Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has the potential to have devastating effects on ecosystems on both a local and global scale, making it one of the most environmentally threatening phenomena occurring today. In order to minimize deforestation in the Amazon and its consequences, it is helpful to analyze its occurrence using machine learning architectures such as the U-Net. The U-Net is a type of Fully Convolutional Network that has shown significant capability in performing semantic segmentation. It is built upon a symmetric series of downsampling and upsampling layers that propagate feature information into higher spatial resolutions, allowing for the precise identification of features on the pixel scale. Such an architecture is well-suited for identifying features in satellite imagery. In this thesis, we construct and train a U-Net to identify deforested areas in satellite imagery of the Amazon through semantic segmentation.

The creation of this study was driven by my belief in the importance of transforming and reimagining human-nature relationships for sustainable futures and my interest in understanding the implementation of nature-based learning in schools. Through observations of children in an outdoor education setting, I sought to answer the following research questions: “How do children that have engaged in nature-based learning view themselves in relation to nature?” and “What can be observed about children’s personal understandings of nature and their personal relationships with nature in their writing and drawings?” This study was implemented with participants in third grade outdoor education classes at a local charter school in South Phoenix using multiple participatory research methods. My findings add to an existing body of knowledge and research focused on understanding children’s relationships with nature and the impacts of nature-based learning. In the conclusion of this paper, I pose additional questions about conceptualizing children’s relationships with nature and exploring their nature connectedness through research, share reflections on my personal relationship with nature, and discuss how my observations support benefits of nature-based learning as argued by existing scholarship.

All living and man-made features have their place in Earth’s web of living systems. Thinking in terms of design and positioning social, environmental, ecological, and economic systems as interconnected parts of a whole, regenerative design seeks to give back more than it takes from the environment; surpassing present sustainable design initiatives to foster holistic solutions which have the capacity to transform wicked problems into positive outcomes. This method utilizes a systems thinking approach by connecting various scales to the benefit of ecological, environmental, economic, and social organizations. Systems thinking can be defined broadly as “an approach to integration that is based on the belief that the component parts of a system will act differently when isolated from the system’s environment or other parts of the system” (Principal 2021). Thus, systems are nested within one another and cannot be properly examined without considering the other elements they impact. It is then pertinent to work within the interconnectedness of elements and account for these relationships since “the sustainability of a living system is tied directly to its beneficial integration into a larger system” (Regenerative Development and Design: A Framework for Evolving Sustainability 2016). Regenerative design builds upon this by striving to create a unified whole where the co-evolution of humans and natural systems support one another through design (Regenerative Development and Design: A Framework for Evolving Sustainability 2016). Serving as a framework for regenerative design, the Living Building Challenge creates a unified building standard with the goal of enriching architectural and interior environments to positively impact social, environmental, economic, and ecological systems. To implement these principles, the aim of this creative project will be to attain Living Building Challenge Interior CORE certification in the context of a post-pandemic workplace design project.

Waggle Ballet explores the possibility of increasing access to ballet for blind audience members by using a combination of live music, accessible choreography, a sensory based workshop, and wearable sonification technology. Waggle Ballet is a classical ballet excerpt that addresses the limitations presented by audio descriptions. Where audio descriptions serve to describe exactly what can be seen on stage for audience members with blindness or vision impairments, Waggle Ballet uses other sensory elements to trigger the imagination and create a sound environment that is generated through ballet movements with the help of motion capturing sensors and thematic sound outputs. The piece was performed in front of a live audience of varying sight abilities with the live musical accompaniment of the bass clarinet. A mini workshop was given that incorporated storytelling and touch to help audience members become familiar with the environment created in the piece. With all the elements coming together, Waggle Ballet hopes to evoke a unique experience that draws from the aspects of ballet performance beyond purely visual aesthetics.

Currently, many countries are working towards transitioning into cleaner energy to meet the Sustainable Development Goals set forth by the United Nations to be met by 2050. Moving to cleaner energy resources, enforcing carbon taxes, and cap and trade programs are all examples of carbon avoidance. Carbon removal is used to describe something that removes the carbon already existing in the atmosphere. While most countries are making decisions that would support carbon avoidance, many scientists claim it will take more than making the transition to clean energy and that something needs to be done about the carbon in the air currently. This project will look towards researching the two methods and working to inform people about carbon removal since many people do not even know what this term means, let alone have heard of it before. To this end, I interviewed one of the lead scientists and engineers on the Mechanical Tree, ASU’s Center for Negative Carbon Emissions prototype that will hopefully champion the carbon removal movement. I created podcasts, conducted student surveys, and made an informative video on this subject to raise more awareness of the difference between carbon removal and carbon avoidance. I also researched carbon avoidance to see for myself whether or not carbon removal is necessary. I concluded by the end of this project that carbon removal and carbon avoidance are both necessary components in order to reach net zero by the mid century.

Northwest Arkansas has a complex relationship with Indigeneity due to the erasure experience by the original inhabitants of the lands, and the presences of newly immigrated Indigenous groups such as the Marshallese people from the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Today, the Indigenous identity that is most commonly present within the Northwest Arkansas community are the Marshallese people. The reason as to why the original inhabitants of modern-day Northwest Arkansas are not the most prominently represented Indigenous group, is because of severe erasure, genocide, and systematic racism experienced by these people. This thesis will be investigating the Indigenous identities of Northwest Arkansas, which will include information on the first peoples and the modern-day presence of the Marshallese people. This thesis will particularly be focusing on the ways in which the legacy of colonialism and climate change have linked these groups in their displacement. Despite the differing time periods, the interconnectedness between these Indigenous populations’ experiences with colonialism and colonialist systems further demonstrates the threat that Indigenous populations still face today of erasure and continual oppression. Through both populations’ mutual experience with displacement and diaspora, this thesis will investigate how food can act as an essential connector between Indigenous individuals and their culture, as well as how food can be a form of reparations, healing, and future progress.