Digital Commons Network^™

Indirect Pathways Into Practice: Philippine Internationally Educated Nurses And Their Entry Into Ontario’S Nursing Profession, Lualhati Marcelino

International Migration Research Centre

• Social connectedness to social support systems and communities highly affect the transitioning success of Philippine Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs). These networks are especially critical during the first year upon arrival.
• The fragmented, indirect pathways to professional practice, (including barriers to foreign credential recognition, lengthy and costly examination, licensing and retraining result in direct devaluation of IENs and the possibility of permanent (de)skilling.
• Female IENs endured more financial and emotional hardship, compared to their male counterparts, with regard to family obligations and deeper financial burden. While many of the male IENs experienced the same challenges as women, the latter experienced longer …

Noise Reduction In The Manufacturing Environment: A Study On Small Jet Geometry Alterations, Shawn Wesley Skinner

Honors Theses

Noise pollution is an identified issue in manufacturing environments. While machines, motion, production, etc. are a large factor in this noise pollution, other sources exist. Often copper tubing is connected to pressurized containers as a make-shift jet stream for reorienting elements on the assembly line. These makeshift jets when working in conjunction create noise pollution. By manipulating the exit of these small jets, it is hypothesized that the noise level can be decreased. Using the National Center for Physical Acoustics (NCPA) at the University of Mississippi, three geometry alterations—deburring the end, creating a converging-diverging nozzle, and flattening the end—were tested …

An Introductory Examination Of Worldviews And Why They Matter For Environmental And Sustainability Studies, Loren B. Byrne

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

A worldview is a complex cognitive and affective lens through which a person sees and interprets the world, including human-environment relationships. Examining worldviews is relevant to environmental and sustainability studies, in part, because they influence a person’s environmentally related decisions and divergent worldviews create conflict about environmental problems and solutions. Using physical glasses that make an abstract concept more concrete, the activity described in this chapter introduces students to worldviews and their links to environmental and sustainability issues through informal, open-ended, exploratory dialogue, catalyzed by the examination of four individuals’ hypothetical worldviews as playful case studies. The activity’s goal is …

Learner-Centered Teaching Activities For Environmental And Sustainability Studies, Loren B. Byrne

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Learner-centered teaching is a pedagogical approach that emphasizes the roles of students as participants in and drivers of their own learning. Learner-centered teaching activities go beyond traditional lecturing by helping students construct their own understanding of information, develop skills via hands-on engagement, and encourage personal reflection through metacognitive tasks. In addition, learner-centered classroom approaches may challenge students’ preconceived notions and expand their thinking by confronting them with thought-provoking statements, tasks or scenarios that cause them to pay closer attention and cognitively "see" a topic from new perspectives. Many types of pedagogy fall under the umbrella of learner-centered teaching including laboratory …

Preface, Loren B. Byrne

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Learner-Centered Teaching For Environmental And Sustainability Studies, Loren B. Byrne

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

This volume merges two aspects of education that have rapidly changed in recent years: environmental and sustainability education, and knowledge about effective pedagogy. Its central purpose is to disseminate engaging teaching activities that instructors can use to help increase students’ environmental literacy. The included activities are that require minimal instructor preparation, do not require elaborate setups or specialized materials, and can be used in many course contexts but especially in traditional (i.e., non-laboratory, indoor) classroom spaces; most can be completed in one or two class sessions. The target audience is primarily higher-education instructors (including graduate level), but high school teachers …

Environmental Justice In Remediation: Tools For Community Empowerment, Chihiro Tamefusa

Pomona Senior Theses

Exide Technologies finally closed its secondary lead-battery recycling plant on March 12, 2015. The community of primarily Hispanics around the facility had to fight many years to have the polluting facility shut down. Because government agencies, whose job is to protect citizens from polluters, were not regulating the facility properly, residents are not sure if they can trust the agencies to carry out remediation effectively and efficiently either. In this paper I explore the environmental justice issues associated with environmental remediation and what community members can do to make sure that their neighborhood is cleaned up properly. Through interviews with …

Ballot-Box Environmentalism Across The Golden State: How Geography Influences California Voters’ Demand For Environmental Public Goods, William Skyler Lewis

