Environmental Studies Commons^™

The Battle Over Fracking: The Mobilization Of Local Residents, Mehmet Soyer, Sebahattin Ziyanak

The Qualitative Report

In the last decade, the natural gas industry has grown rapidly, and North Texas has become a major shale gas-producing area. This paper studies the power struggle of two rival groups (Frack Free Denton and Denton Tax Payers for a Strong Economy) over fracking in Denton. How did each of these groups challenge the claims-making activities and goals of their adversaries?” We conducted data from ten in-depth interviews from each side to compare concerns about fracking. This study focuses on the campaign of the two groups on each side of the debate. We developed the model of merging the theoretical …

Returning The Radiant Gaze: Visual Art And Embodiment In A World Of Subjects, Beth Carruthers

The Goose

Drawing on the latter thinking of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, as well as on the ideas of other contemporary philosophers and theorists, this essay considers the denigration of vision from Plato to twentieth-century anti-ocularism, and argues for the reclamation of vision and visual perception as sensuous, embodied interplay between humans and world, self and other—an opening to wonder and more sensitive human-world relations. It does so through a phenomenological exploration of the process of art-making, and consideration of the role and value of artworks and images in the world. This essay is first and foremost an enquiry. As such it promises no …

The Influence Of Political Ideology And Socioeconomic Vulnerability On Perceived Health Risks Of Heat Waves In The Context Of Climate Change, Matthew J. Cutler, Jennifer R. Marlon, Peter D. Howe, Anthony Leiserowitz

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Vulnerability and resilience to extreme weather hazards are a function of diverse physical, social, and psychological factors. Previous research has focused on individual factors that influence public perceptions of hazards, such as politics, ideology, and cultural worldviews, as well as on socioeconomic and demographic factors that affect geographically based vulnerability, environmental justice, and community resilience. Few studies have investigated individual socioeconomic and racial/ethnic differences in public risk perceptions of the health hazards associated with extreme heat events, which are now increasing due to climate change. This study uses multilevel statistical modeling to investigate individual- and geographic-level (e.g., census tract level …

Achieving The Promise Of Integration In Social-Ecological Research: A Review And Prospectus, Neil Carter

Human-Environment Systems Research Center Faculty Publications and Presentations

An integrated understanding of both social and ecological aspects of environmental issues is essential to address pressing sustainability challenges. An integrated social-ecological systems perspective is purported to provide a better understanding of the complex relationships between humans and nature. Despite a threefold increase in the amount of social-ecological research published between 2010 and 2015, it is unclear whether these approaches have been truly integrative. We conducted a systematic literature review to investigate the conceptual, methodological, disciplinary, and functional aspects of social-ecological integration. In general, we found that overall integration is still lacking in social-ecological research. Some social variables deemed important …

The Threats Of Sea Level Rise: An Eco-Geopolitical Visual Analysis, Jorge L. Nowell-Enriquez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This eco-geopolitical research produces information about the sea level rising, and the analyst explains and projects global effects, and further problems and consequences of the phenomena in a five-minute-long video clip.

The focus is coastlines floods as a consequence of the sea level rising produced by glaciers melting. The floods will affect regions where over a billion persons are living, mainly coastal cities. Therefore, the sea level rising will produce or ease gradual destruction and sudden catastrophes. Moreover, these catastrophes will spur mass migration that might change the lives of a billion persons by 2045.

Executive Summary_Governance For A Changing Climate: Adapting Boston’S Built Environment For Increased Flooding, Stephanie Kruel, Rebecca Herst, David Cash

Sustainable Solutions Lab

As the impacts of climate change intensify, coastal cities like Boston face increasing threats from sea level rise, extreme precipitation, and storm surges. This report, produced by the Sustainable Solutions Lab at the University of Massachusetts Boston, examines the role of governance in preparing Boston’s built environment for these evolving risks. Building upon the foundational work of the Climate Ready Boston initiative, the report outlines critical governance functions necessary for climate adaptation, including institutional coordination, regulatory reform, community engagement, and data-driven decision-making. Emphasizing a multiscalar governance approach, it analyzes the tools available at local, regional, state, and federal levels and …

Governance For A Changing Climate: Adapting Boston’S Built Environment For Increased Flooding, Stephanie Kruel, Rebecca Herst, David Cash

Sustainable Solutions Lab

As the impacts of climate change intensify, coastal cities like Boston face increasing threats from sea level rise, extreme precipitation, and storm surges. This report, produced by the Sustainable Solutions Lab at the University of Massachusetts Boston, examines the role of governance in preparing Boston’s built environment for these evolving risks. Building upon the foundational work of the Climate Ready Boston initiative, the report outlines critical governance functions necessary for climate adaptation, including institutional coordination, regulatory reform, community engagement, and data-driven decision-making. Emphasizing a multiscalar governance approach, it analyzes the tools available at local, regional, state, and federal levels and …

