Master of Science / Department of Agronomy / Ganga M. Hettiarachchi / Human activities have the potential to alter soil biochemical properties in a number of different ways. This thesis will focus on how agricultural practices (tillage and cropping system), climate change, and urban soil pollution (primarily lead and arsenic) affect soil biochemical properties. Two incubation studies were conducted to determine how human activities influence soil biochemical properties. The first study focused on how altered temperature and moisture regimes affected soil properties from four different agroecosystems. Four different soils were incubated under two different soil preparation methods (sieved <4mm and <0.25 mm), three different temperature treatments (12, 24, and 36°C), and two different moisture treatments (field capacity and 80% of field capacity) for 180 days. Destructive samples were taken at 7, 30, 60, 120, and 180 days and the soil microbial community was analyzed using phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA). The second study investigated how soil amendment treatments (Mushroom Compost and Composted Biosolids) of an industrially contaminated site affected the biochemical properties of that soil. Surface soil samples collected 435 days after compost addition from urban garden test plots located adjacent to a former rail yard in Monon, Indiana. Soils were incubated for 30 days to stimulate microbial activity. Following incubation, the soil was analyzed for PLFA, soil enzymes, and available metal fractions. In the first study the greatest differences were found between the <4mm and the <0.25 mm size fractions – which highlights the effect of soil aggregation and structure on microbial populations. After aggregation effects, temperature treatment had the next largest effect on microbial populations, with the greatest biomass in the middle (24°C) treatment. The second study assessed different soil amendments on soil microbial properties and metal availability. Composted biosolids reduced metal availability and increased microbial enzyme activity and biomass.

Alpine environments are poorly studied ecosystems, largely due to their inaccessibility and severe climatic conditions. Nonetheless, a better understanding is needed of the ecological processes shaping these habitats, particularly the interactions between plants and animals. Recent studies indicate that the levels of soil erosion have increased in parts of Lesotho, possibly because of overgrazing by domestic livestock and the activities of the African ice rat Otomys sloggetti robertsi, whose population numbers have increased in recent times. O. s. robertsi is a diurnal, herbivorous, burrowdwelling, murid rodent, endemic to the southern African Drakensberg. The aim of my study was to establish whether and how the ice rat influences the vegetation and the soil characteristics in its habitat, and to determine whether ice rat population numbers have increased. I conducted three experiments. 1) Enclosures/plots were erected in the Sani Valley to measure the impact of; i) ice rats alone; ii) both ice rats and livestock on vegetation and soil loss and gain (which was used as a proxy for soil erosion). 2) I also ascertained ice rat numbers (colony sizes) at three different locations in Lesotho (Katse Dam, Oxbow and Sani Valley) by conducting monthly censuses of discrete colonies at each locality. 3) Finally, questionnaire surveys were used to ascertain the perception of, and influence on, ice rats by the local human inhabitants in Lesotho. The enclosure/plot experiments showed that the plots accessed by ice rats only had higher levels of vegetation change (loss of cover, decrease in height) and soil movement than other plots from which they were excluded or could access together with livestock, which was contrary to my prediction that the combined influence of ice rats and livestock would have a greater impact. The size of ice rat colonies showed a three-fold increase in my study compared to those a decade ago. The interviews of the local human inhabitants supported this finding, with people also claiming that ambient temperatures had increased and snowfall had decreased. The interviewees did not express any meaningful opinion about how they influenced the biology of ice rats, but claimed that ice rats were responsible for land degradation in the high Drakensberg. In conclusion, the results suggest that ice rats are responsible for large scale damage at my study sites as a result of their foraging and burrowing activities, and erosion is likely to be exacerbated by the increasing numbers of ice rats. Nonetheless, soil erosion is a complex problem involving several biotic and biotic contributing factors, and long term studies are required to fully understand the underlying determinants of erosion in the Lesotho Highlands.

Thesis advisor: Juliet B. Schor / Since the 1970's, social scientists have argued that general pro-environmental attitudes have diffused throughout American society, rendering socio-demographics largely irrelevant in predicting support for such issues. The public reaction to the issue of climate change, however, evades this narrative. While media bias, ideological framing, and business influence, among others, are partial explanations, I argue that ignoring the potential implications of structure and culture--specifically social class--in determining why the issue is so demonstrably divisive is a crucial mistake. Building upon the postmaterialism thesis of Inglehart with the cultural theory of Bourdieu, I examine how the conception of and reaction to the issue varies with economic and cultural capital using data from 42 interviews of Boston-area respondents. The results suggest that climate change may indeed be a `classed' issue--both in how the respondents conceive of it in the first place, and how they speak of social class in the context of it. The political implications are various, but suggest that coalition formation will need to take account of these differences, both real and perceived, in both engendering public support for mitigation efforts and subsequently combating the problem. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

