Environmental Studies Commons^™

The Effects Of Covid-19 On Residential Municipal Waste Streams, Anne Kluthe

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Through interviews, this exploratory analytive study researched how COVID-19, and especially the first lockdown of 2020, changed residential municipal waste streams, specifically in terms of items, tonnage, and workplace practices. The most common items were an influx in PPE, specifically face masks, and an increase in cardboard. There was also some evidence of paper from “deep cleaning” projects and construction debris from backyard pool installation and bathroom renovation. The total change in waste varied from area to area. Norfolk and the surrounding area had a stagnant amount of waste during the pandemic, Omaha and the rest of Douglas County saw …

Event-Related Potentials Of Individuals With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Performing The Attention Network Task, P. Dennis Rodriguez, Justin E. Stauffacher

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

The current study sought to investigate the neural basis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by examining the performance of individuals with ADHD on the Attentional Networks Test (ANT) by Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz, and Posner (2002), while recording electroencephalography (EEG) utilizing event-related potentials (ERP) methodology. Fifty-seven university students were divided into three groups: control, ADHD-inattentive subtype (ADHD-IA), and ADHD-combined/hyperactive impulsive subtype (ADHD-C/HI). The average peak amplitudes of the P300 waveform for each group were compared and analyzed for performance on each attention network measured by the ANT: the alerting network, the orienting network, and the executive control network. The average P3 …

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

Theses and Dissertations

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

Locals, Tourists, And Water Recreation Issues At Claytor Lake, Virginia, Joshua Carroll Ph.D., Ethan Hinckle

Journal of Tourism Insights

Claytor Lake is a 4,500 acre impoundment of the New River, located in southwestern Virginia and is ideal for pleasure boating, fishing, swimming, and exploration. In fall 2020 a visitor survey was administered to capture boater and adjacent landowner perceptions of the recreation experience, identify safety concerns, and help managers to informed decisions. Almost 200 surveys were collected over a month of data collection.

Results indicate that respondents tend to be a dichotomous group of “locals” who live on or within a mile of the lake, and “tourists” who travel greater than 50 miles to visit the lake. Additionally, these …

Waste Management Practices Of Small Hotels In Dehradun, Arakhita Behera, Surendra Singh Jatav

Journal of Tourism Insights

Waste has emerged as a major issue in the modern society. Due to urbanization, the volume of waste is speedily rising. If the origin of waste creation makes no effort, then all wastes are either disposed of or burnt which results in waste of land, air, water, and energy as well as the growth of undesirable animals, plants and microorganism. Through the associate and involvement of the local population, waste may be managed locally in a sustainable manner. Waste management may be an expensive endeavor if not carried out appropriately. In most of the developing nations, 20-50 percent of urban …

P-05 Gender Budgeting And Gender Equality In Europe With Historical Data During 1994-2013, Jeniffer G. Ratulangi, Jerry L. Chi, Grace Chi

Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship

Gender budgeting and gender equality in Europe plays a crucial role in inequality and development to have enjoyed sustained support. Inequalities have risen in some countries in recent decades due to factors such as globalization, technological change, taxation policy, and the economic crisis (Eurofound, 2022). Therefore, when high levels of inequality reduce growth in relatively poor countries but encourage growth in richer countries (Balls, 1999). This paper aims to examine the impact of gender budgeting processes on gender equality and fiscal space in European countries. Using secondary data research with a 45-item survey that measures participant gender budgeting and equality. …

A Material Stratum: Black Bodies And Environmental Exploitation In Edward P. Jones' The Known World, Julia Woodward

The Quiet Corner Interdisciplinary Journal

This paper seeks to reckon with the entwined realities of black lives, environmental degradation, and the Anthropocene through engagement with Edward P. Jones’ 2003 novel The Known World and Kathryn Yusoff’s recent critical work on the Black Anthropocenes. Yusoff contends that, “Literally stretching black and brown bodies across the seismic fault lines of the earth, Black Anthropocenes subtend White Geology as a material stratum,” (xii). This paper will examine the ways in which Yusoff and Jones are in conversation, and try to elucidate the ways in which the Anthropocene is both built upon and a harbinger of mass death. How …

Echoing Ecopoetics: Fantasy Literature's Background Sounds, Catherine Olver

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Despite David Abram’s fear that reading disrupts people’s “attunement to environing nature,” fantasy literature can vibrantly convey how to hear our environments as it describes characters attuning their ears to particular places. Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series (1995-2021) and Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking trilogy (2008-10) develop an echoing ecopoetics of place through both world-building and style. Their fantasy worlds emphasize that characters must relearn to listen in unfamiliar environments: adjusting their expectations and interpretations of background sounds, recognising significant silences, adapting to new ways of communicating, and seeking meaning in nonhuman sounds rather than dismissing them as noise. Their stylistic …

Different Maternal Responses And Cognitions In Hypothetical Power Bouts: Relations To Parenting Styles, Kathy L. Ritchie

