Managing Growth or Outgrowing Management? A Nature-Society Perspective in Urban Planning and Land Use Change

A focus on place-specific attributes situates this thesis within a paradigm of nature-society research in examining the material forces and the legitimating discourses of land use change. The extent to which place based attributes present an obstacle or opportunity for building sustainable human societies is the primary motivation for my research. Locating interactions between nature and society is important because individuals do not just respond to social facts , but to a number of contextual factors. Place is context, and although many disciplines thoroughly explore the social, economic, cultural, psychological context of individuals and societies, these are themselves spatially bounded by landscape that is both physical and social. The discipline of human geography brings these process and place strands together, to examine the co-creation of landscape and society. This thesis concentrates specifically on processes of land use change, either directly by conversion of land, or indirectly by increased household car use and zoning policy in three separate studies. First is a macro-level study of household automobile dependency contingent upon a suite of physical landscape and social context factors. Second is a macro-level study of urban growth in Germany from 2000-2006 explained by a number of landscape, topographical, and social factors. Lastly, a third study is a micro-level examination of urbanization and nature-society linkages in a case study of West Hayden Island in Portland, USA. Land use change is one of the most important global processes of our era because it is the largest factor in driving global environmental change (see for review: Lambin and Geist 2006). A nature-society perspective in research moves empirical work away from a â dominationâ perspective, incapable of adapting with dramatic alterations of landscape to a â co-habitationâ perspective, allowing a flexible approach to understanding the metabolism of nature-society

Eroding the Bedrock: The Future of Public Administration Without \u3ci\u3eChevron\u3c/i\u3e Deference

When Congress passes a bill, it produces words on a page. Who decides what those words mean? Historically, the onus of a statute’s interpretation has rested with the federal agencies charged with its implementation. The Chevron doctrine, a two-step standard that affords federal agencies significant latitude in interpreting their own enabling legislation, has been the applicable deference regime in statutory interpretation cases since 1984. Contrary to this tradition, recent Supreme Court jurisprudence has reasserted the primacy of the judiciary in statutory interpretation cases, often ignoring Chevron entirely. In 2023, the Court granted certiorari to Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, a case that explicitly asked the Court to consider overruling Chevron vs. NRDC, a foundational case in the field of administrative law. This thesis explores the implications of eroding deference to federal agencies through a case study of the Food and Drug Administration and two of its responsibilities. Ultimately, there are potentially negative consequences to limiting agency jurisdiction via eviscerating judicial deference that counsel a more discerning approach

Anchored heat kernel upper bounds on graphs with unbounded geometry and anti-trees

We derive Gaussian heat kernel bounds on graphs with respect to a fixed origin for large times under the assumption of a Sobolev inequality and volume doubling on large balls. The upper bound from our previous work [KR22] is affected by a new correction term measuring the distance to the origin. The main result is then applied to anti-trees with unbounded vertex degree, yielding Gaussian upper bounds for this class of graphs for the first time. In order to prove this, we show that isoperimetric estimates with respect to intrinsic metrics yield Sobolev inequalities. Finally, we prove that anti-trees are Ahlfors regular and that they satisfy an isoperimetric inequality of a larger dimension.Comment: Comments welcome! 20 pages, 1 figur

Evolving Strategies, Opportunistic Implementation: HIV Risk Reduction in Tanzania in the Context of an Incentive-Based HIV Prevention Intervention.

\ud Behavior change communication (BCC) interventions, while still a necessary component of HIV prevention, have not on their own been shown to be sufficient to stem the tide of the epidemic. The shortcomings of BCC interventions are partly due to barriers arising from structural or economic constraints. Arguments are being made for combination prevention packages that include behavior change, biomedical, and structural interventions to address the complex set of risk factors that may lead to HIV infection. In 2009/2010 we conducted 216 in-depth interviews with a subset of study participants enrolled in the RESPECT study - an HIV prevention trial in Tanzania that used cash awards to incentivize safer sexual behaviors. We analyzed community diaries to understand how the study was perceived in the community. We drew on these data to enhance our understanding of how the intervention influenced strategies for risk reduction. We found that certain situations provide increased leverage for sexual negotiation, and these situations facilitated opportunistic implementation of risk reduction strategies. Opportunities enabled by the RESPECT intervention included leveraging conditional cash awards, but participants also emphasized the importance of exploiting new health status knowledge from regular STI testing. Risk reduction strategies included condom use within partnerships and/or with other partners, and an unexpected emphasis on temporary abstinence. Our results highlight the importance of increasing opportunities for implementing risk reduction strategies. We found that an incentive-based intervention could be effective in part by creating such opportunities, particularly among groups such as women with limited sexual agency. The results provide new evidence that expanding regular testing of STIs is another important mechanism for providing opportunities for negotiating behavior change, beyond the direct benefits of testing. Exploiting the latent demand for STI testing should receive renewed attention as part of innovative new combination interventions for HIV prevention.\u

