Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Applied Geospatial Science

Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, providing numerous benefits including supporting diverse plant and animal species, capturing/storing carbon, improving water quality, controlling floods, and cycling nutrients. Despite these benefits, wetlands have gradually been lost or degraded. Two of the world's largest inland freshwater systems, Lake Erie and Lake Victoria, have been negatively affected by Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and wetland losses, sparking wetland restoration projects in Lake Erie to limit potential HAB development. Yet, the greater danger from HABs is in Lake Victoria, where a lack of strong protection has put additional stress on wetlands. Wetland restoration, therefore, could serve as part of a solution towards Lake Victoria's algal blooms problem.The primary goal of this study was to perform wetland suitability analysis and identify general suitable lands or areas for wetland restoration projects in the Blanchard River Watershed that connects to Lake Eire and the Nyando River Watershed in the Lake Victoria region. This study used multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) for wetland suitability analysis, where criteria are represented by numeric weight of importance using Weighted Linear Combination (WLC). The weights were obtained from wetland restoration experts from the U.S Great Lakes region. The model was first tested in Blanchard River Watershed and then applied to the Nyando River Watershed. The resulting wetland restoration suitability model was rigorously tested with sensitivity analyses to evaluate the influence of various criterion weights. The results were broken into five classes and used to identify the most suitable areas for wetland restoration which were labeled as highest suitability areas. The results for the Blanchard River watershed show that 47.66% of the watershed has highest suitability for wetland restoration, while the comparable value for the Nyando River watershed had 10.64%. Sensitivity analysis using c (open full item for complete abstract)

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

Climate change presents an unprecedented challenge to global agriculture and food security. Small farms are especially vulnerable to the local impacts of large-scale drivers of change. Effective adaptation in agriculture requires working across scales, and geographic, political, and disciplinary boundaries to address barriers. I use elements of case study, agent-based modeling and serious games, to design a model of farmer decision-making using the sociocognitive framework of climate change adaptation. I examine how adaptation functions as a process, how complex dynamics influence farmer behavior, and how individual decisions influence collective behavior in response to climate change. This novel approach to adaptation research in agriculture examines the relationships between the contextual, compositional, and cognitive elements of the sociocognitive theory. The tools developed for this research have broad practical and theoretical future applications in climate adaptation research and policymaking. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Master of City and Regional Planning, The Ohio State University, 2024, City and Regional Planning

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has emerged as a cost-effective alternative to Light Rail Systems (LRT), yet its impact on urban land use remains understudied compared to rail-based transit systems. This study examines land use changes within a 0.5-mile buffer along the Red Line BRT corridor that passes through Apple Valley, Bloomington, Burnsville, and Eagan, Minnesota. Using before-after analysis ranging from 2010 to 2020, this study assesses and statistically describes the conversion of areas covered by other land uses to commercially and residentially oriented land uses post-BRT implementation in 2013. Results indicate a higher ratio of conversion within the buffer zone, suggesting some influence of the BRT corridor on land use dynamics, particularly in transitioning undeveloped land to single-family detached and retail/commercial uses.

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2024, Geography

Flooding remains a pressing global issue, profoundly impacting communities and economies worldwide, with climate change exacerbating its severity and limited community involvement hindering effective flood control processes. In Ghana, especially in urban areas like Greater Accra, the increasing frequency of flooding disasters has prompted a critical reassessment of disaster risk governance strategies. Historically, Ghana has relied on a top-down governance approach, which has proven inadequate in addressing flood disasters, due to limited local participation and adaptability in the planning process. This study rigorously evaluates Ghana's flood risk governance progress and draws insights from successful community-based flood risk governance models implemented worldwide. The study employed spatial analysis and systematic review methodology to achieve its objectives. The spatial analysis indicated that most southern parts of Ghana have prevalent flood events. The study further scrutinized 125 relevant articles and identified nine (9) key themes for community-based flood risk governance. Notably, community engagement emerged as paramount, emphasized in 76 articles, alongside attention to vulnerable groups, effective risk communication and education, institutional support and stakeholder engagement, adaptive planning practices, and other key themes. The study found that the level of local community involvement in flood risk governance is at the “consultation stage” on the ladder of participation where community leaders do not play an active role in the decision-making process but are only involved in implementing plans. The study advocates for holistic community empowerment, strengthened stakeholder collaboration, effective risk communication and education, and the promotion of nature-based solutions as imperative strategies for community-based flood risk governance in Ghana. This research contributes valuable insights to the international discourse on disaster risk ma (open full item for complete abstract)

