Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding Landowner Perceptions: Enhancing Conservation Easement Adoption In Missouri's Priority Landscapes, Mckenna N. Thompson, Jennah I. Klein, Robin M. Rotman, Sonja A. Wilhelm Stanis, Gus C. Raeker, Michele D. Baumer

Faculty Publications

Conservation of private lands is essential for protecting open space, supporting ecosystems and species, preserving resources, and facilitating outdoor recreation. One tool for private land conservation is a conservation easement – a voluntary legal agreement where a landowner surrenders certain rights to use or develop their property. This study explores landowner perceptions of perpetual conservation easements in areas of high conservation value in Missouri, focusing on landowners without existing easements. Through interviews, four themes emerge containing both motivations and constraints: prior knowledge, land protection, regulations, and finance. Many landowners were unfamiliar with conservation easements or had misconceptions or misunderstandings. The …

Beyond Baseball: A Case Study On The Multipurpose Venue Management Practices Of Giants Enterprises, Collette Grace Madden

Experience Industry Management

The success of sports organizations no longer relies on team performance and game attendance. Giants Enterprises utilizes many guest engagement and destination development strategies to expand the brand reach of the San Francisco Giants. The purpose of this study was to examine how Giants Enterprises has positioned Oracle Park and Mission Rock as premier event destinations beyond baseball, with a focus on best practices in event diversification, experience design, and placemaking. A case study was conducted on Giants Enterprises to analyze what event diversification, experience design, and placemaking tactics were utilized as well as their effectiveness. The results of this …

Comprehensive Drought Analysis: Machine Learning-Based Meterological Drought Forecasting And Pca-Driven Agricultural Drought Monitoring., Bishal Poudel

Theses

Drought is a long-term natural disaster that affects many aspects of human life from health, water supply to ecosystems and agriculture. Drought’s occurrence and intensity has increased in recent years because of global warming, which urges for proper and accurate monitoring and forecasting of drought. For better understanding of droughts, this study uses two approaches. In first part, the study uses the historical temperature and precipitation data from period of 1960 to 2021 as input features for three different machine learning models – Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF). The research focuses on calculating …

Linking Climate And Demography To Predict Population Dynamics And Persistence Under Global Change., Jennifer L. Williams, Amy L. Angert, Aldo Compagnoni, Ali Campbell, Megan L. Demarche, Margaret E K Evans, Joshua C. Fowler, Amy M. Iler, Jenna A. Loesberg, Allison M. Louthan, Scott W. Nordstrom, Multiple Additional Authors

Publications, Reports and Presentations

Predicting the effects of climate change on plant and animal populations is an urgent challenge for understanding the fate of biodiversity under global change. At the surface, quantifying how climate drives the vital rates that underlie population dynamics appears simple, yet many decisions are required to connect climate to demographic data. Competing approaches have emerged in the literature with little consensus around best practices. Here we provide a practical guide for how to best link vital rates to climate for the purposes of inference and projection of population dynamics. We first describe the sources of demographic and climate data underlying …

Multi-Criteria Decision-Making For Sustainable Design: Stakeholder Prioritization And Methodological Comparison In Solar And E-Bike Applications, Swagath Madhu Gowda

All Theses

This thesis focuses on using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods to support sustainable product design by addressing the trade-offs between environmental, economic, and social goals. The research is presented through two studies that demonstrate how both subjective and objective decision-making approaches can guide sustainability evaluations.

The first study applies the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to assess residential solar panels by incorporating stakeholder perspectives from sustainability experts, end users, and industry professionals. Using Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) data, this study identifies how different stakeholder groups prioritize sustainability criteria and applies Aggregation of Individual Priorities (AIP) to combine their judgments. A one-at-a-time …

Assessing Statewide Programming In Wisconsin Environmental Education: The Role Of Culture And Community In Youth Development Programming, Jody Bauer, Robert Justin Hougham, Lily Gruenewald

