Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Sustainability Obligations And Liabilities For The Company Director, Richard Allen, Michael Tang, Jan Tan, Gautam Mukharya

Perspectives@SMU

SGX now requires its listees to issue a sustainability report. Why is this happening? And what do directors need to know?

To Buy Green Or Not To Buy Green: Do Structural Dependencies Block Ecological Responsiveness?, Simon J.D. Schillebeeckx, Teemu Kautonen, Henri Hakata

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Despite the significant increase in interest in sustainable business practices, decisions on switching to more environmentally friendly input materials are understudied. In a conjoint experiment, we presented 267 Finnish manufacturing firms with an opportunity to acquire an alternative, more ecological input material and investigated their willingness to switch to that material. We find that in general, firms are willing to substitute their current principal input with a more ecological alternative under conditions of functional parity. However, such willingness is contingent on the firm’s value creation structures. Specifically, if the products and processes driving the firm’s value creation rely more on …

Understanding The Intersections Of The Lgbtq+ Community & Climate Change, Annabel Gong, Darbi Berry

San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

In this blog, we will explore these LGBTQ+ community relationships as they relate to environmental justice, relationships and access to the outdoors, and community representation in the environmental science field.

Mind The Gaps For The Best Practices: Enhancing The Management Of Lake Victoria Fisheries Resources, Christopher Mulanda Aura, Amber Roegner, Horace Owiti, Dorothy Birungi, Kathryn J. Fiorella, Jessica R. Corman, Robert Kayanda, Patrick Mbullo, Chrisphine S. Nyamweya, Geofrey Mchau, Miles Daniels, Richard Oginga Abila

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Fisheries resources face a confluence of socio-ecological challenges, the resolution of which requires interdisciplinary scientific information for sustainable utilization and management. The present study assessed gaps and challenges in Lake Victoria fisheries resources management for better research focus, policy formulation and improved governance of the fishery towards sustainability. Using key informant interviews and a plenary discussion with trans-disciplinary experts regarding Lake Victoria fisheries research, management and policy sectors, the present study identified current management challenges, gaps and priorities. The present study results indicate a constantly increasing fishing effort, poor enforcement of existing regulations and pollution and invasive weeds pose the …

Iere Annual Report 2022, Erin Largo-Wight, James W. Taylor, Kelly A. Rhoden

Annual Reports

2022 Annual Report of the Institute for Environmental Research and Education

Exploring The Integration Of Corporate Sustainability Into Small-Scale Business Activities, Olushola O. Odutola

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small and medium-scale enterprises contribute 49% of the gross domestic product in Nigeria. The lack of research studies on how small and medium-scale enterprises integrate corporate sustainability into their business operations might present challenges for policymakers in achieving Nigeria’s sustainable development goals (SDG). The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to explore how managers of small and medium-scale enterprises integrate the corporate sustainability dimensions into their business operations based on the concepts of the corporate entity, corporate nature, and corporate obligations. The central research question of this study was how managers of small and medium-scale enterprises integrate the economic, …

Strategies For Information Technology Small Business Owners To Sustain Beyond The First 5 Years, Edward Alan Rodarte

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses are the foundation of an economy and spawn innovation, but small business owners fail at an alarming rate because they lack strategies to sustain business operations. Since 50% of small businesses fail within the first 5 years, small business sustainability research is critical to support small business owners. Grounded in entrepreneurial theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to identify strategies information technology (IT) small business owners use to sustain operation beyond the first 5 years. The participants included four IT small business owners in the Southwestern United States who sustained operations beyond the first 5 …

Business Planning Strategies To Sustain Hair Salons, Charity T. Adams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses employ most Americans in the workforce; however, more than half of small businesses fail within the first 5 years of operation. Small business owners who lack business planning strategies are at a higher risk of failure. Grounded in the sustainable activity model, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies hair salon owners used to sustain their business beyond 5 years. The participants comprised seven hair salon owners in the Southern region of the United States who successfully sustained their business beyond 5 years. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and reviews of organization documents …

