Geography Commons^™

Don't Rock The Boat: An Analysis Of Boat Mitigation Prior To Hurricane Landfall, Jessica M. Brugh

Theses and Dissertations

Tropical cyclones are one of the most destructive and costly natural hazards in the United States. Boat owners and marinas are uniquely impacted by these devastating events. Boats pose a substantial monetary loss to owners unable to evacuate or mitigate damage prior to hurricane landfall, and the time it takes to secure them may impact a household’s ability to evacuate in a timely manner. The purpose of this study is to examine the physical and social variables that influence an owner’s decision, as well as how this decision affects the household’s ability to evacuate and the timing of that evacuation. …

Leveraging Geotagged Social Media To Monitor Spatial Behavior During Population Movements Triggered By Hurricanes, Yago Martín González

Theses and Dissertations

In a world of increased mobility and interconnectedness, the study of spatial behavior becomes more relevant than ever. However, multiple researchers have highlighted that the understanding of these dynamic processes has reached a bottleneck derived from the rigidity of traditional spatial behavior inquiry methods and the unavailability of trustworthy and relevant information. These difficulties are even more prominent during emergencies and disasters as these events often create scenarios where spatial behavior does not follow regular and logical patterns and where conventional mobility datasets are often skewed or not existent. Thus, many scholars working within the spatial behavior sub-discipline are pursuing …

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Sand Fences On Dunes Impacted By Hurricanes, Michelle Harris

Theses and Dissertations

Erosion is present in over 90% of the world’s coastlines and poses a threat to infrastructure and natural systems. While the coastal zone is a morphologically dynamic environment, a range of engineering practices have evolved to stabilize it. Because the natural dune system serves as the first line of defense against storm activity and rising sea levels, it is often incorporated into restorative engineering practices. One popular and economical option is the utilization of sand fences. This option is readily available to homeowners and managers, with simple installation requirements. Typically measured for their ability to induce short-term dune growth, scant …

Urban Greenway Vegetative Communities And Environmental Drivers In The Southeastern United States, Erika Y. Chin

Theses and Dissertations

Greenways serve as parks or non-motorized transportation routes for urban residents, but as greenspaces they also have the potential to enhance habitat quality and availability. This dissertation examined two aspects of urban greenways: the motivations for establishing greenways and the structure of vegetative communities found within them. Analysis of greenways plans revealed that the provision of natural resources and societal benefits are not promoted equally. In general, social and recreational functions are prioritized in greenway designs, while environmental benefits and services are expected to be inherently and equally possessed by all greenspaces and greenways. Consequently, specific conservation actions (e.g. habitat …

Thousands Forced To Migrate As Sea Swallows Coastal Belt, Jahanzeb Tahir

MSJ Capstone Projects

Pakistan is one those tropical countries that faces a major climate change challenge. People are generally less concerned about the issue but a great effort is required to face this growing threat. Extreme weather events can already be seen. In 2015 more than 2000 people died because of heat wave which heat in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.

Karachi, the Arabian coastal region has area of approximately 3,640 km2. The impact of global warming can be measured in the coastal region as sea levels have risen by approximately 10 centimetres in the last century. The sea levels are expected …

Geographic And Climatic Attributions Of Autumn Land Surface Phenology Spatial Patterns In The Temperate Deciduous Broadleaf Forest Of China, Weiguang Lang, Xiaoqiu Chen, Liang Liang, Shilong Ren, Siwei Qian

Geography Faculty Publications

Autumn vegetation phenology plays a critical role in identifying the end of the growing season and its response to climate change. Using the six vegetation indices retrieved from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer data, we extracted an end date of the growing season (EOS) in the temperate deciduous broadleaf forest (TDBF) area of China. Then, we validated EOS with the ground-observed leaf fall date (LF) of dominant tree species at 27 sites and selected the best vegetation index. Moreover, we analyzed the spatial pattern of EOS based on the best vegetation index and its dependency on geo-location indicators and seasonal temperature/precipitation. …

Measuring And Understanding Food Accessibility In The Tampa Bay Area, Bailey I. Glover

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the Tampa Bay region, increasing population and changing demographics have begun to alter the characteristics of established neighborhoods. An increase in suburban growth has triggered a shift in the location and profitability of food establishments in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods. Supermarket closures have garnered attention from public health officials who are concerned with the overall availability of fresh food throughout Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties. Unfortunately, there has been little research surrounding the quality of food sold at establishments in both the Tampa Bay region and abroad. Instead, many geographic studies have chosen to group both fresh and prepared food establishments …

Biodiversity Of Large Bivalve Mollusks (Mollusca: Unionidae, Corbiсulidae)Of The Reservoirs Of Uzbekistan, Z.I. Izatullayev, Kh.T Boymurodov

Scientific Journal of Samarkand University

The fauna and ecological complexes of large bivalve mollusks of three reservoirs from Central and southern Uzbekistan: Kattakurgan, Chimkurgan and Tallimarzhan were studied.According to the number of species - 10 and ecological complexes of mollusks is the richest, the first two reservoirs, the poor species (6) were Tallimarzhan.The reasons for their distribution in reservoirs are established. These bodies of water are analyzed by morphology, origin, biological type and saprobity.

