Geography Commons^™

Gendered Recreational Fisheries Management And North American Natural Resource Policy, Erin Burkett

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dissertation applies feminist theory to investigate women’s participation in wildlife-based recreation and how natural resource management organizations conduct stakeholder engagement in a North American context. Gendered social processes, including norms and expectations, as well as gendered cultures, can constrain women’s participation in recreation through social sanctions and disenfranchisement. Gender and leisure scholars have studied these dynamics in sport and leisure contexts, but how individuals negotiate these constraints is understudied in a wildlife-based recreation context. Social constructions of gender also contribute to imbalances of power within formal natural resource management organizations and influence how stakeholder engagement policies and programs are …

[Introduction To] Collateral Values: The Natural Capital Created By Landscapes Of War., Todd R. Lookingbill, Peter D. Smallwood

Bookshelf

This book explores the unanticipated benefits that may arise after wars and conflicts, showing how the preservation of battlefields and the establishment of borderlands can create natural capital in the former landscapes of war. The editors call this Collateral Value, in contrast to the collateral damage that war inflicts upon infrastructure, natural capital, and human capital. The book includes case studies recounting successes and failures, opportunities and risks, and ambitious proposals.

The book is organized in two sections. The first visits U.S., English, and French battlefield sites dating from medieval England to World War I. The second explores borderlands located …

The Erosion Of Democracy: Gerrymandering In The United States, Matthew P. Ruiz

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Every ten years in the United States, we redraw our congressional districts that elect the 435 members of the House of Representatives after the decennial census data has been collected and organized. Politicians around the country have taken to using these map revisions for their party’s own political gains and have been doing so since the time even before the United States Constitution was ratified. This process where politicians draw district lines to favor their own party and expand their political power is called gerrymandering (Trickey, 2017). The purpose of this mixed method study is to understand the impact gerrymandering …

Analysis Of A Paleoglacier Reconstruction Model For Valley Glaciers Of The Wind River Range, Wyoming, Taylor Rae Garton

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Various approaches, ranging from in-field morphological reconstructions to more technology-based modelling practices allow us to reconstruct and understand the long-term geomorphic evolution of landscapes. The study of paleo-environments by reconstruction can also give us profound insight into paleo-climate. A new model, GlaRe (Glacial Reconstruction), has been introduced into the alpine glacier modeling community to facilitate glacier reconstruction. In this research the mathematical equations representing the basal shear stress parameter are tested to determine the applicability of the GlaRe model to alpine glaciers in the American West. Known ages and extents of past glacier advances were used to test the reconstructions …

Policy, Plans And Processes For Developing And Improving The Use Of Hazard Maps In Climate Change Adaptation For Yukon Communities, Stephanie Pike

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Climate change has quickly become one of the most commonly discussed topics in northern Canada. Communities located in Canada’s north are facing impacts to every aspect of life. Hazard mapping is one of the tools used to predict risk from climate change impacts and thus assist communities in adaptation planning. The Northern Climate ExChange in Yukon has developed hazard maps for seven communities across Yukon. While hazard maps are a useful tool, in order for them to reach their maximum potential, users need to be well educated and trained to use them. Capacity and communication are arguably the most significant …

Does Perceived Ecological Integrity Affect Restorative Health Outcomes? An Examination Of Visitor Experiences In Diverse Environments In An Ontario Protected Area, Catherine E. Reining

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The human health and well-being benefits associated with nature contact is well established. Parks and other forms of protected areas contribute significantly to these benefits by providing access to nature. However, limited research has been done on how different environments within protected areas (e.g., forests, coasts, areas being restored) and the perceived quality (i.e., ecological integrity) of these environments affect the health and well-being outcomes of visitors. This study builds on previous work to better understand how visitor experiences provided by diverse natural and built environments in Pinery Provincial Park affect perceived restorative outcomes as one aspect of health and …

The Geography Of Crime: Placing Geographers In The Space Of Criminologists, Anthony Wv Piscitelli

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Geography of Crime consists of five articles. The first article, Exploring opportunities for geographers to explain the spatial distribution of crime, serves as a key conceptual link between each of the other four articles. This paper provides a broad introduction to the dissertation showing what gaps in the crime literature exist, especially those ripe for analysis by geographers. Three primary directions emerged as a focus of this dissertation: overarching theoretical contributions, specialized geographic quantitative techniques, and qualitative approaches centred on the concept of place.