The aim of this research is to examine the contextual environment in which farmers operate so as to improve our understanding of the factors shaping vulnerability to climate risk. A key focus is on the livelihoods of sugarcane farmers, using a case study of small-, medium-scale (emerging) and large-scale sugarcane farmers in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands area of Eston and its surrounds. A social vulnerability assessment was undertaken under the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) to test the hypothesis that climate risk is considered a major contributing factor to the vulnerability of commercial farmers in KwaZulu-Natal and needs to be effectively managed. This involved an investigation into the multiple stresses (both external and internal, on-farm and off-farm, climatic and non climatic) acting on the system. It is clear that climate change risk and variability is a major, but not the sole contributing factor to the vulnerability of commercial farmers in this part of KwaZulu-Natal. Climate change does need to be effectively managed but it will be best done in conjunction with the management of the other multiple and interacting threats and stresses identified in this study. Climate change and vulnerability, as well as the other multiple stresses, are acting on an already vulnerable system, exacerbating and compounding present risks. This research also explored a number of coping and response strategies that commercial farmers have adopted in response to the threats and stresses and investigated particularly, what elements enhance or restrict these strategies (both on-farm and off-farm). These strategies posses potential as possible future adaptation options. It was found that the issues of access to livelihood assets (social, financial, natural/environmental, physical, human, knowledge assets and capital under the SLF) are key to the adaptive capacity and the adaptation strategies that farmers employ. Institutions (both formal and informal) play a pivotal role in this access to livelihood assets both enabling and restricting access. In conclusion, this work determined that a focus on only one element, such as climate change, will not significantly reduce the vulnerability of commercial farmers. There is an interactive, dynamic and multifaceted network present with a number of factors acting within and from outside the system. Political, biophysical, social and economic factors interact and combine to compound vulnerability, requiring more integrative and multiple response strategies.

This dissertation examines the limits of the figure of democracy as a critical category in contemporary political philosophy. I frame the analysis around a structural tension in the work of several authors who rely on democracy as a theoretical foundation, which I call “the elitist-populist ambivalence.” This theoretical tendency regards democracy as a categorical imperative—a foundational normative principle and an end in itself—but simultaneously delimits the composition of the demos by disqualifying certain political actors from the status of the political, thereby violating the parameters of a categorical imperative by specifying conditions. In other words, the democratic turn appeals to formal concepts but decides the political content in advance. It advocates democracy on its own terms, democracy in spite of the demos. But if democracy has normative purchase only under certain conditions, then our critical political theory must be based on these conditions rather than the figure of democracy. The project focuses on three main bodies of literature: the work of Hannah Arendt, the tradition of radical democracy (exemplified by Jacques Rancière, Chantal Mouffe, and Ernesto Laclau), and early Frankfurt School critical theory (Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse). Though Arendt betrays no particular attachment to the term “democracy,” her work is of interest to this project because it represents a stark expression of the elitist-populist ambivalence: a political ontology based on democratic iconography and a simultaneous delimitation of who should count as the demos. The discussion of Rancière, Mouffe, and Laclau explores the ways in which these figures reproduce not only Arendt’s democratic motifs but also her constitutive exclusion. Albeit with divergent political commitments, they both appeal to democracy in spite of the demos. Finally, Adorno and Marcuse provide an alternative to the categorical imperative of democracy. By critically confronting the social mediations of pervasive popular ignorance and irrationality, the early Frankfurt School displaces the normative force of the figure of democracy by a critique of the actually existing demos. This critique, I argue, allows us to steer a theoretical course between the perils of elitism and the equivocations of populism.

Although literature on flood risk and environmental justice investigates the link between race and ethnicity and vulnerability to floods, few studies examine the distribution of flood mitigation amenities. This study analyzes census tract proximity to flood mitigation projects (FMPs) completed between 2012 and 2016 in Harris County, Texas to determine if a) project location is biased towards economic growth and the urban core; b) areas most impacted by previous floods are prioritized for drainage assistance; and c) if low-income and Latinx populations are being neglected. A spatial error regression analysis indicates that FMPs are significantly proximate to the urban core, net of other factors. Results also indicate no significant relationship between census tract-level Latinx composition, income status, and proximity to FMPs. Finally, built environment characteristics and locations of previous flooding had no significant effect on where projects were placed.

