Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Scientists And Activists Work To Save The Planet, Myriam G. Vidal Valero

Capstones

Climate change and human intervention in nature are affecting people, ecosystems and ways of living all over the world. This portfolio of environmental pieces showcases the dire consequences of not addressing these issues, how solutions can be reached and the challenges facing those who try to change things.

A Call For The Library Community To Deploy Best Practices Toward A Database For Biocultural Knowledge Relating To Climate Change, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Abstract

Purpose – In this paper, a call to the library and information science community to support documentation and conservation of cultural and biocultural heritage has been presented.

Design/methodology/approach – Based in existing Literature, this proposal is generative and descriptive— rather than prescriptive—regarding precisely how libraries should collaborate to employ technical and ethical best practices to provide access to vital data, research and cultural narratives relating to climate.

Findings – COVID-19 and climate destruction signal urgent global challenges. Library best practices are positioned to respond to climate change. Literature indicates how libraries preserve, share and cross-link cultural and scientific knowledge. …

Plastic Recycling Is Inefficient And Expensive, Clark S. Adomaitis

Capstones

Plastics production and incineration contributes more than 850 million metric tons to the emissions that are causing climate change. Emissions are growing at a moment when scientists and world leaders are in agreement that they need to dramatically decrease. Environmentalists say that plastic production makes up 4.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. New plastic plants opening in the U.S. do not line up with emission reduction goals.

At the end of plastics’ lives, a lot of what we’re putting into our recycling bins isn’t getting recycled. In fact, only 18% of trash from New York City homes is actually recycled. …

Determination Of Sustainable Zones For Groundwater Abstraction From The Multi-Layered Aquifer System In The Bengal Basin, Bangladesh, Anwar Zahid, Muhammad Qumrul Hassan, Nazrul I. Khandaker

Publications and Research

The use of deep groundwater (±300 m deep) is becoming an important issue in the Bengal Basin, due to both water quality problems and an acute shortage of available water in upper aquifers. In southeastern Bangladesh, multi-layered aquifer conditions exist with arsenic contamination at shallow depths, and high iron and brackish groundwater occurring mainly in the deeper layers. Many previous studies have offered explanations for the high concentrations of dissolved arsenic in groundwater - most of which proposed that the arsenic is derived from geo-genic sources and its release in groundwater is through natural processes, not the result of anthropogenic …

Intangible Cultural Heritage: A Benefit To Climate-Displaced And Host Communities, Gül Aktürk, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Climate change is borderless, and its impacts are not shared equally by all communities. It causes an imbalance between people by creating a more desirable living environment for some societies while erasing settlements and shelters of some others. Due to floods, sea level rise, destructive storms, drought, and slow-onset factors such as salinization of water and soil, people lose their lands, homes, and natural resources. Catastrophic events force people to move voluntarily or involuntarily. The relocation of communities is a debatable climate adaptation measure which requires utmost care with human rights, ethics, and psychological well-being of individuals upon the issues …

International Migration From The Latin American-Caribbean Region: Taking Environmental Indicators Into Consideration, Chelsea Wepy

Student Theses and Dissertations

International migration, the act of leaving one’s country to permanently settle in another country, is driven by many socio economic/political factors, such as lack of economic opportunity, access to education, governmental corruption, and violence. These factors have proven to be the reason that many citizens within the Latin American-Caribbean region either choose or are forced to relocate internationally. While these factors are important to consider independently; these issues are often exacerbated by changes in the natural environment. The objective of my paper is to highlight the importance of considering changes in the natural environment. In doing so, I hope to …

Potential Solar Replacement Of Hydroelectricity To Reopen Rivers: Maine As A Case Example, Shailesh Sharma, John Waldman

Publications and Research

Hydroelectricity provides 6% of U.S. electrical power needs, but hydro-dams also cause environmental harm, including the retardation or complete blockage of spawning runs of anadromous fishes. To facilitate fish movements, engineered-fishways have long been used but many have performed poorly. Dam-removal is the most effective way of restoring dwindling migratory fish populations by allowing unrestricted pathways to their spawning areas and for the downstream migrations of post-spawning adults and juveniles. However, removals of hydro-dams result in a loss of electricity production. For the replacement of energy foregone from hydro-dam removals, various alternative energy installations are now feasible. We present one-to-one …

Perspectives Of Global Warming, Diomaris Padilla Dr.

