Environmental Studies Commons^™

The Legendary Topography Of The Viking Settlement Of Iceland, Verena Höfig

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

From the time of their earliest texts in the vernacular, Icelanders were interested in the semioticization of their landscape, the mapping of nature into culture by inscribing it with memories from the settlement of the island during the Viking Age. Such a de-scription and in-scription of landscape with meaning occurs most prominently in The Book of Settlements or Landnámabók, a thirteenth century prose text preserved in several versions. This paper focuses on Icelanders' myth of origin as presented in the various Landnámabók redactions, and explores how a largely fictional medieval text can assert ownership and control over territory, and ultimately …

Shifting Rurality American Gothic, Iowa Nice, Biotech And Political Expectations In Rural America, William D. Nichols 890252

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

This paper traces the linkage between heritage landscape within the context of the election of Donal Trump. Trump's invocations of heritage riled certain regions of the US which had a distinct connection to Regionalism, both as a political idea and as an aesthetic practice. Focusing on Iowa, home to the quintessential American painting, American Gothic, the paper looks at modernity and agriculture, and how the two categories seem to rely on (but also negate) heritage. By examining what a genetically modified landscape might mean in relation to the historical image of the pastoral/provincial farmer, a network of frictions and …

On The Wire, Sarah F. Lumba

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

“On the Wire” is a work of creative non-fiction that weaves together a local myth and actual events to describe the devastating effects of Typhoon Ketsana, which struck Marikina, a small but progressive city in the Philippines, on September 2009. It explores how colonial subjugation has erased a people’s memory of their collective soul and has severed their strong ties to the land, thus putting the lives of future generations in jeopardy.

Poetry Of Roe 8, Nandi Chinna

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

Poetry of Roe 8

The occasion for the writing of these poems was activism surrounding the controversial highway known as the Roe 8 extension in the areas of Cockburn and Fremantle in Western Australia. Planned in the 1950s, Roe 8 is contentious for a number of reasons, including extraordinary political deals over funding, undue process regarding environmental reporting, lack of a business case, inadequate noise and traffic modelling, erasure of Indigenous heritage sites, and clearing of the sensitive Beeliar wetlands and Coolbellup banksia woodlands which were designated a Threatened Ecological Community in 2016. During the summer of 2016/2017 contractors started …

Review Of Thinking Continental: Writing The Planet One Place At A Time, John Charles Ryan Dr

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

Review of Thinking Continental: Writing the Planet One Place at a Time (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2017) edited by Tom Lynch, Susan Naramore Maher, Drucilla Wall and O. Alan Weltzien

Darwin’S Landscapes (And Seascapes), Patrick H. Armstrong

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

Charles Darwin, particularly in his early writings, had a strong appreciation of landscape. He describes scenery that he regarded as attractive and spectacular in his writings from the Beagle period with considerable perception. Through much of his career, he integrated ideas and facts from different sources supremely well; thus understanding that a landscape was a product of the rocks, the processes they had undergone, vegetation, animal life, and human activities. Another component in the development of his appreciation of landscape – or ‘scenery’ as he usually identified it – was his quite strong aesthetic sense which existed from his teenage …

On The Trail Of A Ghost, Nicole Hodgson

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

In the process of researching the life of an early settler of the Israelite Bay area, the author comes to a much deeper understanding of the many ways in which the landscape has changed in the past one hundred and fifty years.

Saturn/Cronus-11, Joel Weishaus

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

“Saturn/Cronus-11” is from a Cosmography, an in-progress project of Literary Digital Art that invokes the gods of seven planets in our celestial neighborhood; plus The Sun, The Moon; and Incognita. It includes my trope of invagination: fragments exhumed from the authored corpus and transplanted into the body of a living text, which, along with superimposed images and animations, advances us toward a more magnanimous, transdisciplinary sphere. The project also includes notes.

