Redefining and Improving School District Governance

Explores recent research literature and emerging practices concerning the roles and responsibilities of district school boards and the issues impeding or assisting their effectiveness

A scale for quantifying behavior based on aggressiveness in bats

Behavior and personality play a crucial role in the evolution and ecology of animal species. We have limited knowledge of bat personality traits, partially due to the time, equipment, and facilities needed to measure them. To help fill this gap, we developed a scale for quantifying aggressiveness in bats that can be used during ordinary fieldwork and handling by researchers. This scale is based on observations of the following ecologically relevant and easily observed behaviors in wild-captured bats during routine handling: amount and intensity of physical struggling, teethbaring, and biting. We then applied this scale to 35 wild-caught individual bats belonging to three different species or species groups (Chaerephon pumilus, n=29; Scotophilus dinganii, n=3; and pipistrelloid bats, n=3) and measured agreement between observers using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). We found that agreement between observers was good to excellent. This scale of aggressiveness provides an important, practical tool for researchers to reliably quantify this personality trait in wild bats that requires no additional equipment and minimal additional handling time. Collecting data on aggressive behavior during handling has the potential to increase our understanding of both intra- and interspecific variation in aggressiveness in bats, as well as the influence of this trait on many aspects of bat ecology. Finally, collecting data using this scale can facilitate comparisons between studies and promote research at broader spatial and temporal scales than commonly used in behavioral ecology studies.The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, a Student Research Grant from Bat Conservation International, a National Geographic Young Explorer’s Grant and a grant from The Explorers Club Exploration Fund – Mamont Scholars Program.https://secemu.org/en/journal-of-bat-research-and-conservationam2022Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

The foraging ecology of Nguni and Brahman cattle under different management systems in high-altitude grasslands of South Africa

Cattle production is important to both communal livelihoods and the national economy of South Africa. Understanding the foraging ecology of cattle is important for managing both the animals and their rangelands. This paper reports the dietary preferences of Nguni cattle under holistic management and Brahman cattle under conventional management at two farms during both the wet and dry seasons in high altitude grasslands of South Africa. Foraging patterns were monitored through focal sampling from June 2015 to January 2016. We found that dietary utilization and selectivity varied between the wet and dry seasons for both Nguni and Brahman cattle and both breeds showed strong preferences for certain plant species. In the dry season, Nguni selected strongly for the grass Eragrostis plana. Brahmans selected high value grass species, particularly Sporobolus fimbriatus, Panicum ecklonii, Pennisetum clandestinum, and Themeda triandra, which they continued to utilize in nearly the same proportions in the dry season, even though these grasses were not as widely available as in the wet season. This study suggests that cattle breed may influence foraging ecology and highlights the need for future research on how this interacts with management. Furthermore, our results suggest that due to their greater flexibility in diet and reduced reliance on supplementary feed, Nguni cattle may be particularly well-suited to this heterogeneous landscape with a marked dry season when resources are scarce.http://www.rangeland.iram2022Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

Ebola spillover correlates with bat diversity

Some of the world’s deadliest diseases and greatest public health challenges are zoonoses from wildlife, such as Ebola (Ebolavirus). Due to the increasing number of cases in recent years, it has been widely hypothesized that increasing human population densities and anthropogenic disturbance largely explain outbreaks of Ebola virus disease in humans. While studies indicate that ebolaviruses are likely hosted by bats (Chiroptera), their role in outbreaks of the disease remains unclear. We tested whether bat species richness (total and within families), human population density, and anthropogenic disturbance explained the occurrence of Ebola virus disease spillovers within Africa using both generalized linear models and Maxent models. We demonstrate that spillover occurred in areas with high species richness of nycterid bats and low levels of both anthropogenic disturbance and human population density. Outbreaks of Ebola virus disease have devastating effects on people and communities and our results provide an important step toward understanding how and where Ebola virus disease may spill over to human populations.The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1315138 (JTS).http://link.springer.com/journal/103442020-12-01hj2020Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

Metagenomic analysis reveals previously undescribed bat coronavirus strains in Eswatini

We investigated the prevalence of coronaviruses in 44 bats from four families in northeastern Eswatini using high-throughput sequencing of fecal samples. We found evidence of coronaviruses in 18% of the bats. We recovered full or near-full-length genomes from two bat species: Chaerephon pumilus and Afronycteris nana, as well as additional coronavirus genome fragments from C. pumilus, Epomophorus wahlbergi, Mops condylurus, and Scotophilus dinganii. All bats from which we detected coronaviruses were captured leaving buildings or near human settlements, demonstrating the importance of continued surveillance of coronaviruses in bats to better understand the prevalence, diversity, and potential risks for spillover.The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship; a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide grant; Innovation Fund Denmark; a Student Research Grant from Bat Conservation International; a University of Florida Biodiversity Institute Fellowship; the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program and an NIH Grant.http://link.springer.com/journal/10393hj2022Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

Making the Invisible Visible: A Mixed Methods Investigation of Women and Families Choosing Elementary Schools in Seattle

