Utilizing inquiry-driven science outreach to curate Natural Trap Cave fossils and inspire the pursuit of STEM careers

Despite the rising emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education in the last two decades, the United States has seen little change in student performance, based on international assessments. Transforming science education from the more traditional, lecture-format classes to inquiry-driven exercises is central for improving student’s STEM literacy and competency at all grade levels. This paper describes an outreach program that was developed for upper-level U.S. high school students (10th–12th grade) and centers around hands-on, inquiry-driven exercises using the large-bodied (> 3 kg) mammalian fossils from Natural Trap Cave (NTC). The objectives of this program were for the students to develop an understanding of the morphological adaptations of the vertebrate skeleton, preservational biases in the fossil record, and to participate in each of the curatorial steps used for the long-term preservation of fossils. Students from Des Moines Public School Central Campus came to Des Moines University 2 hours a week for a semester, receiving high school and community college credit for participating. The NTC outreach program has been offered for 11 semesters since the fall of 2014. Thirty-four high school students have participated, consisting of 24 women and 10 men, with 19 of the students belonging to African American, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Hispanic ethnicities. The students helped to identify and curate 3,700 NTC fossil specimens. Several of the students presented posters on the work they did during this outreach program at the multiple district and state science fairs in Iowa and received accolades. Only the 2017–2019 students were surveyed, but all the students reported gaining a deeper understanding of the scientific process and the utility of paleontology. One student even reported changing their career goal from undecided to a STEM field. The framework developed for the NTC outreach program can be easily modified to fit the needs or structure of another research project, community partnership, science laboratory, or museum facility, with the target audience being students from middle school to undergraduate. This type of STEM outreach program can also help improve scientific literacy and generate much-needed excitement and interest in science, at a time when many students are exploring potential career paths.

PSVI-7 Evaluation of Feed Mitigant Efficacy for Control of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus When Inoculated Either Alone or Together

Research has demonstrated that swine feed can be a fomite for viral transmission and certain feed additives can effectively reduce viral contamination. However, additional information is needed to evaluate the efficacy of additives when feed is inoculated with more than one virus. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of two feed additives for mitigation of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) when inoculated individually or together. Feed additives included: 1) no treatment, 2) 0.33% commercial formaldehyde-based product (Sal Curb, Kemin Industries, Des Moines, IA), and 3) 0.50% medium chain fatty acids blend (MCFA; 1:1:1 ratio of C6:C8:C10, Sigma Aldrich, St. Louis, MO). Samples were inoculated with PEDV and PRRSV alone or together at an inoculation concentration of 106 TCID50/g for all viruses. Once inoculated, feed was stored at ambient temperature for 24-h before analyzed via qRT-PCR. For samples inoculated with PEDV or PRRSV alone, a qRT-PCR assay was used which was designed to detect PEDV or PRRSV nucleic acid. For co-inoculated samples, an assay was designed to independently detect both PEDV and PRRSV within a single reaction. For PEDV alone, there was marginally significant evidence that feed additives resulted in differences in cycle threshold (Ct) value (P = 0.052), but no evidence was observed for pairwise differences. For PRRSV alone, formaldehyde increased Ct compared to the untreated control and MCFA treatment (P < 0.05). For co-infection of PRRSV and PEDV, MCFA and formaldehyde increased Ct (P < 0.05) in comparison to non-treated feed. In summary, formaldehyde increased Ct values in feed when contaminated with PRRSV while both mitigants increased Ct value in feed when co-inoculated with PRRSV and PEDV.

Democratic Disarray: Organizational Messaging Coherence and the Local Echoing Press During the 2020 Iowa Democratic Caucus

The Iowa caucuses are the inaugural event of the American presidential nomination process. When the state Democratic Party failed to report the 2020 caucus results in a timely manner and manage the consequences, the crisis situation threatened the legitimacy of the party and the integrity of the results. This research presents an in-depth case of the Iowa Democratic Party’s public communication response regarding an event described by the Des Moines Register as “hell” and a “results catastrophe.” Specifically, we were interested in how the Iowa Democratic Party responded to the crisis event and the extent to which the party organization was successful in disseminating favorable messaging about the caucus process to the local press. Drawing on organizational crisis management and echoing press perspectives, this analysis uses network and qualitative analytic approaches to assess message development, dissemination, and ultimately adoption. A local event with national implications presents a critical case in investigating how a political party, due to its institutional role in American elections and unique organizational structure, struggled to respond to the crisis.

Response and Recovery through Event Portfolio Management A Case Study from Des Moines, Iowa (Smita Singh and Eric D Olson)

Des Moines, Iowa, hosts a variety of diverse events and festivals, reaping quite an event portfolio. A balanced portfolio of events is shaped by long term strategy: “a full portfolio will consist of various types of events, for different target markets, held in different places, and at different times of the year, in pursuit of multiple goals” (Getz, 2013, p. 23). Diversified and multiple events can bring more profits to the event organizers and the stakeholders by identifying overall risk-reward characteristics and minimizing the risk of not attracting the target audiences (Ziakas, 2014). Portfolio management of events also involves multiple stakeholders with distinct needs, priorities, and expectations (Reid, 2011). Thus, stakeholder theory is also considered a strategic tool within the events sector (Niekerk & Getz, 2019) which emphasizes the engagements between the events or the event portfolio and its stakeholders, hence putting the event at the core of the evaluation. This chapter utilizes the festival and event sector in Des Moines, Iowa as a case study to highlight the challenges of recovery and response to the COVID-19 pandemic and examines how Des Moines’s portfolio management of festivals and events will position the city for a strong recovery in the festival and event sector. This chapter is organized as follows. First, we highlight key festivals and events in Des Moines. Next, we discuss how festivals and events in Des Moines have been responding to the impact of COVD-19. We then present four propositions, based on stakeholder interviews, how Des Moines can mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on its event portfolio.

Reviving Dead Zones

Oxygen has returned to some dead zones, but many problems remain. As this chapter explains, nutrient input from agriculture in some regions has decreased because farmers use buffer zones, cover crops, and precision agriculture. But voluntary efforts to minimize nutrient pollution aren’t enough. In Iowa, the Des Moines Water Works, led by a charismatic CEO, Bill Stowe, unsuccessfully sued to reduce nitrate leaching from local farms. The value of government action has been demonstrated in Denmark, whereas its absence has led to many environmental problems in China. The chapter argues that one solution is tied to human health and climate change: our diet. Eating less, especially eating less red meat, would be better for our health, and it would reduce nutrient pollution and abate climate change. Agriculture accounts for nearly a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. The chapter ends by suggesting that the successful bans against DDT and phosphorus detergents are among the reasons to be optimistic about solving the dead-zone problem.