Are Government Incentives Effective For Avoided Deforestation In The Tropical Andean Forest?, Pablo Cuenca, Juan Robalino, Rodrigo A. Arriagada, Cristian M. Echeverria

Forest Collaborative Research

In order to ensure the provision of goods and services from forests, many governments have promoted less-traditional conservation initiatives such as programs of payments for ecosystem services called, more broadly, direct payments for conservation. The Socio Bosque Program (SBP) is a governmental program in Ecuador that directly provides economic incentives to rural families and local and indigenous communities who have voluntarily agreed to comply with some conservation activities. An impact evaluation method (matching) was used to assess the impact of the SBP between 2008 and 2014. This study revealed that on average, the SBP reduced deforestation by 1.5% in those …

Malaya's Greatest Menace? Slow-Onset Disaster And The Muddy Politics Of British Malaya, C. 1900–50, Fiona Williamson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In 1948, a chilling statement from British Malaya’s Director of Agriculture, F. Burnett, made headline news. According to Burnett, unchecked soil erosion across hillside Malaya would soon render the country’s precious agricultural land infertile. Erosion had worsened considerably after the 1880s due to widespread, indiscriminate agricultural and industrial clearing. By the 1920s, it had become a sizeable socioeconomic and environmental issue, thought also to contribute to the scale and intensity of flooding and the likelihood of dangerous landslips. The British Government raised a series of empire-wide inquiries across the first half of the twentieth century, tied to an emerging global …

Disasters Fast And Slow: The Temporality Of Hazards In Environmental History, Fiona Williamson, Chris Courtney

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Popular representations of disasters tend to focus upon dramatic moments of chaos. They envision panicked communities desperately scrambling for safety as earthquakes reduce cities to rubble or lava turns villages to ashes. Yet disasters actually unfold on numerous temporal scales. Media reports tend to reduce disasters to discrete events, initiated on the shallow causal timescale of a meteorological fluctuation or seismic disruption. Social scientists, by contrast, have often sought to emphasise the processual nature of disasters—embedding causality in the deeper timescale of a community, in which risk and vulnerability build over months or years.2 Environmental historians elongate causality even further, …

Contribution Of Root Respiration To Soil Respiration During Rainy Season In Dry Dipterocarp Forest, Northern Thailand, Punlop Intanil, Anusorn Boonpoke, Montri Sanwangsri, Phongthep Hanpattanakit

Applied Environmental Research

Soil respiration (Rs) plays a key role in regulating the terrestrial carbon cycle. The nature of this role is determined by the different responses of root respiration (Rr) and microbial respiration (Rm) to environmental factors such as precipitation, soil moisture and temperature. Understanding these responses is fundamental to improving our predictions of climate change impacts on carbon cycling processes. In this study, the ratio of root respiration to soil respiration (Rr/Rs) was studied to improve our understanding of soil CO2emissions. The study aimed to improve our knowledge of Rr in relation to rainy season soil environmental factors in a dry …

Stakeholder Involvement In Developing Environmental Indicators For The Lam Nam Yang Part 1 Watershed In The Northeastern Thailand, Warintorn Khunanake, Art-Ong Pradatsudara, Sura Pattanakiat

Applied Environmental Research

Stakeholder involvement is recognized as critical to successful long-term watershed management.Approaches to developing sustainable watershed management plans are based upon selection and weighting of a set of relevant indicators on which the watershed's sustainability and health can be measured. This study aimed to identify key environmental issues affecting the Lam Nam Yang Part 1 watershed in Thailand, and to work with stakeholders to develop a set of environmental indicators to support sustainable watershed management. The study used a community survey and key informant interviews to obtain stakeholder inputs into the process. Applying the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework, key environmental issues were …

Swot Analysis For Preliminary Study Of Municipal Waste Management Toward A Zero Waste Highland Community In Northern Thailand, Nittaya Pasukphun, Anuttara Hongtong, Vivat Keawdunglek, Yanasinee Suma, Pussadee Laor, Tawatchai Apidechkul

Applied Environmental Research

This research aims to investigate the situation of municipal waste management in the highlands of Chiang Rai, Thailand in order to formulate a preliminary strategic action plan for efficient management of municipal solid waste. In-depth interviews, questionnaires and discussions between government officers and community residents were conducted, in addition to analysis of the composition of solid waste in the municipality. SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) of current municipal waste management was performed and considered together with the assessment indicators of zero waste management: geo-administrative, socio-cultural, management, environment, economic, organization and governance and policy, in order to identify key …

Development Of Work-Rest Model For Reducing Fatigue In A Long Distance Among Chemical Truck Drivers: Case Study In An Industrial Gas, Sujee Phatrabuddha, Thitima Wonginta, Nantaporn Phatrabuddha

