Physical and Environmental Geography Commons^™

Rivers Of Steel: The Economic Development Of Seattle During The Rail Age, 1870-1920, Neil T. Loehlein

Geography Masters Research Papers

The Pacific Northwest experienced massive urban development and growth in population from 1870 to 1920. The railroad was a key factor contributing to the influx of people and expansion of the built environment. The rival port towns around the Washington Territory’s Puget Sound all strove to become the dominant center of trade. As the pattern of railroads expanded, this new mode of transportation would have a significant effect on which ports would prosper and which would languish. This paper will show that the rail network that developed between 1873 and 1893 would come to favor Seattle at a critical point …

The Primacy Of Context: An Exploration Into The Causes Of Food Insecurity In Kitere, Kenya., William O. Aludo

Capstone Collection

The purpose of this study was to explore the specific reasons why households in Kitere village, Kenya experience persistent food insecurity every year while the region enjoys the advantage of two planting/harvest seasons in a year. Kitere village lies within the lakeside region of Nyanza Province in Kenya, generally considered to be one of the more agriculturally productive parts of the country. The Participatory Rural Appraisal method was employed to gather qualitative data on the causes of food insecurity in Kitere village. The data sources were focus groups and a self-administered, one-time survey of random and non-random samples of key …

Early Humboldtian Influences On Alfred Russel Wallace's Scheme Of Nature [Presented At The Alfred Russel Wallace And His Legacy Royal Society Of London Meeting, 21 October 2013], Charles H. Smith

DLPS Faculty Publications

Alfred Russel Wallace’s 1858 Ternate paper on natural selection is a famous work in the history of science. Beyond his co-discovery of the principle, moreover, Wallace is known for a large number of early applications of the idea, both to biological and biogeographical subjects. Yet how much do we really know about Wallace’s own evolution of thought, and his actual intentions before his views were swallowed up by the inertia of Darwin’s revolution? A number of differences between Wallace’s and Darwin’s views are apparent and have been much treated over the years, but related discussions dwell more on effects than …

The Value Of Proximity To External Amenities And Mountain Views In The Metropolitan Denver Residential Housing Market, Tabatha Rose Waldron

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

This research examines how natural amenities, such as views of Colorado’s Front Range mountains and proximity to lakes, parks and recreational areas, as well as proximity to community amenities such as hospitals, active wastewater treatment plants, fire and a police stations impact residential housing prices in Adams, Arapahoe and Denver Counties using a hedonic pricing model. Views of the mountains produced the most impact on home sale value in 2000 followed by proximity to a lake of 250 feet. These results demonstrate the importance of environmental amenities to single-family home buyers and can be used to inform parties involved in …

The Human Face Of Permanent Climate-Induced Displacement, Alaina Umbach

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

Climate change is predicted to lead to mass displacement, since the land where millions of people currently live will be, at some point, covered with water. For some populations, this will mean to be permanently displaced to a different country because the territory that their sovereign nations occupy will disappear. The most well‐known cases involve the citizens of Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tuvalu, and the Maldives. As the negative impact of climate change becomes clearer and closer in time, policy solutions to this problem are discussed. In this paper, I look at previous cases of populations’ displacement to identify policy lessons that …

Perception Of Disease Risk And Vulnerability As A Function Of Proximity To National Park Boundaries In East Africa, Irene Bridget Feretti

Honors Theses and Capstones

Studies suggest households closest to parks and protected areas (PAs) are more likely to sustain park-related losses, but the relationship between human sickness and PAs has not been fully explored. Existing literature primarily focuses on human-wildlife conflicts (i.e. crop raiding) and the potential for zoonotic disease spillover and emergence at the human-livestock-wildlife interface at PA boundaries. Understanding local perceptions of disease risk and vulnerability is essential for assessing human health relative to conservation areas. This understanding will promote better-informed consideration of human health impacts in decision making for conservation. Data from surveys taken at 301 households around Kibale National Park …

An Environmental And Historical Study Of The Nipomo Mesa Region, Jason C. Carr

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Factors Influencing The Capacity Of Communities To Respond To Coastal Erosion In The Upper Gulf Of Thailand, Chatchai Intatha

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Local communities must have a capacity to ameliorate coastal erosion impacts. Since coastal erosion operates over long time frames, understanding this capacity, or the abilities of communities to respond to the impacts and recover to maintain community functions, requires analysis of the past and the present. This study explores factors which influence the capacity of communities to respond to coastal erosion and conversely how exposure to coastal erosion itself affects community capacity.

Mixed methods research was used to investigate the views of respondents in seven coastal villages in the upper Gulf of Thailand, three from an area that has experienced …

Analyzing The Foodshed: Toward A More Comprehensive Foodshed Analysis, Meara Butler

Geography Masters Research Papers

Foodshed Analysis is a tool used by researchers to measure the feasibility of providing more local food to a community. That there are economic, environmental, and societal benefits provided by eating locally produced food is a central assumption of Foodshed Analysis research. These benefits, however, are not inherent to a localized food system, but instead are goals that local food system participants must work to achieve. Foodshed Analysis may be a helpful tool that can be used to advise food system reform to the benefit of a community’s economy, environment, and society, but, in order for this tool to be …

Climate Change And The Spread Of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, Courtney B. Reed

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Agriculture, Charlene Mills

Social Sciences

This paper is about sustainable agriculture and how we can strive to achieve it. It discusses what is wrong with our food system today and how we can go about changing that. It incorporates Geography and Anthropology while discussing different issues around the world.

