Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection

In this thesis I examine two Afrofuturist, feminist pieces of speculative fiction: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin and The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. I analyze the two novels together and separately using a Black feminist framework to extract sustainable solutions for environmental justice. In close readings of the novels, I utilize multiple frameworks in my analysis, including Afrofuturism, Black Feminism, Intersectionality, and Ecofeminism. Applying Afrofuturist theory shapes the examination of how the oppressive systems within each novel’s society resemble that of the past and how they inform the future. This oppression is seen in the mistreatment of marginalized groups in both novels, including women, racial minorities, and orogenes and sharers. I further explore how these groups are suppressed and how this influences their interactions with the environmental crisis using Back feminist theory. Then, an ecofeminist lens is used in conjunction with Black feminism to uncover sustainable solutions from the novels to solve and mitigate the environmental crisis. My proposed solutions taken from these novels include empathy and embracing change.

Precise addition of agricultural inputs to maximize yields, especially in the face of environmental stresses, becomes important from the financial and sustainability perspectives. Given compounding factors such as climate change and disputed water claims in the American Southwest, the ability to build resistance against salinity stress becomes especially important. It was evaluated if an algal bio-fertilizer was able to remediate salinity stress in Solanum Lycopersicum. A hydroponic apparatus was employed, and data from Burge Environmental’s MiProbes™ both were able to demonstrate remediation. Future research could include determining the minimum dosage of algal fertilizer sufficient to induce this result, or the maximum concentration of salt that an algal treatment can provide a protective effect against.

This thesis explores conservation of threatened and endangered species in the Phoenix metro area using social media. With increased urbanization, rising temperatures, and other issues occurring in the desert landscape, creatures big and small face devastating losses in their populations. Informing the public about the species currently on the brink of extinction allows people to identify the animals in the wild, and may encourage conservation practices that would allow wildlife to thrive far into the future. Utilizing social media as a tool for spreading awareness permits information about Arizona wildlife to be free and easily accessible. This project consists of interviews with conservationists and social media influencers, a survey to understand online behaviors and identify level of interest in the different species, and the creation of consumable social media infographics about the threatened and endangered species of Phoenix. Instagram was selected by survey respondents as the platform they would follow conservation accounts on, leading to the creation of @phxconservation to post the social media infographics. Best practices found by posting on social media in this project can be useful information for conservationists looking to build engagement and effectively inform people.

In 2019, the World Health Organization stated that climate change and air pollution is the greatest growing threat to humanity. With a world population of close to 8 billion people, the rate of population growth continues to increase nearly 1.05% each year. As the world population grows, carbon dioxide emissions and climate change continue to accelerate. By observing increasing concentrations of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, scientists have correlated that the Earth’s temperature is increasing at an average rate of 0.13 degrees Fahrenheit each decade. In an effort to mitigate and slow climate change engineers across the globe have been eagerly seeking solutions to fight this problem. A new form of carbon dioxide mitigation technology that has begun to gain traction in the last decade is known as direct air capture (DAC). Direct air capture works by removing excess atmospheric carbon dioxide from the air and repurposing it. The major challenge faced with DAC is not capturing the carbon dioxide but finding a useful way to reuse the post-capture carbon dioxide. As part of my undergraduate requirements, I was tasked to address this issue and create my own unique design for a DAC system. The design was to have three major goals: be 100% self-sufficient, have net zero carbon emissions, and successfully repurpose excess carbon dioxide into a sustainable and viable product. Arizona was chosen for the location of the system due to the large availability of sunlight. Additionally, the design was to utilize a protein rich hydrogen oxidizing bacteria (HOB) known as Cupriavidus Necator. By attaching a bioreactor to the DAC system, excess carbon dioxide will be directly converted into a dense protein biomass that will be used as food supplements. In addition, my system was designed to produce 1 ton (roughly 907.185 kg) of protein in a year. Lastly, by utilizing solar energy and an atmospheric water generator, the system will produce its own water and achieve the goal of being 100% self-sufficient.