Digital Commons Network^™

Why Should Different City Characteristics Customize The Rate Of Pollution Charge? Evidence Of Factors Affecting Willingness-To-Pay For Wastewater Management In Thailand, Kwanmanas Meethavorn, Chanathip Pharino

Applied Environmental Research

A challenge for wastewater management is enhancing the efficiency of resource allocation. Polluter Pays Principle is a wastewater charge collection approach that could help support the financial burden faced by many countries. Tailor-made policy implementation based on city characteristics is critical to the success of implementing a national policy to fit well in different local contexts. This study examined gaps for improving municipal wastewater management systems in Thailand through in-depth interviews and a questionnaire survey to identify the factors influencing households’ perception and willingness to pay in three different cities. A contingent variation method technique was used to evaluate the …

Fire Drivers Affecting Forest Fire Occurrences In The Tropical Mixed Broad-Leaved Forests Of Nepal, Krishna Bahadur Bhujel, Rejina Maskey Byanju, Ambika P. Gautam, Ramesh Prasad Sapkota, Udhab Raj Khadka

Applied Environmental Research

Forest fires triggered by various natural and anthropogenic drivers are increasing and threatening forest ecosystems across the globe. In Nepal, the high value Tropical Mixed Broad-leaved Forests are prone to fire caused by both natural and anthropogenic drivers. Thus, understanding fire drivers and their effect is important for the sustainable forest fire management. However, the preceding studies on forest specific fire drivers and their effect are limited. This research has identified the fire drivers and assessed their effect to fire occurrences in the Tropical Mixed Broad-leaved Forests of Nawalparasi District, Nepal. Fire drivers were identified and prioritized by participatory approaches. …

Life Cycle Assessment Of Ethiopian Cement Manufacturing: A Potential Improvement On The Use Of Fossil Fuel In Mugher Cement Factory, Lemma Beressa, Battula Vijaya Saradhi

Applied Environmental Research

The use of imported fuel in the Ethiopian cement industry increased the cost of production and the environmental burden, necessitating intervention. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, energy usage intensity, and resource exploitation of Ethiopian cement production were evaluated using the life cycle impact assessment (LCA) tool, aiming to recommend improvements. The LCA study used cumulative energy demand (CED) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods. For the case study of Mugher cement factory (MCF), the results on energy use intensities showed 3.74, 3.67, and 2.64 GJ/ton of clinker, Ordinary Portland cement (OPC), Pozzolana …

The Evolutionary Consequences Of Human–Wildlife Conflict In Cities, Christopher J. Schell, Lauren Stanton, Julie K. Young, Lisa Angeloni, Joanna E. Lambert, Stewart W. Breck, Maureen H. Murray

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Human–wildlife interactions, including human–wildlife conflict, are increasingly common as expanding urbanization worldwide creates more opportunities for people to encounter wildlife. Wildlife–vehicle collisions, zoonotic disease transmission, property damage, and physical attacks to people or their pets have negative consequences for both people and wildlife, underscoring the need for comprehensive strategies that mitigate and prevent conflict altogether. Management techniques often aim to deter, relocate, or remove individual organisms, all of which may present a significant selective force in both urban and nonurban systems. Managementinduced selection may significantly affect the adaptive or nonadaptive evolutionary processes of urban populations, yet few studies explicate the …

Welfare Performance Of Three Foothold Traps For Capturing North American River Otters Lontra Canadensis, Matthew J. Lovallo, H. B. White, J. D. Erb, M. S. Peek, Thomas J. Deliberto

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Foothold traps are effective tools for the live capture and restraint of wildlife for management and research. Successful river otter Lontra canadensis restoration programs throughout North America used them extensively. Restoration programs used a variety of methods and models of foothold traps, but comprehensive efforts to describe and quantify injuries associated with river otter captures have been limited. We evaluated injuries of river otters caught in three commercially available models of foothold traps including the number 11 double long-spring with standard jaws, the number 11 double long-spring with double jaws, and the number 2 coil-spring trap. Based on examinations of …

Strategies For Reducing Greenhouse Gases From Liquid Dairy Manure, Vera Sokolov

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Livestock production, including the storage, handling, and spreading of manure, are among the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector. Liquid dairy manure storages are hot spots of methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O) and ammonia (NH₃). Both CH₄ and N₂O are greenhouse gases (GHG) which contribute to global warming, while NH₃ is an indirect source of N₂O and a risk to human health. Reducing emissions from manure storages is important not only for protection of environment and humans, but also for conserving the nutrients in …

Enhancing Harvester Safety And Traditional Food Access Through Participatory Mapping With The Ka’A’Gee Tu First Nation Of Kakisa, Northwest Territories, Neomi Jayaratne

