Environmental Studies Commons^™

Water Injustice In Jendouba Governorate, Wilder Mccoy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Water is a precious resource even in a tropical rainforest, and in a dry country like Tunisia it is essential. Located in the south central region of the Mediterranean Sea, Tunisia, like nearly every other Mediterranean country, faces a stark challenge in providing clean drinking water to its growing population. Compared to its neighbors, Tunisia, with a few minor exceptions, does a good job in meeting this goal. In the rural northwestern governorate of Jendouba, where most of the country’s surface water comes from, there is ironically a dire need for clean drinking water in the rural areas outside the …

Agricultural Responses To Climate Change: A Study Of Adaptive Farming Methods In Kizanda Village, Bailey Smith-Helman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Agriculture is vital to the economic and social systems in Tanzania, composing 30% of the country’s GDP as well as 80% of employment (FAO, 2014). Despite agriculture’s important role, it remains one of the most vulnerable sectors to climate change. Current trends project global average temperature to increase by 0.8-2.6 degrees Celsius, leaving farmers to face changes in rainfall, soil quality, and new pests and diseases (IPCC, 2007). Farmers will be forced to adapt to the changing climate if they are to sustain their livelihoods and the Tanzanian economy. For these reasons, it is important to understand the types of …

Ethical Business Practice, Accountability, And Quality Assurance: Primary Drivers For Sustainable Tourism Development In Iceland, Abigail Harrison

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The tourism industry in Iceland has grown exponentially in the last decade, causing changes to the natural landscape and drastically shifting revenue streams in the economy. This rapid growth coupled with the recent development of Iceland’s tourism industry makes it the perfect case study for how to effectively mitigate tourism influxes. This unprecedented rate of growth impels the creation of sustainability measures within this industry in order to ensure a lasting vision of Icelandic tourism in the future. Both the government and private sector have already begun to institute sustainability measures in society and in business. The primary aim of …

The Effect Of Warming On Wind Speed And Potential Wind Power In Iceland, Alexei Smith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Climate change is causing a shift in the temperature and pressure gradient between the Arctic and the Equator, with the Arctic warming at a faster rate than the Equator. This shift has the potential to alter the seasonal wind speeds in the Northern Hemisphere, which could in turn affect the wind power density potential. In this study, a wind model was created to predict future wind speeds and wind power density for 6 weather stations in Iceland. According to the model, winter wind speeds and wind power density potential will either stay the same or increase slightly (0 – 4%), …

Climate Change And Migration: The Intersection Of Climate Change, Migration, And Gender Through Policy, Bridget E. Mccallum

Student Publications

This article explores the intersectional nature of the issue of climate change, especially as it relates to migration. Both migration and climate change are issues of global significance, with benefits and burdens distributed unevenly across gender, racial, and class lines. This intersectional approach takes note of the unequal power structures at play when attempting to combat these issues with policy.

Green In Your Wallet Or A Green Planet: Views On Government Spending And Climate Change, Lincoln M. Butcher

Student Publications

The scientific community is a near consensus that climate change is not only anthropogenic but is also a major threat to people around the world. Despite the alarm bells from the scientific community many people in the United States simply deny the science of climate change. Many studies have targeted level of education, party membership, and gender in their role in influencing how individuals perceive climate change. This study showed that views on government spending plays a very important role in the importance of the environment. Individuals who supported decreased government spending tend to view jobs as more important than …

A Study Of Reptile Community Diversity Related To Habitat Characteristics At Marojejy National Park, Julia Kowala

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Marojejy National Park is known for its diversity. Though it is home to the silky sifaka, it has extensive populations of herpetofauna. Seventy-seven species of reptiles have been documented in Marojejy National Park. This study aimed to evaluate the reptile community diversity and habitat characteristics in the park through systematic searches of ten-by-ten-meter plots, and inventory of species as they were found throughout the park. Systematic searches yielded the finding of 19 of the total 25 species identified. Some species that were found had not been previously seen at Marojejy before, most notably, Brookesia sp. “Nosy Hara”, Brookesia desperata, Furcifer …

Community Management And Governance Of Comatsa-Sud New Protected Area (Ambalamanasy Ii Commune), Allison Tennant

