Geography Commons^™

Incorporating Risk Of Reinvasion To Prioritize Sites For Invasive Species Management, Todd R. Lookingbill, Emily S. Minor, Nadia Bukach, Joseph R. Ferrari, Lisa A. Wainger

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

The relationship between landscape pattern and the distribution and spread of exotic species is an important determinant of where and when management actions are best applied. We have developed an interdisciplinary approach for prioritizing treatment of harmful, nonnative, invasive plants in National Park landscapes of the Mid-Atlantic USA. The approach relies upon a detailed model of reinvasion risk that combines information on: (1) global factors representing park-level infestation from seed and sprout, (2) landscape factors including disturbance-based spread vectors and neighborhood seed density, and (3) local factors determining establishment probability based on habitat suitability. Global seed rain estimates are derived …

Geographic Analysis Of West Nile Virus In The Upper Minnesota River Valley: A Gis And Multi-Temporal Remote Sensing Approach, Matthew Moore

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Throughout human evolution civilizations have been faced with implications from infectious diseases caused by various environmental factors. This connection was recognized as far back as the 5th century by Hippocrates and since several key advances have been realized and will be addressed in this an environmental and physical geography of disease. Arthropod or vector-borne viruses are among the most common pathogens introduced into the modern human population. West Nile Virus is considered endemic in most parts of the world and appeared in the United States in 1999 with 62 confirmed cases in an urban New York location. Since its first …

Attempting To Close The Digital Frontier: A Mixed-Methods Approach To The Study Of The Cyber Intelligence Sharing And Protection Act, Renee Lorene Pieschke

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

A mixed-methods approach was taken to study the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), recent legislation that would have considerable effects on the digital landscape. The combined methods help to define the problems underlying the legislation by defining stakeholders and isolating views from various media sources. The theoretical examinations of landscape studies, communications geography and Panopticism combined with methodology in political geography, and media analysis helps to develop a multi-angled view of the current perspective on the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. Landscape studies, with roots in Sauer's seminal work, "The Morphology of Landscape," contributed to the narrative …

Movement As A Means Of Social (Re)Production: Using Gis To Measure Social Integration Across Urban Landscapes, Heather Richards-Rissetto, Kristin Landau

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

This paper contributes to the archaeological study of movement in urban environments where built forms and natural features worked together to play a key role in structuring human mobility.We propose an analytical method using least cost analysis in a Geographic Information System (GIS) to empirically measure social integration. The method defines mobility as the potential for pedestrian movement, and identifies locations where people were most likely to walk to or through in a landscape. The calculated mobility data are then employed to identify with whom people were most likely to interact and the degree to which they were socially connected …

Trafficking In Child Labor In Ghana And Senegal, Steven Brandt

Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking: 6th (2014)

The goal of this paper is to determine the efficacy of anti-trafficking governance in Senegal and Ghana and what social, political, legal and economic factors work for or against those policies such as: - social policies for and against the growth of the NGO community - enforcement of anti-trafficking laws - economic policies for impoverished urban and rural communities - government rehabilitation policies for minors - federal, state and local corruption - border security/immigration - religious and political freedom This research comprises a comprehensive literature analysis as to the current state of trafficking of minors in Ghana and Senegal. First …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring For Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, 2013 Annual Report, Isabel W. Ashton, Michael Prowatzke

United States National Park Service: Publications

Introduction

During the last century, much of the prairie within the Northern Great Plains has been plowed for cropland, planted with non-natives to maximize livestock production, or otherwise developed, making it one of the most threatened ecosystems in the United States. Within Nebraska, greater than 77% of the area of native mixed-grass prairie has been lost since European settlement (Samson and Knopf 1994). The National Park Service (NPS) plays an important role in preserving and restoring some of the last pieces of intact prairies within its boundaries. The stewardship goal of the NPS is to “preserve ecological integrity and cultural …

