Environmental Studies Commons^™

Mixed Messages: Examining External Barriers To University Student Ethical Clothing Consumption, Jazlyn Marcos

DePaul Discoveries

While a majority of research in ethical fashion consumption is largely focused on contexts such as means of production or the decision-making process of consumers, this research seeks to explore external barriers to millennial consumption of sweatshop-free clothing. Consumer concern and consumer awareness has increased, but this is not reflected in the market. This research seeks to deepen the knowledge into some external factors beyond that of consumer decision-making and other internal factors of the self (i.e. guilt) that impact purchasing. A two-part survey was conducted, featuring a choice experiment where respondents had to choose from various white t-shirt options. …

Finding Commonality: The First Principles Of The Leadership Thought Of Theodore Roosevelt And Traditional Chinese Culture, Elizabeth Summerfield, Yumin Dai

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

This paper argues that, while the imperative to find global solutions to complex problems like climate change and resource management is agreed, dominant ethical and intellectual thought leadership in many western nations impedes progress. The Cartesian binaries of western post-Enlightenment culture tend instead toward oppositional binary divides where each ‘side’ assumes to be the whole and not a part. And the present and future similarly assume precedence over the past. The paper points to systems thinking as both a method and a practice of wise leadership of past western and eastern societies, including their conservation of natural resources. Two historical …

What Trees Taught Me About Covid-19: On Relational Accounting And Other Magic, Diane-Laure Arjalies

Business Publications

While the world was on lock down, human beings started craving for green spaces. As they walked amidst the trees, trees began to talk to them. The surprising truth then emerged: There were actually secrets to be shared by the forest. This essay reflects on the teachings offered by nature(s) during the pandemic. Based on a personal encounter with a river, it caresses the relationships that have connected humans to non-humans over time and that have led to make this confinement both a unique and universal experience. It suggests embracing relational accounting, the expression of our relationships with each other …

Contested Dam Development In Iran: A Case Study Of The Exercise Of State Power Over Local People, Elham Hoominfar, Claudia Radel

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Student Research

In this article, we address the interaction of the Iranian State, an agent of power, with affected village residents, as four dam projects are planned and implemented. Dams, recently positioned as a green energy source, are a central component to Iran’s national development strategies; yet historically their construction has been a source of significant conflict and resistance around the world. We focus on ten villages facing displacement or partial loss of lands at the time of the research, and we answer the question: During dam building and resettlement processes, how have residents experienced their role in decision making and the …

Complications Of The Climate Change Narrative Within The Lives Of Climate Refugees, Raphaella Mascia

Department of Environmental Studies Student Scholarship

With projections of rapidly increasing numbers of climate refugees in the next decades, the discourse surrounding climate refugees becomes ever more pertinent within the field of sustainable development and the public sphere. I offer an alternative analysis of the processes which surround “knowing” and “defining” climate refugees by employing an interpretive framework which disseminates the term “narrative” according to Jean François Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. In the discourse surrounding climate refugees, two main narratives interact with each other: the dominant climate change narrative and the individual narratives of climate refugees themselves. I contend that the …

Spatial Statistical Approaches To Water Quality Modelling, Janardan Mainali

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation aims to advance the existing knowledge related to spatial modeling of water quality by exploring and introducing innovative approaches to different spatial conceptualizations for water quality modeling and incorporating upstream-downstream relations in geographically weighted regression. By carrying out a systematic literature review of four different classes of spatial models in Chapter One, this dissertation identifies the following major research gaps: lack of incorporation of multiscale processes, not enough emphasis on spatial weights matrices, and unavailability of upstream-downstream relationships in geographically weighted regressions. Chapters Two and Three were designed to address these gaps in the literature. In Chapter Two, …

The Ocean Climate Action Plan, Jason Scorse, David Helvarg

Working Papers

Climate change and ocean health are often thought about as separate silos, when the two are interconnected.

