Sense of Place in the Anthropocene: A students-teaching-students course

Contemporary environmental education is tasked with the acknowledgement of the Anthropocene - an informal but ubiquitous term for the current geological epoch which arose from anthropogenic changes to the Earth system - and its accompanying socio-ecological implications. Sense of Place can be a hybridized tool of personal agency and global awareness for this task. Through the creation, execution and reflection of a 14-student students-teaching-students (STS) course at the University of Vermont in the Spring of 2019, Giannina Gaspero-Beckstrom and Ella Mighell aimed to facilitate a peer-to-peer learning environment that addressed sense of place, social justice and community engagement. The students-teaching-students framework is an alternative educational approach that supports the values and practices of the University of Vermont’s Environmental Program, as well as an intentional breakdown of the hierarchical knowledge paradigm. Using alternative pedagogies (predominately critical and place-based), we attempted to facilitate meaningful learning through creative expression, experiential education, community dialogue and personal reflection. Our intention with this was to encourage awareness and action

Big Book in a Small Pond: An Investigation of Preschool Teachers’ Use of Emergent Literacy Strategies When Reading Big and Typical-Sized Picture Books Aloud

The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency with which preschool teachers use a variety of instructional strategies to promote students’ emergent literacy skills during group read-aloud time. These strategies included print-referencing, dialogic reading techniques, and Shared Book Experience practices. More specifically, the researcher compared the teachers’ use of these strategies when reading typical-sized books versus big books. A total of eight preschool teachers participated in this study. The researcher filmed each participant reading two children’s books aloud—one big and one typical-sized, and the videos were transcribed and coded for read- aloud behaviors. The teachers’ use of emergent literacy reading strategies did not differ as a function of book size. Additionally, the teachers’ use of read-aloud strategies was infrequent in general. These findings suggest that big books are not inherently helpful in improving teachers’ use of these strategies, and that further read-aloud training may be necessary in order to elicit a higher frequency of these behaviors in teachers

A decade of plague in Mahajanga, Madagascar: insights into the global maritime spread of pandemic plague

A cluster of human plague cases occurred in the seaport city of Mahajanga, Madagascar, from 1991 to 1999 following 62 years with no evidence of plague, which offered insights into plague pathogen dynamics in an urban environment. We analyzed a set of 44 Mahajanga isolates from this 9-year outbreak, as well as an additional 218 Malagasy isolates from the highland foci. We sequenced the genomes of four Mahajanga strains, performed whole-genome sequence single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discovery on those strains, screened the discovered SNPs, and performed a high-resolution 43-locus multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis of the isolate panel. Twenty-two new SNPs were identified and defined a new phylogenetic lineage among the Malagasy isolates. Phylogeographic analysis suggests that the Mahajanga lineage likely originated in the Ambositra district in the highlands, spread throughout the northern central highlands, and was then introduced into and became transiently established in Mahajanga. Although multiple transfers between the central highlands and Mahajanga occurred, there was a locally differentiating and dominant subpopulation that was primarily responsible for the 1991-to-1999 Mahajanga outbreaks. Phylotemporal analysis of this Mahajanga subpopulation revealed a cycling pattern of diversity generation and loss that occurred during and after each outbreak. This pattern is consistent with severe interseasonal genetic bottlenecks along with large seasonal population expansions. The ultimate extinction of plague pathogens in Mahajanga suggests that, in this environment, the plague pathogen niche is tenuous at best. However, the temporary large pathogen population expansion provides the means for plague pathogens to disperse and become ecologically established in more suitable nonurban environments. Maritime spread of plague led to the global dissemination of this disease and affected the course of human history. Multiple historical plague waves resulted in massive human mortalities in three classical plague pandemics: Justinian (6th and 7th centuries), Middle Ages (14th to 17th centuries), and third (mid-1800s to the present). Key to these events was the pathogen’s entry into new lands by “plague ships” via seaport cities. Although initial disease outbreaks in ports were common, they were almost never sustained for long and plague pathogens survived only if they could become established in ecologically suitable habitats. Although plague pathogens’ ability to invade port cities has been essential for intercontinental spread, these regions have not proven to be a suitable long-term niche. The disease dynamics in port cities such as Mahajanga are thus critical to plague pathogen amplification and dispersal into new suitable ecological niches for the observed global long-term maintenance of plague pathogens

Lutheran Higher Education in a Secular Age: Religious Identity and Mission at ELCA Colleges and Universities