Journal of Youth Development

Environmental education has the potential to serve as an accessible pathway for diverse learners to improve science achievement, but environmental education (EE) institutions must strive to create spaces that welcome and provide equitable learning outcomes for all students. Embedding cultural and community input, values, and relevancy can be an important component to supporting equity in educational spaces for diverse students. This research aims to identify the status and needs of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across environmental education institutions in the state of Wisconsin, and to identify areas of strength or improvement relating to pedagogy, process, and practice. A survey …

Toward An Anthropological Ecocriticism, Grant Mcmillan

Theses and Dissertations

Environmental storytelling has increasingly reckoned with concepts and assumptions about (N/a)ture inherited from the Western intellectual tradition. The late 2010s and early 2020s in particular have seen an explosion of fiction that interrogates the limits of these past ideas. Relatedly, ecocriticism of this period has entered a self-reflexive mode that has sought to deal with its own limitations while offering insights that may prove generative for a more general audience of environmentally minded readers. This project adds to ongoing ecocritical discourse by tracing a series of implicit affinities between the broad traditions of anthropology and environmental fiction through their shared …

The Hunga Volcanic Eruption Atmospheric Impacts Report, Simon Carn

Michigan Tech Publications

No abstract provided.

Exploratory Diver Geotechnical Equipment (Edge), Angel Villicana, Merrick Zellers, Erik Heuchert, Lucas Heuchert

Mechanical Engineering

The goal of this report is to showcase how our final Core Sampler design and prototype address the needs of Navy Divers. Geotechnical equipment for Navy divers has not been updated since the early to mid-1980s, resulting in imprecise and outdated sampling methods. The primary purpose of this project is to enhance, modernize, and redesign a tool to collect a minimally disturbed core sample of the seabed for geotechnical evaluation. This report presents the full development of our project from concept to verification and final outcomes. It begins with the statement of disclaimer, followed by a four-panel executive summary and …

The Depositional Environment Of The Triassic Cow Branch Formation, Dan River Basin Of Virginia And North Carolina Through Petrographic Study And Geochemical Analysis, And In Relation To Taphonomic Processes And Vertebrate Morphology, Gina M. Workman

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

The Upper Triassic Cow Branch Formation of the Dan River Basin, located in southern Virginia and northern North Carolina, has long captivated generations of geoscientists. Since the 1970s, researchers have sought to unravel the mystery surrounding the depositional environment of this ancient lake system. This world-class lagerstätte hosts a diverse assemblage of fossil fauna and flora, with a notable preservation bias toward fossil vertebrates, most prominently the archosauromorph, Tanytrachelos ahynis. The geology of the Cow Branch strata continues to evoke a persistent question: Are these sediments representative of a shallow or deep lake?

I undertook a petrographic and geochemical study …

Hyperspectral Indicators And Characterization Of Glyphosate-Induced Stress In Common Lambsquarters (Chenopodium Album L.), Mario Andrés Soto Valencia

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hyperspectral sensing enables detection of herbicide stress in weeds, but practical use requires strategies for redundancy control, rating variability management, and evaluator bias mitigation. This thesis evaluates common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) under glyphosate exposure, aiming to identify key wavelengths, construct vegetation indices, and improve injury modeling. Greenhouse experiments used dimensionality reduction methods (principal component analysis, Relief F, Bayesian discriminant analysis) to isolate 34 unique wavelengths from about 3,200 bands. Calibration data were collected 14 days after treatment (DAT) to support wavelength selection and model development, while data from 27 DAT were used for independent validation. Class comparisons across six statistically …

Drivers Of Faunal Communities In Isolated Wetlands: Local And Landscape Determinants Of Assemblages, Joshua Holbrook

All Dissertations

Ecological interactions such as predation are vital to shaping the distribution of organisms. For interactions to occur, organisms must undertake movement, such as dispersal, that places them in proximity to the organisms with which they may interact. Geographically isolated wetlands (GIW) are productive and biodiverse ecosystems, but little is known on broad geographic scales about the determinants of their fauna. Fishes have difficulty colonizing GIW, whereas amphibians and macroinvertebrates are adept overland dispersers – though they may be sensitive to top-down control by fishes. To better understand these phenomena, I sampled 10-20 wetlands each at nine regions in North and …

A Neutrosophic Mathematical Model For Evaluating Innovation Modes In Higher Arts Education, Lechen Dong, Yao Wu, Hao Chen

