Digital Commons Network^™

Smoke, Air, Fire, Energy (Safe) In Rural California: Critical Reflections On An Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration, Deepti Chatti, Carisse Geronimo, Cassidy Barrientos, Jana Ganion, Malcolm Moncheur, Peter Alstone Phd, Shawn Bourque, Tanya Garcia, Tesfayohanes Yacob

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

This article provides a synthesis of the interconnected problems of tenuous energy access, wildfires, and exposures to high air pollution in Indigenous communities in rural California through the lens of ongoing collaborative research being carried out by researchers at Cal Poly Humboldt, Schatz Energy Research Center, Karuk Department of Natural Resources, and the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe. The collaboration is funded by the Strategic Growth Council of the state of California, and we hope is the beginning of a longer term relationship between all partners. We are an interdisciplinary team of researchers drawing on energy engineering, air pollution science, and …

Race, Space, And Place: Interrogating Whiteness Through A Critical Approach To Place, Keith H. Hirokawa

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Drawing from George Lipsitz’s notion that whiteness is “not so much a color as a condition,” this Article embarks on the project of framing the manner and methods through which whiteness continues to dominate space and place. Wherever whiteness dominates space, space carries rules and expectations about the identity and characteristics of people who are present—visitors and jaunters, owners and occupiers—and the types of activities and cultural practices that might occur there. Occasionally, spaces are racialized because of intentional practices of discrimination and segregation. In others, less intentional methods produce racialized space. In both, American spaces tell their own histories …

Enduring The Elements: Civil War Soldiers’ Struggles Against The Weather, Cameron Boutin

Theses and Dissertations--History

This dissertation is an environmental history that studies the variety of ways that soldiers in the American Civil War experienced the pressures of weather over the course of their military service. For the troops of the U.S. and Confederacy, the weather was more than simply a passive backdrop to their time in the military, but a central preoccupation. This dissertation analyzes how weather intersected with some of the most central experiences of soldiering – tent camping and winter quarters, marching, bivouacking, manning sentry posts and field fortifications, and fighting in battles. Life in Civil War armies consisted of all of …

From Displaced To Displacers: Scottish Crofters, First Nation Peoples And Commons Enclosure From The 1700s To The 1800s, Anna Herrington

Theses and Dissertations--History

In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, the enclosure of common systems shaped the displacement of people on a global scale whilst bringing the people---Scottish Highland crofters and Mi’kmaq First Nation Canadians from the margins where they have dwelled for centuries in historical scholarship to of the centre of not just their history, but our collective history. Both populations experienced attacks on their ties to their lands, resources, and culture through enclosure. The enclosure process lasted over two centuries and was interspersed with violent protest, proactive resistance, interspersed with periods of acceptance and determination against their forced removals. Investigating …

Improving Indoor Arenas For The Equine Industry, Staci Mcgill

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Equine indoor arenas are a unique infrastructure investment found at equine farms and facilities. They are semi-indoor structures for exercising horses, exhibiting skills during competitive events, and other equine related activities. These spaces do not always include mechanical ventilation or stirring fans and occupancy by horses and humans can be sporadic and inconsistent, which creates a challenging space for understanding and predicting airflow. Typically, indoor arenas have a sand-based footing over which the horse travels. The impact of the hooves can cause dust to become a concern within the facilities. Environmental concerns within these facilities (temperature, respirable dust, moisture, and …

Unmanned Aircraft Systems For Precision Meteorology: An Analysis Of Gnss Position Measurement Error And Embedded Sensor Development, Karla S. Ladino

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

The overarching objective of this research was to enhance our comprehension of the three-dimensional precision of meteorological measurements obtained using small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Two complimentary experiments were conducted to achieve this objective.

