Environmental Studies Commons^™

Teaching Economic Risk Management Through A Video Game Concept, Samantha Montella

Senior Honors Projects

Many video games imply economic behavior: making decisions within a game highlights the fundamentals of human action. The basic idea is that virtual worlds, like the real world, present us with a series of choices. Games impose digital scarcity, obliging players to weigh the benefits of different courses of action, make tradeoffs, and incur costs.

Good examples are found in the role-playing game (RPG) genre, where players face tough choices between different specializations and skill trees. Obliging players to make difficult decisions highlights the opportunity costs of choice, not the money cost. Games also encourage players to think entrepreneurially: to …

Pitching Change: Micro-Community Of Higher Learning, Christopher Chaphe

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Being around sports growing up has given me some experiences that have shaped who I am today. Playing and watching sports is a common activity amongst my friends and family. These events spark engagement and camaraderie between us. The stadium in which these sports are played within are a key component to this engagement. They bring people together to enjoy and root on your favorite teams along side thousands of other fans.

Stadiums today are becoming a remarkable instrument to generate communal spirit besides marketing, recruiting and hosting games for universities. The iconic design of these stadiums has become more …

How Water Level And Irrigation Practices Affect Waterbird Community, Nesting, And Foraging Habitat Use On The Duck Valley Indian Reservation, Jamie L. Burke

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Loss of habitat continues to threaten all bird populations. Despite efforts for conservation of wetlands, waterbirds continue to face habitat threats especially in western North America where water resources are limited across the landscape. The White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi) is a colonial nesting waterbird of conservation concern that builds nests in emergent vegetation of freshwater wetlands throughout the western United States. An ibis breeding colony site located at the Blue Creek Wetland complex on Duck Valley Indian Reservation may face habitat threats in the future due to plans intended to increase irrigation water use efficiency. Plans include manipulation …

Experiences, Concerns, & Needs Of Foster Parents To Promote Child Resiliency, Emma Friemel

Human Development and Family Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Children in foster care are highly likely to have experienced some form of abuse or neglect, along with a host of other negative or harmful experiences. These experiences can leave them vulnerable when faced with difficult situations in the future. This research examines the various factors that may affect a foster child’s ability to be resilient in future adverse situations. There are several studies that examine the resiliency of children in foster care, but few examine resiliency from the perspective of the child’s foster parents. Three hundred and sixteen prospective, current, and future foster parents in the state of Oklahoma …

The Impact Of Extreme Heat On Environmental Justice Communities In California: Assessing Equity In Climate Action Plans, Karishma S. Becha

Master's Projects and Capstones

Climate change projections suggest extreme heat events will be more frequent over the next few decades. Extreme heat has both negative environmental and social impacts as it affects energy security, public health by increasing the risk of heat-related illnesses and stresses food and crop supply through prolonged droughts. The impacts of extreme heat will also disproportionately affect communities of low economic status. Because of this, there is a need for better climate action plans that can adapt to and mitigate the impacts brought upon by extreme heat that does not disproportionately impact vulnerable communities. This research analyzed local government Climate …

Memorialization On College Campuses Today, Virginia Thornton

Geography and the Environment Capstone Projects

This study uses the theoretical basis of placemaking and memorialization to examine the placement of memorial landscapes on college campuses. The research is based in case study analysis of other college campuses. It looks specifically at where and what is memorialized and what elements of placemaking are incorporated. The main postulate of my research is that the location of the memorialization of the suspected slave burial ground and history of slave labor on Richmond’s campus is appropriately placed in the Eco-corridor. The research suggests this postulate is not true, as the majority of other memorials have been placed in more …

Stormwater Management For A Healthier Campus Watershed: The Value-Add Of Green Stormwater And Watershed Management To The University Of Richmond’S Campus Landscape, Nia Cambridge

Geography and the Environment Capstone Projects

Increasing competitiveness, educational opportunities and available funding, investment in sustainable infrastructure can be an immense value-add to the modern-day college campus. This paper explores the use of green low impact development to mitigate the effects of stormwater runoff on the University of Richmond (UR) campus. Rich in sediment, nutrients, heavy metals, bacteria and other organic matter, stormwater runoff is one of the main non-point sources of pollution in urban water bodies and a key area of opportunity for UR to improve stewardship to the nearby James River. A review of academic and industry literature was conducted to determine whether or …

138— Clean Energy & Transportation In China, Ella Nielsen, Scott Hawley, Linda Lin

GREAT Day Posters

In our presentation, we are going to analyze China’s energy and transportation policies. We are interested in how China will develop its transit policy with the growth of the population and the addition of several new urban cities. The way these cities are planned will not only have an impact on China but on the rest of the world. We will focus on the emergence of green technology and how China is exporting its technology globally.