Climate change is warming the oceans and changing their chemistry. Without ocean health, the entire planetary water cycle and oxygen cycle are in danger. The oceans sequester huge amounts of carbon dioxide helping to cool the planet, but that may not continue with “business as usual.” Climate change affects even those far from any coastline. We must solve the ocean climate challenge together, and we have a short window of time to take action.

The Center for the Blue Economy has partnered with …

Beyond Climate Impacts: Knowledge Gaps And Process-Based Reflection On Preparing A Regional Chapter For The Fourth National Climate Assessment, Scott Lowe

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) provided the most up-to-date understanding of climate change and its effects on the Earth system and on consequences for the United States, including impacts and associated risks, along with approaches to coping with these effects. It is intended to provide guidance to decision-makers in governmental sectors while, in practice, providing guidance for nongovernmental actors. Its regional and topical chapters highlight current knowledge, uncertainties, gaps in knowledge, and emerging threats. The current knowledge and gaps can help set a research agenda to inform future national, regional, and local climate assessments and thereby support better decision-making. …

Carbon Management Strategy And Carbon Disclosures: An Exploratory Study, Kathy K. Dhanda, Mahfuja Malik

WCBT Faculty Publications

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept aimed to ensure that corporations conduct their business in an ethical manner by taking care of their environment and human resources in addition to their economic impact. Often times, CSR refers to the steps undertaken by a corporation to measure its efforts to improve the environment and social well-being. One of the aspects of CSR pertains to the disclosure of emission information and carbon management strategy (CMS). Carbon Management refers to analyzing and focusing on those areas within the corporation where cost reductions can be made via energy reductions, waste management and reduced …

Economic Determinants Of Energy Intensity: A Country Panel Analysis, Dehdar Fatemeh

Student Works (2020-2029)

Efforts to lower energy intensity increased initially as a result of rising fuel prices following the first and second oil shocks, which subsequently became serious owing to mounting evidence that fossil fuels are a major cause of climate change and global warming. Energy source is a key problem associated with climate change as oil and gas, and coal constitute major components of fossil fuels. However, the extant literature remains divided on the determinants of energy intensity. For the purpose of filling this gap, this study modeled energy intensity and used panel annual data from 84 countries, (divided to stable and …

Analisis Konsekuensi Ekonomi Akibat Kejahatan Di Indonesia, Tarina Palokoto, Evi Yulia Purwanti, Y. Bagio Mudakir

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

Crime affects people’s decisions in carrying out economic activity. This study aims to analyze the influence of several crime typologies and non-crime variables on per capita Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) and identify the existence of spatial dependencies of per capita GRDP in Indonesia. The study used cross section data with the Spatial Lag Model (SLM). The results show that there is a negative spatial autocorrelation in per capita GRDP. Murder and labor affect GRDP per capita negatively. Meanwhile, fraud, embezzlement, and corruption; local government expenditure, life expectancy, domestic investment, and foreign investment affect per capita GRDP positively per capita …

Brazilian Maize Yields Negatively Affected By Climate After Land Clearing, Stephanie A. Spera, Jonathan M. Winter, Trevor F. Partridge

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

To date, over 50% of the Brazilian Cerrado has been cleared predominantly for 11 agropastoral purposes. Here, we use the Weather Research and Forecasting model to run 15- 12 year climate simulations across Brazil with six land-cover scenarios: 1) before extensive land 13 clearing; 2) observed in 2016; 3) Cerrado replaced with single-cropped (soy) agriculture; 4) 14 Cerrado replaced with double-cropped (soy-maize) agriculture; 5) eastern Amazon replaced 15 with single-cropped agriculture; and 6) eastern Amazon replaced with double-cropped 16 agriculture. All land-clearing scenarios (2-6) contain significantly more growing season days 17 with temperatures that exceed critical temperature thresholds for maize. …

Examining The Impact Of Climate Change Film As An Educational Tool, Brittany Bondi, Salma Monani, Sarah M. Principato, Christopher P. Barlett

Student Publications

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of film in communicating issues related to climate change. While previous studies demonstrate an immediate effect of a film post-screening, this study also considered if a film can inspire long-term effects, and if supplemental educational information plays a role on participant understanding.

