Browsing by Subject "Environmental"
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Item Development of an Ecosystem of Open Source Environmental Data Loggers(2021-12) Schulz, BobbyAutomated data loggers are used extensively in the fields of environmental and agricultural monitoring. There exist a variety of commercial data logger options as well as several open source options. Between these systems there is the long established trade-off of reliability and support for cost. Open source systems generally do not have dedicated support and require a greater onus on the user, but as a result are significantly lower in cost. However, there is a potentially more significant issue which has yet to be addressed: flexibility. As the cost and power consumption of instrumentation has decreased in the previous decades, the field of automated instrumentation has expanded from standard meteorological (MET) stations into a myriad of novel sensing applications. This is an issue which, in general, both the commercial and open source communities have failed to address. By and large, the open source loggers which are available currently are developed with the goal of replacing their commercial alternatives, as a singular and highly generic device. It is felt that this is not the optimal approach, as it is unreasonable to believe that a single device could adequately serve all of these unique sensing challenges. With this in mind, we have developed a series of open source dataloggers, each designed to exist in concert with each other as opposed to in competition. All this is done with the goal of best meeting the needs of researchers for their unique applications in a flexible, low cost, and robust system.Item Harrison Neighborhood Environmental Assessment.(2003) Minneapolis Neighborhood Information SystemItem Hassan Open Space Preserves(Minneapolis: Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, 2009) Shively, EmilyItem Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Heating and Cooling Systems in Minnesota: A comprehensive analysis on life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and cost-costeffectiveness of ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems compared to the conventional gas furnace and air conditioner system(2013-01) Li, MoGround Source Heat Pump (GSHP) technologies for residential heating and cooling are often suggested as an effective means to curb energy consumption, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and lower homeowners' heating and cooling costs. As such, numerous federal, state and utility-based incentives, most often in the forms of financial incentives, installation rebates, and loan programs, have been made available for these technologies. While GSHP technology for space heating and cooling is well understood, with widespread implementation across the U.S., research specific to the environmental and economic performance of these systems in cold climates, such as Minnesota, is limited. In this study, a comparative environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted of typical residential HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) systems in Minnesota to investigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for delivering 20 years of residential heating and cooling - maintaining indoor temperatures of 68ºF (20ºC) and 75ºF (24ºC) in Minnesota-specific heating and cooling seasons, respectively. Eight residential GSHP design scenarios (i.e. horizontal loop field, vertical loop field, high coefficient of performance, low coefficient of performance, hybrid natural gas heat back-up) and one conventional natural gas furnace and air conditioner system are assessed for GHG and life cycle economic costs. Life cycle GHG emissions were found to range between 1.09 × 105 kg CO2 eq. and 1.86 × 105 kg CO2 eq. Six of the eight GSHP technology scenarios had fewer carbon impacts than the conventional system. Only in cases of horizontal low-efficiency GSHP and hybrid, do results suggest increased GHGs. Life cycle costs and present value analyses suggest GSHP technologies can be cost competitive over their 20-year life, but that policy incentives may be required to reduce the high up-front capital costs of GSHPs and relatively long payback periods of more than 20 years. In addition, results suggest that the regional electricity fuel mix and volatile energy prices significantly influence the benefits of employing GSHP technologies in Minnesota from both environmental and economic perspectives. It is worthy noting that with the historically low natural gas price in 2012, the conventional system's energy bill reduction would be large enough to bring its life-cycle cost below those of the GSHPs. As a result, the environmentally favorable GSHP technologies would become economically unfavorable, unless they are additionally subsidized. Improved understanding these effects, along with design and performance characteristics of GSGP technologies specific to Minnesota's cold climate, allows better decision making among homeowners considering these technologies and policy makers providing incentives for alternative energy solutions.Item Longfellow Community Council Lead Exposure Risk Analysis.