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GIS Data: 2025 Gloucester County, Virginia. Shoreline Inventory, Coastal Natural Buffers, & Marsh Migration Corridors
No full textDisclaimer: The Center for Coastal Resources Management (CCRM) provides these data with the understanding that they are not guaranteed to be correct or complete, and conclusions drawn from the data set are the sole responsibility of the user. Every attempt has been made to ensure that these data and the documentation are reliable and accurate. CCRM, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program assume no liability for any damages caused by inaccuracies in the data or documentation; and make no warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or utility of this information, nor does the fact of distribution constitute a warranty.The 2025 Shoreline Inventory, Coastal Natural Buffers, and Migration Corridors layers for the City of Gloucester were generated using on-screen, digitizing techniques in ArcGIS® Pro v. 3.x while viewing conditions observed in Bing high-resolution oblique imagery, Google Earth, and 2021 imagery from the Virginia Base Mapping Program (VBMP). A geodatabase was developed named Gloucester_ShlInventory_NatBuffers_MarshCorridors_2025 containing the following eight features classes displaying bank conditions, shoreline features, natural buffers, and marsh migration corridors:
Gloucester_BankHeightSlope_2025,
Gloucester_RecreationalStructures_2025,
Gloucester_ErosionControlStructures_2025_Line,
Gloucester_ErosionControlStructures_2025_Polygon,
Gloucester_BeachesAndDunes_2025, Gloucester_TMI_2025,
Gloucester_MarshMigrationCorridors_2ft_2025 and
Gloucester_MarshMigrationCorridors_4ft_2025This project was funded in part by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program at the Department of Environmental Quality through Grant # NA24NOSX419C0026 of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administratio
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Continued Effects On The Alaskan Economy
No full textIn this article, the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 is examined to determine if Exxon fully compensated the Alaskans directly affected by the oil spill. The article reviews both the short term and long term ecological and economic effects of the oil spill. It also includes Exxon’s effort to clean up the spill and how much oil remains on the Alaskan beaches. In addition, the relevance of the Exxon Valdez oil spill to the BP oil spill of 2010 is revealed
Hiroshima to Hippies: Children's Fear of Nuclear Weapons and Its Consequences in the Early Cold War
No full textThis paper examines the impact and consequences of the U.S. Government's handling of the threat of nuclear weapons in the Early Cold War. It addresses how it created an all-encompassing fear for children growing up at the time, which changed their perspective and contributed to social movements in the 1960s. FCDA civil defense programs, school curricula, and the weaponization of children to promote democracy and peace internationally were the primary generators of fear. The generation influenced by this childhood fear experienced neurological and psychological changes that led them to form the political activist groups Students for a Democratic Society and the Young Americans for Freedom, and, additionally, many participated in the counterculture movement.HistoryBachelors of Arts (BA
The Great Migration and Education Quality in the South
No full textThe Great Migration radically altered the characteristics of both Northern metropolitan areas receiving migrants and Southern counties experiencing outmigration. Here, I investigate the effects of outmigration on relative Black and white school quality in the South. Using neighboring county lynchings as an instrument, in conjunction with datasets on Black and white school quality and Rosenwald schools, I am able to estimate whether and to what extent differential levels of outmigration across Southern counties corresponded to differential shifts in school quality. I describe possible mechanisms for changes, such as positive selection into migration, growth in school board migration-aversion, and cotton labor demand. Ultimately, I find that outmigration led to increases in Black teacher salary and a moderate decrease in the length of the Black school term, which was stronger in more agricultural counties. This generally supports the migration-aversion and labor demand mechanisms. Additionally, I find that Black outmigration generally led to reductions in white school quality, most notably in the number of teachers per student.EconomicsBachelors of Science (BS
Growing and Improving: Recommendations for Chesapeake Bay SAV Watchers, a Volunteer Monitoring Program
No full textChesapeake Bay Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Watchers is a volunteer monitoring program that collects detailed information about SAV habitats in Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries. While the program originated and remains centralized in Maryland, it is designed to be Bay-wide and has the potential for ecological and societal impact across state boundaries, including Virginia. Now in its sixth year and with plans to grow, it is imperative to reassess program goals to ensure that all key players involved, from scientists to volunteers, are meeting expectations and having meaningful experiences. This project focused on three central questions: 1) what is the SAV specific scientific literacy of SAV Watchers trainers and volunteers, 2) what is the effectiveness of the program, including successes and areas for improvement, and 3) what are the anticipated challenges of expansion into Virginia? To answer these questions, certified SAV Watchers trainers and volunteers participated in the evaluation process, which involved a survey and conducting focus groups to capture participant perspectives. Three main themes emerged: 1) Growth and Development, 2) Invest Further, Achieve More, and 3) Sustained Engagement. These themes informed seven overall suggestions for the program, as well as five specific suggestions for expanding into Virginia. This report also provides a framework for evaluating participatory science programs while incorporating community voices. This approach ensures meaningful engagement and sustained success for SAV Watchers participants and partners, advancing SAV science, restoration, and conservation efforts throughout Chesapeake Bay.Virginia Institute of Marine ScienceMaster of Arts (M.A.
