This study explores the organizational culture of the Vancouver Airport Authority as it relates to environmental values and practices. The intent of this research was to investigate the effects of a particular work climate and culture on decision-making related to pro-environmental behaviours. A mixed-methods approach was taken, including a multiple regression survey of employees exploring connectivity with nature, environmental values, and environmental behaviours, and a series of grounded theory interviews probing the obstacles and opportunities to effective environmental management. The results indicate that while age and connectivity with nature were the most significant predictors of general environmental values and behaviours, work-related behaviours were best predicted by human-resource factors such as top management support, training, empowerment, teamwork, and reward programs. Obstacles and opportunities to successful environmental management, garnered from employee interviews, fit into these human resource categories. Recommendations are made both for future research and for the Vancouver Airport Authority.

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The purpose of this study is to explore how secondary school students construct meanings for environmentalism. The study participants consisted of grade twelve students from a rural eastern Ontario secondary school. The questions guiding this research are: a) in what ways do these students develop an understanding of environmentalism; b) what factors influence these students' decisions to take, or to not take, senior level elective Environmental Education courses as part of their secondary school curriculum; and c) what are students’ perception of Environmental Education and the current curriculum in secondary schools. Using a critical theory approach, this qualitative study employed two different methodological approaches: a survey, in the form of a questionnaire, and focus groups. Eighty-five grade twelve students participated in this study, eleven of which were also involved in three different focus group interviews. The survey was used to explore the general knowledge base and attitudes of these students towards environmentalism. The survey was conducted in May 2008, and the focus groups were conducted in June of the same year. Results were analyzed to identify, describe and compare the attitudes of students, and how they form meanings for environmentalism. Five themes emerged from the analysis of data generated from the surveys and the focus groups. Those themes were: students’ definitions of environmentalism; students’ perceptions regarding Canadian environmental concerns and these concerns within a global context; where and what students are learning about the environment; students’ perceptions of the current curriculum; and students’ attitudes, lifestyle and choices they make as a result. The most significant finding was not only the apparent lack of direction these students perceive themselves to be receiving regarding Environmental Education in the secondary context, which in some cases leads to a deficiency in understanding and concern, but also their noting the prevalence of media as a source of information about environmentally-related issues. Suggestions for future research on other salient aspects of Environmental Education are offered to shed further light on this issue. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2009-01-30 14:22:09.994

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Ferrous carbonate has been studied in batch reactions under rigorously anoxic conditions to determine thermodynamic and kinetic information about the compound. This information is particularly of interest in corrosion control and in the comparison of FeCO$\sb3$ to CaCO$\sb3$, a compound which has been studied extensively. The enthalpy of the dissolution reaction has been calculated to be $-22.8$ $\pm$ 0.6 kJ/mole, which is close to the NBS (1) reported value. The precipitation kinetics fit an empirical second order rate law with an activation energy of (9.31 $\pm$ 1.47) $\times$ $10\sp4$ J/mole, indicating surface reaction control. The dissolution kinetics fit an empirical second order rate law more closely than a first order rate law; however, more research is needed to decisively determine the reaction order. With either rate law, the activation energy for dissolution is large enough to suggest surface reaction control.

Natural biodegradation is occurring at a Gulf Coast Refinery based on results of a field program that showed a statistically significant relationship between DO depression and BTEX contamination and that microbes capable of degrading BTEX are present in the soils at the site. Natural biodegradation is shown to have the potential to be a viable remedial technique at the Refinery based on modeling of the site using BIOPLUME II, a two dimensional ground water transport and biodegradation model. Natural biodegradation was shown and observed to be a viable remedial technique at a site in Traverse City, Michigan where contaminant remediation of the off-site plume occurred in less than three years. BIOPLUME II model results indicated that hydraulic flushing alone could not account for the observed declines in BTEX concentrations at three wells downgradient of an interdiction well field, but that biodegradation and vertical reaeration were processes required to accurately model the site.

Leading researchers in methods of Spatial Statistics advocate applying kriging methods to samples of 100 or more observations. However, in practice it is not uncommon to have as few as 20 observations from which to estimate a surface. The focus of this thesis is to compare various kriging models, given a small number of observations and develop a method for finding a lag at which to fit a variogram model. Specifically, the spherical, rational quadratic, and exponential variogram models are examined. A comparison among kriging methods and kernel methods is presented.

A true ecological architecture acts comprehensively, on all scales, from urban form to building materials. While suburbia is the urban form most destructive to the natural environment as well as to diverse human culture, it persists in the collective American desire. Present proposals exist to turn new suburban development into tight pedestrian communities, but the question remains what to do with the deteriorating fabric of American cities. Medium density, mixed-use urban infill that carefully plans for multiple types of transportation while providing some of the attractive aspects of suburbia, such as personal privacy and security, offers an escape from auto-centric existence. When augmented with the selection of local, non-toxic building materials from renewable resources, passive heating and cooling techniques, and provisions for usable open green-space, mixed-use infill will allow our cities to avoid utopian social engineering on the way to ecological soundness.

The influence of Natural Organic Matter (NOM) on the removal of atrazine by nanofiltration was studied using pressurized dead-end filtration cells. The effect of several parameters, physical and chemical, was investigated to identify the interactions between the NOM and atrazine. Any changes of the physical parameters leading to an increase in concentration polarization, such as stopping the stirring, produced a decrease in rejection of atrazine. No significant pressure effect was observed for the conditions evaluated in this study. The chemistry of the feed solution also influenced the removal of atrazine. The presence of organic material appeared to enhance atrazine rejection by the membrane. The extent of this process varied with several factors: the atrazine to TOC ratio (smaller effect at higher atrazine to TOC ratio), the nature of the organic matter (higher removal observed for tannic acid compared to the NOM) and the calcium concentration at low ionic strength in the presence of tannic acid. The model presented in this work consistently underestimated the initial concentration of atrazine. It also gave better predictions in the absence of organic matter and failed to predict most of the data obtained with tannic acid.

The bioavailability of sorbed organic chemicals is a major concern in the application of bioremediation processes to contaminated sediments. Sorption of pollutants may lead to the inability of microbes to come in contact with the compound. Studies presented herein investigate the biodegradation and desorption of fluorene, a 3 ringed polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), in estuarine sediment-water slurries. Adsorption of fluorene to sediments with 1.4% organic carbon was characterized with a linear isotherm. Desorption was characterized through step-desorption tests and temporal-desorption tests. Step-desorption studies confirmed that desorption was completely reversible, and batch desorption tests confirmed that desorption rate was rapid. Fluorene biodegradation was confirmed with $\sp{14}$C mass balance experiments, and fluorene disappearance was monitored in both the sediment and aqueous phase. In biologically active systems, fluorene was rapidly degraded to levels below detection limits. These studies conclude that the rate of fluorene disappearance in biologically active systems is controlled by microbial degradation rates and is not limited by desorption.