Geography Commons^™

Finding Multi-Centers: Using Crowd-Sourcing Technologies To Define Communities Of Landscape Architecture, Geoffrey Taylor

All Theses

This paper presents findings from website-based analytics identifying social and geographic topic hotspots within the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. Three crowd-sourced surveys are utilized to record thousands of user's topic interests and pinpoint locations on a global scale. Topics include projects, research, visualization, sustainability, and competitions within architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. The surveys also identify user locations, topics of interest, day and time of contact, social sharing, and user demographics. The goal of the research is to understand the online social structure and responses of groups involved with developing the built environment. These professionals …

Delineating The Wildland Urban Interface Using Publicly Available Geospatial Data, Mary Rozmajzl

Student Work

The Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), a human-designated area between undeveloped wildlands and urban areas, has been identified using many different kinds of data. The most common data used have been census housing densities to determine urban areas and a vegetation layer from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) to identify wildlands (Theobald and Romme 2007, Radeloff et al. 2005, Stewart et al. 2003, and Haight et al. 2004). Knowing the location and area of a WUI is important for federal land agencies because federal legislation (Federal Register Notice 2001, 66-3) has provided parameters to identify WUIs and has directed agencies …

An Alternate Approach To Ecosystem Mapping: Fusing Orthophotography With Landsat Etm+ Data For A Object-Based Classification, South Eastern Arkansas., David Mcfee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Maintaining representative sampling of biologically rich and rare ecosystems has become an important means to preventing biodiversity loss. A limitation in indentifying and quantifying ecosystems is the cost of obtaining high resolution imagery necessary for a high resolution land cover assessment. This research shows how free, different resolution imagery (orthoimages and LANDSAT ETM+) could be combined to produce a hybrid dataset with enhanced spectral, spectral and temporal properties, and processed to obtain a object-based classification of land cover of bottomland and pine hardwood forest in south eastern Arkansas. Three classification techniques were evaluated: 1) a human derived, rule based method, …

Landscape History In The G.K. Warren Missouri River Maps, Graham Alan Callaway

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1855 and 1856, military surveyor Gouverneur K. Warren and his assistants produced what was at the time the most accurate map ever made of the Missouri River. This series of highly detailed sketch maps records numerous cultural features and an extraordinary level of environmental detail, making it an invaluable resource for research on the history of the region. This paper represents the first attempt to comprehensively interpret the content of these maps, identifying the features recorded where possible and assessing the probability of archaeological preservation of those not previously known. A subset of the recorded environmental data, from roughly …

Identifying Optimal Cellulosic Biomass Feedstock Supply Areas For Potential Biorefineries In Arkansas, Mark Cooper

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In February 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the revised Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2), mandating at least 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be produced annually in America, and blended into all on/off road, locomotive, and marine gasoline and diesel by the year 2022. America's existing biorefineries fall significantly short of being able to meet this mandate, resulting in the need for rapid expansion in the near future if this goal is to be met. The state of Arkansas has abundant resources to offer the renewable energy industry, if properly utilized. The goal of this thesis is to …

Defining Neighborhood: Social Disorganization Theory, Official Data, And Community Perceptions, Jeremy Waller

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

While the theory of social disorganization has been refined through research and critique, data and methods used to measure key concepts related to the theory have largely remained the same. This study examines the extent to which resident perceptions of neighborhoods are reflected similarly in official data provided by the U.S. Census, in terms of both neighborhood boundaries and neighborhood conditions. It consists of a combination of respondent-identified data and official data gathered on neighborhoods, their condition, and crime. Comparisons between perceptual indicators of neighborhood boundary and characteristics and corresponding official data at the block, block group, and Census tracts …

Navigation And Accessibility For Persons With Disabilities: An Anthropological Study Using Gis On The University Of Arkansas Campus, Deborah Jean Raiees-Dana

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The University of Arkansas was founded in 1871 on the top of a hill overlooking the Ozark Mountains, resulting in a campus that has steep slopes and numerous historical buildings that were not designed with ADA regulations in mind. This makes getting around campus especially difficult for students with limited mobility, and no campus maps exist that include handicapped accessibility features to help navigate the terrain and limited parking options. This study examines this issue using a holistic approach that explores cultural and technological factors to produce a map of the Historic Core District of campus.

Geographical Information Systems enable …

Assessment Of Land Use Suitability Based On Water Erosion Susceptibility In Medium-Sized Urban Areas Of The Metropolitan Region Of Santiago, Central Chile, Roberto Fernandez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Urban areas constitute complex spatial entities where biophysical and socioeconomic environments interact through processes that determine the distribution of land use in the territory. Given Chile's variety of landscapes, water erosion, and mass movement, and rapid expansion of its medium-sized cities, straightforward techniques for assessment of land use suitability are essential. Through evaluation of water erosion susceptibility, it is possible to efficiently determine suitability of land use in medium-sized cities and their adjacent environments. The adaptation and application of the Erosion Response Units (ERU) concept (Märker et al., 2001) in the cities of Colina and Melipilla, Metropolitan Region of …

Anderson, Linda Allen (Fa 77), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 77. “Stone Masons and Their Craft in the Bluegrass Area of Kentucky,” interpretive paper and interviews executed for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University in 1986. Collection includes photographs of stone cutting and stonework in the Bluegrass region.

