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Challenges to local identity: the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance and Sovereignty Movement
No full textGenerally, people living in the continental United States are unfamiliar with the history of Hawai’i. Hawaiian history has been understood as a history of colonization whose major turning points were the arrival of Europeans, annexation by the United States in 1898, and then finally statehood in 1959. The Native Hawaiian population, or Kānaka Maoli, and their histories were largely ignored due to the power of colonization and the role it has played in creating new truths. The historiography of Hawai’i has shifted in recent years, largely thanks to social and cultural movements like the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance in the 1960s and 70s. Now, historians work to dispel the misinterpretations of the role of the Kānaka Maoli after European discovery. This project is an attempt to inform others about a major cultural revolution that occurred at the same time as other much more well-known movements such as the Chicano Movement or the Black Power Movement in the continental United States. It explores how the idea and definition of the “local,” which is integral to Hawaiian identity, changed over time since the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance. I believe it is vital to look at both the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance and Native Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement to understand the implications of Hawaiians trying to address dispossession and imagine a better future for themselves and their communities, and as a result, to see how the definition of local has changed in Hawai’i
Positive youth development and outdoor education: an 11-year retrospective program evaluation of Grand Canyon youth
Full text linkOutdoor education (i.e., organized learning that takes place outdoors; Mansfield et al., 2020) is used for a variety of purposes, including to foster positive youth development. Extant research demonstrates that positive youth development is multi-faceted and dynamic (Masten, 2011). This makes outdoor education particularly well situated to complement traditional or orthodox educational pedagogy in the United States and bolster the development of youth through non-cognitive or non-academic skills.
However, the complexity of youth development combined with a lack of unifying frameworks for understanding the impact of outdoor education’s effect on youth development across diverse contexts, leaves the field lacking a thorough understanding of how innovative programs impact youth, thereby limiting the field’s ability to develop and implement outdoor education programs in a world where outdoor spaces are rapidly changing due to urbanization and environmental degradation. Hence, there are two main purposes to this thesis. First, the current study aims to conduct a descriptive 11-year retrospective program evaluation of innovative programming for youth aged 11-19 delivered between 2010-2021 by Grand Canyon Youth (GCY; https://gcyouth.org/), a local 501(c)(3) outdoor education organization that aims to connect diverse youth with the rivers and canyons of the Southwestern United States (GCY, 2022). Second, using the theory-data-cycle, which places findings from this program evaluation in conversation with contemporary frameworks for understanding positive youth development, this study aims to assess the fit between the Positive Youth Development model (PYD; Lerner et al., 2005) and GCY’s programming.
While data was incomplete, survey responses from youth exhibit compelling evidence for positive youth development and transformation consistent with three components of the PYD model: connection to others, competence, and confidence in self. Complementing this, free response data suggested that connection to place and gratitude are also key components of the GCY experience. Findings are discussed in the context of the strengths and limitations of GCY’s current approach to measurement and evaluation and the need for further development of the PYD framework. More broadly, recommendations for future research and organizational innovation are provided for procedural and evaluative refinement that includes ongoing empirical data analysis and theory-of-change innovation
Steady-state sludge digestion model with auto-calibration
Full text linkAnaerobic digestion is a wastewater treatment technology used to treat sludge. One of the main benefits of this technology is the production of biogas that can be used as fuel for energy production. This process is extremely complex with many different steps and parallel reactions occurring simultaneously. These steps require highly specific environmental conditions that must be maintained for anaerobic digestion to occur. Modeling for anaerobic digestion began in the late 1960s to better understand and streamline the anaerobic digestion process. Many years of research were combined by the International Water Association to develop the Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 (ADM1), which was published in 2002 and no widely accepted updates have been published since. This model has repeatedly been proven to be a complete and accurate model for anaerobic digestion, but it is extremely complex and requires many estimated parameters. This complexity results in the model not being used by currently operating wastewater treatment plants due to the lack of data that is required for the ADM1. Creating a simple steady-state model to predict the concentration of methane in the biogas produced that does not require as many parameters would be beneficial for wastewater treatment plants to repurpose the biogas. Using full-scale solids data, a steady-state model that auto-calibrates to a specific wastewater treatment was developed by creating simple relationships between volatile solids, metabolism factors, and hydraulic retention times. This resulted in methane concentrations ranging from 55 – 71% of the biogas. These values are within expected ranges for mesophilic operations, but due to lack of measured methane data from wastewater treatment plants, it is not possible to know if this is accurate for the specific plant. This poses the need for wastewater treatment plants to routinely monitor methane concentrations to successfully develop a steady-state anaerobic digestion model. Despite its limitations, the steady-state model is successful in terms of providing a way for wastewater treatment plants to easily predict the methane concentration within the biogas
