Developing "Bioenvironmental Science" As An Emerging Science Discipline: An Analysis Of Quantitative Secondary Data Of Wastewater Treatment Decontamination Methods For Theoretical Validation And Application In Public Health And Environmental Science
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Date
2016
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Department
Biology
Program
Doctor of Philosophy
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This item is made available by Morgan State University for personal, educational, and research purposes in accordance with Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Other uses may require permission from the copyright owner.
Abstract
Bioenvironmental science, as a discipline or theory, paradigm or model, currently does not exist, at large, in the interdisciplinary matrix of the diverse fields of science. This dissertation proposes to develop the first bioenvironmental science as a theoretical and practice-based branch of science that integrates the study of biological and environmental sciences and systems while, at the same time, incorporating other scientific disciplines. The development of academic bioenvironmental science programs currently exist at a few higher institutions of learning across the World. Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States of America, is one such institution where a doctoral program in bioenvironmental science began in fall 2000. This dissertation is structured around two (2) analytical methods of data collection: 1) qualitative and 2) quantitative. The qualitative analytical methods employed a series of data collection strategies, comprising: structured key informant interviews, internal document reviews, and extensive literature reviews. The quantitative method relied on the acquisition of proprietary data collected by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). This dissertation is based on secondary data analysis of undisclosed wastewater treatment facilities. These data were generated from randomly selected wastewater treatment facilities across the United States (U.S.). The qualitative and quantitative collection methods served as a mixed-method scientifically that triangulated these diverse data collection methods to validate the interdisciplinary theory of bioenvironmental science, as an emerging science discipline. The quantitative analysis phase of this dissertation comprises the analysis of data provided by USGS on advance oxidation technologies used to decontaminate pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in the samples of wastewater treatment plants effluents collected across the U.S. Data will be analyzed through the use of three statistical analyses, consisting of descriptive, inferential, and predictive. These statistics will help frame the analysis to validate the evolution of bioenvironmental science and BES theory, as an emerging interdisciplinary science that spans biological and environmental sciences. The specific aims of this dissertation research consist of: 1. Development of a bioenvironmental science theoretical framework to be tested and validated conceptually. 2. Analyze and mine data provided by USGS for patterns in support of bioenvironmental science and theory. 3. Development of wastewater treatment index for predictive modeling and application in bioenvironmental science. This model is also useful to safeguard public health and environmental health.