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Seasonal Activity Patterns and Home Range Sizes of Wolves in the Human-Dominated Landscape of Northeast Türkiye
Get PDFGray wolves Canis lupus comprise one of the most widely distributed carnivore species on the planet, but they face myriad environmental and anthropogenic pressures. Previous research suggests that wolves adjust their time- and space-use seasonally to mitigate risks from humans, conspecifics, and other predators while maximizing their hunting and reproductive success. With many populations of wolves resettling in areas with dense human populations, understanding how wolves may adjust their temporal and spatial patterns in these more human-dominated landscapes is of high conservation importance. Typically, human presence causes wolves to increase their nocturnality and home range size. Here, we look at how seasonal home range size and diel activity patterns among resident and non-resident wolves differ in an ecosystem that experiences significant differences in human activity between seasons. While non-resident wolves had larger home ranges than resident wolves, there were no differences in home range sizes within residents and non-residents between seasons, suggesting that seasonal changes in human presence had no effect on home range size. The activity patterns of wolves were similar between seasons, but resident wolves had greater overlap with humans and were more active than non-resident wolves when humans were less present in the landscape. Both resident and non-resident wolves showed increased nocturnality, with both groups selecting for nocturnality more strongly in the nomadic season. This is the first study of tracking Türkiye\u27s wolves and offers the first descriptions of the temporal and spatial trends of GPS-collared wolves in this highly human-dominated environment
Lessons From Immersive Online Collaborative Modeling to Discuss More Adaptive Reservoir Operations
Get PDFThis work had the purpose to provoke discussion about more adaptive reservoir operations. This work created online collaborative modeling environments by using web spreadsheets (Google Sheets) during a video conference session. In each session, up to 6 collaborators immersed in water user roles. Then the collaborators consumed, saved, and traded water in response to their available water, other choices, and real-time discussion of choices. The collaboration was an alternative to prior offline or high-performance computing efforts that programmed water allocation rules to try to satisfy forecasted water demands across hydrologic scenarios. The collaboration also differed from prior efforts that excluded stakeholders, extracted data from participants, had a lead modeler or facilitation team mediate participant interactions with a model, or built a model then presented findings at the project end. In model sessions, collaborators improved more adaptive operations rather than separately developed and tested competing alternatives. 26 Colorado River managers and experts demonstrated use for a combined Lake Powell-Lake Mead water bank. The author used discussion and feedback to synthesize 10 lessons. For example, model to provoke discussion and insights rather than propose a solution, solicit feedback early, allow trades to increase flexibility, and recognize limits of model acceptability and adoption. To generate more actionable insights, next steps are engage multiple groups within the same model session and explore more management alternatives
Physical Activity in Play Environments Inclusively Designed for Children With and Without Disabilities
Get PDFThis study examines physical activity within inclusively designed play environments for children with and without disabilities. The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent children in the third grade with and without disabilities differ in physical activity across various behavior settings of an inclusively designed play environment. Of the 50 third-grade students, 34 participated in eight weeks of observations conducted during lunch recess. Accelerometers and GPS units were utilized to collect data during the observations. The majority of settings on this playground were identified as inclusive. Children with disabilities didn’t engage in organized games as often as the children without disabilities; they tended to play by themselves more often. Neither the children with disabilities nor the children without them seem to have a strong preference for one setting on the playground versus another. The study concludes that inclusively designed playgrounds reduce barriers for children with disabilities and create an environment that is accessible and beneficial for all children
Are Universities Adequately Preparing Undergraduate Students for Careers as Professional Wildlife Biologists?
