Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Community, Renewables, And Development: An Analysis Of Placemaking And Sense Of Place In Community Responses To Large Scale Solar Developments, A Spotsylvania Case Study Report, Kidest Gebre

Geography and the Environment Capstone Projects

With the ever increasing threat of climate change, many nations are committing to decreasing their dependence on fossil fuels and turning to renewable energy development. The U.S is in the top ten list of nations that are solar-powered and the Spotsylvania Solar Farm Project is one of the largest utility solar farms in the U.S. With this project, my intention is to analyze the role community folks play as major stakeholders in large-scale energy project development, such as the Spotsylvania Solar Farm Project. I will use the Spotsylvania Solar Farm Project can be a case study to analyze community attitudes …

The Current And Future Land Assessment Analysis And Property Taxes Analysis Of The Land Of Proposed Solar Farm In Spotsylvania County, Evelyn Jeong

Geography and the Environment Capstone Projects

Anthropogenic global climate change is threatening our planet. Human energy demand and consumption has been rapidly increasing throughout the world. In order to combat global climate change from greenhouse gases emissions, increase in renewable energy development is crucial. Solar energy is one of the fastest growing renewable energy source in the world and in the United States. In Spotsylvania County, Virginia, a solar energy company called sPower proposed one of the biggest solar farms in the East Coast. Because of the size, scale, economic viability, environmental concerns, and more, there has been push back from the concerned citizens of the …

Analyzing Nuclear Power And Its Present And Future Role As A Low Carbon Emissions Energy Source, Maria Seitz

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

This report takes look at nuclear power and its current use around the world and its potential as a key player in the current global climate crisis. Through the analysis of surveys, articles, and research papers, this essay explores how nuclear power plants compare to other low emission energies and how their use can lead to global reductions in carbon emissions. It examines the pros and cons of nuclear and its ultimate role in helping to reduce global carbon emissions.

Paper prepared for the Environmental Studies Senior Seminar.

Faculty Advisor: Dr. David Kitchen

Is Wind Energy A Better Option For The University Of Richmond?, Steven Yu

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

The purpose of this assignment is to answer the question of: Is Wind Energy the Better Option for the University of Richmond? This question is more than simply if wind power will supply the campus the greatest amount of energy, but also looks at the educational, social, environmental and political benefits that would also be associated with it. In order to understand the feasibility of wind power on the University of Richmond campus, I looked at factors such as: energy production from wind turbines, past wind patterns in Richmond, VA, impacts to the environment. This is only one part of …

Maintaining Productive Efficiency Of Solar Arrays, Grant Woods

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

With the onset of climate change people are demanding better business behavior. As a result, many companies seek to diversify their public presence by acquiring technologies and behaviors that ultimately strive toward a goal of reducing environmental impacts. One particular focus of this transition has been the acquisition of clean energy technology. Solar photovoltaic arrays are one such technology that companies and homeowners continue to adopt to meet their environmental goals whether those goals are specific, measureable, impactful or whether they are more for self satisfaction and peace of mind. Administration and the Office for Sustainability at University of Richmond …

Natural Gas: Analyzing The Relationship Between The University Of Richmond's Corporate Social Responsibility And Natural Gas As An Alternative Energy Source, Sophia M. Tailor

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

On April 9, 2019, the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors approved a permit to begin construction on a 500 megawatt solar array managed by Sustainable Power Group (sPower) in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. A roughly $615 million project, sPower’s solar array will cover almost 6,300 acres of Spotsylvania County and is set to be the largest such project east of the Rocky Mountains (Shenk, 2019). Alongside big players such as Microsoft and Etsy, the University of Richmond also has a stake in the project. 20 MW of the Spotsylvania solar array will be designated for the University of Richmond and is …

Beyond The Site: An Analysis Of The Perceived Economic Impact To The Spotsylvania Community, Kate Wickersham

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

New solar farm development can bring support and opposition as evident by the planned sPower solar farm in Spotsylvania county, Virginia. Of significant concern for such development is the economic impacts to the local and county level including real estate values, tax revenue and general project feasibility. In an analysis of the economic impacts, primary and secondary research included outlining the arguments presented by the two opposing sides; the Concerned Citizens of Spotsylvania County and sPower. Research further included an analysis of the projected change in real estate values the nearby Fawn Lake residential development. The real estate analysis concluded …

Spotsylvania Solar: A Stakeholder Analysis Of Corporate Involvement, Merissa Shebell

