Kanter, D. E. (2021). Mexican Priests and Migrant Ministry in the Midwest, 1953–1961. U.S. Catholic Historian, 39(1), 93-112.
Abstract: Mexico’s Catholic hierarchy partnered with U.S. bishops in sending Mexican priests to minister to braceros (short-term Mexican contract workers) who relocated during summers to the Midwest, especially Ohio and Michigan, to work in agriculture. Based on recently-uncovered letters, this essay concentrates on the experience of these bracero-misioneros. In ministering to Spanish-speaking migrants from both Mexico and the U.S., the priests usually approved of those from Mexico while questioning the religiosity of U.S.-based Mexican migrants. The priests’ seasonal visits over nine summers (1953–1961) strengthened migrant ministry and Spanish-speaking apostolates as diocesan clergy and laypeople grew familiar with the migrants’ needs.
Zellner, N. E. B. (2020). Lunar Glass Sampling by the Artemis Crew: Big Science from Small Samples. White Paper submitted to the Artemis III Science Definition Team, 2074.
Shiffman, D. S., Ajemian, M. J., Carrier, J. C., Daly-Engel, T. S., Davis, M. M., Dulvy, N. K., . . . Wyffels, J. T. (2020). Trends in Chondrichthyan Research: An Analysis of Three Decades of Conference Abstracts. Copeia, 108(1), 122-131.
Abstract: Given the conservation status and ecological, cultural, and commercial importance of chondrichthyan fishes, it is valuable to evaluate the extent to which research attention is spread across taxa and geographic locations and to assess the degree to which scientific research is appropriately addressing the challenges they face. Here we review trends in research effort over three decades (1985-2016) through content analysis of every abstract (n = 2,701) presented at the annual conference of the American Elasmobranch Society (AES), the oldest and largest professional society focused on the scientific study and management of these fishes. The most common research areas of AES abstracts were reproductive biology, movement/telemetry, age and growth, population genetics, and diet/feeding ecology, with different areas of focus for different study species or families. The most commonly studied species were large and charismatic (e.g., White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias), easily accessible to long-term established field research programs (e.g., Lemon Shark, Negaprion brevirostris, and Sandbar Shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus), or easily kept in aquaria for lab-based research (e.g., Bonnethead Shark, Sphyrna tiburo). Nearly 90% of all described chondrichthyan species have never been mentioned in an AES abstract, including some of the most threatened species in the Americas. The proportion of female* first authors has increased over time, though many current female* Society members are graduate students. Nearly half of all research presented at AES occurred in the waters of the United States rather than in the waters of developing nations where there are more threatened species and few resources for research or management. Presentations based on research areas such as paleontology and aquarium-based research have declined in frequency over time, and identified research priorities such as social science and interdisciplinary research are poorly represented. Possible research gaps and future research priorities for the study of chondrichthyan fishes are also discussed.
Sawant, M. S., Streu, C. N., Wu, L., & Tessier, P. M. (2020). Toward Drug-Like Multispecific Antibodies by Design. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21(20), 7496.
Abstract: The success of antibody therapeutics is strongly influenced by their multifunctional nature that couples antigen recognition mediated by their variable regions with effector functions and half-life extension mediated by a subset of their constant regions. Nevertheless, the monospecific IgG format is not optimal for many therapeutic applications, and this has led to the design of a vast number of unique multispecific antibody formats that enable targeting of multiple antigens or multiple epitopes on the same antigen. Despite the diversity of these formats, a common challenge in generating multispecific antibodies is that they display suboptimal physical and chemical properties relative to conventional IgGs and are more difficult to develop into therapeutics. Here we review advances in the design and engineering of multispecific antibodies with drug-like properties, including favorable stability, solubility, viscosity, specificity and pharmacokinetic properties. We also highlight emerging experimental and computational methods for improving the next generation of multispecific antibodies, as well as their constituent antibody fragments, with natural IgG-like properties. Finally, we identify several outstanding challenges that need to be addressed to increase the success of multispecific antibodies in the clinic.
Pearman, J. K., Chust, G., Aylagas, E., Villarino, E., Watson, J. R., Chenuil, A., Borja, A., Cahill, A.E., . . . Carvalho, S. (2020). Pan-regional marine benthic cryptobiome biodiversity patterns revealed by metabarcoding Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures. Molecular Ecology, 29(24), 4882-4897.
