Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Ecological And Economic Benefits And Risks Of Using Botanical Insecticides In Tanzanian Farms, Lilia Garcia

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Insect damage is a major concern for smallholder farmers in developing countries like Tanzania. Synthetic insecticides can tame infestations, however they can be expensive, inaccessible, and their misuse can threaten farmer health and ecological conditions. Botanical insecticides are cheap alternatives to treat infestations while preserving beneficial insects such as pollinators, predators, and parasitoids. This study assesses how both synthetic and botanical insecticides affect beneficial insects, crop yield and profit/costs. This study finds botanical insecticides slightly less harmful towards non-target insects. Botanical insecticides seldomly improve crop yields but usually result in a higher profit/lower cost. Due to high variation in ecological …

The Emergence Of Institutional Repositories: A Conceptual Understanding Of Key Issues Through Review Of Literature, O. P. Saini

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

It is the responsibility of the libraries to keep update its users by incorporating different technologies or tricks among the services offered to users. The libraries are managing diversified collection in both electronic and physical formats including the theses and dissertations awarded by their respective parent institutes in physical form. The academic libraries are directed by the Indian government through a mandate to protect and preserve the theses and dissertation in electronic form and provide access to the public domain. Institutional Repositories (IRs) have the perspective to store any amount of information electronically. Therefore, many of the academic libraries are …

Slides: Dam Operations: Does A Changing World Call For Changing Plans?, Reed D. Benson

Coping with Water Scarcity in River Basins Worldwide: Lessons Learned from Shared Experiences (Martz Summer Conference, June 9-10)

Presenter: Reed D. Benson, University of New Mexico School of Law

13 slides

The Cost Of Green Infrastructure: Worth The Investment?, Martha Sheils

Green Infrastructure

Is GI worth the investment?

• LID techniques often lead to cost savings when we look at WHOLE PROJECT COSTS

• Natural Infrastructure investments for flood control, drinking water protection and wildlife habitat can yield SIGNIFICANT AVOIDED COSTS and additional co-benefits to communitites

Green Infrastructure Resource Directory, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

Green infrastructure is an approach for managing stormwater that uses vegetation and soils to capture and treat rainwater where it falls. Unlike single-purpose gray infrastructure, green infrastructure realizes multiple benefits at once, including flood mitigation, improved water and air quality, community beautification, provision of recreational opportunities, and energy and cost savings. This resource directory is intended to help communities design, implement, fund, and monitor green infrastructure practices and programs. It was compiled by the Environmental Finance Center Network through the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities program funded by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. …

A Financial Impact Assessment Of Ld 1725: Stream Crossings, New England Environmental Finance Center, Muskie School Of Public Service

Water

This report looks at the potential financial impact of LD 1725 on the estimated 30,000 stream crossings in the State of Maine that would be affected by the law. Our research for this report included the analysis of nearly 2000 stream crossings and the data collection necessary for the development of extensive stream crossing replacement cost models. We found that the 1.2 bankfull requirements in LD 1725 would result in a 75% ‐ 250% increase in structure widths for stream crossing projects across the state. An upsize of this magnitude would increase the cost of replacing stream crossings statewide by …

A Financial Impact Assessment Of Ld 1725: Stream Crossings (Presentation), New England Environmental Finance Center, Muskie School Of Public Service

Water

This report looks at the potential financial impact of LD 1725 on the estimated 30,000 stream crossings in the State of Maine that would be affected by the law. Our research for this report included the analysis of nearly 2000 stream crossings and the data collection necessary for the development of extensive stream crossing replacement cost models. We found that the 1.2 bankfull requirements in LD 1725 would result in a 75% ‐ 250% increase in structure widths for stream crossing projects across the state. An upsize of this magnitude would increase the cost of replacing stream crossings statewide by …

Culvert Material Cost Comparison, New England Environmental Finance Center

Water

The following tables provide a detailed look at the role that culvert material and culvert diameter play in the overall cost of a culvert replacement project.

Slides: Acts: Anadarko Completion Transport System, Jeff Dufresne

Opportunities and Obstacles to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development in Uintah Basin (October 14)

Presenter: Jeff Dufresne, Completions Manager, Anadarko Corporation

18 slides

Multiresonator-Based Chipless Rfid System For Low-Cost Item Tracking, Stevan Preradovic, Isaac Balbin, Nemai Karmakar, Gerhard F. Swiegers

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

A fully passive printable chipless RFID system is presented. The chipless tag uses the amplitude and phase of the spectral signature of a multiresonator circuit and provides I : 1 correspondence of data bits. The tag comprises of a microstrip spiral multiresonator and cross-polarized transmitting and receiving microstrip ultra-wideband disc loaded monopole antennas. The reader antenna is a log periodic dipole antenna with average 5.5-dBi gain. Firstly, a 6-bit chipless tag is designed to encode 000000 and 010101 IDs. Finally, a 35-bit chipless tag based on the same principle is presented. The tag has potentials for low-cost item tagging such …

