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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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- Health and environmental sciences (5)
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Articles 1 - 23 of 23
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Runoff Water Quality And Crop Growth As Affected By Wastewater-Derived Struvite, Machaela Morrison
Runoff Water Quality And Crop Growth As Affected By Wastewater-Derived Struvite, Machaela Morrison
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Mined phosphate rock, used to produce phosphorus (P) fertilizers, is a finite resource. Struvite (MgNH4PO4 • 6H2O) that has been synthetically produced from a stock solution of known P and nitrogen (N) concentrations has been shown to be an effective, alternative fertilizer-P source for various crops. However, little is known about the runoff-water-quality implications from and the crop response to soil application of struvite created from an actual municipal wastewater source. This study consisted of two objectives: i) to evaluate the effects of soil [i.e., Creldon (Oxyaquic Fragiudalf), Dapue (Fluventic Hapludoll), Roxana (Typic Udifluvent), and Calloway (Aquic Fraglossudalf) series], fertilizer-P …
Method Development For Quantifying Micropollutants In Water At Trace Levels With Diffusive Gradients In Thin-Films Passive Samplers, Michael Bradford Howland
Method Development For Quantifying Micropollutants In Water At Trace Levels With Diffusive Gradients In Thin-Films Passive Samplers, Michael Bradford Howland
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation in March 2023 for six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which included maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) of 4.0 ng•L−1 for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). These MCLs were based on current method detection limits (MDLs) for aqueous-phase grab samples achievable at certified analytical labs throughout the US. In June 2022, the US EPA issued the interim lifetime health advisory levels for PFOA and PFOS of 0.004 ng•L−1 and 0.02 ng•L−1, respectively, which presently cannot be reliably quantified using existing PFAS methods. …
Landowners' Perceptions Of Conservation Easements: Implications For Effective Persuasive Communication, Caitlin Cooper
Landowners' Perceptions Of Conservation Easements: Implications For Effective Persuasive Communication, Caitlin Cooper
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Conservation easements are one of the most popular voluntary, legally binding programs that allow individual landowners to use their property to protect the environment. There is a definite need for educational and persuasive messaging targeted towards landowners regarding adopting conservation easements. There is currently little to no existing literature specifically related to the attitudes and behaviors landowners possess towards conservation easements. This study aimed to fill a gap in literature by gathering information from landowners in Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma, using a quantitative survey. Respondents were asked to identify their awareness-level knowledge about conservation easements, as well as rank …
Environmental Communication: Changing The Attitude-Behavioral Gap In Science Communication Utilizing Strategic Messaging, Carrie Helgeson Nelms
Environmental Communication: Changing The Attitude-Behavioral Gap In Science Communication Utilizing Strategic Messaging, Carrie Helgeson Nelms
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
National Polls in the United States consistently find the public’s beliefs and attitudes about climate change and other environmental issues significantly diverge from those held by the science community. A communication gap between the findings on the causes and effects of environmental issues and the public’s inability to interpret or refuse to accept these findings are possible causes of this divergence. This communication gap constitutes a threat to society because of inaction to environmental problems and points to needed changes in scientific messaging that better informs and motivates behavioral change. The present research employed a strategic message design to affect …
Analysis Of Gentrification And Green Spaces In East Austin, Texas, Carly Fordyce
Analysis Of Gentrification And Green Spaces In East Austin, Texas, Carly Fordyce
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Gentrification, the urban process that results from uneven development within cities, can cause unjust displacement of traditional, low-income residents in residential neighborhoods, and inequitable access to community services and benefits. Because of the negative social impacts that gentrification can have, many local governments and agencies have been known to attempt to mitigate changes by initiating different types of planning policies. Such policies usually apply changes in housing or zoning rules to enable lower-income residents to have access to housing and community amenities in the area. Another aspect resulting from gentrification that local government will try to rectify is low access …
Assimilation Of Seasonal Moisture Variability In North America And Asia For The Last Millennium, Chang Liu
Assimilation Of Seasonal Moisture Variability In North America And Asia For The Last Millennium, Chang Liu
