Digital Commons Network^™

By Your Powers Combined: Heroic Solutions To Climate Catastrophes In The Fifth Season, Avengers: Infinity War, And Horizon: Zero Daw N, Kematat Matthew Medrala

Theses and Dissertations

Popular entertainment has become concerned with addressing issues of climate catastrophe in order to reflect the real concerns of its audience. Because these media narratives are produced by wealthy institutions that reach millions of people, it is vital to understand what these stories say about the causes of existential crises and their presented solutions. This thesis applies an ecocritical approach informed by environmental justice theorists and Marxist theory in order to analyze what a contemporary popular film, videogame, and novel have to say about addressing an oncoming ecological crisis. This analysis reveals that mass death among the disempowered is considered …

Water Contamination And Practical Treatment Methods In Indigenous Ecuadorian Shuar Communities, Zoe Sheppard

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

No abstract provided.

We Are...Marshall, July 8, 2020, Office Of Marshall University Communications

We Are ... Marshall: the Newsletter for Marshall University 1999-2023

No abstract provided.

Wellness Project Implementation Within Houston's Faith And Diabetes Initiative: A Mixed Methods Study, Rebecca Wells, Ellen D Breckenridge, Stephen H Linder

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Faith-based health promotion has shown promise for supporting healthy lifestyles, but has limited evidence of reaching scale or sustainability. In one recent such effort, volunteers from a diverse range of faith organizations were trained as peer educators to implement diabetes self-management education (DSME) classes within their communities. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with provision of these classes within six months of peer-educator training.

METHODS: This study used the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to identify patterns from interviews, observations, attendance records, and organizational background information. Two research team members thematically coded interview transcripts …

Breathing Easier: Indoor Air Quality Education Program., Sarah Kuner

Doctor of Nursing Practice Papers

Background: Exposure to indoor air pollutants increases the risk for poor health outcomes and health disparities among vulnerable groups such as children. The purpose of this evidence-based project was to implement an indoor air quality program that would: 1) improve caregiver awareness of indoor and outdoor environmental health exposures and 2) increase the intention to reduce exposures to indoor household pollutants. The target population included caregivers of preschool children, ages 3 to 5 years, who currently attend the Ohio Valley Education Cooperative. Methods: This project used a pre and post test study design that included two, virtual-learning modules that reviewed …

The Ocean Climate Action Plan, Jason Scorse, David Helvarg

Working Papers

Climate change and ocean health are often thought about as separate silos, when the two are interconnected.

Climate change is warming the oceans and changing their chemistry. Without ocean health, the entire planetary water cycle and oxygen cycle are in danger. The oceans sequester huge amounts of carbon dioxide helping to cool the planet, but that may not continue with “business as usual.” Climate change affects even those far from any coastline. We must solve the ocean climate challenge together, and we have a short window of time to take action.

The Center for the Blue Economy has partnered with …

Justice And Righteousness For Creation, Renita Reed-Thomson

Business as Mission Theses and Dissertations

A hymn entitled “This Is My Father’s World,” written by Maltbie Davenport Babcock around the year 1901, includes the words: “This Is My Father’s World, O let me ne’er forget…” Unfortunately, many Christians seem to have forgotten that this world belongs to their Heavenly Father. Justice for the poor and the environment has been neglected as Christians pursue economic and material gain, as well as the church’s pursuit of converts over disciples. That the Protestant Evangelical Church may have forgotten the creation may be a surprising point for some given that it has a reputation for caring for the poor …

Narratives Of Injustice: An Investigation Of Toxic Dumping Within The Blackfeet Nation, Kimberly L. Paul, Laura B. Caplins

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

For over 50 years, the people of the Amskapi Piikani Nation (Blackfeet) have relayed information of “something bad” being covertly dumped within their remaining homelands. These stories, addressing contaminated waste and the locations of rumored dump sites, have also been linked with perceived cancer clusters among residents who live within the Blackfeet Nation. The concept of environmental justice suggests that often the most vulnerable populations, to include communities of color, experience the negative realities of environmental toxic exposures and it is not uncommon for toxic wastes to be disposed of within Native lands. Given that Blackfeet communities suffer from some …

The Future Of Research Is Indigenous: Culturally Grounding Our Indigenous Scholarship, Jessica Hernandez, Michael S. Spencer

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Indigenous peoples are the original stewards of their Native and Ancestral lands—having maintained the balances of their ecosystems since time immemorial. However, as a result of colonization, imperialism, and the mass genocide against Indigenous peoples, environmental systems have been altered and drastically changed. Since western ideologies such as capitalism and western science were introduced, Indigenous stewardships and their knowledge systems have been invalidated and oftentimes, ignored in the environmental and ecological discourse. Their complex nature-culture nexus has been dismissed and suppressed and European men have been given the credit for their discoveries and nuances in the environmental and ecological discourse …

