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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

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Geography

2018

Theses/Dissertations

University of New Mexico

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Translating Global Nature: Territoriality, Environmental Discourses, And Ecocultural Identities, José R. Castro-Sotomayor Aug 2018

Translating Global Nature: Territoriality, Environmental Discourses, And Ecocultural Identities, José R. Castro-Sotomayor

Communication ETDs

In this study, I explore environmental discourses circulating among Indigenous transboundary organizations working on environmental initiatives at the border between Ecuador and Colombia. I focus on three global environmental discourses –sustainability, development, and climate change– as they are at the core of the global environmental governance vernacular. La Gran Familia Awá Binacional (GFAB), one of the few transboundary Indigenous organizations working along the binational border, utilizes these global concepts to frame their environmental initiatives and projects. I use a critical and interpretive qualitative approach to investigate, deconstruct, and rearticulate global environmental discourses circulating among and translated by two of the …

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Ya No Tengo Vecinos: Local Understandings Of Neighborhood Change In Cusco, Peru, Kalyn Finnell Jul 2018

Ya No Tengo Vecinos: Local Understandings Of Neighborhood Change In Cusco, Peru, Kalyn Finnell

Architecture and Planning ETDs

This thesis involves the San Blas neighborhood in the Historic Center of Cusco, Peru. It aims to better understand local effects of the changes that San Blas has undergone since the 1990s and to explore possibilities related to improving the qualities of life of long-term residents (vecinos) who have lived in San Blas for at least two generations. It has two principal objectives: 1) Make recommendations to present to various public and private entities who have a presence and influence over the San Blas neighborhood to improve the likelihood that vecino demands are heard, 2) Illuminate the ways that vecinos …

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How The Proximity Of Crime Impacts Housing Prices: A Hedonic Pricing Study Of Inner-Loop Houston, Tx., Samuel D. Thompson May 2018

How The Proximity Of Crime Impacts Housing Prices: A Hedonic Pricing Study Of Inner-Loop Houston, Tx., Samuel D. Thompson

Geography ETDs

This research used data on over 2200 house sales in inner-city Houston, TX to estimate the impact of crime on house prices. A GIS was used to tabulate home sale data from the MLS, neighborhood characteristics and crime data published by the Houston Police Department. Hedonic Pricing Models were built to assess how crime effects housing price and if proximity to the criminal event matters. Results show that crime does have a measurable impact on home sale price and that proximity of crime is important. An increase in number of violent criminal events leads to a discount in home price. …

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Virtuous Discourse In The Specialty Coffee Sector: How Social Responsibility Practices Fragment Pursuits For A Supply Chain, Jane H. Motsinger Apr 2018

Virtuous Discourse In The Specialty Coffee Sector: How Social Responsibility Practices Fragment Pursuits For A Supply Chain, Jane H. Motsinger

Geography ETDs

A diversity of public and private initiatives strive to address the human-environment challenges confronting the global coffee industry, including certifications like Fairtrade, direct trade sourcing models, and efforts led by NGOs. Research examines the outcomes of major certification programs and the private initiatives of corporations like Starbucks. Much less is known about the business practices of the small specialty coffee businesses that increasingly advertise sustainable business practices. Yet, their collective business practices likely influence the industry-wide efforts to achieve a sustainable supply chain. This research examines how small specialty coffee roasting and importing companies represent their socially responsible business practices …

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Three Essays On Understanding Municipal Water Demand In The Western United States, Michael J. O'Donnell Apr 2018

Three Essays On Understanding Municipal Water Demand In The Western United States, Michael J. O'Donnell

Economics ETDs

Scarce water resources in the Western United States, in concert with population growth and climate change, constitute a need to better understand factors that impact water demand. In this dissertation, Chapter 1 provides cultural and historical context for water use in the West and argues that understanding water demand is important, especially when managing scarcity is a goal. Chapter 2 uses aggregate city-level data from four municipalities in New Mexico to investigate seasonal trends and breakpoints. Although per premises and aggregate demand tend to decline in all geographies investigated, existence and timing of breakpoints varies by geography. Additionally, drivers of …

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Impact Of Drought On Land Cover Changes In Diné Bikéyah – A Study Through Remote Sensing, Anjanette A.J. Hawk Jan 2018

Impact Of Drought On Land Cover Changes In Diné Bikéyah – A Study Through Remote Sensing, Anjanette A.J. Hawk

Geography ETDs

This study identifies land cover changes associated with a ten-year drought period and discusses the importance of vegetation change in Diné Bikéyah, a semi-arid land located in a remote part of the southwestern United States (US). This study concludes that drought produced slight changes in vegetation within a 540 km2 study area in the Tselani-Cottonwood Chapter (TCC) in Diné Bikéyah. The data for this study consist of three Landsat images for the years 1998, 2002, and 2009. The methods used to analyze these Landsat images included image pre-processing, calculation of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images, and supervised (maximum …

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