This dissertation examined risk factors for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) — specifically whether neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation exacerbates individual socioeconomic disadvantage (deprivation amplification) to increase the likelihood of developing HDP. To select the optimal areal unit at which to investigate HDP, geographic proxies for neighborhoods were explored. A thematic review qualitatively examined nontraditional neighborhood boundaries identified through internet sources. Data from 2008–2012 Miami-Dade County, Florida birth records (n=121,421) and the U.S. Census Bureau were used for the remaining analyses. Ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis empirically compared the proportion of HDP prevalence explained by six areal units: census block groups, census tracts, ZIP code tabulation areas (ZCTAs), and three types of natural neighborhood — census units clustered based on an eight-item Neighborhood Deprivation Index. Multilevel logistic regression examined relationships between HDP, neighborhood deprivation, and individual-level factors. Odds ratios (OR) and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) were calculated. The thematic review found 22 potential alternatives to census boundaries developed through techniques such as crowd-sourcing and qualitative research. In the sensitivity analysis, census tracts aggregated at the scale of ZCTAs performed twice as well as any other model (GWR2 = 0.27) and were used as the Aim 3 unit of analysis. In the multilevel logistic regression, HDP was associated with moderate (aOR=1.13; CI: 1.05, 1.21) and high neighborhood deprivation (aOR=1.16; CI: 1.07, 1.26). Compared with mothers with private insurance, uninsured women (aOR=1.69; CI: 1.56, 1.84) and Medicaid recipients (aOR=1.12; CI: 1.05, 1.18) had higher HDP odds. Non-Hispanic Black women’s HDP odds were 1.58 times those of non-Hispanic White women. Cross-level interactions — between neighborhood deprivation and educational attainment and neighborhood deprivation and insurance status — did not reach statistical significance. Private sector neighborhood boundaries hold promise for developing new public health tools. Because they are relatively easy to generate from census data, natural neighborhoods may balance tradition and innovation. While no evidence of deprivation amplification was found, results suggested that individual-level and neighborhood deprivation are HDP risk factors. Interventions that target expectant mothers in deprived neighborhoods — particularly non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic women who lack health insurance — may help reduce HDP prevalence and disparities.

Public bureaucracy finds itself in a strange place at the intersection of political science and public administration. Political science finds that, within representative democracy, discretion granted to bureaucrats threatens the nature of democracy by subverting politicians who represent the will of the people – bureaucracy vs democracy. At the same time, public administration holds that, in the interest of promoting democracy, bureaucracy should be objective in its implementation of policy in a way that eliminates the influence of politics from decision-making – politics vs bureaucracy. Those positions are seemingly contradictory in nature. From one perspective, bureaucracy is undemocratic because it is outside of politics, yet an overreach of politics into the bureaucracy yields undemocratic outcomes. Bureaucracy can facilitate democracy outside of politics. This study looks to empirically test whether local bureaucrats, who should be willing to act in-line with influential co-partisans, might still promote democratic outcomes for their constituents with their discretionary decision-making. Florida provides an empirical backdrop for testing bureaucracy’s impact on democracy with a natural experimental scenario created with the passing of new early voting limitations in 2011. Florida’s Republican (R) lawmakers passed House Bill 1355 (HB 1355), which was signed into law by Governor Scott (R), that dramatically limited the early voting days allowed for federal elections. HB 1355 changed the early voting (EV) period from fourteen (14) days to eight (8) days and eliminated the last Sunday before Election Day as well. The move was widely seen as a political calculation aimed at stifling the participation of Democrats in the 2012 General Election. In seeming lockstep, local Supervisors of Elections (SOEs) from both parties utilized their statutory discretion over the location of early voting sites to alter the distribution of sites before the 2012 General Election. I find that Republican SOEs did not distribute early voting locations in a way that negatively impacted early voting participation rates (EVPR) for their local precincts. Furthermore, I find that, all else equal, their decisions did not statistically impact EVPR differently than the EVPR in communities managed by Democrats. Republican SOEs did not add new costs to voters in their communities. I provide new evidence that demonstrates that bureaucrats can indeed limit the impact of undue politics from their influential co-partisans to promote more democratic outcomes.

Fatal automobile crashes have claimed the lives of over 33,000 people each year in the United States since 1995. As in any point event, fatal crash events do not occur randomly in time or space. The objectives of this study were to identify spatial patterns and hot spots in FARS (Fatal Analysis Reporting System) fatal crash events based on temporal and demographic characteristics. The methods employed included 1) rate calculation using FARS points and average daily traffic flow; 2) planar kernel density estimation of FARS crash events based on temporal and demographic attributes within the data; and 3) two case studies using network kernel density estimation along roadways to determine hot spots fatal crashes in Jefferson County and Warren County. Rate calculation analyses revealed that travel on roads with high speed limits and winding topography led to the highest number of crashes and highest rate of fatal crashesper 1,000 daily vehicles. Planar kernel density estimation results showed temporalpatterns, revealing that ‘hot spots’ and fatalities were highest in the summer, and typically occurred from 2pm-6pm on the weekends. Further, the 16 to 25 year age group was responsible for the most significant ‘hot spots’ and the most fatal accidents. Also showing that the most significant hot spots involving alcohol occurring in close proximity to meeting places such as bars and restaurants. Finally, results from the network kernel density estimation revealed that most hot spots were in high traffic areas of where majorr oads converged with secondary roads.

