Student: Sara Goldstein
Graduation date: May 2017
Type: Concentration (single major)
Date approved: November 2014
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Summary
As the climate change discussion reaches a crescendo, I couldn’t be more excited to fuse my interests in earth system sciences and environmental analysis (via ENVS 220) to address natural resource dilemmas and climate change mitigation and adaptation. In Climate Science (GEOL 170) and Issues in Oceanography (GEOL 270) I became fascinated with the homeostasis of intricate atmospheric, oceanic, and geologic cycles– especially in conjunction with the theory of Earth as a self-regulating system (Lovelock 1988). In addition, exploring the metabolic rifts of society’s resource consumption in Green Capitalism (SOAN 498) sparked my interest in various alternative energy futures. I selected the situated context of urbanized coastal zones because it lends itself to all three of these foci: anthropogenic changes and mitigation, earth system science, and geophysical energy dynamics.
Coastal zones are captivating interfaces of atmospheric, oceanic, and terrestrial system interactions. Geophysical energy ebbs and flows along coasts with diverse regional dynamics. Various conditions dictate these dynamics: geomorphology, sea level, wind patterns, tidal patterns, ice, erosion/deposition, and local biology (Davidson-Arnott 2009). The 13 zones of a traditional beach possess incredible variation in species distribution and abundance (Pickett et al. 1997) and these biological communities have each adapted to their specific, energy-intense surroundings. I plan to continue my studies in oceanography to identify these significant geophysical energy pathways and explore how humans interact with them.
Our relationship with the sea has greatly influenced the culture and history of maritime countries. The ocean is of immense intrinsic-value and potential use-value. Without utilization of coastal zones, society would be without many materially beneficial operations. We use this oceanic reservoir for recreational activities, fishing, waste disposal, transportation, and cooling (Davidson-Arnott 2009). However, rapid industrialization and development introduce a slew of problems with pollution, siltation, dredging, oil exploration, and waste disposal that burden our many coastal megacities (areas with 10-20 million people) (Pelling et al. 2014, Karrow & Clague 2010). In addition, alterations inevitably occur in biogeochemical cycles, hydrologic cycles, and heat distribution. Major changes to water patterns develop due to a variety of anthropogenic culprits (Caldwell et al. 2012). The scale of “urbanization” relevant to my concentration ranges from supercities (over 40 million) to small towns. To these areas, coasts pose many dangers in return that continuously threaten human safety and comfort; storm surges, coastal erosion, sedimentation, sea level rise, and landslides (Karrow & Clague 2010). From these hazards arise challenges involving response, regulation, policy, and infrastructure (Davidson-Arnott 2009). In my studies I would like to closely examine these diverse mutual impacts while considering the role of geophysical energy.
Globally, non-renewable resource extraction is too high to support our current rate of growth and standard of living. Fossil fuel combustion in developed areas is a huge component of this dilemma and originates from residential, commercial, and public sectors. This process of converting raw resources to usable energy to greenhouse gas pollution results in global warming, ozone depletion, acidification, and eco-toxicity that affect societies and ecosystems (Itard et al. 2012). Coasts and estuaries harness a tremendous amount of geophysical energy in the form of tides, waves, currents, and rivers. These energy pathways provide alternative energy possibilities for scientists and engineers such as hydropower, tidal barraging, and geothermal energy generation (French et al. 2013). For my concentration, energetic analysis will allow me to gain further understanding of earth’s systems and alternative energy potentials in urbanized coastal zones.
References
- Caldwell, P. V., G. Sun, S. G. McNulty, E. C. Cohen, and J. A. Moore Myers. 2012. “Impacts of Impervious Cover, Water Withdrawals, and Climate Change on River Flows in the Conterminous US.” Hydrology & Earth System Sciences Discussions 9 (4): 4263–4304. doi:10.5194/hessd-9-4263-2012.
- Davidson-Arnott, Robin. “Introduction to Coastal Processes and Geomorphology.” Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. <http://orbis.eblib.com/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=501383>.