Design/methodology/approach: Using surveys, we assessed undergraduate students’ climate change responses pre-, immediately-post, and 9-weeks post watching the climate change documentary The Human Element (Prod. Earth Vision Institute, 2018). In the 9-week interim before the final survey, half of the participants received weekly information on climate change via …

Vertebrates On The Brink As Indicators Of Biological Annihilation And The Sixth Mass Extinction, Gerardo Ceballos, Paul R. Ehrlich, Peter H. Raven

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

The ongoing sixth mass species extinction is the result of the destruction of component populations leading to eventual extirpation of entire species. Populations and species extinctions have severe implications for society through the degradation of ecosystem services. Here we assess the extinction crisis from a different perspective. We examine 29,400 species of terrestrial vertebrates, and determine which are on the brink of extinction because they have fewer than 1,000 individuals. There are 515 species on the brink (1.7% of the evaluated vertebrates). Around 94% of the populations of 77 mammal and bird species on the brink have been lost in …

Rfia: An R Package For Estimation Of Forest Attributes With The Us Forest Inventory And Analysis Database, Hunter Stanke, Andrew O. Finley, Aaron S. Weed, Brian F. Walters, Grant M. Domke

United States National Park Service: Publications

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) is a US Department of Agriculture Forest Service program that aims to monitor changes in forests across the US. FIA hosts one of the largest ecological datasets in the world, though its complexity limits access for many potential users. rFIA is an R package designed to simplify the estimation of forest attributes using data collected by the FIA Program. Specifically, rFIA improves access to the spatiotemporal estimation capacity of the FIA Database via space–time indexed summaries of forest variables within user-defined population boundaries (e.g., geographic, temporal, biophysical). The package implements multiple design-based estimators, and has …

Neoliberal Legacies: Peru, Potatoes And The Challenges Of Agricultural Reform, Emma Belliveau

Honors Scholar Theses

Peru and the potato; the two have been linked together for almost 10,000 years. This relationship has developed and born rich food, cultural heritage, and agricultural tradition. Once Spain, one of the dominant global and colonial powers, entered the mix in the 16th C, the makeup of Peru's potato growing industry changed for good. While the potato catapulted Europe's population out of hunger and allowed the Western world to modernize, Peru became merely a stomping ground for raw materials. The economy of Peru--to this day--is dependent on exporting raw materials, which means exporting agricultural goods as well. At one time …

Radical Utu : Critical Ideas And Ideals Of Wangari Muta Maathai, Besi Brillian Muhonja

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Wangari Muta Maathai was a scholar-activist known for founding the Green Belt Movement, an environmental campaign that earned her the Nobel Peace Prize. While many studies of Maathai highlight her activism, few examine Maathai as a scholar whose contributions to various disciplines and causes spanned more than three decades.

In Radical Utu: Critical Ideas and Ideals of Wangari Muta Maathai, Besi Brillian Muhonja presents the words and works of Maathai as theoretical concepts attesting to her contributions to gender equality, democratic spaces, economic equity and global governance, and indigenous African languages and knowledges. Muhonja’s well-rounded portrait of Maathai’s ideas …

Can Increased Training And Awareness Take Forest Research To New Heights?, David L. Anderson, Sarah Schulwitz, Matthew May, Gregory Hill, Will Koomjian, Christopher J. W. Mcclure

University Author Recognition Bibliography: 2020

Forest canopies contribute significantly to global forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, yet are declining and understudied. One reason for a knowledge gap is that accessing forest canopies can be difficult and dangerous. Thus, lack of relevant canopy access skills may compromise knowledge gain and personal safety. We assessed skill levels in canopy access methods and self-perception of skills amongst ecologists worldwide via a web-based survey, available in four languages. We obtained responses from expert arborists as a control group. From 191 respondents who said canopy access is relevant to their research (of 1,070 total responses), we found that ecologists are …

