Environmental Studies Commons^™

Shaping Egypt’S Transition To Sustainable Electric Transport: Current Policies And Future Directions, Noha A. Ragab

Theses and Dissertations

Egypt has enacted policies to promote the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in order to reduce their overall carbon footprint. However, the pace of transition remains limited, so the research aims to answer the following question: “How do current policies shape Egypt’s transition towards sustainable electric transport, and what additional measures can support this transition?" The study employs a qualitative analysis methodology, based on diffusion of innovation theory and conceptual framework, to analyze current policies in Egypt and identify challenges and gaps in their implementation. It also analyzes responses from 23 interviews with experts in the field, manufacturers, dealers, EV …

Beyond Emergency: Charting Pathways To Sustainable Development In Fragile And Conflict-Affected Settings: A Case Study Of Yemen, Sharif Abdurabu Salem Farid Alsahbool

Theses and Dissertations

For nearly a decade, Yemen's eastern governorates of Hadramawt, Shabwah, and Al‑Mahrah have been relatively stable, yet the international aid system has kept delivering short‑term humanitarian relief like food baskets and water trucking instead of shifting to sustainable development that could rebuild people's lives, create jobs, fix infrastructure, and strengthen local government. This thesis investigates why this transition has taken so long. Based on 21 interviews with government officials, international NGO staff, and local NGO managers in these three governorates, the study develops a new way of understanding the problem. It introduces three ideas: the 'emergency mentality', which is a …

The Supply-Side Effects Of Air Pollution On Local Non-Polluting Industries, Erin Hyman

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the relationship between PM2.5 and the production of goods and services across industries using a county–industry panel (1999–2013). Fixed effects regressions show higher activity in manufacturing but relative declines in non-polluting sectors, suggesting pollution reflects production intensity and a reallocation toward polluting industries.

In Her Words: The Silent Battles Of Egyptian Women With Breast Cancer, Nada Mohamed Ahmed Hassan Nh

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the emotional, social, and economic difficulties encountered by Egyptian women from middle- to working-class origins after a breast cancer diagnosis. Despite being a worldwide health concern, local cultural, institutional, and economic circumstances have a significant impact on the lived consequences of breast cancer. Women's post-diagnosis experiences in Egypt are greatly exacerbated by deeply ingrained gender stereotypes, stigma associated with cancer, and systemic injustices in the healthcare system. This research emphasizes women's situated knowledge and views their bodily experiences as crucial sources of insight into larger societal power relations. It is based on feminist perspective theory, especially the …

Advancing Climate Transition Through Fiscal Tools: The Role Of Carbon Taxation And Fuel Subsidy Reform, Farah Amgad Zayed

Theses and Dissertations

This study highlights how fiscal policy tools can accelerate Egypt's climate transition, with emphasis on carbon taxes and fossil fuel subsidies reforms. It investigates how fiscal tools can reduce carbon emissions and promote economic development by primarily relying on qualitative interviews with policymakers, consultants, representatives of the private sector, and civil society actors, paralleled with some descriptive and comparative analysis. The results show that even though Egypt has made significant strides in advancing green transition, including updating the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), introducing the first African Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), as well as phasing out fossil fuel subsidies gradually, institutional …

From Rocks To Rockets: How Mineral Wealth Fuels The Arms Trade, Samuel G. Majka

Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses a critical gap in the resource curse literature by examining how strategic mineral wealth, central to the global clean energy transition, influences international arms transfers. While the relationship between oil rents, militarization, and conflict is well-established, the role of non-hydrocarbon resources and conflict-related variables remains underexplored. This paper posits that mineral rents provide governments with unearned, discretionary income, relaxing fiscal constraints and creating powerful incentives for both resource-rich states and major power suppliers to increase arms flows to secure political control, suppress internal dissent, and maintain access to valuable deposits. Using a country-year panel dataset spanning 1990-2023 …

The Influence Of The Un Watercourses Convention On The Development Of A Policy Design In The Nile River Basin, Zienab Ali Abdelhady

Theses and Dissertations

The adoption in 1997 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses (UN Watercourses Convention or UNWC) marked a milestone in the codification and progressive development of international water law. Similarly, the signature in 2010 by the majority of the Nile Basin states of the Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) was a major step towards a permanent legal and institutional framework as well as a significant shift from the currently applicable legal regime in the basin. The research concludes that the principles enshrined in the UNWC can assist future regional treaty …

