Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Variation In Personality Among Semi-Wild Myanmar Timber Elephants, Sateesh Venkatesh

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines two personality traits: exploration and neophobia, which could influence human-elephant conflicts. Thirty-one semi-wild elephants were tested over two trials using a custom novel puzzle tube containing three tasks and three rewards. Our studies show that elephants do vary significantly between individuals in both exploration and neophobia.

Organic Production Of Livestock And Livestock Products In Nebraska, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

First paragraph:

USDA “Certified Organic” is a form of production that has received considerable public attention in the last 10 years, particularly among small, beginning and/or minority farmers. Spiking retail prices for red meat and poultry have seemingly accelerated consumer’s interest in organic locally produced products. Consumers demonstrate their desire for these products by paying premiums when purchasing meat products. Producers receive premiums by either directly marketing live animals to consumers that are custom harvested or marketing animals to meat wholesalers. The primary difference is the way premiums are captured. Producers doing custom harvesting capture the full premium whereas producers …

Mission-Centered Collaborative Bridges To Increase Stem Motivations, Colleen Duffy

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

Many school administrators are enthusiastic about implementing new educational initiatives but have their plans thwarted because they are faced with the reality of insufficient resources. This can greatly limit the expansion of K-12 educational programs and deprive students of valuable learning opportunities. Additionally, teacher preparation programs are required to meet state mandates such as providing field experiences for preservice teachers that promote the authentic application of knowledge in PK-12 classrooms, but regional competition for placement opportunities create tremendous obstacles for higher education faculty. This essay describes the creation and implementation of a mission-centered mutually beneficial K-12 and intercollegiate partnership that …

Building Teacher Empathy And Culturally Responsive Practice Through Professional Development And Self-Reflection, Barbara S. Rieckhoff, Melissa Ockerman, Amira Proweller, James Wolfinger

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

Today’s teachers face growing demands and mandates to support every aspect of a student’s academic success, with additional expectations to support students’ social and emotional needs both inside and outside of the classroom. In the face of increasing student cultural, racial and linguistic diversity, the teaching pool remains relatively homogeneous, consisting largely of white, European-American educators. This disconnect between the lived experiences of teachers and their students makes it difficult for teachers to value and connect to a diverse student body. This qualitative study explores how a collaborative multi-tiered critical professional development model between a non-for-profit organization and a University, …

Symbolic Boundaries And The Clinical Preparation Of Teacher Candidates, Bilge Cerezci, Donald Mcclure

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

The purpose of this essay is to make sense of the two divides in the clinical preparation of teacher candidates: (1) between professional knowledge and skilled practice, and (2) between university-based courses and school-based field experiences. This essay extends the work of Lamont and Molnár (2002) to conceptualize symbolic boundaries related to these two divides. Within this framework, a review of the research highlights three main implications. First, teacher education programs need to design teaching and learning experiences that allow teacher candidates to use the professional knowledge they have gained through their university courses across multiple educational settings. Second, such …

Improving Co-Teachers Relationships, Asher Samuel

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

Co-teaching is an instructional strategy wherein two teachers, a general education teacher and a special education teacher, share instructional responsibilities in a general education class that includes students with disabilities (SWDs) (Friend, 2010). An important component of co-teaching is the relationship between the teachers (Kohler-Evans, 2006), which has been described as a professional marriage (Friend, 2010). However, there is limited information on factors influencing the relationship. This study investigated if teaching experience affects co-teachers’ perception of teamwork. Participants included special and general education co-teachers from eight public school districts in New York City. Co-teachers from grades K-12 completed the Tuckman …

The Impact Of Universally Accelerating Eighth Grade Mathematics Students On Participation And Achievement, Patrick Walsh

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

In New York State students are traditionally scheduled to take Algebra I in their first year of high school mathematics. However, in many schools, the “top” students in a cohort have access to this course in eighth grade, tracking these high-achieving students ahead of their lower-achieving peers. In response, some schools have adopted the policy of “Algebra for all” in eighth grade – called universal acceleration. While this policy ensures equal access to a challenging curriculum for all students, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, and prior achievement, there is a concern that not all students are developmentally ready to take …

Jovsa Education Special Issue: Introduction, Erin Fahle

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

No abstract provided.

Editors

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

No abstract provided.

Cover

Journal of Vincentian Social Action

No abstract provided.

