Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Portfolio For Soci 346: Environmental Sociology, Gwendwr Meredith

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Environmental sociology, SOCI 346, is the study of how social systems interact with ecosystems. As such, it is a very broad course that is tasked with understanding complex and often controversial questions about the social causes, consequences, and responses to environmental disruption. In this teaching portfolio, I enumerate how I use a backward design for crafting assessments that cater to my specific teaching goals and learning objectives for the course. In the first stage of this process, I reflected on what learning outcomes I wished to achieve and determined that structuring the course in modules aligned with the learning objectives …

A Review Of Environmental Vulnerabilities Related To Nepal’S Graduation Process From Least Developed To A Developing Country Status, Ambika P. Adhikari, Keshav Bhattarai, Basu Sharma

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Nepal has long aspired to graduate from the Least Development Country (LDC) to Developing Country category as defined by the United Nations system. Nepal had met two of the three graduating criteria and could have technically graduated from the LDC status in 2015. However, based on the Nepal government’s request to defer the review, the new 2021 assessment by the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP) recommended that the country should graduate from the LDC status by 2026. The graduation requires not only meeting pre-defined development-related thresholds, but also maintaining sustained improvements in at least two consecutive assessments in …

Urban Forests And Their Potential To Combat Food Insecurity: Analyzing Foods From Street Trees In New York City, Ny, Kristen Cooney

Environment and Sustainability Summer Fellows

There is growing recognition that urban forests have the potential to combat food insecurity via their edible parts, namely fruits, berries, and nuts. Many tree species commonly planted in urban spaces have edible parts that may fulfill the nutritional needs of city residents that are food insecure, but no one has analyzed the value of city street trees to understand this potential. I analyzed New York City’s street trees by each species and their edible parts to measure this potential.

Aspects Of Climate Change, Anthony Defusco

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Climate change continues to become a global issue, and with that, more people being affected by the harmful factors that come with it. Climate change not only effects the environment, but also has aspects of cultural and health issues. Different cultures view this problem differently than other as it affects different aspects of that culture. Health risk is on the rise as air pollution is more prominent and diseases spread. The climate is being warmed, causing extreme weather and drought. These different perspectives on global warming allow for new and unknowing people to be exposed to this issue and allow …

Understanding Global Change: From Documentation And Collaboration To Social Transformation, Karen E. Pennesi

Anthropology Publications

The conclusion to the book situates the chapters within four programs of anthropological research on climate change: (1) documentation of local impacts of and adaptations to climate change, (2) connections to socioeconomic and political contexts, (3) collaborations with nonanthropologists, and (4) activism and social transformation. The final section notes the persistent challenges to creating positive change and meaningful research outcomes. It highlights some examples of success and outlines future directions for politically engaged anthropological work around climate change.

Visualization And Analysis Of Environmental Data, Sean Macdonald

Publications and Research

The virtual exploration of place has been employed in a variety of learning environments across many disciplines, creatively expanding upon the experience of place. This chapter explores the value of mapping environmental data as a tool that can enhance students’ virtual exploration of place as they investigate local environmental policies and problems within their own urban surroundings. This visualization project engages students in making meaningful connections between the theoretical study of local and global environmental problems and the “observation” and investigation of these data using mapped data. The virtual learning environment is viewed as one that is interactive, exploring how …

Residential Household Yard Care Practices Along Urban-Exurban Gradients In Six Climatically-Diverse U.S. Metropolitan Areas, Dexter H. Locke, Colin Polsky, J. Morgan Grove, Peter M. Groffman, Kristen C. Nelson, Kelli L. Larson, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, James B. Heffernan, Rinku Roy Chowdhury, Sarah E. Hobbie, Neil D. Bettez, Sharon J. Hall, Christopher Neill, Laura Ogden, Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne

Geography

Residential land is expanding in the United States, and lawn now covers more area than the country’s leading irrigated crop by area. Given that lawns are widespread across diverse climatic regions and there is rising concern about the environmental impacts associated with their management, there is a clear need to understand the geographic variation, drivers, and outcomes of common yard care practices. We hypothesized that 1) income, age, and the number of neighbors known by name will be positively associated with the odds of having irrigated, fertilized, or applied pesticides in the last year, 2) irrigation, fertilization, and pesticide application …

Regional Cross-Border Collaboration Between The U.S. & Canada, Border Policy Research Institute

