Environmental Studies Commons^™

Editor-In-Chief's Note, Surekha Rao

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

The Unsovereign Citizen: The Reconfiguration Of Rights And Belonging In Fascist Italy, Roberta Pergher

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Modern political thought tends to associate citizenship with democracy, equality, and political participation. This article demonstrates that citizenship can be profoundly important also for authoritarian rule. In Fascist Italy, citizenship remained central to political life, not as a vehicle of democratic participation, to be sure, but as a category through which the regime redefined belonging, hierarchy, and sovereignty. Drawing on citizenship legislation, imperial ordinances, racial laws, police reports, and ministerial commentary between 1912 and 1943, this article shows how the dictatorship hollowed out liberal citizenship within the peninsula, stratified it across imperial territories, consolidated it across diasporic populations, and ultimately …

Editorial History

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Rising Numbers, Rising Risks: Population, Growth, And Natural Disasters, Sophia Becker-Toro, Yu Ouyang

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

How does population size and growth affect the risk of natural disasters? On October 7, 2024, before Hurricane Milton makes landfall in the Tampa Bay area, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor issues a dire warning to affected citizens: “I can say without any dramatization whatsoever. If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die.” While there is an extensive literature which focuses on the impact of climate change and/or natural disasters, there is a dearth of works on how population affects the risks of natural disasters. As both the frequency and severity of storms and …

Volume 28, Issue 2 Full Contents

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Submission Guidelines

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Assessing Environmental Changes Before And After The 2018 Kilauea Eruption In Leilani Estates, Hawaii, Rokeya Akter Liza

Scholars Week

The 2018 Kilauea eruption in Hawaii significantly impacted the natural landscape, especially in the Leilani Estates region. The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the environmental conditions of before and after eruption by applying remote sensing techniques. Landsat 8 satellite imagery was used for two different time periods as before the eruption (February 2018) and after the eruption (March 2019). ERDAS Imagine was used to process these images to evaluate the changes in vegetation and land cover. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was calculated for both pre- and post-eruption images to evaluate vegetation changes. Higher NDVI …

Navigating Sustainable Burial In Southern Nevada, Kristen Gibson

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Navigating Sustainable Burial in Southern Nevada investigates the accessibility of environmentally conscious end-of-life options for individuals throughout the region. Sustainable burial practices, including green burial, water cremation, and natural organic reduction, provide alternatives to traditional burial and cremation methods. Research was conducted through an analysis of Nevada statutes, local reporting, funeral service resources, and public discussions related to sustainable burial. The research revealed that although Nevada expanded legal recognition of sustainable burial by legalizing natural organic reduction, public access to clear information and available services remains limited. These findings informed the creation of a choose-your-own-adventure booklet designed to translate legal …

A Laboratory-Based Spectrometer Intercomparison For The Measurement Of Snow Spectra, Benjamin M. Roberts-Pierel, Christopher J. Crawford, Steven W. Brown, Raymond F. Kokaly, Kelly E. Gleason, Anne W. Nolin, Edward H. Bair, Brenton A. Wilder, Anton J. Surunis, S. Mckenzie K. Skiles, Multiple Additional Authors

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Seasonal snow is an integral component of global hydrological systems, global energy budget and Earth's climate. As an important part of many Earth systems, seasonal snow is also an essential source of water for many human populations and ecosystems around the world. As such, the measurement of seasonal snow and characterization of uncertainty in those measurements is crucial. To elucidate potential uncertainty attributable to commonly used field spectrometers (and to a lesser extent imaging spectrometers) and associated reference panels, this work presents results from an intercalibration experiment conducted synchronously with the NASA 2023 Snow Experiment (SnowEx) Albedo campaign near Fairbanks, …

Investigating Social Justice Implications Of Glyphosate Residues In Human Urine, Ananya Malhotra