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The seasonal tree-ring chronologies that recorded discrete moisture signal for warm and cool season have been used to reconstruct the North America Seasonal Precipitation Atlas (NASPA) by the point-by-point regression method, and the results indicated that they can fairly reproduce the seasonal precipitation variability in the past. Compared with reconstructions using only paleoclimate proxy data, the paleoclimate data assimilation (PDA) considers both proxy data and climate model output, so the PDA reconstructions are consistent with both the climate signals reflected by the proxy data and the physical mechanisms represented by climate models. Based on the tree rings with discrete seasonal …
Nutrient Sources, Loads And Trends Vary Spatially And Temporally Within The Poteau River Watershed And Lake Wister, Oklahoma, Abbie Lasater
Nutrient Sources, Loads And Trends Vary Spatially And Temporally Within The Poteau River Watershed And Lake Wister, Oklahoma, Abbie Lasater
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Excess inputs of nutrients and sediments jeopardize drinking water sources, aquatic life habitats, and aesthetic quality of freshwater resources for recreation. The purpose of this dissertation was to analyze long-term water quality trends and loads in the Upper Poteau River Watershed (UPRW) and the Lake Wister Watershed (LWW), and analyze internal phosphorus (P) loads in Lake Wister, Oklahoma. Additionally, this dissertation sought to review the literature for methods of prioritizing subwatersheds for watershed management using watershed models, implement a cost efficient method to remotely monitor streamflow and estimate constituent loads in small-scale watersheds, and finally, to validate the Soil Water …
Climate Change Frames And Emotional Responses On Reddit, Isabel Iruani Villanueva
Climate Change Frames And Emotional Responses On Reddit, Isabel Iruani Villanueva
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Climate change remains a highly polarized topic in the United States. Research suggests that the divide in climate change beliefs is partly a result of news media’s representation of select aspects of the problem, or framing. Frames influence individuals’ attitudes, emotions, and behaviors towards climate change. Overwhelming representation of certain climate change frames has led to a lack of emotional connection to the issue, resulting in inaction or dismissal. Climate change researchers have investigated the presence and effects of frames on both news media and select social media sites, particularly Twitter. However, little research has investigated the climate change conversation …
Quantifying The Leaching Of Nutrients And Metals In A Pasture Soil As Affected By Excreta Of Ruminants Fed Alternative Diets, Ian Kennedy
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The leaching of nitrate through the soil profile and into adjacent water systems has been a leading cause of water pollution and results in the loss of a valuable nutrient from animal production systems. Forage-based animal production systems may be improved through manipulation of animal diets that incorporate tannins and total polyphenolic compounds with feed, increasing the amount of nitrogen (N) retained by an animal/decreasing rates of digestion and altering the N-containing compounds that are excreted and deposited onto soil. Incorporating the forage legumes sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneate [Dumont de Courset] G. Don) and lablab (Lablab purpurues L.) into the …
The Effects Of Multiple Stressors On Stream Communities: The Convergence Of Drought, Nutrient Pollution, And Invasive Species, Robert Joseph Fournier Iii
The Effects Of Multiple Stressors On Stream Communities: The Convergence Of Drought, Nutrient Pollution, And Invasive Species, Robert Joseph Fournier Iii
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Freshwater systems experience multi-faceted degradation from a variety of ecological and environmental stressors. Three common stressors in these systems, drought, nutrient pollution, and invasive species, have wide-ranging effects on stream population- community- and ecosystem dynamics. We have a broad understanding of how each of these stressors works to influence stream systems independently. However, we still know relatively little about if, and how, these stressors might interact when they co-occur. Though drought is a natural part of many stream systems, all three of these stressors can be exacerbated or facilitated by anthropogenic actions. Accordingly, as human population and resource use continue …
Stable Isotope And Geochemical Characterization Of Nutrient Sources In The Big Creek Watershed Of Northwest Arkansas, Kelly Robin Sokolosky
Stable Isotope And Geochemical Characterization Of Nutrient Sources In The Big Creek Watershed Of Northwest Arkansas, Kelly Robin Sokolosky
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The establishment of a concentrated animal-feeding operation (CAFO) in Newton County, Arkansas near Big Creek, a tributary of the Buffalo National River, has raised concern over potential degradation of water-quality in the watershed. In this study, isotopic tools were combined with standard geochemical approaches to characterize nutrient sources and dynamics in Big Creek. An isotopic and geochemical reference library of potential nutrient sources in the Big Creek watershed was established by direct sampling of representative potential sources, including septic-system effluent, poultry litter, swine and cattle manure, and CAFO waste lagoons. Representative nutrient sources and Big Creek stream samples were analyzed …
Landuse And Soil Property Effects On Infiltration And Soil Aggregate Stability In The Lower Mississippi River Valley, Rebecca Lynn Anderson
