Studying Africa's hydroclimate history over the last 2000 years

Water-resource availability is one of the most important environmental factors on which Africa’s agricultural societies are reliant. However, our knowledge of the natural background variability of rainfall and drought over Africa is currently still inadequate to allow a full grasp of the relevant climate-dynamical mechanisms and guidance of much-needed forecasts of future trends. This report presents two new efforts to improve insights into how hydroclimate has varied throughout the continent over the past two millennia. Firstly, a thorough synthesis of data from instrumental measurements, historical accounts and natural climate archives resulted in an extensive review of Africa’s hydroclimate history. Secondly, the focus is narrowed to East Africa, where the sediments of hypersaline Lake Bogoria were used to reconstruct how a variable climate has driven large lake-level fluctuations over the last 1,300 years. Key words: paleoclimatology, natural climate archive, lake-level change, sedimentology, Lake Bogoria National Reserv

The supramolecular attitude of metal-salophen and metal-salen complexes

In this review we cover some aspects of metal-salophen and metal-salen complex chemistry related to their supramolecular attitude. We examined under the lens of the non-covalent interactions their potential to behave as building blocks for auto-assembled architectures, supramolecular receptors and catalysts, although this last point has been only briefly mentioned

Investigation of emerging music courses in Colorado secondary schools, An

The following poster and videos were originally submitted as part of the CSU Graduate Student Showcase in the Fall of 2021. The materials are a summary of the author's in-progress Mater's thesis project titled, "An Investigation of Emerging Music Courses in Colorado Secondary Schools."2021 Fall.Emerging Music Courses (EMCs) are music classes for secondary students outside of traditional ensemble offerings and include courses in composition, music theory, music technology, guitar, piano, and general music. These classes are a growing trend and are an access point to music learning for students who play an instrument not offered in ensembles, are not enrolled in traditional ensemble courses, or have musical interests outside of ensemble performance. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of EMCs in Colorado's secondary schools, examine the learning activities used in EMCs, explore the beliefs teachers have about music learning in EMCs, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these courses. Data for this study will be collected using a descriptive survey method and post-questionnaire interviews. The questionnaire will be administered to music teachers employed by a public secondary school in the state of Colorado during the 2021-2022 school year. Follow-up interviews will utilize a maximum variation sampling strategy to identify participants that teach EMCs in a variety of contexts and who represent a range of individual demographic differences. Data collection and analysis will be completed in January 2022. Expected results include a growth in the prevalence of EMCs in Colorado and evidence of a wide variety of learning activities that differ significantly from traditional ensemble courses. Teacher beliefs are likely mixed and will depend on independent situations and backgrounds. This study will help teachers and schools make informed decisions about their course offerings and illuminate best practices in EMCs