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1 Billion Birds Lost: Mechanisms Of Window Collisions And Possible Mitigation Strategies At Lawrence University, Shoshana Schmit Jun 2026

1 Billion Birds Lost: Mechanisms Of Window Collisions And Possible Mitigation Strategies At Lawrence University, Shoshana Schmit

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Windows are currently the largest killer of birds on the planet, with an estimated 1 billion birds dying from collisions annually. If birds that hit windows do not die on impact, they may either die elsewhere shortly afterwards, resulting in the number of carcasses at collision sites being a conservative estimate of the actual number of fatalities. During the day, proximity to foraging sites and reflectivity play crucial roles in the danger of windows, and during the night, artificial illumination emitting from windows disorients and inhibits navigational cues. To explore this topic on campus, I documented bird collisions at Lawrence …


Neanderthals And Their Exhibitions Of Fine Art: Unpacking Neanderthal Art On The European Continent, Jacob T. Simpson Jan 2026

Neanderthals And Their Exhibitions Of Fine Art: Unpacking Neanderthal Art On The European Continent, Jacob T. Simpson

Undergraduate Research Posters

This research project aims to bridge the gap between anatomically modern humans and our closest genetic relative, Neanderthals. By analyzing research literature on artistically symbolic artifacts potentially created by these ancient humans (focusing on populations in Europe) I hope to offer a superior speculation of Neanderthal intellect. Neanderthals potential capability to create artistic objects could transform our understanding of them and their cognitive abilities, and raise philosophical questions on what it means to be human.


Understanding University-Level Food Recovery Programs’ Approaches To Minimizing Food Waste While Combating Food Insecurity In The United States, Ella F. Flesher May 2025

Understanding University-Level Food Recovery Programs’ Approaches To Minimizing Food Waste While Combating Food Insecurity In The United States, Ella F. Flesher

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Food is wasted every day at each level of the food system from production to consumption. This surplus has significant negative impacts on the environment after food is sent to the landfill and allowed to rot. However, some surplus food can be repurposed and diverted from the landfill. This study served as an initial investigation to explore multiple food waste diversion programs and analyze their structure, best practices, and methods to divert leftover food. This study specifically aimed to compare and contrast food recovery programs by interviewing participants from three food recovery programs from different university institutions. With the key …


Brother Nature: Pursuing Zero-Waster At Casa Maria, Isaiah Charles, Giuliana Porzio Cuenca, Tatiana Flores, Isabella Lopez, Antonio Martinez, Kelly Sawyers Apr 2025

Brother Nature: Pursuing Zero-Waster At Casa Maria, Isaiah Charles, Giuliana Porzio Cuenca, Tatiana Flores, Isabella Lopez, Antonio Martinez, Kelly Sawyers

Presentations - 2025

This presentation focuses on evaluating waste production and management at Casa Maria, a Marianist community on campus, with the goal of establishing baseline data and offering sustainability recommendations grounded in the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle. Insights from this initiative aim to inform broader sustainability efforts across the university.


Decarbonising Digital Infrastructure And Urban Sustainability In The Case Of Data Centres, Felicia H. M. Liu, Karen P. Y. Lai, Bertrand Seah, Winston T. L. Chow Apr 2025

Decarbonising Digital Infrastructure And Urban Sustainability In The Case Of Data Centres, Felicia H. M. Liu, Karen P. Y. Lai, Bertrand Seah, Winston T. L. Chow

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper critically assesses the complex interplay between urban transitions of digitisation and sustainability. Building on a mixed-method research design, we unpack the challenges of decarbonising digital infrastructure while attending to urban sustainability goals in a land- and water-scarce country facing significant physical climate risks. We identify transferrable lessons on the economic, technological, and environmental synergies and trade-offs behind data centre development and argue that stewarding the global data centre sector towards sustainability requires an ecosystem-wide approach. We identify implementation gaps across five key dimensions: technological innovation, policy and regulation, finance, infrastructure, and people. We find that the progress and …


