Abstract
   This dissertation explores the function of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus as a complex socio-environmental system within the context of the global economic system with a focus on water pollution and local social dimensions important for sustainability management. A mixed methods case study of the rural industrialized WEF nexus of Kern County, CA was conducted using a critical theoretical frame. A spatial analysis of tap water pollution exposure risk stemming from industrial agriculture and fossil fuel development showed that CA’s public health goal safety thresholds for 1,2,3-Trichloropropane, 1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane, nitrate, arsenic, hexavalent chromium, haloacetic acids, and total trihalomethanes have been far exceeded in risk zones, indicating the unsustainable nature of the current economic paradigm. To explore social dimensions of the nexus, a survey was distributed to residents in the pollution exposure risk zones. Factor analysis and bi-variate correlations of Likert-scale questions showed that place meaning and place attachment are drivers of perceptions of the impacts of nexus industries while also being drivers for concern for changes to nexus industries, thus providing mechanisms and implications for sustainability management. Critical thematic analysis of qualitative survey responses supported evidence for green crime in Kern County’s WEF nexus including ecological disorganization, environmental injustice victimization, and unequal ecological exchange. Local strategies to build support for sustainability policy include directing funds from Kern County’s renewable energy industry to local sectors of society, cooperative management, and nurturing place meaning to be aligned with nature's restorative quality. While degrowth, decarbonization, and regenerative agriculture are needed to reduce water toxicity, further case studies of the rural industrialized nexus are needed to build momentum for social change and the creation of a global scale water quality database. Sustainable development goal (SDG) 6 needs to prioritize rural WEF nexus industry chemicals and relative scientifically defined safety thresholds for water quality. The SDGs must also prioritize socio-environmental quality and take on the task of transforming economic rationalization locally, within sustainable “development” agendas, and for management of the WEF nexus.
   

Biography
   Deseret Weeks is a Ph.D. candidate in the Management of Complex Systems at UC Merced. Deseret’s research interests encompass the political ecology/environmental sociology and management of global change, particularly water quality at the intersection of industrial development, spatial risk assessment, adaptive cooperative management, and mixed methods research that include radical and social science methods complimented by quantitative environmental data. Deseret holds a B.A. in Geography and Environmental Studies from UCLA and an M.A. in Geography with a concentration in Resource Management and Environmental Planning from San Francisco State University.

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https://ucmerced.zoom.us/j/6702068736?omn=82879314354