Geography Commons^™

The Impact Of Perspective In Identifying And Responding To Potential Sexual Misconduct: A Study Of University Students, Nichole Maki Weller, Kathy Parkison, Steven R. Cox, Michael Plummer

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Recent events have demonstrated a divergent understanding of sexual harassment and other forms of sexual misconduct. Although sociocultural standards regarding sexual misconduct have changed over time, including improved social and workplace standards and protections, it is clear that not everyone views these events through the same lens. The lens is even less clear when potential misconduct is viewed from the distinct perspectives of a “victim” and a “perpetrator.” We surveyed 424 undergraduate and graduate students at Indiana University Kokomo to identify the impact of perspective and various sociodemographic characteristics that may influence perceptions of what is, and is not, sexual …

Measures Of Challenging And Excitatory Parenting Behavior As Predictors Of Later Child Self-Regulation, Zachary Havlin

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Challenging and excitatory parenting behaviors play an important role in children’s development, particularly in regard to the development of selfregulation; however, no well-established measures of parent-child interactions exist that record such behaviors. In the current study, I compare two recently developed coding systems that intend to address this issue: the Risky Interaction Support and Challenging (RISC) and Marbach coding systems. A subset of videos from the New Parents Project (NPP) data set at 12 and 18 months was coded using both scales, then a factor analysis was conducted for each scale. Regressions were conducted to look at the predictive power …

Racial Segregation In Indianapolis, 1990–2010: A Spatial Perspective, Vijay Lulla, Owen Dwyer

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

The index of dissimilarity is the most widely used method for measuring racial segregation. When applied to Indianapolis, this index has returned results showing the city to be among the most segregated in the country. The resulting measure, however, suffers from two shortcomings. First, the index of dissimilarity is sensitive to the census-defined geographic unit chosen for the analysis; thus, this index returns different (though proportionate) results depending on whether the population data are aggregated to larger or smaller enumeration units. Second, the index of dissimilarity cannot account for the influence of spatial proximity; adjacent census blocks interact regardless of …

Citizen Initiative To Improve Local Government Ethics: Northwest Indiana Experience, Calvin Bellamy

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

After more than 50 years of widespread public corruption in Northwest Indiana, a small group of citizens and public officials met over a period of several months and developed a largely voluntary response. The result was the Shared Ethics Advisory Commission, which trains public employees on ethical decision making, provides specialized training for department heads and board and commission members, and hosts an annual ethics summit for the general public. Periodic employee ethics surveys indicate a positive effect of the training. In addition, the commission has developed a Candidate Ethics Action Pledge administered in each local election cycle, and a …

Analysis Of Colombian Trade Agreements From 2007 To 2013, Ryan Lee

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

I analyze the firm-level effects on Colombia entering into Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) between 2007 and 2013. The combination of detailed firm-level data and PTAs make this article unique. In particular, I look at two separate potential trade-promotion effects of the agreements. The first result deals with how exporting firms in Colombia respond to the tariff cuts in the agreements. The tariff cuts from the agreements increase the size of exports by Colombian firms (the intensive margin); however, tariff cuts do not increase the number of exporting Colombian firms (the extensive margin). The second result deals with how the signed …

Genealogical Trends In Solving Cold Cases: An Investigation Into The Merits And Concerns With New Cold-Case Lead Development, Katie Smolucha, Tyler Counsil

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

In the criminal justice system, not all offenders are brought to justice; unfortunately, cold cases exist and provide long-term challenges to investigators. From historic breakthroughs in forensic DNA analysis to today’s new trends, advancements in technology continue to give investigators hope of resolving unsolved mysteries with no clear-cut suspect. This article examines the progression of DNA analysis over the past three decades and explores the recent trends in the use of genealogy websites to solve cold cases. DNA technology’s innovative uses, from its early years to modern, are explored herein. By exploring traditional DNA analysis to advances that explore the …

“We Are A Very Happy Family”: 19th-Century Familial Power Dynamics, Stella A. Ress

