Nature and Society Relations Commons^™

Farmers Markets And Single-Use Plastic: Why Environmentally Conscious Consumers Don’T Bring Reusable Bags, Scott Hardy, Jill Bartolotta

The Journal of Extension

This study looks at the role of Extension in helping local officials reduce plastic bag use at farmers markets in three Lake County, OH communities. We distributed free reusable bags to shoppers and conducted an education and outreach program. We then took observations to determine if the free reusable bags were being used. We also invited shoppers to take a voluntary survey about their environmental attitudes, why or why not they use the reusable bags, and how best to reduce plastic bag use moving forward. Results from the study suggest that supplying free reusable bags at farmer markets is not …

Sustainable Development Among Four–Year Higher Education Institutions In The United States: A Geographic And Anthropological Perspective, Kori Nadine Armstrong

Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the factors that contribute to the cultural characteristics of sustainability among higher education institutions (HEIs) in the United States to shed light on how they represent themselves as sustainable. It documents four-year HEIs in the United States that self-identify as sustainable; evaluates how these institutions portray themselves to society as sustainable; and documents who is leading sustainability on U.S. college campuses. This dissertation fills an important gap in the literature on sustainable development in higher education that Holm and others (2016) have identified. Although education for sustainable development (ESD) has been recognized as an important topic, and …

Using Photovoice To Navigate Social-Ecological Change In Coastal Maine: A Case Study On Visibility, Visuality, And Visual Literacy, Kevin P. Duffy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Media representations of the environment support specific cultures of viewing that can create expectations about how to observe social-ecological interactions in everyday life. While public perceptions may appear, in some cases, to reflect these normative representations, more critical and participatory approaches to environmental research and management have begun to complicate these representations as they are negotiated through intrapersonal, interpersonal, and group communication. Working from a visual cultural approach that interrogates issues of visibility, visuality, and visual literacy, this dissertation theorizes how coastal residents represent their own observations and experiences of environmental change through photography and what impact their views have …

Risk Perception And Response Among International Students Of The University Of Southern Mississippi, Elida Lopes Souza Rocha

Master's Theses

Given the exposure of university campuses to hazards, disaster mitigation is a critical element of higher education policy. Although U.S. higher education institutions are leaders in the global education market, emergency warning systems give little consideration to how international students perceive risk, prepare for hazards, or access warning technologies available to them. This poses several questions regarding the suitability of hazards mitigation practices and the welfare of international students.

This thesis investigates the relationship between USM international students and natural hazards. Responses from online surveys and semi-structured interviews data were analyzed through qualitative and quantitative methods to document the extent …

Forced And Unforced Permafrost Changes In The Northern Hemisphere During 1901-2100, Hong Guo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Permafrost regions are very sensitive to rapid changes in climate and environment. In recent decades, there has been growing interest to better understand the permafrost degradation over the Northern Hemisphere in the context of human-induced climate change. Understanding permafrost dynamics is not only important for infrastructure but also for environmental protection in cold regions. In-situ permafrost measurements are important for assessing permafrost conditions. However, direct permafrost observations are sparse and asymmetrical in both spatial and temporal coverage. Active layer thickness (ALT) modeling is another approach that can overcome many of these limitations, but the models have large uncertainty in predicting …

Nuanced Networks: How Social Relationships And Power Influence Participation In Private Lands Conservation Programs, Ellen Loechner

Geography ETDs

Because the majority of land in the Midwestern United States is privately owned, the responsibility for creating and maintaining space for wildlife conservation falls upon private landowners. Numerous state and federal agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) host private lands conservation programs that offer landowners financial and technical support to complete conservation projects on their property (Echols, Front, and Cummins 2019). While the individual motivations and priorities of a landowner may inform how they use and manage their property, a landowner’s ability to connect with the agricultural and conservation communities may determine if they have the opportunity to participate in these …

Empowering The Human-Nature Bond, Lightning Talk (7 Min), Valeria Widjaja

GIS Day

What is land? Is it dirt, the Earth, property, a resource? But rarely we ask who is land? When we change the question, it changes the way we think about land. It transforms the way we make decisions about how we might protect land. Through the Deshkan Ziibi Conservation Impact Bond, this story map explores how Carolinian Canada, Chippewas of the Thames First Nations, VERGE Capital, Ivey Business School, Thames Talbot Land Trust, and 3M are striving to heal the landscape. Overall, this story map visualizes both the human-nature and human-human relationships being facilitated by the bond. Learn the about …

