Pagebrook Property Solar Power Initiative,
2018
University of Richmond
Pagebrook Property Solar Power Initiative, Mary Kate Jaromin
Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects
The University of Richmond has established an ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by the year 2050 (Office for Sustainability 2015). The University’s current emissions reductions are at 18 percent from 2009 baseline levels; in order the achieve the last 82 percent of the reductions by 2050, the University must take aggressive action (R. Andrejewski, personal communication, March 1, 2018). The University owns land off campus, including the Pagebrook Property, which is around a 15-minute drive from campus and has 47 acres of flat, clear cut land that is currently unused (Love & Owens, 2014). This land would be an ideal …
Campus Thrift Store: A Small Step Towards Big Change,
2018
University of Richmond
Campus Thrift Store: A Small Step Towards Big Change, Ashley James
Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects
Production and consumption associated with the textile industry exhausts water and fossil fuel resources, and significantly contributes to global waste burden. Studies have shown that U.S. college students produce millions of tons of solid waste every year, much of which could have been diverted. This project describes the benefits of second-hand markets as a tool to achieve waste diversion and sustainability, and proposes a campus thrift store at the University of Richmond (UR). Supporting literature, previous successful reuse initiatives at UR, and a review of best thrift store practices at other universities are provided as justification for the proposal. The …
A Campus Sustainability Service Program In The General Education Curriculum,
2018
University of Richmond
A Campus Sustainability Service Program In The General Education Curriculum, Callie Rountree-Jablin
Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects
This poster describes a proposal for the addition of a sustainability-based community service requirement to the general education curriculum to encourage systemic involvement in on-campus sustainability projects. Current support for the University of Richmond’s (UR) goal to integrate sustainability across various University functions is limited and this poster outlines the Campus Sustainability Service (CSS) program as an option for addressing the issue to ensure the success of the UR Sustainability Strategic Plan. It presents a framework for the CSS program and a strategy for piloting the initiative that can support phasing in a complete version of the program over time. …
Proposal For The Expansion Of The University Of Richmond’S Campus Garden,
2018
University of Richmond
Proposal For The Expansion Of The University Of Richmond’S Campus Garden, Ganon Hingst
Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects
In today’s society the growing, buying and consuming of local foods is skyrocketing in demand. It provides for a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle that the University has stated its interest in promoting. This project to expand the current community garden on campus would not only promote the University’s strives in sustainable practices, but also draw the community and campus together. This garden could produce foods that could be sold to the current dining services, and to the local community generating some profit from this community garden while also reducing the University’s spending on food for the dining hall. Furthermore, …
Riverfront Ur: Proposal And Student Well-Being,
2018
University of Richmond
Riverfront Ur: Proposal And Student Well-Being, Harleen Bal
Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects
In an effort to improve student well-being, connection to nature, and community engagement with nature and green spaces, the following paper details a proposal for Riverfront UR (RFUR), an initiative to acquire property along the James River for use by University of Richmond students. The proposal began in Dr. Salisbury’s fall Geography 345 class, and this analysis builds upon that proposal by delving into the connection between student health and quality of life with time spent outdoors and in natural spaces. Indeed, a riverfront off-campus property would be competitively advantageous for the University and would likely improve our STARS ratings, …
Improving Biodiversity Management At The University Of Richmond: An Ecological Approach To Sustainability,
2018
University of Richmond
Improving Biodiversity Management At The University Of Richmond: An Ecological Approach To Sustainability, Maria Psarakis
Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects
This proposal outlines a plan for the monitoring, management, and conservation of vulnerable species and habitats on the University of Richmond’s main campus and its nearby properties. It develops a strategy for the coordinated planning and implementation of biodiversity management by conceptualizing centralized leadership, pathways for student involvement, and the creation of community partnerships with the Virginia state government and local wildlife groups. Additionally, it highlights key justifications for the execution of this project. These reasons include the successful examples of such schemes in competitor institutions, the standing of the University of Richmond in national sustainability rankings, formal University commitments …
Green Dining Proposal,
2018
University of Richmond
Green Dining Proposal, Caroline Jones
Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects
University of Richmond has slowly but steadily introduced efforts to reduce its campus-wide, local, and national environmental impact, most notably with its commitments to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and to divert 75 percent of waste from landfills by 2025. Yet most eateries on campus offer their food and beverages to the hundreds of customers they serve every day only with single-use serve ware, an incredibly expensive practice in terms of cost, energy use, and environmental impacts. This proposal suggests introducing a “for-here” option–serving food and beverages with reusable serve ware–at all eateries on campus that currently do not offer …
Panther Initiative For Environmental Equity And Resilience, Pieer,
2018
University of Northern Iowa
Panther Initiative For Environmental Equity And Resilience, Pieer, Catherine Zeman, Zahra Al-Khidhr, Fatimah Al-Khidhr, Wynton Karanja, Tyler Dursky, Ali Al Qismah, Jassim Alkhudhar
Community Engagement Celebration Day
PIEER began in the Spring of 2014 as a partnership project in environmental resilience and equity, ERE issues with the Colleges of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, CHAS RRTTC and the UNI Provost’s Office. It has continued since as a student internship and community engagement effort designed to offer PIEER interns the opportunity to explore the social/cultural, racial ethnic, technological, and equity aspects of environmental sustainability challenges. It’s goals are to expand knowledge and understand about and across ERE issues, to allow students to examine their understanding of differences and build bridges across difference, and to meaningfully engage the campus and …
Reframing Humans (Homo Sapiens) In International Biodiversity Law To Frame Protections For Climate Refugees,
2018
William & Mary Law School
Reframing Humans (Homo Sapiens) In International Biodiversity Law To Frame Protections For Climate Refugees, Jullee Kim
William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review
Currently, application of international environmental law assumes that humans are separate from nature. Yet, the terminology commonly adopted for persons displaced as a result of climate change, “climate refugees,” represents the ultimate expression of the nexus where impacts from both natural and human systems coalesce. “Climate” represents the physical conditions appearing as a result of climate change and altering a person’s home to render it no longer habitable. While suitability of the term “refugees” in the climate change context is debated, it represents the political and societal conditions forcing the person to flee from their home, potentially across national borders, …
Three Essays On Understanding Municipal Water Demand In The Western United States,
2018
University of New Mexico
Three Essays On Understanding Municipal Water Demand In The Western United States, Michael J. O'Donnell
Economics ETDs
Scarce water resources in the Western United States, in concert with population growth and climate change, constitute a need to better understand factors that impact water demand. In this dissertation, Chapter 1 provides cultural and historical context for water use in the West and argues that understanding water demand is important, especially when managing scarcity is a goal. Chapter 2 uses aggregate city-level data from four municipalities in New Mexico to investigate seasonal trends and breakpoints. Although per premises and aggregate demand tend to decline in all geographies investigated, existence and timing of breakpoints varies by geography. Additionally, drivers of …
A Socioeconomic Valuation Of Urban Wetland Ecosystems And Policy Recommendation For College Lake,
2018
University of Lynchburg
A Socioeconomic Valuation Of Urban Wetland Ecosystems And Policy Recommendation For College Lake, Michael Dunmyer
Student Scholar Showcase
The current dilemma of College Lake offers a unique case study for how urban ecosystems can not only subsist within cities but provide pivotal functions for them as well. With the potential for a dam-breaching storm event increasing in possibility with each passing year, concerns regarding the structural integrity of the College Lake dam in Lynchburg, VA have arisen. Such concerns have led the City of Lynchburg to consider reinforcement or removal of the dam in order to mitigate flood risks along the Blackwater Creek floodplain. Since its formation following the installation of the Depression-era dam, however, College Lake has …
Summer Of Sidewalks: Accessing Lynchburg's Walkability And Planning Within Community Development In Lynchburg, Virginia,
2018
University of Lynchburg
Summer Of Sidewalks: Accessing Lynchburg's Walkability And Planning Within Community Development In Lynchburg, Virginia, Lauren Fishbein
Student Scholar Showcase
For an urban community to be sustainable, it must also be accessible to community members across all socio-economic groups. Due to the current trends in development, communities are beginning to re-evaluate their transportation options. Urban planners are beginning to discourage ‘single family vehicular' reliance and explore other facets such as; public transportation, safe bike lanes and safe sidewalks. Safe, connected and maintained sidewalks can have many benefits including public health, environmental and economic advantages. I interned with City Planning, a department within Community Development in Downtown Lynchburg, and aided their goals to edit the zoning ordinances to make sidewalks a …
Bee And Butterfly Response To Floral Resources In Central Iowa Prairie Restorations,
2018
University of Northern Iowa
Bee And Butterfly Response To Floral Resources In Central Iowa Prairie Restorations, Chandler Dolan, Kathleen Madsen, Mark Myers, Ai Wen
Research in the Capitol
Over 90 percent of Iowa’s land is devoted to cultivated row crops and pasture, which has caused a decline in biodiversity and habitat for many bee and butterfly species. To restore lost ecosystems and conserve pollinator diversity, the USDA recently developed a new Conservation Reserve Program Pollinator Habitat conservation practice (CP-42). Since 2012, Iowa farmers have enrolled over 200,000 acres in this program with little evaluation of its effectiveness. In 2017, a team of students and faculty from the University of Northern Iowa and Tallgrass Prairie Center developed methods to evaluate vegetation and pollinator activity in CP-42 restoration plantings. Using …
Idrf Book Exchange: Mosquito Trails,
2018
Brown University
Idrf Book Exchange: Mosquito Trails, Alex Nading, Chris Gratien, Aman Luthra, Alejandro Cerón
Anthropology: Faculty Scholarship
IDRF fellows discuss Alex Nading’s book Mosquito Trails: Ecology, Health, and the Politics of Entanglement, based on his International Dissertation Research Fellowship research on waste management and disease ecologies in urban Nicaragua.