The second article, Connecting social disorganization theory to broken windows and routine activities proposes …

Border Disorder: 'Irregular Bangladeshis', Xenophobia And Crimmigration Control In India, Sujata Ramachandran

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In India, the crisis of migration tied to the entry, presence and assimilation of the so-called ‘irregular’, ‘illegal Bangladeshi migrants’ is now an undisputed reality, seemingly affecting all geographical areas located within the national territories in multiple adverse ways. A decidedly strident xenophobic rhetoric attaches the presence of such migrants in an indiscriminate fashion to unending anxieties and urgent problems, whilst constantly drawing attention to the inefficacies of immigration enforcement and deficiencies of (interior and exterior) borders controls. This dissertation addresses key moments in the making and deepening of this national crisis and its management by state authorities over the …

Refugees From Syria Caught Between War And Borders: A Journey Towards Protection, Maissaa Almustafa

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation examines the global crisis of protection through the lens of the Syrian refugee crisis and the particular experiences of refugees’ journeys to Sweden.

In doing so, the dissertation challenges the dominant narratives that represent refugees either as victims who deserve aid in their regions, or as threats when they exert their agency and journey towards the global north. In the same vein, the dissertation problematizes the dominant narrative of the “European crisis of migration” and proposes that the “unauthorized” arrivals of refugees in Europe are reflections of a global crisis of protection, a crisis that develops as a …

The Social Construction Of A Disaster Typology To Enhance Operational Emergency Planning For K-8 Public Schools In Southern Ontario, Patricia Martel

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation outlines the development of a disaster typology that could be used as a tool for developing operational emergency plans for K-8 public schools with the potential to be applied more generally to other facilities that host vulnerable groups. The theoretical framework used to inform this study is the theory of the social construction of disasters. This theory conceptualizes disasters as being the result of the interaction between social factors, such as risk perception and vulnerability, and the hazards.The author of this dissertation is an emergency management practitioner and brought a perspective informed by both theory and practice of …

The Legitimation & Networked Unification Of #Nodapl: Diverse Discourses Of Value Validate A Collective Identity, Jacqueline Marie Ouellette

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

NoDAPL was, first and foremost, an Indigenous-led resistance against the construction of a pipeline in North Dakota. It was also a movement that built solidarity, bridging networks between international Indigenous peoples, Black Lives Matter activists, veterans, and feminists. This discourse analysis of social media and digital texts addresses the networked publics, collective identities, social capital, and intersectionality in applying Van Leeuwen’s (2007) understanding of legitimation. In doing so, the practice of reproducing and extending the values, themes, and images of various algorithmic imaginaries will be explored, as they relate to network homophily, identity construction, and mobilization. This study will argue …

Holocene Fire History Reconstruction Of A Mid-Evaluation Mixed-Conifer Forest In The Eastern Cascades, Washington, Zoe Rushton

All Master's Theses

Fire histories of mid-elevation mixed-conifer forests (MEMC) are uncommon, particularly in the eastern Cascades of Washington. As a result, fire regimes and the effects of 20th century fire suppression in these forests are not well understood. In the summer of 2014 a 7.80 meter-long sediment core was extracted from Long Lake, located approximately 45 km west of Yakima, WA, which exists in a grand fir-dominated mixed-conifer forest. Fire activity for the Long Lake watershed was reconstructed using macroscopic charcoal analysis and pollen analysis was used to reconstruct vegetation change through time. Charcoal results show low fire activity in the early …

Terminal Illness: The Political Ecology And Political Economy Of The Millennium Bulk Coal Export Terminal, Longview, Wa, Paige Mcnorvell

All Master's Theses

The declining demand for coal in the United States (U.S. Energy Information Administration [EIA] 2016) has led to a push by the coal industry for the construction of export terminals in the Pacific Northwest that would supply coal from the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming to Asia. Though none of the proposed terminals have been approved for construction, the Millennium Bulk Coal Export Terminal in Longview, Washington remains a potentially viable option pending decisions in state and federal courts. In this thesis, I critically analyze the Millennium Bulk Terminal permitting process through a mixed-methods qualitative approach that uses …

Rock Imagery: A Cultural Landscape Analysis In The Yakima Uplands, Jessica Eliana Delgado-Morris

All Master's Theses

This thesis evaluates the history of rock imagery documentation and the ways it can be improved moving forward. This study also explores the potentials of using viewshed analysis to examine the cultural landscape. The documentation and locational analysis support recommendations for future study and protection of rock image sites. There are currently twelve known rock imagery sites at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord - Yakima Training Center (YTC). Most of these sites have not been assessed for changes in integrity or damages in over twenty years. Prior documentation efforts have produced site forms with varying degrees of accuracy and completeness. During …

New Materialism: An Ontology For The Anthropocene, Melinda Harm Benson

Natural Resources Journal

This article argues that the Anthropocene is not simply a new geologic epoch; it is an opportunity to embrace a new ontology. In it, we can reconfigure our orientation to the material world. The current, dominant ontology casts humans as villains responsible for mass extinctions, polluted oceans, and climate change. This ontology reinforces a familiar binary—one in which humans are separate from and doing things to nature. Humans are ruining the planet, causing it to fundamentally change in ways that are not “natural” precisely because humans are the agent of change. This view is perhaps best described by environmentalist Bill …

Mapa De Territorios Indígenas Y Diversidad Cultural En Las Fronteras Amazónicas Ucayali Y Madre De Dios (Perú) Y Acre (Brasil), Gtaso, David S. Salisbury Et Al.