Abstract: Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) have been applied worldwide to characterize the critical yet frequently overlooked biodiversity patterns of marine benthic organisms. In order to disentangle the relevance of environmental factors in benthic patterns, here, through standardized metabarcoding protocols, we analyze sessile and mobile (<2 mm) organisms collected using ARMS deployed across six regions with different environmental conditions (3 sites x 3 replicates per region): Baltic, Western Mediterranean, Adriatic, Black and Red Seas, and the Bay of Biscay. A total of 27473 Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs) were observed ranging from 1404 in the Black Sea to 9958 in the Red Sea. No ASVs were shared amongst all regions. The highest number of shared ASVs was between the Western Mediterranean and the Adriatic Sea (116) and Bay of Biscay (115). Relatively high numbers of ASVs (103), mostly associated with the genus Amphibalanus, were also shared between the lower salinity seas (Baltic and Black Seas). We found that compositional differences in spatial patterns of rocky-shore benthos are determined slightly more by dispersal limitation than environmental filtering. Dispersal limitation was similar between sessile and mobile groups, while the sessile group had a larger environmental niche breadth than the mobile group. Further, our study can provide a foundation for future evaluations of biodiversity patterns in the cryptobiome, which can contribute up to 70% of the local biodiversity.
Reece, J., Christenson, M., Kambhu, A., Li, Y., Harris, C., & Comfort, S. D. (2020). Remediating Contaminated Groundwater with anAerated, Direct-Push, Oxidant Delivery System. Water, 12(12), 3383.
Abstract: One of the biggest challenges to treating contaminated aquifers with chemical oxidants is achieving uniform coverage of the target zone. In an effort to maximize coverage, we report the design and installation of a novel aerated, slow-release oxidant delivery system that can be installed by direct-push equipment. By continuously bubbling air beneath a slow-release oxidant in situ, an airlift pump is created that causes water and oxidant to be dispersed from the top of the outer screen and drawn in at the bottom. This continuous circulation pattern around each drive point greatly facilitates the spreading of the oxidant as it slowly dissolves from the wax matrix (i.e., oxidant candle). Given that the aeration rate controls the outward flow of oxidant from the outer screen in all directions, the radius of influence around each drive point is largely a function of the outward velocity of the oxidant exiting the screen and the advection rate opposing the upgradient and lateral spreading. Temporal sampling from three field sites treated with the aerated oxidant system are presented and results show that contaminant concentrations typically decreased 50–99% within 6–9 months after installation. Supporting flow tank experiments that demonstrate oxidant flow patterns and treatment efficacy are also presented.
Cousins, J. M., Peterson, M. J., Christopher, A. N., Francis, A. P., & Betz, H. H. (2020). Grit-passion and grit-perseverance in ultramarathon runners. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 16(4).
Abstracts: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between ultramarathon running, grit-passion, and grit-perseverance. A total of 153 ultramarathon runners (age = 40.5 ± 9.0 years) answered demographic questions and completed a survey measuring subcomponents of grit via Google Forms. Grit was measured with the 12-item Grit Scale consisting of two subscales: consistency of interest (grit-passion) and perseverance of effort (grit-perseverance). The ultramarathon runners were recruited through emails from race directors, Facebook groups, and email invitations from the primary investigator. Statistical analyses were performed using Pearson product-moment correlations and a one-way ANOVA. Significance was set to p < .05. There was a positive correlation between number of years running and grit-passion (r = .17, p = .039). On average, participants had spent 14.4 ± 9.8 years running and had competed in ultramarathons for 4.3 ± 3.5 years. A positive correlation was found between the number of kilometres run per week and grit-passion (r = .22, p = .007). Participants, on average, ran 57.9 ± 21.4 kilometres per week. For grit-perseverance, there was a statistically significant difference between the short and medium distance groups of ultramarathon runners when compared to the group of runners completing timed ultramarathon races (p = .002). Failure to complete their last ultramarathon was not significantly associated with grit-passion (p = .37) or grit-perseverance (p = .92).