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Long-Term Influence Of Prescribed Burning On Subsequent Wildfire In An Old-Growth Coast Redwood Forest, Sky Biblin, Will Russell, Kate Wilkin

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background: Prescribed burning is an effective tool for reducing fuels in many forest types, yet there have been few opportunities to study forest resilience to wildfire in areas previously treated. In 2020, a large-scale high-intensity wildfire burned through an old-growth coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forest with a mixed land management history, providing a rare opportunity to compare early post-wildfire data between areas with and without previous application of prescribed burning. The purpose of this study was to analyze the differences between these two treatments in terms of tree mortality, stand structure, fuel composition, and post-wildfire regeneration. Field data were collected …

Educating For Impact: A Prosocial Marketing Approach To Foster Altruism Among Young Consumers, Bela Florenthal

Journal of Applied Marketing Theory

This study explores how a prosocial marketing intervention in a dual-enrollment course fosters altruistic values and emotional development among young consumers while deepening their understanding of cause-related and social marketing. Grounded in holistic and experiential learning, the project required students to engage in weekly acts of kindness, reflect on their experiences, and share their actions on social media to amplify impact. Thematic analysis of qualitative data collected over two academic years revealed personal growth driven by intrinsic motivation (e.g., belonging, self-esteem) and positive emotions (e.g., joy, pride). Students demonstrated greater social awareness and practical application of marketing principles through volunteering, …

Groundwater Arsenic Contamination In The Oro Grande Wash, Dalila Boice

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study investigates the distribution of naturally occurring arsenic in groundwater within the Oro Grande Wash in San Bernardino County, California. Depth-discrete groundwater quality data were collected over multiple years using nested and Westbay monitoring wells. Water quality results showed higher levels of arsenic in the deeper aquifers, ranging between 600 feet and 1,000 feet below ground surface. Arsenic levels in these regions reached as high as 66 µg/L. At roughly 800 feet and below, water quality data from the wells reveal that arsenic concentrations exceeded the 10 µg/L maximum contaminant level (MCL) in 87% of cases. These data provide …

Feasibility And Potential Of Electric Air Taxis For Long Distance Airport Access/Egress Trips, Atul Subedi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Getting to the airport is often one of the most stressful parts of a trip, especially for people who live far from the airport. In the United States, many travelers live more than an hour’s drive from a major airport, and their choices such as driving, using public transit, or paying for ride-hailing can be time-consuming, expensive, and inconvenient. A new technology, Electric Air Taxis (EATs), is being developed as a potential solution. These small, battery-powered aircraft could offer faster, cleaner, and more direct connections to airports. However, the success of EATs depends not only on the technology itself but …

Evaluating Energy Transition Winners And Losers: Are Algae Biofuels Desirable, Feasible, And Viable?, Michelle M. Arnold

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Climate change, environmental degradation, finite resources, and the uneven distribution of energy access all points to an urgent need for a global energy transition. But making that transition responsibly requires more than enthusiasm for “green” solutions—it demands careful evaluation of which energy sources are truly worth investing in. This dissertation develops a practical decision-making framework to help policymakers, scientists, and the public answer three foundational questions about any new energy technology: Is it desirable? Is it feasible? Is it viable? By systematically weighing public narratives, biophysical constraints, and patterns of innovation, the framework aims to prevent wasted time, funding, and …

Environmental Beliefs Among Evangelical Leadership, Jeffrey Stark

Dissertations

There has been consensus among climate scientists for over a decade about the reality of human caused climate change. Even with this consensus, the public understanding of this issue remains divided based on factors generally unrelated to the science. Evangelical Protestants are one group which consistently polls as more skeptical of climate change. This is true not only when compared to the general population but also when compared to other religious demographics. Most large-scale surveys of evangelicals assume the demographic to be a monolith and do not attempt to break the demographic down further. In this mixed methods study, we …

Mountain Communities During A Time Of War: A Case Study Of The Hutsul Region In The Carpathian Mountains Of Ukraine, Pavlo Rybaruk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the ethno-ecological technologies employed by the Hutsul people within the highland agrarian economy of the Carpathian Mountains. Over centuries, the Hutsuls have developed ethno-ecological technologies that maintain ecological integrity while supporting community livelihoods.

