Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

How Do Non-Formal Environmental Education Experiences Shape Pro-Environmental Behavior, Megan Petsch

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This paper attempts to define what behaviors are, what motivates behavior, and how environmental education programs can shape pro-environmental behavior using three factors: social interaction, program structure, and various teaching methods. Data was gathered using a systematic literature review that looked at the purpose and objectives of the paper, methods used for collecting data such as demographics (age, race, gender, location, etc.), the papers focused areas of research, and results. A thematic analysis was also used to code collected data into the themes. The themes that emerged while analyzing the data include social interactions, program structure, and teaching methods. Results …

Consumer Response To Sustainable Practices Within The Fashion Industry, Gage Mruz

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This study was conducted online through an environmental company called Greenstain, a registered LLC who provides environmentally sustainable solutions and plants a tree for every item they sell. The purpose of the study is to analyze consumer response to the eco-friendly apparel and other sustainable solutions offered by Greenstain after educating consumers on the extent to which the fashion industry is impacting the natural environment and the practices they can utilize to reduce these negative impacts. The sample size included any person with access to Google, Facebook, and Instagram. Scientists in the world have reached an overwhelming consensus that climate …

A Comparison Of Modern Power: Environmental Impacts, Seth Adams

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

There are many aspects of environmental influences that must be considered when evaluating power production methods. Over the course of a six-month literature review this study covered the environmental impact and sustainability of four different power production methods: coal, solar, wind, and nuclear. This study then used the information gathered to create a set of criteria by which each would be evaluated. The goal of this study was to determine the power production method that would deliver the most energy with the least amount of environmental impact. Further, the scope of this study is limited to the midwestern states of …

Activity Patterns Of Nebraskan Wildlife On A Prairie Landscape, Dillon Hanson

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Avoiding a particular species temporally can be an effective way to live amongst predator and competing species when spatial avoidance is not available. If a predator and prey species overlap temporally there is potential for high predation of the prey species by the predator, while if two predators overlap temporally there is high potential for competition and a loss of opportunities and resources for each species. I assessed if native mammalian species on a natural prairie landscape showed signs of avoidance through their activity patterns. I used photographic sampling to quantify the temporal activity patterns of species at Spring Creek …

Ethical Art Waste: Examining Resource Management In The Art Studio, Amanda Peavey

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper highlights the lack of education about production and disposal of art materials within the field of art therapy. Failure to educate clinicians creates ethical problems when hazardous materials are used in sessions unknowingly. This paper is grounded in environmental studies and chemical management to supplement the art therapy field’s lack of research and commentary. The literature is dedicated to educating the reader about the hazardous nature of materials, issues surrounding regulations of chemicals involved in production, and consumerism in relation to waste processing. The research data was collected from a community engagement project: an educational presentation was offered …

Engaged Scholarship For Environmental Justice: A Guide, Chad Raphael

Communication

This guide was written for distribution at the Environmental Justice and the Common Good Conference, hosted by Santa Clara University’s Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education in May 2019. The conference convened representatives from Jesuit and other universities with a broad range of community organizations to strengthen our common understanding and advancement of community-engaged scholarship for environmental justice (EJ). Given its immediate audience, the guide focuses primarily on the U.S. context, although it also discusses the major global causes and impacts of EJ, and how Americans have been inspired by engaged scholars around the world, from whom we have much to …

Watering The Desert: Azraq, Public Opinion, And Environmental Post-Materialism, Wesley A. Gerard

Venture: The University of Mississippi Undergraduate Research Journal

This article focuses on physical, socioeconomic, and political changes in the community of Azraq, Jordan. Azraq, a small town in northeastern Jordan, sits atop a large aquifer that has been heavily pumped by the government for several decades in response to an increasing nationwide demand for water. This has led to large-scale transformations in not only the physical landscape surrounding the aquifer, but also in the daily lives, economic statuses, and political opinions of the people living there. My research thus fits the case of Azraq into larger academic discourse on groundwater governance, resource access, and environmentalism. I use a …

Lighting And Economic Considerations For A Hydroponic S-Based Greenhouse At Tri Cycle Farms, Laura Gray