Mapping Technologically And Economically Important Materials At Lunar And Terrestrial Sites Using Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) And Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission And Reflection Radiometer (Aster) Data, Douglas L. Standart

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation comprises three distinct research projects, all of which employ the use of remote sensing and digital image processing methods for the discovery and characterization of mineral resources. Two of the research projects focus on the use of hyperspectral data to identify water and ilmenite on the lunar surface. The third research project involves the use of multispectral data to map alunite in copper porphyry and epithermal silver-gold deposits. Our approach to these problems result in innovative algorithms and geological interpretations that are of use to both planetary science and exploration and the terrestrial mineral industry.

Project I: Towards …

Evaluation And Application Of A New Shape-Sensitive Metric Useful For Characterizing Both Spectral Curves And Lidar Waveforms, Eric Ariel L. Salas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to investigate hyperspectral and waveform LiDAR datasets through a new analytical framework called Moment Distance method that uses a metric derived from the shape of the curve (spectral or waveform). In the case of hyperspectral data, the shape of the reflectance curve should unmask fine points of the spectra usually not considered by existing band-specific indices. To explore the advantages and shortcomings of this new approach, leaf and canopy hyperspectral reflectance samples were simulated using the physicallybased models PROSPECT (a leaf model) and SAIL (a canopy model). Sensitivity analysis was conducted with the goal of understanding the …

Transnational Marriage: Modern Imaginings, Relational Realignments, And Persistent Inequalities, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Journal Articles

In the context of shifting cultural anchors as well as unstable global economic conditions, new practices of intimacy and sexuality may become tactics in an individual’s negotiation of conflicting desires and potentials. This article offers reflection on the interface between global forces, powerful transcultural narratives, and state policies, on the one hand, and local, even individual, constructions and tactics in regard to sexuality, marriage, migration, and work, on the other. The article focuses on the life trajectory of Gudiya, an ambitious young Hindu woman who started out life with little social capital and few economic resources in a dusty corner …

African Arrivals And Transformations, Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Painting A Map Of Sixteenth-Century Mexico City: Land, Writing, And Native Rule, Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Indicator Analysis For Unpacking Poverty In New York City, Jochen Albrecht, Mimi Abramovitz

Publications and Research

This article presents work that is part of a larger and ongoing research agenda exploring the persistence of health and social problems in some parts of New York City. To this end, the authors have developed a GIS framework that translates a highly diverse set of variables into neighborhood indicators that can help local residents as well as decision makers to understand the relationship between “place” and individual behavior. Using the example of two new indices, Community Loss and Neighborhood Risks, the readers will learn how data can be transformed to emphasize the communal nature of phenomena that is typically …

Fire Type Classification In The Brazilian Tropical Moist Forest Biome, Sanath Kumar Sathyachandran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Brazilian Tropical Moist Forest Biome (BTMFB) is “Earth’s greatest biological treasure and a major component of the earth system” and forest degradation and deforestation by fire is a serious issue in this region. Fires in the BTMFB can be broadly classified as maintenance, deforestation and forest fire types. Spatially and temporally explicit information on the incidences of fire types are important as they have widely varying atmospheric emissions and ecological impacts. Satellite based remote sensing is a practical means of monitoring the BTMFB that spans almost 4 million km2. However, there has been no way to reliably …

Transnational Policy Articulations: India, Agriculture, And The Wto, Christopher L. Blackden

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Agriculture remains one of the most contentious issues in the ongoing negotiations of the World Trade Organization, with serious implications for food security and the livelihood of farmers in the developing world. This dissertation examines the formation of agricultural trade policy and the politics and arguments surrounding it within the context of India’s position in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The research has two components. A set of archival documents relating to India’s participation in a WTO institution called the Trade Policy Review (TPR) was analyzed. In addition, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a number of Indian experts and officials …

Convergence Of Dune Topography Among Multiple Barrier Island Morphologies, Jackie Ann Monge

