Example environment dissertation topic 7:

The wider environmental positives of reducing red mite infestations amongst poultry: A small-holder survey.

Red mites are a temporary ecto-parasite that can cause a number of problems for poultry owners as infestation can make chickens anaemic and may result in death. Given the environmental desirability to decrease food miles and the resultant benefits that increasing the number of poultry small-holders within the country brings, this dissertation looks at two distinct aspects of poultry rearing with regard to red mite. First, it examines small-holders’ perceptions as to the dangers of red mite by interviewing twenty small-holders in and around Stroud. Thereafter, it carries out a cost-benefit analysis for small-holders of utilising coops to be made out of recycled plastic rather than wood, as red mites are harboured in the crevices of wood. Secondly, the paper evaluates the level to which insecticides sprayed by small-holders are entering the wider environment, and whether the use of plastic coops outweighs this chemical hazard.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Bettany, S. and Kerrane, B. (2011). ‘The (post-human) consumer, the (post-avian) chicken and the (post-object) Eglu: Towards a material-semiotics of anti-consumption’, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 45(11/12), pp.1746-1756.
• Houghton-Wallace, J. and Lister, S. (2012). ‘Clinical avian practice: Backyard poultry: Husbandry and general management’, In Practice, Vol. 34, pp. 136-145.
• Maltby, L., Blake, N., Brock, T.C.M. and Van den Brink, P.J. (2005). ‘Insecticide species sensitivity distributions: Importance of test species selection and relevance to aquatic ecosystems’, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 24(2), pp. 379-388.