MS, Kent State University, 2023, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography

The Colorado River supplies water for over 40 million people throughout the North American Southwest, a region that has experienced prolonged stress on water resources for more than two decades. Through the lens of critical physical geography, this research synthesizes a physical and social science approach to explicate the many human and physical distinctions that are fueling the overuse of this waterway. The Southwest region economically benefits from settler colonialism yet lacks inclusivity of access to natural resources, including water. An investigation into the intricate dynamics of land use, water policy, and climate change in the Colorado River Basin provides a holistic understanding of environmental and climate disparities gripping parts of the region. Mixed-methods consisting of a correlation and trend analysis, along with a policy analysis, were employed to identify these evolving issues. Hydroclimatological patterns over the 1956-2022 period reveal disconcerting trends, further aggravating water supply. Historical water policies from 1922-1968 demonstrate their misalignment with evolving river dynamics and contribute to inequities in resource allocation. By extracting historic to modern-day climate and adaptation data, the evidence of this study leads to the conclusion that previous and modern-day policy not only is unsuitable to withstand the future of climate-induced changes to the hydrologic health of the river, but the impact of water scarcity faced by Indigenous communities across the North American Southwest could persist. The study emphasizes the ongoing importance for policies to be more attuned to the shifting climate and landscape while ensuring equitable resource access for all.

PHD, Kent State University, 2023, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History

Based on a critical reading of colonial archives and extensive use of oral sources, this dissertation argues that indigenous custodians of the landscape in semi-arid regions of the Zimbabwean Lowveld have a longstanding experience of harnessing their environmental literacy and detailed knowledge of nature to combat climate change. Starting with colonial encounters and contested boundaries of knowledge in Southern Rhodesia (present day Zimbabwe) since the early twentieth century, I demonstrate that oral traditions survived the onslaught of colonialism and offered new generations ways of responding to climate change. I use empirical examples to demonstrate that indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) have been obscured under the veneer of colonial historiography, hence, the importance of recovering African cultural achievements and indigenous agency to the historical record. This dissertation examines the adoption of various coping strategies and sustainable agricultural practices initiated by indigenous people to promote climate smart agriculture and identifies the factors that influence adoption of certain adaptive practices. Water has been a central and defining factor of Africa's development trajectory. A growing body of literature has demonstrated that agricultural yields have been declining in developing countries, including Zimbabwe, due to the impacts of climate change. Indigenous experiences, conceptions and perceptions have played a vital role in the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices. Indigenous farmers are at peace with modernity and modernization, but in the absence of modern technologies and state support, they have been going back to traditional forms of development. The interrelated objectives of climate change mitigation, adaptation and food security were simultaneously sustained through the hybrid integration of indigenous and modern farming practices in agricultural production and sustainable development planning. Indigenous knowledge sys (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of City and Regional Planning, The Ohio State University, 2023, City and Regional Planning

The rapid expansion of the cannabis industry in the United States, in line with the recent wave of legalization, has not yielded consistent growth across all societal segments. Particularly, marginalized communities historically subjected to disparate cannabis-related law enforcement and legal penalties often find themselves excluded from this emergent economic sector. This thesis critically focuses on the role of Cannabis Social Equity Programs (CSEPs) in mitigating this historical imbalance and promoting inclusivity and diversity within the cannabis industry. The thesis delves into the historical context of cannabis prohibition, its disproportionate impacts on marginalized communities, predominantly ethnic and racial minorities, and how this context informs modern CSEPs. A comprehensive comparative analysis of three distinct CSEPs from Arizona, and Connecticut, and Ohio is undertaken. The analysis scrutinizes the diverse demographic profiles and unique approaches these states take toward cannabis legalization and regulation. Ohio's approach, which lacks a comprehensive CSEP, is used as a control. In contrast, both Arizona and Connecticut have adopted more substantial CSEPs that are explicitly aimed at aiding disproportionately impacted communities, embodying a strong sense of restorative justice. The focus of this thesis is to underline the efforts of these programs in rectifying historical injustices and creating a more inclusive cannabis industry, noting the variation in success. The thesis sheds light on the potential benefits and limitations of state-level initiatives, offering insights into factors contributing to their effectiveness or ineffectiveness. The thesis argues that appropriately designed and efficiently managed CSEPs have the potential to contribute significantly towards a more equitable cannabis industry. It promotes leveraging CSEPs for economic empowerment and targeted reinvestment in disadvantaged communities impacted by the War on Drugs. (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2023, Geography

