Providing Real-World Experiences: the Virginia Tech Externship for Mathematics Specialists

We describe the structure and implementation of the yearlong Externship experience associated with the Mathematics Specialist program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech). We discuss the assignments and experiences included in the Externship, the alignment of those experiences with the job description developed by the Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition Task Force, and teacher comments on the effectiveness of their Externship experiences [1]

Assessing the Value Extension Adds to Decision Making Among Natural Resources Leaders

Extension professionals face challenges in quantifying the impact of their efforts in advancing the decision-making process in natural resource policy. We developed a flexible tool that measures the impact of improving decision makers’ planning efforts. The tool consists of two sets of survey questions that can be modified to fit an extension program’s goals. We illustrated how to use this tool by surveying leaders working with private forest owners to help advance natural resource management. However, the tool can be of use to extension professionals across various program areas

Protecting the Florida panther and panther habitat on private lands: conflicts and management options

Presented at the 8th international congress for wildlife and livelihoods on private and communal lands: livestock, tourism, and spirit, that was held on September 7-12, 2014 in Estes Park, Colorado.Presenter: Elizabeth Pienaar.Although it is protected by the Endangered Species Act, both management and recovery of the Florida panther is contingent on habitat conservation on private lands as well as landowner support for panther conservation efforts. Conflict over cattle depredation by the Florida panther and mitigation for incidental take of the panther has contributed to the formation of the Florida Panther Recovery Implementation Team by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). This Team consists of representatives of the USFWS, the National Park Service, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), environmental NGOs and private landowners, with a mandate to facilitate the recovery of the Florida panther, in part by addressing the human dimensions of panther recovery. One of the key challenges that agencies face is how to engage stakeholders (in particular landowners) in panther management, which is particularly difficult when there is a history of distrust between agencies and stakeholders. To assist in these efforts, I conducted interviews and focus group meetings with a variety of stakeholders to assess their opinions about human-panther conflict, options for managing the Florida panther on private lands, habitat conservation incentives, and the role of agencies in mitigating human-panther conflicts. I will present a synthesis of these discussions and I will highlight the key areas of contention and conflict between various stakeholder groups that must be addressed in order to attain panther recovery

Antennae on transmitters on free-living marine animals: Balancing budgets on the high wire

The effect of externally mounted antennae on the energetics of penguins was studied by mounting various antennae on a transducer fixed to a model Magellanic penguin Spheniscus magellanicus to determine drag, run at speeds of up to 2 m s–1 in a swim canal. For rigid antennae set perpendicular to the water flow, measured drag increased with increasing swim speed. Increasing antenna length (for lengths between 100 and 200 mm) or diameter (for diameters between 1 and 4 mm) resulted in accelerating increased drag as a function of both antenna length and diameter. Where antennae were positioned at acute angles to the water flow, drag was markedly reduced, as was drag at higher speeds in flexible antennae. These results were incorporated in a model on the foraging energetics of free-living Magellanic penguins using data (on swim speeds, intervals between prey encounters, amount ingested per patch and dive durations) derived from previously published work and from a field study conducted on birds from a colony at Punta Norte, Argentina, using data loggers. The field work indicated that free-living birds have a foraging efficiency (net energy gain/net energy loss) of about 2.5. The model predicted that birds equipped with the largest rigid external antennae tested (200 mm × 3 mm diameter), set perpendicular to water flow, increased energy expenditure at normal swim speeds of 1.77 m s–1 by 79% and at prey capture speeds of 2.25 m s–1 by 147%, and ultimately led to a foraging efficiency that was about 5 times less than that of unequipped birds. Highly flexible antennae were shown to reduce this effect considerably. Deleterious antenna-induced effects are predicted to be particularly critical in penguins that have to travel fast to capture prey. Possible measures taken by the birds to increase foraging efficiency could include reduced travelling speed and selection of smaller prey types. Suggestions are made as to how antenna-induced drag might be minimized for future studies on marine diving animal

Native parasitoids and their potential to control the invasive leafminer, Cameraria ohridella DESCH. & DIM. (Lep.: Gracillariidae)