Geography and the Environment Maps

Mapa de Territorios Indígenas y Diversidad Cultural en las Fronteras Amazónicas Ucayali y Madre de Dios (Perú) y Acre (Brasil)

Map of Indigenous Territories and Cultural Diversity in the Amazonian Borders Ucayali and Madre de Dios (Peru) and Acre (Brazil)

Geospatial Analysis Of Care And Mortality In The 2014 Liberia Ebola Outbreak, Marion Carlton Kinkade

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014 to 2016 had more than 28,000 suspected, probable, and confirmed cases. It was the largest Ebola outbreak in history. Of the 28,000 cases in the three Ebola-affected countries, Liberia had 10,000 cases with almost 5,000 deaths. The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) entered Liberia along the border of Guinea and moved to the capital city of Monrovia where the virus spread. Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs) were constructed throughout the response in locations where there were available facilities versus distance to care challenges. This study examined the association of distance from villages to ETUs …

Senior Editor In Chief's Note, Kenneth D. Colburn

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

No abstract provided.

Natural Disaster, Crime, And Narratives Of Disorder: The 1861 Mendoza Earthquake And Argentina’S Ruptured Social And Political Faults, Quinn P. Dauer

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Social scientists studying natural disasters have generally found an absence of panic, a decrease in crime, and survivors working together to find basic necessities in the days and weeks after a catastrophe. By contrast, political and military authorities implement measures such as martial law to prevent chaos and lawlessness threatening private property. The media amplifies narratives of disorder, creating the perception of uncontrolled masses wantonly committing crimes in a disaster’s aftermath. Historians study natural disasters to view political, social, economic, and cultural structures stripped of their everyday veneer. The 1861 earthquake that destroyed the provincial capital of Mendoza in western …

Effects Of Cisnormative Beauty Standards On Transgender Women’S Perceptions And Expressions Of Beauty, Delmira Monteiro, Mixalis Poulakis

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

The authors conducted a qualitative study exploring the effects of cisnormative beauty standards on transgender women’s perceptions and expressions of beauty. Twelve self-identified Caucasian transgender women completed a semistructured interview that provided descriptive data related to the women’s perceptions of societal beauty standards. Analysis of the data revealed the following primary themes: Participants viewed the beauty of transgender and cisgender women as diverse or as encompassing a broad range of variability; societal beauty standards were influential on participants’ expressions of beauty; and participants’ viewed out-group transphobia as a factor contributing to discriminatory and prejudicial perceptions of transwomen’s beauty.

“But I Only Wanted Them To Conform”: A Detailed Look Into The Initial Cohort Of Girls At The Indiana Reformatory Institution For Women And Girls Between 1873 And 1884, Molly Whitted, Michelle Williams

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

For the past four years, as part of a group of currently and formerly incarcerated scholars, we have researched the “inmates” and staff at the Indiana Women’s Prison during the institution’s first decade. Then known as the Indiana Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls, the facility was located near downtown Indianapolis on Randolph and Michigan Street. We focused on a key constituent of the Indiana Reformatory for Women and Girls: the girls themselves, heretofore voiceless and uninvestigated.

Our primary sources include the annual reports of the reformatory and the original registries for the girls during the survey period of 1873–1884. …

Citizen Initiative To Improve Local Government Ethics: Northwest Indiana Experience, Calvin Bellamy

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

After more than 50 years of widespread public corruption in Northwest Indiana, a small group of citizens and public officials met over a period of several months and developed a largely voluntary response. The result was the Shared Ethics Advisory Commission, which trains public employees on ethical decision making, provides specialized training for department heads and board and commission members, and hosts an annual ethics summit for the general public. Periodic employee ethics surveys indicate a positive effect of the training. In addition, the commission has developed a Candidate Ethics Action Pledge administered in each local election cycle, and a …

Measures Of Challenging And Excitatory Parenting Behavior As Predictors Of Later Child Self-Regulation, Zachary Havlin

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Challenging and excitatory parenting behaviors play an important role in children’s development, particularly in regard to the development of selfregulation; however, no well-established measures of parent-child interactions exist that record such behaviors. In the current study, I compare two recently developed coding systems that intend to address this issue: the Risky Interaction Support and Challenging (RISC) and Marbach coding systems. A subset of videos from the New Parents Project (NPP) data set at 12 and 18 months was coded using both scales, then a factor analysis was conducted for each scale. Regressions were conducted to look at the predictive power …

