Making Time and Space for Art: An Examination of an Artist-in-Residence Within a Postsecondary Art Education Program

This article examines the process and impact of an artist-in-residence program in Art Education at the University of Victoria. After an open call to artists, contemporary Upper Tanana visual artist, Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé, member of the White River First Nation of Beaver Creek, Yukon and Alaska was selected as the inaugural artist-in-residence. Through research-creation and qualitative methods this research examines the artist’s artistic process and the impact of an artist-in-residence on students’ and faculty’s perception of artistic practice and their experience working with an artist-in-residence within a post-secondary space of learning. Through photographic documentation, reflections and interviews by participants, the article examines ways the artist-in-residence enriched student and faculty learning in a Faculty of Education. Keywords: Artist-in-residence; Post-secondary education; Artistic inquiry; Indigenous pedagogy; Beading. Résumé : Cet article s’intéresse au processus et à l’impact d’un programme d’artiste en résidence dans le domaine de l’enseignement des arts à l’Université de Victoria. Suite à une audition ouverte d’artistes, l’artiste visuelle contemporaine du Haut Tanana Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé, membre de la Première Nation de White River de Beaver Creek, du Yukon et de l’Alaska, a été choisie artiste-résidente inaugurale. La présente recherche utilise des méthodes quantitatives et de recherche-création pour étudier la démarche artistique de l’artiste et l’impact d’une artiste-résidente sur la perception de la pratique artistique chez les étudiants et le corps enseignant. On y analyse aussi l’impact de collaborer avec une artiste-résidente en milieu d’apprentissage postsecondaire. Documentation photographique, réflexions et entrevues des participant.e.s sont mises à profit pour déterminer de quelles façons l’artiste- résidente a enrichi l’apprentissage étudiant et du corps enseignant au sein de la Faculté d’éducation. Mots-clés : artiste-résidente, enseignement postsecondaire, recherche artistique, pédagogie autochtone, perlage.

The 852/3 CE Mount Churchill eruption: examining the potential climatic and societal impacts and the timing of the Medieval Climate Anomaly in the North Atlantic Region

The 852/3 CE eruption of Mount Churchill, Alaska, was one of the largest first millennium volcanic events, with a magnitude of 6.7 (VEI 6) and a tephra volume of 39.4–61.9 km3 (95 % confidence). The spatial extent of the ash fallout from this event is considerable and the cryptotephra (White River Ash east; WRAe) extends as far as Finland and Poland. Proximal ecosystem and societal disturbances have been linked with this eruption; however, wider eruption impacts on climate and society are unknown. Greenland ice-core records show that the eruption occurred in winter 852/3 ± 1 CE and that the eruption is associated with a relatively moderate sulfate aerosol loading, but large abundances of volcanic ash and chlorine. Here we assess the potential broader impact of this eruption using palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, historical records and climate model simulations. We also use the fortuitous timing of the 852/3 CE Churchill eruption and its extensively widespread tephra deposition of the White River Ash (east) (WRAe) to examine the climatic expression of the warm Medieval Climate Anomaly period (MCA; ca. 950–1250 CE) from precisely linked peatlands in the North Atlantic region. The reconstructed climate forcing potential of 852/3 CE Churchill eruption is moderate compared with the eruption magnitude, but tree-ring-inferred temperatures report a significant atmospheric cooling of 0.8 °C in summer 853 CE. Modelled climate scenarios also show a cooling in 853 CE, although the average magnitude of cooling is smaller (0.3 °C). The simulated spatial patterns of cooling are generally similar to those generated using the tree-ring-inferred temperature reconstructions. Tree-ring inferred cooling begins prior to the date of the eruption suggesting that natural internal climate variability may have increased the climate system’s susceptibility to further cooling. The magnitude of the reconstructed cooling could also suggest that the climate forcing potential of this eruption may be underestimated, thereby highlighting the need for greater insight into, and consideration of, the role of halogens and volcanic ash when estimating eruption climate forcing potential. Precise comparisons of palaeoenvironmental records from peatlands across North America and Europe, facilitated by the presence of the WRAe isochron, reveal no consistent MCA signal. These findings contribute to the growing body of evidence that characterizes the MCA hydroclimate as time-transgressive and heterogeneous, rather than a well-defined climatic period. The presence of the WRAe isochron also demonstrates that no long-term (multidecadal) climatic or societal impacts from the 852/3 CE Churchill eruption were identified beyond areas proximal to the eruption. Historical evidence in Europe for subsistence crises demonstrate a degree of temporal correspondence on interannual timescales, but similar events were reported outside of the eruption period and were common in the 9th century. The 852/3 CE Churchill eruption exemplifies the difficulties of identifying and confirming volcanic impacts for a single eruption, even when it is precisely dated.