Solar Energy On Farmland,
2018
University of Southern Maine
Solar Energy On Farmland, Eden Martin
Student Policy Briefs
The large-scale use of agriculture and land alteration has caused the concentrations of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere to rise in the last 250 years (Janke, 2010). The majority of greenhouse gas emissions is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are a threat when it comes to the health of our planet but they are also abundant and affordable (Janke, 2010). This threat has caused many to start exploring the use of alternative energy sources that are renewable; solar technology, wind power, geothermal, and ocean energy (Janke, 2010). According to Rebecca Hernandez, “solar energy has one of …
Maine's State Policy For Solar Farms On Agricultural Land.,
2018
University of Southern Maine
Maine's State Policy For Solar Farms On Agricultural Land., Elliot James Lee
Student Policy Briefs
A change is coming to the Northeast, and Maine is not prepared to handle it. Across the Northeast, agricultural land is being converted to solar farms, with no policy in place to handle it. Opening Maine up to numerous problems with, permitting, regulations, taxes, best management practices, size of these farms, and lack of infrastructure to name a few. All of which need to be addressed, while dealing with the general instability of policies surrounding green energy and green technology like solar panels. This change is coming quickly, and although we need this policy soon, it cannot be rushed, or …
Solar Energy On The Farm,
2018
University of Southern Maine
Solar Energy On The Farm, Kate Mccarty
Student Policy Briefs
Solar energy production accounts for less than one percent of energy produced in Maine, but nonetheless, the number of agricultural solar projects in the state is growing (ix, xi). While Maine currently lacks policies that encourage solar installations, such as tax credits and rebates, the next state administration could implement such policies, further resulting in an increase in the number of solar projects. The installation of commercial-scale solar projects is particularly attractive to farmers as it offers diversified income that protects against the unpredictable nature of farming. The Maine Legislature should consider adopting policies around the use of large-scale solar …
Solar Farms On Agricultural Land,
2018
University of Southern Maine
Solar Farms On Agricultural Land, Rebecca Pratt
Student Policy Briefs
With farmers today facing economic hardship, many are looking for alternative sources of income. A recent trend has farmers considering turning their agriculture fields into solar farms. While there is a global push for more renewal energy, using agricultural lands to accomplish this goal is being widely debated. The opposition argues that the solar farms may come with unintended consequences including economic, environmental and even social problems (Tromans and Jackson, 2015). One of the most pressing questions is who, if anyone, should regulate the development of solar farms. Currently, there is no legislation in Maine regulating the installation of solar …
Solar Farms & Agriculture – Mutually Beneficial Or Problematic?,
2018
University of Southern Maine
Solar Farms & Agriculture – Mutually Beneficial Or Problematic?, Catherine Darragh
Student Policy Briefs
Solar Farming has become increasingly adopted by farmers to diversify their income. This has raised concerns regarding the loss of agricultural land, impact on the environment, and application of policies to land that may have shifted from an agricultural to energy production focus. The following brief examines the benefits and disadvantages of solar farming for farmers and the environment and how new policies might affect the situation.
Avian Diversity And Abundance In Three Different Vegetative Landscapes Around A Shade-Grown Coffee Plantation On Mount Totumas, Chiriquí Highlands, Panamá,
2018
SIT Study Abroad
Avian Diversity And Abundance In Three Different Vegetative Landscapes Around A Shade-Grown Coffee Plantation On Mount Totumas, Chiriquí Highlands, Panamá, Samantha Myers
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Agricultura sostenible, como la agroforestería de café, tiene el potencial de conservar la biodiversidad local de muchos taxones. A pesar de los servicios beneficiosos como el control de plagas y la polinización que las aves pueden proporcionar, el grado en que el café sombrado promueva la biodiversidad de aves aún no se ha analizado completamente. El propósito de esta investigación fue para determinar si la biodiversidad y la abundancia de aves varían en áreas con diferente cobertura de vegetación y sombra alrededor de un cafetal de sombra. Se realizaron análisis vegetativos y se registraron las abundancias de las especies durante …