Is critical thinking and innovation possible within the current compliance environment? Perceptions of Arizona principals
No full textPublic schools and its leaders are expected to prepare America’s children to be contributing and informed members of society. More specifically, public school principals in Arizona are expected to be flexible and responsive as they lead school improvement on their campuses. They are also expected to comply with mandates (particularly state) which ultimately require them to utilize predetermined approaches and products with fidelity. This situation highlights a reality of principal leadership that Hughes et. al. (2019) suggested was highly discouraging to incoming principals, namely that principals were forced to adopt a compliance mindset if they wanted to continue in their role. Building on the foundation of this research, the investigator interviewed active, experienced, public-school principals (n=12) in the Phoenix Metropolitan area and utilized a grounded theory approach to analyze the principals’ perceptions about their ability to respond to challenges and adopt innovative practices. This study uncovered how principals increasingly adopt a compliance mindset as they follow district guidelines. This study also highlighted a leadership paradox that exists in Arizona public schools, namely, that principals are faulted for following mandated programs and policies by the very forces that dominate education and require their fidelity to compliance
Two-level tunneling system analysis using brillouin spectroscopy
Full text linkBeing able to sustain quantum states for long periods of time in a laboratory setting can enable a new era of fast performing computing and secure communication. However, decoherence induced from low-energy defects limits quantum states to relatively short lifetimes and poses critical challenges for wide-scale application of quantum technology [1; 2; 3] . The core mechanism of this challenge has to do with noise induced from two-level tunneling states (TLS) at low-cryogenic temperature. The dissipation and noise is induced by interactions between TLS’s and phonons found in amorphous materials. Recent theories show that TLS dynamics can be radically altered in reduced dimensional structures such as waveguides, nano electro-mechanical systems (NEMS), or nano resonators [4; 5; 6; 7; 8]. In our studies we conduct detailed noise measurements arising from TLS phonon dissipation via Brillouin spectroscopy. By looking at phonon dissipation rates at various cryogenic temperatures and comparing their trend with the expected TLS phonon attenuation rate we uncover the temperature scaling laws for dissipative and dispersive shifts in frequency in optical fibers. Our results show expected temperature dependence in TLS acoustic attenuation in a UHNA7 fiber and form the building blocks for uncovering the impact phonon confinement has on TLS physics
Remote sensing of near-earth asteroids using near infrared (3 μm) spectroscopy
Full text linkCreated during the collapse of the solar nebula, asteroids remain as relatively unaltered fragments of the primordial Solar System. The near-Earth asteroid (NEA) population is a relatively easily reachable subset of these widely varying fragments, making them excellent laboratories for testing near-Earth processes that affect airless bodies. Most airless bodies in the inner Solar System are nominally anhydrous as their formation location and lack of an atmosphere generally preclude any form of hydration. The discovery of hydroxide (OH) and/or water (H2O) on several such bodies raised several questions regarding the ubiquity of water in near-Earth space and its sources. In this dissertation, I investigate the sources of and the various mechanisms by which OH/H2O is delivered to and/or retained by NEA surfaces to characterize the OH/H2O budget of near-Earth space to aid in determining the source of Earth’s water. I began by determining the prevalence of OH/H2O in the NEA population by conducting a 5-year, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic survey of these bodies. I used the SpeX NIR spectrometer on NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) to determine asteroid composition and analyze the 2-4-µm spectral region, where absorption features related to O-H bonds are found. Of the 29 NEAs observed, 8 likely contain OH/H2O on their surfaces, proving OH/H2O is pervasive in near-Earth space. Three of those 8 NEAs were observed such that I could conduct a detailed analysis of their band depth variations to further understand the OH/H2O delivery mechanisms. My results indicate that OH/H2O presence is dependent on asteroid composition and aphelion, as S-complex NEAs that enter the Main Asteroid Belt are more likely to possess a 3-µm feature, and that OH/H2O appears to be spatially dependent on those asteroids for which the spectral feature of interest was found.
