Partisan Divides In Environmental Spending Attitudes: A Two-Level Hierarchical Analysis, 1973-2022, Jordan Lipner

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Public attitudes toward environmental spending have become increasingly divided along party lines, with sharp shifts over the past five decades. This thesis updates and expands on Johnson and Schwadel’s 2019 study by applying a two-level hierarchical linear model to General Social Survey data updated to include data from 2015-2022, capturing how political affiliation, education, race, and economic context interact with broader political and economic contexts to shape environmental attitudes over time.
The results show that political affiliation remains the strongest and most reactive predictor of environmental spending attitudes. Republican respondents are significantly more likely to oppose environmental spending, especially under …

The San Francisco Bay Area’S Vulnerability To Sea Level Rise: Integrating Community Engagement And Equity Into Sea-Level Rise Adaptation Planning, Isabella Marie Carreon

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis examines the San Francisco Bay Area’s vulnerability to sea-level rise (SLR), highlighting the importance of equity and community engagement in adaptation planning. The study integrates geospatial data and qualitative community input using a GIS Story Map to identify Points of Interest (POIs)—such as schools, hospitals, and public transportation routes—and assess SLR vulnerabilities across social, economic, geographic, and contamination dimensions. Case studies, such as the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan, demonstrate the limitations of large-scale policies in accommodating diverse communities and highlight the effectiveness of community-driven strategies. The thesis also explores innovative approaches to community engagement in educational settings and …

From Feedlot To Floor Vote: ​​How Animal Agribusiness Wields Power To Capture The American State, Hannah Hughes

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis examines how large-scale animal agriculture operations exercise disproportionate political influence to shape regulatory policy in their favor, often at the expense of environmental protection and public health. Through analysis of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), this study demonstrates how the animal agribusiness industry has systematically captured regulatory processes at federal, state, and local levels. The research traces industrial animal agriculture's development in the 21st century and its environmental consequences. The analysis reveals significant gaps in federal oversight, examining how the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act have proven inadequate in regulating CAFO operations. At the state level, …

Environmental Justice & The Inglewood Oil Field Exploring The Intersection Of Race, Policy, And Pollution, Sarah Rendon

IdeaFest 2025

No abstract provided.

Unveiling The Environmental Impact Of Large Language Models On Indigenous Communities: A Call For Action And Liability, Nina-Simone Edwards

Library Scholarship

Large Language Models (LLMs) have rapidly gained popularity for their language generation and comprehension capabilities, promising increased efficiency in various sectors. However, while celebrated for their transformative potential, LLMs exacerbate current climate issues. This Article highlights the detrimental environmental footprint of LLMs, with a focus on their role in escalating climate change and their disproportionate effects on Indigenous communities. These communities, closely tied to their land, bear the brunt of environmental degradation, further aggravated by LLM-induced emissions.

This Article first dissects the interplay between environmental justice and technological innovation, advocating for a reevaluation of the trust relationship between tribal nations …

Grounded Practice: Leadership And Integrity In Complex Systems, Tonja Smith

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This portfolio presents the integration of advanced social work competencies developed through the Master of Social Work program at the University of Montana. Grounded in evidence-informed practice, the work demonstrates applied skills in assessment, intervention, group facilitation, policy practice, and interagency collaboration across rural and multidisciplinary settings. Artifacts highlight structured approaches to Batterer Intervention Groups, Domestic Violence Inventories, Family Group Conferencing, and Supported Education, with an emphasis on accountability, safety, and culturally responsive engagement.

The narrative analyzes how positionality, reflective practice, and cultural humility shape professional judgment, particularly when navigating structural inequities and conflicting system demands. The portfolio illustrates the …

Master Of Social Work Portfolio, Derek Thrush

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Msw Portfolio, Amy Sanders

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

MSW Portfolio through the lens of "otherness".

Msw Portfolio, Hailey E. Owens

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Msw Portfolio, Marie Nelson

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Msw Professional Portfolio, Samantha Elizabeth Chase

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Msw Portfolio, Steven Asire

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This work encapsulates my progression both throughout my time in the MSW program as well as my practicum and professional experience working in the mental health field. The portfolio applies past work and describes my progression from a micro lense in practice to a more holistic approach, including mezzo and macro levels of focus and how these progressions will influence my future work.

Social Work Professional Portfolio, Anthony Hoffer

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Daughter Of A Lost Bird, Susan J. Schwidde

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Spiriling Transcendence - The Integration Of Ideas, Ideals & Social Work Practice, Peter J. Donaldson

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

A Critical Juncture: The Convergence Of Natural Resource Management And Tribal Sovereignty, Anna Aleta Butterfield

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This portfolio reflects the work I’ve done in my four years as a dual degree student, pursuing a Master of Science in Environmental Studies and a juris doctorate degree, and focuses on policies and laws surrounding natural resource management. It touches on how those policies relate to and expand or constrict the exercise of sovereignty by indigenous populations.

