POSTER ABSTRACT: This study seeks to diagnose systemic issues facing the Oregon State University (OSU) Student Sustainability Initiative (SSI) and identify solutions with the greatest potential to improve the program. This study has to potential to provide similarly sized, structured, and focused organizations with a starting place for their own...
Red raspberry markets in both Chile and Oregon are affected by factors in each other‟s production processes. As seen in the late 1990‟s changes in pricing and supply can hinder the competitive edge of markets, pushing producers into economic hardship. Thus, the need to know the competition‟s methods is presented....
The decisions in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 531 U.S. 159 (2001) (SWANCC) and Rapanos v. United States, 547 U.S. ___(2006), deviated from the more broad interpretations of congressional intent granted by the court in past assessments of the constitutionality of environmental...
Biodiesel is a renewable, non-toxic, and biodegradable diesel fuel made from agricultural feedstocks. With a vibrant agricultural industry, Oregon is positioned to play an important role in the future of this energy source. Limiting factors to widespread biodiesel production include low value of biodiesel feedstock crops, lack of infrastructure, lagging...
Massively multiplayer role-playing games (MMORPG) are becoming a popular leisure activity world-wide. MMORPG players have created a new kind of market, one for virtual possessions. Some players will buy and sell virtual goods for real-world money. Many game developers oppose this real-market trade because it threatens the control of their...
Oil is notorious for its volatility. Often as an indicator for economic wellbeing, the commodity employs millions across the country. Entire communities in the western United States are centered around oil extraction, with employment, livelihoods, and revenues dependent on oil’s success. This combination of factors begs the question, how do...
The frequency of devastating disasters has increased in the United States due to the presence of climate change. Human subject research is often conducted in these post-disaster areas to gain valuable data and insights. In recent years, discourse regarding the ethical nature of research conduct in these exposure areas has...
The purpose of this inventory is to detail the state of environmental justice in the Mid- Willamette Valley in an up-to-date, centralized format. The inventory is based on information from various government sources, and a survey to gather first-person perspective to take a pulse of the wellbeing of our community....
In 2020, Oregon suffered one of the worst wildfire seasons on record, with a higher percent of forest area burn, the destruction of residential areas, and the risk to human health. The level of intensity of these wildfires were due to the effects of climate change and Oregon wildfire seasons...
Over 76 cities throughout the United States have already adopted policies to limit the expansion of natural gas, mainly through updates to city codes that ban natural gas infrastructure in new construction. Rising concern over the environmental and public health impacts of methane - a greenhouse gas with a much...
Local economic development can help lessen the impact of large-scale shocks on small communities as it provides them with resilient systems that do not require as much support from global supply chains. In smaller communities, shared governance, interactive and adaptive planning, and evidence-based policymaking strategies can facilitate resilient systems. The...
This research explores how an agriculture-based community in the Crooked River Watershed of Central Oregon responds to a series of water resource and environmental challenges, some associated with projected climate change, amid increasing pressure to change management practices to better accommodate environmental needs. A key part of this research assesses...
As the climate conditions in regions shift, research seeks to gain more
understanding of agricultural producers’ behavioral choices specifically in relation to
climate change and alternative practices. This research aims to compare elicitation tools
to find the most appropriate method to elicit agricultural producers’ choices and attitudes
toward changing production...
he Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is widely known as one of the best-managed marine protected areas in the world. The park is divided into different management zones, the most prevalent of which are marine national park zones, which are designated as no-take, and conservation zones in which some regulated...
Over the past several years, increases in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) have coincided with the 2007-2008 recession and the higher rates of unemployment in the U.S. With SNAP being the largest program, in terms of spending embedded in the farm bill, it is likely to see some spending...
OSU Extension provides important educational services to members of the agricultural community. Programming options can be guided by needs assessment surveys, which are used to determine gaps in knowledge and understanding for communities. The objective of this study was to develop and execute a survey to gather information on: 1)...
This paper seeks to assess the merits of “Vote With Your Dollar” (VWYD) strategies for consumer and investor activism as a model for changing corporate behavior. A novel framework was constructed to group VWYD strategies and campaigns under shared attributes. To assess one such group, the boycott, the research gathered...
This study tested the utility of a variable mixing efficiency formulation proposed by Mashayek, et al. (2017) for use in oceanographic models other than the modern, pre-industrial ocean. This formulation is used to calculate diapycnal (vertical) mixing due to unresolved subgrid-scale processes. Results from Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) simulations for...
Fast, reliable internet access is shown to have numerous economic benefits, including contributing to growth, increasing GDP, decreasing unemployment and depopulation of rural areas, and encouraging competition. However, in the United States, there are large sections of the population that are left severely underserved – mostly rural, low-income, and minority...