Geography Commons^™

Below The Rows, Beyond The Roots: An Art Exhibition Depicting Agriculture Across The Globe, Maggie Enoch

Honors Theses and Capstones

In Below the Rows, Beyond the Roots, artist Maggie Enoch creates multimedia works inspired by her exposure to diverse agricultural systems and perspectives while studying geography and sustainable agriculture/food systems around the world. By integrating complex histories with the contemporary realities of farming, Maggie paints vivid pictures of the power of food in this five-piece exhibition.

Improving Food Security: Determining Risk Zones For Toxic Crop Contamination, Parker J. Peterson, Cade Smith, Kirsten Sanders, Ruth Kerry, Sean Young

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Aflatoxin contamination causes significant food waste and poses liver cancer risks to humans and livestock consuming infected corn. This study identifies high-risk years and locations in Texas by analyzing relationships between drought conditions, remote sensing data (NDVI and Thermal IR), and insurance claims for spoiled crops, enabling targeted interventions to reduce contamination and waste.

Understanding Rice Production Stagnation In The Philippines: Regional Evidence And Development Implications, Henry Bartelet, Alenn Jhulia D. Prodigalidad, Janelle S. Dy, Jan Gabriel N. Manzano

Quantitative Methods and Information Technology Faculty Publications

Despite decades of investment in agricultural research and rice development, the Philippines continues to face stagnation in domestic rice production. This persistent trend, occurring despite a sizable arable land base and large rural workforce, has contributed to the country’s growing reliance on rice imports to meet national food needs. In response, the government has implemented a tariff-based import system designed to fund domestic productivity improvements. While previous studies have explored the technical and environmental constraints affecting rice production, such as irrigation shortfalls, land degradation, and climate variability, few have examined recent national trends using regionally disaggregated data alongside qualitative insights. …

Perceptions Of Sustainable Agriculture In Western Wisconsin Among Current Dairy Farmers, Morgan Dekan, Ryan Weichelt

The Geographical Bulletin

Sustainable agriculture uses environmentally responsible farming practices to meet the needs of society without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It is a form of farming that is concerned with the health of the farmland and surrounding environment and works to protect both. Wisconsin’s economy is reliant on farming, with over 64,000 farms generating over $104 billion annually for the state. Despite the state’s reliance on agriculture, there is a lack of research on sustainable farming in Wisconsin; therefore, this study sent surveys to hundreds of dairy farmers throughout western Wisconsin asking them about their perceptions …

Understanding And Assessing Climate Change: Preparing For Nebraska’S Future, 2024 Climate Change Impact Assessment Report, Deborah J. Bathke, Eric Hunt, Heather Akin, Andrea D. Basche, Jesse E. Bell, Daniel R. Dileo, Ross Dixon, Martha Durr, Tonya Haigh, Francis John Hay, Kristina W. Kintziger, Nicholas A. Mcmillan, Hank Miller, Jerome Okojokwu-Idu, Crystal Powers, Tirthankar Roy, Zhenghong Tang, W. Ryan Wishart, Aaron R. Young, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Jonathan J. Spurgeon

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Contents

Report Team

Acknowledgments

Executive Summary

Introduction

Climate Change Contexts: Global, National, and State

Observed Changes in Nebraska's Climate

Projections of Nebraska's Future Climate

Water Systems

Energy

Ecosystems

Agriculture

Human Health

Communities and the Built Environment

Indigenous Peoples

Climate Justice and Equity

The Response of Faith Communities

Nebraskans' Perceptions of Climate Change

Next Steps and Future Work

Supplemental Report: Adaptation, Risks, and Impacts

About the Authors

Faith-based Communities Survey

Evaluated Plans and Assessments

References

The Centennial Farm Program In Michigan, Susan Tosick Storwick, Robert M. Ward, Linda Young

