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Downy Woodpecker Habitat Suitability In Gourdneck State Game Area, Michigan, Emma Fojtik, Lisa M. Dechano-Cook

The Geographical Bulletin

This study examines the habitat suitability for the downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) for a parcel of land in Gourdneck State Game Area (GSGA), Kalamazoo County, Michigan. Land within GSGA has undergone habitat restoration from forest and shrub to savanna and prairie, intentionally excluding two parcels. This study took place on one of the excluded parcels. We used the Habitat Suitability Index Model created by the Fish and Wildlife Service to determine suitability. We measured basal area and number of snags in 0.4 hectares to determine the food and reproduction life requisites that are the basis of the Habitat Suitability Index …

Testing The Feasibility Of Dendrogeomorphic Studies In The Southeastern U.S. On Mt. Le Conte, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, U.S.A., Maegen L. Rochner, Henri D. Grissino-Mayer

The Geographical Bulletin

Dendrogeomorphic analyses of mass movement events have been sparingly conducted at sites in the western United States, and are especially uncommon in the eastern U.S. The goal of this study was to determine if southeastern tree species in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) record evidence of debris slides in their tree-ring record. Following initial reconnaissance on three debris slide scars on Mt. Le Conte in GSMNP, we performed preliminary dendrogeomorphic analysis on one of the slides, LC01. This slide is considered, although not thoroughly documented, to have occurred following a cloudburst on September 1, 1951. The identification of suppressed …

Volume 56-2 Complete Issue, Steven M. Schnell

The Geographical Bulletin

Volume 56-2 Complete Issue

Cover And Forewords, Steven M. Schnell

The Geographical Bulletin

Cover and Forewords

A Comparison Of North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program Output And Oklahoma Mesonet Observations: Precipitation And Temperature, Emma L. Kuster, Charlotte E. Lunday, Renee A. Mcpherson

The Geographical Bulletin

In this study, we compare precipitation and temperature model output from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) against observations from the 120-station Oklahoma Mesonet . Our goal is to better understand how well the combinations of global and regional climate models in NARCCAP represent the gradients, diurnal cycles, and seasonality of precipitation and temperature across Oklahoma . Although several studies have compared NARCCAP output to surface observations, this research is the first comparing regional climate model output with observations from such a rich source of quality surface observations . Our results showed that warm season precipitation was …

An Examination Of Abstract The Effect Of Building Compactness And Green Roofs On Indoor Temperature Through The Use Of Physical Models, Gon Park, Timothy W. Hawkins

The Geographical Bulletin

Green roofs provide energy and cost savings during summer by insulating buildings and therefore keeping them cooler . Most prior studies have used only roof area to calculate the energy savings of green roofs . T his study observed four physical models for 54 days to ascertain how building geometry and compactness impact indoor temperature on buildings where a green roof has been installed . Indoor temperature was decreased due to green roof implementation by 8 .1°C on a less compact building compared to 4 .6°C on a more compact building . These results are more apparent on warm days …

Quantifying Forest Structure Within Two Managed Units In Rock Cut State Park, Dustin P. Bergman, David Goldblum

The Geographical Bulletin

The 1251 ha Rock Cut State Park (RCSP) is the largest state park in northern Illinois . Over the past 56 years, management practices have included prescribed burning, regular mowing, and tree plantings . Specifically, we sought to quantify the species composition, age structure, and light environment in two management units within the park . The first unit (campground) was last burned in 2009 and is comprised of primarily small trees; the second unit (Willow Creek Natural Area – WCNA) is more open and relatively undisturbed with larger trees . To assess these two units we used several methods, including …

Growing Local Food Movements: Farmers’ Markets As Nodes For Products And Community, Martin Aucoin, Matthew Fry

The Geographical Bulletin

Throughout the United States, there is a fast growing movement centered on locally produced food . Consumers, farmers, and farmers’ markets are central components of this local food movement . In this study, we examine the local food movement in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex (DFW) and use farmers’ markets to understand DFW’s developing local food system and foodsheds . We also analyze how notions of place and community are manifest in DFW’s local food system . Research methods include interviews with farmers, customers, and farmers’ market coordinators and an analysis of the spatial distribution of three farmers’ market networks in …

