Digital Commons Network^™

Creating An Engaging And Ecocritical Project Based Curriculum For High School Environmental Science, Hannah Stewart

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question that inspired this curriculum project was: How can educators create an engaging and ecocritical project based curriculum for high school environmental science? This curriculum utilizes a project based learning framework, based on A Framework for High Quality Project Based Learning, in order to create an engaging curriculum for students in a high school environmental science class. Additionally, this curriculum incorporates themes of critical ecology. Critical ecology is a way of studying the environment that asks us to consider how our perceptions and attitudes toward the environment can perpetuate the environmental and social injustices we are facing in …

Folktale Friends: An After School Club Curriculum For Building Community And Cultural Competency, Abby Marta

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Folktale Friends is an after school club curriculum developed in response to the research question, how can global folktale studies be utilized to build cultural competence in the elementary setting? The curriculum and club Folktale Friends for students in grades two through four will help build safe, inclusive spaces where students can identify their own world-view, connect with others, and respectfully navigate cultural differences. Folktale Friends is designed using Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design framework (2005). Backwards design of Folktale Friends includes nine weeks of lessons, student materials, and lesson slides, recommended paired texts, and clear rubric for assessment. …

Groundwater Budgeting And Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Of Water Supply At Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Maximiliano Trujillo

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Water resources management is becoming increasingly complex in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, where the negative impacts of climate change and growing demand for a fully allocated river put further strain on diminishing water supply. The precarity of future water availability emphasizes the importance of fully accounting for existing water rights allocations and understanding how ever changing social and ecological processes might hinder those rights from being fully realized. This study aimed at improving knowledge of the groundwater budget at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico by utilizing experimental methods of Darcy Flow analysis to estimate groundwater flow …

Motivations And Barriers To Participation In Community Outreach And Engagement Among Environmental And Water Resources Students And Postdocs, Sydney Donohue

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

There is a need to utilize knowledge exchange avenues between academia and non-academic communities in order to advance environmental science and engineering education. Many universities and research centers attempt to enhance knowledge sharing by organizing broader impact outreach events such as lab tours, demonstrations, hands-on activities, and public presentations. Anecdotally, at two NSF-funded centers, the Transformation Network and Center for Water and the Environment, we have seen that only the same small subset of students and postdocs frequently participate while over 70% of those invited never volunteer. This study aims to survey environmentally-focused undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs’ motivations …

Arcadia Magazine, 2023-07

Alumni Magazine

No abstract provided.

Measuring Social Vulnerability And Exposure To Potential Risks Induced By Spaceport Operations In South Texas: An Empirical Study Utilizing Gis Methods And Social Vulnerability Indicators, Evan D. Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

The commercialization of space has increased spaceport development and activity across the United States. The magnitude of growth can be witnessed through the spaceport expansion and spacecraft testing at the SpaceX “Starbase” Launch Facility, located along the Texas-Mexico border. Matching the pace of SpaceX’s growth while evaluating levels of risk, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) diligently conducted a comprehensive Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA). While this assessment provides significant environmental impact data and risk analysis, much is left to understand regarding hazards and risk exposure to local communities. More specifically, research is needed to understand hazards associated with operational- and anomaly- …

Unlocking Population-Specific Treatments To Render Equitable Approaches And Management In Cardiovascular Disease (Upstream Cvd): African American Emerging Adults, Shannon Bright Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in America. African American people have disparate CVD outcomes, and African American emerging adults (AAEAs) aged 18-25 have CVD risk factors. This study aimed to examine the state of CVD risk factors in AAEAs, assess upstream and population factors in AAEAs attending a southeastern historically black college/university (HBCU), compare their perceived and objective CVD risk, explore their level of CVD knowledge, and examine responses when they learn their objective CVD risk.

Chapter 1 presents background literature on CVD in AAEAs and the research plan. Chapter 2 presents a newly synthesized situation-specific …

The Drug Policy Reform Act: Analyzing The Potential Future Of United States Federal Drug Policy, Justin Danziger

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Annotated Legal Bibliography

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Meet Me In The Middle: A Scoping Review On Understanding Adolescent Needs In Climate Communication, Gwendolyn Monica Hoff Anderson

Master's Projects and Capstones

The greatest effects of climate change are likely to be felt by youth. Young people are disproportionately affected by climate change due to their critical developmental stage and lack of power, and they experience both higher severity and prevalence of mental health issues related to climate change. Strong emotions have long been recognized as potential catalysts for action, or they may lead to paralyzing feelings of being overwhelmed. Climate communication is a critical tool to spark climate concern and encourage action. Activism, in turn, may help youth manage their anxiety about climate change. This scoping review examines emerging evidence on …

We’Re All In This Together: The Test For Carbon Dioxide Subsurface Trespass, Jacob Bryant

LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources

No abstract provided.

