Development of a watershed and stream-reach spawning habitat model for river herring Alosa pseudoharengus and Alosa aestivalis

This research develops a model to identify indicators of potential suitable spawning habitat for river herring, Alosa pseudoharengus and A. aestivalis, using watershed and stream-reach metrics. The results of icthyoplankton samples collected from thirty-four streams feeding into the Rappahannock River below the Embree Dam at Fredericksburg indicate where river herring spawning occurred. Watershed and stream-reach metrics were either measured in the field or derived from digital data in a GIS. Benthic macroinvertebrate analysis was used to compare habitat quality among sites. Streams were classified as either absence or presence of herring eggs or larvae based on the results of the ichthyoplankton samples. Depending on the distributions of the metrics, T-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests determined which metrics were significantly different between the absence and presence groups. Variables from Principal Component Analyses were used in discriminant analyses to examine the relative importance of watershed and stream-reach metrics in predicting suitable spawning habitat. The results of the analyses show that river herring tend to spawn in larger, elongated watersheds with greater mean elevations and habitat complexity. River herring prefer watersheds with greater percentages of deciduous forest and less grassland areas and stream reaches with less organic matter and less fine sediment in the substrate, and more canopy cover and snags. The discriminant analysis using watershed metrics has a better predication ability, 88.2%, than other discriminant models using stream-reach metrics. Except for two metrics, the ratios of %Chironomous to %Chironomidae and %Chironomous to %Chironomini, most of the benthic macroinvertebrate metrics indicate that the presence group has a more degraded environment. This model could be used to target restoration efforts not only in the Rappahannock River but elsewhere in the Chesapeake Bay. Furthermore, the multi-scale model design could be used to target management efforts for other aquatic species

Cultural Heritage and Local Ecological Knowledge under Threat: Two Caribbean Examples from Barbuda and Puerto Rico

While the impacts to the infrastructures in Barbuda and Puerto Rico by Hurricanes Irma and Maria have received attention in the news media, less has been reported about the impacts of these catastrophic events on the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of these Caribbean islands. This report provides an assessment of the impacts on the cultural heritage by these storms; tangible heritage includes historic buildings, museums, monuments, documents and other artifacts and intangible heritage includes traditional artistry, festivities, and more frequent activities such as religious services and laundering. While the physical destruction was massive, the social contexts in which these islands existed lessened the resiliency of the people to respond and rebuild after the storms. While change may be inevitable for Barbuda and Puerto Rico, disaster capitalism is threatening the cultures of the people, and may result in the loss of local knowledge and practices

Research on Teaching about Earth in the Context of Societal Problems

Knowledge and consideration of societal issues are critical for students majoring in the geosciences, as well as for non-science students and the general public who vote and make decisions that should be based on sound science. Thus, the importance of integrating geoscience with other disciplines such as urban planning, social justice, politics, communications and more has become a critical call to action for geoscience researchers and educators that merits examination. Improving undergraduate STEM education with the use of relevant issues such as societal problems is a useful mechanism to help students find science to be personally relevant and to develop their interest based on societal contexts (e.g., as is currently being done in the InTeGrate program). The grand challenges in this chapter examine the use of societal issues to teach about the Earth, which include consideration of the impact on student learning, the design principles of curricula that best integrate geoscience content within the context of societal issues, and the assessment needed to measure the efficacy of these methods

Image Recognition of Disease-Carrying Insects: A System for Combating Infectious Diseases Using Image Classification Techniques and Citizen Science

We propose a system that assists infectious disease experts in the rapid identification of potential outbreaks resulting from arboviruses (mosquito, ticks, and other arthropod-borne viruses). The proposed system currently identifies mosquito larvae in images received from citizen scientists. Mosquito-borne viruses, such as the recent outbreak of Zika virus, can have devastating consequences in affected communities. We describe the first implemented prototype of our system, which includes modules for image collection, training of image classifiers, specimen recognition, and expert validation and analytics. The results of the recognition of specimens in images provided by citizen scientists can be used to generate visualizations of geographical regions of interest where the threat of an arbovirus may be imminent. Our system uses state-of-the-art image classification algorithms and a combination of mobile and desktop applications to ensure that crucial information is shared appropriately and accordingly among its users

The Tools and Technologies of Transdisciplinary Climate Change Research and Community Empowerment in Barbuda