An Assessment Of Drinking Water Equity In South Carolina: Access, Affordability, Quality, And Private Well Resources, Catherine Lippert Min

Theses and Dissertations

Universal access to good quality, affordable drinking water is a goal that has not yet been reached in the United States. Recently, national studies have investigated drinking water burdens including lack of access to complete plumbing, unaffordability, and poor quality individually. However, no study has examined all of these drinking water burdens together to identify communities facing multiple burdens. This study addresses this gap by analyzing disparities in access to complete plumbing, affordability of public water sources, and drinking water quality of community water systems in South Carolina and identifying communities that face multiple burdens. This study also provides the …

Housing Buyouts At The Intersection Of Flooding And Toxins: A Case Study Of Cheraw, South Carolina, Victoria Ponds

Theses and Dissertations

As climate change increases extreme weather events, efforts of managed retreat will also increase, particularly through housing buyout programs. The largest scale housing buyout programs are run through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). These buyout programs focus primarily on flood hazards and exclude anthropogenic hazards. This policy is problematic in the modern technological age where compound hazards, including those involving toxin releases, are occurring more frequently. In this thesis, I investigate how disaster policies account for the intersection of these hazards in Community Development Block Grant-Mitigation buyouts in Cheraw, South …

Assessing The Effects Of Climate Change On Vulnerability To Poverty: The Case Of Heat Waves And Construction Workers In Egypt, Rachad Bani Samari

Theses and Dissertations

“Doomsday, humanity’s extinction, the end of days”. Apocalyptic adjectives abound to highlight the danger looming over the planet, as the earth is warming up due to global warming and climate change. The picture painted over the canvas has consistently projected a gloomy image of low-income countries and of the poor. As the earth is gently boiling with heat, low-income groups in the Global South are predicted to be most affected. However, most of such warnings and studies focused on sectors directly dependent on suitable weather conditions such as agriculture, and sea tourism. While the climatic phenomena of heat waves may …

間, Lele Dai

Theses and Dissertations

LeLe Dai makes contingent participatory public interventions using sensory materials such as sound, flickering light, and water. This paper examines their works through the lens of Chinese character Jian (間), meaning “gap/slit/incision,” to investigate the concept of “in-betweenness.”

Green Fame On Tiktok Analyzing Digital Persuasion Appeals On Climate Change Discourse Among The Public And Youth., Sherry Ayad

Theses and Dissertations

In a constantly changing media ecosystem, TikTok is gaining prominence and attention, particularly among youth and Gen Z. The platform’s unique affordances are recently being utilized by young voices to promote self-expression and social activism. Consequently, TikTok’s changing nature is giving space for serious social and political issues impacting the future of young generations on topics such as climate change. By analyzing the top N=400 TikTok videos from the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), this study contributes to rare knowledge of utilizing TikTok’s affordances in scientific and political topics such as …

Exploration Of Sustainable Attitudes And Behaviors And The Role Of Planned Behavior Amongst The Auc Community, Natalie Tamer Khairy

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the use of a new Framework that was developed by combining both the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) theory to study the sustainability behaviors of students, faculty, and staff at the American University in Cairo (AUC). The research aims to provide insights into the factors influencing sustainable behaviors and how these factors differ across the three groups. The study used a combination of questions from the sustainability awareness questionnaire (SAQ) and Sulitest that was customized to the cultural context of the target group. The survey was administered to a sample of …

Barley As A Human Companion Species - Exploring The Relationship Between Barley And North Atlantic Peoples: 4000 Bc – Ad 1200, Chloe Combs

Theses and Dissertations

Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is an ancient cereal crop originating in the Fertile Crescent approximately 12,000 years ago and is presently one of the most important cereal crops globally. Barley has a long and complex history. This thesis aims to explore one dimension of this history through the lens of human companion species using archaeobotanical data collected from the islands of the North Atlantic from the Neolithic (4,000 BC) to the Norse period (AD 1200).

