Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Water Efficiency & Sustainability In The Mountain West, 2022, Zachary Billot, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Environment

This fact sheet analyzes the effectiveness of state-level policies related to water usage, conservation, and sustainability for the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah in 2022. The original data are published in the “2022 State Policy Scorecard for Water Efficiency and Sustainability” report written by the Alliance for Water Efficiency.

Hydrothermal Carbonization Of Biomass Wastes: Sustainability And Geochemistry, Michael A. Kruge, Teresa A. Centeno, Alvaro Amado-Fierro, José Manuel González-Lafuente, Ruben Forjan-Castro, José Luis Gallego

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Introduction. To reduce the stream of solid waste going to landfills, innovative means for beneficial use are essential. The diversity and volume of organic wastes pose singular problems and opportunities for recovery and circularity. Common processes for organics include conversion to biofuels and carbonization to biochar, typically done by torrefaction (dry pyrolysis). Research on biochar explores its potential as pollutant adsorbent, agricultural or polluted soil amendment, biofuel (directly or as feedstock), and for carbon sequestration (Ighalo et al., 2022; Cavali et al., 2023). Recently, other processes at lower temperatures such as hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) offer new possibilities (Seshadri et al., …

Spatial Analysis Of Landscape Characteristics, Anthropogenic Factors, And Seasonality Effects On Water Quality In Portland, Oregon, Katherine Gelsey, Daniel Ramirez

REU Final Reports

Urban areas often struggle with deteriorated water quality as a result of complex interactions between landscape factors such as land cover, use, and management as well as climatic variables such as weather, precipitation, and atmospheric conditions. Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) has been introduced as a strategy to reintroduce pre-development hydrological conditions in cities, but questions remain as to how GSI interacts with other landscape factors to affect water quality. We conducted a statistical analysis of six relevant water quality indicators in 131 water quality stations in four watersheds around Portland, Oregon using data from 2015 to 2021. Indiscriminate of station …

Comparative Study Of Leachate Characterization: Implication For Sustainable Environmental Management, Osakpolor Marvellous Omorogieva, Victory Itua Igberase

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Understanding the sources of environmental stressors, the role of geology, climate and technology would provide a guide to solving the problems posed by such stressor. The study examine the sources of wastes in Ikhueniro open dumpsite located in Benin city, Nigeria and characterize the leachate emanating from it. This will assist in adequate design of managerial scheme to tackle the menace posed by it while putting into consideration the role of geology, climate and technology. The key objectives are to carry out field study, characterize wastes in the dumpsite and collect raw leachate emanating from the wastes heap in order …

Future Energy: Opportunities & Challenges, Thomas W. Kerlin

Open Educational Resources and Course Materials

Future Energy: Opportunities & Challenges was originally published in 2013 by the International Society of Automation. Rights for this work have been reverted to the authors by the original publisher. The author has chosen to license this work with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Click the blue Download link on this page to download the full book PDF. Individual chapters are also listed and available for download in the list below.

Table of Contents

Part I. GETTING STARTED

Chapter 1 – Introduction to the Energy Story

Chapter 2 – Fundamentals

Chapter 3 – Energy Production and …

Linking Landscape Attributes To Salmon And Decision-Making In The Southern Kenai Lowlands, Alaska, Usa, Coowe M. Walker, Dennis F. Whigham, I. Syverine Bentz, Jacob M. Argueta, Ryan S. King, Mark C. Rains, Charles A. Simenstad, Chris Guo, Steven J. Baird, Conrad J. Field

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

While Pacific salmon are economically and culturally important worldwide, Alaska, USA is one of the few remaining places on earth where sustainable management of salmon is possible, even in the face of wide-ranging threats, including overharvesting and the impacts of climate change. A continuing challenge that we face is to understand the ecological processes that result in sustainable salmon populations and report that science to stakeholders in a way that promotes decision-making to avoid the destruction of salmon populations that has occurred in most areas of the lower 48 states. To address this challenge, our studies in the southern Kenai …

Modulation Schemes And Connectivity In Wireless Underground Channel, Abdul Salam, Usman Raza

Faculty Publications

In this chapter, a thorough treatment of the modulation schemes for UG Wireless is presented. The effects of soil texture and water content on the capacity of multi-carrier modulation in WUC are discussed. The multi-carrier capacity model results are analyzed. Moreover, the underground MIMO design for underground communications is explained thoroughly. An analysis of medium access in wireless underground is done as well. Furthermore, the soil properties are considered for cross-layer communications of UG wireless. The performance analysis of traditional modulation schemes is also considered. The soil moisture-based modulation approach is also explored in this chapter. The connectivity and diversity …

