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Host microbiomes are important regulators of organismal fitness, physiology, and ecology. Microbiomes promote the fitness of their host in part by buffering the host from the full effects of fluctuating conditions and stressors imposed by the external environment. Whether the host conversely serves as a buffer for their associated microbes against variation in the external environment is less clear. Here, we test if bacteria inhabiting the microbiome of a host are locally adapted to nutrient levels in their surrounding external environment. We used a system in which the host, the phytoplankter Microcystis aeruginosa, has strains that are locally adapted to low-nutrient versus high-nutrient lakes. Assessing 40 metagenome-assembled genomes belonging to four taxonomic groups of heterotrophic bacteria residing within the host microbiome, we found consistent phylogenetic divergence between strains originating from low-nutrient versus high-nutrient environments. Bacteria found in association with low-nutrient host genotypes obtained from low-nutrient lakes demonstrated genome streamlining, including reduced genome size and fewer sigma factors. These bacterial genomes have features that would facilitate survival in low-nutrient lakes, including (i) greater number of alkaline phosphatase genes that are essential for phosphorus acquisition and (ii) positive selection within genes involved in phosphorus metabolism. Overall, our results demonstrate that despite living in close association with host organisms, bacteria residing within microbiomes may have evolved and undergone environmental selection to stressors external to their host, demonstrating similar patterns of adaptation to those that might be expected to develop among free-living bacteria. IMPORTANCE Understanding how natural selection has historically shaped the traits of microbial populations comprising host microbiomes would help predict how the functions of these microbes may continue to evolve over space and time. Numerous host-associated microbes have been found to adapt to their host, sometimes becoming obligate symbionts, whereas free-living microbes are best known to adapt to their surrounding environment. Our study assessed the selective pressures of both the host environment and the surrounding external environment in shaping the functional potential of host-associated bacteria. Despite residing within the resource-rich microbiome of their hosts, we demonstrate that host-associated heterotrophic bacteria show evidence of trait selection that matches the nutrient availability of their broader surrounding environment. These findings illustrate the complex mix of selective pressures that likely shape the present-day function of bacteria found inhabiting host microbiomes. Our study lends insight into the shifts in function that may occur as environments fluctuate over time.

This report shows the impact that a two-year, coaching based, job-embedded administrator credentialing program is having on the leadership development of new administrators. The Clear Administrative Services Credential (CASC) program is centered on a conceptual framework founded on six professional learning standards combined with real life professional learning contexts, coaching conversations, professional development, and reflection. CASC participants have reported a high level of satisfaction and leadership development as a result of their inclusion in the program. CASC is provided at no charge to participants demonstrating their district's commitment to investing in and growing their own future leaders.

First-generation college students have received considerable attention in education research, yet there is still much that is unknown about their unique college experiences. This mixed-methods study provides a unique perspective on first-generation college students through the application of McClusky's theory of margin to first-generation students in a TRIO Student Support Services program. McClusky identified life factors that influence one's level of load (demands) and power (resources). The load, divided by power plus load, suggests one's margin in life. McClusky further postulated that the nature of load and power factors is the key to understanding one's margin in life. The purpose of this study is threefold. First, the study tested the ability of various life factors to predict margin in life scores for first-generation students. Second, the study sought to understand the nature of margin in life by exploring common load and power variables and the ways in which they affect first-generation students. Finally, the researchers examined how participation in TRIO SSS contributes to margin in life for first-generation students. Our findings support McClusky's claim that the nature of life factors is crucial in understanding margin, as the quantitative results revealed that life factors alone do not predict margin in life. The qualitative exploration revealed salient life factors that contribute to load and power for participants, including TRIO Student Support Services. Furthermore, the study highlights the limitations of quantitative data to predict student experience and reveals subtleties best understood through in-depth qualitative consideration. Discussion of potential future research and practice implications are included.

When they enter institutions of higher education, students typically leave behind one culture to join another. Despite the higher rates of attrition for first-generation students over continuing-generation students and undecided students over declared students, little research has been focused on undeclared first-generation students. To understand the challenges and experiences of first-generation undecided students transitioning to a new and unfamiliar academic environment, we applied a reacculturation process to this qualitative exploratory case study of 35 students. Data came from interviews, focus group interactions, observations, and written responses to open-ended questions, which were subsequently triangulated. Findings revealed heightened feelings of stress, desire to become comfortable on campus, reliance upon continuing-generation friends, helpfulness of a specialized first-year seminar course, and uncertainty about advisors' roles.

