Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Conservation Land On Property Taxes And Municipal Budgets In Maine: A Mixed-Methods Study, Abigail Bennett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is an interdisciplinary project done in collaboration with the Municipal Budget and Conservation Working group, a group of stakeholders that formed in 2018 to study conservation and town budgets. We use mixed methods to explore the impacts of conservation and municipal budgets in Maine. We use regression analysis on 21 years of panel data to identify causal relationships between conservation and mill rates, controlling for economic and town budget factors. We found statistically significant but small effects on average, with a 1% increase in conserved acres in a town associated with average tax bill increases of $1 or …

Exploring The Importance Of Values, Place, And Perceptions In Conservation Decision-Making In Maine: A Mixed Methods Approach, Alyssa R. Soucy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conservation inherently involves intertwined ecological systems and human societies. In Maine, USA conservation decision-making brings together many viewpoints, values, motivations, and experiences to balance diverse goals. Socio-cultural, experiential, financial, and ecological factors can all influence an individual’s ability to make or support a decision. This dissertation aimed to broadly explore how people perceive their role in conservation decision-making in Maine. In doing so, we articulate a diverse set of perspectives, experiences, and values. We used a mixed methods approach which enabled an in-depth understanding of the complexity of conservation decision-making while providing the opportunity for different voices to be heard. …

"Smells Fishy": Exploring Sense Of Place Salience In Community Rejection Of Closed Net-Pen Aquaculture In Frenchman Bay, Maine, Gabriella Gurney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The global population is rising, and with it, demand for protein, particularly seafood. Aquaculture, the farming of aquatic species such as finfish, shellfish, and kelp, has been proposed as an alternative to wild-catch fisheries, of which 75% are overfished or at capacity. In Maine, aquaculture is growing, but often faces mixed community response when new or expanded projects are proposed. In the summer of 2020, a large-scale closed net-pen farm for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) was proposed for Frenchman Bay, Maine. Community reaction was instantaneous and overwhelmingly negative. The strong, unified response from residents in the towns of …

The Queer Ecology Of Clouds In Nineteenth-Century British Poetics, Lucien Darjeun Meadows

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the nineteenth century, British writers were interested in the emergent science of meteorology, and their lyrical writing (their “poetics”), from poetry to creative and scientific prose, often turns to clouds as both meteorological formations and as material metaphors for human-environment interactions. These writers frequently invoke clouds to disrupt or “queer” depictions of human-environment relationships built on human domination of environmental beings. Clouds, in poetic writing, help writers (and readers) instead experience subject-subject relationships of reciprocity—a collaborative, non-hierarchical way of existing with and learning from our ecological relatives.

Dwelling in the confluence of literary studies, queer studies, and ecology, The …

Assessing The Appropriateness Of Free-Roaming Cat Management Strategies Based On Resident Perspectives In A Small Pennsylvania Municipality, Brianna Marks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The popularity and mismanagement of free-roaming cats has resulted in invasive populations responsible for over-predation of birds and small mammals and increased disease transmission to humans and animals (Bies, 2014; Crowley et al., 2020). Management effectiveness fluctuates between communities due to varying opinions of free-roaming cats by governments and the public, which can influence management development and success (Deak et al., 2019). This research assesses the relationship between community perspectives of free-roaming cats and management. A survey of residents in a small Pennsylvania municipality was conducted with questions pertaining to free-roaming cats and management preferences in the community. Over 50% …

Middle Savannah River: An A/R/Tographic Ecopedagogical Ethnography Experimenting With Rhizomatic Perspectives, Lisa Augustine-Chizmar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research is an experiment in perspective. Using the four commonplaces (Schwab, 1978), I practiced letting the Savannah River teach me what there is to know about the water, the land, the people, and the other entities that depend on ki through artistic, ethnographic, and ecopedagogical lenses. The ethnographic findings describe the social actors that depend on ki and give a voice to the River. The a/r/tographic findings display the River on a canvas map through two hundred years using paint, clay, photography, video, abstract acrylics, and fabric. Together, these methods contribute to a unique ecopedagogical journey. This word cloud …