Strategies For Achieving Sustainability Of Small Business Restaurants, Tanisha Thomas-Beard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many small business restaurant owners perform unprofitably and fail within 5 years of opening. Small business restaurant owners are concerned about sustainability as approximately 50% of small businesses that start up do not last beyond the fifth year. Grounded in the general systems theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies small business restaurant owners use to grow and maintain profitability to sustain business beyond 5 years. The participants were five small business restaurant owners in the Southeastern region of the United States who sustained their business beyond 5 years. The data were analyzed using …

Combining Green Metrics And Digital Twins For Sustainability Planning And Governance Of Smart Buildings And Cities, Casey R. Corrado, Suzanne M. Delong, Emily G. Holt, Edward Y. Hua, Andreas Tolk

VMASC Publications

Creating a more sustainable world will require a coordinated effort to address the rise of social, economic, and environmental concerns resulting from the continuous growth of cities. Supporting planners with tools to address them is pivotal, and sustainability is one of the main objectives. Modeling and simulation augmenting digital twins can play an important role to implement these tools. Although various green best practices have been utilized over time and there are related attempts at measuring green success, works in the published literature tend to focus on addressing a single problem (e.g., energy efficiency), and a comprehensive approach that takes …

Perceived Social And Environmental Impacts Of The Maya Train Project On The Yucatan Peninsula Of Mexico: A Case Study Of Puerto Morelos, Emely Hernandez Yac

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The Maya Train Project (MTP) is a new national megaproject in Mexico, meant to connect the perimeter of the Yucatan Peninsula, and facilitate easier transportation for tourism, industry, and agriculture. Given the region’s dependence on tourism, the train will accelerate the growth, as well as the social and environmental impacts of tourism in the region. Globally, the tourism industry has resulted in inequitable social and environmental impacts for the local communities and there is concern that this new Maya Train Project will serve to accelerate uneven development in the region. This project focused on the coastal tourist city of Puerto …

Evaluating Long-Range Transportation Plans For Mainstreaming Of Climate Adaptation Among Virginia Mpos, Sebastian L. Shetty

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the strides made towards addressing climate change through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction strategies, it has become increasingly apparent that attempting to mitigate the crisis in such a manner alone is insufficient. This thesis joins a growing body of research on how our societies must adapt to a changing climate, contributing more evidence on common barriers to adaptation and how they might be overcome. Through an attempt to evaluate the progress made towards mainstreaming, or integrating, climate change concerns into five Virginia MPOs’ long-range transportation plans (LRTPs), this study provides support for prior hypotheses around the potential for MPOs …

Sustainable Energy Imaginaries: Utilizing Mie Optics To Reengineer Photobioreactors And Reimagine The Socio-Spatial Conditions Of Autonomous Energy Production, Spencer Morgan Checkoway

Senior Projects Spring 2022

In order to build a more sustainable future, society must transition toward carbon negative energy production and infrastructure. Algae photobioreactors have proven to be an efficient producer of lipid rich oil which can be synthesized into carbon neutral biodiesel. However, the neutrality of such a technology rests in its ability to yield adequate algal biomass through photosynthesis. In order to reach maximum quantum efficiency of algal cells, solar flux must be transformed so that photon absorption can occur without oversaturating the constituent matter. This project looks at the scattering effects of iridocyte-like structures and their potential to create cost effective …

External Stakeholder Relationship Strategies For Increasing Nonprofit Organizations' Financial Viability, Henry Ayoola Olofinmoyin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractA business leader’s ability to establish and sustain effective relationships with organizational stakeholders affects business competitiveness and sustainability. Some executives of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) lack strategies to build relationships with external stakeholders to achieve financial viability for their organizations. Grounded in stakeholder theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies NPO executives use to build relationships with their organization's external stakeholders to achieve their organization's financial viability objectives. The participants were three senior executives of an NPO in Mississippi, United States, who have successfully managed financial viability objectives using external stakeholder relationship strategies for 3 …

