Digital Commons Network^™

More Than Bad Neighbors: Data Centers And Minnesota's Newest Attempts To Regulate Them, Daria Mcgucken

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

2026 Document For Faculty And Staff Scholarship Spring Soirée, Kara Schleck, Diana Symons

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

No abstract provided.

Owning The Green Grid: The Political Economy Of Renewable Energy Policy Design, Joshua A. Basseches

Faculty Scholarship

How corporate ownership of the electricity grid matters to state-level renewable energy policymaking.

Historically (and for the foreseeable future), most public policy action in the United States to combat the global climate crisis has taken place at the state level. Former President Joe Biden’s administration marked a significant departure from that trend, as his policies pursued a strategy of “electrify everything” (transportation, buildings, and industry). But who owns the electricity system that is the linchpin of such a strategy, and how does this ownership affect the policy preferences of interest groups at the state level? Owning the Green Grid addresses …

Complexity Theory And Environmental Conservation Management: A Case Study With Coyote And Red Wolf Hybridization, Gretchen E. Mahalic

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Conservation biology and invasion biology are value-led scientific disciplines founded on environmental advocacy, operating at the intersection of research and action. Though these disciplines are known for their scientific veracity, unexamined values are often promulgated without scrutiny and drive decisions that work against good ecological outcomes. A case in point is that coyotes migrating into southeastern territory are framed as the greatest threat to the conservation of the endangered red wolf because hybridization is seen as diminishing their species integrity. Applying Val Plumwood’s ecofeminist account of dualistic frameworks, I will use this case to show how the vilification of the …

Identifying Socio-Economic Areas Of Concern Towards Inclusion In Gis Hazard Management In Detroit, Michigan., Ernestina Osei

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

This study examined the spatial distribution of socio-economic vulnerability and accessibility to essential services in Detroit, Michigan, using a Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based approach. The research aimed to identify areas of greatest concern by integrating socio-economic indicators, including poverty, housing vacancy, income, unemployment, and crime, with spatial measures of access to critical infrastructure such as hospitals, fire stations, police stations, and grocery stores. Both feature-based and raster-based analyses were employed, including buffer and overlay analysis, service area evaluation, Euclidean distance modeling, and multi-criteria suitability analysis.

A mixed-methods framework was adopted to combine quantitative spatial analysis with contextual understanding of urban …

The Fate And Removal Of E. Coli Across Liquid And Sludge Treatment Stages In An Activated -Sludge Water Resource Recovery Facility, Shrawan Tandukar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluates the fate and removal efficiency of Escherichia coli (E. coli) across both liquid and sludge treatment processes at a full-scale activated sludge water resource recovery facility (WRRF) in Brookings, South Dakota. Understanding pathogen reduction within wastewater treatment systems is critical for protecting public health and ensuring regulatory compliance, particularly in facilities practicing water reuse and biosolids management. Liquid and sludge samples were collected from multiple treatment stages between January and July 2025 and analyzed using the IDEXX Colilert Quanti-Tray 2000 method. This study quantifies E. coli concentrations throughout the treatment train to assess removal performance and identify …

Sustainable Justice: A Critical Contemplative Approach To Sustainability In Higher Education, Jessica A. Reneau

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The field of sustainability studies increasingly asks students to confront ecological crises alongside considerations of power, privilege, and unequal environmental harm. This work can be emotionally challenging as well as intellectually complex. Contemplative practices, such as meditation and yoga, may offer meaningful pedagogical support, helping students cultivate the attention, reflection, and emotional capacity needed to stay engaged with justice-centered sustainability learning. Although the use of contemplative pedagogies is growing in higher education, little research has examined how these practices shape justice-orientated learning outcomes in sustainability education. This dissertation addresses that gap by exploring how both student and instructor experience contemplative …

From Environment To Population Dynamics: Integrating Physiology, Morphology, And Demography In A Montane Migratory Bird, Beverly Sunshine Domschot

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Environmental variation shapes population dynamics by influencing how individuals acquire and allocate resources. However, the pathways linking environmental conditions to population-level outcomes remain difficult to resolve because they operate across multiple levels of biological organization. Traits such as physiology and morphology mediate these relationships by shaping how individuals respond to challenges and convert resources into survival and reproduction. Physiological traits can change rapidly in response to short-term conditions, whereas morphological traits reflect longer-term processes related to performance and energy balance. Despite their complementary roles, these traits are typically studied in isolation, limiting our ability to understand how environmental conditions propagate …

Lake As Body: Ecofeminism And Animacy At The Great Salt Lake, Shae Barber

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Water shapes cultural, social, and ecological systems. Yet, dominant economic, political, and academic frameworks often treat water as a backdrop or passive resource, ignoring it as an active participant in meaning-making and relationship-building. Viewing water as “nonliving” obscures how it participates in and co-creates relationships, limiting understanding about impacts of and responses to climate change and environmental degradation.