The Relationship Between Urban Green Space Perception And Use Within The Adolescent Population: A Focused Ethnography, Rachel Lyons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Greenspace is beneficial for improving adolescent mental health, yet we still do not understand the connection between the built environment and subjective mental wellbeing. We also lack understanding of how this population uses greenspace and how they feel when in it. Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was threefold: to understand why adolescents use greenspace, to identify how they use greenspace, and to explore how they feel when they are in greenspace. Methods: participated in a focused ethnography that utilized auto photography for photo elicitation. Braun and Clark's (2006), six phases of thematic analysis were used to guide …

Exploring Reusable Takeout Packaging As An Alternative To Disposable Plastics In Maine's Restaurant Industry, Jared Wildwistle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the emergence of plastic over 100 years ago, businesses have increasingly relied on them to protect products. While convenient, the proliferation of plastic packaging is a major contributor to pollutants in the soil, oceans, and bodies of humans and animals alike. Goals in states like Maine seek to reduce the amount of waste and alleviate these issues. However, the deeply embedded popularity of disposable packaging and lack of reliable waste processing capabilities has caused Maine to fall short of its goals. While solutions need to focus on reducing the amount of packaging entering the economy, most businesses rely on …

Seabirds As Proxies For Past El Niño Events In Coastal Peru: An Archaeo-Ornithological Approach, Heather A. Landazuri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis sets an initial foundation for an archaeo-ornithological approach to understanding past El Niño events on the coast of Peru and the use of avifaunal remains as proxies for ecological conditions. Although faunal remains from archaeological sites do not provide exact representations of past environmental conditions, and bird remains can be especially challenging environmental indicators, their presence does reflect decisions made by human occupants in response to environment. Additionally, zooarchaeological data offer a reflection of past animal availability and use, much of which is at least in part determined by environmental conditions. Here I examine the extent to which …

Quantifying Spatial Heterogeneity Of Wild Blueberries And Crop Water Stress Monitoring Using Remote Sensing Technologies, Kallol Barai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The wild blueberry is one of the major crops of Maine, with significant economic value and potential health benefits. Due to global climate change, drought impacts have been increasing significantly in recent years in the northeast region of the USA, causing significant economic losses in the agricultural sectors. It has been predicted to increase further in the future. Changing patterns of the elevated atmospheric temperatures, increased rainfall variabilities, and more frequent drought events have made the wild blueberry industry of Maine vulnerable, suggesting the adoption of novel approaches to mitigate the negative impacts of global climate changes. Also, wild blueberry …

Social Capital, Indigenous Storytelling, And Fish Diversity: Learning Together Through Community-University Partnerships In Downeast Maine, Michelle De Leon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Not only can community-university partnerships be vehicles for mobilizing community resources and affecting change, they also have high potential to produce useful, nuanced research and enable renewed visions of trust. I explore partnerships rooted in trust in the context of a community-university partnership between the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik and the University of Maine and its work through the Passamaquoddy-led StoryMaps Team. To accomplish this, I take a transdisciplinary approach to incorporate diverse perspectives on understanding critical and ethical approaches to engagement with Indigenous communities. The central focus among all three chapters is the need for Indigenous communities and institutions …

Sustainability As Justice Engaging With North American Alternative Seafood Networks Through Participatory Action Research, Paloma Henriques

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transformations in the ways we relate to the ocean are long overdue given the myriad of anthropogenic problems that exist – from overfishing to plastic pollution and acidification to ‘slavery-at-sea ’ and loss of access and fishing rights. Yet alongside the hegemonic modes of ocean exploitation exist diverse alternative economies, including those associated with alternative seafood networks, that aim to create different and more-than-economic relationships with marine systems. To situate my research within the broader literature, I interpret the widely used Brundtland Report definition of sustainability, “meet[ing] the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to …