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

On October 24th, 2018, the BPRI hosted a one-day forum to assess the state of cross-border collaboration between British Columbia and Washington State. The forum brought together regional experts from government, academia, and private industry to discuss the successes, barriers, and opportunities for cross-border collaboration across three ‘sectors’: transportation/infrastructure, business/economics, and the environment (see sidebar). U.S. Congressman Rick Larsen provided opening remarks about the region and Canadian Coast Guard Regional Director Brian Wooton gave a keynote address on collaboration in the marine environment. This Border Policy Brief highlights some of the findings from the forum, which illustrate the need for …

Disasters Fast And Slow: The Temporality Of Hazards In Environmental History, Fiona Williamson, Chris Courtney

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Popular representations of disasters tend to focus upon dramatic moments of chaos. They envision panicked communities desperately scrambling for safety as earthquakes reduce cities to rubble or lava turns villages to ashes. Yet disasters actually unfold on numerous temporal scales. Media reports tend to reduce disasters to discrete events, initiated on the shallow causal timescale of a meteorological fluctuation or seismic disruption. Social scientists, by contrast, have often sought to emphasise the processual nature of disasters—embedding causality in the deeper timescale of a community, in which risk and vulnerability build over months or years.2 Environmental historians elongate causality even further, …

Cultural Politics Of Community-Based Conservation In The Buffer Zone Of Chitwan National Park, Nepal, Yogesh Dongol

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation research examines the socio-economic and political effects of community-based conservation initiatives within the Bagmara buffer zone community forests of Chitwan National Park, Nepal. In particular, the study investigates the role of buffer zones creation in structuring the way rural property rights have been defined, negotiated, and contested, in reinforcing or reducing patterns of ethnic dominance and exclusion, and in influencing how cultural identities are constituted and renegotiated. Using a political ecology framework with a specific focus on theoretical concepts of environmentality and territorialization, I conducted 12 months ethnographic and quantitative survey field research in the buffer zone communities …

Modernizing The Columbia River Treaty, Border Policy Research Institute

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

In February of 2017, Western Washington University (WWU) and Northwest Indian College (NWIC) hosted a two-day symposium titled, “The Changing Environment and the Columbia River Treaty.” The purpose of the symposium was to develop public awareness and inform treaty negotiators from the U.S. and diplomats from Canada on key issues to address when modernizing the Treaty. This event brought together tribal and First Nations leaders, representatives from government and private industry, non-governmental organizations and academics to discuss the modernization of the Columbia River Treaty (CRT).

High Carbon And Biodiversity Costs From Converting Africa's Wet Savannahs To Cropland, Timothy D. Searchinger, Lyndon Estes, Philip K. Thornton, Tim Beringer, An Notenbaert, Daniel Rubenstein, Ralph Heimlich, Rachel Licker, Mario Herrero

Geography

Do the wet savannahs and shrublands of Africa provide a large reserve of potential croplands to produce food staples or bioenergy with low carbon and biodiversity costs? We find that only small percentages of these lands have meaningful potential to be low-carbon sources of maize (1/42%) or soybeans (9.5-11.5%), meaning that their conversion would release at least one-third less carbon per ton of crop than released on average for the production of those crops on existing croplands. Factoring in land-use change, less than 1% is likely to produce cellulosic ethanol that would meet European standards for greenhouse gas reductions. Biodiversity …

Towards A Collective Spatial Form:An Analysis Of Achill’S Deserted Village, Noel Brady

Conference papers

This paper examines an earlier study by Bob Kingston and along with onsite observations develops an environmental theory behind the particular siting and location of the deserted village in Achill, Ireland. The paper relies on the survey conducted by Kingston in the first instance but then by translating the material into a different format has concluded on statistically significant evidence of willful and careful planning and design in the construction of the houses.

Remote Sensing And Modeling Of Atmospheric Dust And Studying Its Impact On Environment, Weather, And Climate, Hesham El-Askary, Seon K. Park, Slobodan Nickovic, Mian Chin

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

An overview of the 2015 volume of Advances in Meteorology, which was co-edited by Chapman faculty member Dr. Hesham El-Askary.