This thesis takes a mixed-methods and participatory approach including semi-structured interview, photovoice, and participatory mapping to examine relational practices between environmental advocates and the Great Salt Lake, a desiccating saline lake in Utah, U.S. As the lake continues to decline, dominant Western …

Who Owns Missoula: Land Ownership & Conservation Easements In Missoula County, Mt, Haley Segura

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines private land ownership concentration and conservation easement expansion in Missoula County, Montana, asking who owns land, how that ownership is structured, and what these patterns mean for equity, access, and conservation. Drawing on the Montana State Library cadastral dataset, land cover data, conservation easement records, and public information about major landowners, the project combines GIS analysis, qualitative landowner profiling, and a public-facing ArcGIS StoryMap. Rather than making causal claims, it offers a descriptive and spatial analysis of how landownership and conservation intersect in a county shaped by extensive public lands and a limited private land base. Chapter …

A Psychogeography Of The Lower Colorado River Basin, Arren L. Kimbel-Sannit

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dried-up canals. Superheated strip malls. Proliferating data centers. Infinite appetite for growth despite its apparent circumstances. Arizona may well be the state of the American future. This multi-genre series of essays from Arren Kimbel-Sannit offers a personal, political-economic and ecological critique of growth and accumulation in Arizona — from the perspective of someone who grew up in its suburban expanses, reported on its politics, and long sought to clarify his relationship with home.

Learning In The Wild: A Discourse Analysis Of Literacy Practices And Educational Outcomes In Montana’S Youth Climate Activism, Tyler Moore

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines youth climate activism in Montana as a site of literacy practice, civic learning, and critical climate engagement. Focusing on the University of Montana Climate Response Club, the study asks how youth climate activists use literacy practices to interpret climate issues and participate in civic action, and how those practices reflect elements of critical climate literacy. The study defines critical climate literacy as a set of socially situated practices through which young people read, interpret, question, and respond to climate change as both an environmental issue and a civic problem shaped by power. Rather than treating climate literacy …

An Ecological-Evolutionary Investigation Of Phenotypic, Genetic, And Environmental Variation And Correlations Among Reproductive Traits Of Tall Goldenrod (Solidago Altissima), Michael J. Wise, Daniel Lavy, David E. Carr, Warren G. Abrahamson Ii

Faculty Journal Articles

Although fitness-related traits are expected to be under strong selection, traits related to reproduction are often quite variable within plant populations. We used data from two large greenhouse experiments to quantify phenotypic, genetic, and environmental variation, as well as genetic tradeoffs that might help explain the maintenance of withinpopulation variation in four traits related to sexual or vegetative reproduction in tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima). The goldenrod population exhibited high levels of both phenotypic and genetic variation for capitulum (flower head) number and size, seed production, and rhizome growth. Significant negative genetic correlations were present between the number of capitula and …

Climate Change In An Educational Context: A Model Addressing Psychological Distance, Hope, And Concern, Brooke E. Kasl-Godley

Scripps Senior Theses

As the threat of climate change becomes more urgent, educators should focus on fostering climate concern and action instead of simply providing climate information. These studies present a novel model of climate education where locally-framed and action-oriented curriculum increases students’ environmental concern through the mechanisms of psychological distance and hope. This curriculum was taught over two years to sixth-grade students at a school in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. Study 1 examines students’ environmental concern and sense of responsibility before and after delivery of the curriculum. Study 2 is a proposed follow-up study, that will address limitations of Study 1 …

Madison, Wisconsin As A Climate Haven: Infrastructure, Environmental Justice, And Community Voice, Sophia N. Heffner

Scripps Senior Theses

As climate change accelerates internal migration within the United States, the concept of “climate havens” has emerged as a way to identify communities that may become receiving zones for displaced populations. Madison, Wisconsin has increasingly been positioned within academic, policy, and media discourse as a potential climate haven due to its geographic advantages, strong public infrastructure, and proactive climate policy environment. This paper evaluates Madison’s readiness for this role through an equity-centered, participatory planning lens. Drawing on planning documents, climate data, municipal policies, and interdisciplinary scholarship, it argues that Madison’s long-term success as a sustainable and inclusive climate haven depends …

Cycling For All: Designing With The "Invisible Cyclist" As A Pathway Towards Urban Sustainability And Citizenship, Eloise Heimert

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the role of “invisible cyclists” in cycling networks and practices. Through an application of the “right to the city,” spatial production, and mobility justice frameworks, this paper investigates the experiences of women and disabled cyclists in London, England. By examining a city with an emerging cycling network, this thesis offers insight into measures for increasing the inclusivity and resilience of them. The argument establishes that these lines of analysis reveal important lessons in urban design and planning for a more sustainable future. Firstly, this thesis examines social barriers to cycling participation, and thus urban citizenship. In the …

Doikayt And The Ethics Of Belonging: Lessons In Place-Making From The Jewish Labor Bund, Zoë L. Jacobs

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis traces the evolution of doikayt—the Bundist principle of hereness—from its origins in the Jewish Labor Bund to contemporary applications in North America. Rooted in a refusal of both assimilation and nationalist escape, doikayt emphasizes cultivating safety, solidarity, and belonging through collective responsibility rather than territorial claims.