This piece first considers the effects of plastic on salmon populations and those indigenous groups that rely on salmon for subsistence and cultural purposes. The remaining three pieces focus on various aspects of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes - Montana Water …

Aligning Practice With Principle: Institutionalizing Equitable Public Engagement In Hampton Roads, W. Derek Martin

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This plan assesses the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) and Transportation Planning Organization’s (HRTPO) current engagement processes through internal document reviews, national best-practice benchmarking, and key staff interviews. Among thee identified strengths of sound procedural compliance and deep staff commitment and agility, findings revealed three critical gaps: (1) limited decision-traceability, (2) inconsistent process evaluation, and (3) persistent constraints collectively impacting their geographic reach and efficacy of their Community Advisory Committee. To address these gaps, the study delivers the Community Engagement Compass—a five-dimension checklist (accessibility, quality, inclusivity, transparency, adaptability) that standardizes best principles such as equity metrics, real-time evaluations, …

Exploring The Role Of Government Funding And Policy Criteria In Greening Projects: A Case Study Of Southside Richmond, Destiny R. Brown

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

This thesis explores how government and private funding structures and policy criteria influence community-based organizations (CBOs) engaged in urban greening projects, focusing on Southside Richmond, Virginia through a case study of a local CBO. Using a multi-method approach including document analysis, secondary data review, and autoethnographic reflection, the research suggests a gap between visibility and influence for CBOs, showing that their decision-making authority often varies while they are publicly recognized. The study also reveals that public documentation of funders' community engagement is often performative or symbolic rather than structurally embedded in decision-making processes. In addition, funding remains a barrier, with …

Public Transportation As A Vehicle For Upward Mobility Of Women In Appalachian Virginia, Katy Miller

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Capstone Projects

Gender and geography are intersecting identities that can affect transportation access and therefore upward mobility. Mobility in rural areas is restricted by economic, temporal, and spatial limitations, as well as infrastructure accessibility. Gendered differences in mobility patterns influence the ability of women to utilize public transportation systems. There is a lack of consideration of rural women in transportation research and planning.

This paper seeks to understand the accessibility of public transportation systems in rural areas to women and how it can contribute to their upward mobility, by studying the Four County Transit system in Appalachian Virginia. Population demographics, current system …

Uri Undergraduate And Graduate Course Catalog 2025-2026, University Of Rhode Island

URI Course Catalogs Archive

This is a downloadable PDF version of the University of Rhode Island course catalog.

Examining State Climate Superfund Legislation, Madison Calhoun, Rachel Rothschild, Jonathan Binder, Elenda Mihaly, Justin Mankin, Ben Lippard, Mary Wood

Articles

There has been an influx of “climate superfund” bills introduced and adopted in state legislatures across the country. Modeled after the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), these laws are designed to recover costs from large emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to pay for climate adaptation infrastructure. Following CERCLA’s strict liability framework, major polluters in New York and Vermont would be required to pay into state-managed funds in proportion to their shares of total GHG emissions; California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Oregon have proposed similar bills. On March 19, 2025, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a …

Equity In Public Budgeting: Community Engagement In Morgan Hill, Ariana Perez

Master's Projects

Through this research, I will examine what citizen participation strategies have been implemented and their role and effectiveness in addressing wealth inequities. My research will explore these topics and examine what programs and policies the City of Morgan Hill can implement to increase residents' sense of belonging and ultimately push for greater social equity. My primary research question is, what are the programs and policies that the City of Morgan Hill can implement to engage immigrant communities, specifically Spanish-speaking residents, and low-income residents in shaping decisions around public investments and funding? This project will serve as a needs assessment to …

Transit-Oriented Development On Aquidneck Island: Considering The Costs And Benefits Of Restoring Passenger Rail Between Fall River, Massachusetts, And Newport, Rhode Island, Maeve M. Newton

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

This thesis considers the costs and benefits of restoring historic infrastructure as transit-oriented development on Aquidneck Island, and its potential to bridge social and economic gaps between the urban communities of Newport, Rhode Island, and Fall River, Massachusetts. There is a direct need for more robust public transportation on Aquidneck Island along with environmentally friendly planning initiatives, and reinstating the Newport Secondary Rail Line for passenger rail service to the new Fall River MBTA station is one important way for historic preservation to be utilized for the improvement of sustainability and socioeconomic equity in the region. Original research will be …