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Northern Canada has struggled with various systemic challenges based on Eurocentric ideologies, policies, and practices. A major challenge Indigenous communities face North of the 60^th parallel is their food security and sovereignty. Inuit, First Nation and Métis populations across the North experience 5 to 6 times higher levels of food insecurity compared to the National average (Food Secure Canada, 2020). These communities face concentrated levels of food system issues, which connect to other factors, such as, health and wellness, the supply chain of market foods, governance, a shift away from traditional foods, and the impacts of climate change. Climate …

Park Agency Social Media Communication During The Covid-19 Crisis, Raluca Oprean

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all industries and organizations, including park agencies. There is a lack of research on how park agencies utilize Twitter during times of crisis, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. How park agencies communicate with the public and how they use their social media has not been extensively studied. In addition, the coronavirus pandemic is a novel management issue for these agencies, and there has been no empirical analysis in the ways in which information is being communicated to the public or how that information is being perceived.

This study aims to better understand park agency response …

Developing Population Control Strategies For Wild Boar Management In Canada, Amanda Wong

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

DEVELOPING POPULATION CONTROL STRATEGIES FOR WILD BOAR MANAGEMENT IN CANADA

Amanda Wong Advisor: Scott Slocombe

Wilfrid Laurier University 2020

Canada’s landscape faces major threats from the growing wild boar (Sus scrofa) population, whose current presence predominantly threatens the Prairie provinces. Globally it has become apparent that wild boars are robust animals with high reproductive rates and destructive behaviours in both their native and non-native ranges. This paper analyzes wild boar management strategies that have been conducted around the world to identify the most effective tools, and those that were unsuccessful. The wild boars in Canada are hybridized …

A Spatial Perspective On Decarbonization Efforts: A Comparative Analysis Of Japan And Singapore’S Decarbonization Strategies, Michelle Rio Yoshida

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Exploring how spatiality influences public policies and local behaviors towards achieving the goal of a low carbon society could demonstrate the significance of regional knowledge. This research used Tobler’s first law of geography as the conceptual framework to analyze and find similarities in Japan and Singapore’s historical emissions and geographic limitations to achieve their carbon reduction goals. The study collected and compared Japan and Singapore’s historical emissions data, energy consumption trends, and emission trajectory by sector. The research used a mixed-methods approach to identify common practices, relevant public policy frameworks, large-scale emissions reduction projects, and environmental and socioeconomic ground realities …

Characterization Of Micronutrient Dependent Growth By Several Temperate Freshwater Phytoplankton, Purnank Shah

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a growing problem in many freshwater waterbodies in Canada and around the world. HABs have wide-ranging impacts to ecosystems and economies. Since the 1970s, the primary focus of policies with respect to curbing HABs has been to lowering the inputs of P into waters. However, reports of HABs continue to increase even with all these P-removing policies in place. Some jurisdictions have chosen to focus on N-removal instead or in conjunction with P-removal to help with HABs. However, because some cyanobacteria have the ability to fix atmospheric N₂,N-removal might only lead to the …

Characterizing Boreal Shield Lakes And Catchments To Predict Dissolved Organic Carbon Concentration And Composition In Relation To Safe Drinking Water Sources With Minimal Disinfection By-Products, Jordyn Atkins

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Many Canadians rely on surface water sources for drinking water, most of which is disinfected with chlorine. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) can react with chlorine to form potentially carcinogenic disinfection by-products (DBPs). The concentration and composition of DOC influences the type and amount of DBP formed.

Lake water varies widely in DOC concentration and composition as a result of the surrounding landscape that influences the terrestrial load of DOC to lakes and the extent of in-lake processing of DOC. Twenty-seven lakes of similar lake size but with varying catchment sizes over several orders of magnitude created a unique opportunity to …

Change Detection And Landscape Similarity Comparison Using Computer Vision Methods, Karim Malik Wilfrid Laurier University

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Human-induced disturbances of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems continue at alarming rates. With the advent of both raw sensor and analysis-ready datasets, the need to monitor ecosystem disturbances is now more imperative than ever; yet the task is becoming increasingly complex with increasing sources and varieties of earth observation data. In this research, computer vision methods and tools are interrogated to understand their capability for comparing spatial patterns. A critical survey of literature provides evidence that computer vision methods are relatively robust to scale and highlights issues involved in parameterization of computer vision models for characterizing significant pattern information in a …

Evaluating Employees’ Experiences In Implementing Covid-19 Safety Protocols In Ontario Parks, Jessica Kaatz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a wide range of public health challenges for park management and staff in Ontario. Green spaces have become a source of resilience during the spread of the virus, partly due to their proven positive impacts on social, mental and physical well-being. With the introduction of social distancing protocols, utilization of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and standardizing constant sanitation efforts, park employees are more responsible than ever for the daily implementation of rules governing park safety and security. At the same time, increased visitor numbers and continually changing government protocols that varied between regional jurisdictions have …