Evaluation Of Fish Assemblage Composition And The Expansion Of An Invasive Species Following Dam Removal And Upgraded Fish Passage In The Penobscot River, Maine, Kory A. Whittum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Penobscot River Restoration Project was a large river rehabilitation project, culminating in the removal of the two lowermost dams (Veazie and Great Works) and improvements to fish passage on several remaining dams. Fish assemblages were surveyed for 3 years prior to rehabilitation, 3 years after, and now 8 years post-rehabilitation. Approximately 475 km of shoreline was sampled via boat electrofishing, yielding 133,394 individual fish of 41 species. The greatest shifts in assemblage structure occurred immediately after dam removal in formerly impounded sections, with increased prevalence of riverine and migratory species. Extended sampling documented several additional changes occurring within lower …

Operatic Mysticisms: Mountains, Deserts, Waterscapes, Andrew Demczuk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Operatic Mysticisms: Mountains, Deserts, Waterscapes examines the ways we encounter environments as readers/viewers of operas, literature, film, and sound recordings, and how each medium requires different detail-gathering techniques. Respective to the previously mentioned mediums, Sun & Sea (2017), Mount Analogue (1952), El Mar La Mar (2017), and Energy Field (2010) are analyzed by engaging with environmental media studies and invention. Reflecting the nature of each landscape—summits of mountains, aporias of deserts, and mysteries of waterscapes—an elemental approach is taken in investigating how these spaces may be noticed, internalized, recorded, and traversed by both the artist and viewer. …

Home/Sick, Elizabeth P. Fontenot

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper is a supporting document that discusses the conceptual and technical aspects of the artworks in the accompanying exhibition, HOME/SICK. The work in the exhibition consists of selections from different series of work that are inspired by related subject matter. The content driving the work responds to anecdotal experiences of people living in communities near oil refineries and chemical processing plants and how events at these facilities affect their way of life. Many times, these are communities of color which strive to voice concerns and protect homes from harmful toxins. In one series, original and appropriated imagery serves as …

Fire Emissions In The Tropical Indonesia: Improved Estimation And Driving Forces Investigation, Xiaoman Lu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Indonesia has experienced frequent fires since the 1970s due to large-scale peatland conversion and extensive drainage for agricultural development. Fire emissions released from these fires have led to Indonesia being the world’s 3rd largest emitter of greenhouse gases in certain years. Given that fire emissions severely affect climate, weather, and the human environment, numerous approaches have been developed to estimate fire emissions. However, existing emission estimates differ largely by a factor of four in this tropical country because of frequent cloud interferences and low-temperature smoldering fires. Therefore, this dissertation aims to improve the quantification of Indonesian fire emissions through enhanced …

Climate Care: Pathways For Coastal Community Resilience, Jessica Reilly-Moman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Climate change increasingly impacts coasts worldwide. The ability of coastal ecosystems and the human communities who are part of them to absorb disturbance and maintain function or transform, or resilience, is of critical importance to managing these impacts. However, to date, climate resilience largely has focused on biophysical impacts and technocratic solutions, while issues of social and environmental justice and human well-being become more acute and entrenched. Consequently, I ask: How can coastal communities cope with climate change? To answer this question, I leverage traditional, emergent, and novel social research methods in Mexico, Central America, and Maine. Using ethnography, interviews, …

The Effects Of Probiotic Therapy On Stress Coping Styles Of Triploid Juvenile Farmed Chinook Salmon, Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha, Brendyn M. St. Louis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Triploid salmon – fish with three sets of chromosomes – are regularly used in aquaculture as they are functionally sterile and therefore avoid the decline in flesh quality associated with sexual maturation. However, triploid fish exhibit many immune, behavioural, and physiological drawbacks which reduce their condition and survival in aquaculture environments. My research examines the effects of probiotic treatment to promote behavioural and stress-related (termed ‘coping styles’) traits more suited for aquaculture environments in triploid fish with the ultimate goal of increasing fish yield. In this study, Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) crosses were developed in a 3x3 and 3x2 design, …

