Environmental Studies Commons^™

Chapman University 2016 Environmental Audit: Residence Life Dining Services Equipment, Alexandra Fw Sidun, Devon T. Bloss

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Chapman University accommodates over 1700 student meal plans per day through the on-campus dining services provided by Sodexo Restaurant Services. The commercial-grade kitchens found in the Randall Dining Commons (RDC) of Sandhu Conference Center are frequently used to prepare food for students for every meal, seven days a week. The RDC kitchen facility has staff working around the clock and high consumption electrical, water, and gas appliances constantly running to parallel the high demand. The frequent use of commercial kitchen appliances results in an enormous consumption of energy and water resources leading to comparably high utility bills. Measuring the energy …

Bioswales For Stormwater Remediation And Infiltration: Assessing Regulatory Climate And Quantifying Filtration Capacity Of A Claremont Bioswale, Skyler Lewis, Boyu Liu, Paul Picciano, Liana Solis, Char Miller

Environmental Analysis Program Senior Projects

Watershed management is critical in ensuring a sustainable water supply. This project is designed to assess the impact of bioswales in the context of Southern California’s climate. The patterns of droughts and floods make these green infrastructure appealing as they offer potential to boost water quality and regenerate local aquifers, while reducing the area of impermeable surfaces in our urban landscape. As bioswales have not been commonly incorporated into infrastructure development, our project focuses on a relatively new bioswale, added in 2012 and located on Pomona College’s campus, to serve as our case study in determining the viability of bioswales …

Wave And Tidal Energy In New York: Sustainable Hydroelectricity For The Grid, Lucas Basil Romanowsky

Student Theses 2015-Present

As humanity continues to exceed the ecological carrying capacity of the earth in its use of nonrenewable energy sources, it is imperative to find and shift to alternative renewable energy sources that can sustain human civilization. The ocean based phenomenon of tides, current, and waves are a way in which that source of energy can be obtained and broadened for human consumption. Oceanic energy can serve not only as a means to provide cleaner energy, but also improve the economy and the land based environment. The natural sciences and social sciences are examined within the quantitative data present. The natural …

Contesting “Obligation”: Memory, Morality, And The (Re)Construction Of Divestment Narratives, Christina Quint

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Leaders in the medical field representing organizations abroad such as the British Medical Association (BMA) and MedAct have called for health care organizations to divest from fossil fuels, on the grounds that it is hypocritical for health care leaders to take the Hippocratic Oath and be implicated in the health impacts for which the burning of fossil fuels is responsible. The emerging discourse highlighting the imperative to divest draws parallels to the health care sector’s leadership in divesting from tobacco in the 1990s on the grounds of its health implications. Even before the current fossil fuel divestment movement and the …

The Urban Heat Island Effect In Malta And The Adequacy Of Green Roofs In Its Mitigation, Jonathan Scicluna

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Urbanisation is a reality of every major western society. The growth of cities, however, often results in major environmental impacts that not only effect the natural world but also humanity as well. One of these impacts is the Urban Heat Island (UHI) a phenomenon that influences the temperature inside built-up areas, often resulting in uncomfortably hot air temperature, especially in summer. However, as global climate change predictions keep forecasting warmer periods for regions such as Malta, UHI has the potential to transform from a nuisance to a deadly reality more often than in the present.

This work strives to get …

Plastic Pollution And The Global Throwaway Culture: Environmental Injustices Of Single-Use Plastic, Kristin L. Mcdermott

ENV 434 Environmental Justice

The global throwaway culture has created a cross-ecosystem plastic pollution injustice. The first to suffer this injustice will be the most vulnerable. Our oceans have become our dumpsters. The throwaway culture has created a disrespect of material goods that has turned the earth’s resources into rubbish after a single use. Eighty percent of the yearly 8 million tons of plastic that enter the ocean is single use plastic, such as plastic bottles, plastic shopping bags, or cigarette lighters.[1] Plastic has destroyed ecosystems, robbing impoverished communities of natural resources and of a healthy and safe living environment. First to suffer …

