Geography Commons^™

Drainage Proximity And Sinkhole Occurrence In Sivrihisar (Central Turkey): A Comparative Analysis Of Linear, Poisson, And Negative Binomial Regression Models, Bilge Bingül, Emrah Pekkan, Resul Çömert

International Journal of Speleology

This study investigates the relationship between sinkhole occurrence and distance to drainage in the Sivrihisar region (Central Turkey) and evaluates the suitability of different regression approaches for modeling clustered count data in karst terrains. A comprehensive inventory of 104 sinkholes developed within the Neogene lacustrine limestones of the Akpınar Formation was compiled using official records, remote sensing analyses, and detailed field surveys. Sinkhole occurrences were analyzed relative to a drainage network derived from a high-resolution Digital Surface Model and grouped by proximity to drainage lines. Linear Regression (LM), Poisson Regression (PR), and Negative Binomial Regression (NBR) models were comparatively applied …

A Political Ecological Exploration Of The Caracol Road Project In Belize, Lorenzo A. Pantano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Caracol Road Project is a new BZ$148,100,000 (US$74,050,000) road infrastructure development in the Cayo District of Belize and financed largely by foreign sovereign wealth funds. The areas adjacent to the road, broken into two phases include: communities, forest reserves, national parks, recreational areas, private lands and estates, and archaeological sites. This paper seeks to ask the questions: (i) For whom is the CRP being developed? (ii) For what is the CRP being developed? (iii) What visual evidence exists of sacrifice zones because of the production of the CRP? I sought to answer these questions through ethnographic observations, interviews, and …

Archaeological, Pxrf, And Gis Analyses At The Trestle Bridge Site (8ja186), Northwest Florida, Victoria Marie Freitas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Trestle Bridge Site (8JA186), located on an eroding riverbank of the upper Apalachicola River in northwest Florida, represents a significant multi-component precontact site with occupations that date from the Early Woodland (~800 B.C.–A.D. 300) and the Fort Walton periods (A.D. 1000-1500). Previous research has broadly classified the site based on ceramic and lithic assemblages, but a detailed investigation into pottery production and environmental changes over time at the site remains unexplored in the understudied Apalachicola valley region. There also appears to be over a thousand-year gap in occupation at the site, as no Middle or Late Woodland ceramic or …

Frameworks For Measuring Regenerative Tourism: Supply And Demand Indicators With A Dynamic And Holistic Approach, Asif Hussain

Journal of Sustainability and Resilience

This paper examines regenerative tourism as a holistic approach that goes beyond sustainability by actively restoring and enhancing social-ecological systems. Recognizing tourism’s interconnectedness with economic, social, cultural, and environmental systems, it presents regenerative tourism as a dynamic model integrating supply and demand perspectives to promote innovation, resilience, and renewal. On the supply side, regenerative tourism emphasizes ecological restoration, sustainable practices, economic stability with minimal environmental harm, and authentic experiences. On the demand side, it aligns with the rising preference for ethical, participatory, and immersive tourism, involving tourists as active contributors to destination well-being. The paper highlights the importance of multidimensional …

Security Or Vulnerability? The Optics Of Data In The Humanitarian Sphere, Nicole M. Bennett, Hamid Ekbia

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Governments, humanitarian agencies, and non-government organizations increasingly resort to data-driven techniques to meet the challenges they face in dealing with growing mobile populations such as refugees. Such techniques originate in bureaucratic administrations of the 19th century and, even earlier, in slave trade and plantation accounting methods. They were then perfected in logistics and global supply chain management of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, especially with the advent of information technology. We examine the application of these techniques in humanitarian cases, seeking to contextualize them within the framework of logistic security. To understand the drivers of this trend, we introduce the …

Navigating Shrinking Cities: Towards Coordinated Urban Development From The Perspective Of Flow And Network, Yuzhou Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As cities worldwide undergo rapid but uneven changes, proposing smart and sustainable urban development strategies has been a popular interdisciplinary research in the 21st century. In particular, the phenomenon of shrinking cities characterized by economic recession and population decline is becoming increasingly severe in developed countries and even developing countries. In the real world, research focusing on individual shrinking cities often neglects the interconnectedness between cities within the network formed by flows. Therefore, coordinating the development strategies for multiple closely connected cities, especially for shrinking cities, is a step up from focusing on individual cities.