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Community-based natural resource management is an increasingly more popular choice for governments to delegate power back to local communities to conserve the resources they rely on. In Madagascar, where much of the rural population provides for their livelihoods by using natural resources, this governance structure, in cooperation with delegated manager for assistance, presents an opportunity for economic development in cooperation with conservation efforts. This paper aims to better understand the role of community, NGO, and governmental actors in creating and executing community management structures. Through Participatory Rural Analysis and structured and semi-structured interviews, it explores what management transfers look like …

Survey Of Invasive Lantana Camara At Makirovana-Tsihomanaomby Forest Complex, Eliza Pessereau

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Lantana camara is a shrub known globally as an invasive pest that grows primarily in degraded areas. The species is known to exist at Makirovana-Tsihomanaomby, a forest complex in northeastern Madagascar with 167 endemic species of flora and fauna, several of which are on the IUCN Red List. The complex, specifically Tsihomanaomby forest, is used as a resource for the three rural communes that live on its outskirts, meaning that it experiences much human activity. The objective of this study was to survey the population of L. camara at two sites: one just outside of the Tsihomanaomby forest and one …

Land Insecurity In Gulu, Uganda: A Clash Between Culture And Capitalism, Zachary Slotkin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper presents the causes and consequences of land insecurity in Gulu, Uganda. In order to address this important and often sensitive issue, the paper analyzes the role of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency and the government’s policy of forced encampment during the insurgency in contributing to land insecurity, causing widespread displacement among former internally displaced persons (IDPs). It further explores the importance of land ownership in providing economic productivity to rural landowners, as well as the nature of customary land tenure in Acholi culture and the government’s efforts to privatize communal land, to give a background on the …

Phragmites Removal Increases Property Values In Michigan’S Lower Grand River Watershed, Paul Isely, Erik E. Nordman, Shaun Howard, Richard Bowman

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

The presence of Phragmites australis, an invasive wetland plant, negatively affects coastal property values and home prices rise with distance from Phragmites. Home prices increased as distance to Phragmites increased at a rate of $3.90/meter. Removing Phragmites from a property so that the next closest Phragmites was 400 m away results in a property value increase of over $1,500. Removing all Phragmites within 400 m of any property results in a total property value impact of $837,000. This generates about $13,457-$15,121 in additional property taxes each year once the prices and taxes adjust to the plant’s removal. We …

Interior Secretary Zinke Invokes Teddy Roosevelt As Model, But His Public Land Policies Don’T, John Freemuth

Public Policy and Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s recommendations to shrink four national monuments and allow fossil fuel development activities on others is just the latest sign that this administration sees natural resource use and extraction as the highest priority for public lands.

The World Is Facing A Global Sand Crisis, Aurora Torres, Jianguo "Jack" Liu, Jodi Brandt, Kristen Lear

Human-Environment Systems Research Center Faculty Publications and Presentations

When people picture sand spread across idyllic beaches and endless deserts, they understandably think of it as an infinite resource. But as we discuss in a just-published perspective in the journal Science, over-exploitation of global supplies of sand is damaging the environment, endangering communities, causing shortages and promoting violent conflict.

Desert Pool {If Every Desert Was Once A Sea}, Karen Miranda Abel

The Goose

Desert Pool {If every desert was once a sea} is a site-specific art project by Canadian artist Karen Miranda Abel completed in 2016 while artist-in-residence at Joya: arte + ecología, an arts-led research centre situated in an alpine desert within a national park in southern Spain. The elemental installation represents an envisioning of the ancient sea that occupied the Sierra de María-Los Vélez Natural Park millions of years before the current desert ecology, a time when its highest mountain peaks may have been islands.

The Business Of Business…Is Creating Shared Value, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Corporations, governments and NGOs need to work together for mankind to exist sustainably, says the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands

Analysis Of Air Quality Impacts On Human Health Using The Geoinformatics Application: Chiang Rai Province, Anuttara Hongthong, Yanasinee Suma, Nittaya Pasukphun, Vivat Keawdounglek

Applied Environmental Research

This research aims to study air pollution dispersion in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. The relationship between air pollutants, meteorology and population health were considered. The levels of air pollutants were used to establish a spatial and temporal analysis by Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation from Geographic Information Systems (GIS), involved with occurrences of disease cases in the study area. The average monthly air pollution data were collected from Thailand's Pollution Control Department and data on respiratory disease were collected from Chiang Rai Provincial Public Health Office during 2011 to 2014. The results indicated that monthly average PM10 concentrations started to …

