George Middendorf - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by George Middendorf

Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 1984

LPICo, Apr 1, 2010

We propose consideration of at least two possible evolutionary paths for the emergence of intelli... more We propose consideration of at least two possible evolutionary paths for the emergence of intelligent life with the potential for technical civilization. The first is the path via encephalization of homeothermic animals; the second is the path to swarm intelligence of so-called superorganisms, in particular the social insects. The path to each appears to be facilitated by environmental change: homeothermic animals by decreased climatic temperature and for swarm intelligence by increased oxygen levels.

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Apr 1, 2003

The Southwestern Naturalist, 1988

African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Jul 4, 2017

Working on the Encyclopedia Africana under the sponsorship of Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, W.E.B. Du B... more Working on the Encyclopedia Africana under the sponsorship of Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, W.E.B. Du Bois reversed his conviction that only the ‘talented tenth’ could profit from a university education. He proposed that virtually all humans have a right to a university education. He further insisted that Africana (African and African in the Diaspora) universities are ethically obligated and uniquely positioned to spearhead a movement to train students to become professionals who solve problems community members are unable to solve for themselves. Africana universities can, with the aid of appropriate technology and service learning, take the steps necessary to achieve Du Bois’s vision. In this paper, we present a practical account of how universities may work with local communities to determine the questions to research and then deploy appropriate technologies through community-based but student-driven service learning projects. Our hypothesis is that students can become community leaders of tomorrow by partnering with community members to solve theoretical issues and practical problems of their communities. As university graduates inspired by Du Bois’s vision for Africana universities, their mission will be to establish alumni communities of learning that transfer problem-solving skills to community members who do not yet have access to university education.

Oecologia, Oct 1, 1988

Fruit of the blackberry, Rubus pennsylvanicus Poir. (Rosaceae), were examined to determine variat... more Fruit of the blackberry, Rubus pennsylvanicus Poir. (Rosaceae), were examined to determine variation in maturation characteristics. Maturation timing and rate varied greatly among individual fruits, resulting in a bi-colored fruiting display comprised largely of two maturation stages, pre-ripe (salmon and scarlet) and ripe (dark brown and black). While ripe fruit were generally larger and heavier than pre-ripe fruit, exhibiting greater fresh and dry fruit weight, diameter, water content, and total seed weight, no significant differences were found in energy content, i.e. numbers of calories per gram pulp, or in pulp:seed ratio. The differences between ripe and pre-ripe fruit appear to be due largely to an increase in water content and seed weight with maturity. The fact that little energetic benefit accrues to the preferential selection of ripe fruit suggests that bi-colored Rubus displays may be considered to be unicolored.

Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, Oct 1, 2008

PLOS Biology, Nov 11, 2022

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Sep 1, 2020

Using Collective Impact to overcome systemic racism T he murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, ... more Using Collective Impact to overcome systemic racism T he murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, symbolizes the long history and impact of systemic racism and suffocation of minority communities, particularly the Black community, in the US. Systemic issues force these communities to contend with a vast array of obstacles: access to schools (including higher education), healthcare, affordable housing, livable income, jobs and career opportunities, security, and funding for their research. In science, minorities, especially Black scientists, are starkly underrepresented in every sector: academia, NGOs, government agencies, industry, and-indeed-professional societies. Undoubtedly, there is no shortage of minority undergraduate students interested in pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors. Enrollments for both underrepresented minorities and White students are on par. Yet, far fewer minorities graduate with a STEM degree, and they take longer to do so. Fewer than 2% of PhDs in the sciences are earned by Black scholars. Everyday, minorities question whether they belong in science classrooms, tenure-track positions, and careers. Everyday, others question their presence. For decades, attempts to address this underrepresentation have focused on "pipeline" issues of minority recruitment and retention, with billions of dollars spent on programs to promote interest in science, provide authentic research experiences, and offer peer and professional mentoring as well as community support. Regardless, the numbers have not changed. When viewed from a landscape perspective, we see a multitude of distinct, unconnected, and isolated programs. From an equity and justice lens, no single program will ever succeed in effecting change throughout an individual's career journey. Success requires attention to support both on and off campus: mentoring and advising; development of technical and "soft" skills; leadership training; and induction into professional networks. Each and all of these have profound and positive impacts on a young person's career trajectory. The processes of recruitment, hiring, grading/evaluation, professional advancement, and overall institutional culture also must be addressed as they have too often shut doors to minority inclusion. There are simply too many factors for any single program to sufficiently manage. Programs are stuck in a system in which only a few rare individuals triumph-those who persist in spite of these obstacles. We propose a comprehensive, collective approach that encourages multiple entities and initiatives to work together to intentionally address both personal experiences and institutional culture as individuals move through each career stage. The Collective Impact (CI) model developed by Kania and Kramer (Stanford Soc Innov Rev 2011; https://bit.ly/3gEJLEh) provides a framework for coherent action. With five key characteristics-a common agenda, shared measurement, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and backbone support-the CI approach shifts the actions and results of siloed activity to coordinated, cohesive, and durable outcomes. The purpose of a CI alliance is not to develop a new program, but to create a new structure that coordinates and shares existing resources, networks, and expertise. In 2017, ESA was awarded a US National Science Foundation INCLUDES grant to pilot EcologyPlus (ecologyplus.esa.org), an alliance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities; federal, state, and local government agencies; environmental NGOs; and professional and community networks. Led by partner organizations, EcologyPlus facilitates skills workshops, research, networking, internships, and job opportunities that serve diverse undergraduates, graduate students, and early-career professionals. It also offers individuals a mentoring platform to organize and track career goals with their mentors. One of the hallmarks of a CI design is agreement on success metrics. EcologyPlus extended the traditional definition of success beyond academic research careers to include "STEM-capable" careers. We regarded participation in science-related fields not as "leaks" in, but as extensions of, the pipeline into other disciplinary areas. In doing so, we recognized that participant interests were not the same as ours and that there are many types of environmental careers. We see an opportunity to acknowledge the need for ecologists and other scientists to advance in careers ranging from exploratory research to communication, from policy to public health. In recent months, anti-racism conversations have exposed the systemic roots of the low numbers of Black and other minority scientists in the discipline. Furthermore, we see that numerical metrics alone are insufficient. We believe that other measures like a sense of belonging, an ability to navigate career pathways, and an effective use of professional networks must be included. We invite universities, employers, and organizations to connect within an intentional, anti-racist, CI framework in order to construct comprehensive approaches that will bring about the changes necessary to welcome Black and other minority scientists in all places and across all sectors.

