Digital Commons Network^™

Greening Urban Spaces: Harnessing Houseplants To Reclaim Ecosystem Services, Alana Snyder

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper addresses how there is a lack of green spaces and access to nature within big cities, and thus, we lose the ecosystem services provided naturally by plants, such as clean air and mental well-being. By filling an interior space with houseplants, some of these ecosystem services can be brought and utilized indoors. Chapter one describes the benefits of plant ecosystem services on human life and how human alteration, such as urbanization and the creation of large cities, diminishes the availability and accessibility of these natural systems. Chapter two examines the environmental history of human relationships with plants. For …

New York City’S Rising Sea Level And Coastal Erosion: Approaches To Resiliency, Ryder D. Isidro

Student Theses 2015-Present

No abstract provided.

Major Axes Of Variation In Tree Demography Across Global Forests, Melina De Souza Leite, Sean M. Mcmahon, Paulo Inácio Prado, Stuart J. Davies, Alexandre Adalardo De Oliveira, Hannes P. De Deurwaerder, Salomón Aguilar, Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira, Nurfarah Aqilah, Norman A. Bourg, Warren Y. Brockelman, Nicolas Castaño, Chia-Hao Chang-Yang, Yu-Yun Chen, George Chuyong, Keith Clay, Álvaro Duque, Sisira Ediriweera, Corneille E. N. Ewango, Gregory Gilbert, I. A. U. N. Gunatilleke, C. V. S. Gunatilleke, Robert Howe, Walter Huaraca Huasco, Akira Itoh, Daniel J. Johnson, David Kenfack, Kamil Král, Yao Tze Leong, James A. Lutz, Jean-Remy Makana, Yadvinder Malhi, William J. Mcshea, Mohizah Mohamad, Musalmah Nasardin, Anuttara Nathalang, Geoffrey Parker, Renan Parmigiani, Rolando Pérez, Richard P. Phillips, Pavel Šamonil, I-Fang Sun, Sylvester Tan, Duncan Thomas, Jill Thompson, María Uriarte, Amy Wolf, Jess Zimmerman, Daniel Zuleta, Marco D. Visser, Lisa Hülsmann

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

The future trajectory of global forests is closely intertwined with tree demography, and a major fundamental goal in ecology is to understand the key mechanisms governing spatio-temporal patterns in tree population dynamics. While previous research has made substantial progress in identifying the mechanisms individually, their relative importance among forests remains unclear mainly due to practical limitations. One approach to overcome these limitations is to group mechanisms according to their shared effects on the variability of tree vital rates and quantify patterns therein. We developed a conceptual and statistical framework (variance partitioning of Bayesian multilevel models) that attributes the variability in …

We Are What We Eat: Unsustainable Food And Diet In America, Azzurra Bertelli Pisetti

Student Theses 2015-Present

The following paper addresses the issue of unsustainable food and diet in the United States, specifically, the problems related to the US industrial food system that lead to the exploitation of ecosystem services, public health burdens with social inequalities, and economic costs. Possible solutions may include an increased awareness of nutrition through education and policies, as well as urban agricultural technologies like the vertical farm. Chapter 1 analyzes the quantitative data on today's industrial food problem and its degradation of ecosystem services, with concerns for social injustice and ecological instability, including the global over-consumption of beef and its negative effects …

Navigating Towards Sustainability: Tackling Eu Transportation Carbon Emissions, Michael Andre Barajas

Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Mobility plays an essential role in our daily lives, yet the consequences of transportation are often overlooked or misunderstood. Most people take transportation for granted, not considering the opportunity cost of our easy accessibility, namely carbon emissions. These emissions cause significant environmental damage, threatening the ability of future generations to enjoy what we have now unless we reduce and stop them.