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

This article examines the roles of family members in the mid-19th century in America, using the Willard family as a case study. Ultimately, this thick description of the Willard family demonstrates that power within the family structure was neither intrinsic nor static; moreover, one person did not control the family and its decisions at all times. Instead, each family member, depending upon circumstances, situations, and his or her own nature, negotiated and laid claim to power through various sources of authority. Josiah Willard’s authority stemmed from his role as father and husband; society crowned him king of the household, and …

“But I Only Wanted Them To Conform”: A Detailed Look Into The Initial Cohort Of Girls At The Indiana Reformatory Institution For Women And Girls Between 1873 And 1884, Molly Whitted, Michelle Williams

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

For the past four years, as part of a group of currently and formerly incarcerated scholars, we have researched the “inmates” and staff at the Indiana Women’s Prison during the institution’s first decade. Then known as the Indiana Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls, the facility was located near downtown Indianapolis on Randolph and Michigan Street. We focused on a key constituent of the Indiana Reformatory for Women and Girls: the girls themselves, heretofore voiceless and uninvestigated.

Our primary sources include the annual reports of the reformatory and the original registries for the girls during the survey period of 1873–1884. …

Belonging While Black At Lake Merritt: The Black Spatial Imaginary And Place-Making In Oakland, Ca, Betel Solomon Tesfamariam

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis aims to demonstrate how the processes of gentrification and displacement are interrelated processes that invent new ways of perpetuating anti- blackness in the U.S. I demonstrate this through an engagement with Christina Sharpe’s (2016) analysis of the imagery of the wake, the ship, the hold, and the weather as axis points that position Black life in the afterlife of slavery—how the conditions of slavery are ongoing today—presenting the racist encounters at Lake Merritt as illustrative examples. In her most recent book, In the Wake: On Blackness and Being, Sharpe (2016) deploys an interdisciplinary approach to critically theorize …

Perceptions Of Vulnerability To Flooding, Hurricanes, And Climate Change On Grand Isle, Louisiana’S Only Inhabited Barrier Island, Lauren Miller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study used in-depth interviews of permanent residents on Grand Isle, Louisiana, a remote barrier island, to better understand their perceptions of structural flood measures, non-structural responses to flooding and hurricanes, and perceptions of vulnerability to flooding, hurricanes, and climate change on a remote barrier island-Grand Isle, Louisiana. Residents' perceptions regarding the various structural measures implemented by the federal, state, and local government appeared mixed. Non-structural responses to flooding risks implemented at the household, community, state, and federal level continue to strengthen resiliency on Grand Isle. According to interviewees, aspects of environmental, rural, and economic vulnerability on Grand Isle impact …

Improving Access To Clean Water In Rural Ecuador: The Connection Between Willingness To Pay And Population Health, Micalea Leaska

Capstone Collection

Climate change is affecting social and environmental determinants of health through access to safe drinking water, safely managed sanitation systems, and access to health care services and the ability for individuals to break free from unsuitable circumstances. Ecological disturbances such as those caused by climate change can cause a shift in host vectors or a change in habitat that results in a greater likelihood of the pathogen coming in contact with humans. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services and their accessibility to populations can directly impact a community’s vulnerability to diseases and limiting factors to increase economic growth. If rural …

Mapa De Cambios Climáticos Proyectados 2016 - 2039 En Las Fronteras Amazónicas Entre Ucayali Y Madre De Dios (Perú) Y Acre (Brasil), Gtaso, David S. Salisbury Et Al.