Making Lives, Changing A Landscape: An Environmental History Of The Tualatin Valley, Washington County, Oregon, Camille A. Cope

Geography Masters Research Papers

Sheltered by mountains on all sides, the 724-square mile Tualatin Valley has been home to successive groups of people who have shaped the landscape based on their needs, tools, and ideas about the human relationship to nature. Thousands of years of indigenous burning practices and cultivation of native plants, followed by two centuries of European-American fur trapping, agriculture, logging, and urbanization have created the Tualatin Valley landscape of today. Understanding how a history of changing land use has affected the region is integral to building an environmentally sustainable future.

The Temporal And Spatial Connectivity Of The Gambles Mill Corridor, Richmond, Va, R.M. Price, K. Billups, S. Bodner, M. Burbank, L. Cohan, S. Elliott, C. Landesberg, G. Leonard, J. Marconi, M. Mcgovern, J. Petrosino, A. Phadke, C. Phelan, A. Purdy, David S. Salisbury

Geography and the Environment Poster Presentations

The City of Richmond and the Virginia Department of Transportation proposed to rehabilitate the Gambles Mill Trail connecting the University of Richmond (UR) to the intersection of Huguenot and River Road. Planners envision this trail as a sustainable model for the reduction of nutrient and sediment flow and as a vital path in a city-wide network of bike and pedestrian trails. Meanwhile, UR also proposes to rehabilitate the corridor in their new Master Plan. Nevertheless, until now, no substantive studies exist on the trail or the corridor linking the trail to the south side of the James River through the …

Review Of Hard Grass: Life On The Crazy Woman Bison Ranch. By Mary Zeiss Stange, Linda M. Hasselstrom

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Twenty years ago, Stange and her husband traded a modest New Jersey house for seven square miles of overgrazed prairie and set out to right the wrongs done to a place that had been mismanaged ecologically as well as environmentally. The restoration begins disastrously with llamas before it proceeds to success with bison. Her narration includes her own experiences, but most of her essays are serious, in-depth studies of the broader topics that constitute life in the great grasslands spreading across the interior of the country. She begins with prehistory, analyzing the evolution of both plants and animals in the …

Invisible Occupation: Indigenous Natural Resource Management In The Peruvian Amazon, Aleah Goldin, David S. Salisbury, James Águila Soria, Raquel Espinosa Linares, Enzo Pinedo Ramírez, Luís Rosero Flores, Miguel Núnez Sánchez, Gerardo Cavero Oroche, Jorge Vela Alvarado, Oscar Barreto Vásquez, Giraldo Almeida Villanueva, Carlos Pérez Alván

Geography and the Environment Poster Presentations

On June 5th 2009, an estimated thirty people died in a clash between governmental authorities and indigenous people near Bagua, Peru. Termed the "Bagua Massacre," this event underscores the marginalized role of Indigenous Amazonians when confronting multinational commercial interests supported by the state (Shepard, 2009). The indigenous people were protesting the “Law of the Jungle,” Decree 1090, a 2009 decree assuming heavily-forested indigenous lands idle and unproductive, and providing the legal basis to privatize comunally-held forests to facilitate petroleum, biofuel, hydroelectric and logging projects. Since contact, the assumption of indigenous people unproductively managing their forested homelands has fueled colonization, deforestation, …

A Literary Analysis And Case Study Evaluation Of The Environmental, Cultural, And Economic Impacts Of Ecotourism, Ashley M. Driver

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Environmental Refugees, Katie L. Peters

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Model Lessons To Use With The Student Atlas Of Oregon, Jane Bennett, Marilyn Soares, Zack James, Robert Wegner, Misty Connor, Elaine Nelson, Kerrie O'Brien, Heidi King, Elli Sussman, Kayla Mooney, Amanda Perrigo, Megan Wiltermood, Magda Abarca, Jonalee Vercher, Kaila Lamarche, Jason Manring, Kenneth Prowse, Aimee Saddler, Nick Clawson, Tony Ramos, Joyce Coskey, Katie Willey, Pam Salmons, Theresa Egan, Dezire Clarke, Beth Essex, Mark S. Walls, Erin Rhodes, Brianna Kibby, Margarita Herrera, Brittney Byrne, Courtney Shimabuku, Chrisa Collins, Brenda Victorio, Jacy Nerz, Mary Cordle, Katherine Bodi

Instructional Materials

Model lessons for teachers to use with The Student Atlas of Oregon.

