Digital Commons Network^™

Nd2 As An Additional Genetic Marker To Improve Identification Of Diving Ducks Involved In Bird Strikes, Sarah A. M. Luttrell, Sergei Drovetski, Nor Faridah Dahlan, Damani Eubanks, Carla J. Dove

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Knowing the exact species of birds involved in damaging collisions with aircraft (bird strikes) is paramount to managing and preventing these types of human–wildlife conflicts. While a standard genetic marker, or DNA barcode (mitochondrial DNA gene cytochrome-c oxidase 1, or CO1), can reliably identify most avian species, this marker cannot distinguish among some closely related species. Diving ducks within the genus Aythya are an example of congeneric waterfowl involved in bird strikes where several species pairs cannot be reliably identified with the standard DNA barcode. Here, we describe methods for using an additional genetic marker (mitochondrial DNA gene NADH …

Black Vulture Conflict And Management In The United States: Damage Trends, Management Overview, And Research Needs, Bryan M. Kluever, Morgan B. Pfeiffer, Scott C. Barras, Brett G. Dunlap, Lee A. Humberg

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Contrary to rapid declines of many vulture (Accipitridae, Cathartidea) species worldwide, black vulture (Coragyps atratus) populations are increasing and expanding their range in North America. Vultures exhibit complex behaviors and can adapt to any human-dominated landscape or land use. These traits, combined with population growth and range expansion, have contributed to increased human–vulture conflicts. Our goal was to summarize the current status and trends in human–black vulture conflicts (hereafter human–vulture conflicts), review available management strategies, identify knowledge gaps, and provide recommendations to enhance management and understanding of this species and the associated conflicts. We found human–vulture conflicts are …

The Emerging Conflict Of Common Ravens Roosting On Electric Power Transmission Line Towers In Montana, Usa, Marco Restani, James S. Lueck

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Bird interactions with electric power lines can cause faults (e.g., disruption of electrical service). Faults on 500kV transmission lines in Montana, USA, which are integral to the Northwest USA power grid, became concerning during winter 2016–2017. In 2017 we found insulators contaminated with bird droppings and discovered a large nocturnal roost of common ravens (Corvus corax). To assess the potential magnitude of the impact of raven roosts on electric power transmission, we summarized fault data obtained from the Energy Management System and raven abundance data obtained from the Christmas Bird Count in central Montana from 2005 to 2020. …

Book Review: The Figure Of The Animal In Modern And Contemporary Poetry, Yunxia Yan

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The Figure of the Animal in Modern and Contemporary Poetry by Michael Malay seeks to explore the deep connections between “poetic” thinking and the sensitive recognition of animal others. The author investigates and illustrates the nature of poetry’s relationship with animals.

Traveling-Wave Electrophoresis: 1d Model, Austin Green

Physics Capstone Projects

A 1D model of traveling-wave electrophoresis predicts that molecular diffusion raises the trapping threshold and that other physical properties of the species effect the trapping threshold as well. Small concentrations, below 5μM, raise the trapping threshold for high diffusivity species, resulting in a lower efficiency. Species with a mid-range electrophoretic mobility and diffusivity have their trapping threshold slightly lowered with an increase in concentration, leading to more particles traveling with the wave.

The Influence Of Weather On The Spatial Behavior Of Visitors Within Utah National Parks, Emily Wilkins, Jordan Smith

All Current Publications

Social media has been increasingly used to understand visitor use in parks and protected areas (Wilkins, Wood, & Smith, 2020). When people post photos on social media, these photos often contain information on the location, time, and date the photo was taken; all of this information is stored as metadata. Using geotagged images from Flickr, we explored how summer visitors to Utah’s national parks may vary their locations within the park based on the daily weather. We specifically looked at the elevations visitors went to within the parks, as well as their distances from roads, waterbodies, parking areas, and buildings.