This dissertation aims to propose …

Spectral Properties Of Wetlands In Michigan Using Remote Sensing To Identify And Classify Wetlands In Roscommon County, Michigan, Kolin Williamson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biological, geological, and physical. These are only a handful of the many environmental aspects that wetlands functions maintain and protect. Unfortunately, wetlands within the United States have been razed at an alarming rate. The State of Michigan has not gone through this unscathed either, loosing over 1000 acres of wetland a year. One of the most important tools to prevent this destruction are the maps and programs that show where these essential ecosystems are located. The current, federally-created maps and imaging software in use by environmental consultants and contractors may not be up to date which can pose challenges for …

Spatial Patterns Of Building Damages And Associated Socio-Economic Factors By Hurricane Ian, Md Zakaria Salim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Literature shows that communities with different socio-economic conditions suffer from different levels of damage in disasters. In addition to the physical intensity of hazards, such disparities are also related to varying abilities to prepare for and respond to natural hazards. The study analyzes the spatial patterns of building damage in Hurricane Ian in 2022 and investigates the socio-economic disparities related to building damage. Specifically, this study employs NASA’s Damage Proxy Map (DPM2) to analyze Ian's spatial patterns of building damage. Then, it uses statistical analysis to assess the relationship between building damage and various physical and socio-economic variables at building …

Introductory Geology Laboratory Students' Learnings From And Perceptions Of Physical And Virtual Polarizing Light Microscopes – An Exploratory Mixed Methods Study, Christy M. Bebeau

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Undergraduate geoscience laboratory courses provide hands-on learning about earth materials. However thin section analysis is not typically included in introductory geology laboratories, likely due to the polarizing light microscope (PLM) costs. Therefore, there is a lack of research about the educational outcomes of novices learning these skills.

In this inquiry, I conducted mixed methods research about novice students' learning of thin section analysis in an introductory geology laboratory and evaluated learning and perception differences between students who used a virtual PLM and those who used a physical PLM. I collected data from Creative Exercise (CE) assessments in student midterm and …

“Urban Renewal” Surrounding Florida Solar Plants: A Study On Low-Carbon Gentrification, Megan Amber Grove

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Renewable energy and sustainable living are growing trends in Florida as the state “develops” rural landscapes and “redevelops” urban ones, resulting in neighborhood changes, including displacement of low-income and minority populations (LIMP). Solar energy has not historically been a root cause of such changes, but in recent years it has increasingly accompanied neighborhood development which prioritizes the interests of the elite and middle class. As such, it has become a contributor to “urban renewal,” which must be addressed to avoid future LIMP displacement. This study used geospatial and data science technologies and techniques to empirically explore and analyze urbanization and …

Formulating Utopian Pasts: Time As A Coping Method For Lgbtq+ Floridians, Elise M. Kuechle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Florida has emerged in recent years as a breeding ground for a new generation of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. The state has introduced 10 anti-LGBTQ+ laws so far in 2023, touching on issues such as bathroom access, healthcare, and education. This paper analyzes the experiences of queer and transgender people living in Florida to ask: How do LGBTQ+ people in Florida cope phenomenologically with rising anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination? Drawing on data from 22 interviews with LGBTQ+ people situated in and around Florida in 2023, this paper captures a distinct political moment for the people that I spoke with, as anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments continue to …

Family Tourism: Understanding The Concept And Improving The Parents - Children Relationship, Anukrati Sharma Anu, Shruti Arora Dr.