Global warming imposes significant physical, regulatory and reputational risks to listed corporations. Consequently, climate-related issues have recently received increased attention from investors, creditors and stock market regulators. In February 2010, The United States (US) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an interpretative guidance requiring publicly listed firms to disclose material climate change risks (CCR) in their annual securities filings (10Ks). However, considering the level of enforcement and managerial discretion in the definition of materiality, market participants raised concerns about the lack and quality of CCR disclosure. This research explores the effects of family control as an important determinant of CCR disclosure strategies. Family firms are the world’s most common form of economic organizations, dominating the global economy. The socioemotional wealth (SEW) theoretical perspective argues that family firms behave differently from their nonfamily counterparts and exhibit significant heterogeneity depending on the level of family control and involvement. Using a sample of S&P 500 companies, I examine whether family firms differ from their non-family peers in their climate change disclosure strategies. Additionally, I further explore the effects of two dimensions (i.e. family control and influence, family identity) of socioemotional wealth on CCR disclosures. Overall, I find that family ownership has no impact on CCR disclosure decisions, but is negatively related to CCR disclosure quality. Moreover, I find a positive relationship between family firms prioritizing family identity and CCR disclosure quality. The findings of this research have implications for regulators, investors, and academic researchers.

The Oregon coast is facing the dual perils of climate change and the catastrophic Cascadia subduction zone earthquake and tsunami, yet many communities remain unprepared. Using qualitative interviews with residents of Coos Bay, Oregon, this study traces how communities facing these perils socially construct their visions of change by “remembering the future” and how this future memory influences unsettlement that, in turn, can trigger revision of strategies of action to deal with environmental risk. Participants understood these risks through three interrelated themes: analogy to familiar circumstances such as regular winter flooding, narratives of isolation and self-reliance based in collective history, and visions of symbolic preparedness. Each of these themes drew the conversation away from the material reality of environmental catastrophe, reducing relative unsettlement. Since the way that communities collectively understand environmental risk may influence preparatory action, these observations can help to explain the disjunction between knowledge of risks and response.

This thesis aims to challenge the Indus Waters Treaty. The Treaty remains as the governing authority, however there are areas in which it could be improved. One of these areas is how the Treaty will respond to climate change. I argue that due to changing environmental conditions, what made the Treaty so successful in the past will no longer be relevant in the future. This argument is supported by relevant literature reviews of journals and reports done by policy analysts, academics, and water management experts. Additionally, I address the need to mitigate for climate change by explaining the consequences climate change will have on the ecosystem and infrastructure of India and Pakistan. Finally, I examine case studies and make suggestions about the changes that can be made in order to create a Treaty that successfully mitigates for climate change.

Management of urban stormwater is becoming increasingly difficult due to an anticipated increase in precipitation and extreme storm events that are expected under climate change. The goal of this research is to develop an approach that effectively accounts for the uncertain conditions that may occur under climate change and to develop best management practices to manage stormwater in urban areas. This presentation focuses on management of stormwater and combined sewage in Worcester, MA, where approximately four square miles of the downtown area is serviced by a combined sewer system. The EPA Stormwater Management Model was used to determine the impacts of storms on the urban environment for future conditions. This model was used to simulate discharges of selected design storms associated with a range of climate change scenarios. Various design storms were simulated in SWMM for 2010, 2040, and 2070 under high, moderate, and low climate change scenarios. Alternative best management practices were assessed in terms of specific metrics that included flood volumes and combined sewer overflow volumes through the Worcester sewer system. Cost evaluations were used to identify appropriate best management strategies for managing the combined sewer system under future scenarios. A design cost approach and net benefits approach were used to analyze different options for managing stormwater under climate change. Both of these approaches utilize the concept of risk analyze to determine expected values of both costs and benefits for different options under different climate change scenarios. Results for the design cost approach indicate that providing upstream underground storage in select locations throughout the Worcester combined sewer system is the most cost-effective strategy. In addition, increased pumping capacity at the Quinsigamond Avenue Combined Sewer Overflow Storage and Treatment Facility (QCSOSTF) should be included for this option. However, it was determined that only select upstream storage is the most beneficial option under the net benefits approach as increased pumping capacity at the QCSOSTF was determined to be too costly due to the additional costs of CSO treatment required at the facility. The Worcester case study provides an ideal context for assessing the relative advantages of full treatment at the wastewater treatment facility, limited treatment at a centralized CSO treatment facility, decentralized storage options, and low impact stormwater controls. It also allows for an assessment of decision making methods for controlling flows and loads from the Worcester system. Comparisons between Worcester and other case studies provide a foundation for understanding how stormwater and combined sewer systems can be managed given climate change uncertainty.