Geography Commons^™

A Stillness In The Desert? Engaging The Public Through An Immersive Exploration Of Southwest Soundscapes, Julian Kilker, Thomas Bjelic

Creative Collaborations

The pandemic highlighted the anthropocentric nature of soundscapes, while the recent popularity of electric cars, quadcopters, and “noise cancellation” earbuds demonstrated how consumer products can rapidly change our awareness of sound. While light pollution is already extensively addressed in scholarly research, popular works such as The End of Night, and public engagement such as The International Dark Sky Association, the complex interplay of sound, natural resources, and public engagement is still emerging, particularly in creative fields.

Two UNLV scholars and artists are collaborating on this project: Julian Kilker, who specializes in visual and emerging technology research, and Tom Bjelic, who …

The Pet’S ‘Perfect Bowl’: Environmental And Welfare Discourse In Alternative Pet Food Movements, Carly Baker

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Marketing ‘sustainable and humane’ super-premium dog kibble has emerged alongside alternative food movements (AFM). Unfortunately, super-premium pet-food comprised of ‘high-quality’ protein is at odds with sustainability and affect for particular animals. This study analyzed social and geographical (mis)representations of nonhumans in the pet-food commodity chain by tracing how knowledge and value is produced, and mapping the geography of Open Farm dog food. I assess these geographies and discourses and I identify the following: (1) sustainability claims focus on transportation and packaging, ignoring the significant environmental and social impacts of animal agriculture. (2) Images of farmed animals on packaging often do …

Development And Utilization Of Geodatabase: Predicting Biodiversity In Equatorial Guinea, Africa, Nicholas Treusch

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

After declaring independence in 1968 and discovering oil reserves in 1995, Equatorial Guinea has arisen as one of the wealthier countries in Africa but unfortunately has become one of the most volatile countries as well, with the numerous military coups and disproportionate distribution of wealth. This nation also houses some of the most diverse wildlife on earth, with several endangered species of mammals, as well as reptilian and bird species that are unique only to Equatorial Guinea. With increased bushmeat demand increasing in the last two decades, illegal hunting activities have increased as well, even in national parks. Because of …

A Framework For And Design Of A Smart Academic Building Using Sensors, Citizen Participation, And Volunteered Geographic Information, Neelam Raigangar

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Population growth and migration patterns have shown an influx of residents from rural to urban environments. To deal with the problems caused by unprecedented urban influx, cities should plan to use technology in a smart and distinctive way. Tackling at the city scale is hard. But a set of smart buildings that are interconnected by technology will lead to smarter communities which are then interconnected to create a smart city. Smart lobby, building, community, or city is distinguished by its application of integrated software, hardware, and network technologies, along with access to real-time data enabling decision-making, facilitating tracing, tracking and …

Gis-Automated Delineation Of Hospital Service Areas In Florida: From Dartmouth Method To Network Community Detection Methods, Changzhen Wang, Fahui Wang

Faculty Publications

Since the Dartmouth Hospital Service Areas (HSAs) were proposed three decades ago, there has been a large body of work using the unit in examining the geographic variation in health care in the U.S. for evaluating health care system performance and informing health policy. However, many studies question the replicability and reliability of the Dartmouth HSAs in meeting the challenges of an ever-changing and a diverse set of health care services. This research develops a reproducible, automated, and efficient GIS tool to implement Dartmouth method for defining HSAs. Moreover, the research adapts two popular network community detection methods to account …

Forging Ahead And Adapting To Change: A Review Of The Initiatives Of The Isprs Student Consortium, Sheryl Rose C. Reyes, Charmaine A. Cruz

SOSE Affiliate: Manila Observatory

The International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Student Consortium (ISPRS SC) is an international organization that represents a constituency of the students and the young professionals with common interests and goals within ISPRS in the areas of photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information science. The ISPRS SC Board of Directors strengthened the organization’s foundations and increased its engagement in the Society from 2016 to 2022. Given the current global health crisis, selected members of the Board of Directors continued to serve in the ISPRS SC for a two-year extension and developed creative strategies in navigating the new normal. Building …

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, January 2022, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 3, Issue 1

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2 Awards & Recognition
Page 3 Outreach in Harrisburg, SD
Page 4 Geography Alumni Named Among 'Highly Cited Researchers', 53rd Annual Geography Convention
Page 5 Geography Convention Speakers, Brookings/SDSU Day
Page 6 Media Coverage of Natural Sciences
Page 7 Open PRAIRIE Data
Page 8 Fall 2021 Dean's List
Page 9 Fall 2021 Dean's List, cont.