Cost-Benefit And Acceptance Analysis Of Alternative Nematode Control Practices On Organic Dairy Goat Farms: A Case Study In France, Sylvain Quiédeville, Hervé Hoste, Yves Le Frileux, Spiridoula Athanasiadou, Steffen Werne, Simon Moakes

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This article assesses the costs, benefits, and acceptance of alternative control practices of Gastro-Intestinal Nematodes (GIN) for a typical organic dairy goat farm in France. A participatory Structured-Decision-Making (SDM) framework was used to guide focus group discussions, with an economic farm model and the Rogers and planned behavior theories used within the SDM framework. The study showed that the implementation of alternative GIN control practices can be economically profitable. An increased gross margin of €41 per dairy goat was calculated, which was mainly due to a decrease in the milk withdrawal cost. The simplicity to use or implement the alternative …

A Crisis Of Kelp, Rachel L. Sherman

Capstones

Along with insects and lab-grown meat, for years seaweed has been lauded as a sustainable “food of the future” by the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization. As the world increasingly turns to alternative foods in pursuit of a healthier Earth, seaweed has all the makings of an ecological savior. It’s plentiful — seaweeds and ocean algae make up roughly nine tenths of all the plant life on Earth — it’s cheap to harvest and get to market, packed with nutrition, and keeps oceans clean, absorbing more carbon dioxide and releasing more oxygen than the world’s rainforests.

But outside of Japanese …

How Minority Parents Could Help Children Develop Healthy Eating Behaviors: Parent And Child Perspectives, Chishinga Callender, Denisse Velazquez, Meheret Adera, Jayna M Dave, Norma Olvera, Tzu-An Chen, Shana Alford, Debbe Thompson

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Minority children and children living in under-resourced households are at the greatest risk for obesity and diet-related disparities. Identifying effective strategies to reduce these risks is an important step in child obesity prevention. Parents influence the home environment and play a critical role in child obesity prevention. Eighteen parent–child dyads living in under-resourced Houston area communities participated in a mixed methods study (online surveys, telephone interviews). The purpose of the research reported here was to conduct a secondary analysis of the qualitative data to explore Black/African American and Hispanic parent and child perspectives of the ways in which parents could …

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 …

Surviving Variable Yields And Prices, Kara Zimmerman, Cory Walters, Jessica Groskopf, Matthew Stockton, Kate Brooks

Cornhusker Economics

A marketing strategy focusing on prices from the most re-cent past, indirectly gives little or no weight to all of the other possible price outcomes. While it is intuitive that the most recent prices are more likely to play a role in our decision-making process, there are other price events that can happen. The seasonal price path from the 2019/2020 crop year was nothing like we have recently experienced. Sup-pose we entered the 2020’s marketing decision using a seasonal approach that considers only the average price series over the past 5 years (2015-19 average), Figure 1. The seasonal average indicates …

The Genetic Influence On Subjective Well-Being: A Review Of The Current Knowledge On The Role Of Genetics On Our Sense Of Subjective Well-Being And The Implications It Has For Future Research In Improving Well-Being At Both A Population And Individual Level., Abhishek Gupta

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis project explores the genetic underpinnings of one of the most cherished attributes in the world, well-being.¹ Specifically, it attempts to understand the influence of the genome on subjective, or experienced, well-being. An investigation was conducted into current literature concerning both the structure of measurement devices of well-being as well as association studies to determine the scope of the correlation that exists between the genome and well-being and identify genetic findings of interest. Ultimately, being able to provide evidence of causality between the genome and sense of well-being at this iteration of well-being and genome research is limited, …

Species Distribution Modeling For Arid Adapted Habitat Specialists In Zion National Park, Sam Driver, Chris M. Schalk, Daniel Unger, David Kulhavy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Arizona toad (Anaxyrus microscaphus) and Jones’ waxy dogbane (Cycladenia humilis var. jonesii) are habitat specialists with historical ranges in the desert southwest and specifically, Zion National Park (ZION). The machine learning method, MaxEnt, constructed species distribution models (SDMs) in ZION for the two study species at 30 m and 900 m spatial resolutions using climate, topographic, and remotely sensed data. Additionally, 900 m forecasting models were constructed to observe the shifts in suitable habitat for the years 2050 and 2070, based off two representative concentration pathway scenarios. Results indicate promising predictive power for both high …

The Clean Air Act: How It Can Be Localized To Promote Both Environmental And Social Justice, Tate Kirk

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

Legislators attempt to achieve intended goals by enacting laws that provide for regulatory enforcement. However, many times laws are unable to achieve their stated goals and in some ways may create new or exacerbate existing issues. Luckily, upon review, many of these issues can be fixed with quick modifications to either their implementation or enforcement mechanisms. In its current form, the Clean Air Act does not effectively account for differences in regional climate patterns, and, moreover, it perpetuates environmental injustice. If local governments were given more autonomy to enforce the Clean Air Act, they could shape its enforcement to more …

Wildlife Conservation And Hunting Nrs 455, Michael Cerbo

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Livestock Indemnity Program: A Case For Managing Risk With Good Recordkeeping, Jay Parsons

Cornhusker Economics

Keeping good records is an important risk management tool for agricultural producers. Good records provide accurate, complete and consistent information that leads to better decision making. Good records also keep the farm or ranch operation in a good position to participate in USDA programs when those opportunities are available.

