Recent Honors Theses

Recent Honors Thesis from Environmental Studies 91

2023

Vivienne Knobel – Advised by Chris Sneddon – "Cattle & Climate Change: Synergizing a Political Ecology of Beef Cattle Ranching in Wyoming"

Jesse Ferraioli – Advised by Rich Howarth – "The Role of the Forest Service in Protecting Water and Cultural Resources from Mining Claims: Deficiencies and Improvements Since Pinyon Plain Mine"

Megan Hemstreet – Advised by Rich Howarth – "A Critical Examination of the Energy Implications of Cryptocurrency Mining and the Path to Sustainable Solutions"

Maeen Arslan – Advised by Bill Roebuck – "Is Phosphine the Primary Toxicant of Environmental White Phosphorus Exposure?"

Nicholas Mancini – Advised by Ross Jones – "The Role of Politics and Science in Endangered Species Act Listing Decisions"

Fiona Price – Advised by Michael Cox – "Experimental Water Use Board Game to Analyze Farmer Decision-Making in the Dominican Republic"

Kyle Spencer – Advised by Rich Howarth – "Is Sustainable Finance Possible? Environmental Metrics Influencing Acquisition Value in Private Equity"

Sophia Sulimirski – Advised by Rich Howarth – "Reevaluating Beef: Advancing Sustainability in the Future of U.S. Cattle Farming"

2022

Victoria Hoffner – Advised by: Rich Howarth – "Valuing Carbon Sequestration from Biochar Application"

Abigail Mans – Advised by: Melody Burkins – "Ferocious Love: Women's Reimagination and Restructuring of the Climate Movement"

Mothibi Penn-Kekana – Advised by Elizabeth Wilson and Rich Howarth – "Scope for Further Improvement: Evaluating the Carbon Accounting Frameworks Used to Calculate ESG Ratings for Oil and Gas Producers"

Abigail Schill – Advised by Michael Cox – "The Sun Will Rise: Climate Activism and Hope"

Victor Wu – Advised by Rich Howarth – "Partisan Energy Mix Preferences and Attitudes Towards Community Choice Aggregation"

2021

Leah Brams – Advised by: Melody Burkins – "The Future of the Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI) in Vermont: Exploring Opportunities and Challenges Through Stakeholder Interviews"

2020

Anela Arifi – Advised by: Lee Lynd – "Modelling Soil Carbon Flux and Sequestration in Various Biofuel Supply Chain Scenarios"

Hanna Bliska – Advised by: Lauren Culler – "Elucidating aquatic and terrestrial linkages in Arctic arthropod food webs"

Alyssa Gao – Advised by: Michael Cox – "Breaking the Green Ceiling: Mapping the strategies, challenges and successes in diversifying the mainstream environmental movement"

Ella Hall – Advised by: Theresa Ong – "Implications of Fuel-Reduction Treatments for Carbon Storage and Sequestration in semi-arid mixed Conifer Forests of North-Central Washington State"

Joseph Hall – Advised by: Rich Howarth – "Investigating the Role of Project Finance in Wind and Solar Development in the United States"

Sarah Pearl – Advised by Rich Howarth – "Climate Solutions in a 'Post-Natural' World: How Solar Geoengineering Proposals Complicate the Mitigation Portfolio"

Lindsey Reitinger – Advised by Michael Cox – "Building Community Capitals through Co-management: Partner Farms in Washington, D.C."