Habitat Suitability Index Model Of The Florida Sandhill Crane (Grus Canadensis Pratensis) In West-Central Florida, Courtney E. Buck

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Florida Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis pratensis) is a state threatened endemic subspecies of the Sandhill Crane (Nesbitt & Tacha, 1997). With a population that was estimated at a maximum of 5,000 individuals in 2003 (Nesbitt & Hatchitt, 2008), it is imperative to identify potentially viable habitats, as Florida is rapidly developing. This research develops a Habitat Suitability Index model to determine unsuitable to optimally suitable habitat locations throughout west-central Florida. To do so, six suitability variables based on the crane’s life history were evaluated: Potential nesting area, immediate nesting area, wetland coverage, foraging area, brooding area, and road proximity. …

Coral Reef Change Detection In Remote Pacific Islands Using Support Vector Machine Classifiers, Justin J. Gapper, Hesham El-Askary, Erik Linstead, Thomas Piechota

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Despite the abundance of research on coral reef change detection, few studies have been conducted to assess the spatial generalization principles of a live coral cover classifier trained using remote sensing data from multiple locations. The aim of this study is to develop a machine learning classifier for coral dominated benthic cover-type class (CDBCTC) based on ground truth observations and Landsat images, evaluate the performance of this classifier when tested against new data, then deploy the classifier to perform CDBCTC change analysis of multiple locations. The proposed framework includes image calibration, support vector machine (SVM) training and tuning, statistical assessment …

Assessing The Rock Island Community Garden Program, Christian Elliott, Hunter Ridley, Robert Burke, Alexander Disabato, Abby Huffman, Dr. Christopher Strunk

Celebration of Learning

As part of Sustainable Working Landscapes Initiative with Augustana College’s Upper Mississippi Center, students in Urban Design and Environmental Justice (Geography 325) conducted research on Rock Island’s community garden program this fall. The City of Rock Island currently has 21 vacant-lot community gardens and plans to expand the program to 24 gardens in 2019. The purpose of this project was to develop an initial assessment of the community garden program and provide general information about the benefits of urban gardens. Students worked with Dr. Strunk to conduct a survey with current garden program participants and tested soil from 14 gardens …

Rethinking Map Literacy And An Analysis Of Quantitative Map Literacy, Ming Xie

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Maps are increasingly being used in traditional and virtual media, and civic discourse on political, social, and environmental issues, among others, is more and more becoming influenced by them. The often-used expression of a “picture tells a 1000 words” has never been so apt in our progressively more visual world. Despite this increased role and importance of maps, map literacy, as a field of research, remains rather underdeveloped. This is especially so for thematic maps, the very type of map that is finding increasing currency in discourse. As part of this under-developed nature of map literacy, the quantitative skills used …

A Playful Life Cycle Assessment Of The Environmental Impact Of Children's Toys, Madeline R. Robertson, Christie Klimas

DePaul Discoveries

Toys aid in children’s progression through developmental stages, yet toy production has an environmental impact. This study is the first comparative life cycle assessment of three children’s toys. A life cycle assessment quantifies the impact of an item in comparable impact categories (i.e. global warming potential in kg CO2 equivalents). In this study, we use open LCA to compare toy impact from production to use. The results indicate that the plastic polybutylene carried the highest impact in terms of global warming potential for our predominantly plastic toy. The addition of a battery to the plush dog increased the toy’s eutrophication …

Forest Structure, Composition, And Regeneration After High-Severity And Rapidly Repeated Wildfires In The Central Cascade Range, Sebastian Upton Busby

Dissertations and Theses

Within mid-to-high elevation conifer forests in the Cascade Range, wildfire extent, severity, and frequency are expected to rise due to increasingly drier forest fuels under climate change. Considering dominant species composition, existing forests may be poorly adapted to absorb stress and recover following altered wildfire patterns. We tested the hypothesis that increased fire activity may disrupt the recovery of upper-montane and subalpine forest types by quantifying post-fire forest structure and conifer regeneration after spatially large, severe, and rapidly repeated wildfires in the Central Cascade Range. A stratified random sampling design was used to select field plots (n=122) and drivers of …