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Hydroponics is an agricultural technology that involves growing plants without soil, instead using other growth media with added nutrients, typically inside a controlled facility such as a greenhouse. Hydroponics-based agriculture has a number of benefits, namely that it is more water efficient, requires less intensive labor, yields higher quality crops consistently in shorter time, and is easier to control. It also has the potential to be economically advantageous, due to its ability to grow certain crops in the off-season. In Fayetteville, Arkansas, a non-profit urban farm known as Tri Cycle Farms has been seeking a way to design, build, and …

Landuse And Soil Property Effects On Infiltration And Soil Aggregate Stability In The Lower Mississippi River Valley, Rebecca Lynn Anderson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Following European settlement of the Lower Mississippi River Valley (LMRV), agricultural expansion and unsustainable, agriculturally related practices have caused groundwater depletion, soil erosion, and surface water contamination by eroded sediments and sediment-bound nutrients to become major environmental threats to the region. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of common landuses [i.e., native prairie, deciduous forest, coniferous forest, Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grassland, and conventional-tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT) agriculture] on surface water infiltration and aggregate-stability-related properties [i.e., water-stable macroaggregate (WSA) size distribution, total water-stable macroaggregate (TWSA) concentration, and mean weight diameter (MWD)]. The overall infiltration rate …

From Controversy To Conservation: How The Environmental Movement Shaped The Creation Of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Rainey Mckenna

Sustainability Seminar Series

Over the last 145 years, presidents and congress have established over 400 National Park Service sites to preserve and tell the story of our country. Collectively, these places preserve our ecological and cultural heritage and reflect our national values. Writer and historian Wallace Stegner called our national parks "the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst." Yet many of our national parks are forged in controversy. In this presentation, Rainey McKenna will examine how public protest and the emerging environmental movement shaped the creation of Delaware Water Gap …

Hydropower As A Feasible Option Of The University Of Richmond, Gershom Ejoni

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

As the University of Richmond moves forward in achieving its sustainability goals, it made a decision to invest into a solar array in Spotsylvania, VA in order to offset their energy consumption with renewable energy. However, this solar array has been controversial for many of the residents in Spotsylvania. My senior seminar class has tasked itself with investigating all aspects of the University’s decision to partner with sPower. This paper will analyze the potential alternative energy sources that the University can possible consider, in particular, hydropower; thereby, determining if hydropower is a potential viable option the University of Richmond can …

The Most Environmentally Beneficial Option: An Analysis On Spower’S Solar Project In Relation To The Endangered Species Act, Victoria Williams

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

Today, the current impacts of high greenhouse gas emissions due to energy production have been widely discussed in scholarly literature. In 2018, the University of Richmond (UR) announced a goal to match 100% of the campus' electricity demand with solar energy to decrease its carbon footprint. UR partnered with sPower to construct a 500-megawatt solar array in which UR will receive the 20-megawatts worth of energy from the site in Spotsylvania, Virginia. sPower’s solar project engendered various environmental concerns surrounding Fawn Lake and the endangered species found in the proximity of the project. Acknowledging the environmental concerns, the objective of …

Spotsylvania Solar Farm: Watershed Environmental Analysis: Material And Chemical Impacts, Colby Prokop

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

The purpose of this compiled review is to answer the research question: What are the implications of the materials being used in the Spotsylvania sPower solar farm and the impacts of any contributing chemicals? I will approach this question using a theoretical framework to investigate the public participation (PP) process (Munch-Petersen, 2017) in the preliminary environmental analysis research done by sPower (in accordance with their special use permit [SUP]). This will be a context-specific framework, in which I will navigate the discrepancies between the environmental SUP information and citizen concerns about the chemicals and materials used in the sPower solar …

Is Wind Energy A Better Option For The University Of Richmond?, Steven Yu

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

The purpose of this assignment is to answer the question of: Is Wind Energy the Better Option for the University of Richmond? This question is more than simply if wind power will supply the campus the greatest amount of energy, but also looks at the educational, social, environmental and political benefits that would also be associated with it. In order to understand the feasibility of wind power on the University of Richmond campus, I looked at factors such as: energy production from wind turbines, past wind patterns in Richmond, VA, impacts to the environment. This is only one part of …

