Handshake: The University\u27s New Internship and Job Tool

An overview of Handshake, the new internship and job posting system being implemented by the Career Center. Handshake is available to all students and faculty. This session includes how to use the system to help students find internships and jobs as well as how to automate your Department\u27s Internship Application Process

Improving the robustness, accuracy, and utility of chemistry-climate model ensembles

Ensembles of chemistry-climate models (CCMs) are fundamental for the exploration of the chemistry-climate system. A particular focus of chemistry-climate modelling is stratospheric ozone, whose concentrations have been decreased by anthropogenic releases of ozone depleting substances. In conjunction with observational data, CCM ensembles have been relied upon to simulate historic effects of ozone depletion and to project future ozone recovery. However, many widely used ensemble analysis methods are simplistic and are based upon incorrect assumptions about the design of the ensemble. Multi-model means used to construct future ozone projections do not account for variable model performance or similarity and therefore give biased and inaccurate projections. Similarly, simplistic linear regression methods used to infill historic ozone records underestimate interannual variability and are inaccurate in regions of sparse data coverage. Moreover, given advances in machine learning and data science and their increased use in environmental science, it is timely to apply more advanced tools to CCM ensembles. To address this methodological deficit, this thesis presents a set of novel tools to improve the predictions and projections from CCM ensembles of stratospheric ozone. A process-based weighted mean is developed which accounts for model performance and similarity in CCM ensembles. This improvement over pre-existing methods was used to generate accurate ozone hole recovery projections. This thesis also developed a Bayesian neural network (BNN) which fuses together CCMs with observational data to produce accurate and uncertainty-aware predictions. The BNN framework was used to produce historic continuous datasets of total ozone column and vertically resolved ozone, and represents a significant improvement in methods used to ensemble models. Though designed for CCM ensembles these flexible tools have the potential to be applied to other environmental modelling disciplines to improve the accuracy of projections, better understand uncertainty and to make better use of historic observations

Projecting ozone hole recovery using an ensemble of chemistry-climate models weighted by model performance and independence

Calculating a multi-model mean, a commonly used method for ensemble averaging, assumes model independence and equal model skill. Sharing of model components amongst families of models and research centres, conflated by growing ensemble size, means model independence cannot be assumed and is hard to quantify. We present a methodology to produce a weighted-model ensemble projection, accounting for model performance and model independence. Model weights are calculated by comparing model hindcasts to a selection of metrics chosen for their physical relevance to the process or phenomena of interest. This weighting methodology is applied to the Chemistry-Climate Model Initiative (CCMI) ensemble to investigate Antarctic ozone depletion and subsequent recovery. The weighted mean projects an ozone recovery to 1980 levels, by 2056 with a 95 % confidence interval (2052-2060), 4 years earlier than the most recent study. Perfect-model testing and out-of-sample testing validate the results and show a greater projective skill than a standard multi-model mean. Interestingly, the construction of a weighted mean also provides insight into model performance and dependence between the models. This weighting methodology is robust to both model and metric choices and therefore has potential applications throughout the climate and chemistry-climate modelling communities

Diet of dingoes and other wild dogs in peri-urban areas of north-eastern Australia

Knowledge of the resource requirements of urban predators can improve our understanding of their ecology and assist town planners and wildlife management agencies in developing management approaches that alleviate human-wildlife conflicts. Here we examine food and dietary items identified in scats of dingoes in peri-urban areas of north-eastern Australia to better understand their resource requirements and the potential for dingoes to threaten locally fragmented populations of native fauna. Our primary aim was to determine what peri-urban dingoes eat, and whether or not this differs between regions. We identified over 40 different food items in dingo scats, almost all of which were mammals. Individual species commonly observed in dingo scats included agile wallabies, northern brown bandicoots and swamp wallabies. Birds were relatively common in some areas but not others, as were invertebrates. Dingoes were identified as a significant potential threat to fragmented populations of koalas. Dietary overlap was typically very high or near-identical between regions, indicating that peri-urban dingoes ate the same types or sizes of prey in different areas. Future studies should seek to quantify actual and perceived impacts of, and human attitudes towards, peri-urban dingoes, and to develop management strategies with a greater chance of reducing human-wildlife conflicts

