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Issue 8 – Monday 13th May 2019

May 13, 2019 • fshe556

Copy deadline for next edition of P-cubed: Friday 12:00 24 May, to Farnaz:  f.sheikh@auckland.ac.nz

Contents

HeadSup

Autumn Graduation 2019: Caitlin and her very proud mum and dad

Kia ora koutou

Great to see so many students, family and friends at the Autumn graduation. It was a proud moment for us and an especially proud moment for parents! Thanks to everyone who came along to our ENV celebration and made it such a happy event. Tautoko in practice!

I’ve been thinking about that word a lot. It is all about support and encouragement, backing our team. Lately we’ve been manifesting it at the scale of the nation to emphasise the values that we stand for in terms of diversity and inclusion. At the small scale, to tautoko – or not – is where we can have the greatest impact on the wellbeing and effectiveness of each other. I notice tautoko in action in the way some of the PG students have set up research support groups, and also in the way academic staff cover for others who are going on research and study leave. It is also apparent when experienced research academics open up opportunities for others. And it is perhaps most obvious in those small and unplanned conversations that are positive and encouraging. I’m just past my first 100 days in my new job as Head of School and I’d like to give a big vote of thanks to everyone who has taken the time to tautoko me through positive conversations and actions – it is much appreciated.

This week’s P-cubed is packed with events and notices. Thanks for sending them through. It really will help our shared understanding of what is happening in the school and provide an easy point of information for diary planning. If you have research updates, new papers out, acknowledgements or other good news, it would  be excellent to have a few more of those in the mix.

Ngā mihi – JR

For Your Diary

Deadlines Date & Location
Staff Survey 24 May
CLeaR Fellowship applications 31 May
Learning enhancement grants 2019 7 June
Professorial promotion applications 15 July 2019
Seminars
PhD Research Proposal: Shreya Kanakiya “Geophysical signatures of hydrothermal alteration for evaluating flank instability” 15 May, 12:00-1:00pm, 302-G20
Jan Lindsay, Associate Dean Research:  “Demystifying research support at UOA” 18 July, 11:00, 302-G20
Marine Geosciences Meeting – Lorna Strachan: “The marine record of the Kaikōura Nov 2016 Earthquake – what does a preserved co-Seismic turbidite look like?” 14 May, 1-2 pm in 303-G13
PhD completion seminar – Ayrton Hamilton: “Silicieous sinters as dipsticks to epithermal mineralisation” 22 May, 16:00 in 302-G20
AusIMM seminar – Michael Petterson “Continents colliding in the NW Greater Himalayas, Karakoram, and Tibet, and aspects of mineralisation” 28 May, 17:30-19:00, Boardroom Anderson lloyd, Level 3 Autralis Nathan Bldg, 37 Galway St, Britomart.
Other Events
Dr George Slim MBIE Endeavour 1:1 discussions, requires RSVP 14 May OR 20 May, 10:00-4:00pm in 302-603
NZ Geographical Society: Monthly Geography Dialogues with Wine – Joe Fagan “Five lessons I learnt while sitting down for a year” 21 May, 4:15-5:30pm, Ontology Lab, 302-551.
ENV Research Forum, RSVP here 21 May, 12-2pm, lunch included,Old Government House
Workshop: The Writing Habits of Successful Academics 18 Jun, 1pm in 302-140
Resilience to Nature’s Challenges / Natural Hazards Research Platform forum 30-31 May, Te Papa, Wellington
ENV Staff Retreat 12 June, 8.30-5pm, Old Government House

Whakawhanaungatanga – communities

Who do I ask about…?

Here is a quick guide to who you need to contact should you require any help. Please, note that we now have a web site for vehicle bookings. You can find the link here.

Operational matters

Blair on leave

Blair is away from May 17th until June 11th. Field trip plan reviews and approvals will be done by Andres (a.arcila@auckland.ac.nz).
For any other issues contact the relevant technician.

Neville on leave

Neville is away on leave from May 28th to July 28th. During this time there will be no access to the Geological Collection Store.

• Please get requests for samples from the collection to Neville by Wednesday May 22th as his last day out at the store is likely to be the 23rd
• Need to visit the collection store? Arrange with Neville a.s.a.p. No access after May 23rd
• Students submitting theses/dissertations during this time and who have samples to archive, please see Neville a.s.a.p. and definitely before May 25th
• After May 27th see Andres if you want samples tubes, need to return samples of equipment, need space in the PG Rock Room.

Booking 12-seater minibuses through Orbit?