An Analysis Of Selected Climate Action Plans In California, Christopher R. Dedo

City and Regional Planning

This project involves the research and comparison of seven cities’ climate action plans, each from its own region within California. The areas selected roughly represent major California regions, each with unique characteristics that will impact the characteristics of the climate action plan’s framework and contents. This analysis will identify similarities in framework and content among each plan, highlighting organizational differences, some generalized observations, and the consistency of topics covered and not covered within the plans. This project reviews the California Office of Planning & Research’s General Plan Guidelines Chapter 8, the California Office of Emergency Services’ California Adaptation Planning Guide, …

Traditional Ecological Knowledge Policy Considerations For Abandoned Uranium Mines On Navajo Nation, Tommy Rock, Jani C. Ingram

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Environmental justice is a prominent issue for Native American Nations within the United States. One example is the abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation that were left unremediated since the Cold War. Often, environmental policy is developed for issues facing Native American Nations that do not include input from those Nations. Instead, Native American Nations should have the opportunity to address environmental issues using their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). TEK has ties to natural laws long respected by tribal communities; these laws provide the foundation for addressing the complex relationship between nature and humans. Often, policy development addressing environmental …

Modern Provisions In Investment Treaties, Jesse Coleman

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Governments are pursuing substantive and procedural reform of the international investment regime in recognition that there are fundamental, systemic, and interrelated concerns about current approaches to investment governance, and that current approaches have failed to meet their purported objectives.

A vast majority of the 1,023 publicly-known treaty-based claims have been brought under “old-generation” treaties. In 2018, for example, 60% of such claims were brought under treaties originally concluded in the 1990s or earlier, and all but one was filed under a pre-2011 treaty. These old-generation treaties include vague and far-reaching obligations for states, generally do not include any reference to …

Social Ecology And Lawyering In The Anthropocene, Matthew N. Currie

University of Dayton Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Dietary Egg Intake On Metabolic Health In Food Insecure Households, Sam Walker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food Insecurity (FI) is defined as a condition in which individuals lack access to adequate food due to limited financial resources. FI is estimated to impact 12% of households in United States. Adults and children who experience FI are an increased risk for developing metabolic disease such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. The negative health outcomes associated with FI are multi-factorial, however, many of them may be caused by limited nutritional intake and poor diet quality. Efforts to better understand the obstacles food insecure populations face is critical in order to improve nutrient intake and minimize …

The Green New Deal And Green Transitions, Nicholas Bryner

All Scholarship

In February 2019, Representative Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Markey introduced a "Green New Deal" Resolution in Congress, calling for a tenyear mobilization toward action on climate change, socioeconomic inequality, and other issues. A Green New Deal--evoking the language of FDR-erapolicy--envisions a transition to a green economy that is integrated with concern for the social and economic welfare of those who are most harmed by environmental degradation and those who are most likely to be displaced by the reinvention ofU.S. infrastructure and energy systems. This Article addresses the need for engaging with regulatory transition theory in order to assess the legal, policy …

Assessing The Performance Of Voluntary Environmental Programs, Luis Inaraja Vera

Utah Law Review

In recent years, government agencies have increasingly relied on voluntary programs to achieve a variety of goals, from improving worker safety to creating healthier living conditions in urban areas. This type of government initiative is based on a bargain between the agency and private citizens: the government provides certain incentives—economic or otherwise—and private actors voluntarily adopt behaviors that benefit the public. One example is cleaning up a contaminated site and building an affordable housing project.

While agencies have made substantial progress since the creation of the first voluntary programs, much work remains. To move forward in this area, and especially …

Towards A Safe And Sustainable Industry Of Ship Breaking: International Initiatives And South Asian Response, Ishtiaque Ahmed

Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Course Descriptions, Saint Mary's College Of California

Undergraduate Academic Catalog

No abstract provided.

Core-Designated Courses, Saint Mary's College Of California

Undergraduate Academic Catalog

No abstract provided.

Indigenous Rights And Climate Change: The Influence Of Climate Change On The Quantification Of Reserved Instream Water Rights For American Indian Tribes, Dylan R. Hedden-Nicely, Lucius K. Caldwell

Utah Law Review

The people indigenous to the Western portion of the lands now referred to as North America have relied on aquatic species for physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance for millenia. Such indigenous peoples, referred to in the American legal system as Indian tribes, are entitled to water rights for fish habitat pursuant to the Winters Doctrine, which holds that the federal government impliedly reserved water rights for tribes when reservations were created. Recently, the methodology for quantifying these rights has been the Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM) and/or one of its major components, the Physical Habitat Simulation Model (PHABSIM). These models …