The Diffusion Of A Discipline: Examining Social Marketing's Institutionalization Within Environmental Contexts, Liz Foote

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

As a social change discipline, social marketing has demonstrated its effectiveness in addressing many types of wicked problems. However, despite its utility in environmental contexts, it is neither well known nor widespread in its uptake in these settings. This study’s purpose is to reveal opportunities to drive the adoption, implementation, and diffusion (“institutionalization”) of social marketing within the domains of environmental sustainability and natural resource conservation. This research considers the use of social marketing as an innovative practice within a diffusion of innovations framework and uses a systems lens to examine early adopter social marketing professionals and the institutional contexts …

Beyond The Green Iron Cage: Exploring The Macro And Micro-Level Influences On Executive Decisions About Sustainability Investments In Small And Medium Size Firms, Igor Estraykh

Theses and Dissertations

Although research on corporate environmental sustainability has shed light on different aspects of organizational and individual level factors that influence corporate decisions, it does not fully account for how individual executives within firms react to these forces and make decisions, specifically within small to medium size enterprises (SMEs). This study used a grounded theory approach to interview 19 SME executives from 13 different industries to explore how organizational and individual level factors influence their ability to evaluate and make decisions related to sustainability initiatives. The study found that SME executives faced isomorphic pressures for sustainability, individual agency pressures, significant resource …

Heterogenous Reduction Of Co2 Over Boron-Rich Alb2, Jose C. Berger

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Evidence suggests that the recent drastic changes in the global climate have been caused by greenhouse gases, especially CO­₂. As a result, scientists are aiming to develop processes that either minimize the production of these gases or convert them into products of higher value. To that end, the catalytic properties of a two-dimensional boron-rich material were investigated. Herein is reported that such a material can reduce CO₂ into benzene, C₃ species, and C₄ species at relatively low temperatures (225-450 ℃) and pressures (0.38 MPa). Current data suggest that a low-temperature induction period (e.g., 225 ℃) …

Determinants Of Sustainability: A Case Of Piloting Isard Models In Oriental Mindoro And Leyte, Philippines, Pedcris M. Orencio, Anna Gale Vallez, Ruth Jazrel M. Bandong

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

SEARCA, in its 10th five-year plan (10th FYP), implemented the program, Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development (ISARD). A pilot project was undertaken in a specific rural community following a well-defined scheme for an agroecosystem and through the integration of four inter-related components, technical assistance, capacity building, knowledge management, and linkage and networking. After the completion in 2020, evidences of well-developed agricultural system capable of contributing to the goals of food security and poverty alleviation emerged. In its 11th FYP, SEARCA endeavors to scale out the ARD model project in the Southeast Asian region. But, how will this benefit …

Climate Change And Cop26: Are Digital Technologies And Information Management Part Of The Problem Or The Solution? An Editorial Reflection And Call To Action, Yogesh K. Dwivedi, Laurie Hughes, Arpan Kumar Kar, Abdullah M. Baabdullah, Purva Grover, Roba Abbas, Daniela Andreini, Iyad Abumoghli, Yves Barlette, Deborah Bunker, Leona Chandra Kruse, Ioanna Constantiou, Robert M. Davison, Rahul De', Rameshwar Dubey, Henry Fenby-Taylor, Babita Gupta, Wu He, Mitsuru Kodama, Matti Mäntymäki, Bhimaraya Metri, Katina Michael, Johan Olaisen, Niki Panteli, Samuli Pekkola, Rohit Nishant, Ramakrishnan Raman, Nripendra P. Rana, Frantz Rowe, Suprateek Sarker, Brenda Scholtz, Maung Sein, Jeel Dharmeshkumar Shah, Thompson S.H. Teo, Manoj Kumar Tiwari, Morten Thanning Vendelø, Michael Wade