The Strategic And Governance Implications Of Solar Radiation Modification: Perspectives From Delegates Of International Climate Negotiations, Todd L. Cherry, Steffen Kallbekken, David M. Mcevoy, Wai Yan Siu Jan 2025

The Strategic And Governance Implications Of Solar Radiation Modification: Perspectives From Delegates Of International Climate Negotiations, Todd L. Cherry, Steffen Kallbekken, David M. Mcevoy, Wai Yan Siu

ODU Articles

The lack of progress in addressing climate change has led to increased interest in solar radiation modification (SRM)—a collection of large-scale interventions that cool the planet by managing the amount of solar radiation that reaches the earth. SRM complicates climate change governance because, in addition to advancing collective action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, governance needs to restrain unilateral SRM action while balancing diverging actor interests, ethical risks and scientific uncertainty. We survey international climate policy experts for their assessments of the potential for effective global governance of SRM and the likelihood of possible international responses to unilateral SRM scenarios. …


Frozen Green Leaves As Potential Nutrient Subsidies In North American Mangrove Ecosystems, Katelyn Overstreet, Emily M. Dangremond, Ilka C. Feller Jan 2025

Frozen Green Leaves As Potential Nutrient Subsidies In North American Mangrove Ecosystems, Katelyn Overstreet, Emily M. Dangremond, Ilka C. Feller

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Avicennia germinans, the black mangrove, has shifted its range limit northward, and increased in abundance in the Southeastern United States. In January 2018, a 3-day freeze event caused substantial defoliation of green leaves in A. germinans near its northernmost range limit in St. Augustine, FL. During their recovery, plants that lost their leaves grew similarly to plants fertilized with nitrogen, leading to the hypothesis that freeze-killed green leaves (frozen green) may have acted as a fertilizer. To assess the value of frozen green litter as a nutrient subsidy, we performed an experiment in which A. germinans seedlings were grown …


Introduction: Intergenerational Thinking, Katherine Binhammer Dec 2024

Introduction: Intergenerational Thinking, Katherine Binhammer

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

This introduction to a conversation on Intergenerational Thinking that first began at the American Society of Eighteenth Century Studies in Toronto, March 2024, establishes the importance of dialogue across generations in feminist eighteenth-century studies. It synthesizes the methods the participants engage to think with past scholars, rather than disavow such work. While the topics discussed are diverse -- feminist history, Phillis Wheatley, Indigenous eighteenth-century archives, climate catastrophe and Charlotte Charke – the writers share an approach to generational thinking grounded in a critique of the assumption that the new is always better.


Implications For Energy Demand And Emissions By Mitigating Heat Stress In Heterogeneous Urban Building Types In India, Aishwarya V Iyer Apr 2024

Implications For Energy Demand And Emissions By Mitigating Heat Stress In Heterogeneous Urban Building Types In India, Aishwarya V Iyer

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

The buildings sector plays a key role in influencing global demand for energy and materials, and the emission of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs). 80% of future population growth is expected to take place in the Global South, primarily populated with low-and-middle income (LMI) countries, making these countries hotspots for growth in the buildings sector, especially the residential sector. India, the most populated low-and-middle income country, is expected to lead the world in energy growth from the residential sector in the next decades. However, previous global reports often do not represent the diversity in building types from these countries, especially excluding the …


Género Y Resiliencia En La Amazonía Peruana: Las Experiencias Y Respuestas De Agricultoras Indígenas Ante El Cambio Climático, Zoe Klausner Apr 2024

