Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Path To Greening Our Future, Havovi Joshi

Asian Management Insights

More than half of humanity currently lives in urban areas, and the United Nations predicts that figure will reach 70 percent by 2050. Cities worldwide already generate a significant amount of solid waste annually, adding to vexing issues that the global community is trying to address–demand for transportation, air pollution, access to public open spaces, urban sprawl, and general sustainability challenges. Throw in global warming and the copious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions borne of construction activities, and the challenge of creating the necessary urban infrastructure to cope comes into sharp focus.

Why Isn’T Formula 1 Going Electric?, Terry Van Gevelt

Asian Management Insights

Electric vehicles are not the only sustainable automotive option.

1. While electric vehicles (EVs) are marketed as ‘zero-emission’, their overall environmental impact and battery production all contribute to their lifecycle emissions. In fact, their widespread adoption needs significant infrastructural changes like installing new charging networks and upgrading power grids, which come with substantial environmental and financial costs.

2. Considering a diverse array of energy alternatives, including synthetic e-fuels, could offer Singapore a that is tailored to the specific needs and infrastructural realities of the country and region.

Getting On Board With Incentivising Esg, Shai Ganu

Asian Management Insights

What gets rewarded gets measured and done. Shai Ganu, Managing Director and Global Leader of the Executive Compensation and Board Advisory business at WTW, discusses the increasing adoption of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) metrics in structuring executive compensation. He explores how incorporating ESG goals into incentive plans drives accountability and aligns leadership performance with long-term sustainability objectives.

Power Shift: Steering The Energy Sector Towards A Net Zero Future, Tengku Muhammad Taufik

Asian Management Insights

Tengku Muhammad Taufik, President and Group CEO of PETRONAS, discusses how the global energy company navigates an increasingly volatile energy market while advancing its commitment to a Net Zero future. Balancing traditional operations with the demands of an accelerated energy transition, PETRONAS focuses on delivering energy to its stakeholders while meeting sustainability expectations. The company adopts frontier technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) as key enablers in its strategy to achieve a sustainable and resilient energy future.

"The Words We Do Not Yet Have." A Creative Inquiry Into Human-Plant Relationships, Maliheh Ghajargar

Art Faculty Articles and Research

Climate change, loss of plant biodiversity, and ocean pollution signal the drastic changes in our ecology that call us to attend to the needs of more than human forms of life on Earth. Sustainable design and HCI research are responding to this call by offering methods and approaches to design more sustainable products and systems and recently, more than human design is building momentum. This agenda seeks to reform traditional design processes by decentering the creative agency of the dominant socio-economical group of humans and foregrounding those of diverse Others. In this paper, I focus on plants as a nonhuman …

Growth Of Passionflower (Passiflora Incarnata) On A Green Roof Using Commercial Fertilizer Vs. Natural Compost, Siobhan Day, Corinne Parker, Carmyn Harrison, Lauren York

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), Tennessee’s state wildflower, is valued for its ecological role as a pollinator plant and its historical significance to the Cherokee, making it an ideal candidate for green roofs that support biodiversity and urban sustainability. This study examined the feasibility of growing passionflower on a green roof and tested whether commercial fertilizer (Miracle-Gro) or natural compost would lead to greater growth compared to no fertilizer. Twelve plants were divided equally into three treatment groups: control, Miracle-Gro, and compost, with growth measurements taken weekly from September to November. Results suggest that passionflowers treated with Miracle-Gro achieved the most growth, …

The Promise And Perils Of Smart (City) Bots As Educational Tools, Thomas Menkhoff, Siew Ning Kan, Shaohui Foong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Written from an educator’s perspective, the paper aims to examine the increasing use of chatbot technology capable of answering user queries in various fields such as commerce, public service delivery, urban areas, higher education etc. by simulating human conversation through text messages or voice commands. We analyse why smart bots have become popular technologies in the context smart cities; shed light on different types of bots (chatbots, large language models such as ChatGPT, flying bots); and explain how we use bots as teaching tool in an introductory AI for business course. A key argument putting forward is that smart bots …

