Environmental Studies Commons^™

A Psychogeography Of The Lower Colorado River Basin, Arren L. Kimbel-Sannit

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dried-up canals. Superheated strip malls. Proliferating data centers. Infinite appetite for growth despite its apparent circumstances. Arizona may well be the state of the American future. This multi-genre series of essays from Arren Kimbel-Sannit offers a personal, political-economic and ecological critique of growth and accumulation in Arizona — from the perspective of someone who grew up in its suburban expanses, reported on its politics, and long sought to clarify his relationship with home.

Learning In The Wild: A Discourse Analysis Of Literacy Practices And Educational Outcomes In Montana’S Youth Climate Activism, Tyler Moore

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines youth climate activism in Montana as a site of literacy practice, civic learning, and critical climate engagement. Focusing on the University of Montana Climate Response Club, the study asks how youth climate activists use literacy practices to interpret climate issues and participate in civic action, and how those practices reflect elements of critical climate literacy. The study defines critical climate literacy as a set of socially situated practices through which young people read, interpret, question, and respond to climate change as both an environmental issue and a civic problem shaped by power. Rather than treating climate literacy …

Growing Agroecology: Two Case Studies From The U.S. Student Farm Movement, Amelia B. Armstrong

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Scholars and activists identify agroecology as a crucial science, practice, and movement to move towards more just, equitable, and sustainable agriculture and food systems. Yet, the exploitative industrial food system, that deepens inequalities like food insecurity (Clapp et al., 2025), reduces farmer autonomy (Rotz, 2015), and contributes to increased carbon emissions (Lin et al., 2011) and biodiversity decline (Rotz, 2015), still dominates. Understanding and mobilizing the different spaces that teach agroecology, then, is a crucial step in challenging the dominant industrial food system. Agroecology education in university settings is an important domain to investigate as potential contributors to this movement, …

Tourism And Local Access On The Public Beaches Of Paros, Greece, Maria Kouidi

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines how tourism development affects public beach access on the island of Paros, Greece. In recent years, Paros has experienced significant tourism growth, which has contributed to economic development while also placing pressure on natural resources, infrastructure, and coastal spaces. Beaches are protected as public goods under the Greek constitution; however, there are concerns regarding commercialization, overcrowding, and the illegal privatization of these public spaces. This thesis uses a qualitative research approach to explore how these changes are experienced and understood by different stakeholder groups. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted in Paros in July 2025. Participants …

Heart Of Stone: Geomorphization Through Stone-Oriented Affects, Grace F. Foster

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis draws from the work of geologist Marcia Bjornerud to bring a scientific (specifically geologic) understanding of humanity’s relationship to our home planet to bear in a literary context. I employ Bjornerud’s term “geomorphization” to expand from inter-species kinship to inter-substance kinship and to establish stone as an active, lively subject without relying on anthropomorphization. Geomorphization as I define it refers to recognizing similarity between ourselves and stone/Earth on the basis of our stoniness rather than stone’s human-ness. Geomorphizing ourselves entails what Bjornerud calls “timefulness,” a geologic perspective on temporality that sees the past as continually acting in the …

Data And Analysis Code For Agricultural Risk Perceptions And Willingness To Change Farming Practices In The Rio Grande Valley Of Texas, Owen Temby, Dongkyu Kim, Anthony R. Lima

Datasets

This dataset supports research on farmers’ perceptions of agricultural risk and their stated willingness to use water-management and conservation practices in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Data were collected in 2024–2025 from farm owners in Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy counties. Mailed invitations directed recipients to a Qualtrics questionnaire, followed by telephone outreach through the UTRGV Center for Survey Research and Policy Analysis. Participants could respond online or answer the questionnaire orally during a telephone interview. The released dataset contains 93 records with recorded consent, including partial responses; 72 records support the core regression analyses. Survey measures cover …

Machine Learning For Predictive Energy And Emissions Modeling Of Vehicles And Power Grids In The United States, S M Tanvir Faysal Alam Chowdhoury

Dissertations

The environmental benefits of electric vehicle (EV) adoption depend on more than replacing internal combustion engine vehicles with electric powertrains. EV adoption reshapes electricity demand, interacts with regional generation mixes, and influences travel behavior and congestion, creating a coupled transportation-energy system in which vehicle and power-plant emissions must be evaluated together. This dissertation develops machine-learning frameworks for predicting energy consumption and emissions from vehicles and power grids under rising EV adoption. The first component forecasts grid emissions from EV charging. Using simulation data from NREL's Cambium database, a Prophet-based time-series framework predicts carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane emission rates …