Cover And Forewords, Steven M. Schnell

The Geographical Bulletin

Cover and Forewords

Volume 56-1 Complete Issue, Steven M. Schnell

The Geographical Bulletin

Volume 56-1 Complete Issue

Global Information Society: Technology, Knowledge, And Mobility By Global Information Society: Technology, Knowledge, And Mobility Wilson, Mark I, Aharon Kellerman, And Kenneth E Corey Rowman & Littlefield, Jessica Breen

The Geographical Bulletin

Global Information Society: Technology, Knowledge, and Mobility authors Mark I . Wilson, Aharon Kellerman and Kenneth E . Corey are very clear in their intentions for this book: to “empower its reader to understand the complexities of the networked global information society and to use that understanding to promote awareness and to positively effect change .” That this work is intended to facilitate the work of practitioners in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) development is a point the authors frequently return to throughout the text, but students of the field will also find this book highly useful

Influence Of Academic Abstract Variables On Geospatial Skills Of Undergraduate Students: An Exploratory Study, Kanika Verma

The Geographical Bulletin

Spatial thinking and learning are essential components of geography education . The National Research Council’s 2006 report “Learning to Think Spatially” emphasized that people vary with respect to performance on spatial tasks . This pilot study at a large Texas university investigated geospatial thinking variances among undergraduate students based on academic experience of students . T his exploratory study uses the Geospatial T hinking Survey (GTS), based on the Spatial T hinking Ability Test (STAT) endorsed by Association of American Geographers (2006) and published by Lee and Bednarz (2012), to assess the geospatial thinking differences of undergraduate students . The …

Compassionately Hidden: The Church Telling Local Homeless To “Come To Our House”, Robert Oliver, Matthew Robinson, C. Theodore Koebel

The Geographical Bulletin

In early 2011, the To Our House (TOH) thermal shelter program opened its doors to homeless men in the New River Valley Area (NRV) of Virginia . The program was a grass roots response to the death of a wellknown local homeless man and the goal of the program is to provide winter shelter for single adult men by using rotating host sites at local churches . We highlight that in the NRV local churches have sought to remedy a socially unjust situation by providing shelter for men that was previously unavailable . We illustrate that faith-based outreach in the …

The Right To The City In The Informal Sector: Claiming Rights Or Gaining Access In Kampala, Uganda?, Matthew F. Pietrus

The Geographical Bulletin

In the developing world, the vast majority of urban poor have been marginalized from their cities, denying them what Henri Lefebvre called the right to the city . In response to this denial, many turn to the informal sector as a means to claim access to space and to the economy . However, using interviews from citizens participating in the informal sector in Kampala, Uganda, this paper argues that while the informal sector provides access to socioeconomic benefits (which is positive), it cannot guarantee them as rights because all activity taking place within it is unprotected and therefore easily and …

Undergraduate Student Process Reflections On Utilizing Photovoice To Learn Principles Of Feminist Research, Rachel C. Ormsbee, Ashtyn Winchell, Jenny English, Allie Martian, Molly L. Craig, Nikki M. Michaels, Amanda Haab, Abigail Girardot, Lauren Winter, Penelope Reed, Clare J. Hendricks, Alison Gaarsland, Elizabeth H. D'Amico, Alysah K. Southworth, Lilyanna Blevins, Tricia Saam, Genevieve R. Cox

Feminist Pedagogy

Photovoice is a qualitative research method often applied within participatory action research (PAR). Photovoice centers on the experiences and perspectives of its research participants, who capture photographs and develop narratives highlighting their communities’ strengths and concerns from their individual lens. Due to its connections with and development from feminist theories, Photovoice offers pedagogical potential in teaching feminist research principles. This article explores student process reflections on the application of Photovoice as a qualitative investigative method in an undergraduate capstone course where students act as the researchers. Integral to the course was the analysis of existing research, critical discussion, and Photovoice …

Youth Dignity Takings: How Book And Trans Bans Take Youth Property And Dignity, Sarah M. Camiscoli, Paige Duggins-Clay, Maryam Salmanova, Ibtihal Chamakh

Loyola Interdisciplinary Journal of Public Interest Law

This article practices Participatory Law Scholarship and Movement Law to engage Marginalized and Mobilized Youth in legal scholarship and to elevate their resistance against book bans and trans bans. Together, we—a legal scholar-practitioner, frontline movement lawyer, Youth community legal worker, and law student-activist—make the positive claim that book bans and trans bans constitute a dignity taking—a state action that takes property from a marginalized group and dehumanizes and infantilizes that group in the process. Further, we make the normative claim that legal advocates committed to repairing the deprivations of these bans and bills must attend to both the material loss …