Get PDFThe demands for diversely skilled wildlife biologists and scientific researchers in the wildlife profession are projected to increase. Increasing urbanization has affected wildlife management, and the recruitment of future wildlife professionals. Thus, state and federal supervisors in agencies that hire wildlife professionals are concerned that recent graduates of university wildlife programs lack the necessary skill-sets to address these complex contemporary wildlife management issues. My research sought to identify where the educational performance gaps may exist between university wildlife programs, wildlife agencies, and student expectations. To conduct my research, I evaluated undergraduate wildlife curricula offered by 42 accredited universities listed on the National Association of University Fisheries and Wildlife Programs. I compared their wildlife undergraduate curriculums to published OPM 0486 federal standards (OPM 0486 workforce guidelines) for educational requirements to qualify as a wildlife biologist. Concurrent to the curricula analysis, I surveyed state and federal wildlife agencies hiring supervisors to determine if recent hires possessed desired knowledge and skill-sets. Additionally, I emailed surveys to 38 undergraduate student chapters of The Wildlife Society to assess the students’ personal learning and professional goals and mentoring needs. Most university undergraduate wildlife programs may offer the coursework to meet OPM 0486 federal guidelines, but because of how the universities structure their curricula, students fail to fit the criteria. Additionally, many students expressed concerns that they are not receiving the mentoring they desire to prepare them for professional careers. Specific wildlife hiring supervisors included new hires did not have the proper hands-on skill-sets, human dimensions skills, communication skills, oral skills, leadership skills needed to succeed professionally. To address these gaps, I recommend that universities 1) update undergraduate wildlife course curricula, 2) create universal titles for wildlife courses that match the federal course list, and 3) build better partnerships with state and federal wildlife agencies to see what skill-sets they expect in new hires
Identifying the Types of Collective Engagement Structures That Manifest in Middle Grade Mathematics Classrooms
Get PDFWhile the potential of collaborative problem solving in mathematics is well known, facilitating effective group work is often challenging. One reason for this persistent difficulty educators face with collaborative problem solving can be traced to research and practice models that are not well-equipped to attend to the complexity of group work. The emerging construct of “collective engagement structures” represents one novel framework designed to attend to the complexity and variation of individual and group experience in collaborative problem solving. This study extends initial theorizing on collective engagement by offering descriptive accounts of the different types of collective engagement structures that emerged from analysis of middle grade groups. By analyzing 69 middle school students working in groups of three on complex mathematics tasks, we identified seven different collective engagement structures across the 23 groups: Follow The Leader, Let’s Figure This Out, Let’s Get The Job Done, We’re Really Into This, Let’s Win!, Let’s Have Fun, and Everybody For Themselves. Beyond an intellectual exercise, these structures revealed the student- and group-level competencies and indicators for optimal and sub-optimal group practices. In turn, these patterned variations in group experiences provide targeted opportunities for instructional intervention and improvement in service of collaborative practice
542 Million Years in a Flash: Eastern Utah\u27s Geologic Foundations
No full textJohn McPhee once described rocks as “…books. They have a different vocabulary, a different alphabet, but you learn how to read them.” In this talk, we will read that story from places like the Book Cliffs, the San Rafael Swell, the Colorado Plateau, and more, to understand the ancient geologic foundation of eastern Utah
26. Working Alongside, Not Against, AI Writing Tools in the Composition Classroom: A Dialectical Retrospective
Get PDFThis article presents a dialectical retrospective on thoughtfully integrating Generate AI tools such as ChatGPT into composition classrooms. Drawing on their experiences and research, the authors outline key principles for using AI as a supplemental aid rather than a replacement for student writing, promoting academic integrity, and fostering critical perspectives on the technology\u27s capabilities and limitations. They share experimental classroom activities and assignments that engage students in hands-on exploration and reflection on their AI-assisted writing processes. Student responses reveal nuanced engagement with the tools to support rather than shortcut learning. The authors argue that attempting to simply prohibit AI use is counterproductive; instead, educators should bring it into the light, teaching students to use in transparently and critically
Academic Standards Subcommittee Minutes September 19, 2024
Get PDFCOMMITTEE BUSINESS FUTURE TOPICS ACTION ITEM
Hacker, Their Actions, And Fear Appeal: A First Look Through the Lens of Children
Get PDFWith the increasing use of computers and smartphones by children, their online safety has become a major concern due to the lack of security awareness. Prior studies pointed to children\u27s poor password habit and vague perceptions on the significance of passwords. While users must be sufficiently motivated to perform a target behavior, a little study to date, focused on understanding how we can encourage children towards strong password creation. As we begin to address this gap, we examined children\u27s perceptions of adversary\u27s actions that instill fear in the context of password compromise. Our semi-structured interviews with 20 children (aged between 8 and 12) reveal their concerns around a hacker, which inform future designs how fear appeal can be leveraged as a motivational tool for children towards strong passwords