Unfortunately, we have had a few glitches with vehicle bookings recently. Please check your itineraries very carefully if you have booked 12-seater minibuses. The itinerary should state that the minibus is a 12-seater. If it just says ‘van’ or ‘people-mover’ there’s a good chance you will end up with an 8-seater. Talk to Orbit directly and if still in doubt check with the rental car company to make sure you have what you think you ordered. As annoying as this is, it is far more annoying and just a tad stressful to arrive at Hertz expecting two 12-seaters only to find two 8-seaters.

For Staff

Staff Survey

All permanent and fixed-term staff members (including Graduate Teaching Assistants) employed before 1 April 2019 are invited to complete the Staff Survey.

UOA’s biennial Staff Survey is now open. Please see this link for clarification on staff survey categories. Your feedback is anonymous, confidential and important because it influences the Vice-Chancellor’s strategic plan. It will take ~25 mins to complete.

  • GTA’s: please select the GTA button, not the ENV option.
  • Technical staff: please select the ‘Technical Staff’ option, not the ENV option.

The Vice-Chancellor will share the results in July.

Distinguished Visitor Awards – Nominations Now open

The Distinguished Visitor Awards allow scholars who have made significant contributions to their discipline to visit and participate in the intellectual life of the University. Any member of our academic staff may make an application nominating a Distinguished Visitor with the support of your academic head and dean of the host faculty. Up to $10,000 is available for each award.
Full guidelines and the application form can be found at the DVA webpage on the staff intranet. Applications close Friday 5 July 2019 and must be submitted to your faculty contact by 5pm.
If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Research Strategy and Integrity on internalawards@auckland.ac.nz.

The 2019 Professorial Promotions Round

The closing date for applications for the 2019 Professorial Promotions Round is Monday 15 July 2019. 

As a reminder, please note the small change in the ‘Professorial Promotion Procedures’ from last year. Applicants are now requested to send applications to the Dean by 1 July in order that the Dean is able to send both the application and their Dean’s report to the office of the DVC(A) by 15 July. The revised timing will facilitate the meeting of the UASC Sub-committee and the identification of referees so that we can maintain our practice of making a final decision on promotions before the end of the year.

As stipulated in the Guidelines in Form HR94 : ‘Electronic copies of your five nominated publications must be sent in a separate file along with this application’. Where a publication is large, as in a book or an extensive report, applicants are requested to supply a ‘link’ to the electronic version of the specific publication where that is available, but in the absence of a ‘link’ an electronic version must be provided in a zipped file.

For your guidance, the 2019 application forms as provided on the HR intranet, are as below and can be found via: https://www.staff.auckland.ac.nz/en/human-resources/career-development/performance-and-development-reviews/academic-promotions.html

HR09 – Application for Academic Promotion
HR94 – Academic Career Portfolio for use with Academic Standards. (Note : A separate CV is no longer required) Together with the candidates 5 nominated publications – electronic version or web link.
HR28 – Referees – Applicant Nominations
HR80 – Dean’s Report – Academic Promotion to Professor

 

Rangahau – Research

Operational matters

Climate, Geophysics and Cartography

Blair will be looking after the Climate, Geophysics and Cartography labs and equipment for the near future.
Please direct all enquiries to him.

Meetings, seminars and events

Staff ENV Research Forum

May 21st, 12.00-2.00 pm (lunch provided at 1pm)
OGH, Federation of Graduate Women’s Suite

Please come and join the first Research Forum of the School of Environment.

The Rauhanga committee will host a 2-hour Strategic Research Forum on May 21st. We have invited two speakers to discuss the present national research context and how policies and politics are likely to shape research funding in the short and long-term. The talks would be followed by a debate to more directly involve staff from the School of Environment.

  • Alison Collins, Science Advisor for the Ministry for the Environment Originally from Britain, Alison’s science interests include climate, land, water, ecosystems and data science. She is passionate about the role science has in government. Over the past 12 years while working for Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, Alison has helped regional councils and central government agencies understand and prioritise their science needs, and improve their uptake and use of science.
  • Rebecca Adams, Uniservices Rebecca is the Government Relations (strategic growth) Director at Auckland UniServices based in Wellington. Rebecca plays a bridging role in profiling the University of Auckland to Government and ensuring that researchers are aware of Government priorities and research opportunities. Rebecca plans to focus the presentation on the importance of socialising ideas with officials and other decision makers as part of taking ideas forward in Wellington. Alison will focus on strategic priorities at MFE and opportunities.

Please RSVP here by Thursday 16 May. Please send your apologies to Samantha (Samantha.huang@auckland.ac.nz).