Building on this foundation, the exploration situates hereness within a settler-colonial context, where ethical dwelling is complicated by Indigenous dispossession. Drawing on Alexis Shotwell alongside Indigenous thinkers Vanessa Watts and Kyle Whyte, I examine how inhabiting place requires confronting historical injustices and ongoing relational responsibilities. Chapter 3 analyzes Linke Fligl (2016–2022) as …

Good Food In The Neighborhood: Localizing Nutritious Food Access, Joseph Pool

Honors Program Theses

Given contemporary changes to federal budget priorities and recent challenges to federal food access funding, this research explores the potential benefits of entrusting state-level and municipal-level policymakers with food access policy. More specifically, this research suggests that “localizing” food access has the unique benefit of not just addressing the affordability of food, but the physical accessibility of it. As observed in the previous literature and expounded upon here, food provisioning requires consideration of nutrition, physical accessibility, and financial affordability. Programs that only address one of these priorities fail to adequately help people receive the food they need. Through policy analysis …

Improving Flood Risk Mapping By Incorporating Local-Scale Calibration Data Derived From Stakeholder Input, Jennifer M. Holifield, Wei Wu, Patrick D. Biber, Margo Posten, Dennis Mcgrury, Stephen C. Deal, Alexandria Hancock

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Globally, flooding is the most frequent and costly natural hazards, disproportionately affecting populations based on environmental, social, and economic factors. Understanding the spatial variability of flood risk as well as the respective flood drivers is essential for informing cost-effective mitigation strategies and enhancing community resilience. Here we mapped flood risk that combines flood hazards and vulnerability in an under-resourced coastal community prone to compound flooding. Our approach integrates stakeholder engagement with GIS-based analysis using open-access datasets.

We first developed an initial flood hazard map using an equal-weight combination of factors commonly associated with flood occurrence/prevention, including upslope area, impervious surface …

Forage Legume Community Dynamics In Response To Stand Management, Nicholas Warren

Doctoral Dissertations

A primary challenge for perennial forage production systems is maintaining crop productivity and forage quality over time. Including legume species in these systems is an opportunity to reduce external inputs, to extend the seasonal productivity of a pasture, and to balance the nutritional characteristics of grass species. However, legume persistence in mixed stands is frequently poor. Identifying harvest practices, legume species, or species mixtures that improve legume persistence would help to maximize the ecosystem services of forages. I conducted a four-year field experiment (2019 to 2022) in southeastern New Hampshire to evaluate the productivity and persistence of four perennial legumes …

Syrup Production And Tree Physiology, David Blakney Moore

Doctoral Dissertations

Maple (Acer spp.) syrup production is a culturally and economically important activity in North America, and other types of trees are economically important (or show potential to become more economically important) for their syrup as well. For both established and novel syrup-producing trees, questions remain about tapping sustainability and the physiological mechanisms that underpin winter-dormant-season stem-pressurization cycles, which create the pressures necessary for sap harvesting. I investigated aspects of tapping sustainability related to two important xylem functions, storage and transport. I measured nonstructural carbohydrate concentrations and radial growth of tapped and untapped sugar maples (Acer saccharum) and found a weak …

Repairing Estranged Death: Care, Politics And Ecology In The Us Funeral Industry, Cecilia Catherine Rodriguez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The industrialization of death practices in the US has separated humanity from natural cycles while centering white settler colonial norms that marginalize other cultural ways of caring for the dead. Through necropolitics, the contemporary death industry embodies capitalist values of commodification and a monopolization of care, separating death from community and its ecological cycles. Black and Indigenous feminist knowledges understand death as not a discrete event but instead as an ongoing process that shapes our relationships with both the human and more-than-human worlds. Engaging with feminist political ecologies, I extend a conversation about care and repair to contemporary death practices …

Weaponized Borders: A Contrapuntal Analysis Of Uneven Humanitarian Aid And Comparative Landscapes, Alex Orla-Bukowski

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The proliferation of global border regimes has caused an increased level of state violence against humans and the environment. In this thesis I explore how contemporary border regimes propagate myths on human mobility, obstruct humanitarian policy, and weaponize environmental landscapes to sustain state violence while obscuring political responsibility. Building on this, I argue that borders are the source of violence and create systems of vulnerability as a core-function of state making. My research primarily utilizes semi-structured interviews with humanitarian actors and secondary data analysis to trace the testimonies of those subject to state-based harm and explore the gaps in aid …