The Geography Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Within Urban Areas Of India, Jochen Albrecht, Peter Marcotullio, Andrea Sarzynski

Publications and Research

This paper examines the patterns of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from urban areas in India—a rapidly growing and urbanizing nation. It uses a new dataset, Emission Dataset for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) to estimate the urban share of national GHG emissions. It presents a geographic picture of emission variation by urban form (urban population size, area size, density, and growth rate), and economic (GDP and GDP per capita), geographic (location of emissions released: 20, 40, and 80 km from urban areas), and biophysical (ecosystem and climate: cooling degree days) characteristics. Dependent variables include emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), …

El Atlas De Oregón Para Estudiantes, Teresa L. Bulman, Gwenda H. Rice, Center For Spatial Analysis And Research. Portland State University, David Banis, Anamaria Esparza

Instructional Materials

Un atlas para los estudiantes de primaria y secundaria

Beyul Khumbu: Sherpa Constructions Of A Sacred Landscape, Lindsay Ann Skog

Dissertations and Theses

Khumbu, part of Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park in eastern Nepal and an UNESCO World Heritage site, is home to the Sherpa people, ethnic Tibetan Buddhists who migrated to the region more than 500 years ago. Sherpas animate the landscape with localized water, tree, rock, and land spirits, identify sacred mountains, mainly associated with the Bönpo and Tibetan yullha traditions, and some view the landscape as a beyul, a sacred place and hidden valley protecting Buddhist people and beliefs in times of turmoil and need. These beliefs protect the natural environment through religious practices and taboos against environmentally harmful …

Variations In Vulnerability To Climate Change In Southeast Asia, Kelsey Margaret Allard

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Australian Geography Unit, Daniel Scarbrough

Social Sciences

These lesson plans are designed for American students to learn about Australian Geography in a exciting and fun way. It will cover both physical and cultural geography aspects and this unit is designed for 9th grade geography and social science classes. The lesson plans consist of lecture portion and activities. This variety of teaching styles will cater to students of all learning styles (audio, verbal, and kinesthetic) and be enjoyable and informative.

Learning Sustainable Development: Chimeneas De La Esperanza, Miriam V. Mollan Gundersen

Social Sciences

Social inequality and environmental degradation are motivating informed young people into action and connecting impoverished regions of the world with students in more developed nations. This Social Sciences senior project is to analyze an alternative development model designed by a group of Californian university students. The project, named Chimeneas de la Esperanza, is designed to help impoverished Nicaraguan women start a ceramics business. The major hurdle of this mission is to establish a market for the ceramics product. Energy efficient ceramic stoves and smoke ventilating chimneys would benefit the community and avoid an impacted crafts market. The project encompasses ideas …

The Changing Contexts And Transboundary Dynamics Of Reconciling Conservation And Development In The Amazon Borderlands, David S. Salisbury, Jorge Vela Alvarado, Cloe R. Franko

Geography and the Environment Poster Presentations

The 12,000 kilometers of international boundaries within the Amazon’s lowland rainforest biome form the axis of a borderland region shared by the nine states of Amazonia (Figure 1). These Amazon borderlands contain high concentrations of conservation units and indigenous territories to preserve the transboundary region’s rich ecological and cultural diversity (Figures 2 & 3). However, this biocultural diversity is increasingly threatened by advancing development frontiers and a growing global demand for Amazonian resources.

The Transnational Networks Of Cultural Commodities: Peruvian Food In San Francisco, Kelsey Ann Brain

Dissertations and Theses

In a setting of increased movement, communication, and flows across space, commodity chain networks bring valued cultural commodities to transnational communities. This research examines the networks bringing foreign cuisine ingredients to Peruvian transnational communities in San Francisco, California. It seeks to answer three inter-related questions: 1) What are the origins and transportation networks bringing Peruvian food items to San Francisco; 2) Who controls and benefits from the movement of this food and resulting capital; and 3) How do networks vary for different classes of end consumers?

Chefs of ten Peruvian restaurants and ten Peruvian migrants in the San Francisco area …

A Tri-Disciplinary Analysis Of Religion, Alicia Wallace

Social Sciences

This paper analyzes religion using a multi-disciplinary approach. Studying the Social Sciences exposes one to an opportunity not just to learn a single discipline, but three, and this unique learning experience can teach one to look at the world’s phenomena with a multi-perspective view. Using a tri-disciplinary approach when exploring topics can broaden ones outlook on how there are many ways to explore and investigate a topic in greater detail. By using Anthropological, Sociological and Geographical theoretical perspectives one can understand a topic more fully by using a multi-perspective approach when exploring this diverse world culturally, socially and physically.

Breaking The Chains: A Dissection Of The Caribbean's Tourism Mirage, Megan Nellis

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

The Climate Of Cities, Matthew J. Downing

Social Sciences

An overall survey of the factors involved in creating the climate of cities, how that climate differs from rural ones, and future implications of urban climates.

The Scope And Nature Of Panhandling And The Related Crime In Denver, Colorado, Megan A. Gall

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Nationally, increases in the number of panhandlers and homeless people are associated with social and economic issues and are the subject of public policy debate, sociological inquiry and public interest (DHPG 2003). Panhandlers and homeless people are collectively called transients for this research. In the 1950s, the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill caused the first major influx of homelessness. Discrepancies between affordable housing and wages grew through the 1960s and 1970s and the problem did not gain national attention until the 1980s (DCEH n.d.). The increased attention is primarily due to the continued scarcity of housing, increasing discrepancies between housing …