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

This report investigates the major corporations that hold a stake in sPower’s 500-Megawatt Spotsylvania Solar Project through the framework of corporate social responsibility. The major corporations include the investors in the project, Microsoft, Apple in collaboration with Akamai, Etsy, and Swiss Re, and the University of Richmond, as well as the energy provides and distributors, Dominion Energy and PJM Interconnection. Through an evaluation of the investors’ sustainability and environmental reports, the motivations behind their agreements with sPower can be attributed to a desire to meet their renewable energy goals. By purchasing a portion of the electricity generated by the solar …

Watershed Environmental Analysis: Waterflow Function And Vulnerabilities, Olivia Hubert

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

The environmental impacts on the proposed area for the sPower solar panels has been a primary concern from the citizens of Spotsylvania County during the special use permit process. This project will discuss the function of watersheds, specifically within the sPower Spotsylvania County solar panel farm sites, to effectively present the findings from sPower’s permitting process and the concerned citizens of Spotsylvania to answer the following questions: How do the sPower solar farm watersheds function, what are their vulnerabilities, and how is sPower addressing them? The information presented is a collection and analysis of data using ArcGIS software and written …

Presence And Distribution Of Leptodactylus Guianensis Heyer And De Sa, 2011 In Colombia: Comparisons With Other Species In The L. Latrans Group., Mariela Osorno Muñoz, Doris L. Gutiérrez-Lamus, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Leptodactylus guianensis is reported for the first time for Colombia along with a distributional map of the species. The species is the fifth species of the L. latransspecies group documented in the country. Males possess a single, conical and slightly chisel-shaped thumb spine; only three species in the group have a single thumb spine. In collections, specimens of L. guianensis are misidentified as L. macrosternum, L. latrans or L. bolivianus. We provide morphological, colouration and habitat descriptions for where the species occurs in Colombia.

Constructive Welfare: The Social Security Act, The Blind, And The Origins Of Political Identity Among People With Disabilities, 1935-1950, Jennifer L. Erkulwater

Political Science Faculty Publications

In contemporary America, identifying as a person with a disability is one of the many ways in which people acknowledge, even celebrate, who they are. Yet several decades ago, few persons with disabilities saw their condition as an identity to be embraced, let alone to serve as the basis for affinity and collective mobilization. The transformation of disability from unmitigated tragedy to a collective and politicized identity emerged in national politics, not in the 1960s or 1970s, as is commonly thought, but in the 1940s. During those years, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) set out to galvanize the …

2019 Storytelling And Social Change Stories, Sylvia Gale

Storytelling and Social Change

Dear Reader,

This book is the final product of a six week long storytelling journey in which 39 young writers, poets, artists, and most importantly, humans came together and worked as partners, sharing with each other their own life stories--a part of their identity and something that makes them who they are. What you will be reading is the compilation of the physical works some of these humans created in hopes of sharing their life beyond this storytelling group -with you and any other reader who chooses to delve into our lives and what they offer.

As you immerse yourself …

Challenging The ‘Good Fit’ Narrative: Creating Inclusive Recruitment Practices In Academic Libraries, Sojourna J. Cunningham, Samantha Guss, Jennifer Stout

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Academic libraries operate under the assumption that there is one “right candidate” for a multi-layered position and that a search committee, a group of individuals formed with the purpose of assisting a responsible administrator in the recruiting and screening of candidates for a posted academic position, is the fairest and most equitable approach to hiring academic librarians. That assumption is running up against the fact that libraries and academic libraries in particular have an acknowledged a problem with recruiting and retaining librarians of color. According to the latest edition of the American Library Association Diversity Counts report, librarianship remains an …

Beyond The Campus: Heroism As A Case Study For Extending Researchers' Influence Through K-12 Lesson Plans, Ari Kohen, Andre Solo

Heroism Science

As a result of their training, college professors are subject matter experts who have the task of conveying ideas to students and to the public at large. They accomplish this, in large measure, through their research and their teaching. In this article, we consider an important alternative way in which professors can broaden their reach by creating lesson plans for students beyond their own classrooms—at very little time investment. We use as a case study our own lesson plan on heroism, which draws on expertise in political theory and psychology, in order to demonstrate the way in which such a …

Wounded Heroes And Heroic Vocations: Heroism And The Storied Lives Of Therapists, Peter Bray

Heroism Science

For many the world can be a dangerous place. Life is random. Survival is conditional, and individuals inevitably sustain physical and psychological wounds along the way. Challenged by change, human beings seek meaning in the making and remaking of personal myths that acknowledge both failure and the heroic achievement to endure and flourish. Revealing the heroic character of their creators, this impulse to make and share stories also elevates prosaic, day-to-day struggles into inspirational tales that can transcend context and speak into others’ lives. The sharing of stories permits others to purposefully consider their own struggles and can inspires them …

