Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Geological Sciences, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2005 / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 138 p. : ill. (some col.), col. map. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-85).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 89 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-81).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 13, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1974. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2005. / Principal faculty advisor: William Ritter, Dept. of Bioresources Engineering. Includes bibliographical references.

Environmental philosophy has expanded and diversified greatly since its beginning. Yet applied philosophies, environmental philosophy and environmental ethics have not engaged descriptive ethics in the way that biomedical ethics has. I will suggest that the failure to has meant that environmental philosophy has had limited impact on environmental practices such as restoration ecology. In this thesis I will attempt to reposition philosophy's ethical spotlight upon what I feel to be the most ethically relevant features of the practice of restoration ecology, and to facilitate this, I develop a case-study. A history of the Musqueam Watershed restoration project and its participants' objectives and their operating policies will be given, followed by an ethical analysis of the project. I will argue on several counts that getting restoration right involves more than paying careful attention to the finished product, as philosophers Elliot and Katz have suggested. Getting restoration right involves placing practice within a broad social and political context where process becomes as crucial as outcome. This will require an examination of the way in which interested stakeholders nature, as well as an examination of the democratic structure and mandate of the Musqueam Watershed Committee. I will argue that restoration projects ought to be conducted in a manner that exploits the inherent participatory potential of restoration ecology. Finally, I will argue the inclusion of ecosystems within the human socio-political context, and thus suggest replacement of the Wilderness Paradigm, or the Hyperreal Paradigm with a Garden Paradigm for human relations with nature, in the hope that in this way we will restore ourselves to nature. / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate

Through a grounded theory methodology data collection around early childhood experiences with nature leading towards positive civic engagement with the community, the theory of cultural entropy emerged along with a policy recommendation for reconnecting the community to the local watershed. Through qualitative interviews with lifelong residents and analysis of essays from local high school students comparing early experiences with nature, the theory of cultural entropy emerged to explain how perceptions and interactions with the local landscape changed across generations. With the help of key information interviews, archival research, and exploration of the local watershed, cultural entropy was used to theorize how the work culture should do towards protecting and passing along ecological, cultural, and historical knowledge that might help increase civic engagement. Lifelong residents participating in the research were found to have high levels of civic engagement through participation with the local historical society and/or recommendations from people because of their involvement with the community. More than any other theme, the importance of the Arroyo Grande Creek emerged as a significantly early experience in nature amongst all lifelong residents. In contrast, this experience was completely gone from the early experiences by the high school students participating in this study. Creation of the dam, channelization of the creek, and invasive species introduction have almost eliminated access to the creek, and invasive species introduction have almost eliminated access to the creek. Very little evidence was found along the entire stretch of creek from dam to ocean of kids playing in the creek. This is theorized to be a product of larger cultures from outside this local ecosystem diffusing into the local culture, creating disconnect from local ecosystem knowledge. A policy recommendation is to create an interpretive greenbelt system along an already existing dirt farm road controlled by local agricultural land, promoting community engagement with the local watershed. Because so much of the key ecological, historical, and cultural knowledge of the area centers around the watershed, it is hypothesized that a greenbelt system has potential for reversing cultural entropy, increasing ecological, historical, and cultural knowledge of the area, and promoting civic engagement.

The Town Creek Watershed (TCW) is a representative area of the Tombigbee River Basin and the Southeastern Plains Ecoregion in Mississippi. The principal channel and four main tributaries have been included for several years within the MS Section 303(d) list of waterbodies biologically impaired due to sediment. The TMDL developed for TCW recommended that streams located near cultivated lands, road crossings and construction activities are a priority for streambank and riparian buffer zone restoration and sediment loads reduction. Development of remedial measures and future BMPs within TCW for reducing water quality impairment and downstream dredging costs requires identification of sediment sources and loads currently transported within TCW. Streambank erosion processes were hypothesized to be an important mechanism driving sediment supply from TCW. The overall goal of this research was to identify mechanisms and the potential effects of streambank erosion processes and to quantify and model the magnitude and rates of these processes within TCW. Research goal and specific aims were addressed in four substudies combining field reconnaissance and detailed data collection, laboratory analysis and computational modeling techniques. The first substudy involved a temporal and spatial analysis of observed suspended sediment transport rates, determined the stage of channel evolution and identified streambank erosion as an important source of sediment supply for reaches in TCW. Streambank erosion contributions of up to 28.5 Mg per m of streambank were quantified in a second substudy monitoring and determining streambank erosion processes and factors within TCW. Results from a third substudy assessed predictions of the computational model CONCEPTS for time of occurrence and magnitude of streambank failures and top width retreat along a 270-m modeling reach. Empirical and analytical approaches to estimate rates and depths of fluvial erosion were developed in a final substudy. The rate and depth of fluvial erosion were estimated as a function of hydraulic and hydrologic properties of flow events, vegetation on streambanks, flow induced forces and streambank geometry and soil properties. Reduction of suspended sediment loads should focus on attenuation of geomorphic processes and stabilization of reaches and agricultural lands adjacent to streambanks along incised headwaters within TCW.

Although water covers 70% of the earth's surface, less than 1% of it is freshwater that can be used for drinking. Even in Canada, where there is an abundance of freshwater in groundwater and in rivers and lakes, there are many indigenous communities that lack a sustainable source of drinking water. Such is the case for the Six Nations of the Grand River, the largest indigenous Reserve in Canada, located within an hour drive from major urban centers in southern Ontario and where less than 9% of the residents have access to safe, treated potable water. The major tributaries that drain the Six Nations reserve are part of the McKenzie Creek Watershed, which has been characterized as having the highest loading of sediments and nutrients to the lower Grand River, which eventually drains into the eastern basin of Lake Erie. This research project was initiated by the Six Nations community, who wanted an update on the prevalence of fecal contamination in their drinking water sources (wells, cisterns). Secondly, the community wanted to know the ecosystem health status of tributaries flowing through the Six Nations Reserve (McKenzie and Boston Creeks), and to determine if land uses in the watershed were negatively affecting the health of these streams. A study conducted in the summer of 2018 confirmed that 29% of the tap water tested in 75 households were contaminated with E. coli; 40% of the wells and 15% of the cisterns were contaminated and these were distributed throughout the Reserve with no apparent pattern. A study conducted in the summer of 2019 found that the McKenzie Creek was highly polluted with total phosphorus (P), total suspended solids, turbidity and total-ammonia nitrogen (N), while Boston Creek was highly polluted with soluble reactive P and E. coli as well as total-nitrate N. Nitrogen concentrations at 14 stations were highly and significantly related to percentage of agricultural land in catchments. Elevated levels of pollutants have been observed in the two creeks for three decades, indicating that conditions will not improve without remedial actions. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)