The Effect Of An Elephant Conservation Education Program On The Knowledge Base Of Children In Thailand, Angela Larios

Theses and Dissertations

Habitat fragmentation and human-elephant conflict (HEC) are two factors that have caused harm to both Asian elephants and humans in Thailand. Think Elephants International (TEI) is a non-profit organization whose goal is to educate children on these issues to encourage more interest in and knowledge about elephant conservation in the youth of Thailand. TEI has developed a systematic education initiative and established a method for assessing the program’s efficacy using a pre- and post-survey. The current study analyzes student responses from one open-ended question from this survey collected both before and after the students participated in the TEI program. This …

Understanding The Distribution And Abundance Of Asclepias Prostrata In South Texas, Elizabeth Ann Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations

Asclepias prostrata, commonly referred to as prostrate milkweed, is a rare South Texas native plant species. In February of 2023, A. prostrata was listed as a federally endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Due to the limited available observations and literature for A. prostrata, this study was completed to bring new information that could be utilized for future restorative efforts. This study includes multiple field observations of the plant’s morphology, plant-insect interactions, extraction and transplanting of the species, and a seed viability study. Results indicate that although A. prostrata has many pressures that limit its …

Evaluation Of Green Roof Technology In Egypt, Hend Abada

Theses and Dissertations

A green roof is a well-known technology worldwide that provides many social, economic, and environmental benefits. In Egypt, green roofs are still a new construction practice where most stakeholders lack business and technical expertise within this emerging industry. This research is concerned with assessing this emerging technology within its contemporary context, Egypt, and testing its feasibility within the physical condition of the Egyptian buildings and the social and economic conditions of the Egyptians. This study starts by presenting intensive information about green roof technology and reviewing the literature on green roofs within the Egyptian context. A grounded methodology is used …

The Egyptian Private-Climate Nexus: Private Sector Perceptions On The Green Transition, Yehia Shaheen

Theses and Dissertations

The issue of climate change poses the most pressing threat for humanity. This is especially the case amongst developing countries who, while emitting the minority of global emissions, are forecast to bear the most damage. Such is the case with Egypt, who suffers from marked water scarcity and is vulnerable to climate change driven detriments across a number of levels. As climate finance and private sector investments are key towards the green transition; transitioning to a green economy to fight the adverse impacts of climate change, this thesis aims to analyze the perceptions of private sector actors on the issue …

Synthesis Of Biomass-Based Graphene Nanomaterials For Aqueous Heavy Metal Removal And Cement-Based Composite Property Enhancement, Tharindu N. Karunaratne

Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing biomass such as lignin, bamboo, soybean, corn stalk, rice husk, etc., as a carbon source to produce graphene-based nanomaterials has been reported recently. However, the potential of using such nanomaterials for engineering and environmental applications has not been realized. This dissertation investigates the use of graphene-based nanomaterials synthesized from using biomass as a carbon source for water remediation and cement-based composites’ (CBCs) property enhancement.

The first chapter introduces graphene and graphene-based nanomaterials, as well as the synthesis and application of graphene-based nanomaterials for removing heavy metals in an aqueous solution and for property enhancement in CBCs. The experimental investigation …

Factors Affecting Consumers’ Purchase Intentions Towards Recycled Products, Sherine Esmat

Theses and Dissertations

The work executed addresses the status of recycling industry in Egypt and its relation to the current sustainability trends as well as climate change issues. It also identifies the main concerns of consumers when purchasing recycled products. Consequently, identifies the key pillars that need to be applied or communicated with the target consumers to enhance the concept of selling recycled products and increase its market share. Since this industry is significantly broad, the focus of the study was only on recycled PET plastic bottles (rPET), this is to ensure attaining accurate and reliable results.

An interview and a site visit …

Building A Macrosystems Ecology Framework To Identify Links Between Environmental And Human Health, Felisha N. Walls

Theses and Dissertations

The structure and functions of natural systems continue to be degraded by human activities such as land-use change. One potential consequence that has received relatively little attention is a corresponding decline in human health. Altered ecosystems can present a host of risks to human health. Yet the consequences of environmental degradation are rarely considered in national-scale research on human well-being. The guiding objective of this work is to compare stream health and socioeconomic metrics with spatially congruent human health metrics throughout the conterminous United States, then to identify potential links between environmental health, socioeconomic factors and human health. Environmental health …

The Effect Of Climate Change On Firm Level Costs With Focus On Mena Region, Farah Osama Saieed

Theses and Dissertations

This paper has a main objective of identifying the relationship between environmental factors and climate change on operating costs incurred by firms. This paper also attempts to compare the direction and intensity of the effect on different sectors in order to analyze whether climate change effect differs based on the nature of the business operations. Several papers have previously addressed the relationship between climate change factors ad profits. This literature will add to previous studies by observing the effect on the cost rather than the profits. In addition to providing results that minimize endogeneity, which is found in a large …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Employment Characteristics, Eliana Shatkin

Theses and Dissertations

The following study examines ways in which COVID-19 has disrupted the United States labor market. My findings present disproportionately negative effects of COVID-19 on employment, labor force participation, worker absence, and weekly working hours for the female population in my sample, as well as veterans, disabled persons, and racial minorities.