The Geographical Bulletin

Some 4,500 centennial farms were documented in Michigan at the end of the 1980 decade. Qualifications for centennial farm status are somewhat subjectively interpreted. However, the most important criterion is based on families and descendants occupying farms for 100 years or more. Some farms are being decertified when the continuous ownership is broken by sale of the property. The necessity to sell is attributed in part to declining farm revenue, aging farmers who lack heirs and urban land pressure. Before termination from the program, some farmers have sold small parcels of their land, hired fa rm labor, or switched to …

Agricultural Drought Mitigation In Carroll County, Maryland, Teresa Kaltenbacher

The Geographical Bulletin

Carroll County, with its longstanding tradition in agriculture, has had many past experiences with drought. This paper examines drought as it pertains to the farming community in the county. Precipitation statistics for the past 30 years are analyzed in context of the drought occurring in the summer of 1991. Crop loss and the subsequent implementation of federal emergency relief programs by the administering agencies within Carroll County are investigated and an assessment of their overall effectiveness is determined. Various coping strategies and perceptions of drought on an individual level are explored based on a field interview with a Carroll County …

Marketing Distance-Decay And Highland Vegetable Production In Northern Thailand, Richard A. Crooker, Robert N. Martin

The Geographical Bulletin

This paper delineates the potential geographical range of vegetable production in Thailand's northern highlands and demonstrates the utility of marketing distance-decay analysis in rural studies. Hill tribes grow vegetables in northern Thailand as replacement cash crops for illegal opium. They produce more vegetables than local markets consume and the surplus is transported to a developing market in Bangkok. The distance-decay rate ofthis new market is treated as a function of transport costs. Isoline maps are used to analyze resulting marketing gradients of important vegetable cash crops. It appears that distance-decay does not inevitably prohibit marketing surplus vegetables in Bangkok. The …

Transformation Of Japan's Rural Landscape And Economy: The Case Of A Rice Growing Village In Central Japan, Akira Tabayashi

The Geographical Bulletin

Rural regions and communities in Japan have changed drastically following the rapid economic development that occurred in the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. Important outcomes of rural changes were the rapid outflow of labor from rural areas and the increase in the number of part-time farmers. This paper mainly focuses its attention on the evolutionary processes of rural regions over three decades from 1960 to the present, through a case study of a typical Japanese village named Urayamashin. The traditional rice growing village transformed itself into a non-farming village in the early 1970s partly because of a reduction …

Examining Short Term Drainage Impacts To Soil Health In Hydric And Non-Hydric Soils Of Waseca County, Minnesota, Ely Hartl

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Subsurface drainage is implemented throughout the Midwest United States to remove excess moisture from soil to enhance crop growth. Hydric soils are ubiquitous throughout Minnesota and are commonly drained due to their historically saturated conditions. Changing a soil's hydrology can impact its formation and properties. The alteration of physical, biological, and chemical soil properties can occur to both hydric and non-hydric soils, impacting overall soil health. The purpose of this study is to examine the short-term effects of tile drainage on the soil health of hydric and non-hydric soils in southern Minnesota. Research methods include: 1) collect soil-sediment cores to …

Earth Observations Reveal Impacts Of Climate Variability On Maize Cropping Systems In Sub-Saharan Africa, Adomas Liepa, Michael Thiel, Hannes Taubenböck, Doris Klein, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Marcell K. Peters, Sarah Schönbrodt-Stitt, Insa Otte, Tobias Landmann, Zeyaur R. Khan, Michael Ochieng Obondo, Frank Chidawanyika, Emily A. Martin, Tobias Ullmann

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

In Kenya, climate variability and change threaten smallholder, rainfed farms, with crop failures, yield reductions, and pest infestations. Efficient agroecological strategies, such as Push-Pull intercropping, offer documented benefits including pest control, improved soil fertility, and water conservation compared to traditional maize monocropping. To date, no studies exist comparing traditional maize monocropping and Push-Pull intercropping using earth observation tools over several growing seasons in East Africa. Our research addresses this by harmonizing Landsat 7, 8, 9 with Sentinel-2 remote sensing time series from 2016 to 2023. Phenological metrics of 15 growing seasons are extracted based on a threshold method using the …