- French, J.r., and H. Burningham. 2013. “Coasts and Climate: Insights from Geomorphology.” Progress in Physical Geography 37 (4): 550–61. doi:10.1177/0309133313494962.
- Itard, Laure. 2012. “Energy in the Built Environment.” In Sustainable Urban Environments, edited by Ellen van Bueren, Hein van Bohemen, Laure Itard, and Henk Visscher, 113–75. Springer Netherlands. http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-1294-2_5.
- Karrow, P. F., and John J. Clague. 2010. “International Year of Planet Earth 9. Geology in the Urban Environment in Canada.” Geoscience Canada 37 (2): 65–80.
- Lovelock, James. Gaia : A New Look at Life on Earth. Oxford, GBR: Oxford University Press, 1988. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 16 October 2014.
- Pelling, M., and S. Blackburn. 2014. “Megacities and the Coast: Risk, Resilience and Transformation.” Taylor & Francis. <http://books.google.com/books?id=_FiLAgAAQBAJ>.
- Pickett, Steward T. A., William R. Burch Jr, Shawn E. Dalton, Timothy W. Foresman, J. Morgan Grove, and Rowan Rowntree. 1997. “A Conceptual Framework for the Study of Human Ecosystems in Urban Areas.” Urban Ecosystems 1 (4): 185–99. doi:10.1023/A:1018531712889.
Questions
- Descriptive: What important biogeochemical interactions and energetics occur in the interface between atmosphere, land and ocean in various coastal biomes? What ways have coasts been essential factors in the development of societies, what conflicts have emerged? How have humans historically engineered our infrastructure to adapt to coastal zones? What are the major geophysical energy reservoirs on coasts? What are the potential energy pathways from stored energy to alternative energy?
- Explanatory: Why are there conflicts between coastal characteristics and societal development? To what extent have humans altered energetics and system processes along coasts?
- Evaluative: How much have coastal biogeochemical cycles changed in response to urban development? To what extent can humans manipulate coastal energy pathways where existing relationships (biogeochemical, societal, cultural etc.) would not be disrupted? Should we be developing on coasts or should we be assume a certain level of infrastructure-threatening, climate change-induced, sea level rise?
- Instrumental: How might we mitigate biogeochemical changes to urban coastal areas? How might we engineer the raw energy that occurs along coasts for clean energy development? In what ways can we augment our research, development and engineering from coastal energy pathways? How should sea level rise and climate change be considered in the development of coastal mitigation technologies?
Concentration courses
- GEOL 270 (Issues in Oceanography, 5 credits), spring 2014. This course discusses oceanic and terrestrial system interactions, energetics, and many other important processes that occur on coastlines.
- GEOL 340 (Spatial Problems in Earth System Science, 5 credits), spring 2015. This class will help me build my earth system science foundation and relate it to spatial problems on coastlines and with energy development.
- GEOL 280 (The Fundamentals of Hydrology, 4 credits), spring 2016. This course will help me understand movements of water in the build and natural environment, and how water interacts between the two domains.
- SOAN 282 (Pacific Rim Cities), spring 2016. This class will basically serve as a medium to explore various situated contexts for my project since it looks at the complex transnational networks of urban areas on Pacific Rim coastlines. This will give me an incredible insight into how cities change, and the role of people and environments in creating and crafting unique spaces.
- SOAN 202 (Spatial Analysis, 4 credits), fall 2015. This class will allow me to extend the context of my spatial analysis skill set to include the sociological perspective. It will help me see how space interacts with society, which is particularly important to consider when thinking about any level of infrastructural change.
- HIST 239 (Constructing the American Landscape, 4 credits), spring 2017. Studying land use manipulation in a cultural, development context will illuminate some of the important hidden dimensions of urbanization that I can supplement my research with.
Arts and humanities courses
- HIST 261 (Global Environmental History, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.
- PHIL 215 (Philosophy and the Environment, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.