Lizard And Frog Removal Increases Spider Abundance But Does Not Cascade To Increase Herbivory, Karen H. Beard, Susan L. Durham, Michael R. Willig, Jess K. Zimmerman

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Insectivorous vertebrates, especially on islands, can exert top-down control on herbivorous prey, which can transfer through a food chain to reduce herbivory. However, in many systems insectivorous vertebrates feed on more than one trophic level, especially consuming arthropod predators, and this intraguild predation can diminish trophic cascades. Our goal was to determine, using an exclosure experiment, the relative importance of anole lizards and coqui frogs in controlling spider and arthropod abundances as well as herbivory rates in the understory of the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. We found that exclosures removing both anoles and coquis doubled spider abundance compared to …

Large Animal Genetic Engineering Summit 2020, Irina A. Polejaeva

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Engineering Students Construct Award-Winning Dam Model, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Dec. 16, 2020 — A team of College of Engineering undergraduates turned idea into reality this semester by building a scale model of their award-winning dam design. A concept for the model was presented late last year at a collegiate design competition organized by the Association of State Dam Safety Officials known as ASDSO.

Special Topic: Raven Management, Peter S. Coates

Human–Wildlife Interactions

This is the call for papers for the special issue on raven management.

Supporting Farmer Adoption Of Sustainable Bird Management Strategies, Catherine A. Lindell

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Pest birds cause substantial and costly damage to crops. Managing birds is complex because (1) they are highly mobile, (2) they habituate quickly to many deterrents, (3) some species provide benefits to farmers by deterring and consuming pest insects, rodents, and other birds, and (4) birds are highly valued by many people. Thus, farmers have many issues to consider when developing bird management strategies. Here I discuss recent work indicating that farmer adoption of sustainable agricultural practices is more likely when practices are effective, clear guidelines for implementation are available, implementation is relatively easy, and when practices are linked, in …

Line Of Sight: Simulated Aerial Avian Predators Can Reduce Problematic Bird Flyovers Of Airfields, William O'Shea, Neil E. Coughlan, Thomas C. Kelly, Neil Mitham, Jeremy Nicholson

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Collisions between birds and aircraft (bird strikes) are a serious threat to air safety and represent a substantial economic cost to the global aviation industry. In recent years, the frequency of wood pigeons (Columba palumbus) flying over active runways has increased at airports in Ireland. Here, we examine the effectiveness of imitation hawk-kites as a means of excluding wood pigeons from sensitive airfield locations. Over 2 years, during August and September, we conducted control (no kites deployed) and treatment trials (kites deployed) at Casement Aerodrome, an active airfield of approximately 320 ha in County Dublin, Ireland and on …

Repellent Surface Applications For Pest Birds, Shelagh T. Deliberto, James C. Carlson, Hailey E. Mclean, Caroline S. Olson, Scott J. Werner

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Common pest birds in the United States include the non-native European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), house sparrow (Passer domesticus), and the pigeon (Columba livia domestica), as well as native birds including Canada geese (Branta canadensis) and gull species (Laridae). Large concentrations of pest birds can create human health hazards and monetary losses due to consumption of crops, depredation, and fecal contamination and accumulation. Fecal contamination hazards include the potential spread of zoonotic diseases including antimicrobial-resistant zoonoses and human injury due to the accumulation of fecal material on walking surfaces. Additionally, fecal accumulation causes …

General Education Subcommittee Minutes, December 15, 2020, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Course Approvals/Removals/Syllabi Approvals
• Gen Ed Task Force Updates
• Composition Outcomes
• Course Fee Approval Timeline

An Exploration Of Teacher Preparation Practices With Foundational Knowledge Of Literacy, Marla K. Robertson, Laurie A. Sharp, Roberta D. Raymond, Rebekah E. Piper

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

The Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals 2017 published by the International Literacy Association provide the basis for high-quality literacy teacher preparation. This study used qualitative survey responses to explore the literacy practices that teacher educators use to promote understandings among preservice teachers for each grade-level band (i.e., Pre-K/Primary, Elementary/Intermediate, Middle/High School). The researchers used conceptualizations of teacher knowledge as a theoretical lens to better understand reported preparation practices. Data analysis revealed three themes: Teacher Educator Pedagogy, Course Content, Student and Program Expectations. Researchers posit that teacher educators do not evenly focus on all components of literacy and contend …