Resilience planning seeks to respond to and mitigate climate change effects. Such planning can reduce vulnerability and build the capacity to adapt but must take care in addressing issues of equity in the process. To address physical and social vulnerabilities, Charleston, South Carolina has turned to equity and resilience planning. However, these terms can be as ambiguous as they are important. How do planners and stakeholders define and operationalize resilience and equity? How are they integrating equity within both their city plans and the planning process? While scholarly literature and policy increasingly emphasize resilience and equity in theory, more research is needed to understand how cities, particularly coastal cities with significant physical and social vulnerabilities, make sense of these ideas in practice. This thesis uses textual analysis and interviews with stakeholders in resilience planning to understand Charleston's evolving approaches to vulnerability and equity in the planning process, culminating in a system-wide, integrative City Plan. Additionally, this research looks at the breadth of equity built into Charleston's City Plan. While Charleston has been consistent in defining and addressing the issues impacting the city, continued and deepened integration of equity within the planning process may strengthen the city's adaptive and overall resilience.

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2023, Natural Resources

One of the critical questions in the field of environment and natural resources from a policy perspective is to understand how collaborative processes and beneficial working relationships can lead to improved urban farming practices. While the topic has received attention by scholars across the nation, research on this topic is lacking regarding urban agriculture in low-income settings of Columbus Ohio. In this thesis, I will examine the perceived barriers that historically underserved urban farmers encounter in low-income settings. Specifically, I study the Community Growers Network (CGN), a new collaborative initiative that brings together urban farmers to work on creative solutions to solve their problems. Through interviews and participant observation, I uncover and explain the variables that limit urban agriculture production and help establishing stronger collaborative relationships between urban farmers. According to the interviews there are a plethora of challenges that urban farmers face; however, in this thesis I only highlighted the challenges that were common amongst all interviewees which are, 1) Land management, 2) Access to proper infrastructure, 3) Labor force (access to volunteers), 4) Access to funding 5) Access to specialized knowledge, and 6) Pest control and soil management. I find that he CGN is, in general, well equipped to help farmers face these challenges, and that the inner structure of the network is conducive to such solutions. I conclude by discussing the limitations of this study and potential areas of development for future research. I highlight not only the academic value of these findings, but also the value for individuals working in the development of urban farming in Columbus Ohio.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2023, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

This research study seeks to understand interested parties' perspectives on Cameroon's existing land tenure systems, the 1974 land law, and ongoing efforts to reform this land law. It identifies both concerns and specific recommendations from these parties on the formulation and implementation of future reforms. In the decades following the achievement of independence from European colonizers, most governments in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have adopted new national land tenure policies to meet their countries' needs and aspirations. In some parts of SSA, however, this process of land tenure formalization has negatively impacted the land rights of people observing customary land tenure. This has been a result of government interventions such as compulsory land acquisitions, which while technically legal, are ethically questionable. In the face of this challenge, efforts to reform post-colonial land laws have become a matter of urgency. A national land reform process for Cameroon, announced in 2011 has adopted a multistakeholder approach. My study seeks to understand interested parties' perspectives on Cameroon's existing land tenure systems, the 1974 land law, and ongoing efforts to reform the land law. This study applied a case study methodological approach and a convergent mixed-method design. Evidence from this study shows that interested parties in Cameroon are in agreement on 1) the reform of the 1974 land law, 2) the recognition of customary land tenure, 3) the continued use of multistakeholder participation in land law reform, and 4) the promulgation of the new land law through mass sensitization and information dissemination.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, City and Regional Planning

