Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons^™

Spatial Patterns Of Drought Triggers And Indicators, Joseph P. Robine

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Drought is a reoccurring phenomenon with widespread economic, social, and environmental impacts. Unlike other disasters, a drought cannot be easily detected. In addition, droughts are widespread and develop slowly over time making it difficult to detect its onset and monitor its severity and impacts. To assist in monitoring the severity and spatial extent of droughts, drought managers frequently use indicators and triggers. Drought indicators are meteorological or hydrological variables or indices that quantify or describe the level of drought severity. A drought trigger is a value of an indicator that initiates management and response actions. Despite the clear importance of …

Effectiveness Of Earthtec ® On Killing Invasive Quagga Mussels (Dreissena Rostriformis Bugenis) And Preventing Their Colonization In The Western U.S., Ashlie Watters

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Dreissena rostriformis bugensis, an invasive species, also known as the quagga mussel, was discovered in Lake Mead, NV in January of 2007. In the four years since detection, quagga mussels have created tremendous economical, ecological, and human health impacts. The mussels clog pipes, ruin boat motors, and damage recreational equipment, and once established in the lake, routine maintenance is necessary to avoid further damage. Because of quagga mussels' high fecundity, planktonic veliger stage, and ability to attach to substrates with byssal threads, they have easily and swiftly spread to other lakes and reservoirs in the Lower Colorado River Basin. …

Colonization And Decontamination Of Quagga Mussels In The Western United States: Monitoring Veligers In Lake Mead And Field Testing In The Effects Of Hot-Water Spray As A Means Of Watercraft Decontamination, Sean Robin Comeau

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The introduction and establishment of aquatic invasive species (AIS) is one of the top causes of global biodiversity loss and ecological change, and is also financially costly for taxpayers and agencies managing protected areas. This is especially true regarding the nationwide spread of dreissenid mussels to various bodies of freshwater. The discovery of invasive quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) in Lake Mead on January 6, 2007 has changed the popular recreation area into a potential vector of the destructive AIS. This location could allow for an increased spread of these dressenid species to uninfested bodies of water in the western …

Impacts Of Climate Change And Weather Modification On Hydrologic Characteristics Of Watersheds In The Western United States, Anil Acharya

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research quantifies the impacts of climate change and weather modification (WM) on hydrologic characteristics of watersheds in the arid regions of the western United States. This research performs a long-term simulation of streamflow for present and future climate conditions in the North Platte (NP) Watershed, Wyoming; a shorter duration simulation is then performed to observe the likely impacts of event based changes in an urban watershed in Las Vegas, Nevada.

First, a study is carried out in Chapter 3 that evaluates the impacts of WM on water supply by developing a hydrologic model for the NP Watershed. The variable …

An Ecological Study Of Peregrine Falcons (Falco Peregrinus) At Lake Mead National Recreation Area, 2006-2010, Joseph Graham Barnes

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) represent an encouraging conservation biology success story in North America during the twentieth century. Their distribution and population size suffered major restrictions after the initiation of widespread application of the synthetic pesticide dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) within the U.S. in the 1940s. The species was federally listed as endangered in the U.S. in 1969 and was then delisted in 1999 after DDT was banned in 1972. Herein, I present my ecological research of peregrines within Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LMNRA), concentrating on the years 2006-2010. This thesis is comprised of two chapters. In the first chapter, I …

Improving Energy Sustainability In Pound Hall, Craig Adams

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This research project deals with improving energy sustainability in Pound Hall dormitory located on the University of Nebraska at Lincoln’s (UNL) city campus.  An investigation on the current energy usage of Pound Hall showed that its energy rates worsened between the years of 2009 and 2010.  These combined (electricity, steam, and water) energy rates were compared with those of the newly renovated Othmer Hall to emphasize the lack of sustainability in the older dormitory.  In order to improve Pound Hall’s energy rates, an energy benefit analysis of implementing a green roof was performed.  Having a green roof on this dormitory …

Educating Young Adults About Sustainable Development, Meghan Lewis

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This qualitative study on the types of environmental education on different age groups was conducted in Lincoln, Nebraska. The purpose of this thesis is to identify what age group and educational methods would be most effective to educate Lincoln citizens on the importance and benefits of sustainable development. Environmental education is an important aspect in implementation of new, environmentally friendly ideas.

