delineates similarities between community practice social work and social entrepreneurship – orientation and behaviours – and introduces the concept of community practice social entrepreneurship (CPSE). The authors propose interdisciplinary venues to teach graduate students in social work and in other disciplines skills for practicing as community practice social entrepreneurs.

Community-Based Experiential Learning, Greg Thompson

BYU Research Development Office Research Networking Conference

Interests: Educational Anthropology, Community-Based Experiential Learning

Smart Growth And New Urbanism: The Implementation Of Development Plans Eight Years After Hurricane Katrina On The Mississippi Gulf Coast, Heather Nicholson

Honors Theses

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Coast, Master Concept Plans (MCPs) that emphasized smart growth and new urbanism were created to reduce sprawl on the coast. This study seeks to find the reality of these plans by examining what has actually been implemented from the MCPs eight years after Hurricane Katrina. This study was conducted in the Mississippi coastal cities of Long Beach and D’Iberville. The MCPs were georeferenced, digitized, and overlaid on top of current land use parcel data using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Parcels were selected and categorized based on each proposed plan and compared to current …

Greening Non-Profit Residential Construction: An Analysis Of Habitat For Humanity In Mississippi, Brett Alexander Doleac

Honors Theses

Poverty affects housing quality which in turn affects occupant health, and Mississippi (MS) has been identified as the state with one of the highest poverty rates. Voluntary support offered by Non-Profit Organization (NPO) serves to aid populations experiencing inadequate housing conditions. Given the need to create adequate housing for low-income families, it can be probable that green building strategies fall low on the list of NPO priorities. Thus, this research aims to identify the trends of a major NPO operating in MS, which also adopts green housing. The researcher also identified the aspects for NPO affiliates that set the adopters …

Analysis Of Social Costs Of Gentrification In Over-The-Rhine : A Qualitative Approach., Shireen Deobhakta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the social costs and benefits of the gentrification process using qualitative methods. The neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine (OTR) in Cincinnati, Ohio, represents certain universalities of gentrification in an older city, and was thus chosen as the site for a case study. OTR’s prime location between the Central Business District and uptown medical and university community has spurred rapid gentrification, particularly since the early 2000s. Using in-depth interviews, participant observation, a focus group, and print media, this dissertation sought to understand the social costs and benefits of gentrification in OTR. Adopting the language of “revitalization” and “renaissance,” the city …

Iowa Waste Reduction Center Newsletter, August 2014, University Of Northern Iowa. Iowa Waste Reduction Center.

Iowa Waste Reduction Center Newsletter

Contents:

--- Registration Open for Construction & Demolition Webinar
--- IWRC Receives Grant for Landfill Composting Project
--- Industry News

An Empirical Analysis Of The Role Of Geography In Sustainability Education, Makayla Jane Bonney

Theses

Many within and outside of the discipline of geography see it as a highly appropriate home for sustainability studies. Despite a history of human-environment education within geography and support from professional research or education organizations, some studies show that geography has not developed a lead role in sustainability education. This study examines the role of geography in offering "Sustainability Focused" courses as reported by AASHE STARS institutions with geography programs. The results show that although geography departments are highly utilized when available at an institution -offering the highest proportion of sustainability courses, averaging 14% of "Sustainability Focused" curriculum- there is …

Tackling The Existing Burden Of Infectious Diseases In The Developing World: Existing Gaps And The Way Forward, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Rehana A. Salam, Jai K. Das, Zohra S. Lassi

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

This series evaluates the effectiveness of community-based interventions (CBIs) to prevent and control infectious diseases of poverty (IDoP). Evidence from our reviews suggests that CBIs and school-based delivery platforms are effective in averting risk behaviors and reducing the disease burden. Co-implementation of interventions through existing community-based programs including immunization campaigns, antenatal care and maternal and child health programs have the potential to scale-up interventions for IDoP. Future research should focus on the process of developing and implementing efficient community-based programs through a comprehensive approach, and to gauge the effectiveness of various existing delivery models in order to improve morbidity and …

Families Continue To Rely On Wives As Breadwinners Post-Recession, Kristin Smith, Andrew P. Schaefer

Carsey Publications

This brief uses data from the 2013 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey to examine how President Obama’s proposed expanded eligibility and higher credit values might affect tax filers in both rural and urban America. Authors Jessica Carson and Marybeth Mattingly report that proposed changes to the earned income tax credit (EITC) will increase the share of workers without a qualifying child eligible for the EITC equally in rural and urban places, although rural residents are more likely to be eligible under both current and proposed policies. The average increase in the credit is $476, more …

Exploring Pedestrian Responsive Traffic Signal Timing Strategies In Urban Areas, Sirisha Murthy Kothuri

Dissertations and Theses

The role of walking in the development of healthy, livable communities is being increasingly recognized. In urban areas, intersections represent locations where different modes converge, and are often viewed as deterrents to walking. This is due to the unwarranted and often unnecessary delays imposed by signal timing policies for pedestrians and increased potential for conflicts. Traditional signal timing design prioritizes vehicles over pedestrians leading to undesirable consequences such as large delays and risky pedestrian behaviors. Pedestrians are accommodated in a manner that is designed to cause least interruption to the flow of motor vehicles. This lack of pedestrian accommodation at …

“What I Care Bout Dogs?” How The Hegemony Of The English Language Colonizes Marginalized Groups, Richard Eric Andrews

Dissertations

Language has always seemed to play a pivotal role in the identity of individuals and groups who are relegated to the status of other by members of the dominant group. The misshapen identities of the others are further exacerbated by systems and structures in place, like education, which ensure the continued hegemonic status of dominant groups. Not being a part of the dominant group, and yet being required to conform to their standards, can be confusing for those on the outside. The character Celie, expressed this confusion, “Whitefolks all over them, talking bout apples and dogs. What I care bout …

