Environmental Studies Commons^™

Volume 24, Full Contents, Mssj Staff

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Mission And Editorial Policy, Mssj Staff

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Performing Amish Agrarianism: Negotiating Tradition In The Maintenance Of Pennsylvania Dairy Farms, Nicole Welk-Joerger

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Amish people have a reputation for being ecologically and environmentally conscientious. As numerous scholars in Amish and Plain Anabaptist studies have demonstrated, Amish views of the environment are diverse and ultimately anchored in the understanding that God made nature for human use. In these cases, Amish views of the environment could be described as much more anchored in traditional philosophical notions of “agrarianism” than “environmentalism.” In this article, I explore how some Amish approach agrarianism with a turn from more traditional farm life toward necessary economic engagement with multi-faceted operations and diversification. Based on intensive ethnographic research and participant observation, …

Piled Up, Sophia Lebowitz

Capstones

Piled Up is a 10 minute film about Anna Sacks, a dumpster diver in New York City who has recently found viral social media fame for calling out wasteful corporate practices. Meanwhile, the physical build-up of the trash she collects, and the anxiety of the never-ending cycles of waste are weighing her down and keeping her from her goals.

This is a surprising story about a woman who has found overwhelming social media success while simultaneously dealing with the mechanism of that success, waste, building up in her life. Her videos have garnered her thousands of followers and millions of …

Agricultural Land Usage In Mansfield, Connecticut: An Analysis Of The Town’S Past And Present Agricultural Landscapes And Recent Farmland Conservation Efforts, Julia Tillinghast

Honors Scholar Theses

The town of Mansfield has a long history within the agricultural sector of Connecticut, from producing the first successful silk mill in the state to housing Mountain Dairy, a dairy supplier which sells to local consumers. This paper examines the history and progress of agricultural land usage within Mansfield, beginning with an overview of farmland in the town’s first century and ending with the current status of resident farms. At the start of settlement by English colonists in the 1700s, the town was deforested to make space for farms, housing, and general expansion. Moving forward to the 20th century, industrialization …

Wrack Lines Volume 21, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2021-22, Nancy C. Balcom, Judy Benson, Syma A. Ebbin, Kira Goldenberg, Judy Preston, Howard "Mickey" Weiss

Wrack Lines

"Discovery, Rediscovery and Rebirth: new eyes, new understanding of familiar places" is the theme for the Fall-Winter 2021-22 issue. The main article package consists of five stories about the lands and waters that will comprise the Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve (CT NERR). These are: overview and introduction; Great Island; lower Thames River; Bluff Point State Park; and Haley Farm State Park. Other articles include one on research into the cause of invasive Cladophora seaweed dominating Little Narragansett Bay; and another on the transformation of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Nature-Based Tourism Sustainability And Climatic Change Implication In Ikogosi Resort, Southwestern Nigeria, Opeyemi S. Aniramu Mr., Olabiyi O. Coker Mr., Raphael G. Odelola Mr.

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

The implications of climatic changes have been predicted to have devastating effects on biodiversity condition particularly nature-based tourism. In this study, investigation on the climatic characteristics in Ikogosi-Ekiti, Nigeria was conducted. Also, spatio-temporal changes of green and non-green cover were analysed for the study.

Climatic data from Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) for a period of 1975-2014 were analyzed to reveal the trend of climatic changes using appropriate statistical tool. A 30 meter Landsat image of TM 1991, ETH+ 2002 and OLI 2015 were used for the study. The satellite images were digitally processed using Arcgis10.3 and Fragstat 3.0. Species Diversity …

Soil Not Oil: An Assessment Of The Role Of Earth Jurisprudence In Restoring Biodiversity Conservation In The Indigenous Bagungu Community, In Uganda, Joslyn Primicias

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

An Earth-centered way of living is essential in Western Uganda, along with many more repressed regions affected by giant corporate evils. The purpose of this study was to assess the contribution of Earth Jurisprudence in the restoration of conservation in the Indigenous Bagungu community. More specifically, this study examines the customary laws and rituals used by the Bagungu, the strategies used to decolonize their culture, and their perspectives on foreign influence and globalization. Key-informant interviews were conducted with seven custodians and questionnaire-led interviews were administered to thirty-one clan members from the districts of Buliisa and Hoima. The study sample size …