Watering Black Roots (Reconnecting Human+Nature), Stormy Saint-Val, Angelica Pinna-Perez

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

“I understood at a very early age that in nature, I felt everything I should feel in church but never did. Walking in the woods, I felt in touch with the universe and with the spirit of the universe”. -Alice Walker

Growing up with a strong connection to nature, I struggled balancing the joys and sorrows of being the only black person in my environment engaging in outdoor activities. It took 26 years for me to find spaces where people of color were either centered or inclusively involved in the strong connection with the natural world. Interacting with wildlife in …

Rain Rituals As A Barometer Of Vulnerability In An Uncertain Climate, L. Jen Shaffer

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

Researchers and aid agencies, seeking to improve their understanding of local climate change responses, adaptation, and vulnerability, frequently interact with communities around the world who strongly emphasize their religious beliefs and practices. Dismissal and misunderstandings of these local perspectives can slow assessments of local climate vulnerability and development of adaptive capacity. In this paper, I show how analysis of rain ritual failure exposes the multiple stressors Ronga communities in southern Mozambique face, and as such, serves as a proxy measure for climate vulnerability at the local level. Oral histories and targeted interviews with participating elders, local chiefs, and community members …

Spatial Analysis Of Cirques From Three Regions Of Iceland: Implications For Cirque Formation And Palaeoclimate, Heather A. Ipsen, Sarah M. Principato, Rachael E. Grube, Jessica F. Lee

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

This study is a quantitative analysis of cirques in three regions of Iceland: Tröllaskagi, the East Fjords and Vestfirðir. Using Google Earth and the National Land Survey of Iceland Map Viewer, we identified 347 new cirques on Tröllaskagi and the East Fjords region, and combined these data with 100 cirques previously identified on Vestfirðir. We used ArcGIS to measure length, width, aspect, latitude and distance to coastline of each cirque. Palaeo‐equilibrium‐line altitudes (palaeo‐ELAs) of palaeo‐cirque glaciers were calculated using the altitude‐ratio method, cirque‐floor method and minimum‐point method. The mean palaeo‐ELA values in Tröllaskagi, the East Fjords and Vestfirðir are 788, …

Mutual Economic Incentives For Urban Tree Canopy Restoration, Paul E. Thompson Jr.

Undergraduate Economic Review

Potential alignment of economic incentives for tree canopy restoration are modeled using data from a 2015 Louisville Metro Government (KY) Urban Tree Canopy Assessment. The study revealed marked declines in urban canopy coverage from 2004-2012; accelerating losses are forecast through 2050. Tree coverage conveys substantial financial benefit to private property owners, primarily through increased property valuations. Benefits to local government may be derived from the corresponding increase in property tax assessments. A comprehensive cost-benefit analysis demonstrates the economic efficiency of tree purchase vouchers (issued by government to private property owners) as a potential contributing solution to urban canopy loss.

Communication And Biodegradable Packaging Relationship: A Paradigm For Final Disposal, Breno Luiz Ottoni, Rafael Mattos Deus, José Alcides Gobbo Junior, Ângela Maria Grossi De Carvalho, Rosane Aparecida Gomes Battistelle

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Solid waste generation is estimated to increase from 1.3 billion to 2.2 billion tons by 2025, causing environmental, social, and consequently public health problems. The biggest problem in this regard involves the inadequate disposal of waste, and in emerging countries like Brazil, it is sorted less waste for recycling or composting. In this context, plastic packaging is more complex due to the high polymer composition, as well as low recycling rates. Bioplastics appear as alternatives because they are mostly biodegradable. Given the various functions of packaging and a systematic review of the literature, the aim of this study was to …

Data Snapshot: Millennials And Climate Change, Lawrence Hamilton

Carsey Publications

From more frequent flooding to heat waves and drought, adverse impacts from climate change are already being experienced.Scientists warn of worse impacts within the lifetime of many people alive today, if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced. Although majorities in all age groups recognize the reality of climate change, awareness is highest among young adults.