Geography and the Environment Maps

Mapa de Cambios Climáticos Proyectados 2016 - 2039 en las Fronteras Amazónicas entre Ucayali y Madre de Dios (Perú) y Acre (Brasil)

Map of Projected Climate Changes 2016 - 2039 in the Amazonian Borders between Ucayali and Madre de Dios (Peru) and Acre (Brazil)

Mapping Land Use Around The San Francisco Bay: A Look At Environmental Justice Through S. F. Bay Conservation And Development Commission’S Permitting History, Aviva R. Wolf-Jacobs

Pitzer Senior Theses

Planning and regulatory environmental agency San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) plays an important role in the permitting of development around the San Francisco Bay. As the agency works to add an environmental justice amendment to its primary policy document, this research explores the S.F. Bay Area’s history of approved development project proposal permits, and the associated patterns of land use and environmental justice implications in order to support the proposed change in permitting policy. By classifying all major permits found within BCDC’s internal permit database into groups based on the type of land use associated with the …

An Assessment Of Farmer Participation In The United States Department Of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Services’ Conservation Technical Assistance Program In West Virginia, Matt D. Oliver

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Food and fiber production on America’s farmlands have a major influence on the environment, therefore, soil and water conservation practices are critical. NRCS has provided no-fee technical assistance for nearly 100 years through the Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) program. The CTA program is essential because it provides technical knowledge directly to farmers for planning and implementing conservation practices that are proven to benefit environmental health and on-farm production. CTA program funds support NRCS staff and training and are thereby the local service delivery vehicle for all NRCS programs. However, in recent years, funding for CTA has remained relatively constant while …

New Materialism: An Ontology For The Anthropocene, Melinda Harm Benson

Natural Resources Journal

This article argues that the Anthropocene is not simply a new geologic epoch; it is an opportunity to embrace a new ontology. In it, we can reconfigure our orientation to the material world. The current, dominant ontology casts humans as villains responsible for mass extinctions, polluted oceans, and climate change. This ontology reinforces a familiar binary—one in which humans are separate from and doing things to nature. Humans are ruining the planet, causing it to fundamentally change in ways that are not “natural” precisely because humans are the agent of change. This view is perhaps best described by environmentalist Bill …

Mapa De Territorios Indígenas Y Diversidad Cultural En Las Fronteras Amazónicas Ucayali Y Madre De Dios (Perú) Y Acre (Brasil), Gtaso, David S. Salisbury Et Al.

Geography and the Environment Maps

Mapa de Territorios Indígenas y Diversidad Cultural en las Fronteras Amazónicas Ucayali y Madre de Dios (Perú) y Acre (Brasil)

Map of Indigenous Territories and Cultural Diversity in the Amazonian Borders Ucayali and Madre de Dios (Peru) and Acre (Brazil)

Island Invasion: The Silent Crisis In Hawaii, Sophia Janssen

Pomona Senior Theses

Keeping out invasive species may, upon first review, seem like a trivial environmental cry from ecologists and deep environmentalists; a belated wish to return to an undeveloped world where nature was pristine. However invasive species create problems that impact all of us and can have far more severe consequences than changing a stunning landscape. These problems are heightened in islands like Hawaii, where the fragile ecosystems have developed over centuries of evolution and adaptation. The introduction of a disease-carrying mosquito can put the people of Hawaii at risk to many vector-born illnesses and create an epidemic, taking human life. The …

Whitewater Ecotourism Development In Bhutan: Opportunities And Challenges For Local Communities, Kira E. Tenney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Whitewater raft and kayak ecotourism can provide environmental, social-cultural, and economic benefits and opportunities to local communities, but can also result in respective challenges. Globally, adventure ecotourism is seen as a potent win-win strategy for conservation and local community development; however, there is a significant proportion of adventure and whitewater tourism that do not meet ecotourism tenets, and there is a call for incorporating greater investment in local community involvement. Whitewater ecotourism is particularly significant because of the unique opportunities and challenges associated with rivers, the resource upon which the industry directly depends. Clean, free-flowing rivers provide a range of …

Perceptions Of Forest Change In The Governmental Region Of Kaffrine, Senegal, Rhiley E. Allbee