Evolutionary Bioethics Advanced By Ernest Everett Just: Implications For Biology, Ethics, And Theology, Theodore Walker

Perkins Faculty Research and Special Events

Ernest Everett Just (1883-1941) is an acknowledged “pioneer” in biology, being honored with a Black Heritage postage stamp in 1996. Here we discover that Just also made pioneering contributions to general evolutionary bioethics (distinct from special medical bioethics) by advancing a cell-biology-rooted theory of the origin and continuing evolution of ethical behavior influenced by the “law of environmental dependence.”

See especially “The Origin of Man’s Ethical Behavior (1941, unpublished book manuscript) by Ernest Everett Just and Hedwig Schnetzler Just, discovered in 2018 among the collected papers of E.E. Just at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University.

Accordingly, evolution is …

The Community Influence Of Sponge And Coral Aquaculture In Zanzibar, Hanna Gaertner, Asma Ahmada Hamad, J. Richard Walz

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Aquaculture has been presented as a means of income for coastal communities, particularly in the context of climate change and resource exploitation. The NGO Marine Cultures in Jambiani, Zanzibar has established a sponge cultivation program for women in response to declining feasibility of seaweed farming from warming ocean temperatures. In addition, the organization strives to restore a severely damaged reef while providing employment for coral farmers and tour boat operators. This study analyzed the influence of aquaculture on community stakeholders, primarily with respect to sponge cultivation and secondarily in regard to coral farms. Using Marine Cultures as a case study, …

Road Development In Asia: Assessing The Range-Wide Risks To Tigers, Neil Carter, Alexander Killion, Tara Easter, Jodi Brandt, Adam Ford

Human-Environment Systems Research Center Faculty Publications and Presentations

Roads are proliferating worldwide at an unprecedented rate, with potentially severe impacts on wildlife. We calculated the extent and potential impacts of road networks across the 1,160,000-km², 13-country range of the globally endangered tiger (Panthera tigris)—a conservation umbrella species. We found that roads were pervasive, totaling 134,000 km across tiger conservation landscapes (TCLs), even in tiger priority sites and protected areas. Approximately 43% of the area where tiger breeding occurs and 57% of the area in TCLs fell within the road-effect zone. Consequently, current road networks may be decreasing tiger and prey abundances by more than …

Biophilia In Everyday Life, Olivia Duke

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

Mindfulness is an important practice in daily life that many have forgotten in our fast-paced consumerist society. When we are advised to be mindful, we tend in think that we don’t have the time or money for it – but really it involves simple and inexpensive choices. I found my own inspiration through Biophilia, a movement encouraging the reintegration of nature into daily life. Simply taking a moment to be grounded in your surroundings can drastically boost your mood. Biophilia encourages healthy living of both body and mind. Taking care of ourselves as well as our natural environment is vital …

Spring 2020

Scientia

From the Dean: Forward Motion; Strategic Plan Summary: Make No Little Plans; Alumnus Profile: Principled Prescription - William McDade is making medicine more diverse nationally: Living Our Mission: A Just World - For Mark Potosnak, concern for the environment isn't just a job, it's a moral obligation; One Peace at a Time: Psychology professors LaVome Robinson and Leonard Jason are working to prevent violence in schools; Impactful Inquiry: Real-world opportunities give undergraduate students a head start on their career paths; Lab Notes

Decision-Support System For Lid Footprint Planning And Urban Runoff Mitigation In The Lower Rio Grande Valley Of South Texas, Javier Guerrero, Taufiqul Alam, Ahmed Mahmoud, Kim D. Jones, Andrew Ernest

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

To address regional flooding in the United States, federal and state agencies are adopting strict drainage policies in any large-scale commercial development within the watershed boundary. The conventional approach of implementing a wet detention pond (WP) reduces the land cover and causes operation and maintenance challenges eventually. The present study developed a decision-support system (DSS) in the Lower Rio Grande Valley region of South Texas for optimal selection of Best Management Practices (BMPs) by substituting a portion of the WP footprint with three regionally promising low-impact development practices, namely, porous concrete pavement (PCP), bioretention (BR), and bioswale (BS). Source Load …