Fossils On The Prairie: Abandoned Farmsteads In Southwestern Minnesota, Christopher R. Laingen

The Geographical Bulletin

Between 1935 and 1992, the number of farms in the United States decreased from approximately seven million to fewer than two million. This change left a noticeable imprint on the landscape. Working farmsteads have been reduced to idle, desolate buildings, or in some cases there are no buildings left at all. To study this transformation, black and white air photographs from 1950 were compared with 1990 air photographs. Also, plat books and ground checks in four townships in Watonwan County in southwestern Minnesota helped document changes. Farmsteads were abandoned or demolished because people began to find they could not economically …

Assessing A Small Summer Urban Heat Island In Rural South Central Pennsylvania, Danielle Doyle, Timothy W. Hawkins

The Geographical Bulletin

The development of cities potentially has a significant impact on climate. Buildings and infrastructure that replace natural vegetation often create new microclimates through changes in the energy balance associated with the built environment. The urban heat island effect, the phenomenon where air temperatures within an urban area are warmer than the surrounding rural areas, has been thoroughly examined for large urban areas. The purpose of this study is to determine the magnitude and extent of the urban heat island for a small urban area surrounded by agricultural land. Temperature data collected from several urban and rural locations over a four-month …

Understanding The Roles Of Economy And Society In The Relative Risks Of Zoonosis Emergence From Livestock, Stephen Hinchcliffe, Alex Blanchette, Kin Wang (Ray) Chan, Chris Degeling, Jody Emel, Melissa Leach, Ian Scoones, Michael Winter

Geography

The emergence of zoonotic infections that can develop into pathogens of pandemic potential is a major concern for public health. The risks of emergence and transmission relate to multiple factors that range from land use to human-non-human animal contacts. Livestock agriculture plays a potentially significant role in those risks, shaping landscapes and providing hosts that can act as the source or amplifiers of emergent pathogens. The relative risks will be contingent upon the nature of those systems, with comparisons often made between intensive, indoor, biosecure systems and more extensive, outdoor, insecure systems. Microbiological, ecological and veterinary sciences provide useful entry …

Reflections On Fieldwork In Romania: Subjectivities, Risks, Benefits, And Ethics, Georgeta Stoian Connor

The Geographical Bulletin

Romania, one of the largest and most ruralized Eastern European countries, has a very complex agrarian history: from the traditional free communal villages and serfdom to the communist collective farms, followed by the agricultural alignment to the Common Agricultural Policy. Because the European Union (EU) has had a preconceived vision of what a modern agricultural landscape should look like, when this vision has been implemented within Romania’s agricultural landscape, it has produced deeply contradictory outcomes. In this context, by examining the archive records and information from extended fieldwork in Romania, this study investigates how Romania’s efforts to join the EU …

Recovery Of Microtopography Following Prairie Restoration: Implications For Biodiversity Monitoring, Karli Cich, Scott Powell

The Geographical Bulletin

Tallgrass prairies are often restored from agricultural fields where the natural microtopography has long since been removed. Therefore, our study investigates the degree to which restored prairies recover microtopography. Differences in microtopography were measured using precise elevation data collected from LiDAR to compare differences in microtopography between crop fields, fallow fields, newer restored prairies, and older restored prairies. We also compared plant biodiversity indices between newer and older restored prairies using nested plot vegetation sampling. Our first research question is how microtopography differs between the sites. Our results show that older restored prairies had the most microtopographic variation, followed by …

A Remote Sensing Investigation Of The 2022 Invasion Of Eastern Ukraine On Agricultural Landcover, Michael S. Agbozo, Luke J. Marzen, Chandana Mitra

The Geographical Bulletin

Ukraine-Russian political relations over the years have alternatively experienced periods of tranquility and turmoil with violent conflicts since 1917, including the events of the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the 2022 Russian invasion of the entirety of Ukraine. These conflicts remain developmental threats and their assessment requires multi-perspective analysis. Understanding the spatial dimensions of such conflicts and their consequences on physical and social spaces at varying scales could provide credible scientific impetuses on which targeted post-conflict remediations could be built. This preliminary study therefore takes advantage of the capabilities of satellite remote sensing, to provide quick and effective spatiotemporal analysis …