The study addresses three primary research questions: What are the most important ethno-ecological technologies of the Hutsul highland economy? How might these traditional ethno-ecological practices be applied to economic, agricultural, and tourism development in the Hutsul region? How might these traditional ethno-ecological practices be combined with contemporary approaches to encourage sustainable development in the region?

The research explores the devastating impact of the Russian …

Modeling Flood Risks For Small-Scale Coastal Watershed Across Shared Socioeconomic Pathway Scenarios, Sebastian Loschner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

Coastal flooding, driven by the mixture of natural processes and human activities such as precipitation, waves, sea level rise, and urbanization, remains a growing concern. While recent flood-risk studies use IPCC's Shared Socioeconomic Pathways with climate projections to assess future flood exposure, smaller coastal watersheds, < 120,000 acres, remain insufficiently studied. Projected sea level rise is expected to intensify these impacts in smaller systems, potentially causing more severe flooding than reported for larger watersheds. To address this gap, this study used the SRH-2D model integrated with Aquaveo's Surface-water Modeling System to simulate flooding in the lower Fish River basin, Alabama. A coastal watershed sensitive to both riverine and tidal influences. Simulations tested different sea levels based on SSP scenarios corresponding to low, moderate, and high emissions for the years 2050 and 2100. Results indicate that the midcentury scenarios remained even in inundation extent and volume, between 9.9-10.4% compared to the 2020 baseline, the latter scenarios had a wider range in results of between 25.9-50.3% compared to the same baseline. Across scenarios, the most vulnerable and inundated areas of the smaller coastal watershed were the narrow points where upstream flow convene with downstream backwater. These findings highlight the need for futuristic location-specific flood mitigation strategies.

Exploring Electric Bicycle Safety Performance Data And Policy Options For California, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Kevin Fang

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study was conducted as directed by California Senate Bill 381 (2023), which called for research to help policymakers develop effective laws and policy to support the twin goals of expanding electric bicycle use and protecting the safety of electric bicycle riders and other road users. The three major strands of findings presented in this report are (1) a review of how California and other states (and countries) regulate electric bicycle use, (2) a review of the electric bicycle safety literature, including original analysis of primary data on crashes, injuries, and deaths, and (3) strategies that the state could adopt …

Novel Approaches To Disinfecting Poultry Processing Wastewater For Reuse, Seth Olorunmijuwonlo Adesope

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water is an essential resource used in poultry processing, generating large volumes of foodborne pathogen-rich wastewater posing treats to public health. Treating poultry processing wastewater (PPW) is crucial for safe water reuse and sustainable development. Conventional disinfection methods like aerobic digestion and chlorination, although effective, impose considerable operational cost and generate harmful by-products. Integrated recycling systems such as advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) which destroy micro-organisms through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) present a promising opportunity for enhancing resources and sustainability. This study investigated the use of photo-electrochemical (PEC), specifically by combining electrochemical (EC) and photochemical (PC; Photosensitizer and …

The Effect Of Heat Treatment Duration On The Psychochemical, Mechanical, And Biodegradability Of Polyvinyl Alcohol/Gambir Extract Biocomposite Films, Ainul Kahfi Muhlasin, Poppy Puspitasari, Heru Suryanto, Diki Dwi Pramono, Dieter Rahmadiawan, Billie Jack Pasion

Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST)

This study investigates PVA-based films with the addition of gambir and heat treatment to improve the characteristics of the film. Methods include the synthesis of PVA film with gambir addition (0.5%), treated by heat treatment for 40 minutes and 60 minutes. The film was characterised by physicochemical, mechanical properties, and biodegradability. Data was analyzed using ANOVA with a significance of 95%. Results indicate that the surface of PVA/gambir films is smoother and more homogeneous as the heat treatment duration increases. New peaks of functional groups were identified after the addition of gambir at the C-C and C-O groups. After heat …

Reclaiming Relational Pedagogies: The Role Of Talking Circles In Decolonizing Higher Education Classrooms, Veneice Lacy