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background: Glyphosate, the nominal active ingredient in professional-grade Roundup weed and grass killer, is the most extensively used herbicide globally and in the United States (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2020). An increasing level of concern has surfaced regarding its health consequences, particularly because of contamination of our food supplies. Recent research indicates distressing levels of detection of glyphosate in human blood and urine samples, revealing many instances of frequent human exposure (Conrad et al., 2017; Zhang et al., 2020).Most of the research about exposure is focused on agricultural workers or individuals living in close vicinity to agricultural lands.  Few …

From Reclamation To Restoration: Remaking Nature On Portland's Peninsula, Theus Richards

University Honors Theses

This environmental history of the North Portland Peninsula is a critical case study of a landscape in transition, where new "natures" have been constructed through shifting projects of reclamation and restoration. The Port of Portland, who controlled the Peninsula, transformed the marshy bottomlands near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers to accommodate greater networks of industrial infrastructure and expand their capacity for global trade. Beginning in 1967, the Port began dredging operations to fill Ramsey Lake to make way for the construction of Rivergate Industrial District. Through this process, Smith & Bybee Lakes were set aside as a …

Bemerge Pop Ups: Social Media Meets Sustainable Fashion, Owen Mehring, Kyla Echols, Avery Edelbrock

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Our research into the online clothing shopping industry has revealed an opportunity to mobilize the strengths of online shopping to build an in-person community. One company we researched, Poshmark, a social, peer-to-peer resale app, uses the strengths of social media to create an online community-based secondhand clothing market. However, one of the largest problems facing society today is the ease of replacing human connection with screen time in today’s world. Online shopping provides convenience, variety, and a larger reach than traditional stores do. However, the human element is often lost. Our company seeks to take the goal of Poshmark to …

Review Of Climate Security, Elsa Barron

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Of The Environment In Conflict: Implications And Pathways, Hogr Tarkhani

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Bio-Based Textiles: From Waste To Runway, Leah L. Mella Mrs., Laziza S. Shamansurova, Kory Lynn Abramowitz Ms

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Have you ever wondered what it’s like wearing fabric made from orange peels? What about mushrooms? Sustainable bio textiles are defined as “a broad category of fabrics made from renewable, natural biomass—including plants, animals, algae, or bacteria.” The purpose of this study is to explore various bio based textiles such as orange peel fabric, algae fabric, and bacterial cellulose fabric. Given that the world is currently experiencing a severe climate crisis driven by pollution and carbon emissions, we need sustainable solutions now more than ever. To prevent further damage to our planet, we need to adopt more sustainable practices, and …

Circular Textiles: How You Can Bamboo It, Corley Ballard, Sophie Ellyson, Hannah Berg, Brennan Werner

SPARK Symposium Presentations

“Circular Fashion” and “sustainability” are loosely thrown around in today’s culture, both online and in-person, but circular fashion goes far beyond common sustainability practices. It is a completely waste-free, closed-loop system of textile production and manufacturing. This presentation will focus on circular fashion, a system of reusing and recycling textiles to eliminate waste. We will take a look at its place in the fashion industry and how it interacts within the world of textile production, and give clarity on what we can do about it. We are exploring sustainability, manufacturing, and the processes by which fibers are recycled or blended. …

Constraints To Adopting Locally Based Innovation Systems In Adapting To Climate Change Impacts In Serengeti District, Tanzania, Donald Mwiturubani

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Smallholder farmers in rural Tanzania depend mainly on rain-fed agriculture, which makes them vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This paper is based on a study conducted in Burunga and Musati villages in Serengeti District, Tanzania. The study employed a mixed methods approach; combining qualitative and quantitative methods. It involved 154 participants and employed household surveys, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions as data collection methods. The findings suggest that smallholder farmers in the study area are aware of climate change and do, indeed, develop, adopt, and use locally-based innovation systems that avert or minimise its impacts. Smallholder …

Ecomusicological Representation Of Climate Change And Environmental Sustainability In Selected Bongo Fleva Lyrics In Tanzania, Auson N. Wincheslaus