Climatic Change, Jun 5, 2009

Kleidon (2009) concludes that warm climates impose important constraints on the evolution of larg... more Kleidon (2009) concludes that warm climates impose important constraints on the evolution of large brains relative to body size, confirming our previous hypothesis (Schwartzman and Middendorf 2000). Here we update the case for our hypothesis and present a first approximation estimate of the cooling required for hominin brain size increase using a simple model of heat loss. We conclude that Pleistocene glacial episodes were likely sufficient to serve as prime releasers for emergence of Homo habilis and Homo erectus. In addition, we propose that atmospheric oxygen levels may been an analogous constraint on insect encephalization. We congratulate Axel Kleidon for a provocative and stimulating paper, as well as for creating the opportunity for this intervention. Based on his modeling of maximum heat loss from human metabolic activity, Kleidon (2009) concludes that "warm climates impose important constraints on the evolution of large brains in relation to body size", i.e., encephalization, supporting our earlier argument (Schwartzman and Middendorf 2000). We now take this opportunity to update and expand on our original proposal. The long-term cooling history of the Earth's biosphere correlates with the timing of major events in biotic evolution, such as the emergence of phototrophs, eucaryotes and Metazoa (Schwartzman 1999-2002). These organisms apparently emerged when temperatures declined to the maximum limit that could be tolerated by these organisms, i.e., 70 • C (3.5 Ga), 60 • C (2.8 Ga) and 50 • C (1-1.5 Ga) respectively (Fig. 1). The evidence for this early very warm climate was recently corroborated by the measurement of melting temperatures of proteins resurrected from sequences inferred from robust molecular phylogenies (Gaucher et al. 2008), and is consistent

Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 2011

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Aug 8, 2013

Oxford University Press eBooks, Feb 3, 2011

Southwestern Naturalist, Mar 27, 1985

Page 1. THE SOUTHWESTERN NATURALIST 30(1):83-88 MARCH 27, 1985 CHANGES IN RESOURCE USAGE OF SCELO... more Page 1. THE SOUTHWESTERN NATURALIST 30(1):83-88 MARCH 27, 1985 CHANGES IN RESOURCE USAGE OF SCELOPORUS JARROVI (SAURIA: IGUANIDAE) DURING PERIODS OF HIGH AND LOW FOOD ABUNDANCE ...