(2001) Minneapolis Neighborhood Information SystemItem Monuments of Trash Art Project (MoTAP)(2013-05-28) Gravening, Tanya; Boudewyns, Deborah K. UltanTanya Gravening makes art that focuses on the problems caused by plastic pollution. Monuments of Trash Art Project (MoTAP) is a series of paintings, sculptures, and functional art objects to raise consciousness of plastic pollution. The creative process of MoTAP includes an opportunity for people to participate in the project by collecting plastic trash, which is then used to construct the art work.Item Partnerships for Sustainability: Eco-collaboration between Higher Education and Ecovillages(2014-03-03) Gladman, KiernanHigher Education Institutions are hierarchical organizational systems which implement sustainability initiatives on- and off-campus, some of which could benefit from forming ecological sustainability-oriented partnerships, or eco-collaborations. Eco-collaborations could be formed between their organizations and intentional communities, also called ecovillages. The systemic and complementary differences between ecovillages and Higher Education Institutions create opportunities for several types of partnerships. Mutual goals and missions may be used as a basis for an eco-collaboration for educational, research, or community engagement activities between Higher Education and ecovillages.Item Plastic Biotransformation Technologies: Development of a Novel Environmental QPCR Assay for Polyethylene Terephthalate Hydrolase, and Isolation/Characterization of Polyethylene Degrading Fungi and Bacteria from Environmental Samples(2020-08) Wedin, NelsonPlastic production, use, and accumulation in the environment—including in the bodies of humans and other animals—have been increasing for decades and are a cause of growing global concern. Common plastic waste is generally considered to be non-biodegradable. In recent years, though, a growing assortment of bacteria and fungi capable of degrading a variety of common recalcitrant plastics have been identified. In general, the enzymes capable of depolymerizing long-chain hydrophobic plastic polymers are not well studied. However, Poly(ethylene) Terephthalate (PET) Hydrolase is well described in the literature and is thus a suitable target for molecular identification and quantification technologies. PET is the plastic polymer used in most plastic water bottles and in polyester fabric. The discovery of PET-degrading organisms and PET hydrolases is leading to the generation of biochemical technologies for the recycling and upcycling of PET, as well as the search for PET hydrolases that have greater activity on commercially relevant PET polymers. The incidence of PET hydrolase in metagenomes appears rare, though the quantification of PET hydrolases in environmental samples is unknown. Because plastic-biotransforming organisms are considered rare and slow growing, the process of isolating and characterizing these organisms is long and involved. This thesis presents two distinct, but interrelated, experimental trajectories related to the advancement of the study of plastic biotransformation. The first study focused on the molecular level, and the second study focused on microorganisms. In the first study, novel Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (QPCR) primers were developed and tested for the ability to selectively amplify PET hydrolase genes from environmental samples. The products from these primers, used on eight environmental DNA extracts, were subjected to amplicon sequencing. Multiple sequence analysis methods confirmed the successful amplification of published PET hydrolase sequences, as well as sequences that show a high potential for being PET hydrolases. The on-target hit percentage and on-target hits varied substantially across samples, and this assay will require further optimization for specificity and quantification efficacy before it can be used for absolute quantification (i.e., gene copies/ ng DNA). There is reason to suggest that this assay can measure relative abundance of PET hydrolases, and thus relative genetic PET bioconversion potential. By providing comparative analysis that is both faster and less expensive than traditional techniques, this tool enables the rapid determination of ideal conditions to find and cultivate PET hydrolytic organisms. The core results of this analysis are presented in Figures 26, 28, and 29. In the second study, the focus was to enrich for and isolate (as individual species or consortia), identify, and evaluate microorganisms capable of Polyethylene (PE) biodegradation and biomineralization by culturing microbes in media where PE is the sole carbon source. Although the impact on the environment of PET (the polymer studied in the first study) is substantial, it pales in comparison to the impact of PE, which is used primarily for single-use items and is the most abundant type of plastic manufactured on the planet. Currently, no enzymes capable of degrading PE are well described, though some fungi and bacteria have been shown to degrade and utilize PE as a carbon source. In this set of experiments, preferential focus was given to fungi. Microbes that degrade and live on LDPE powder were enriched from environmental sources. A cogent argument for the confirmation of Low-Density PE (LDPE)-biodegrading organisms is presented from the limited data available (see below for limitations resulting from COVID-19 lockdown). LDPE-biodegradation can be seen in the isolate “Ath” (flask 6, a filamentous fungi that macroscopically appears to be Trichoderma sp.). The macroscopic observation of PE biotransformation for culture “Ath” is documented in Figure 33, where Flask 6 clearly shows modification to the PE powder. Modification increases with longer incubation and is not observed in the otherwise-identical non-inoculated control (Flask 34, Figure 33). Similar results are observed for other cultures, along with the growth of biomass and spore production. Thus, LDPE-biodegradation is also the most likely explanation for at least nine other environmental isolates. And microscopic confirmation of growth in this culture as well as others is presented in conditions where the only