Relocation is often taboo among policy makers and planners due to its political, social, and ethical connotations, and although increasingly mentioned as one of the potential climate change adaptation strategies, it mostly adheres to rhetoric with limited discussion of its actual implementation. Scientific study and observation indicate the imminence of climate change impacts, many of which may exceed the adaptive capacity of vulnerability hotspots. Therefore, it is imperative to reassess this response option in the light of its past negative reputation, the success of current initiatives, and decision makers' evolving perception of relocation as an adaptation option. The main objective of this dissertation research is to determine the need for, interest in, and prospects for community relocations as an adaptation option; explore ways to address limitations associated with this alternative, and identify opportunities that could emerge from the relocation process. This study reviews experiences from the past and current relocation efforts and gauges the current level of interest in and support for this adaptation option among policy makers and planners. It also provides conceptual models - the relocation scenario, its digitalized simulation, the Climate Change Relocation Leaf, and the Relocation Suitability Index - designed to help communities, policy makers and planners explore this alternative. The research commences with a comprehensive literature review of theoretical knowledge, past experiences, current case studies, and the existing state of institutional, political, and social perspectives related to climate change migration and relocation. It continues with a comparative content analysis of climate change adaptation plans to elucidate the relocation rhetoric utilized in the selected texts at what frequency and in what context. Next, the study represents the climate change relocation models and a scenario developed to engage decision-makers and stakeholders in assessing the need for and possibility of relocation. Lastly, the project concludes with the development of a conceptual and tabular framework for the Relocation Suitability Index and subsequent simulation designed to compare possible relocation host sites systematically based on their absorption capacity. / Ph. D.

Ground control, one of the key elements in mine safety, is an issue that warrants continuous improvement in the underground coal industry. The United States experienced over 3,300 injuries and 42 deaths between 2006 and 2012 from the fall of a roof or rib (MSHA, 2015). Out of the underground coal mining methods, room and pillar retreat mining lacks significant research to adequately understand the rockmass behavior associated with the process. A microseismic monitoring system was installed in a retreat mine in Southwest Virginia to provide more information about the changing stress conditions created by retreating and ultimately reduce risk to miners. Microseismicity has been proven to be an acceptable method of monitoring stress redistribution in underground coal mines and assist in explaining rockmass behavior (Luxbacher, et al, 2007). An array of geophones was placed underground along a single retreat panel to record failures due to stress redistribution throughout one panel of retreat. These microseismic events were located, and their moment magnitudes were found. An analysis was completed to observe the redistribution of stress and related gob formation throughout the panel's retreat. Expectations for the gob formation were consistent with the distribution of microseismic events. Over 13,000 microseismic events were found in 1.5 months of monitoring. Approximately 2,800 of these events were well enough located to provide analysis of the changing underground stress conditions from the retreat process. On average, recorded microseismic events during retreat produced a moment magnitude of -0.9, with no events higher than a magnitude of 2.0. / Master of Science

In a busy city like Washington D.C., where people tend to work for long hours, and remain in constant fight with deadlines as they try to complete their daily tasks, such lifestyle can be very exhausting. Artists are no exception to that. A preoccupied lifestyle can keep them distant from their inner creativity and would make them lose their inspiration for art. What they really need is to take a step away from this fast society and find a place that offers them the space, time and environment to recharge and reconnect with their art. This thesis explores the role of architecture in creating moving artistic experiences that ignite the artists' inner creativity and feeds their imagination. By using design concepts that encourage their interaction with their surroundings, we can raise their curiosity to explore and observe to help them unleash their creativity. Because ,we, humans are mostly influenced by the spaces we inhabit and spend most of our time in. A proposed artist retreat in the U.S. National Arboretum, creates an architecture that enhances the way artists experience art through the use of proportions, forms, materials, light and shadow. The project consists mainly of two parts, the first part is a place that respects the artists' need for solitude, to be able to self-reflect on their inner self and art. The second part is a place for the artist community, where they socialize and exchange their knowledge and experiences. Moreover, the buildings design aims to breaks the barrier between the inside and outside worlds to help create an intimate experience between the artists and nature. On the other side, there is the relationship between the buildings and the site, where the buildings design, materials and construction respects the landscape of the site and are adaptive to the beauty of the site's seasonal changes. This is how my thesis will explore art through the lens of architecture and give these artists a deep breath of art. / Master of Architecture / In a busy city like Washington DC, where people tend to work for long hours, fight deadlines and try to complete their daily task, such a lifestyle can be very exhausting. Artists are no exception of that, as such lifestyle can keep them distant from their inner creativity and lose their inspiration for art. What they really need is to take a step away from this fast society and find a place that offers them the space, time and atmosphere to recharge and reconnect with their art. This thesis explores the role of architecture in creating moving artistic experiences that ignite the artists' inner creativity and feed their imagination. By using design concepts which encourage their interaction with their surroundings, raises their curiosity to explore, observe and unleash their creativity. Because we humans are mostly influenced by the spaces we inhabit and spend most of our time in. My thesis will be an artist retreat at the US National Arboretum, a place for these artists to practice their art in a natural environment, in places that either encourage them to socialize with the artist community or in single cabins in the forest, that isolate them into their own world. The buildings will act as thresholds that bring the outdoor natural views, sunlight and wildlife to the indoor living spaces to embrace the performance of these artists and let them experience art through the lens of architecture. The buildings also have their own language of how they represent and respect the nature of the site. This is how my thesis will give these artists a deep breath of art.