A Naturalist’S Guide To The Great Plains, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This book documents nearly 500 US and Canadian locations where wildlife refuges, nature preserves, and similar properties protect natural sites that lie within the North American Great Plains, from Canada’s Prairie Provinces to the Texas-Mexico border. Information on site location, size, biological diversity, and the presence of especially rare or interesting flora and fauna are mentioned, as well as driving directions, mailing addresses, and phone numbers or internet addresses, as available. US federal sites include 11 national grasslands, 13 national parks, 16 national monuments, and more than 70 national wildlife refuges. State properties include nearly 100 state parks and wildlife …

An Analysis Of The Social And Political Barriers To Wind Energy Development In Lancaster County, Nebraska, Corrin Bemis

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

With the increasing threat of climate change beginning to impact cities and regions in the United States, many states are turning to renewable energy sources as a way to mitigate their carbon footprint. While Nebraska has the potential to be a leader in wind energy development within the next few years, some restrictions are still put in place that slow down the expansion of wind farms. Although the state is ranked 4^th in the nation for wind energy potential, Nebraska is ranked 20^th for actual wind energy development. This paper will define the social and political barriers that …

Identifying Gaps In United States Federal Environmental Policy & Practice Through Greening Big Box Infrastructure, Elizabeth Kubacki

Sustainability and Social Justice

The purpose of this report is to identify policy and practice gaps in resource consumption reduction in the United States, and doing so by using big box retailers as the case study industry.

Through reviewing the history of U.S. federal resource reduction policies, and standard industry practices for greening big box infrastructure, I explore how regulations on sustainability and consumption agree with the Porter Hypotheses. By using the Porter Hypothesis as a theoretical framework for the regulation of green infrastructure in big box retailers, I will identify gaps in both literature and industry practices that can be filled by following …

Media Analysis Of City-Wide Local News Portrayals Of Youth Criminality: Worcester, Massachusetts, Andrea Boffice

Sustainability and Social Justice

This study consists of a comprehensive media analysis of local news in Worcester, Massachusetts that explores portrayals of youth criminality of an entire city’s local media landscape. It examines how local media portrayal of youth is primarily dominated by coverage of youth crime and youth victimization. As our nation is questioning our trust and reliability in ever-changing news, this study asks whether our local news, with the new platforms that are emerging, have been compromised in providing a fair portrayal of youth. Particularly, whether it fairly portrays Black and Latinx youth in representations of criminality proportional to crime occurring. During …

Agribusiness, Food Insecurity, And Chronic Diet-Related Ailments In Worcester, Ma: Toward A Nuanced Narrative, Adam Wriggins

Sustainability and Social Justice

The following research paper begins with an acknowledgement of the global food crisis and, more specifically, the agribusiness model of food production and distribution in the United States. It then zeroes in on the fundamental issues with many of the United States food movements. It then outlines a narrative with the frame that food security is a human right by elucidating concepts of food justice and food sovereignty. Once this foundation has been laid, the paper examines chronic food-related ailments (diabetes and coronary heart disease) in Worcester, Massachusetts, and how these ailments are related to racial/ethnic minorities (Black and Hispanic/Latino …

Worcester Community Clean Energy Project: A Preliminary Assessment Of Project Aims And Potential, Gabe J. Epstein

Sustainability and Social Justice

E4TheFuture is orchestrating two pilot Community Clean Energy Projects (CCEP) in the state of Massachusetts. This paper is a preliminary analysis of the Worcester CCEP and is commissioned by E4TheFuture. The CCEP incorporates multiple types of renewable energies and a cooperative energy approach to provide clean energy access to any community member regardless of income level or homeowner status. The paper examines the CCEP’s mission statement and project estimates, using data provided by E4TheFuture and academic literature. The analysis seeks to determine the feasibility of the Worcester CCEP, its potential impact on underserved communities, and the potential for project replication.