Environmental Studies Commons^™

A 177 Years Extended Of Teak Chronology Revealing To The Climate Variability In Phrae Province, Northern Of Thailand, Kanokrat Buareal, Supaporn Buajan, Sineenart Preechamart, Chotika Muangsong, Nathsuda Pumijumnong

Applied Environmental Research

Teak ring-width is one of the promising paleoclimate proxies in the tropical region. Tree-ring chronology spanning from 1840 to 2016 (177 years) was derived from 76trees from Phrae Province, northern Thailand. A total of 141 core samples were cross-dated, a standardized master was constructed, and the tree residual master chronology was developed by ARSTAN program. The tree-ring chronology has a significant positivecorrelation with the monthly rainfall and relative humidity during the monsoon season (May - June). In addition, the growth of tree-ring width also significantly inversely correlated with Niño 3, Niño 3.4, and Niño 4 indices during the second half …

Texas Landfills: The Need For Administrative Reform Of The Texas Commission On Environmental Quality’S Permitting Process, William Todd Keller Jr.

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming

Sharing A Place-Based Indigenous Methodology And Learnings, Sandra Wooltorton, Len Collard, Pierre Horwitz, Anne Poelina, David Palmer

Nulungu Journal Articles

Building on a methodology of Cooperative Inquiry, the outcomes of five interconnected place-based learning projects from Australia are synthesised and elaborated in this paper. The methodology can facilitate the everyday living and sharing of an Earth-based consciousness: one that enriches Transformative Sustainability Education (TSE) through recognising meanings and stories in landscape, and celebrates Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing. Indigenous-led environmental education is shown to link with one of the longest continuous environmental education systems in the world and it is contended that because of its ongoing history, environmental education carries a cultural obligation. In Australia, every landscape is …

Design Hub: Activating Community By Design, Ed Williams

Theses and Dissertations

MOTIVATION

At the turn of the century, Robert Putnam (2000, 27) wrote “...a powerful tide bore Americans into ever deeper engagement in the life of their communities, but a few decades ago that tide reversed and we were overtaken by a treacherous rip current.” Putnam is describing a loss of “social capital” throughout American society. Research suggests that many of our contemporary issues are the result of a decline in “social capital,” or “community.”

This pervasive lack of community is thought to be detrimental to “educational performance, safe neighborhoods, equitable tax collection, democratic responsiveness, everyday honesty, and even our health …

Habitat Use And Prey Selection By Mountain Lions In An Altered Sagebrush Steppe Environment, Jonathan Ewanyk

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Throughout the American West there is an increasing trend of encroachment of woody vegetation on previously open sagebrush steppe habitat. The Modoc Plateau in northeastern California has not been excluded from this encroachment trend and has seen an increase in western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) densities, likely as a result of long-term fire suppression. Mountain lions (Puma concolor) have not previously been studied on the Modoc Plateau, and there is potential for an increase in cover due to juniper encroachment to benefit the hunting behavior of lions. To better understand if the presence of cover is being …

Understanding Pro-Environmental Binning Behaviour Of National Park Visitors: A Cross-Cultural Study, Kourosh Esfandiar

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The growing importance of people’s pro-environmental behaviours (PEBs) in relation to reducing their negative impacts and/or increasing their positive impacts in natural areas has attracted considerable research interest. Visitor engagement in pro-environmental activities is one of the key elements in maintaining and improving a national park’s ecological and biological resources. These resources are often the main components of tourism products developed in nature-based destinations.

A specific concern for many national park managers is the generation of litter by visitors. A PEB to solve the problem of litter management in national parks is binning i.e. putting litter in a bin. As …

Women’S Perspectives On Human Security: Violence, Environment, And Sustainability, Richard Matthew, Patricia A, Weitsman, Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, Nora Davis, Tera Dornfeld

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Violent conflict, climate change, and poverty present distinct threats to women worldwide. Importantly, women are leading the way creating and sharing sustainable solutions.

