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30 research outputs found

Program Assessment – Department of Botany

Author: Ranker Tom A.
Publication venue
Publication date: 08/12/2009
Field of study

This poster summarizes the initial steps the Department of Botany faculty members at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa completed in developing a program assessment plan for our three undergraduate degrees: BA, Botany; BS, Botany; and BS, Ethnobotany. We first devised explicit and realistic Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for all students completing any of our degrees. We then considered the extent to which our existing classes addressed individual SLOs and scored each class for each SLO in one of 5 overlapping categories: 1) does not address SLO; 2) provides introductory material that relates to SLO; 3) provides learning material that reinforces a subject; 4) provides students with the opportunity to master a subject; and/or 5) provides an assessment of student performance. This scoring process resulted in a curriculum map for each degree. The entire process has caused us to consider revising some courses, eliminating some courses, and designing some entirely new courses. The next step is to develop and implement tools for assessing the success of achieving programmatic learning outcomes

ScholarSpace at University of Hawai'i at Manoa

Advancing Program Assessment Beyond the Curriculum Map: Recent Progress in the Department of Botany

Author: Ranker Tom A.
Publication venue
Publication date: 17/04/2015
Field of study

In fall 2014 and spring 2015 the Botany faculty at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa devised programmatic Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and linked them to courses via a curriculum map. This poster outlines how the Botany faculty implemented assessment after such steps were taken. A summary of the assessment plan is presented in this poster along with SLOs, a sample rubric, examples of how exams and courses relate to SLOs, and tips for engaging faculty in assessment

ScholarSpace at University of Hawai'i at Manoa

Mitochondrial DNA evolution in the Anaxyrus boreas species group

Author: Goebel Anna M
Ranker Tom A
Corn Paul Stephen
Olmstead Richard G
Publication venue: DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Publication date: 08/07/2008
Field of study

The Anaxyrus boreas species group currently comprises four species in western North America including the broadly distributed A. boreas, and three localized species, Anaxyrus nelsoni, Anaxyrus exsul and Anaxyrus canorus. Phylogenetic analyses of the mtDNA 12S rDNA, cytochrome oxidase I, control region, and restriction sites data, identified three major haplotype clades. The Northwest clade (NW) includes both subspecies of A. boreas and divergent minor clades in the middle Rocky Mountains, coastal, and central regions of the west and Pacific Northwest. The Southwest (SW) clade includes A. exsul, A. nelsoni, and minor clades in southern California. Anaxyrus canorus, previously identified as paraphyletic, has populations in both the NW and SW major clades. The Eastern major clade (E) includes three divergent lineages from southern Utah, the southern Rocky Mountains, and north of the Great Basin at the border of Utah and Nevada. These results identify new genetic variation in the eastern portion of the toad’s range and are consistent with previous regional studies from the west coast. Low levels of control region sequence divergence between major clades (2.2–4.7% uncorrected pair-wise distances) are consistent with Pleistocene divergence and suggest that the phylogeographic history of the group was heavily influenced by dynamic Pleistocene glacial and climatic changes, and especially pluvial changes, in western North America. Results reported here may impact conservation plans in that the current taxonomy does not reflect the diversity in the group

OpenEdition

Restoration genetics of the vernal pool endemic Lasthenia conjugens (Asteraceae).

Author: Jennifer M Ramp
Sharon K Collinge
Tom A Ranker
Publication venue
Publication date: 01/01/2006
Field of study

Abstract Restoration of habitat for endangered species often involves translocation of seeds or individuals from source populations to an area targeted for revegetation. Long-term persistence of a species is dependent on the maintenance of sufficient genetic variation within and among populations. Thus, knowledge and maintenance of genetic variability within rare or endangered species is essential for developing effective conservation and restoration strategies. Genetic monitoring of both natural and restored populations can provide an assessment of restoration protocol success in establishing populations that maintain levels of genetic diversity similar to those in natural populations. California's vernal pools are home to many endangered plants, thus conservation and restoration are large components of their management. Lasthenia conjugens (Asteraceae) is a federally endangered self-incompatible vernal pool annual with gravitydispersed seeds. Using the molecular technique of intersimple sequence repeats (ISSRs), this study assessed levels and patterns of genetic variability present within natural and restored populations of L. conjugens. At Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield, California, a vernal pool restoration project is underway. Genetic success of the ecologically based seeding protocol was examined through genetic monitoring of natural and restored populations over a three-year period. Genetic diversity remained constant across the three sampled generations. Diversity was also widely distributed across all populations. We conclude that the protocol used to establish restored populations was successful in capturing similar levels and patterns of genetic diversity to those seen within natural pools. This study also demonstrates how genetic markers can be used to inform conservation and restoration decisions

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