Master's Theses Submitted In Sustainability and Social Justice | Master’s Papers | Clark University

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Sustainability and Social Justice

In the Sustainability and Social Justice department (formerly IDCE - International Development, Community and Environment up until 2024), we strive for a more just and sustainable world. We embrace the complexity of urgent social, political, and ecological problems and seek to approach these challenges through multidisciplinary teaching and learning, collaborative scholarship, and innovation.

We offer master’s degrees in Community Development & Planning, Environmental Science & Policy, International Development, and Geographic Information Science. Our degree programs are organized around nine cross-cutting concentrations, for example ‘Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation’, ‘Refugees, Forced Migration and Belonging’ and ‘Gender and Development’.

from 2017 2017

Refugee Self Organization : The Effects of Organizations on Refugees, Ayfer Hurmuzlu

Reconstruction of the destroyed Sinjali Secondary School, Isabella Kaganowski

Identifying factors in differential hurricane damage to the forests in the Southern Yucatan Peninsula using MODIS imagery, Anam Khan

Water-based strategies for making the Small Beverage Industry in New England more sustainable and climate-change resilient, Michelle Kozminski

GLOBAL DEFORESTATION PREDICTION: SUMMER INTERNSHIP AT CLARK LABS, Tianze Li and Yahsee Joshi

The Movement for Human Rights for Sexual and Gender Minorities in Nepal: The Beginning, 2001-2015, Roshan Mahato

Conditional Cash Transfers for Education: A Comparative Analysis between Funder and Country, Wesley Marcum-Mullins

Evaluating Amphibian Vulnerability to Mercury Pollution from Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Madre de Dios, Peru, Kate Markham

In Pawn: Kurdish Economic Development in the Context of Conflict, Stephen E. McAvene III

Residential Summer Camp Counselor Retention Rates Implications and Recommendations for Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro-Denver’s Gates Camp, Molly J. McPhee

GIS Specialist 2016 Internship with CDM Smith in Boston, Massachusetts, Suzanne L. Meek

Geospatial Solutions for Insurance, Erica Moody

Searching for Ourselves: African Cultural Representation in Children’s Books in the United States, and Implications for Educational Achievement, Lulama Moyo

Geo-Taxonomy Service Development Summer Internship at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, NYC, Henry Mros III

The Latina Women & The Informal Microenterprise, Ivette Olmeda

Impact of Two Wars on the Educational System in Nigeria, Helena Onyemelukwe-Waziri

GIS MAPPING AND ANALYSIS FOR THE CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION’S WEST BROOKFIELD MASTER PLAN PROJECT, Laurel Oolie

Academic Engagement and Learning Experience of English Learners: A Case Study of Chandler Magnet Elementary School, Worcester, MA, Clara J. O'Rourke

Water-Energy Sector Collaboration in the United States: Benefits, Barriers, and Climate-Change Implications, Cassandra J. Osterhoudt

Environmental Justice/Urban Initiative Project: Summer Internship with Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Tiancheng Ouyang

Examining the Intersection of Refugee Policies and Contemporary Protracted Displacement, Christopher M. Owens

Addressing Conundrums for Urban Environmental Planning under Climate Change in Mexico City, Mexico and Rosario, Argentina, Eric Pasay

A framework for evaluating and enhancing resilience integration in conservation policy: The case of Massachusetts, Kyle Pilkington

Financial Assessment of Agricultural Lands at Risk to Coastal Salt Marsh Migration in Relation to Climate Change Induced Sea Level Rise in Dorchester County, Maryland, Jewell Porter

A Tanzanian Woman's Place is on Top: An Exploration of Women's Participation in Kilimanjaro's Trekking Tourism Industry, Margeaux Prinster

GIS Internship at Tighe and Bond, Yuanting Qu M.S.

Worcester Black Small Businesses and Racial Inequality in Wealth, Shamen Laquan Radcliffe

Understanding Urban Wilds: Nature, Culture, and Management, Ted Randich

Defending Home: How Resistance Movements are Framed Against Mineral Extraction in Cajamarca and Tambogrande, Peru, Anne B. Read

Capturing the Resilience Dividend: Post Hurricane Sandy Insights from Brooklyn's Sea Gate Community, Alexander M. Rezk

An Analysis of Structural and Psychological Barriers to the Adoption of Demand Response Smart Grid Technologies: Lessons Learned, John M. Richards

BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE PEACE: LESSONS FROM EL SALVADOR, Patrick C. Seed

GIS INTERNSHIP AT UMASS MEDICAL SCHOOL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT, Qiming Shi M.S.

