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Faculty Senate Executive Committee Minutes September 22, 2025
No full textCall to Order Approval of Minutes - August 25, 2025 University Business Faculty Senate Business Information EPC Report - September 4, 2025 Report EPC Annual Report Old Business New Business Adjourn: 4:30 p
A Farmer\u27s Guide to Egg Quality, Safety, and Flock Health
No full textEggs are a valuable source of nutrition and income for many backyard and smallholder farmers. To ensure a steady supply of high-quality eggs, it\u27s essential to understand the key factors that influence hens’ health and productivity. From proper nutrition to effective lighting and disease prevention, each decision you make affects your flock’s performance. This guide offers practical advice to help you raise resilient, high-laying hens and build a successful small-scale egg production system, no matter your level of experience
Breach Modeling Flume Tests
No full textFrom previous flume tests conducted in the framework of the OVERCOME Project, intended to investigate the effect of different soil materials, overflow discharges, and upstream face watertightness on the breaching processes of overflowed levee sections, we determined the need for further investigation on the effect of test repeatability, content of fines and armouring caused by the coarser particles. This document presents the results of this new set of tests which have shown an impact of these variables on the breach macro erosion processes, erosion rates and breach dimensions
Too Hot to Handle: Assessing Practitioner Climate Service Needs to Advance Heat Resilience
No full textExtreme heat is deadly and it is disproportionately experienced by lower-income, minority, and marginalized community members. Heat practitioners are faced with the dual challenges of taking action to mitigate the level of heat experienced by local residents while preparing communities to manage unavoidable levels of elevated warming. In response to a lack of in-depth information about heat practitioner needs, this work aims to advance our understanding of how efforts to improve climate services may contribute to more effective extreme heat planning and decision-making in the United States. Through a two-round, mixed-methods approach that employed group interviews and a survey, we engaged with 144 heat practitioners from 40 states and Washington, DC. We found that the biggest barriers to extreme heat planning and implementation are a lack of perceived risk and a lack of internal staff capacity, and that practitioners would welcome additional heat related information and tools. The two practitioner “needs” that respondents considered to be most impactful are: regularly updated local-scale extreme heat data collection, and improved information about how extreme heat impacts different systems. We found significant differences in the perceived impactfulness of interventions based on whether a respondent was from a rural or urban area and also based on their level of educational attainment.
Practical implications: Climate-induced extreme heat is deadly and disproportionately impacts lower-income, minority, and marginalized community members. People working for local and regional governments are responsible for making decisions and implementing actions to reduce the impacts of extreme heat in their communities. Those tasked with that work are referred to here as heat practitioners. To understand their needs we conducted a series of interviews and a survey that engaged over 140 heat practitioners from 40 states and Washington, DC. In this paper we share our findings that bring an in-depth understanding of climate service needs specific to those working to protect people from extreme heat.
An important finding from our work is that climate services cannot be just about more information, there is a need for building adaptive capacity and support to overcome complex barriers. Specifically we see a clear need to address the silos heat practitioners find themselves in. Additionally, by elevating the importance of heat within communities practitioners will have an easier time working to manage and mitigate this threat.
We find a strong call for better information that is tailored to local contexts. Heat practitioners said that the most impactful thing that would benefit their work is updated local-scale extreme heat data collection and on-the-ground monitoring. Another highly localized data need was information about the relationship between urban design and extreme heat. We also heard that information should be about specific actions heat practitioners could take to address this threat. One specific example is the request for information about the relative effectiveness of nature-based solutions.
Heat practitioners also noted that translation of information was crucial for their work. They specifically note a need for translations that connect extreme heat to risk. For example heat practitioners consider a regionally specific heat index as potentially having a high level of impact which indicates the need for translation efforts. The need for translation is also made clear when we hear quotes like “Instead of giving me the data, show me what I can do with the data.”
Finally, we observed a need for climate services to be specific to the circumstances of different places. Respondents working in urban areas were more likely to indicate that additional information would be impactful to their work. This difference could be addressed by developing information that is more clearly tailored to and relevant for rural areas. Additionally, we observed different needs between those with postgraduate education and those with bachelor’s degrees or less. This education divide could be addressed by improved access to education as well as different types of information provided to each group. Heat practitioners were somewhat siloed into those that focus on mitigating heat and those that focus on management of heat. This could be addressed by both working to bridge these two groups and by developing services specific to each type of heat practitioner
Community Engaged Research to Optimize Cancer Prevention Strategies: A Look at Amplifying Voices Within Community Based Organizations to Impact Cancer Outcome in Utah
No full textBlack Americans (BA) continue to experience cancer disparities nationally and regionally. Although only 2% of BA reside in the state of Utah, this population shoulders a larger cancer burden. Further, BA women have one of the highest incidence of breast cancer and also an increased risk for other cancers (e.g. colon). The cancer burden and changing demographics within the state warrant focus on these under-represented groups as those moving within the area are increasing. This project details Community-Engaged Research (CEnR) between the University of Utah, the Huntsman Cancer Institute and a community advisory board (CAB) who have collaborated on cancer communication pilot projects for the past 2 years. The collaboration highligted in the poster presentation details research and community-engagement activities for two studies that focus on innovative cancer communication strategies within these populations. A Community Action Team (CAT) was created in November 2022 and comprised of members of the Physical and Mental Health Committee of the Greater Salt Lake City Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority, Inc., and representatives from other predominately Faith and Community-Based organizations (Calvary Baptist Church, Second Baptist, Best of Africa). The CAT helped guide several parts of research design including study questions, recruitment and data collection and led to the creation of another CAB in 2023 that has focused on building capacity with Black Immigrant/Refugee community organizations
The Economic Impact of Drought on Alfalfa Price Formation and Irrigation Modernization Feasibility in the Western U.S.
