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2022

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Articles 241 - 270 of 507

Full-Text Articles in Environmental Studies

Nature-Based Education For Elementary Students With Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, Kayleigh Morrison May 2022

Nature-Based Education For Elementary Students With Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, Kayleigh Morrison

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

There are several advantages to including a nature-based curriculum and outdoor learning into state standards, and the consequences of students who do not have access to outside learning and activities can be severe. The term “Attention Restoration Theory” (ART) was coined by psychology professors Rachel and Stephen Kaplan in 1989 and claims that exposure to nature can improve mental fatigue and concentration. This senior capstone examines Kaplan’s Attention Restoration Theory and academic studies rooted in its philosophy as it applies to nature-based curriculum and outdoor learning. There are certain advantages for students who are exposed to a nature-based curriculum and …

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Identifying Associations Between Human-Environmental Factors And Water Quality Trends Observed At Perennial Headwater Streams Of The San Bernardino National Forest, California, Anna Frey May 2022

Identifying Associations Between Human-Environmental Factors And Water Quality Trends Observed At Perennial Headwater Streams Of The San Bernardino National Forest, California, Anna Frey

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Anthropogenic factors related to landscape activities, infrastructure, and alterations, coupled with severe climatic fluctuations (i.e., droughts and extreme hydrological events) are increasingly impairing the quality of surface water resources across multiple geographic scales, warranting the need for comprehensive investigations of the cumulative effects of human-environmental stressors at multiple scales within a watershed. This study assessed three perennial headwater streams of the San Bernardino National Forest, California. The streams were tested for one year from October 2019 to September 2020 for conductivity, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, turbidity, temperature, ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3-), total coliform (TC), Escherichia coli …

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Assessing Urban Canopy Program In Redlands California, Joseph Angel Rocha Iv May 2022

Assessing Urban Canopy Program In Redlands California, Joseph Angel Rocha Iv

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Climate change can cause major environmental and human health issues especially in lower income and minority communities (Ros et al. 2020; Bethel et al. 2022). Although studies note tree coverage alone cannot solve all climate related problems (Pataki, et al. 2021; Ross, 2021), tree coverage does provide alleviation for climate change related factors (Free-Smith, et al. 2004). Some ways trees can combat climate change is through improved air quality, improved water quality, and decreasing impacts of Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE) (Nowak et al. 2018; Liu, Liu, 2021; Wang, Zhao, et al 2017). Although throughout the United States there is …

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Intersectional Approaches To Climate Action: A Comparative Study Of Women's Equality And Indigenous Voices In Iceland And New Zealand, Sixtine Foucaut May 2022

Intersectional Approaches To Climate Action: A Comparative Study Of Women's Equality And Indigenous Voices In Iceland And New Zealand, Sixtine Foucaut

International Studies (MA) Theses

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges our world faces today and will be facing for generations to come, as nature and its ecosystems increasingly experience extreme weather patterns and irreversible environmental damage. Marginalized populations such as women and indigenous peoples have been disproportionately impacted by climate change and offer unique and valuable perspectives and lived experiences of climate change. This paper adopts an intersectional approach. Its comparative case study of Iceland and New Zealand explores how women and indigenous peoples have informally and formally contributed to climate action policies. This research analyzes the relationship between the Global Gender …

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Sea Level Rise And Brooklyn’S Jamaica Bay Communities: Storm Surge Barriers And Managed Retreat, Nathan Kensinger May 2022

Sea Level Rise And Brooklyn’S Jamaica Bay Communities: Storm Surge Barriers And Managed Retreat, Nathan Kensinger

Publications and Research

New York City is a city of water, with more than eight million residents living on its islands, creeks, and wetlands, and over 130 neighborhoods located along its 520 miles of waterfront. New York City is now facing a perilous future, shaped by sea level rise. In the decades ahead, the city will be forced to make difficult decisions, as its waterfront communities are impacted by more frequent storms and devastating floods. At the frontlines of the city’s fight against climate change is Jamaica Bay, an enormous estuary located on New York City’s southeast oceanfront. Dozens of neighborhoods are located …

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Managing The Environmental Crisis Amidst A Health Crisis: An Exploratory Study Of Alternative Sustainable Strategies For Tourism Destinations, Lauren Townson May 2022

