Animal Sciences Commons^™

A Community Based Participatory Approach To Training Young Adults To Design And Implement A Social Marketing Framed Lifestyle Intervention On Their College Campus, Melissa D. Olfert, Makenzie L. Barr, Kristin Riggsbee, Kendra K. Kattelmann, Krista Leischner, Anne E. Matthews, Melissa Vilaro, Sarah E. Colby

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: Using a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach may increase the likelihood of relevance and acceptability of the designed intervention, especially on a college campus. Furthermore, recruiting and training college students to design a social marketing framed healthy lifestyle intervention for their peers will allow the intervention to be tailored to the needs of the campus. Objectives: To describe the process of online-course training college students to develop a campus-based, social marketing health promotion intervention. Methods: Four universities recruited current college students (18+ y.o.) to develop a social marketing and environmental intervention (SMEI), which was completed during a 16-week, online/in-person …

Katalyst Pilot Study: Using Interactive Activities In Anatomy And Physiology To Teach Children The Scientific Foundation Of Healthy Lifestyles, Rebecca L. Hagedorn, Kathryn Baker, Sara E. Dejarnett, Tyler Hendricks, Melissa Mcgowan, Lauren Joseph, Melissa D. Olfert

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This pilot study evaluated the impact of the Katalyst curriculum, a fifth-grade experiential learning program, on students’ knowledge of a healthy lifestyle’s impact on body functions. Katalyst’s interactive curriculum spans two days and includes four, 60-min stations on body systems: cardiovascular/endocrine, gastrointestinal, neurological, and respiratory/musculoskeletal. Three schools were recruited, and two schools completed the intervention sessions. Prior to beginning the stations, fifth-grade students completed a 37-item questionnaire to assess knowledge and perceptions. Students completed the same survey at the end of the Katalyst intervention. Teachers at the school also completed a survey post intervention to provide feedback on the program. …

Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling Of Students’ Dietary Intentions/Behaviors, Bmi, And The Healthfulness Of Convenience Stores, Tanya Horacek, Elif Dede Yildirim, Kendra Kattelmann, Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, Onikia Brown, Sarah Colby, Geoffrey Greene, Sharon Hoerr, Tandalayo Kidd, Mallory Koenings, Jesse Morrell, Melissa D. Olfert, Beatrice Phillips, Karla Shelnutt, Adrienne White

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: When dietary behaviors are habitual, intentions are low, and environmental cues, such as the consumer food environment, might guide behavior. How might intentions to eat healthily and ultimately actual dietary behaviors, be influenced by the consumer food environment (including the availability and affordability of healthy foods) in convenience stores? This study will determine pathways between the healthfulness of convenience stores and college students’ dietary intentions/behaviors, and body mass index (BMI). Methods: Through multilevel structural equation modeling, a comparison was made of students’ healthful meal intentions (HMI); intake (fruits/vegetables, %kcal/fat, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and whole-grains); and measured BMI; as well …

Health Behaviors Of Student Community Research Partners When Designing And Implementing A Healthy Lifestyle Intervention On College Campuses, Makenzie L. Barr, Sarah E. Colby, Kristin Riggsbee, Anne E. Mathews, Melissa J. Vilaro, Kendra K. Kattlemann, Melissa D. Olfert

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Few studies work with college students as equal partners in all aspects of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and even less evaluate behaviors of those college partners. The current study aimed to examine health behaviors of students by designing and implementing a peer-led, social marketing campaign (Get Fruved) to promote healthier lifestyles on their campuses. Enrolled students (n = 376) were trained to either design and implement a health promotion intervention (Social Marketing and Environmental Interventionists; SMEI, n = 78), be peer mentors (PM; n = 205), or serve as control participants (n = 93). Students’ behaviors (dietary, activity, and stress) …

Self-Reported Vs. Measured Height, Weight, And Bmi In Young Adults, Melissa D. Olfert, Makenzie L. Barr, Camille M. Charlier, Oluremi A. Famodu, Wenjun Zhou, Anne E. Mathews, Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, Sarah E. Colby

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Self-reported height and weight, if accurate, provide a simple and economical method to track changes in body weight over time. Literature suggests adults tend to under-report their own weight and that the gap between self-reported weight and actual weight increases with obesity. This study investigates the extent of discrepancy in self-reported height, weight, and subsequent Body Mass Index (BMI) versus actual measurements in young adults. Physically measured and self-reported height and weight were taken from 1562 students. Male students marginally overestimated height, while females were closer to target. Males, on average, closely self-reported weight. Self-reported anthropometrics remained statistically correlated to …