Pomona Senior Theses

In California, voters frequently face ballot propositions dealing directly or indirectly with environmental protection. Records of these votes provide powerful evidence of the character of voters’ demand and willingness-to-pay for environmental public goods (e.g., air quality, watershed ecosystem services, parks and recreation), and have been used in past environmental econometrics research to produce aggregated income and price effect estimates. Using neighborhood-level voting records on seven environmental-related ballot propositions in California between 2002 and 2010, this econometric study investigates the nature of voters’ demand for environmental public goods, focusing on the effect of household income on pro-environment voting. Unlike previous studies, …

E-Waste Recycling: The Dirty Trade Between The United States And China, Laura Edwards

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis explores the environmental and public health damages associated with the informal e-waste recycling industry in China and provides an overview of Chinese policies regulating e-waste. Furthermore, the thesis examines how the United States has contributed to these ecological and human health damages by exporting e-waste to China and failing to regulate the US e-waste recycling industry.

How Can We Have A Better Public Transportation System? –An Exploratory Agent Based Model, Boyu Liu

Pomona Senior Theses

Public transportation plays an integral part in a city's development, but transportation professionals disagree about whether it is feasible to increase the capacity of public transportation systems at a reasonable cost; and if it is, how. This study develops an agent based model that aims to answer this question and provide a framework to compare the effects of improvements in different aspects of the public transportation service. The results of this study show that it is possible to increase ridership enough to compensate for the increased operational cost, but only in certain circumstances. Interesting phenomenon that might have showed up …

Designing Sustainable Urban Futures: Concepts And Practices From Different Countries, Marius Albiez, Gerhard Banse, Kenyon C. Lindeman, Alexandra Quint

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Many 21st century cities have the potential to be sustainable and resource-saving living spaces when multifunctional structures, well-integrated transportation infrastructure, and democratic governance processes are present. Sustainable urban futures require a focus on the needs of humans and environmental best practices, as well as on the creative scope for community-driven sustainability innovations. This book is based on contributions from science and practice to the international symposium on “Sustainable Urban Development at Different Scales” organized by the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany, in May 2014. The symposium used the global urbanization …

Multivariate Analysis And Geographic Modeling Of Archaeological Landscapes, J. Christopher Gillam

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in Geographic Information Science (GISci), archaeological databases and statistics enable the development and refinement of spatial applications of multivariate statistics and other quantitative methods for modeling ancient and historical cultural landscapes. Along the Central Savannah River of South Carolina, this research on prehistoric and historic site distributions, their environmental, temporal and cultural context, and geographic modeling explored methodologies for predicting site locations and modeling cultural landscapes to gain a better understanding of the distant and recent past. Methods for testing extant models, detecting changes in land-use through time, and for developing time-sliced and adaptation-based landscape models were demonstrated using …

2016 Alaska's Construction Spending Forecast, Pamela Cravez, Scott Goldsmith

ISER Reports

No abstract provided.

Weighing The Relative Potential Impacts Of Climate Change And Land-Use Change On An Endangered Bird, Betsy A. Bancroft, Joshua J. Lawler, Nathan H. Schumaker

Biology Faculty Scholarship

Climate change and land-use change are projected to be the two greatest drivers of biodiversity loss over the coming century. Land-use change has resulted in extensive habitat loss for many species. Likewise, climate change has affected many species resulting in range shifts, changes in phenology, and altered interactions. We used a spatially explicit, individual-based model to explore the effects of land-use change and climate change on a population of the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker (RCW; Picoides borealis). We modeled the effects of land-use change using multiple scenarios representing different spatial arrangements of new training areas for troops across Fort Benning. …

Rising Atmospheric Co2 Is Reducing The Protein Concentration Of A Floral Pollen Source Essential For North American Bees, Lewis H. Ziska, Jeffery S. Pettis, Joan Edwards, Jillian E. Hancock, Martha B. Tomecek, Andrew Clark, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Irakli Loladze, H. Wayne Polley