Living With Water In Fields Landing & King Salmon: Community Knowledge Of Flooding And Adaptation Strategies In Coastal California, Kailin Sepp

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Known as “ground zero,” Humboldt Bay is among the most vulnerable areas to sea-level rise (SLR) due to geological and tectonic factors on the West Coast. While the land subsides, oceans rise, resulting in an area with one of the highest recorded rates of relative SLR on the West Coast. The residential communities of Fields Landing and King Salmon in South Humboldt Bay already experience regular coastal flooding. There is a need for better information and planning to understand the vulnerability to flooding/SLR and plan for adaptation. Typically, studies addressing flooding, such as vulnerability assessments and adaptation plans, are developed …

Renewable Energy Innovation: A Mathematics-Driven Integrated Stem Approach For K-12 Classrooms, Humphrey Chinenye Ochulor, Dayat Hidayat

Indiana STEM Education Conference

This research brief presents Renewable Energy Innovation (REI) as a mathematics-driven Integrated STEM (iSTEM) approach for engaging upper elementary and middle school students to design, analyze, test, and refine solar cars and wind turbines through mathematical modeling (MM) and problem solving (PS). Research suggests that renewable energy activities support students’ abilities to design systems, quantify variables, construct multiple representations, and refine mathematical models to clarify relationships between energy output and design features. Positioning mathematics as the driver in REI iSTEM engineering design contexts aligns with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and foregrounds mathematics as a primary organizing discipline …

Quantifying Amendment Impact On Microbial Respiration Rate, Qwynn Starrwalker

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Wetlands play a critical role in the global carbon cycle by acting as carbon sinks, where the flooded anaerobic conditions cause slow microbial respiration compared to other soils. Comparatively more carbon is stored in the soil as organic matter than is released as carbon dioxide (CO₂). Making wetland pools of soil organic matter less available to microbes for respiration could reduce overall atmospheric CO₂ and slow global warming. This study examined the effect of kaolinite, goethite, and lime on microbial respiration rates in wetland soils under alternating hydrologic conditions. Homogenized soil from a cypress dome was separated …

How Vermont’S Composting Laws Can Be Used To Inform Similar Policies In New Hampshire, Felix Prigge

UNH URC Open (2026 and after)

This presentation seeks to analyze how policy makers can use the success' and failures of another state's policies to inform their own measures in order to not repeat the same mistakes. It also discusses the importance of using public feedback as a baseline for improvement.

Applied Textile Innovation In Sustainable Design: Evaluating Soy-Based Materials And Embroidery Techniques For Circular Apparel Applications, Jasmine Williams

2026 Research Poster Competition

Applied Textile Innovation in Sustainable Design:Evaluating Soy-Based Materials and Embroidery Techniques for Circular Apparel Applications  AbstractThe global apparel industry is recognized as one of the most environmentally intensive manufacturing sectors, driven by high resource consumption, chemically intensive processing, and linear production systems that generate significant textile waste. In response to these challenges, sustainable fashion research increasingly emphasizes the exploration of bio-based materials and circular design strategies that reduce environmental impact while maintaining functional and aesthetic value. This applied design research project investigates the potential of soy-based textiles combined with embroidery and applique techniques as sustainable strategies for circular apparel applications.Grounded …

Professional Wear For Women Aged 30 And Under Post Double Mastectomy Without Reconstruction, Lilly Davis

2026 Research Poster Competition

This study explores the fit, functionality, and style preferences of professional wear for women aged 30 and under who have undergone double mastectomy surgery and have not had reconstruction, often referred to as ‘living flat’. While there have been advancements to make adaptive post mastectomy clothing that prioritizes recovery or traditional prosthetic solutions, there still remains a gap in professional wear for younger women that encourages confidence and comfort in the workplace. This research aims to bridge that gap in the apparel industry by providing inclusive, adaptive, and empowering options for the professional setting. A mixed-methods design approach will be …

Adaptive Leggings For Crohn’S/Colitis/Isbs Patients With A Colostomy/Ileostomy Bag, Evie Liebbe

2026 Research Poster Competition

Individuals living with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and related gastrointestinal conditions often face significant physical and emotional challenges following colostomy or ileostomy surgery. While ostomy bags are essential medical devices that support health and survival, they frequently create difficulties related to clothing fit, comfort, discretion, and self-expression. Despite growing conversations around inclusivity and adaptive apparel, the contemporary fashion market offers limited stylish, affordable, and functional clothing options for individuals with ostomies, particularly younger consumers who value both comfort and personal style. This lack of inclusive design can negatively impact confidence, body image, and overall quality of …