Climate change risks such as rising sea-levels, prolonged droughts, and extreme coastal weather events, are devastating for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) where both their homes and livelihoods are highly interdependent upon the ocean. These SIDS have no other viable choice but to adapt to their ever-changing environments and the rising disaster risks compounded by climate change. Although SIDS tend to receive significant attentions for the adverse impacts of climate change, less is known about the place-based adaptation measures as well as people’s lived experiences with sea-level rise, inundation, tropical storms, droughts, and more. Considering the vast area that the SIDS’ nations cover, the type of climate adaptation measures adopted may vary due to the respective country’s vulnerability and adaptive capacity, as some are more comprehensive and effective than others. This study directly responds to the existing gap in our understanding of how different nations within SIDS are prioritizing and strategizing their adaptation measures with the following research questions: “What are key adaptation strategies practiced in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to address impacts of climate change? Are there similarities or differences in the adaptation strategies pursued by SIDS?” This study uses a conceptual framework of disaster risk and climate change adaptation developed by the IPCC AR5 (2014) to systematically review over 107 peer-reviewed journal articles, scientific reports, and a few videos. Using a systematic literature view approach as the primary research method, this study assembled, categorized, and analyzed the national as well as sub-national adaptation measures—social, institutional, and structural--of two representative countries: 1) Kiribati (a small, low-lying island with the higher level of exposure and vulnerability to climate change), and 2) Fiji (the second biggest island in the South Pacific known for bigger economy and “High Islands”). The results of the study suggest that the adopted adaptation measures were reflective of the country’s historical legacy and the existing adaptive capacity. While Kiribati has historically focused more on external migration of displaced people and more recently has prioritized structural adaptation practices (e.g., construction of coastal seawall), Fiji has been able to leverage its bigger economy and technical resources to develop more comprehensive institutional, social, and structural adaptation measures. However, it is also important to recognize that the other internal and external factors, mainly geophysical setting (low elevation of Kiribati vs the high islands of Fiji) also contribute the level of vulnerability these nations face.

Since the genre's inception more than half a century ago, metal music has maintained its place as a major music genre and culture across the globe. With hundreds of thousands of bands spread across every continent, the genre has become a diverse canvas of continually changing translocal scenes. Serious scholarship covering metal music has been propagating across academic fields since the 90s with a wide variety of approaches, but quantitative studies of the genre almost always depict metal as a monolith; a singular uniform entity without internal variation. This research aims to illustrate how quantitative analysis of metal can accurately reflect the genre’s major content variations, first by constructing a dataset of the Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archive that reflects major subgenre and lyrical themes within metal, and then applying said dataset to understand how metals content shifts both between major subgenres and across geographic space.

The existing educational system is failing to provide adequate environmental education to future generations so that they will have the knowledge, skills, and capability to address the environmental concerns that society is facing. The system must encompass environmental education through adoption of an eco-pedagogical system that either contributes to traditional education or is utilized on its own. The eco-pedagogical system produces education from a social and ecological point of view. As a result of the approach, students would develop and form a connection to nature as well as environmental hope. Each of these components will contribute to the student’s motivation, pathway thinking, agency thinking, and social trust. Leading to the development of the student's aptitude and capability to establish a goal and a plan to achieve it, as well as the identification of potential barriers and strategies for overcoming them. Ultimately, environmental education will equip future generations with the knowledge and skills necessary to create a social system that is capable of sustaining life while also caring for the environment and addressing environmental concerns produced by anthropocentric consequences. Keywords: Environmental education, eco-pedagogy, connection to nature, environmental hope Website Link: https://kvidean43.wixsite.com/environmentaled

The existing educational system is failing to provide adequate environmental education to future generations so that they will have the knowledge, skills, and capability to address the environmental concerns that society is facing. The system must encompass environmental education through adoption of an eco-pedagogical system that either contributes to traditional education or is utilized on its own. The eco-pedagogical system produces education from a social and ecological point of view. As a result of the approach, students would develop and form a connection to nature as well as environmental hope. Each of these components will contribute to the student’s motivation, pathway thinking, agency thinking, and social trust. Leading to the development of the student's aptitude and capability to establish a goal and a plan to achieve it, as well as the identification of potential barriers and strategies for overcoming them. Ultimately, environmental education will equip future generations with the knowledge and skills necessary to create a social system that is capable of sustaining life while also caring for the environment and addressing environmental concerns produced by anthropocentric consequences. Keywords: Environmental education, eco-pedagogy, connection to nature, environmental hope Website Link: https://kvidean43.wixsite.com/environmentaled

Located directly south of Pima County, Arizona, there is a culturally rich community known as Santa Cruz County, Arizona. Santa Cruz County is a smaller community being home to an estimated 47,000 people. Santa Cruz County has a rich history given its proximity to the United States-Mexico border. One example of this rich history can be found at the Tumacacori National Historical Park (NHP) with the attractive and unique ruins. The Tumacacori NHP was once an active Spanish mission that oversaw the religious expansion and communal resources. While the Tumacacori NHP no longer operates in this manner, it does serve an important role in providing visitors with a diverse and immersive look into the history of the region and the Tumacacori mission. While the Tumacacori NHP is meant to be a place for all people to visit, most visitors are not from the local community. The reason for this stems from a lack of educational and engagement opportunities between the Tumacacori NHP and the community youth, mainly due to community members being unaware of the park’s existence or the programs that are offered. This project analyzes and uncovers this disconnect as well as the barriers between the Tumacacori NHP and the Santa Cruz County youth through a research study and the use of children’s literature.