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Wave-dominated and mixed tidal and wave energy barrier islands are assumed to have characteristic dune topographies that link to their macroscale form. However, there has been no systematic attempt to describe the linkage between barrier island macroscale form and dune topography. The goal of this thesis was to investigate how dune topographies correspond to a number of barrier island morphologies found along the southeastern U.S. Atlantic coast. Macroscale process-form variables were used to classify 77 islands into seven morphologic clusters. Islands from each cluster were selected and sites characteristic of the range of dune topographies within islands were characterized using …

Redefining Development: Exploring Alternative Economic Practices In Appalachia, Amanda Fickey

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This dissertation examines alternative economic practices and regional economic development strategies in the Appalachian region. First, I deconstruct regional economic development policies and practices. I argue that policy documents produced by the Appalachian Regional Commission and the State of Kentucky have often limited economic imaginings through the perpetuation of regional stereotypes and short-term, decontextualized strategies. Then, I explore the existence of alternative economic practices as well as the contradictory role of the state within the context of Eastern Kentucky’s craft industry. Using a mixed methods approach, I investigate how the state simultaneously supports cooperative craft production by perpetuating a geographical …

The Human–Hookworm Assemblage: Contingency And The Practice Of Helminthic Therapy, Sophia Anne Strosberg

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Through a qualitative analysis of the use of intestinal parasites for treating immune system disorders, this research illustrates how contingency emerges in the context of the human relationship to hookworms. The affect of the human–nonhuman relationship is an important part of understanding the direction of evolutionary medicine today, and has implications for the politics of biological health innovations. The shift from the bad parasite to a parasite that at least sometimes heals, discursively and materially, has opened new spaces for patients to change the way they relate to medical knowledge, medical professionals, and pharmaceutical companies. Hookworms are banned by the …

Entrepreneurial Planning And Urban Economic Development: The Case Of Establishing Commuter Rail In Orlando, Florida, Timothy J. Brock

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Rooted in the theories of urban entrepreneurialism, this dissertation employs a political economy framework as a means of analyzing urban governance and economic development in the contemporary US city. This case study of Orlando adds to our understanding of how entrepreneurial narratives are being applied to transportation infrastructure projects in pursuit of local economic development.

The empirical case study explores the relationship between planning narratives, urban governance and economic development in the establishment of the SunRail commuter rail system in central Florida. I present the political history of economic development and the role of local boosters in shaping the sociospatial …

Carbon Forestry: Pursuing Climate Change Mitigation And Poverty Alleviation Through Market-Based Forest Carbon Schemes In Chiapas, Mexico, Jonathan Otto

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Forest carbon projects seek to alleviate rural poverty and mitigate global climate change by facilitating the flow of capital from actors looking to offset CO2 emissions to land managers willing to engage in offset-oriented reforestation, afforestation, and forest preservation activities. In Mexico, forest carbon schemes have been pursued within the country’s national Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) program, and through REDD+ pilot projects and separate voluntary initiatives. In this dissertation, I explore one voluntary project, Scolel’ Te, which is managed by the non-governmental organization (NGO), AMBIO. Focusing on the case of Scolel’ Te, I show how forest carbon projects undermine …

Recent Trends In Temperature And Relative Humidity In Bawku East, Northern Ghana, Kwasi Frimpong, Jacques D. Oosthuizen, Eddie J. Van Etten

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Extensive analyses of trends in mean annual and mean seasonal minimum and maximum temperatures and relative humidity were examined for Bawku East, northern Ghana, for the period 1961 to 2012. Mean monthly maximum and minimum temperatures were used to analyse and establish recent temperature trends on an annual and seasonal basis. The year was divided into rainy and dry seasons for the seasonal trends. Mean monthly relative humidity at 6 am and 3 pm from 1961 to 2012 were considered to show recent trends in humidity since temperature and humidity interact to determine the heat exposure for outdoor workers. Regression …