Journal of Sustainability and Resilience

Family tourism is driven by the increasing importance placed on promoting family togetherness, keeping family bonds alive and creating family memories. It not only builds life long memories, but also gives break away from the usual routine, opening the minds to new cultures, foods and experiences and even good for health. According to the researchers, positive relationships between parents and children are important for children’s overall development and builds trust. Various articles on family tourism from 2010 to 2023 were gathered from the Web of Sciences, UGC Journals, Scopus indexed journals, books, websites and was reviewed by the researchers.

Examining Crises Resilience In Tourism : A Systematic Review Of Literature, Kanyamwa Lunanga Félix, George Ariya, Priscillah Omagwa

Journal of Sustainability and Resilience

This study is the systematic review of literature on the resilience of tourism businesses. Following the various crises and disasters that shook the World between 2000 and 2020, the interest of researchers in tourism resilience has increased significantly. Despite the interest felt by these scientists, the notion of resilience has remained fragmented in terms of its definition and dimensions. This review presents an overview of the literature on the resilience of tourism businesses from 2013 to June 2023. The study revealed that there is a lack of cohesion in the literature on resilience from the definition to its influencing factors. …

Assessing Compliance To Water Resources And Reconstruction Framework During Post-Conflict Reconstruction Borno State, Muritala Olaniyi Oke Dr

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

Northeast and northwest of Nigeria have, as a result of activities of Boko Haram, bandit and kidnappers, had their public and private properties destroyed. Governments and other stakeholders, upon some successes of the military, have started post-conflict reconstruction to rebuild the war-torn urban and rural communities with the provision of water taking the center stage. This paper looks at the utilisation of Water Resources and a Reconstruction framework for integrating water projects into reconstruction processes. This paper rests on the argument that water projects during reconstruction should not be handled as “normal” water projects and that a more culturally and …

A Gis Workflow For Analyzing Spatiotemporal Variance In Food Pantry Access: A Case Study For Hillsborough County, Florida, Molly J. Darby

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researchers often use geographic information systems (GIS) to measure accessibility to food pantries, but the impact operating hours have on accessibility remains understudied. Unlike grocery stores or healthcare facilities, food pantries have irregular distribution schedules, therefore, measuring geographic accessibility alone potentially creates an inaccurate or inflated representation of access. This study proposes a GIS workflow for analyzing food pantry accessibility over space and time by considering hours of operation and location, allowing researchers to examine when and where access to food assistance is most limited over the span of a typical week. The method was applied to Hillsborough County, Florida …

Quantifying The Effectiveness Of Night Vision Detection: A Comparative Study Of Visible Light, Night Vision, And Thermal Images, Feng Yeh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research presents a comprehensive assessment of night vision goggles and thermal imagers, with a particular emphasis on their performance under a wide range of environmental and temporal conditions. Field testing of these devices was carried out across diverse settings, including daytime, nighttime, and different environmental temperatures. Key evaluation metrics, such as contrast, recognition distance, and image clarity, were employed to assess device performance.The findings reveal that while night vision goggles maintain consistent performance across various conditions, their image clarity and contrast are influenced by the recognition distance. Conversely, thermal imagers excel in cooler environments, successfully highlighting target objects, yet …

Host Communities: The Foundation Of Regenerative Tourism, Marie Haley

Journal of Sustainability and Resilience

Tourism is a human structure and cannot be equated to natural systems such as farming. While regenerative farming focuses on the health of the natural system starting with the soil, tourism is a human system and must focus on regenerating the human system. This paper argues that the foundation of tourism is the host community. If the host community is vibrant and healthy, dynamic and resilient and has appropriate political systems to manage tourism, tourism will have the social licence and will thrive. Tourism can then have upwardly cascading feedback mechanisms where the host community can restore the natural environment, …

The Sounds Of Travel: Video Ethnography In Multisensory Tourism Research, Francesc Fusté-Forné

Journal of Sustainability and Resilience

While the analysis of the tourist experience often relies on the visual representations, recent research also increasingly calls for a multisensory understanding of tourism research. Soundscapes are an emerging type of tourism attraction that contributes to the protection and promotion of the sense of place. Departing from the use of video in ethnographic practice, this research notes illustrates the features of soundscapes in nature-based tourism research based on video auto-ethnography. Results show that the sounds of water, animals and gastronomy are evocative of people, places and practices in nature-based tourism experiences.