Digital Mapping Of Togo’S Soil Fertility: Savannah Region, Aminou Saibou

English Language Institute

A soil assessment was carried out in the savannah region of Togo in 2018, aiming at drawing the digital map of Togo’s soil fertility and making fertilizer recommendations. Soil samples were taken from geo-referenced GPS points and were analyzed for parameters such as water pH, Organic matter, available phosphorus and exchangeable potassium. Thematic maps have been drawn using an ArcGIS package. The results showed that the soils of the Savannah region in Togo are mainly (84%) not very acidic (pH = 5.5 to 6.5), overall poor to very poor (84%) in organic matter (<2% OM), essentially poor to very poor (86%) in available phosphorus (<15 mg/kg of soil) and mostly very poor (87%) in exchangeable potassium (<90 mg / kg of soil). These results allowed the agricultural research institute of Togo to make fertilizer use recommendations and to develop, in partnership with Morocco, a digital platform (fertitogo.tg ) for decision making in crop fertilization.

Zenneck Waves In Decision Agriculture: An Empirical Verification And Application In Em-Based Underground Wireless Power Transfer, Usman Raza, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

In this article, the results of experiments for the observation of Zenneck surface waves in sub GHz frequency range using dipole antennas are presented. Experiments are conducted over three different soils for communications distances of up to 1 m. This empirical analysis confirms the existence of Zenneck waves over the soil surface. Through the power delay profile (PDP) analysis, it has been shown that other subsurface components exhibit rapid decay as compared to the Zenneck waves. A potential application of the Zenneck waves for energy transmission in the area of decision agriculture is explored. Accordingly, a novel wireless through-the-soil power …

Year Long Water Quality Analysis Of White Horn Brook, Kevin Dyer

Senior Honors Projects

KEVIN DYER (Marine Biology)

Year-long Analysis of the Water Quality of White Horn Brook

Sponsor: Thomas Boving (Geological Sciences)

Water is the foundation for all life on earth and is the most vital resource on this planet. Despite this, oceans and waterways all over the world are being polluted and exploited in ways detrimental to their fundamental hydrologic functions. For instance, excess nitrate levels can lead to eutrophication which gives rise to harmful algae blooms. Low pH can cause the breakdown of CaCO3 exoskeletons of organisms, such mollusks. High temperature variations are major stressors to living things and can cause …

Environmental Activism, Ellen Dexter, Lydia Dexter

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

An after school book club that follows Greta Thunberg's book of speeches No One is Too Small to Make a Difference , as well as uses hands-on activities to teach the importance of environmental activism.

Art And The Environment, Ellen Dexter, Lydia Dexter

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

After school club that teaches the importance of sustainable practices and conversation activities through art projects and imagination.

Water Productivity In Meat And Milk Production In The Us From 1960 To 2016, Mesfin Mekonnen, C.M.U. Neale, Chittaranjan Ray, Galen E. Erickson, Arjen Y. Hoekstra

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Global demand for livestock products is rising, resulting in a growing demand for feed and potentially burdening freshwater resources to produce this feed. To offset this increased pressure on water resources, the environmental performance of livestock sector should continue to improve. Over the last few decades, product output per animal and feedstuff yields in the US have improved, but before now it was unclear to what extent these improvements influenced the water productivity (WP) of the livestock products. In this research, we estimate changes in WP of animal products from 1960 to 2016. We consider feed conversion ratios (dry matter …

Analysis Of Permaculture’S Water Conservation And Crop Supporting Abilities, Hannah Chaney

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In the Middle East, virtually all agriculturally viable land is under high threat of desertification due to poor land and resource management and climate change. Mulching using straw flakes (straw mulch permaculture) is a method commonly used in successful dry land permaculture projects in the Middle East. We proposed that straw mulch permaculture would increase the amount of soil moisture during dry periods and that this method would not impact the growth and survival of the crop. In order to test this hypothesis, we took soil samples from plots with and without straw mulch permaculture in Bowling Green, KY and …

Introduction To Oceanography – Honors (Geol 103h), Isla Casteneda

Sustainability Education Resources

A general education course designed to acquaint you with the fascinating features of the nearly 71% of our home planet covered by water. These are broad themes that reflect the spirit and value of the general education curriculum that is a part of your UMass experience. As citizens of our small world, we would argue that everyone should take a course like this! With jet service to almost anywhere in the world, financial markets electronically and politically linked for “real time” transactions 24-7, and global populations striving to live as well as we do here in the U.S., it's important …

A Framework For Incorporating The Impact Of Water Quality On Water Supply Stress: An Example From Louisiana, David M. Borrok, Jian Chen, Hisham Eldardiry, Emad Habib