The first experiment entailed the development and implementation of a system to determine the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) position accuracy on a UAS platform. This system was utilized to assess the static and dynamic accuracy of L1 and L1/L2 GNSS receivers in real-time kinematic (RTK) and non-RTK fix modes. Adjusted two-sample t-tests revealed significant differences in horizontal and vertical error between RTK and non-RTK receivers …

Iere Annual Report 2023, Erin Largo-Wight, James Taylor, Kelly Rhoden, Ruby Cox, Nicole Lowe

Annual Reports

2023 Annual Report of the Institute for Environmental Research and Education

Optimum Design, Socioenvironmental Impact, And Exergy Analysis Of A Solar And Rice Husk-Based Off-Grid Hybrid Renewable Energy System, Barun K. Das, Rakibul Hassan, Polamarasetty P. Kumar, Ismail Hoque, Ramakrishna S.S. Nuvvula, Anas M. Maruf, Arnob Das, Paul C. Okonkwo, Baseem Khan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study examines the optimal sizing of an off-grid hybrid system comprising solar photovoltaic (PV), rice husk-based biomass, and lead-acid battery for meeting the electric demand of a rural community. Considering a selected remote village in Bangladesh as a case study, the proposed optimized system is primarily compared with the diesel generator and the micro gas turbine (MGT)-based options in techno-economic and environmental terms. The potential social benefits, such as the employment creation and the improvement in the human development index in the locality, have been investigated in this study. Moreover, the impacts of operational greenhouse gas emissions on the …

Mapping For Accountability: Decolonizing Land Acknowledgment Initiatives, Salma Monani, Sarah E. Gilsoul

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

What does it mean to map Indigenous presence onto lands that have been appropriated by settler colonial nation states? This chapter examines the challenges and potentials of re-inscribing Indigenous land relations through a digital mapping project, Indigenous Pennsylvania: Past, Present and Future. Situating itself within the growing scholarship of Indigenous cartographies, the chapter presents Indigenous Pennsylvania as an example of d-ecomedia, a shorthand we offer for ecomedia projects that foreground decolonial methodologies. Such methodologies prompt us to attend to a storied sense of Indigenous place-based relations through attention to Indigenous spatial and temporal modes of mediation.

Incorporation Of Community Resources In Teaching Social Studies In Junior High Schools: A Case In The Adentan District Of The Greater Accra Region Of Ghana, Ronald Osei Mensah, Enock Swanzy-Impraim, Da-Costa Marfo, Pearl Adiza Babah

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Social studies education constitutes a diverse aspect of the human ecosystem that needs external resources to enable effective tuition and learning in the classroom. Using external resources has been a significant challenge for Ghana’s junior high school teachers. Given this, the study explored the integration of community resources in teaching social studies in a selected junior high school in the Adentan District in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It investigated the factors that militate against using community resources and assessed how these problems could be resolved. The study made use of the random sampling technique, with a sample size …

In The Search For Greener Buildings: The Role Of Green Human Resource Management, Subhadarsini Parida, Christopher Chan, Subramaniam Ananthram, Kerry Brown

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The environmental performance of green buildings is receiving attention from built environment stakeholders. We introduce the concept of green human resource management (GHRM) to analyze how the performance gap in green buildings can be minimized using a human-focused design perspective. We utilize signaling theory and abilities–motivation–opportunity (AMO) theory to explain the interactions between environmental proactivity, GHRM, pro-environmental behaviors, job performance, and environmental performance. Survey data were collected from 460 employees working in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified green buildings in India and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings highlight that GHRM is likely to motivate employees to …

Distilling Best Practice Principles For Public Participation In Impact Assessment Follow-Up, Angus Morrison-Saunders, Jos Arts, Jenny Pope, Alan Bond, Francois Retief

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Building upon principles for public engagement and for impact assessment (IA) follow-up, this paper distils best practice principles specific to public participation in IA follow-up. Literature review, followed by a simple survey distributed to IA follow-up and/or public engagement practitioners, helped identify key principles and related published sources. Twelve principles for public participation in IA follow-up are presented, which relate to (1) mandatory public reporting, (2) ease of access to published material, (3) full transparency, (4) clarity about the IA follow-up process, (5) input to decision-making, (6) continuous access to IA follow-up activities and feedback, (7) independent verification, (8) two-way …