The development of planning strategies and application of theory to meet the needs of neurodiverse population, such as autistic adults, is limited and emergent. My dissertation assesses the process of public participation in planning and its inclusion of neurodiverse population in it. First, I will review the limitations of existing planning theory and discuss how planning theory should evolve to adequately reflect and address the needs of those with disabilities. Then, I examine what aspects of existing theory are beneficial in furthering our understanding and planning with acceptance of autistic and other neurodiverse communities. This study, using mixed methods, including a survey of autistic adults and semi-structured interviews of practicing planners, will explore the premise that special accommodation during planning public participation engagements would develop more active participation and involvement of autistic adults. These accommodations could also serve and increase the engagement of other neurodiverse populations, compared to traditional public engagement practices. The goal of this work is the exploration of possible procedural tools that can accommodate public participation of people with different cognitive abilities during public meetings and engagement in the planning and design process. I conclude discussing the policy implications of this research. The findings indicate that engagement of autistic adults into decision-making process is possible when planners provide accommodations tailored to neurodivergent participants. I suggest that changes in how planners conduct community participation meetings can start from the evaluation of participation process through Six Feelings Framework which focuses on inclusion of feelings and emotions into decision-making process. Results of survey suggest that feelings of “clear” and “free” are the most important for autistic adults' engagement, meaning that when materials and rules of participation are c (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

This dissertation seeks to explore the interrelationships between housing supply, the environment, and policy to address real-world challenges including climate change, water quality, and urban sprawl. To do this, my dissertation explores issues of sustainable economic growth from the perspective of land use management in both the short and long run. All three essays explore how farmers or landowners respond to changes in climate factors and changes in the surrounding urbanizing landscape. In Chapter 2, I empirically examine farmers' responsiveness and adaptation to changes in the urban landscape and climate by recovering the effect of urbanization on additionality attributable to government payments for best management practice adoption to protect water quality. Using a unique, farm-level survey in Pennsylvania of 6,782 farms conducted in 2016, I apply nearest-neighbor matching estimators and find a heterogeneous, positive, and significant effect on the adoption of riparian buffers and stream fencing due to government subsidies. I also find less additionality attributable to government payments in more urban areas and develop a regulatory avoidance model to explain this finding. I am the first to shed light on the urbanization pathway as a potential driver of heterogeneity in additionality, highlighting a new avenue to understand farmer behavior in the urbanizing agricultural landscape. In Chapter 3, I develop a structural duration model to estimate a landowner's decision to convert undeveloped land into residential development using data from 2007 to 2019 for four urbanizing Pennsylvania counties in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. I innovate on the existing literature by addressing both land price and housing price endogeneity using a control function approach suitable for use in nonlinear models. To form instruments, I rely on spatial housing market interconnections to link distant demand drivers to local housing prices and the exogeneity of long-term climate (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2022, Educational Leadership

This dissertation in practice examines the absence of an advocacy framework for Black placemakers in southwest Springfield neighborhoods seeking to transform vacant spaces into vibrant pocket parks, green spaces, and community gardens. This critical community-based participatory research addresses inadequate public policies, resources, and technical assistance to create and sustain neighborhood sites for endurance, belonging, and resistance. Thematic findings indicated that systemic issues, street-level organizing, and sustainability are primary barriers and opportunities. An action intervention and change process was developed to establish the Springfield Park and Green Space Ecosystem (SPGE). The action plan focuses on a community coalition of power building, a community benefits agreement, zoning revisions, and public-private partnerships with results-based accountability.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Environment and Natural Resources

Emerging adults in rural, boom-bust economies face unique challenges, especially in employment and education. Drawing on emerging adult and social disruption hypothesis literatures, this study examined four primary research questions. First, how do emerging adults in rural boom-bust towns in southwest Wyoming understand and experience boom-bust cycles in their communities? Second, from where in rural, boom-bust places do emerging adults receive support regarding post-secondary education, employment, and decisions to remain in the area? This study also considered if these resources from the community were satisfactory. Third, what are the potential differences—if any—in the community supports known, used, and desired for emerging adults in community college verses for those in the workforce? Lastly, what decisions are rural emerging adults in boom-bust towns making about staying in/leaving the area? Interviews were conducted with thirty-eight emerging adults between the ages of 18 and 25 in southwest Wyoming. Findings from this study supported the social disruption hypothesis. Participants felt boom-bust cycles resulted in instability, were harmful to the area, and affected the resources to which they had access. They reported limited engagement in their communities which declined further as they transitioned from high school to the community college and workforce. However, they also suggested community engagement to be important for newcomers to the area. Individual and household income were important factors in mitigating effects of the boom-bust cycles. Participants also reported a heavy reliance on their social networks for finding employment. Participants in both groups indicated dissatisfaction with the resources to which they had access for higher education and employment. Also, the majority of participants wished to leave the area citing instability, lack of education and employment opportunities, and a general lack of opportunities, especially for education (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2022, Geography (Arts and Sciences)

