Organizing, supporting and linking the world marine biodiversity research community

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Campus Mental Health: Implications for Instructors Supporting Students

The recent escalation in student suicides due to mental health problems has encouraged higher education institutions to not only modify their overall support structures, but to also (re)define the role of faculty and staff. Despite the increased attention given to student mental health in Canadian higher education institutions, little is known and understood about how instructors view their role as supporters or promoters of student mental health. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of college instructors in supporting students with mental health problems or illnesses. Participants were 42 instructors between the ages of 25 to 64 from Molize College in Toronto, Ontario. Qualitative ethnography was employed to gather data from participants, specifically through a survey questionnaire and interviews. A constructivist framework was adopted to analyze and understand the values, perceptions, meanings, and practices post-secondary instructors carry around notions of student mental health and intervention. Findings revealed that instructors were generally aware of student mental health concerns in post-secondary institutions, but that greater awareness was still warranted, namely in the areas of instructor mental health and location of support services. Findings also demonstrated that most instructors evaluated their knowledge and confidence in relation to student mental health as poor, which was often credited to limited relevant professional development and training. Additionally, data indicated that instructors carried skepticism towards the role of some student support services departments, as well as towards their own role when supporting the mental health and well-being of students. On a final note, findings revealed that instructors commonly employed four practices to support the mental health and well-being of students: conversation, referral, accommodations, and curricular inclusion and instruction. Future studies are encouraged to acknowledge the narratives of instructors through ethnographic inquiry, to allow for greater insights into their awareness, knowledge/confidence, responsibilities, and practices when it comes to supporting the mental health and well-being of students in higher education settings. Incorporating the instructor may not be a panacea for the shortcomings of current mental health policies and practices in higher education settings, but it can certainly represent a colossal step in that direction. KEYWORDS: student mental health, higher education, instructor

SNAGA, TEORIJA I PRAKSA (Kraft, Theorie und Praxis)

We have developed a global biogeographic classification of the mesopelagic zone to reflect the regional scales over which the ocean interior varies in terms of biodiversity and function. An integrated approach was necessary, as global gaps in information and variable sampling methods preclude strictly statistical approaches. A panel combining expertise in oceanography, geospatial mapping, and deep-sea biology convened to collate expert opinion on the distributional patterns of pelagic fauna relative to environmental proxies (temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen at mesopelagic depths). An iterative Delphi Method integrating additional biological and physical data was used to classify biogeographic ecoregions and to identify the location of ecoregion boundaries or inter-regions gradients. We define 33 global mesopelagic ecoregions. Of these, 20 are oceanic while 13 are ‘distant neritic.’ While each is driven by a complex of controlling factors, the putative primary driver of each ecoregion was identified. While work remains to be done to produce a comprehensive and robust mesopelagic biogeography (i.e., reflecting temporal variation), we believe that the classification set forth in this study will prove to be a useful and timely input to policy planning and management for conservation of deep-pelagic marine resources. In particular, it gives an indication of the spatial scale at which faunal communities are expected to be broadly similar in composition, and hence can inform application of ecosystem-based management approaches, marine spatial planning and the distribution and spacing of networks of representative protected areas

Census of Marine Zooplankton CmarZ Information

The Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ) will work toward a taxonomically comprehensive assessment of biodiversity of animal plankton throughout the world ocean. The project goal is to produce accurate and complete information on zooplankton species diversity, biomass, biogeographic distribution, genetic diversity, and community structure by 2010. Our taxonomic focus is the ~6,800 described species of animals that drift with ocean currents throughout their lives (i.e., the holozo-oplankton). Our expectation is that at least that many new species will be discovered as a result of our efforts. The census will encompass unique marine environments, which are likely to be inhabited by endemic and undescribed zooplankton species. CMarZ will make use of existing data and zooplankton collections. The application of advanced molecular systematic and population genetic protocols and approaches to zooplankton will allow analysis of genetic diversity and structure on regional to global scales, detection of species boundaries, description of population genetic structure, and reconstruction of the evolutionary histories of organisms frequently lacking fossil records. Close coordination between molecular and morphological systematic studies will be essential. Building new capacity and expertise for taxonomic analysis of zooplankton groups is an essential element of CMarZ. Species-level identification is the top priority for CMarZ, with the species name serving as a key to the historical repository of information on that and similar species

Linking nitrogen dynamics to climate variability off central California: A 51 year record based on 15N/14N in CalCOFI zooplankton

Long-term variability in zooplankton 15N/14N was investigated in two species of calanoid copepods (Calanus pacificus and Eucalanus californicus) and two chaetognaths (Sagitta bierii and Sagitta euneritica) sampled in the spring of selected years from 1951 to 2001 off the central California coast. No statistically significant trend in 15N/14N was detected for any of the four species, with isotopic ratios in 2001 resembling those in copepods and chaetognaths sampled five decades earlier. Zooplankton body lengths also showed no long-term trends. With respect to proposed regime shifts in this region, heterogeneity in 15N/14N was detected only for S. bierii when comparing the periods 1951-1975, 1978-1998, and 1999-2001. In this species the 15N/14N in the most recent, brief period (1999-2001) averaged slightly lower than in the previous period. Three of the four species (C. pacificus, S. bierii, and S. euneritica) showed significant increases in 15N/14N during major El Niños. El Niño-related enrichment in 15N could arise as a consequence of increased nitrate demand:supply at the base of the food web or advection of 15N-enriched nitrate from more southerly waters. While a range of physical and climate indices were evaluated, anomalies of 15N/ 14N from the long-term mean were found to be significantly related only to: (i) the Southern Oscillation Index in the case of both chaetognath species, (ii) a regional surface water temperature record (S. bierii only), (iii) an index of wind-driven coastal upwelling for the surface-dwelling C. pacificus, and (iv) variability in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation for the somewhat deeper-dwelling E. californicus. The relationships among each species' 15N/14N averaged over the total sampling period was: E. californicus≈C. pacificus≪S. euneritica < S. bierii, consistent with trophic 15N biomagnification and the predatory nature of Sagitta. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved