CHOICE SET CONSIDERATIONS IN MODELS OF RECREATION DEMAND: HISTORY AND CURRENT STATE OF THE ART

Demand and Price Analysis,

Captains at the STEM of Their Own Ship: An Examination of Underrepresented Minority Student Participation in a Self-Directed, ICT After-School Intervention

Recent studies have advocated for early adoption of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in order to help a broader range of youth become creators rather than consumers of digital media, to open doors for opportunity in the lucrative technology sector, and to set them on a course for lifelong STEM/ICT learning. This study used data that was collected from a grant funded, multi-site, after-school program designed to help a group of students who are often underrepresented in ICT learn about computing through a unique instructional design for guiding students through the creation of mobile apps using a freely accessible block-based coding platform developed by MIT called App Inventor. The study employed a concurrent, triangulation mixed methods approach to data analysis. Data sources included participant-observer field notes, interviews, student artifacts, online surveys, and an assessment of outcomes related to a construct called computational thinking. The purpose of the intervention and this proposed study was to examine whether participants in the program learned coding and related concepts, developed an interest in STEM/ICT subject matter, and gained an optimistic view of their abilities related to 21st century computing skills. In addition, the researcher hoped to identify which aspects of the instructional design may have facilitated progress towards these goals

Imaging with two-axis micromirrors

We demonstrate a means of creating a digital image by using a two axis tilt micromirror to scan a scene. For each different orientation we extract a single grayscale value from the mirror and combine them to form a single composite image. This allows one to choose the distribution of the samples, and so in principle a variable resolution image could be created. We demonstrate this ability to control resolution by constructing a voltage table that compensates for the non-linear response of the mirrors to the applied voltage.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, preprin

Designing games for the rehabilitation of functional vision for children with cerebral visual impairment

Evidence has accumulated that visual rehabilitation for patients with neurological visual impairment can be effective. Unfortunately, the existing therapy tools are repetitive, uninteresting, and unsuitable for use with children. This project aims to improve the engaging qualities of visual rehabilitation for children, through the design of therapy tools based on game design principles. Development is ongoing in a participatory, user-centred manner in conjunction with a specialist centre for childhood visual impairment. This paper outlines design requirements and briefly reports early findings of the development process

The Economic Value of Marine Recreational Fishing: Analysis of the MRFSS 1998 Pacific Add-on

Marine Recreational Fishing Statistics Survey (MRFSS) economic add-on data has been collected since 1994. The data are comprised of two geographically identical datasets for the Southeast region (1997, 2000), five identical datasets for the Northeast region (1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000), and one dataset for the Pacific region (1998). Measures of the economic value of fishing sites and harvest have been derived from demand models estimated with data from the Northeast and the Southeast regions. In this paper we present a demand model estimated for the Pacific region (i.e., west coast). For consistency, the model is based on the 1994 and 1997 studies. Measures of the economic value of fishing sites and harvest are developed. We demonstrate how the model can be used for fisheries management decisions.

Angler Heterogeneity and the Species-Specific Demand for Marine Recreational Fishing

In this study we assess the viability of single-species recreation demand models given commonly available data sets. Using the 2000 MRFSS southeast intercept data combined with the economic add-on, we determine that the MRFSS data will support only a few species-specific recreation demand models. Considering species of management interest in the southeast, we focus on dolphin, king mackerel, red snapper and red drum. We examine single-species recreational fishing behavior using random utility models of demand. We explore mixed logit (i.e., random parameter) logit and finite mixture (i.e., latent class logit) models for dealing with angler heterogeneity. We compare these to the commonly used conditional and nested logit models in terms of the value of catching (and keeping) one additional fish. Mixed logit models illustrate that the value of catch can be highly heterogeneous and, in some cases, can include both positive and negative values. The finite mixture model generates value estimates that were some times strikingly different than conditional, nested and mixed logit models. Preference heterogeneity is significant within the MRFSS data. We find evidence that single-species models outperform multiple species models and recreational values differ. Key Words: marine recreational fishing, single-species demand, preference heterogeneity models

Assessing Gear Modifications Needed to Optimize Yields in a Heavily Exploited, Multi-Species, Seagrass and Coral Reef Fishery

Effective management is necessary if small-scale fisheries, such as those found in mixed habitats including seagrass and coral reefs, are to continue providing food for many of the poorest communities of the world. Gear-based management, although under represented and under studied, has the potential to be adaptive, address multiple objectives, and be crafted to the socio-economic setting. Management effectiveness in seagrass and coral reef fisheries has generally been evaluated at the scale of the fish community. However, community level indicators can mask species-specific declines that provide significant portions of the fisheries yields and income. Using a unique dataset, containing ten years of species level length frequency catch data from a multi-gear, multi-species seagrass and coral reef fishery in Kenya, we evaluate species specific fishery statuses, compare gear use to gear regulations and estimate the potential needs for further gear restrictions. Despite the high diversity of the fishery, fifteen species represented over 90% of the catch, and only three species represented 60% of the catch. The three most abundant species in the catch, Lethrinus lentjan (Lacepède), Siganus sutor (Valenciennes) and Leptoscarus vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard) all showed evidence of growth overfishing. Lethrinus lentjan, with an exploitation rate of 0.82, also shows evidence of recruitment overfishing. Current legal but weakly enforced gear restrictions are capable of protecting a significant portion of the catch up to maturity but optimization of yield will require that the current mesh size be increased from 6.3 to 8.8 and 9.2 cm to increase yields of L. lentjan and S. sutor, respectively. Given the difficulties of enforcing mesh size, we recommend that the economic benefits of these larger mesh sizes be communicated and enforced through co-management. This abstract is also available in Kiswahili (Abstract S1)