Environmental issues such as habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change have spurred societies around the world to invest in new forms of alternative energy to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and the impacts that result from their extraction and use. The United States is the largest economy on Earth and consumes the most fossil fuels per capita. In this regard, the U.S. is lagging behind in terms of developing and utilizing alternative energy, but it is not the case that alternatives beyond fossil fuels are not being utilized at all. In fact, one of the biggest alternative energy booms in the U.S. has developed around wind energy. At the same time, the fossil fuel industry has undergone massive changes, shifting to natural gas while phasing out the use of coal. The state of Iowa has been a leader in developing and utilizing wind power for more than a decade, and in combination with utilizing more natural gas, has phased out using coal as a primary source for generating electricity. Like Iowa, Ohio has been replacing coal with natural gas in recent years, but unlike the Hawkeye State, has largely shunned wind power. Both states have gone in opposite directions in terms of electricity generation, but both have reduced their carbon footprint by very large amounts. In this thesis, I compare and contrast Iowa and Ohio

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2021, Rural Sociology

This research focuses on Amish and Plain farmers for several reasons. First, Amish, and Plain people are a substantial portion of the farmers in the Wayne County area. They represent 20.4% of the farmers in Wayne County and 53.7% of the farmers in neighboring Holmes County. Second, Amish and Plain farmers are likely to be a growing portion of the farming population in this multi-county area with the Amish population doubling every 21.25 years (Donnermeyer 2015), they are more likely to be younger. They are more likely to say they would encourage their children to become farmers, and less likely to say that their children cannot afford to take over their farm. Third, Amish and Plain farmers represent a large portion of the mid-sized farms in the Wayne County area. Fourth, Amish and Plain farmers have been underrepresented in government decision-making and policy creation historically (Brock, Ulrich-Schad, and Prokopy 2018). Fifth, Amish and Plain farmers are more likely to be certified organic and use specialty labels or certifications. For these reasons, Amish and Plain farmers are especially important to economic and community development in the Wayne County area. The first objective of this research is to enhance the inclusivity and effectiveness of county food and agricultural planning in Amish and Plain communities. The second objective is to provide perspective for planners, Extension workers, practitioners, and researchers for understanding the Amish and Plain farming community. Select literature about value-added agriculture, Amish and Plain studies, and rural community and economic development are used to provide background and context for this study. This research does four things: 1) Highlights the importance of Amish and Plain farmers to Wayne and Holmes Counties, Ohio. 2) Delineates the differences in production and marketing practices between Amish and non-Amish farmers in Wayne and Holmes County using the 2020 Ohio Farm Poll data. 3) Identifies the wa (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2021, Geography

An Abstract of Comparison of LULC Change of Cities Sharing International Boundaries Using GIS and Remote Sensing (City of Detroit, USA Vs. City of Windsor, Canada) by S M Ahsanullah Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in Geography and Planning The University of Toledo August 2021 Urban land use and land cover (LULC) classification and change analysis has a cumulative effect on understanding the development of human civilization. The study of the world civilizations and development concentrates on explaining the socio-economic hearth of respective eras. Hence a deeper understanding of urban land use will allow us to learn more about how and where neighborhoods have formed. These neighborhoods indicate social clusters of people in a geographic location. Urban areas are established based on locations with resources to support development. Accurate change detection of land use/land cover (LULC) has become a key issue for monitoring local, regional, and global environments and resources. Which provides the foundation for a better understanding of relationships and interactions between humans and natural phenomena in order to improve management and use of resources (Aslami, et al., 2018) (Lu, et al., 2004). Today, 3.9 billion people (54 % of the world's population) reside in urban areas, and this figure is expected to reach 6.3 billion by 2050, with nearly 90 percent of future urban population increases in cities of developing countries (UN, 2015). In this context urban LULC analysis helps to show the spatial expansion of towns and cities. To accommodate growing urban populations effective planning is necessary to guide cities and develop new policies. There is no single reason behind land use change, it is rather an accumulation of a multiple factors working in place. New growth introduces either positive or negative changes, transforms old land use to a new one. Land use ch (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2021, Spatially Integrated Social Science