On-site communication measures as a tool in outdoor recreation management: a systematic map protocol

Background: Communication is a central tool in managing the balance between outdoor recreation and environmental protection. Several studies have evaluated diferent communication measures in nature area case studies, but rarely are these measures compared across contexts. We systematically map the literature guided by the question, what is the evidence base of on-site communication in outdoor recreation to change human behavior towards a more sustainable direction? Taking vulnerable natural areas as our starting point, we map distribution and abundance of communication measures, study design and outcome-related themes. Methods: The target population for our mapping review (hereafter review) are outdoor recreationists and naturebased tourists who visit natural or near-natural settings. We will examine the studies that have crafted written, oral and visual intervention measures to change behavior by using persuasion, education and information instead of legal restrictions or bans. Some examples of challenges addressed with communication measures are proper waste disposal, using designated trails, minimizing wear and tear at campsites, avoid disturbing wildlife, and encouraging appropriate and safe behavior. No geographic restrictions will be applied but we will focus on protected areas. We will search publication databases for peer-reviewed published articles using internet and specialist searches to identify grey literature in English. We will screen frst by title, followed by abstract and fnally full text. For each article selected for full-text screening, metadata will be extracted on key variables of interest. The extracted data from the coding will be used to group and compare the studies to reveal knowledge gaps and knowledge clusters. We will briefy describe fndings from the included studies. The review will help identify what type of human behavior researchers have addressed with communication in nature management and conservation. In addition it will highlight which communication measures are frequently used in each behavioral context. It will identify which frameworks and communication theories have been the basis for designing intervention measures and provide support to practitioners and researchers in future framing and implementation of communication measures in natural settings. Messaging studies, Persuasion, Human behavior, Nature-based tourism, Visitor management in national parks, Communication theorypublishedVersio

Prospectus, March 1, 1977

UNDEFEATED PARKLAND WOMEN TAKE STATE; Western, Sangamon representatives here; Bob Clampett here today; Metric conversion workshops offered; According to poll: Most students to vote yes on referendum; Letter to the editor: Tutors needed; Staff editorial: MTD support is urged; Health Fair Mar. 8,9; Student forum: C-U must pass Bottle Bill; Financial security!: Workshop set for March 5; SSU rep. here March 3; Adam and Eve at Parkland; Parkland honor graduate awarded Williams Simmons Scholarship; 4-week NAS course offered at Gibson City; Resume most important when applying for a job; Damage minimal: Bomb rips restaurant; Fire hits three Country Fair stores; Forums presented; Student achievement: Alexander, Lower win award; \u27Here we come Kansas\u27: Undefeated Parkland Women defeat Wilbur Wright 80-66 to win State title; Mediasceen: Suggestions made for public network; Spring begins: March is the windy month; PC hosts math contest; Classifieds; Greene out with tonsilitis: Striders ready for State; Men\u27s Intramural Basketball Schedule; \u27Slowball\u27 back in 2nd; Undefeated women take state, defeat Wilbur Wright 80-66; Lose to Olney: Cobras end difficult season; Intramural playoffs set for Wednesday night; Men\u27s tourney Mar. 2-5https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1977/1025/thumbnail.jp

How much noise is too much? Methods for identifying thresholds for soundscape quality and ecosystem services

