Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Opuntia Ficus-Indica Mucilage Potential To Remove Nuclear Active Contaminants From Water Based On A Surrogate Approach, Jose Adan Leon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Potable water is a necessity and unfortunately, it can be contaminated in many different ways. This paper specifically addresses the case scenario when, water has been contaminated by radionuclides. The mucilage of Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI), has been proven to be a great flocculating agent, turbidity reducer, crude oil dispersant and an environmentally friendly substance as an absorbent of water contaminants. In this work, the OFI mucilage was investigate to evaluate its capacity to separate radioactive ions from water. The surrogate approach is modeled based on water studies performed by Willi A. Brand, who proved that radioactive isotopes behave similar to …

Experimental Study Of Unsteady Heat Release In An Unstable Single Element Lean Direct Injection (Ldi) Gas Turbine Combustor, Varun S. Lakshmanan

Open Access Theses

In an effort to curb emissions from gas turbine engines, many low emission engine concepts have been developed. Among the most promising of these is the LDI (Lean Direct Injection). These systems operate at relatively low equivalence ratios close to blowout and are prone to instabilities. Combustion instabilities can reduce the life of the combustor by causing large pressure fluctuations and enhanced heat release to the walls of the combustor and reduce the efficiency of the engines. The understanding of combustion instabilities is vital to the implementation of such systems. Combustion instabilities are studied in an self-excited single element gas …

Droughtscape- Summer 2014, Kelly Smith

Droughtscape, Quarterly Newsletter of NDMC, 2007-

CONTENTS

Director’s report...........................1

Outlook ........................................ 2

Drought & climate summary ........ 2

Drought impacts .........................4

International drought monitoring and planning ...............................8

Visiting scholars.........................10

North American Drought Monitor Forum ........................................ 11

New primary Dust Bowl source .............. 12

New additions to online webinar archive ....................................... 14

Community Capitals Framework Institute ...................................... 15

Global Economic Impacts Of Shoreline Degradation: A Socioeconomic Analysis, Alexa Brockamp

Global Honors Theses

Shoreline Degradation is an economically important issue, which damages coastal tourism economies, and causes shifts in flows of tourist capital. Shifts in flows of tourist capital have the potential to cause shifts in economic power relationships between nations. Governments and planning agencies should acknowledge the inherent dependence of coastal tourism economies on shoreline health and water quality, and conceptions framing the two issues as dichotomous are destructive – causing urban decisions to be made as if environmental and economic interests are mutually exclusive. It is important that such perceptions shift in order to maintain healthy coastal economies. Additionally, the socio- …

Bridging The Divide: Tensions Between The Biophysical And Social Sciences In An Interdisciplinary Sustainability Science Project, Susan Gardner

Publications

Interdisciplinary research has gained tremendous popularity in higher education over the past several decades and funding for such efforts through federal agencies has underscored its relevance. In sustainability science, in particular, interdisciplinarity is seen as integral to the research endeavor. However, a paucity of empirical evidence exists regarding the process of interdisciplinary endeavors, particularly those that cross the social-biophysical science divide. The current study incorporated insights over a four-year period from 25 faculty members involved in a large, interdisciplinary effort at one institution of higher education in the United States. Issues of disciplinary status, power, and hierarchy were prevalent in …

The Effect Of Increasing Rates Of Biochar On Corn Grown In Salinas Clay Loam, Joshua Fridlund

Agricultural Education and Communication

In order to sustain the ever growing global population, agriculture needs to not only increase yields but to increase yields in a way that is sustainable and is either environmentally neutral or has a positive effect on the environment. Biochar offers a solution to this challenge with numerous environmental benefits, as well as agricultural benefits (Lehman and Joseph 2009). The agricultural benefits of biochar have been well documented in tropical climates, with the benefits of biochar for other climates, such as temperate climates and Mediterranean climates, relatively unknown (Blackwell et. al. 2009). To determine the effect of biochar on agricultural …

Water In The 21st Century, Grayson Michael Shor

Social Sciences

The aim of this research project is to provide a comprehensive and global analysis of water use in order to provide the reader with a comprehensive grasp of current and impending issues. The included five (5) chapters discuss water distribution, conservation, purification, law, international development, economic debates, ethical consideration, as well as educated estimations of the effects water related issues may cause in the next one-hundred years.