Transformative Change In Rural Ethiopia: The Impact Of Small- And Medium-Scale Irrigation, Logan Cochrane, Anne Cafer

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Rural livelihoods in Ethiopia are vulnerable due to their reliance upon variable rainfall and the lack of access to irrigation. Irrigation coverage in the country is low, as the existing systems tend to cover state-run and commercial operations. There is significant potential for irrigation to play a transformative role in rural lives and livelihoods. Much of the evidence available in Ethiopia focuses upon technical studies of irrigation systems or impacts on households after gaining access to irrigation. This article highlights the causes and pathways of change. We focus on more financially-viable and environmentally-sound small- and medium-scale systems, versus the large-scale …

Uav-Based Remote Sensing Of Immediate Changes In Geomorphology Following A Glacial Lake Outburst Flood At The Zackenberg River, Northeast Greenland, Aleksandra M. Tomcyzk, Marek W. Ewertowski

Environment and Society Student Research

Two detailed geomorphological maps (1:2000) depicting landscape changes as a result of a glacial lake outburst flood were produced for the 2.1-km-long section of the Zackenberg river, NE Greenland. The maps document the riverscape before the flood (5 August 2017) and immediately after the flood (8 August 2017), illustrating changes to the riverbanks and morphology of the channel. A series of additional maps (1:800) represent case studies of different types of riverbank responses, emphasising the importance of the lateral thermo-erosion and bank collapsing as significant immediate effects of the flood. The average channel width increased from 40.75 m pre-flood to …

Our Local Dam, Cortez Yannie

Student Scholar Showcase

No abstract provided.

Once A Lake Now A Stream, Josh Desper

Student Scholar Showcase

No abstract provided.

Wangari Maathai, Tabitha M. Kanogo

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Wangari Muta Maathai is one of Africa’s most celebrated female activists. Originally trained as a scientist in Kenya and abroad, Professor Maathai returned to her home country of Kenya with a renewed political consciousness. There, she began her long career as an activist, campaigning for environmental and social justice while speaking out against government corruption. In 2004, Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her leadership of the Green Belt Movement, a conservation effort that resulted in the restoration of African forests decimated during the colonial era.

In this biography, Tabitha Kanogo follows Wangari Maathai from her modest, rural …

Water Quality Improvement And Pollutant Removal By Two Regional Detention Facilities With Constructed Wetlands In South Texas, Javier Guerrero, Ahmed Mahmoud, Taufiqul Alam, Muhammed A. Chowdhury, Adeniyi Adetayo, Andrew Ernest, Kim D. Jones

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Stormwater runoff introduces several pollutants to the receiving water bodies that may cause degradation of the water quality. Stormwater management systems such as detention facilities and wetland can improve the water quality by removing various pollutants associated with the runoff. The objective of this research project is to determine the performance and efficiency of two major regional detention facilities (RDFs) with different designs and structures in reducing pollutants based on various storm events in McAllen, Texas. The two sites are the McAuliffe RDF and the Morris RDF; each site was incorporated with a constructed wetland with a different design and …

Variation In The Microbiota Associated With Daphnia Magna Across Genotypes, Populations, And Temperature, Jonas Frankel-Bricker, Michael J. Song, Maia J. Benner, Sarah Schaack

University Author Recognition Bibliography: 2020

Studies of how the microbiome varies among individuals, populations, and abiotic conditions are critical for understanding this key component of an organism’s biology and ecology. In the case of Daphnia, aquatic microcrustaceans widely used in population/community ecology and environmental science studies, understanding factors that influence microbiome shifts among individuals is useful for both basic and applied research contexts. In this study, we assess differences in the microbiome among genotypes of D. magna collected from three regions along a large latitudinal gradient (Finland, Germany, and Israel). After being reared in the lab for many years, we sought to characterize any …

Environmental Activism, Ellen Dexter, Lydia Dexter

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

An after school book club that follows Greta Thunberg's book of speeches No One is Too Small to Make a Difference , as well as uses hands-on activities to teach the importance of environmental activism.

