Applied Geography Directed Research
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10877/17202
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Item Evacuation Compliance and Actual Wildfire Risk in Austin, Texas: Determining the Effects of Risk Education through Online Community Surveys(2016-05) Gimnich, David; Hiner, Colleen; Blanchard, Denise; Weaver, RussellNo abstract prepared.Item An Examination of Price Variation in Relation to Median Household Income: Comparing A Regional and International Grocery Store Chains' Pricing of Household Staples in San Antonio, Texas(2016-11) Hedgepeth, Sarita; Blanchard, Denise; Devine, JenniferNo abstract prepared.Item How Can Elderly Residents of Texas Be Informed about Medicare?: A Geographic Approach to Media Consumption by Older Population of Texas(2016-12) Khani, ZahraThis study intends to locate Medicare beneficiaries in Texas and to propose effective outreach methods to use for providing elderly people with information about Medicare. Data, used for this study, have primarily been acquired from U.S. Census and a survey, customized by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University. Two research objectives were expected to be achieved: a) at the individual level, the associations between socio-demographic characteristics of elderly people and the type of media that they use, were questioned and studied. Some of the characteristics that were significantly correlated with the media consumption are age, income, education, and ethnicity; b) at the geographical level, spatial autocorrelations - being random, clustered or dispersed - for media consumption, were studied. Not so many types of media resulted to be spatially clustered or dispersed. However, patterns show differences between rural areas, urban/suburban areas, and locations with clustered Hispanic population. Regardless of limitations of this study, the results can be used for identifying new policies and methodologies that can help expanding health and healthcare awareness more effectively.Item A Comprehensive Geodatabase of the Freeman Center(2017-05) Wiesner, Jon Scott; Jensen, Jennifer; Huebner, DonNo abstract prepared.Item Demographic Usage Patterns of Purgatory Creek Park, San Marcos, TX(2017-05) Kraft, Michael; Julian, Jason; Weaver, RussellThis project seeks to make use of methods utilized in previous studies, such as surveys, statistical analysis and literature research, and apply those techniques to Purgatory Creek Park. The findings will be useful to city planners, parks and recreation officials, and city accountants and budget managers, so they can make the best-informed decisions regarding the expenditure of resources on city parks and green spaces. As the city of San Marcos grows, the need for green spaces and leisure areas will grow as well, and creating spaces that appeal to, and have something to offer to as many citizens as possible is certainly a smart and fiscally-responsible goal.Item Baseline Climatology of Sounding-Measured Variates Associated with Atlantic and Gulf Coast Tropical Cyclone Tornado Clusters(2017-05) Hervey, James Nicholas; Dixon, Richard W.; Butler, David R.Radiosonde sounding-measured variates are analyzed for 55 cases of tornado outbreaks associated with tropical cyclones from 1995-2010. We define a tropical cyclone tornado outbreak as six or more tornadoes occurring in a six-hour period. All the tornadoes are associated with a landfalling or post-landfall translating tropical cyclone. Previous studies have examined the role of the atmospheric environment in an individual tropical cyclone or individual tornado. An earlier study of these tropical cyclone tornado clusters produced a baseline climatology of stability and wind shear parameters. The goal of this study is to provide a climatology of sounding-measured variates for each tropical cyclone tornado outbreak. Sounding variates provide information on characteristics of the atmospheric column such as height of standard pressure surfaces, temperature, moisture, and winds. Descriptive statistics for the sounding-measured parameters are presented to document the central tendency and variability of atmospheric conditions associated with these outbreaks. A hierarchical cluster analysis produced three clusters with significant difference in the North/South wind parameter for cluster 3. A principal components analysis revealed that the north/south wind contributed significantly to the occurrence of tornado outbreaks with dew point contributing the least.Item Kombucha Culture: An ethnographic approach to understanding the practice of home-brew kombucha in San Marcos, Texas(2017-05) Yarbrough, Elizabeth; Myles, Colleen; Devine, JenniferKombucha, a traditional fermented tea