The Pacific Northwest As An Emerging Arctic Region, Heather Exner-Pirot, Joel Plouffe

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

This border brief, authored by two Arctic scholars, takes a special look at how borders are changing in the Arctic. The fast-changing Arctic is increasingly defined by boundaries drawn at a regional scale, rather than traditional borders that are based on national lines. This has major implications for the national and foreign policies of both Arctic and non-Arctic actors. The Pacific Northwest, which has an Arctic foothold through the northern subnational units of Alaska, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories (NWT), has been playing an active role in this regionalization process for several years, and seeks to expand its presence, …

Examining The Effects Of Ecotourism In The Lashi Lake Wetlands, China, Caitlin K. Toner

Geography Honors Projects

The rapid development of ecotourism in Asia encourages new strategies to simultaneously attract tourists and preserve natural environments in formerly isolated and underdeveloped regions. Since the introduction of China’s policy of an open economy in 1978, China has recognized the opportunity to promote tourism in order to foster economic development. Compared to China’s coastal cities, the inland provinces contain few industrial cities and transportation infrastructure. For economic development, inland provinces have taken advantage of their natural areas and ethnic minorities as a commodity to attract foreign and domestic tourists in their region. While the literature addressing ecotourism often focuses on …

The Columbia River Treaty Review: A Synopsis, David L. (David Lindsay) Davidson, Jaymes Mcclain

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

The Columbia River watershed comprises 258,500 square miles (about the size of Texas), with 15 percent of the watershed located in Canada. Tributaries in the upper watershed drain a substantial portion of the Canadian and American Rocky Mountains; precipitation and snowmelt from the Rockies are main flow components. The river then crosses the arid Columbia Plateau and reaches the Pacific via the Columbia River Gorge. In an average year, the river disgorges 198 million acre-feet (MAF) of water, with 25 percent of the runoff (a disproportionately large amount) originating in Canada. With snowmelt a large component of runoff, the river’s …

Human Geography Without A Map, William E. Demars, Laurel Rosenberger, Jimmy Rogers, Trent Hardee

Arthur Vining Davis High Impact Fellows Projects

Course materials developed for a 9th grade course on human geography, focusing on human rights, terrorism, and globalization.

Us Dependence Upon Canadian Fossil Fuels, David L. (David Lindsay) Davidson, Austin Rose

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

The energy relationship between Canada and the U.S. is a much-discussed topic within business, government, and the media, prompted in part by the controversy surrounding the proposed Keystone XL cross-border oil pipeline. Having noticed differing statistics regarding the nature of the relationship, we here attempt to provide an accurate picture of the extent to which the U.S. depends upon Canada as a supplier of fossil fuels. Much data can be found online, both at agency websites [e.g., U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), National Energy Board of Canada (NEB), Statistics Canada] and at industry association sites (e.g., Canadian Association of Petroleum …

Metrics Of Policy Effects At The Canada-Us Border: The National Export Initiative And The Effort To 'Green The Border', David L. (David Lindsay) Davidson, Ian Faulds, Stephanie Messa

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

Following the announcement of the Canada – U.S. ―"Beyond the Border" (BtB) vision, there has been increased emphasis upon measurement of various things associated with national borders. Many of the specific elements within the BtB plan include an associated metric, so that bureaucrats and the public are able to measure progress toward realization of the vision. Of course, BtB is not the only border-related policy goal adopted by governments—other goals have been established by Canada, the U.S., and states and provinces. This article focuses upon two such policy goals: the U.S. National Export Initiative (NEI), and the effort to "green …

Environmental Factors Affecting Transboundary Conservation Strategies For Endangered Salish Sucker In British Columbia And Washington, James M. Helfield, Nathaniel S. (Nathaniel Stuart) Lundgren

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

Effective policies for the conservation of endangered species must be informed by robust scientific study. In cases where endangered fish and wildlife species move across international boundaries, conservation policy requires transboundary cooperation and collaboration among researchers as well as regulatory agencies. The Salish sucker (Catostomus sp.) is one such species, an endangered fish found in river systems surrounding and crossing the Canada – U.S. border in southwestern British Columbia and northwestern Washington (McPhail 1987). Despite its limited geographic distribution, the Salish sucker’s range encompasses a variety of land uses and differing habitat threats on either side of the border.