Albion College Student Co-Author: Madeline Peterson, ’22
Tags: Andrea Francis, Drew Christopher, Heather Betz, Julie Cousins, Kinesiology, Psychological Science, Student Co-Authored Publications
2020, Faculty Publications, Student Co-Authored Publications | MVH | 
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Baker, V. L. (2020). The Professoriate in Liberal Arts Colleges: Early Career Faculty Socialization and Learning. In J. C. Weidman & L. DeAngelo (Eds.), Socialization in Higher Education and the Early Career: Theory, Research and Application (pp. 93-112). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Abstract: The majority of PhD recipients earn their degree in research universities in which the primary focus of doctoral training is on research. Yet, scholars have revealed that such training is inadequate for the myriad academic roles faculty members engage in or for the variety of institution types in which newly minted PhDs earn faculty appointments. The focus of this chapter is on the socialization of early career faculty members in liberal arts colleges (LACs). Specifically, it relies on socialization as well as and career cycles and learning frameworks applied to analysis of data from a longitudinal, mixed methods study (Initiative for Faculty Development in Liberal Arts Colleges) to explore the applicability and extendibility of the Weidman et al. (Socialization of graduate and professional students in higher education: A perilous passage? ASHE-ERIC higher education report, 28. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED457710.pdf, 2001) socialization framework to the early career faculty experience. Findings are shared from the IFDLAC study to provide more insights into the early career faculty experience in LACs which supports an extension of the Weidman et al. socialization framework to the early career faculty experience. The chapter includes recommendations and implications on how to effectively socialize faculty into new environments.
Bollman, M. (2020). Mathematics of Casino Carnival Games. Boca Raton: Chapman and Hall/CRC.
Crysler, A., Filbrandt, P., Pham, S., Piontkowsky, K., & Streu, C. (2020). Summer undergraduate research weathers the pandemic. ASBMB Today, 19(8), 48-50.
Albion College Student Co-Author: Anna Crysler, ’22
Albion College Student Co-Author: Peter Filbrandt, ’23
Albion College Student Co-Author: San Pham, ’21
Albion College Student Co-Author: Kaitlyn Piontkowsky, ’23
Hill, M. (2020). Funny “haha” or Funny because I’m Black? Assessing Viewers’ Reactions to Chappelle’s Show. Southern Communication Journal, 85(4), 209-218.
Abstract: For years, Dave Chappelle has maintained that the reason he walked away from his eponymous show, and a $50 million dollar contract, was his realization that people were laughing at him, not with him. This study uses online survey data (N = 156) with an embedded media manipulation to quantitatively examine whether or not viewers accurately perceived the persuasive intent of Chappelle’s brand of racial satire and, subsequently, whether or not viewers perceived Chappelle’s statements about race as serious. The data offer empirical support for Chappelle’s concerns, suggesting viewers’ who held more stereotypical perceptions of African Americans were less likely to perceive Chappelle’s critique of racism as serious. These results reinforce the double-edged nature of racial satire.
Francis, A. P., Drake, N., Chen, M., & Young, L. (2020). Reduced Gritty Perseverance Partially Explains the Relationship Between Overinvolved Parenting and Stress in Physician Assistant Graduate Students. The Journal of Physician Assistant Education, 31(3), 150-154.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this research was to assess the role of noncognitive factors (socioeconomic status [SES], overinvolved parenting, and grit) in predicting perceived stress and grade point average (GPA) among graduate students enrolled in a physician assistant (PA) program. Methods – In this cross-sectional survey study, 98 PA students completed surveys measuring SES, overinvolved parenting, grit (passion), grit (perseverance), self-reported GPA, and perceived stress. Results – More overinvolved parenting was reported by PA students under the age of 25 years compared to those over the age of 25. Lower SES predicted higher perceived stress. After controlling for SES, grit (perseverance) partially mediated the relationship between overinvolved parenting and perceived stress. Neither parenting style nor grit was associated with GPA. Conclusions – Younger PA students reported higher levels of overinvolved parenting. The relationship between experiences with overinvolved parenting and current levels of stress in PA school is partially explained by reduced gritty resilience.
Albion College Student Co-Author: Matthew Chen, ’19
Albion College Student Co-Author: Lauren Young, ’19
Olapade, O. (2020). Bacterial Community Composition and Diversity along the Southern Coastlines of the Atlantic Ocean in Cape Town, South Africa. African Journal of Microbiology Research, 14(9), 471-480.