Wyoming Wildlife: A Natural History, Paul Johnsgard, Thomas D. Mangelsen

Zea E-Books Collection

This book surveys Wyoming’s mammal, bird, reptile, and amphibian faunas. In addition to introducing the state’s geography, geology, climate, and major ecosystems, it provides 65 biological profiles of 72 mammal species, 195 profiles of 196 birds, 9 profiles of 12 reptiles, and 6 profiles of 9 amphibians. There are also species lists of Wyoming’s 117 mammals, 445 birds, 22 reptiles, and 12 amphibians. Also included are descriptions of nearly 50 national and state properties, including parks, forests, preserves, and other public-access natural areas in Wyoming. The book includes a text of more than 150,000 words, nearly 700 references, a glossary …

Politics In The San Clemente Dam Removal, Aylan Matthew Lee

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the role of politics in the removal of the 106-foot tall San Clemente Dam. The removal project and negotiations provide a case study of the contemporary phenomenon of dam removal. My analysis joins a growing body of social science literature on the social, political, and human dimensions of removal. The San Clemente Dam, which impounded the Carmel River near Monterey, California, was removed in 2015, the largest such project completed in California. Drawing on political ecology and science and technology studies, and using a mixed qualitative approach, I assess both the role of politics in shaping the …

Hydrologic Trends And Spatial Relationships Of Stream Temperature And Discharge In Urbanizing Watersheds In The Portland Metropolitan Area Of The Pacific Northwest, Emma Lee Brenneman

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores various relationships of streamflow and stream temperature over the Portland Metropolitan area in two urbanizing watersheds. Four stream temperature and discharge metrics were derived from USGS stream gauges in the Tualatin River and Johnson Creek watersheds and were analyzed for monotonic trends. Additionally, this study explored the sensitivity of stream temperature to air temperature and streamflow to assess where locations throughout the watershed may be more sensitive to these changes. Relationships among stream temperature, air temperature, and streamflow were assessed using linear and nonlinear bivariate regression for yearly values and summer months. Additionally, this study seeks to …

Campus As A Living Lab: Community Centered Environmental Service Learning, Jennifer Braswell Alford

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

During the Fall Quarter of 2018, California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB) students (GEOG 390) partnered with the Inland Empire Resources Conservation District (IERCD) to assists the CSUSB Housing and Residence Life program to develop educational programs aimed at promoting sustainable agriculture and water resource management. The purpose of this initiative was for students to learn how collaborative partnerships and shared expertise and resources can assist with educating the public through environmental stewardship and service based learning activities that collectively aim to reduce human impacts to Earth systems and related resources. This is an important component of supporting campus and …

Public, Private And Tribal Lands In Humboldt And Trinity Counties, Nate A. Douglass

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

This map titled “Public, Private and Tribal Lands in Humboldt and Trinity Counties” was a commissioned project by Dr. Yvonne Everett in the Environmental Science and Management Department at Humboldt State University. The purpose of the map was to depict the overlap in land ownership and native, pre-European territories. The most challenging part of the project was finding a way to successfully represent multiple land ownership layers while also distinctly calling out former aboriginal territories, all in one map. For this, bold dotted lines with soft concentric halos seemed to do the trick. These aboriginal territories were manually digitized from …

Yosemite & Zion National Park, Sean Flemming

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

This map displays exciting color gradients representing the variation of the elevation in both Yosemite and Zion National Parks. It was created utilizing United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Map 3DEP 1/3rd arc-second Digital Elevation Models and Adobe Photoshop.

Hobet Mine Mountaintop Removal, Brian Murphy

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

The Hobet Coal Mine is located in West Virginia, and was an active mining site for 41 years. At the time, it was one of the largest surface coal mines in the United States. The impacts of this particular mine are especially pronounced because of the sheer scale of alteration to the landscape caused by removing the peaks of mountains to retrieve the coal. The once verdant and biodiverse mountains have been obliterated, and when the coal is removed, the remaining earth is filled into nearby valleys, creating a flat plateau. This terrain has been destroyed, poisoned, and exploited by …

Northern Appalachian Land Cover, Joshua Shindelbower

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

This map was created using a combination of GIS, photo editing, and graphic design software after an inspiring road trip through the area. It shows the wide diversity of land cover across the region, and a key weak point in the Appalachian Mountains, known as “The Gaps of the Allegheny,” which allowed European immigrants to move toward fertile land deposited by millions of years of erosion. The reader can see that there is very little unused space in the region. Nearly every non-urban inch of land has been occupied for agricultural purposes, down to the thinnest sliver valleys. This map …

