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Articles 1 - 24 of 24
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Gavel And The Camera: Environmental Law And Photojournalism's Relationship To Appalachian Identity, Emily S. Patton
The Gavel And The Camera: Environmental Law And Photojournalism's Relationship To Appalachian Identity, Emily S. Patton
Honors Theses
Both the federal government and photojournalism have played a substantial role in the “othering” of Appalachia while simultaneously attempting to save it. Examining both institutions demonstrates the exploitative processes that alter the perception of rural communities and their surrounding environment. Stacey Kranitz’s archival exhibit, As It Was Give(n) To Me, internalizes this precarious role of the camera in a region heavily journalized. By inhabiting the area for years, establishing close relationships, and researching the documented history of Appalachia, Kranitz’s work becomes her livelihood in the dissolution of profession vs. personal. She is critical of past projects whose objective portrayal of …
Impacts Of Stream Habitat Restoration On Macroinvertebrate Assemblages: A Systematic Literature Review, Morgan E. Seitzer
Impacts Of Stream Habitat Restoration On Macroinvertebrate Assemblages: A Systematic Literature Review, Morgan E. Seitzer
University Honors Theses
Globally, river restoration has become a popular tool for improving the health of a watershed and restoring ecosystem services, but still has significant knowledge gaps. In certain areas and scientific communities, special attention has been given to the response of macroinvertebrates as a measure of restoration success. This systematic literature review aims to highlight and discuss the patterns in studies that have comparable before-and-after restoration data on macroinvertebrates after reconnecting stream channels to their floodplains. Macroinvertebrate sampling is a simple if not time-consuming task that can reveal important data about habitat quality. Because they serve as an important food source …
Extended Producer Responsibility: Successes, Failures, And The Future Of Oregon Recycling, Zoe Vandal
Extended Producer Responsibility: Successes, Failures, And The Future Of Oregon Recycling, Zoe Vandal
University Honors Theses
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a waste management program used globally to improve the recovery, recycling, and management of solid waste materials. There are three types of EPR programs defined by their target materials: electronic and electrical waste (WEEE) EPR, hazardous waste EPR, and packaging EPR. Europe has implemented all three types with relative success. The US has implemented WEEE EPR and hazardous waste EPR and is currently in the process of implementing packaging EPR on a state scale in Oregon, California, Colorado, Maine, and Maryland with 10 more bills being introduced in 2024 alone. Oregon's EPR program will be …
An Inventory Of Tidal Marsh Restoration Opportunities In Humboldt Bay And Their Impact On Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Nicholas Rowlands
An Inventory Of Tidal Marsh Restoration Opportunities In Humboldt Bay And Their Impact On Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Nicholas Rowlands
Master's Projects and Capstones
Blue carbon ecosystems like tidal marshes, mangroves, and seagrass are efficient carbon sinks that release minimal methane under saline conditions. However, coastal wetlands globally are under threat, and on the U.S. West Coast some 85% of historic tidal wetlands have been lost. As such, there is increasing interest in their restoration as a necessary climate mitigation strategy. This GIS analysis identifies potential tidal marsh restoration sites in Humboldt Bay, California, and estimates the post-restoration greenhouse gas benefits. An elevation-based model of Humboldt Bay’s full estuary extent developed by West Coast researchers was combined with data from the California Aquatic Resources …
Evaluating The Impact Of Wildfires On Mixed Conifer Forest Regeneration And The Effectiveness Of Usfs Management Strategies On Restoring Ecosystem Services, Wyatt Farino
Master's Projects and Capstones
Wildfires are increasing in frequency, duration, and severity across Western North America. 20,438,720 acres (20.1%) of California has burned at least once since 2010. Projections suggest a statewide increase in burned area between 36% and 74% by 2085, with some forested areas in Northern California exceeding 100% in all modeled scenarios. Fire regimes have deviated far from their historical norm, significantly increasing the risk of type conversion from forest to other ecosystems. Californians rely on the myriad of ecosystem services produced by these forests to meet their basic needs. Access to these fundamental services will be severely reduced if appropriate …
Innovative Rate Design As A Free Market Solution To Climate, Resiliency, And Economic Challenges, Brendan J. Moore
Innovative Rate Design As A Free Market Solution To Climate, Resiliency, And Economic Challenges, Brendan J. Moore
University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations
A century-old problem of electricity rate design is cost-shifting between ratepayers (Wellinghoff, J. & Tong, J., 2015). A much newer cost-shifting example of great and increasing importance happens whenever ratepayer generated “renewable energy” is sold to the grid—all too often, this is accused of being unfairly rewarded (Ritchie, 2016). ProRate resolves both these concerns and ProRate can actually be derived simply from the premise of avoiding “all” cost shifts between ratepayers (Katz, CLEPm Rewards to Arrest Demand Cost-Shifting, 2019; Katz, CLEP5 Rewards to Arrest Energy Cost-Shifting, 2019). Another major problem with the Old Utility Model is the lack of price …