The Postgrad Student Committee invites you to Ayrton Hamilton’s PhD Seminar

When/Where: May 22nd 4-5pm in 320-G20
Title: Siliceous sinters as dipsticks to epithermal mineralization
For further details please see the flyer and get ready for a great talk!

AusIMM talk: Michael Petterson “Continents colliding in the NW Himalayas, Karakoram and Tibet, and aspects of mineralisation”

Tuesday May 28 5:30PM for socialising with the talk starting at 6PM, Boardroom Anderson Lloyd, Level 3 Australis Nathan Bldg, 37 Galway St, Britomart, Auckland

This talk will look at tectonic models that attempt to explain the geo-mechanics of continental collision; examine mineralisation across this fascinating terrane, and include illustrated geo-traverses undertaken by the presenter in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ladakh, and Tibet. The Himalayas, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, and Tibet provide windows to continental collision and mountain building.  Here India and Eurasia have collided, as well as ancient island arcs, such as Kohistan-Ladakh. Michael Petterson is the first  Professor of Geology at Auckland University of Technology. For his PhD a at Leicester University  he studied the Kohistan island arc, N.Pakistan which led to a lifelong fascination, and opportunities to study aspects of the geology of the NW Himalayas. With the British Geological Survey (BGS), Michael was Head of Economic Minerals, Assistant Director, and Director of a  highly successful BGS- Afghanistan project.  On leaving BGS Michael became Professor of Applied Geology at Leicester University, then Director of the Geoscience Division of the Pacific Community (formerly SOPAC) based in Fiji.

Resilience to Nature’s Challenges & Natural Hazards Research Platform Forum

If you are interested in attending this forum, please register here.
Registration is free, and spaces are limited.
Link to the forum

Volcanology, Geochemistry, & Petrology Research Group

The volcanology, geochemistry, & petrology research group (VGP) meets every other week during the semester. Our next meeting will be on 23 May from 11 to 12 in 302-140. Mary-Anne and Jeff will be giving talks. For more information, please see our website: vgp.blogs.auckland.ac.nz  Hope to see you there!

The Rangahau Committee invites you all to a meeting with Jan Lindsay, Associate Dean of Science (Research)

Jan wants to present some of the new initiatives from the Faculty and will give a 20 minutes presentation entitled:
“Demystifying research support in the Faculty of Science”. A discussion (10 minutes) will follow.

Come and join us:
where: 302-130
when: 11am, 18th June

Funding and Research Opportunities

All funding calls can be found here

Student conference on Conservation Science (SCCS-Aus), Brisbane Australia, 2-10 July.

Four student scholarships are available for Māori or Pacific Islander students to attend this conference. SCCS conferences are a series designed especially for students that originated at Cambridge University (UK) and which have now taken off all around the world. The conference is for post-graduate students and early career researchers, from the Asia/Pacific region specifically, who are pursuing studies within the field of conservation science, including (but not limited to) ecology, environmental science, resource management, geography, economics, and social sciences.

These conferences are immensely beneficial for the participants future research work, providing opportunities to present work, to participate in workshops/training courses and to network with fellow students in the region. Full details of what is on offer can be seen at this website. Each scholarship will cover return airfares from New Zealand to Brisbane, airport transfers, accommodation, all meals during the conference, conference registration, all social events and workshops. Scholarship recipients would be responsible for their spending money and any costs in getting a passport. No visa is required to come to Australia.

We are only accepting 20 applications to enable quick processing and then an immediate offer of the 4 scholarships to successful applicants.  The offer will close once we receive the 20 applications.

Students should go to this online form to submit their application. No email applications will be accepted.

RSNZ Catalyst: Seeding – R2 April Call.

Due to Funds & Submissions by 5pm Tuesday 9 July 2019.
Funding call for Catalyst Seeding – Supports new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships that cannot be supported through other means.

Funding call for Catalyst Leaders – Open to all fields of research, science and technology (including social sciences and the humanities).