Using Green Building To Mitigate Climate Change In The Twenty-First Century, Lisa Battiste

Honors Theses

The need for green buildings are rapidly becoming more important as the nation faces impending energy crises and the world heats up from the overabundance of greenhouse gases. Buildings in America are one of the largest consumers of energy and one of the greatest contributors to CO2 emissions; more than the total emissions from all the transportation vehicles used every day. By making the construction and use of buildings more resource efficient, this can help alleviate the environmental strain of climate change. Neutralizing or eliminating carbon emissions from building use will significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the …

Application Of A High-Performance Optically Enhanced Solar Thermal Collector System, Timothy H. Cameron

Honors Theses

In an effort to make Union College a more environmentally friendly campus, this research project focuses on the application of Union’s liquid-based solar thermal collector system. The motivation for this research project is due to the increasing demand for renewable energy sources in order to decrease our society’s dependence on fossil fuels. The system features nine, 16-tube, evacuated tube solar modules which absorb radiant solar energy from the sun. Through a two loop system, thermal energy is stored in water within two-80 gallon storage tanks. This research project involves the design, construction, and analysis of two applications in order to …

Proving Widespread Deforestation Of The Ancient Mediterranean As Myth: A Detailed Examination Of How Anthropogenic Activities During Antiquity Affected The Mediterranean Landscape, Carolyn Hooper

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the debate surrounding the possible deforestation of the ancient Mediterranean landscape through anthropogenic activities. Until the ancient Mediterranean landscape is understood more clearly, it is impossible to impose current beneficial land-use laws in order to conserve and preserve the future landscape of the region. Currently there are three predominant views surrounding the debate: (1) deforestation did occur and drastically altered the landscape from a forested region to a more desert-like region, (2) human activities did not cause deforestation, rather the Mediterranean has always been home to a distinct and resilient landscape that is able to regenerate following …

An Integral Framework For Sustainable Building Design, Bushra Asfari

Masters Theses

Selection of materials for building design is a delicate process hinged of a number of factors which can be cost or environmental related, depending on the objectives of the design. This process becomes more difficult when designers are faced with several material options for each building component. This thesis presents the design and development of a framework that enables designers understand the trade-off between cost and environmental related factors when selecting materials for building design. The framework is based on the integration of Autodesk Revit, Microsoft access, and modeling modified Harmony search multi-objective optimization tool adapted to account for material …

Owning Our Food System: Urban Community Gardening And Local Food Movements, Paige A. Edwards

Masters Theses

Food is a means of examining culture, including identity, autonomy and power. It creates relationships and memories between people via shared connections. Through food, I explore local food movements and urban community gardening.

We both ingest and produce garden-grown foods. This movement is often described as simple nostalgia. I suggest that it is a response against heavily processed foods within a system reliant on mass produced food. This desire for ownership pushes community gardens and other counter-hegemonic spaces forward in their goals of using social practice to challenge the established food industry and take control within their own lives.

The Community Economic Impacts Of Large Wildfires: A Case Study From Trinity County, California, Emily Jane Davis, Cassandra Moseley, Max Nielsen-Pincus, Pamela J. Jakes

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Wildfires are increasing in severity and frequency in the American West, but there is limited understanding of their economic effects at the community level. We conducted a case study of the impacts of large wildfires in 2008 in Trinity County, California, by examining labor market, suppression spending, and qualitative interview data. We found that the 2008 fires had interrelated effects on several economic sectors in the county. Labor market data indicated a decrease in total private-sector employment and wages and an increase in public-sector employment and wages during the summer of 2008 compared to the previous year, while interviews captured …

Looking For Small Changes In Heat Capacity Using A Differential Scanning Calorimeter, Will Linthicum

Honors Theses

One of the major difficulties in development of renewable energy is the lack of an adequate and economical means of energy storage. In the case of concentrated solar power a large mass of thermal fluid is required to store a reasonable amount of energy. This is primarily because the fluids tend to have a low specific heat capacity. Formulating composites of these fluids can enhance their specific heat capacity and avails opportunities to make concentrated solar power more attractive. In most cases, the specific heat capacity of composite materials is a weighted average of the individual component heat capacities. This, …

Umphlett Qci June 2014, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Personnel Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

􏰞􏰥􏰬􏰨􏰤􏰮􏱨Streamflow

Drought Impacts to Livestock

Continued Cold Hampers Producers in North

3-Month Precipitation and Temperature Outlooks

U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook

Mapping Landscape Values: Issues, Challenges And Lessons Learned From Field Work On The Olympic Peninsula, Washington, Diane Besser, Rebecca J. Mclain, Lee Cerveny, Kelly Biedenweg, David Banis

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

In order to inform natural resource policy and land management decisions, landscape values mapping (LVM) is increasingly used to collect data about the meanings that people attach to places and the activities associated with those places. This type of mapping provides geographically referenced data on areas of high density of values or associated with different types of values. This article focuses on issues and challenges that commonly occur in LVM, drawing on lessons learned in the US Forest Service Olympic Peninsula Human Ecology Mapping Project. The discussion covers choosing a spatial scale for collecting data, creating the base map, developing …

