Prescott College. Environmental Studies.
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
What is agricultural sustainability, and how do we measure and quantify it? The widely used term has become diluted with use, is broadly defined, and existing metrics tend to focus on a single or limited spectrum of indicators, or too many to be appealing to a small farm. This study proposes an answer to this problem by framing a discussion around the varying notions of sustainability as applied to agro ecosystems; with feedback from customers and...
Author
Publisher
[Publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
This paper evaluates an organics and recycling program in a large urban school district over a three year period 2010-2013. Student researcher evaluates the effectiveness on organics and recycling via a K-12 program. Is the school district closer to reaching its organics and recycling goals? What are the cost savings to the school district? What are the best practices from other schools in the United States? District waste is compiled over a course...
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2011.
Language
English
Description
Over the last few decades there has been a striking upsurge in both severity and frequency of disasters worldwide. Developing countries are typically most devastated because of geographical location, economic status, and socio-political structure. People and governments of wealthier nations feel the need to provide relief after disaster strikes from natural hazardous events, such as earthquakes and hurricanes, or human causes such as war. Although...
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2009.
Language
English
Description
Creating environmental change causes a degree of frustration because we underestimate how formidable that task really is. This paper discusses three potential reasons: the existence of skeptical segments of society, the wide gap between thoughtfulness and action, and the sheer difficulty of changing behavior. I propose a theory with which environmental leaders might encourage people to build their own sustainable futures by raising critical questions,...
Author
Publisher
[Publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
This thesis explores the confluence between social innovation, social incubators and the emergence of a new way of thinking and being while also participating in a gift economy. As participant and observer, the researcher visited one extraordinary social innovation lab located in Chatham, New York to study experiences of lab participants, alumni, organizers, and members of the coach team. Single case study and narrative ethnography were the overarching...
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
This study synthesizes and articulates what is known about the ecology and the gendered significances of the three most popular and indicative berry species of the Circumpolar north: lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea ), crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), and cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus ). Employing a meta-ethnographic research approach that is informed by tenets of decolonizing and feminism methodologies it seeks to understand how the phytogeography...
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
Striking changes in American society resulted in the passage of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1973, one of many laws passed during the environmental era of the 1960s and 70s. In just a few decades, we as a society moved from vilification and elimination of many species (or indifference to their decline) to protecting them legally under the ESA--a ground-breaking law based on the belief that all species have a fundamental right to exist. The...
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
This work presents scientific materialism as a dated worldview, calling into question the assumption of strict objectivity in the universe. The author explores various theoretical approaches to knowledge formation and valuation within the context of outdoor education. Theories presented include ecopsychology, phenomenology, panexperientialism, biophilia and Gaia theory. The author also presents an approach to education that emphasizes the felt meaning...
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
Based on Project Black-Hawk 2011 spring and summer riparian raptor surveys along 211 km of San Francisco and Gila Rivers in New Mexico, correlations between metrics of riparian ecosystem health and Common Black-Hawk nest site utilization were addressed using macro habitat suitability modeling with a Geographic Information System (GIS), and micro habitat analysis of Rapid Bioassessment Protocols (RBP) through the use of logistic regression analysis....
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2012.
Language
English
Description
Many small overlooked communities suffer from the cumulative impacts of a depressed economy. This includes lack of employment, abandoned businesses, and decreased revenue due to changes in marketing trends or regional transportation improvements. How can a community preserve its embodied energy and regional history, while reviving their quality of life, in a renewable manner? Can this be done while allowing the town renewed vitality and not relocating...
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2011.
Language
English
Description
This mixed method study addresses the motivations of "Green" Christian college students for Creation Care. In addition, a university environmental science class is the subject of a pre-experimental study investigating the pro-environment attitudinal and behavioral effects of an educational intervention which incorporated subject matter on biblical Creation Care ethics. As part of this research, participants in both study groups completed a Modified...
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2011.
Language
English
Description
Many factors contribute to the confounding symptoms of Nature Deficit Disorder. This study applied systems theory to the problem of depression and anxiety of our modern society. The consequence of our own anthropogenic waste has a direct impact on our well being. The air we breathe influences the way we think, speak, and act. A cross sectional evaluation between mood and indoor air quality was conducted on the Prescott College campus. Results showed...
Author
Publisher
[Publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
In some regions of the West, quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) has been declining after more than a century of changing human land-use patterns associated with urbanization, fire suppression, predator extirpation, and agriculture. More recently, episodes of large-scale decline, such as Sudden Aspen Decline (SAD), have been identified in association with drought and other inciting and predisposing factors. Although in many instances decline has been...
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2009.
Language
English
Description
Place-based education is a growing branch of environmental education that strives to build stronger communities and improve environmental literacy. The goal of this action research project was to understand how students develop a stronger sense of place. The action research was in two parts. I began by interviewing and observing non-formal educators to understand how they helped students to develop a sense of place. Second, I implemented and evaluated...
55) Theory in action: A sustainable community development framework from a psychological perspective
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2009.
Language
English
Description
How can psychoanalytic, social, cognitive, and behavioral theory and methodology propose relevant and practical sustainable community development techniques to strengthen sustainable action at the community level? The purpose of this investigation was to explore a framework within which psychological theory is put into action in the practice of sustainable community development to answer this question. This text includes the proposal and analysis...
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2010.
Language
English
Description
This thesis examines the situation of the farmer widows of Wayanad, Kerala through exploration of the underlying agricultural and economic issues leading to farmers' suicides, the current state of the environment in the Wayanad District of Kerala, India, and an economic model of micro-entrepreneurship to address economic and social issues of the surviving widows. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were performed through the assessment and...
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2011.
Language
English
Description
There is a pressing need for environmentally-friendly alternatives to petroleum. Biodiesel has existed for several decades, though it has only become sought out as a fuel for personal vehicles and used on a widespread, commercial scale in the U.S. during the last eight years. To date, crops grown for biofuels have been largely produced by monoculture. Low maintenance crops like corn and soy are easily grown at a very large scale using a small number...
Author
Pub. Date
2013.
Language
English
Description
The main focus of the environmental education outreach program "Bringing Birds of Prey Into the Classroom" is to change environmental behavior by creating an emotional connection with wildlife in elementary school students. This program is designed to be used by a non-profit conservation-based institution specializing in education of the Sonoran Desert region. Pedagogical philosophies used in the development of this curriculum include the North American...
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2010.
Language
English
Description
Increasing references to microcredit within the international development community suggest that credit access alone offers a path to financial sustainability: key to success is the manner in which microcredit groups catalyze and create social capital. This study uses a livelihoods approach to explore the role of social capital in household strategies used by microcredit borrowers, and asks whether chosen strategies lead to opportunity or constraint....
60) Chinese state media coverage of climate change and the future of China's food and water security
Author
Publisher
[publisher not identified]
Pub. Date
2011.
Language
English
Description
This research centers on a summary of scientifically observed current effects of climate change on water security in China. It postulates that climate change has the potential to affect water security, and therefore, food security, at an increasingly rapid rate in the future, and discusses the climatic mechanisms by which these potentialities could occur. Specifically, it focuses on the relationship of water sources in the Tibetan Plateau with meteorological...