Lincoln environmentalists are working to improve the city’s sustainability. Finding a way to consistently educate Lincoln residents on the importance and benefits of sustainable development will increase the public’s awareness of their efforts, leading to a greater interest in …

Salt Contamination Of Ground And Surface Water In Connecticut: A Compilation And Synthesis Of Historic Data And Local Scale Testing, James P. Cassanelli

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

How Much Do U.S. University Students Know, And Want To Know, About Sustainability And Green Building? The Findings Of A Survey, And Possible Implications For General Elective Curriculum., Jeremy R. Farner

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

Using the survey approach, this investigation examined the attitudes and interest of college students at two universities in different geographic locations within the United States.  Approximately 24,000 students from all disciplines and majors at Weber State University (WSU) in Utah, and 4,000 at Purdue University in Indiana, were invited to participate in a study to determine current knowledge, familiarity, and interest in topics within the sustainability and Green Building educational arena. The goal of this study was to determine what students already know, would like to know, and how much interest there would be in developing …

Global Warming: At What Point Does Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Release Become Unethical?, Luke Good, Gladys Lopez

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

In recent decades, the concept of global warming has developed increasing concern among the scientific community and general public alike. What was initially dismissed as little more than unlikely has now become a severe warning for global climate crisis threatening not only our way of life but ultimate future existence on this planet? Global warming is defined as the steady mean increase in atmospheric temperature, the primary asserted cause thereof being increased emissions and inherent atmospheric concentrations of “greenhouse gases” – carbon dioxide in particular. These gases contribute to the greenhouse effect by trapping radiation (from the sun) in the …

Accumulation Of Polonium-210 In Different Species Of Fish In Lake Mead, Suraj Ghevarghese John, Shungmugam Nallaperumal, Vernon Hodge

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Discovered by Pierre Curie and Marie Skłodowska-Curie in 1898, polonium is a chemical element with an atomic number of 84. This rare naturally occurring radioactive element is chemically similar to bismuth and tellurium, and forms in uranium ores. Polonium-210 is an naturally occurring radioactive element with a half-life of 138.376 days(1). This element is found in trace amounts in most organisms. Our research is focused on the accumulation of polonium-210 in fish that occupy in Lake Mead.

The sample species is chosen based on varying lake stratification (layers of the lake). This gives us a good idea of the difference …

The Effects Of Climate Change On Basic Animal Cell Functions, Michelle Fulbright, Andrew Andres

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Increasing global temperatures during the 21st century may have detrimental effects on basic cell functions within ectothermal animals. This project aims to systematically examine the effects of climate change on secretory cargo localization through the analysis of Rab Proteins found in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Rab Proteins play an essential role in vesicular transport within the cell and can be genetically manipulated to monitor the biological consequences of global warming.

Has Recent Climate Change Caused A Genetic Bottleneck In A Sierra Nevada Population Of The Bushy-Tailed Woodrat?, Mitchell Gritts, Angela D. Hornsby, Majorie D. Matocq

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Many montane species respond to climate change by shifting their range upslope as temperatures at lower elevations increase. An elevation range shift causes a range contraction that may result in a population bottleneck. Joseph Grinnell surveyed the fauna along the Yosemite transect from 1914 to 1920. In 2003 Craig Moritz and his colleagues began to resurvey the Yosemite transect to assess the faunal change during a century of climate change. The bushy-tailed woodrat suffered severe range contraction and population bottleneck between the two surveys. I will use evolutionary models to determine if the population has suffered a genetic bottleneck.