Open Educational Resources

This course is designed to foster an interest in global environmental issues by informing the student of both the anthropogenic and natural causes for climate change. While focusing on the scientific aspects of climate change, a broader study will include issues pertaining to global policy and economics in order to engage the student in public policy debates.

Development Of Digital Bathymetry Maps For Lakes Azuei And Enriquillo Using Sonar And Remote Sensing Techniques, Michael Piasecki, Mahrokh Moknatian, Fred Moshary, Jorge Gonzalez

Publications and Research

This article presents an improved algorithm for optimization and development of a digital bathymetric model (DBM) for Lake Azuei (LA) (Haiti) and Lake Enriquillo (LE) (Dominican Republic) using the ANUDEM method. Both sonar data and contour lines of the lakes’ layout extracted using Landsat imagery were compiled for bathymetry development. We show that the performance of the ANUDEM method was strongly dependent on the density and irregularity of the spatial distribution of the data. Changing the resolution of the output grids and deriving auxiliary topographically corrected contours improved the ANUDEM performance and minimized the systematic errors of the method. Statistical …

Lithologic Constraints On The Hydrological Parameters Of Regional Aquifers In The Ibb Province, West-Central Region Of Yemen (Middle East), Malek Shami, Zarine Ali, Wedad Abdurabu, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Stanley Schleifer

Publications and Research

The lithology of the Ibb Province Yemen (Middle East) consists of Precambrian gneissic bedrocks with post-tectonic intrusions of granite and granodiorite. The overall topography is dominated by extensive volcanic extrusions that randomly surround Ibb Province with minimal Mesozoic sedimentary outcrops. According to the Yemen Geological Survey and Mineral Resource Board (YGSMRB), the origin and age of such extrusive bodies that manifest on the surface as dikes, lava flows, and small (currently passive) cinder-cone volcanoes are of Cenozoic age associated with the rifting episode of the Arabian Peninsula and subsequent opening of the Red Sea. The overall aerial extension of the …

Walking As Ontological Shifter: Thoughts In The Key Of Life, Bibi (Silvina) Calderaro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With walking as ontological shifter I pursue an alternative to the dominant modernist episteme that offers either/or onto-epistemologies of opposition and their reifying engagements. I propose this type of walking is an intentional turning towards a set of radical positions that, as integrative aesthetic and therapeutic practice, brings multiplicity and synchronicity to experience and being in an expanded sociality. This practice facilitates the conditions of possibility for recurring points of contact between the interiority perceived as ‘body’ and the exteriority perceived as ‘world.’ While making evident the self’s at once incoherence with it-self, it opens to a space beyond the …

Lichen Conservation In Eastern North America: Population Genomics, Climate Change, And Translocations, Jessica Allen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Conservation biology is a scientific discipline that draws on methods from diverse fields to address specific conservation concerns and inform conservation actions. This field is overwhelmingly focused on charismatic animals and vascular plants, often ignoring other diverse and ecologically important groups. This trend is slowly changing in some ways; for example, increasing number of fungal species are being added to the IUCN Red-List. However, a strong taxonomic bias still exists. Here I contribute four research chapters to further the conservation of lichens, one group of frequently overlooked organisms. I address specific conservation concerns in eastern North America using modern methods. …

Flight Of The Freshwater Fish, Michael H. Wilson

Capstones

Michael H. Wilson

Capstone Abstract

December 27, 2016

Flight of the Freshwater Fish

The Hudson River provides for millions of people as a path for commercial and private transportation, a source of food and energy, and perhaps most importantly for many living in the tri-state area as a destination for recreation and relaxation. The most overlooked feature of the river is how the wildlife shows clear signs of a changing climate and rapid environmental response to the impacts of global warming on the river.