Automatic Reaction To A Chemical Event Detected By A Low-Cost Wireless Chemical Sensing Network, Stephen Beirne, King Tong Lau, Brian Corcoran, Dermot Diamond

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

A test-scale wireless chemical sensor network (WCSN) has been deployed within a controlled Environmental Chamber (EC). The combined signals from the WCSN were used to initiate a controllable response to the detected chemical event. When a particular sensor response pattern was obtained, a purging cycle was initiated. Sensor data were continuously checked against user-defined action limits, to determine if a chemical event had occurred. An acidic contaminant was used to demonstrate the response of the sensor network. Once the acid plume was simultaneously detected by a number of wireless chemical sensor nodes, an automatic response action, which was the purging …

Chemical Event Tracking Using A Low-Cost Wireless Chemical Sensing Network, Stephen T. Beirne, B Corcoran, K T Lau, D Diamond

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

A recently developed low-cost light emitting diode (LED) chemical sensing technique is integrated with a Mica2Dot wireless communications platform to form a deployable wireless chemical event indicator network. The operation of the colorimetric sensing node has been evaluated to determine its reproducibility and limit of detection for an acidic airborne contaminant. A test-scale network of five similar chemical sensing nodes is deployed in a star communication topology at fixed points within a custom built Environmental Sensing Chamber (ESC). Presented data sets collected from the deployed wireless chemical sensor network (WCSN) show that during an acidic event scenario it is possible …

Evaluation Of A Low Cost Wireless Chemical Sensor Network For Environmental Monitoring, Jer Hayes, Stephen Beirne, King-Tong Lau, Dermot Diamond

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

We present work on the development and testing of a low-cost wireless chemical sensor network (WCSN) for monitoring irritant/toxic gases in the environment. The WCSN used in this work takes advantage of recent advances in low power wireless communication platforms and uses colorimetric sensors to detect the presence of certain target gases. This sensor network adopts a star configuration and performs one way RF communications from individual sensor nodes to the base-station. Each node in the network is composed of a multiple sensor platform that measures light intensity, temperature and motion. The light sensor was used as the chemical sensing …

The Growing Together Guide: A Companion Resource To The New England Environmental Finance Center/Melissa Paly Film, New England Environmental Finance Center

Smart Growth

What local leader or public official wants to be faced with an SOS the “same old story” of public discord and confrontation over growth and development in one’s community? That situation has become a problem for efforts to promote smart growth. Investments are needed in the walkable, compact, traditional‐streetscape and mixed use neighborhoods and developments that are more sustainable and healthy than sprawl, for both people and the landscape. Yet attempts at such change all too often end up mired in costly public controversy and stalemate.

Sampling Patchily Distributed Taxa: A Case Study Using Cost-Benefit Analyses For Sponges And Ascidians In Coastal Lakes Of New South Wales, Australia, P. B. Barnes, A. R. Davis, D. E. Roberts

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Estuaries worldwide are under increasing threat from human impacts. Because much of their fauna remains unstudied and in many cases undescribed, these systems present real challenges for effective management. In eastern Australia the study of estuarine fauna is often further complicated by its patchy distributions. This is particularly the case for assemblages of sessile invertebrates in coastal saline lakes. This study quantified distributions of sponges and ascidians at a hierarchy of spatial scales in the seagrass meadows of 2 coastal saline lakes in New South Wales, Australia. Nine species of sponge, many of which were undescribed, and 3 species of …

Microcosm: A Lost Cost 3-D Wireless Sensor Test-Bed Within A Controllable Environment, David Marsh, Richard Tynan, Stephen T. Beirne, Roderick L. Shepherd, Gregory O'Hare, Dermot Diamond, Brian Corcoran

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes the creation of Microcosm, a low cost wireless sensor network test-bed within a controlled environment to facilitate WSN experiments in three dimensions, with an emphasis on executing sensing-related experiments. The design of the sensing hardware, software, support tools and the experimental environment itself are given. Issues related to the design of this configuration are discussed, with the potential pitfalls and eventual solutions alike given. Finally, current and future uses for the test-bed are listed.

Day 2: Thursday, 18 August 2005: Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program, Bob Muth, Tom Pitts, Dan Luecke

Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour (August 17-19)

58 pages (includes illustrations and maps).

Contains references.

Legal Aspects Of Sustainable Water Resources Management [Abstract], Raphael J. Moses

Allocating and Managing Water for a Sustainable Future: Lessons from Around the World (Summer Conference, June 11-14)

2 pages.

Legal Devices For Enhancing Water Diversion Opportunities Within The Appropriation System, David C. Hallford

Moving the West's Water to New Uses: Winners and Losers (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

28 pages.

Effluent: Making Use Of A Valuable Resource In Arizona, Kathleen Ferris

Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use and Environmental Protection (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

40 pages.

Contains references.