Abstract: The spatial distribution and diversity within bacterioplankton assemblages in four coastal sites along the southern points of the Atlantic Ocean were examined using the Illumina high-throughput that targets 16S rRNA genes to examine indigenous bacterial assemblages in the littoral zones along the coast of the ocean. Results of the study showed very similar bacterial representation between the coastal sites with majority of the sequences affiliated with members of the Proteobacteria (52 to 59%), Bacteriodetes (21 to 31%) followed by Actinobacteria (3 to 9.5%) and Planctomycetes (2.1 to 4.5%). The bacterioplankton assemblages at each site examined were quite diverse, with members of the Gammaproteobacteria found as the most abundant bacterial class among the four sites. However, clear differences were observed among the sites at the order level, with the Chromatiales the more dominant in the eastern coastal (CPTI) sites, while clades belonging to the Flavobacteriales and Rhodobacterales were more prevalent in the two western (CPTA) coastal sites. While the results of unweighted pair group method with arithmethic (UPGMA) clustering and principle coordinate (PCoA) revealed two spatially separate clusters among sites, canonical correspondence (CCA) analysis indicated that environmental variables such as temperature, pH and conductivity were probably the major influencers of bacterial occurrences at the coastal sites.
Webb, M., & Cuj, M. (2020). Guatemala’s Public Health Messaging in Mayan Languages during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Indigenous Social Development, 9(3), 102-109.
Abstract: Guatemala is a pluriethnic country in Central America. The 24 languages (22 Mayan languages, Xinca, and Spanish) spoken in the country present a challenge in the effective dissemination of public health messaging in an already understaffed and underresourced public health system. This paper examines how the government, community members, and NGOs have worked to ensure the translation—both linguistic and cultural—of messaging in Mayan languages during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper describes the case of messaging in Mayan languages generally; however, the examples draw heavily from our own work in Kaqchikel and K’iche’ Maya communities. These are the two most commonly spoken Mayan languages in Guatemala and present a best case scenario, especially related to the availability of effective public health messaging. Our examination demonstrates that while all translations are important, if only symbolically, effective public health messaging must be mindful of local contexts. Translations need to adhere to the linguistic form of everyday speech and reflect the appropriate cultural contexts.
Anderson, P. L., Sabzikar, F., & Meerschaert, M. M. (2020). Parsimonious time series modeling for high frequency climate data. Journal of Time Series Analysis.
Abstract: Climate data often provides a periodically stationary time series, due to seasonal variations in the mean and covariance structure. Periodic ARMA models, where the parameters vary with the season, capture the nonstationary behavior. High frequency data collected weekly or daily results in a large number of model parameters. In this article, we apply discrete Fourier transforms to the parameter vectors, and develop a test for the statistically significant harmonics. An example of daily high temperatures illustrates the method, whereby a periodic autoregressive model with 1095 parameters is reduced to a parsimonious 12 parameter version without any apparent loss of fidelity.
Barrios, E. (2018). The Chicago Latino film festival: shaping Latin American/Latino cinema in The United States. Transnational Cinemas, 9(2), 212-226.
Abstract: Founded in 1985, the Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF) is one of the oldest and largest festivals devoted to Spanish and Portuguese-language films in the United States. One of the festival’s stated goals is to provide alternative depictions of Latinos to those appearing in U.S.American media by highlighting the cultural diversity of Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula and the United States. Additionally, the festival aims to carve a space for Chicago’s Latino community. This article examines how the festival’s visions of a Latino community and cinema are more closely rooted in the multicultural politics of the United States, than they are in the very films included in the festival’s line-up (most of which come from Latin America). In this sense, the festival participates in the process of shaping and marketing a Latino identity for many of its films – films that do not necessarily use this label outside the context of the festival. In this sense, the Chicago Latino Film Festival exemplifies the ways in which international film festivals create meanings and interpretations for today’s cinematic productions.
Madhok, B. (2019). The theory-practice nexus of care ethics and global development: a case study from India. Journal of Global Ethics, 15(1), 21-31.
