A Comparison of Indigenous and Western Land Management; Case Studies of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and the East Bay Regional Park District

Western value systems and ways of knowing the world are in need of serious critique, especially in terms of colonialism and capitalism. These systems, many argue are fundamentally unjust and unsustainable while also working toinvalidate and erase alternative, indigenous ways of knowing. We need to work towards decolonization by both challenging these dominant Western systems, and exploring and supporting alternatives. That the primary intent of this thesis, which aims to engage and compare indigenous and Western worldviews using two specific case studies of land management. The first, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, represents an indigenous Māori approach in a New Zealand context, while the East Bay Regional Park District represents a ‘conventional’ Western approach in a US context. The analysis of these groups was based primarily on management plans and other assorted documents, as well as personal experience working with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei in particular. The structure and practice of each group were explored separately, and connected with the systems and values of their respective cultural contexts. Comparisons were then made exploring differences in community participation, ways of knowing, and systems of values and belief. The District, while showing significant concern for the environment, was still engaged in limiting and harmful colonial practice. In contrast the practice of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, with its local focus, community engagement, and deep relation with the land, is a worthy source of inspiration in moving towards a world that is more safe, just, and sustainable

Western Iowa No-tillers to Hold Field Day June 16

The second Western Iowa No-tillers (WIN) Demonstration Field Day is planned for Tuesday, June 16 near Shelby, Iowa. Over 200 producers and agriculture professionals attended the daylong event in 2008 to learn more about implementing no-till practices. No-till farming practices provide a positive option for southwest Iowa producers who have highly erodible soils in their fields and are dealing with increasing input costs. To accommodate an anticipated larger audience, more equipment displays and increased parking, the 2009 event will be held at the Carstens 1880 Farmstead just south of Shelby, Iowa

Effect of Stay-N nitrification inhibitor upon corn yield and N-uptake on Iowa soils

Nitrogen fertilization is necessary to obtain respectable corn yields. Loss of nitrogen applied to the soil can significantly decrease yields. Suppressing the rate of nitrogen oxidation into a form that can be leached from the root zone may increase N use efficiency. The use of a nitrification inhibitor (nitrapyrin) has been shown to protect crop yield and groundwater quality when leaching conditions exist. Two year studies were conducted to determine the efficacy of reformulated nitrapyrin (Stay-N) when used with urea-ammonium nitrate solutions (liquid N fertilizer) and liquid swine manure upon corn yields. The liquid N studies were conducted in 2000 and 2001 at the Northwest Iowa Research Farm on a Galva soil (Typic Hapludoll) and in Central Iowa at the Burkey Farm on a Nicollet soil (Aquic Hapludoll). Treatments were arranged in split-plot, randomized, complete block design replicated four times. Main plots were Stay-N treatments, with (0.56 kg ai ha−1) or without Stay-N. Sub-plots were seven different rates of nitrogen: 0, 45, 90, 135, 180, 225, and 270 kg ha−1. Stay-N was mixed with the urea-ammonium nitrate solutions and sprayed on the appropriate plots using a small plot fertilizer applicator. The liquid swine manure study was conducted in 2001 and 2002 at the Armstrong Research Farm near Lewis, Iowa on a Colo soil (Cumulic Endoaquoll). The study was arranged in a randomized complete block design replicated four times. Liquid swine manure was applied to the plots to supply 0, 90, and 179 kg ha−1 of nitrogen. Stay-N rates were 0, 0.56, 1.12, and 2.24 kg ai ha−1. Stay-N was mixed with the swine manure before treatments were injected into the soil. Environmental conditions did not favor N losses during the time the studies were conducted

Bioinformatics and Handwriting/Speech Reconition: Uncoventional Applications of Similarity Search Tools