Futures On Dry Ground: Anthropology And Coastal Planning, Theodore Hilton, Sheehan Moore

Publications and Research

Around the world, governments, industry, and other actors are creating plans to save coasts from environmental crisis. Louisiana is one prominent example: levees and other measures protect oil and gas infrastructure from inundation as the wetlands buffer rapidly erodes—in large part due to that same industry. The state’s primary answer to land loss is a $50 billion Coastal Master Plan. To illuminate such responses in Louisiana and globally, this article reviews emerging literature and frames an anthropology of coastal planning around three themes: (1) novel orientations toward time and space, (2) the reproduction of power and capital in the name …

Accumulation Of Polystyrene Nanoplastics And Triclosan By A Model Tooth-Carp Fish, Aphaniops Hormuzensis (Teleostei: Aphaniidae), Maryam Saemi-Komsari, Reza Pashaei, Sajjad Abbasi, Hamid Reza Esmaeili, Reda Dzingelevičienė, Hadavand B Shirkavand, Kalako M Pasalari, Malgorzata Szultka-Mlynska, Renata Gadzała-Kopciuch, Boguslaw Buszewski, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The presence and effects of nanoplastics (NPs; <1 μm) in the aquatic environment are a growing concern. In this study, a model tooth-carp fish, Aphaniops hormuzensis, has been exposed to different concentrations of fluorescent polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NP) in its diet (up to 5 mg kg−1) over periods of 28 d and the particle accumulation in different tissues determined. Accumulation was observed in both digestive and non-digestive organs, with concentrations greater in the gut, liver and gill (up to 400 μg kg−1 dw) than in the skin and muscle (<180 μg kg−1 dw), but no dependency on exposure time or dose was evident. The presence of the organic contaminant, triclosan (TCS), in the diet and at concentrations up to 0.5 μg kg−1 did not affect PS-NP uptake by A. hormuzensis, while TCS accumulation in the whole body increased with time (up to 10 μg kg−1) and, likewise, appeared to be unaffected by the presence of PS-NPs. These observations suggest that the two contaminants do not interact with each other or that any interactions have no impact on accumulation. The results of this study add to the growing body of evidence that NPs can be translocated by aquatic organisms after ingestion, and reveal that, for the species and conditions employed, nanoplastics are accumulated more readily than a widely used organic chemical.

Land Acquistion For Flood Adaptation Under Changing Climate, Jiyang Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Flood has caused tremendous life and economic losses over the past few decades and is expected to cause more in the future under the effects of climate change and socioeconomic development. With limited resources, cost-effective adaptation policies are urgently needed to minimize the economic and social impacts of future floods. The increasing flood losses and recent catastrophic flood events around the world expose two major issues of current flood adaptation schemes: 1) Flood risks are not well captured and predicted under climate change, leaving many communities unprepared for potential extreme flood events; 2) Current flood adaptation measures focus on the …

Application Of High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry In Lignin Model Compound Degradation And Forensic Determination Of Clonazepam And Flunitrazepam In Necrophagous Insect And Liver, Zeinab Rabiei Taemeh

Theses and Dissertations

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-MS) is a versatile technique that has vast applications in analytical chemistry, specifically for the identification, quantitation, and mass analysis of components. This study outlines an exploration of HPLC-MS applications, focusing on its utilization in two distinct areas: lignin degradation studies and forensic investigations.Lignin degradation: Most of the previous studies on lignin degradation, employed gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for product characterization. Most lignin model compounds, which are widely used in lignin valorization studies, are either not GC-elutable or have low thermal stability. In this work we investigated HPLC-MS as an alternative method, which offers a simultaneous …

Let Us Be The Fish Who Grow Legs: A Curriculum Guide For Linking Prison Industrial Complex Abolition, Environmental Justice, And State Power, Tess Gibbs