Environmental Justice And Social Work: A Study Across Practice Settings In Three U.S. States, Lisa Reyes Mason, Sierra Roach Coye, Smitha Rao, Amy Krings, Julia Santucci

Graduate School of Social Work: Faculty Scholarship

Environmental justice is essential for improved quality of life and sustainable wellbeing. This study examines how environmental issues and related injustices are surfacing in U.S. social work practice and social work readiness to respond, and what resources social workers are most interested in. Data are from an online survey of U.S. social workers (N = 337) in Colorado, Ohio, and Tennessee. Participants answered questions about their social work background, current job, environmental issues in practice, resources, and demographics. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. For nine issues, at least 30% of participants reported these as surfacing sometimes or often, with …

Modification Of The Botanical Composition Of Perennial And Annual Temperate Pastures By Strategic Grazing Practices, D R. Kemp, P M. Dowling

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Where livestock production depends upon pastures, management is more difficult in environments where rainfall varies considerably from season to season and year to year. Flexible grazing practices are needed to optimise species composition and pasture productivity. Results presented in this paper show that pasture composition can be improved within climatic constraints, by grazing practices within seasons, In temperate annual pastures, long rests in winter (similar to a long rotation during that season) increased annual legume content in early spring from 20 to 50%. Annual grass content was unchanged. In perennial (phalaris) pastures, the dominant legume can change over years from …

Soil Characteristics And Processes Critical To The Sustainable Use Of Grasslands In Arid, Semi-Arid, And Seasonally Dry Environments, John Williams, Keith R. Helyar, Richard S.B Greene, Rosemary A. Hook

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The focus of this paper is a framework for determining the soil and land properties and processes which are critical to managing grasslands in an ecologically sustainable manner. Essential to the discussion is the development of concepts which allow description of the stability, resilience and sustainability of the agroecosystem as a whole as well as the land resource base. The regions of Australia with arid, semi-arid and seasonally dry environments are defined and related to the dry environments of the world. This provides a background for a brief consideration of major vegetation types and soils within the dry environments of …

Range Management: Optimizing Forage Production And Qualityy, J E. Danckwerts, N M. Tainton

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Range management involves optimising forage production and quality, both in the short term and in the long term. In the short term, temporal climatic variability, stocking rate, grazing system, fire, animal type. and spatial variability, inter alia, strongly, influence forage production and quality. On the other hand, long-term optimisation requires prevention of range deterioration. The nature of this process seems to be profoundly different between humid and arid rangelands, at least in tropical and subtropical zones. In the former, changes are relatively predictable, overgrazing resulting in gradual deterioration. In the latter, change is event driven, providing the grazier with …

The Future Of Sustainable Agriculture In The United States, Dennis R. Keeney

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the United States, sustainable agriculture remains complicated and controversial as a concept, particularly to define and apply in terms of practices and policies to achieve sustainability. Many consider current agricultural practices to be sustainable in the near term with regard to the dependable, affordable supply of food and fibre, but unsustainable in terms of environmental quality and social costs. Production agriculture hos been linked to soil erosion and water pollution, and the emphasis on efficiency has contributed to the loss of many farmers and increasing instability in rural communities. Many of agriculture's dilemmas can be linked to policies of …

Sustainable Direction For Resource Management An Assessment Of The Regional Council Role, Allan Lohrey

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The 1980s has seen an increased world awareness of the concept of sustainability. In 1991 New Zealand enacted the Resource Management Act (RMA) which reflected society's concern for a need to consider future generations when making decisions relating to the use of natural resources. Regional councils have been allocated the role within the Act to promote sustainable management at the regional level. The short term challenge to regional councils is to manage resources in manner which strikes a pragmatic balance between the ongoing needs of society and the need to provide resources for future generations. Regional councils will know they …