Antidiscrimination Ordinances In Northwest Indiana: An Event-History Analysis Of Municipal Policies Since 1992, James Paul Old, Kimberly Palmer Fields

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

In recent years, municipalities throughout Indiana have passed antidiscrimination ordinances that protect the rights of individuals who belong to racial, ethnic, or sexual minorities. Political scientists have proposed competing theories of policy-adoption processes that suggest a number of internal factors (such as socioeconomic characteristics, governmental capacity, or issue salience) or external factors (such as mandates/incentives from higher-level governments or influence from neighboring communities) as predictors of policy adoption; however, most existing studies focus on state-level processes, and those that focus on municipalities consider only large cities in different states. To more clearly distinguish between state-level effects and local effects, this …

Carnivore-Livestock Conflicts In Chile: Evidence And Methods For Mitigation, Valeska Rodriguez, Daniela A. Poo-Muñoz, Luis E. Escobar, Francisca Astorga, Gonzalo Medina-Vogel

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Human population growth and habitat loss have exacerbated human–wildlife conflicts worldwide. We explored trends in human–wildlife conflicts (HWCs) in Chile using scientific and official reports to identify areas and species with higher risk of conflicts and tools available for their prevention and mitigation. The puma (Puma concolor) was considered the most frequent predator; however, fox (Lycalopex spp.) and free-ranging or feral dog (Canis lupus familiaris) attacks were also common. Our results suggest that the magnitude of puma conflicts may be overestimated. Domestic sheep (Ovis spp.) and poultry (Galliformes) were the most common species predated. …

Richwood, West Virginia After The 2016 Flood: Place, Devastation, And Hope In An Appalachian Community, Christine Elizabeth Witt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

How does a community cope with a crisis that threatens its identity or even its existence? This is the question facing the town of Richwood, West Virginia, after a devastating flood that impacted much of the town in 2016. Some of the consequences of the 2016 flood were the loss of the high school building, followed by difficulties receiving the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) money to rebuild the school, and a loss of additional FEMA money for other critical issues due to alleged corruption. How do community residents cope emotionally with devastation? How do they understand the causes of …

West Virginia Waterscapes: Surface And Mineral Owners’ Perspectives On Groundwater Contamination Due To Natural Gas Extraction, Bethani Turley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the past decade, northwest West Virginia has experienced increasing natural gas extraction from the Marcellus shale. Because water usage for natural gas extraction is high and increasing, there has been a proliferation of concerns about gas extraction’s impacts on surface and groundwaters, especially how hydraulic fracturing and drilling impacts residents’ access to safe household well water. This issue is particularly salient in rural West Virginia, where many residents rely on groundwater wells for household uses. This thesis, based on 30 in-depth interviews with surface and mineral owners, explores resident perspectives and lived experience of natural gas extraction’s impacts on …

Gis Analysis Of The Mid-Nineteenth Century Emigration Of The Old Lutherans From Prussia, Joel Seewald

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The Old Lutherans constituted fewer than 20% of the Germans who emigrated from Prussia between 1835 and 1854. In this study, more than 483 cities and villages of origin of 6,911 Old Lutherans were mapped. These origins were in the central provinces of Brandenburg, Pomerania, Posen, Saxony, and Silesia. More emigrants came from Pomerania overall and during every time period except 1849-54. The areas with the most emigrants were north central Pomerania, northern Brandenburg, southeast Brandenburg, and western Silesia. Emigrant destinations were primarily America and Australia. American destinations included New York, Wisconsin, and Texas, but the state that many went …

Whitewater Ecotourism Development In Bhutan: Opportunities And Challenges For Local Communities, Kira E. Tenney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Whitewater raft and kayak ecotourism can provide environmental, social-cultural, and economic benefits and opportunities to local communities, but can also result in respective challenges. Globally, adventure ecotourism is seen as a potent win-win strategy for conservation and local community development; however, there is a significant proportion of adventure and whitewater tourism that do not meet ecotourism tenets, and there is a call for incorporating greater investment in local community involvement. Whitewater ecotourism is particularly significant because of the unique opportunities and challenges associated with rivers, the resource upon which the industry directly depends. Clean, free-flowing rivers provide a range of …

Understanding Tourism Within A Social-Ecological System: Ometepe Island, Nicaragua, Chelsea Leigh Leven

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Tourism endures as a major component of development strategies worldwide, despite a dearth of documented successes. Tourism failures arise in part from simplistic and reductionist approaches to sustainability and tourism. Successfully implementing tourism to support sustainable futures requires, at a minimum, a more holistic and complex conceptualization than tourism currently receives, including recognition of how human values shape a system. To achieve a more complex understanding of tourism, I analyzed tourism through a social-ecological system (SES) perspective using the paradigm of resilience thinking. Through a case study in Ometepe, Nicaragua, my research considered opportunities for tourism contributions to sustainable futures …