A Micro-Typology Of Contact Effects In Four Tibeto-Burman Languages, Kristine Hildebrandt, Oliver Bond, Dubi Nanda Dhakal

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

When minority languages with similar typological profiles are in long-term contact with a genealogically unrelated socioeconomically dominant language, the perfect context is provided for investigating which observed contact effects are demonstrably allied to sociolinguistic dynamics rather than purely structural ones. This paper investigates the factors determining the different extent of contact effects in four Tibeto-Burman languages (Gurung, Gyalsumdo, Nar-Phu, and Manange) spoken in a geo-politically defined and multilingual region of Nepal. Using corpus data and sociolinguistic interviews collected in the field, we demonstrate that a range of social, economic and geo-spatial factors contribute to asymmetries where contact effects are observed …

Mapping Log Pd/Cu Ratios In Vulcan And Investigation Into The Origin Of The Magenta Zone In The Northmet Deposit: Hoyt Lakes Minnesota, Usa, Paige M. C. M. Bauer

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this research is to investigate the origin of the PGE-rich Magenta Zone, a geologic feature within the NorthMet Deposit; a Cu-Ni-PGE deposit within a layered intrusion at the base of the 1.1 Ga Duluth Complex. The hypothesis is that a late-stage silicate magma containing dispersed sulfide droplets had infiltrated a permeable crystal mush resulting in the emplacement of the Magenta Zone. While mineralization is typically found along the base of the Duluth Complex, the Magenta Zone lies ~200 m above typical mineralization. Previous research has shown that the Magenta Zone cross cuts the younger concordant units. To …

Barriers To Accessing Emergency Water Infrastructure: Lessons From Flint, Michigan, Melissa Heil

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

Several high-profile cases of water service interruption have occurred in United States communities over the last decade, halting the usual operations of water infrastructures. In these situations, governments and NGOs have created emergency water infrastructures, such as bottled water distribution sites, to meet residents' water needs. This paper examines the accessibility of such emergency water distribution sites by analysing the case of Flint, Michigan. Drawing on interviews with community leaders in Flint who administered the city's bottled water distribution programmes, this paper identifies barriers to access in the city's emergency water infrastructure that stem from and deepen pre-existing socio-spatial inequality. …

How To Map Soil Sealing, Land Take And Impervious Surfaces? A Systematic Review, Francesca Peroni, Salvatore Eugenio Pappalardo, Francesco Facchinelli, Edoardo Crescini, Michele Munafò, Michael E. Hodgson, Massimo De Marchi

Faculty Publications

Soil degradation is one of the main environmental issues within the international agendas on sustainability and climate adaptation. Among degradation processes, soil sealing represents the major threat, as ecosystem services dramatically decrease or are even nullified. The increasing use of big open data from satellites combined with AI algorithms are making geodata mining and mapping techniques essential to quantify soil sealing. Different keywords are adopted to define the phenomenon. However, at present, review articles presenting the state-of-the-art on mapping soil sealing by including the most common definitions are currently not available. Hence, we analyzed: (a) impervious surface, (b) soil sealing, …

Gender And Remittances: Lived Experiences Of Women In Oaxaca, Mexico, Araby Smyth

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This dissertation project analyzes the ways that migration and remittances, the money that migrants send to people in their place of origin, intersect with the political and social dynamics in an Indigenous community in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Drawing on 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork, which included semi-structured interviews and participant observation alongside historical archival investigation, this dissertation examines the following questions: What international organizations, national government, and private sector policies govern remittances? How does Indigenous collective work and communal governance shape remittance management? How do the responsibilities of family members shift with migration and how …

