Communication of Information About Surveillance: Part 2: Case Study: A Healthy Response to Increases in Syphilis in San Francisco

In fisheries monitoring, catch is assumed to be a product of fishing intensity, catchability, and availability, where availability is defined as the number or biomass of fish present and catchability refers to the relationship between catch rate and the true population. Ecological monitoring programs use catch per unit of effort (CPUE) to standardize catch and monitor changes in fish populations; however, CPUE is proportional to the portion of the population that is vulnerable to the type of gear used in sampling, which is not necessarily the entire population. Programs often deal with this problem by assuming that catchability is constant, but if catchability is not constant, it is not possible to separate the effects of catchability and population size using monitoring data alone. This study uses individual-based simulation to separate the effects of changing environmental conditions on catchability and availability in environmental monitoring data. The simulation combines a module for sampling conditions with a module for individual fish behavior to estimate the proportion of available fish that would escape from the sample. The method is applied to the case study of the well monitored fish species Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) in the San Francisco Estuary, where it has been hypothesized that changing water clarity may affect catchability for long-term monitoring studies. Results of this study indicate that given constraints on Delta Smelt swimming ability, it is unlikely that the apparent declines in Delta Smelt abundance are the result of changing water clarity affecting catchability.

Download Full-text

SENCER “Do-Now” KQED social media in the classroom

Innovations in Teaching & Learning Conference Proceedings ◽

10.13021/g8hs4q ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. 2

Author(s):

Thomas C Wood

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Education Reform ◽

San Francisco ◽

Civic Capacity ◽

National Education ◽

College Course ◽

Current Events ◽

Student Reactions ◽

Enhanced Learning

By developing opportunities for students to learn through compelling current events, learning environments are improved. Inspired students discover relevance to their lives, create dialogue and gain confidence in their ability to expand civic capacity. Social media has been used to provide an experimental venue for this enhanced learning in selected courses nationally through project SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagement and Reform), an NSF sponsored national education reform initiative. In the fall of 2015, the New Century College course Mysteries of Migration was one of six courses selected nationally for the inaugural SENCER collaboration with KQED in San Francisco, where social media blogs called “Do Now” are flourishing. In this session, I will discuss the implementation of “Do Now” blogs into Mystery of Migration’s semester–long case study assignment. This course is interdisciplinary in scope, integrating the biology and ecology of migratory organisms with public policy. In this session I will discuss the student reactions and evidence of learning through the use of “Do Now” and the merits of implementing social media into existing courses.

Download Full-text

Simulated Fishing to Untangle Catchability and Availability in Fish Abundance Monitoring

10.20944/preprints202002.0177.v3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Vanessa Tobias

Keyword(s):

San Francisco ◽

Water Clarity ◽

Ecological Monitoring ◽

Monitoring Data ◽

Delta Smelt ◽

Individual Based Simulation ◽

The Relationship ◽

True Population

In fisheries monitoring, catch is assumed to be a product of fishing intensity, catchability, and availability, where availability is defined as the number or biomass of fish present and catchability refers to the relationship between catch rate and the true population. Ecological monitoring programs use catch per unit of effort (CPUE) to standardize catch and monitor changes in fish populations; however, CPUE is proportional to the portion of the population that is vulnerable to the type of gear that is used in sampling, which is not necessarily the entire population. Programs often deal with this problem by assuming that catchability is constant, but if catchability is not constant, it is not possible to separate the effects of catchability and population size using monitoring data alone. This study uses individual-based simulation to separate the effects of changing environmental conditions on catchability and availability in environmental monitoring data. The simulation combines a module for sampling conditions with a module for individual fish behavior to estimate the proportion of available fish that would escape from the sample. The method is applied to the case study of the well-monitored fish species Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) in the San Francisco Estuary, where it has been hypothesized that changing water clarity may affect catchability for long-term monitoring studies. Results of this study indicate that given constraints on Delta Smelt swimming ability, it is unlikely that the apparent declines in Delta Smelt abundance are due to an effect of changing water clarity on catchability.

Download Full-text

The Journey of Unicorn Uber from San Francisco to International Disruption

Asian Journal of Management Cases ◽

10.1177/0972820117744689 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 82-91

Author(s):

Haresh Barot ◽

Poonam V. Chhaniwal

Keyword(s):

San Francisco ◽

Transportation Industry ◽

Start Ups

Uber, one of the most valuable and talked about private start-ups of today’s time, took the transportation industry by storm through its technology enabled transportation solutions. This case study explores the journey of Uber from its inception to being one of the most valuable new organizations. It also tries to explore the various issues which the company countered in its journey of expansion and growth.

Download Full-text