A Marine Knowledge System For Ocean Affairs: Integrating Data, Evaluating Usage, And Enabling Sustainable Marine Management, Yu-Jen Pan

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study presents the evolution and assessment of the Marine Knowledge Education System (MKES), designed to improve user acceptance among students in professional marine science courses in Taiwan. The MKES leverages real-world maritime cases from the General Coast Guard Administration and is built upon existing technologies like cloud services, social networks, and data analysis tools. The technology acceptance model (TAM) provides the theoretical underpinning for the assessment of user confidence. Data was collected from 190 participants through purposive sampling. Path analysis confirmed all hypothesized relationships within the TAM with statistical significance (p < 0.001). Additionally, paired-sample t-tests revealed a significant increase in student acceptance of the MKES after integrating it into the marine science curriculum. These findings underscore the capacity of the MKES as a digital learning tool to enrich course pedagogy and improve student learning outcomes, thereby offering valuable support in advancing the education of professional marine managers.

Understanding Associations Between Disasters And Sustainability, Resilience, And Poverty: An Empirical Study Of The Last Two Decades, Dean Kyne, Dominic Kyei

Sociology Faculty Publications

This study investigates the impact of disasters on sustainability, resilience, and poverty, using data from the “Sustainable Development Report” and the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) from 2000 to 2023. Regression models assessed the effects of disasters, deaths, injuries, affected individuals, and economic damage on normalized values of the dependent variables with lag periods of one, two, and three years of independent variables. The results reveal that disasters consistently negatively impact sustainability and resilience, highlighting the need for robust disaster risk reduction strategies and resilient infrastructure. Higher mortality rates significantly hindered development, emphasizing the importance of improving early warning systems, emergency …

Decision Support System In The Transfer Of Grassland Technology, J W. Stuth, W T. Hamilton, J C. Conner, D P. Sheehy

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

A world-wide demand for sustainable development of our grazinglands has placed an unprecedented urgency to determine mechanisms to develop and transfer technology that meets the needs of individual landholders and overarching values of society. Unfortunately, advances in science and technology have outstripped our ability lo organise information into a usable form using traditional institutions. The emergence of computer technology with high power/ cost ratios has accelerated interest in computerised decision support systems (DSS) over the past 10 years. These systems assist resource managers in dealing with complex planning problems by allowing exploration of alternatives and selection of appropriate technology. If …

Pasture Plant Identification In The Western Queensland Arid Zone, J A. Milson, I F. Beale, J A. Reynolds, J J. Bushwell, D Phelps

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Since plant species composition is an important indicator of the health or condition of pastures and therefore the land, a first step for graziers interested in conserving the total range resource is to understand vegetation species and thus be able to identify them and to recognise species changes. This project is aimed at producing and distributing colour leaflets of the major native and problem plant species (including woody weeds) in the four major community types in western Queensland. The number of colour leaflels for the series totals 60. The number of species represented is about 230. These leaflets are dislributed …

Sustainable Transportation: Transforming Utah Through Community Action, Isabella Erwin, Kendall Becker, Patrick A. Singleton, Scott Hotaling

All Current Publications

Transportation in the United States accounts for 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Over half of these emissions come from on-road vehicles. Nationwide, Utah has the third highest rate of car ownership, and the resulting air pollution from on-road vehicles has significant implications for the climate and public health. This fact sheet provides information on how Utah’s government and other entities are working to expand modes of transport that minimize harm to communities and the environment.