"It's Not Rainbows And Unicorns": Regulated Commodity And Waste Production In The Alberta Oilsands, Hugh Deaner

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This dissertation examines the regulated oilsands mining industry of Alberta, Canada, widely considered the world’s largest surface mining project. The industrial processes of oilsands mining produce well over one million barrels of petroleum commodities daily, plus even larger quantities of airborne and semisolid waste. The project argues for a critical account of production concretized in the co-constitutional relations of obdurate materiality and labor activity within a framework of regulated petro-capitalism. This pursuit requires multiple methods that combine archives, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews to understand workers’ shift-to-shift relations inside the “black box” of regulated oilsands mining production where materiality co-constitutes …

Undoing Colorblind Ecologies: Redlining And Just Green Enough In The Urban Forest Of Boston's Franklin Park, Chelsea M. Parise

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Urban political ecology research increasingly engages multi-disciplinary methodologies to clarify the role that the botanic plays in creating, maintaining, or subverting ecological geographies of power. Fredrick Law Olmsted intended the forest within Franklin Park to heal the physical degeneration and social disunity he believed resulted from urban living conditions but instead the forest within Franklin Park has grown in contexts of increasingly complex environmental and racial difference. I examine how the urban forest in Boston’s Franklin Park has ecologically manifested racialized power relations through distinct periods of elite nature-making and segregated grassroots stewardship. I utilized archival research, forest surveys, and …

Affective Registers Of Displacement: Eviction And Gentrification In Post-Earthquake Mexico City, Jess Linz

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This dissertation contributes to understandings of the affective and emotional register of urban politics by analyzing how affective dynamics influence struggles over displacement in Mexico City amid rapid gentrification and in the wake of the 2017 earthquake. Drawing primarily on feminist and queer/cuir theory and trauma studies, I aim to show the relevance of an often-overlooked dimension of urban political struggles. This dissertation is based on data collected through ethnographic methods over the course of 2018-2021. The primary source of data is long-form semi-structured interviews, supported by participant observation in meetings, protests, and WhatsApp groups. The dissertation studies the following …

Tracks/Traces: The New Deal Transformation Of Lexington, Kentucky’S Landscapes Of Horseracing And Housing, Piotr Wojcik

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Lexington, Kentucky is a key node in the global thoroughbred horse industry. This archival research examines the transformation of its horseracing and housing geographies during the 1930s by comparing the redevelopment of an old urban racetrack into federal public housing with the simultaneous development of a new racing plant in the nearby countryside. It analyzes the social and economic relations underlying this shift in addition to how these relations were naturalized by the new landscapes they created. Results suggest that a local growth coalition was seeking to emerge from a financial crisis through a spatial fix that capitalized on cultural …

Elephants In The Room: Covid-19 Pandemic Political Ecologies Of Tourism In Tanzania, Helen C. Richardson

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

The COVID-19 pandemic brought forth unprecedented and ever-changing crisis and disruption to societies and economies around the globe.[1] As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to interrupt travel worldwide, the tourism industry, and the countries who rely on it as a major source of income, are in crisis. These processes have reconfigured economic capital flows and foreign investment in the global south. This is particularly the case in Tanzania, as tourism was Tanzania’s highest foreign exchange earner and accounted for 17% of Tanzania’s gross domestic product in 2019.[2] This project draws upon a political ecology framework to examine the Tanzanian …

Speaking Of Home Here And There: Everyday Experiences Of Belonging Among Highly Educated Immigrants, Katherine Feske-Kirby

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This thesis explores how highly educated immigrants articulate a sense of belonging upon relocating to the United States, more specifically to the Lexington, KY area. Engaging with feminist political geography as well as migration and cultural studies, I argue that articulations of belonging are framed through transnational attachments, which respectively expand individuals’ ability to employ everyday forms of belonging. Expressions and understandings of transnational belonging are framed through in-depth interviews on participants’ workplace, relational dynamics, and engagement with the geopolitical discourse on migration. Through these interviews, a broader representation belonging is presented, while questions on highly educated immigrants’ privilege and …