Mapping And Spatial Analysis To Expand Rural Broadband Access, John C. Kostelnick, Jonathan B. Thayn, Koushik Sinha

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

High-speed broadband internet access is a critically important issue for many aspects of daily life, yet populations in rural areas are often unserved or underserved with reliable internet connectivity. Expanding broadband internet coverage in rural areas may have significant economic potential, especially since it enables precision farming which in turn increases yields, particularly for row crops such as corn and soybeans. This paper introduces methods that utilize GIS spatial analysis and remote sensing to assist in efforts to expand rural broadband access using case study counties in Illinois. Specifically, the methods presented here: (1) quantify current cropland production as well …

Assessment Of Spatial Distribution Patterns And Infestation Risk Over Time Of Spotted Lanterfly (Lycorma Delicatula) In New York State, Alanna Richman

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is an invasive treehopper native to Asia. It was first introduced to Pennsylvania in 2014, and as of 2020 it has expanded to New York state. Their preferred host tree is the invasive tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), but they will feed on over 173 different plants worldwide. Preferred host species in New York state include agricultural vegetation such as grape vines and fruit trees. Positive Spotted Lanternfly site data collected by the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets and iMapInvasives were analyzed using ArcGIS Pro to assess spatial distribution patterns. …

Living Among Wildlife: Elevating Human-Wildlife Interactions And Coexistence, Bridget Rebecca Murphy

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

After a semester of learning, both in class and in nature, my writing honed in further on this human-nature divide. To me, I see humans as part of nature – as we are mammals, animals, part of the food chain, biological beings no higher than others on our planet. We have simply constructed this false narrative around us within our societies, minds and media that embeds this division between us and nature, between us and wildlife. Humans have been managing, stewarding, living off and within landscapes for thousands of years. As time and technology evolved, a lot of people began …

We Built This Country For Free – Using A Phenomenological Approach For (Re) Imagining Mississippi Black Small-Scale Farmers, Destiny Denise Crockett

Theses and Dissertations

By the early 20th century, in 1920, Black farmers owned 14% of US farmland. Today, in the 21st century, Black farmers own less than 2% of US farmland. The demise of Black farmers and Black farmland in US Agriculture is a direct result of social, political, and racial weaponization against their foodways, culture, and livelihoods. The history concerning the plight of Black farmers goes beyond USDA's historical discrimination but enters a position where racism is embedded and perpetuated within the structure of US agriculture. In effect, Black small-scale farmers have reaped the downfall of this system, enduring racial biases and …

Analysis Of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Change Of The West Bank, Palestine, Using Multitemporal Satellite Remote Sensing Data, Ahmed Ghodieh

An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities)

The West Bank is characterized by the diversity of its climate despite its small area. It includes four climatic regions:- a humid, semi-humid, arid, and semi-arid climate. This in turn affected the geographical distribution of vegetation cover seasonally and over the years. This study investigated changes in the West Bank, Palestine vegetation cover using multitemporal Landsat data. Four images were selected for this purpose – two corresponding to 2001 and the other two corresponding to 2021. Seasonal change of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was investigated for the acquired images. ArcGIS 10.8 software was used for image processing and …

Exploring Expansion Of Biogas Energy Production On Homesteads, Small-Scale, And Large-Scale Farms, Morgan Powell

Student Project Reports

No abstract provided.

21st Century Political Agronomy: Between Collapse And Apocalypse In The Capitalist World System, Harrison Raskin

Honors Scholar Theses

Examinations of the causal chain between ecological impacts and food shortages reveal significant impending global disturbances. This paper draws a causal link between ecological impacts and low food productivity which will lead to food insecurity and economic crises in the near term. Further, this paper argues that food insecurity may lead to the collapse of the capitalist world system. This threat is contrasted with “business as usual” climate models which, rather than depicting the collapse of the capitalist world system, depict its persistence throughout the collapse of the world ecology.