Eb4cast: An Evidence-Based Tool To Promote Dissemination And Implementation In Community-Based, Public Health Research, Melissa D. Olfert, Rebecca L. Hagedorn, Makenzie L. Barr, Oluremi A. Famodu, Jessica M. Rubino, Jade A. White

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

eB4CAST, evidence-Based forecast C-capture, A-assemble, S-sustain, T-timelessness (eB4CAST), framework was developed from existing dissemination and implementation (D & I) constructs as a dissemination tool to promote community-based program usability and future application in targeted populations. eB4CAST captures and transforms research findings into a dissemination report that shows program need and impact to endorse program continuation and expansion. This is achieved through direct and indirect data collection of community factors and program impact that can showcase the need for program sustainability and potential for future dissemination sites. Testimonials, individual feedback, and program process and outcomes contribute to the direct data while …

Jackrabbit Dairy And Food Review, Vikram V. Mistry

The Jackrabbit Dairy & Food Review

This is the Winter 2017- 2018 Jackrabbit Dairy and Food Review.
It contains the following articles and information: Message from the Department Head, 2017 Graduates, New Faculty and Visitors, information on the Dairy Club and Food Science Club, Judging Activities, Student Accomplishments, Professional Activities of Faculty and Staff, Distinguished Alumni, Dairy Facilities, a list of Scholarships and Dairy and Food Science Students, information on Departmental Outreach and Research Highlights.

Examination Of Enrichment Using Space And Food For African Elephants At The Sdzsp, Charlotte Hacker, Lance Miller, Bruce A. Schulte

Biology Faculty Publications

Concern for elephant welfare in zoological facilities has prompted a number of exhibit and management modifications, including those involving enrichment. Knowledge of how these changes impact indicators of welfare, such as elephant movement and behaviour, is crucial for continued improvement of elephant husbandry and care. The present study used observations and GPS-collected data to determine the effects of available space and food presentation on the walking distance and behaviour of thirteen African elephants (Loxodonta africana), which had a dominance structure ascertained by animal care staff at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (SDZSP). This facility has two exhibits of approximately …

Comparative Occupancy And Breeding Success Of Kirtland’S Warbler (Setophaga Kirtlandii) In Jack Pine And Red Pine Habitat, Natalie Knapp, Emily Schmidt, Dr. Fred Van Dyke

Summer Research

• Kirtland’s warbler (Steophaga kirtlandii) is an endangered songbird that universally breeds in young jack pine.
• If Kirtland’s warbler is delisted in 2019, protection and funding for management/conservation would decrease.
• Red pine (Pinus resinosa) is a far more valuable timber species than jack pine (Pinus banksiana) and Kirtland’s have been observed nesting in red pine
• We considered whether or not red pine could serve as an alternative breeding habitat to jack pine for Kirtland’s warbler.

New Techniques To Detect Swimmer’S Itch Parasites In Lakes, Bradley Scholten, Randall Dejong

Summer Research

• Swimmer’s itch is caused by parasites called avian schistosomes. The main parasite that causes swimmer’s itch is Trichobilharzia stagnicolae.
• The T. stagnicolae life cycle uses common merganser ducks (COME) and snails as hosts
• Main problem: There is no easy way to determine if a particular beach area has swimmer’s itch at a given time. Current methods require water samples and and take a long time.

United States Military Working Dogs: A Research Guide, Stefanie S. Pearlman

Marvin and Virginia Schmid Law Library: Faculty Publications

This research guide is a selective bibliography of resources discussing United States military working dogs and mascots. It is intended to help researchers find relevant books, articles, military publications, Web sites, and other resources about military working dogs. It also contains references to bills and laws designed to provide for the retirement, medical care, and adoption of military working dogs once their service is complete.

The Roles Of Inter- And Intra-Sexual Selection In Behavioral Isolation Between Native And Invasive Pupfishes, Cory Becher, Jennifer M. Gumm

Faculty Publications

Male-male competition and female mate choice may both play important roles in driving and maintaining reproductive isolation between species. When previously allopatric species come into secondary contact with each other due to introductions, they provide an opportunity to evaluate the identity and strength of reproductive isolating mechanisms. If reproductive isolation is not maintained, hybridization may occur. We examined how reproductive isolating mechanisms mediate hybridization between endemic populations of the Red River pupfish Cyprinodon rubrofluviatilis and the recently introduced sheepshead minnow C. variegatus. In lab-based dominance trials, males of both species won the same number of competitions. However, male C. rubrofluviatilis …

