Modeling the Behavioral Landscape Ecology of a Reintroduced Carnivore

The American marten (Martes Americana) is an endangered forest carnivore native to the Upper Midwestern United States and culturally significant to local Ojibwe tribes. In this region, the marten faces a number of potential threats to its persistence, including competition, predation, lack of prey availability, lack of recruitment, and lack of population connectivity. To evaluate how marten behavior affects the conservation and management of this species, I developed an individual-based model to simulate marten dispersal and home range establishment. In Chapter 2, I describe the model and the process of calibrating it to perform comparably to real-world martens. I also demonstrate support for a theoretical hypothesis of animal dispersal, that a dispersing individual should be willing to settle in lower quality habitat over time. In Chapter 3, I apply this model to a nearby landscape in the region to determine how land use change, mortality, and asymmetrical landscape configuration affect the ability of martens to disperse and maintain connectivity between populations. Mortality of dispersing individuals had the greatest effect on connectivity, while landscape configuration had the greatest effect on dispersal metrics. In Chapter 4, I used a dynamic landscape simulation model combined with a model of land transformation to extend my IBM to investigate how 100 years of land use and climate change might affect marten populations. In Chapter 5, I demonstrate how behavioral barriers to mating among reintroduced martens from different source populations may be driving declines in genetic diversity in the region. Ultimately, this work shows how tools such as IBMs and population genetics can be used to address real-world conservation problems when experimental field methods are limited by factors such as time, cost, and scarcity. At the same time, these applications can be used to ask important questions of theoretical ecology, ultimately serving both pragmatic and paradigmatic purposes

Understanding the needs of vulnerable prisoners: the role of social and emotional wellbeing

Purpose: Social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) is a term used to refer to the state of an individual's overall wellbeing. This review aims to consider the importance of understanding and assessing SEWB in prisoner populations, and identify potentially important differences between groups of prisoners, including those who identify as from minority cultural backgrounds (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in Australia), protective custody prisoners, remand prisoners, prisoners identified with an intellectual disability, and prisoners with an acquired brain injury. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is a general review of the published literature, with a specific focus on work conducted with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia. Findings: Eight domains of SEWB are identified across which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners, along with those in protection units, remandees, and prisoners with intellectual disabilities or acquired brain injuries are likely to experience particularly low levels of functioning. Few programs have been developed to address these needs, although attending to low levels of SEWB has the potential to make a positive contribution to prisoner health, prison management, and offender rehabilitation. Originality/value: Relatively little literature has considered this topic previously and, as a result, the paper is necessarily descriptive. Nonetheless, issues of SEWB appear to warrant further consideration, particularly in relation to those prisoners who identify with minority cultural groups

The Library as Publishing House

The academic library has taken on the new role of institutional publishing house, using institutional repository (IR) services to enable journal publishing and manage conference planning. Librarians taking on this new role as publisher must know the journal publishing work flow, including online article submission, peer review, publishing, marketing, and assessment. They must understand international identifiers such as the electronic International Standard Serial Number (eISSN) and Digital Object Identifier (DOI). To manage conference planning functions, librarians need to understand event functions such as presentation submission, program scheduling, registration and third-party payment systems, proceedings publishing, and archiving. In general, they need to be technologically savvy enough to configure and manage a specialized content management system, the institutional repository

The process of change in offender rehabilitation programmes

Whilst the overall effectiveness of offender rehabilitation programmes in reducing recidivism is now well established, there has been less discussion of the reasons why rehabilitation programmes may be unsuccessful for some offenders. In this paper we suggest that models of change developed in counselling and psychotherapy may have utility in explaining how offender rehabilitation programmes bring about change, and argue that the dominance of cognitive-behavioural treatments in the rehabilitation field means that those offenders who have particularly low levels of problem awareness may be at increased risk of treatment failure. Understanding more about the mechanisms by which programmes help offenders to desist from offending is likely to lead to the development of more responsive and, ultimately, more effective programmes. Some suggestions for those involved in the delivery of offender rehabilitation programmes include: being mindful of the sequence of components of programmes, the development of preparation (or readiness) programmes and offering a broad suite of programmes to cater for different stages of problem awareness and assimilation among offenders. <br /

The forgotten victims: prisoner experience of victimisation and engagement with the criminal justice system

Many women in prison have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). As this form of violence is often intergenerational and entrenched, women in prison are widely considered to be at particular risk of ongoing victimisation following release from custody. And yet, their support needs often go unrecognised, and it is likely that a range of barriers exists that prevent exprisoners from accessing services. This research documents a series of interviews with both incarcerated women and service providers in one Australian jurisdiction to arrive at an understanding of help-seeking behaviour and how this might inform service responses. It is not concerned with advancing current understandings of why women come into contact with the justice system, although it is clear that services and programs that prevent IPV will contribute to reduced criminal justice involvement. Te analysis is positioned within a review of current theories of how people seek help from both formal and informal sources and how these theories might apply to women in prison. Tese theories suggest that any individual who experiences IPV must: 1) recognise and define the abusive situation as intolerable; 2) decide to disclose the abuse and seek help; and 3) select a target for the disclosure and where to subsequently seek help from. At the same time, the ability to seek help is infuenced by a broad range of individual, interpersonal and socio-cultural factors. Socio-culturally, for example, IPV is ofen viewed through the lens of particular social, religious and cultural institutions where male–female power inequalities are reinforced. Figure 1 provides a summary of those factors that infuence help-seeking at each stage of the process. Te interviews with women in prison clearly illustrated the need for service providers to ofer support at each of these three stages; they also illustrated how the process of re-entering the community leaves many women who have been released from prison feeling insufciently empowered to access help independently. Te interviews with service providers highlight that although services are available to victims of IPV, they rarely provide the type of support required to engage ex-prisoners. Te research suggests there is much that can be done to prepare women for their eventual release back into the community and to support them in the period following release. Specialist safety services are needed to provide education and information about IPV, to assess the particular risks faced by women in prison, to broker service access with community agencies and to provide general support and advocacy. In short, a dedicated integrated response to community reintegration is indicated that can help to break the cycle of victimisation and incarceration that is characteristic of the lives of many women in Australian prisons

