Supplemental Peer Instruction in Physiologic Core Concept Education

The objective of my thesis project was to create and research the importance of supplemental learning videos within core physiological concepts identified by the Advancement of Physiological Principles for the purpose of assisting Dr. Kim Hansen in better educating students with less extensive foundational knowledge of chemical and biological sciences. Through researching the benefits of peer instruction, identifying core physiological concepts crucial to wholistic physiology education, and describing a student population hypothesized to benefit substantially from the work, I created educational videos to aid Dr. Hansen in her work as an educator and in the educational research she is striving to complete. Video topics included concepts such as cellular cycle, membrane transport, membrane potentials, and the countercurrent multiplier system

Managing developing landscapes for stormwater, water yield, and ecosystem services with data-driven approaches

Includes bibliographical references.2022 Fall.To view the abstract, please see the full text of the document

Increasing leaf hydraulic conductance with transpiration rate minimizes the water potential drawdown from stem to leaf.

Leaf hydraulic conductance (k leaf) is a central element in the regulation of leaf water balance but the properties of k leaf remain uncertain. Here, the evidence for the following two models for k leaf in well-hydrated plants is evaluated: (i) k leaf is constant or (ii) k leaf increases as transpiration rate (E) increases. The difference between stem and leaf water potential (ΔΨstem-leaf), stomatal conductance (g s), k leaf, and E over a diurnal cycle for three angiosperm and gymnosperm tree species growing in a common garden, and for Helianthus annuus plants grown under sub-ambient, ambient, and elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentration were evaluated. Results show that for well-watered plants k leaf is positively dependent on E. Here, this property is termed the dynamic conductance, k leaf(E), which incorporates the inherent k leaf at zero E, which is distinguished as the static conductance, k leaf(0). Growth under different CO₂ concentrations maintained the same relationship between k leaf and E, resulting in similar k leaf(0), while operating along different regions of the curve owing to the influence of CO₂ on g s. The positive relationship between k leaf and E minimized variation in ΔΨstem-leaf. This enables leaves to minimize variation in Ψleaf and maximize g s and CO₂ assimilation rate over the diurnal course of evaporative demand

Review of data on fishes of commerical and recreational fishing interest in the Great Barrier Reef Vol. 2

This document lists 1132 references directly relevant to reef fisheries in general and reef fisheries on the Great Barrier Reef in particular. It was prepared for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority as part of a review of data on fishes of commercial and recreational fishing interest on the Great Barrier Reef. The companion volume (Volume I, Williams and Russ, 1994) provides a review of the data specifically relating to the Great Barrier Reef and includes its own reference section which is partially, but not completely, a subset of the references provided here.This is Vol 2 of 2. Volume 1 can be found at http://hdl.handle.net/11017/23

Abundance patterns of reef sharks and predatory fishes on differently zoned reefs in the offshore Townsville region final report to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

Sharks were counted in six 500 x 20 m transects on the slope of each reef during late March 2008. Densities of whitetip reef sharks (Triaenodon obesus) were twice as high on green reefs as on blue reefs but were twice as high on pink reefs as on green reefs. Similarly, grey reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) were four times as abundant on green reefs as on blue reefs, but twice as abundant on pink reefs as on green reefs. We also recorded the abundance of large teleost reef fishes during all counts. There were similar patterns in the density of the common coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus), with 1.5 times as many coral trout on green reefs as on blue reefs but 2.5 times as many on pink reefs compared with green reefs

Identifying and Clarifying the Multiple Identities of U.S. Conservationists by Listening to Their Voices

Persons interested in conservation are often involved in negotiating their identities based on cultural values that guide what it means to be conservationists within the United States. In this dissertation, I focused on how negotiation of multiple identities impacts decisions regarding conservation and interactions with others. I adopted a critical interpretative lens to explore how conservationist identity emerged from roles of conservation scientists as they promote biodiversity conservation and negotiate the scientist-advocate paradox, agriculturalist producers as they talked about Best Management Practices (BMPs) for the Yellowstone River, and local community leaders that explained their governance of the Yellowstone River watershed and negotiated tensions between individual rights and the common good. In my first study, I analyzed professional conservation biology literature to determine how it framed credibility. Findings indicated that when identifying themselves as conservationists, conservation scientists typically discussed credibility as a static entity lacking dimensionality (expertise, trustworthiness, and goodwill). They identified expertise or trustworthiness as important, but rarely mentioned goodwill. For my next study, I selected a cultural inventory research approach to examine voices agriculturalists used to construct their conservation identity. Findings indicated that agriculturalists, when identifying themselves as conservationists, talked about their ecological and social responsibilities and explained how conservation and production are intricately linked to enable them to provide a sustainable resource base for future generations. In my final study, I used informant directed interviews to enable local community leaders to explain their perspectives about democratic governance along the Yellowstone River. Results indicated that when identifying themselves as conservationists, local community leaders talked about negotiating the democratic paradox and the importance of agonistic pluralism to effectively govern the Yellowstone River watershed. Overall, this research demonstrates that negotiation of multiple identities may differ when addressed to professional and lay audiences that perform particular roles associated with natural resource conservation. These findings offer general principles that can be applied to similar groups involved in conservation across the United States and enable an enhanced understanding of how the negotiation of multiple identities impacts decisions regarding conservation and interactions with others

A visual survey of demersal biota in the Cairns section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

We surveyed 50 reefs over the entire Cairns Section. including reefs with a history of closure to extractive uses such as fishing, reefs that had always been open to most uses, and reefs that were to have their zoning status changed under the as amended zoning plan. In so doing. we were also in a position to compare the status. in 1990-91, of reefs with different zoning histories. albeit in the absence of structured baseline data from before the then effective zoning period (1983-91). We surveyed six locations around the perimeter of each reef by well·established and tested underwater visual survey methods

Scales and magnitudes of variation in population densities of some coral reef organisms : implications for the design of sampling and monitoring procedures

In this report we have concentrated on the description of variation in abundances of several coral reef organisms in the Cairns Section of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Marine Park. Our focus was on the implications of spatial variation for the design of sampling and monitoring programmes and the inference of spatial pattern. Patterns of interest might arise, for example, from effects of areabased management strategies or human impacts on the reef environment. The data we present indicate that spatial variation is large at most scales for most organisms. Consequently, it is unlikely that small or even moderate spatial patterns caused by management strategies, human use, or natural perturbations will be detectable reliably without considerable expense

Habitat, cross shelf and regional patterns in the distributions and abundances of some coral reef organisms on the northern Great Barrier Reef, with comment on the implications for future monitoring

In this report we describe some relatively large-scale patterns in the distributions and abundances of several coral reef organisms on the northern Great Barrier Reef. We considered the degree to which habitat, position across the continental shelf, and region explained variations in abundances. These factors have been invoked as major determinants of pattern in abundances in past studies and we sought to examine the consistency and generality of such models. Our main focus was on the implications of systematic patterns in abundance for the spatial design of sampling and monitoring programmes. Ignorance or inappropriate treatment of strong systematic patterns when designing monitoring and assessment programmes has the potential to cause mistaken conclusions about the merits of future management strategies or the performance of existing strategies