Visual memory and the pedometer in navigating desert ants.

Desert ants rely on multiple systems in order to successfully navigate, including memorizing snapshots of their visual surroundings and path integration. During path integration, foragers record both their heading direction, through a sky compass, and the distance from the nest through a step-counter giving the forager an estimate of the nest’s location while they forage. […]

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Examining microclimatic effects on vertebrate interactions with foundational plant species.

Desertification and arid region expansion are critical global change issues. Temperature, variability in precipitation, extended drought periods, and radiation are probable factors affecting the function of foundations shrubs. The changes in the above weather parameters are primarily due to anthropogenic climate change that significantly modifies physical and biological systems in all continents. Micro-climatic-driven behavioural plasticity […]

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From Cuba with Love: Domesticity as Transnational Media and Networking Strategy .

The project explores the role of domesticity in general as a symbolic and material realm fostering transnational networking and communication tactics involving Cuba and the North American peoples. This research looks at homemaking in Cuba as an activity at the center of large communication initiatives revolving around material exchanges, human international travels and domestic media […]

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A Critical Transition in the Common Core: Analyzing Networks for Mathematics Implementation

Since the U.S. Common Core State Standards for Mathematics were introduced in 2010, states have been grappling with the implementation of revised mathematics instruction. Implementation challenges have meant fewer students are adequately prepared for the elementary to middle school transition. Educators’ professional learning networks (PLNs) may be effective in addressing this issue, yet minimal research […]

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Hand-held educational robots for learning STEM concepts

Inspired by needs for haptic support of large motions on a surface in applications like embodied conceptual learning, commercial design, and 2D virtual/augmented reality, we at SPIN lab at the University of British Columbia made a ballpoint drive system called Magic Pen [1]. This novel approach circumvents conventional constraints by imposing a new one: motion […]

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