Avocado Mania: The Rise And Costs Of Our Obsession With Avocados, Rosa C. Lourentzatos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The past two decades have seen a surge in global demand for avocados, which have become popular among middle- and high-income fractions of society in developed regions of the world. Avocados are predominantly consumed far from their centers of origin and out of their traditional cultural context. The United States imports 87 percent of its avocados from a single region in Mexico, Michoacán. The systems of production and provision that have risen to meet the demand for this fashionable fruit have had devastating social and environmental effects, including deforestation, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, pollution, displacement of indigenous populations, food insecurity, …

Seeding Sovereignty: Sensory Politics And Biodiversity In The Karen Diaspora, Terese Virginia Gagnon

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation traces the sensory and political dimensions of Karen refugees' co-movements with their seeds, plants, and agricultural practices in exile. It also tentatively explores understandings of sovereignty beyond the frame of the Westphalian nation-state through engagements with seed and food sovereignty in three locations that complicate understandings of territorial sovereignty. In this dissertation I explore what I call "agricultural forgetting" and how it occurs for Karen refugees in the context of the camp. Agricultural forgetting, I suggest, is the process by which linkages between people and plants are broken generationally. Such forgetting occurs in especially sudden and forceful ways …

Environmental Perception In Colombia's Páramo Protected Areas, Juliana Delgado

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis analyzes the gap between farmers' environmental perceptions in Téquita, a small village in Colombia, and the definition of protected areas has led to a conflict for the use of natural resources. I examine if the protected area's policies have dealt with the social and ecological issues in the páramos and recognized the social construction of the landscape, farmers' identities, and their interpretations about work and land. The case study focuses on Güina High Mountain in the Guantiva-La Rusia páramo complex, which recently the Colombian government declared as a protected area. In light of anthropologist Tim Ingold's meaning of …

Consumption Behavior Of Algerians During The Period Of The Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis, Kamel Chikhi

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This Dialogue contribution is a reflection on the impact of crises and in particular that of Covid-19 on the behavior of Algerian consumers: before, during and post-crisis. It is recognized that during crises, consumers adopt unusual and more rational behaviors: buy basic necessities; save more to deal with possible difficult situations; place more importance on nutrition, health, food quality characteristics, price, psychological and socio-demographic characteristics; have purchasing and consumption intentions based on their cultural background and prefer to adopt planned behaviors. Observed events during the Covid-19 pandemic allows us to illustrate the evolution of consumption behavior of Algerians and to …

Shifting The Industrial Food System Towards Sustainability: The Intersections Of Agriculture, Industrialization, & Health, Courtney Marchi

City and Regional Planning

This work traces the impact of the industrialization of corporate agriculture that has agglomerated globally. The aim of this paper is to discuss the major impacts and technicalities behind modern agricultural practices, and to draw attention to the intersections between industrialization, technology, health, and environmental concerns. This paper addresses the social and political implications associated with a global trade system and attempts to remedy some of them through environmentally and socially sustainable, and deconstructive, systemic approaches. There are several intersections between social equity, globalization, and agriculture that Urban and Regional Planners can work intimately with to improve overall food security …

Contemporary Human Displacement: A Comparative Analysis Of Syria, Yemen, Honduras, And Venezuela, Rav Carlotti

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What is causing the surge in human displacement around the world? Large-scale displacement in Syria, Yemen, Honduras, and Venezuela has generated unprecedented humanitarian crises in Latin America and the Middle East as millions of displaced people end up as refugees or immigrants. Humanitarian organizations like the UNHCR and host countries have had their resources overextended by these ongoing crises, and there is no end in sight. This thesis shows that contemporary human displacement is rooted in the increasing inability of governments to manage their societies amid great political demands and socio-economics strains. These causes are difficult to tackle because they …

Assessing Sustainability At Ccu, Savannah Billings

Honors Theses

An assessment of sustainability initiatives and culture at Coastal Carolina University, recommending stronger institutional support for sustainability.