carbon source is PE powder. Both bacteria and fungi were shown to degrade the low molecular weight PE powder, though quantitative analysis on commercially relevant PE films was not completed. Tentative taxonomic hypotheses and the exciting possible implications of PE degradation within these taxa are presented, though genetic identification was also unable to be performed due to lockdowns. This research project was cut short prematurely due to mandatory laboratory lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While both prongs of the studies described in this thesis were affected, the isolation and PE biodegradation assay was more seriously limited in that all quantitative analyses were unable to be performed. The discussion section reflects the limitations that resulted, as well as the adjustments that were made to compensate for these limitations.Item Pragmatic ecocriticism and equipments for living.(2010-02) Werner, Brett AlanOver the last two centuries, books by American nature writers such as Henry David Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, and John Muir have shaped individual behavior, inspired the creation of environmental organizations, and influenced public policy. Ecocritical scholars have shown how such texts encourage non-anthropocentric values and awareness of nature. Yet these classics of environmental literature, and subsequent ecocritical scholarship, have unintentionally promoted absolutist views of nature that entrench environmental conflicts and shut down communication, a problem rhetorical scholars call "ecospeak." In this dissertation I examine how writers might overcome ecospeak. I not only argue for alternative environmental narratives, but also propose a new approach to reading all environmental texts. I call this approach "pragmatic ecocriticism" as it draws significantly on John Dewey's philosophical pragmatism, by weakening dualist understandings such as that of "humans and nature"; by examining value pluralism; and by focusing on narratives in which writers make decisions and take action in the face of complex and uncertain social-environmental situations. Such a rhetorical approach draws heavily on Kenneth Burke's notion that literary texts serve as equipment for living through dramatic rehearsal's role in moral imagination. I examine whether and how three recent texts avoid the problem of ecospeak by offering more pragmatic narratives: The Pine Island Paradox by Kathleen Dean Moore (2004); Hunting for Hope by Scott Russell Sanders (1998); and Having Faith by Sandra Steingraber (2001). Although all of these books are part of the larger genre of environmental writing and literature, they pragmatically engage the complexity of contemporary social and environmental issues facing readers today. Moore links human-centered and nature-centered ethics and values in the context of decisions Moore encounters daily. Sanders emphasizes social hope and bounded conflict rather than despair and divisiveness in the face of social-environmental crisis. Steingraber addresses the relationship between human health and environmental pollution in the context of pregnancy and childbirth. As a result, these texts constitute a sub-genre of environmental writing, representing more pragmatic texts able to move beyond ecospeak and encourage readers to engage each other in more productive ways.Item Two genomic regions contribute disproportionately to geographic differentiation in wild barley(Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 2014-07) Fang, Zhou; Gonzales, Ana M; Clegg, Michael T; Smith, Keven P; Muehlbauer, Gary J; Steffenson, Brian; Morrell, Peter LGenetic differentiation in natural populations is driven by geographic distance and by ecological or physical features within and between natural habitats that reduce migration. The primary population structure in wild barley differentiates populations east and west of the Zagros Mountains. Genetic differentiation between eastern and western populations is uneven across the genome and is greatest on linkage groups 2H and 5H. Genetic markers in these two regions demonstrate the largest difference in frequency between the primary populations and have the highest informativeness for assignment to each population. Previous cytological and genetic studies suggest there are chromosomal structural rearrangements (inversions or translocations) in these genomic regions. Environmental association analyses identified an association with both temperature and precipitation variables on 2H and with precipitation variables on 5H.Item Water quality trading on the Minnesota River: lessons learned from the Jordan trading program(2013-08) Zajicek, Michael NathanWater quality permit trading in an attractive option lower the costs of pollution cleanup in lakes and rivers, and while similar programs for air pollution have been successful, most attempts at Water Quality Trading have failed. The Jordan Trading Program, based on the Minnesota River, is one of the few exceptions. This paper examines the program to discover how the program succeeds where others have failed. The Jordan Trading has averaged 17 trades a year, and with some assumptions has resulted in cost savings. The river is modeled using a Farrow et. al. (2005) model to show that savings are theoretically possible, even if the program does not act in the same fashion. It was found that while cost savings occur, the facilities in the program are not profit maximizers due to their status as government wastewater treatment facilities, and thus the maximum potential cost savings are not achieve. The program has still been successful, and several suggestions are made for future water quality trading programs.