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2015School choice is an education reform fueled by parents. Knowing what parents are looking for in schools and how they make choices is essential for researchers and policy makers to understand whether school choice will indeed improve educational outcomes. While many researchers have investigated parental preferences in school choice, very few have sought to understand how gender and intra-family dynamics shape school preferences and the choice process. This mixed methods study investigated school choice amongst active, first time elementary school choosers in Seattle using interviews with eight mothers over the course of the six month choosing process and a survey of 70 choosers. The findings suggest that school choice is women’s work. Mothers bear the brunt of school choice activities, engage their mom networks (including preschools) to gather information, and grapple with difficult questions about family priorities and personal values in relation to schools. Parents express ambivalence about the use of test scores to measure school quality and interest in more holistic notions of education. Most parents have difficulty “seeing” their preferences in action given the available information about schools. Amongst these mostly well-educated, middle class women, school choice can be seen as part of an effort towards concerted cultivation and advancement and also as a space for debate and consideration of larger political and ideological concerns about the nature of schooling

Tucker Center Talks: S1E4 - The Lessons Of Coaching Science After Mary Cain

Runtime 38:05On this week’s episode Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi, Director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sports has a conversation with Dr. Julie McCleery about revelations pertaining to elite runner Mary Cain. Julie is Director of Research-Practice Partnerships & Lecturer, University of Washington Center for Leadership in Athletics, and Emily Stets, Program Associate, Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program and fellow Minnesotan. Drawing on their collective knowledge of coaching science, human development and passion for girls and women in sport, we discuss how and why this happened and what can be done to prevent to from happening again. Spoiler alert…change the system & value females

Response of bat activity to land cover and land use in savannas is scale-, season-, and guild-specific

Tropical savannas are biomes of global importance under severe pressure from anthropogenic change, including land-cover and land-use change. Bats, the second-most diverse group of mammals, are critical to ecosystem functioning, but vulnerable to such anthropogenic stresses. There is little information on how savanna bats respond to land cover and land use, especially in Africa, limiting our ability to develop conservation strategies for bats and maintain the ecosystem functions and services they provide in this biome. Using acoustic monitoring, we measured guild-specific (aerial, edge, and clutter forager) responses of bat activity to both fine-scale vegetation structure and landscape-scale land-cover composition and configuration across the wet and dry seasons in a southern African savanna undergoing rapid land-cover and land-use change. Responses were guild- and season-specific but generally stronger in the dry season. Aerial and clutter bats responded most strongly to landscape metrics in the dry season (positive responses to savanna fragmentation and water cover, respectively) but fine-scale metrics in the wet season (positive responses to water cover and grass cover, respectively). Edge bats responded most strongly (negatively) to the distance to water in the dry season and fine-scale shrub cover in the wet season. Our results show it is possible to maintain high levels of bat activity in savanna mosaics comprised of different land covers and land uses. Bats, and the ecosystem services they provide, can be conserved in these changing landscapes, but strategies to do so must consider foraging guild, spatial scale, and seasonal variation in bat activity.The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1315138, a Student Research Grant from Bat Conservation International, a National Geographic Young Explorer’s Grant9635-14, and The Explorers Club Exploration Fund – Mamont Scholars Program.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/biocon2021-01-01hj2020Zoology and Entomolog

Acoustic call library and detection distances for bats of Swaziland

Bats are a critical component of most terrestrial systems, yet accurately assessing species richness and abundances remains a challenge. The use of acoustic monitoring has increasingly been used to assess bat communities. Compared with more traditional trapping surveys, acoustic monitoring is relatively easy to use and vastly increases the amount of data collected. However, the ability to accurately identify bat calls from acoustic detectors is limited by the availability of regional call libraries describing the calls of local species. Further, the lack of knowledge of detection distances for different species limits the ability to compare activity levels or abundances between species. We developed an echolocation call library based on zero-crossing recordings with Anabat Express detectors that can be applied broadly to bat acoustic detector surveys across the savanna systems of Swaziland and South Africa, and potentially the broader region of Southern Africa. We also compared detection distances for different species and provide a correction factor that will increase our ability to accurately compare activity between different species

Socioeconomic Inequities in Youth Participation in Physical Activity and Sports

Access to opportunities for physical activity and sports, and therefore potential benefits of participation, are distributed inequitably. The aims of this study were to describe and compare youth experiences related to sport and physical activity by socioeconomic factors. A cross-sectional survey was conducted of students in 5–12th grades in King County, Washington, USA. Students were asked about physical activity and sports experiences and about demographic factors including family affluence, which was categorized as low, medium, and high. Participants were 1038 youth (50% girls, 58% non-White, and 32% from homes where languages other than English are spoken). Children from low-affluence families reported fewer days/week of physical activity, fewer sports sampled, and lower rates of ever playing sports. Greater proportions of children from low-affluence families reported these barriers to sports: (1) don’t want to get hurt, (2) don’t feel welcome on teams, (3) too expensive, and (4) transportation. Middle school children from high-affluence families had three times higher odds of meeting physical activity recommendations, and high-affluence high schoolers had three times higher odds of ever participating in sports compared to peers from low-affluence families. Socioeconomic status was inversely associated with outcomes related to youth physical activity and sports participation. The disproportionately reported barriers to sports participation are modifiable, and cross-sector solutions can help promote play equity