Drivers And Consequences Of Alnus Alnobetula (Green Alder) Distribution At The Taiga-Tundra Ecotone Of The Northwest Territories, Cory Wallace

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Climate warming in the Arctic is occurring considerably faster than the global average. One of the most widespread biological responses to this warming in terrestrial systems has been a marked increase in the productivity of shrubby vegetation. Increased shrub growth and reproduction has the potential to alter both local and global aspects of ecosystem function, making understanding its drivers and environmental impact an important research priority. In this context, considerable research has focused on characterizing relationships between shrub cover, abiotic conditions, and understory communities. However, fewer studies have co-located measurements of these components simultaneously in undisturbed tundra shrub patches to …

The Politics Of The Visible/Invisible Border: Canada's Responses And (In)Actions Towards Refugee Claimants' Protection, Monica Romero

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis explores Canadian responses towards unexpected arrivals of asylum seekers at their borders. Grounded in critical and feminist geopolitics, it aims to unveil hidden and concealed policies that are implemented behind a narrative of humanitarianism. In particular, it takes the land border crossings from the US to Canada that occurred after the implementation of restrictive asylum policies in the US in 2017 and following years. Although migratory movements can be attributed to several factors, this displacement was triggered by Trump’s anti-immigrant narratives and policies aimed to decrease refugee and immigrant arrivals to their territory.

The dissertation’s central argument is …

Collaboration, Knowledge-Sharing And Natural Hazard Risk Management In The Greater Pinery Provincial Park Region, Madeline Mcfadden

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In Canada, parks and other forms of protected areas are visited by tens of millions of people annually. By their very nature, parks and protected areas present various risks that must be mitigated. Risk management is an area of research that is receiving increased attention because in recent years, natural hazards (e.g. effects the environment) and disasters (e.g. effects the environment and humans) have exacted significant economic, social, health, cultural, and environmental impacts on persons and communities across Canada. Natural hazards, which pose significant risks to the natural environment and those individuals who inhabit or visit them, are expected to …

Containment & Covid-19 In The Settler State: Indigenous Incarceration And Immigration Detention In Canada And Australia, Kate Motluk

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Canada and Australia each have long histories of containing Indigenous peoples and migrants. The overincarceration of Indigenous peoples continues to worsen in both countries, despite targeted reforms. Migrant detention is on the rise worldwide, with Canada and Australia’s systems understood as among the harshest. This thesis explores why Canada and Australia contain these populations by examining these practices through the lens of contemporary settler colonialism. Like most everything, containment by states has undergone rapid changes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to understand how COVID-19 impacted those within carceral institutions, and contextualize that treatment within the …

Table Of Contents (Vol. 92, Issue 1)

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Investigating Vertebrate Relationships Of The South Florida Gopher Tortoise: A Study Of Vertebrate Species Within Scrub, Pine Rockland, Coastal Hammock And Grassland Habitats, Lauren Melanson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

The gopher tortoise is a keystone species that creates networks of underground burrows that are home to an additional 350 species, where 60 are vertebrates. Vertebrates have been shown to differ between habitat types and seasonally, but limited information is known about vertebrate associates in our region. This study was one of the first to investigate this in our region of south Florida. This study was designed to investigate factors that may affect the presence of vertebrates at gopher tortoise burrows. Camera data was collected to determine vertebrate presence and if specific vertebrate groups elicit a territorial response from the …

Three Essays In Applied Econometrics: Agricultural And Energy Economics, Kuan-Ming Huang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines three empirical issues in energy and agricultural economics using econometrics models whose titles are: 1) Do Natural Hazards in the Gulf Coast Still Matter for State-Level Natural Gas Prices in the US? Evidence After the Shale Gas Boom; 2) Do Exploitations of Marcellus and Utica Shale Formations Improve Regional Economy in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia? A Synthetic Control Analysis; and 3) How Did Covid-19 Impact US Household Food Spending? An Analysis Six Months In.

The first essay assesses the impact of natural hazards on state-level natural gas prices and evaluates the effects of the shale gas …

Soil Response Of Helicopter Liming In The Monongahela National Forest, Jarrett Douglas Fowler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Soils in the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) are acidic due to sandstone parent material, acid deposition, uptake of base cations by vegetation, and release of organic acids by organic matter (OM) decomposition. Increases in soil acidity have caused declines in forest health and changed species composition and nutrient status. Liming can neutralize soil acidity, but no large-scale liming projects have been done on acid forest soils in the USA. In anticipation of acquiring funding for a proposed liming project in the MNF, in 2007 and 2009 10 sites were selected to sample and analyze soils before lime was applied. In …

Three Essays In Regional Economics, Zachary Keeler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation consists of three essays that use applied econometric analysis and other analytical methods from various economic fields, including regional and urban economics, natural resource economics, housing economics, and sports economics. In all three essays, I use housing data to value various amenities and disamenities. Using several variations on the hedonic method, I am able to uncover the values based on the capitalization effect. I consider the effect of natural resource development by examining shale gas development, as well as the effect of urban development projects, including public transportation and sports facilities.