A Social-Ecological Examination Of Moose In Maine: Habitat, Management, And Changing Seasonality, Asha Dimatteo-Lepape

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Maine is a New England state with rich ecosystems and diverse opportunities for enjoying the outdoors. Maine is well known as a popular nature-based tourist destination, and is often associated with its notable moose population. Social-ecological systems in Maine are highly intertwined, and as such, are especially susceptible to impacts resulting from climate change. Moose health in the state is already being negatively impacted by climate change with high infestation rates of winter tick resulting in declining moose health and high moose calf mortality. Given that late winter is a time of high stress and increased mortality of moose due …

To Know The Land With Hands And Minds: Negotiating Agricultural Knowledge In Late-Nineteenth-Century New England And Westphalia, Justus Hillebrand

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ever since the eighteenth century, experts have tried to tell farmers how to farm. The agricultural enlightenment in Europe marked the beginning of a long arc of new experts aiming to change agricultural knowledge and practice. This dissertation analyzes the pivotal period in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in Germany and the United States when scientists, improvers, and market agents began to develop comprehensive ways to communicate agricultural innovation to farmers. In a functional approach to analyzing the negotiation of agricultural knowledge through its communication in things, words, and practices, this dissertation argues that the process of change …

Marine Aquaculture In Maine: Understanding Diverse Perspectives And Interactions At Multiple Scales, Melissa L. Britsch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coastal oceans are changing and experiencing increased use. The social and ecological benefits of healthy coastal oceans are well documented and include habitats for marine species, storm protection, and recreational opportunities (MEA, 2005). As the impacts of human activities are recognized, questions about how ocean spaces should be used are becoming more common. These questions are complex and involve many tradeoffs. Understanding the values people hold about uses, and how activities and ecosystems overlap, is critical for weighing tradeoffs and improving future management. I use the northeastern U.S. state of Maine to study human interactions with coastal oceans. Maine is …

The Future Of Maine's Forests Under Alternative Socioeconomic, Climate And Conservation Pathways, Jianheng Zhao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Maine is a historically important timber supply region in North America and understanding the potential change in forestlands and their product industries affected by climate change and various socio-economic conditions can better improve the forest healthy and sustain a sustainable product industry. A statistical harvest choice model for the state of Maine was developed in chapter 1. It was estimated using a multinomial logit model of two products, under varying management intensities, and ownership classifications across varying market conditions. Results indicate that stumpage prices have a significant effect on forest landowners' harvest decisions and that the expansion of conservation land …

Species Distribution Modeling For Arid Adapted Habitat Specialists In Zion National Park, Sam Driver, Chris M. Schalk, Daniel Unger, David Kulhavy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Arizona toad (Anaxyrus microscaphus) and Jones’ waxy dogbane (Cycladenia humilis var. jonesii) are habitat specialists with historical ranges in the desert southwest and specifically, Zion National Park (ZION). The machine learning method, MaxEnt, constructed species distribution models (SDMs) in ZION for the two study species at 30 m and 900 m spatial resolutions using climate, topographic, and remotely sensed data. Additionally, 900 m forecasting models were constructed to observe the shifts in suitable habitat for the years 2050 and 2070, based off two representative concentration pathway scenarios. Results indicate promising predictive power for both high …

Fostering Climate Change Resilience: A Socio-Ecological Forest Systems Approach, Alyssa R. Soucy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As climate change continues to impact socio-ecological systems, those that rely on natural resources are highly sensitive to climatic changes. Maine’s forest industry provides for the economic and social well-being of many residents and is especially vulnerable to climate change impacts. Changes in growing season length and timing, forest health threats imposed by insects and pathogens, extreme weather events, shifting forest composition, and changes in natural disturbance severity and frequency have already begun, and are projected to continue, to impact forest systems in the Northeastern U.S. While climate change presents a threat to forest systems, opportunities also arise due to …