Scripps Senior Theses

This curriculum guide is designed to connect students’ understandings of environmental problems and injustices to their understandings of prison industrial complex (PIC) abolition, with the ultimate intention of cultivating the knowledge and imaginative practices to develop abolitionist-aligned solutions to environmental justice (EJ) problems outside of frameworks that rely upon state sanction. Students will connect the mutual causal forces of environmental injustices and the carceral state; explore intersections of environmental and carceral politics; and finish the course with broadened understandings of humans’ real and unrealized relationships with each other and the more-than-human world. The guide is intended to be worked through …

Treasure Island: Gold Dust Or Radioactive Soil?, Ari Daniels

Scripps Senior Theses

Former Naval Station Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay is undergoing an expensive redevelopment process to be turned into a sustainable living community. However, the area has a long history of mishandled radioactive material, irresponsible behavior on behalf of authorities, environmental instability, lawsuits, and administrative complaints. This research project focuses on Treasure Island’s history and redevelopment plan, utilizing San Francisco government documents, local newspapers, literature on environmental justice and racism, and state legislation to draw conclusions on the efficacy of the project from a sustainability standpoint and the responsibilities of the planners and developers. After providing a historical overview …

Fossil Fuels In Disguise: Environmental Issues With Carbon Capture Storage In The Central Valley, Medha Gelli

Scripps Senior Theses

The California Air Resources Board’s 2022 Scoping Plan supports the development of Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) facilities in order to meet California’s climate goals. Most of the proposed fourteen sites will be located in the Central Valley. CCS may help achieve negative emissions but poses several environmental problems. Key among these issues are water depletion and contamination, excessive energy usage, air pollution, and the potential for CCS-induced seismic risk. Due to the Central Valley’s disadvantaged and less-resourced background, this area is more at risk for environmental injustices with CCS implementation. By creating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps of factors related …

Concrete Everywhere: A Project-Based Analysis Of The Unequal Distribution Of Warehouses In Fontana, Chanah Haigh

Scripps Senior Theses

Unjust legislation and zoning practices drive the excess of warehouses in Fontana, California whose impacts fall disproportionately on low income communities of color. This paper addresses the environmental and health impacts of warehouses, as well as the legislation and the use of zoning which bring them to Fontana. Original maps show the spread of warehouses over census tract level data depicting race, income, and environmental factors such as diesel particulate matter. State and local legislation is analyzed to determine its intended effect and how well it has been enforced. Research was conducted through a project based thesis done in conjunction …

A Human Rights Approach To Climate-Induced Displacement: A Case Study In Central America And Colombia, Camila Bustos, Juliana Vélez-Echeverri

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The past decade was the warmest decade ever recorded. As climate impacts intensify, numbers of people displaced and in need of relocation increase. International law has yet to adapt to a changing climate and its implications for those most vulnerable. Experts still debate whether the existing refugee regime could provide a solution for those displaced by climate across international borders, while national governments continue to reckon with the domestic implications of internal displacement fueled by climate impacts. In this article, we apply a human rights lens to climate induced displacement, drawing from two case studies to highlight the human rights …

What It Takes To Grow A Micro Forest At New College Of Florida, Barbara Monteiro

Theses & ETDs

This thesis introduces a concept of forestry that is rooted in the context of climate change and the solutions that exist at the urban level. The integration of urban forests designed to mitigate temperatures and sequester atmospheric carbon is a practical solution to problems caused by increasing urbanization. In this thesis, I detail the process for establishing a micro forest that has been planted at New College of Florida and the benefits of utilizing the micro forest planting method. Located in Southwest Florida near Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, the New College Micro Forest will serve as a …

The Links To Cancer: How Golf Became Dangerous And What We Can Do To Save The Game, Meredith Boos