Women’s security is a valuable analytical tool as well as a political agenda insofar as it addresses the specific problems affecting women’s ability to live dignified, free, and secure lives. First, this collection focuses on how conflict impacts women’s lives and well-being, including rape and gendered constructions of ethnicity, race, and religion. The book’s second section looks beyond the scope of large-scale violence to examine human security in terms of environmental policy, food, water, health, and economics. …

Real-Time Evaluation Of City–University Partnerships For Sustainability And Resilience, Liliana Elizabeth Caughman, Lauren Withycombe Keeler, Fletcher Beaudoin

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Cities face many challenges in their efforts to create more sustainable and resilient urban environments for their residents. Among these challenges is the structure of city administrations themselves. Partnerships between cities and universities are one way that cities can address some of the internal structural barriers to transformation. However, city–university partnerships do not necessarily generate transformative outcomes, and relationships between cities and universities are complicated by history, politics, and the structures the partnerships are attempting to overcome. In this paper, focus groups and trial evaluations from five city–university partnerships in three countries are used to develop a formative evaluation tool …

A Case Study: The Role Of Compassionate Cities, Healthy Cities, And Un Sustainable Development Goals In City Leadership And Planning, Lisa A. Berkley

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This research is a case study examining the relevance of three holistic city frameworks—Compassionate Cities, Healthy Cities, and UN Sustainable Development Goals—to the intentional or tacit thinking of city leaders, community leaders, and activists of Marina, California. Beginning with a discussion of the origin and development of the three frameworks, the study occurred in three phases: Phase I involved interviewing the five elected leaders, city manager, community development leaders, and two planners; Phase II consisted of a survey of appointed city leaders and community organizers and activists; and Phase III was an analysis of relevant public discourse, drawing from local …

Arising: Hurricane (Superstorm) Sandy’S Impact On Design/Planning Professionals, Maxinne R. Leighton

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Standing by my bedroom window, looking out at the ocean, a huge wave comes and swallows up my building. Everything around me is gone, including me. I wake up. I am 13 years old and living in the Coney Island Houses on Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. With ongoing anthropogenic changes to the natural environment such as sea level rise and intensifying storms, coastal communities, especially ones segregated by class and culture, are particularly vulnerable in this context that challenges a way of life, and in some instances, threatens that life's survival. This dissertation focuses specifically on what one massive …

Wildland Fire Disturbance - Recovery Dynamics In Upland Forests At Acadia National Park, Maine, Jessica E. Charpentier

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The overall goal of this study was to evaluate whether coastal Maine (USA) forests are resilient to changing climate and fire regimes. The occurrence of a catastrophic wildfire at Acadia National Park (ANP) in 1947 provided a unique opportunity to examine the impacts of wildfire on forest dynamics in upland communities of coastal spruce-fir and northern hardwood forests of the Maine coast. This study, conducted 68 years after the stand-replacing 1947 Bar Harbor Fire, builds on studies by W.A. Patterson conducted in 1980 and 1992-1994, 33 and 45-47 years after the fire. There were two lines of investigation in this …

The Potential Role Of Payment For Ecosystem Services In Protected Area Management In Rwanda: A Case Study From Gishwati-Mukura National Park, Yves Gakunde

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The demand for ecosystem services (ES) by communities around the world especially from developing countries is increasing, and creates conflict between protected ecosystem management and community socioeconomic wellbeing needs, particularly around protected areas. Taking into consideration globalization, capitalism, weak policies, and population growth as some of the majors driving factors to land change, increased demand for ES comes in part from societies’ changing economic demands and opportunities, such as food and commercial crop production, timber extraction, urbanization, and infrastructural development. Many biodiversity conservation approaches and initiatives have been used to protect and maintain healthy ecosystems. While the fence and fine …

Emotional Response To Climate Change Learning: An Existential Inquiry, Jennifer Hutchinson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative study aims to explore and explain the existential underpinnings of learning about climate change and potential emotional responses to climate change learning. Undergraduate students in environmental sciences and studies classes at the University of Washingrounded theory on in Seattle, WA participated in semi-structured interviews. Participants were asked about their experiences learning about climate change and how they responded emotionally to the learning. This dissertation examines the responses from those interviews and builds a theory out of the data analyzed. Constructivist Grounded theory as outlined by Kathy Charmaz (2014) was used to analyze the interviews. Codes were created and …