The presence of and request for assistance, service, and support animals has skyrocketed on college campuses in recent years. The purpose of this literature review is to explore potential benefits in the utilization of assistance animals within higher education, especially as it concerns disability service offices. It begins with an overview of the dilemma of increased use of animals with limited shared knowledge base on the benefits of that use and the myriad of terms that are used to describe the therapeutic use of animals. It reviews relevant meta-analyses, moves to a focus of assistance animals in educational settings, especially with college students, highlighting the limited available information on the use of animals by university offices, especially the disability service office. Strength of the research in this literature review is limited due to narrow research availability, small sample sizes, qualitative methods employed in some of the studies, and the limited connections specifically to the dilemmas faced by disability offices in their decision-making about therapeutic animals. This paper concludes with recommendations for future research and for practitioners in disability service offices and related areas.

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to investigate how school principals and diversity club advisors use diversity clubs to promote multicultural education in a southwestern Wisconsin conference. The researchers explored how principals and club advisors' qualifications, club resources, and multicultural curriculum promote diversity. Eleven participants from 5 public high schools were surveyed and interviewed. The researchers discovered that advisor qualifications were not a perceived barrier to promoting diversity appreciation. Additionally, financial resources, multicultural curriculum, and professional development for club advisors were significant factors in a school's ability to promote diversity.

Social work programs shape the profession through their admission practices. A stakeholder analysis of a baccalaureate social work program was conducted to seek stakeholder perspectives on admission practices through interviews and focus groups with 53 participants representing seven stakeholder groups. Results suggest that external stakeholders such as field instructors, social service employers, and adjunct faculty members are not widely represented in the BSW admission process. Four categories of stake-holder expectations for social work admission were found: gatekeeping for professional suitability, a process of self-reflection for students, an indicator of educational quality for the social work program, and progression of students' professional socialization as a social worker. Findings provide insights to inform faculty as they oversee social work admission.

Students with autism are enrolling in college more frequently, yet graduation rates for these students remain low. One reason posited is a lack of self-determination (SD) skills, which help students communicate with faculty and staff and act on goals. This study investigated how faculty at a community college support students in developing these skills, the nature of their communication with disability resource professionals and site directors, and the experiences of faculty and disability resource professionals with accommodations. The study employed basic qualitative methods, specifically semi-structured interviews with 31 faculty, disability resource professionals, and site directors. Findings show that faculty use specific strategies to communicate with students yet struggle with helping them to regulate behaviors and giving them autonomy. Faculty, disability resource professionals, and site directors indicate that rapport and trust are important in communications between all three groups about how to help students with autism. Yet when these qualities are not present, faculty find safe spaces to access the help they need through informal supports. All groups of participants indicated that while accommodation letters are a good place to start when supporting students with autism, they provide little help in reinforcing SD skills. Thus, accommodations are supplemented by faculty being willing to work with students beyond the accommodation letter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have begun to explore the mental health and social support experiences of rural transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) Americans. This systematic review included 16 qualitative studies. The studies are current and of moderate to high quality. Themes included: (a) exploring identity, (b) coping with bullying and isolation, (c) passing, (d) building relationships, and (e) developing resilience in the face of barriers. While some rural TGNC adults wrestle with negative coping mechanisms, many have found ways to thrive. Further research is needed to develop more targeted prevention and intervention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the interplay between environmental conditions and phenotypes is a fundamental goal of biology. Unfortunately, data that include observations on phenotype and environment are highly heterogeneous and thus difficult to find and integrate. One approach that is likely to improve the status quo involves the use of ontologies to standardize and link data about phenotypes and environments. Specifying and linking data through ontologies will allow researchers to increase the scope and flexibility of large-scale analyses aided by modern computing methods. Investments in this area would advance diverse fields such as ecology, phylogenetics, and conservation biology. While several biological ontologies are well-developed, using them to link phenotypes and environments is rare because of gaps in ontological coverage and limits to interoperability among ontologies and disciplines. In this manuscript, we present (1) use cases from diverse disciplines to illustrate questions that could be answered more efficiently using a robust linkage between phenotypes and environments, (2) two proof-of-concept analyses that show the value of linking phenotypes to environments in fishes and amphibians, and (3) two proposed example data models for linking phenotypes and environments using the extensible observation ontology (OBOE) and the Biological Collections Ontology (BCO); these provide a starting point for the development of a data model linking phenotypes and environments.