Project (D. Min.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, Tenn., 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-141).

Lágin (pron. laoyin)  is an old Icelandic word I came across in my great grandfather’s writings. Lágin translates to a dip in the landscape but in regards to my project, Lágin is the name of a writers retreat I've designed by the farmstead Hali in Suðursveit, Iceland. The retreat partly builds on the legacy and philosophy of my great grandfather, Þórbergur Þórðarson. Born in 1888 and died in 1974, he is one of Iceland’s most beloved authors and poets. In addition to that source material, I reference the unique architectural heritage of Iceland for much of the project’s atmosphere, material pallette and architectural logic. Lágin allows for 10 guests while housing a staff of two. One staff member to organize the operation and lead the guests in their yoga, meditation and exercise rituals. The other staff member tends to the retreats’ vegetable garden, cooks meals and handles general daily functions. An established resident writer will periodically stay at Sléttaleiti, a nearby house owned by the Writers’ Union of Iceland. That writer will come by Lágin for organized meet ups with the guests to guide and progress on their work through private conversation.

Sammanfattning Syftet med denna etnografiska fältstudie är att utforska, förstå och skildra hur deltagare upplever de återkommande retreatdagarna i en svenskkyrklig församling utanför Stockholm. Centralt är att ta del av människors egna berättelser, hur de tolkar, förstår och ger mening till det de är med om. Studien befinner sig inom forskningsfältet levd religion. Här ligger tonvikten på hur religion och andlighet praktiseras, upplevs och uttrycks av vanliga människor, snarare än officiella företrädare. Meredith McGuires forskning om levd religion samt Nancy Ammermans forskning kring vardagsreligiositet och andliga landskap har fungerat som teoretisk resurs. Inom fältet levd religion har jag särskilt fokuserat på tre dimensioner: relationer, religiös praktik och berättelser. Efter transkribering och kodning av fältanteckningar samt intervjuer med åtta retreatdeltagare, framträdde sju teman som strukturerar resultatredovisningen i uppsatsen. Temana rubriceras som: Gudsrelation, inre bilder och drömmar, Att uthärda svårigheter och få nytt hopp, Gemenskap och egentid, Ansvar och handling, Blandning av religiösa traditioner, Rum, symboler och artefakter samt Vila i Gud. Eftersom en stor del av empirin bygger på respondenters berättelser görs också en narrativ analys för att förstå livsberättelsens dramaturgi i vår samtid. I konklusionen konstateras att relationer, både till andra människor och Gud, var centrala för respondenternas meningsskapande. Möten med andra troende nyckelpersoner var avgörande när retreatdeltagarna återgav milstolpar i sina livsberättelser. Relationen till den kristna treenige guden framträder som levande och vänskaplig, det är en gud som man både kan anförtro sig till och ifrågasätta. Endagsretreater är en kyrklig praktik som visade sig kunna bidra till en transformativ process när det gäller människors meningsskapande och livstolkning.

This work aims to study the behavior of the western margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet during a period of pronounced ice retreat roughly 10,000 years ago, after the end of the last glacial period. It explores the efficiency of subglacial erosion, the spatial dynamics of ice retreat, and the rates of ice retreat. To address these questions, I use the radionuclides 10Be and 26Al, which form in rocks due to the bombardment of cosmic rays, only after the rocks have been exposed from underneath retreating ice. These nuclides can be used as a geologic dating technique to explore exposure history. Before applying this dating technique to address geological questions, it was critical to first perform methodological development. My work in the University of Vermont‘s new Cosmogenic Nuclide Laboratory served to improve the precision and efficiency of the pre-existing laboratory methods. New methodological advances ensured that samples from Greenland, which contained only low concentrations of 10Be and 26Al, could be used to yield meaningful results about ice behavior. Cosmogenic nuclide dating was applied at two sites along the ice sheet margin in central-western Greenland. At both of these sites, I collected paired bedrock and boulder samples in a transect normal to and outside of the present-day ice sheet margin. Samples were collected from a variety of elevations at numerous locations along the transects, thus providing three-dimensional coverage of the field area. After isolating the mineral quartz from the rocks, and isolating the elements Be and Al from the quartz, isotopic analysis was performed using accelerator mass spectrometry to quantify the relative abundances of the radionuclides against their respective stable isotopes. The southern study site, Ilulissat, is located on the western coast of Greenland at a latitude of 69N. Much previous work has been conducted here due to the presence of one of the largest ice streams in the northern hemisphere, Jakobshavn Isbræ. My work in Ilulissat demonstrated that subglacial erosion rates were high during previous glacial periods, efficiently sculpting and eroding the landscape. Ice retreat across the land surface began around 10,300 years ago, and the ice sheet retreated behind its present-day margin about 7,600 years ago. Ice retreat occurred at a rate of about 100 meters per year. My work in this area suggests that retreat in the large ice stream set the pace and timing for retreat of the neighboring ice sheet margin. The northern site, Upernavik, is located on the western coast of Greenland at a latitude of 73N. Little research has been conducted here in the past. Unlike in Ilulissat, my work here shows that the ice sheet did not efficiently erode the landscape, especially at high elevations, during previous glacial periods. This is likely because the ice was thinner, and therefore had a colder base, than the ice in Ilulissat. My work suggests that ice cover was lost from this area very rapidly, likely at rates of about 170 meters per year, in a single episode around 11,300 years ago. Comparison between the two study sites reveals that ice characteristics can vary appreciably over relatively small distances.

