Matching Items (3)
Filtering by
Description
This paper explores the relationship between wildfire management and the consideration of ecological and environmental concerns in Arizona. To get a proper perspective on the current state of wildfire management in Arizona, information on two wildfire management programs, the Four Forests Restoration Initiative and FireScape, was researched and analyzed, as well as contemporary fire policy, a history of wildfire in Arizona, and two recent fires in Sedona, AZ. The two fires in Sedona, the Brins Fire of 2006 and the Slide Fire of 2014, act as a focal point for this ecological management transition, as even within an 8-year period, we can see the different ways the two fires were managed and the transition to a greater ecological importance in management strategies. These all came together to give a full spectrum for the factors that have led to more ecologically-prominent wildfire management strategies in Arizona.
ContributorsGeorge-Sills, Dylan (Author) / Pyne, Stephen (Thesis director) / Hirt, Paul (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
As Arizona enters its fifteenth year of drought and Lake Mead hits historic lows, water management and policy planning will become increasingly important to ensure future water security in the Southwestern region of the United States. This thesis compares water demand trends and policies at the municipal level in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona over the time period from 1980-2010. By analyzing gallons per capita per day (GPCD) trends for each city in the context of population growth, drought, and major state and local policies over the twenty year period, reasons for declines in per capita water demand were explored. Despite differences in their available water sources and political cultures, both the City of Phoenix and the City of Tucson have successfully reduced their per capita water consumption levels between 1980 and 2010. However, this study suggests that each city's measured success at reducing GPCD has been more a result of external events (supply augmentation, drought, and differing development trends) rather than conservation and demand reduction regulations adopted under the auspices of the Groundwater Management Act.
ContributorsSnyder, Rachel Claire (Author) / Larson, Kelli (Thesis director) / Hirt, Paul (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Pedagogy and Place: Observations of place-based education in undergraduate sustainability curriculum
Description
As the canonical literature, student competencies and outcomes, and foundational courses of sustainability education are contested and reaffirmed, grounding this academic discipline in an experiential understanding of place is not often asserted as a core aspect of sustainability curriculum. Place can act both as a context and conduit for sustainability education, inspiring student investment in local communities and stewardship of the landscape. Through narrative descriptions of interviews held with professors, program coordinators, and deans from nine sustainability undergraduate programs across the United States, I explore in this thesis how different educators and institutions adopt place-based pedagogy within sustainability curriculum and institutional practice. In observation of these interviews, I name three factors of difference – physical and social setting, academic ethos, and institution size – as axes around which place is incorporated in sustainability instruction and within the college as a whole. Finally, I give general recommendations for incorporating place in sustainability instruction as well as certain creative and place-oriented assignment structures discussed in the interviews.
ContributorsOrrick, Kayla M (Author) / Hirt, Paul (Thesis director) / Bernier, Andrew (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05