Part-Time Normals: Embodied Trans Geographies Of Homonationalism, Ivy Faye Monroe

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Self-understanding of one’s gender identity both emerges from, and rearticulates into, the ways one experiences and mediates their personal and social relationships with the geographic worlds they inhabit. Trans geographical literature has, to date, created compelling work on the social geographies of trans people in highly-gendered spaces. This thesis extends the existing literature to research how gender is both experienced and performed in the mundane structures of everyday life. Building from theories of cruel optimism and homonationalism, this research examines how the discursive and spatial epistemologies of gender identity inform attachments to structures of normativity. Through archival research of transvestite …

Shadow-Based Automatic Building Height Estimation From High Spatial Resolution Satellite Imagery, Lonnie Lee Byrnside Iii

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Three-dimensional city (3D) models are very useful in supporting natural disaster preparation and response. LiDAR surveying is currently the main method by which 3D city models are created; however, LiDAR data on a local scale is hard to obtain for developing countries. This project sought to test whether or not urban feature height data obtained using the photogrammetric sun-angle shadow method is a viable alternative to LiDAR-derived 3D city models. A core element of this work was the development of a toolset to be shared freely to the public to promote crowdsourcing of 3D building data. Prior works were reviewed …

Building Roseburg Public Library’S Community Demographics Dashboard, Spencer Keller

Masters in GIS Practicum Reports

In a globally connected society becoming increasingly reliant on data, community GIS practitioners help bring spatial data to community organizations and other community partners in the form of data acquisition, collection, analytics, visualization, and presentation. Many Community GIS practitioners help their community partners better serve their community by harnessing the power of GIS, including community partners who advocate for and provide services to their community. Public libraries are one such service-providing entity that has been struggling in modern times, especially in rural areas. The Center for Geography Education in Oregon received grant funding in 2020 from the Institute of Museum …

Chapter 14: 2022: North America, Christopher J. Lemieux, Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change

Geography and Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Relative Radiometric Correction Of Pushbroom Satellites Using The Yaw Maneuver, Christopher Begeman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Earth imaging satellites commonly acquire multispectral imagery using linear array detectors formatted as a pushbroom scanner. Landsat 8, a well-known example, uses pushbroom scanning and thus has 73,000 individual detectors. These 73,000 detectors are split among 14 different focal plane modules (FPM), and each detector and FPM exhibit unique behavior when monitoring a uniform radiance value. To correct for each detectors differences in sensor measurement a novel technique of relative gain estimation that employs an optimized modified Signal-to-Noise Ratio through a 90˚ yaw maneuver, also known as side slither, is presented that allows for both FPM and detector level relative …

Exploring 3d Data Reuse And Repurposing Through Procedural Modeling, Rachel Opitz, Heather Richards-Rissetto, Karin Dalziel, Jessica Dussault, Greg Tunink

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Most contemporary 3D data used in archaeological research and heritage management have been created through ‘reality capture,’ the recording of the physical features of extant archaeological objects, structures, and landscapes using technologies such as laser scanning and photogrammetry (Garstki 2020, ch.2; Magnani et al. 2020). A smaller quantity of data are generated by Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) projects, and even fewer data are generated through procedural modeling, the rapid prototyping of multi-component threedimensional (3D) models from a set of rules (Figure 8.1.). It is unsurprising therefore that in archaeology and heritage, efforts around digital 3D …

Patterns Of Interdisciplinary Collaboration Resemble Biogeochemical Relationships In The Mcmurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica: A Historical Social Network Analysis Of Science, 1907–2016, Stephen M. Chignell, Adrian Howkins, Poppie Gullett, Andrew G. Fountain