LancasterAQ: A High Resolution Street Level Dataset of Ultrafine Particles

We present a mobile dataset of ultrafine particles (UFPs) in Lancaster, UK, with measurements taken by car and bike over 5 days in May 2022. UFPs are a constituent of air pollution and comprise of particulate matter (PM) less than 0.1μm in diameter. UFPs are unregulated and less measured than larger constituents of PM, despite being harmful to health and an important part of the atmospheric and meteorological system. By making mobile UFP measurements, we have produced a street level dataset that captures the high spatial variability of UFPs at the scale an individual experiences it. The dataset is accessible through the LancasterAQ Python package and lends itself to modelling spatially or on a network. This dataset's potential use cases include route planning under constraints of air pollutant exposure, identifying processes that affect air pollution at street level, and investigating the causal relationship between human activity and UFPs

Bilateral Remote Ischemic Conditioning in Children:a two-center, double-blind, randomized controlled trial in young children undergoing cardiac surgery

Objective: The study objective was to determine whether adequately delivered bilateral remote ischemic preconditioning is cardioprotective in young children undergoing surgery for 2 common congenital heart defects with or without cyanosis.Methods: We performed a prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial at 2 centers in the United Kingdom. Children aged 3 to 36 months undergoing tetralogy of Fallot repair or ventricular septal defect closure were randomized 1:1 to receive bilateral preconditioning or sham intervention. Participants were followed up until hospital discharge or 30 days. The primary outcome was area under the curve for high-sensitivity troponin-T in the first 24 hours after surgery, analyzed by intention-to-treat. Right atrial biopsies were obtained in selected participants.Results: Between October 2016 and December 2020, 120 eligible children were randomized to receive bilateral preconditioning (n = 60) or sham intervention (n = 60). The primary outcome, area under the curve for high-sensitivity troponin-T, was higher in the preconditioning group (mean: 70.0 ± 50.9 μg/L/h, n = 56) than in controls (mean: 55.6 ± 30.1 μg/L/h, n = 58) (mean difference, 13.2 μg/L/h; 95% CI, 0.5-25.8; P = .04). Subgroup analyses did not show a differential treatment effect by oxygen saturations (pinteraction = .25), but there was evidence of a differential effect by underlying defect (pinteraction = .04). Secondary outcomes and myocardial metabolism, quantified in atrial biopsies, were not different between randomized groups.Conclusions: Bilateral remote ischemic preconditioning does not attenuate myocardial injury in children undergoing surgical repair for congenital heart defects, and there was evidence of potential harm in unstented tetralogy of Fallot. The routine use of remote ischemic preconditioning cannot be recommended for myocardial protection during pediatric cardiac surgery

I just want to count them! Considerations when choosing a deer population monitoring method

Effective management of any population involves decisions based on the levels of abundance at particular points in time. Hence the choice of an appropriate method to estimate abundance is critical. Deer are not native to Australia and are a declared pest in some states where their numbers must be controlled in environmentally sensitive areas. The aim of this research was to help Australian land managers choose between widely used methods to count deer. We compared population estimates or indices from: distance sampling, aerial surveys, spotlight counts, and faecal pellet counts. For each we estimated the labour input, cost, and precision. The coefficient of variation varied with method and time of year from 8.7 to 36.6%. Total labour input per sampling event varied from 11 to 136 h. Total costs of vehicles and equipment per sampling event varied from AU$913 to$2966. Overall, the spotlight method performed the best at our study site when comparing labour input, total cost and precision. However, choice of the most precise, cost effective method will be site specific and rely on information collected from a pilot study. We provide recommendations to help land managers choose between possible methods in various circumstances

Action to achieve smoke-free homes- an exploration of experts' views

Background: Smoking in the home is the major cause of exposure to second-hand smoke in children in the UK, particularly those living in low income households which have fewer restrictions on smoking in the home. Reducing children's exposure to second-hand smoke is an important public health and inequalities issue. Drawing on findings from a qualitative Scottish study, this paper identifies key issues and challenges that need to be considered when developing action to promote smoke-free homes at the national and local level. Methods: Two panels of tobacco control experts (local and national) from Scotland considered the implications of the findings from a qualitative study of smokers and non-smokers (who were interviewed about smoking in the home), for future action on reducing smoking in the home. Results: Several key themes emerged through the expert panel discussions. These related to: improving knowledge about SHS among carers and professionals; the goal and approach of future interventions (incremental/harm reduction or total restrictions); the complexity of the interventions; and issues around protecting children. Conclusion: The expert panels were very aware of the sensitivities around the boundary between the 'private' home and public health interventions; but also the lack of evidence on the relative effectiveness of specific individual and community approaches on increasing restrictions on smoking in the home. Future action on smoke-free homes needs to consider and address these complexities. In particular health professionals and other key stakeholders need appropriate training on the issues around smoking in the home and how to address these, as well as for more research to evaluate interventions and develop a more robust evidence base to inform effective action on this issue