beverage touted for its numerous health benefits, has seen a dramatic rise in popularity over the last fifteen years. Once exclusively found in specialty health shops and only known by a small number of Americans, now numerous commercial brands of bottled kombucha are widely available. Interestingly, even as the fermented drink has become more accessible to the public, specialized groups are increasingly likely to brew it themselves. Following the trend toward home production and brewing of many kinds of edibles and crafts (Caruso 2015), homebrewing kombucha is now practiced across the nation (Crum 2016). As enthusiasm for consuming and brewing kombucha – process which takes continued, dedicated effort – has spread, small towns like San Marcos in Central Texas have not been immune. This study explores the “kombucha culture” of San Marcos, asking: What is it about this effervescent drink that compels people to become so devoted to their home-brew practice? As noted, even as an increasing number of people now consume kombucha regularly and practice brewing the beverage at home, there has been very little formal exploration on what could be driving this phenomenon. My research project aims to understand the unseen motivations of people who practice brewing kombucha in their own homes within the San Marcos area. This study utilizes an ethnographic approach and qualitative methods to reveal the underlying influences and inspirations that encourage a kombucha habit. Techniques utilized in this study include interviews with individuals and couples who brew at home, multiple focus groups with networks of home brewers, and participant-observation of and within this kombucha-enthused community. As a home-brewer myself, I bring a unique “insider” perspective to the study, as well as being able to leverage my own access to the homebrewer network to achieve study aims. This inquiry reveals three key themes revolving around the commitment to kombucha: the multi-faceted health benefits, an engagement with sustainable food systems and environmental concern, and a sense of community and group inclusion. Brewers construct networks of exchange between each other, swapping physical and cultural material that fosters trust, friendship, and bonding. The shared beliefs, collective values, and common practices of kombucha home-brewers culminates in a particular sociocultural constructing, which I term Kombucha Culture. Kombucha Culture goes beyond providing an explanation of why people are brewing ‘buch in San Marcos; it is the embodiment of ideals about how food, the environment, and community should work together at the local scale in a sustainable system to ensure health and wellbeing for all. Studying kombucha brewing practices is one way to better understand how to work towards these universal goals.Item Land Management Trends of Small Acreage Landowners in a High Growth Exurban Watershed in Central Texas(2017-05) Sheffield, Christopher; Hiner, Colleen; Hurley, PatrickThe lifestyle- or amenity-oriented landowner is a major force on the rural and xurban landscape and creates an ecology that is unique, yet even in its heterogeneity, is present across most developed areas of the planet. The land management behaviors of these landowners, often living on parcels between 2 to 40 acres, is overlooked by many land conservation studies in favor of the large acreage tracts targeted for protection by conservation agencies and organizations. As a group, however, these landowners control vast amounts of the rural countryside in many areas, and, rather than devaluing those landscapes as vast ecological losses, research can illuminate the type of landscape these actors may produce and why. These inquiries can also inform county extension service programming and other conservation actors seeking to encourage implementation of best practices in these landscapes. This research explores the link between land management attitudes, actions, and ideologies of small acreage exurban landowners and their implications for the landscape as a whole. In particular, this research is a case study of the land management dynamics in a high growth exurban region of Central Texas. A survey gathered in-depth landscape preferences and management actions for a random sample of small acreage landowners in the Onion Creek watershed outside of Austin, Texas. The study’s focus on small acreage residential landowners provides new insights into this class and type of exurban actor, by using survey data to create three recognizable exurban land management aesthetics or archetypes and linked land management actions that are at work across the exurban landscape. “Ranchland”, “suburban”, and “wild / natural” land management archetypes engage