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This article explores the use of Talking Circles as a decolonizing pedagogical practice within higher education, grounded in Indigenous epistemologies and relational worldviews. Drawing on the works of Indigenous scholars such as Graveline, Wilson, Archibald, and Simpson, the article positions Talking Circles not merely as instructional strategies but as ceremonial, spirit-centered pedagogies that resist the Eurocentric hierarchical and individualistic norms of Western academia. Through autoethnographic reflection and student narratives from undergraduate and graduate education courses, the article demonstrates how Talking Circles foster relational accountability, ethical engagement, and transformative learning. By centering oral tradition, reciprocity, and communal learning, Talking Circles reconfigure …

Indigenous Invisibility: Gaps In Education About Indigenous Peoples Among Environmental Decision-Makers, Brittany D. Hunt, Ryan E. Emanuel, David E. Wilkins, Shelly H. Wilkins

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Millions of Indigenous people belong to hundreds of Tribal nations and self-determined communities throughout the United States. Many of these groups continue to steward lands and waters that have shaped their distinct cultural and political identities since time immemorial. Increasingly, environmental professionals acknowledge the need to respect, understand, and defer to Indigenous knowledge about Earth's stewardship, but substantial barriers prevent full realization of these goals. One deep-seated barrier is a widespread deficiency in basic education about Indigenous peoples. Education on Indigenous peoples in schools is often fraught with two problems: erasure and stereotypes. Thus, students who pursue environmental careers often …

Death Before Breath: Courts Should Add De–Escalation And Proportionality To The Graham Factors, Nakyshia Fralin

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

This paper examines Barnes v. Felix, a case recently before the Supreme Court, through a comparative analysis of various circuit courts’ applications of the Graham factors in use–of–force evaluations. Beginning with a historical overview of policing, the paper revisits the factual background of the case before delving into the Fifth Circuit’s analysis, known as the Moment–of–Threat doctrine. It then contrasts this approach with the broader “totality of the circumstances” approach, highlighting the differing judicial interpretations. Building upon these established frameworks, the paper proposes two additional factors aimed at promoting human life and safety. By introducing these elements, the analysis seeks …

Innovation Curse: The Wastefulness Of Technologies Believed To Mitigate Climate Change, Minh Hoang Nguyen, Valoree Gagnon, Thanh Tu Tran, Thi Mai Anh Tran

Michigan Tech Publications

Technological innovations are increasingly promoted as solutions to climate change. However, many innovations, including Carbon Capture and Storage, bioplastics, and glacier geo-engineering, suffer significant limitations from high costs, speculative efficacy, and adverse ecological consequences. Using Granular Interaction Thinking Theory (GITT), a transdisciplinary framework grounded in information theory, quantum mechanics, and mindsponge theory, in this study, we explain how such technological innovations become systemically favored despite their flaws. We introduce the concept of the “innovation curse,” which arises when institutional and cognitive filtering systems, operating under high informational entropy, default to familiar but ineffective techno-solutions while marginalizing Indigenous and Local Knowledges …

A Triple Bottom Line Analysis Of Food Waste-To-Bioenergy At California University Campuses: Social Enablers Break Down Economic Barriers, Anjali Sharma

Master's Theses

Greenhouse gas emissions from food waste (FW) and energy generation are two major hurdles to the climate crisis. Previous research shows that waste-to-energy systems may provide a solution to both these challenges, particularly at university campuses, due to their high FW generation and high energy needs. Despite this, few academic institutions in California, US, have adopted waste-to-energy systems, and campus-specific challenges and opportunities associated with these systems remain underexplored. For this study, I use an Environmental, Economic, and Social (EES) lens to document the current landscape of FW management and implementation of food waste-to-bioenergy at campuses in each of the …

Both Studying And Protecting Octopuses “On Their Own Terms”, Jennifer Jacquet, Janelle Kaz, Becca Franks, Christine Webb

Animal Sentience

Cephalopods – indeed, all animals – “must be seen on their own terms,” with respect for their autonomy and their ecological imperatives. This will provide greater scientific insight along with a more ethical and accurate understanding of minds beyond our own.