Género Y Resiliencia En La Amazonía Peruana: Las Experiencias Y Respuestas De Agricultoras Indígenas Ante El Cambio Climático, Zoe Klausner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El cambio climático antropogénico está redefiniendo rápidamente las relaciones humano-ambientales, especialmente en la Amazonía peruana, donde más de 66 comunidades indígenas enfrentan mayores sequías y temperaturas, afectando profundamente sus medios de vida. Crucialmente, desde la visión ecofeminista central a esta investigación se subraya que las mujeres indígenas experimentan los impactos del cambio climático más severamente y son a menudo los líderes en el fomento de la resiliencia ambiental. Esta investigación explora cómo las agricultoras indígenas de la Amazonía peruana viven el cambio climático y sus estrategias de adaptación y resiliencia. El trabajo de campo se realizó en la comunidad Ese'Eja …


Curriculum Minutes 01/25/2024, Curriculum Committee Jan 2024

Curriculum Minutes 01/25/2024, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.


The Role Of Local Knowledge In Climate Change Research, Ryan E. Mccoy Jan 2024

The Role Of Local Knowledge In Climate Change Research, Ryan E. Mccoy

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

This dissertation addresses the growing need within climate research for improvements in regional and local climate information. I argue that knowledge gaps in regional climate information constitute a form of climate injustice in which harm largely falls on regions most vulnerable to climate change. Moreover, I show that our current methods for garnering regional climate information fail to provide information on place-specific factors, such as local culture, socio-economic systems, and ecology, which mediate climate change impacts. In order to address these knowledge gaps, as well as provide information necessary for effective mitigation and adaptation, I argue for the inclusion of …


Urban Nature Indexes Tool Offers Comprehensive And Flexible Approach To Monitoring Urban Ecological Performance, Jennifer Rae Pierce, Laura Costadone, Lelani Mannetti, Joeri Morpurgo, Charlyn Elaine Green, Michael D. Halder, Pablo Arturo Lopez Guijosa, Abner L. Bogan, Russell Galt, Jonathan Hughes Jan 2024

Urban Nature Indexes Tool Offers Comprehensive And Flexible Approach To Monitoring Urban Ecological Performance, Jennifer Rae Pierce, Laura Costadone, Lelani Mannetti, Joeri Morpurgo, Charlyn Elaine Green, Michael D. Halder, Pablo Arturo Lopez Guijosa, Abner L. Bogan, Russell Galt, Jonathan Hughes

ODU Articles

We present the Urban Nature Indexes (UNI), a comprehensive tool that measures urban ecological performance under one standard framework linked to global commitments. The UNI was developed by interdisciplinary experts and evaluated by practitioners from diverse cities to capture each city’s ecological footprint from local to global scale. The UNI comprises six themes (consumption drivers, human pressures, habitat status, species status, nature’s contributions to people, and governance responses) that encompass measurable impacts on climate change, biodiversity loss, ecosystem services, pollution, consumption, water management, and equity within one comprehensive system. Cities then adapt the UNI to their context and capacity by …


Delayed Coastal Inundations Caused By Ocean Dynamics Post-Hurricane Matthew, Kyungmin Park, Emanuele Di Lorenzo, Yinglong J. Zhang, Tal Ezer, Fei Yi Jan 2024

Delayed Coastal Inundations Caused By Ocean Dynamics Post-Hurricane Matthew, Kyungmin Park, Emanuele Di Lorenzo, Yinglong J. Zhang, Tal Ezer, Fei Yi

CCPO Publications

Post Hurricane Abnormal Water Level (PHAWL) poses a persistent inundation threat to coastal communities, yet unresolved knowledge gaps exist regarding its spatiotemporal impacts and causal mechanisms. Using a high-resolution coastal model with a set of observations, we find that the PHAWLs are up to 50 cm higher than the normal water levels for several weeks and cause delayed inundations around residential areas of the U.S. Southeast Coast (USSC). Numerical experiments reveal that while atmospheric forcing modulates the coastal PHAWLs, ocean dynamics primarily driven by the Gulf Stream control the mean component and duration of the shelf-scale PHAWLs. Because of the …


A Census That Can Sting, Communications And Marketing Jun 2023

A Census That Can Sting, Communications And Marketing

Campus News Archive

No abstract provided.