Applied Environmental Research

This study examined the impact of rest breaks on driver fatigue. The study developed and tested a work-rest model to reduce fatigue for chemical truck drivers, following International Labor Organization (ILO) guidelines. The model was tested on a small sample of workers driving from a gas filling plant in Sattahip District, Chonburi Province to Muang District, Samut Sakorn Province. To test the model, data on driver fatigue was assessed using an interview questionnaire and a flicker fusion instrument, and the Z-test was used to compare fatigue among three work-rest patterns. The results showed 24% of working time (173 min) for …

Seasonal And Annual Trends Of Rainfall And Streamflow In The Mae Klong Basin, Thailand, Alamgir Khalil, Areeya Rittima, Yutthana Phankamolsil

Applied Environmental Research

This study examined seasonal and annual trends of rainfall and streamflow data in the Mae Klong Basin, Thailand. Monthly data of eight key rainfall stations and ten streamflow stations were analyzed to detect trends using the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test, whilst the magni-tude of the trends was determined by Sen's slope method for the period 2000-2015. For 75% ofthe analyzed stations,rainfall was found to increase in the wet season and decrease in the dry season. Station 130013 situated in the lower region showed a statistically significant increasing trend with a trend slope of 16.02 mma-1in the wet season, while station 130042-also …

Pm10 And Pm2.5 From Haze Smog And Visibility Effect In Chiang Mai Province Thailand, Thitaporn Jeensorn, Pornphan Apichartwiwat, Wanida Jinsart

Applied Environmental Research

Air pollution from haze smog in Chiang Mai Thailand has become a serious problem, with fine particulate matter (FPM), PM10and PM2.5, as the main culprits. These pollutants haveserious effects on health and affect visibility in transportation and tourism. In this study, reduction in visibility was monitored using a digital camera, video records and aerial photography. Visibility in Chiang Mai was analyzed using qualitative and quantitative methods. Visibility was directly measured by GPS and Google Earth mapping. Visibility reduction from haze events was also compared by image analysis in Deciview units. Fine particulate matter concentrations and frequency of fires in Chiang …

Natural Radioactivity In Groundwater In Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, Paradee Kodcharin, Udorn Youngchuay, Sopa Chinwetkitvanich

Applied Environmental Research

This research aims to study the specific activity of natural radioactivity in groundwater samples taken in the area of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, Thailand. Totally, sixty groundwater samples collected from wells in eight districts were monitored and determined for radionuclides 226Ra, 232Th and 40K and gross alpha and beta were determined using high resolution gamma spectrometer and Canberra Tennelec Series 5 gas flow proportional counter, respectively. Most of the sixty wells serve for water consumption and some other wells for agricultural. The results showed that the average activity concentrations of the gross alpha and beta were 0.01±0.007 and 0.15±0.02 …

Stakeholders' Perspectives Of Design Options For A Rooftop Solar Pv Self-Consumption Scheme In Thailand, Kespanerai Kokchang, Sopitsuda Tongsopit, Siripha Junlakarn, Wichsinee Wibulpolprasert, Morrakot Tossabanyad

Applied Environmental Research

Adoption of solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems has been accelerating around the world, contributing to the debate about the future of policy and regulation in a high distributed energy resources future. As one of the leaders in solar investment in Southeast Asia, Thailand has recently shifted its policy framework for the support of small scale, distributed solar PV systems from subsidizing power export through feed-in tariff toward a policy that is focused on self-consumption. This paper investigates stakeholder perspectives of the detailed design options for self-consumption schemes for supporting rooftop solar PV installations. The research methodology employed questionnaires and …

Traveling With Joel, Peter Mclaren

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"Kovel’s contributions to a critique of psychiatry, of political theory and of the ruination of the biosphere have been pathfinding, highly revered, and reviewed and debated in highly prestigious journals and publications such as The New York Times. His work with revolutionaries around the globe (including sojourns in Nicaragua during the Sandinista revolution as just one of many examples), and his achievements alongside some of the leading political activists worldwide have secured for Kovel a premier place in the history of the left. But notoriety is not what drives Kovel’s work. What drives Kovel’s work is a relentless struggle for …

A Cross-Cultural Approach To Environmental And Peace Work: Wangari Maathai’S Use Of Mottainai In Kenya, Eddah Mutua, Kikuko Omori

The Journal of Social Encounters

Protecting the environment and nurturing peace are global concerns requiring scholarly attention across and within cultures. This essay proposes that cross-cultural exchange serves as an invaluable approach to the goal of communicating about creating a healthy environment and everyday peace. We examine how Wangari Maathai interpreted the meaning and purpose of Mottainai as a global call to save the environment. Mottainai is an ancient Japanese concept that means “Don’t waste! What a waste!” Of interest to us is establishing Maathai’s motivation to employ the concept of Mottainai as informed by her lived experiences in Kenya. The relevance of Mottainai to …