Changes In The Exposure Of California’S Levee-Protected Critical Infrastructure To Flooding Hazard In A Warming Climate, Iman Mallakpour, Mojtaba Sadegh, Amir Aghakouchak

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Levee systems are an important part of California's water infrastructure, engineered to provide resilience against flooding and reduce flood losses. The growth in California is partly associated with costly infrastructure developments that led to population expansion in the levee protected areas. Therefore, potential changes in the flood hazard could have significant socioeconomic consequences over levee protected areas, especially in the face of a changing climate. In this study, we examine the possible impacts of a warming climate on flood hazard over levee protected land in California. We use gridded maximum daily runoff from global circulation models (GCMs) that represent a …

Emergent Model For Community Engagement: Developing Courses And Programs, Barbara S. Spector, Cyndy S. Leard

Journal of Global Education and Research

This retrospective emergent design qualitative evaluation study documents the development of a unique model for community engagement and engaged scholarship in higher education. The primary novel aspect of the model is participatory involvement of both the target audience for the program and representatives of various stakeholder groups who initiated, conceptualized, tested, assessed, and evaluated the courses and program with the professor. Members of the target audience and stakeholder groups also recruited participants, contributed to refining the courses and program to meet the needs of the stakeholder groups, and contributed to redesigning courses for online learning. The model emerged while developing …

Campus Design And The Community College Experience: An Exploration Of Stress, Belonging And Scholarly Identity, Vanita Naidoo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This mixed methods research study examines factors that influence the development of scholarly identity at a community college campus. It uses survey methods and a focus group with undergraduate students at the Bronx Community College (BCC) campus to examine how campus design relates to a sense of belonging, the process of reflection, and the development of a scholarly identity. Academic attrition and low performance are challenges at urban community colleges. The study aims to address how campus design, specifically green space, impacts undergraduate students at a community college. It seeks to better understand the experience of the diverse student population …

How Globalization, Sustainability, And Human Impacts Are Affecting Two Major Mexican Cities: Mexico City And Guadalajara, Cristina Sedano

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Mexico is one of the richest countries in the world, not in terms of economic stability but in terms of natural resources, culture, and atmosphere. When people think of Mexico, they usually think of the high-tension relationship with the United States, their neighboring country to the North. Although there are many diverse historical and present-day characteristics of Mexico, most associate the county with the high levels of crime due to narco and cartels, the high levels of poverty in regional areas, and to some just a party destination. Unbeknownst to many is the thousands year old culture that is passed …

A Comparison Of Tribal Sovereignty, Self-Determination, And Environmental Justice At The Epa’S Onondaga Lake And Tar Creek Superfund Sites, Thomas Clark

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program mandates that Native American tribes are afforded the same treatment as states in the implementation of environmental remediation projects; however, the degree of coordination and consultation between the EPA and sovereign tribal governments varies widely between sites. Two of the Superfund program’s highest profile sites with Native American interest, northeast Oklahoma’s Tar Creek and central New York’s Onondaga Lake, are characterized by such a disparity in tribal participation. While Oklahoma’s Quapaw Tribe would ultimately enter into a number of cooperative agreements with the EPA for direct control over remedial projects, New York’s Onondaga Nation …

Hijab In The Indonesian National Struggle, Mangesti Rahayu

International Review of Humanities Studies

Fashion and history cannot be separated, because fashion is one indicator of a change in culture, civilization, behavior, and certain identities. Vice versa, changes and developments in fashion are influenced by conditions at the time the fashion is developing, both the social, cultural, political, religious, economic and others. Fashion that is developing in Indonesia is Muslim fashion. One part of Muslim clothing is the hijab, headgear worn by Muslim women. Hijab is not only part of religious observance, hijab is already part of fashion and we can examine the hijab style of a society from its historical period. We can …