Approaches And Tools To Solving Complex Problems In Private Land Conservation, John T. Curnyn May 2023

Approaches And Tools To Solving Complex Problems In Private Land Conservation, John T. Curnyn

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

The central theme throughout my four portfolio pieces is: approaches and tools that can be used to address complex problems involving private land conservation. I consider the broader human and environmental community health to be factors in successful private land conservation. The first portfolio piece examines a number of studies of conservation easements implemented to improve water quality, as well as their utility in avoiding land use conflict. My second portfolio piece is a reflective paper on my experience conducting a stakeholder assessment for the organization OneMontana. The assessment focused on creating a shared understanding of the issues related to …


Constructing Temporality And Contextualizing The Passing Of Time: How Native Foods Operate As Timekeepers / How The Modern American Food Market Manipulates Their Functionality, Robert Francis Sheils May 2023

Constructing Temporality And Contextualizing The Passing Of Time: How Native Foods Operate As Timekeepers / How The Modern American Food Market Manipulates Their Functionality, Robert Francis Sheils

Standard Theses

There is extensive evidence that suggests that Indigenous groups in the Northern Hemisphere (specifically in the Northern areas of what is now known as the United States) have held empirical knowledge of food and food systems to help conceptualize the passing of time. In conjunction with seasonal weather changes and evolving moon patterns, certain foods have acted as annual landmarks in which tribes could better understand their calendar year as having a cyclical design; in addition to organizing moments of the year, dishes are also made to celebrate the environments from which their ingredients were foraged from. Thus, food can …


The Intersection Of Herbicide Policy, Exposure, And Health At The University Of Connecticut, Katherine Hayward Apr 2023

The Intersection Of Herbicide Policy, Exposure, And Health At The University Of Connecticut, Katherine Hayward

Honors Scholar Theses

Pesticides play an extremely complicated role in our everyday lives. From the water you use to make your coffee, to the breastmilk your neighbor provides for their child, to the lake your dog swims in, chemical pesticides or their byproducts have been found in nearly every corner of our lives. The chemicals used in synthetic herbicides, a subcategory of pesticides, have far reaching negative impacts on human health, biodiversity, and water quality. Despite there being numerous published studies on the relationships between pesticide exposures and health, there is still ongoing discord and controversy surrounding their role in our lives. After …


The Urgency Of Indigenous Values, Philip P. Arnold Jan 2023

The Urgency Of Indigenous Values, Philip P. Arnold

Syracuse Open

No abstract provided.


Above And Below, Kristen Brown Jan 2023

Above And Below, Kristen Brown

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

My recent graduate artwork uses abstraction of form to describe the intersection between humans and the environment while relating the landscape of our skin to the ever-changing qualities of the natural landscape surrounding us. The photographic material is stressed into three dimensional shapes, producing creasing and tears as it is being contorted by human impact. At the same time that I am creating something new, I am manipulating artifactual evidence of something that already exists in everyday life. This is akin to how our bodies are distorted by outer influence, as well as our own autonomy. Above and below the …


Influence Of Prescribed Burning On Coast Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirens) Forest Wildfire Resistance, Resilience, And Risk Of Repeated Fire, Sky B. Biblin Jan 2023

Influence Of Prescribed Burning On Coast Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirens) Forest Wildfire Resistance, Resilience, And Risk Of Repeated Fire, Sky B. Biblin

Master's Theses

Land managers need tools to mitigate wildfire proliferation in the western United States. Prescribed burning may be an effective tool to reduce wildfire severity and promote healthy landscapes. In 2020, a large-scale wildfire provided a rare opportunity to compare early postfire data between areas with and without a history of prescribed burning. Field data were collected approximately one year after a wildfire in fifty 20-meter plots from sites treated with prescribed fire in either 1999, 2007, or 2011 and fifty from sites without a history of prescribed fire. The influence of prescribed burning on forest resistance, resilience, and risk of …