Native Grasses: Their Distribution And Management In South-Eastern Australia, P M. Dowling, D L. Garden, P C. Simpson, D Eddy, D R. Kemp

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The economic survival of landholders depends on improving net returns. On the Tablelands of New South Wales, where substantial tracts of the original native perennial grasses still remain, an opportunity to do this exists by making belier use of these pastures. Over 150 years of grazing by sheep and cattle is considered to have resulted in the evolution of more grazing tolerant and nutrient­responsive grasses. This paper reports on the approach taken in developing a native grass strategy for tableland country, A survey sought to delineate the distribution of the native grass species under grazed conditions, while the feasibility of …

Sustainability Of African Farming Systems With Particular Reference To Soil Fertility, Multiple Cropping Systems And Weed Ingress In Smallholder Systems In Humid Tropical Africa, Bede N. Okigbo, Elly N. Sabiti

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Africa continues to face a food and agricultural crisis, the effects of which are sometimes exacerbated by drought and civil strife. The food crisis is the result of the inability of African countries in the humid tropical areas and other zones to produce enough food to satisfy escalating demand, owing largely to rapid population growth and pressures of modernisation. Furthermore, the inability of these countries to earn adequate incomes and the lack of food security, especially in some countries suffering from drought, civil strife or war, has resulted in increasing reliance on food aid to fulfil their food import requirements. …

Sustainability Of A Rocky Grassland Association Over Four Decades, K Torok, G Kosa

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The monitoring of vegetation changes Is essential for predicting the direction of future changes. Historic Braun-Blanquet type relev6s of a grassland association were resampled after 4 decades. Ordination techniques were applied to the joint data set. Important displacement of the relev6s was observed in the ordination space, though there is no complete separation of the historic and recent relev6s. No consistent change in species number, no decrease in diversity was experienced, The displacement of relev6s was the consequence of shif'l in the spectrum of life strategies of species: invasion of annuals, The cause of this shif'l may be the increased …

Changes In Productivity Associated With Replacement Of Heteropogon Cotortus By Aristida Species And Chrysopogon Fallax In The Savannas Of South East Queensland, F P. Wandera, P C. Kerridge, J A. Taylor, H M. Shelton

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Heteropogon contortus-dominated rangelands, which cover 22 million ha, are the most important areas for beef production in northern Australia. Due to overgrazing, this dominant species ,is disappearing and is being replaced by unpalatable species such as Aristida and Chrysopogon in a patchy mosaic pattern. In a large graiing experiment· adjacent to the CSIRO Narayen research station: in south-east Queensland on granite country, patches dominated bf the unpalatable grasses comprised 24-32% of the area. Aristida-dominant and Chrysopogon-dominant patches had lower productivity (1000 and 650 kg/ha, respectively) than areas dominated by Heteropogon contorus (1850 kg/ha). It was estimated that a rangeland …

Mapping Urban Tree Canopy Using Publicly Available Satellite Data, Rosemary Mcguinness

Theses and Dissertations

This project addresses the need for accessible, cost-effective tools for quantifying spatial and temporal changes in tree canopy cover in urban areas. Urban tree canopy provides a wide range of ecosystem services, including lowering air temperatures, reducing pollution, and mitigating stormwater runoff. Cities around the world have placed the expansion of their urban forests at the center of their sustainability goals. Consistent and timely data on urban tree canopy is essential for urban greening initiatives to succeed. Existing methods of accessing information about urban tree canopy are highly technical, costly, and labor-intensive, while the freely available source of tree canopy …

Light Structure Building Technology Towards Sustainable Environmental Design, Sally El-Sayed Prof. Dr. Mai Wahba Madkour2, Prof. Dr. Marwa Ahmed Kamer El-Dawla3

Journal of Engineering Research

The building and construction industry is one of the most important sectors globally , as it plays a vital role in providing housing and infrastructure that meets the needs of various communities , However , this industry is considered one of the largest contributors of negative environmental impacts in terms of consuming huge amounts of natural resources in an unsustainable manner and a subsequent increase in energy consumption .Therefore, it was necessary to find solutions and explore for new and sustainable construction methods to alleviate these problems .This research paper will focus on the use of light buildings and their …

Using Recycled Materials Towards Sustainable, Eco-Friendly Building In Hot Regions – A Review, Mai W. Madkour Hosny A. Dewer, And Shaimaa M. Refaat