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Sénégal is a semi-arid West African country with a diverse ethnic makeup and a rapidly growing population that is largely rural, predominantly employed within the agricultural sector, and heavily reliant on the harvesting of forest products within state owned forests where populations have usufruct rights. The country experienced significant changes in land cover throughout the 20^th century due to a series of major droughts and large expansions in agriculture. These changes were partially concentrated throughout the region of Kaffrine, where the wooded savannas of the early 20^th century were systematically replaced by agriculture and converted to a shrub …

The Archaeology Of The Postindustrial: Spatial Data Infrastructures For Studying The Past In The Present, Daniel Trepal

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Postindustrial urban landscapes are large-scale, complex manifestations of the past in the present in the form of industrial ruins and archaeological sites, decaying infrastructure, and adaptive reuse; ongoing processes of postindustrial redevelopment often conspire to conceal the toxic consequences of long-term industrial activity. Understanding these phenomena is an essential step in building a sustainable future; despite this, the study of the postindustrial is still new, and requires interdisciplinary connections that remain either unexplored or underexplored. Archaeologists have begun to turn their attention to the modern industrial era and beyond. This focus carries the potential to deliver new understandings of the …

Ngos As Innovators In Extractive Industry Governance. Insights From The Eiti Process In Colombia And Peru, Elisa Arond, Anthony J. Bebbington, Juan Luis Dammert

Geography

This paper explores NGO participation within the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a multi-stakeholder governance arrangement focused on generating greater transparency in the governance of extractive industries, and in particular in fiscal arrangements around mining, oil and gas operations. Using the cases of Peru and Colombia, we examine what motivates NGO participation in EITI, how NGOs have pursued innovations within EITI, the extent to which they have succeeded in achieving their goals, and the factors limiting or shaping their achievements. We draw on interviews conducted between 2013 and 2018, participation in global EITI meetings, and secondary material. The paper examines …

The Environmental, Social, And Economic Benefits Of Blue Green Infrastructure In An Urbanized Area, Joseph L. Oguns

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

At present, it is evident that there is a shift from rural to an urban settlement which results in high demand for residential buildings and other urban infrastructure. Blue – Green Infrastructure (BGI) is a system of using blue (water) and green (nature) to address urban and environmental challenges. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the environmental, social, and economic benefits of blue-green infrastructure in an urbanized area in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The study involves the utilization of Geographic Information System (GIS) to determine water quality level resulting from nonpoint source pollution through acquiring elevation data; watershed; and …

Middle To Late Holocene (7200-2900 Cal. Bp) Archaeological Site Formation Processes At Crumps Sink And The Origins Of Anthropogenic Environments In Central Kentucky, Usa, Justin Nels Carlson

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

Though some researchers have argued that the Big Barrens grasslands of Kentucky were the product of anthropogenic land clearing practices by Native Americans, heretofore, this hypothesis had not been tested archaeologically. More work was needed to refine chronologies of fire activity in the region, determine the extent to which humans played a role in the process, and integrate these findings with the paleoenvironmental and archaeological record. With these goals in mind, I conducted archaeological and geoarchaeological investigations at Crumps Sink in the Sinkhole Plain of Kentucky. The archaeological record and site formation history of Crumps Sink were compared with environmental …

Does Perceived Ecological Integrity Affect Restorative Health Outcomes? An Examination Of Visitor Experiences In Diverse Environments In An Ontario Protected Area, Catherine E. Reining

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The human health and well-being benefits associated with nature contact is well established. Parks and other forms of protected areas contribute significantly to these benefits by providing access to nature. However, limited research has been done on how different environments within protected areas (e.g., forests, coasts, areas being restored) and the perceived quality (i.e., ecological integrity) of these environments affect the health and well-being outcomes of visitors. This study builds on previous work to better understand how visitor experiences provided by diverse natural and built environments in Pinery Provincial Park affect perceived restorative outcomes as one aspect of health and …

The Legitimation & Networked Unification Of #Nodapl: Diverse Discourses Of Value Validate A Collective Identity, Jacqueline Marie Ouellette