Focusing on the smaller sister-island of Barbuda, part of the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda, a group of collaborating anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists, education specialists, geographers, and environmental scientists are studying long-term human ecodynamics, the relationship amongst people, place, and the environment from the beginning of the peopling of a place through modern day. Our transdisciplinary approach brings together various field methods, tools and technologies from each field and crosses the boundaries of conventional science. This approach furthers our knowledge of climate change and facilitates practical and sustainable solutions for vulnerable populations

GLOBE Mosquito Habitat Mapper Citizen Science Data 2017–2020

The GLOBE Program\u27s GLOBE Observer application is a free citizen science mobile data collection and visualization tool compatible with iOS and Android operating systems. Citizen scientists armed with the app can report the mosquito larval habitats they identify using the GLOBE Mosquito Habitat Mapper tool. This data can complement the climate, weather, and land cover data obtained from satellite measurements by scientists who develop risk models for mosquito-borne diseases. Public participation in mosquito surveillance research provides the opportunity to obtain the volume, velocity and variety of data needed to fight the threat of vector-borne diseases, especially in under-resourced communities with minimal to no municipal surveillance and mitigation services. GLOBE Mosquito Habitat Mappers document and describe potential and active mosquito larval habitats in and around their homes and communities. An easy-to-use pictorial interface enables users to geolocate and describe oviposition sites encountered, count and identify mosquito larvae, and when appropriate, eliminate the larval habitats. During Mosquito Habitat Mapper\u27s first 3 years of use, over 24,000 data observations have been reported throughout the world. This technical report summarizes GLOBE Mosquito Habitat Mapper data reported by GLOBE citizen scientists from three regions: Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Localized mosquito larvae distribution patterns were examined by comparing data collected in three cities in Senegal–Dakar, Touba, and Thilmakha. The Senegal data show habitat and genera differences among mosquitoes identified by citizen scientists in the cities and illustrates the potential of the app for community-based surveillance and research

Landscape Transformation During Ceramic Age and Colonial Occupations of Barbuda, West Indies

This research documented the history of landscape transformation on the island of Barbuda in the Lesser Antilles, Caribbean through cross-disciplinary research approaches. Excavations confirmed a human presence for the seasonal exploitation of conch meat and other mollusks during the Archaic Age (c.3000–500 BC), but more substantial impacts to terrestrial ecosystems likely began during the Ceramic Age (c.500 BC–AD 1500). Our combined sedimentary and charcoal records revealed that human-induced environmental transformations began with Ceramic Age peoples as they cleared vegetation for settlements and gardens with intentional burning. Sedimentary charcoal indicated a dramatic decline in fire during post-Ceramic Age abandonment, continuing through the Colonial Period, as the dominant human activities shifted to herding, farming, and selective wood harvesting. Historical sources showed that during the Colonial Period (post-1492), the island was intermittently settled until the mid-seventeenth century, while the Codrington family of Antigua held the lease to the island from 1681 to 1870. They used the island for farming and stock-rearing, exporting meat and draught animals along with lime, timber, and subsistence crops. Macrocharcoal recovered from Colonial Period archaeological sites reflect the use of a variety of local species and wood imported to the island or harvested from shipwrecks

GLOBE Observer Data: 2016–2019

This technical report summarizes the GLOBE Observer data set from 1 April 2016 to 1 December 2019. GLOBE Observer is an ongoing NASA‐sponsored international citizen science project that is part of the larger Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, which has been in operation since 1995. GLOBE Observer has the greatest number of participants and geographic coverage of the citizen science projects in the Earth Science Division at NASA. Participants use the GLOBE Observer mobile app (launched in 2016) to collect atmospheric, hydrologic, and terrestrial observations. The app connects participants to satellite observations from Aqua, Terra, CALIPSO, GOES, Himawari, and Meteosat. Thirty‐eight thousand participants have contributed 320,000 observations worldwide, including 1,000,000 georeferenced photographs. It would take an individual more than 13 years to replicate this effort. The GLOBE Observer app has substantially increased the spatial extent and sampling density of GLOBE measurements and more than doubled the number of measurements collected through the GLOBE Program. GLOBE Observer data are publicly available (at observer.globe.gov)

After Irma, Disaster Capitalism Threatens Cultural Heritage in Barbuda

After Hurricane Irma, disaster capitalism threatens cultural heritage in Barbuda. A year and a half after the storm hit, efforts to exploit Barbuda to benefit the rich and powerful threaten to erode culture, identity, and traditional land relations in the name of “development.