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- Creators: School of International Letters and Cultures
- Creators: School of Politics and Global Studies
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Lithium ion batteries are quintessential components of modern life. They are used to power smart devices — phones, tablets, laptops, and are rapidly becoming major elements in the automotive industry. Demand projections for lithium are skyrocketing with production struggling to keep up pace. This drive is due mostly to the rapid adoption of electric vehicles; sales of electric vehicles in 2020 are more than double what they were only a year prior. With such staggering growth it is important to understand how lithium is sourced and what that means for the environment. Will production even be capable of meeting the demand as more industries make use of this valuable element? How will the environmental impact of lithium affect growth? This thesis attempts to answer these questions as the world looks to a decade of rapid growth for lithium ion batteries.
As we count down the years remaining before a global climate catastrophe, ever increases the importance of teaching environmental history and fostering environmental stewardship from a young age. In the age of globalization, nothing exists in a vacuum, yet our traditional education system often fails to reflect the abundant connections between content areas that are prevalent outside of schools. In fact, many of the flaws of the field of education have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and a forced transition to online schooling, with many educators reverting to outdated practices in a desperate attempt to get students through the year. The aim of this project was to design a unit curriculum with these issues in mind. This month-long environmental history unit engages students through the use of hands-on activities and promotes interdisciplinary connections. The unit can be taught in a physical, online, or hybrid American history class, and will hopefully inspire and motivate students to become environmental stewards as they look toward their futures on this planet.
In the story, Awaken, humans contest over territory with the avians — a sentient bid species. Years ago, the humans moved to underground dwellings in order to protect themselves from aerial assaults and developed sophisticated technology to keep the avians away from their crops. Over time, the avains became a legend humans tell their children to get them to behave, but a segment of the government remembers the real threat avians pose and are determined to vanquish their avian enemies. Kial Damian Johnson was created by his mother and father, who are involved in that segment of the government, with avian and human DNA. He finds himself drawn into the continuous battle between avians and humans. He learns that Yellowstone is going to erupt soon and neither avians nor humans can survive without sharing their resources, and he attempts to bring about peace between the two sides.
The narrative deals with issues prevalent in Animal Studies through giving the bird population a voice and a visible culture, and also reflects on current world issues as we strive to work together globally in the Anthropocene. Through researching and conducting interviews, I crafted this story to contribute to the environmental discourse. I wrote this story in a Young Adult style in order to invite the youth to engage in the conversation about issues of cross-cultural environmental sustainability.
Animal agriculture is a growing industry worldwide as the global demand for animal products increases. This has resulted in many harmful unintended consequences for human health, the environment, and animal welfare. This paper aims to uncover the hidden costs of negative externalities by answering the question: What types of subsidies is the US government distributing to the animal agriculture industry and in what amount? This paper will begin with some background on a few of the externalities created by the animal agriculture industry focusing specifically on environmental issues of water, air, and deforestation. Once this background is established, this will show that animal agriculture is in fact a negative-externality-generating industry. Next, subsidies will be defined and the principal findings of the research will reveal the different forms of support that the US government provides to animal agriculture. Lastly, these subsidies, both direct and indirect, will be quantified.
Water affordability is a critical issue for rural and tribal communities in Northern Arizona. However, measuring affordability in these communities can be extremely challenging due to a lack of accessible data and several unique, structural, barriers. This thesis evaluates both the challenges and opportunities for measuring water affordability in the City of Show Low and the Hopi Nation and explores potential solutions to improve measurement accessibility. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study found that data necessary to measure water affordability is often unavailable or difficult to collect in rural and tribal systems, and limited resources, personnel & capacity, as well as sociocultural and political factors within these areas further hinder their ability to assess affordability. Additionally, analysis of existing resources and initiatives for assessing water affordability in these communities revealed several limitations that must be addressed to improve measurement accessibility. The study suggests that several actions can be taken at the state and federal levels to improve the ability of small and rural systems to study water affordability in Northern Arizona. These actions include conducting a state-wide water affordability assessment, improving existing guidebooks and resources specifically for rural and tribal systems, providing low-cost consultants to assist in utility management, detailed federal review of SRF funding application requirements, and oversight on new allocations following the recent historic investment in the SRF. Overall, this thesis highlights the challenges faced by rural and tribal communities in measuring water affordability and provides recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders to improve measurement accessibility. By advocating for policy changes and addressing limitations in existing resources, this research aims to improve water affordability in Northern Arizona and beyond.