Actually-Existing Resilience: The Adaptive Actions Of Miami’S Redland Farmers And Potential Pathways For Transformation, Melissa Bernardo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The concept of resilience has been applied to questions surrounding agricultural production and food security in the face of global climate change, gripping the attention of policymakers and scholars alike. In South Florida, the Redland represents a unique, biodiverse farming community of national importance as Florida is second only to California in terms of vegetable production and Miami-Dade is the second highest producing county in the state. With Greater Miami recognized as one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to sea level rise, this vital U.S. agricultural community is placed in doubt. Yet, little research engages directly with …

Monitoring Mammals At Multiple Scales: Case Studies From Carnivore Communities, Kadambari Devarajan

Doctoral Dissertations

Carnivores are distributed widely and threatened by habitat loss, poaching, climate change, and disease. They are considered integral to ecosystem function through their direct and indirect interactions with species at different trophic levels. Given the importance of carnivores, it is of high conservation priority to understand the processes driving carnivore assemblages in different systems. It is thus essential to determine the abiotic and biotic drivers of carnivore community composition at different spatial scales and address the following questions: (i) What factors influence carnivore community composition and diversity? (ii) How do the factors influencing carnivore communities vary across spatial and temporal …

Desire And The Work It Does: Alterity And Exogamy In A Kotiria Origin Myth From The Northwest Amazon Of Brazil, Janet M. Chernela

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

In terms of the pan-Amazonian social paradigm that transforms affines into kin and assimilates them into the consanguineal unit, Eastern Tukanoans must be regarded as exceptional. This paper explores a foundation myth that allows us to better understand relations of self and Other, incest and exogamy, and violence and amity among the Eastern Tukanoan-speaking Kotiria. The narrative provides a heretofore-absent foundation for Tukanoan affinity, revealing complications and nuance in Kotiria notions of alterity and the generative role of Desire in its transformation. It is a synthesis not from nature, but from poesis; not from trust, but from theft; not from …

My Mountain, Your Mountain, Our Mountain: Incorporating Emotional And Sensory Experiences In Mapping Sense Of Place In Mount Hood National Forest, Alicia Ranae Milligan

Dissertations and Theses

Understanding the complex connections humans have with landscapes is necessary for successful land management and planning practices. Only within the last few decades has mapping the values of forest users been used to produce data that can be incorporated into forest planning as a means to better understand social and environmental dynamics. This research used sense of place web mapping coupled with interviews to understand forest users' emotional and sensory experiences within the Mount Hood National Forest and to improve future sense of place mapping research. Two objectives were addressed in this research: 1) develop a typology of individuals' emotions …

Listening For The Voice Of Nature In The City, Ken Boyle

Conference Papers

Nature, as protected habitats/species, is represented and has a voice in the planning system. But most nature in urban environments is ordinary or mundane and lacks a voice in the planning and development process. Cities, the places where more people now live, teem with nature’s wildness. Our relationship with the non-human, particularly during COVID, was vital. This paper examines the need for representation of the voice of ordinary nature in the future development of cities. Using case studies in Dublin city, the hierarchy of ordinary nature, how it speaks to us and its role the city, is considered. By learning …

Vertebrate Scavenger Diversity And Ecosystem Services Along An Elevational Gradient In Central Nepal, Aishwarya Bhattacharjee

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A growing number of studies recognize the ecological significance of vertebrate scavengers, and several species belonging to this diverse, functional guild are of high conservation importance around the globe. Studies on taxonomic and functional components of biodiversity often use elevation gradients to comprehensively examine patterns and drivers across multiple spatial scales. Yet, there are relatively few elevational studies on large vertebrates or multi-taxa guilds, and the related variation of their ecosystem services. In particular, scavenger research has largely focused on local-scale studies or regional/global comparisons of local-scale investigations. Moreover, these studies primarily consider taxonomic community characteristics and the patterns of …

Parkseek Canada, Alyssa O. Aglipay

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

ParkSeek Canada is a pan-Canadian initiative aimed at collecting and disseminating information about the population health impacts of parks, recreational facilities, and protected areas. This infographic gives an overview of the objectives of the study and goes into detail about the current progress of the study which includes discussing the pilot study that recently started and the pickleball and tennis court sub-study that is taking place.