Diasporas have been occurring for thousands of years, and today globalization has facilitated the quick rate at which diasporas occur on a global scale. Diasporas entail the mass movement of refugees across international borders, and diasporic peoples today now find themselves journeying across oceans and continents to the safety of host cities in a matter of weeks or days. My research analyzes the effects that Bosnian immigrants have had on the cultural landscape of Bowling Green, Kentucky. When people move, they bring their cultures with them, and this type of cultural diffusion impacts the landscape of the host cities. As geographic research on diasporas is limited, this study aims to fill the gap that exists. Bowling Green, Kentucky, was selected for this analysis due to its large refugee population. Some of Bowling Green’s refugee population is comprised of immigrants from Iraq, Burma, Cambodia, and Sudan. Bosnians comprise the largest population of refugees in the city. In addition to examining immigrant policies and theories, the impacts of the Bosnian diaspora on Bowling Green’s cultural landscape will also be identified. Understanding how those cultures modify landscapes is an important part of diasporic research. The data used for this study were acquired through surveys, census details, telephone directories, interviews, and the extant literature. The hypothesis of this study is that Bosnian immigrants have a stronger visual impact on Bowling Green’s cultural landscape than other immigrant ethnic groups due to their large representation in the city.

This study assessed the feasibility and suitability of a Water Quality Trading (WQT) program within the Kentucky River Basin (KRB). The study’s focal point was based on five success factors of a WQT program: environmental suitability, geospatial orientation, participant availability, regulatory incentive, and economic incentive. The study utilized these five success factors, geographical characteristics, and Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMR) to assess the feasibility of a WQT program. The assessment divided the KRB into five eight digit Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUC), North, Middle, and South Fork, Middle Basin, and Lower Basin, to determine regional impacts caused by the nutrient PSs. Individual nutrient profiles were generated to show the number of point sources (PS) operating in the KRB, their geospatial orientation to one another, and their permitted nutrient limits and nutrient discharges in form of total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and total nitrogen (as ammonia) (TA). Findings suggest trading is highly unlikely for TP and TN PSs due to the lack of regulatory standards, limited number of TN and TP PSs, and an inadequate demand for offset credits. Trading is also unlikely in all the HUC 8 watersheds except for the Lower Basin due to the lack of nutrient impaired waters. Key Words: Point Source, Non-Point Source, Water Quality Trading, TMDL, Impaired Waters

Given current rates of anthropogenic environmental change, combined with the increasing lethal and non-lethal mortality threat that human activities pose, there is a vital need to understand wildlife movement and behaviour in human-dominated landscapes to help inform conservation efforts and wildlife management. As long-term monitoring of wildlife populations using Global Positioning System (GPS) telemetry increases, there are new opportunities to quantify change in wildlife movement and behaviour. The objective of this PhD research is to develop novel methodological approaches for quantifying change in spatial-temporal patterns of wildlife movement and habitat by leveraging long time series of GPS telemetry and remotely sensed data. Analyses were focused on the habitat and movement of individuals in the threatened grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) population of Alberta, Canada, which occupies a human-dominated and heterogeneous landscape. Using methods in functional data analysis, a multivariate regionalization approach was developed that effectively summarizes complex spatial-temporal patterns associated with landscape disturbance, as well as recovery, which is often left unaccounted in studies quantifying patterns associated with disturbance. Next, the quasi-experimental framework afforded by a hunting moratorium was used to compare the influence of lethal (i.e., hunting) and non-lethal (i.e., anthropogenic disturbance) human-induced risk on antipredator behaviour of an apex predator, the grizzly bear. In support of the predation risk allocation hypothesis, male bears significantly decrease risky daytime behaviours by 122% during periods of high lethal human-induced risk. Rapid behavioural restoration occurred following the end of the hunt, characterized by diel bimodal movement patterns which may promote coexistence of large predators in human-dominated landscapes. A multi-scale approach using hierarchical Bayesian models, combined with post hoc trend tests and change point detection, was developed to test the influence of landscape disturbance and conditions on grizzly bear home range and movement selection over time. The results, representing the first longitudinal empirical analysis of grizzly bear habitat selection, revealed selection for habitat security at broad scales and for resource availability and habitat permeability at finer spatial scales, which has influenced potential landscape connectivity over time. Finally, combining approaches in movement ecology and conservation physiology, a body condition index was used to characterize how the physiological condition (i.e., internal state) of grizzly bears influences behavioral patterns due to costs and benefits associated with risk avoidance and resource acquisition. The results demonstrated individuals in poorer condition were more likely to engage in risky behaviour associated with anthropogenic disturbance, which highlights complex challenges for carnivore conservation and management of human-carnivore conflict. In summary, this dissertation contributes 1) a multivariate regionalization approach for quantifying spatial-temporal patterns of landscape disturbance and recovery applicable across diverse natural systems, 2) support for the growing theory that apex predators modify behavioural patterns to account for temporal overlap with lethal and non-lethal human-induced risk associated with humans, 3) an integrated approach for considering multi-scale spatial-temporal change in patterns of wildlife habitat selection and landscape connectivity associated with landscape change, 4) a cross-disciplinary framework for considering the impacts of the internal state on behavioural patterns and risk tolerance. / Graduate