The European Union has been a leader in sustainability over the past decade, expressing concerns about carbon emissions and exploring various ways to address the issue. To understand the EU's future plans, it is crucial to grasp the scale …

Cloud Server's Impact: The Environment And Supply Chain, Jeremy Silvis

Sustainable Supply Chain Management

In our data-driven society, the exponential growth of data generation presents both opportunities and challenges. Each day, 328.77 million terabytes of data are produced, necessitating vast storage solutions. Traditional data storage methods, such as HDDs and SSDs, have given way to the revolutionary Cloud, which offers scalable and accessible storage options. However, the environmental impact of Cloud servers, characterized by significant energy and water consumption, raises concerns. This chapter examines the evolution of data storage, the environmental ramifications of Cloud servers, and the sustainability efforts of Cloud companies. The chapter also explores the transformative effects of the Cloud on global …

Commencement 2024 (Program And Video), Illinois Wesleyan University

Commencement Ceremonies

No abstract provided.

Navigating Environmental Sustainability In The Corporate Sector, Leslie King, Vanessa Adel

Sociology: Faculty Publications

Corporate environmental sustainability is experiencing a major surge in activity. The notion that capitalist enterprises can transform themselves to become more sustainable aligns with ecological modernization theory, which holds that our current economic system can become environmentally sustainable, especially through technological innovation. Organization scholars studying corporate environmental sustainability (CES) typically align with ecological modernization principles and focus their research on company-level norms and practices in order to suggest managerial improvements. Critical political economists, on the other hand, argue that capital accumulation and growth are fundamental drivers of environmental exploitation and that CES efforts are unlikely to yield significant results. We …

Understanding The Importance Of Dreissenid Mussel Mitigation In South Dakota, Allison P. Gross

Honors Thesis

Since 2014, dreissenid mussels have been established in South Dakota, spreading throughout the state. These invasive mussels can be vastly detrimental to an environment and completely disrupt the balance of natural systems they invade. In South Dakota, a state that relies heavily on land and resource use for some of the state’s major economic drivers, such as agriculture, hydropower, and tourism, the issue could be incredibly harmful if left uncontrolled. The mussel’s impacts range from increasing rash-causing bacteria in lakes and rivers to damaging critical infrastructure within dams. To understand the importance of the issue further, this paper explores the …

The Fierce Green Fire: Vol. 14 Issue 20, Wofford College Environmental Studies Program

The Fierce Green Fire

No abstract provided.

Identifying Phytoremediation Performing Plant Species That Can Be Utilized In The Improvement Of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils, Ashley Clark*, Samuel Mutiti

Graduate Research Showcase

Heavy metal pollution is a problem associated with industrialization and development. Two major metals that are commonly mined and can enter the environment, which can jeopardize communities’ health, are copper (Cu) and lead (Pb). There are different options for reducing heavy metal pollution in the environment via remediation efforts, including physical, chemical, and biological methods. However, physical and chemical remediation can be costly and labor-intensive, making them unsuitable for regions that do not have the funds to utilize these practices. Biological remediation is a more cost-conservative practice that has been shown in many studies to be effective in the gradual …

Quemando Leña En Guatemala: Salud, Sostenibilidad Y Costumbres, Sydney Underhill

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

In the Central American country of Guatemala, firewood is an important fuel source. Eighty-eight percent of households in rural areas use wood stoves and open fires to cook and heat their homes. This tradition has fundamental roots in the culture and customs of Guatemala. Unfortunately, these methods contribute to air pollution. Consequently, it also results in smoke inhalation, which causes health problems. Additionally, the massive agriculture of other crops decreases the amount of firewood available to these households, affecting the sustainability of the resource. Some communities resist changing their use of firewood due to the profound nature that firewood holds …

Cultivating Hope: The Influence Of Positive Outlooks In K-12 Climate Change Education, Agnes Brown

Student Theses 2015-Present

Abstract

Students studying the environment know and feel the emotional toll that it can take. This can easily contribute to mental health issues and utter defeat. This paper addresses the exclusion of optimism from environmental education and the impacts this has on childhood development and students as they advance to higher levels of education. Through this analysis, the goal is to find a role for hope in a topic typically framed in an apocalyptic manner. The shift from denying the existence of climate change to denying that it can be addressed, particularly through the usage of “doomsday language,” has created …

間, Lele Dai

Theses and Dissertations

LeLe Dai makes contingent participatory public interventions using sensory materials such as sound, flickering light, and water. This paper examines their works through the lens of Chinese character Jian (間), meaning “gap/slit/incision,” to investigate the concept of “in-betweenness.”

