Environmental Education Commons^™

The Urban Heat Island Effect And Its Impact On The Climate And Landscape Of Phoenix, Arizona, Gurwinder Sahota, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Ali Zarine, Malek Shami

Publications and Research

This paper examines the impact of the urban heat island effect on the climate and landscape of Phoenix, Arizona. Urbanization is quickly becoming the most influential environmental factor because of the exponential growth in the human population coupled with industrialization, modernization, and commercialization, which has become the allure of urban centers worldwide. While urbanization offers numerous advantages, it comes at the cost of altering the environment by replacing permeable natural soils and vegetation with impermeable urban surfaces, such as pavements, buildings, and other such structures. This impervious modification results in absorption of solar energy that is taken up by the …

The Importance Of Undergraduates Exposure To The Geosciences Industry: Preliminary Case Study-Based Outcome At Cuny – York College, Malek Shami, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Ruslana Baker, Gurwinder Sahota, Toralv B. Munro, Stanley Schleifer

Publications and Research

Traditionally, a limited percentage of undergraduate geology students have the opportunity to explore the geology profession in private, non-private industry, city and federal agencies, while a relatively larger number of graduating students pursue higher education to ultimately find a career in academia, city and federal agencies. For the past three semesters, a pilot study that provided more exposure to the geology profession was conducted at the Earth and Physical Sciences Department of the City University of New York. This adaptive teaching approach designated 20% of each upper level geology gateway courses (Structural, Mineralogy, Petrology, Soil Mechanics, and Sedimentation) to the …

Hu Aquaponics Monitoring And Control System : European Annual Edunet Conference 2020, Rachel L. Fogle, Glenn P. Williams, Josh R. Krug

Harrisburg University Presidential Research Grants

The functional purpose of the HU Aquaponics Monitoring and Control System Project is to develop an environmental and plant monitoring and control system for the HU Aquaponics Lab, located in the Student Union. The project involves the design and implementation of technology that will regularly take measurements from the environment (e.g., air temperature, water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc). PLCnext Technology will systematically collect, store, and web-publish the measurement data for HU researchers and the public to use for scientific research.

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Paleontological Resources Management Plan (Public Version), Scott Kottkamp, Vincent L. Santucci, Justin S. Tweet, Jessica De Smet, Ellen Stark

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

Since Agate Springs Ranch was founded by James H. Cook in 1887, exquisite examples of transitional Miocene mammalian fauna have been found along this stretch of the Niobrara River valley. Collectively these paleontological discoveries, along with the existing archeological and historical Native American collection, were the basis for establishing Agate Fossil Beds National Monument (AGFO) as a unit of the National Park System (NPS). The fossil remains from the Harrison and Anderson Ranch formations span a short, but important, time period within the Miocene Epoch. AGFO has provided science with an intimate look into North American mammalian evolution …

Assessment Of Switchgrass-Based Bioenergy Supply Using Gis-Based Fuzzy Logic And Network Optimization In Missouri (U.S.A.), Gia Nguyen, Erik Lyttek, Pankaj Lal, Taylor Wieczerak, Pralhad Burli

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Bioenergy has been globally recognized as one of the sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. An assured supply of biomass feedstocks is a crucial bottleneck for the bioenergy industry emanating from uncertainties in land-use changes and future prices. Analytical approaches deriving from geographical information systems (GIS)-based analysis, mathematical modeling, optimization analyses, and empirical techniques have been widely used to evaluate the potential for bioenergy feedstock. In this study, we propose a three-phase methodology integrating fuzzy logic, network optimization, and ecosystem services assessment to estimate potential bioenergy supply. The fuzzy logic analysis uses multiple spatial criteria to identify suitable biomass cultivating regions. …

Foliar Application Of Low Concentrations Of Titanium Dioxide And Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles To The Common Sunflower Under Field Conditions, Marek Kolenčík, Dávid Ernst, Martin Urík, Ľuba Ďurišová, Marek Bujdoš, Martin Šebesta, Edmund Dobročka, Samuel Kšiňan, Ramakanth Illa, Qian Yu, Huan Feng, Ivan Černý, Veronika Holišová, Gabriela Kratošová

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Nano-fertilisers have only recently been introduced to intensify plant production, and there still remains inadequate scientific knowledge on their plant-related effects. This paper therefore compares the effects of two nano-fertilisers on common sunflower production under field conditions. The benefits arising from the foliar application of micronutrient-based zinc oxide fertiliser were compared with those from the titanium dioxide plant-growth enhancer. Both the zinc oxide (ZnO) and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) were delivered by foliar application in nano-size at a concentration of 2.6 mg·L⁻¹. The foliar-applied nanoparticles (NPs) had good crystallinity and a mean size distribution under 30 nm. …