An Ounce Of Prevention: Liability Under Rcra And The Cwa For Industrial Toxic Releases During Hurricanes In Louisiana, Joshua M. Pruett

LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources

No abstract provided.

Walking The Talk? Jesuit Universities And Fossil Fuel Investments, Marinilka Barros Kimbro, Rubina Mahsud, Davit Adut

Journal of Management for Global Sustainability

The student-led fossil fuel divestment (FFD) movement urges universities to remove investments in fossil fuel firms from their endowment portfolios to inspire reductions in carbon emissions and help control climate change. This article explores the movement in U.S.-based Jesuit universities by documenting their endowment size, current divestment status, and rationale for or against divesting. These institutions held a total of US$13.8 billion in their endowments as of 2019, making their investment decisions relevant and material. The article in general examines the alignment of divestment actions with the commitments of Jesuit universities to environmental stewardship and social justice as expressed in …

Walking The Talk? An Examination Of The Investments Of Jesuit Universities In Fossil Fuel Firms, Marinilka Barros Kimbro, Rubina Mahsud, Davit Adut

Journal of Management for Global Sustainability

This article investigates perspectives that have been proposed as reasons both for and against fossil fuel divestment (FFD), paying special attention to the decisions that universities make concerning investments in their endowment portfolios. Arguments that have been advanced against FFD include its supposedly lower financial returns, lack of direct control over investments, reliance on financial advisors, high transaction costs, the need for market index funds that include the stocks of fossil fuel firms, and the institution’s fiduciary duty to increase returns. Arguments that have been advanced in favor of FFD include satisfactory returns from fossil fuel-free portfolios, risk reduction, the …

Monitoring Personal Exposure To Air Quality Gradients While Biking On An Elevated Urban Trail, Gavin D. Salas

DePaul Discoveries

Air pollution is a major global health concern, specifically as it relates to the human exposome. The EPA criteria pollutants, including particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and NO_x can have severe impacts on respiratory and cardiovascular health, particularly in populations with chronic illnesses such as asthma, those facing economic hardships and individuals who frequently spend time outdoors, such as bicyclists and runners. To understand the impact of air pollution on human health, it is essential to assess personal exposure. This study aimed to investigate personal exposure to air pollution levels while biking along …

The Influence Of Vehicular Traffic And Land Use Typology On The Spatial Patterns And Concentrations Of Soil Lead (Pb) In The Uptown Community Area Of Chicago, Andreas 'Dre' Harris

DePaul Discoveries

Lead (Pb) is a harmful element whose presence threatens the well-being of living organisms and their environments. There are higher concentrations and an increased risk of Pb exposure in areas that provide fewer natural pathways for Pb to accumulate into. In urban areas, the soil is one of the most common and available environmental sinks for Pb accumulation. This study examines the total soil Pb concentrations in relation to land-use types and average daily traffic volumes (cars/day) in each census tract in the Uptown Community Area of Chicago. This study provides insight into how land use and traffic volume may …

State Sequestration: Federal Policy Accelerates Carbon Storage, But Leaves Full Climate, Equity Protections To States, Gabriel Pacyniak

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—the UN’s expert science panel—has found that limiting climate change to prevent catastrophic harms will require at least some use of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) unless the world rapidly shifts away from fossil fuels and reduces energy demand. There is significant uncertainty, however, about the level of lifecycle GHG reductions achievable in practice from varying CCS applications; some applications could even lead to net increases in emissions. In addition, a number of these applications create or maintain other harms, especially those related to fossil fuel extraction and use. For these reasons, many environmental justice …

The Long And Winding Road To Carbon Neutrality: Can California’S Zero Emission Vehicle Survive The Twists And Turns Of The Legal System?, Erin Hudak

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

The effects of climate change are becoming more and more obvious every year, evidenced by extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and increased global temperature. In an effort to mitigate the damage caused by greenhouse gases, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a goal to have all new passenger vehicles sold in California be Zero-Emission Vehicles (“ZEVs”) by 2035. This Article explores the possible legal issues that California’s ZEV mandate faces now and may face in the future. First, California will likely face a federal preemption challenge under the Clean Air Act. Second, the California Air Resources Board’s authority to mandate …

Community Perceptions Of Procedural And Distributive Justice In Engineered Systems: A Case Study Of Community-Engaged Vehicular Electrification, Polly Parkinson, Fawn Groves, Emma Mecham, Amy Wilson-Lopez, Ivonne Santiago, Jennifer Ramos-Chavez

Teacher Education and Leadership Student Research

This study was conducted in the context of a near-port community in which vehicular electrification efforts were occurring. Electric vehicles (EVs) and their associated infrastructures—including charging stations and wirelessly charging roads—may redress environmental injustices near inland ports because they significantly reduce vehicular emissions that harm human health. However, if the sociotechnical infrastructures associated with EVs are not intentionally planned to bring benefits to historically minoritized communities, they run the risk of reproducing interrelated transportation, economic, and environmental injustices. Thus, this study sought to answer the following overarching research question: What factors contribute to, or hinder, procedural and distributive justice relative …