The Activist Corner - Ecojustice Insights From The Field, Coralie Boulard, Lucas Zabotin

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

No abstract provided.

The Artist Corner, Vijali Hamilton

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

No abstract provided.

Melissa Tuckey, Melissa Tuckey

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

No abstract provided.

Sequence, Cole Swensen

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

No abstract provided.

The Continual Emergence / Of Suppressed Histories, Linda Russo

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

N/A

In The Doha International Airport, A Forest, Paulina Bianca Ocampo

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

In the Doha International Airport, a forest calls is a poem about a culture of deep ecology in a context of coloniality, brain drain, and my own part in it. Despite over 300 years of colonization in the Philippines and the colonization of our own education system, a certain deep ecology continues to thrive in the belief of spirits in nature. Among Filipinos, even in the thick of the Anthropocene, a sense of respect and fear for nature continues to exist. It is common, for example, for Filipinos to ask these spirits for permission to pass through forested areas. However, …

Dear Little Activist Heart, Lilith Kuhn

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

No abstract provided.

"Drone," "Attempting To Persuade The Musk Ox You Are Not Unlike Not A Threat Not Other", Elizabeth Bradfield

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

No abstract provided.

Imaginative Acts, Environmental Futurity: Re-Envisioning The Heroic White Male Savior In Snowpiercer, Michelle Yates

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

In contrast to many Hollywood climate fiction films, Snowpiercer (2013) offers a more complex representation of the white male savior. In contrast to films like WALL-E (2008) and Interstellar (2014) that recuperate and invest in white masculine privilege, Snowpiercer highlights the more destructive aspects of a patriarchal capitalist system that privileges hegemonic white masculinity. While the ending of Snowpiercer may seem bleak, it also points to the possibility of a new system, an environmental futurity that centers indigenous knowledge and the experiences of women and people of color. Though Snowpiercer is not formally an American film, its casting of recognizable …

Diverse Voices, Sticky Maps And Wicked Patterns. Using Creative Methods To Explore Environmental Justice, Clare Saunders, Daksha Patel

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

Environmental justice is multi-faceted. It is distributional, procedural and context inter-dependent. Achieving environmental justice therefore requires transdisciplinary thinking and collaborative practice with participants holding a variety of experiences and knowledges. This paper explores the different meanings of environmental justice in theory, and through artistic practices. It introduces and evaluates a series of creative workshops designed to enhance understanding of environmental justice. The workshops consisted of 1) image-informed co-created cross-national Zoom conversations; 2) using colours and shapes to tease out meanings of environmental justice; and 3) mapping local environmental injustices while centring more-than-humans. It proposes that these creative methods are useful …

Powering Justice: Sketches For A New Ethos In Energy Policy, Erin Rizzato Devlin

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

Energy politics lie at the heart of human activity. In a time of ecological and energy crisis, it is fundamental to realise that our reality systems are always open to change and that, in order to respond to the challenges of a changing energy landscape, we must explore the full possibilities of technology in a radical way. This research aims to consider the ethical implications of energy and technology, presenting an urgent case for cosmotechnical pluralism, that is the diversification of world-views, knowledges, technologies in the pursuit of energy justice in global politics. To reconstruct the world and its politics …

Notes On Contributors

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

No abstract provided.

Editors' Note

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

No abstract provided.

Cover - Green Humanities, Vol. 4, 2024

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

No abstract provided.

Meet The Consultants And Acknowledgements

Prologue: A First-Year Writing Journal

No abstract provided.

Utah State University Commencement, 2024 - Brigham City, Kaysville & Tremonton Campuses, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2024 Commencement Ceremony for the Brigham City, Kaysville & Tremonton Campuses of Utah State University.