Landfill Communities Within The Land Of Eternal Spring, Blanca Vaneza Guzmán

ENV 434 Environmental Justice

This paper examines the placement and impact of landfills within Guatemala City, Guatemala. By examining the municipal cite and its accessibility to policy taken on towards proper waste management, the recurring theme of lack of information will be obvious. It specifically looks at the lack of information provided and describes the landfill communities by looking at the minimal scholarship and media attention offered. This paper will also interrelate the importance of all beings, living and non-living with its surroundings and highlight ideas of ecological thinking. An emphasis on environmental racism will be stressed, particularly with the enormous impact it has …

The Solar Power Difference: How Solar Energy Can Boost Economies And Nicaragua's Rural Communities, Matthew R. Feuer

Student Theses 2015-Present

Abstract

In our present age there is a dire and growing need for energy. Nations that are modernizing continue to require more for their expanding populations. The old way of creating energy through non-sustainable methods such as, gas extraction, coal burning, and oil drilling is becoming ever more environmentally hazardous on a global scale. There are alternatives already being implemented today and one promising industry that will help move our dependence off of non-sustainable resources to sustainable is solar energy. However, while solar energy is completely sustainable and up to the task of mass consumption, how will it grow economically …

Stop Factory Farming For The Sake Of Humanity!, Alexander V. Dimauro

ENV 434 Environmental Justice

Abstract: The world is being destroyed. We do not care about the mistreatment of animals in factory farms because of our consumeristic taste buds, but this gluttony is even more problematic than we think. It is blinding us from an even larger factor at stake. Our factory farming methods are a leading contributor in the causes of global warming. What this means for us is that our consumption has a direct impact on our destruction. We need to think big, and act. The only way to combat this issue is through taking courses of action that will force people to …

Unearthed: Advocating Against Fracking And Breaking The Bond Of The Imagined World Order, Colleen E. Cloonan

ENV 434 Environmental Justice

While discussing the imagined world order, it is evident that the world is not perfect. Over the course of the centuries, the earth has been maimed by humans, whether it be during the agricultural age or throughout the process of industrialization into the modern era. Humans must realize that sooner, rather than later, we must address the environmental destruction we are causing. A specific case, with that such as hydraulic fracturing of shale, otherwise known as fracking, provides as an example of one of the environmental justice issues that is plaguing the earth. However, there are complications. In the consumer …

Hydroelectric Dams: The Lao Government's Luxury Trap, M.K. Laurel

ENV 434 Environmental Justice

The research of the Lao government, its hydroelectric dams, and its responses to its project was done through an environmental justice lens. It is an interdisciplinary research that explores the political corruption, the role of media, and the environment in order to frame the Lao government and the reasoning behind their unjust activities.

A Case Of Environmental Justice In Los Angeles, California, Cleora Ohar

ENV 434 Environmental Justice

Abstract: Environmental Racism has been around for a long time. Looking at its history of key movements like the Civil Rights Movement can help provide a framework for why it has become what it is today and could potentially look like in the future. The way in which people have presented it has changed as culture has changed. Not only does environmental racism involve issues of the environment, but it also includes issues of race. Hence, the name of this subcategory of environmental justice. In fact, studies have been conducted showing that those who live in underdeveloped or poor …

The Impacts Of Elephant Grazing On Plant Succession In Tropical Forests Of Africa, Nadia Swit

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Succession occurs in an ecosystem when there is a change in the species structure and diversity in an ecological community over time. While this can allow for greater biodiversity, occasionally diversity can be stunted based on the level of disturbance and the invasiveness of the first pioneering species. As in the case of arrested succession, continual disturbance prohibits changes in the environment and suppresses species establishment. The effects of this continued disturbance are seen in the tropical forests in national parks in Uganda and Tanzania in Eastern Africa with African elephants (Loxodonta africana). The continuous browsing on trees …

Estimated Effects Of Climate Change On The Reproductive Fitness Of The Northern Spotted Owl, Strix Occidentalis Caurina, Nadia Swit