Collaboration And Evaluation In Urban Sustainability And Resilience Transformations: The Keys To A Just Transition?, Liliana Elizabeth Caughman

Dissertations and Theses

Climate has changed and will continue changing; city populations are swelling as urbanization continues to accelerate; extreme environmental events like heat waves and floods are becoming more severe and more common; and the climate justice movement is rapidly gaining momentum. It in this context that municipal governments find themselves urgently seeking solutions to transition cities from extractive, vulnerable, and unjust to sustainable, resilient, and equitable. The task is complex and will require systemic transformations across interconnected social, environmental, and economic infrastructures. Emerging theories regarding how to govern such massive changes suggest Transition Management strategies and the values of a just …

Total Factor Environmental Productivity In The Mediterranean Countries: A Malmquist–Luenberger Index Approach, Eya Jebali, Hédi Essid

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

This paper examines the environmental productivity in the Mediterranean countries over the period 2009-2014.We use the Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index (MLPI) that can handle undesirable outputs within Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach. We decompose the MLPI index into technical efficiency, technological change and scale efficiency change in order to determine the source of productivity changes. Empirical findings indicate that the total factor environmental productivity in the Mediterranean countries have a negative developmental trend. Furthermore, we find that technological progress is the main source of productivity growth. Finally, Mediterranean countries need a considerable effort on R&D to optimize the potential for technical …

La Habana: A History Of Society, Livelihood, Movement, And Land Use On The Iquitos-Nauta Highway, Katie Brown

Undergraduate Honors Theses

With increasing infrastructural projects and land titling in the Peruvian Amazon, many changes are occurring within small roadside communities. In this case study, we investigate how these changes impact livelihoods, land use, travel patterns, and social relations within the broader concepts of development, privatization of land, and commodification of nature. Specifically we focus on the caserío La Habana situated on the Iquitos-Nauta highway in the Loreto region of Peru. Semi-formal interviews and ethnographic methods were conducted to gather information on social organization, history of the community, land use practices, migration patterns, opinions on the road, and livelihood strategies. After data …

Supermarket Redlining And Food Deserts: Potential Policies And Alternative Food Market Solutions With Applications To The Hartford Food System, Alexis Meehan

Honors Scholar Theses

Food deserts are neighborhoods that are typically socioeconomically disadvantaged and have high levels of low-income populations who face barriers to accessing healthy, nutritious food. These barriers which include, but are not limited to, the increased distance these food insecure populations are located from large food retailers that supply fresh produce. Many of these inequalities stem from institutionalized racism which allowed for practices such as supermarket redlining and, in part, led to the creation of food deserts in places like Hartford, Connecticut. In using the historical context that shaped the Hartford food system and comparing the identified alternative food market solutions …

The Socio-Environmental Politics Surrounding The Commodification Of Guayusa In The Ecuadorian Amazon, Molly Silk

Master's Theses

Guayusa, a tree used for its leaves, that when dried, boiled, and consumed in tea form, acts as a natural stimulant due to its high levels of caffeine. Initially used among Kichwa people, the plant is thought to be a panacea with abilities to heal health complications such as infertility, headaches, and nausea. In addition, the Kichwa community holds an incredibly strong ritualistic and cultural connection to the tea. Guayusa is said to connect the person and community to the dream world through the process of gathering in the early hours of the morning to drink the tea, and decipher …

A Colonial Climate: Climate Change Governance In Puerto Rico, Usa, Justin Grant Pearson

Master's Projects and Capstones

This capstone project examines the relationship between the colonial structures of governance that persist in Puerto Rico and how they affect the island’s resilience to the onslaught of climate change. Within the frameworks of climate change, governance and colonialism, I set out to analyze the means by which Puerto Rico’s status as a colony of the United States has led to its history and present circumstances that have left a gap in terms of effective governance at the federal and other upper levels of government. The conclusion made is that there needs to be a greater level of focus placed …