In the first essay of my dissertation, …

Centennial High: A School For Hope And Growth, Augustina Teuber

Architecture Theses

In this paper, high school design is evaluated in order to better support the mental health of its occupants. The alarming rise in anxiety, depression, and violence among youth over the past few decades demonstrates the importance of changing society’s current trajectory. Thus this paper aims to clarify the extent design impacts users and how educational buildings can benefit adolescent mental health. Literature analysis from a diverse range of fields guides these conclusions. Additionally, case study analysis and logical argumentation are employed to identify practical solutions. Ultimately, an example design for a mental health conscious public school is purposed.

Effects Of States’ Laws On Youth Physical Activity Participation And Obesity Prevalence, Chae Young Chang

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

The alarming prevalence of obesity and lack of physical activity among adolescents led to immediate policy action to address these concerns. Accordingly, many states introduced and enacted their own legislation to encourage physical activity in schools. Few studies have explored the effectiveness of the new legislation, however, especially at the state level. To answer the fundamental question of whether policy is effective and to describe the varying effects of state obesity policies, this study analyzed the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System from 2007 to 2017. Using the difference-in-differences method, this study found that legislative efforts to encourage physical activity had …

Profitable Retail Customer Identification Based On A Combined Prediction Strategy Of Customer Lifetime Value, Yinglu Sun, Dong Cheng, Subir Bandyopadhyay, Wei Xue

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

As a fundamental concept of customer relationship management, customer lifetime value (CLV) serves as a crucial metric to identify profitable retail customers. Various methods are available to predict CLV in different contexts. With the development of consumer big data, modern statistics and machine learning algorithms have been gradually adopted in CLV modeling. We introduce two machine learning algorithms—the gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) and the random forest (RF)—in retail customer CLV modeling and compare their predictive performance with two classical models—the Pareto/NBD (HB) and the Pareto/GGG. To ensure CLV prediction and customer identification robustness, we combined the predictions of the …

Racial And Social Justice At San José State University: Students Respond With Social Action, Scott Myers-Lipton, William Armaline

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

A Conceptual Framework For Social, Behavioral, And Environmental Change Through Stakeholder Engagement In Water Resource Management, Weston M. Eaton, Kathryn J. Brasier, Mark E. Burbach, Walt Whitmer, Elyzabeth W. Engle, Morey Burnham, Barbara Quimby, Anil Kumar Chaudhary, Hannah Whitley, Jodi Delozier, Lara B. Fowler, Amber Wutich, Julia C. Bausch, Melissa Beresford, C. Clare Hinrichs, Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel, Heather E. Preisendanz, Clinton Williams, Jack Watson, Jason Weigle

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Incorporating stakeholder engagement into environmental management may help in the pursuit of novel approaches for addressing complex water resource problems. However, evidence about how and under what circumstances stakeholder engagement enables desirable changes remains elusive. In this paper, we develop a conceptual framework for studying social and environmental changes possible through stakeholder engagement in water resource management, from inception to outcomes. We synthesize concepts from multiple literatures to provide a framework for tracing linkages from contextual conditions, through engagement process design features, to social learning, community capacity building, and behavioral change at individual, group, and group network levels, and ultimately …

Analyzing And Measuring Petrophysical Properties Of Marcellus Shale, Yahia Mustafa Yassin Mustafa

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Unconventional oil and natural gas play a key role in our nation's future. The U.S. has vast reserves of such resources that are commercially viable as a result of advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology. These technologies enable greater access to oil and natural gas in shale formations. Responsible development of America's shale gas resources offers important economic, energy security, and environmental benefits. Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling apply the latest technologies and make it commercially viable to recover shale gas and oil.

In order to estimate the original gas-in-place, predict the production rates, and optimize the hydraulic …

The Role Of The Physical And Social Environment In Observed And Self-Reported Park Use In Low-Income Neighborhoods In New York City, Javier E. Otero Peña, Hanish Kodali, Emily Ferris, Katarzyna Wyka, Setha Low, Kelly R. Evenson, Joan M. Dorn, Lorna E. Thorpe, Terry T. K. Huang

Publications and Research

Physical and social environments of parks and neighborhoods influence park use, but the extent of their relative influence remains unclear. This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between the physical and social environment of parks and both observed and self-reported park use in low-income neighborhoods in New York City. We conducted community- (n = 54 parks) and individual-level (n = 904 residents) analyses. At the community level, observed park use was measured using a validated park audit tool and regressed on the number of facilities and programmed activities in parks, violent crime, stop-and-frisk incidents, and traffic accidents. At the …