Geography Commons^™

Stable Money: An Evaluation Of Political Stability And U.S. Bilateral Aid In Latin America, Aaron Nicole Nelson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study examined the potential relationship between U. S. bilateral aid and political stability for the Latin American world region. Two objectives were addressed by the analysis, first, what is the statistical relationship between U.S. bilateral aid and political stability and second, how does the spatial pattern of political stability equate to the spatial distribution of foreign bilateral aid in Latin America. Highly significant statistical relationships were discovered between bilateral aid and political stability. Distinct patterns in both political stability and bilateral aid indicated that politically fragile nations consistently received larger amounts of bilateral aid.

Analyses Of Potential Ravine And Bluff Stabilization Sites Within The Blue Earth And Le Sueur River Basins, Anna My-Tien T. Tran

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has listed much of the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) basin as impaired waters due to excessive turbidity, sedimentation, and nutrient loading. Of particular importance are the associated environmental problems (e.g. eutrophication, habitat and wetland loss, loss of biodiversity, and changes in water quality) that have developed within Lake Pepin, a popular recreational riverine lake of the UMR. Three major drainages contribute to these issues and empty in to the UMR near Lake Pepin - the Minnesota River Basin (MRB), St. Croix River, and UMR. The MRB makes up approximately one-third of the drainage …

A Model For Identifying Gentrification In East Nashville, Tennessee, William Jordan Miller

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Gentrification methodologies rarely intersect. Analysis of the process has been cornered to incorporate either in-depth, neighborhood case studies or large-scale empirical investigations. Understanding the timing and extent of gentrification has been limited by this dichotomy. This research attempts to fuse quantitative and qualitative methods to discern the impact of gentrification between census tracts in East Nashville, Tennessee. By employing archival research, field surveys, and census data analysis this project attempts to comprehend the conditions suitable for gentrification to occur and its subsequent effect on residents and the built environment. A model was generated to determine the relationship between a-priori knowledge …

Procedural Modeling For Ancient Maya Cityscapes: Initial Methodological Challenges And Solutions, Heather Richards-Rissetto, Rachel Plessing

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Digital reconstruction of 3D cityscapes is expensive, time-consuming, and requires significant expertise. We need a 3D modeling approach that streamlines the integration of multiple data types in a time-efficient and low-cost manner. Procedural modeling—rapid proto-typing of 3D models from a set of rules— offers a potential solution to this problem because it allows scholars to create digital reconstructions that can be quickly updated and used to test and formulate alternative hypotheses that are derived from and linked to underlying archaeological data. While procedural modeling is being used to visualize ancient Roman, Etruscan, and Greek cities, in the Maya region the …

Self-Reported Experiences Of Climate Change In Nigeria: The Role Of Personal And Socio-Environmental, Idowu Ajibade, Frederick Ato Armah, Vincent Kuuire, Isaac Luginaah, Gordon Mcbean

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this study, we examined the individual and socio-environmental factors that mediate differential self-reported experiences of climate change in coastal communities in Lagos, Nigeria. Binary complementary log-log multivariate regression was used to model residents’ experiences of changing rainfall patterns, ocean surges, and flood events. An analysis of both compositional and contextual factors showed that there were urban communities where vulnerability to flooding tends to be clustered, and that this was not fully explained by the characteristics of the people of whom the community was composed. This study, thus, underscores the importance and complex nature of the interaction between personal and …

Discourses Of Deflection: The Politics Of Framing China’S South North Water Transfer Project, Britt Crow-Miller

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite significant financial, ecological and social trade-offs, China has moved forward with constructing and operationalising the world’s largest interbasin water transfer project to date, the South-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP). While it is fundamentally linked to broader political-economic goals within the context of China’s post-Mao development agenda, the SNWTP is frequently discussed in apolitical terms. Based on extensive discourse analysis and interviews with government officials across North China, I argue that the Chinese government is using "discourses of deflection" to present the project as politically neutral in order to serve its ultimate goal of maintaining the high economic growth rates …

Spatial And Temporal Patterns (1973-2012) Of Bushfire In An Arid To Semi-Arid Region Of Western Australia, Megan Ladbrook

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Aim and background

The aim of this study was to reconstruct fire regimes/history of an extensive arid to semi-arid region of Western Australia for the last 40 years by studying temporal and spatial fire scar patterns using remote sensing in a Geographic Information System environment.