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Water of poor quality can directly impact the budget of water available for key user groups. Despite this importance, methods for quantifying the impact of water quality on water availability remain elusive. Here, we develop a new framework for incorporating the impact of water quality on water supply by modifying the Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI). We demonstrate the usefulness of the framework by investigating the impact of high salinity waters on the availability of irrigation water for agriculture in Louisiana. The WaSSI was deconstructed into sectoral components such that the total available water supply could be reduced for a …

Can Facebook Aid Sustainability? An Investigation Of Empathy Expression Within The Humans Of New York Blog, Hannah Wheeler, Courtney Quinn

Earth and Environmental Sciences Publications

This qualitative study offers a novel exploration of the links between social media, virtual intergroup contact, and empathy by examining how empathy is expressed through interactions on a popular social media blog. Global leaders are encouraging individuals to engage in behaviors and support policies that provide basic social foundations. It is difficult to motivate people to undertake such actions. However, research shows that empathy intensifies motivation to help others. It can cause individuals to see the world from the perspective of stigmatized group members and increase positive feelings. Social media offers a new pathway for virtual intergroup contact, providing opportunities …

The Importance Of Traditional Ecological Knowledge In Agroecological Systems In Peru, Christina R. Saylor, Kamal Alsharif, Hannah Torres

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

This study argues that a critical element in the success of an ecosystem service (ES) approach at any level is the higher qualitative valuation of local traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). As such, the objectives of this research were to illustrate the role of TEK in agroecological systems in Peru and to develop recommendations about this type of knowledge acquisition. The data were gathered using interviews and focus groups with subsistence farmers along with key informant interviews to elicit TEK at local and regional scales in five provinces in the Lake Titicaca region of Puno, Peru. Qualitative analysis revealed dominant themes …

Mapping The Impact Of Intensive Rotational Grazing On Soil Fertility Over Time On Greenbrier Farms In Pickens County, South Carolina, Emily Kirby

Earth and Environmental Sciences Presentations

Intensive rotational grazing (IRG) is a management technique that involves a more intentional management approach which includes increased paddock numbers, shorter grazing periods, larger livestock presence per acre, and longer periods of rest on pastures. Potential advantages of this management technique include improved forage quality, greater yield, decreased erosion, stable production during adverse growing condition, and improved soil fertility. This study collects and analyzes data to understand the impact of rotational grazing on soil fertility as measured by SOC (soil organic carbon) and SON (soil organic nitrogen) on Greenbrier Farms in Easley, South Carolina. This study analyzes the transition from …

Framework For Drafting Ecological Objectives For Water Sharing Plans - Submission Of The Nsw Aboriginal Land Council, Geoff Scott, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council

Indigenous Water Justice Symposium (June 6)

Presenter: Phil Duncan, Gomeroi Nation, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council

4 pages

Contains 1 footnote

Letter addressed to Nick Cook, A/Team Leader, WSP Science & Evaluation - North, NSW Office of Water, from Geoff Scott, Chief Executive Officer, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council.

Agenda: A Celebration Of The Work Of Charles Wilkinson: Served With Tasty Stories And Some Slices Of Roast, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

A Celebration of the Work of Charles Wilkinson (Martz Winter Symposium, March 10-11)

Conference held at the University of Colorado, Wolf Law Building, Wittemyer Courtroom, Thursday, March 10th and Friday, March 11th, 2016.

Conference moderators, panelists and speakers included University of Colorado Law School professors Phil Weiser, Sarah Krakoff, William Boyd, Kristen Carpenter, Britt Banks, Harold Bruff, Richard Collins, Carla Fredericks, Mark Squillace, and Charles Wilkinson

"We celebrate the work of Distinguished Professor Charles Wilkinson, a prolific and passionate writer, teacher, and advocate for the people and places of the West. Charles's influence extends beyond place, yet his work has always originated in a deep love of and commitment to particular places. We …

Slides: The Colorado River: Innovation In The Face Of Scarcity, Anne J. Castle

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Anne J. Castle, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

40 slides

Slides: Perspectives On Water Management In Arizona, Kathy Jacobs

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Kathy Jacobs, Director, Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions (CCASS), Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona

25 slides

Integrating Geoscience Into Undergraduate Education About Environment, Society, And Sustainability Using Place-Based Learning: Three Examples, David Gosselin, Steven Burian, Tim Lutz, Julie Maxson