The Effect Of Agrivoltaics On Irrigation Water Consumption In Central California, London Camba
The Effect Of Agrivoltaics On Irrigation Water Consumption In Central California, London Camba
Undergraduate Theses
An agricultural system where solar energy generation and agricultural systems are used together for mutual benefit, agrivoltaics reduces loss of water due to evaporation, particularly in drylands. Central California has faced extreme droughts, and water has become a scarce resource. However, the wide-scale use of agrivoltaics has been limited due to lack of knowledge about agrivoltaics and also the lack of funding for start-up agrivoltaics projects. Therefore, this research investigated the potential for agrivoltaics in Central California to reduce irrigation water consumption using a review of multiple crop studies using agrivoltaics to determine an optimal crop for agrivoltaics and a …
Navigating Murky Waters: State-Level Strategies For Wetland Preservation And Tile Drainage Regulation After Sackett V. Epa, Caleb M. Swanson
Navigating Murky Waters: State-Level Strategies For Wetland Preservation And Tile Drainage Regulation After Sackett V. Epa, Caleb M. Swanson
Honors Thesis
Wetlands are some of the world’s most valuable ecosystems, serving as provisioners of species habitat, carbon sequestration, flood mitigation, water quality purification, and other ecosystem services. Human development has resulted in substantial wetland loss the world over. In the 1970s, the United States Congress passed the Clean Water Act, giving the EPA broad authority over wetland protection. However, in the summer of 2023, the United States Supreme Court decided Sackett v. EPA, limiting the EPA’s jurisdiction over wetlands to those indistinguishably connected to generally recognized “Waters of the United States” and removing federal protection for millions of acres of wetlands, …
Ecology And Conservation Of Diamondback Terrapins In Virginia, Cypress Ambrose
Ecology And Conservation Of Diamondback Terrapins In Virginia, Cypress Ambrose
Undergraduate Honors Theses
The diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) is the only turtle species native to North America with specific morphological and physiological adaptations to estuarine environments. Along with many other pressures contributing to population declines, terrapins frequently become trapped and drown as bycatch in crab pots used in the commercial and recreational blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) fishery. A wealth of evidence supports the use of inexpensive bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) that can be attached to the entrances of these traps, which leads to a marked decrease in terrapin bycatch while not reducing crab catch dramatically. Virginia is the only …
Beavers, Hydrology, And Wapato: A Baseline For Monitoring Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Justine Casebolt
Beavers, Hydrology, And Wapato: A Baseline For Monitoring Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Justine Casebolt
Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports
Located in the lower Columbia River floodplain, Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a unique landscape with a complex land use history. For thousands of years, Indigenous tribes lived on this land. In the early 1990s, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acquired the land, after it was identified as a mitigation site following the construction of the Bonneville Lock and Dam. Franz Lake Refuge was once known for its prevalent Wapato (Sagittaria latifolia) population, an emergent plant with edible tubers and an important food source for Indigenous people. With specific growth requirements and hydrologic conditions for germination and …
Use Of Unoccupied Aerial Vehicle (Drones) Based Remote Sensing To Model Platform Topography And Identify Human-Made Earthen Barriers In Salt Marshes, Joshua J. Ward
Masters Theses
Elevation is a foundational driver of salt marsh morphology. Elevation governs inundation and hydrological patterns, vegetation distribution, and soil health. Anthropogenic impacts at grand scales (e.g., rising sea levels) and local scales (e.g., infrastructure) have altered the elevation of the salt marsh surface, changing the topography and morphology of these ecosystems. This study establishes and assesses means to document and analyze these impacts using Unoccupied Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based remote sensing to model platform topography. This thesis’s first and primary study presents and compares methods of producing high-resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) with UAV-based Digital Aerial Photogrammetry (DAP) and Light …
If You Build It, Will They Come? Assessing Habitat Quality For Marsh Birds At Created Marshes In Southeastern Louisiana, Katherine Aylett Lipford
If You Build It, Will They Come? Assessing Habitat Quality For Marsh Birds At Created Marshes In Southeastern Louisiana, Katherine Aylett Lipford
LSU Master's Theses
Wetland loss occurs at an alarming pace globally, with extremely high rates along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana loses a football field of wetland every 100 minutes: that is 77,000 m2 of wetland bird habitat lost daily. In Louisiana, marsh creation projects combat wetland loss, and while wildlife habitat is often used as a justification for restoration, wildlife receives little to no consideration during and after construction. Habitat characteristics such as site-specific hydrology, vegetation composition, and habitat structure affect the abundance of wetland birds and understanding these features is crucial to creating habitat that will benefit birds. My …