The Passage of the 2016 Ballot Question #3 in Massachusetts and Its Implications, Hannah Silverfine

Engaging in Effective Behavioral Health Treatment Methods: The Importance of Building Trust and Relationships with High and Proven Risk Men with a History of Childhood Trauma(s), Tracie Sullivan

Hanoi Vietnam’s Peri-urban Space and Its Impact on People’s Livelihoods, Collin V. Sumera

Sentinel-1 SLC Processing: Summer Internship with Clark Labs, Lei Tang

Contentions at the Human-Wildlife Interface: An Analysis of Chicago’s Coyote Management Plan, Ilanah Taves

Data and Geometry; Model Building at Calthorpe Analytics, Samuel M. Upton

Cluster Approach: Gaps and shortcomings in UN coordination of humanitarian actors in post-earthquake Haiti and implications for policy concerns of the New Humanitarian school of thought, Naomi Vinbury

Territoriality, Narratives and Violence: Stories of Eight Women Living in the Presence of a Large-Scale Mine in Ecuador, Chelsea N. Viteri 7742622017

Location-based Modeling and Statistics Internship with Location, Inc., Yixuan Wang

Sweden’s Floating Refugee Camp: A New Form of Spatial Segregation?, Miranda L. Weinstein

Urban Wind Generation: Comparing Horizontal and Vertical Axis Wind Turbines at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, Andrew R. Winslow

An Analysis Of Corruption In China: The Guanxi Network Of Chinese High Level Officials And Governors, Xiangru YIN

Greening the Gateway Cities: Summer Internship with the Clark University Human Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) and Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Zhiwen Zhu

from 2016 2016

Young Liberian Women in the Diaspora: The dilemma of returning ‘back home’, Jedidia Yaa-Sakumah Adusei

Adopting new banana varieties in Uganda: the role of gender and head of household status, Emily Albertson

"Refugee Industrial Complex," Neoliberal Governance Within the Resettlement Industry and Its Effects: Is An Alternative Structure Possible?, Amira F. Al-Dasouqi

Growing the Green Energy Economy: Workforce Development and Cluster Growth in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, Nicholas B. Altonaga

INCLUDING MEN AND BOYS IN PROGRAMMING OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS: A CASE STUDY OF THE SAFE SCHOOLS PROGRAM IN GHANA AND STEPPING STONES PROGRAM IN UGANDA, Nana A. Ampofo

Childhood Trauma, a Cycle of Violence: Worcester, MA, Samantha Arsenault

Remote Sensing of Land Cover Change on Indonesia’s Bird’s Head Peninsula After the Creation of Marine Protected Areas, Daniel Auerbach

TOWARDS EMBRACING A CRITICAL LOVE ETHIC IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY FROM NICARAGUA, Patrick Barnosky

A Complement, not a Competitor: How Public Markets Can Support Business Districts in Worcester, Ron M. Barron

Assessment of the Environmental Sector and Climate Change in Malawi: Relationships between Environmental Policy, Scientific Literature, and Development Projects, Esther A. Baumann

Somewhere “I can live”: Youths’ Conceptualizations of Nature and the Outdoors in Worcester, MA, Sarah Bertrand

Refugee Youth Challenges and Unique Needs in Worcester Public Schools that are Satisfied by African Community Education, Heidi L. Biron

Turning Points: The Lived Experience of Addiction Recovery, Kori Bloom

Full Disclosure: Herpes Stigma and Communication Practices among HSV+ Individuals, Mikayla Bobrow

Analyzing the Recent, Rapid Tourism Development in Panama's Bocas del Toro Archipelago: Is Socioenvironmental Justice Attainable?, Olivia R. Bourque

Creating a Learning Laboratory for Urban Sustainability: Consulting Project for The Blackstone River Corridor Living Systems Laboratory, Jacquelyn Dayle Burmeister

Economic Consequences of Conflict, Displacement and Humanitarian Aid: Implications for Syria, Molly S. Burns

A Partnership's Capacity for Community Impact Understood Through Neoliberal Technologies of Risk and Responsibilization: A Look at Worcester Massachusetts Senator Charles E. Shannon Jr. Community Safety Initative Partnership WORCESTER MASSACHUSETTS’ SENATOR CHARLES E. SHANNON JR. COMMUNITY SAFETY INITIATIVE PARTNERSHIP, Katie Byrne

Towards a Reduction in Methane Emissions from Natural Gas in California: A Policy Brief on the Short-lived Climate Pollutant Strategy, Samantha Caputo