Decentralizing The Electric Grid: Giving Power Back To The People, Nicole Chen Jan 2023

Decentralizing The Electric Grid: Giving Power Back To The People, Nicole Chen

Master's Theses

Societies across the globe are shifting away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy, resulting in significant changes to the electric grid. This clean energy transition is accompanied by transformative opportunities. However, the benefits of clean, reliable energy do not equitably accrue to all communities. In order to challenge and overcome the persistent social disparities that exist in the energy transition, energy justice must be a driving factor in energy planning and decision making. This research highlights metrics and parameters that should be included when considering deployment of community solar microgrids to advance a just energy transition. The results of …


Western Snowy Plover Dispersal In Response To Repeated Nest Loss In Monterey Bay, California, Esther A. Haile Jan 2023

Western Snowy Plover Dispersal In Response To Repeated Nest Loss In Monterey Bay, California, Esther A. Haile

Master's Theses

Western snowy plovers (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) breed and winter along sandy beaches and salt pannes of the Pacific coast of the U.S. and Mexico. Since 2015, the percentage of successful nests in Monterey Bay has declined due to predation. This study examines the site fidelity and dispersal of western snowy plovers after repeated nest loss using nesting data from 2013-2020 from a banded population in Monterey, California. Dispersal distance within a breeding season reflected plovers serially polygamous breeding strategy, with more site fidelity within a breeding season than between two breeding seasons. Nests lost to environmental causes having a 41.3% …


Combining Camera Trap And Fitness App Data Demonstrates That Mammals Change Behavior Near High-Use Bike Trails On Mount Tamalpais, Ca, Erin Rose Lacour Jan 2023

Combining Camera Trap And Fitness App Data Demonstrates That Mammals Change Behavior Near High-Use Bike Trails On Mount Tamalpais, Ca, Erin Rose Lacour

Master's Theses

Anthropogenic disturbance that results in habitat loss is the leading cause of the current extinction crisis. To mitigate loss of habitat, protected lands are dedicated to preserving ecosystems, but such areas often allow outdoor recreational activities. Research has shown negative impacts on a range of species from outdoor recreational activities, and there is little information about potential impacts of mountain biking on wildlife. Mountain biking and hiking tracking data from the social fitness app Strava Metro and data from a camera trap project in Marin County, CA, were analyzed to assess how mammal species’ spatial distribution, temporal activity, and richness …


Barn Owls (Tyto Alba) And Biodiversity Near Hemp Farms And Grasslands In Oregon, Usa, Lacey Brianne Thun Jan 2023

Barn Owls (Tyto Alba) And Biodiversity Near Hemp Farms And Grasslands In Oregon, Usa, Lacey Brianne Thun

Master's Theses

Extensive agriculture poses a major threat to biodiversity worldwide, although some species, such as the barn owl (Tyto alba), can thrive in many agroecosystems. Barn owls, the world's most widely distributed owl, provide rodent management, and their presence may be both an indicator of and support for ecosystem biodiversity. Little previous research documents the relationship between barn owls and adjacent crop attributes, however. In 2018, hemp (Cannabis sativa) was taken off the federal Controlled Substance Act list and permitted as an agricultural crop. Hemp is now rapidly increasing in extent in Oregon, USA. This research assessed the reproductive success and …


Conceptualizing The Construct Of Ocean Identity, Miriah R. Kelly, Jo-Marie Kasinak, Emma Mckinley, Caitlin Mclaughlin, Jamie M.P. Vaudrey, Jennifer Mattei Jan 2023

Conceptualizing The Construct Of Ocean Identity, Miriah R. Kelly, Jo-Marie Kasinak, Emma Mckinley, Caitlin Mclaughlin, Jamie M.P. Vaudrey, Jennifer Mattei