Managing The Environmental Crisis Amidst A Health Crisis: An Exploratory Study Of Alternative Sustainable Strategies For Tourism Destinations, Lauren Townson

All Dissertations

The responsibility of protecting the natural environment, and limiting the negative environmental impacts, often falls on the local community (Streimikiene et al., 2021). The impact of communities relying more on the tourism industry as an economic driver for continued development (Streimikiene et al., 2021) is of special interest to this dissertation as the United States (U.S.) manages the COVID-19 global pandemic. Tourism can both locally benefit a community and its residents, while simultaneously contribute to global environmental impacts (Gössling & Hall, 2006). As destinations attract more visitors into a physical space, data continues to reveal the continued destruction of natural …

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Operatic Mysticisms: Mountains, Deserts, Waterscapes, Andrew Demczuk May 2022

Operatic Mysticisms: Mountains, Deserts, Waterscapes, Andrew Demczuk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Operatic Mysticisms: Mountains, Deserts, Waterscapes examines the ways we encounter environments as readers/viewers of operas, literature, film, and sound recordings, and how each medium requires different detail-gathering techniques. Respective to the previously mentioned mediums, Sun & Sea (2017), Mount Analogue (1952), El Mar La Mar (2017), and Energy Field (2010) are analyzed by engaging with environmental media studies and invention. Reflecting the nature of each landscape—summits of mountains, aporias of deserts, and mysteries of waterscapes—an elemental approach is taken in investigating how these spaces may be noticed, internalized, recorded, and traversed by both the artist and viewer. …

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From Fast Fashion To Sustainable Slow Fashion, Isabel Agatha Millward-Pena May 2022

From Fast Fashion To Sustainable Slow Fashion, Isabel Agatha Millward-Pena

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to express a need for sustainability within the fast fashion industry, in the form of cultural movement that acts as alternative to the current means of production, consumption, and philosophies. Sustainability within current popular discourses is often human-centered and lacking authenticity, thus I aim to highlight an alternative that is opposite of that. In doing such, I bring to light the negative effects of the industry through a case study on the fast fashion company SHEIN, who claim to be making sustainable efforts. I analyzed SHEIN’s 2021 Sustainability and Social Impact Report (SSIR), focusing …

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Multiple Metals In Children’S Deciduous Teeth: Results From A Community-Initiated Pilot Study, Alexa Friedman, Julia Anglen Bauer, Christine Austin, Timothy Downs, Yorghos Tripodis, Wendy Heiger-Bernays, Roberta White, Manish Arora, Birgit Claus Henn May 2022

Multiple Metals In Children’S Deciduous Teeth: Results From A Community-Initiated Pilot Study, Alexa Friedman, Julia Anglen Bauer, Christine Austin, Timothy Downs, Yorghos Tripodis, Wendy Heiger-Bernays, Roberta White, Manish Arora, Birgit Claus Henn

Sustainability and Social Justice

Background: Characterizing retrospective exposure to toxicants during multiple early-life developmental periods is challenging, yet critical for understanding developmental effects. Objective: To characterize early-life metal exposure using deciduous teeth in a community concerned about past exposures. Methods: Naturally shed teeth were collected from 30 children ages 5–13 years who resided in Holliston, Massachusetts since conception. We estimated weekly prenatal and postnatal (up to 1 year of age) exposure to 12 metals by measuring dentine concentrations using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Multivariable linear mixed models were used to explore sociodemographic, dietary, and behavioral correlates of dentine metal concentrations. Results: Temporal trends …

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Analysis Of Gentrification And Green Spaces In East Austin, Texas, Carly Fordyce May 2022

Analysis Of Gentrification And Green Spaces In East Austin, Texas, Carly Fordyce

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gentrification, the urban process that results from uneven development within cities, can cause unjust displacement of traditional, low-income residents in residential neighborhoods, and inequitable access to community services and benefits. Because of the negative social impacts that gentrification can have, many local governments and agencies have been known to attempt to mitigate changes by initiating different types of planning policies. Such policies usually apply changes in housing or zoning rules to enable lower-income residents to have access to housing and community amenities in the area. Another aspect resulting from gentrification that local government will try to rectify is low access …

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Climate Without Context: Why Climate Change Journalism Is Losing Its Effect, Amanda L. Valentine Apr 2022

Climate Without Context: Why Climate Change Journalism Is Losing Its Effect, Amanda L. Valentine

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Despite the growing frequency and severity of climate disasters, the news coverage of these events hardly shocks the public like it used to. Environmental journalism has become more “voluminous,” but less complex, ultimately sacrificing quality over quantity to cover as many climate-related events as possible. By analyzing the word choice, key frames, and contexts of climate articles featured in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times over the past five years, this study finds that the frequent decontextualization of climate events and a focus on political actions has banalized climate journalism and rendered it ineffectual.