Developments In Transnational Research Linkages: Evidence From U.S. Higher-Education Activity, Peter Koehn

Political Science Faculty Publications

In our knowledge-driven era, multiple and mutual benefits accrue from transnational research linkages. The article identifies important directions in transnational research collaborations involving U.S. universities revealed by key dimensions of 369 projects profiled on a U.S. higher-education association’s database. Project initiators, principal research fields, regional and country distributions, and the sources and amounts of funding for different types of transnational research activity are selected for analysis. The balanced total portfolio of reported current research projects by region suggests that U.S. university principal investigators increasingly recognize the value of collaborative knowledge generation in the Global South as well as in other …

Lanthorn, Vol. 49, No. 01, July 7, 2014, Grand Valley State University

Volume 49, July 7, 2014 - June 1, 2015

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Practitioner Inquiry And Community Engaged Research, Elizabeth J. (Ibby) Grace

i.e.: inquiry in education

No abstract provided.

Action Items, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Overview of action items handled by the Graduate Council.

‘No One Should Destroy The Forest': Using Photo-Based Vignette Interviews To Understand Kenyan Teachers' Views Of The Environment, Cassie Quigley, Zachary D. Miller, James Dogbey, S Megan Che, Jeffrey Hallo

Publications

In the midst of the current environmental crisis, scientists, academics, authors, and politicians worldwide are urging citizens to create sustainable communities. However, there is little capability to build a sustainable society without an informed, active, and engaged populous. This requires more than just environmentally knowledgeable citizens. It requires a society that understands the principles of the environment and can also exemplify them in daily life. In order to create a more environmentally literate world, there has been a push for environmental education integrated into schools. This qualitative study sought to examine Kenyan teachers’ perspectives on the human–nature interaction by conducting …

A Study Of Social Capital And Its Relationship With Dwelling Structure And Environment Based On An Empirical Analysis Of Lincoln, Nebraska, Jeehoon Kim

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Social capital is described as the concept of social network or social interaction among residents in a neighborhood. In times past, physical environment factors enhancing the level of social capital were main issues to researchers: land-use type and neighborhood design. However, based on various benefits gained from social capital theory, it is needed to study about the influence of social capital. Thus, the impact of social capital on the physical urban environment is investigated in this dissertation research in order to make more livable, healthier, and more active community. Most researches dealing with social capital and housing condition have not …

The Public Perception Of Green Infrastructure Technologies In Omaha, Nebraska, Matthew Spohr

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This project takes place in two neighborhoods in Omaha, Nebraska: the Saddle Hills neighborhood and the Benson neighborhood. A survey was distributed to neighborhood residents in order to gauge their understanding of stormwater management and green infrastructure technologies. Currently, Omaha uses two types of stormwater/sanitary sewer systems: a combined sewer system (CSS) and a municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4). Approximately half of Omaha operates using the CSS and due to the amount of impermeable surfaces across the city when rainfall events occur the sewer treatment facility discharges untreated excess storm and sewer water into the Missouri River. According to …

On Local Fracking Bans: Policy And Preemption In New Mexico, Alex Ritchie

Natural Resources Journal

In the midst of the hydraulic fracturing revolution, elected officials in Mora County, New Mexico recently banned all oil and gas production within the county. But the officials went even further, stripping corporations of constitutional rights and declaring the constitutions of the United States and the state of New Mexico illegal if interpreted as inconsistent with the ordinance. Why would a small rural county like Mora with no oil and gas operations to speak of adopt such an extreme ordinance? This article applies economics, political choice, and localism theories to argue that Mora County’s decision may be at least partly …

Carnuel & West Tijeras Trail Plan Proposal, James Aranda, Tim Imeokparia, Moises Gonzales

Resource Center for Raza Planning (RCRP)

Bernalillo County Parks and Recreation collaborated with the University of New Mexico, Resource Center for RAZA Planning (RCRP), and the School of Architecture and Planning. The County owns and manages several open space properties in and around Tijeras Canyon. In previous history, the County has acquired land in a reactionary way to protect natural resources or preserve recreational areas. They have also worked with UNM and other entities to purchase properties for co-management, like the UNM golf course. The County is interested in being more proactive and create a true link from the City of Albuquerque to the East Mountains …

Key Findings And Recommendations From The Coös Youth Study: Research From The First Half Of The Study, Michael S. Staunton, Eleanor M. Jaffee

Carsey Publications

In this brief, authors Michael Staunton and Eleanor Jaffee review the key findings and recommendations from research conducted in the first half of the Coös Youth Study, which began in 2008 and is planned to continue through 2018. The study explores young people’s decisions about their educational and job opportunities in rural northern New Hampshire and their plans to stay in their home region or move away. The authors discuss the highlights of these topics: youth aspirations and perceptions of regional opportunities, substance use and mental health, participation in extracurricular and out-of-school activities, youth retention and out-migration, and community attachment …

Organic Is More Of An American Term--We Are Traditional Farmers': Discourses Of Place-Based Organic Farming, Community, Heritage, And Sustainability, Jeffrey Hoffmann

Communication ETDs

The following study looks at how traditional, organic, cooperative farmers who are starting a new farming cooperative in the Albuquerque South Valley in New Mexico communicate about their farming as a set of (sustainable) cultural practices. The study draws on environmental communication theories, the theory of the Coordinated Management of Meaning, and Actor Network Theory to construct a communication-based framework through which to view farmers stories about sustainability and visions for the future of their farming cooperative. This framework is productive, showing how some Nuevo Mexicano farmers (and others) orient toward farming, sustenance, and human-nature relationships through community, family, heritage, …