How Federal Pollution Discharge Permits Affect U.S. Water Quality: A Study On Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, Cloe C. Mueller

Theses and Dissertations

This paper uses difference-in-difference regression models to examine how state-level pollution discharge permits on concentrated animal feeding operations affect U.S. water quality. I ultimately deem the permitting to be ineffective at improving water quality, calling attention to the need to re-evaluate the ``socially optimal level of pollution."

Promoting Climate Change Mitigation & Supporting Ngos: Converging The Theory Of Planned Behavior & The Elaboration Likelihood Model, Passant Mostafa Halawa

Theses and Dissertations

In the 21st century, public opinion's attention in developed nations has increasingly been directed to climate change and the urgency for humanity to take action. The main discourse is that climate change would have devastating consequences on a global scale, threatening humanity’s existence. However, in most developing countries climate change is generally not regarded as an important topic and climate change messages suffer from poor public engagement. Most recent research has investigated climate change communication efficiency in developed countries. The novelty of this study lies in understanding the effectiveness of climate change messages in the Egyptian context. More specifically this …

The Effects Of Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility On Financial Returns, Kevin Acevedo

Theses and Dissertations

A major issue concerning companies is global warming and the impact that firms have on the environment. Companies are taking steps towards sustainability, but it is unclear if sustainable business practices are beneficial to companies’ financial performance. This paper examines the effect of environmental corporate social responsibility (CSR) of Fortune 250 companies on financial performance. The analysis reveals significant effects on financial performance, but they are inconsistent and hard to interpret.

Posthuman Queer Ecosexuality: Shakespeare And Earthly Consummation, Lisa Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

“Posthuman Queer Ecosexuality” explores the culminating productivity of a queer landscape fertilized by dead bodies. Tragedy as a genre provides a higher queer possibility simply because it does not contend with picture perfect happy endings. By seeing an inherent connection between queerness and death, the paired couples of the specific Shakespearean tragedies explored in this project, King Lear (1605), Othello (1604), and Antony and Cleopatra (1607), fertilize the respective landscapes within their plots. These main six characters are queered by forced connections to nature due to their gender, race, or function as a ruling body. Once they are placed in …

Quantifying The Impact Of Urbanization On The Fourche Creek Watershed, Little Rock, Arkansas, Zachary Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The Fourche Creek Watershed is an urban watershed in Central Arkansas, serving as the primary drainage basin for most of metropolitan Little Rock. As land surrounding streams is developed, the risk of negatively impacting water quality through the addition of contaminants like metals, sewage, and pesticides increases. The objective of this project is to introduce a novel method of quantifying the impact of urbanization on streams using a multi-pronged approach including mixing and spatial analyses, dissolved loads, and 87Sr/86Sr ratios throughout the Fourche Creek Watershed to discern specific contributions of baseflow and urban materials into the drainage basin. Generally, Coleman …

The Rurality Of Education: Best Practices To Improve The Quality And Accessibility Of Basic Education Service Delivery In The Rural Area Of Oke Ogun, Oyo State In Nigeria, Alice Jokodola

Theses and Dissertations

Nigeria’s educational system is riddled with issues and challenges, leading it to have the highest number of out-of-school children in the world. Not only have these issues and challenges led to a high number of out-of-school children, but it has also led to an increase in national poverty and illiteracy rates. Research points to the fact that these challenges result from a lack of quality and accessible basic education in Nigeria. It also indicates that rural areas are often the most vulnerable and affected when it comes to receiving quality and accessible education. This study focused on the rural area …

The Effects Of Air Pollution On School Attendance In The United States, Debanhi G. Alrich

Theses and Dissertations

This study employs pooled OLS and fixed effect regressions to examine the effects of ambient air pollution on self-reported school attendance in the 423 most populous counties in the United States. Information from the U.S. Census’ American Community Survey’s annual estimate is compared against county-level data for 14 common air pollutant variables. When making this comparison for the general population, we find statistically significant results for only one pollutant: ozone. We find further significant effects for the presence of ozone when respondents are grouped by race/ethnicity and by poverty ratio, indicating that effects of pollution, like many other social ills, …