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

In this paper, the trends for current and future climate change were utilized to evaluate the potential reproductive success of the Spotted Owl, particularly the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) subspecies. As breeding season would exert additional stressors on the animal, a time period of five months, from January to June, was selected for the spring breeding season in which to evaluate temperature change. Previous research performed by Weathers and colleagues (2001) concerning the California Owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) formulated a thermodynamic equation that was utilized to compare the metabolic rate of the owl at …

The Ecological Impacts Of Non-Native Species On River Otter Populations, Nadia Swit

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Most nonindigenous species invasions can have negative consequences on an environment. Trophic systems may become altered as prey sources are depleted, which can have further implications on community and habitat structure. However, some species invasions can be positive as it can provide another food source for key stone species. The effects of invasive species are reviewed in the following paper for the North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) and the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra). In the case of the North American river, the introduction of the lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) has negatively impacted otter …

Changes In Floristic Composition In The State Forests In Worcester County (Massachusetts) Over 34 Years, Flor A. Monroe

Sustainability and Social Justice

ABSTRACT

CHANGES IN FOREST DIVERSITY OF STATE FOREST IN WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS, OVER 34 YEARS PERIOD

The forest in Massachusetts has changed since the earliest colonial settlement and today the floristic composition is more homogeneous. This study investigates the potential change in the floristic composition over thirty years in Worcester County State Forests. Shannon, richness and evenness indices for two periods were compared, and Jaccard index was used to analyze similarity in composition between the periods. The possible influence of severe weather events was also analyzed.

It was found Changes in the floristic composition, but the magnitude of the changes …

Young Liberian Women In The Diaspora: The Dilemma Of Returning ‘Back Home’, Jedidia Yaa-Sakumah Adusei

Sustainability and Social Justice

Women in Liberia have played an important role in ending the civil war in Liberia. This paper addresses the question of return for young Liberian women living in the diaspora particularly in Rhode Island, and the motivation and dilemma they may face in the process of deciding to go ‘back home’. The division of Liberian citizens; Americo-Liberians and the indigenous Liberians created a series of civil wars, which later created a large number of Liberians to be resettled in the U.S. Rhode Island, is among one of the three states to have the largest population of Liberians in the U.S. …

Natural Disasters Aren't The Problem: Poverty And Environmental Degradation In Rural Coastal Tanzania, Sarah R. Martin

Sustainability and Social Justice

This paper examines how two theoretical frameworks, systems and resilience thinking, provide differing understandings of natural disasters, poverty and environmental degradation in rural coastal Tanzania. Both frameworks aim to expand the scope of reductionist thinking, in order to better understand the complex interrelationships between various actors, which may have not otherwise been considered. Although both theories have their individual strengths and weaknesses, neither have been able to catalyze effective solutions to these problems. As a result, I propose a hybrid version of systems and resilience thinking, as a means to best examine poverty and environmental degradation in rural coastal Tanzania. …

The Gaian-Inspired Systems View Of Life: A Systemic Approach To Global Crises A Case Study: How Scientific Worldviews Influence Global Food Systems, Wyatt Lee Graft

Sustainability and Social Justice

This Master's Paper relies on secondary research in addition to theoretical and philosophical arguments to show that humanity's metaphysical worldview significantly underlies its valuing systems, institutions, and behavior. The paper uses the examples of modern industrial food production and emerging organic and local alternatives to provide a comparative analysis between fundamental worldviews and how they influence the way human systems originate and function. It is argued that the change required to address substantial and interconnected global issues will require a re-evaluation and scrutiny of the metaphysical assumptions inherent in the politics and practice of agriculture, food processing, and the very …

Towards A Reduction In Methane Emissions From Natural Gas In California: A Policy Brief On The Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Strategy, Samantha Caputo

Sustainability and Social Justice

To prevent global warming from surpassing 2°C and minimize extreme weather events, action must be taken to combat greenhouse gases (GHGs) that pose a greater short-term threat. Short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) have a short lifespan paired with high global warming potentials in the atmosphere. By targeting SLCPs, short-term success in combating climate change will encourage long-term investment. The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has been tasked with developing a strategy to combat SLCPs pursuant to Senate Bill 605. The overall objective of this paper is to examine the policies ARB plans to implement to tackle methane emissions in the natural …