Projects

Maurizio Cattelan Untitled 2007

For the fall of 2009, we will return to a typical project format for Geography 360. This typically is an individual project which will result in a 45 minute presentation at the end of the semester. The topic can be anything at all – as long as it is roughly related to the course and you are actually interested in it. Please, no boring topics.

Below are details for the course projects in the 2008-09 semesters of Geography 360. For the most part, these were hands-on projects related to the Sagan National Colloquium on a sustainable campus. I am not opposed to similar projects for this semester, so feel free to review the material below for ideas.

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We are coordinating our Spring 2009 course projects with the ongoing Sagan National Colloquium projects (PDF of Geography 360 Projects, fall 2008) and potential projects related to the OWU Campus Sustainability Task Force.

Some of the projects below are related to the seven goals of the University President’s Climate Commitment. Geography 360 (and Geography 355 projects related to the Climate Commitment are linked on that page.

Please complete the following for each course project (group projects may be combined or submitted separately):

1. a time-line (on blog – email me when you post it) including details (research, data, analysis, events) due by Monday March 30
2. a project report (PDF with images, graphs, data, similar to Geography 360 Projects, fall 2008) and project product (if a specific product – map, event, proposal to the University – is the outcome of the project) due by Wednesday April 22
3. a project presentation (20 minutes) on Wednesday April 22 or Wednesday April 29

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Due Wednesday February 18: Preliminary Project Proposal:

Note: this is borrowed from my Geography 355: GIS course and the examples are skewed towards projects in that class.  Alas, the overall form of the proposal for Geography 360 should follow a similar format:

Name of Project

Name of all participants & contact information

Date

1. Frame the Question(s): one sentence question(s) + one paragraph overview + one paragraph on final goal, intended audience, form of final project.

• where are endangered ecosystems in Delaware County and how to they relate to areas of residential development?
• where are potential recreational trail corridors in Delaware County that maximize access and usefulness as alternatives to driving?

2. Understand your Question(s): what do you have to know about the context of the question to answer it?

• ex) What is an endangered ecosystem?  What are specific examples in Delaware? What defines a residential development?  How does the literature relate endangered ecosystems to development?  How does the Delaware case study relate to other studies
• ex) What are the goals of recreational trails?  What are major impediments?  How is access defined?  How can trails be located so as to offer a viable alternative to driving?
• what or who can help you to understand the issue: literature, people, who are the experts?

3. Locate your Data: if you don’t have data you can’t do the project

• what data is available to help answer your question?  cost? compatibility?
• what data do you have to generate yourself?  easy vs. difficult vs impossible
• ex) Has anyone identified or mapped endangered ecosystems in Delaware?  Is their data available?  Is their data reliable? What format is it?  Is residential development data available for Delaware?  From who?  How current is it?  How to access it?  What format is it in?  Is it compatible with the ecosystem data?
• ex) Are there any existing trails in Delaware?  Is data available?  Are there any data sets of potential or planned trails?  Who has this data?  What format is it in?  Where can one find data on population to relate to potential trails (to maximize access for the majority of people)?  Where can one find data on where people live vs. work, to determine trails that can serve as alternatives to driving?  Who has this data?  Is it compatible with existing trail data?

4. Analysis: choose a method for analyzing your data to answer your question

• ex) generate endangered areas by comparing areas defined as important ecosystems to their closeness to recent development
• ex) generate potential trails by generating important points and areas to connect; and determining feasible paths between those points; relate potential trails to property ownership and other factors

5. Present the Results:

• generate a map (with a database) and use it to present results
• map of endangered ecosystems in Delaware Co: distribute to ??
• map of potential trails in Delaware Co.: planners, bike clubs, etc.
• succinct report to present to people who can make project happen
• vital part of the process: communication and advocacy

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The OWU Campus Sustainability Task Force is investigating if OWU should sign the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. The Commitment itself requires adherence to a series of actions (with some potential course projects noted with each):

A. Establish a policy that all new campus construction will be built to at least the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Silver standard or equivalent.

• B&G weigh in (probably not economically feasible, CWSC example)
• Document CWSC estimate for Green builidng
• Document plans for a fully Green cafe on campus (Chartwells)
• Potential student project for Geog 360

B. Adopt an energy-efficient appliance purchasing policy requiring purchase of ENERGY STAR certified products in all areas for which such ratings exist.

• Purchasing weigh in (economic feasibility)
• Potentially something that could start immediately
• contact: Jann Ichida (Immediate Action Task Force)
• Potential student project for Geog 360

C. Establish a policy of offsetting all greenhouse gas emissions generated by air travel paid for by our institution.

• Geog. 355: collect & map data on all OWU funded air travel (start/end + date)
• Include other OWU funded transportation: sports teams, CLEAR, fieldwork, mission trips, environmental trips
• Overlap project for Geog 360 and Geog 355

D. Encourage use of and provide access to public transportation for all faculty, staff, students and visitors at our institution

• Shuttles from Columbus [faculty, airport, Polaris/Downtown], on-campus shuttle [alternative fuel] from west to east campus [to eliminate students driving cars], rickshaw [person or bike powered; OWU buys rickshaws and students paid to haul people]
• Could begin immediately (at least collecting / mapping data)
• BioDiesel fueled shuttles (tie to BioDiesel SNC project)
• BioDiesel or electric campus vehicles
• rumor of private campus shuttle service in the works?
• Economic feasibility
• Overlap project for Geog 360 and Geog 355

E. Within one year of signing this document, begin purchasing or producing at least 15% of our institution’s electricity consumption from renewable sources.