Hydrological Modeling in Agricultural Intensive Watershed: The Case of Upper East Fork White River, USA

Identifying the core hydrological processes of catchments is a critical step for operative hydrological modeling. This study attempts to assess the long-term alterations in streamflow in three adjacent catchments of Upper East Fork White River, Indiana USA, by employing the SWAT hydrological model. The model simulations are spanning from 1980 up to 2015 and distributed in three configurations periods to identify monthly alterations in streamflow. For this purpose, water abstraction, land use, tillage, and agricultural field drainage practices have been incorporated in the model to provide accurate data input. The model setup also integrates spatially disaggregated sectorial water use data from surface and groundwater resources integrating the significant increases of water abstractions mainly for agricultural and public water supply purposes. The land cover of the study area is governed by rotating crops, while agricultural practices and tile drainage are crucial model parameters affecting the regional hydrological balance. Streamflow prediction is based on the SUFI-2 algorithm and the SWAT-CUP interface has been used for the monthly calibration and validation phases of the model. The evaluation of model simulations indicate a progressively sufficient hydrological model setup for all configuration periods with NSE (0.87, 0.88, and 0.88) and PBIAS (14%, −7%, and −2.8%) model evaluation values at the Seymour outlet. Surface runoff/precipitation as well as percolation/precipitation ratios have been used as indicators to identify trends to wetter conditions. Model outputs for the upstream areas, are successful predictions for streamflow assessment studies to test future implications of land cover and climate change.

Ecological genomics of divergence, admixture, and fitness in the smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu)

The Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) is one of the most highly targeted sport fishes in the world. Anglers vie for the opportunity to catch Smallmouth Bass recreationally and competitively, spending billions of dollars every year on travel, equipment, and conservation permits. Along with their extreme popularity, they are of central importance in their native ecosystems throughout central and eastern North America. They are voracious apex predators, controlling top-down food web dynamics among fishes and invertebrates in both streams and natural lakes, and they act as obligate hosts in the life cycles of several freshwater mussels. A great deal is known about the general ecology of Smallmouth Bass and their role in aquatic communities across their extensive native distribution. Much less is known about levels and distribution of diversity within the species. In 1940, Carl Hubbs and Reeve Bailey published descriptions of two distinct subspecies: the Northern Smallmouth Bass (M. d. dolomieu), inhabiting the central and eastern portion of the range, and the Neosho Smallmouth Bass (M. d. velox), which is range-restricted to the Arkansas River Basin in the Central Interior Highlands. While the subspecies classification was largely accepted among taxonomists, it was predicated on only a few subtle morphological traits, including differences in coloration, body size, and the presence of glossohyal teeth. Researchers began to investigate genetic divergence among Smallmouth Bass populations at the end of the twentieth century. Some genetic structure has been detected, but the overall diversity and the evolutionary forces generating contemporary patterns have been considered extremely complex and therefore unresolved, especially where the Neosho and Northern subspecies ranges meet in the Central Interior Highlands. To address the need for a robust understanding of the divergence and evolution history of Smallmouth Bass in the Central Interior Highlands, I addressed three broad areas concerning the phylogeography and conservation of the species using a combination of morphological, genetic, and genomic data: 1) patterns of genetic and morphological differentiation between the Neosho and Northern Smallmouth Bass subspecies, 2) lineage diversification and the extent and origins of admixture within the subspecies, and 3) effects of admixture on individual growth and fitness in two streams within the Neosho Smallmouth Bass native range. Using neutral microsatellite markers and a combination of three independent Bayesian analysis methods, I detected complex and hierarchical population structure of Smallmouth Bass in the Central Interior Highlands. The broadest level of structure indicated two distinct genetic clusters corresponding to the Neosho and Northern subspecies, but with substantial and heterogenous patterns of admixture within some streams in the Neosho native range. At finer levels of structure, clusters corresponded to river drainages and to potentially distinct populations within drainages. The Northern and Neosho subspecies were morphologically distinct overall based on principal component analysis of five morphometric traits, but they significantly differed only in head length. Based on genome-wide variation at over 50,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms, the Neosho and Northern subspecies represented two diverged, monophyletic clades, each comprising two additional monophyletic lineages. Populations in Big Piney Creek and the Illinois Bayou within the Neosho range also showed signatures of local adaptation based on outlier FST analysis. Admixture in the Illinois River system within the Neosho range originated from a hatchery strain of Northern Smallmouth Bass found in Skiatook Lake, Oklahoma, while admixture in the Elk River, upper Arkansas River tributaries, and the Illinois Bayou and Big Piney Creek system originated from the White River in the Northern range. Demographic analysis revealed that admixture in these streams has occurred on different time scales, in some cases likely due to historic migration, and in other cases likely due to secondary contact, possibly as a result of anthropogenic introductions. In Big Sugar Creek and the Elk River, two Neosho Smallmouth Bass native streams known to be admixed with White River Northern Smallmouth Bass, individual growth did not differ between genetically pure Neosho, pure Northern, or admixed fish. However, in the Elk River alone, average length-at-infinity (maximum length) was lower for admixed fish than for either pure Neosho or pure Northern fish. We also found a significant negative relationship between multi-locus heterozygosity (based on fourteen microsatellite loci) and body condition, suggesting that increased intermixing may be causing outbreeding depression in these streams. The Neosho and Northern Smallmouth Bass constitute highly differentiated, locally adapted, and independently evolving lineages in the Central Interior Highlands. Despite divergence, there are also complex and extensive patterns of admixture in the Neosho range which may be contributing to lower fitness in two Neosho Smallmouth Bass streams. It will be crucial to consider these patterns and their potential outcomes in the development of management protocols for the preservation of endemic diversity within this economically and ecologically vital sportfish.

Late Holocene cryptotephra from Cascade Lake, Alaska: supporting data for a 21,000-year multi-chronometer Bayesian age model

Multiple chronometers can be employed for dating Holocene palaeoenvironmental records, each with its own inherent strengths and weaknesses. Radiocarbon dating is one of the most widely used techniques for producing chronologies, but its application at high-latitude sites can be problematic. Here, cryptotephra identified in the Late Holocene portion of a core from Cascade Lake, Arctic Alaska, resolve a divergence identified between radiocarbon and paleomagnetic secular variation (PSV) data in the top 1.5 m of the sediment sequence. Identifiable geochemical populations of cryptotephra are shown to be present in detectable concentrations in sediment from the north flank of the Brooks Range for the first time. Major element glass geochemical correlations are demonstrated between ultra-distal cryptotephra and reference samples from the Late Holocene caldera forming eruption of Opala, Kamchatka, as well as three eruptions in North America: the White River Ash (northern lobe), Ruppert tephra and the Late Holocene caldera forming eruption of Aniakchak. The correlated ages of these cryptotephra support the PSV ages reported in Steen et al. (this volume) and provide evidence for an old-carbon effect in Cascade Lake. Chronological data from the Cascade Lake were then combined using a Bayesian approach to generate an age-depth model that extends back to 21,000 cal yr BP.