The views of women in prison about help-seeking for intimate partner violence: at the intersection of ‘survivor’ and ‘offender’

Women represent the fastest growing section of prison populations across the Western world (Jeffries & Newbold, 2016), with ‘gender responsive’ theories of crime proposing that experiences of victimization often create offending pathways dissimilar to those of male offenders (see Bloom, Owen, & Covington 2005; Salisbury & Van Voorhis, 2009). Women’s experiences prior to incarceration have been shown, for example, to be characterized by high rates of child abuse, rape, and intimate partner violence (IPV) (Lynch, Fritch, & Heath, 2012). Of particular concern is the findings of one US study, that three quarters 75% of incarcerated women reported a history of physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner (Browne, Miller, & Maguin, 1999). A more recent study, by Lynch, Fritch, and Health (2012) has also reported that 90% of female prisoners report physical and sexual violence from their partners in the year prior to incarceration. While such experiences may be important antecedents to a range of personal problems, which, in turn, lead to offending, these studies highlight how women who are in prison represent a group who potentially have an ongoing vulnerability to IPV after release (Cross, 2016). And yet, despite many prisoners returning to the same relationships and geographic contexts/communities that existed prior to incarceration, relatively little is known about the post-release experiences of women prisoners and the types of services that might be made available to maintain their safety

Transitions to Better Lives: offender readiness and rehabilitation

Transitions to Better Lives aims to describe, collate, and summarize a body of recent research "both theoretical and empirical" that explores the issue of treatment readiness in offender programming. It is divided into three sections. Part one unpacks a model of treatment readiness, and explains how it has been operationalized. Part two discusses how the construct has been applied to the treatment of different offender groups. Part three discusses some of the practice approaches that have been identified as holding promise in addressing low levels of offender readiness are discussed. Included within each section are contributions from a number of authors whose work, in recent years, has stimulated discussion and helped to inform practice in offender rehabilitation. This book is an ideal resource for those who study within the field of criminology, or who work in the criminal justice system, and have an interest in the delivery of rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for offenders. This includes psychologists, social workers, probation and parole officers, and prison officers

Investigating the impact of invasive Asian carp on river otter diet and the native fish communities of Indiana

Invasive Asian carp (i.e., bighead and silver carp, Hypophthalmic molitric and hypophalmichthy nobilis), threaten native fish populations in Midwestern United States freshwater ecosystems. These species are primarily planktivorous, experience rapid growth rates, and have enhanced predator avoidance traits resulting in a competitive advantage over native fish species. The success of Asian carp may also threaten higher-level predators by altering prey availability, potentially causing a change in predator behavior and diet. Since the coinciding river otter (Lontra canadensis) reintroduction and Asian carp invasion in Indiana’s waterways in 1995, no studies have investigated the impact of Asian carp on higher- level predators. Our objective is to determine the role of Asian carp in the diet of a top predator in Indiana’s waterways, the North American river otter. To determine the impact of Asian carp in otter diet, we will be conducting diet analyses through two methods: gross fecal analysis and stable isotope analysis. We will compare otter diet in a carp-invaded watershed to the otter diet in a carp-free watershed. We are collecting scat at 2 different locations along the carp-invaded Tippecanoe River: Prophetstown State Park, YMCA Camp Tecumseh and 2 different locations in non-carp invaded waterways: Chain’O Lakes State Park and Pigeon River Fish and Wildlife Area. We hypothesize that river otters will select against invasive Asian carp in preference for native species, with which they have coevolved. This result would indicate an increase in predation pressure upon already reduced native fish populations, as well as a reduction in fitness of the predator from limited prey availability. If otters do prefer Asian carp, they may serve as an effective bio control for Asian carp while also creating a positive public perception of otters

Strengthening the W in WASH: community based water resource management for water security

This briefing paper describes the early experiences of a community-based water resources management (CBWRM) initiative carried out by WaterAid in Burkina Faso. Water supply services established as part of WASH programmes in Sudano Sahelian countries like Burkina Faso are frequently used for both domestic and livelihood purposes. The water resources upon which these services depend are subject to pressures and threats which change over time, making livelihoods and wellbeing vulnerable to shocks. An approach piloted in three rural communities has enabled villagers to monitor changing water availability in their environment, helping to inform collective action they take to mitigate pressures threatening their water resources. Working with local government authorities, the communities have been able to make well informed decisions to safeguard access for both domestic and productive usage, helping to ensure water supply systems deliver lasting benefits. The hydrological information they gather can compliment and support national water security plans