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

In order to explore how parental styles and maternal cognitions interacted with difficult extended discipline episodes called power bouts, 88 mothers were categorized as either Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive, or Uninvolved. Mothers then read six hypothetical vignettes about a 4-year-old child misbehaving and were asked how they would respond to the child and how they would respond a second time if the child did not behave. These open-ended responses were coded on a scale of increasing power assertiveness with 0 being giving in and 5 indicating using punishment through spanking, removal of privilege, or time out. Using Bell and Chapman’s (1986) …

Signal Cost And Value Alignment In Organizational Sustainability Messaging To New Hires, Mackenzie Law, Ellise Vangilder, Kaitlyn Miller, Mariana Solanilla, Luke Vavricka, Amanda Lillie, Jack Carson, Jim Westerman

River Cities Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference

Introduction As companies continue to integrate sustainable initiatives as a strategic focus, their communications to new hires must adapt accordingly. Orientation programs represent an opportunity to inform new hires about the company’s sustainability values, but factors influencing the impact of sustainability messaging on new-hire perceptions remain unexplored. It is important for organizations to send signals to their new hires which are perceived as credible, meaningful, and genuine. However, the framing of sustainability orientation messages may combine with new-hire individual differences to influence these perceptions. We draw from signaling theory and value congruence research in HR to consider the potential impact …

How The Consumption Of Green Public Spaces Contributes To Quality Of Life: Evidence From Four Asian Cities, Antonietta Di Giulio, Marlyne Sahakian, Manisha Anantharaman, Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu, Rupali Khanna, Srikanth Narasimalu, Dunfu Zhang

Sociology & Anthropology Department Faculty Publications

While green public spaces have been studied in relation to biodiversity and climate change, and in relation to health and social inclusion, there is a need to further understand how they relate to a broader understanding of human wellbeing. Evidence suggests that public spaces play an important role with a view to happiness and mental health, but further evidence is needed on how people actually use such spaces and how human needs are met – and how this might compare across different contexts. This necessitates to linking conceptually, empirically and practically the consumption of such spaces, the notion of the …

Nestlé And The Right To Water, M’Ballou Yacine Sanogho

The Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development

Water scarcity is a significant social and environmental challenge that the world is facing today and which shows no sign of going away anytime soon. According to the Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), “26% of the global population or 2.0 billion people lacked safely managed drinking water.” 2 According to the California’s Bureau of Reclamation, Water covers about 71% of the earth’s surface. 3 97% of the earth’s water is in the oceans. However, this water is too salty for drinking, crops, and most industrial uses, except for …

Food Insecurity In Broome County And Its Effect On Adolescent Academic Performance, Aidan J. Gajewski

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

Food insecurity is a growing concern among children within the U.S., as the number of households who are food insecure has grown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Food insecurity in children can lead to a multitude of cognitive complications. My research investigates the relationship between food insecurity and academic performance in elementary schools in Broome County. To uncover how food insecurity and academic performance are linked, interviews were conducted with school staff (teachers, administrators, a food service manager), the area's socioeconomic status was analyzed, standardized testing scores were compiled, and the food offerings in the area were explored. …

Recycling And Practicing Sustainability At Umf, Brittany Brown, Madison Farris, Ali Gilman, Paris Howes, Miles Kelleher, Abby Washburn, Malachi Wilson

Research Learning Experiences (RLEs)

Students in the Fall 2022 First-year Fusion course titled “The Sustainable Campus” used the UMF campus as a learning laboratory to examine how principles of environmental sustainability and stewardship are put into practice in their own academic backyard. Throughout the semester, they researched, observed, visited, assessed, and reported on a host of sustainability-related initiatives undertaken over the years at UMF. In this final project presentation, the class offers its recommendations on how UMF can continue its mission to maintain an environmentally aware and sustainably operated campus.

Surveying Pollinator Gardens, Isabel Kolb, Kaitlyn Richards, Nolan Rokke

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Surveying Pollinator Gardens with client Lincoln Electric System.

Matt Talbot Kitchen Organization, Samantha Nielsen, Miqaela Davis, Olivia Clancy

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Matt Talbot Kitchen Organization for client Victoria O'Neil.

Nebraska Solid Waste Measurement, Juliana Amato, Alexi Caines, Alex Napolitano

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Nebraska Solid Waste Measurement for client Douglas County (Nebraska) Environmental Services and the Nebraska Recycling Council.

Project Energy Norfolk, Anna Bunik, Megan Swain, Hunter Tesarek

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Project Energy Norfolk with client City of Norfolk, Nebraska (Steven Rames).

Public Transit Ghg Emission Analysis, Ally Barry, Aspen Rittgarn, Grace Schleining, Wyatt Koppold

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Poster titled Public Transit GHG Emission Analysis created in partnership with the City of Lincoln (Nebraska) Public Health Department, StarTran, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Environmental Studies Program.

Nitrates In Nebraska Groundwater, Kjersten Hyberger, Adam Carlson, Grace Kollars, Rachael Herpel

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Slides of a presentation titled Nitrates in Nebraska Groundwater, created in collaboration with Rachael Herpel of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute.