No full textThis research examines how drought severity affects alfalfa hay prices across nine Western states from 2021 to 2024, using detailed economic analysis and market data. The findings show that droughts significantly raise alfalfa prices, especially when combined with other market and product factors such as forage quality and package, while other factors like corn prices also influence the market. Additionally, the research examines the economic potential of upgrading wheel-line irrigation systems with technologies such as low-pressure sprinklers and automated controls. Modernization substantially reduces water, labor, and energy costs while boosting crop yields, offering a practical solution for farmers. In Utah, widespread adoption could generate significant economic benefits over time. These findings provide clear guidance for farmers and policymakers to strengthen alfalfa production against drought and climate challenges, promoting sustainable agriculture in the Western United States
Shade as an Agro-Technique to Improve Gas Exchange, Productivity, Bioactive Potential, and Antioxidant Activity of Fruits of \u3cem\u3eHylocereus costaricensis\u3c/em\u3e
No full textHylocereus species are promising for enhancing fruit productivity in arid regions, but high solar radiation often leads to yield loss. This study aimed to evaluate the short-term impact of different shading levels on the physiological performance, productivity, and post-harvest quality of Hylocereus costaricensis under semi-arid conditions. Plants were grown in the field under two shade levels, i.e., 35 and 50% and their performances were compared to plants under control, i.e., 0% of shade or full sunlight. The nighttime CO2 assimilation and productivity increased significantly by 310.5 and 114.6% and 34.3 and 50.14% for plants under 35 and 50% of shade, respectively, compared to the control. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that shade enhanced skin betalain (BETS) and phenolic content (PETP), whereas non-shaded plants expressed traits more closely associated with plant and fruit photoprotective pigment synthesis, i.e., total carotenoids and yellow flavonoids, respectively, along with total sugar accumulation, underscoring the significant impact of shading on both metabolic activity and overall agronomic outcomes. Shading within the 35% to 50% range is effective to cope with high solar radiation by improving photosynthetic capacity, productivity, and post-harvest quality, especially regarding the accumulation of pigments such as betalains, indicating that shade as an agro-technique is a valuable approach for the cultivation of Hylocereus species in dryland regions
Retaining the herd: Habitat restoration efforts increase patch retention times in mule deer
No full textAcross much of their range, and the State of Utah, mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations have been declining. Declines in herd numbers can be attributed to alterations to historic habitats through the introduction of exotic annual grasses and the encroachment of pinyon-juniper forests on sagebrush ecosystems, changing resource availability. To combat habitat alterations, the Utah Department of Natural Resources has implemented various habitat restoration treatments through the Watershed Restoration Initiative , broadly to remove exotic species and decrease pinyon juniper woodland encroachment. We investigated how mule deer patch retention times differ on eight different habitat restoration treatment types during summer and winter across the State of Utah, as retention time is expected to reflect resource availability. We developed seasonal moving-window Brownian Bridge Movement Models for individual mule deer, which we intersected with the locations of habitat restoration treatments and randomly generated background landscape polygons. We quantified patch retention time as the number of days individuals’ moving window movement models overlapped treatment or random polygons during each season, which we analyzed with a Poisson regression. Our Poisson regression analysis indicated sites treated to remove pinyon and juniper, both with (45.0 days) and without seeding (44.2 days), as well as sagebrush restoration sites (47.0 days), had increased retention times when compared to the landscape average in winter (34.2 days), with effects decreasing 5+ years post treatment. Retention times in summer were longer across all treatment types in the 2-4-year post-treatment age class (36.2 days) compared to the landscape average (29.1 days). Our results demonstrate the positive effects of habitat restoration through increased patch retention times both on mule deer winter and summer range, and may suggest need for retreatment 5+ years following initial treatment to maximize mule deer use
Faculty Senate Executive Committee Minutes November 17, 2025
No full textCall to Order Approval of Minutes - October 17, 2025 University Business Faculty Senate Business Information EPC Report - November 6, 2025 Report Honors Program Annual Report USUSA Annual Report Faculty Evaluation Committee Old Business New Business Adjourn: 4:46 p
Access to Healthy and Nutritious Food in Utah: Results From the 2024 Utah Wellbeing Survey
No full textEvery Utahn, regardless of income, ZIP code, race, age, or health status, deserves reliable access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally meaningful food. Yet, too many communities across the state face persistent barriers that limit their ability to eat well and live healthy lives. This fact sheet reviews results of a 2024 Utah State University (USU) Extension needs assessment that identified food and nutrition security as a high-priority issue in Utah. It explores the current landscape, identifies key challenges, and outlines strategic opportunities for USU Extension and its partners to enhance food security statewide