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

At present, there is substantive evidence that the nutritional content of agriculturally important food crops will decrease in response to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, C_a. However, whether C_a-induced declines in nutritional quality are also occurring for pollinator food sources is unknown. Flowering late in the season, goldenrod (Solidago spp.) pollen is a widely available autumnal food source commonly acknowledged by apiarists to be essential to native bee (e.g. Bombus spp.) and honeybee (Apis mellifera) health and winter survival. Using floral collections obtained from the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, we quantified C_{a …}

Analyses, Calibration And Validation Of Evapotranspirationmodels To Predict Grass-Reference Evapotranspiration In Thesenegal River Delta, Koffi Djaman, Hossein Tabari, Alpha B. Balde, Lamine Diop, Koichi Futakuchi, Suat Irmak

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Study region: Grass-reference evapotranspiration estimation by the Penman-Monteithmethod (PM-ETo) requires a number of climate variables which are not always availableat all weather stations. Different alternative ETo equations have been developed and theirutilization for various local climate conditions requires analyses of their accuracy as com-pared to the standardized Penman-Monteith method. There is a significant lack of data andinformation on this topic in the Senegal River Delta (SRD). Study focus: The objective of this study was to evaluate, calibrate and validate six EToequations ((Trabert, Mahringer, Penman1948, Albrecht, Valiantzas1 and Valiantzas2) forthe SRD. Although all six equations showed good agreement with the PM-ETo …

Land Use Variation On Mid-Columbia Plateau Upland And Lowland Archaeology Sites, Cathy J. Anderson

All Master's Theses

Investigators of the Mid-Plateau archaeological record have interpreted artifact deposits in their environmental settings as evidence of human land use labeled as site types. Land use models consisting of cultural and environmental variables were developed from those studies. Those variables were compared to a sample of archaeological records located in the upland eastSaddleMountainsand lowland Wenas Creek-Yakima River confluence. While much of the archaeological record fits expectations derived from cultural-environmental models of human land use developed during this research thesis, significant variation in the archaeological record remains unexplained.

Hiker Trash And Trail Dogs: An Ethnographic Inquiry Into Human Nature In The Trail Space, Jody A. Chinchen

All Master's Theses

In the face of declining trail maintenance budgets and increasing recreational use, we must develop a critical understanding of trail culture, including the motivations, perspectives, and experiences of various users and how they intersect with one another. Trail use on National Scenic Trails (NSTs) may represent a deeper symbolic yearning to seek out meaningful connections with nature, self, and community. This study seeks to understand: (1) How trails are built and paved with meaning, (2) how trails foster and sustain social, symbolic, and material landscapes, through performance of work and leisure; and (3) the relationship between the National Wilderness Preservation …

A Comprehensive Internationalization Analysis Of Marlboro College, Margaret Strassman

Capstone Collection

For institutions of higher education, addressing and assessing global competence has become a priority in recent years. Colleges and universities across the United States and around the world are increasingly preparing students to be responsible and effective global citizens by creating and implementing comprehensive internationalization plans. One popular framework has been created by the American Council on Education, whose target areas include articulated institutional commitment; administrative leadership, structure, and staffing; curriculum, co­ curriculum, and learning outcomes; faculty policies and practices; student mobility; and collaboration and partnerships (American Council on Education, 2012). Universities have used this framework to assess their campuses’ …

Geo 3200 : Human Impacts On The Environment, Geology/Geography

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Disability Disclosure In The Digital Age: Why The Human Rights Tribunal Of Ontario Should Reform Its Approach To Anonymized Decisions, Natalie A. Macdonnell

Journal of Law and Social Policy

This paper provides a critique of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s (HRTO) approach to the anonymization of applications brought on the ground of disability. First, I examine the test for obtaining an order for anonymity and the application of this test by the HRTO. The HRTO has consistently held that the importance of open justice outweighs an individual’s privacy concerns about disclosure of disability in a public decision unless there are "unique" or "exceptional" circumstances. I discuss social science evidence related to disclosure of disability and the potential deterring impact of the HRTO’s current approach to anonymization on applicants …

Environmental Law: Time To Reboot, James Gustave Speth

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Presentation given by James Gustave Speth at the 2016 David Sive Memorial Lecture.