The United States National Park Service mandate is to conserve park resources and provide superlative visitor experience. In the context of acoustic resources, Denali National Park and Preserve provides an advantageous opportunity to understand the effect of aircraft noise on visitor experience because it possesses high levels of air tour traffic in a park renowned for its remote, wilderness character. Park visitors in four different settings were asked to rate the acceptability of recordings of aircraft noise, presented in randomized order relative to noise level. A cumulative link mixed model fitted visitor assessments to acoustic and nonacoustic factors. In addition to noise level, interest in an air tour was an important predictor of sound clip acceptability. For visitors uninterested in an air tour, the probability of rating aircraft noise as unacceptable at 54 dB LAeq,30 s or higher was 26%. For reference, this aligns with federal guidance that identified 55 dB as a threshold for interference with outdoor activities at rural residences and schools. Predictions of visitor response were joined to a spatial model of aircraft noise propagation to map visitor acceptability of aircraft noise in Denali’s entrance area (frontcountry). This map can be used to assess the condition of park management zones, to inform hiking recommendations for visitors, and to predict the range of soundscape conditions experienced by park visitors Soundscapes Threshold Indicators Aircraft noise Spatial analysis Ecosystem servicespublishedVersio

Does the Perception That Stress Affects Health Matter? The Association with Health and Mortality

OBJECTIVE: This study sought to examine the relationship among the amount of stress, the perception that stress affects health, and health and mortality outcomes in a nationally-representative sample of U.S. adults. METHODS: Data from the 1998 National Health Interview Survey were linked to prospective National Death Index mortality data through 2006. Separate logistic regression models were used to examine the factors associated with current health status and psychological distress. Cox proportional hazard models were used to determine the impact of perceiving that stress affects health on all-cause mortality. Each model specifically examined the interaction between the amount of stress and the perception that stress affects health, controlling for sociodemographic, health behavior, and access to healthcare factors. RESULTS: 33.7% of nearly 186 million (n=28,753) U.S. adults perceived that stress affected their health a lot or to some extent. Both higher levels of reported stress and the perception that stress affects health were independently associated with an increased likelihood of worse health and mental health outcomes. The amount of stress and the perception that stress affects health interacted such that those who reported a lot of stress and that stress impacted their health a lot had a 43% increased risk of premature death (HR = 1.43, 95% CI [1.20, 1.71]). CONCLUSIONS: High amounts of stress and the perception that stress impacts health are each associated with poor health and mental health. Individuals who perceived that stress affects their health and reported a large amount of stress had an increased risk of premature death

Integrating multi-level values and pro-environmental behavior in a U.S. protected area

Human behavior is influenced by an array of psychological processes such as environmental values. Despite the importance of understanding the reasons why people engage in activities that minimize environmental degradation, empirical research rarely integrates different types of values simultaneously to provide more complete and multi-faceted insights on how values contribute to environmental sustainability. Drawing from on-site survey data collected in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska (n = 641), we used two-step structural equation modeling to test how variation in behavioral patterns was explained by the cultural, individual, and social values of visitors to a national park. We fused various disciplinary perspectives on the value concept to demonstrate how individual- and group-level dynamics were integral for predicting behavior and better understanding aggregated preferences for environmental conditions in the context of a U.S. protected area.Peer reviewe

‘Bonkers but good!’ – Using illustration-based interview methods to understand land management and conservation visions

Visions help to understand common ground and tensions among citizens and stakeholders, supporting inclusive land management and conservation solutions to the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis. With careful design and sufficient resource, it is possible to bring together communities and other stakeholders to share perspectives and deliberate desired futures, identifying more acceptable alternatives and avoiding costly delays. We evaluated researcher and participant experiences of illustration-based interviews to understand land management visions using four studies in Scotland, The Netherlands and Spain. These studies used STREAMLINE, a visual mixed-method interview format using thematic illustrated canvases designed to provide an inclusive and creative framing for participants to contemplate their desired future. Participants enjoyed the informal visual format, which reduced pressure, increased comfort through the research process, and helped their thinking and reflection about complex topics. They also valued being listened to and having the opportunity to share their views. Researchers appreciated the ability to triangulate rich qualitative data with a variety of quantitative measure through the mixed-method format and the flexibility to adapt the canvases to suit their research aims. Positive participant experience made facilitation easier and was stimulating for the researchers. The credibility and legitimacy of illustration-based interviews will ultimately depend on specific research design-decisions and testing, which can make the approach more resource intensive than conventional interviews. While organisational barriers should be considered realistically, illustration-based interviews can have high saliency by providing useful and usable insights that strengthen land management policy and planning