Evaluation Of Drought Indices Based On Thermal Remote Sensing Of Evapotranspiration Over The Continental United States, Martha C. Anderson, Christopher R. Hain, Brian Wardlow, Agustin Pimstein, John R. Mecikalski, William P. Kustas

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The reliability of standard meteorological drought indices based on measurements of precipitation is limited by the spatial distribution and quality of currently available rainfall data. Furthermore, they reflect only one component of the surface hydrologic cycle, and they cannot readily capture nonprecipitation-based moisture inputs to the land surface system (e.g., irrigation) that may temper drought impacts or variable rates of water consumption across a landscape. This study assesses the value of a new drought index based on remote sensing of evapotranspiration (ET). The evaporative stress index (ESI) quantifies anomalies in the ratio of actual to potential ET (PET), mapped using …

Embodied Emissions Abatement: A Policy Assessment Using Stochastic Analysis, Adolf Acquaye, Aidan Duffy, Biswajit Basu

Articles

Policymakers traditionally focus on regulating operational energy use in buildings, ignoring other life cycle components such as embodied energy even though this may account for a significant portion of life cycle emissions. Data relating to embodied energy and emissions in buildings is limited. However, stochastic techniques can be used to estimate the distribution of such emissions from buildings. This helps policymakers identify which instruments are appropriate for achieving emissions reductions. A primary aim of this paper is to demonstrate this approach using a sample of apartment buildings in Ireland. A Monte-Carlo simulation suggests that the average probability distribution of embodied …

Wood Usage In Rural Tanzania: An Investigation Into The Sources And Accessibility Of Fuelwood And Polewood For The Residents Of Kizanda Village, West Usambara Mountains, James Ray

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study was conducted over the course of 16 days between April 8^th and 28^th in Kizanda village, which borders the protected Baga Government Forest Reserve, in the West Usambara Mountains in Northern Tanzania. The goals of this study were to investigate the actual sources of fuelwood and polewood reported by the people of Kizanda village, to determine if these sources offer a sufficient amount of fuelwood and polewood, and to identify possible sustainable alternatives to wood products from the Baga Government Forest Reserve and other protected forest areas near Kizanda village. Key informant interviews (n = 9) …

Droughtscape, Spring 2011, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

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Forecasters Say Dryness in TX and SW to Continue

Drought Planning, The Game: Coming Soon

Ding Takes New Post

South and Southwest Lose Crops, Fight Fires

Drought Monitor Authors Review Enhanced GIS Tools and New Processes

Estimation Of Land Surface Evapotranspiration With A Satellite Remote Sensing Procedure, Ayse Kilic, Ian Ratcliffe, Pariskhit Ranade, Kenneth Hubbard, Ramesh K. Singh, Babuarao Kamble, Jeppe Kjaersgaard

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

There are various methods available for estimating magnitude and trends of evapotranspiration. Bowen ratio energy balance system and eddy correlation techniques offer powerful alternatives for measuring land surface evapotranspiration. In spite of the elegance, high accuracy, and theoretical attractions of these techniques for measuring evapotranspiration, their practical use over large areas can be limited due to the number of sites needed and the related expense. Application of evapotranspiration mapping from satellite measurements can overcome the limitations. The objective of this study was to utilize the METRIC^TM (Mapping Evapotranspiration at High Resolution using Internalized Calibration) model in Great Plains environmental …

Review Of The Vanishing Face Of Gaia: A Final Warning, By James Lovelock; Foreword By Martin Rees, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

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

In his latest book, The Vanishing Face of Gaia, James Lovelock writes a clear narrative about the major impacts humans are having on the tightly coupled biotic/ abiotic system we call the Earth and that Lovelock refers to as Gaia in his many scholarly works. He tells us that this coupled system acts in concert to maintain the Earth's environment at an optimal condition for the organisms that live together here, modifying, for example, the atmosphere so that its composition stays at about 21% oxygen and 78% nitrogen (in the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears this would …

Riesgo De Exposición A Los Plaguicidas En Familias Con Niños Menores De 6 Años De Azapa Y Lluta, Andrew Wilbur

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study aims to characterize the risk of pesticide exposure for children under the age of 6 who live in the rural, agricultural communities of the Azapa and Lluta valleys in Region Arica and Parinacota in northern Chile. To achieve this objective, it seeks to understand current perceptions held by parents or guardians with respect to risk of pesticide exposure within their families and identify practices and living circumstances that contribute to this risk. In environmental health, children are an especially vulnerable population as a result of their distinct characteristics. Their exploratory behavior and naivety contribute to their risk of …