Maintaining Productive Efficiency Of Solar Arrays, Grant Woods

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

With the onset of climate change people are demanding better business behavior. As a result, many companies seek to diversify their public presence by acquiring technologies and behaviors that ultimately strive toward a goal of reducing environmental impacts. One particular focus of this transition has been the acquisition of clean energy technology. Solar photovoltaic arrays are one such technology that companies and homeowners continue to adopt to meet their environmental goals whether those goals are specific, measureable, impactful or whether they are more for self satisfaction and peace of mind. Administration and the Office for Sustainability at University of Richmond …

Natural Gas: Analyzing The Relationship Between The University Of Richmond's Corporate Social Responsibility And Natural Gas As An Alternative Energy Source, Sophia M. Tailor

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

On April 9, 2019, the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors approved a permit to begin construction on a 500 megawatt solar array managed by Sustainable Power Group (sPower) in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. A roughly $615 million project, sPower’s solar array will cover almost 6,300 acres of Spotsylvania County and is set to be the largest such project east of the Rocky Mountains (Shenk, 2019). Alongside big players such as Microsoft and Etsy, the University of Richmond also has a stake in the project. 20 MW of the Spotsylvania solar array will be designated for the University of Richmond and is …

Spotsylvania Solar: A Stakeholder Analysis Of Corporate Involvement, Merissa Shebell

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

This report investigates the major corporations that hold a stake in sPower’s 500-Megawatt Spotsylvania Solar Project through the framework of corporate social responsibility. The major corporations include the investors in the project, Microsoft, Apple in collaboration with Akamai, Etsy, and Swiss Re, and the University of Richmond, as well as the energy provides and distributors, Dominion Energy and PJM Interconnection. Through an evaluation of the investors’ sustainability and environmental reports, the motivations behind their agreements with sPower can be attributed to a desire to meet their renewable energy goals. By purchasing a portion of the electricity generated by the solar …

Watershed Environmental Analysis: Waterflow Function And Vulnerabilities, Olivia Hubert

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

The environmental impacts on the proposed area for the sPower solar panels has been a primary concern from the citizens of Spotsylvania County during the special use permit process. This project will discuss the function of watersheds, specifically within the sPower Spotsylvania County solar panel farm sites, to effectively present the findings from sPower’s permitting process and the concerned citizens of Spotsylvania to answer the following questions: How do the sPower solar farm watersheds function, what are their vulnerabilities, and how is sPower addressing them? The information presented is a collection and analysis of data using ArcGIS software and written …

Urban Underground Infrastructure Monitoring Iot: The Path Loss Analysis, Abdul Salam, Syed Shah

Faculty Publications

The extra quantities of wastewater entering the pipes can cause backups that result in sanitary sewer overflows. Urban underground infrastructure monitoring is important for controlling the flow of extraneous water into the pipelines. By combining the wireless underground communications and sensor solutions, the urban underground IoT applications such as real time wastewater and storm water overflow monitoring can be developed. In this paper, the path loss analysis of wireless underground communications in urban underground IoT for wastewater monitoring has been presented. It has been shown that the communication range of up to 4 kilometers can be achieved from an underground …

Sdstate Sustainability Newsletter: Vol 3. Issue 5, Jennifer Mclaughlin

SD State Sustainability Newsletter

Content:

Don't Dump! Donate! Starts April 30th
Present at UMACS Sustainability Conference
Brookings Earth Day 2019 Events

Development Of A Scada System For Alternative Energy, Molom-Ochir Mijid

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Business and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree Master of Science by Molom-Ochir Mijid on April 18, 2019.

Connecting People, Places, And Pollinators: A Year-Long Classroom And Community Collaboration In Portland, Oregon, Hannah Werthman

The International Undergraduate Journal For Service-Learning, Leadership, and Social Change

This unique project at Portland State University (PSU) has been revolutionizing undergraduate community-based learning (CBL) efforts since the collaboration started in 2012. This case study involves a deep look into a year-long CBL effort involving three university instructors, two undergraduate student fellows from PSU’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions (ISS), Green Lents, a neighborhood-based nonprofit, and approximately seventy-five undergraduate students.