2019

Alex Cotnoir - Advised by: Matt Ayres - "Masting, vegetation structure, and nest predation: determinants of reproductive success in a neotropical migratory songbird"

Margarita Ren - Advised by Chris Sneddon - "Cultivating Care: Biocultural Assembling and Resilience Dynamics in the Danny Woo Community Garden"

Carly Rizzuto - Adivised by Terry Osborne - "Making Environmental Injustice Visible in Arroyo Barril: A study of colonial and company history, slow violence, and waste privilege"

Vianey Rueda - Advised by Michael Cox - "Water and land in the Dominican Republic: Exploring the feasibility of resource co-management"

Sherry Sneezer - Advised by Michael Cox - "Solar Energy Development on the Navajo Nation"

Alex Stendahl - Advised by Lauren Culler - "The activity and reproduction of Arctic wolf spiders near and far from mosquito ponds"

Jordan Swett - Advised by Michael Cox - "Assessing the opportunities and barriers for solar development in rural villages of South Africa"

2018

Heidi Ahn - Advised by: Richard Howarth - "Acacia Koa: A Follow-up Study and Assessment of Koa Forestry in Hawai’i"

James Buchanan - Advised by: Michael Cox - "Chasing Winter: A Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment of Crested Butte, Colorado"

Lydia Freehafer - Advised by: Anne Kapuscinski - "Toward sustainability-as-flourishing: An examination of environmental organizations involved in post-Katrina rebuilding of New Orleans"

Calin Mason - Advised by: Anne Kapuscinski - "Afro-ecology: Black Agrarianism as Regenerative Activism"

Eleni Mora - Advised by: Andy Friedland - "Investigating Aboveground-Belowground Carbon and Nitrogen Linkages in Post-Agricultural New England"

Madison Sabol - Advised by: Rich Howarth - "Perceptions of Terroir in Vermont Wine and Cider"

Alexandra Sclafani - Advised by: Anne Kapuscinski - "Upcycling brewery wastewater to cultivate microalgae: A systems approach to sustainable aquafeed production"

Kalae Trask-Sharpe - Advised by: Nicholas Reo - "Navigating Politics Of Loko Iʻa Restoration At Waiʻuli, Hawaiʻi"

2017

Kathryn Gardner - Advised by Michael Cox - "Total Zero Waste: A Comparative Evaluation of Municipal Waste Management Systems”

Alisa White - Advised by Richard Howarth - “Small-Scale Forestry and Carbon Offset Markets: An Empirical Study of Vermont Current Use Forest Landowner Willingness to Accept Carbon Credit Programs.” 

2016

Lauren Buchanan – Advised by Michael Cox, Richard Howarth - "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Economic Performance"

Alison Dyer – Advised by Michael Cox - "From Beach to Bisque: An Analysis of Loberst Fisheries Management"

Thora Olsen – Advised by Terry Osborne, Terry Tempest Williams, Richard Howarth - “Mindfulness, Meditation, and Shifting Paradigms”

Vickie Pan – Advised by Michael Cox - “A New Industry Arises: A Comparative Case Study of the US Energy Storage Market and a Framework for Emerging Markets”

Leehi Yona (Senior Fellow) - "Young Hope in a Dark World: Leverage Points for Climate Action"

2015

Katie Bernhard – Advised by Anne Kapuscinski, Chris Sneddon - "From Mines in Morocco to Creeks in the Corn Belt: A Political Ecology of the Phosphate Supply Chain"

Sarah Caughey – Advised by D. G. Webster, Michael Cox - "Video Based interviewing as a method to study spearfishermen decision making in Buen Hombre, Dominican Republic"

Erin Livesey – Advised by Michael Cox - “Practical or Pipe Dream: An Assessment of the Feasibility of Commercial Aquaponics in the United States”

Lucia Pohlman – Advised by Michael Cox - “Student Perceptions and Constraints for Community Supported Agriculture in the Dartmouth Food System”

2014

Michael Berger - Advised by: Michael Cox, Ross Virginia - "Cheating the resource curse? A case study of offshore oil development near Barrow, Alaska"

Rachel Carter - Advised by: Anne Kapuscinski - "The Influence of Environmental Concern on Protein Purchases: A Survey-Based Case Study"

Jimena Diaz - Advised by: Rich Howarth, Matt Ayres "Climate Change and the Persistence of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in the Second College Grant"

Sammi Dowdell - Advised by: Michael Cox, Coleen Fox - "Passion, Power, and Profit: Ecotourism's Role in Coral Reef Conservation on Bonaire"