Methods

A fire history database was constructed, for the years 1973-2012 of an area of Western Australia between the Murchison and Minilya Rivers, of all bushfires greater than 1 ha that were visible from Landsat satellite imagery ranging from 30 – 60m ground resolution. The data was analysed to characterise a general bushfire regime for …

Spaces Of Disadvantage, Places Of Hope : Women Empowerment, Economic Emancipation And Ngos In Bogotá Slums, Ekaterina Korzh

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research is devoted to the gender issue in Colombian Slums with the specific focus on the social and economic place of women, challenges that women are facing within this extremely impoverished and criminalized areas and avenues to improve women empowerment and emancipation in the slums of Bogotá.

The goal of this research is to improve understanding of social and economic roles of women in the slums and identify NGO-supported coping strategies that allow improving women empowerment and emancipation in the slums of Bogotá. The first objective is to define “slums” and determine their extent, morphology and population characteristics using …

Paleoindian Predictive Model For Yellowstone National Park, Matthew R. Nelson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Greater Yellowstone Region was a destination for nomadic hunter-gatherers for at least 12,000 years. Archaeological sites representing the whole spectrum of time, cultures, and activities, have been found throughout the region. Within Yellowstone National Park a number of Paleoindian projectile points and other related cultural materials have been recorded, however, only a handful of buried Paleoindian sites have been identified and excavated. Considering the nature of the archaeological record in the area, some interesting questions surface about the value of the information recorded on the Paleoindian sites. In terms of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) Paleoindian archaeology, is it possible …

Alpine Experiments: The National Parks And The Development Of Skiing In The American West, Jeffrey T. Meyer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 1886, the U.S. Army mounted cavalry soldiers on skis to patrol the winter landscape of Yellowstone National Park. Prior to Yellowstone's skiing soldiers, the U.S. government had no formal relationship with skiing. In Yellowstone, the Army initiated the U.S. government's intimate and enduring relationship with skiing in the American West. When the National Park Service (NPS) took over the management of Yellowstone, the government's involvement with western skiing transferred over to the NPS. Upon its creation in 1916, the NPS inherited a national park system primarily carved from the high western mountains and embraced the promotion of recreational skiing …

On The Map, But Off The Grid: Perceptions Of Authenticity In Polebridge, Montana, William Klaczynski

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

(Re)Localizing Finland’S Foodshed: Grassroots Movements In Food Distribution And Urban Agriculture, Sophia E. Albov

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Finland’s agricultural landscape and food production systems have deep societal roots and intimate connections to the Finnish cultural identity. The thesis explores this cultural heritage through an examination of grassroots food distribution networks rapidly diffusing across Finland and an examination of urban agricultural practices in the capital city of Helsinki. This thesis aims to address the following questions: (1) What is the role of grassroots food distribution networks in Finland, and to what extent are they creating alternative farmer-consumer linkages that support eating local? (2) How is urban agriculture structured and organized in Helsinki and within the broader context of …

African Cowboys On The Argentine Pampas: Their Disappearance From The Historical Record, Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Dreaming Of Dry Land: Environmental Transformation In Colonial Mexico City, Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Does The Geographic Information Systems Benefit The Insurance Industry?, Andrew R. Brachear

Masters Theses

This research is intended to determine if the insurance companies are benefiting from Geographic Information System technology in the insurance industry. This is based on the consumers' point of view through the use of research, survey results, and technology at the insurance company's disposal. Today, this technology is used in many different areas including renewable energy, delivery business, and city planning. Insurance companies use this technology in order to determine safe driving habits. Some examples include Progressive's Snapshot and State Farm's In-Drive. These devices are used to collect data on response time, speed, and breaking. This is a possible concern …

Healthy Outside-Healthy Inside: The Human Health & Well-Being Benefits Of Alberta's Protected Areas - Towards A Benefits-Based Management Agenda, Christopher J. Lemieux, Sean T. Doherty, Paul F.J. Eagles, Joyce Gould, Glen T. Hvenegaard, Elizabeth (Lisa) Nisbet, Mark W. Groulx

Geography and Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

This report details the results of an empirical study that examined perceived health and well-being motives and benefits among visitors to a sample of Alberta’s parks and protected areas. The study revealed several major findings with important policy and management implications. First, the human health and well-being benefits that the visitors expected to receive from visits were perceived to be a major personal motivation in the choice to visit Alberta protected areas. The most important motivation factors identified by respondents were psychological and emotional well-being (89.1% of visitors ranked this important), social well-being (88.3%), physical well-being (80.3%), and environmental well-being …