Evaluating Joseph Campbell's Underexplored Ideas In The Light Of Modern Psychology, Leonard L. Martin, James Conners, Jacqueline A. Newbold

Heroism Science

Joseph Campbell was a scholar of mythology and comparative religion who attained great popularity by promoting the value of mythology in people's lives. Interestingly, he attained this status even though there was little scientific evidence for his ideas. In recent years, researchers have begun to evaluate Campbell's ideas in rigorous, empirical ways, with most of this research being focused on the implications of the hero's journey. There are still a number of Campbell's psychology-related ideas, however, that have not been evaluated scientifically. These are the ideas we evaluated in this paper. Because we focused on the underexplored ideas, we could …

Stakeholder Management: A Managerial Perspective, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Andrew C. Wicks

Management Faculty Publications

Scholars and practitioners have acknowledged the practical relevance of stakeholder theory as it has been applied to management. This chapter provides a brief foundation for understanding the basic principles of stakeholder management and some of its best known tools, including the development of an enterprise strategy, identification and prioritization of stakeholders, and measurement of the value firms create with and for stakeholders. We then share insights about implementation of stakeholder management based on interviews with high-level executives from a variety of well-known companies. We found that stakeholder principles have been applied in a variety of ways and under various labels. …

Mapa De Amenazas A Territorios Indígenas Y Áreas Protegidas En Las Fronteras Amazónicas En Ucayali Y Madre De Dios (Perú) Y Acre (Brasil), Gtaso, David S. Salisbury Et Al.

Geography and the Environment Maps

Mapa de Amenazas a Territorios Indígenas y Áreas protegidas en las fronteras amazónicas en Ucayali y Madre de Dios (Perú) y Acre (Brasil)

Map of Threats to Indigenous Territories and Protected Areas at the Amazonian borders in Ucayali and Madre de Dios (Peru) and Acre (Brazil)

Mapa De Cambios Climáticos Proyectados 2016 - 2039 En Las Fronteras Amazónicas Entre Ucayali Y Madre De Dios (Perú) Y Acre (Brasil), Gtaso, David S. Salisbury Et Al.

Geography and the Environment Maps

Mapa de Cambios Climáticos Proyectados 2016 - 2039 en las Fronteras Amazónicas entre Ucayali y Madre de Dios (Perú) y Acre (Brasil)

Map of Projected Climate Changes 2016 - 2039 in the Amazonian Borders between Ucayali and Madre de Dios (Peru) and Acre (Brazil)

Mapa De Territorios Indígenas Y Áreas Naturales Protegidas En Las Fronteras Amazónicas Ucayali Y Madre De Dios (Perú) Y Acre (Brasil), Gtaso, David S. Salisbury Et Al.

Geography and the Environment Maps

Mapa de Territorios Indígenas y Áreas Naturales Protegidas en las Fronteras Amazónicas Ucayali y Madre de Dios (Perú) y Acre (Brasil)

Map of Indigenous Territories and Protected Natural Areas in the Amazonian Borders Ucayali and Madre de Dios (Peru) and Acre (Brazil)

Mapa De Territorios Indígenas Y Diversidad Cultural En Las Fronteras Amazónicas Ucayali Y Madre De Dios (Perú) Y Acre (Brasil), Gtaso, David S. Salisbury Et Al.

Geography and the Environment Maps

Mapa de Territorios Indígenas y Diversidad Cultural en las Fronteras Amazónicas Ucayali y Madre de Dios (Perú) y Acre (Brasil)

Map of Indigenous Territories and Cultural Diversity in the Amazonian Borders Ucayali and Madre de Dios (Peru) and Acre (Brazil)

Mapa De Zonas Vulnerables En Las Fronteras Amazónicas Ucayali Y Madre De Dios (Perú) Y Acre (Brasil), Gtaso, David S. Salisbury Et Al.

Geography and the Environment Maps

Mapa de Zonas Vulnerables en las Fronteras Amazónicas Ucayali y Madre de Dios (Perú) y Acre (Brasil)

Map of Vulnerable Areas in the Amazonian Borders Ucayali and Madre de Dios (Peru) and Acre (Brazil)

Unpacking The Census: 2017 Updates -- Master Copy, John V. Moeser, Nina Mauney, Evelyn Jeong, Emily Routman

Poverty in Metropolitan Richmond

NOTE: Master copy file contains 66 slides and may take several minutes to download.