Human-Bear Conflict And Community Perceptions Of Risk In The Zanskar Region, Northern India, Kirti Chavan, Sophie M. Watts, Tsewang Namgail

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus) is an endangered subspecies of brown bear (U. a. spp.) and is found throughout the Himalayan region of south and central Asia. We describe the type of and the current level of human–bear conflict (HBC) with Himalayan brown bears in the Zanskar region of northern India and suggest potential mitigation methods. Between July and September 2018, we interviewed 218 households across the Zanskar region, all of whom had experienced HBC. Participants reported increasing numbers of HBC events in the last 4 years. The most common form of HBC was damage …

Weedy Relations: Narratives Of Invasion And Intimacy With Tamarisk In The Chihuahuan Desert, Shannon S. Pepper

Geography ETDs

Tamarix spp., also known as salt cedar or tamarisk, is a shrub that has garnered a notorious reputation in North America as an invasive plant, with widespread policy and research advocating for its eradication in the Southwest U.S. and Northern Mexico. This study examines both governmental conservation documents and news articles to investigate narrative trends on tamarisk in the Southwestern U.S. and Northern Mexico as a contiguous region (the Chihuahuan Desert), expanding on current research to include transborder effects on the perception and management of introduced species. This paper asks: In the last 25 years, how has the movement, …

Tourism Gentrification In Bali, Indonesia: A Wake-Up Call For Overtourism, I Wayan Suyadnya

Masyarakat, Jurnal Sosiologi

Many tourists destinations experience revitalisation through funding from foreign capital that is brought by gentrification. As a result, tourist areas transform into regions that are friendly toward tourists and investment. Various studies see gentrification as an expression of consumer demand, individual preferences over the law of supply and demand. However, this article argues that tourism gentrification shows a different dynamic, namely driving the significance of tourism growth that supports overtourism. This article focuses on the reason why Balinese do not feel that the phenomenon of gentrification and the development of protests are a part of the symptom of overtourism. Research …

The Embeddedness Of Traditional Economy Transforming Towards An Alternative Economy: A Case Study Of Lumbung Pitih Nagari (Lpn) Limau Manis, West Sumatra, Indah Sari Rahmaini, Arie Sujito

Masyarakat, Jurnal Sosiologi

This article seeks to observe the modernization of economic institutions that were originally working traditionally, into alternative economic institutions that continue to apply the value of locality. Previous studies on LPN Limau Manis only discussed its role in poverty alleviation and the management of its economic organization, but did not provide a comprehensive explanation of the transformation of LPN that combines traditional and modern concepts. This article argues that the institutional modernization of LPN Limau Manis that occurs remains attached to the customary values of the Nagari society. The qualitative method was used to collect data using a case study …

Sentiment Analysis Of Digital Nomad In Indonesia: A Case Study In Bali, Dewi Puspita Rahayu, Ayu Kusumastuti, Wida Ayu Puspitosari

Masyarakat, Jurnal Sosiologi

The digital nomad is a new type of worker who works from a location other than a “traditional office,” with the freedom to choose where and when to work as long as they have good internet access. The presence of digital nomads has an impact on the dynamics or social changes in society. The public’s reaction to the appearance of this digital traveler was mixed. Some people believe that these new ways of working will harm the work system, but many are gradually adopt it. Bali has become one of the strategic locations and is widely used as a destination …

Cleavages And Electoral Support To Islamist Party In Javan Urban Areas: The Case Of Prosperous Justice Party, Andi Rahman Alamsyah

Masyarakat, Jurnal Sosiologi

Several studies have noted that electoral support for one of the Islamist parties in Indonesia, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), is mostly concentrated in urban areas. While I agree with this observation, I found that these studies did not pay adequate attention to the diversity of socio-political conditions in urban areas that contributed to the varying electoral support for PKS. One of these socio-political conditions is what Lipset and Rokkan (1967) conceptualized as cleavages (divisions of society). Based on the results of 2014 and 2019 local parliamentary elections in Javan urban areas, I argue that there are three cleavage patterns …

Бадхызские Архивы. Том 1, Р. И. Горелова, В. Фет

Books Published by MU Libraries in MDS

Gorelova, RI, Fet V, editors. The Badkhyz Archives, Vol. 1. Huntington, WV: Marshall University Libraries; 2021. 444 p.

This volume compiles memoirs and research information about the unique Badkhyz Natural Reserve, now in Turkmenistan, formerly at the southernmost point of the USSR. Established in 1941, the Reserve—nicknamed a Serengeti of Central Asia— housed many unique and endangered species, with an iconic wild ass, or kulan, preserved only there. The book is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Reserve and the 90th birthday of Yuri Gorelov (1931—2018), an extraordinary naturalist who worked in Badkhyz in 1956—1978. His own documentary stories, …

Urban Forests And Their Potential To Combat Food Insecurity: Analyzing Foods From Street Trees In New York City, Ny, Kristen Cooney

Environment and Sustainability Summer Fellows

There is growing recognition that urban forests have the potential to combat food insecurity via their edible parts, namely fruits, berries, and nuts. Many tree species commonly planted in urban spaces have edible parts that may fulfill the nutritional needs of city residents that are food insecure, but no one has analyzed the value of city street trees to understand this potential. I analyzed New York City’s street trees by each species and their edible parts to measure this potential.