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Oct 1, 2014

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Mar 1, 2019

Improving ecological education through a four-dimensional framework A t its November 2018 meeting... more Improving ecological education through a four-dimensional framework A t its November 2018 meeting, the ESA's Governing Board made the important decision to endorse the 4-Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) framework. Developed over the past 3 years by a task force of ESA members who solicited input from a variety of groups, the framework takes a fresh and innovative approach toward the teaching of ecology. Early on, the task force recognized that a simple listing of concepts would neither fully address ESA member needs for fostering excellence in ecology education, nor capture the way that ecology has matured as a diverse, multidisciplinary science. Development of the 4DEE framework was informed by other initiatives such as AAAS's Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education (https://bit.ly/2sPupbX) and the Next Generation Science Standards (www.nextgenscience.org). Those approaches are also explicitly multidimensional, but we believe they do not go far enough to fully inform ecology educators. Instead, the 4DEE framework (www.esa.org/4DEE) involves four dimensions that educators should incorporate when teaching ecology: Core Ecological Concepts (the familiar hierarchy of ecology, from the individual to the biosphere), Ecology Practices (relevant skills that students should have), Human-Environment Interactions (ways that humans and nature affect each other), and Cross-cutting Themes (topics like scale and evolution). Some may ask: "What's new here?" We contend that 4DEE is innovative for several reasons. First, with its distinctive emphasis on human-environment interactions, on practices like the natural history approach and field-based ways of doing science, and on the prominence of cross-cutting themes like spatial/temporal scale and disturbance, a multidimensional approach is far superior to the traditional one-dimensional approach to teaching ecology. The inclusion of multiple dimensions beyond just Core Ecological Concepts allows integration of various ways of thinking and doing ecology with teaching big ideas (eg population processes, community theory, transfer of nutrients and energy in ecosystems) in the discipline. Second, the 4DEE framework elevates the Human-Environment dimension so that it is integrated with the teaching of the Core Ecology Concepts and not just included as an addendum to a course. Increasing emphasis on human dependency on the environment, ecosystem management, and related ideas will highlight the relevance of ecological knowledge to human welfare. By enhancing our ability to communicate ecology broadly, the framework aids in developing policies and practices that address current global environmental problems, especially those affecting otherwise disenfranchised groups. Third, we expect a tremendous amount of innovation will emerge from the community of ecology educators as they use, modify, and extend 4DEE in research and practice. Their creative and critical research-based work will explore how to realize and assess multi-dimensional teaching at different scales (eg a single lesson, course, course sequence, degree program, certification program) and in different contexts (eg non-majors, majors, etc). We foresee opportunities for numerous presentations, posters, and published papers documenting their successes and insights. Having a professional-society-endorsed framework will strengthen ecology education in a number of ways. (1) 4DEE will help guide ecology educators seeking to teach ESA-endorsed sets of concepts, ways of thinking, and skills to their students, and enable those teachers to connect students to relevant issues related to global environmental problems through experiential learning in the classroom and the field. (2) The framework will allow students to better understand the scope of, as well as topics and skills in, ecology. With an emphasis on useful skills and ways of thinking, we hope that students will find practical support for pursuing a diversity of careers beyond those in traditional academic pathways. (3) 4DEE will inform ESA efforts to provide standards of skills, practices, and ecological knowledge used in evaluating the overall academic preparation required by ESA's certification program, thereby supplying guidelines for appropriate continuing education and professional development opportunities for environmental professionals seeking certification. (4) The framework can be used to leverage support from college and university administrators to strengthen ecology-based curricula by validating best faculty practices. Similarly, we foresee 4DEE informing ecology textbook authors interested in aligning with ESA's endorsed framework. We also believe that 4DEE will support ESA efforts to "Extend the Tent" to a broad range of environmental professionals not engaged in other activities of the Society. The emphasis on human-environment interactions and a range of practices including collaboration, communication, and application will prepare ecology graduates with valuable career skills for use in jobs beyond those in academia. ESA will thus become a hub of professional development in ecology for all environmental professionals. Finally, we hope that 4DEE will greatly enhance ecological literacy, thereby helping to fulfill a call made by ESA Past-president Paul Risser in his 1986 address. Embracing this approach can lead to more informed decisionmaking, resulting in a more sustainable future. The Governing Board's decision to endorse 4DEE will prove to be a wise one, indeed.

Copeia, Aug 1, 2004

WADE C. SHERBROOKE AND GEORGE A. MIDDENDORF III Six related studies were conducted with four capt... more WADE C. SHERBROOKE AND GEORGE A. MIDDENDORF III Six related studies were conducted with four captive juvenile Kit Foxes (Vulpes macrotis) to test the hypothesis that blood-squirting from eye-socket tissues by Texas Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma cornutum) is a canid antipredator defense. In 16 trials, naive "hungry" foxes killed and ate adult Yarrow's Spiny Lizards (Sceloporusjarrovii; eight of eight trials) slightly more frequently than adult P cornutum (six of eight trials). Adverse responses by foxes (head shaking) were seen in five of six trials in which Phrynosoma squirted blood. Later these experienced foxes, fed ad libitum, killed and ate mice (eight of eight trials) while largely ignoring P cornutum (one killed and eaten in eight trials), suggesting a learned aversion to horned lizards as prey. During attacks on mice smeared with horned-lizard blood, foxes displayed behaviors typical of predatory encounters with horned lizard prey (head shaking and prey tearing). These prey-handling behaviors were in striking contrast to those elicited by untreated mice and by mice treated with mouse blood, demonstrating that horned-lizard blood (and its chemical constituents) altered normal behaviors toward mouse prey. Prey-handling times for mice treated with horned lizard blood were significantly longer than mouse-only treatments. Responses of foxes to mice coated with horned lizard Harderian-and lacrimal-gland tissues coupled with responses to mice coated with systemic horned-lizard blood, mouse blood, and untreated mice suggest that (1) no defensive chemicals are added to the blood by orbital glands before blood ejection, and (2) active antipredator chemicals are carried in the circulating blood as well as in squirted blood. In four trials, foxes attacked "de-horned" horned lizards; a role for cranial horns in facilitating predator hesitancy prior to blood squirting is proposed. Evidence is presented that horned lizards visually identify and categorize foxes as appropriate predators for a bloodsquirting defense. We conclude that, in many predator-prey encounters with wild canids, blood-squirting by Texas Horned Lizards is an effective chemical defense. We propose a scenario for the evolution of this unique defense and suggest that the defensive compounds found in the blood may be sequestered from the seed-harvester ant prey of horned lizards.