Impacts Of Urban Areas On Vegetation Development Along Rural-Urban Gradients In The Upper Midwest: 2003-2012, Cole Krehbiel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Between one-third and one-half of Earth’s land surface has been directly altered by humans, with the remainder comprised of “human-dominated ecosystems” (Vitousek et al. 2008). Earth’s population has surpassed seven billion, projected to increase by 2.5 billion by 2050 in urban areas alone (United Nations 2014). The rapid urbanization of our planet drives global environmental changes in hydrosystems, biodiversity, biogeochemical cycles, land use and land cover, and climate (Grimm et al. 2008). Urban areas alter local atmospheric conditions by modifying surface albedo and consequently evapotranspiration, releasing energy through anthropogenic heat sources, and increasing atmospheric aerosols, leading to increased temperatures in …

The Biogeography And Diversity Of Termites In Southern Africa, Brianna Lind

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Termites (Blattodea: Termitoidae) are socially complex insects that are morphologically diverse and live in colonies. They represent a highly specialized form of cockroach that organizes into castes (distinct social groups including workers, soldiers, queen, etc.) that have specific roles within the colony (Eggleton 2010). Globally more than 2,600 species of termites have been described in over 280 genera and, while termites can occur in most climatic zones warmer than tundra, their greatest abundance and ecological significance is in the tropics (Kambhampti and Eggleton 2000). Termites impact many processes, including nutrient cycling, water dynamics, and soil porosity; in African savannas it …

Influence Of Landscape On Gene Differentiation In The American Pika (Ochotona Princeps) Within The Interstate 90 Snoqualmie Pass Corridor, Craig P. Fergus

All Master's Theses

Understanding the impact of different landscape features on the movement of genes among populations can be helpful in managing wildlife populations. Our study used GIS tools to compare genetic connectivity among 13 American pika (Ochotona princeps) habitat patches across an approximately 77 square km area adjacent to Interstate 90 near Snoqualmie Pass, WA. Tissue samples were collected from 85 individuals and genotyped at six microsatellite loci to determine genetic differentiation among each pair of patches. A variety of models estimating the influence of landscape factors on gene flow were then used to find “resistance scores” between each pair …

Snow Cover Variability In A Forest Ecotone Of The Oregon Cascades Via Modis Terra Products, Tihomir Sabinov Kostadinov, Todd R. Lookingbill

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

Snowcover pattern and persistence have important implications for planetary energy balance, climate sensitivity to forcings, and vegetation structure, function, and composition. Variability in snow cover within mountainous regions of the Pacific Northwest, USA is attributable to a combination of anthropogenic climate change and climate oscillations. However, snowcovered areas can be heterogeneous and patchy, requiring more detailed mapping of snow trends to understand their potential influences on montane forests. We used standard dailyMODIS snow products (MOD10A1.5) to investigate the 15-year record (2000–2014) of snow cover in the predominant forest ecotone of the Oregon Western Cascades. We modeled the ecotone using field …

Transformando La Educación Superior Para Una Amazonía Cambiante, David S. Salisbury, Elizabeth Anderson, Richard Bilsborrow, Connie Campbell, Javier Maldonado-Ocampo, Stephen Perz, Edgar Díaz-Zúñiga

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

El tesista tiene un desafío. ¿Cómo puede construir una metodología para que su trabajo de tesis ayude a una comunidad indígena a enfrentarse a una Amazonía cambiante? Afortunadamente, él es uno de los 21 estudiantes universitarios peruanos que participan en un proyecto que combina la ciencia de vanguardia y la formación tecnológica con la investigación participativa en comunidades indígenas biodiversas. Este Proyecto de Cooperación es un Consorcio entre la Universidad Nacional de Ucayali, Pucallpa, Perú, y la University of Richmond, EE.UU, apoyado por el Programa de Educación Superior para el Desarrollo (HED) del Consejo Americano de Educación (ACE). Esta asociación, …

Remote Sensing And Modeling Of Atmospheric Dust And Studying Its Impact On Environment, Weather, And Climate, Hesham El-Askary, Seon K. Park, Slobodan Nickovic, Mian Chin

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

An overview of the 2015 volume of Advances in Meteorology, which was co-edited by Chapman faculty member Dr. Hesham El-Askary.