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This study is a comprehensive meta-analysis on health claims linked to exposure to golf courses, more specifically the chemicals used to maintain their appearance. It provides a brief history of the golf industry and how its growth exacerbated the environmental impact as well as an explanation of the legal landscape that will affect golf course management. Golf courses can disrupt local ecologies, contaminate ground water, rivers, lakes and streams with run-off, and be responsible for the bioaccumulation of chemicals which remain dangerous for decades. Despite the adverse effects of golf courses on the environment, there remains an opportunity to transform …

Barriers To Outdoor Recreation For Marginalized Groups At The University Of Montana, Sabine R. Englert, Beatrix Frissell, Adrienne Liebert, Sophia Rodriquez, Margaret Jensen, Rachana Harris, Abby Doss

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Exclusion from outdoor recreation reflects legacies of oppression of marginalized communities and makes access to the outdoors not equally available. In the United States, approximately 38% of Black Americans and 48% of Hispanic Americans participated in outdoor recreation in 2020. This is compared to 55% participation among Caucasian Americans. Many other intersecting identities are actively excluded, including people with disabilities, fat populations, and members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community; furthermore, class-based hierarchies are shown through the restricted outdoor access of low-income populations.

While numerous studies show a lack of diversity in outdoor recreation, little to no research has been conducted on …

Cop27: Kick The Climate Can Down The Road Another Year, Peter Jacques

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Best Practices For Integrating Climate Change Into Protected And Conserved Area Management Plans And Planning Processes In Canada, Stephanie Barr, Christopher J. Lemieux, Pamela Wright, Jen Hoesen, Claudia A. Haas

Geography and Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Undergraduate Catalogue 2023-2024, Seton Hall University

Undergraduate Catalogues

No abstract provided.

Living Mercy: Reflecting On The Vocation And Values Of Salve Regina University, Jayme Hennessy, Theresa Ladrigan-Whelpley, Steven Rodenborn, Kelli J. Armstrong, Sean O’Callaghan, Rose Albert, Myra Ellen Edelstein, M Therese Antone Rsm, William P. Leeman, Aïda Neary, Daniel Cowdin, Jameson Chace, Kaitlin Gabriele-Black

Faculty and Staff - Ebooks

With this collection of essays, we honor the vocation and spirit of mercy that has enlivened and guided Salve Regina University for the last 75 years. Inspired by the accomplishments of the past and looking forward to the call of the future, these essays provide a starting point for University-wide conversations to support Salve Regina in discerning how it will move into the increasingly complex challenges of the future. Salve's tradition of mercy is rooted in the example of Catherine McAuley, who founded the Sisters of Mercy in 19th-century Dublin, Ireland. It is a model of faith expressed through action …

The Impact On College Students Of Service-Learning In After-School Programs, Ashley Light, Amelia-Marie Altstadt, Olatz Sanchez-Txabarri, Stuart P. Bernstein, Patrice Mcmahon

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

In the United States, the dearth of quality expanded learning opportunities (ELO), such as afterschool and summer programs, has long been recognized as a national concern (DeKanter et al., 2000). The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this problem, as expanded learning opportunities of all kinds became increasingly limited in spring 2020 (Carver & Doohen, 2021). This research evaluated a new service-learning project, Honors Afterschool Clubs, which allows college students to fill ELO needs by creating and leading afterschool clubs for high-needs, low-income youth. By analyzing college student pre- and postexperience surveys, semistructured interviews, and focus groups, the authors evaluated the perceived impacts …

Quantifying The Carbon Stored And Sequestered By The Trees On Pomona College’S Campus, Paola A. Giron-Carson

Scripps Senior Theses

We are experiencing a climate crisis that must be confronted with strategic mitigation. Pomona College contributes to the climate crisis through its emissions for which there is a baseline record. However there is no baseline record of the climate mitigation currently performed by the trees on Pomona’s campus through carbon storage. This study seeks to determine a current baseline quantity of carbon stored and sequestrated by Pomona’s trees as well as possible courses of climate mitigation for Pomona College to take. Initial information gathering was conducted through interviews with several stakeholders. This study was conducted using data collected prior to …