Sustainability Beliefs of First-year Students in Natural Resources

A crux of the environmental problem is change resistance and few college students possess the critical analysis and persuasive communication skills needed to engage in this dialogue. Furthermore, there is little appreciation among college students for the diversity of beliefs regarding sustainability issues. We surveyed students enrolled in a First-Year Experience class in Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. We used the Dunlap and Van Liere New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) measurement scale to assess the individual student orientations toward nature and the environment. The students enrolled in this class had enrolled voluntarily based on their interest in the study of the environment or natural resources. Therefore, it was no surprise that the score reflected a belief orientation towards sustainability. Survey results allowed these first-year students to discover the range of opinion among members of a relatively homogeneous sample. The survey provided insights regarding the human-centered or eco-centered orientation of their student peers. We used these findings to encourage revision of a draft problem-solving essay. We plan further use of the NEP measurement scale in our curriculum and encourage its adoptions by instructors involved in pedagogy of sustainable thinking

First-year Experience Course: Problem Solving, Inquiry, and Integration

In an effort to address academic deficiencies outlined in recent studies, Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment redesigned its first-year experience class to fit their activities into three components of activities: problem solving, inquiry, and integrative learning. The problem solving component required students to define a problem, identify problem-solving strategies, and propose solutions and hypotheses. The inquiry component of the first-year experience included selecting a research topic, learning how to access information about the topic, learning how to evaluate existing information about the topic, and deciding which information to use to achieve desired results about the topic. The final component of the program, integration of learning, connected different programs of study with in-class learning and outside experience. This component also stressed exploring the relationship between student’s self and their learning experiences. To evaluate these three categories, the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire and the Information Literacy Test surveys were administered to the students at the beginning of the semester and the end of the semester in order to evaluate student growth in each category, as well as students’ own self-awareness. Quantitative analysis of these two surveys illustrates the effectiveness of the assignments associated with each component. Knowledge gained from the redevelopment of the class, quantitative analysis of the surveys, and plans for additional amendments to the class will be shared during conference proceedings

Relict basin closure and crustal shortening budgets during continental collision: An example from Caucasus sediment provenance

Comparison of plate convergence with the timing and magnitude of upper crustal shortening in collisional orogens indicates both shortening deficits (200–1700 km) and significant (10–40%) plate deceleration during collision, the cause(s) for which remains debated. The Greater Caucasus Mountains, which result from postcollisional Cenozoic closure of a relict Mesozoic back‐arc basin on the northern margin of the Arabia‐Eurasia collision zone, help reconcile these debates. Here we use U‐Pb detrital zircon provenance data and the regional geology of the Caucasus to investigate the width of the now‐consumed Mesozoic back‐arc basin and its closure history. The provenance data record distinct southern and northern provenance domains that persisted until at least the Miocene. Maximum basin width was likely ~350–400 km. We propose that closure of the back‐arc basin initiated at ~35 Ma, coincident with initial (soft) Arabia‐Eurasia collision along the Bitlis‐Zagros suture, eventually leading to ~5 Ma (hard) collision between the Lesser Caucasus arc and the Scythian platform to form the Greater Caucasus Mountains. Final basin closure triggered deceleration of plate convergence and tectonic reorganization throughout the collision. Postcollisional subduction of such small (102–103 km wide) relict ocean basins can account for both shortening deficits and delays in plate deceleration by accommodating convergence via subduction/underthrusting, although such shortening is easily missed if it occurs along structures hidden within flysch/slate belts. Relict basin closure is likely typical in continental collisions in which the colliding margins are either irregularly shaped or rimmed by extensive back‐arc basins and fringing arcs, such as those in the modern South Pacific.Key PointsU‐Pb provenance indicates Greater Caucasus formed by postcollisional Cenozoic closure of a Mesozoic back arc basin likely ~350–400 km widePostcollisional subduction/underthrusting of such relict basins helps account for shortening deficits and delayed plate decelerationPlate convergence should not be expected to balance upper crustal shortening or the length of subducted slab following collisionPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135981/1/tect20504.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135981/2/tect20504_am.pd

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SUCCESS, OR FAILURE, OF ADMINISTRATORS IN NEBRASKA\u27S CLASS III SCHOOL DISTRICTS

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The Mojave Section of the San Andreas Fault (California), 2: Pleistocene Records of Near‐Field Transpression Illuminate the Atypical Evolution of the Restraining “Big Bend”

Abstract With an obliquity of ∼30° relative to plate motion direction, the ∼300‐km‐long Big Bend of the San Andreas Fault is one of the world's largest restraining bends. The 5–6 Ma (∼160 km of total displacement) longevity of this mechanically inefficient structure and the lack of evidence for associated widespread uplift both challenge existing models of transpression and bend evolution. We focus on the structurally simplest section of the Big Bend (the Mojave section of the San Andreas: MSAF) to characterize the pattern of near‐field (<5 km from the San Andreas trace) uplift over two different timescales. The topography of vertically deformed alluvial surfaces is used to demonstrate that near‐field uplift along the least oblique segment of the MSAF has been significant over the last ∼40 ka (∼1–2 mm/yr), and driven by slip on two oppositely dipping blind reverse faults. Topographic and structural analyses of the MSAF near‐field are conducted at the scale of the entire fault to show that, at least on the NE side of the MSAF, these blind structures coincide with the front of a fault‐parallel bedrock ridge with clear characteristics of a young transpressive ridge. Structural, sedimentary, and geomorphic arguments converge to suggest that these blind structures were activated ∼315 ka ago and record a Mid‐Pleistocene kinematic reorganization of the MSAF fault‐zone. This reorganization is tentatively interpreted as a shift in the mode of accommodation of the transpressive component of plate motion, in turn driven by the strike‐slip advection of crustal strength gradients along the Big Bend

Late Cenozoic base-level variations of the Caspian Sea: A review of its history and proposed driving mechanisms

The Caspian Sea is characterized by significant variations in its base level during the late Cenozoic and provides an important repository for long-term records of both regional climate and tectonics due to its position within the interior of the Eurasian continent and at the northern margin of the ongoing Arabia-Eurasia collision zone. The Caspian also serves as an important moisture source for eastern Eurasia, including the northern Tibetan Plateau, and thus the history of Caspian base-level variations represents an important, and poorly understood constraint on paleoclimate reconstructions throughout Eurasia. Prior work in the Caspian region has largely focused on developing biostratigraphic age divisions and investigating the history of connection between the Caspian, Black, and Mediterranean seas, as well as the global ocean. Recent geochronologic work in the Caspian and related basins has questioned previous correlations of hydrologic events in these different basins. As a result, prior estimates of the chronology and magnitude of Caspian Sea level variations may be incorrect. Here we synthesize previous work to develop a new Caspian base level curve starting at the beginning of the Meotian regional stage (~. 7. Ma). We also present a new synthesis of potential driving mechanisms for the large variations in Caspian base level and speculate on a possible cause for the enigmatic Akchagyl transgression. This synthesis highlights the dynamic range of Caspian Sea level, which varied from 200. m above to in excess of 1000. m below its current level during the Late Cenozoic, and provides a basis for future work investigating the tectonic and climatic drivers behind variations in Caspian base level. © 2013 Elsevier B.V