The Pacific Crest Trail: A History Of America’S Relationship With Western Wilderness, Jenn Livermore

Scripps Senior Theses

The Pacific Crest Trail has become increasingly popular since Clinton Clarke first envisioned such a trail in the 1930’s. By comparing the original motives and experience of the trail to the realities of the trail today, the trail’s fluid narrative becomes apparent. While this narrative is ever changing, over the course of the trail’s history one theme has remained constant – a notably problematic relationship with wilderness rooted in an exaltation of the sublime and post-frontier ideals. This thesis focuses on how the Pacific Crest Trail’s development over the past eighty years has created an experience that, on the surface, …

The Reclamation Of Public Parks: An Analysis Of Environmental Justice In Los Angeles, Allison Rigby

Scripps Senior Theses

People who live in cities are far more likely to suffer the physical and psychological effects of urban environments--high noise levels, automobile emissions, toxic industrial waste, crowded living conditions, and a general scarcity of open space. Combating these issues, public parks do more than provide recreational space. They are fundamental to any efforts focusing on urban revitalization, social justice, and sustainability. In downtown Los Angeles, public parks are rare, especially in low-income communities. Several new public parks have reclaimed abandoned land, unwelcoming spaces, and the City’s brownfields. After years of intense private use and neglect, spent land has been reinvigorated …

Biodynamic Agriculture: A Valuable Alternative To The Industrial Farming System, Eden K. Olsen

Scripps Senior Theses

Since the Scientific and Industrial revolutions, advancing technologies and cutting-edge science have enabled our society to continually promote a growing global economy. Industrial growth has increasingly become a top priority for most governments, notably in the agricultural realm. The advances towards agricultural industrialization began in the 17^th century and escalated during the Green Revolution, which examined the possibility of using synthetic fertilizers and mechanization in farming to decrease labor and improve yields. Although seen as economically beneficial, the shift from an agrarian lifestyle to industrial farming has created an ecological, economic, and ideological crisis to our modern world. This …

Spatial Analysis Of Post-Hurricane Katrina Thermal Pattern And Intensity In Greater New Orleans: Implications For Urban Heat Island Research, Aram P. Lief

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina’s diverse impacts on the Greater New Orleans area included damaged and destroyed trees, and other despoiled vegetation, which also increased the exposure of artificial and bare surfaces, known factors that contribute to the climatic phenomenon known as the urban heat island (UHI). This is an investigation of UHI in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which entails the analysis of pre and post-hurricane Katrina thermal imagery of the study area, including changes to surface heat patterns and vegetative cover. Imagery from Landsat TM was used to show changes to the pattern and intensity of the UHI effect, …

An Assessment Of The Potential For Urban Rooftop Agriculture In West Oakland, California, Nicole M. Reese

Master's Projects and Capstones

Throughout the world, all forms of urban agriculture are growing in popularity with the desire to grow and eat locally sourced food. Barriers such as access to vacant land and contaminated soil make it difficult to implement urban agriculture projects on the ground (i.e. at grade). Rooftop farming is a feasible solution to such barriers of forms of urban agriculture at grade.

The small Business Mix Zone in West Oakland, California has over one million square feet of untapped rooftop space available for urban rooftop farming. Revenue of up to $4 million can be earned from the sale of produce …

Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge With Modern Day Ecosystem Management And Restoration Practices, Leialani O. Hufana

Master's Projects and Capstones

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is a fairly new area of research that can supplement science research and modern day ecosystem management practices. Indigenous cultures and local communities have been using and passing on TEK in forestry, agricultural, and aquaculture/marine ecosystem management. Through a review of literature, TEK in Hawaiʻi was compared to TEK in other countries. TEK was also compared to modern day ecosystem management practices to determine if TEK could be integrated. In Hawaiʻi an ahupuaʻa, a land transect that cuts the islands in sections from mountain to sea, was an integrated watershed based management system. TEK in ahupuaʻa …

Deep Energy Retrofits Using The Integrative Design Process: Are They Worth The Cost, Daniel S. Bertoldi

Master's Projects and Capstones

The McKinsey Global Initiative identified existing building retrofits as an integral component to achieve a 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the United Sates by 2050 (Fluhrer, Maurer, & Deshmukh 2010). However, this will require energy efficiency retrofits for existing buildings to be deployed more frequently and achieve higher energy savings on average. Deep Energy Retrofits using the Integrative Design Process can result in 30-60%+ energy savings in office buildings. Because Deep Energy Retrofits require higher upfront capital costs, in an economy still recovering from the economic downturn, financial decision makers may not be inclined to invest more capital …