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This article critically explores how Bongo Fleva’s lyrics engage with environmental themes; and the interrelationship between nature and culture in the context of the Anthropocene. The data were purposively sampled from YouTube via content analysis, from which 50 Bongo Fleva songs were listened to, and only 10 environmentally-themed songs were analysed. Then, the selected songs were subjected to transcription (from oral to written form), translation (from Kiswahili into English), and close reading and textual analysis. The close reading of the selected songs focused on the employed aesthetic and rhetorical strategies, such as anthropomorphism, symbolism, antithesis, apocalyptic tones, solastalgia, rhetorical questions, …

Ecosystem-Based Flood Disaster Risk Reduction In The Little Ruaha River Basin, In The Southern Highlands Of Tanzania, Mawazo Ghambi, Tiemo Romward Haule

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Ecosystem-based approach that integrates floods and environmental risk management is believed to reduce flood disaster risk while providing socio-economic and environmental benefits to floodplain occupants. This study examined the socio-economic and environmental benefits of the ecosystem-based approach in managing flood disaster risk in the Little Ruaha River Basin in the southern highlands of Tanzania. The study involved 157 participants and employed the mixed research design to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Semi-structured interviews, in-depth interviews, direct field observation and Focus Group Discussions were used to collect primary data, whereas documentary review was used to collect secondary data. Findings revealed that …

Resilience Among Smallholder Irish Potato Farmers To The Impacts Of Climate Variability In Wanging’Ombe District, Tanzania, Timotheo Bilary Ngalaga, Digna Wolfram Mlengule, Jackson Raymond Sawe

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper examines smallholder farmers’ adaptation strategies to climate variability, and their resilience in enhancing their capacity to adopt. The data was collected from 98 heads of households using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The methods of data collection included household surveys, focus group discussions (FGDs), in-depth interviews, and document review. The quantitative data were analysed using the IBM SPSS (Version 23), while the qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that 69.4% of respondents reported a decrease in rainfall, while 89.8% reported an increase and fluctuations in temperature over the past 29 years. Moreover, the findings …

Climate Change Vulnerability And Adaptation Pathways: Stakeholders’ Synergies In Building Climate Resilience In The Semi-Arid Area Of Central Tanzania, Helena Elias Myeya

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This article examines the perceived effect of climate change on cereal crop production and the responses of various stakeholders aimed at enhancing the resilience of smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas of central Tanzania. A total of 366 household heads, 28 participants in focus group discussions (FGDs), and 8 key informants from Bahi and Kongwa districts in Dodoma, Tanzania, were involved in this study. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through a structured interview schedule, FGDs, in-depth interviews, and documentary reviews. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyse quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. The findings indicate that smallholder …

The Human Rights Fulcrum: Using Environmental Rights As Leverage For Change, Rebecca Bratspies

Pace International Law Review

“Give me a lever long enough and a firm place on which to stand and I will move the earth." That is how Archimedes famously described the power of levers and the possibility they create for moving something that otherwise seems immovable. His point was that with the use of distance, a fulcrum, and a lever, nothing is really immovable. This same characterization has been applied to human rights law, and its attempts to disrupt patterns of structural dispossession, discrimination and oppression that bedevil human society. Indeed, the metaphor that human rights are a lever for change is relatively common …

Opportunities, Challenges, And Conspicuous Absences: An Integrative Review Of The Social Work Literature On Artificial Intelligence, Michael J. Massey, Ian G. Williams, Grace C. Polistina, Eathan A. Breaux

Publications and Research

INTRODUCTION: Social work discourse regarding artificial intelligence (AI) in practice, research, and education has proliferated over the last 5 years, reflecting both excitement over its potential and ambivalence about its ethical challenges. However, the extent to which social work is fully engaging with the structure of AI and its enormous impacts on the environment, labour, and distribution of power remains unclear.