Landuse And Soil Property Effects On Infiltration And Soil Aggregate Stability In The Lower Mississippi River Valley, Rebecca Lynn Anderson
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Following European settlement of the Lower Mississippi River Valley (LMRV), agricultural expansion and unsustainable, agriculturally related practices have caused groundwater depletion, soil erosion, and surface water contamination by eroded sediments and sediment-bound nutrients to become major environmental threats to the region. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of common landuses [i.e., native prairie, deciduous forest, coniferous forest, Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grassland, and conventional-tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT) agriculture] on surface water infiltration and aggregate-stability-related properties [i.e., water-stable macroaggregate (WSA) size distribution, total water-stable macroaggregate (TWSA) concentration, and mean weight diameter (MWD)]. The overall infiltration rate …
Keeping Pace With Relative Sea Level Rise: Marsh Platform Monitoring Shows Minimal Sediment Deficit Along The Louisiana Coast, Kelly Marie Sanks
Keeping Pace With Relative Sea Level Rise: Marsh Platform Monitoring Shows Minimal Sediment Deficit Along The Louisiana Coast, Kelly Marie Sanks
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Recent reports estimate that the marshes of the Mississippi Delta receive just 30% of the sediment necessary to sustain current land area1. An extensive monitoring campaign by the USGS and LCPRA provides direct measurements of sediment accumulation, subsidence rates, and deposit characteristics along the coast over the past 10 years2, allowing us to directly evaluate this sediment balance. By interpolating bulk density, organic fraction, and vertical accretion rates from 273 sites, a direct measurement of organic and inorganic sediment accumulation can be made. Results show that a total of 82 MT/year of sediment is delivered to the coast. Using a …
Evaluating Climate Change Policy Through The Endangered Species Act, Richie Donahou
Evaluating Climate Change Policy Through The Endangered Species Act, Richie Donahou
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This research sets out to address a growing knowledge gap of climate change science in regards to the state of Arkansas. Within the coming chapters, the goal of this research is to examine climate data and to identify if any evidence of climate change can be detected and what are the policies in place to adapt to these potential changes. Furthermore, the scope of this research will be narrowed to a few counties over the southwest Arkansas, and a specific endangered species, the Leopard Darter. Upon examination of previous environmental and ecological climate change related research it became clear that …
Irrigation Practice Adoption: Causes And Consequences In The Arkansas Delta, Kerr James Adams
Irrigation Practice Adoption: Causes And Consequences In The Arkansas Delta, Kerr James Adams
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Concerns about groundwater depletion from conventional irrigation agriculture in the Arkansas Delta region have led to the promotion of more efficient irrigation practices. With Arkansas being the largest producer of rice, the 10th largest producer of soybeans and the 16th largest producer of corn in the United States, the irrigation demand of these crops has put pressure on producers to find ways to irrigate more efficiently. Not only are the alternative technologies supposed to reduce water use, it is also believed that their adoption can also yield economic benefits for the producer. Despite these assumed benefits, adoption of alternative technologies …
Our Land Is Not Just Soil: Knowing, Feeling, And Doing Environmental Activism In The Arkansas Ozarks, Ramey Arlen Moore
Our Land Is Not Just Soil: Knowing, Feeling, And Doing Environmental Activism In The Arkansas Ozarks, Ramey Arlen Moore
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The Ozarks is a holey place, an ancient plateau formed from ancient rocks and the sediment of millions of years of living things. The Ozarks is also, from another perspective a place made from a mesh of overlapping lines, lines of migration, lines of living things, lines of water movement over and through the land. This dissertation engages with the practice of conservation and environmentalism as it is performed and lived by Ozarkers and Arkansawyers, natives and transplants. Based on more than a year of ethnographic fieldwork conducted with the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, Save the Ozarks, Arkansas Master Naturalists, …
Exploring The Empirical Relationship Between Civic Agriculture And Community Resilience, Beth Joanna Person-Michener
Exploring The Empirical Relationship Between Civic Agriculture And Community Resilience, Beth Joanna Person-Michener
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Smaller-scale, qualitative and mixed method studies indicate that civic agriculture generates positive, local-level social change, specifically by increasing social, human and economic capital. These social benefits are also identified as some of the crucial components needed for community resilience to disasters. However, literature directly linking civic agriculture to community resilience is sparse and there is little if any research explicitly examining a relationship between civic agriculture and community resilience. This study lends national scope and an empirical examination of evidence for a positive relationship between civic agriculture and community resilience along the applicable domains of social, human and economic capital …