Abstract: In this paper, I explore new perspectives that an ethics of care approach brings to our understanding of, and responses to, poverty and development. Building on the works of care-ethics scholars such as Virginia Held and Fiona Robinson, I argue that an ethics of care approach provides a unique theory-practice nexus that offers alternative concrete ways to tackle human poverty that lends itself to both local and cross-border applications. In addition to providing crucial insights into women’s struggles in varied contexts, such an approach also uses the lens of care to re-envision human securities and vulnerabilities, thereby deserving of greater attention by scholars, practitioners, and institutions in search of effective ethical models of global development. I provide a case-study of Karma Kutir, a women’s development organization based in the city of Kolkata, India, to shed light on context-specific care-centered development practices aimed at alleviating poverty. I show how such practices are highly effective and provide concrete evidence of the value of an ethics of care approach to poverty and women’s development.
Schoene, M. (2019). Institutional distrust, institutional participation, and protest behavior in the european social movement sector. Contention, 7(2), 51-75.
Abstract: Institutional distrust has become a pervasive element of global society in general and European society in particular. Concurrently, participation in institutions is also declining, raising concerns about the effectiveness of civil society. Distrust of institutions like the political, education, legal-judicial, and law enforcement systems is linked to declining participation in mainstream political behaviors like voting, but it is unclear how individuals’ trust of and participation in certain institutions affects social movement activity and participation in protest. Here, I use recent European protest movements to better understand the link between institutional distrust, institutional participation, and social protest. Using the 7th wave of the European Social Survey, I construct several multilevel mixed-effects logistic regressions predicting participation in four forms of protest: signing petitions, boycotting products, wearing protest badges, and participating in demonstrations. It turns out that, while institutional distrust is moderately and positively linked to certain forms of protest, those who partake in mainstream political institutions are far more likely to participate in all forms of protest.
Pan, R., Macris, C. A., & Menold, C. A. (2020). Thermodynamic modeling of high-grade metabasites: a case study using the Tso Morari UHP eclogite. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 175:78.
Abstract: Thermodynamic modeling is an important technique to simulate the evolution of metamorphic rocks, particularly the poorly preserved prograde metamorphic reactions. The development of new thermodynamic modeling techniques and availability of updated thermodynamic databases and activity–composition (a–X) relations, call for an evaluation of best practices for modeling pressure–temperature (P–T) paths of metabasites. In this paper, eclogite from the Tso Morari UHP terrane, NW India, is used as a representative metabasite to directly compare the outputs (pseudosections and P–T paths) generated from recent versions of the widely used THERMOCALC and Theriak-Domino programs. We also evaluate the impact of using the most updated thermodynamic database (ds 62, Holland and Powell in J Metamorph Geol 29(3):333–383, 10.1111/j.1525-1314.2010.00923.x, 2011) relative to an older version (ds 55, Holland and Powell in J Metamorph Geol 16(3):309–343, 10.1111/j.1525-1314.1998.00140.x, 1998), and the effect of the user’s choice of mineral a–X relations while considering the effect of garnet fractionation on the rock’s effective bulk composition. The following modeling protocols were assessed: (1) TC33; THERMOCALC version 3.33 with database ds 55 and garnet a–X relations of White et al. (J Metamorph Geol 25(5):511–527, 10.1111/j.1525-1314.2007.00711.x, 2007); (2) TC47; THERMOCALC version 3.47 with database ds 62 and garnet a–X relations of White et al. (J Metamorph Geol 32(3):261–286, 10.1111/jmg.12071, 2014a); (3) TDG; Theriak-Domino with database ds 62 and garnet a–X relations of White et al. (2014a), and (4) TDW; Theriak-Domino with database ds 62 and garnet a–X relations of White et al. (2007). TC47 and TDG modeling yield a similar peak metamorphic P–T of 34 ± 1.5 kbar at 544 ± 15 °C and 551 ± 12 °C, respectively. The results are 5–8 kbar higher in pressure than that determined from TC33 modeling (26 ± 1 kbar at 565 ± 8 °C), and TDW modeling (28.5 ± 1.5 kbar at 563 ± 13 °C). Results indicate that all four modeling protocols generally provide consistent metamorphic phase relations and thermodynamic simulations regarding fractionation of the bulk composition and prograde metamorphism within uncertainty. In all model calculations, the initial bulk composition measured by XRF does not represent the effective bulk composition at the time of garnet nucleation. The choice of garnet a–X relations can affect predictions of peak pressure, regardless of program choice. This study illustrates the importance of careful consideration of which a–X relations one chooses, as well as the need for comparison between modeling predictions and evidence from the geochemistry and petrography of the rock(s) themselves.
