ESPM175 May 2023: Table of Contents

Senior Research Seminar

Environmental Sciences Major, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-2922

Instructor

Patina Mendez

Graduate Student Instructors

Danielle Perryman & Robin Lopez

Environmental Sciences Senior Thesis Symposium, April 23th, 2023

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Environmental Health & Justice

Georgiana Prevost
Impacts of Food Access on K-8 Education Analyzed through Proximity in Sacramento

Kenneth Guan
Environmental Health Impacts on Asian American Elders in San Francisco

Jailine Cardenas
How does Socioeconomic Status affect a Victim's Recovery through the Scope of New Orleans and New York/New Jersey after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy

Anthony Migliacci
Incorporating the Unincorporated: Environmental Violence and Resistance in the Warehouses of the Inland Empire

Priyanka Venkatesh
Implementation of Gray vs. Green Infrastructure in Urbanizing Cities in Emerging Countries: A Case Study of Perungudi, Tamil Nadu, India

Justin S. Kim
The Impact of Social Media on Consumer Perceptions of Fashion Sustainability and Ethics

Ximena S. Verduzco-Villanueva
Community-based Air Monitoring in Historically Underserved Communities of Eastern San Francisco

Runru Shen
Impact of Treated Effluent Discharge on the Macroinvertebrate Community in the Los Angeles River, California

Emma Yakutis
Orthohantaviridae in Barbados: the Effect of Tropical Climates on Viral Prevalence in the Caribbean

Kimberly Peña Diaz
A Case Study on the Effects of Environmental Racism on the Latine Community in California

Greenspaces & the Urban Environment

Wanees N. Hannan
Urban Green Spaces as a Tool to Combat Loneliness

Fiona L. Starsiak
Environmental Equity: Case Studies on Easy Bay Creek Restorations

Hoi Nam Hellas Lee
Optimizing Spatial Planning of Small-scale Green Infrastructure to Mitigate Urban Heat Islands in Hong Kong

Ridge J. Coughlin
Themes in Residential Garden Design in Berkeley, CA

Hannah Sy
Greener Grades: The Impacts of Green Schoolyards on Academic Achievement

Environmental Policy & Sustainable Business

Christina R. Schulte
Quality or Quantity? Corporate Environmental Disclosure and Third-party ESG Scores

Anna C. Smith
University Climate Impact: Comparing Modeling Approaches for Predicting Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Higher Education Institutions

Ashley Yip
ESG in Asia: A Closer Look at Sustainability in the Asian Food System

Jenny Ye
The Impact of Community Solar Legislation on Equitable Community Solar Access Within the United States

Tianqi Zhou
A Hybrid Approach to Climate Change: Comparing AB/SB-32 in California and the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008 in Massachusetts

Biogeochemistry

Annie Miller
Incorporating Community Science into Arctic Sea Ice Models: Validation of Ice Watch Data

Stella Ban
Investigating the Mechanism for Copper Removal in Constructed Wetlands Using Batch Adsorption Isotherm Experiment

Caroline H. H. Combs
Field Study of Ground Rock and Compost Amendments for Climate Change Mitigation at a Sonoma Dairy Farm

Anders de Wit
Investigating Timescales of Causality within Fluxes of Greenhouse Gasses

Luis Vargas
Salinity and Biogeochemical Dynamics at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve

Identity, Perceptions & Behavior

Shifali Kerudi
The Impact of Social Media on Consumer Perceptions of Fashion Sustainability and Ethics

Sachi J. Land
Ecotourism and Nonprofit Influence in Rural Balinese Villages: Environmental, Economic and Sociocultural Implications

Taylor Kavieff
A Silent Pandemic: Intersectionality and Eco Anxiety Among College Students at UC Berkeley

Agnes Villaroman
Is The Water OK? Factors Influencing Treated Wastewater Acceptability

Chloe Suarez
Interactive Exhibits at the Lawrence Hall of Science as a Tool for Environmental Education

Landscape Management

Madeline E. Chapman
Assessing Fuel Treatment Strategies for Decreasing Fire Risk in Sonoma County, CA

Théa C. Adumitroaie
Seasonal Dynamics of Soil Moisture Effects on Vegetation Productivity of an Oak Woodland Savanna and Grassland Ecosystem in Northern California

