Gaining Community Perspectives: Climate Adaptation Planning in Hoonah, Alaska

Presenters: Jillian Shrader, MS (BEC); K. Anjali Pandey, MS (BEC, EJ); Grace Whipkey, MS (BEC, EJ); Arianna Lapke, MS (BEC); Megan Trapp, MS (EPP, EJ)

Advisor: Dr. Kyle Whyte

Location: Hoonah, Alaska, USA

Client: Hoonah Indian Association

Climate change impacts are threatening traditional Tlingit ways of life in Hoonah, Alaska. Hoonah is the largest Tlingit village, where over 800 year-round residents rely on wild salmon, halibut, berries, deer, spruce, cedar, and other natural resources to meet their needs as well as engage in traditional practices, such as carving and weaving. As climate-change impacts increase in severity and frequency over the coming decades, the Alaska Native peoples in Hoonah need to have a plan to secure their traditional resources and adapt to oncoming environmental changes.

The goal of this project was to create a climate change adaptation plan in collaboration with Hoonah Indian Association (HIA) Environmental, a department within the Tlingit tribal government. While data is being collected and analyzed on a larger scale for Southeast Alaska, our project aimed to compile and analyze local community data through a variety of collection methods.

We created and analyzed surveys and interviews, as well as hosted a community event to generate novel data related to adaptation strategies. The survey identified which resources were of highest concern within the community, and the interviews aimed to elicit traditional adaptation responses to environmental changes. These methods resulted in a first draft of HIA Environmental’s Climate Adaptation Plan, which will be used to provide outreach and education to the community about adaptation to climate change impacts, as well as to help create a community-led strategy for Hoonah’s future.

Presenters: Jillian Brown, MS (SusSys); Erika Kinninger, MS (BEC); Rishi Madethatt, MS (SusSys); Nick Rojas, MS (SusSys), MBA; Swathy Vidyadharan, MS (SusSys), MSE; Nazli Yazdizadeh, MS (SusSys)

Advisor: Dr. Gregory Keoleian

Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Client: Meijer

As a retailer with business activities, including procurement, distribution, manufacturing, and retail operations in over six U.S. states, Meijer has a vast and complex value chain. In order to expand its sustainability programs and goals outside of its direct operations and into its value chain, Meijer must first complete a Scope 3 inventory to identify the most pertinent areas of impact.

To that end, this project aims to support the Meijer team in conducting a Scope 3 emissions inventory. The research goals were to: 1) Perform market research for comprehensive; 2) benchmarking analysis to understand methodologies employed by peer companies, Identify and classify relevant Scope 3 categories for Meijer; 3) Work with the Meijer team to gather data needed to carry out this analysis; 4) Create a peer-reviewed Scope 3 inventory calculation framework, including emission factors and analysis methods; 5) Apply this calculation framework to the data gathered from Meijer to establish their Scope 3 emissions inventory, and 6) Document limitations with data and analysis methods and provide recommendations for future Scope 3 inventories.

Within the scope of this project, we have also discussed the impacts of each of these 15 Scope 3 categories, various shortcomings concerning methodologies deployed, data management, and future scope for improvement. These discussions are meant to inform future initiatives within Meijer to assist in refining their emissions inventory and encouraging Scope 3 inventory to help guide business decisions across the value chain.

Presenters: Lucas Eshuis, MS (SusSys); Zach Brooks, MS (GDS); Zoe Fernando-Santana, MS (EPP, EJ); Jalyn Prout, MS (EPP); Saif Ur Rehman, MS (EPP)

Advisor: Dr. Sarah Mills

Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Client: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)

Technological advancements in wind turbine design have led to taller, more efficient turbines that are capable of producing more electricity. This means that developers can install fewer wind turbines and achieve the same or more generation capacity for a project. However, these changes will also affect the visual and economic impacts of wind projects, which are two factors that strongly influence the community acceptance of these deployments. Therefore, a choice-experiment survey was designed to better understand how these visual and economic impacts change with the new generation of taller wind turbines.

Here, we report on our methodology for design and pre-test an online survey that could be deployed nationwide to better understand preferences related to the visual and economic impacts of tall turbines. The survey utilizes a set of visual representations that display hypothetical wind turbine arrangements, dimensions, and calculated individual and community-level economic compensation scenarios.