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The leashed we can do: Effects of targeted conservation messaging on dog leashing behaviour
(The University of Waikato, 2026) Smith, Ashleigh; Blackmore, Tania
The current study investigated whether the viewing of posters conveying kiwi conservation or dog safety messaging would influence behaviour change in the form of reasons given to leash their dog: would participants leash their dog more for concerns about dog safety and welfare, or more for concerns related to kiwi conservation. The results showed that both Poster A (kiwi conservation message) and Poster B (dog welfare message) had a significant effect on how participants answered, “how likely are you to leash your dog in the bush?” with participants choosing both the kiwi conservation message and the dog welfare message more frequently post survey than they did pre survey. This finding supports previous NZ based research by Macdonald (2015) and Macaskill (2025) who both found that highlighting pet welfare was more effective at increasing conservation behaviour than highlighting the intended conservation behaviour.
A numerical model for the dynamics of pickup ions outside the heliopause and IBEX “ribbon” observation
(IOP, 2025) Huang, Yifan; Guo, Fan; Zirnstein, Eric J.; Noh, Sung Jun; Li, Hui; Reisenfeld, Daniel B.; Heerikhuisen, Jacob
The leading mechanism for the origin of the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) “ribbon” of enhanced energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) from the outer heliosphere is the so-called secondary ENA process. In this mechanism, neutralized ions escape the heliosphere, and after several times of charge exchange collision,s some propagate back toward Earth in directions nearly perpendicular to the local interstellar magnetic field. However, the physical processes governing the distribution of the pickup ions (PUIs) outside the heliopause are still unclear. In this study, we build a new global model of the IBEX ribbon, where a key component is to calculate the dynamics of the PUIs outside the heliopause by solving the gyrophase-averaged focused transport equations on top of the background magnetohydrodynamic-kinetic model for the heliosphere-interstellar medium interaction. We discuss how the properties of the simulated ribbon change with different scattering parameters and show simulation results of the ENA sky maps, ribbon centers, ribbon profiles at several azimuthal slices, the ribbon ENA source region, and the velocity distribution of PUIs in the ENA source region for different scattering frequencies. Our results show that the model can provide reasonable ribbon sky maps comparable to the observed ribbon when the PUI mean free path is on the order of several thousand astronomical units.
Energetic neutral atom fluxes from the Voyager 1 and 2 directions
(IOP, 2025) Fuselier, Stephen A.; Zirnstein, Eric J.; Heerikhuisen, Jacob; Galli, André; Richardson, John D.; Reisenfeld, Daniel B.; Schwadron, Nathan A.; Dayeh, Maher A.; McComas, David J.; Funsten, Herbert O.; Sokół, Justyna M.; Opher, Merav; Kornbleuth, Marc Z.; Gasser, Jonathan
IBEX observes a globally distributed energetic neutral atom (ENA) flux from the heliosheath and very local interstellar medium (VLISM). Over a 14 yr period, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 traversed the heliosheath from the termination shock to the heliopause. In situ observations from these spacecraft place important constraints on the parent ion populations of the ENAs from the heliosheath in two directions on the upwind side of the heliosphere, i.e., the direction of motion of the Sun in the local interstellar medium. In this study, an MHD model that is constrained by Voyager in situ observations is used to estimate the contribution from the heliosheath to the total ENA fluxes observed by IBEX. At energies greater than about 0.5 keV, the heliosheath provides a significant fraction of the observed ENA flux. However, at energies less than about 0.5 keV, the heliosheath provides an insignificant fraction of the observed ENA flux. These results are the same for both directions, and since the Voyager 1 and 2 directions are not particularly unique, the results are likely to be applicable for much of the upwind hemisphere. Fundamentally, it is the physics of the termination shock and the thickness of the heliosheath that determine the energy-dependent contributions to the observed ENA flux from this region. Because the heliosheath source is insignificant, most ENAs at energies less than about 0.5 keV probably come from the VLISM.
Viewing global changes in the heliosheath with IMAP’s energetic neutral atom imagers
(IOP, 2025) Zirnstein, Eric J.; Heerikhuisen, Jacob; McComas, David J.; Bower, J.; Clark, G.; Dayeh, Maher A.; Funsten, Herbert O.; Gkioulidou, Matina; Mitchell, Donald G.; Reisenfeld, Daniel B.; Schwadron, Nathan A.
We present a simulation analysis of NASA’s upcoming Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) energetic neutral atom (ENA) instrument capabilities in viewing “global” changes in the heliosheath (HS) plasma, and the resulting ENA flux changes detected near Earth. This is done by simulating ENA emissions produced by charge exchange in a simulated heliosphere, utilizing the instruments’ energy coverage, and calculating the time it takes for the SW to travel from 1 au to the HS and for ENAs to travel back. We aim to answer the following: (i) What are the time delays as a function of energy and direction; (ii) at what energies can we observe changes the soonest; and (iii) what might the ENA source distributions affecting the time delays look like? We find the following: (i) The time delay depends on energy and direction in the sky, taking from >20 yr to <2 yr to see a response. The time delay does not decrease monotonically with increasing ENA energy, because of the energy-dependent, H+p charge exchange cross section. (ii) The quickest changes can be observed at ∼15 keV (without HS energy diffusion), intersecting IMAP-Hi and IMAP-Ultra energies. (iii) The ENA source distributions, and how far out IMAP can “see” the heliosphere, strongly depend on energy: IMAP-Lo and IMAP-Ultra should be able to view the farthest back in the heliotail but with long delay times. Finally, we show how energy diffusion in the HS affects the time delays and ENA source distributions, increasing ENA fluxes and prolonging time delays.
Online reading lists: Evaluating students experience
(Springer, 2025) Kumara, P.P.N.V.; Hinze, Annika; Vanderschantz, Nicholas; Timpany, Claire
Reading Lists have begun to play an important role in student-centric education. However, there is currently too little information about the students’ experience in the use of the Reading Lists. This paper explores the students’ experience with the Reading Lists, in particular, when accessing electronic materials such as eBooks via a Reading Lists. We conducted a survey using an online questionnaire that comprised multiple choice and open-ended questions for the students who engaged with the Waikato Reading Lists. Thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data obtained from open-ended questions. Students were found to appreciate the way that Reading Lists help in their learning and perceived the Reading Lists to be a useful tool for their learning process. However, their use of Reading Lists features varied due to the lack of awareness, visibility and interaction difficulties. We explore implications for Reading Lists implemented through Digital Libraries and recommend enhancing the usability and the pedagicial features of Reading Lists to increase students’ engagement.