General Education Subcommittee Agenda, December 15, 2020, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Course Approvals/Removals/Syllabi Approvals
• ARTH 4260 (CI)
• SOC 3320 (DSS)
• SOC 3750 (DSS)
• SOC 4440 (DSS)
• APEC 3020 (DSS Removal)
• GEO 3200 (DSS Removal)
• PSC 2040 (BPS)
• GEO 5570 (QI)
• Composition Outcomes
• Course Fee Approval Timeline

Understanding Free-Roaming Horse Conflicts With Wildlife In The Great Basin, S. Nicole Frey, Eric Thacker, Katlyn Uhart

All Current Publications

Horses and burros were introduced to North America in the 1600s with European missionaries and explorers. Over time, abandoned and released horses and burros formed herds and by the time European-American settlers began to explore North America in the 1700s, these free-roaming horses and burros had adapted to their habitat and been incorporated into Native American culture. By the mid-1900s, most Americans considered these horses as wild and symbols of freedom and beauty.

In 1971, Congress passed the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (Public Law 73-482) to provide federal protection for free-roaming horses and burros (also known as …

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, December 14, 2020, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• EPC monthly report
• HR 385 Code Change
• Council on Teacher Education Annual Report
• Scholarship Advisory Board Annual Report
• USUSA Annual Report
• 404.3.6 Code
• Ombudsperson Report
• USU Promotion and Tenure Process Survey
• Dixie State Resolution

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Minutes, December 14, 2020, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• EPC monthly report
• HR 385 Code Change
• Council on Teacher Education Annual Report
• Scholarship Advisory Board Annual Report
• USUSA Annual Report
• 404.3.6 Code
• Ombudsperson Report
• USU Promotion and Tenure Process Survey
• Dixie State Resolution

Watering The Landscape: Make It Easier With Evapotranspiration (Et), Candace Schaible, Kelly Kopp, Helen Muntz

All Current Publications

The American lawn is our nation’s single largest irrigated “crop” (Lindsey, 2005). In Utah, roughly 65% of our drinking water is applied to residential and commercial landscapes (Center for Water Efficient Landscaping, 2020). Landscapes are typically overwatered, which is why residential and commercial landscape watering is estimated to be one of the largest sources of potential water conservation in the urban setting (Endter-Wada et al., 2008). Plant materials also provide many environmental benefits, such as erosion control, water filtration, and temperature reduction. Knowing how much water to apply to the landscape can be a challenge and is one reason many …

Interrater Reliability Of Novice Examiners Using A-Mode Ultrasound And Skinfolds To Measure Subcutaneous Body Fat, Dale R. Wagner, Masaru Teramoto

Kinesiology and Health Science Faculty Publications

Examiners with minimal training and skill are often called upon to make body composition assessments using field methods. This study compared the interrater reliability of novice examiners for the skinfold (SKF) and A-mode ultrasound (US) methods of body composition assessment. Undergraduate Kinesiology majors (48 males, 32 females) with minimal training took both SKF and US measurements at three sites (males: chest, abdomen, thigh; females: triceps, suprailiac, thigh). Interrater reliability was significantly better for US compared to SKF at the thigh (ICC_US = 0.975, ICC_SKF = 0.912) and abdomen (ICC_US = 0.984, ICC_SKF = 0.693) for men …

Sink Hollow Volume 10

Sink Hollow

This year felt like a thunderstorm. Rain pelting down on us so hard it burns. Lightning strikes so stark we have to close our eyes. Thunder rumbling so ominously we feel it deep in our bones. So many things we hold dear have been lost in this storm.

But something we have found is the human ability to feel a raw and powerful pain. We are intrinsically bound to each other, to nature, and to this world by the pain we feel. A pain so powerful and deep you feel it is sucking you under and drowning you.

The pieces …

National Security And Climate Change, Madison Moran

Physics Capstone Projects

Certain scientific subjects are often divisive or technical, which makes those topics difficult to discuss with audiences outside the scientific sphere. One way of getting around this obstacle is to cater scientific communication to different target audiences to cut through any audience biases. In order to accomplish that, a communicator needs to understand the relationship between audiences’ worldviews, and what they know, feel, and do regarding the subject at hand, and then how that relationship influences the types of media audiences trust and to which they respond positively. The following study investigates the worldviews of a military audience with respect …

Are There Unidentified Frequent Issues Among Student Loan Providers?, Dan Ludwig

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

There are millions of students, many of whom cannot afford to pay for their schooling without a loan. Student loans are an important business for financial institutions. It's common for students to run into issues at some point when dealing with their loan providers and servicers. I'm using Natural Language Processing (NLP) Topic Modeling algorithms to analyze customer complaint narratives to identify important emerging problems beyond the ones defined prior to complaint collection.