Evaluating Land Cover Change And Opportunities For Bioenergy Crop Development On Surface Mine Sites In West Virginia, U.S.A., Kenzie D. Kohrs
Evaluating Land Cover Change And Opportunities For Bioenergy Crop Development On Surface Mine Sites In West Virginia, U.S.A., Kenzie D. Kohrs
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Surface mining can impact land cover, forests, and water quality. Current reclamation strategies include revegetation with herbaceous species due to the ease and speed of cover establishment. Herbaceous and woody biomass crops have been used in various studies to reclaim surface mines and act as an alternative to nonrenewable energy sources. The objectives of this study were to quantify the state of vegetation growth on former surface mines in West Virginia over a 9-year period and identify suitable acreage for bioenergy production. During 2011 to 2020, we found that over 40,000 acres had been converted to forest and 40,000 acres …
Using Environmental Dna Methods For Estimating Juvenile Chinook Salmon Abundance, Jacqueline Marie Bridegum
Using Environmental Dna Methods For Estimating Juvenile Chinook Salmon Abundance, Jacqueline Marie Bridegum
Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects
In the Central Valley of California, stocks of Chinook Salmon are declining, and two out of the four ecotypes of Chinook Salmon within the Sacramento River system are federally listed. A monitoring network has been developed to estimate the abundances of downstream migrating Chinook Salmon smolts, but there is high uncertainty in these estimates due to low catch rates. Environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring, which involves capture of genetic material that organisms release into their surrounding environment, has shown promise for estimating abundance of salmonids and could complement existing monitoring efforts and potentially reduce uncertainty in abundance estimates. This research project …
A Tale Of Two Working Landscapes, Sage C. Sutcliffe
A Tale Of Two Working Landscapes, Sage C. Sutcliffe
Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers
No abstract provided.
Governing Dynamic Watersheds Under Static Institutions – Examining How Local Governments Respond To Floods And Droughts In The United States, Jonathon R. Loos
Governing Dynamic Watersheds Under Static Institutions – Examining How Local Governments Respond To Floods And Droughts In The United States, Jonathon R. Loos
Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations
The U.S. has seen a shift towards decentralized watershed governance in recent decades that has increased the delegation of management responsibilities to local governments and community organizations. This shift has precipitated the emergence of multilevel watershed governance systems (e.g. national, state, regional, local management levels) that are hypothesized to be more adaptive and responsive to local needs. However, multilevel governance systems risk complicating and overburdening the role of local governments within watershed management, and little is known about how local governments address socio-ecological change within multilevel institutions. Working within several U.S. watershed geographies, this dissertation seeks to interrogate theories of …
Incorporating Equity Into Sea-Level Rise Planning: Perspectives From Practitioners Across California, Nayré Herrera
Incorporating Equity Into Sea-Level Rise Planning: Perspectives From Practitioners Across California, Nayré Herrera
Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects
Scholars along with national and state governments have increasingly made calls to incorporate an equity lens into climate adaptation processes and into sea-level rise planning specifically. However, the language used in these high-level policies remains vague. There remains a need to learn from practitioners on the ground about the challenges and opportunities for effectively incorporating an equity lens into sea-level rise adaptation and planning efforts. I conducted interviews with 17 individuals who are working within their agencies or organizations to advance equity across the California coast along with a review of 17 California coastal policy documents to gain insights into …
Better Understanding The Barred Owl, Adam Lee Potts
Better Understanding The Barred Owl, Adam Lee Potts
Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers
This thesis research presents an analysis of barred owl nest site selection in an understudied region of their expanded range. The barred owl has dramatically expanded its range westwards over the last 150 years, prompting multiple conflicting reinterpretations of their species account. Hypotheses of range expansion are reviewed to provide context for this study’s research. This study gathers empirical data on nest site selection in the mixed conifer forests of Montana’s Seeley-Swan and Mission Valleys. Eight barred owl nests were located following extensive territory surveys. Field measurements of tree height and diameter using USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plot …
Assessing Stormwater Management Pond Water Quality, Function, And The Potential Biotic Effects To Receiving Waters, Mitchell Elstone
Assessing Stormwater Management Pond Water Quality, Function, And The Potential Biotic Effects To Receiving Waters, Mitchell Elstone
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)
