Digital Commons Network^™

Stem Stories, March 2017, #1, Ryan Lockard

STEM Stories

Faculty Profile - Marek K. Sliwinski, Part 1

Iowa Transplant, Mark Myers

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

As a professor in the Biology Department at UNI, one of my primary jobs is to teach young Iowans about ecology and the conservation of biodiversity. When I first encounter students in my classes, many view “nature” or “biodiversity” as unfamiliar and distant, perhaps something to be visited or experienced on vacation. I aim to teach these students about the historic transformation of Iowa’s landscape, the ways in which human activities alter the state’s ecosystems, and what ecologists and conservation biologists are doing to promote the conservation and restoration of biodiversity in Iowa. But learning is a two-way street. A …

The Role Of Working Memory Among Non-Traditional Foreign Language Students, Gabriela Olivares-Cuhat, Michelle H. Ploof

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Over the last 40 years, a growing number of nontraditional students have joined the ranks of higher education. However, due to a number of internal and external factors, these students face multiple social, economic, and academic challenges that may limit their success in postsecondary education. The focus of this article is to examine the implications of these challenges on the learning of a foreign language (FL), and more specifically on the role played by working memory (WM) with nontraditional FL learners. To this end, research studies in the fields of psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology and neuroscience are reviewed and their findings …

Contributors

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, February 27, 2017, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting minutes from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, February 13, 2017, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting minutes from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

Phylogenetic Patterns And The Adaptive Evolution Of Osmoregulation In Fiddler Crabs (Brachyura, Uca), Samuel Coelho Faria, Diogo Borges Provete, Carl Leo Thurman, John Campbell Mcnamara

Faculty Work

Salinity is the primary driver of osmoregulatory evolution in decapods, and may have influenced their diversification into different osmotic niches. In semi-terrestrial crabs, hyperosmoregulatory ability favors sojourns into burrows and dilute media, and provides a safeguard against hemolymph dilution; hypo-osmoregulatory ability underlies emersion capability and a life more removed from water sources. However, most comparative studies have neglected the roles of the phylogenetic and environmental components of inter-specific physiological variation, hindering evaluation of phylogenetic patterns and the adaptive nature of osmoregulatory evolution. Semi-terrestrial fiddler crabs (Uca) inhabit fresh to hyper-saline waters, with species from the Americas occupying higher …

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, January 9, 2017, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting minutes from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Agenda, January 9, 2017, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting agenda from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

2016/17 Dry Run Creek Geomorphological Watershed Assessment, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Earth And Environmental Sciences.

UNI Conservation Corps Projects

Dry Run Creek (DRC) watershed is a primary drainage basin located in northwestern Black Hawk County (Figure 1). It is fed predominantly by agricultural runoff in its upper reaches, and becomes heavily urbanized as it travels through the city of Cedar Falls, before draining into the Cedar River. The stream is perennial, however some are tiled and new segments have developed both naturally and artificially. Re-evaluation of the creek is underway and indicates some changes in urban and rural areas. Data was collected between Fall 2016 & Fall 2017 by University of Northern Iowa geomorphology students, using handheld GPS devices …

Community Rain Gardens: Raingardens Installation 2017-2018 Ppt, University Of Northern Iowa. Center For Energy & Environmental Education.

UNI Conservation Corps Projects

A collection of slides showing the creation of several rain gardens.

Community Rain Gardens: Rainscaping Group Project Report, University Of Northern Iowa. Center For Energy & Environmental Education.

UNI Conservation Corps Projects

A rain garden is a depression created in a landscape that allows water runoff from rooftops, driveways, and/or streets to pool or be ponded. The water does not stay, it only captures this runoff and allows it to infiltrate into the ground recharging groundwater instead of running off into our sewer systems and in turn into our rivers and streams. Rain gardens are an infiltration-based storm water treatment management system. The idea here is to add beauty in the landscaping of these rain gardens while also treating home's rooftop and driveway runoff, which allows them to be both aesthetically pleasing …

Graduate Program Survey 2016-2017, Megan Vogt-Kostner

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

The 2016-2017 Graduate Program Survey was administered by the University of Northern Iowa's Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness using the online survey tool, Qualtrics. The purpose of the study was for the university to gain feedback about the students' graduate school experiences. The survey results help the university to provide a better graduate experience for future students.