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

NoDAPL was, first and foremost, an Indigenous-led resistance against the construction of a pipeline in North Dakota. It was also a movement that built solidarity, bridging networks between international Indigenous peoples, Black Lives Matter activists, veterans, and feminists. This discourse analysis of social media and digital texts addresses the networked publics, collective identities, social capital, and intersectionality in applying Van Leeuwen’s (2007) understanding of legitimation. In doing so, the practice of reproducing and extending the values, themes, and images of various algorithmic imaginaries will be explored, as they relate to network homophily, identity construction, and mobilization. This study will argue …

Societal Rebirth: The Importance Of Spirituality, Lauren Rothstein

English Department: Traveling American Modernism (ENG 366, Fall 2018)

This article offers an exploration of what the social consequences are when modernity strips away religious-human relationships to the land. The two texts Black Elk Speaks and Grapes of Wrath both include moments of anonymous forces imposing systematic modernization on society. Particularly, I try to understand the controversial subject of societal rebirths, traditionally defined through employment and steady food source availability. This paper proposes an approach to societal rebirths that emphasizes the importance of spiritual connection to the land through a critical analysis of Bakhtin's theory of Chronotope and Leopold's theory of Land Ethic. On the issue of spiritual connection …

Keeping Pace With Relative Sea Level Rise: Marsh Platform Monitoring Shows Minimal Sediment Deficit Along The Louisiana Coast, Kelly Marie Sanks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent reports estimate that the marshes of the Mississippi Delta receive just 30% of the sediment necessary to sustain current land area1. An extensive monitoring campaign by the USGS and LCPRA provides direct measurements of sediment accumulation, subsidence rates, and deposit characteristics along the coast over the past 10 years2, allowing us to directly evaluate this sediment balance. By interpolating bulk density, organic fraction, and vertical accretion rates from 273 sites, a direct measurement of organic and inorganic sediment accumulation can be made. Results show that a total of 82 MT/year of sediment is delivered to the coast. Using a …

Using Redundant Primer Sets To Detect Multiple Native Alaskan Fish Species From Environmental Dna, Damian Menning, Trey Simmons, Sandra Talbot

United States National Park Service: Publications

Accurate and timely data regarding freshwater fish communities is important for informed decision-making by local, state, tribal, and federal land and resource managers; however, conducting traditional gear-based fish surveys can be an expensive and time-consuming process, particularly in remote areas, like those that characterize much of Alaska. To help address this challenge, we developed and tested five multi-species environmental DNA (eDNA) primer sets for the simultaneous detection of up to 37 target fish species in a single sample. Using these primer sets can reduce the cost and time needed to perform future studies of fish communities. Our results comparing multiple …

Evaluation Of Spatial Generalization Characteristics Of A Robust Classifier As Applied To Coral Reef Habitats In Remote Islands Of The Pacific Ocean, Justin J. Gapper, Hesham El-Askary, Erik J. Linstead, Thomas Piechota

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

This study was an evaluation of the spectral signature generalization properties of coral across four remote Pacific Ocean reefs. The sites under consideration have not been the subject of previous studies for coral classification using remote sensing data. Previous research regarding using remote sensing to identify reefs has been limited to in-situ assessment, with some researchers also performing temporal analysis of a selected area of interest. This study expanded the previous in-situ analyses by evaluating the ability of a basic predictor, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), trained on Depth Invariant Indices calculated from the spectral signature of coral in one location …

Niobrara National Scenic River, Socioeconomic Monitoring Pilot Implementation, Summer 2016, Resource Systems Group

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

This report describes the results of a visitor study at Niobrara National Scenic River (NSR) conducted from July 15 through July 24, 2016. During the sampling period, 253 visitor groups were contacted to participate in the survey. Of those groups, 217 agreed to participate in the study by accepting a mail-back survey packet. Questionnaires were completed and returned by 110 visitor groups, resulting in a completion rate of 51% among those visitor groups that agreed to participate in the study and an overall response rate of 43% for the study.

 This report profiles a systematic random sample …