The Role Of Culture In Sustainable Communities: The Case Of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile), Pamela A. Mischen, Carl P. Lipo

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

We explore how the combination of cultural heritage and present-day cultural affili- ations influences the construction of the concept of sustainability at the scale of the community using the case study of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile). We argue that overlapping affiliations—expressed through administrative culture, organizational culture, and professional culture—influence the views held by governance leaders. Furthermore, the role of cultural heritage must be considered in efforts to change and perpetuate sustainability-related behaviors within a community. Using archeo- logical and historical evidence from the pre-contact and historical record of Rapa Nui, we discuss how cultural heritage evolved endogenously in response …

Can’T Bear It! Employing Culturally Sensitive Initiatives To Reduce Bear Bile Demand In Northern Vietnam, Alicia Ngo, Shannon Randolph

EnviroLab Asia

Over the past 30 years, the combination of over-hunting, habitat loss, and increased bear bile demand has caused significant declines in Asiatic black bear (aka moon bear; Ursus thibetanus) and sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) populations. In Eastern medicine, bear bile is extracted from the gallbladders of bears and is then used to treat a wide range of inflammatory, liver, and degenerative ailments. However, the use of bear bile has had significant impacts on bear populations. Given that communities in Northern Vietnam have a lengthy history of using bear bile and bear bile is easily accessible, merely advocating …

Waste Politics In Asia And Global Repercussions, Adam Liebman

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of Eating Nafta: Trade, Food Policies, And The Destruction Of Mexico By Alyshia Gálvez, Laura Kihlstrom

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

This is a book review of the book 'Eating NAFTA: Trade, Food Policies, and the Destruction of Mexico' by Alyshia Gálvez.

Tribal Revegetation Project Final Project Report: 92-Acre Area, Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Complex, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada, Jeremy Spoon, Brittany Kruger, Richard Arnold, Kate Monti Barcalow, Tribal Revegetation Committee, Trc

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nuwu (Southern Paiute), Newe (Western Shoshone), and Nuumu (Owens Valley Paiute) are linguistically related, Numic-speaking peoples who are part of the broader Uto-Aztecan language group. Numic peoples view the land as a holistic, living, sentient being with feelings and purpose. The land is personified with human characteristics and it needs to be experienced to be understood through “learning by doing.” Numic peoples do not support ground disturbing activities within their ancestral lands, including activities tied to the storage of low-level radioactive waste or classified materials on the NNSS, which they view as culturally inappropriate. These deep-rooted ancestral connections are the …

Editorial - Subsistence Marketplaces: Journal, Knowledge-Practice Portal, And Organization, Madhu Viswanathan

Subsistence Marketplaces

Subsistence Marketplaces: Journal, Knowledge-Practice Portal and Organization

The Material Culture Of Temperature: Measurement, Capital And Semiotics, Scott W. Schwartz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Temperature was invented in the 17th century. While cosmologists affirm that fluctuations in heat are as old as the universe, the intensive quantified scale marking these fluctuations has a relatively short history. This dissertation analyzes why temperature developed when it did and what temperature does for and to its users. I demonstrate that the ubiquitous and quotidian epistemological artifact temperature epitomizes capitalized methods of seeing, measuring, and knowing. At its broadest, the concern of this dissertation is the material culture of knowledge production among capitalizing populations—those that believe in and practice the perpetually accelerating asymmetrical growth of wealth.

In this …

Cultivating Historic Farms: A Study Of Late-Nineteenth Century Maryland Farms, Sarah N. Janesko

Northeast Historical Archaeology

This study examines late-19th century farmsteads in Anne Arundel County, Maryland to measure and explain changes in agriculture and the effect of farming strategies on the local landscape. Agricultural census data from 1850–1880 in the county’s First Election District are used to measure significant changes in crop production after the Civil War. From this local level analysis, one farmstead is analyzed to understand those agricultural changes at the household level. Results from exploratory statistics, two-sided independent t tests, and one-way analysis of variances demonstrate that mean production of tobacco, wheat, and corn decreased significantly in the decades after the Civil …

Cultural Resources Investigation Report Of The Proposed City Of Jefferson 48-Inch Rcp (Pipeline) Drainage Improvements Along Valve Street In Marion County, Texas, James S. Belew, Michael Ryan

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Sphere 3 Environmental, Inc. (Sphere 3) conducted an intensive pedestrian cultural resources survey of approximately 0.12 hectares (0.29 acres) of land designated as the Project Area/Area of Potential Effects on September 16 and 17, 2020, in response to the proposed pipeline replacement in Jefferson, Texas. The City of Jefferson retained Sphere 3 to conduct a cultural resources survey of the proposed pipeline replacement location. The cultural resources survey was conducted to identify properties eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or worthy of listing as a State Antiquities Landmark (SAL). A total of 12 shovel tests …