Effect Of Biomass Inlet Concentration On Mixing In A Double Screw Pyrolyzer, Breanna L. Marmur, Theodore J. Heindel

Breanna L. Marmur

The renewable energy industry relies on double screw pyrolyzers to convert cellulosic biomass into bio-oil. Bio-oil can then be converted into synthetic gasoline, diesel, and other transportation fuels, or can be converted into biobased chemicals for a wide range of applications. One of the processes by which bio-oil is produced in industry today is through fast pyrolysis, the fast thermal decomposition of organic material in the absence of oxygen. One type of pyrolyzer, a double screw pyrolyzer, features two intermeshing screws encased in a reactor which mechanically conveys and mixes the biomass and heat carrier media. The mixing effectiveness of …

Using X-Ray Fluorescence To Analyze Fire Impacted Soil And Vegetation Composition, Dylan Darter

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

In our lab, I am using an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to measure the concentrations of metals in sediments from subalpine lakes. Our goal is to measure the biogeochemical consequences of wildfires over the last 2000 years. This study looks at the elemental composition of different lake cores, and vegetation samples from areas of the “Big Burn” fire of 1910. This fire burned across several states in the Rocky Mountain region. With our XRF data we are able to see how the fire impacted the soils and how long after the fire proper soil composition can occur. This study can be …

Fluoride Removal From Water Using A 3d Printed Calcium Carbonate Filter, Sophia Bakar, David Kahler, Benjamin S. Goldschmidt

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Groundwater containing high concentrations of fluoride is the most common source of drinking water in rural areas in parts of east Africa, India, and China. The elevated levels of fluoride cause skeletal and dental fluorosis, which is the weakening and decay of bone structures due to the leeching of calcium from the body as calcium and fluoride bond by the process of adsorption. Over 150 million people are suffering from some form of fluorosis due to the consumption of groundwater. Calcium carbonate has been demonstrated to influence fluoride removal in several forms. To make fluoride removal a cost-effective and user-friendly …

Tree Physiology Before, During And After Gypsy Moth Attack And Subsequent Drought In An Upland Forest In The New Jersey Pine Barrens, Karina Schäfer

Sustainability Seminar Series

An investigation over the >ten-year period, canopy water use had declined due to mortality and has as of yet, not rebound to pre-defoliation levels. However, water use has not proportionally dropped to mortality, due to compensation of surviving trees, mostly white oak species and pines, whereby red oak species declined. Thus, mortality and changes in canopy structure increased availability of water and light, and the surviving population first decreased then increased their water use efficiency after an initial decline hinting at increased competition again. Forest functioning and species composition will likely be altered by re-occurring droughts, insect infestations and windthrow, …

Art In The Park, Raelee Olson, Bri Hukill, Sandy Vercellino, Brynne Garver

Environmental and Sustainability Studies Undergraduate Projects

One of the main objectives for our project was finding sustainable paints that could be used in the mural. One of the most influential sources I found was by Rochikashvili & Bongaerts (2016), which discussed three types of sustainable paints used to cover walls, and the benefits of each. This is where I learned about the emission of VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, that are found in many traditional paints and the harmful effects they can have on the environment. The authors of this paper discussed the benefits of finding low-VOC paints, as well as other sustainable paint alternatives like …

Electricity Rates For The Zero Marginal Cost Grid, Helen Lo, Seth Blumsack, Paul Hines, Sean Meyn

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

The electricity industry is rapidly changing: costs are increasingly dominated by capital and technology is turning loads into resources. This is similar to the early days of the Internet. Building on rate-structures used in the communications industry, utilities of the future should offer customers a portfolio of service contract options that provide a signal to the utility regarding the type and amount of infrastructure that should be deployed.

Cities Are Hungry For Actionable Ecological Knowledge, Weiqi Zhou, Brendan Fisher, Steward T.A. Pickett

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Pedagogical Framework For The Design And Utilization Of Place-Based Experiential Learning Curriculum On A Campus Farm, Julia L. Angstmann, Amber J. Rollings, Grant A. Fore, Brandon H. Sorge

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Campus agriculture projects are increasingly being recognized as spaces impactful to student engagement and learning through curricular and co-curricular programming; however, most campus farm activities are limited to agriculture or sustainability programs and/or co-curricular student clubs. Thus, campus farms are largely underutilized in the undergraduate curriculum, marking a need to explore the efficacy and impact of engaging a diverse array of disciplinary courses in the rich social, environmental, and civic context of local sustainable agriculture. The Farm Hub program presented here incentivizes instructors to refocus a portion of existing course content around the topic of local, sustainable agriculture, and reduces …