Environmental Studies Commons^™

Cross-Boundary Stewardship For Wetland Integrity And Resilience In The Greater Rocky Mountain National Park Ecosystem, Meghan K. Tait

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Approximately half of the wetlands in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) are degraded due to human disturbances that often occur beyond park boundaries. Like most protected areas, RMNP is part of a larger ecosystem with critical connections to surrounding lands. Therefore, more effective stewardship of wetlands within RMNP is likely to be achieved through cross-boundary cooperative efforts. Through interviews with wetland stewardship agencies and organizations and an analysis of their wetland plans and policies, barriers and opportunities for cross-boundary stewardship were identified, as well as common structures used to facilitate work across boundaries. Wetlands outside of RMNP are experiencing similar …

Influence Of Forage Diversity And Condensed Tannins On Livestock Foraging Behavior, Production And Environmental Impact, Sebastian P. Lagrange

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Eating a combination of forages with different chemistries (i.e., nutrients, beneficial compounds such as tannins) may enhance ruminant nutrition and reduce environmental impacts relative to eating single forages. I explored the influence of offering sheep and cattle all possible combinations of tanniferous (i.e., plants with tannins; birdsfoot trefoil, sainfoin) and non-tanniferous legumes (i.e., plants without tannins; alfalfa) or their monocultures on animal performance, behavior, and methane and nitrogen (N) emissions. Offering choices among these legumes to penned sheep improved intake and diet digestibility relative to feeding monocultures. Mixtures selected by sheep were better digested than mixtures containing equal parts of …

Development Of A High-Resolution Land Cover Dataset To Support Integrated Water Resources Planning And Management In Northern Utah, Ellie Irene Leydsman Mcginty

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Integrated planning and management approaches, including bioregional planning and integrated water resources planning, are comprehensive strategies that strive to balance the sustainability of natural resources and the integrity of ecosystem processes with human development and activities. Implementation of integrated plans and programs remains complicated. However, geospatial technologies, such as geographic information systems and remote sensing, can significantly enhance planning and management processes.

Through a United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 Wetland Program Development Grant, a high-resolution land cover dataset, with a primary emphasis on mapping and quantifying impervious surfaces, was developed for three watershed sub-basins in northern Utah - …

U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emission Bottlenecks: Prioritization Of Targets For Climate Liability, Alexis Pascaris, Joshua M. Pearce

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Due to market failures that allow uncompensated negative externalities from burning fossil fuels, there has been a growing call for climate change-related litigation targeting polluting companies. To determine the most intensive carbon dioxide (CO₂)-emitting facilities in order prioritize liability for climate lawsuits, and risk mitigation strategies for identified companies as well as their insurers and investors, two methods are compared: (1) the conventional point-source method and (2) the proposed bottleneck method, which considers all emissions that a facility enables rather than only what it emits. Results indicate that the top ten CO₂ emission bottlenecks in the U.S. …

Essays On Climate Change-Related Extreme Events, Alvin E. Harris

Dissertations

There are increasing and urgent calls for global economies to join in the fight against the impacts of climate change (World Bank, 2020). With reports such as the World Bank (2020) of climate change costing billions of dollars in losses for economies, the purpose of my dissertation is to examine the effects of climate change-related extreme events and their potential economic effects in three areas: agriculture, migration, and the labor market.

My first essay focuses on the factors that influence farmers’ perception of risk and adaptive strategies against the effects of climate change-related extreme events. I examine whether farmers’ social …

Sustainable Development Issue In The Relocation Policy At Peterongan Market, Semarang City, Mira Esti Kusumaningrum, Tiya Juliani, Khairul Amri, Muhammad Alfan Silamon, Fenny Roshayanti

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

In 2015, Peterongan Market was one of the traditional markets in the city of Semarang which was widely discussed there because of its relocation according to new government sustainable development policy. This study aims to determine the social, cultural, economic, and environmental impacts of that relocation. It follows a qualitative descriptive approach using qualitative data obtained from interviews with various sources such as traders, buyers, and parking attendants, who were most directly affected, as well as field observations and literature studies from various relevant journals and newspapers. Furthermore, qualitative data analysis uses three activity streams in the form of data …

Boracay Island Destination Image Through Travel Blogs, Peter Lorenz Salmon, Ronelia Amen, Jan Patrick Aguilar, John Benedict Javellana, Cheryl Joy Fernandez

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Destination images are important information for marketing professionals, local planners, and travel bloggers on social media. The rise of social media has allowed more tourists to share their knowledge, emotions, and experiences from their travels. However, despite the popularity of adapting online narratives to destination images, little or no qualitative analysis has been conducted about island’s sustainable tourism development in the Philippines using information from social media. One type of destination are small islands in the Philippines. The examination is worthwhile inasmuch as the literature has been silent on destination images of top island retreats in the country, although there …

Artisanal Marine Fisheries And Climate Change In The Region Of Lima, Peru, Edelina Coayla

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

This study explores the relationship between climate change and artisanal marine fisheries in the region of Lima, Peru. From the perspective of the economics of climate change and renewable marine resources, the methods of correlations and bivariate regression are employed. A negative relationship is found between the increase in the sea surface temperature (SST) and the marine fishery catches landed at the ports of the Lima region (2004-2017).The higher the SST, the lower fishing effort. It was also found that the SST significantly influences the gross added value of fishing. To reduce the vulnerability of artisanal marine fisheries, the main …

His And Hers: Gender-Specific Design In Mid-Twentieth Century North America Through Film And Television, Morgan O'Shaughnessy

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

The built environment exists as a variety of ‘spaces’ which are constructed by, and for, the people who occupy them. What is the relationship between social constructs of gender and our built environment in the 20^th century? How does film and television representing the mid-20^th century exemplify this relationship? The overall theme of this topic will include a positive relationship between social gender constructs and our built environment. Through the exploration of select film and television, this study attempts to answer the question of how gender-focused design reinforces traditional gender roles in North American society in mid-20^{th …}

Pricing Climate Change Risk In Corporate Bonds, Elsa Allman

Publications and Research

This paper examines whether corporate bondholders price climate change risk. I find that firms exposed to higher sea level rise (SLR) across U.S. branch locations pay a premium when issuing bonds. Specifically, a one standard deviation increase in a firm’s SLR exposure is associated with a 2% increase of average yield spreads equivalent to 4 basis points. This effect is more pronounced for firms in industries vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, which are less spatially diversified, and issuing bonds with maturities ranging from 5 to 10 years. In addition, I find no evidence that credit rating agencies account for SLR …

Statement Of World Aquatic Scientific Societies On The Need To Take Urgent Action Against Human-Caused Climate Change, Based On Scientific Evidence [Dear Colleague Letter], Scott A. Bonar, Brian R. Murphy, Leanne H. Roulson, Jesse T. Trushenski, Douglas J. Austen, Michael Edward Douglas

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Dear Colleague Letter from the American Fisheries Society to fellow scientific societies, July 25, 2020, about the urgent need for responsive collective action to mitigate impending radical climate change. Includes the Statement of World Aquatic Scientific Societies on the Need to Take Urgent Action Against Human-Caused Climate Change, Based on Scientific Evidence, emphasizing the importance of aquatic ecosystems. Includes extensive citations and notes.

"Water is the most important natural resource on Earth as it is vital for life. Aquatic ecosystems, freshwater or marine, provide multiple benefits to human society, such as provisioning of oxygen, food, drinking water, genetic resources; regulation …

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 …