Ho, J. W., & Stapleton, K. (2020). Facing History: Strategies for Teaching Chinese and World History with Memoirs. Education About Asia, 25(2), 26-31.
Abstract: As Adam D. Frank noted in a 2001 EAA review, “A well-written memoir is a surefire way to make Asian history and culture come alive for students who approach the subject with little or no knowledge.”1 Building on Frank’s sentiment, in this essay we discuss effective uses of memoirs to teach about modern China and Sino–US encounters. While our examples are China-focused and draw from experiences in undergraduate instruction, the techniques we discuss are applicable to wider East Asian topics and can be introduced in settings ranging from high school courses to pedagogical training for graduate students.
Cohen, B. A., Young, K. E., Zellner, N. E. B., Zacny, K., Yingst, R. A., Watkins, R. N., . . . Indyk, S. (2020). In Situ Geochronology for the Next Decade. Final Report submitted in response to NNH18ZDA001N-PMCS: Planetary Mission Concept Studies.
Chase, B., Meiggs, D., & Ajithprasad, P. (2020). Pastoralism, climate change, and the transformation of the Indus Civilization in Gujarat: Faunal analyses and biogenic isotopes. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 59, 101173.
Abstract: The Indus Civilization (2600–1900 BCE), South Asia’s first urban society, underwent a momentous social transformation towards the end of the third millennium BC, that culminated in urban decline, cessation of writing, and the dissolution of interregional connectivity. These changes roughly coincide with the 4.2 ka BP climate event, a period of global climate fluctuation manifest in northwestern South Asia as a decline in summer monsoon precipitation. The regions encompassed by the Indus Civilization, however, were ecologically and socially diverse such that both local environmental effects of these climatic fluctuations and human responses to them are expected to vary considerably from region to region. In Gujarat, increased aridity has been hypothesized to have led to increased pastoral mobility. Here we evaluate this hypothesis using faunal analyses and isotopic data in faunal tooth enamel that allow us to directly monitor livestock management, diet, and mobility at a series of three archaeological sites whose occupational sequences span this period of social and climatic change. We find no evidence for significant changes in pastoral land-use practices through time in this sequence,findings that we interpret as indicating considerable resilience on the part of local pastoral producers.
Bidar, M. (2020). Connection blocking in SL(n, R) quotients. Geometriae Dedicata, 209, 135-148.
Abstract: Let G be a connected Lie group and Γ⊂G a lattice. Connection curves of the homogeneous space M=G/Γ are the orbits of one parameter subgroups of G. To block a pair of points m1,m2∈M is to find a finite set B⊂M∖{m1,m2} such that every connecting curve joining m1 and m2 intersects B. The homogeneous space M is blockable if every pair of points in M can be blocked. In this paper we investigate blocking properties of Mn=SL(n,R)/Γ, where Γ=SL(n,Z) is the integer lattice. We focus on M2 and show that the set of non blackable pairs is a dense subset of M2×M2, and we conclude manifolds Mn are not blockable. Finally, we review a quaternionic structure of SL(2,R) and a way for making co-compact lattices in this context. We show that the obtained quotient homogeneous spaces are not finitely blockable.
Zwickle, A., Cox, J. G., Zhuang, J., Hamm, J. A., Upham, B. L., Chung, M., . . . Dearing, J. W. (2019). The Effect of Dioxin Contamination and Remediation on Property Values. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(20), 3900.
Abstract: Loss of property value is a major concern in communities faced with the toxic byproducts of industrial practices. Even after site remediation, stigma may persist and negatively affect market values of residential properties. To study the effects of contamination and of remediation on property values in Midland, Michigan, where dioxins have been released into the environment through the incineration of contaminated waste and the discharge of contaminated water for many years, records of assessed value were obtained for 229 homes within the same neighborhood for the previous 18 years. A multilevel, longitudinal analysis was conducted to determine if there was a relationship between level of dioxin and assessed value after controlling for housing characteristics. Remediated and un-remediated properties saw increases in value at a similar rate over time. However, a property’s level of dioxin was found to have a small, significant, and negative relationship with assessed value, and this negative effect was present regardless if a home had been remediated or not. These results suggest that while environmental remediation may be effective at removing the contamination, its economic effects may persist for a longer period of time.