"They must not forget that they are Jews": Jewish Soldiers in America's Civil War
No full textMy thesis investigates the experiences of Jewish soldiers during the U.S. Civil War. My historical method diverges significantly from how previous scholars have dealt with Jewish soldiers during the period. There has yet to be a definitive comparative study between the experiences of Jewish Union and Confederate soldiers. This thesis seeks to rectify the gap in scholarship by focusing on the religious identities and experiences of the two groups of soldiers. Using letters, diaries, autobiographies, newspaper editorials, and other writings produced by soldiers, my thesis explores the question of what it meant for a soldier to be nationally, racially, religiously or culturally Jewish (self-identifiers that have all arisen from my research) and fighting on behalf of another nation? With the work of religious studies scholar Emile Durkheim, I argue that soldiers saw themselves as a part of a Jewish "clan" or peoplehood, which is how they balanced these two competing identities. This thesis proves that soldiers were both Jewish and American; each term holds with it a weight of nationality and importance, and neither can––nor will––overshadow the other.HistoryBachelors of Arts (BA
Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Situation and Outlook Report: Based on the results of the 2024 Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Situation and Outlook Survey
No full textVirginia's shellfish aquaculture industry adds significant value to the state's seafood economy through sales and employment. It is widely noted that Virginia is the primary producer of hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) and eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in the nation. Since 2004, the Virginia Shellfish Aquaculture Situation and Outlook Survey ("Shellfish Survey") has been used to track trends in Virginia's aquaculture industry. Previous reports have highlighted the increased use of intensive aquaculture practices (e.g. using hatchery produced seed) due to increased oyster disease and predation, as well as the growing out of state market for Virginia's oyster hatchery products. Highlights from the 2024 Shellfish Survey include an &81 million farm gate value and more than 700 individuals directly employed in Virginia's shellfish aquaculture industry
Benthic invertebrate biomass from Ship Shoal, Louisiana 2020-2022
No full textBiomass of taxonomic groups of benthic invertebrates in .xlsx spreadsheets. Can be opened with Microsoft Excel or imported into common statistical programs such as R.The overall goal of this project is to determine the changes in biological function of Ship Shoal in response to excavation of sand. To achieve this goal this study used a multidisciplinary approach that combined measurements of the changing physical setting of the shoal with potential changes in water column and benthic primary production, benthic faunal community and associated nekton, and stable isotope tracers to delineate changes in the shoal food web. The data included here are the biomass (ash-free dry weights) of benthic invertebrates per box core.
NOTE: There are two dregde areas (i.e., pits).
The Caminada pit is older and deeper. It was last dredged prior to our sampling (2014-2016) so we have no pre-dredge samples in our dataset for Caminada.
The Terrebone pit (previously called Timbalier). It was dredged from Spring 2021 - Summer 2022. We consider the start of the dredging in March as 'post-dredging' as we sampled only in dredged areas. Reference areas are undredged.
NOTE: Due to rough seas, we were only able to sample the Terrebonne pit in Fall 2020. No sampling occurred in 2023.
Location
Ship Shoal, Louisiana
Bounding box:
29°N, -90.8°W; 29°N, -90.5°W
28.8°N, -90.8°W; 28.8°N, -90.5°W
Methods
Samples were collected from Ship Shoal, a large transgressive sand shoal located approximately 10 miles off the central coast of Louisiana. Sampling was focused on three areas: the Caminada borrow pit (Caminada), the Terrebonne borrow pit (aka Timbalier), and a control area two km west of the Terrebonne pit (n=9 per level, each three areas subdivided, for a total of 27 samples). At each site sediment were collected using a GOMEX box corer (30cm x 30cm) and fixed and preserved in 5% buffered formalin and returned to the laboratory. After 48 hours, box core samples were sieved on a 1000 um sieve stacked on a 500 um sieve using seawater. Formalin was replaced with 70% ethanol after 48 hours. Benthic organisms were picked and identified to the lowest possible taxon.
To estimate biomass, animals were grouped by the following categories within each box core: Amphioxus, Amphipods, Annelids, Bivalves, Anomurans, Brachyurans, Gastropods, and Other. 'Other' are all remaining categories of animals (e.g., phoronids, ribbon worms, flatworms, cumaceans, etc).
NOTE: Biomass data are reported per core as ash-free dry weights in grams. To scale up to g/m2, multiply by 11.11. NA=Data not availableFunding were provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Environmental Studies Program, Washington, DC, under Agreement Number M19AC00015
Commodified Health: Medicine, Slavery, and the Economic Construction of Racial Hierarchies in the Atlantic World, 1780-1850
No full textThis thesis examines the role of medicine in the operation and ideology of Atlantic slavery. I argue medicine was a powerful tool that helped manage enslaved people’s bodies as economic assets, shaping systems of control, profit, and survival within Atlantic slavery. Through a three-part structure tracing the journey of captured Africans—from the slave ship to the market to the plantation—it demonstrates how physicians served not as neutral caregivers but as active participants in the slave economy. On slave ships, medical professionals were tasked with sustaining the health of enslaved people to protect profits, not lives. In the market, they legitimized commodification through clinical inspection and racial pseudoscience. On plantations, they enforced discipline and surveilled claims of illness. By centering both the complicity of medical practitioners and enslaved people, this study contributes to a growing historiography that critiques the colonial and racial foundations of Western medicine. It reveals how medical knowledge upheld slavery’s logic while also offering a site of contestation, one that continues to shape racialized health disparities today.HistoryBachelors of Arts (BA