This work introduces two unconventional applications for sequence alignment algorithms outside the domain of bioinformatics: handwriting recognition and speech recognition. In each application we treated data samples, such as the path of a and written pen stroke, as a protein sequence and use the FastA sequence alignment tool to classify unknown data samples, such as a written character. That is, we handle the handwriting and speech recognition problems like the protein annotation problem: given a sequence of unknown function, we annotate the sequence via sequence alignment. This approach achieves classification rates of 99.65% and 93.84% for the handwriting and speech recognition respectively. In addition, we provide a framework for applying sequence alignment to a variety of other non–traditional problems.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Corn Yield Response to Application of Swine Manure and Stay-N

As a result of intensive livestock production in Iowa, large quantities of manure are being produced. Research is needed to evaluate the best way to use this resource. Swine manure contains many nutrients that are essential for plant growth, especially nitrogen (N). A nitrification inhibitor (Stay-N) was used to reduce the rate of conversion of NH4+ to NO3- to lessen the potential of leaching losses. The objective of this experiment was to identify the optimum manure rate and determine whether the addition of Stay-N is practical

Effect of Spring Application of N Fertilizer and a Nitrification Inhibitor on Corn Grain Yields

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer management for corn production continues to be a very important issue in Iowa. The goal of N management is to apply enough fertilizer to maximize profits for the crop producer and to limit the potential for environmental contamination from unused fertilizer. The ammonium (NH4) form of N fertilizer doesn’t leach or denitrify in soils. Eventually NH4 is converted to nitrate (NO3) in soils, and once this occurs the potential for N loss increases. Nitrification inhibitors (NI) maintain, for a time, ammonium (NH4) in soils thus reducing the risk of N loss. Research on NIs in Iowa has not shown predictable corn yield increases due to their use, especially when applied in the spring in liquid N fertilizers. This may be because NIs are volatile and may be lost from the soil during application. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a reformulation of the NI nitrapyrin. This product is currently being sold as Stay N. The reformulated product is less volatile than the old material

Machine Learning Approaches to Modeling the Physiochemical Properties of Small Peptides

Peptide and protein sequences are most commonly represented as a strings: a series of letters selected from the twenty character alphabet of abbreviations for the naturally occurring amino acids. Here, we experiment with representations of small peptide sequences that incorporate more physiochemical information. Specifically, we develop three different physiochemical representations for a set of roughly 700 HIV–I protease substrates. These different representations are used as input to an array of six different machine learning models which are used to predict whether or not a given peptide is likely to be an acceptable substrate for the protease. Our results show that, in general, higher–dimensional physiochemical representations tend to have better performance than representations incorporating fewer dimensions selected on the basis of high information content. We contend that such representations are more biologically relevant than simple string–based representations and are likely to more accurately capture peptide characteristics that are functionally important.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Harvest and Disposal of Hazardous Algal Blooms

Utah Lake, a major source of recreation and farmland irrigation in the Provo area, was closed to all use and access in the summer of 2016. There was a toxic blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) outbreak, which resulted in microcystin concentrations over eight times the recreational water threshold limit (20 ug/L threshold and 176 ug/L detection). The ability to harvest and dispose of these toxic algae before contamination of the lake occurs is important to ensure protection of human and animal health and the environment, and more hazardous algae blooms (HABs) are anticipated in the future. The Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility (CVWRF), a local municipal wastewater treatment facility, utilizes anaerobic digesters for wastewater treatment. A preliminary experiment was conducted to test cyanobacteria microcystin degradation via anaerobic digestion using anaerobic digester sludge obtained from this facility. The microcystin concentration readings were conducted using ABRAXIS Recreational Water Microcystin Dipstick ELISA Test and AbraScan II Dipstick Reader. Preliminary experimentation shows a trend of microcystin degradation over time in laboratory-scale anaerobic digesters. The change in microcystin concentration was approximately zero in control groups consisting of microcystin in distilled deionized water. Further testing is needed, but this data indicates a possibility of harvesting HABs from Utah Lake for disposal in the CVWRF digesters. With a method for disposal in place, a response plan for removing toxic algae and protecting important river and irrigation inlets will be developed for implementation in response to hazardous algal blooms at Utah Lake