Entire populations of fish species in the lower Hudson have been forced to leave the river …

Revised Distributional Estimates For The Recently Discovered Olinguito (Bassaricyon Neblina), Using Museum And Science Records, Beth E. Gerstner

Dissertations and Theses

In the context of global change, a necessary first step for the conservation of species is gaining a good understanding of their distributional limits. This is especially important for biodiversity hotspots with high endemism such as the Northern Andes. The olinguito (Procyonidae: Bassaricyon neblina) is a recently described, medium-sized carnivoran found in Northern Andean cloud forests. A preliminary distributional model was published along with the original description, and I here provide revised distributional estimates using updated locality records and more current ENM methods. I build ecological niche models in Maxent using occurrence data (georeferenced museum records and citizen science-derived photo-vouchers) …

Transportation And Sanitation Drivers Of Land Use/Land Cover Change: Loss Of The Jamaica Bay Wetlands, Margaret Joy Cytryn

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an analysis (1830-2014) of the historical events of land use/land cover change in the Jamaica Bay estuary, identification of the agents of change, and a perspective on the potential drivers of transportation and sanitation in land use/land cover change.

Variation In Habitat Thresholds: An Analysis Of Minimum Habitat Requirements Of North American Breeding Birds, Yntze Van Der Hoek

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Many species show dramatic changes in population extinction or persistence probability at particular habitat amounts. These `extinction thresholds' could be translated to conservation targets, under the condition that we can derive generalities. I investigated the level of variation in landscape-level habitat thresholds for a suite of North American, forest-associated, breeding birds. Records from Breeding Bird Atlases and the availability of remotely-sensed land cover data allowed me to compare habitat thresholds for 25 species across the states of Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. I show that variation in thresholds is considerable (Chapter II, III), as thresholds range from …

Phylogeny And Population Genetics Of The Endangered Dwarf Bear-Poppy, Arctomecon Humilis Coville (Papaveraceae) Using Microsatellite Markers, Joshua Simpson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The genus Arctomecon (Papaveraceae) is comprised of three narrowly endemic rare species that are largely restricted to gypsum soils of the eastern Mojave Desert. The small, remaining populations of these species have become increasingly isolated by urban development and habitat fragmentation. Arctomecon humilis is federally listed as endangered due to its limited distribution within a ~15 km radius of an actively expanding city. Organizations involved with land management and conservation have called for greater insight into the genetic variation and population structure of the remaining subpopulations as they make important decisions regarding where to focus their efforts and resources.

The …

Edward Augustus Bowers, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Edward Augustus Bowers was a lawyer, government employee, and conservationist whose work in government service brought about the creation of national forests that would be managed in the public interest.

Thomas Mayo Brewer, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Thomas Mayo Brewer was an ornithologist, oologist, and publisher whose work was concerned with eggshells as well as the breeding habits, life histories, and geographical distribution of birds.

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Karl Patterson Schmidt, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Karl Patterson Schmidt turned herpetology firom a hobby into a branch of biology, and influenced numerous young biologists as an editor, teacher, author, and curator.

Merritt Lyndon Fernald, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Merritt Lyndon Fernald trained the future leaders in taxonomy and descriptive botany and helped maintain a high level in botanical writing through his work as editor of Rhodora.

Charles Hugh Callison, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Charles Hugh Callison helped turn the National Audubon Society into a significant wildlife advocacy organization.

Participación Privada En La Conservación Ambiental, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Parque Nacional Sierra La Culata, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Ecología Y Economía, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Conversión Ambiental En Sector De Los Recursos Naturales. Tomo 2, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Nuevo Parque Nacional: Sierra De La Culata, Ecosistema Único En El Mundo, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

El Continente De Todos Y De Nadie: El Antártico, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Protegiendo El Patrimonio Natural De Paraguaná, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Conservación En Paraguaná: ¿Misión Imposible?, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.