African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Sep 3, 2015

Ethical theory and technology practice raise two primary questions. First, what are the ethical p... more Ethical theory and technology practice raise two primary questions. First, what are the ethical principles driving sustainable appropriate technology? Second, what are the viable applications of those principles with respect to alternative appropriate technologies? The hypothesis of this study is that the earth is experiencing the current and sixth mass extinction. Our methodology is first to review ethical principles that address this problem and then to examine their consequences in the field of renewable energy technologies. A primary engine driving mass extinction is current modes of energy production. Unless energy is readily and cheaply available, humans will struggle to form a single economic community that can guarantee the universal rights embodied in the United Nations Declarations of Universal Human Rights. Unfortunately, Micro-Appropriate Technology (AT) applications cannot presently replace the current carbon-based global energy system. This paper analyzes the ethical potential of Macro Photo-Voltaic and Concentrating Solar Power AT systems. Our conclusion argues that the world's collective nations must undertake a global solar “Manhattan Project” to arrest the sixth mass extinction and overcome the misery of billions in the Global South through ethical sustainable development.

The long-term cooling history of the Earth's biosphere implies a temperature constraint on the ti... more The long-term cooling history of the Earth's biosphere implies a temperature constraint on the timing of major events in biologic evolution, e.g., emergence of cyanobacteria, eucaryotes and Metazoa apparently occurred at times when temperatures were near their upper growth limits. Could biospheric cooling also have been a necessary condition for the emergence of veterbrates and their encephalization? The upper temperature limit for vertebrate growth is about 10 degrees below the limit for Metazoa 50 degrees C. Heterothermy followed by full homeothermy w as likely a necessary condition for greater encephalization because of the energy requirement of larger brains. The temperature di erential between an animal and a cooler environment, all other factors equal, will increase the e ciency of heat loss from the brain, but too large a di erential will shift metabolic energy away from the brain to the procurementoffood. Encephalization has also entailed the evolution of internal cooling mechanisms to avoid overheating the brain. The two periods of pronounced Phanerozoic cooling, the PermoCarboniferous and late Cenozoic, corresponded to the emergence of mammal-like reptiles and hominids respectively, with a variety of explanations o ered for the apparent link. The origin of highly encephalized whales, dolphins and porpoises occurred with the drop in ocean temperatures 25-30 mya. Of course, other possible paths to encephalization are conceivable, with radically di erent solutions to the problem of heat dissipation. But the intrinsic requirements for information processing capacity necessary for intelligence suggest our terrestrial pattern may resemble those of alien biospheres given similar histories.

Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics, Jun 1, 2021

This essay proposes African-based ethical solutions to profound human problems and a working Afri... more This essay proposes African-based ethical solutions to profound human problems and a working African model to address those problems. The model promotes sustainability through advanced agroecological and information communication technologies. The essay's first section reviews the ethical ground of that model in the work of the Senegalese scholar, Cheikh Anta Diop. The essay's second section examines an applied African model for translating African ethical speculation into practice. Deeply immersed in European and African ethics, Godfrey Nzamujo developed the Songhaï Centers to solve the problem of rural poverty in seventeen African countries. Harnessing advanced technologies within a holistic agroecological ecosystem, Nzamujo's villages furnish education spanning the fields of ethics, information communication technology, microbiology, international development, and mechanical, electrical, civil and biological engineering in a community-based and centered development enterprise. The essay proposes a global consortium of ecovillages based on Nzamujo's model. The final section explores funding methods for the consortium. The conclusion contemplates a return to Africa to supplement environmental ethics that enhance life's future on earth. Keywords African environmental ethics • Advanced technologies • Songhaï centers • Global consortium of ecovillages • Funding initiatives * Charles Verharen