“Making the Bed”: Challenging Ideologies of Ownership, Nonlocality, and Romanticism in the Age of the Anthropocene

The current Age of the Anthropocene marks a recent and rapid transition into a period in climate history that is notably defined by human impact. Modern Western sentiments of grief, frustration, and romanticism as a result of the interplay between domestic and corporate spaces seem to culminate in an overall attitude of apathy and acceptance of the Age of the Anthropocene. Various art forms collaborate to create the current conversation of the causatory and reactionary relationship that humans have with the Anthropocene, offering interpretations of how individuals and corporations view ownership of and responsibilities to the environment. There is a gap, however, in existing artwork that marries the individual and corporate experiences of the Age of the Anthropocene to produce a nationally representative work. “Making the Bed” offers a play on the saying “You made your bed, now go lie in it” in the context of a generation of Americans equipped with tools for change but still stricken with hopelessness and an appetite for power. Several sources of visual and ideological inspiration contributed to a final proposal of an exhibit held in none other than The White House–the nation’s token domestic space and the ultimate overlap of the domestic and corporate spheres. These contributing resources were centered around three main themes: “the ethics of entering a garden”, systems and corporations, and the nonlocality created by an idealistic domestic sphere. In the final piece, these themes are concentrated in not just the location but also the materials, scale, and form of the exhibit

Promoting Sustainability at The Branch of Nashville Through Volunteer Training Visuals

The Branch of Nashville is a nonprofit organization that aims to provide comprehensive care to the diverse neighborhoods of Nashville, TN through food, ELL services, and individualized support. The services and resources that this organization provides are essential to the acclimation and thriving of vulnerable groups in their new communities. The volunteers at The Branch play a pivotal role in ensuring that each client is welcomed into the community and has their needs appropriately addressed. Thus, there is a need for volunteers to undergo adequate training to feel confident in performing these roles. The Branch, however, currently lacks training materials that are easily accessible, that are available prior to the volunteer’s shift, and that do not require close guidance from members of the organization’s staff. This not only hinders the impact of the volunteers but also applies additional pressure to the staff members and takes time from their daily work. This research focuses on supplementing the volunteer training experience at The Branch in a sustainable way, allowing the deliverables to be used long-term and without depleting the resources or time of the staff. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods identified three volunteer roles that are vital to the functioning of the organization and that could benefit from more robust training materials. Additionally, research from Cynthia Brame, Ph.D. and Associate Director of the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching, suggests that technology can enhance learning outcomes, and videos can serve as especially useful tools in this regard. Her research emphasizes the importance of reducing cognitive load on the viewer in order to encourage viewer engagement and active learning when using videos as teaching tools. Therefore, separate videos have been developed to explain the three critical volunteer roles identified through CBPR in a manner that will maximize viewer learning–improving the confidence and competence of The Branch’s volunteers in regards to organizational knowledge and cultural sensitivity–and promote sustainability within the organization

Recognition of reptile predator scent is innate in an endangered lizard species

Chemical cues can alert prey to the presence of predators before the predator is within visual proximity. Recognition of a predator’s scent is therefore an important component of predator awareness. We presented predator and control scents to wild, wild-born captive, and predator-naive captive-born pygmy bluetongue lizards to determine (1) whether lizards respond to reptile chemical cues differently from controls, (2) whether captive lizards respond more strongly to a known predator than to other predatory reptiles, (3) whether captive-born lizards recognise predators innately, whether captive-born lizards have reduced predator recognition compared with wild lizards and whether time spent in captivity reduces responses to predators, and (4) whether the avoidance response to predator detection differs between naive and experienced lizards. There was no significant difference in the number of tongue flicks to predator scent among wild, wild-born and captive-born lizards, suggesting that predator detection is innate in the pygmy bluetongue lizard and time in captivity did not reduce predator recognition. The number of tongue flicks directed towards brown snake scent was significantly higher than that to the novel and water controls for all lizard origins. Lizards of all origins continued to bask in the presence of predator scents, suggesting that chemical cues alone may be insufficient to instigate an avoidance response and other cues may be required.Tara L. Daniell, Mark N. Hutchinson, Phil Ainsley and Michael G. Gardne

Determination of the LEP beam energy using radiative fermion-pair events

We present a determination of the LEP beam energy using “radiative return” fermion-pair events recorded at centre-of-mass energies from 183 to 209 GeV. We find no evidence of a disagreement between the OPAL data and the LEP Energy Working Group's standard calibration. Including the energy-averaged 11 MeV uncertainty in the standard determination, the beam energy we obtain from the OPAL data is higher than that obtained from the LEP calibration by View the MathML source0±34(stat.)±27(syst.)MeV

Germination of Veronica parnkalliana seeds in response to seasonal and fire cues

Veronica parnkalliana (Scrophulariaceae) is an endangered herb endemic to South Australia, with only six herbarium specimens recorded since its first collection in 1909. A targeted search of a fire scar in the Flinders Ranges during the spring of 2008 found prolific regeneration of the plant after a prescribed burn during the previous autumn. This post-fire discovery prompted an investigation into the seed germination requirements for this species. In vitro laboratory studies showed that germination was stimulated by gibberellic acid (GA3), heat or smoked water. A seed burial experiment suggested that an annual cycle of dormancy was present, as germination of seeds that were exhumed after spring and summer was stimulated by a combination of heat and smoked water, but this did not occur after autumn or winter. Seeds buried at different depths before a fire were later monitored for seedling emergence in situ, and germination of exhumed seeds was also assessed. The depth of seed burial was a critical factor affecting germination. Results indicated that V. parnkalliana is a fire-ephemeral species with morphophysiological dormancy. These findings will provide valuable direction for future conservation planning for this species.Jenny Guerin, Michael Thorpe, Dan Duval, Manfred Jusaitis and Phil Ainsle

The influence of ethanol as a solvent on the gibberellic acid-induced germination of Brachyscome and Allittia (Asteraceae) seeds

Published online 16 February 2018Gibberellic acid (GA₃) is routinely used as a germination stimulant for seeds. However, the methods used to dissolve GA₃ powder – particularly if using organic solvents – have the potential to affect germination outcomes. In this study we examined the influence of the solvent ethanol, used to dissolve GA₃, on the seed germination of 14 species of Brachyscome and two species of Allittia. These species are important Australian native composites with potential for use in habitat restoration. Seeds of 11 of these species were found to be particularly responsive to GA₃. However, the use of a low concentration of ethanol (0.5%) to dissolve GA₃ affected subsequent germination outcomes, with four species responding positively and eight negatively to this solvent. The pure effect of GA₃ was therefore masked by the presence of small concentrations of ethanol, whose effects varied between the species examined. Because of these potentially confounding effects of ethanol, we recommend the use of pure water for dissolution of GA₃ when testing seed germination responses in these genera.Rina Aleman, Manfred Jusaitis, Joan Gibbs, Phil Ainsley and Fleur Tive