Expanding on the “Right to the City” philosophy of Henri Lefebvre, Black food geographies focus on the ways in which African-Americans navigated oppressive food and built environments, historically and presently, while simultaneously trying to build a version of community food security (CFS) unique to that neighborhood. This “Right to the City” is challenged by settler colonialism and racial capitalism, two political and social structures that control spatial behaviors, including a neighborhood's access to quality food. One way to counteract that is ownership of the land and community-based food production via urban agricultural (UA) enterprises. The following study applies a mixed-methods approach to two Ohio cities—Toledo and Dayton—as case studies to understand the socioeconomic and demographic implications of concentrated municipal-owned vacant parcels, exacerbated by Land Bank and City demolitions, within majority African-American neighborhoods. It justifies how UA is used as a remedy for not only strengthening the local food system and repurposing vacant land, but also, as an empowerment mechanism for said communities, leading to self-sufficiency using Collective Action and Community Resilience (CACR) as a guide. Additionally, it revealed the ways in which Land Banks, and indirectly the city, can be a community-based asset to the growth of UA in the formation of an equitable CFS model that acknowledges the African-American's version of the “Right to the City.” Using municipal-owned vacant land transfers between 2010 and 2018, and the 2014 & 2018 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) Census, results indicated higher rates of land vacancies are mostly found in majority African-American neighborhoods, with higher household poverty, increased food assistance recipients, greater household unemployment, and low private vehicle ownership. These relationships were statistically significant out of the initial ten variables. Three additional statistically significant (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2021, East Asian Languages and Literatures

Urbanization has negative impacts on water resources. Sponge cities are urban infrastructure projects that aim to restore hydrological processes to pre-development conditions, while also improving water quality, providing habitat, and improving quality of life. China's sponge cities are world-renowned for their city-scale green infrastructure installations. This paper uses a social science questionnaire to conduct a public opinion survey about green infrastructure technology in sponge cities. Participants in the questionnaire ranked environmental issues from most concerning to least concerning as: air quality > floods > drinking water quality > climate change > algal blooms > habitat loss > invasive species > water shortage. From the most familiar to the least familiar types of green infrastructure, questionnaire participants ranked: constructed wetlands > permeable roads > green roofs > rain gardens > rain barrels. The survey participants ranked most to least favorite type of green infrastructure as permeable roads > rain gardens > green roofs > constructed wetlands > rain barrels. Meanwhile, for the design and site selection of rain gardens, questionnaire participants ranked as follows: with trees and large plants > streetside, natural looking > between roads > streetside with walls > with rock features > in the road. Finally, with respect to the knowledge of ecological concepts (from best to least understood concepts), the questionnaire participants answered as follows: nutrient cycling > land use > ecological restoration > stormwater runoff > the water cycle > role of green infrastructure. Based on these results, public outreach and engineering design should be re-evaluated. Also based on these findings, I made an outreach video.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, City and Regional Planning

Food waste is a wicked problem. It is the result of agricultural economic policies, income inequality, deficient distribution networks, and food edibility enculturation among other factors. Food waste is generated at every level of the food system, with each level having numerous activities with enough uniqueness and reasons for wasting food. Equally, there are numerous ways to prevent, reduce and recycle food waste at each level of the food system, but solutions also depend on the same factors that causes it and are additionally influenced by sustainability policies, existing waste management infrastructure, land use priorities, and social and personal psychological norms. Hence it can feel that finding a solution for food waste is a never-ending battle. Solutions must be implemented at all levels of the food system and in order to do this food waste and solid waste management planners must look for causes and solutions at the macro and micro scales. The research presented here is concerned with implementing solutions and understanding how these solutions could be successfully implemented. In the first essay, I report the case study of a planning process undertaken in the Mississippi Gulf Coast to develop a food system plan that integrated strategies commonly included in regional solid waste management plans, in order to manage food waste more sustainably with strategies designed to accommodate local needs and unique circumstances. While most food system plans acknowledge the importance of managing food waste, this study was the first food system planning effort that included a committee composed of local solid waste management professionals and local stakeholders interested in food waste prevention, reduction, and recycling. The planning process was a three-step process that engaged stakeholders in the food supply chain from production, distribution, retail, and consumption through to post-consumption. The essay describes the specific steps taken to assess the g (open full item for complete abstract)