Cultural Resources Survey For The Proposed Dam No. 101 Project Within The Upper Brushy Creek Wcid, Williamson County, Texas, Steve Ahr, Patricia Hutchins, Tanya Mcdougall, Beth Reed

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

AECOM was contracted by the Upper Brushy Creek Water Control and Improvement District (UBCWCID) to conduct a cultural resources survey for the proposed Dam No. 101 project, located in Williamson County, Texas. AECOM evaluated a 189-acre area of potential effects (APE), which includes the conceptual dam footprint plus a 150-foot (ft) buffer, the inundation area, and any additional areas that could be potentially affected by key construction activities. The project is bisected by O’Conner Drive on the north side of State Highway 45 and partially overlaps the existing Dam No. 9. AECOM conducted an intensive cultural resources survey within the …

The Intensive Cultural Resources Survey For The Tceq Npdes Permitted Location On The Canyon Ranch Tract Comal County, Texas, James J. Hill

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Gram Vikas Partners, Inc. (Sponsor) is proposing the development of the approximate 400-acre Canyon Ranch Tract (Project) in northwest Comal County, Texas. The Project would occur approximately eight miles northeast of Spring Branch, Texas along Farm to Market Road (FM) 306. The Project will consist of a mix of both residential and commercial properties, associated roads, utilities and a wastewater treatment facility. As part of the development, an approximate six-acre wastewater treatment facility will be constructed in the west-central portion of the Project area, approximately 0.9-mi northwest of FM 306 and County Road (CR) 401 intersection.

Under the Memorandum of …

Archaeological Monitoring For The Buena Vista Corridor Project, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, Leonard Kemp

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Between July 11, 2018, and February 28, 2020, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Center for Archaeological Research (CAR), in response to a request from the City of San Antonio (COSA), intermittently conducted archaeological monitoring for the Buena Vista (BV) Corridor project in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. The project goal was to foster pedestrian traffic by sidewalk, lighting, and aesthetic improvements on Buena Vista Street between S. Leona and S. Santa Rosa streets. The COSA department of Transportation and Capital Improvements (TCI; now Public Works Department) administered the BV Corridor project with the COSA Office of Historic …

Intensive Archaeological Survey For Asphalt Package 2020-2 (Upin 21103n3045-30001), Harris County, Texas, Tiffany M. Lindley

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Raba Kistner, Inc. (RKI) was contracted by Harris County Engineering Department (CLIENT) to conduct archaeological investigations in support of road improvements along 5.35 miles (8.6 kilometer [km]) of existing road along House Road, Bauer Hockley Road, Becker Road, Kickapoo Road, and Badtke Road, located in northwestern Harris County, Texas. The purpose of this investigation was to identify any surface-exposed or shallowly buried cultural deposits within the limits of the proposed undertaking and, if possible, assess their significance and eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and for formal designation as State Antiquities Landmarks (SALs). As the …

Intensive Archaeological Survey For Asphalt Package 4, Precinct 3 (Upin: 21103n3044-30001), Hockley, Harris County, Texas, Adam T. Birge

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

Raba Kistner, Inc. (RKI) was contracted by Harris County Engineering Department (CLIENT), to conduct archaeological investigations in support of road improvements along 7 miles of existing road along Botkins, Roberts, AJ Foyt, Nichols, and Becker Roads, located in northwest Harris County, Texas. The purpose of this investigation was to identify any surface-exposed or shallowly buried cultural deposits within the limits of the proposed undertaking and, if possible, assess their significance and eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and for formal designation as State Antiquities Landmarks (SALs). As the project will be conducted on publicly-owned land …

Analysis Of The Hatchel Site (41bw3) Platform Mound Ceramic Vessels, Vessel Sections, Sherds, Pipes, And Other Clay Artifacts, Timothy K. Perttula

Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State

The Hatchel site (41BW3) is a major ancestral Nasoni Caddo village and mound center on a natural levee deposit in the floodplain of the Red River in Bowie County, Texas, just a few kilometers west of the Arkansas state line. The site was occupied by the Caddo from at least A.D. 1040 to the late 17th century; the latest temporal estimate is based primarily on the association of the Hatchel platform mound with a mound and templo illustrated on a 1691 map drawn of the site during the Teran expedition, and selected decorated sherds and vessels in the uppermost mound …