Climate Change Commitments And Challenges To Achieve Regenerative Tourism: A Case Of Aotearoa New Zealand, Asif Hussain

Journal of Sustainability and Resilience

New Zealand heavily relies on nature-based tourism for its popular "100% pure New Zealand" brand. However, the country faces challenges in mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to the significant contribution of long-haul destination. Despite various environmentally friendly initiatives, the primary obstacle to achieving low-carbon and regenerative tourism lies in the fact that tourists must fly to reach New Zealand. In terms of per-capita aviation emissions, New Zealand ranks sixth for international and fourth for domestic aviation emissions among other countries. The tourism sector in New Zealand is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, with a 54% increase in vulnerability. This …

Detection Of Subsidence In West-Central Florida Using Persistent Scatterer Interferometry And Near-Surface Geophysics, Tonian R. Robinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three studies that employ Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI, also known as PSInSAR) to better understand how subsidence in west-central Florida relates to underlying geological processes. In the first study, near-surface geophysical methods (Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Electrical Resistivity (ERT)), terrestrial remote sensing applications (Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Structure from Motion (SfM)), and PSI were used to monitor the spatial and temporal behaviors of a suspected growing sinkhole in the Sandhill Boyscout Reservation, Hernando County, Florida. The survey area was located within and around a topographic low assumed to be the surface of the …

Travel And Migration Behaviors Of Migrants From Puerto Rico During Disasters, Lauren C. Carter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

COVID-19 and Hurricane Maria were both unprecedented disasters in Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria caused of billions of dollars in damage and took thousands of lives in 2017, while COVID-19 challenged Puerto Rico’s already crippled healthcare infrastructure in 2020. In the literature, there were few studies that explored how compound disasters affect island nations, let alone in a hypothetical worst-case scenario of a major hurricane during a novel (pre-vaccine) pandemic. In this dissertation, I studied how such a compound disaster would impact travel behaviors of migrants from Puerto Rico to the US in three distinct studies. The first study analyzed the …

Gis Use And Land Conflict In Rwanda: Case Of Gasabo District, Emmanuel Mushimiyimana

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

Land conflicts in Rwanda have been exacerbated by demographic boom, land scarcity, and social and political instability. Therefore, Rwanda adopted Geographical Information System (GIS) to empower existing traditional land demarcation in order to defuse land conflict. The aim of this research is to investigate and seek the effectiveness of GIS application and Land Information System (LIS) to land-based conflict with a special focus on Gasabo District and the challenges related to that. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to collect and analyse data. Besides, the research used purposive sampling techniques in getting access to potential respondents of a …

A Review Of Farmers/Herders Clashes In Nigerian Environment: Consequences And The Way Forward, Timothy O. Ogunbode, Iyanu-Oluwa A. Ayodele, Victor O. Oyebamiji, Oluwatobi O. Faboro

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

A peaceful environment is a necessity for meaningful growth and development in human society. This review was thus, carried out to examine both immediate and remote causes of Fulani herdsmen/local farmers’ crises in Nigeria, its consequences and the probable way forward. The review which involved searching for both online and offline information on the theoretical basis for the crises and, also the interview of the stakeholders for hands-on information. The crises which was noted to have dated back to 1960s has resulted into loss of lives and property. Apart from this, many homes have been displaced and means of livelihood …

Predicting Groundwater Spring Locations From Topographic And Climatic Data Using Maxent Modeling, Ayten Ece Koc

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The World Resources Institute reveals that 17 countries face extremely high levels of water stress. Moreover, with increasing population and industrialization, the gap between water supply and demand increases day by day around the world. Groundwater is a key freshwater source, and springs are important resources as they enable to access groundwater. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor, protect, and manage groundwater springs. The first step in spring management is to recognize and define freshwater resources and to determine the locations of groundwater springs that serve as natural discharge points. Traditionally, field studies have been employed to determine the locations …