Regulating Digital Platforms Through Sanctions, Michelle Miao

Washington International Law Journal

This article, theoretically and empirically, articulates the rising role of criminal law as a regulatory tool of China’s digital platform economy. This unique Chinese model of digital platform governance is described as “regulation through sanctions.” Through a comprehensive survey of a wide range of digital platforms— e.g., financial fundraising platforms, e-commerce, taxi-hailing, and video-sharing platforms—and criminal cases involving such platforms, I reveal the logic of regulation through sanctions: It shifts state regulatory burden and accountability, redistributes risks and responsibility, and enhances political legitimacy. Compared to the direct regulatory model adopted by European countries and indirect, self-regulatory model employed in the …

Current And Emerging Trends In The Management Of International Disasters, Laura M. Phipps, David A. Mcentire

Mavs Open Press Open Educational Resources - Archive

This edited book examines major problems facing the international disaster community as well as innovative solutions to global emergency management, focusing on the current and emerging trends in disaster management that cross geographic, social, and political borders.

Forest Defoliation By And Invasive Outbreak Insect: Catastrophic Consequences For A Charismatic Mega Moth, Richard L. Lindroth, Mark R. Zierden, Clay J. Morrow, Patricia C. Fernandez

Aspen Bibliography

Earth is now experiencing declines in insect abundance and diversity unparalleled in human history. The drivers underlying those declines are many, complex, and incompletely known. Here, using a natural experiment, we report the first test of the hypothesis that forest defoliation by an invasive outbreak insect compromises the fitness of a native insect via damage-induced increases in toxicity of the forest canopy. We demonstrate that defoliation by the invasive spongy moth (Lymantria dispar) elicits an average 8.4-fold increase in foliar defense expression among aspen (Populus tremuloides) genotypes. In turn, elevated defense dramatically reduces survivorship, feeding, and …

The Spatial Distribution Of Skills And Local Labor Market Resilience, David H. Nason, Heather M. Stephens

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

This paper examines the impact that occupational skill endowments had on employment resilience to the COVID-19 shock. U.S. rural counties with more employment in industries requiring high cognitive skills were less vulnerable to the COVID shock, while those with higher endowments of employment requiring people skills had stronger recoveries. Importantly, since these results were primarily driven by rural counties, we document heterogeneous impacts of skill endowments on resilience across the rural-urban continuum. Descriptive analysis also suggests that migration to high people skill intensive counties may have contributed to these stronger recoveries.

How Can Dei Training Change The Culture Of An Organization To Achieve Belonging And Retain Diverse Employees?, Kaisa S. Holt

University Honors Theses

Studies show the need for innovation and higher productivity yields can be best achieved through workforce heterogeneity. Creating effective DEI training frameworks is crucial for belonging, sustainable social well-being and enacting real change. This is key to proactively shifting our current system from one that responds to the need for DEI on a surface level to something that is regenerative. The aim of this review is to evaluate characteristics and enhancements added to evidence-based DEI training between 2020 and 2024. Studies were identified using the Portland State advanced database of academic journals on the DEI training and impacts of the …

The Impact Of Delaying Early School Tracking On Fertility And Marriage Outcomes, Serena Canaan

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper studies how the type of education pursued at an early age affects family formation. I focus on a French reform that delayed the age of which students were tracked into either general or vocational education from age 11 to age 13. For the most part, tracking was replaced with grouping students into classrooms based on ability, but within a common general education curriculum. Using a regression discontinuity design, I show that the reform increased the likelihood of attaining a technical rather than a vocational degree, especially for individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds. This indicates that the reform led …

An Assessment Of Drinking Water Equity In South Carolina: Access, Affordability, Quality, And Private Well Resources, Catherine Lippert Min

Theses and Dissertations

Universal access to good quality, affordable drinking water is a goal that has not yet been reached in the United States. Recently, national studies have investigated drinking water burdens including lack of access to complete plumbing, unaffordability, and poor quality individually. However, no study has examined all of these drinking water burdens together to identify communities facing multiple burdens. This study addresses this gap by analyzing disparities in access to complete plumbing, affordability of public water sources, and drinking water quality of community water systems in South Carolina and identifying communities that face multiple burdens. This study also provides the …