How Is Energy Justice Built Into Community Choice Aggregation? A Comparative Case Study Of The Lowell Community Choice Power Supply Program And Cape Light Compact, Massachusetts, Felicity Monk

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Community Choice Aggregation represents a potential opportunity to meet climate change mitigation aims through bulk buying renewable energy, but there remain challenges to deliver energy justice for low income communities. This thesis researched how two CCA programs - the Lowell Community Choice Power Supply Program and the Cape Light Compact - are building energy justice into their mission and activities. Archival research was conducted and eleven in-person interviews took place with experts, advocates and practitioners across the two CCA programs. Questions centered around five energy justice themes - community control, community ownership, local green jobs, low income assistance, and the …

Traditional Ecological Knowledge And Opportunities For Reducing Human-Wolf Conflicts In Mongolia, Tuul Sukhbaatar

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Conflicts between humans and wolves occur anywhere these two inhabit the same area. This research explored traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of Mongolians and potential opportunities that this knowledge could offer to improve relationships between humans and wolves (Canis lupus) in Mongolia. Research questions include: what is the local understanding of TEK as it applies to wolves; what are the perceptions of different stakeholder groups on the wolves; and what opportunities are there to draw upon TEK to reduce human-wolf conflicts? This research, using the case study and mixed methods, involved 128 individuals who represented four stakeholder groups (herders, urban residents, …

Amphibian Species Richness And Distribution In Vernal Pools At Glover’S Ledge, Langdon, Nh, Kimberly Snyder

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Vernal pools are important breeding grounds for forest amphibians and vital habitat for many populations of species. With the goal of better managing Glover’s Ledge (GL) for its amphibian communities, the objectives of this study were to assess the current hydrologic profile of the GL vernal pools over the duration of the breeding season, identify richness and distribution of amphibian species utilizing vernal pools, and provide baseline amphibian data for future monitoring and management at GL. Egg masses of Lithobates sylvaticus (wood frogs) and Ambystoma maculatum (Spotted salamanders) in three pools on the site (SWP, LL, and SW) were monitored …

Ethical Eating: Overcoming Alienation In The Industrial Food System By Aligning Our Practices With Our Principles, André Kushnir

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis arose out of a moment of discord, while an environmental philosopher was eating blackberries in the middle of a blizzard in Missoula, Montana. What follows is an attempt to bridge the gap between our principles and our practices, by asking the questions: What does ethical eating look like? Is it possible within our current industrial food system? and If not, what needs to change? Responding to the publication of the 2019 EAT-Lancet report, this essay moves beyond thinking of ethical eating as “healthy” and “sustainable” and challenges the networks of suffering and labour that we take for …

Food Policy For A Healthy, Sustainable, And Equitable Local Food System: Recommendations For Missoula, Erika Berglund

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Over the last several decades, food policy councils (FPCs) have led the effort to place food on local government policy agendas. While FPCs continue to make progress in supporting local food systems, they also face institutional and organizational challenges. In recent years, a handful of cities and counties have endeavored to further food system reform with the establishment of full-time food policy staff positions. Currently, there are 19 confirmed food policy positions housed in local governments across the U.S. While there is considerable literature on FPCs, little research has been published regarding governmental food policy staff positions. This study uses …

Hear Me Roar, Abigail R. Seethoff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Hear Me Roar, a compilation of personal essays interspersed with short forms, grapples with the nuances of compliance versus autonomy in the context of the male gaze, beauty standards, and pop culture. The collection also explores what it means to treasure something—another person, an object—and how to express and deepen that affection.

Family Forest Owners Satisfaction With Timber Transactions, Jeffrey M. Lee

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Forest industries in the eastern U.S. rely heavily on family forest owners to supply fiber needs for their mills. As of 2017, 79 percent of West Virginia is classified as forestland and of this roughly 86.5 percent is privately owned. With such a heavy reliance on wood from private forest lands, family forest owner satisfaction is extremely important if companies want to continue harvesting or working with these landowners in the future.

Timber transactions are complex. No two timber transactions are exactly the same. They often involve many different parties apart from the landowner. Site conditions, land cover, and landowner …