We live on an Urban Planet. The current unprecedented urbanization is accompanied by intensive land cover transition and demographic shifts from rural to urban livelihoods. Cities serve as cultural, economic, political centers that facilitate wealth creation and innovation of the society, sustaining human from multi-dimensions with large ecological footprints far...
In the process of building international water policies and management institutions, like international treaties and River Basin Organizations, States simultaneously signal the values that they view as most important in these different institutions. Examining expressed and acted-upon values for transboundary freshwater management are currently under-explored areas where overlapping lenses of...
In the last twenty years, human trafficking has gained attention in government agendas and media coverage, while anti-trafficking projects have burgeoned worldwide. Anti-trafficking efforts, however, have almost exclusively addressed the issue of sex trafficking with a focus on rescuing women, while overlooking other types of exploitation. This is noteworthy, given...
Work-related hazards and exposures affect human health and well-being. Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) surveillance is fundamental to the public health approach. OSH surveillance provides important data on the occurrence and magnitude of the problem and risk/protective factors. A wide variety of OSH surveillance programs and systems have been established...
Through researching CBOs across Washington, Oregon, Northern California, and British Columbia, it is evident that there are need gaps in the organizational capacity in CBOs and other environmental groups for outreach and communication support to collaborate. A dedicated online space where environmental organizations and other conservation-focused groups can share their...
The act of accessing food is embedded within various systems of power. This dissertation problematizes our understanding of food access for vulnerable populations by making explicit ways that social constructions, including power, affect food access for vulnerable populations. This is accomplished across three manuscripts. The first manuscript presents textual analysis...
The majority of dam removals are small structures that are governed primarily by state and local bodies. The objective of this study is to characterize and evaluate the governance that has driven recent decisions to remove small dams. In the governance literature on small dam removals, three aspects remain unclear....
Globally, there are 40 million internally displaced people (IDPs) and 25.4 million refugees as of 2018. Of this global refugee population, 19.9 million are under mandate by UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, while 5.4 million Palestinian refugees are protected by United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees...
Despite a history of leadership and creative approaches to environmental issues, Oregon has struggled to adequately prepare for the current and future impacts of climate change. Oregon faces barriers and limits to understanding, planning, and implementing climate adaptation that can be examined and quantified. Climate change makes for an additional...
At the urging of international scientists, large industrialized nations like the United States must transition away from fossil fuel energy and toward renewable energy by 2030 in order to stay the tide of climate change. To complete this energy transition citizens must take up responsibilities to change the known paradigms...