Harvest Incentives: A Tool For Managing Aquatic Invasive Species, Bob Wiltshire, Nathan Stone, Marshall Meyers, Bill Hyatt, Lori Williams, Jason Goldberg, Susan Pasko, Leah Elwell

National Invasive Species Council

Conclusion

The success of any harvest incentive program to address aquatic invasive species will depend upon numerous biological, socioeconomic, and legal considerations. Programs that encourage harvest may be a successful management tool in targeting small, distinct populations; in high priority areas within a larger invasion; or they may play a supplementary role within larger control programs. Their use, however, will require careful review, planning, and monitoring to ensure success and that they do not unintentionally lead to further spread of invasive species, cause additional harm to native species, or waste valuable resources.

Water Water Everywhere: Analyzing Long Island's Water Issues And Finding Solutions For A Sustainable Future, Anthony T. Becker

2014 Student Theses

Over three million people call Long Island their home. With access to beautiful landscapes, world-renowned beaches, and proximity to New York City, it is no wonder that so many proudly call this geographic stretch of glacial till their home. However, throughout the years our actions do not necessarily reflect this affection we have to our home. Years of sprawl and human infestation across the island have resulted in widespread environmental degradation. Specifically, the water we drink and the beaches we enjoy have become endangered. I plan on studying the urban ecology of how intensified population growth led to the eutrophication …

The Restorative Effects Of Natural Decor, Tobias Burnham

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Humans are continually opting to live in urban environments, furthering us from the innate connection to the natural environment we have evolved with over millennia. These urban settings place several stressors on us in the form of stimuli that requires directed attention (cars, billboards, traffic lights, etc.) in which deplete our attentional resources leading to Direct Attention Fatigue (DAF). Attentional Restoration Theory (ART) is based on the ability of natural environments to have restorative effects on these depleted resources due to the relative ease of experiencing nature through involuntary attention. The focus of this study is to determine how nature-based …

Investment In Technology & Voluntary Simplicity: Exploring Opportunities For Energy-Efficiency In The Us Residential Sector, Elaine Charlebois

Honors Scholar Theses

This work examines alternative approaches for middle-class Americans to make lifestyle changes to promote energy efficiency. The US residential sector poses a significant opportunity for improvement in efficiency which will lead to electricity and carbon savings, further leading to long-term cost savings for each household.

A way to think about energy savings is by considering two radically different approaches: voluntary simplicity or investment in technology. Investments in technology include retrofits for existing homes and building new homes more efficiently, both focusing on aspects such as heating and cooling, insulation, water use and water heating, lighting, and appliances. Voluntary simplicity is …

Stability, Erosion, And Morphology Considerations For Sustainable Slope Design, Isaac Andres Jeldes Halty

Doctoral Dissertations

The construction of more natural and sustainable earth slopes requires the consideration of erosion and runoff characteristics as an integral part of the design. These effects not only result in high costs for removal of sediment, but also a profound damage to the ecosystem. In this dissertation, innovative techniques are developed such that more natural appearing slopes can be designed to minimize sediment delivery, while meeting mechanical equilibrium requirements. This was accomplished by: a) examining the fundamental failure modes of slopes built with minimum compaction (FRA) to enhance quick establishment of forest, b) investigating the geomechanical and erosion stability of …

Interdisciplinarity And Actionable Science: Exploring The Generative Potential In Difference, Bridie Mcgreavy, Linda Silka, Laura Lindenfeld

Publications

Community practice and actionable science share a commitment to solving complex problems to promote sustainability. Collective abilities to address these types of problems rely on interdisciplinary collaborations that also offer unique challenges. In this case study of a statewide interdisciplinary setting, we focus on key methodological differences related to problem identification, stakeholder involvement, competing research paradigms, and orientations towards communication. We argue the generative potential in interdisciplinarity is enhanced through sustained effort and attention to difference; acceptance of the ethical responsibility to reflect critically on power in shared decision making spaces; and strategic interventions to continually promote and improve learning.

On The Travel Emissions Of Sustainability Science Research, Timothy M. Waring, Mario F. Teisl, Eva Manandhar, Mark Anderson

Publications

This paper presents data on carbon emissions generated by travel undertaken for a major sustainability science research effort. Previous research has estimated CO2 emissions generated by individual scientists, by entire academic institutions, or by international climate conferences. Here, we sought to investigate the size, distribution and factors affecting the carbon emissions of travel for sustainability research in particular. Reported airline and automobile travel of participants in Maine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative were used to calculate the carbon dioxide emissions attributable to research-related travel over a three-year period. Carbon emissions varied substantially by researcher and by purpose of travel. Travel for the …