Groups of closely spaced minor moraines allow for observations of moraine formation and ice-marginal fluctuations on short timescales, helping to better understand glacier retreat and predict its geomorphological effects. Some minor moraines can be classified as annual moraines given sufficient chronological control, which implies a seasonal climatic driver of ice-marginal fluctuations. This leads to moraines being utilised as very specific, short-term records of glacier fluctuations and climate change. This research is common in lowland, maritime settings, but remains sparse in high-mountain settings. This study presents the detailed geomorphological and sedimentological results of minor moraines at two high-mountain settings in the European Alps. Geomorphological investigations included mapping and measurements through field observations and remotely-sensed imagery. Detailed sedimentological investigations followed excavation of moraines and include multiple scales of observation and measurements to support interpretations of sediment transport and deposition. Additionally, ground-penetrating radar data were collected in one foreland. Minor moraines at Schwarzensteinkees, Austria, formed as push or combined push and freeze-on moraines in two groups between approximately 1850 and 1930. The existence of a former proglacial lake appears to have exerted a strong control on moraine formation. Modern minor moraines at Silvrettagletscher, Switzerland, exist primarily on reverse bedrock slopes and have formed since approximately 1850 through push, freeze-on, and controlled moraine mechanisms. The presence of these bedrock slopes, and in some areas englacial debris septa, appear to exert the primary controls on moraine formation. The foreland of Gornergletscher, Switzerland, has been revisited using aerial imagery to assess if moraines are still forming annually, and this has been confirmed. These findings show a range of mechanisms responsible for moraine formation, which are then compared to previously published research on minor moraines to elucidate any common drivers of minor and annual moraine formation globally. This includes a global database of forelands where minor moraines have been studied, created as part of this research and presented as a table and Google Earth file, both easily accessible and freely available online, for use by other researchers when exploring similar topics.

Since the earliest explorations of the Colorado Plateau, geologists have suspected that cliffs are retreating back laterally. Clarence Dutton envisioned “the beds thus dissolving edge wise until after the lapse of millions of centuries their terminal cliffs stand a hundred miles or more back from their original position” when he wrote about the landscape in 1882. While many geologic studies have determined how fast rivers cut down through the Plateau, only a few studies have calculated how quickly cliffs retreat laterally, and geologists have been arguing since the 1940’s what exactly drives cliffs to retreat in the first place. We study the Book Cliffs in central Utah, and in particular remnant landforms and deposits related to a 120,000-year history of erosion and deposition, which we date by optically stimulated luminescence methods. Our dataset shows that deposits along the Book Cliffs are preserved especially during times of climate instability, which suggests that escarpment retreat locally is driven by climatic disturbances. This disproves older hypotheses suggesting escarpments retreat in response to local factors regardless of shifts in climate, and it is consistent with the few other well-studied escarpment records globally. We also constrain the rates of cliff retreat via a new measurement approach and luminescence age control, showing that the Book Cliffs have retreated at 1-3 meters per thousand years while local toeslope drainages have incised at about 0.5 meters per thousand years, which confirms that cliffs of shallow-dipping, layered rock retreat laterally faster than streams lower the landscape vertically.

This practicum project explores the design of an interpretive nature retreat located at Pineridge Hollow on the outskirts of Birds Hill Provincial Park, Manitoba. As the tourism industry is continuously expanding in the twenty-first century, the negative environmental and cultural impacts are also growing exponentially. Hospitality typologies including hotels are becoming less and less site-specific. Therefore, the nature retreat proposed here is a response to these growing problems, by acting as a catalyst to achieve sustainability between the toured and the tourist. The retreat provides tourists with an experience that is uniquely Manitoban. This particular hotel is a solution that is specific to Manitoba, but the same concept can be applied to similar hospitality typologies throughout the world. / October 2015