Sustainable Future Research Theme – seeding fund

$10,000 of seed funding is available to nurture and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers within the Sustainable Future Research Theme. Interdisciplinary teams are invited to apply for funds via lightning presentations, which follow the format of one slide and a three minute talk. The lightning presentation event will be held on Thursday 6 June from 2pm. Teams can apply for between $2,000 and $5,000.
Please register for the lighting presentations event, noting whether you just have an idea you want to present or if you are going to present a seed funding proposal here by 30 May 2019.
(If you have problems using this link, please try logging in using your University google account –upi@aucklanduni.ac.nz or email Kathryn.howard@auckland.ac.nz indicating your interest in this opportunity)
For guidelines for what the funding can cover and how it must be spent, please contact Kathryn Howard (Kathryn.howard@auckland.ac.nz)

CRI and Ministry for the Environment (MfE) data analysis

ESR or the Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited (the Crown Research Institute responsible for research involving people and communities) have indicated that they are keen to collaborate on data frameworks and systems usage to better utilise their data. The MfE is similarly interested in better utilising the data it obtains through reporting and monitoring of the environment. Please contact Hansol Cha if you’re interested in discussing this area of work further.

Auckland Council’s Auckland Climate Innovation System

Auckland Council is facilitating the establishment of an Auckland Climate Innovation System. This was identified as a flagship action from the recent Climate Symposium held in March. The discussion around the objectives, scope, key activities is in development and there is an opportunity for researchers to actively contribute to this initiative. For more information, please contact Analeise Murahidy.

Research in action

Drilling core of the oldest life on land

Drilling core of the oldest life on land funded by the RSNZ Marsden Fund. Michaela Dobson is doing her PhD on this project.The exciting finds so far are hot spring geyserite, asteroid impact spherules, and stromatolites (layers of microbes and minerals) made out of pyrite (‘fool’s gold’).

Drill rig in Pilbara, Western Australia

Fly nets: (R to L) Michaela, Kathy & UNSW student on drill site

3.5 billion year old hot spring geyserite – a one-in-a-million find, proof of earliest life on land

Prize core: 3.5 billion year old pyrite stromatolites (dark, right), hot spring geyserite (swirly, middle), pillow basalt (green, left)

Ako – Teaching and Learning

Postgraduates Matter

Who do I send forms to? This is a reminder that any postgraduate forms needing sign-off from the HOD or postgraduate committee need to go through the Academic Services Coordinator Mikael Johannisson-Wallman (m.johannisson-wallman@auckland.ac.nz). These forms are stored centrally and then distributed appropriately for signing. Please do not directly send forms to the academic staff for signing- this makes it much more difficult to keep student records complete and increases the likelihood of forms going missing.

May 23rd is the Faculty of Science Postgraduate Information Evening. This is a recruiting event for postgraduate programs that runs from 5:30 to 7pm in the foyer of 302. While academic advisors will be on site it is always appreciated when other staff/students turn up.

3-minute thesis competition. This will be going on at the same time as the FoS Postgrad evening. This event is open to PhD AND MSc students. If you haven’t entered already, you should do so – it’s only 3 minutes and it is a good experience. Everyone else – let’s try to have a good showing to support the PhD students who are competing. To apply:

Classified Ads

Job in ENV: Senior Technician – Geochemistry

The School is seeking a Senior Technician in Geochemistry to provide technical support in our Microprobe lab and to provide support for academic research programmes primarily within the School of Environment.

Applications close 26th May.
Please pass this to anyone who might be interested.

For further details please see here.

Research Geology Position at CVO-USGS

U.S. Geological Survey’s Cascades Volcano Observatory seeks to hire a research geologist as a permanent appointment at the GS-13 grade level ($94,425-122,750 per year). Minimum experience required is the equivalent of a PhD in geology or a related field as well as one year of postdoctoral research. The incumbent will serve as the principal investigator of volcanic eruption processes and history, especially in (but not limited to) the Cascade Range, with the purpose of interpreting and, as appropriate, forecasting volcanic eruptions. The successful candidate will need to have experience studying volcanic phenomena and their derivative processes by means of field investigations in volcanic terrain, analogue experiments and modeling, and in addition show an ability to integrate that work with insights gained from work in related interdisciplinary fields (e.g., physical chemistry, Quaternary geology, geochronology, atmospheric physics, fluid mechanics, grain-flow mechanics, seismology, geodesy, and/or remote sensing). It will also be necessary to demonstrate an ability to publish research in high impact scientific journals and show evidence of stature amongst professional colleagues. Applicants must be U.S. citizens. The U.S. Geological Survey is an equal-opportunity employer. Applicants must apply for the position via USA Jobs https://www.usajobs.gov/. More detailed information may be found at the USA Jobs vacancy number SAC-2019-0202. Closing date for applications is May 21, 2019. Further inquiries about the scientific nature of the position may be directed to James Vallance of the U.S. Geological Survey (jvallance@usgs.gov). Inquiries about how to apply should be directed to pacsac1@usgs.gov.
Use this link for more details about the position: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/532396200

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