Investigating The Impact Of Winter Exposure To Natural Environments On Perceived Health And Well-Being Using Geographic Ecological Momentary Assessment: A Case Study At Arrowhead Provincial Park, Faith M. Laing

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study examined how winter exposure to specific natural environments influenced perceived health and well-being outcomes using Geographic Ecological Momentary Assessment (GEMA) in Arrowhead Provincial Park. Studies performed in the wintertime are limited, as is our understanding of how specific park features and/or activities impact health and well-being. To address this, GEMA was used with a video component to capture participants’ real-time experience and emotional responses in specific park locations defined by polygon boundaries. Two surveys were administered through participants mobile devices, one being an in-situ engagement survey triggered by entering a bounded location, which included a video and …

At A Crossroads: Crisis, Vulnerability, And The Possibility Of Transformation Of Nature-Based Tourism In Canada, Brooklyn Rushton

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

We live in an era shaped by a global polycrisis, where climate change, pandemics, economic shocks, geopolitical tensions, and social inequities are converging to create complex, cascading, and compounding risks. For Canada’s nature-based tourism sector, situated at the nexus of social and ecological systems, the polycrisis both amplifies the vulnerabilities of tourism and highlights tourism’s role in perpetuating global risks. Recognizing this duality, this dissertation examines how crises amplify systemic vulnerabilities while also acting as leverage points for transformative change in Canada’s nature-based tourism sector, drawing on geography, systems thinking, resilience theory, regenerative tourism, and futures thinking scholarship.

The three …

Mapping Climate Risks & Building Resilience: A Participatory Approach To Harvester Safety In Kakisa, Nwt., Susan Kerubo Ombwori

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation (KTFN) community in the Northwest Territories is experiencing rapid environmental changes which are driven by climate change. These changes are threatening the community’s food security. The community is seeing a disruption to its traditional land-based food systems due to increasing climate risks such as unpredictable weather, thawing permafrost, wildfires, and flooding. These changes are reducing access to traditional foods and intensifying threats to harvester safety. Building on the existing relationship with the community through previous projects, this thesis examines the impacts of climate risks on the availability and access of the KTFN’s on the land …

Envisioning The Role Of Community-Owned Stores & Aligning Federal Food Policies: A Participatory Approach To Food Security And Food Sovereignty In Sambaa K’E, Denendeh (Northwest Territories, Canada), Narayan Subramoniam

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Northern Indigenous communities have relied on traditional food systems for meaningful, nutritious diets since time immemorial. But many Indigenous communities in remote northern regions of Canada still face disproportionately elevated levels of food insecurity due to climate change radically altering the availability for traditional foods, colonial food policies imposing Western diets, and the high costs of transporting store-bought foods. Extreme weather events such as wildfires further isolate fly-in remote communities increasing both the costs of transporting store-bought foods and the difficulties of harvesting traditional foods. There are many examples of community-based initiatives for supporting traditional and locally grown foods, however, …

2026 New Hampshire Coastal Perspectives Pilot Study: Nh Sea Grant Overview Report, Katri Gurney, Nicole Mercier, Lindsey Williams

New Hampshire Sea Grant

To design effective coastal and estuarine focused programs and understand the impact of our work, it is valuable to better understand the knowledge, perspectives, and values of potential audiences across the state. To begin to address this need, New Hampshire Sea Grant developed a pilot project to better understand coastal familiarity and priorities, knowledge and perceptions of shoreline buffers, experience with and perception of the Great Bay Estuary, environmental volunteerism rates and reasons, perception of disaster preparedness, and seafood consumption rates. This report summarizes the findings of the pilot as a resource for a range of organizations as they consider …

From Rocks To Rockets: How Mineral Wealth Fuels The Arms Trade, Samuel G. Majka

Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses a critical gap in the resource curse literature by examining how strategic mineral wealth, central to the global clean energy transition, influences international arms transfers. While the relationship between oil rents, militarization, and conflict is well-established, the role of non-hydrocarbon resources and conflict-related variables remains underexplored. This paper posits that mineral rents provide governments with unearned, discretionary income, relaxing fiscal constraints and creating powerful incentives for both resource-rich states and major power suppliers to increase arms flows to secure political control, suppress internal dissent, and maintain access to valuable deposits. Using a country-year panel dataset spanning 1990-2023 …