in various degrees of brush management, suburban-style gardening, native planting, and relative non-management. Regardless of their archetype, however, many of these actors demonstrate a high motivation for various kinds of conservation actions mediated by a desire to enact their idealized vision of the Texas Hill Country landscape on their parcel of land. The archetypes presented in this research are an opportunity to visualize the various idealizations of a natural Texas Hill Country that effect the types of management actions each actor is likely to employ. These actions, in turn, will create emerging exurban ecologies that will shape the future landscapes in these amenity rich regions. Conservation educators and other programmers can work in concert with these landowner variables to strategize the implementation of land management best practices with small acreage landowners in these regions.Item Predicting International Travel Destinations from Geotagged Flickr Photos(2017-12) Umeokafor, Ugochukwu Francis; Yuan, Yihong; Chow, T. EdwinNo abstract prepared.Item The Use and Management of the Ogallala Aquifer From 1990-2015(2017-12) Sheppard, Richard Stephen; Loftus, Tim; Earl, RichardNo abstract prepared.Item Environmental Geography Education for Adults with Intellectual/Development Disabilities(2018-05) Holloway, Sara; Devine, Jennifer; Jo, InjeongNo abstract prepared.Item Assessing the Effects of Hydrologic Enforcement Methods in a Central Texas Watershed(2018-05) Pesek, Thomas; Chow, T. Edwin; Meitzen, KimberlyNo abstract prepared.Item Identifying Functional Urban Regions from Bluetooth Data: A Case Study of Austin, Texas(2018-05) Combs, Jacob H.; Yuan, Yihong; Currit, NathanWorldwide, the rate of urbanization has increased over the last several decades and the need to adequately identify urban areas are used increases importance with every year. This study applies dynamic time warping and hierarchical clustering methods to a Bluetooth data set to identify functional urban regions in Austin, Texas. Examining the distribution of the functional urban regions and their spatial configuration allows inferences to be made in relation to the way that people use the urban area of Austin.Item Floodplain Land Cover Classification and Change Detection Analysis for the City of Austin, TX From 2008 to 2016(2018-05) Carhart, Mackenzie; Hagelman, Ronald; Jensen, JenniferNo abstract prepared.Item Garwood Irrigation Division, Texas: Exploration of Water Use and Conservation: 2012-2016(2018-05) Barnard, John Q.; Loftus, Tim; Weaver, RustyNo abstract prepared.Item Impacts of Flooding on the Hispanic Community in New Braunfels, Texas: A Mixed Method Approach to Understanding Flood Vulnerability(2018-05) Lopez, Andrea A.; Devine, Jennifer; Weaver, RussellNo abstract prepared.Item The Relationship between Regional Climate and Post-fire Debris Flows in Glacier National Park(2018-05) Larcom, Steven; Butler, David R.; Currit, Nathan A.Debris flows often occur on burned hillslopes in mountainous areas, which can damage infrastructure and pose hazards to people and wildlife. Glacier National Park, Montana, has a well-documented history of wildfires across its 400,000 hectares, making it especially vulnerable to these mass wasting events. This project focused on two fires in particular: the Trapper Creek fire from 2003, and the Red Eagle fire from 2006. The goal was to compare and contrast debris flows from a burn scar on the east side of the park with those from a burn scar on the west side of the park in order to understand the relationship between these events and the prevailing climate systems on opposite sides of the Continental Divide. Post-fire debris flows were digitized from aerial imagery (2-3 years post-fire) using ArcGIS, and parameters such as frequency and runout length were measured. At-risk infrastructure was identified based on the location of past flows and current roads and trails. Burned areas in western Glacier contained a higher frequency of debris flows due to higher annual precipitation. Conversely, burned areas in eastern Glacier produced debris flows with longer runout lengths due to the nature of the precipitation and greater sediment availability. By holding all other variables constant, this study has identified a relationship between climate and post-fire debris flows.Item The West African Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak of 2014: Mapping the Journey of Confirmed Cases through Sierra Leone(2018-05) Haddad, Stacey; Butler, David R.; Dixon, Richard W.No abstract prepared.Item Examining the Driving Factors of Urban Sprawl in San Antonio Metropolitan Area During 1990-2010(2018-08) Lu, Han; Chow, T. Edwin; Weaver, RussellNo abstract prepared.Item A Study