Ball Court Map, Adam Wall

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

This is a composite map of Structure 30 (STR 30), an ancient Mesoamerican ballcourt in Belize, excavated and documented as an archaeological site by Humboldt State University students and alumni. Each demarcated square or rectangle corresponds to a separate excavation map; field notes were consolidated and digitized individually, then pieced together based on alignment and overlaid atop an outline of the entire structure. Satellite imagery of the site was used as a reference to ensure accuracy. By this method, the previously isolated pockets of data, inherent to individual field notes, instead become parts of a greater whole, allowing a fuller …

Dos Hambres To Gran Cacao Archaeological Mapping, Michael Mcdermott

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

This map displays the spatial relationships and distribution of residential features throughout a portion of the Maya hinterlands near the site of Dos Hombres in Northwest Belize. Combining high resolution LiDAR data with detailed archaeology field data has allowed for accurate mapping of the features in this Mayan landscape. A unique aspect of this particular site is the presence of a causeway or “sacbe” which was used by the ancient Mayan people to distribute resources and move throughout their environment. The background terrain was created by manipulating the LiDAR data to generate a unique visualization that displays the human modified …

The Southern California Coast, Gilbert Trejo

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

The purpose of this map was to create a landscape view of my home region of Southern California that adequately displayed the complexity of it’s natural and man-made terrain. One of the challenges I faced was the amount of labeling in the greater Los Angeles (LA) area. I decided to not include any city borders because moving around LA feels more like moving across various neighborhoods and regions than crossing from one city to another. Slanting the text provided more space without making it too difficult to read. The orientation creates a more interesting layout than the usual north-up orientation, …

Salmon Of The Klamath, Melissa Collin

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

The Klamath is a diverse bioregion widely known for its abundant population of salmon. It extends through the states of Oregon and California, and has a drainage basin of over 15,000 square miles that flows into the Klamath River. The three most prevalent species of salmon in the region (Coho, Steelhead, and Chinook) have all experienced sharp declines in populations since the mid-20th century. This is due to human activity such as commercial fishing, logging, dams, and urban development that has altered the salmon’s historic migration. This map aims to visualize the various waterways and water bodies that flow throughout …

Conflicts On The Klamath, Massimo Lambert-Mullen, Hop Norris

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

Conflicts on the Klamath is a collaboration between Massimo Lambert-Mullen, a Humboldt State University Geography alumnus, and Hop Norris, a local artist, activist, and water protector based out of Crescent City, California. The inspiration behind this infographic is the complex and rich contemporary history of the Klamath river, including the establishment of reservations and the construction of dams, roads, and monuments that disrupt the flow of salmon and disrespect sacred sites. It is a politically motivated piece that means to convey the cultural and ecological importance of salmon and criticize government and settler actions to disenfranchise local Yurok, Hoopa, and …

Historic Landmarks And Points Of Interest In Mendocino Ca, Jeremy Mcfarland

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

The Earth’s ocean ties all people together in more ways than one. For centuries, people have been drawn to the ocean for its vast openness and array of resources. Maritime heritage is the protection and preservation of humankind’s past and century old stories of cultures’ use of the ocean. By understanding individual connections to the ocean, more may be inspired to care for it. This map was developed to visualize the unique transition between land and sea, and capture the historic connection of this seascape town.

Book Review, Stanton Morse

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

Overall, Making Spatial Decisions Using ArcGIS Pro: a Workbook is an excellent text for college-level students who have had a formalized introduction to ArcGIS Pro. The authors expertly provide an expansive list of methods and applicable knowledge yet to be had from previous versions. Surely, the text is not perfect, but what it lacks can be remedied by knowledgeable instruction. Kathryn Keranen and Robert Kolvoord succeed in offering a new lens to view the bright future of ArcGIS Pro to those of us still reluctant to entirely switch.

Cartographies Of Debt: Auto Title Loans And Spatial Inequality, Michihiro C. Sugata

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

Despite being a decade removed from the 2008 Financial Crisis, an alarming number of Americans are turning to alternative finance service providers (AFSP) for “short term” loans. These loans typically carry triple digit interest rates and can contribute to exacerbating the financial precarity of the borrowers. This article investigates the relationship between the spatial distribution of the AFSP industry and considers the impacts of this saturated presence on the individuals who live in these neighborhoods. Using the Phoenix metropolitan area as a site of exploration, I examine where the industry has pooled and look at the descriptive characteristics of those …