I completed my investigation into OH/H2O delivery mechanisms by conducting diurnal and annual studies on (101955) Bennu, the target of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. I compared spectra collected with the OSIRIS-REx Visible and InfraRed Spectrometer (OVIRS) at different times of day and different points in its orbit to test Bennu’s hydration feature for temporal variations I hypothesize would be linked to a secondary source of OH/H2O. I found clear diurnal and possible annual variations most easily explained by a secondary OH/H2O delivery mechanism, likely solar wind hydrogen implantation. The combined results across all my investigations strongly suggest that the near-Earth OH/H2O budget is significantly higher than previously believed and that the mechanisms by which it is delivered are as active now as they would have been in the past
Conceptualizations and embodiment of menopause in northern Arizona: navigating medicalization
Full text linkBy viewing the body within a biocultural context, anthropologists demonstrate how menopause is both biologically and culturally mediated. From a biomedical perspective, menopause refers to the cessation of menstruation in people with biologically female bodies and is associated with a variety of physical, emotional, and psychosomatic symptoms. This thesis examines conceptualizations of menopause in northern Arizona and addresses how people embody menopausal symptoms beyond a biomedical interpretation. Informed by medical anthropological theory, I used a mixed methods approach to address the following research questions: (1) What are the key cultural domains of menopause for people experiencing menopausal symptoms in northern Arizona? and (2) How do people in northern Arizona conceptualize, experience, and embody menopause? Ten people participated in semi-structured interviews and nineteen people responded to free listing exercises about menopause and aging. Participants were between the ages of 41 and 59 and were predominantly white, financially well off, and married. All participants reported female/woman gender identities. All participants were asked questions about their demographic background, general health, and reproductive health via a Demographic and Health Survey. Findings suggest that menopause is a medicalized experience that participants associate with aging. Participants navigate medicalization by reframing their experiences through acceptance of change. This research provides an updated look at the biocultural relationship between meanings of menopause and embodied experiences and is pertinent to the medicalization of the female body and medical violence experienced by women and female-bodied people in medical settings. Findings are relevant to both public health interventions and medical training regarding menopausal bodies
Housing for degrowth: a fiction-based approach
Full text linkConstant economic expansion is harming both people and planet and ‘green growth’ tactics aimed at reducing the associated negative impacts of economic growth on the environment are failing. To see beyond our current pervasive system of growth, alternative narratives must become more well known. Fiction work that illuminates the issues we face now and transports the reader to an alternative way of being can spark ideas and create more change than academic writing alone. This thesis is a creative writing project at the intersection of Degrowth theory and housing. Using Fiction-based research, an Arts-based research methodology, I created the piece, ‘The Last Crash Centennial Commemoration’ to address my central research questions: How can issues of growth-based housing be explored through writing speculative fiction and what kind of window into a degrowth future could this writing create? In fiction-based research, the writing process is the inquiry and the goals of the work inform the design choices. My goals of inquiry were focused at the reader’s experience and were to; 1. Disrupt the dominant ideology of growth in their minds, 2. Unsettle stereotypes that
degrowth=suffering, 3. Raise critical and political consciousness, and 4. Evoke resonance with
the work. I created a frame for the piece from Anitra Nelson and Francois Schneider’s book,
Housing for Degrowth: Principles, Models, Challenges and Opportunities, and used it to contextualize the exploration of these goals to inform my choices in structure, characterization, literary tools and in turn, my central research questions. This research and writing process revealed to me the endless possibilities for developing accessible hope through fictionalization
Sewage canyon: a social-historical look at environmental injustice in Flagstaff, Arizona from 1900-1960
Full text linkThe social-historical analysis will examine an act of environmental injustice that took place in Flagstaff, Arizona from 1900 to 1960. The investigation of racial segregation and environmental injustice is necessary due to the ongoing racial disparities both nationally and locally. First, Flagstaff documents from a local engineering company, Taylor & Taylor, report on an ongoing racially divided community for over sixty years. Second, the Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities in Flagstaff, who still reside in the areas segregated years ago, have yet to heal from the racial trauma caused at the intersections of segregation and environmental injustices. Current literature identifies how racialized spaces lead to racial injustices, and Flagstaff is no exception despite minimal efforts to address racial problems. Thus, this current project hopes to contribute to the identification of racial injustices among a community by decolonizing a racist history. KEYWORDS Environmental Justice, Racialized Spaces, Sewage Infrastructure, Flagstaff, Arizona, Historical, Segregation, Racis
Community-led healthcare systems towards the achievement of universal care: a methodological approach in semi-rural northern Mexico
Full text linkThis research examines the potential of community-led healthcare to address healthcare inequities in Mexico. Using a mixed methods approach and a Health Equity framework, this study identifies the key characteristics necessary for the success of these projects, including community leadership and strategic partnerships. The study also highlights the limitations of community-led healthcare projects, such as resource constraints and communication barriers.The findings suggest that community-led healthcare projects offer promising opportunities for expanding access to healthcare services in Mexico, especially for marginalized and rural communities. Community-led healthcare empower communities and promote their active involvement in healthcare.
The study concludes that community-led healthcare projects hold significant potential for contributing to the expansion of health equity in Mexico. The recommendations for the long-term sustainability of these projects include building community leadership, strategic partnerships with key actors, and addressing cultural considerations. The study also suggests the use of mobile healthcare units to address specialized needs while maintaining the community-led healthcare clinics as the first line of care. The community-led healthcare clinic model can also be used as a platform for receiving information on community healthcare needs, in line with the goals of the Baja California state development plan 2023