• B&G: availability of green power from utilities that supply campus?
• Study feasibility of solar or wind power generation
• Wind: OWU & energy company collaborate on wind turbine (where?); OWU alum in wind generation business?
• Solar: ongoing SNC project
• Geothermal (earmark money?)
• Project for Geog 360

F. Establish a policy or a committee that supports climate and sustainability shareholder proposals at companies where our institution’s endowment is invested.

• Geog 355: collect data and map OWU investments
• Project for Geog 355

G. Participate in the Waste Minimization component of the national RecycleMania competition, and adopt 3 or more associated measures to reduce waste.

General OWU Waste

• Analyze WasteOWU & Paper-Less Campus data & strategize areas to work on
• Student project for Geog 360: target specific stuff showing up in garbage at high rates
• Eliminate plastic bottles (water, soda) from campus
• Student project for Geog 360: paperless classroom project: assess possibilities and limitations of paperless classrooms.  Technological fixes (web or Blackboard), digital text books, digital paper/project submission, digital portfolios (blogs), acquire Kindle or eBooks (donation?).

Food Waste program

• Chartwells: waste reduction (Food Waste project last semester)
• Overlap project for Geog 360 and Geog 355 (recovered food waste logistics / food pantries around Delaware)

Compostable Waste

• Chartwells: collect and transport campus food waste to composter
• BioDiesel: collect and transport campus waste oil to biodiesel producer
• B&G: collect and transport campus lawn waste to composter

Rainwater Harvesting

• Followup on Fall 2008 project
• Overlap project for Geog 360 (continuing research on rainwater recovery) and Geog 355 (map / database of rainwater recovery / use potential on campus – including campus plant/tree/lawn watering)
• Jann Ichida: rain gardens on campus

Resources for taking the Climate Commitment actions are here.

The OWU Campus Sustainability Task Force must choose two of the seven actions above and work to implement them in the short term. If OWU signs onto the agreement, we must take action in all seven areas.

Projects Already Underway for the National Colloquium

A summary of ongoing National Colloquium projects is here. These projects were proposed by OWU students prior to the 2008-09 school year, and are currently underway.

Potential Projects for Geography 360 (Spring 2009)

Fall 2008 SNC Projects (PDF)

Projects began by students in Geography 360 last semester and worthy of continuation are listed below. Reports on these projects are in a PDF file here. Students who worked on the projects are noted, and are in most cases willing to advise students who are interested in continuing the project.

WasteOWU: Molly Verhoff (mnverhof@owu.edu)
Paper-less Campus: David Ebenhoh (deebenho@owu.edu)
Food Waste Project: Adrienne Found (amfound@owu.edu)
Bringing Biodiesel to OWU: Sydney Fitzpatrick (shfitzpa@owu.edu)
Rainwater Harvesting at OWU: Manav Menon (manav712@gmail.com)
Frisbee Golf at OWU: Earl Hamlin (ewhamlin@owu.edu)
Outdoor Spaces at OWU: Mark Wall (mjwall@owu.edu)
Mapping Green OWU with Google Earth: Hasani Wheat (hhwheat@owu.edu)

A few more potential projects that might be of interest:

No Cars on Campus Week (Day, Month?): Arrange a period of time when no vehicle traffic will be allowed on campus. Research other examples of limiting or restricting vehicle traffic, potential impacts, etc. How to communicate it, make it work, and deal with exceptions. The difficulty of restricting vehicles (deliveries, grounds, emergency, etc.). Get Honda to loan a few hybrid cars to drive people around that have limits on their ability to walk, or can’t walk. Potential for longer-term vehicle restrictions on campus, sustainability.

Carry Your Garbage for a Day Day: faculty, staff, and students must carry all their refuse for one day. Tie to general information on garbage generation and draw attention to the ways you can cut back (so you don’t have to carry so much). May be done once at the beginning of the semester and once at the end with “weigh-ins” to see if people can decrease their garbage.

Earth Hour at OWU: One hour lights and electricity off. OWU participates. Research on idea, background, problems, etc. Potential for continuing in the future.

No Plastic Day (week?): Research problem of plastics and implement a plastic free day on campus.

Buy Nothing Day: Implement on campus. Possibly extend to several days, at different times of both semesters. Research potential impact, benefits, problems, potential for sustainability in the future.

Do Nothing for the Environment Day: Research, design, and plan a day of minimal impact on the environment. Minimize any activities that adversely affect environment. Importance of idleness and less activity in shaping an environmentally sustainable future.

Environmental Justice in Delaware Atlas: Ongoing project of environmental and social issues in and around Delaware. Draft done early this summer. Specific projects (where are all the recycling locations in Delaware?) may be tied into project next academic year.