Journal of Engineering Research

Due to population growth and increased urban activity, there is a rise in waste production, which poses health and environmental risks. Additionally, the extraction and transportation of natural resources to places of employment require significant energy consumption, and the world has therefore moved to seek new alternatives away from traditional construction methods by recycling building materials such as concrete, brick, glass, wood, etc., or using new building materials such as rice straw, plastics, corks, etc., taking into account architectural design. The research is aimed at demonstrating that recycled materials have the potential to perform a better environmental performance by preserving …

Chief Sustainability Officer’S Role Centrality And Corporate Sustainability Performance, Taiwo Abraham, Gabriel Owusu, Xuan Wang

Management Faculty Publications

Corporate Sustainability Performance (CSP) has gained substantial attention as firms recognize its potential impact on competitive advantage. In response, there has been a significant increase in the appointment of Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) tasked with managing sustainability performance and integrating systemic sustainability initiatives for business growth. In this research, we draw upon upper echelon theory and social network theory to argue that merely having a CSO does not enhance CSP. However, the centrality of CSO within organizational networks significantly augments CSP. Further, leveraging literature from institutional theory and stakeholder theory, we provide a fresh perspective on how organizations should approach …

Leveraging An Uncertainty Methodology To Appraise Risk Factors Threatening Sustainability Of Food Supply Chain, Rehab Mohamed, Mahmoud M. Ismail

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

By diminishing the risk factors associated with the food supply chain (FSC), we have recourse to strengthen the food supply chain's resilience, decrease food waste, and increase its sustainability. Prioritizing and identifying the risk factors impacting the sustainability of the food supply chain is essential for managing uncertainty and averting unfavorable consequences. This study attempts to identify and rank the most significant risks affecting the sustainability of the food supply chain under an uncertain environment. We use the α-Discounting multi-criteria decision-making (α-D MCDM) method for the main three risk factors: the risks of supply, the risks of demand, and the …

Leveraging An Uncertainty Methodology To Appraise Risk Factors Threatening Sustainability Of Food Supply Chain, Rehab Mohamed, Mahmoud M. Ismail

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

By diminishing the risk factors associated with the food supply chain (FSC), we have recourse to strengthen the food supply chain's resilience, decrease food waste, and increase its sustainability. Prioritizing and identifying the risk factors impacting the sustainability of the food supply chain is essential for managing uncertainty and averting unfavorable consequences. This study attempts to identify and rank the most significant risks affecting the sustainability of the food supply chain under an uncertain environment. We use the α-Discounting multi-criteria decision-making (α-D MCDM) method for the main three risk factors: the risks of supply, the risks of demand, and the …

Enhancing Water Sustainability In North Africa: Literature Review And Synthesis Of Current Knowledge Gaps In Sudan, Osman M. A. Adam, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Derek M. Heeren, Troy E. Gilmore

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

This study delves into the critical role of groundwater in addressing global water challenges, with a focus on the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) in North Africa. Groundwater constitutes a source of potable water, irrigation, and industrial use, especially in arid regions where surface water is limited. We analyzed the status of water quantity, withdrawals, recharge, and geological characteristics in the NSAS, specifically in Sudan, Egypt, Libya, and Chad. Though the NSAS is largely an untapped resource, we evaluated various scenarios to determine the quantity of cropland that can be sustainably irrigated. The NSAS is located in an arid region, …

On The Sustainability Of Deep Learning Projects: Maintainers' Perspective, Junxiao Han, Jiakun Liu, David Lo, Chen Zhi, Yishan Chen, Shuiguang Deng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Deep learning (DL) techniques have grown in leaps and bounds in both academia and industry over the past few years. Despite the growth of DL projects, there has been little study on how DL projects evolve, whether maintainers in this domain encounter a dramatic increase in workload and whether or not existing maintainers can guarantee the sustained development of projects. To address this gap, we perform an empirical study to investigate the sustainability of DL projects, understand maintainers' workloads and workloads growth in DL projects, and compare them with traditional open-source software (OSS) projects. In this regard, we first investigate …