Looking For A Diverse Teacher Force, Guy Trainin, William England, Britney Tonniges

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

At some point over the next 10 to 12 years, the nation’s public school student body will have no one clear racial or ethnic majority. But the makeup of the nation’s teacher workforce is not keeping up with these changing demographics. At the national level, students of color make up more than 40 percent of the public school population. In contrast, teachers of color—teachers who are not non-Hispanic white—are only 17 percent of the teaching force. (Boser,2011- Teacher Diversity Matters) This infographic presentes a snapshot of the situation in Nebraska 2012.

Quantifying Urbanization In Grand Traverse County, Mi, Benjamin T. Roush

Honors Theses

Grand Traverse County, MI has witnessed population growth in the past thirty years, largely because of its popularity as a tourist destination and “wilderness” area in Michigan and around the Great Lakes basin in general. Accordingly, there has been human development and urbanization in the county, particularly around its major community, Traverse City. This paper seeks to quantify that urbanization. This will be done by classification of Landsat 5 – TM imagery collected in 1984 and 2010, utilizing the Gaussian maximum likelihood supervised classification method. After this process, changes in proportions of the various land use types in the county …

Parting The Waves: Claims To Maritime Jurisdiction And The Division Of Ocean Space, Clive Schofield

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

This article casts aside traditional obsessions and examines the development and present state of coastal State claims to maritime jurisdiction, the overlapping claims to maritime space that have inevitably resulted from the significant extension of maritime claims in recent decades, and thus the delimitation of maritime boundaries.

Alone On A Wide Wide Sea: A National Security Rationale For Joining The Law Of The Sea Convention, James W. Houck

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

In the face of twenty-first century challenges to military maritime mobility, the question persists as to whether customary international law will remain a reliable foundation for U.S. maritime security interests in the future. To date, the U.S. has successfully conducted military operations sanctioned by the customary high seas freedoms of free navigation and overflight. However, with technological advances and heightened environmental and defense concerns, countries with coastal state interests may demand greater control over their near-shore waters, requiring the U.S. to reconsider its position outside the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This article addresses pertinent …

Apartment Rental Prices In Dallas, Mandi Lovett

Undergraduate Research Conference

There are many questions in a graduating students mind such as “Will I get that job?” and “Where will I live?” We wanted to predict apartment rental prices in Dallas to give students an idea of what their living expenses could be. We found that an apartment's distance from downtown Dallas and if the apartment has a pool are two factors that decrease the apartment's overall rental price.

Geographic Information Systems And Cloud Computing, James Hearn

Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

A Spatially Explicit Agent Based Model Of Muscovy Duck Home Range Behavior, James Howard Anderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Research in GIScience has identified agent-based simulation methodologies as effective in the study of complex adaptive spatial systems (CASS). CASS are characterized by the emergent nature of their spatial expressions and by the changing relationships between their constituent variables and how those variables act on the system's spatial expression over time. Here, emergence refers to a CASS property where small-scale, individual action results in macroscopic or system-level patterns over time. This research develops and executes a spatially-explicit agent based model of Muscovy Duck home range behavior. Muscovy duck home range behavior is regarded as a complex adaptive spatial system …

Geographic Information Systems Facilitate Youth, Youth Workers And Community Stakeholder Efforts, Helenmary Hotz

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

A large population of underserved students and residents in the City of Boston suffer from behavioral and/or discipline problems, as well as substance and/or alcohol abuse. A side effect of this behavior is the increasing instance of trash such as cigarette butts, condoms, syringes and packaging being discarded in public areas. The South Boston Youth Action Center (SBYAC) is tackling this problem by making the community aware of the locations and probable sources of this problem. The SBYAC is implementing an effort to rid South Boston parks, playgrounds and areas frequented by children of refuse associated with substance abuse. And, …

Critical Reflections On Experiential Learning For Food Justice, Leslie C. Gray, Joanna Johnson, Nicole Latham, Michelle Tang, Ann Thomas

Environmental Studies and Sciences

This essay will reflect on Santa Clara University's (SCU) forays into experiential learning around food justice through the Bronco Urban Gardens (BUG) program. BUG works with urban schools and a community center in San José, California, using a garden-based education approach. This program emerged out of our student garden, The Forge. University student farms and gardens provide opportunities for students to learn how to grow, manage, and market food. At Santa Clara University, our half-acre (0.2 hectare) garden plays that role. However, because of our institution's commitment to social justice and a strong network of community partners, our campus garden …

Norumbega News, No.16 (Spring 2012), Osher Library Associates

Friends of OML, Occasional Publications

Issue No.16, Spring 2012

Osher Map Library and the Smith Center for Cartographic Education

Portland, Maine

The Influence Of Local Food Environments On Adolescents' Food Purchasing Behaviors, Meizi He, Patricia Tucker, Jason Gilliland, Jennifer D. Irwin, Kristian Larsen, Paul Hess

Geography & Environment Publications

This study examined the relationship between the neighborhood food environment and the food purchasing behaviors among adolescents. Grade 7 and 8 students (n = 810) at 21 elementary schools in London, Ontario, Canada completed a questionnaire assessing their food purchasing behaviors. Parents of participants also completed a brief questionnaire providing residential address and demographic information. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to assess students' home and school neighborhood food environment and land use characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the influence of the home neighborhood food environment on students' food purchasing behaviors, while two-level Hierarchical Non-Linear Regression …