METHODS: An integrative review of social work literature from 2020–2024 was conducted to address two research questions: 1) What is the nature of the social work discourse related to AI? 2) To what extent is the discourse …

Mapping Fire Management: A Spatial Social Network Approach, Christoph Neger, Cody Evers, Kapil Yadav, Octavio Romero Cuapio

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Maps are an essential tool to inform fire governance and management. For instance, they can highlight which areas are most vulnerable to adverse fire impacts or be used to plan interventions for risk reduction and prevention. In recent years, several studies have mapped the fire management activities and the networks between the multitude of involved actors. They build upon previous advances to combine quantitative and qualitative social network analysis with geographical analysis and cartography, aiming to highlight areas of opportunity to enhance fire governance. This paper continues this line of research, examining cooperation in fire management within the south-eastern part …

Identifying Priorities To Guide Extension Water Quality Programming In Utah, Clare Entwistle, Sarah Erwin, Stephanie Vaughn

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

Utah State University Extension water quality faculty conducted a statewide water quality needs assessment to identify priority contaminants and resource gaps. The results found that elevated nutrient levels and sedimentation were the top concerns where additional resources would be beneficial. In addition, insufficient funding for improvements and low public engagement were identified as key challenges in addressing water quality issues. Results revealed current unmet needs with regional variation to inform Extension resource allocation and programming.

A Framework For Food Reliability In Zambia, Junren Wang, Megan Konar, Sitian Xiong

Student Publications [Scholarly]

Ensuring the reliability of domestic food supplies is increasingly critical given the compounding shocks of production variability, transportation constraints, and demand surges. This study develops a spatially explicit framework for Zambia, introducing the food reliability index to quantify the probability that food requirements exceed supply under stochastic conditions. By integrating probabilistic production estimates with a gravity model of domestic trade, we evaluate reliability dynamics across rural and urban landscapes. We apply this framework to establish a 2020 baseline and project future vulnerabilities to 2050. To address projected deficits, we simulate intervention scenarios, comparing the efficacy of cropland expansion, yield intensification, …

Balancing Education And Health Among Rural Schoolchildren During Prolonged Heat Wave In The Philippines, Elias Olapane

Kesmas

Intensifying heat waves disrupt learning environments in the Philippines, particularly in rural areas where schools often lack adaptive infrastructure. Many rural classrooms are built with heat-retaining materials, such as concrete, which trap excessive heat, leading to indoor temperatures exceeding safe comfort levels. These conditions lead to dehydration, fatigue, and reduced cognitive function, directly impairing students’ focus and academic performance. Schoolchildren are particularly vulnerable due to their developing thermoregulatory systems, higher metabolic demands, and potential preexisting health conditions. These risks are further amplified in rural communities with limited access to cooling, healthcare, and adaptive resources. These challenges require practical, context-specific interventions. …

Behavioural And Socioeconomic Drivers Underlying Solar Adoption In Egypt’S Cairo And Giza: A Micro-Level Perspective, Maha Elhini, Hoda Hassaballa, Rasha Hammam

Economics

Although Egypt falls within the solar belt, solar energy use on the household level remains very sparse. This research examines the factors driving and hindering households’ willingness to shift from fossil fuels to solar energy. The study evaluates the socioeconomic determinants of households’ willingness to adopt photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, based on a random distribution of 301 questionnaires in Cairo and Giza – two of Egypt’s most densely populated governorates. Two models were used─ a Logistic Model and a Structural Equations Model (SEM) that regresses the willingness to install PV panels on household characteristics. For a deeper analysis of how …

In Her Words: The Silent Battles Of Egyptian Women With Breast Cancer, Nada Mohamed Ahmed Hassan Nh

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the emotional, social, and economic difficulties encountered by Egyptian women from middle- to working-class origins after a breast cancer diagnosis. Despite being a worldwide health concern, local cultural, institutional, and economic circumstances have a significant impact on the lived consequences of breast cancer. Women's post-diagnosis experiences in Egypt are greatly exacerbated by deeply ingrained gender stereotypes, stigma associated with cancer, and systemic injustices in the healthcare system. This research emphasizes women's situated knowledge and views their bodily experiences as crucial sources of insight into larger societal power relations. It is based on feminist perspective theory, especially the …

The Future Of West African Cacao Farming, Kathryn Lesniewski

CAFE Symposium 2026

This poster covers the detrimental impact climate change has had on the West African cacao farming industry. It also covers long and short term solutions to climate change, and how the global chocolate market has been impacted by climate change.