Environmental Health And Justice Impacts Of Data Centers, Yijing Li

Public Health Theses

Background: The rapid expansion in the number and size of data centers, structures that house servers, storage, and networking equipment, in the United States has raised concerns about their environmental and public health impacts as well as the equity implications of where these facilities are built. Objective: This study examined national patterns of data center siting and identified demographic predictors of facility presence. Methods: Operational data center locations were obtained from the Data Center Map database, and county-level sociodemographic characteristics were drawn from the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. A national spatial distribution map was created to visualize …

Period Poverty And The Politics Of Refusal: Building Menstrual Equity Beyond The State Through Mutual Aid, Alanah Armstead

Public Health Theses

This thesis examines period poverty as a consequence of systemic neglect, disproportionately affecting those made vulnerable by intersecting structures of racial, gendered, and economic injustice. Situating menstruation as a public health crisis shaped by policy failure, social stigma, and institutional disregard, this research critiques dominant legal and policy frameworks that approach menstrual equity through a limited scope that overlooks deeper structural inequalities rooted in race and class. This thesis explores how marginalized populations experience legal and welfare systems as sites of surveillance and moral judgment in the context of menstrual equity. Through seven semi-structured interviews with menstrual justice organizers, this …

Environmental Justice Dimensions Of Orphaned Oil And Gas Wells In The United States, Grace Marie Hauser

Public Health Theses

Orphaned oil and gas (O&G) wells can leak methane and other hazardous pollutants,contributing to air and water contamination that threatens public health while also imposing financial burdens on local governments and taxpayers for remediation. However, the environmental and public health impacts remain understudied, in part due to limited understanding of the number and location of orphaned O&G wells. In this thesis we aimed to (1) create a national orphaned wells dataset covering years through 2024, (2) estimate the count and distribution of orphaned wells in the United States through 2024, and (3) evaluate the association between community environmental justice (EJ) …

Environmental Gentrification And Health: An Exploratory Analysis Of New York City, Joyce Hu

Public Health Theses

Background: Environmental gentrification is an emerging field seeking to understand the integrated effects of environmental improvements and gentrification. To date, we have a limited understanding of how to analyze environmental gentrification with intersecting health impacts. Our exploratory study investigates this relationship in New York City, where environmental improvement policies coincided with gentrification between 2000-2016. Methods: Using a census tract-level index of gentrification and corresponding environmental exposure data on air quality and vegetation, we conducted a clustering analysis to group and label census tracts according to environmental gentrification patterns. We then performed covariate-adjusted multivariable regression analyses to evaluate the association between …

Exploring The Chemistry Of Wildfire Smoke: Leveraging High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry Approaches To Detect Chemical Signatures, Aline Grace Friesen Maybank

Public Health Theses

Background: Wildfire smoke is an increasingly important public health concern. While regulatory monitoring emphasizes fine particulate matter (PM2.5), wildfire smoke is composed of complex mixtures of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs and SVOCs), many of which are harmful to human health but are understudied.

Methods: Fresh Air Clips, passive chemical samplers, were deployed in Kamloops and Kelowna from March to September 2024 to measure VOC and SVOC concentrations before, during, and after the wildfire season. Chemical samples were analyzed using high-resolution mass spectrometry. PM2.5 concentrations, wildfire perimeters, wind direction and speed data, and HYSPLIT back-trajectories were integrated to classify …

Evaluating The Implications Of Class And Regional Stereotypes On Attributions Of Blame During Hurricane Helene: A Reflexive Content Analysis Of Tiktok, Abby Ong

Public Health Theses

Background and Objectives: Hurricane Helene devastated entire towns across the Southern and Appalachian U.S. Following the hurricane, people who lived in impacted regions were derided for their perceived failures in evacuating. Utilizing Bernard Weiner’s attribution theory of social motivation, this study sought to analyze potential implications of regional stereotypes on how people blamed or supported disaster victims. Primary objectives were to: (1) to analyze content regarding residents’ decisions to evacuate or not evacuate during the storm, (2) to document attributions of blame or support and how those experiencing the disaster and outside observers responded to these attributions, and (3) to …

Quantifying Ambient And Occupational Pollutant Exposure In Urban Street Vendors: Evidence To Inform Electrification Transitions In New York City, Bryn Redal

Public Health Theses

Food cart vendors in New York City face significant environmental health risks from exposure to extreme heat and air pollution, compounded by their reliance on fossil fuel-powered generators. Despite growing interest in electrification as a cleaner alternative, limited research has explored vendors' experiences with generator use, health concerns, and attitudes toward electrification. This study, conducted in collaboration with the Yale School of Public Health and the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice (MOCEJ), used a mixed-methods approach to assess vendor conditions and perspectives. Data were collected from 31 vendors across four NYC locations through structured interviews …