8411 research outputs found
Sort by
Conservation efforts concerning native bee species of Michigan
Get PDFBee species all over the world are declining at concerning rates. However, it is good to see the public rallying behind the “save the bees!” movement even though most efforts from this movement have been on the conservation of the European honeybees. This is because most people often associate the honeybee, which is only one of 20,000 known bee species in the world, to all other bees. Therefore, conservation efforts should be broadened and aimed towards the many native bee species that can be found locally in North America. In the state of Michigan, there are over 450 species, and conservation for these species is most effectively catalyzed by education and outreach, which can bring awareness to these native bee species. What resulted from these concerns over native bees is the creation of a pollinator garden intended for education of native bees at Albion College’s Whitehouse Nature Center in Albion, Michigan
North Korean Refugees Along the Route to Freedom: Challenges of Geopolitics
Get PDFThis Independent Study Project conducts an analysis of the North Korean Refugee Crisis by following the refugees along their escape route from the North Korean regime. By following a common escape route that includes China, Laos, Thailand, and finally, South Korea, this study unpacks the geopolitical factors and diplomatic relations that hinder and improve the progress of these refugees. Afterward, this study analyzes the resettlement process that North Korean refugees undergo in South Korea and the challenges that remain even after gaining South Korean citizenship. Finally, this project concludes by suggesting that the international community actively endeavor to establish a regional framework to address the North Korean refugee crisis, under the leadership of South Korea
Medical Trust in Pediatric Care in the United States
Get PDFTrust is a critical aspect of the patient-provider dynamic, but in the U.S., its importance is overlooked in many medical settings, especially among those from low socio-economic groups. As the disparities in American healthcare are being recognized on a larger scale, it is necessary to further uncover why this is the case, and how to begin to remedy this disparity. This study presents an original qualitative data set of perspectives from four current health/mental health practitioners, based on their experiences with their pediatric patients, and how the concept of trust is critical to their service provision. Supported by literature, this research illuminates the influence of corporate medicine on the deterioration of medical trust in the U.S. This can be seen in the case of vaccine hesitancy, especially in the age of access to un-vetted information through the Internet. Further, from firsthand accounts, patterns emerge that suggest an increased feeling of betrayal by the medical industry among those from minority groups in the U.S. – often those who have lower incomes and less familiarity with primary care. These results lead to the conclusion that it is imperative to devote extra attention to these communities, including special care to adapting healthcare to their unique culture and needs. By doing this, providers can begin to build honest, reciprocal, ongoing relationships with their patients and their caregivers. While this alone does not solve the fracture between the medical community and the American citizens, it may be a step in the right direction towards repairing the damage
Una evaluación de la evolución y el futuro de la vigilancia de la pesca ilegal en Antártida bajo la CCRVMA
No full textEste documento de investigación evalúa el tema de la pesca ilegal en el Área de la Convención de la Antártida establecida por la Comisión para la Conservación de los Recursos Vivos Marinos Antárticos (CCRVMA). El enfoque general de esta investigación es evaluar la capacidad de la Comisión para abordar la preocupación de la pesca ilegal en el Área de la Convención. Este objetivo se persigue examinando tres subpreguntas: ¿cómo ha evolucionado la pesca ilegal en el Área de la Convención a lo largo del período estudiado, qué medidas ha tomado con éxito la Comisión con respecto al monitoreo y cumplimiento de la pesca ilegal, y qué instancias de resistencia ha encontrada la Comisión con respecto al monitoreo y cumplimiento de la pesca ilegal? La investigación se centra en el período de 2012 a 2019 y analiza los informes anuales de la reunión de la CCRVMA durante este período de tiempo. Esta investigación indica que si bien ha habido una disminución general en la actividad de pesca ilegal en los últimos años, todavía hay evidencia de actividad ilegal en el Área de la Convención que debe abordarse. Además, si bien la Comisión ha supervisado la implementación exitosa de una variedad de iniciativas para abordar la pesca ilegal, incluido el empleo de desarrollos tecnológicos a través de imágenes satelitales y el fortalecimiento de las acciones nacionales, esta investigación también destaca la resistencia que la Comisión ha enfrentado en sus esfuerzos y en la actualidad las problemas que aún deben abordarse, como la participación de Partes No Contratantes en el SDC, el transbordo, y siguiente desarrollo de la Lista de Buques INDNR
El proceso de decolonialidad en las escuelas chilenas: Desde la educación popular y la pedagogía crítica hasta las prácticas educativas regulares
Get PDFEste proyecto pretende entender cómo se ve la educación decolonial en Chile y, en turno, determinar si o no las prácticas decoloniales pueden ocurrir en las escuelas regulares. Teniendo en cuenta el contexto político, el proyecto explora las experiencias de los profesores de un colegio elite, un colegio libre (ambos basados en la pedagogía crítica y la educación popular) y un colegio regular. Como muestra el texto, una comprensión histórica, la creación de una educación emancipatoria y política y la fundación del “modo otro” (de saber, hacer, pensar, percibir, sentir, ser y vivir) son partes fundamentales de la educación decolonial. Si bien incorporar las prácticas decoloniales en el entorno de las escuelas regulares es un proceso difícil, no es imposible. Requiere un programa escolar fuerte y claro, la unidad de la escuela y la interpretación curricular. Si bien la decolonialidad es una manera de vida y, por lo tanto, va más allá de la educación, la escuela puede desempeñar un papel poderoso en el proceso.