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 requires the development of Regional and Area Contingency Plans. For more than 20 years, the State of Florida, under both the Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, has worked closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop these plans for coastal and marine oil spill response. Current plans, developed with local, state and federal stakeholder input, use geographic information systems (GIS) data such as location and extent of sensitive ecological, wildlife, and human-use features (termed Environmental Sensitivity Index data), pre-defined protection priorities, and spatially explicit protection strategies to support decision-making by responders (termed Geographic Response Plans). However, they are long overdue for improvements that incorporate modern oceanographic modeling techniques and integrated data from coastal ocean observing systems. Better understanding of circulation in nearshore and estuarine waters, at a scale consistent with other spatial data, is especially lacking in Area Contingency Plans. This paper identifies the gaps in readily available information on the circulation-driven causes and effects missing in current oil spill contingency planning and describes a sample methodology whereby multiple coastal and ocean spatial science disciplines are used to answer questions that no single, non-integrated discipline can answer by itself. A path forward for further integration and development of more comprehensive plans to better support coastal protection in Florida is proposed. The advances made here are applicable to other coastal regions of the world.

The purpose of the study was to explore the geography literacy, attitudes and experiences of Florida International University (FIU) freshman students scoring at the low and high ends of a geography literacy survey. The Geography Literacy and ABC Models formed the conceptual framework. Participants were freshman students enrolled in the Finite Math course at FIU. Since it is assumed that students who perform poorly on geography assessments do not have an interest in the subject, testing and interviewing students allowed the researcher to explore the assumption. In Phase I, participants completed the Geography Literacy Survey (GLS) with items taken from the 2010 NAEP Geography Subject Area Assessment. The low 35% and high 20% performers were invited for Phase II, which consisted of semi-structured interviews. A total of 187 students participated in Phase I and 12 in Phase II. The primary research question asked was what are the geography attitudes and experiences of freshman students scoring at the low and high ends of a geographical literacy survey? The students had positive attitudes regardless of how they performed on the GLS. The study included a quantitative sub-question regarding the performance of the students on the GLS. The students’ performance on the GLS was equivalent to the performance of 12th grade students from the NAEP Assessment. There were three qualitative sub-questions from which the following themes were identified: the students’ definition of geography is limited, students recall more out of school experiences with geography, and students find geography valuable. In addition, there were five emergent themes: there is a concern regarding a lack of geographical knowledge, rote memorization of geographical content is overemphasized, geographical concepts are related to other subjects, taking the high school level AP Human Geography course is powerful, and there is a need for real-world applications of geographical knowledge. The researcher offered as suggestions for practice to reposition geography in our schools to avoid misunderstandings, highlight its interconnectedness to other fields, connect the material to real world events/daily decision-making, make research projects meaningful, partner with local geographers, and offer a mandatory geography courses at all educational levels.

A mixed methodological approach with two different analytic procedures and multiple data sources was used to examine narcotics hot spots. The first phase compares two methods of hot spots identification; the prediction model and the actual crimes. The second phase involves an intensive study to better understand the phenomenon of drug hot spots areas consistently shown to be repeat hot spots.

In recent years, industrial preservation policies, which aim to preserve urban industrial activity and industrial employment often through the preservation of industrial land, have emerged as a flashpoint in cities across the country that have implemented these policies. While critics contend that industrial preservation policies amount to smokestack chasing in “post-industrial” cities like New York City, industrial preservationists argue that such policies help to preserve well-paying, middle-class jobs and thus represent a tool to mitigate rising income inequalities in cities. Despite considerable attention to these policies, minimal research has evaluated the effectiveness of industrial preservation policies as land use and economic development planning tools. This paper inserts itself into the debate surrounding the utility of industrial preservation policies by evaluating the effectiveness of New York City’s 2006 Industrial Business Zone (IBZ) program. Specifically, this paper uses propensity scoring to evaluate various measures of urban industrial activity in designated IBZs compared to a control group of similar areas. This paper finds that IBZs outperformed the control group in terms of better stemming industrial employment losses and industrial land decline. The control group, however, provided a more favorable climate to industrial business starts and performed about the same as IBZs in encouraging capital investments in industrial infrastructure. These findings suggest that the IBZ program yielded mixed results in its efforts to both attract and retain urban industry.