Project Energy: South Sioux City, City Hall Emissions Reduction, Alayna Cowan, Michael Smilko, Spencer Rahl

Environmental Engagement in the Community (ENVR 319): Student Projects

Environmental Engagement in the Community projects, fall 2022

Video titled Project Energy: South Sioux City, City Hall Emissions Reduction with client South Sioux City, Iowa; Conservation Nebraska; and ICLEI.

Analysis Of Green Marketing Orientations Of Green Hotels During Covid-19 With Fuzzy, Ceylan Bozpolat, Burcu Simsek Yagli

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

This study aims to examine the role of natural environmental orientation, environmental pressures of stakeholders and brand orientation in green marketing orientations of green hotel businesses in the Cappadocia region during the COVID-19 process. For this purpose, a total of six experts, three of which are green hotel managers and three academicians, were interviewed and the collected data were analysed through the fuzzy method, one of the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods. Due to the limited number of studies in this context in the literature, the current study contributes to the literature. The causal relationships between many factors are analysed …

Creating Sustainable Biofuels Using Essential Oil Distillery Leaf Waste Near Vohimana Reserve, Ashley Cohen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Like most of Madagasacar’s population, people around Vohimana Reserve rely on traditional fuels like firewood and charcoal for cooking and heating. As a result, the region is facing deforestation, which poses a threat to biodiversity and the livelihoods of local populations. A local essential oil distillery was created by the NGO L’Homme et L’Environnement as a sustainable income generator to combat deforestation and protect biodiversity. The distillery produces leaf biomass that can be mixed with binding agent(s) and transformed into biofuel as a sustainable alternative to traditional fuels. 14 biofuels were created by combining distillery leaf biomass and various percent …

Creating Connections To Landscapes And Cultures Through The Plants Of Montana And The Interior Northwest, Susan Elise Teitelman

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This portfolio ties together concepts from the disciplines of ethnobotany, botany, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). It draws on themes of native plant preservation and restoration as well as ethics of plant collection and public education regarding the native flora of Montana and the broader Interior Northwest. It is my intention to explore the many ways humans connect with plants and how they may inform our sense of place, and to provide education about the benefits of native plants so people may feel more inclined to protect them and live in right relationship with the natural environment. Overall, this portfolio …

The Politics Of Water: The Jordanian Water Crisis And The Future Of Refugee Migration In The Middle East, Ruhama Bekele

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The rise of water-related conflicts around the world has challenged the norms of international relations as environmental developments have transboundary effects that threaten the security of sovereign states and have the potential to destabilize regions. Furthermore, water-related conflicts are more dangerous in countries like Jordan that suffer from extreme water scarcity and have high populations of refugees as a consequence of political instability in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region. The following research investigates the role of water in relation to geopolitical factors such as refugee migration, Israel’s diversion of the Jordan River, and the construction of Syrian dams on …

Between Two Rivers: Environmental Justice And The Politics Of Ecological Improvement In Puget Sound, Grant M. Gutierrez

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Environmental justice (EJ) has become a central framework for historically marginalized communities in the United States to identify unequal exposure to environmental harm. Yet, what once began as a radical social movement challenge to different forms of environmental racism has been taken-up by a wide swathe of civil society across diverse political, cultural, and ecological landscapes. In particular, river restoration efforts – and the many communities they implicate – are emerging as key sites of political-ecological interventions that are central to EJ. However, not all river restoration efforts employ EJ as a guiding framework. Through this dissertation, I ask: how …

Wastewater-Informed Public Health Intervention Playbook

Sustain Magazine

As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic quickly spread from country to country and continent to continent in 2020, governments and scientists needed a way to track COVID-19 through populations in order to position public health interventions in the most impactful locations. Having a decision-based risk framework may help to guide policy creation that could minimize or prevent possible outbreaks and surges of infection within communities. The University of Louisville in partnership with Louisville’s Department of Public Health and Wellness tested this strategy in 2021 and 2022. This Wastewater-Informed Public Health Intervention Playbook describes the decisions and actions of that academic and public …

Making Sustainability A Core Competency: Consumer Response To Sustainable Innovative Products, Clyde Eiríkur Hull, Jennifer D. Russell, Monika Kukar-Kinney

Articles

Research suggests that sustainability may not be sufficient to yield a competitive advantage. Building on the resource-based view, this research evaluates three questions: (1) Can using sustainability as a differentiator lead to consumers choosing sustainable products? (2) Does product sustainability appeal more to environmentally concerned consumers? (3) Does product sustainability appeal more when paired with innovation? To test the hypotheses, an online survey of 344 US respondents was conducted. Consumers were given a hypothetical budget for an office chair and asked to choose between two products at a time. Hypotheses were tested with frequency and Chisquare tests and logistic regression. …

Odu Economist Outlines Costs Resulting From Unchecked Sea Level Rise, Brendan O'Hallarn

News Items

No abstract provided.

Poems, Kelly Morse

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

Three poems:

• “Snow Sowing”
• “When I Say ‘Geoengineering’ You Say ‘What?'”
• "A Lyft Driver Dreams of Home”