Determinants Of The Carbon Footprint Of German Swimmers 2020., Ann-Marie Muehlbauer

Master's Theses

The current climate situation is placing our planet and future generations at risk, which demonstrates the urgency to combat climate change and conduct research to support this effort. Calculating the carbon footprint of active sport participation represents an important opportunity to conduct additional research. This study examined the environmental attitudes and practices of swim club members in Germany. The study had three goals: First, to calculate the total and partial carbon footprint of German swimmers; second, to understand how sport organizations induce participants to engage in pro-environmental behavior; and third, to analyze various factors associated with carbon footprint, such as …

School Gardens As A Tool To Improve Student Health Outcomes And Increase Parent Engagement In The Clark County School District, Sabina Malik

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background-School Gardens (SG) have been used in student programming to help achieve many goals that include increasing academic achievement, improving nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, increasing physical activity rates, instilling eco-consciousness, and increasing student and community engagement. To date, garden programs have predominantly been evaluated by case control studies examining pilot or informal short term implementation without consideration of garden program longevity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of SGs on student knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to nutrition and physical activity, examine student connection to the garden, and to identify stakeholder perceptions of best practices …

Climatic Variability And Climate Change: U.S. College Freshmen Attitudes And Spatio-Temporal Effects On Cavity-Nesting Passerines, Sara Elizabeth Harrod

Student Theses and Dissertations

Despite the scientific consensus that human activities are the primary cause, many people deny the problem of climate change. If mitigation efforts are to be successful, we need to determine young individuals’ attitudes toward and knowledge of climate change. Successful mitigation efforts are important for humans, as well as wildlife and the environment. Wildlife populations are already being affected, with many documented cases of negative impacts. Effects on populations can occur through impacts on demographic parameters, and if parameters are synchronized across species or populations, this could prove disastrous if climate change negatively affects these parameters. Here, I surveyed first-semester …

Climate Toolkit: A Resource Manual For Science And Action - Version 2.0, Frank Granshaw

PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

The Climate Toolkit is a resource manual designed to help the reader navigate the complex and perplexing issue of climate change by providing tools and strategies to explore the underlying science. As such it contains a collection of activities that make use of readily available on-line resources developed by research groups and public agencies. These include web-based climate models, climate data archives, interactive atlases, policy papers, and “solution” catalogs. Unlike a standard textbook, it is designed to help readers do their own climate research and devise their own perspective rather than providing them with a script to assimilate and repeat. …

Projected Surface Water For Fruit And Vegetable Irrigation Under A Changing Climate In The Us, Marty Matlock, Greg Thoma, Kieu Ngoc Le, Eric Cummings, Zach Morgan, Andrew Shaw

Water Systems

Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, resulting in climate impacts, are raising concerns over the hydrologic cycle and its effects upon agricultural productivity. If rainfall patterns change, meeting an increased demand for fruits and vegetables will pose a challenge for domestic production regions in the United States (U.S.). Information on potential water supply scarcity in the current production regions provides decision makers with critical information for risk mitigation for future production. We used a hydrologic balance-based model of historic and future water availability to evaluate risk of available irrigation water to support major fruit and vegetable production the US. …

Examining The Impact Of Climate Change Film As An Educational Tool, Brittany Bondi, Salma Monani, Sarah M. Principato, Christopher P. Barlett

Student Publications

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of film in communicating issues related to climate change. While previous studies demonstrate an immediate effect of a film post-screening, this study also considered if a film can inspire long-term effects, and if supplemental educational information plays a role on participant understanding.

Design/methodology/approach: Using surveys, we assessed undergraduate students’ climate change responses pre-, immediately-post, and 9-weeks post watching the climate change documentary The Human Element (Prod. Earth Vision Institute, 2018). In the 9-week interim before the final survey, half of the participants received weekly information on climate change via …

Rfia: An R Package For Estimation Of Forest Attributes With The Us Forest Inventory And Analysis Database, Hunter Stanke, Andrew O. Finley, Aaron S. Weed, Brian F. Walters, Grant M. Domke

United States National Park Service: Publications

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) is a US Department of Agriculture Forest Service program that aims to monitor changes in forests across the US. FIA hosts one of the largest ecological datasets in the world, though its complexity limits access for many potential users. rFIA is an R package designed to simplify the estimation of forest attributes using data collected by the FIA Program. Specifically, rFIA improves access to the spatiotemporal estimation capacity of the FIA Database via space–time indexed summaries of forest variables within user-defined population boundaries (e.g., geographic, temporal, biophysical). The package implements multiple design-based estimators, and has …

Exploring Opportunities For A New Community Garden In Santa Fe Springs, Camille Kelem

City and Regional Planning

No abstract provided.