Walking As Ontological Shifter: Thoughts In The Key Of Life, Bibi (Silvina) Calderaro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With walking as ontological shifter I pursue an alternative to the dominant modernist episteme that offers either/or onto-epistemologies of opposition and their reifying engagements. I propose this type of walking is an intentional turning towards a set of radical positions that, as integrative aesthetic and therapeutic practice, brings multiplicity and synchronicity to experience and being in an expanded sociality. This practice facilitates the conditions of possibility for recurring points of contact between the interiority perceived as ‘body’ and the exteriority perceived as ‘world.’ While making evident the self’s at once incoherence with it-self, it opens to a space beyond the …

Ecologies Of Embodied Minds Embedded: Radical Romantic Perspectives On Architectures Of Technology, Sharmaine Browne

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores Romantic responses to the role of architectural technologies in the development of material being, consciousness, and culture by applying a critical approach in which I combine radical embodied cognitive theory, ecocritical perspectives, and a phenomenological lens to select Romantic texts written from 1789 to 1884 in response to industrial modernity. While scholarship has thoroughly explored technology as a cultural force which inevitably shapes consciousness, I propose that a slight shift of emphasis from technology’s external influence to the material internalization of its influence allows for new perspectives—particularly in light of recent proposals in cognitive philosophy which assert …

Preliminary Study Of Color Removal From Moh Hom Dyeing Wastewater Using A Low Cost Activated Carbon Derived From Pineapple Waste, Nittaya Pasukphun, Yanasinee Suma

Applied Environmental Research

In Northern Thailand, the folk dress of the culture can still be seen in everyday use, properly called "Moh Hom". The production of Moh Hom is undertaken by small-meduim enterprises (SMEs), which are not subject to regulation to control environmental management. The Moh Hom fabric dyeing produces blue-colored wastewater which is typically discharged untreated into natural waterways, causing water pollution. Activated carbon adsorption offers an interesting option for on-site wastewater treatment for colour removal. Pineapple waste is a widely-available and free source of activated carbon in Chiang Rai Province, Northern Thailand. The current study examined the adsorption characteristics of pineapple …

Preliminary Feasibility Of Using Natural Wetland For University Wastewater Treatment: A Case Study, Nittaya Pasukphun, Yanasinee Suma, Vivat Keawdunglek, Pussadee Laor, Anuttara Hongtong

Applied Environmental Research

Wetlands contribute to water quality improvement and play an important role in the global carbon cycle. As such, wetlands can sequester carbon and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. This study utilized a survey as a preliminary investigation of the feasibility of using natural wetlands for university wastewater treatment. A total of 13 natural ponds containing water from rainfall and some discharge from the Rotating Batch Contractor (RBC) in Mae Fah Luang University (MFU) were selected. Of all the 13 ponds, the pond at the stadium was selected as the most suitable, due to the following physical and chemical parameters: slope was < 5%, maximum depth was 3.1 m, mean temperature of 24.5 °C, dissolved oxygen 6.31 mg L-1, pH 7.56, TDS 180 ppt, electrical conductivity 253 µS cm-1, and containing 2.35 % organic matter. Total cost and carbon emissions were compared between RBC and the proposed natural wetland. Construction, operation and maintenance costs of natural wetland were very low compared with RBC due to no chemical, electricity and skilled staff required. Similarly, the lower electrical consumption of the natural wetland resulted in reduced carbon emissions of 102.9 kg CO2eq per year. This preliminary result can be used to select possible options for university wastewater treatment.

Development Of The Strategic Framework For Sustainable Development Of The Special Economic Zones In Asean Economic Community: A Case Study Of Savannakhet - Mukdahan, Kantachon Siwapimon, Thavivongse Sriburi

Applied Environmental Research

The study proposes a strategic sustainable development (SD) framework for the special economic zones in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by investigating 11 key factors to the success of SD, using the concepts of Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) and Sustainability Assessment (SA). The key factors are 1) public education, 2) educational system, 3) international SDstandard, 4) policy, 5) management structure, 6) environmental management, 7) zoning, 8) expenditure, 9) public participation, 10) public health and 11) local business protection. The study use qualitative methods including a literature review as well as collection of primary data through a semi-structured interview form by …

Assessment Of Elephant Dietary Biomass At The Adjoining Area Of Kaeng Krachan Natural Park, Thailand, Luechai Kroutnoi, Thavivongse Sriburi, Saowanee Wijitkosum, Kamol Nuanyai