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Urban Forests And Their Potential To Combat Food Insecurity: Analyzing Street Trees In Baltimore, Md For Their Edibility, Victoria Bearden Apr 2022

Urban Forests And Their Potential To Combat Food Insecurity: Analyzing Street Trees In Baltimore, Md For Their Edibility, Victoria Bearden

Environment and Sustainability Honors Papers

Food insecure environments, in which residents lack consistent access to nutritious food materials, can occur in urban settings. Literature on urban forests suggests that trees can provide a range of provisioning ecosystem services, including edible uses. We consider this to determine if street trees in Baltimore, Maryland have the potential to provide nutritious food materials to address food insecurity in Healthy Food Priority Areas (HFPA), designated by Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. Our analysis utilizes the Plants For a Future database and the geospatial hotspot analysis tool in Esri’s ArcMap to determine the edible quality ratings (EQR) of …

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Geese Management At The University Of Richmond, Virginia Mead Apr 2022

Geese Management At The University Of Richmond, Virginia Mead

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

Geese are a nuisance in all fifty states and particularly at the University of Richmond. For the most part, Canada Geese, Branta canadensis, have effectively stopped migrating which has led them to be a problem for the surrounding ecosystem (Handwerk, 2021). The university has taken some preliminary steps to discourage geese from inhabiting our campus, but none have proven to be effective in the long run. To answer the question of how to deter geese from hanging out on campus, I assessed various geese management practices with the intention that the university could potentially adopt one of the practices. Our …

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Sharing Air: A Review And Application Of Effective Methods Of Communicating Temperature Data, Claire A. King Apr 2022

Sharing Air: A Review And Application Of Effective Methods Of Communicating Temperature Data, Claire A. King

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

One’s residence should not determine an individual’s health or lifespan. Further, if the environment where someone lives is detrimental to one’s health, that information ought to be shared with him or her. Surface heat exposure poses dangers to human health, and surface temperature is influenced by surrounding environmental factors. Surface temperature and related environmental data should be shared with communities in formats that best meet local needs. It is a matter of environmental and health justice. On July 15, 2021, a team of citizen scientists united under the Virginia Heat Watch project to collect surface temperature data in ten localities …

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Ohio Energy Generation Optimization, Thomas Lynch Apr 2022

Ohio Energy Generation Optimization, Thomas Lynch

Honors Projects

This honors project explores the optimization of energy generation within the state of Ohio to better the energy generation efficiency both environmentally and economically. The proposed solution is a 30-year plan from 2020 to 2050 to reduce the environmental impact caused by electricity generation in Ohio. This project shows guidelines and goals to reach by the end of every decade spanning from 2030 to 2050. This was done using an optimizing program called Multiple Objective Linear Programming (MOLP) and while not perfect it lays a foundation for changes that should come to Ohio’s energy mix in the next 30 years.

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Exploring The Relationship Between Art And Environmental Education, Mackenzie Haynes Apr 2022

Exploring The Relationship Between Art And Environmental Education, Mackenzie Haynes

Honors Projects

To explore the relationship between art and environmental education, I created a lesson plan and then put into practice at Crim Elementary School in a 4th grade art class. The art project had to do with the environment, endangered animals and recyclable materials. I titled the project "Habitat Heroes" and students had to imagine that they were the only people left on Earth along with a few animals and lots of trash. They were tasked with selecting an endangered animal in Ohio from one of five different groups (mammals, birds, reptiles/amphibians, birds and fish) to create a habitat for. The …

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Down The Drain: Stormwater Management Effects On The Quality Of The Westhampton Lake, Indya Woodfolk Apr 2022

Down The Drain: Stormwater Management Effects On The Quality Of The Westhampton Lake, Indya Woodfolk