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

The UN COP26 2021 conference on climate change offers the chance for world leaders to take action and make urgent and meaningful commitments to reducing emissions and limit global temperatures to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels by 2050. Whilst the political aspects and subsequent ramifications of these fundamental and critical decisions cannot be underestimated, there exists a technical perspective where digital and IS technology has a role to play in the monitoring of potential solutions, but also an integral element of climate change solutions. We explore these aspects in this editorial article, offering a comprehensive opinion based insight to a …

Grand Challenges In Low Temperature Plasmas, Xinpei Lu, Peter J. Bruggeman, Stephan Reuter, George Naidis, Annemie Bogaerts, Mounir Laroussi, Michael Keidar, Eric Robert, Jean-Michel Pouvesle, Dawei Liu, Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Low temperature plasmas (LTPs) enable to create a highly reactive environment at near ambient temperatures due to the energetic electrons with typical kinetic energies in the range of 1 to 10 eV (1 eV = 11600K), which are being used in applications ranging from plasma etching of electronic chips and additive manufacturing to plasma-assisted combustion. LTPs are at the core of many advanced technologies. Without LTPs, many of the conveniences of modern society would simply not exist. New applications of LTPs are continuously being proposed. Researchers are facing many grand challenges before these new applications can be translated to practice. …

Back To The Future – Pastoral Land Use In A Forest Land – Sustainability Challenges For The 21St Century, J. Morgan Williams

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

To contribute meaningfully to a session entitled “Deforestation” with a proposed paper title of “Trees in Pastoral Zones; Landuse Standards in the 21^st Century” necessitates I carefully define the scope of my contribution. My paper will draw on my experiences as an ecologist working in the pastoral lands of New Zealand in roles that have led me to delve increasingly into what constitutes sustainability (of people, land and economy) for a tiny multicultural nation maturing amidst the remnants of a unique Gondwanaland ecosystem. As New Zealand’s Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) I now examine a very wide range …

The Effects Of Grazing Management And Fertilization On Grassland Diversity And Productivity, Warren Mcg. King, David R. Kemp

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

The effects of management practices on plant species diversity and productivity within a naturalised grassland was studied as part of a large-scale experiment designed to investigate issues of sustainability in temperate Australia. Fertiliser increased the production but reduced the diversity of the sward. The main decline was in exotic weed species. Strategic grazing resulted in a small increase in pasture diversity but a reduction in productivity. There was a consistent decline in diversity as productivity increased, across all treatments.

Biodiversity And Spatial Heterogeneity In Semi-Natural Grasslands In A Mountain Area In Slovakia, Masae Shiyomi, N. Gáborèík, H. Koizumi, A. Javorkova, E. Uhliarova, O. Jezikova

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

The spatial pattern of vegetation in the following 3 semi-natural grasslands in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, was observed in August, 1998: (1) a grassland sown with improved herbage plants after plowing in 1991, (2) a grassland oversown with improved herbage plants in 1991, and (3) a natural grassland without any treatment at the time of establishment. A new method of measuring vegetation was adopted: in each grassland, 50 quadrats 50 cm × 50 cm, composed of 4 smaller cells 25 cm × 25 cm, were set up, and all the species in each cell were recorded. The sown grassland displayed the …

Unbuilding: How Deconstruction Is Saving The Planet By Giving Building Materials A Second Life, Diana M. Ducroz

Capstones

In 2018, more than 600 million tons of construction and demolition (C&D) waste was generated in the United States, more than twice the volume of ordinary trash created by American households and businesses. Even though 80-95% of this concrete, asphalt, steel, wood, drywall, glass and brick can be reused, repurposed or recycled, a quarter of it – or 145 million tons in 2018 – ends up in landfills. Thirty million tons of wood alone – often sturdy, irreplaceable old-growth lumber – is being trashed every year.