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Co-authorship networks can provide key insights into the production of scientific knowledge. This is particularly interesting in Antarctica, where most human activity relates to scientific research. Bibliometric studies of Antarctic science have provided a useful understanding of international and interdisciplinary collaboration, yet most research has focused on broad-scale analyses over recent time periods. Here, we take advantage of a ‘Goldilocks’ opportunity in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, an internationally important region of Antarctica and the largest ice-free region on the continent. The McMurdo Dry Valleys have attracted continuous and diverse scientific activity since 1958. It is a geographically confined region with …

Environmental Racism In Baltimore: A Geographical Study Into The Connections Between Environmental Toxins And Public Health, Genevieve Block

Honors Theses

An investigation into the relationship between environmental toxins and environmental racism in Baltimore City, Maryland.

Wilderness And The Geotag: Exploring The Claim That "Geotagging Ruins Nature" In The Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Wa, Mara Gans

All Master's Theses

This research explores the claim that “geotagging ruins nature” by quantifying and qualifying patterns in geotag use and visitors’ experiences in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, in Washington, United States. Many have raised concerns that geotags increase recreational visitation to public lands, which subsequently contributes to negative resource impacts. Others, however, claim that geotagging has made the outdoors more accessible to less privileged communities and raise concerns that condemning geotags will perpetuate the exclusion of certain groups from outdoor recreation. This debate is studied within federally designated Wilderness, which is legally defined as “untrammeled by man,” a definition rooted in problematic …

Microplastics In Freshwater: A Global Review Of Factors Affecting Spatial And Temporal Variations, Rebecca Talbot, Heejun Chang

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Microplastics are a pollutant of growing concern, capable of harming aquatic organisms and entering the food web. While freshwater microplastic research has expanded in recent years, much remains unknown regarding the sources and delivery pathways of microplastics in these environments. This review aims to address the scientific literature regarding the spatial and temporal factors affecting global freshwater microplastic distributions and abundances. A total of 75 papers, published through June 2021 and containing an earliest publication date of October 2014, was identified by a Web of Science database search. Microplastic spatial distributions are heavily influenced by anthropogenic factors, with higher concentrations …

Industry 4.0 Remanufacturing: A Novel Approach Towards Smart Remanufacturing, Prashansa Ragampeta

Masters Theses

“Smart remanufacturing has become more popular in recent years as a result of its multiple benefits and the growing need for society to encourage a circular economy that leads to sustainability. One of the most common end-of-life (EoL) choices that can lead to a circular economy is remanufacturing. As a result, at the end-of-life stage of a product, it is critical to prioritize this choice over other accessible options because it is the only recovery option that retains the same quality as a new product. This work focuses on the numerous technologies that can aid in the improvement of smart …

Ten Facts About Land Systems For Sustainability, Patrick Meyfroidt, Ariane De Bremond, Casey M. Ryan, Emma Archer, Richard Aspinall, Abha Chhabra, Gilberto Camara, Rinku Roy Chowdhury, Esteve Corbera, Ruth Defries, Sandra Díaz, Jinwei Dong, Erle C. Ellis, Karl Heinz Erb, Janet A. Fisher, Rachael D. Garrett, Nancy E. Golubiewski, H. Ricardo Grau, J. Morgan Grove, Helmut Haberl, Andreas Heinimann, Patrick Hostert, Esteban G. Jobbágy, Suzi Kerr, Tobias Kuemmerle, Eric F. Lambin, Sandra Lavorel, Sharachandra Lele, Ole Mertz, Peter Messerli, Graciela Metternicht, Darla K. Munroe, Harini Nagendra

Geography

Land use is central to addressing sustainability issues, including biodiversity conservation, climate change, food security, poverty alleviation, and sustainable energy. In this paper, we synthesize knowledge accumulated in land system science, the integrated study of terrestrial social-ecological systems, into 10 hard truths that have strong, general, empirical support. These facts help to explain the challenges of achieving sustainability in land use and thus also point toward solutions. The 10 facts are as follows: 1) Meanings and values of land are socially constructed and contested; 2) land systems exhibit complex behaviors with abrupt, hard-to-predict changes; 3) irreversible changes and path dependence …