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

This paper examines incidents of illicit discharges on the University of Richmond campus as outlined by the City of Richmond's MS4 permit. Illicit discharges contaminate the Westhampton Lake by flowing from our storm drains directly into the Westhampton Lake. I detected incidents of illicit discharges by performing visual inspections as guided by numerous scholarly articles. The visual inspections were done with a special consideration of land use on campus. Along with the visual inspections, I inspected the storm drains during a dry weather event to find whether there was any flow during this period. In this study, I found several …

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The Green Passport Program: Proposing A Study Abroad Program To Encourage Sustainable Behavior And Offset Emissions, Suraya Souidi Apr 2022

The Green Passport Program: Proposing A Study Abroad Program To Encourage Sustainable Behavior And Offset Emissions, Suraya Souidi

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

The University of Richmond has a goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, and in order to do this, carbon offsets are likely a necessary component to implement in lieu of adequate technology to abate the usage of carbon from behaviors such as travel. The scope of this proposal focuses on the Office of International Education and study abroad travel, which accounts for a large amount of emissions in the University’s portfolio. The purpose of this study was to propose a program to the Office of International Education which oriented students towards sustainability while they engaged in a study abroad …

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Our Air: Determining Ideal Locations For Tree Planting In Richmond, Va In Order To Deter Inequalities In Temperature, Nina Vanatta Apr 2022

Our Air: Determining Ideal Locations For Tree Planting In Richmond, Va In Order To Deter Inequalities In Temperature, Nina Vanatta

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

With the ever increasing effects of climate change, it is pertinent that an effective, efficient, and economic solution be reached in order to mitigate the extremity of urban heat islands. Since heat can contribute to a variety of health problems, it is very important that the unequal distribution of heat be minimized in order to promote the equal well-being within a city. One substantial and popular method of doing so is through the planting of trees, as there is research done to show that they reduce air pollution on top of reducing overall surface temperatures. This paper explores how and …

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Red Wolf Reintroduction: Land Ownership And Protection Status Analysis, Anna Frisbie Apr 2022

Red Wolf Reintroduction: Land Ownership And Protection Status Analysis, Anna Frisbie

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

Red wolves (Canis rufus) are critically endangered, and currently the only wild population exists in northeast NC (“Red Wolf,” FWS, n.d.). Here, I use geospatial analysis to investigate the potential for another wild population to establish in the Delmarva Peninsula. I consider land ownership and protection status because these factors influence local public support (Nie, 2001; Naughton-Treves et al., 2003; Berger-Tal et al., 2020), as well as reintroduction success (Carroll et al., 2003; Wolf & Ripple, 2018). I compare the ownership and protection status of land in the Delmarva Peninsula to that in the Albemarle Peninsula, where the red wolf …

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Testing The Waters: An Analysis Of Recent Nutrient Levels In Westhampton Lake And Their Implications For Water Quality Management, Taylor Coleman Apr 2022

Testing The Waters: An Analysis Of Recent Nutrient Levels In Westhampton Lake And Their Implications For Water Quality Management, Taylor Coleman

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

This investigation was undertaken to understand recent nutrient levels of Westhampton Lake and determine the implications of its water quality relative to the sustenance of aquatic life on campus at the University of Richmond. Nutrient data was obtained from the documentation of ongoing monthly sampling by a research team from Virginia Commonwealth University and consisted in the evaluation of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, chlorides, and the bacteria, Escherichia coli between November 20, 2018, and December 9, 2021. Analysis of each individual nutrient included the comparison of its minimum, maximum, and mean level relative to recommended criteria provided …

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Unfair: Investigating The Links Between Richmond’S Air Quality Issues And Environmental Racism, Charles Miller Apr 2022

Unfair: Investigating The Links Between Richmond’S Air Quality Issues And Environmental Racism, Charles Miller

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

With breathable air being a resource inequitably distributed among populations based on race and socioeconomic status, this study’s objective was to analyze heat and air quality distributions in Richmond, Virginia and provide recommendations for minimizing its effects throughout the city. Richmond provided an ideal subject for this analysis as it has a lengthy history of racial segregation and discrimination and is one of the worst ranking cities for Asthma sufferers. Background was given on environmental racism as a means of systemic disproportionate pollution distribution to minorities, urban air pollution( via Fine Particulate Matter/PM 2.5) and the historical housing segregation process …