Analyzing The Adoption Of Corporate Social Responsibility Strategies, Lia Sorensen

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a business strategy via which a company aligns social and environmental concerns with both its business operations and its interactions with stakeholders. This paper examines how CSR creates value for companies that adopt CSR actions. It focuses on the CSR actions of six companies, five public and one private: Starbucks, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, Unilever (Ben & Jerry's), and Penzeys Spices. In the 2000s, many companies began to see value in CSR and to implement CSR infrastructure and actions. With CSR increasing in popularity, more robust analyses of these initiatives started to …

Autocart: Spatially-Aware Regression Trees For Ecological And Spatial Modeling, Ethan Ancell

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

Many ecological and spatial processes are complex in nature and are not accurately modeled by linear models. Regression trees promise to handle the high-order interactions that are present in ecological and spatial datasets, but fail to produce physically realistic characterizations of the underlying landscape. The "autocart'' (autocorrelative regression trees) R package extends the functionality of previously proposed spatial regression tree methods through a spatially aware splitting function and novel adaptive inverse distance weighting method in each terminal node. The efficacy of these autocart models, including an autocart extension of random forest, is demonstrated on multiple datasets. This highlights the ability …

Expanding Healthcare To Underserved Communities, Hunter Murdock, Colten Dougher

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

According to the Bureau of Health's Workforce Health Resources and Services Administration, there are almost 253 million people who do not have adequate access to healthcare in the United States. While innovations in technology, drug manufacturing, and procedures will continue to make healthcare more affordable and more accessible, policies restricting doctors' and nurses' abilities to practice healthcare are creating barriers that prevent them from utilizing existing technology to reduce healthcare shortages in underserved areas. The underserved populations in America include rural communities, Native Americans, and linguistic minority groups. Many of today's healthcare policy suggestions aim at increasing health insurance coverage …

How Do The Mental Health Services Offered By Usu Pre-Covid19 Compare To The Present?, Casey Mack

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

How do the mental health services offered by USU pre-COVID19 compare to the present? COVID19 has essentially taken the world and changed it. People are required to stay inside more, there is a decrease in social interaction and there is a political aspect most weren't expecting. This question is important because in such tumultuous time, mental health and mental health services are of utmost importance. Isolation and a change in most every aspect of life can take a toll on someone's mental health. The approach to this project is done with mixed methods. Students majoring in English at Utah State …

Altered Toxin Binding Or Access To The Binding Site, What Changes In The Tetrodotoxin Resistant Sodium Channels Of Garter Snakes?, Kenyon Mitchell

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

Voltage-gated sodium ion channels are required for the generation and propagation of action potentials in vertebrate nerve and muscle cells. The neurotoxin tetrodotoxin (TTX) binds in the channel pore and blocks sodium channel function. Some populations of garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) have evolved resistance to TTX in part due to amino acid substitutions in the pore of the voltage-gated sodium channel expressed in skeletal muscle fibers (tsNaV1.4). We have previously demonstrated that the four amino acid substitutions in tsNaV1.4 from snake populations in California reduce TTX binding. These four amino acid substitutions are at or near an amino acid position …

Functional Complementation Of The Ppgcn4 And Ppnhx2 Genes In Arabidopsis Thaliana To Study Salt Tolerance, Amanda Moravek

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

Climate change induces unexpected weather and causes abiotic and biotic stresses in plants. These stresses negatively affect crop growth and production. Additionally, a steady increase in the world population has been leading to higher food demand. Therefore, the development of more stress-resilient crops is essential to combat these problems. One such stress is a salinity that affects crop production. Almond is a salt-sensitive crop, so there is a need to identify salt-tolerant almond rootstocks. AtGCN4 is a novel gene that was identified in Arabidopsis thaliana to play a significant role in host-pathogen interaction and drought tolerance when overexpressed. The preliminary …