Art And Science: Utilizing Steam Education To Promote Empathetic Scientific Literacy And Global Citizenship, Ali Orsi Davis

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This research expounds on the history of, hurdles facing, and future goals and possibilities for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics) education, including how it can create empathetic, scientifically literate global citizens. Reasons for the cultivation of empathy, scientific literacy, and global citizenship in the classroom are numerous; escalating worldwide nationalism, accelerated climate change, and the increased need to address sustainable development and poverty have produced particular urgency for such student development. Science educators today rarely prioritize the “art” in STEAM education, despite a panoply of cognitive benefits including perspective-taking, critical thinking, and increased personal connection to scientific content. Development …

Storm Surges In The Bohai Sea: The Role Of Waves And Tides, Yuanyi Li, Huan Feng, Guillaume Vigouroux, Dekui Yuan, Guangyu Zhang, Xiaodi Ma, Kun Lei

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

A storm surge is a complex phenomenon in which waves, tide and current interact. Even though wind is the predominant force driving the surge, waves and tidal phase are also important factors that influence the mass and momentum transport during the surge. Devastating storm surges often occur in the Bohai Sea, a semi-enclosed shallow sea in North China, due to extreme storms. However, the effects of waves on storm surges in the Bohai Sea have not been quantified and the mechanisms responsible for the higher surges that affect part of the Bohai Sea have not been thoroughly studied. In this …

La Habana: A History Of Society, Livelihood, Movement, And Land Use On The Iquitos-Nauta Highway, Katie Brown

Undergraduate Honors Theses

With increasing infrastructural projects and land titling in the Peruvian Amazon, many changes are occurring within small roadside communities. In this case study, we investigate how these changes impact livelihoods, land use, travel patterns, and social relations within the broader concepts of development, privatization of land, and commodification of nature. Specifically we focus on the caserío La Habana situated on the Iquitos-Nauta highway in the Loreto region of Peru. Semi-formal interviews and ethnographic methods were conducted to gather information on social organization, history of the community, land use practices, migration patterns, opinions on the road, and livelihood strategies. After data …

A Comparison Of Fuel Reduction Methods For Wildfire Risk Management And Climate Change Resiliency In Mixed Conifer Forests In The Sierra Nevada, Heather Navle

Master's Projects and Capstones

Wildfires in the mixed conifer forests of California’s Sierra Nevada have been a common and natural disturbance for thousands of years, historically occurring every 3 to 30 years. The flora and fauna of the mixed conifer forest have evolved to depend on low to moderate severity wildfires for reproduction, foraging, and habitat. However, the Sierra Nevada has experienced dramatic environmental changes over the past ~150 years as a result of three main factors: wildfire suppression, climate change, and habitat loss. Because of the threat wildfires pose to human lives, property and timber harvest, they have been suppressed to an extent …

Development Of A Modified Floristic Quality Index As A Rapid Habitat Assessment Method In The Northern Everglades, Rebakah E. Gibble, Donatto D. Surratt

United States National Park Service: Publications

Floristic quality assessments (FQA) using floristic quality indices (FQIs) are useful tools for assessing and comparing vegetation communities and related habitat condition. However, intensive vegetation surveys requiring significant time and technical expertise are necessary, which limits the use of FQIs in environmental monitoring programs. This study modified standard FQI methods to develop a rapid assessment method for characterizing and modeling change in wetland habitat condition in the northern Everglades. Method modifications include limiting vegetation surveys to a subset of taxa selected as indicators of impact and eliminating richness and/or abundance factors from the equation. These modifications reduce the amount of …

Fire Monitoring Handbook

United States National Park Service: Publications

Fire is a powerful and enduring force that has had, and will continue to have, a profound influence on National Park Service (NPS) lands. Fire management decisions within the National Park Service require information on fire behavior and on the effects of fire on park resources. With good reason, the public is holding park management increasingly accountable, especially in the area of fire management. Federal and state agencies are instituting progressively more stringent guidelines for burning, monitoring, and evaluation. The impetus behind these guidelines and the purpose of this handbook are to ensure that management objectives are being met, to …

The Research And Analysis Of Potential Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus) Habitats And Gray Wolf Management In The U.S., Youhan Mei

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

The Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) is a keystone species that have significant impacts on the ecosystem where they belong. They used to have a wide range of habitat across the whole of North America. In 1960, the wolves were treated as threats to the safety of humans and livestock. They were wiped out by the government of the day and only had few populations left in Minnesota and Michigan. Today, there are identified in the “Red List) of International Union for Conservation of Nature as endangered species all around the U.S. This shows the urgent need for conservation, …