Dixon, M. (2019). Black Men Beware. Challenging Borders, a GLCA Art Exchange, January 29 – March 15, 2019. In (pp. Oil on Canvas).
Wilkerson, A., & Olapade, O. A. (2020). Relationships Between Organic Matter Contents and Bacterial Hydrolytic Enzyme Activities in Soils: Comparisons Between Seasons. Current Microbiology.
Abstract: Microbial assemblages in terrestrial environments, such as soils, utilize hydrolytic enzymes to function biologically in various environments including for the degradation of organic carbon compounds and cycling of nutrients that eventually contributes to the ecological and agricultural productivity of such environments. In this study, 3 soil types (i.e., sandy, loamy and clayey) with varying characteristics were collected within the premises of Albion College in Michigan, with the goal of comparing the occurrences of indigenous bacterial populations and their respective hydrolytic enzyme activities in the soils. The soils were examined for their organic matter content (% OM), while bacterial abundance was determined by combinations of viable counts and nucleic acid staining, and enzymatic activities measured using fluorescein diacetate (FDA) analysis. Results from the study showed loamy soil to have a significantly higher % OM at 30% on average as compared to 2.5% and 6.6% recorded in the sandy and clayey soils. Comparatively, bacterial numbers (both viable and total counts) were also significantly higher in loamy soils than the other two soils. The same trend was observed for FDA analysis with higher fluorescein released in the loamy soil relative to the two other soils. Overall, clear differences were observed in the relationships between % OM and bacterial numbers and hydrolytic enzyme activities among the three soil types and between the two seasons examined. The results suggest that % OM strongly influences both bacterial abundance and hydrolytic enzyme activities in loamy soil and less so in both sandy and clayey soils examined in the study. This study in conclusion revealed potential strong relationships between soil organic carbon and indigenous bacterial populations as well as their FDA activities in various soil types.
Albion College Student Co-Author: Alexis Wilkerson, ’21
Griffin, K. A., Baker, V. L., & O’Meara, K. (2020). Doing, Caring, and Being: “Good” Mentoring and Its Role in the Socialization of Graduate Students of Color in STEM. In J. C. Weidman & L. DeAngelo (Eds.), Socialization in Higher Education and the Early Career: Theory, Research and Application (pp. 223-239). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Abstract: This chapter applies and extends Weidman, Twale, and Stein’s (2001) socialization framework by incorporating sociocultural conceptions of learning (SCL) to more deeply explore how relationships and interactions with faculty can foster students’ socialization, learning, and process of becoming scientists. Interviews with seventeen Black and Latinx science graduate students suggest good mentors offer both opportunities to engage in community practices, or activities specific to the intended career (e.g., presentations, research), as well as focused guidance regarding how to engage in skills and behaviors that would allow them to become scientists. In addition, participants sought personal commitments and connections with their mentors that enhanced their ability to share their thoughts and engage in community practices with more confidence. Findings remind institutional leaders, faculty, and scholars that efforts to foster graduate student socialization must go beyond access to opportunities to learn or participate in community practices. They must also incorporate relational strategies such as guidance and care, which build students’ confidence as they engage in knowledge acquisition and deepen their commitments to science.
Zonneveld, J. P., & Bartels, W. S. (2020). Ichnologic note: in defence of Thatchtelithichnus Zonneveld, Bartels, Gunnell and McHugh, 2015. Ichnos-an International Journal for Plant and Animal Traces, 27(2), 152-155.
Abstract: The validity of the monotypic ichnogenus Thatchtelithichnus has been called into question due to an inference that it is a bioclaustration. Close analysis of the Thatchtelithichnus holmani holotype reveals that no part of this ichnotaxon involves a bioclaustration, and thus it remains a valid ichnotaxon. Thatchtelithichnus holmani has been observed on the bottom shell (plastron) of cryptodiran and pleurodiran turtles in North America and Egypt where it is interpreted to represent an attachment trace of aquatic ectoparasites. It has also been observed on dinosaur long bones where it may represent the activity of beetle larvae.
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