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

From water to energy, and from climate change to natural hazards, the geosciences (marine, Earth, and atmospheric science) have an important role to play in addressing a wide range of societal issues, with particular relevance to how humans can live sustainably on Earth. Although arguably important to developing solutions for many societal issues, more often than not, students have limited exposure to the geosciences in high school or college. To address this geoscience literacy problem, the Interdisciplinary Teaching of Geoscience for a Sustainable Future (InTeGrate) Talent Expansion Center has engaged members of the geoscience community and their colleagues in allied …

Aligning Public Participation To Stakeholders’ Sustainability Literacy—A Case Study On Sustainable Urban Development In Phoenix, Arizona, Matthew Cohen, Arnim Wiek, Braden Kay, John Harlow

Earth and Environmental Sciences Publications

In public planning processes for sustainable urban development, planners and experts often face the challenge of engaging a public that is not familiar with sustainability principles or does not subscribe to sustainability values. Although there are calls to build the public’s sustainability literacy through social learning, such efforts require sufficient time and other resources that are not always available. Alternatively, public participation processes may be realigned with the sustainability literacy the participants possess, and their capacity can modestly be built during the engagement. Asking what tools might successfully align public participation with participants’ sustainability literacy, this article describes and evaluates …

Climate Change In Northern New Hampshire: Past, Present And Future, Cameron P. Wake, C. Keeley, Elizabeth A. Burakowski, Peter Wilkinson, Katharine Hayhoe, Anne Stoner, Julie Labrance

The Sustainability Institute Publications

EARTH’S CLIMATE CHANGES. It always has and always will. However, an extensive and growing body of scientific evidence indicates that human activities—including the burning of fossil fuel (coal, oil, and natural gas) for energy, clearing of forested lands for agriculture, and raising livestock—are now the primary force driving change in the Earth’s climate system. This report describes how the climate of northern New Hampshire has changed over the past century and how the future climate of the region will be affected by a warmer planet due to human activities.

Climate Change In Southern New Hampshire: Past, Present And Future, Cameron P. Wake, Elizabeth A. Burakowski, Peter Wilkinson, Katharine Hayhoe, Anne Stoner, C. Keeley, Julie Labranche

The Sustainability Institute Publications

EARTH’S CLIMATE CHANGES. It always has and always will. However, an extensive and growing body of scientific evidence indicates that human activities—including the burning of fossil fuel (coal, oil, and natural gas) for energy, clearing of forested lands for agriculture, and raising livestock—are now the primary force driving change in the Earth’s climate system. This report describes how the climate of southern New Hampshire has changed over the past century and how the future climate of the region will be affected by a warmer planet due to human activities.

Are We Approaching Pit Lake Closure From The Wrong Perspective?, Mark A. Lund, Melanie L. Blanchette

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Pit lakes are similar to natural lakes formed by faulting, glacial action, volcanic action and asteroid collisions. These natural lakes have, after thousands of years, developed into environmentally significant ecosystems. As artificial constructs, pit lakes can be modified prior to filling to enhance lake attributes, such as modification of catchment size, creation of littoral zones and addition of organic matter. Significant advances could be made in successful closure and relinquishment of pit lakes, by 1) choosing appropriate model lakes, 2) understanding successional processes, 3) designing pit lakes to enhance ecological values, and 4) recognizing that it will take time to …

Regulation Of Artisanal Small Scale Gold Mining (Asgm) In Ghana And Indonesia As Currently Implemented Fails To Adequately Protect Aquatic Ecosystems, Karunia F. Macdonald, Mark A. Lund, Melanie L. Blanchette, Clinton D. Mccullough

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Artisanal small scale gold mining (ASGM) operations are largely unregulated, informal and transient. Rudimentary mining and processing techniques used in ASGM often result in degraded environmental, safety, health and social conditions. ASGM requires permanent sources of water, placing most operations close to natural water bodies. Until recently, the impact on these environments has been largely overlooked, with most studies focussing primarily on mercury contamination and health concerns. Based on Ghanaian and Indonesian experiences, regulation of ASGM is a good step toward improvement, but here we argue that regulation alone is insufficient to improve environmental performance, particularly when the impacts of …

Water, Climate, And Social Change In A Fragile Landscape, William L. Hargrove, David M. Borrok, Josiah Mc C.C. Heyman, Craig E. Tweedie, Carlos Cabrera Ferregut

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We present here and in the companion papers an analysis of sustainability in the Middle Rio Grande region of the U.S.-Mexico border and propose an interdisciplinary research agenda focused on the coupled human and natural dimensions of water resources sustainability in the face of climate and social change in an international border region. Key threats to water sustainability in the Middle Rio Grande River region include: (1) increasing salinization of surface and ground water, (2) increasing water demand from a growing population in the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez area on top of an already high base demand from irrigated agriculture, (3) …