Now, a budding ‘build reuse’ movement, made up of environmentalists, architects, historic preservationists, city …

Electric Vehicle Integration In San Francisco, Lisa Farmos

Master's Projects and Capstones

California’s Executive Order N-79-20 requires all new cars and passenger trucks sold in California to be zero-emissions by 2035. Electric vehicles (EVs) are the primary alternative fuel solution. However, there are widespread barriers to ownership, particularly for those in lower socioeconomic classes. A literature review of barriers to EV ownership shows the primary barrier is insufficient overnight charging infrastructure. Geospatial data of EV charging infrastructure and 2020 census tract data were used to map average income versus EV charging infrastructure in San Francisco. Data maps confirm the literature review findings: there is a positive correlation between income and EV charging …

Staying One Step Ahead Of The Growing Electric Vehicle Market, Russell Molter

Honors Projects

Electric vehicles are becoming more popular among drivers as they become more affordable and as people become more aware of the benefits of electric vehicles. Because of this, the demand for electric car chargers is quickly increasing across the country. This includes BGSU’s campus. Right now, there are seven chargers available on campus, but with the trends in how the electric vehicle market is growing, BGSU should create a plan to install many more chargers to meet the increasing demand for charging stations. This strategy will allow BGSU to keep up with the growing electric vehicle market, which will additionally …

The Role Of Forages In Sustainable Cropping Systems Of Southern Australia, William D. Bellotti

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

The historical context, recent trends, and possible future role of forages in cropping systems are reviewed. Three recent themes will be developed: 1) The successful exploitation of genetic diversity resulting in commercial development of new legume species as pasture cultivars with specific traits better suited to the needs of current farming systems. 2) Improved understanding of key soil processes under grazed pastures, particularly soil water and soil nitrogen, and how these processes impact on indicators of sustainability like deep drainage and nitrate leaching. 3) An emerging capacity for predicting the effect of pasture-crop sequences on soil processes, crop growth and …

Land Use And Land Cover Change Impact On Sustainability In The United Arab Emirates: A Big-Data Approach Using Google Earth Engine, Wissam Atwah

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The relevance of land use and land cover change (LULCC) impact on sustainability and well-being is increasing due to the urban growth challenges. LULCC data offers significant insight into the historic development patterns and their relations to various sustainability indicators. Different from the previous LULCC studies that merely focused on investigating LULCC problems in a small area (e.g., a city of an urban area) within a short span of time (e.g., a year), the current study intends to assess the long-term urbanization trend within a 20-year period for a whole country through the tracking of LULCC changes within the period. …

Solar Generated Electricity: An Analysis Of What Sectors Are Most Affected By Renewable Portfolio Standards And Related Policies, Logan Knollenberg

Dissertations and Theses

The aim of this thesis is to analyze state-specific Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) to understand their design and spillover effect onto non-utility (commercial, residential, industrial) sectors. Past research has overlooked non-utility sectors, often focusing on overall renewable energy growth and electricity generation from a combined end-result perspective. Solar capacity and solar generated electricity data from 5 states are used to establish which non-utility sectors experienced the highest level of solar growth from RPSs and related policies between 2010 and 2019. An explanatory sequential design is utilized, where interrupted time series analyses and exploratory case studies are performed to analyze each …

Theoretical Investigations Of The Structural, Dynamical, Electronic, Magnetic, And Thermoelectric Properties Of Corhysi (Y = Cr, Mn) Quaternary Heusler Alloys, Abdullah Hussain Hzzazi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Thermoelectric materials have potential properties for utilizing waste heat. The computations are used to estimate the electronic structure of CoRhYSi (Y = Cr, Mn) Quaternary Heusler alloys, as well as their elastic and magnetic characteristics. The full-potential linearized augmented plane wave is used in the calculations. The exchange-correlations are addressed using Perdew–Burke and Ernzerhof's generalized gradient approximation (GGA-PBE). With the exception of CoRhCrSi and CoRhMnSi, which are simple ferromagnets that are approximately half metallic in nature, electronic structure calculations demonstrate that these compounds have a gap in the minority states band and are obviously half-metallic ferromagnets. The magnetic moments of …