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Coal has long history in Ohio and across the Appalachian region (Crowell 1995History of Coal-Mining Industry in Ohio State of Ohio, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological survey). The industry has had a major impact on the communities in various ways from underground mining, surface mining, and coal- fired electricity generation (Keenan and Robert 2010An Ecopolitical System of Global Significance” in “Always A River: The Ohio River and the American Experience; Lobao et al 2016Rural Sociol.81343–86). As the U.S. moves away from coal, the mines and coal-fired power plants close, creating significant economic hardships for the communities that relied on the coal industry (Blaackeret al2012Organ. Environ.25385–401; Grubert 2012Energy Policy44174–84; Grubert 2020Science3701171–3; Haggertyet al2018Resour. Policy5769–80). Yet even after the industry has left, the residents of many towns still felt connected to coal and still consider themselves a ‘coal community’. Local history and industry messaging help re- enforce this idea, but those factors are part of a larger phenomenon around the growing and shifting image of coal (Bell and York 2010Rural Sociol.75111–43; Lewin 2019Soc. Probl.6651–68). This article examines how the image of coal has grown over time to be associated with many different values that coal community members identify with and want to attach to themselves. From hardworking coal miners, to town-defining power plant smokestacks, to hunting and fishing on reclaimed coal lands. The image of coal has come to represent a myriad of things that still represent these coal communities allowing them to interact with the image of coal long after the industry and tangible impact of coal has left. In analyzing interview data with fifty coal employees, local leaders and town residents from across four coal communities across southeast Ohio and northern West Virginia at varying stages of coal transition, this article uses concepts from postmodern social theory to illustrate the nature of how the meanings and identity of coal towns persist even after there is no longer coal. The findings advance our understanding of how coal-dependent communities continue to grapple with the societal transition away from coal energy and provide context for addressing the coal transition beyond economic factors.
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A neural network model predicts community-level signaling states in a diverse microbial community
- Award ID(s):
- 1753268
- PAR ID:
- 10101201
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- PLOS Computational Biology
- Volume:
- 15
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 1553-7358
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- e1007166
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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The purpose of this research study is to understand teacher experiences throughout their second year of engagement in the Virginia Tech Partnering with Educators and Engineers in Rural Schools partnership. This partnership is an assets-based community partnership in a rural environment between middle school teachers, regional industry, and university affiliates that is focused on implementing recurrent, hands-on, culturally relevant engineering activities for middle school students. This qualitative study uses constant comparative methodology informed by grounded theory on teacher interviews to capture both teacher experiences in the partnership as well as teacher-identified assets in their classrooms and school communities. Using the sensitizing concepts of pedagogical content knowledge, self-efficacy, and the Interconnected Model of Teacher Growth, this study found that while teachers experienced the program differently depending on their contextual setting of their schools, all teachers expressed shifts in their recognition of and value placed on community assets. Findings also suggest that teachers greatly value involving industry and university partners in the classroom to highlight the applications of engineering in their communities and support a reimagination of engineering conceptions and careers for both students and teachers. Teachers reported that the hands-on, team-based, culturally relevant engineering activities engaged learners and showcased individual strengths in ways they otherwise do not see exhibited in their traditional curriculum. The partnership ultimately allowed teachers to identify how assets in schools’ rural communities, beyond those previously identified within their schools, could aid them in further developing and implementing engineering activities. With teachers serving as role models for students, it is important to support teachers’ reimagination of engineering conceptions and integration into the classroom to ultimately increase students’ engineering engagement. Our findings highlight the value of community-based approaches in supporting engineering integration in the classroom and describe the assets that teachers note as being the most significant in their community.more » « less
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Introduction: Previously published community health assessments (CHA) have explored social determinants of health in low-resource, Haitian-majority Dominican communities. The present CHA was conducted in Las Malvinas II, a Dominican-majority low-resource community, and represented a first step for developing a building a healthier community process. Method: A binational community–academic partnership adapted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s CHANGE (Community Health Assessment and Group Evaluation) guide to conduct a CHA through community-engaged, mixed-methods research. Data were collected on five community selected public health priorities (i.e., education, sanitation, unwanted pregnancies, chronic disease management, and vaccine-preventable diseases) and community assets through focus groups, interviews with key informants, and a household survey using GIS (geographical information systems) technology. Results: Of all five priorities, unwanted pregnancies and sanitation received the lowest average CHANGE tool ratings for both policies and Systems and Environment. However, data gathered on the five public health priorities reflect the perceived needs and assets of Las Malvinas II, and are equally important in improving the community’s health and well-being status. Community members identified as important goals the construction of a primary health clinic, as well as a bigger school, that includes pre-school and high school levels. Conclusion: A coalition emerged from the CHA to address the identified issues. The coalition used CHA findings to develop a community health improvement plan. The establishment of a primary health care center and a bigger school were identified as primary goals.more » « less
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McMahon, Katherine (Ed.)ABSTRACT Temperature significantly impacts microbial communities’ composition and function, which plays a vital role in the global carbon cycle that determines climate change. Nutrient influxes often accompany rising temperatures due to human activity. While ecological interactions between different microorganisms could shape their response to environmental change, we do not understand how predation may influence these responses in a warmer and increasingly nutrient-rich world. Here, we assess whether predation by a ciliate community of bacterial consumers influences changes in the diversity, biomass, and function of a freshwater prokaryotic community under different temperature and nutrient conditions. We found that predator presence mediates the effects of temperature and nutrients on the total prokaryotic community biomass and composition through various mechanisms, including direct and indirect effects. However, the total community function was resilient. Our study supports previous findings that temperature and nutrients are essential drivers of microbial community composition and function but also demonstrates how predation can mediate these effects, indicating that the biotic context is as important as the abiotic context to understanding microbial responses to novel climates.IMPORTANCEWhile the importance of the abiotic environment in microbial communities has long been acknowledged, how prevalent ecological interactions like predation may influence these microbial community responses to shifting abiotic conditions is largely unknown. Our study addresses the complex interplay between temperature, nutrients, predation, and their joint effects on microbial community diversity and function. Our findings suggest that while temperature and nutrients are fundamental drivers of microbial community dynamics, the presence of predators significantly alters these responses. Our study underscores the impact of abiotic factors on microbial communities and the importance of accounting for the biotic context in which these occur to understand, let alone predict, these responses properly.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007166