Front Matter And Table Of Contents

University of Miami Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ecology And Retribution: Blake, Tokarczuk, And Animal Rights, Kristina Isaak Powell

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk's 2008 novel, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, engages with William Blake's life and his writings on animal welfare and speaks to current conversations about multispecies justice in the environmental humanities. It argues, first, that in recognizing how this novel's protagonist, Janina, selectively reads Blake to rationalize retributive justice, readers should resist a tendency to mistake this character for Tokarczuk's ideal advocate for environmental ethics. Secondly, it asserts that legal scholars' division between retributive and restorative justice offers valuable framework for approaching both this novel and ongoing debates about …

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, Environmental Quality And Public Health, Suraj Ghimire

Economics ETDs

Using dairy farm data, this dissertation investigates the environmental and health implications of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in New Mexico. It seeks to answer three primary research questions: (1) the relationship between environmental justice indicators and proximity to dairy farms; (2) the overall health consequences of dairy air pollutants; and (3) the viability of implementing an anaerobic digester (AD) system as a potential solution to externality concerns while maintaining dairy farm economic sustainability.

The first study demonstrates that foreign-born populations and Hispanics disproportionately experience emissions from CAFOs, with living near dairy farms or in areas with elevated ammonia levels …

Improving The Land Trust Model’S Impact On Environmental Conservation In Northern California, Peter Talbot

Master's Projects and Capstones

For years, the land trust sector of California and much of the United States has operated with a dollars and acres mentality that has prioritized fundraising as a result of acreage protected. Within California, nearly 5.8 million acres of land have been protected by 132 land trusts throughout the state. To accommodate for the diverse cross-section of land and the many needs of the population, land trusts take on numerous shapes and sizes. A unique aspect of this diversity is the rich agricultural and natural spaces found throughout the state. This mix of land and variety of land uses has …

Front Matter And Table Of Contents

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

Three Students Earn Stevens Public Interest Fellowships, Seattle University School Of Law

News Center Articles

No abstract provided.

“Pool: A Social History Of Segregation Exhibition” Exploring Social Justice Through The Lens Of Water Safety Awareness And Art-Based Education, Angela K. Beale-Tawfeeq Ph.D., Mph, Tiffany Monique Quash Ph.D., Knolan Rawlins Ph.D., Victoria Prizzia, Miriam Lynch Ph.D.

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Art exhibitions, with a focus on water safety and drowning prevention, are rarely seen as a medium to address social justice and public health, or water safety awareness and drowning prevention efforts in communities. Globally, data have shown drowning is considered a “neglected public health threat” (World Health Organization, 2021, CDC, 2023). Additionally, reports have shown that across the globe there are demographic groups of people impacted by drowning, historical traumas, and social determinants, also impacting some communities that are at greater risk (WHO 2021, CDC, 2023). Although there are national and international efforts to address the importance of water …

From Austin To Santa Fe: Exploring The Prosecution Of Environmental Crimes Within Epa Region 6, Dr. Joshua Ozymy, Dr. Melissa Jarrell Ozymy

Natural Resources Journal

Criminal violations of environmental law are prosecuted by EPA and DOJ. Despite decades of such prosecutions, there has been relatively little analysis done towards understanding existing patterns in criminal prosecution of environmental crimes, especially on a regional basis. This article analyzes the 287 prosecutions which occurred in EPA Region 6 between 1983–2022, out of the 2,807 total environmental crimes prosecuted by all of EPA during that period. In the selected cases, defendants were cumulatively assessed with over $908 million in monetary penalties, 225 years of incarceration, and 1,032 years of probation. At 43 percent of the selected prosecutions, water pollution …

Case Note: Mind The (Federal) Gap: Nuisance Claims In The Tenth Circuit To Address Climate Change, Serafina Seluja

Natural Resources Journal

No abstract provided.

2023 Commencement Program, Commencement

Commencement Archives 2020-29

The complete program for Portland State University's Spring 2023 Commencement ceremonies:

College of the Arts: June 16, 2023, PSU Viking Pavilion

College of Urban and Public Affairs, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, School of Social Work, and the School of Business: June 18, 2023, Moda Center, Portland, Oregon

College of Education and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: June 18, 2023, Moda Center, Portland, Oregon

Exploring The Relationship Between Green Space And Academic Performance, Audrey Demeaux

University Honors Theses

A growing body of literature is exploring the possibility that the presence of green spaces near schools can work to improve academic performance. Research to date on the relationship between green space and academic performance has shown mixed results. However, some see incorporating green spaces into school layouts as a key alternative strategy for improving academic achievement in the United States. This paper adds to the emerging discourse on the relationship between green space and academic achievement by using open-source data to conduct a regression analysis exploring the possible relationship between green space near K-12 schools and SAT scores in …