Origins Of Animal Cell Adhesion, Jennyfer Mora Mitchell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A fundamental requirement for multicellularity is cell adhesion. This includes mechanisms by which cells adhere to each other and to their secreted extracellular matrix (ECM). Two well characterized adhesion complexes in animals include: 1) adherens junctions (AJs), which are involved in cell-cell adhesion and composed of cadherin receptors, p120-, α- and β-catenin, and 2) focal adhesions (FAs), which are involved in cell-ECM adhesion and include proteins such as integrins, vinculin, paxillin, talin and focal adhesion kinase (FAK). The molecular components of AJs are widely conserved in animals, and largely absent in non-animals. In contrast, the molecular components of FAs have …

Chickens Play To The Crowd, Cinzia Chiandetti

Animal Sentience

The time was ripe for Marino’s review of chickens’ cognitive capacities. The research community, apart from expressing gratitude for Marino’s work, should now use it to increase public awareness of chickens’ abilities. People’s views on many animals are ill-informed. Scientists need to communicate and engage with the public about the relevance and societal implications of their findings.

Post-Darwin Skepticism And Run-Of-The-Mill Suicide, John Hadley

Animal Sentience

Peña-Guzmán’s depiction of the opponent of animal suicide as a conservative is a straw man. It is possible to accept that animals are self-conscious and reflexive yet still reject the view that they have the mental wherewithal to commit run-of-the-mill suicide. That animal behaviour can be positioned on a continuum of self-destructive behaviour does not establish that animals can intentionally kill themselves.

An Adaptationist Perspective On Animal Suicide, Timothy P. Racine

Animal Sentience

Peña-Guzmán’s discussion of suicide in nonhuman animals has broad implications. In this commentary, I focus on the logical relation between suicide and intention. Proximate cause must be distinguished from ultimate function in explanations of suicide. I briefly discuss two adaptationist accounts of suicidal behavior.

Lessons From Chimpanzee Sign Language Studies, Mary Lee Jensvold

Animal Sentience

Claims are often made about behaviors being unique to humans; the evidence usually shows they are not. Sign language studies on chimpanzees may provide a useful model for comparative studies of suicide. A productive approach to comparative studies is to focus on observable behaviors rather than getting lost in the pitfalls of vague definitions and changing measures.

Animal Suicide: An Account Worth Giving?, Irina Mikhalevich

Animal Sentience

Peña-Guzmán (2017) argues that empirical evidence and evolutionary theory compel us to treat the phenomenon of suicide as continuous in the animal kingdom. He defends a “continuist” account in which suicide is a multiply-realizable phenomenon characterized by self-injurious and self-annihilative behaviors. This view is problematic for several reasons. First, it appears to mischaracterize the Darwinian view that mind is continuous in nature. Second, by focusing only on surface-level features of behavior, it groups causally and etiologically disparate phenomena under a single conceptual umbrella, thereby reducing the account’s explanatory power. Third, it obscures existing analyses of suicide in biomedical ethics and …

Can Nondolphins Commit Suicide?, David M. Peña-Guzmán

Animal Sentience

This Response addresses the scientific and philosophical criticisms of my 2017 target article “Can nonhuman animals commit suicide?” It defends my key claims and explores topics (such as animal judgment, animal theory of mind, and the evolution of suicide) that did not appear in the original article. It also points out areas in which further research is needed and concludes that we should be wary of accusations of “anthropomorphism” in debates about animal suicide.

Encoding Of Emotional Valence In Wild Boar (Sus Scrofa) Calls, Anne-Laure Maigrot, Edna Hillmann, Elodie Briefer

Bioacoustics Collection

Measuring emotions in nonhuman mammals is challenging. As animals are not able to verbally report how they feel, we need to find reliable indicators to assess their emotional state. Emotions can be described using two key dimensions: valence (negative or positive) and arousal (bodily activation or excitation). In this study, we investigated vocal expression of emotional valence in wild boars (Sus scrofa). The animals were observed in three naturally occurring situations: anticipation of a food reward (positive), affiliative interactions (positive), and agonistic interactions (negative). Body movement was used as an indicator of emotional arousal to control for the effect of …

Ms Environmental Biology Capstone Project, Alyssa Herrin

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The study of visitor use in museums, zoos, and aquariums is an important aspect of understanding visitor engagement and evaluating the function of the institution. Here, visitor demographics such as age, group size, and number of children were assessed to see their influence on time spent and number of stops visitors made while visiting the Denver Botanic Gardens in Denver, Colorado. This study evaluated differences in time spent and number of stops made among different gardens by observing visitors and mapping their paths and activities through each zone. The results show that older visitors and larger groups spent more time …

Animal Suicide: Evolutionary Continuity Or Anthropomorphism?, Antonio Preti

Animal Sentience

Evolutionary processes are characterized by both continuity and discontinuity. Evidence on suicide in nonhuman animals is faint and often rests on the metaphorical or anthropomorphic use of the term. Suicidal behavior might be an evolutionary jump relatively recent in our species: a byproduct of living in groups of people who are not as closely related genetically as in social groups of nonhuman mammals.