Data for the charts, tables, and maps are the most recent from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey (ACS), 2012-2016, Five-Year Estimates. Five-year estimates are used rather than one-year or three-year estimates in order to reduce the margin of error. Slides reflect ACS and Census data from 2000-2016. This update also includes maps and figures pertaining to the Asian and Hispanic/Latino foreign born populations in the region.

Learning Effects Of The Flipped Classroom In A Principles Of Microeconomics Course Running Header: Flipped Principles Of Micro, Erik Craft, Maia K. Linask

Economics Faculty Publications

The authors of this article estimate the learning effects of the flipped classroom format using data from 16 sections of principles of microeconomics over a 4-year period. The experimental design is unique in that two treatment and two control sections were taught during the fall semester in four consecutive years. Further, the instructor switched the time of day when the treatment and control sections were taught each year. Controlling for gender, ACT score, a normed high school GPA, Pell Grant award, time of day, and initial knowledge of economics, the authors find no evidence of increased learning using end-of-semester measures …

Setting An Agenda For The Future, Sam Allgood, Kimmarie Mcgoldrick

Economics Faculty Publications

Anniversaries are a time for reflection and planning for the future. The fiftieth year of the Journal of Economic Education motivated us to invite those who have been intimately involved with the Journal to provide reflections, which appear within this symposium. In addition to providing a wealth of information about the past, they set the stage for initiatives that support the path forward.

Switching Majors – Into And Out Of Economics, Tisha L. N. Emerson, Kimmarie Mcgoldrick

Economics Faculty Publications

Using student transcripts from six institutions over a 23-year timespan, the authors investigate the movement of students into and out of the economics major. Considerable movement between majors occurs with 83 percent of economics graduates switching in after their first principles course. These eventual majors come from a variety of sources, but primarily from business, engineering, science & math. In an absolute sense, weaker students (as measured by cumulative GPA) switch into economics. However, students appear to move to disciplines of relative academic strength (as indicated by relative grades). While females from other majors are less likely to switch into …

What Should We Teach In Intermediate Macroeconomics?, Dean D. Croushore

Economics Faculty Publications

The major focus of a course in Intermediate Macroeconomics is building and understanding macroeconomic models and how they work. The course is the most analytical course in the curriculum and should lead students to embark on deep thinking about models and equilibrium. Students learn the essentials of a model and develop the concept of how to simplify a model to understand key concepts. Once the core of a model is developed, additional model features can be added to increase realism. Perhaps the most important macroeconomic concept in the course is that of general equilibrium—students learn to go beyond examining initial …

50 Years Of Economic Instruction In The Journal Of Economic Education, Gail M. Hoyt, Kimmarie Mcgoldrick

Economics Faculty Publications

With 2019 marking the fiftieth year of publication of the Journal of Economic Education (JEE), it seems fitting to examine the evolution of economic instruction as portrayed in the Journal. Born of the American Economic Association (AEA), and first edited by members of the AEA’s Committee on Economic Education (Saunders 2012), it is not surprising that the Journal’s focus as chronicler, proponent, and outlet for economic education activity reflects the educational component of the American Economic Association’s mission. The creation of the Journal signaled a self-awareness in the discipline that we needed to be more deliberate in …

Teaching Courses In Macroeconomics And Monetary Policy With Bloomberg Analytics, Dean D. Croushore, Hossein S. Kazemi

Economics Faculty Publications

In this article, the authors illustrate the use of Bloomberg for analyzing topics in macroeconomics and monetary policy in economics and finance courses. The hands-on experience that students gain from such a course has many benefits, including deeper learning and clearer understanding of data. The authors describe goals and learning objectives, then compare Bloomberg with Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED). In addition, they provide examples of how to use Bloomberg in the classroom, describe how to have students perform sector analysis, show how Bloomberg tools are useful for analyzing monetary policy, discuss how to use Bloomberg to analyze the financial …

Currency Unions And Trade: A Ppml Re-Assessment With High-Dimensional Fixed Effects, Mario Larch, Joschka Wanner, Yoto V. Yotov, Thomas Zylkin

Economics Faculty Publications

Recent work on the effects of currency unions (CUs) on trade stresses the importance of using many countries and years in order to obtain reliable estimates. However, for large samples, computational issues associated with the three-way (exporter-time, importer-time, and country-pair) fixed effects currently recommended in the gravity literature have heretofore limited the choice of estimator, leaving an important methodological gap. To address this gap, we introduce an iterative Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimation procedure that facilitates the inclusion of these fixed effects for large data sets and also allows for correlated errors across countries and time. When applied to a …