This exploratory mixed methods case study examined the relationship between espoused and perceived religious identity and mission at five colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America through the lenses of secularization theory, missional leadership, ecclesiology, Trinitarian theology, adaptive leadership, and challenges in the higher education market. Results indicated that humanism is the primary means of describing religious identity and mission at ELCA schools and there are widely varying assumptions about what it means to be a college or university of the church. Advocates and skeptics of the institution’s religious identity and mission interpret reality through the lens of secularization despite the fact that it has been called into question. This leads to an unproductive tug of war between groups who believe that either acquiescence or resistance to secularism is the proper response

“A Chilling Effect for Sexual Assault Survivors”: An Examination of Campus-Based Advocacy and the Proposals to Title IX Under the Trump Administration

Students attending colleges and universities across the United States are overwhelmingly affected by campus sexual violence. Research finds that between one in four and one in five female students will at some time during their college career experience campus sexual assault (Muehlenhard et al., 2017; Krebs et al., 2016; Cantor et al., 2015; The White House 2014). Although the sexual assault itself is traumatizing, students may also experience psychological responses such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, fear and guilt, mood disorders, and more (Deisinger, 2017). In addition to such responses, students are further impacted by social factors such as victim blaming in which places the blame and responsibility of the assault on victims and survivors themselves. For this reason, the position of campus-based advocates plays a crucial role in addressing the aftermath of experiencing campus sexual assault. Campus-based advocates have the ability to empower and support students who have experienced campus sexual assault while also providing them with resources and options for reporting (Brubaker, 2019). In addition to providing advocacy, campus-based advocates also have the unique opportunity to educate and bring further awareness of campus sexual assault to the wider campus community. The purpose of this thesis is to determine the perception and need for campus-based advocates on university campuses as evidenced by campus-based advocates themselves. This study will seek to assess the value of campus-based advocates from the perspective of a feminist lens intent upon supporting the awareness and experiences of student victims and survivors of sexual violence. Furthermore, several frameworks will be examined in order to situate the value of campus-based advocates such as the Trump administration’s proposals to Title IX, barriers experienced and the absence of advocates on college campuses. Qualitative research is utilized in order to interview campus-based advocates through semi-structured processes with the aim of providing this unique perspective

Microalgae Growth for Wastewater Remediation and Biofuel Production

Excess nutrient loading due to phosphorus and nitrates is a ubiquitous problem in water treatment facilities across the United States. While these compounds are valuable commodities in fertilizers, they can be harmful to humans when consumed in high concentrations and lead to toxic algae blooms and eutrophication when released into the environment. Established treatment methods include bacterial reduction, biomass uptake, and chemical processes like magnesium spiking to encourage struvite precipitation. Previous studies have noted that algae are a particularly promising tool for phosphorus and nitrate removal in wastewater through mechanisms such as struvite formation (Hillman, 2020). In addition, studies have noted that algae are good for biofuel production through wet processes like hydrothermal liquefaction (Barlow, 2016 and Peterson, 2018). Biofuel production using raw algae alone is not economically feasible, however this can be addressed by combining biofuel production with other processes like wastewater treatment and bioplastic production in order to turn a profit. Struvite precipitation increases the ash content of the biofilm and can diminish the cost-effectiveness of biofuel production if not addressed.In this project, naturally occurring algae from the Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility were collected and used to treat pressate for excess nutrient loading. Produced biomass is then available for use in a number of bioproduct operations, including production of bioplastics, biofuels, therapeutics, and feed stock. This project focuses on the quantification of nutrient removal during biofilm growth and on the removal of struvite from biomass to optimize biofuel production from the biomass. Citations: Jay Barlow, Ronald C. Sims, Jason C. Quinn, “Techno-economic and life-cycle assessment of an attached growth algal biorefinery, Bioresource Technology,” Volume 220, 2016, Pages 360-368, ISSN 0960-8524, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.08.091.Peterson, Benjamin L., \u27Development and Optimization of a Produced Water, Biofilm Based Microalgae Cultivation System for Biocrude Conversion with Hydrothermal Liquefaction\u27 (2018). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7237. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7237Hillman, Kyle M., \u27Observation of Struvite in the Mixed Microalgae Biofilm Matrix of a Rotating Algal Biofilm Reactor During Nutrient Removal from Municipal Anaerobic Digester Filtrate\u27 (2020). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7796. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7796Presentation Time: Wednesday, 9-10 a.m