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Environmental Political Theory: Georgia, Sophie Wieland Apr 2022

Environmental Political Theory: Georgia, Sophie Wieland

Undergraduate Research Symposium 2022

Perceptions of the environment are based on individuals’ experiences and values. This work, in the subfield of environmental political theory, seeks to understand why people hold the environmental beliefs that they do. Through a literature review, the beliefs of two hypothetical citizens of the country of Georgia were deduced based on the economic, political, and environmental history of Georgia. I hypothesized the likely values and experiences of an Azeri pharmacist and Georgian casino dealer, concluding that the power structure of Georgia would privilege the Georgian casino dealer. The Azeri pharmacist is likely of a lower socioeconomic status, is more tied …

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Ens 201: Introduction To Environmental And Sustainability Studies Oer Curation, Chealsye Bowley Apr 2022

Ens 201: Introduction To Environmental And Sustainability Studies Oer Curation, Chealsye Bowley

Curated OER Collections

This OER curation is an annotated bibliography of prospective OER for the GVSU course ENS 201: Introduction to Environmental and Sustainability Studies, assembled by request from the instructor.

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Ens 300: Principles Of Sustainability Oer Curation, Chealsye Bowley Apr 2022

Ens 300: Principles Of Sustainability Oer Curation, Chealsye Bowley

Curated OER Collections

This OER curation is an annotated bibliography of prospective OER for the GVSU course ENS 300: Principles of Sustainability, assembled by request from the instructor.

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Odu Researchers Will Put Buoys In The Mediterranean Sea To Help Schools Teach Climate Change, Mindy Ayala-Diaz Apr 2022

Odu Researchers Will Put Buoys In The Mediterranean Sea To Help Schools Teach Climate Change, Mindy Ayala-Diaz

News Items

No abstract provided.

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Corporate Social Responsibility Within The American Craft Beer Industry: Environmental Sustainability And Community Engagement, Bradley Demild Apr 2022

Corporate Social Responsibility Within The American Craft Beer Industry: Environmental Sustainability And Community Engagement, Bradley Demild

Honors Projects in Management

Craft brewing and craft beer is emerging as an established business in the United States, with many states housing established regional breweries. As the United States looks to implement environmentally friendly practices in business operations, the goal of this report is to analyze the respective steps taken by the craft beer industry to achieve sustainability. Looking into environmental sustainability and community efforts holistically, the corporate social responsibly (CSR) practices of certified independent, craft brewers who are members of the Brewers Association of various sizes, lends insights into the current state of the industry. A combination of educational materials provided by …

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Economics Of Red Wolf Reintroduction, Logan West Apr 2022

Economics Of Red Wolf Reintroduction, Logan West

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

In any animal reintroduction, one main component that is heavily evaluated is the economics of the reintroduction process of introducing an endangered animal to a specific area. Red wolves in specific, have a strong economic correlation between ecotourism and economics, as red wolves are an almost extinct species. In this analysis, I examined the economics of ecotourism as a benefit for red wolf reintroduction into the Delmarva. Additionally, I further examined how ecosystem services are an additional benefit to the economics in Delmarva. I used two case studies in my analysis to determine if the Delmarva Peninsula would enhance economically …

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Invasive Plant Management At Huguenot Flatwater, Antonia Kempe Apr 2022

Invasive Plant Management At Huguenot Flatwater, Antonia Kempe

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

Invasive plants have become a wicked problem of the 21st century. Brought to areas outside of their native range by humans, they cause ecological and economic harm by disrupting ecosystem dynamics that in turn affect humans. Management methods include mechanical, chemical, and biological treatments, but each of these have their own advantages and limitations, which further adds to the complexities of invasive plant management. Units of the James River Park System in Richmond, Virginia are plagued by invasive plants, which are managed by the Invasive Plant Task Force. One of these units, Huguenot Flatwater, is overrun by invasive plants but …

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An Ecofeminist Comparative Analysis Of American Environmental Laws From 2019 To 2021, Mary Kelly Apr 2022

An Ecofeminist Comparative Analysis Of American Environmental Laws From 2019 To 2021, Mary Kelly

Conspectus Borealis

No abstract provided.

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