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Item Public health restrictions, directives, and measures in Arctic countries in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic(Informa UK Limited, 2023-12) Peterson, Malory; Akearok, Gwen Healey; Cueva, Katie; Lavoie, Josée G.; Larsen, Christina V. L.; Jóhannsdóttir, Lára; Cook, David; Nilsson, Lena Maria; Rautio, Arja; Timlin, Ulla; San Sebastián, Miguel; Gladun, Elena; Rink, Elizabeth; Broderstadt, Ann Ragnhild; Dagsvold, Inger; Siri, Susanna; Ottendahl, Charlotte Brandstrup; Olesen, Ingelise; Zatseva, Larisa; Young, Rebecca Ipiaqruk; Chaliak, Ay’aqulluk Jim; Ophus, Emily; Stoor, Jon Petter A.Beginning January of 2020, COVID-19 cases detected in Arctic countries triggered government policy responses to stop transmission and limit caseloads beneath levels that would overwhelm existing healthcare systems. This review details the various restrictions, health mandates, and transmission mitigation strategies imposed by governments in eight Arctic countries (the United States, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, and Russia) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, through 31 January 2021s31 January 2021. We highlight formal protocols and informal initiatives adopted by local communities in each country, beyond what was mandated by regional or national governments. This review documents travel restrictions, communications, testing strategies, and use of health technology to track and monitor COVID-19 cases. We provide geographical and sociocultural background and draw on local media and communications to contextualise the impact of COVID-19 emergence and prevention measures in Indigenous communities in the Arctic. Countries saw varied case rates associated with local protocols, governance, and population. Still, almost all regions maintained low COVID-19 case rates until November of 2020. This review was produced as part of an international collaboration to identify community-driven, evidence-based promising practices and recommendations to inform pan-Arctic collaboration and decision making in public health during global emergencies.Item Equity, community, and accountability: Leveraging a department-level climate survey as a tool for action(Public Library of Science, 2023-08) Barrile, Gabriel M.; Bernard, Riley F.; Wilcox, Rebecca C.; Becker, Justine A.; Dillon, Michael E.; Thomas-Kuzilik, Rebecca R.; Bombaci, Sara P.; Merkle, Bethann GarramonOrganizational climate is a key determinant of diverse aspects of success in work settings, including in academia. Power dynamics in higher education can result in inequitable experiences of workplace climate, potentially harming the well-being and productivity of employees. Quantifying experiences of climate across employment categories can help identify changes necessary to create a more equitable workplace for all. We developed and administered a climate survey within our academic workplace—the Department of Zoology and Physiology at the University of Wyoming—to evaluate experiences of climate across three employment categories: faculty, graduate students, and staff. Our survey included a combination of closed-response (e.g., Likert-scale) and open-ended questions. Most department members (82%) completed the survey, which was administered in fall 2021. Faculty generally reported more positive experiences than staff. Graduate students often fell between these two groups, though in some survey sections (e.g., mental health and well-being) students reported the most negative experiences of departmental climate. Three common themes emerged from the analysis of open-ended responses: equity, community, and accountability. We discuss how these themes correspond to concrete action items for improving our departmental climate, some of which have been implemented already, while others constitute future initiatives and/or require a collective push towards systemic change in academia. Finally, service work of this type often falls outside of job descriptions, requiring individuals to either work more or trade-off productivity in other areas that are formally evaluated. With the goal of minimizing this burden for others, we detail our process and provide the materials and framework necessary to streamline this process for other departments aiming to evaluate workplace climate as a key first step in building a positive work environment for all employees.Item Responses of Flowering Plant and Butterfly Communities to Experimental Herbicide and Seeding Treatments for Native Grassland Restoration(University of Wisconsin Press, 2021-08) Lyon, Nicholas J.; Stein, David S.; Debinski, Diane M.; Miller, James R.; Schacht, Walter H.Globally, grasslands are among the most degraded habitats, and within that category tallgrass prairies are especially threatened. To restore native species in tallgrass prairie, it is often necessary to concurrently remove exotic plant species while restoring the disturbance processes that many prairie taxa depend upon. Here, we coupled one herbicide application and seed mixture addition with tri-annual prescribed fire and annual cattle grazing to explore the consequences for floral resource (i.e., nectar-producing) plant communities and butterfly communities up to four years later. Each site was divided into three equally sized patches which were placed into either control, “spray-only”, or “spray-and-seed” treatment groups. We quantified both floral resource plant and butterfly communities in the year prior to herbicide application and the four years following that treatment. In the four years post-treatment, we found that floral resource abundance, richness, and diversity increased over time but did not significantly vary among treatments. No response to treatment was observed in butterflies, but butterfly abundance decreased while richness was stable and diversity increased over time, which may indicate that the changes to floral resources at the patch scale supported more speciose and diverse butterfly communities at the site scale. Butterfly abundance decreasing over time could be an effect of baseline management or unrelated regional factors. Regardless of whether either treatment benefited butterflies, we find support for a one-time herbicide application changing the floral community in desirable ways and at least not harming butterflies.Item Helping new teachers stay and thrive in rural schools(SAGE Publications, 2021-12) Brenner, Devon; Azano, Amy Price; Downey, JayneAmong the many challenges facing rural administrators, recruiting and retaining teachers is often at the top of the list. Given the time and energy invested to successfully attract, recruit, and hire a new teacher, there is a significant need to adopt strategies that will help to retain new rural teachers. Rural administrators can support new teachers so that they stay—and thrive—in rural districts by connecting teachers with the community, supporting place-based practices in the classroom, and helping new teachers build relationships both in and out of school.Item Building Library Community Through Social Media(Library & Information Technology Association, American Library Association, 2015-03) Young, Scott W. H.; Rossmann, DoralynIn this article academic librarians present and analyze a model for community building through social media. Findings demonstrate the importance of strategy and interactivity via social media for generating new connections with library users. Details of this research include successful guidelines for building community and developing engagement online with social media. By applying intentional social media practices, the researchers’ Twitter user community grew 100 percent in one year, with a corresponding 275 percent increase in user interactions. Using a community analysis approach, this research demonstrates that the principles of personality and interactivity can lead to community formation for targeted user groups. Discussion includes the strategies and research approaches that were employed to build, study, and understand user community, including user type analysis and action-object mapping. From this research a picture of the library as a member of an active academic community comes into focus.Item Exploring the Implementation of New Public Service Role within Disaster Management(2013-01) Ranck, Andrew T.Disasters, both natural and manmade, can occur throughout the world at any given time and are caused by numerous different types of events. Communities that experience disasters often must utilize contingency plans to manage the direct and after affects carnage of the disasters. Many survivors of disasters must rely on aid from the international community to begin the revitalization process of the community. The international community acts under its own accord doing what it thinks is the best following the aftermath of a disaster within a community. This research project demonstrates the use of the New Public Service model to give local communities the ability to begin the revitalization of the community without the assistance of the international community. By being a part of the community revitalization, the community is able to have a direct impact on the outcomes that will affect the community and its future generations. The new public service model also influences the organizational dynamics, leadership, and coordination of the community in the event of a disaster. This paper demonstrates how New Public Service can be implemented within a disaster stricken community and how it shapes organizational dynamics helping to revitalize the community.