A History Of Resilience Is A History Of Resistance, Melissa Ooten

Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications

As an historian, I’m struck by the emphasis this documentary places on non-humans – be it animals, plants, soil, or mountains – although as a native of Appalachia, that doesn’t surprise me. The film is billed as “America’s first environmental history series: and as such, it gives us a bold, unique template of how to talk holistically about the concept of place and the specific place of Appalachia. While it may be particularly prescient to talk about the broader concept of place through ecology and other facets when analyzing the history of Appalachia, surely it is no less important when …

Nature, Domestic Labor, And Moral Community In Susan Fenimore Cooper's Rural Hours And Elinor Wyllys, Richard M. Magee

English Faculty Publications

Cooper's argument for a domestic ideal situated within a rural setting reinforces the importance of community connections through a shared sense of morality, as well as understanding of the natural world. Community alone—the human connections—never seems to be enough in Cooper's formulation, but must always exist with an awareness of the world outside the narrow confines of one's own domestic sphere. Concern for one's fellow-beings necessitates a concern for the world in which these beings live, and Cooper understands that when any bonds are broken—such as the bonds that connect us to the natural world—other bonds are threatened. Thus, when …

Borders, Barriers, And Breakthroughs In The Cascadia Corridor, Troy D. Abel, Jenni Pelc, Lauren F. Miller, Jacqueline Quarre, Kathryn Mork

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

This project focused on dilemmas of political biogeography through a case study of wildlife conservation and management efforts in the transboundary Cascadia region. Our team examined the interface of political science and biogeography, or “political biogeography,” through its manifestations in the evolving opportunities and barriers to regional wildlife conservation in the shared terrestrial ecosystems of British Columbia and Washington. Our research combined content analysis of policy documents and semi-structured stakeholder interviews and questionnaires.

Household Compost In Rock Island, Scott J. Fick

Tredway Library Prize for First-Year Research

No abstract provided.

Three Decades In The Cold And Wet: A Career In Northern Archaeology, Sophia Perdikaris, George Hambrecht, Ramona Harrison

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

Thomas H. McGovern has been a pioneering researcher in the North Atlantic region for most of the past 40 years. He has taken his specialty in zooarchaeology beyond counting bones to actually addressing questions about human environment interactions and human response to extreme environmental events. A prolific writer and researcher with a multitude of publications and an impressive funding record, McGovern has always been a proponent of multidisciplinarity and international collaboration. His vision resulted in the creation of the North Atlantic Biocultural Organization (NABO) that currently has more than 400 scientific partners and has been leading projects throughout the Circum …

The Influence Of The Physical Environment And Sociodemographic Characteristics On Children's Mode Of Travel To And From School, Kristian Larsen, Jason Gilliland, Peter Hess, Patricia Tucker, Jennifer Irwin, Meizi He

Geography & Environment Publications

Objectives: We examined whether certain characteristics of the social and physical environment influence a child's mode of travel between home and school.

Methods: Students aged 11 to 13 years from 21 schools throughout London, Ontario, answered questions from a travel behavior survey. A geographic information system linked survey responses for 614 students who lived within 1 mile of school to data on social and physical characteristics of environments around the home and school. Logistic regression analysis was used to test the influence of environmental factors on mode of travel (motorized vs "active") to and from school.

Results: Over 62% of …

Trans-Boundary Metals Pollution In The Okanagan Regions Of British Columbia And Washington State: An Assessment Of Metal Toxicity And Speciation In The Columbia River, Ruth M. Sofield, Catherine P. Bollinger

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

An assessment of the tools available to decision makers responsible for managing allowable concentrations of metals in aquatic environments was conducted. The emphasis was on surface waters in the Okanagan Valley of BC, Canada and Washington, US. The assessment was framed around four primary goals, which included an evaluation of the validity of hardness corrected values, the Biotic Ligand Model (BLM), the Visual MINTEQ model (VMINTEQ), and a preliminary understanding of what site-specific qualities made one model a better predictor of toxicity than another.

Management Of The Shared Lower Fraser Valley Airshed, Border Policy Research Institute

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

This article discusses issues involved in the management of the Lower Fraser Valley (LFV) airshed, which straddles the border of Washington State and British Columbia. Many factors influence the management of the airshed, including geography, asymmetric patterns of growth, and differing regulatory contexts. There have been episodes of controversy associated with airshed management, with the greatest recent controversy centered around a 1999 proposal to build an electric generation facility in Sumas, Washington. The socalled “SE2” facility (Sumas Energy 2) received construction permits from Washington State, but died when Canada’s National Energy Board denied a power-line permit that was needed to …

Sustainability And The Border, Border Policy Research Institute

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

This article reflects upon how the concept of sustainability relates to the Canada – U.S. border. How does the border contribute to sustainability? In what ways is sustainability hindered by the border? In the Pacific Northwest, sustainability is an increasingly important collaborative goal of state and provincial governments, so consideration of these questions is worthwhile.