This project aims to understand what decolonial education looks like in Chile and, in turn, determine whether or not decolonial practices can occur in regular schools. Taking the political context into account, this project explores teacher experiences in an elite school, a free school (both based in critical pedagogy and popular education) and a regular school. As the text shows, historical understanding, the creation of an emancipatory and political education, and the establishment of the “other mode” (of knowing, doing, thinking, perceiving, feeling, being, and living) are fundamental parts of decolonial education. While incorporating decolonial practices into the regular school environment is a challenging process, it is not impossible. It requires a strong and clear school program, the unity of the school and curricular interpretation. While decoloniality is a way of life and, therefore, goes beyond education, the school can play a powerful part in the process
If Watersheds Spoke: A condition analysis of the Rio Tomebamba watershed in southern Ecuador using GIS analysis
Get PDFUnderstanding processes and ecological threats occurring at the watershed level scale composes a critical piece of water resource conservation and management. This proves doubly true in areas such as the Ecuadorian highlands where water resources depend heavily on the hydrologic regulation capacities of páramo soils. This study examined watershed condition of the Rio Tomebamba watershed and existing habitat for Metallura baroni and Chibchanomys orcesi, two highly endemic species, within its boundaries. Watershed condition was determined based on a simple index that considered nine indicators of watershed health—converted land, impacted riparian zones, impermeable surfaces, water quality, fluvial habitat condition, riparian vegetation condition, macroinvertebrate community composition, road density, and erosion potential—in four analysis regions of the Rio Tomebamba watershed. Data spanning a five-year period (2015-2019) were analyzed using ArcGIS Pro software. Cultivated pasture was the most common converted land type across all analysis regions, composing 5.8% of the entire Rio Tomebamba watershed. In general watershed condition was highest in the Llaviucu analysis region and lowest in the Lower Tomebamba analysis region. No analysis region, including the Llaviucu region which is protected almost entirely by the Cajas National Park boundary, received an “excellent” condition rating.
The Rio Tomebamba watershed as a whole was determined to be in “acceptable” condition. The results showed that riparian corridor degradation posed the most concern across all analysis regions within the watershed. Conservation and restoration of such areas would provide critical habitat for Chibchanomys orcesi, a highly endemic water mouse, and serve as an effective long-term management strategy for the area’s water resources.
El conocimiento de los procesos y amenazas ocurriendo al nivel de la cuenca es bastante importante para la gestión y conservación de los recursos de agua, especialmente en las regiones altas de Ecuador donde estos recursos dependen de la regulación hídrica de los suelos de páramo. Esta investigación consideró la condición de la cuenca de Rio Tomebamba y el hábitat que existe para Metallura baroni y Chibchanomys orcesi, dos especies endémicas, dentro de la cuenca. La condición de la cuenca se determinó por un índice simple, considerando nueve indicadores de la de una cuenca: tierra reconvertida, zonas de riberas impactadas, superficies impermeables, la calidad de agua, la condición de hábitat fluvial, la condición de vegetación ribereña, la composición de las comunidades de macroinvertebrados, la densidad de los caminos, y la potencia de erosión hídrica. Estos indicadores y el hábitat de las dos especies endémicas se analizaron sobre cuatro regiones dentro de la cuenca de Rio Tomebamba, usando ArcGIS Pro. Pasto cultivado fue el tipo de tierra reconvertida más común en todas las cuatro regiones y compuso 5.8% de la cuenca total. En general, la condición de la cuenca fue más alta en la región de Llaviucu y más baja en la región de Lower Tomebamba que en el resto de la cuenca. Ninguna de las regiones recibió una nota de condición excelente . La cuenca de Rio Tomebamba se determinó en condición aceptable. Los resultados demostraron que los corredores ribereños están en peor condición de los indicadores sobre todas las regiones de la cuenca. La conservación y restauración de estas áreas proveería hábitat importante para Chibchanomys orcesi, un ratón endémico de agua, y podría servir como una estrategia de gestión efectiva para los recursos de agua del área
Empty Streets, Active Feeds: Moroccan Youth Activism in the Age of Social Media
Get PDFSince the February 20 movement in 2011, Morocco has not witnessed large waves of political activism from its young population. However, Moroccan youth are not inactive citizens, and it would be a mischaracterization to call young Moroccans apolitical or disinterested. Rather, Moroccan youth are finding new ways to interact with political and social issues. With the increase in access to the Internet over the last fifteen years, social media has become an important forum for Moroccan youth, who have often felt marginalized from more traditional forms of political participation like unions and political parties. This research explores the ways that Moroccan youth use political activism on social media to confirm and challenge their identities, looking specifically at the cultural and political contexts that define the way young Moroccans create and view content. Using the World Values Survey, Power 2 Youth research, and qualitative interviews, this research finds that while Moroccans under the age of 29 are limited in their political activity in traditional methods, they use social media as a forum to express their activist leanings and feelings toward current events, while still maintaining a careful awareness of their commentary on and relationship toward the state
Good Intentions, Mixed Results: Why Aid in Uganda Is Fragmented and What Can Be Done About It
Get PDFThis paper examines the phenomenon of aid fragmentation and donor proliferation in Uganda. As the development cooperation landscape has become increasingly complex in recent years, there is significant interest in examining how this complexity, also called fragmentation, affects development outcomes in recipient countries. Specifically, this paper sets out to understand the driving forces behind aid fragmentation in Uganda, the recent trends in fragmentation and coordination, and potential pathways forward to address the problem.