of CPTED Principles and their Relationship to Crime Risk in Beaumont, Texas(2018-08) Cregg, James; Lu, Yongmei; Blue, SarahCrime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is an approach to understanding crime which focuses on the built environment and geography instead of simply a potential offender’s behavior or socio-economic characteristics. The theory of CPTED proposes that characteristics of the built environment can lower or increase the risk of crime at a location, based on the principles of Natural Surveillance, Natural Access Control, Territoriality, and Image. For this study, I investigated how CPTED characteristics had an impact on the property crime rate in Beaumont, Texas. I observed six Beaumont neighborhoods, and their houses and other buildings were rated according to an audit list I developed, consisting of 12 quantifiable CPTED characteristics based on the four principles. The houses and buildings of the six neighborhoods were rated by their individual parcels, according to a 0-4 based scale. These rated parcels were aggregated to a combined total of 134 residential blocks in ArcGIS, with each block being assigned the average of the CPTED ratings of the combined parcels. Maps of the six neighborhoods and their blocks were created which showed their vulnerability to crime, based on CPTED characteristic ratings. In addition to the CPTED vulnerability maps, I also developed maps which showed actual crime rates, which rated residential blocks within neighborhoods based on the number of crimes per 1,000 houses. The maps and spreadsheet data from the audit were used to determine the relationship of CPTED characteristics to crime rate. The research hypothesis was that neighborhoods that exhibit comparatively more CPTED characteristics will have fewer instances of crime than neighborhoods that exhibit fewer CPTED characteristics. The null hypothesis was that neighborhoods that exhibit more CPTED characteristics will not show a significant difference in crime rate compared to neighborhoods with fewer CPTED characteristics. The data was collected by slowly traversing each neighborhood by car, and using high- definition video cameras to record each individual house. The recorded video was later played back, and the CPTED residential audit was completed for each house. Information from the audit was documented in a spreadsheet, and also entered into ArcGIS software in order to create the CPTED vulnerability maps. ArcGIS was also used to create crime rate maps, based on data from the Beaumont Police Department. The neighborhoods were ranked from highest CPTED rating down to lowest CPTED rating; and from lowest crime count to highest crime count, to see if there were similar rankings in which high CPTED rating is closely paired with low crime-count. In addition to the ranking method, the CPTED ratings and crime counts for each block of the six neighborhoods were also plotted on a graph, to determine if there is a valid linear regression in which crime rate is determined by the CPTED rating. The results show that the neighborhood with the highest CPTED rating had the second lowest crime density, and the neighborhood with the lowest CPTED rating had the highest crime density. The ranks of the neighborhoods according to CPTED rating and crime count show that there likely is some relationship between these two variables. A regression analysis shows that there is an inverse relationship (y = -550.49x + 1254.5) in which an increase in the CPTED rating corresponds to a decrease in crime rate per 1,000, with an R2 value of .1805. The Spearman-Rho test indicates that there is a moderate correlation (R = .447) between CPTED rating and crime rate per 1,000, at the .05 significance level with a P value of 0.00000007. When looking at the CPTED rating maps of these neighborhoods alongside the crime count maps, many values of blocks in the CPTED maps correspond to similar values in the crime count maps. This phenomenon can better be illustrated by determining where similar rank values in CPTED rating and crime rating "overlap." Although this process is more subjective compared to other methods, it is helpful in illuminating the areas in which the CPTED rating procedure most strongly predicted areas which are most at risk for crime, and which areas are most defended against crime. Even though this process of finding overlap is somewhat subjective, it was able to correctly predict 85 out of 134 blocks (63%) while the remaining 49 blocks (37%) do not show the relationship being sought, according to the hypothesis. The regression analysis and Spearman's test showed this relationship in a more objective manner than the maps, illustrating that crime rate falls as CPTED ratings rise.