Programs And Courses Catalog 2017-2018, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Programs and Courses Catalogs

This catalog is published for students and other persons who want to know more about the University of Northern Iowa. Its purpose is to communicate as objectively and completely as possible what the university is and what it does. The catalog is presented in sections to give a general view of the university as well as the detailed information required for informed decision making.

Discursive Struggles In Communication With Extended Stepfamily Members, Rebecca Diverniero

Iowa Journal of Communication

Despite the explosion of stepfamily communication research over the past 40 years, we still know little about how members of new stepfamilies manage their evolving relationships with extended kin. In particular, stepchildren face the challenge of getting to know new extended stepfamily members, yet society provides no social prescriptions for how to navigate interactions with people who stepchildren suddenly have familial ties to, yet share little to no history with. To investigate this relationship, I interviewed forty young adult stepchildren and conducted an interpretive analysis of the interviews, using Relational Dialectics Theory to frame the data. Two discursive struggles, stranger-family …

2017 Uni Volleyball Media Guide, University Of Northern Iowa

Athletics Media Guides

Contents:

--2017 Quick Facts
--2017 UNI Volleyball Roster
--2017 Schedule
--Bobbi Petersen Head Coach 18th Year
--Kalani Mahi Assistant Coach 14th Year
--Kim Davis Assistant Coach 16th Year
--Michelle Coulter Director of Volleyball Operations 16th Year
--Chelsea Lowe Athletic Trainer
--Mathieu Castello Strength & Conditioning Coach
--Meet the Panthers
--2016 Review
--Career Leaders
--Season Leaders
--Single Match Leaders
--Team Season Records
--Team Match Records
--Records by Class
--Yearly Leaders
--Year-by-Year Stats
--Memorable Milestones
--Award Winners
--Record Book
--Record vs. Opponents
--UNI Volleyball Program News/Notes

Uni Today, V100n3, Winter 2017, University Of Northern Iowa Alumni Association

UNI Today

Inside This Issue:
--What it Takes to Run a University
--Make That Too
--Embedded in the Community and Growing the Future
--The Psychology of a New Year's Resolution
--More Than a Marching Band
--A New Chapter for the UNI Alumni Association
--Finding a Common Thread
--50 Years and Counting of Bonding and Brotherhood
--Honors Alumni Give Back
--Serving Iowa’s 99 Counties
--New Students Thrive at UNI
--Class Notes
--Historical Photos
--Alumni Travel Program
--Alumni Clubs
--Alumni Calendar of Events

Uni Grad Student News, V15n4, January 2017, University Of Northern Iowa. Graduate College.

UNI Grad Student News

Inside this issue:

-- Message from the Dean
-- Current Student Profile: Jen Corrigan
-- Current Faculty Profile: Dr. Kay Weller
-- Alumni Profile: Dr. Mickye Johnson
-- UNI Job and Internship Fair 2017
-- Crow Forum Schedule of Events
-- Career Collection at Rod Library
-- Center for Academic Ethics Spring 2017 Events
-- McNair Scholars Program Welcomes New Director, Dr. Nievita Bueno Watts
-- Fall 2016 Commencement
-- Information Literacy for Graduate Students: Everything a Graduate Student Should Know Before Starting a Research Project
-- 10th Annual Graduate Student Symposium
-- Graduate College Staff and Contact Information

Cattail Management Scenario Simulations Using Mondrian, Kenneth J. Elgersma, Jason P. Martina, Deborah E. Goldberg, William S. Currie

Data Sets

A set of computer simulations using the Mondrian model (ver 3.8) to simulate different approaches for control of invasive cattails.

Review Of Intercultural Communication In Japan: Theorizing Homogenizing Discourse, Albert Rintrona Iii

Iowa Journal of Communication

No abstract provided.

Routes For Infiltration, Tallgrass Prairie Center

Open Educational Resources

Students become a carbon atom and experience the movements of carbon through the environment, including its time sequestered in prairie roots.

Root Community, Tallgrass Prairie Center

Open Educational Resources

Pairs of students play a battleship-style game to show how roots explore the soil to obtain resources.

Faculty Tenure Report, Fall 2017, University Of Northern Iowa. Office Of Institutional Research And Effectiveness.

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

Statistical report showing the number of faculty that are tenured, on the tenure track, or not on the tenure track, broken down by college, department, gender, minority status, and if full or part time.