Environmental Justice In Little Village: A Case For Reforming Chicago’S Zoning Law, Charles Isaacs

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

Chicago’s Little Village community bears the heavy burden of environmental injustice and racism. The residents are mostly immigrants and people of color who live with low levels of income, limited access to healthcare, and disproportionate levels of dangerous air pollution. Before its retirement, Little Village’s Crawford coal-burning power plant was the lead source of air pollution, contributing to 41 deaths, 550 emergency room visits, and 2,800 asthma attacks per year. After the plant’s retirement, community members wanted a say on the future use of the lot, only to be closed out when a corporation, Hilco Redevelopment Partners, bought the lot …

Hunting As Conservation In The United States – Sustaining Suitable Habitat, James Olderham

Student Papers in Local and Global Regional Economies

In aggregating the increasing information being collected on the value of goods and services that natural and semi-natural ecosystems provide, de Groot, Wilson, and Boumans attempted to create a standardized view to assess the economic valuation of ecosystem functions (2002). One of the ecosystem functions mentioned in their system is the Nursery function, which is associated with the process of reproducing suitable habitats (de Groot et al, 2002). The authors list the hunting of game, fishing, and the gathering of fruits and vegetation as examples of goods and services that play a role in fulfilling this function of nature (2002). …

Gen Z Perspectives On Climate Change And The Future: Having The Courage To Imagine And Fight For A Better World, Isabelle Graj

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I conducted 6 interviews with Gen Z students to investigate how they think climate change will impact their future and how they frame the issue in general. I communicate my findings and analysis with visual context through a zine, which is a form of alternative media created in the 1930s. Today, zines provide a creative approach to exchange ideas and explain contemporary culture (Gisonny and Freedman, 2006, 26). My zine is not meant to be utterly educational but rather it is meant to convey the emotion, confusion, and chaos associated with my findings. The interviews collectively created an image of …

Changing Water Resources’ Effect On Livelihoods And Socio-Ecological Relationships In Himalayan Communities Of Nepal, Luke Bazemore

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The looming threat of climate change will lead to significant alterations in livelihoods and daily practices for individuals across the world. This paper seeks to identify the effects of climate change on hydrological regimes in Himalayan communities in Nepal with particular focus towards livelihood and socio-ecological transformations. Using the socio-ecological systems framework to analyze specific communities and their resource use, along with vulnerability and adaptative capacity analysis, this paper includes a meta-analysis of existing literature. Numerous findings indicated that rural, mountainous communities of Nepal face a variety of environmental impacts which may reduce viability of two significant modes of production: …

Visual Rhetoric Worksheet, Janelle Poe

Open Educational Resources

Designed for a Writing for the Sciences course at CCNY, this worksheet is to be completed after watching an environmental journalism video on noise pollution by David Owens for The New Yorker (2019). Students can complete individually, in pairs, or groups. Largely focused on analyzing visual rhetoric, creator, publisher, and audience bias, students should complete this worksheet after learning the elements of visual rhetoric to assist with the development of their rough drafts for the Rhetorical Analysis/Visual Rhetoric essay assignment.

Transcanada’S Keystone Xl Pipeline And Its Impact On Nebraska Water Quality, Amy Chin

Student Papers in Local and Global Regional Economies

The Keystone Pipeline entered the national stage in 2010 when TransCanada proposed an extension that went through the Nebraska Sandhills, an ecosystem which contains a large portion of the Ogallala Aquifer. This is not an issue to be taken lightly – the Sandhills and Ogallala Aquifer fulfill many of the functions noted in de Groot, Wilson, and Bouman’s typology of ecosystem services. In this analysis, these two sides will converge into one research problem: exploring connections between the potential economic, social, and environmental effects of the Keystone XL Pipeline’s presence in the Sandhills region of Central Nebraska.

The analysis shall …

Job Guarantee For A Safe Community, Cassandra Boyle

Student Papers in Local and Global Regional Economies

Many shared areas like parks and sidewalks are unkempt and sometimes unsafe. In some areas, sidewalks are in shambles which poses a trip hazard, and plants are overgrown which denies the use of the sidewalk. Also, there is trash along roadways and decaying plant buildup around fencing and buildings. Some of these issues are due to the resident not having the ability to do necessary yard work. Jobs could be created to solve and manage these issues, and these jobs will be part of a program which improves the economic and social lives of people while also improving the environment.

Environmental Injustice's Impact On Asthma Disparities In Nyc, Tayler J. Rodriquez

Student Publications

Understanding the social determinants of health is essential when looking at low-income minorities in urban cities. Social determinants of health are conditions in the environment in which people are born, which affects a wide range of health and quality-of-life outcomes. Amongst other determinants, adequate housing can have a significant influence on population health outcomes such as asthma. Zoning inequality negatively and disproportionately impacts the health and the overall quality of life of low-income minorities; zoning is correlated to environmental injustice fueling adverse health effects and health disparities among low-income minority populations. Without the opportunity to receive adequate and affordable housing, …