Changing attitudes and emotions toward coyotes with experiential education

ABSTRACT

An experiential education program was designed to target risk perceptions and preventative measures that make people feel comfortable in human-coyote interactions. The research was conducted in a Canadian national park where a coyote caused a human fatality in 2009. Based on previous research, we explored the effects of an experience-based coyote education program on people's (a) attitudes toward, (b) fear of, (c) likelihood of, and (d) control over coming into contact with coyotes. A pre-post-test experiment (n = 150; 96% completion rate) was conducted. The experiential education approach to wildlife safety and coexistence communication had a significant positive effect on people's attitudes, significantly decreased their sense of fear toward coyotes, significantly decreased their sense of likelihood, and increased their sense of control in human-coyote interactions.     

Nanoparticle image velocimetry at topologically structured surfaces

Nanoparticle image velocimetry (nano-PIV), based on total internal reflection fluorescent microscopy, is very useful to investigate fluid flows within ∼100 nm from a surface; but so far it has only been applied to flow over smooth surfaces. Here we show that it can also be applied to flow over a topologically structured surface, provided that the surface structures can be carefully configured not to disrupt the evanescent-wave illumination. We apply nano-PIV to quantify the flow velocity distribution over a polydimethylsiloxane surface, with a periodic gratinglike structure (with 215 nm height and 2 μm period) fabricated using our customized multilevel lithography method. The measured tracer displacement data are in good agreement with the computed theoretical values. These results demonstrate new possibilities to study the interactions between fluid flow and topologically structured surfaces.     

Organizational change: Motivation,communication, and leadership effectiveness

Research indicates that numerous variables have an impact on a leader's effectiveness. This study explores the behaviors associated with leadership effectiveness in driving change. The findings confirm previous research that identifies change effectiveness skills, while isolating the specific leader behaviors deemed most valuable to implementing change: motivation and communication.