Enhancing Coastal Vulnerability Assessments And Policy Impacts On Socioeconomic And Environmental Equity In Michigan's Great Lakes Communities, Esther N. Acheampong

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Accelerating shoreline erosion, fluctuating lake levels, and climate-induced hazards are transforming the Great Lakes’ freshwater coasts, exposing the limitations of static and inequitable management frameworks. This dissertation investigates how Michigan’s coastal governance systems produce and manage vulnerability along the Lake Michigan shoreline by integrating geospatial modeling, institutional policy analysis, and environmental justice theory. It argues that both physical processes and institutional designs co-determine patterns of exposure, protection, and equity. The research begins by developing a refined Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) tailored for lacustrine environments, applying it to Muskegon County to assess how shoreline change, armoring, and seasonality influence localized risk. …

Cultivating Diversity In Sustainable Food Systems: Black Farming And Lived Experience In Rural Southern Ontario, Kadeem Jerofy Morgan-Adamson Mr.

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research examines the lived experiences of Black food growers in rural Southern Ontario to understand how their perspectives challenge dominant narratives of rurality and inform broader discussions on food sovereignty in Canada. Grounded in postcolonial theory, the study highlights how historical dispossession and persistent inequities shape the access of Black communities to land and resources. Using a mixed-methods approach that includes surveys, semi-structured interviews, and reflexive journaling within a community-based research framework, the study documents the barriers Black food growers face. These include limited land access, insufficient funding, inadequate training pathways, and experiences of racial isolation in rural contexts. …

Evaluating Spatiotemporal Changes And Predicting Land-Use Dynamics Using An Artificial Neural Network In Worcester City, Massachusetts, Mst Sanjida Alam, Mijanur Rahman, Nusrut Sharmin, Md Naim Molla, Hossain Al Mahbub, Mohammad Muniruzzaman, Md Nadim Rahman, Edris Alam

Student Publications [Scholarly]

The land use and land cover (LULC) change has a remarkable impact on the urban ecosystems due to its effect on the environmental processes, natural resources, and urban sustainability. The aim of this study was to conduct the spatiotemporal analysis of LULC in Worcester City, Massachusetts, and to identify the dynamics of forest cover and justify its causes in the given time range of 2003–2023. LULC classification and forest change detection were done with high-resolution datasets provided by the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). The MLP-ANN outperformed logistic regression and achieved higher in overall accuracy percentages and location Kappa values. …

Electric Vehicle Industry: Japan And China, Minoo Tehrani, Yu Cui

Business Faculty Publications

This research concentrates on the electric vehicle (EV) industry in China and Japan. China is the largest and Japan the third-largest auto production country after the U.S. This study explores the current and future transition to battery electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles in Japan and China. Three Japanese auto companies, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, and BYD from China are studied in this research. Toyota, Honda, and Nissan are actively pursuing the development of hybrid electric vehicles in Japan. Meanwhile, the research examines the Chinese EV company BYD, which is a major global competitor in the EV industry. This study …

Principles Of Geographic Information Science (Gep 205 And Gep 505), Fall 2026 Syllabus, Shokran Rahiminezhad

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus is for Principles of Geographic Information Science (GEP 205 and GEP 505) at Lehman College. The course introduces geographic information science, spatial data management, cartography, coordinate systems and projections, tabular and spatial queries, vector and raster analysis, geoprocessing, and introductory geospatial programming using ArcGIS Pro. Students complete laboratory activities and a semester-long project addressing a real-world geographic problem. The syllabus includes differentiated expectations for undergraduate and graduate students and incorporates open and freely available instructional materials.

Review Of James K. Galbraith And Jing Chen, Entropy Economics: The Living Basis Of Value And Production (The University Of Chicago Press, 2025), Panos Tsoukalis

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Green Connectivity In Metropolitan Jabodetabek: Climate Change And The Challenge Of Urban Forest, Safira Maharani Putri, Hendricus Andy Simarmata

CSID Journal of Infrastructure Development

Urban areas in Indonesia, particularly the Greater Jakarta metropolitan region (Jabodetabek), are increasingly experiencing the adverse effects of climate change, such as the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon. Rapid urbanization has contributed significantly to rising greenhouse gas emissions and deteriorating environmental quality. Urban forests are one of the key solutions to mitigate these impacts; however, their spatial distribution in Jabodetabek remains suboptimal and poorly connected. This study uses NDVI as a proxy for urban forest density, where “urban forest” refers to vegetated areas within cities as defined by Presidential Regulation No. 60/2020. The research addresses the following question: How has …