Walking In American History: How Long Distance Foot Travel Shaped Views Of Nature And Society In Early Modern America, Brian Christopher Hurley
Walking In American History: How Long Distance Foot Travel Shaped Views Of Nature And Society In Early Modern America, Brian Christopher Hurley
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The industrialization of transportation, first with railroads, and then with automobiles, took Americans away from foot transport, changing how Americans interacted with one another and viewed their surroundings. The dissertation traces the walking trips of five central figures in this era of mechanized transport, the personal impact of their experiences while walking through a land they were accustomed to skimming across, and the ways in which these personal revelations led to changes in the national consciousness. Walking upright was central to the development of homo sapiens as a species, and shaped the way they interacted with their environment. Certain aspects …
An Experimental And Computational Evaluation Of The Importance Of Molecular Diffusion In Gas Gravity Currents, Jeremy Jac Herman
An Experimental And Computational Evaluation Of The Importance Of Molecular Diffusion In Gas Gravity Currents, Jeremy Jac Herman
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The accidental release of hazardous, denser-than-air gases during their transport or manufacture is a vital area of study for process safety researchers. This project examines the importance of molecular diffusion on the developing concentration field of a gas gravity current released into a calm environment. Questions which arose from the unexpectedly severe explosion in 2005 at Buncefield, England were of particular interest. The accidental overfilling of a large tank with gasoline on a completely calm morning led to a massive open air explosion. Forensic evidence showed that at the time of ignition, a vapor cloud, most of which now appears …
Evaluation Of Broiler Litter Heat Production During Windrowing & Nitrogen Based Gas Emission Mitigation Using Biofilter, Min Lei
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Ammonia emission from animal feeding operations (AFOs) has negative effects on environment and animals' health. Thus measuring and mitigating ammonia emission from AFOs is important for environmental protection. In chapter I, different ammonia measurements were discussed and a mitigation technology- biofilter was represented.
In-house windrowing of built-up litter has been used by broiler producers to reduce pathogen loads and rejuvenate litter for the next flock. When litter is piled up for an extended period during downtime, heat generated by the litter pile can become a substantial heat source due to the metabolism of microorganisms. In chapter II, heat production rates …
Student Motivation For Pursuing A Minor In Environmental Sustainability, Luanne Woods Lewis
Student Motivation For Pursuing A Minor In Environmental Sustainability, Luanne Woods Lewis
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Environmental sustainability dominates the global conversation seeking to increase awareness and change the culture of thinking concerning the relationship between humans and the Earth. Because many universities offer programs relative to environmental sustainability, a need exists to understand why students pursue these programs. This study examined student motivation for pursuing an environmental sustainability minor in one institution of higher education. Career, learning, monetary, and Social responsibility were the motivational factors considered in this study. The results of this study indicated significant differences among the motivational factors for pursuing a minor in sustainability among those students surveyed. Significant differences existed for …
Superfund Evaluation: The Families Of Tar Creek, Gary D. Wilson
Superfund Evaluation: The Families Of Tar Creek, Gary D. Wilson
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The Tar Creek Superfund Site is located in far northeastern Oklahoma near the Oklahoma/Kansas border in Ottawa County. The Site generally consists of a forty-square-mile area which is also part of the larger Tri-State Mining District that includes areas of Kansas and Missouri. The Site includes parts of five communities: Picher, Cardin, Quapaw, North Miami, and Commerce in Oklahoma. It also includes Treece, Kansas, and affects a total population of roughly 30,000 residents. Following Superfund designation, families in the Tar Creek area had to decide whether to accept or reject buy-out offers. This project explored the decision-making processes employed by …
Spatial Variations In Willingness To Pay For Water At The Local And Regional Scales Using Geographically Weighted Regression, Robyn Lane Dennis
Spatial Variations In Willingness To Pay For Water At The Local And Regional Scales Using Geographically Weighted Regression, Robyn Lane Dennis
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Two decades of rapid urban growth and increasing per capita water consumption has left water providers in Northwest Arkansas concerned about their ability to meet future demand for water. Beaver Water District (BWD) is the largest of four regional water providers that draw from Beaver Lake, the only source of potable water in the region. Growth projections and per capita consumption patterns indicate that BWD could exhaust its raw water allocation as early as 2031. Municipal water customers served by BWD were surveyed about their stated priorities for water use, their water conservation behaviors, and their attitudes and perceptions about …