Gvsu Undergraduate And Graduate Catalog, 2016-2017, Grand Valley State University

Course Catalogs, 1963-

Grand Valley State University 2016-2017 undergraduate and/or graduate course catalog published annually to provide students with information and guidance for enrollment.

Composting At Parkland College, Della Jacobs

A with Honors Projects

This essay summarizes the student's efforts to establish a composting program at Parkland College. The student had previously worked to establish a garden plot to supplement the offerings at the College's food pantry and subsequently worked with the cafeteria to collect composting materials for the garden plot.

What Predicts Law Student Success? A Longitudinal Study Correlating Law Student Applicant Data And Law School Outcomes, Alexia Brunet Marks, Scott A. Moss

Publications

Despite the rise of “big data” empiricism, law school admission remains heavily impressionistic; admission decisions rely on anecdotes about recent students, idiosyncratic preferences for certain majors or jobs, or mainly the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). Yet no predictors are well-validated and studies of the LSAT or other factors fail to control for other factors. The lack of evidence for what actually predicts law school success is especially surprising since, after the 2010s downturn, law schools now compete for fewer applicants. We fill this gap with a two-school, 1,400-student, 2005--2011 longitudinal study. We coded nondigitized applicant data and used multivariate …

Assessing Urban Greenhouse Gas Emissions In European Medium And Large Cities: Methodological Considerations, Peter Marcotullio, Andrea Sarzynski, Jochen Albrecht, Niels Schulz, Jake Garcia

Publications and Research

Policymakers need clear, consistent, and reliable information about the location of greenhouse gases and drivers of emitting activity in order to design appropriate mitigating strategies. At the urban scale, there have been challenges in developing consistent and reliable emissions inventories. This chapter examines selected methods to determine greenhouse gas emissions at the urban scale. We describe the various criteria considered when constructing an urban greenhouse gas protocol including the definition of urban, the gasses that are measured, the source they come from, the scope of analysis and how the measurements are undertaken. We then present results for European medium and …

Property, Sovereignty, And Governable Spaces, Jacquelyn Amour Jampolsky

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

No abstract provided.

Development And Application Of Quantitative Gene Expression Assays In Wild-Caught, Non-Model Fish Species, Cassidy Megan Hahn

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Great Lakes Basin is the most significant freshwater resource in North America. It is a central location for diverse anthropogenic enterprises and consequently has been heavily impacted by the release of toxic substances. Environmental studies increasingly identify the presence of both contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and legacy contaminants in aquatic environments; however, the biological effects of these compounds on resident fishes remain largely unknown. To address this issue, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Environmental Contaminants Programs initiated a multiagency, collaborative study which included chemical analysis of water and benthic sediment, assessment of caged fathead minnows and assessment …

Immersive Geodesign: Exploring The Built Environment Through The Coupling Of Geodesign, 3d Modeling, And Immersive Geography, Marvin Davis

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

GeoDesign is a relatively new field that serves as a repurposing of many different disciplines concerned with design decisions about the built environment. More specifically, GeoDesign represents a coupling of urban planning concepts with the analytical capabilities of GIS. While GIS has been used in planning mostly in the two-dimensional realm, the built environment is three-dimensional and challenges GIS in the handling of the vertical dimension, notably in floor-by-floor uses in mixed-use developments, basement-level parking, light capture, and intervisibility between structures. This research advances GeoDesign by addressing these three-dimensional issues through the utilization of highly-detailed 3D models using Trimble SketchUp, …

Influence Of Historic Landscapes And Contemporary Species Management On Chesapeake Bay Bald Eagles And Osprey, Catherine B. Viverette

Theses and Dissertations

Influence of historic landscapes and contemporary species management on Chesapeake Bay Bald Eagles and Osprey

Catherine B. Viverette

Co-distributed species with well documented demographic histories can provide good models for testing alternative hypotheses about the impact of evolutionary history, contemporary landscapes, and species management on current distribution and population structure. The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) and Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) have been extensively studied, managed and monitored across their North American breeding range, particularly in the Chesapeake Bay. We used a combination of ecological niche modelling, diet reconstruction, and population genetic modeling to understand the role of …