Kayla A. Lin
Urban Forestry: Biodiversity of San Francisco's Street Trees

Danielle Fujimoto
Factors affecting California Wildfires: Ownership, Ecoregion, and Forest Types' Impacts on Forests and the likelihood of Wildfires

Shea A.W. Rousseau
Drought Disturbance Impacts on Sierra Nevada Ecosystems: A Remote Sensing Approach

Delaney Siegmund
Impacts of High Severity Wildfire on Vegetation Type Conversion in Southern California Chaparral

Remote Sensing

Madison Chi
Climate Impacts of Particulate Matter Levels and Land Surface Temperature

Jessica B. Blelloch
Modeling Future Climate Change Risk in the California Ski Industry

Yichao Sun
Using Remote Sensing to Assess the Effectiveness of Afforestation Projects in China

Sarah Zhang
Sensing Snow Over Arctic Sea Ice Using GNSS Interferometric Reflectometry

Sophia Kennedy
Assessing Water Use for Almond and Alfalfa Fields in the San Joaquin Valley Using Remote Sensing

Sustainability

Ana Wong
Is it Really Zero Waste? Comparative Analysis Between Plastic and Compostable Plastic

Julia R. Goswick
Evaluation of Compost Application in Mediterranean Climates and The California Healthy Soils Program Demonstration Projects

Christiana S. Wong
Stakeholder Mapping of California's Precision Weeding Sector

Daniel A. Escajeda
Student Perception of Access to the California High-Speed Rail

Sharon Trisha
Can Surface Water be an Alternative to Groundwater in Jakarta, Indonesia?

Animal Behavior, Morphology & Physiology

Maxine A. Mouly
Thermoregulatory Physiology and Behavior of the Northern Elephant Seal, Mirounga angustirostris, amid Environmental Change

Riley C. Croghan
Artificial Light at Night (ALAN): Impacts on Carabid Beetle Movement

Martha L. Gomez Mateo
Biological Adaptations Assessed by Morphological Changes within Zonotrichia Taxa: A Focus on Climate Change Impacts

Francesca Stepanov
Understanding Ecological Implications of Mesoscale Climatic Impacts on Juvenile White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) and Southern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) Along the California Coast

Julia Choi
Look Both Ways: The Influence of Floral Orientation on Feeding Behaviors of the Anna's Hummingbird

Community Ecology

Julius Bronola
Using Occupancy Models to Assess Illegal Wildlife Trade Patterns across the Philippines

Russell E. Trutane
Analysis of the Effect of Grazing by Cattle on the Floral Communities of Grasslands in California

Arianna E. Standish
The Impact of Sheep Grazing on Spider Diversity and Abundance

Charlynn Teter
The Effects of Anthropogenic Activity in Forested Campgrounds on Stream Ecosystems

Mauricio González
Chemical and Biological Health Assessment of Urban Streams in the Richmond and San Francisco Bay Area

Alexandra B. Santas
Pollination Success and the Implications of Pollinator Decline

Microbial Ecology

Mariam Alsaid
Groundwater Necrophagy: The Role of Dead Microbes on the Subsurface Microbiome

Isra Raza
The Effect of Low pH and Nitrate on Microbial Growth and Community Interactions

Yizhou Yang
Creating and Characterizing Inducible BBM-WUS Transgenic Sorghum Lines to Improve Editing Efficiency

John H. Hopkins
The Potential for Microcystis Growth and Microcystin Exposure in the San Francisco Bay Estuary

Karina Gadkari
The Characterization of Growth Curves and Evolutionary Trajectories in Hosts of Xylella fastidiosa

About the Program

These studies were undertaken by seniors in the Environmental Sciences Group Major, a program administered by the Department of Enviromental Science, Policy, and Management in the Rausser College of Natural Resources at the University of California at Berkeley. The Environmental Sciences major allows students to concentrate in one of three fields of specialization: biological science, physical science, and social science. In their senior year, students in the major participate in a two-semester Senior Research Seminar, investigating an environmental topic of current concern. This project gives the students experience in field work, general research techniques, and oral and written presentation of research results. This volume is the compilation of research reports from the Fall 2022 to Spring 2023 Senior Research Seminars.