Roots Of Self-Preservation Failure In Animal Behavior, Denys Decatanzaro

Animal Sentience

Affective variation from euphoria to dysphoria, best understood in humans, is also found in the behavior and neurochemistry of many other mammals. Suicide in humans typically occurs in highly dysphoric and despondent individuals. Self-injurious behavior has been observed in dysphoric and despondent nonhuman primates. In humans, suicide is facilitated by a highly-evolved neocortex giving rise to behavioral flexibility and culture. As Peña-Guzmán indicates, some other mammals also have elaborate neocortices and the capacity for cognitive insight, particularly apes, delphinids, and whales. Suicide is most likely to occur in species where individuals live in stable groups of highly interdependent kin.

Animal Suicide And "Anthropodenial", Ryan Hediger

Animal Sentience

Increasing understanding of the impressive cognitive and social capacities of nonhuman animals suggests the possibility that they may sometimes commit suicide. Such notions tend to be dismissed as “anthropomorphism.” That interpretive hazard, I argue, must be weighed against the opposite hazard of “anthropodenial” — “the a priori rejection of shared characteristics between humans and animals” (de Waal 2006). If animals do commit suicide, how often is it motivated precisely by the impact of humans on animal life?

Continuum And Temporality, Gerard Kuperus

Animal Sentience

I fully support the continuum proposed in the target article and argue along the same lines that we should be suspicious of drawing any strict borders between human and non-human animals. Since we can say very little with absolute certainty about human intentions regarding suicide, we have no certainty about the intentions of non-human animals. Although I am very sympathetic to Peña-Guzmán’s overall argument, I suggest that time could be taken into consideration as well.

Thinking About Thinking Chickens, Lori Marino

Animal Sentience

This response focuses on three major conceptual threads that run through the peer commentary on my target article: (1) how the use of chickens influences our views of them, (2) whether education is effective, and (3) what components of chicken psychology are most relevant to understanding who chickens are.

Ua66/5 Department Of Agriculture 2018 Newsletter, Department Of Agriculture And Food Science

Agriculture Department Publications

No abstract provided.

Ms Environmental Biology Capstone Project, Taylor Readyhough

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Life in a zoo brings a score of stressors into the lives of captive animals, including artificial light, crowds of visitors, and increased noise levels. Stress especially impacts captive birds, and continued exposure to these stressors can negatively affect birds’ reproductive success and overall well-being. Staff at the Denver Zoo noticed increased aggression between a male and female pair of great Indian hornbills during the winter of 2016. This behavioral shift coincided with Zoo Lights, a holiday event that results in the hornbills’ exhibit remaining open to the public for approximately four extra hours through the entire month of December. …

Mixing Of Two Greater Sandhill Crane Populations In Northeast Oregon, M. Cathy Nowak, Krista J. Mougey, Daniel P. Collins, Blake A. Grisham

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area in northeast Oregon hosts a small group of nesting greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida). There were no data on where these birds wintered, and we had no understanding of how these birds fit into the larger picture of western sandhill crane population delineation. ODFW began color-banding pre-fledging colts in 2007 and added satellite tracking with platform transmitter terminals (PTTs) in 2015. To date, we have captured 15 colts and 13 adults and marked them with color bands. We also fitted 1 colt and 8 adult …

An Updated Distribution Map For The Lower Colorado River Valley Population Of Greater Sandhill Cranes, Blake A. Grisham, Daniel P. Collins, Kammie L. Kruse, Courtenay M. Conring, Jeffrey M. Knetter, Warren C. Conway

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recognizes 6 migratory populations of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) in the United States, 4 of which occur in or west of the Rocky Mountains. Traditionally the Lower Colorado River Valley Population (LCRVP; greater sandhill crane [G. c. tabida]) was thought to be distributed across the Imperial (California) and Lower Colorado River (Arizona) Valleys, southward into Mexico via the Colorado River delta in winter and northeastern Nevada (Elko and White Pine Counties) during summer. Conservation and management concern exists over known distribution based on winter and summer surveys because discrepancies …