The use of stormwater management ponds (SWMPs) has been increasing over the past five decades. However, an in-depth understanding of the daily performance of SWMPs and functionality during cold periods is limited. This is in part because mandated monitoring is relatively infrequent, and the assumption that SWMPs are inactive between storm events and during the winter. The goals of this research were to better understand daily stormwater (SW) characteristics, the performance of SWMPs based on current forms of evaluation and assess the potential for SWMP effluent to impact downstream biota. Influent and effluent samples from two SWMPs were collected daily …
Effects Of Low-Cost, Low-Tech Tools For Riparian Restoration On Prairie Streams In Western South Dakota, James Andrew Joseph Bolyard
Effects Of Low-Cost, Low-Tech Tools For Riparian Restoration On Prairie Streams In Western South Dakota, James Andrew Joseph Bolyard
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Despite making up less than two percent of the overall landscape in the arid and semi-arid western US, riparian areas are a crucial resource for agriculture, livestock, and wildlife. However, many have impaired function and reduced riparian cover. Low-Cost, Low-Tech Tools (LCLTT) are a subset of Process-Based Restoration (PBR) used for riparian restoration that were chosen for their cost-effectiveness and minimal technical requirements. LCLTT has been tested in mountainous areas of the western US but only recently implemented in the Northern Great Plains (NGP). Given their novelty as an approach toward restoration for the region, professional restoration and landowner communities …
Late Holocene Fire History Reconstruction Of Beaver Lake In The Northwest Lowlands Of The Olympic Peninsula, Grace Mckenney
Late Holocene Fire History Reconstruction Of Beaver Lake In The Northwest Lowlands Of The Olympic Peninsula, Grace Mckenney
All Master's Theses
Fire is an essential component of the landscapes and forests of the Pacific Northwest, including the temperate rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula. Previous fire history reconstructions from the peninsula show that fire return intervals varied throughout the postglacial period, primarily in response to climatic changes and corresponding shifts in vegetation. However, much less is known about the fire history of the low-elevation forests of the Olympic Peninsula and the role of cultural fire regimes in these environments. The purpose of this study was to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental history of a low-elevation study site, Beaver Lake, located in the northwestern part …
The Surface Chemistry And Binding Interactions Of Lignin With Polymer-Encapsulated Gold Nanoparticles Acting As Model Microplastics, Oluwaseun Ayodeji Akinsola
The Surface Chemistry And Binding Interactions Of Lignin With Polymer-Encapsulated Gold Nanoparticles Acting As Model Microplastics, Oluwaseun Ayodeji Akinsola
All Master's Theses
This study investigates the surface chemistry and molecular-level interactions between lignin, a special type of natural organic matter, and polymer-capped gold nanoparticles, shedding light on the strength of adsorption between lignin and nanoscale polymer surfaces. Specifically, the study presents a variety of nanoscale polymer surfaces displaying different charged functional groups, using layer-by-layer assembly of three polyelectrolytes (polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH)), polyacrylic acid (PAA), and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC)) on 90 nm citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). This approach provides a library of polymer-encapsulated AuNPs for investigating the binding interactions of lignin to nanoscale polymers via spectroscopic techniques. ζ-potential, dynamic light scattering (DLS), …
Mapping With The Land: Co-Developing A Cumulative Impact Monitoring And Land Stewardship Framework With Sambaa K’E First Nation, Northwest Territories, Canada, Michael S. Mcphee
Mapping With The Land: Co-Developing A Cumulative Impact Monitoring And Land Stewardship Framework With Sambaa K’E First Nation, Northwest Territories, Canada, Michael S. Mcphee
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)
Across the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada, Indigenous populations are striving to achieve effective environmental protection, whilst navigating complex methods, policies, and research relationships within co-management contexts. This thesis seeks to identify how differing cultural systems, environmental change, and fractured partnerships may be unified to align with the needs of the Sambaa K’e First Nation (SKFN), a remote Dehcho Dene community. Indigenous methodologies guided co-development of research questions with SKFN leadership which yielded objectives a) develop a GIS-based method to manage, organize and mobilize cultural and environmental data; b) develop a new stewardship monitoring procedure so that users can apply the …
The Hutton Project: Long-Term Agricultural Impacts On Soil Loss And Carbon Dynamics In Eastern South Dakota, Eli Halverson
The Hutton Project: Long-Term Agricultural Impacts On Soil Loss And Carbon Dynamics In Eastern South Dakota, Eli Halverson
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Long-term and intensified agricultural land management has resulted in increased rates of soil erosion and has altered much of the carbon cycle at regional and global scales. Anthropogenic degradation of soil resources is a barrier to sustainable production, soil functioning, and ecosystem services. It is difficult to quantify the scope of pedogenic changes due to the lack of legacy data and short temporal scales. This study utilized decades to century-old soil information to quantify historical soil erosion losses and changes in soil carbon pools of eastern South Dakota soils. The results show that soils in the region have been significantly …