A Transdisciplinary Approach To Decision Support For Dams In The Northeastern U.S. With Hydropower Potential, Emma L. Fox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the regulatory body that oversees non-federally owned dam operations in the United States. With more than 300 hydropower dams across the U.S. seeking FERC relicense between 2020 and 2029, and 135 of those dams within the Northeast region alone, it is prudent to anticipate and plan for such decision-making processes. Anyone may be involved in FERC relicensing; in fact, FERC solicits public comment and requires the licensee to hold a public hearing during the process. Parties may also elect to apply for legal intervenor status, allowing them a more formal entry into the …

Changes In Land Use Land Cover (Lulc), Surface Water Quality And Modelling Surface Discharge In Beaver Creek Watershed, Northeast Tennessee And Southwest Virginia, Tosin James

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Beaver Creek is an impaired streams that is not supporting its designated use for recreation due to Escherichia coli (E.coli), and sediment. To address this problem, this thesis was divided into two studies.

The first study explored changes in Land Use Land Cover (LULC), and its impact on surface water quality. Changes in E.coli load between 1997-2001 and 2014-2018 were analyzed. Also, Landsat data of 2001, and 2018 were examined in Terrset 18.31. Mann-Whitney test only showed a significant reduction in E.coli for one site. Negative correlation was established between E.coli load, and Developed LULC, Forest LULC, and …

Human-Giraffe Interactions: Characterizing Poaching And Use Of Parts As A Threat To Giraffe In Northern Kenya, Kirstie Ruppert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Giraffe (Giraffe spp.) are iconic wildlife species to Africa, yet relatively little conservation funding and research have been directed at protection of giraffe in the wild. A growing number of national governments and conservation organizations are implementing management strategies to address the threats that giraffe face. To inform these plans, there is a need for social science that examines the human pressures associated with decline of giraffe populations, including poaching and the use of giraffe parts. As the large majority of reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata) range occurs outside formally protected areas, conservation plans must be made with …

Climate Change And Seed Security Among Smallholder Farmers In Northern Ghana, Michael Biwalib Madin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Smallholder agriculture is highly susceptible to climate variability and change. According to recent projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, this sensitivity would likely increase in the coming decades, with more erratic rainfall, prolonged dry periods, shorter growing seasons, and seed germination failures. In the African context, the mechanisms through which these ecological stressors would affect seed security are poorly understood. Drawing upon a case study of semi-arid Ghana, this study examines climate change impacts on seed security among smallholder farmers. It adopts a mixed-methods approach with intensive fieldwork in two farming communities. Conceptually, the study uses a political …

The Eu Ets: A Critical Analysis, Marceline Grey Swan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Carbon markets, established via cap & trade programs, are the dominant means by which climate stabilization is currently being pursued worldwide, with many centered around the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme. As such, a critical analysis of the EU ETS & its effectiveness is crucial to assess whether the EU carbon market is an effective mechanism to achieve climate stabilization. The effectiveness of the overall program was evaluated via a determination of whether the EU ETS, & to a greater extent the EU carbon market, has allowed for emissions reductions in line with the goal for climate stabilization set by …

The Interplay Between Economic Growth And The Environment: The Case Of China, Christian D. Carpio-Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, economic development has come at the cost of environmental degradation. Since the 1980s, neoliberalism rooted in neoclassical theory has dominated mainstream economic thought. The result has been a dramatic increase in environmental degradation in favor of economic growth. The neoliberal recommendations toward development are encapsulated in the Washington and post-Washington Consensuses which promote the liberalization of trade and foreign investment as well as a reliance on market mechanisms. Ultimately, the goal of neoliberalism is to generate growth regardless of the impact that it places on the environment. The case of China presents an example of an economy which pursued …