Help Us, Help Students: Supporting Advisors During COVID-19

“Self-care” has become a buzz-word in the last few years, but there is extensive research supporting the need for individuals to dedicate time to engage in activities designed to increase individual well-being and reduce stress and symptoms of burnout. Seventy-seven academic advisors at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) completed the “Help Us, Help Students” survey which examined advisors’ work and self-care activities during the COVID-19 global pandemic. As the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, advisors took their roles to the virtual platform and experienced many benefits and challenges associated with working from home. Through this survey, researchers collected information about advisors’ work-from-home experiences and analyzed the frequency and change of 13 self-care activities during three time periods in 2020: prior to, during, and just after the 100% remote work time period. Results indicated that advisors engaged in more self-care activities and that they engaged in those activities more frequently during the time they were working entirely from home as compared with when they were working on campus. Advisors also discussed their preferences and levels of comfort in returning to campus or requesting flexible work arrangements from their supervisors. This paper also considers limitations for future research

Comparisons between blackbird damage to corn and sunflower in North Dakota

For sunflower producers in North Dakota, blackbird (Icterinae) damage is a chronic problem costing millions of dollars annually. Sunflower damage surveys were last completed in the state in 1979-1980. Since the last surveys, corn plantings have increased 6-fold to 1500 X 103 ha, whereas sunflower hectarage has declined by \u3e75% to 310 × 103 ha. Blackbirds forage on both crops, and this rapid change in North Dakota’s agricultural landscape was a sound inducement for reassessing crop damage. Field surveys are an important step in damage methods development because they are used for measuring efficacy, as well as assessing historical changes in the quality and quantity of damage. During 2009‒2010, we conducted damage surveys on corn and sunflower. We surveyed 120 randomly selected 3.2 × 3.2-km plots in North Dakota’s Prairie Pothole Region. This region of numerous wetlands has historically produced the majority of the state’s sunflower crop, in addition to harboring a blackbird population of 25 million birds. Over the 2-year study, we measured damage in 68 cornfields and 27 sunflower fields. Annual damage averaged 5.0 × 103 t (12 kg/ha, US $1.3 million) for corn and 7.2 × 103 t (45 kg/ha, US$3.5 million) for sunflower. Percentage damage was significantly greater in sunflower (x̅ = 2.7%) than corn (x̅ = 0.2%). The lower per-unit cost of producing corn makes it a potential lure crop for managing blackbird damage to sunflower. However, the two crops should be phenologically synchronized because corn matures earlier than sunflower and becomes less attractive to blackbirds

Assessment of Bird Damage to Sunflower and Corn in North Dakota

North Dakota is the top sunflower-producing state in the United States, annually harvesting about 404,686 ha (1 million acres). Since the early 2000s, corn also has become a major crop within the state due to increases in corn prices. Blackbirds (Icteridae) can cause significant damage to both ripening corn and sunflower. The National Sunflower Association considers blackbird depredation to be a key factor in the reduction in sunflower acreage in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). In order to better quantify the amount of damage caused by blackbirds, we assessed blackbird damage to ripening sunflower and corn in 120 randomly selected plots during 3 growing seasons, 2008–2010. On average, damage to sunflower was more intense than damage to corn, with sunflower in the southeastern region experiencing the greatest levels of damage. Further analysis will determine possible landscape characteristics associated with this damage

Assessment of Bird Damage to Sunflower and Corn in North Dakota

North Dakota is the top sunflower producer in the United States, annually harvesting about 1 million acres (404,686 ha). Recently, corn has become a major crop within the state. Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula), and yellow-headed blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) often cause significant damage to these crops. The National Sunflower Association considers blackbird depredation of sunflower to be a key factor in the reduction in sunflower acreage in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). In 1979 and 1980, a field survey of bird damage to sunflower in North Dakota showed an estimated economic loss between $4 and 11 million (Hothem et al., 1988). This was the last comprehensive field damage survey. Peer et al. (2003) used a bioenergetic model and estimated that bird damage was valued at$5-10 million. Sunflower prices have increased 3-fold since these monetary losses were calculated. In 2008, plantings of sunflower and corn in North Dakota are projected to be 216,514 ha (535,000 acres) and 910,575 ha (2.25 million acres), respectively