Port Dumping And Participation In England: Developing An Ecosystem Approach Through Local Ecological Knowledge, Jeremy Anbleyth-Evans, Shaw Nozaki Lacy, Carolina Aguirre-Muñoz, John Tredinnick-Rowe

Peninsula Medical School

Globally, disposal from dredging continues to increase in this era of the blue capitalocene; a marine era dominated by capital and humans (Anbleyth-Evans, 2018b). Demand for larger ports and shipping is resulting in persistent changes to ecosystems (de Jonge et al., 2014), altering benthic community structure and reducing species richness and biodiversity (Ware et al., 2010; Bolam et al., 2016). From the expansion of the Panama Canal (Meek, 1923), to the beginning of the Nicaraguan Canal (Goffman, 1968), to the decrease of the seabed of the River Scheldt, and the construction of multiple ports in India, Australia (Goffman, 1968), China, …

International Dispute Resolution And Access To Justice: Comparative Law Perspectives, Jacqueline Nolan-Haley

Journal of Dispute Resolution

No abstract provided.

A Framework For Incorporating Benefits From Urban Forests Into Planning For Livable Cities: A Case Study Of Forest Park, Carole Hardy

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Urban forests provide an escape from the noise and chaos of cities. Other services can be overlooked and under-valued. Urban forests cool and filter the air, sequester carbon, filter water removing toxins and sediments from urban runoff, provide habitat for wildlife and improve human health and well-being. Commonly urban forests in the United States (US) lack funds for restoration and research because there is lack of understanding of the need to actively manage what are perceived as wild lands. Generally urban forests are highly disturbed and novel ecosystems that require ongoing active management to remove invasive species, replant native species …

Water Avengers And Their Endgame, David M. Boje

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Exposing Racism Part I: Environmental Racism, Megan L. Benka-Coker, Office Of Multicultural Engagement

Office of Multicultural Engagement Events

This is the first in a four-part series on Exposing Racism sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Engagement. Health Sciences Prof. Megan Benka-Coker '09 discusses how environmental racism occurs through rules, regulations, and policies that target Black communities.

Free Expression And Judicial Power In Colombia, India, And South Africa, Thomas Keck, Sandra Botero, Rachel Ellet

Political Science - All Scholarship

The growth of judicial power globally has renewed scholarly debates about who benefits from increased judicial authority. Using original data, we examine the full universe of constitutional free expression decisions issued by three apex courts—in Colombia, India, and South Africa— across three categories of disputes that feature a diverse array of rights claimants. By so doing, we shed light on the limits of elite-driven accounts of judicial empowerment. We find that even where constitutional courts are empowered by elites seeking to advance their own interests, activist courts can develop a practice of rights-protection that benefits a diverse range of less- …

White Supremacy Culture And Capitalism As Co-Dependent Systems Of Oppression, Allegra Kistler Ellis

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to discuss questions surrounding the intricacies and intertwining narratives of white supremacy culture and capitalism, and other systems of oppression that they fuel. For my research, I intentionally used anecdotes, essays, poems, books, and social media posts by primarily queer, trans, Black and Indigenous women and femmes. In doing so, I delve into the inherent relationship between whiteness, white exploitative institutions, and power. I discuss the history of the two systems of oppression in the United States through analyzing pillars and characteristics of white supremacy culture and capitalism, western colonized science and research, sexism, white feminism, fatphobia, …

Redwood Roots: Stories Of Community Engagement At Hsu, Hsu Center For Community Based Learning

Redwood Roots Digital Magazine

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Humboldt State University’s Redwood Roots magazine. When we came up with the idea for this magazine, we wanted to highlight the many wonderful ways that students, faculty and community partners are engaging in community-based learning practices in and around Humboldt County. This project was a huge endeavor and we are grateful to our partners, both ongoing, such as the HSU Library Press team and the shorter term partners that donated their time to submit articles, develop the concept and layout for this magazine, and their many other contributions. We began this project in the …

We Are...Marshall, June 17, 2020, Office Of Marshall University Communications

We Are ... Marshall: the Newsletter for Marshall University 1999-2023

No abstract provided.

Community Work, Love And The Indigenous Worldview Of Buen Vivir In Peru, Naomi Joy Godden

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The Latin American indigenous knowledge paradigm of buen vivir (‘living well’) encapsulates an equilibrium of rights of people and nature, with a ‘solidarity economy’ emphasising equities, equality and freedoms, social justice and ecological justice. In participatory research in Peru, community workers developed a love-based framework of practice that reflects features of buen vivir. Participants suggest love is values-based feeling and action aiming for a world of peace, happiness and prosperity by transforming social conditions for a system of equality through participatory and democratic processes. The findings enhance developmental social work and buen vivir literature with a localised, relationship-oriented practice approach.