The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), one of the USDA disaster assistance programs administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), is an example of how good recordkeeping can be rewarded. LIP provides compensation to eligible livestock producers who have suffered livestock death losses in excess of normal mortality due to adverse weather, …

Disadvantaged Vs. Non-Disadvantaged Drinking Water: San Joaquin County Groundwater Variable By Contaminant, Megan Brooks

Master's Projects and Capstones

This research explored drinking water wells that have detectable levels of arsenic and nitrate in disadvantaged vs. non-disadvantaged communities in San Joaquin County. The CalEnviroScreen 3.0 program and Groundwater Ambient Monitoring Program (GAMA) are used to measure disadvantaged communities and water quality data respectively. The CalEnviroScreen 3.0 scoring formula is used to calculate which census tracts are disadvantaged based on indices that measure pollution burden and population characteristics. The scoring is then combined with a census tract layer using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology. The disadvantaged community data are overlaid with GAMA groundwater well data to locate which communities are …

Training Future Agriculture Professionals In Landowner–Tenant Conservation Decision-Making, Andrea Basche, Angela Carter

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The landowner–tenant relationship is important to the implementation of conservation on agricultural lands. Women own or co-own a significant portion of U.S. farmland yet are underrepresented in conservation research. The next generation of agriculture professionals can benefit from first-hand experience in assisting women landowners and their tenants in navigating the complexities of conservation decision-making. This article analyzes undergraduate student perceptions of landowner–tenant relationships in conservation management through their engagement in case studies with women landowner–tenant pairs in the Western Corn Belt. Student groups were asked to complete a management improvement plan that both incorporated the agronomic and conservation goals discussed …

Food Justice Saf 383, Michael Cerbo

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Endangered Animal Protection Rights, Policies, And Practices On Zoonotic Disease Spread, Daniella Fedak-Lengel

Honors Projects

Building on field research in Costa Rica and Belize, this honors project analyzes environmental and endangered animal protection policies, rights, and practices in Central America and the Caribbean, and assesses the impact of veterinary science and biological research and practice, particularly conservation biology, on animal welfare concerns. Informed by the recent surge in awareness regarding zoonoses and zoonotic disease transmission, prevention and control, resulting from the current global pandemic of SARS-CoV-2, the project assesses the need for new and innovative types of collaboration, particularly involving conservation biologists, environmental scientists, public health experts, law and policy makers, and global trade and …

A Comparative Study On User Satisfaction With The Information Resources And Library Facilities By Faculty Members In Three Agriculture Libraries, Abu, Futm, And Futo, In Nigeria, Lawal Mohammed Tukur, S. Kannan

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The comparative study on user satisfaction with information resources, and library facilities by faculty members in Three Agriculture university Libraries: ABU, FUTM, AND FUTO in Nigeria; the respondents are faculty members, in Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Federal University Technology Minna and Federal University Technology Owerri sampled by the researcher. The main objective of the study is to compare the information resources, and facilities of Agriculture University Libraries with view to examine the types of information resources, and facilities available and user’s satisfaction by the respondent’s Library. Simple random sampling was used in selecting the Agriculture University Libraries from …

An Appraisal Of Availability And Utilization Of Information Resources And Library Services By Undergraduate Students In Three Agriculture University Libraries In Northern Nigeria (Abu, Fuam, Futm), Lawal Mohammed Tukur, S. Kannan

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study appraisal of information resources and services in Agriculture University Libraries in Northern Nigeria; the respondents are undergraduate students in Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Federal University Agriculture Makurdi, and Federal University Technology Minna sampled by the researcher. The main objective of the study is to evaluate information resources, services in Agriculture University Libraries in Northern Nigeria with view to examine the types of information resources, and services available, extent of utilization of the information resources by undergraduate students in Agriculture University Libraries in Northern Nigeria under study, while questionnaires were administered to the undergraduate students. The researcher …

The Fear Of Reptiles And How To Change It, Maxwell Lyman

Honors Projects

Reptile fear is prominent across many cultures. Anti-reptilian attitudes can lead to anti-conservation attitudes towards reptiles. Person-animal interaction has been shown to decrease fear desensitization and increase positive attitudes towards "unpopular" animals. My project demonstrates the effectiveness of live animal presentation in dispelling negative attitudes of reptiles. However, due to the sample size of the project, further research is highly suggested.

2020 - The First Annual Fall Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Fall 2020 Symposium of Student Scholars, held on December 3, 2020. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Understanding Of Aerosol Transmission Of Covid 19 In Indoor Environments, Adama Barro, Cathal O'Toole, Jacob S. Lopez, Matthew Quinones, Sherene Moore

Publications and Research

Our reason for discussing severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or 2019 novel corona virus (Covid-19), is to understand its aerosol transmission characteristics in indoor spaces and to mitigate further spread of this disease by designing a new HVAC system. The problem that we are tackling is the spread of covid-19 droplets through aerosol transmission by looking at potential engineering solutions to the existing HVAC systems. The purpose is to eradicate the spread of the COVID-19 by testing indoor spaces in an effort to understand the effectiveness of ventilation controls. We believe that scientists and engineers have not …