Environmental Perception In Colombia's Páramo Protected Areas, Juliana Delgado

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis analyzes the gap between farmers' environmental perceptions in Téquita, a small village in Colombia, and the definition of protected areas has led to a conflict for the use of natural resources. I examine if the protected area's policies have dealt with the social and ecological issues in the páramos and recognized the social construction of the landscape, farmers' identities, and their interpretations about work and land. The case study focuses on Güina High Mountain in the Guantiva-La Rusia páramo complex, which recently the Colombian government declared as a protected area. In light of anthropologist Tim Ingold's meaning of …

Firesafe: Designing For Fire-Resilient Communities In The American West, Brenden Baitch

Masters Theses

The perception that wildfires are completely preventable has caused many structures and communities to be built in locations that will inevitably experience an uncontrollable fire event, risking human lives and infrastructure. Modification of built environments into fire-adapted communities has been explored in this thesis, through multiple strategies. Central to this analysis is the idea that sustainable human developments could adopt a form of biomimicry and indigenous design informed by the adaptions of plants, animals, and native groups that endure and even thrive with regular cycles of fire. This possibility has been assessed through the scope of fire adaptation strategies available …

Geolocation Of Monitoring Wells Using Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Joel Deyoung

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Groundwater monitoring wells are commonly installed on a property as part of an environmental investigation to observe hydrological subsurface conditions, facilitate the collection of groundwater samples, and predict the flow of groundwater across a site. In addition to their installation, monitoring wells should be surveyed or mapped as accurately as possible. Traditional surveying techniques have employed the use of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) technologies or other surveying equipment. A common surveying approach is to use real-time kinematic (RTK) GNSS to accurately measure the coordinates of each monitoring well on the site.In recent years, drones, or small unmanned aircraft systems …

Machine Learning & Big Data Analyses For Wildfire & Air Pollution Incorporating Gis & Google Earth Engine, Abdullah Al Saim

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The climatic condition, the vegetation type, and the landscape of the United States have made it susceptible to wildfires. This research is divided into two parts based on the analysis of two different aspects of wildfires of two distinct regions. The first part of the study investigates the wildfire susceptibility in Arkansas. Arkansas is a natural state, and it is heavily dependent on its forest and agricultural resources. During the last 30 years, more than 1,000 wildfires occurred in Arkansas and caused more than 10,000 acres of burned areas. Therefore, identifying wildfire-susceptible areas is crucial for ensuring sustainable forest and …

Minerva Cuevas: Disidencia, Alaina Claire Feldman, Clayton Press, Solange Farkas, Gabriel Bogossian

Publications and Research

Bilingual catalogue for the exhibition "Minerva Cuevas: Disidencia" presented at Baruch College's Mishkin Gallery.

The Montana Expression 2021: Resident Employment, Relocation, And Outdoor Recreation During Covid-19, Megan Schultz, Carter Bermingham

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report is a summary of Montana residents and their self-reported use of public lands and waterways during 2020 compared to previous years. Data were collected from January 1st to March 31st of 2021. As a result of the pandemic, the number of people participating in outdoor recreation in certain parts of the country increased significantly – Montana being one of those places. Public lands and waterways, like state and federally managed parks, reported record visitation numbers for some months of 2020. In addition, anecdotal reports from public land managers and tourism partners also suggests that the level of use …

Participatory Knowledge Of Motion: Ezhianishinaabebimaadiziyaang Mii Sa Ezhianishinaabeaadisokeyaang. The Way In Which We Live, That Is The Way We Write Stories., Erin E. Huner

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This is a dissertation based upon the Customary Ways Dataset, which is comprised of 50 interviews given by Elders from Walpole Island First Nation, in 2010. The over-arching, community-designed research question that guided this dissertation was: How do the Elders of Walpole Island describe their relationship to the land? To answer this question, I co-designed a mixed-methods analysis that included traditional methods from the Social Sciences, including Grounded Theory, to establish emergent themes, and some simple statistical analysis using Chi-square and crosstab analysis. I also utilized methods closely related to the Humanities, deploying Story Mapping, Close Reading and a …

A Community Of Fear: Emotion And The Hydro-Social Cycle In East Porterville, Michael Egge

Geography Masters Research Papers

Broader governance challenges driving water insecurity globally are well documented in the literature, however the power-laden relationships and emotions that shape water access at the household and community levels are yet to be fully investigated, especially in the context of water consolidation projects. In this article, we examine the role of emotions in mediating access to water and in the production of resource struggles among marginalized communities existing outside of conventional regulatory frameworks. We bring together two relational approaches – the hydro-social cycle and emotional political ecology – to examine water insecurity and how it manifests in the historically disadvantaged …