Abstract

The Westhampton Lake is a campus icon and one of the University of Richmond's most prominent features. The significant attachment that members of the University community hold toward the lake imbues great value on the lake as a key geographic element of campus (Devine-Wright, 2013). However, the lake’s status as a campus monument does not absolve it from the greater effects of climate change, a phenomenon which will continue to transform the geography and ecology of the lake. Without a concrete understanding of the implications of current and future climate change on campus, the community may leave the Westhampton Lake susceptible to environmentally unsustainable practices which threaten the lake and, thereby, the face of campus. Over the course of the semester, student researchers collected and analyzed existing information about Westhampton Lake so as to educate the greater community on the lake’s health. This research team also offers recommendations so as to sustain the lake in the face of climate change on a local scale.

Paper prepared for the Environmental Studies Senior Seminar/Geography Capstone.

Document Type

Unpublished Paper

Publication Date

4-2014

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