Research for this paper came from a series of interviews with economic experts in Uganda, an exploratory study of quantitative indicators of fragmentation over the last decade, and an extensive review of secondary literature on the subject, both in Uganda and worldwide.
This paper finds clear evidence for increasing fragmentation of aid in Uganda over the last decade, despite donor commitments for increased coordination. Additionally, aid fragmentation translates to sub-optimal development outcomes, both directly through increased transaction costs and indirectly through undermined governmental quality. There are a broad range of potential approaches to donor coordination; the primary aspect is the necessity for donor countries to embrace recipient leadership in the design of aid programs
El cuerpo en la poesía de mujeres ecuatorianas
No full textEste proyecto examina la presencia del cuerpo humano en la poesía de tres mujeres ecuatorianas: Aleyda Quevedo Rojas, Aurora Estrada y Ayala, y Sophia Yánez. Enfoco en como las imágenes del cuerpo en su poesía están relatados con algunos temas del poder y el genero. Específicamente, exploro los temas del patriarcado, el colonialismo, y la creación. En relación con el patriarcado, encontré que la poesía de Aleyda Quevedo Rojas aborda mucho con la expectativa social para la perfección del cuerpo femenino. Ella rechaza esta expectativa y abraza las imperfecciones de su cuerpo, incluyendo la fracasa del cuerpo a través de la enfermedad. Otro aspecto del cuerpo que está regulado por el patriarcado es la sexualidad. Quevedo escribe abierta y positivamente sobre la sexualidad, proveyendo un ejemplo de un cuerpo femenino liberado. La sexualidad del cuerpo también está conectada con el tema segundo: el colonialismo. Con la poesía erótica, poetas como Aleyda Quevedo Rojas y Sophia Yánez rechazan la regulación de los cuerpos a través de la religión colonial. Yánez también mezcla imágenes de la cultura indígena con la sexualidad, y de la naturaleza con la corporalidad humana. A través de estas combinaciones, Yánez crea una imagen nueva para imaginar el cuerpo afuera del paradigma dominante colonial. La poesía política de Aurora Estrada y Ayala describe el sufrimiento de los trabajadores indígenas, y como sus cuerpos están afectados por el colonialismo. Conectando otra vez con la corporalidad de la mujer, ella usa la imagen a la madre para crear una reacción emocional contra la injusticia del mundo. Las poetas conectan los símbolos de la maternidad con el acto de creación, el tema final. Ellas cuestionan la separación entre la mente y el cuerpo, y conectan el acto de escribir poesía con un acto físico de creación. Podemos ver en su poesía la creación de nuevas paradigmas y cosmovisiones a la realidad en que vivimos
Changing Water Resources’ Effect on Livelihoods and Socio-Ecological Relationships in Himalayan Communities of Nepal
Get PDFThe looming threat of climate change will lead to significant alterations in livelihoods and daily practices for individuals across the world. This paper seeks to identify the effects of climate change on hydrological regimes in Himalayan communities in Nepal with particular focus towards livelihood and socio-ecological transformations. Using the socio-ecological systems framework to analyze specific communities and their resource use, along with vulnerability and adaptative capacity analysis, this paper includes a meta-analysis of existing literature. Numerous findings indicated that rural, mountainous communities of Nepal face a variety of environmental impacts which may reduce viability of two significant modes of production: agriculture and pastoralism. Vulnerability to climate change among these communities is often related to socioeconomic status and history of social, economic, and political power. Additionally, the most significant method for reducing vulnerability is to diversify income generation. This research emphasizes the need for further exploration of the unique vulnerabilities of high altitude communities to transformations of hydrological regimes affected by climate change