Let’s Build Together: Expanding Comprehensive Sex Education in the United States, Olivia Cecchi

Land Change Modeler Application:Summer Internship with Clark Labs, Siqi Cheng and Nan Ding

2015 Summer GIS internship in Archipelagos, Institute of Marine Conservation, Mengyi Chen

Summer Internship at African Community Education, Stephen A. Chiavaroli III

Conservation Planning and Decision Support in a Nonprofit Organization: A Summer Internship with NatureServe, Samantha Coccia

The Influence of Agriculture Policy: The Effects of the Farm Bill on Farm Size, Crop Choice, and Trends in Agriculture, Emma Cotnoir

Disrupting Eurocentric Education through a Social Justice Curriculm, Joanna Cidalia Miranda DaCunha

Earthquake Recovery Process in Nepal ( A Comparative Analysis with Haiti), Ramesh Kumar Dahal

Barriers to Energy Efficiency in Hospitals: Building a Better Business Case for Sub-Metering, chris davies

Summer 2015 GIS Analyst Internship at the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, Old Lyme, Connecticut, Stuart R. DeLand

GIS and Location-Based Crime Risk Analysis: Summer Internship with Location, Inc., Zhilan Deng

HYDRO-RAKING AS A MANAGEMENT OPTION FOR AQUATIC NON-NATIVE INVASIVE AND NATIVE NUISANCE PLANTS IN FRESHWATER PONDS AND LAKES: CASE STUDIES IN MASSACHUSETTS, Danielle L. Desmarais

Land Change Modeler Application: Summer Internship with Clark Labs, Nan Ding and Siqi Cheng

The 2015 Greater Worcester Community Health Assessment: Summer Internship Experiences with The Worcester Division of Public Health and Clark University’s Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise, Jennifer Duong and Michael Preko Nkum

Infrastructure and Exclusion: Roadbuilding, Extractive Industries and Environmental Degradation in the case of IIRSA Sur through Southern Peru, Kimberly S. Farias

Evaluation of Alternative Strategies to Prevent Leopard Predation on Livestock around Yala National Park, Sri Lanka, Sanjiv Fernando

Shifting the Understanding of Youth Public Order Crime: An Opportunity for Diversion, Madeleine R. Friga

The Hartford Food System: A Review of Assets, Challenges, and Opportunities, Zachary A. Fromson

The Gaian-Inspired Systems View of Life: A Systemic Approach to Global Crises A Case Study: How Scientific Worldviews Influence Global Food Systems, Wyatt Lee Graft

Garden-Based Learning in Worcester, Massachusetts: Addressing Science and Health Curriculum Gaps through Summer Youth Programming, Julia Groenfeldt

NEPALESE MIGRANT WORKERS AND THEIR HARDSHIP IN THE DESERT, Ambar Hajariya

Nuclear Power Plant Policy Comparison between the U.S. and Republic of Korea, Vara Ha

Jaques Avenue Bioshelter Report: An Assessment of Needs, Potential Uses and Partnerships in Worcester, MA, Joseph Hersh

Can We Do It? : The Feasibility of Youth Restorative Justice Implementation in Worcester, April M. Hooper

THE INTERSECTIONALITY OF POVERTY, DISABILITY, AND GENDER AS A FRAMEWORK TO UNDERSTAND VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES: A CASE STUDY OF SOUTH AFRICA, Megan Humphrey

GIS and Coastal Basemap Research Summer Internship with Clark Labs, Po Hu and Zhuoyue Zhou

GIS and Spatial Analysis: Summer Internship with the Center for Health and Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Wensi Hu

GIS and 2016 Water Quality Assessment: Summer Internship with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Xiaoyan Hu 3736156

Worcester, MA Bike Share Feasibility Study, Corinne Jachelski

The Shape of Youth Work to Come: City Year's Approach to Youth Worker Development, Jeremy M. Joseph

How Endogeneity Matters in Framing Legalization: A Case Study of Urban Self Help Groups in Ethiopia, Bisrat Kabeta

Doulas could Improve Foreign-Born Women’s Perinatal and Postpartum Satisfaction and Increase Health Providers’ Cultural Competency in a Multicultural Urban Area of the United States., Crystal Kazik

Why Doesn't Worcester Vote?, Molly B. Kazin

Does crime correlate with fear?: Analyzing the Spatial Relationship between Perceptions of Safety and Crime using Sketch Maps and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the Main South Neighborhood of Worcester, MA, Marina Khananayev

Healthcare Facility Location: A Breast Cancer Alliance Case Study, Alexandra Knopf