Biology Faculty Publications

The construct of ocean identity provides a valuable lens that can unpack the multiple dimensions of human connections with ocean spaces, and crucially places importance on the integration of cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. The construct of ocean identity is applicable in academic and professional contexts, and is largely unexplored from both qualitative and quantitative research perspectives. This comment article presents a revised definition of ocean identity and posits a useful conceptual framework based on a robust analysis of literature to unveil the multiple dimensions that may explain an individuals’ ocean identity. Here we identify a series of attributes that …


How University Students Are Taught About Sustainability, And How They Want To Be Taught: The Importance Of The Hidden Curriculum, Lucy Millicent Turner, Smitha Hegde, Indrani Karunasagar, Rebecca Turner Nov 2022

How University Students Are Taught About Sustainability, And How They Want To Be Taught: The Importance Of The Hidden Curriculum, Lucy Millicent Turner, Smitha Hegde, Indrani Karunasagar, Rebecca Turner

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Purpose: India is unique, having enshrined in law the teaching of sustainability education (SE) within all levels of formal education. This study aims to examine the integration and perceptions of SE within the higher education (HE) sector in India and identify any lessons that can be exported about the teaching of SE from the Indian HE environment. Design/methodology/approach: Focusing on a science-based teaching and research institute at a private university in India, a quantitative, cross-sectional study examined the extent to which SE was integrated into the university and how it was perceived by students and staff. Data were collected through …


Fragmentation Drives Dominant Plant Encroachment On A Horizontal Wastewater Treatment Levee, Joia S. Fishman May 2022

Fragmentation Drives Dominant Plant Encroachment On A Horizontal Wastewater Treatment Levee, Joia S. Fishman

Master's Theses

Urban coastal wetlands protect humans from sea-level rise while providing valuable habitat for wildlife. Degradation and loss of these wetlands threaten urban infrastructure such as wastewater treatment facilities. Nature-based adaptive solutions with the combined purposes of bioremediation, coastal defense, and habitat creation are being tested to make communities safer and more resilient. The current research examines a 6-year-old experimental horizontal levee at the Oro Loma Sanitary District in San Lorenzo, California. Using horizontal transects and quadrat sampling, I compare the success of two planting strategies – a wet meadow and a riparian scrub community – on an ecotone slope. I …


Evolutionary Dynamics Of Rapid, Microgeographic Adaptation In An Amphibian Metapopulation, Adam Zachary Andis Arietta Apr 2022

Evolutionary Dynamics Of Rapid, Microgeographic Adaptation In An Amphibian Metapopulation, Adam Zachary Andis Arietta

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Wild organisms can rapidly adapt to changing environments, even at fine spatial scales. This fact prompts hope that contemporary local adaptation may buffer some of the negative anthropogenic impacts to ecosystems. However, there are limits to the pace of adaptation. Understanding the adaptive potential—and limitations—of individual species at fine-resolution is an important task if we hope to accurately predict the repercussions of future climate and landscape change on biodiversity. My dissertation takes advantage of an uncommonly long-observed and closely-studied system to paint a comprehensive picture of evolution over time in association with shifts in ecological contexts. In this dissertation, I …


Ecosystem Structure And Function In Semiarid Drylands: Exploring The Effects Of Water And Nitrogen Availability In The Great Plains Of The Western United States, Christopher Beltz Apr 2022

Ecosystem Structure And Function In Semiarid Drylands: Exploring The Effects Of Water And Nitrogen Availability In The Great Plains Of The Western United States, Christopher Beltz

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

The global soil carbon (C) pool contains more than twice as much C as the atmosphere, and a large portion of terrestrial C as a whole. Within the global soil C pool, drylands contain 20% of the soil C, in addition to covering 40% of the earth’s surface. Because they are both widespread and a significant reservoir of C, drylands are an important component of the global C cycle. Despite the importance of drylands, ecosystem function can be difficult to predict, with drylands switching from a C source to sink on an interannual basis. This uncertainty in net C flux …