384— Chimney Swift Conservation Project, Brian Zapfel, Hiina Asami

GREAT Day Posters

The Chimney Swift Project is a student team promoting conservation for Chimney Swifts, a species of small insectivorous bird found throughout the eastern United States and Canada during their breeding season. In a natural setting, Chimney Swifts nest in hollow trees which were common in the old-growth forests prominent in the United States before European colonization. Currently, Chimney Swifts population is on a steep decline primarily due to human caused habitat destruction. Overall, 75% of the population has been lost since 1970. Our project aims to promote the conservation of Chimney Swifts through the construction of a nesting tower and …

Environmental Activism, Ellen Dexter, Lydia Dexter

Honors Program: 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.

The Enhancement Of Climate Change Science Communication And Understanding Through Glacier Tourism, Natalie Jean Kincheloe

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The natural environment provides the opportunity for educators to teach the general public about scientific topics that are misunderstood. Arctic tourism has increased as accessibility to these regions has improved. Informal learning is a valuable yet extremely understudied phenomenon within the tourism industry. Iceland is a country that lies in the North Atlantic and has experienced a significant increase in foreign visitors over the past decade. Of the natural features in Iceland, glaciers have become a top attraction for visitors. Since thousands of visitors participate in guided glacier tours annually in Iceland, an opportunity to couple glacier tourism with informal …

The Belknap Campus And Metro Louisville Urban Heat Island Effect: Air And Ground Surface Temperature Analysis, Kenyetta Johnson

Undergraduate Arts and Research Showcase

Numerous studies show that urban morphologies and land covers generate excess heat emissions and retain heat relative to surrounding rural areas, known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Urban fabrics paved by concretes and asphalts absorbs solar radiation during solar peak then radiates heat after sundown. This study investigates temperature distribution data related to the UHI effect on the Belknap campus at the University of Louisville, which represents a small aerial sample of the Louisville metropolitan UHI effect. The objective of this study is to measure the reflectivity of ground surfaces and air temperatures on the Belknap campus during …

The Responsibility Of Scientists In Public Policy, Samuel S. Otálvaro

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Earthkam: Learning About Earth From A Unique Perspective, Emily Wisinski, Christine Evans, Joshua Huggins, Isabel Skelton, Greta Paris

Research Horizons Day Posters

No abstract provided.

Friendship At The Feeding Station, Anisha Pokharel

Zea E-Books Collection

A young steppe eagle and his mother fly to Nepal from Mongolia, where Griffy, a Himalayan griffon, chases the hungry Steppe from the feeding station, but Garuda, a white-rumped vulture, intervenes and becomes Steppe's friend. Steppe's mother is angered at first, but learns the lesson that each species has its role to play.

Designed by Breanna Epp with Maeve Lausch

Acoustically Advertising Male Harbour Seals In Southeast Alaska Do Not Make Biologically Relevant Acoustic Adjustments In The Presence Of Vessel Noise, Leanna P. Matthews, Michelle E.H. Fournet, Christine Gabriele, Holger Klinck, Susan E. Parks

United States National Park Service: Publications

Aquatically breeding harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) males use underwater vocalizations during the breeding season to establish underwater territories, defend territories against intruder males, and possibly to attract females. Vessel noise overlaps in frequency with these vocalizations and could negatively impact breeding success by limiting communication space. In this study, we investigated whether harbour seals employed anti-masking strategies to maintain communication in the presence of vessel noise in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Harbour seals in this location did not sufficiently adjust source levels or acoustic parameters of vocalizations to compensate for acoustic masking. Instead, for every 1 dB …

Carnivore Population Structure Across An Urbanization Gradient: A Regional Genetic Analysis Of Bobcats In Southern California, Julia G. Smith, Megan K. Jennings, Erin E. Boydston, Kevin R. Crooks, Holly B. Ernest, Seth Riley, Laurel E. K. Serleys, Shaelynn Sleater-Squires, Rebecca L. Lewison

United States National Park Service: Publications

Context In human-dominated landscapes, habitat fragmentation and barriers to movement can interrupt gene flow. While often considered at a local extent, regional analyses are also needed to reveal broader landscape-mediated population processes.

Objectives To explore the relationship between patterns of gene flow and fragmentation resulting from urbanization across southern California, we used the bobcat as an indicator species. We assembled data for a landscape level genetic analysis across southern California from both archived and new samples, including two northern Californian populations for comparison, to identify local and regional areas affected by isolation.

Methods Our regional analyses focused on a dataset …