Under the Paris Agreement, parties submitted documents outlining their commitments to climate change mitigation and adaptation, called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are set to be updated to increase ambition by 2020. Costa Rica and México are known for their significant national actions on climate change, so comparing these two...
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have emerged in the last half century as concerning global contaminants. PFASs have been found in drinking water systems causing negative health impacts for those who rely on this as their primary source of drinking water. PFASs are man-made industrial chemicals composed of carbon chains...
The biggest obstacle to a 100% renewable energy utility portfolio is the ability to produce enough electricity to meet peak demand windows, which typically occur in the late afternoon to evening period from 3 pm to 9 pm. A popular policy option to reduce peak demand is time-of-use (TOU) electricity...
The interdependences among water, energy and food, are diverse and multidimensional and are referred to as the food-water-energy (FWE) nexus. This nexus approach seeks to understand the complex interactions among these sectors, in order to identify synergies and trade-offs that could serve as the basis for developing effective planning and...
Food, water, and energy have strong interdependencies; actions in one sector inadvertently affect actions in another sector. Recent literature supports a “nexus” approach, whereby policies related to food, water, and energy are integrated and used in tandem rather than in isolation. Developing a better understanding of the trade-offs between food,...
There are currently 43 countries which have adopted some kind of carbon pricing policy – either adopted a carbon tax or entered a cap–and–trade, while the remaining countries have not. This has created significant diversity in the world with regard to climate change mitigation. There is thus a need to...
The last decade has seen a drastic interest in microgrids throughout the world. Even though this trend might seem to be just another technological solution in the energy sector, it is a part of a greater transition from a centralized energy system to a more decentralized one. However, unlike most...
When a catastrophic event happens, senior residents who are physically or mentally disabled, are placed at a much greater risk of injury or death. Researchers in the aftermath of hurricanes’ Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey, consistently record elderly residents presenting the most difficult challenges for emergency personnel during evacuation and post...
More than half of students in Washington state community colleges enroll in developmental mathematics, but a relatively small percentage of these students persist to the second year. Many students place into these courses and never enroll; others enroll at some point after the first academic term, even when faced with...
Public policy narratives and stories are often referenced by the media, politicians, advocacy groups, and across many disciplines in academia. Studies of social and political narratives support the notion narrative matters, but often lack systematic design capable of producing generalizable findings. The Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) has responded to this...
Environmental scientists, land managers, and policy actors are increasingly presented with high-stakes high-uncertainty problems stemming from human-ecosystem interactions. To help address these problems, scientists frequently use models that produce enormous geospatial and temporal datasets that are constantly modified and often seek input from communities outside their discipline. To assist scientists—as...
On June 23, 2016 the United Kingdom (UK) held a vote to determine whether to remain in the European Union (EU) or withdraw. The British exit from the EU, or Brexit, is the antithesis of two centuries of progressive social work theory developed by a series of prominent social workers...
In this work, I address foundational concerns at the interface of institutions, governance structure, transaction costs, and efficiency in public-private contracting. Following transaction cost economic perspective, I build and justify the theoretical models explaining that institutions may affect the economic performance of public-private contracting through the effect of transaction costs....
This research examined public perceptions of risk, behavioral intentions in the event of the M9 Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquake and tsunami on the Oregon Coast, and factors that may influence both attitudes and intentions. A household survey was conducted to understand public opinion in Seaside, Oregon, which is located...
Background: Legislators, policy-makers, and leaders in higher education and within communities, are increasingly turning to place-based scholarships, or “promise programs”, to encourage college enrollment and address growing public concerns regarding college affordability. One such program, the Oregon Promise, was implemented across the state of Oregon in the fall of 2016....
Although dam construction has been an integral tool in development initiatives for nearly a century, dams can have significant negative impacts on local residents, particularly those who are permanently displaced from their homes and must be resettled elsewhere. Dams have unique impacts on indigenous peoples. As a result, many dam...
People in the US and Europe eat the most meat worldwide, lose or waste about 20% of this product overall, and they waste the most food per capita. Food waste is currently addressed as an issue of volume, so programs and policies target foods that are wasted more by weight...
Climate change increases weather unpredictability, threatens communities whose livelihoods depend on natural resources, such as rural communities. Utilizing a Community Capital Framework (Flora and Flora, 2013) and Governance of Complex Adaptive Systems (Duit and Galaz, 2008), this study concentrated on the role of cultural and political capital in supporting rural...
Collaborative governance strives to address complex environmental problems by building cooperation and consensus among stakeholders. While there are many successful examples of collaborative governance, all too frequently collaborative groups come to an agreement in the meeting room only to struggle to bring their plans to fruition. What are the factors...
This study examines the determinants of food consumption behaviors, such as purchasing less meat products, paying attention to how and where food is produced, and reducing food waste within the household. Food consumption is particularly important given that it can often comprise between 10% to 30% of the total household...