Feasible and flexible: Launching an information and digital literacy badge and certificate program in collaboration with a teaching and learning center

In fall 2019, the University of Wyoming (UW) Libraries launched an information and digital literacy badge and certificate program in partnership with the Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning (ECTL), housed in the UW Libraries main branch. ECTL crafts programing and provides support for graduate students, staff, and faculty who teach on our campus by employing instructional designers.The Information and Digital Badge and Certificate Program was created when ECTL redesigned their Teaching and Learning Certificate, and it features many services and resources that UW Libraries already offers (i.e., information literacy instruction and research consultations). This article will detail the redesign of the certificate program, how the current teaching and learning certificate was designed, and conclude with lessons learned from the first year of the program as well as future goals.

SUNBATHED ASPEN GROW TO SHOW HOW SUNLIGHT INFLUENCES ASPEN LEAF CHANGES IN THE AUTUMN SEASON

Every autumn, leaves of deciduous trees change from green to other colors and eventually drop to the ground. The rate of color change is influenced by a several factors including the amount of sunlight and temperature. As part of an inquiry-based learning activity, University of Wyoming students have been recording leaf color change (% change) and its drop date (%) in Aspen trees (Populus tremuloides) growing in Laramie (WY) using NEON’s (National Ecology Observation Network) Phenology data form. In this study, the data recorded from 2015 through 2018 were analyzed to identify trends in the rate of color change in dry and normal years. Trees that were in an area with a high amount of shade were observed to change leaf color and drop their leaves faster than those in areas that received more sun. This pattern was consistent even in years that experienced winter-like conditions in September. Findings from this multi-year study indicate that future environmental modeling projects must factor in the amount of sunlight received by aspen trees in the growing season into account.

A Review of Maternal Nutrition during Pregnancy and Impact on the Offspring through Development: Evidence from Animal Models of Over- and Undernutrition

Similarities in offspring phenotype due to maternal under- or over-nutrition during gestation have been observed in studies conducted at University of Wyoming. In these studies, ewes were either nutrient-restricted (NR) from early to mid-gestation, or fed an obesogenic diet (MO) from preconception through term. Offspring necropsies occurred at mid-gestation, late-gestation, and after parturition. At mid gestation, body weights of NR fetuses were ~30% lighter than controls, whereas MO fetuses were ~30% heavier than those of controls. At birth, lambs born to NR, MO, and control ewes exhibited similar weights. This was a consequence of accelerated fetal growth rates in NR ewes, and reduced fetal growth rates in MO ewes in late gestation, when compared to their respective controls. These fetal growth patterns resulted in remarkably similar effects of increased susceptibility to obesity, cardiovascular disease, and glucose intolerance in offspring programmed mostly during fetal stages of development. These data provide evidence that maternal under- and over-nutrition similarly induce the development of the same cadre of physical and metabolic problems in postnatal life.

NO-COST LANDSAT DATA REDEFINES STUDENT RESEARCH PROJECTS IN APPLIED REMOTE SENSING CLASSES AT UW

Students enrolled in an applied remote sensing class at University of Wyoming are required to complete a term research project. They have to apply the concepts learned throughout the semester to address a real-world problem in a natural resource management topic that uses remotely sensed imagery data. Prior to the availability of no-cost Landsat data, students in this class had to restrict the scope of their projects to images available in the smaller archives maintained by academic and research institutions. Since the US Geological Survey (USGS) made the entire Landsat archive available at no-cost, opportunities have increased for students to use those data in class projects. Now, students can download as many Landsat images as is needed to address the scope of their project. Using examples from previous years, this paper describes how no-cost Landsat imagery has allowed students enrolled in an applied remote sensing class to add depth and breadth to their projects.

The Scarecrow Christ

Paul Middleton deals with the contested homosexual martyr Matthew Shepard. Matthew Shepard, a gay twenty-one year old political science student at the University of Wyoming, was robbed and brutally beaten by two other men on the night of Tuesday, 6 October 1998. The men tied him to a fence after the attack, while he was bleeding profusely in freezing temperatures. He died a few days later, on 12 October 1998, and was called a martyr in Time Magazine, just a week after his death. Middleton examines the popular martyr-making process in respect of Matthew Shepard, arguing that both the making of the martyr and the reaction it provoked reflect American ‘culture wars’, because martyrology is conflict literature, foremost about the conflict between the story-tellers and their opponents. Ironically, both LGBT activists and right-wing religious groups have in some ways sought to undermine Shepard’s martyr status by focusing on his life rather than his death. Such efforts, as Middleton argues, had a limited effect because in martyrologies any interest in the lives of their heroes is incidental, merely setting up the scene for a significant death.

Group interviews for a cohort hire: Lessons learned at the University of Wyoming

After several years of hiring freezes, the University of Wyoming (UW) Libraries received approval from university administration to recruit three entry-level librarians for our Research and Instruction Services (R&I) department. Staffing reductions made dedicated librarian support for disciplines unrealistic, so three traditional liaison positions were reframed as learning and engagement, student success, and instructional design librarians to align with the university’s emphasis on undergraduate retention. Library administration assembled a committee in January 2018 to conduct a triple search.