Prepare For, Respond To, Recover, And Learn From Disasters: Using Data-Driven Methods To Model And Understand Disaster Resilience, Jinwen Xu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Community resilience reflects the ability of human communities to prepare for, respond to, recover, and learn from disastrous events. Community resilience carries different meanings in different phases of disaster management (i.e., preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation). With the emergence of new geospatial data sources, human activities now can be captured through social media, mobile signals, and nighttime illuminations, which makes it possible to describe the conditions among various communities before, during, and after disasters. Therefore, this dissertation explored the use of different types of geospatial data sources (social media, nighttime light remote sensing, land-use data, and census survey data) during …

Who Goes And Who Stays: Predicting Hurricane Evacuation For Local Neighborhoods, Shakhawat Hosen Tanim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To reduce the devastating impacts of hurricanes on people’s lives, communities, and societal infrastructures, disaster management would benefit considerably from a detailed understanding of evacuation, including the socio-demographics of the populations that evacuate, or stay, down to disaggregated geographic levels such as neighborhoods. A detailed household evacuation prediction model for local neighborhoods requires both a robust household evacuation decision model and individual household data for small geographic units. To address the first of these, this dissertation performed a statistical meta-analysis of numerous survey-based hurricane evacuation studies to establish mean effect sizes for predictors impacting the household decision. To address the …

Coastal Cities In The Southern Us Floodplains: An Evaluation Of Environmental Equity Of Flood Hazards And Social Vulnerabilities, Lubana Tasnim Mazumder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Floods are recognized as one of the most common and widespread natural hazards in the United States (US). They are responsible for uncompensated losses and damages. Furthermore, evidence suggests flooding inflicts more harm among socially vulnerable groups, incapable of withstanding hazard events, raising environmental equity (EE) and justice (EJ) concerns. Regrettably, with continuing climate change and urbanization, flooding will not subside in the future; instead, the flooding frequency and intensity will increase in many parts of the US, and the trend of disproportionate impacts will continue to rise.

Since Hurricane Katrina, a considerable amount of research has been conducted on …

Spatial Mismatch Between Electric Vehicles (Evs) And Ev Charging Stations In Florida, Chuang Yin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Carbon emission is a key contributor to global warming and climate change. Reducing carbon emissions has posed as a challenge for several decades, prompting a rising alliance of nations, municipalities, corporations, and other establishments to commit to achieving net-zero emissions. One of the trends in many countries is to replace traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with alternative fuel vehicles, especially electric vehicles (EVs). The Global EV Outlook 2021 report by IEA reveals that there was a 41% surge in the registration of electric cars in 2020, resulting in the sale of approximately 3 million electric cars worldwide. Since the …

Human Relationship With Nature, Indigenous Ways Of Living And Regenerative Tourism Framework, Asif Hussain

Journal of Sustainability and Resilience

In the post Covid-19 era, human civilisation appears to undergo a significant shift in social-ecological consciousness and an emerging concept of ‘regenerative tourism’ is getting popular. The concept acknowledges the strong linkages between humans and nature and together special conditions are created for life to renew and restore itself. While indigenous people have always been aware of their actions and their impacts on the socio- ecological environments, the scientific community has started to acknowledge indigenous knowledge and ways of living. and integrated intelligence. The key aspect of the indigenous lifestyle is the linkages with physical and social environments where humans …

The Social Response To Crisis Management In The Jordanian Hotel Sector From The Government Perspective, Mousa Alsheyab, Francesc Fusté-Forné

Journal of Sustainability and Resilience

This paper is part of a major research project that discusses corporate social responsibility practices adopted in Jordan, by hotel managers and other related stakeholders, representing the community and the service providers, during the pandemic crisis. In this paper we focus on the role and measures taken by the government in general, and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in particular, to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. Amid the Covid-19 outbreak, the hospitality and tourism sectors were challenged and the business policies were adapted. This paper analyzes the measures implemented to secure safety and some tourism expectations as part …