Shea Flanagan - Advised by: Doug Bolger, Anne Kapuscinski, Julian Fennessy - "Analysis of Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) Post-Translocation Movement Patterns and Implications for Conservation Management"

Katie Gougelet  - Advised by: Bill Roebuck, Sienna Craig, Michael Cox-"The Political Ecology of Human Health in West Virginian Coal Mining Communities"

Maya Johnson  - Advised by: Ross Jones, Nick Reo, Bruce Duthu - "Cultural and Scientific Drivers of Water Quantity and Quality Law on the Flathead Reservation"

Lisa Rennels - Advised by: Rich Howarth, Michael Cox - "Are Payments for Watershed Services Better Off as a Metaphor? A Look at the Northern Forest"

Ali Uribe - Advised by: D. G. Webster, Celia Chen, Nick Reo - "Lionfish in Colombia: From Super-Invader to Super-Food"

Janna Wandzilak - Advised by Rich Howarth, D. G. Webster - "Growing the EcoTree: A Look at Marketing Sustainable Apparel in the Upper Valley"

Deborah Yeoh-Wang - Advised by: Ross Virginia, Susanne Freidberg - "The Political Ecology of Food Assistance Programs: A Study on Food Pantries and Soup Kitchens in the Greater Boston Area"

2013

Sara Brennan - Advised by: Chris Sneddon, Rich Howarth - "Fostering a Multi-Scale Approach to Ecosystem Restoration: A Case Study of the San Juan Islands"

Lindsay BrewerAdvised by: Rich Howarth, Ron Shaiko - "Tracing the Evolution and Trajectory of Corporate Social Responsibility"

Margaret FlemingAdvised by: D. G. Webster, Chris Sneddon - "Water, Conflict, and Cooperation: A Case Study of the Euphrates-Tigris River Basin"

Madilyn GambleAdvised by: Anne Kapuscinski, Andy Friedland - "Managing phosphorus discharge from Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) aquaculture with microalgae-supplemented diets"

Claire Hornig Advised by: Andy Friedland, Rich Howarth - "Modeling Carbon Release After Harvest in a Northern Hardwood Forest"

Bonita LängleAdvised by: Anne Kapuscinski, Michael Cox - "Institutional Barriers to and Opportunities for Waste Reintegration: Vermont and its National Context"

Joshua LeeAdvised by: Rich Howarth, TxeTxu Aguado - "An Inconvenient Narrative: Apocalyptic Rhetoric and its Implications on Climate Change Policy"

Rosalie LipfertAdvised by: Rich Howarth, Ross Virginia - "Industrial Meat and the Ethics of Meat Consumption: A Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Approach to Understanding How the U.S. Meat Industry Came to Be and Whether We Should Do Anything to Change It"

Danielle NathansonAdvised by: Terry Osborne, Laura Conkey - "Two Hundred Acres: Reading the Story Time Left Behind at the Dartmouth Organic Farm"

Rebecca NiemiecAdvised by: Rich Howarth, D. G. Webster, Matt Ayres - "Carbon sequestration and the optimal management of forest stands for Southern Pine Beetle (D. Frontalis) pestilence in the New Jersey Pinelands"

2012

Brian Bosche - Advised by: D.G. Webster -"Transparency and the Success of Citizen Science Programs"

Christopher Randall  - Advised by: Christopher Sneddon -"Dam Removal in New England: A Comparative Analysis of State Policies"

Samuel C. Ross  - Advised by: Richard Howarth - "Soil Carbon Dynamics & Carbon Markets with Emissions Offsets: The Case of New England Hardwood Forests"

Giulia Siccardo  - Advised by: Richard Howarth - "Thriving & Green: Synergies in Sustainability and Profitability"

Jenny Thapa  - Advised by: Richard Howarth - "Community Forestry and its Socio Economic Impact on the Disadvantaged Group in Nepal"

Christina Whittaker  - Advised by: Richard Howarth and Coleen Fox - "Responsible Tourism and Sustainable Development in Monteverde, Costa Rica"