Whose Urban Forest? The Political Ecology Of Foraging Urban Nontimber Forest Products, Patrick T. Hurley, Marla R. Emery, Rebecca J. Mclain, Melissa R. Poe, Brain Grabbatin, Cari L. Goetcheus

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Drawing on case studies of foraging in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, we point to foraging landscapes and practices within diverse urban forest spaces. We examine these spaces in relation to U.S. conservation and development processes and the effects of management and governance on species valued by foragers. These case studies reveal the everyday landscapes of urban foraging and suggest that ideas about what constitutes the suite of appropriate human-environment interactions in the sustainable city are contested and accommodated in diverse ways.

Overcoming Uncertainty And Barriers To Adoption Of Blue-Green Infrastructure For Urban Flood Risk Management, Colin R. Thorne, E. C. Lawson, Connie P. Ozawa, Samantha Hamlin, Leonard A. Smith

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) are increasingly recognised as vital components of urban flood risk management. However, uncertainty regarding their hydrologic performance and lack of confidence concerning their public acceptability create concerns and challenges that limit their widespread adoption. This paper investigates barriers to implementation of BGI in Portland, Oregon, using the Relevant Dominant Uncertainty (RDU) approach. Two types of RDU are identified: scientific RDUs related to physical processes that affect infrastructure performance and service provision, and socio-political RDUs that reflect a lack of confidence in socio-political structures and public preferences for BGI. We find that socio-political …

Monitoring Soil Response To Decreasing Acidic Deposition In A Western Adirondack Tributary Over A 16 Year Period, Michael Robert Antidormi

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Abstract

Using Storm-Watersheds And A Multi-Criteria Decision Model For Biodiversity Conservation In An Urban Environment, Christina M. Chiappetta

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Many planning and land use decisions in New York State are controlled at the local (town or municipal) level, not an optimal scale for planning and implementing resource conservation management. Watershed boundaries provide a more ecologically meaningful scale for conservation, because they capture a full range of natural ecosystem processes that span political boundaries. However, defining an urban watershed is complicated by stormwater infrastructure, so standard topographic watershed boundaries may be inadequate for urban resource conservation even when applied at the watershed scale. Storm-watersheds distort both municipal and watershed boundaries, because the flows are redirected in ways that are often …

What We Can Learn From Small Units Of Analysis, Andrew Palmer Wheeler

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The dissertation is aimed at advancing knowledge of the correlates of crime at small geographic units of analysis. I begin by detailing what motivates examining crime at small places, and show how aggregation creates confounds that limit causal inference. Local and spatial effects are confounded when using aggregate units, so when the researcher wishes to distinguish between these two types of effects it should guide what unit of analysis is chosen. To illustrate these differences, I generate simulations of what happens to effect estimates when you aggregate a micro level spatial effects model or presume a neighborhood effects model.

Discourses Of Disaster, Recovery, And Recovery Actors In Post-Earthquake Haiti : A Critical Discourse Analysis, Juliana Svistova

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Abstract

Carnival, Protest, And Community Identity: West Louisville And The Kentucky Derby Festival, Benjamin L. Blandford

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This dissertation uses “Derby Cruising” in order to open up the tension between African Americans in Louisville and the Kentucky Derby Festival, especially as that tension was manifest in the spaces of West Louisville. The Kentucky Derby Festival has long served as a site of mediation between people of color and official Louisville. Derby Cruising (1998-2005) and protests around the open housing movement (1967) and anti-police violence (2000) are presented as three critical sites where African American expressions of identity, representation, and belonging have been negotiated through the Kentucky Derby Festival at particular historical moments and in particular places in …

Environmental Governance In The Carbon Economy: Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions In California's Cap-And-Trade Program, Patrick M. Bigger

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Since 2006 California has been pursuing the most ambitious climate change policy in the United States, implementing a suite of greenhouse gas reduction measures ranging from automobile refrigerant disposal rules to clean energy standards for electric power utilities. The most significant of these measures is the creation of a cap‐and‐trade program. Through this program, regulators seek to create a knowable price‐signal to incentivize emissions reductions among polluters. Using a suite of ethnographic methods, this dissertation looks at the people, ideas, and institutions that have been mobilized in the creation of California’s cap‐and‐ trade program.

Substantively, the dissertation engages with three …