Matching Items (54)
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- All Subjects: conservation
- Creators: School of Life Sciences
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Description
Southern Arizona was once described as a "sea of grass" extending across the four major valleys, the Sulphur Spring Valley, the San Pedro Valley, the San Simon Valley and the San Bernardino Valley. But today the majority of that land is covered with desert shrubs like mesquite, leaving little to none of the natural grasses that once dominated these valleys. By the late 1800s Americans were flocking to southern Arizona to take advantage of some of the lushest grasslands the United States had to offer. Yet today we can find very little of these grasslands remaining, and so the image of this once productive land has been long forgotten. This thesis/creative project takes an in-depth look at what the land in Cochise County, Arizona once was, what it has become, and what happened to cause these drastic changes. It looks at the four major theories as to what caused these changes. The first of which is the overgrazing of cattle through the cattle boom of the late 1800s. The second is the effect of climactic events like drought and an increase in aridity over time. The third is the encroachment of what was thought to be non-native mesquite, which choked out the natural grasses. And the fourth and final theory is that the overarching suppression of fire by settlers allowed desert shrubs to expand their ranges into the grasslands. Through historical records like newspaper articles, photo archives, land surveys, military travel journals, census data, weather records as well as prior research works and interviews with researchers, conservationists and ranchers, a history of these lands is presented to show the major turning points in the lands' use and determine what led to their deterioration.
ContributorsAmes, Amanda Gail (Author) / Minteer, Ben (Thesis director) / Klett, Mark (Committee member) / Rowe, Helen (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
Extinction of experience is a phenomenon characterized by a decline in people’s contact with nature and impoverishment of local wildlife, which can result in negative changes in human attitudes towards the environment and overall well-being. In this study, I piloted a survey and an interview with my own immediate and extended family members to gain insight regarding specific nature experiences, including the factors that may inhibit such experiences. Through interviews, I found that many respondents were uncertain whether their own backyards counted as a nature space; if so, this significantly impacts their reported frequency and duration or time spent outdoors. The inclusion of yard spaces as nature spaces may therefore be necessary to fully understand the diverse nature experiences of a community.
ContributorsEscobedo, Isabella (Author) / Hall, Sharon (Thesis director) / Minteer, Ben (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2024-05
DescriptionPage Pilot is a digital application that utilizes gamification incentives to help elementary children master reading comprehension, curbing the growing rate of child illiteracy.
ContributorsMuccillo, Alyssa (Author) / Fahlman, Anna (Co-author) / Stoft, Amanda (Co-author) / Byrne, Jared (Thesis director) / Pierce, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Within ocean conservation marketing and campaigns, two schools of thought can be identified. The species savior mindset uses emotionally provoking imagery of specific keystone species like the polar bear or sea turtle in order to promote conservation. This method of marketing relies on audience familiarity and emotions and is easily exploitable for greenwashing by companies like Starbucks and Coca-Cola. Alternatively, the ecosystem mindset emphasizes a bottom-up view of the non-hierarchical interconnections between species in the food web, rather than just the minimizing trickle-down effects of keystone species. This form of marketing relates importance of all species to the health of ecosystems, as well as the vitality of biodiversity. This marketing is better suited to the future needs of the conservation movement and would translate better to lasting, meaningful change.
ContributorsStooks, Jacqueline (Author) / Han, Lisa (Thesis director) / Broglio, Ron (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2024-05