Exploring Heat Variations In Columbia, South Carolina, Michael Graeme Hohlfeld

Theses and Dissertations

As the leading cause of weather-related fatalities in the United States, the concept of heat as a hazard has been studied for decades, especially in the urban environment. Urban heat island research is limited by the fact that most investigate land surface temperature rather than air temperature and other variables that affect human comfort including humidity. This thesis utilizes a public network of weather stations in Richland County, South Carolina to investigate differences in heat between the city of Columbia, and more rural parts of the county. The study period was June, July, and August of 2022. Results indicate that …

Exploring Successful Strategies For Small Business Owners’ Access To Financing, Emmanuel Innocent

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Considered the drivers of innovations and the engine of the economy, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) represent 99% of U.S. firms. However, nearly 80% of SMEs fail in their 1st year of operation, causing substantial financial hardship to the small business owners and significant loss of tax revenues to local and federal governments. Grounded in the theory of planned behavior, the purpose of this qualitative, pragmatic inquiry was to explore successful strategies that some small business owners use to gain access to financing for their businesses. The participants comprised six small business owners in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, who …

How Do Doctoral Students Perceive Supervision? Lessons Learned From Indonesia, Elok Putri Nimasari, Syihabul Irfan, Ariyanti Ariyanti, Ahmad Iklil Saifulloh

The Qualitative Report

Theorised in Vygotskyan sociocultural and Bakhtinian dialogical perspectives, this article addresses Indonesian postgraduates’ perceptions of their doctoral supervision for their thesis proposal. Twelve Indonesian doctoral students participated in this interpretative phenomenology study. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews lasting eight months. Drawing on interpretative phenomenological analysis, the findings identified four micro themes of sociocultural and dialogical theory (i.e., shared expertise, critical dialogue, constructive feedback, and encouraging diverse perspectives). The present study contributed empirical evidence on how doctoral students benefit from their supervisory process in sociocultural and dialogical perspectives embedded with different supervisory dimensions.

Reducing The Incidence Of Frequent Hospital Readmissions In Veterans Population, Dasari Reddy

Student Scholarly Projects

Practice Problem: Veterans hospital readmission problems are challenging, specifically in the heart failure department, which severely impacts the patient's health, mortality, family, and quality of life. Frequent readmissions increase the usage cost, hospital budget, and loss of time from providers to other veterans, and failure to meet the key guidelines of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid for improvement.

PICOT: The PICOT question that guided this project was, in veterans with heart failure and one or more frequent hospital readmissions discharged in the last 30 days(P), does the appointment of a dedicated discharge nurse practitioner as a coordinator(I), compared to …

The Use Of Space And Place In The Civil Rights Discourse Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Pamelia Adams

Communication Theses

This thesis, The Use of Space and Place in the Civil Rights Discourse of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., analyzes the academic literature on the social change agent. The study provides a deeper understanding of the relevance of place/location, where Dr. King delivered his civil rights message nationally and internationally. Three historically significant sites and the events impacting the civil rights movement, in the cities of Washington, D.C. and Birmingham, Alabama, are examined. The three sites included in Chapter 2: The Jail Site, Chapter 3: The Bombing Site, and Chapter 4: The March Sites as examples. The main findings of …

Socio-Historical Construction And Representation Of Space In The Schieffelin Expedition, Simon G. Kerscher

Arctic and Northern Studies

America’s continental expansion tells a story of conquest coined by settlers and supported through natural resources that Indigenous peoples used sustainably since time immemorial. Exploratory prospecting ventures and their tools of achievement are at the forefront of bringing about change to these landscapes gazed upon by the rapacious nation. For prospectors like Edward Schieffelin, remote spaces, such as the interior of Alaska, exert a daring pull to strike it rich or find self-discovery in nature. Schieffelin’s expedition employed and introduced new technologies - the sternwheeler and dry plate photography, allowing for the integration of Alaska's interior into the nation's commercial …

Exploring The Covid-19 Infodemic In Alaska, Emily Maxwell

Interdisciplinary Studies

The onset of the COVID-19 global health crisis coincided with an unprecedented rise in health misinformation and false narratives related to the disease. This simultaneous spread of accurate and inaccurate information, referred to as an infodemic, has had observable impacts on the trajectory of the pandemic and the future of public health. While health misinformation has been a factor in previous outbreaks, the increased prominence of social media as an information platform allowed misinformation to spread more widely and rapidly than ever before. This investigation aims to assess the impacts of COVID-19 misinformation in Alaska using a mixed methods approach. …