Multi-Criteria Evaluation Model For Classifying Marginal Cropland In Nebraska Using Historical Crop Yield And Biophysical Characteristics, Andrew Laws

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Marginal cropland is suboptimal due to historically low and variable productivity and limiting biophysical characteristics. To support future agricultural management and policy decisions in Nebraska, U.S.A, it is important to understand where cropland is marginal for its two most economically important crops: corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max). As corn and soybean are frequently planted in a crop rotation, it is important to consider if there is a relationship with cropland marginality. Based on the current literature, there exists a need for a flexible yet robust methodology for identifying marginal land at different scales, which …

Changes To California Alfalfa Production And Perceptions During The 2011-2017 Drought, Alida A. Cantor, Bethani Turley, Charles Cody Ross, Mathern Glass

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

California experienced a severe multiyear drought stretching from 2011 through 2017, significantly reducing surface water supply for ecosystems, agriculture, and humans and prompting coordinated conservation efforts. Given that agriculture is the largest consumptive use of water in the state, one anticipated response to a severe drought would be to decrease production of low-value, high-water-use crops such as alfalfa. In this article we use a multimethod approach to examine both spatial distribution and public perceptions of alfalfa production in California over the course of the 2011 through 2017 drought. We find that although California alfalfa production did decline at the state …

Probabilistic Tracking Of Annual Cropland Changes Over Large, Complex Agricultural Landscapes Using Google Earth Engine, Sitian Xiong, Priscilla Baltezar, Morgan A. Crowley, Michael Cecil, Stefano C. Crema, Eli Baldwin, Jeffrey A. Cardille, Lyndon Estes

Geography

Cropland expansion is expected to increase across sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries in the next thirty years to meet growing food needs across the continent. These land transformations will have cascading social and ecological impacts that can be monitored using novel Earth observation techniques that produce datasets complementary to national cropland surveys. In this study, we present a flexible Bayesian data synthesis workflow on Google Earth Engine (GEE) that can be used to fuse optical and synthetic aperture radar data and demonstrate its ability to track agricultural change at national scales. We adapted the previously developed Bayesian Updating of Land Cover …

Dietary Power And Self-Determination Among Female Farmers In Burkina Faso: A Proposal For A Food Consumption Agency Metric, Zoe Tkaczyk

Geography Honors Projects

While food security is traditionally defined with four pillars, there are increasing calls for an additional two (agency and sustainability) so that we may more comprehensively conceptualize all dimensions of food security. However, the challenge is that it is difficult to effectively measure agency, a person’s control over their food system. Measuring women’s agency is especially critical in Africa South of the Sahara where women play prominent roles in farming and food preparation. This honors thesis explores the feasibility of creating a metric to measure agency within food systems and gender relations using data related to food security and dietary …

الفاعلون المحليون والضيعات الفلاحية بسوس ماسة ، نحو فاعلين دوليين وضيعات مقاولة, أحمد بلقاضي

Dirassat

Local Actors and Agricultural Estates in Souss-Massa, towards International Actors and Entrepreneurial Estates

This research deals with the efforts of the new generation of investors in the agricultural field in Morocco, especially in Souss-Massa, whether at the level of the internal or external market, the control of non-local producers over the developed export agriculture, the natural environment and the appropriate socio-real estate structure, the climatic conditions of Souss helping to production, as well as the openness Great for new investors to advance technology in the field of production.

الأنشطة الاقتصادية بساحل دكالة جنوب الجديدة: الأدوار والآثار السوسيو اقتصادية والبيئية, إبراهيم مدود, محمد الحنفي

Dirassat

Our present study looks at a region that has been undergoing transformation since the 1980s, following the deterioration of resources, especially water, and the shrinking of agricultural space to the detriment of urbanization and others.

The national agricultural policies of the 70s and 80s favored the expansion of the agricultural sector in our study area, in favor of export production, which the changes at the level of the European Union, hit hard of the area and the future of its functions.