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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Exploring Reusable Takeout Packaging As An Alternative To Disposable Plastics In Maine's Restaurant Industry, Jared Wildwistle
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 …
Marine Aquaculture In Maine: Understanding Diverse Perspectives And Interactions At Multiple Scales, Melissa L. Britsch
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 …
Battle Over Black Bears: Investigating Perceptions Of The Black Bear Hunting Referendums In Maine, Francesca A. Gundrum
Battle Over Black Bears: Investigating Perceptions Of The Black Bear Hunting Referendums In Maine, Francesca A. Gundrum
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Human dimensions of wildlife is an emerging discipline that seeks to understand the complex relationships between people, wildlife, and their conflicts and/or interactions (Decker, Riley, & Siemer, 2012). Human dimensions utilizes several tested theoretical frameworks to investigate these complexities, such as cognitive hierarchy theory and wildlife value orientations (WVOs). Both of these theoretical frameworks were examined in this study, which investigated the content of news media during controversial American black bear (Ursus americanus) hunting referenda in Maine, and key stakeholder perceptions of black bear management. Maine is the only state that allows hunters to take a black bear over bait, …
Risk Perceptions Of Metallic Mineral Mining In Maine, Andrew Morgan
Risk Perceptions Of Metallic Mineral Mining In Maine, Andrew Morgan
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
As society’s need for metals increases more mining locations will likely be sought. Maine contains 10 known significant metal deposits but there are currently no active metal mines. Interest in developing one of these deposits prompted legislative changes to the metallic mineral mining (MMM) law and rules to be pursued. Social license to operate (SLO) or the acceptance of mining activities by communities plays an increasing role in the siting and profitability of mining activities. This study broadens the application of SLO to the context of a statewide policy debate. Appropriate policy development for MMM needs to consider the views …
Grassroots Diplomacy And Vernacular Law: The Discourse Of Food Sovereignty In Maine, John Welton
Grassroots Diplomacy And Vernacular Law: The Discourse Of Food Sovereignty In Maine, John Welton
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This thesis studies the discourse of food sovereignty in Maine, a coalition of small-scale farmers, consumers, and citizens building an alternative food system based on a distributed form of production, processing, selling, purchasing, and consumption. This distribution occurs at the municipal level through the enactment of ordinances. Using critical-rhetorical field methods, I argue that the discourse of food sovereignty in Maine develops a ‘constitutive’ rhetoric that composes rural society through affective relationships. Advocates engage the industrial food system to both expose its systemic bias against small-scale farming and construct their own discourse of belonging. Based upon agrarian values such as …
Wabanaki Access To Sweetgrass (Hierochloe Odorata) Within Coastal Maine's Diminishing Open Land Tradition, Amanda Marie Ellis
Wabanaki Access To Sweetgrass (Hierochloe Odorata) Within Coastal Maine's Diminishing Open Land Tradition, Amanda Marie Ellis
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Nontimber forest products (NTFPs), refer to a class of resources (i.e. moss, fungi, mushrooms, plants, etc.) gathered in both rural and urban landscapes. NTFPs are utilized by a variety of cultures all over the world and are a critical part of medicinal, spiritual, dietary, and economic practices. In fact, some NTFP species are so critical to people that they are considered ‘cultural keystone species’ (Garibaldi and Turner 2004). This designation means that without access to the NTFP, cultural survival is at risk. This is the case in Maine where the Wabanaki, a confederacy of four tribes (Passamaqouddy, Penobscot, Mikmaq, and …
The Human Dimensions Of Pollinator Conservation : Perception, Practice, And Policy In The Lowbush Blueberry Industry, Kourtney K. Collum
The Human Dimensions Of Pollinator Conservation : Perception, Practice, And Policy In The Lowbush Blueberry Industry, Kourtney K. Collum
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation presents comparative research of diverse agricultural actors involved in lowbush blueberry productions in Maine, USA and Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, in order to explore the factors that influence on-farm pollinator conservation. The research is presented through three distinct projects. In the first project, my collaborators and I ask: how do growers perceive and understand pollination in agricultural systems, and how do growers’ perceptions influence their willingness and ability to enact on-farm bee conservation? Drawing on semi-structured interviews with conventional growers, we present growers’ cultural models of pollination management and pollinator conservation. Our analysis reveals that the messages …