Applied Environmental Research

This study investigated the dietary diversity and biomass of the elephants (Elephas maximus) ranging in the area adjoining Kaeng Krachan Natural Park, Pa Deng Sub-district, Kaeng Krachan District, Petchaburi Province, Thailand. The investigation was conducted by recon-naissance survey transect (Recce) combined with concentric sample plots with 3 different radii to observe vegetation and collect data on trees, saplings, seedlings, and undergrowth from 89 locations in the study area. Six transects along elephant feeding trails were surveyed at 200 m intervals within 15 m from the center of both sides of each line. The vegetation comprised in all 57 families and …

Assessing The Sustainability Level Of Municipal Solid Waste Management In Bangkok, Thailand By Wasteaware Benchmarking Indicators, Bokham Chanhthamixay, Sujitra Vassanadumrongdee, Suthirat Kittipongvises

Applied Environmental Research

The rapid increase in waste volume leads to numerous and widespread impacts on sustainable development including social, economic and environmental dimensions. This study applied Wasteaware benchmarking, which is a set of international indicators, to evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of municipal solid waste management in Bangkok. The indicators allowidentification of strengths and weaknesses of the urban waste management system, providing evidence-based guidance for further improvement. Structured questionnaires were developed based on the indicators and its manual for in-depth interviews with key stakeholders from Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA). The data were analyzed using wasteaware datasheet under Microsoft Excel with score coding, …

Spatial Seasonal Distribution Of Climatological Precipitation Over The Middle Of The Indochina Peninsula, Nattapon Mahavik

Applied Environmental Research

Rainfall intensity and frequency are important parameters in agricultural development and water resource management. The middle of the Indochina peninsula climate is characterized by rainfall variability associated with complex terrains. The present study focuses on spatial seasonal extreme precipitation trends over the middle of the Indochina Peninsula for the 30 year period from 1978-2007. Daily gridded precipitation data obtained at 0.5° horizontal grid resolution from APHRODITE (Asian Precipitation-Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of Water Resources) was used to detect the spatial trends with the use of the Man-Kendall and Theil-Sen approach. Extreme precipitation indices were selected from the …

Investigation Of Formaldehyde In Gross Anatomy Laboratory: Area-Based And Exposure Levels, Ventilation, Health Risk And Clinical Symptoms, Kritsana Homwutthiwong, Maneerat Ongwandee

Applied Environmental Research

Formaldehyde is commonly used in embalming solution in medical fields to preserve tissues. Formaldehyde vapor released from cadavers during dissection practice can adversely affect students and instructors in gross anatomy laboratories. Therefore, this study investigated formaldehyde concentrations in a gross anatomy laboratory of Mahasarakham University, Thailand. Area-based sampling was conducted for three scenarios: (1) a laboratory cleaning period, (2) three periods of teaching classes and (3) a non-teaching class period. Personal samples were also collected for five consecutive working days from two anatomy lab instructors and a non-lab instructor. Measurements were conducted during May to October 2016 using cartridges filled …

Trends In The Environmental Health Job Market For New Graduates, Jason W. Marion, Timothy J. Murphy Phd, Anne Marie Zimeri Phd

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The question of whether the job market can support future graduates of environmental health programs remains an important and difficult question for environmental health programs, current and prospective students, parents, and other stakeholders. Our previous report using 2014 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics demonstrated anticipated growth and higher than average pay in the profession through at least 2022 for baccalaureate degree holders (Marion & Sinde, 2015). Growth in the profession does not necessarily translate into job availability if the market is saturated with job candidates. While university programs produce graduates, local health departments (LHDs) have suffered tremendous …

The New American Slavery: Capitalism And The Ghettoization Of American Prisons As A Profitable Corporate Business, David A. Liburd

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The labor of enslaved Africans and Black Americans played a large part in the history of colonial America, with the American plantation being the epicenter for all that was to be produced. While the two have never been completely tied together, capitalism and modern day slavery have been linked with one another. Some analysis sees slavery as a remote form of capitalism, a substitute, to an antiquated form of labor in the modern world.

Slave plantations adopted a new concentration in size and management, referred to by W.E. DuBois as a change "from a family institution to an industrial system."1 …

Study Of Ship Air Pollution Control In Caofeidian Port, Feng Zhu

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

Study On Ship Emissions And Countermeasures In Shanghai Port, Yunfeng Zhang

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

Study On The Safety Analysis Of Navigation Environment In Caofeidian Port, Wancheng Yue

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.