Herbaceous Vascular Flora Of Forested Seep Wetlands In Winneshiek County, Iowa, Usa, Elizabeth A. Lynch, Anna Burke Weckwerth

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Forested seep wetlands dominated by skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) occur frequently in the Canoe Creek watershed of the Upper Iowa River, but this type of wetland has not been described systematically in the upper Midwest. The goal of this study is to document the herbaceous plant flora of five seeps. Although individual seeps are small (200-500 m²), they provide habitat for a high number of plant species. Five seeps with total area less than 0.2 ha supported more than 120 native vascular herbaceous taxa, 20 of which have a coefficient of conservatism (C-value) of 7 or …

2017-18 Women's Basketball Media Guide, University Of Northern Iowa

Athletics Media Guides

Contents:

--UNI Quick Facts
--UNI Athletic Communications
--UNI Media Schedule
--2017-18 Schedule
--General Roster Information
--Photo Roster
--Roster Breakdown
--Season Recap/Preview
--Coaches
--Panther Bios
--2017-18 Opponent Breakdowns
--2016-17 Stats
--History

Effects Of Studying Abroad On College Students, Kaliana Villa

Honors Program Theses

This thesis focused on the ways short-term study abroad capstones may change students’ political stances, as well as the way it may impact their worldview. To do this, data was collected via an online survey before and after each student’s capstone with permission from the University of Northern Iowa’s Study Abroad Center. The specific variables which were measured are political standpoint (how liberal or conservative a student is), and their worldview (how the students see the world around them on a global scale). Although there has been some research done on the ways studying abroad helps students develop cross-cultural skills, …

Csbs Statements, V19, 2017, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Social And Behavioral Sciences.

CSBS Statements

Contents:

--CSBS Plays Critical Role in Teacher Prep
--CSBR Celebrates 50 Years
--Panthers on the Runway
--Engaging Students Beyond the Classroom
--A Semester in the Instytut Psychologii
--Have Giant Iowa Map, Will Travel
--Army ROTC Receives First Place for Midwest Recruiting and Retention
--New Faculty Business Leads to CSBS Scholarships
--Retirees
--Faculty Promotion and Tenure
--New Faculty
--In Memoriam
--Student Highlights
--A Voice for the Voiceless
--A Cross-Cultural Collaboration
--Get to Know the CSBS SABRs
--A Student of Sustainability
--Dreaming & Succeeding in Iowa Fashion
--O. Jay & Pat Tomson
--From the Development Director

Panther Press, Winter 2016-17, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Military Science.

Panther Press

Inside this issue:
--National Guard Gives Helping Hand
--UNI ROTC Host Teacher Appreciation Day
--Army 10-Miler, Washington DC
--ROTC's Newest Cadets
--Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
--Mentors in Violence Prevention Training
--UNI ROTC Commissions Two New Lieutenants
--UNI ROTC Helps University With Commencement
--UNI ROTC Salutes Veterans
--UNI ROTC Host Third Zombie Run

Is High Folic Acid Intake A Risk Factor For Autism?—A Review, Darrell Wiens, M. Catherine Desoto

Faculty Work

Folate is required for metabolic processes and neural development. Insuring its adequate levels for pregnant women through supplementation of grain-based foods with synthetic folic acid (FA) in order to prevent neural tube defects has been an ongoing public health initiative. However, because women are advised to take multivitamins containing FA before and throughout pregnancy, the supplementation together with natural dietary folates has led to a demographic with high and rising serum levels of unmetabolized FA. This raises concerns about the detrimental effects of high serum synthetic FA, including a rise in risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Some recent studies …

Predicting Genome Terminus Sequences Of Bacillus Cereus-Group Bacteriophage Using Next Generation Sequencing Data, Cheng-Han Chung, Michael H. Walter, Luobin Yang, Shu-Chuan (Grace) Chen, Vern Winston, Michael A. Thomas

Faculty Work

Background: Most tailed bacteriophages (phages) feature linear dsDNA genomes. Characterizing novel phages requires an understanding of complete genome sequences, including the definition of genome physical ends.

Result: We sequenced 48 Bacillus cereus phage isolates and analyzed Next-generation sequencing (NGS) data to resolve the genome configuration of these novel phages. Most assembled contigs featured reads that mapped to both contig ends and formed circularized contigs. Independent assemblies of 31 nearly identical I48-like Bacillus phage isolates allowed us to observe that the assembly programs tended to produce random cleavage on circularized contigs. However, currently available assemblers were not capable of …