In spite of the fact that since the end of the eighties, the horse chestnut leafminer, Cameraria ohridella, has established itself throughout Europe, native predators such as ants and birds are not attuned to this neozoic species. In contrast, several parasitic wasp species already started to exploit the invasive horse chestnut leafminer, but until now parasitation rates are quite low, mainly because of asynchrony in the lifecycles of parasitoids and host. Only the removal of leaf litter, in which pupae hibernate, is at the moment a strategy to reduce the infestation level in the next year. Unfortunately, not only hibernating horse chestnut leafminers but also parasitoids are removed, and important resources for biocontrol are unused. In the current study, we investigated the potential efficiency of the horse chestnut leafminer parasitoid complex extracted from leaf litter in defined environments. Parasitoids were released at different densities to investigate density dependence in parasitation rates. Although seven different species were released in our experiments, only Pnigalio agraules turned out to be responsible for biocontrol of C. ohridella. We recorded parasitation rates of up to 35%. Overall, parasitation rates were independent of the leafminer density but increased fourfold if ten times more parasitoid individuals were released. Unfortunately, none of the parasitoid species could be established in the experimental units in the long run. Results are compared to other parasitoid-leafminer systems, and promotion of horse chestnut leafminer parasitoids to support natural selection and biological control of the horse chestnut leafminer is discussed. Copyright © 2008 Cambridge University Press

Approaches to displaying information to assist decisions under uncertainty

This article was published in the journal, Omega [© Elsevier] and the definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.omega.2011.05.010The estimation of the costs of a product or project and the decisions based on these forecasts are subject to much uncertainty relating to factors like unknown future developments. This has been addressed repeatedly in research studies focusing on different aspects of uncertainty; unfortunately, this interest has not yet been adopted in practice. One reason can be found in the inadequate representation of uncertainty. This paper introduces an experiment, which engages different approaches to displaying cost forecasting information to gauge the consideration of uncertainty in the subsequent decision-making process. Three different approaches of displaying cost-forecasting information including the uncertainty involved in the data were tested, namely a three point trend forecast, a bar chart, and a FAN-diagram. Furthermore, the effects of using different levels of contextual information about the decision problem were examined. The results show that decision makers tend to simplify the level of uncertainty from a possible range of future outcomes to the limited form of a point estimate. Furthermore, the contextual information made the participants more aware of uncertainty. In addition, the fan-diagram prompted 75.0% of the participants to consider uncertainty even if they had not used this type of diagram before; it was therefore identified as the most suitable method of graphical information display for encouraging decision makers to consider the uncertainty in cost forecasting

Using geospatial tools to optimize cassava agronomy trials in Nigeria and Tanzania

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an important staple crop for over half a billion people in Africa yet current yield at farmers’ field is only 20% of the potential yield. The African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) project is initiated to mitigate the yield gap through developing site-specific recommendations based on a demand-driven approach. The project responds to specific agronomy-related needs of partners already engaged in cassava dissemination and value chain activities in Nigeria and Tanzania. ACAI is developing site-specific recommendation, where processing geospatial information related to climate, soil and remote sensing data is crucial. We are using spatial multivariate analysis to delineate our partners’ operational area into homogeneous clusters to ensure the representativeness of trial sites and optimize the number of trial sites for maximum operational efficiency

Effects of genotype, seed P concentration and seed priming on seedling vigor of rice

Seedling vigor is important to help ensure good crop establishment. In direct-seeded rice, this is particularly relevant when soil conditions are marginal. In Asia, about one third of the area of rainfed rice is situated on unfavorable soils, many of which are low in plant available P. In such environments, as farmers tend to have few resources, options to overcome poor crop establishment should be low cost and preferably seed-based. The P content of seed depends on genotype and can be augmented by soaking seeds in a P-containing solution prior to seeding (P-priming). In addition, the presence of the Pup1 quantitative trait locus can reportedly confer tolerance to low soil P availability. We tested combinations of seed priming (unprimed control, water priming, P-priming), and inherent seed P concentrations in contrasting rice genotypes (DJ123, Sadri Tor Misri), and two near isogenic sister lines of IR74 with (+Pup1) and without (−Pup1) the Pup1 QTL. Treatment effects on germination were studied in Petri dishes, while seedling growth and P accumulation were assessed using pots with P deficient soil. Germination was less than 75% in seeds with low seed P content. Seed priming with both water and P enhanced germination and seedling growth. In plants growing from high P seeds, water priming outperformed P-priming. In Sadri Tor Misri with low seed P, we observed a tendency for better performance in some parameters when P-primed. While the presence of the Pup1 QTL in IR74 increased shoot biomass and total root length, these effects could be further enhanced by water priming. Combining genetic and seed management approaches may contribute to improved rice establishment in P deficient soils but its effectiveness depends on genotype and seed attributes.By Anny Ruth Pame, Christine Kreye, David Johnson, Sigrid Heuer and Mathias Becke