Aligning the Goals of the University with Opportunities in Education Abroad

This quantitative study was conducted at a large four year, high undergraduate, public university (for this article, called Midwest University) to compare and assess the perceived benefit of traditional study abroad and short-term, faculty-led study abroad on participants’ employability skills, cultural competency and global citizenship. Participants reported their education abroad experience enhanced their understanding of course content as well as their views about global citizenship. The survey collected data about participants’ perceptions about social responsibility, global competency, and global civic engagement. In addition, the survey collected data about career competency skills such as teamwork, interpersonal communication, networking ability, leadership, problem solving and foreign language skills. The study defined education abroad at Midwest University and determined how well the program delivered on the Midwest University promise of social and economic mobility. Given that the resources devoted to a short-term, faculty-led experience are significantly lower than in a traditional study abroad program, the authors argue that this type of experience is more accessible to the students and participants at Midwest University.

Rebuilding community connections through experiential professional development

The authors argue that the narrowing of the K-12 curriculum in the past twenty years has changed the relationship between K-12 schoolteachers and the community. Using an ecological perspective as the theoretical lens, the article describes these changes as well as an effort by an economic development organization in Indiana to help rebuild those relationships through an experiential learning professional development activity. The article also includes sample teacher developed work plans for teaching economic concepts and skills through community based experiences

The Marine Stratus/Stratocumulus Experiment (MASE): Aerosol-cloud relationships in marine stratocumulus

Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 112, D10209The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007985.The Marine Stratus/Stratocumulus Experiment (MASE) field campaign was undertaken in July 2005 off the coast of Monterey, California to evaluate aerosol-cloud relationships in the climatically important regime of eastern Pacific marine stratocumulus. Aerosol and cloud properties were measured onboard the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) Twin Otter aircraft. One cloud that was clearly impacted by ship emissions as well as the ensemble of clouds observed over the entire mission are analyzed in detail. Results at both the individual and ensemble scales clearly confirm the Twomey effect (first indirect effect of aerosols) and demonstrate drizzle suppression at elevated aerosol number concentration. For the ship track impacted cloud, suppressed drizzle in the track led to a larger cloud liquid water path (LWP) at the same cloud thickness, in accord with the so-called second indirect effect. Ensemble averages over all clouds sampled over the entire 13-flight mission show the opposite effect of aerosol number concentration on LWP, presumably the result of other dynamic influences (e.g., updraft velocity and ambient sounding profile). Individual polluted clouds were found to exhibit a narrower cloud drop spectral width in accord with theoretical prediction (M.-L. Lu and J. H. Seinfeld, Effect of aerosol number concentration on cloud droplet dispersion: A large-eddy simulation study and implications for aerosol indirect forcing, Journal of Geophysical Research, 2006). This field experiment demonstrates both the indirect aerosol effect on ship track perturbed clouds, as well as the subtleties involved in extracting these effects over an ensemble of clouds sampled over a 1-month period

The Marine Stratus/Stratocumulus Experiment (MASE): Aerosol-cloud relationships in marine stratocumulus

The Marine Stratus/Stratocumulus Experiment (MASE) field campaign was undertaken in July 2005 off the coast of Monterey, California to evaluate aerosol-cloud relationships in the climatically important regime of eastern Pacific marine stratocumulus. Aerosol and cloud properties were measured onboard the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) Twin Otter aircraft. One cloud that was clearly impacted by ship emissions as well as the ensemble of clouds observed over the entire mission are analyzed in detail. Results at both the individual and ensemble scales clearly confirm the Twomey effect (first indirect effect of aerosols) and demonstrate drizzle suppression at elevated aerosol number concentration. For the ship track impacted cloud, suppressed drizzle in the track led to a larger cloud liquid water path (LWP) at the same cloud thickness, in accord with the so-called second indirect effect. Ensemble averages over all clouds sampled over the entire 13-flight mission show the opposite effect of aerosol number concentration on LWP, presumably the result of other dynamic influences (e.g., updraft velocity and ambient sounding profile). Individual polluted clouds were found to exhibit a narrower cloud drop spectral width in accord with theoretical prediction (M.-L. Lu and J. H. Seinfeld, Effect of aerosol number concentration on cloud droplet dispersion: A large-eddy simulation study and implications for aerosol indirect forcing, Journal of Geophysical Research, 2006). This field experiment demonstrates both the indirect aerosol effect on ship track perturbed clouds, as well as the subtleties involved in extracting these effects over an ensemble of clouds sampled over a 1-month period

Using Heat to Characterize Streambed Water Flux Variability in Four Stream Reaches

Estimates of streambed water fl ux are needed for the interpretation of streambed chemistry and reactions. Continuous temperature and head monitoring in stream reaches within four agricultural watersheds (Leary Weber Ditch, IN; Maple Creek, NE; DR2 Drain, WA; and Merced River, CA) allowed heat to be used as a tracer to study the temporal and spatial variability of fluxes through the streambed. Synoptic methods (seepage meter and differential discharge measurements) were compared with estimates obtained by using heat as a tracer. Water flux was estimated by modeling one-dimensional vertical flow of water and heat using the model VS2DH. Flux was influenced by physical heterogeneity of the stream channel and temporal variability in stream and ground-water levels. During most of the study period (April–December 2004), flux was upward through the streambeds. At the IN, NE, and CA sites, high-stage events resulted in rapid reversal of flow direction inducing short-term surface-water flow into the streambed. During late summer at the IN site, regional ground-water levels dropped, leading to surface-water loss to ground water that resulted in drying of the ditch. Synoptic measurements of flux generally supported the model flux estimates. Water flow through the streambed was roughly an order of magnitude larger in the humid basins (IN and NE) than in the arid basins (WA and CA). Downward flux, in response to sudden high streamflows, and seasonal variability in flux was most pronounced in the humid basins and in high conductivity zones in the streambed