Issue 45 – Monday 09 November 2020
Contents
HeadSup
Kia ora koutou
Happy Monday! We’ve reached the end of the teaching year, and what a ‘different’ one it turned out to be. I’m sure we are all looking forward to some rest, recovery and reflection; but it’s also a time for celebration and we’re several events into this already. Graduation finally went ahead last week and it was wonderful to see so many graduands and their families at our lunchtime event on Monday 2nd. Congratulations to you all – and I hope that strutting the Spark Arena stage was as much a dream-fulfilled for you as it was for Professor Kearns! 🙂
Last week (3rd November) we celebrated our tutors with a set of awards convened by the Ako Innovation Committee (AIC). Congratulations to Ngaio, Jack, Charlotte, Salene, Anthony and Sophia, and thanks for your outstanding contributions. However, I would like shout sincere and hearty thanks to all of our tutors. This year more than ever we relied upon our tutors’ commitment and flexibility as we navigated lockdowns and online teaching. Both students and instructors benefited directly and are equally grateful, I’m sure.
One week earlier AIC convened the teaching awards (details below); and tomorrow Rangahau Committee will host our annual Research Awards (11 am on Tuesday 10th, in 302-140) – so the celebrations continue.
Our taught courses are now completed and many of our postgraduate students are completing their theses and dissertations. This year’s disruptions have been especially tough on students’ research projects. The Honours students presented their work recently and the 120 students in the combined Geography/Earth Sciences capstone course have just submitted theirs. It’s impressive to see how well they adapted to the loss of fieldwork, and were able to switch to alternative data sources and methodologies. Flexibility, resilience and perserverance seem to be the key themes this year.
ENV staff meet next week for an end-of-year wrap-up (Tuesday 17th) which will be an opportunity to reflect on this year, and to refocus on our plans for next year. 2021 will be upon us all-too-soon so please make the most of the breaks over the next few months.
Ngā mihi, David
(on behalf of JR)
Whakawhanaungatanga-Communities
New Zealand Geographical Society
Geoscience Society of New Zealand Conference
Geoscience Society of New Zealand Conference Christchurch 22nd-25th November – Early Bird Registration 21st October
The Geoscience Society of New Zealand annual conference (https://confer.eventsair.com/gsnz2020/) is still planning to go ahead face to face in Christchurch 22-25th November. Early bird registration https://confer.eventsair.com/gsnz2020/registration has been extended to 21st October and if you missed the abstract submission deadline last month in the Covid chaos there is a rapidly closing window for Aucklander’s to informally slide a late submission into the (poster) programme – please contact Alex Nichols alex.nichols@canterbury.ac.nz and ‘Claudette van der Westhuizen’ Claudette@confer.co.nz asap to see what your options are.
Dialogues
Geography Auckland (New Zealand Geographical Society, Auckland Branch)
The final Dialogues of the year will be held next Tuesday, 10th November:
What: Soilsafe Aotearoa: Diverse soil values
Who: Emma Sharp
When: Tuesday 10th November: 1.30pm to 2.30pm
Where: Ontology Lab, Level 5, Science Centre, University of Auckland
Geography Auckland Newsletter
Click on the link to see November edition of Geography Auckland Newsletter
NZGS Auck_newsletter November 2020
UoA Calendar
2021 University of Auckland Calendar is now live
The 2021 University of Auckland Calendar is now live. You can access it at https://www.calendar.auckland.ac.nz
Wahapū live demo for candidates
What could be more convenient than managing doctoral candidature online, from your lab, desk or front room? Wahapū gives you and your candidate that option – and so much more! Encourage your candidate to join this Wahapū live demo and to move to the new PhD Statute for access.
https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/wahapu-live-demo-for-doctoral-candidates-tickets-123259166485
BioHeritage National Science Challenge Ngā Rākau Taketake
Risk Assessment and Ecosystem Impacts PhD positions
Three new Ngā Rākau Taketake PhD positions are available.
Applications close 30 November.
Learn more here https://bioheritage.nz/risk-assessment-and-ecosystem-impacts-phd-positions/
TSM Jobs
Thames School of Mines in advertising some roles that may be of interest. See https://www.heritage.org.nz/get-involved/job-vacancies
- Property Lead Thames School of Mines – Full Time
- Visitor Services Co-ordinator Thames School of Mines – Full Time
- Visitor Host Thames School of Mines – Permanent Part time – 25 hours per week
- Visitor Host Thames School of Mines – Fixed Term / Part Time – 16 hours per week (summer only)
For detailed job description, please see TSM Jobs
Effects of Covid-19 on tourism
After needing to remotely conduct their research on effects of Covid-19 on tourism, the economy and community identity on Waiheke Island, a group of GEOG 315 capstone course students finally visited the island last week. They saw sights of cultural significance and spoke to a community meeting about their research findings. Their projects were supervised by Robin Kearns in partnership with the community group Project Forever Waiheke.
EnViral
The New Zealand Open Dance Championships 2020 saw competitors from all over NZ travel to Wellington to take part in the celebration of the New Zealand Federation of Dance Teachers 70th NZ National Dancesport championships. The Te Raparaha Arena in Porirua once more played host to the biggest event of the dance calendar.
Last year NZ Champions in ballroom dancing Alexandra Soudlenkova, the School GSA, and her husband Gene Soudlenkov, the research support team lead in National eScience Infrastructure (NeSI/UoA), competed in The New Zealand Open Dance Championships 2020 over Labour weekend. With everything that the world has been battling with regards to COVID-19 they were provided with an opportunity to do something that very few other countries can do. Not being able to defend their last year title coming second in the Masters 2 Level 5 ballroom they still came home with a bunch of medals and another National title winning Masters 1 Level 4. Winning in younger age division was close to a miracle considering that they only have about three months training in the proper dance hall this year and spent nearly half a year practicing in the carpark underneath a Radiology building in Remuera. Just one strange year…
Events
Taiao Tutor Community of Practice
The Taiao Tutor Community of Practice is a fortnightly meeting of School of Environment tutors (alongside staff and interested others) to facilitate best practice teaching and learning amongst tutors.
Date: Friday 13th of November, 1-2pm.
This session we are lucky enough to have Micheal McCabe from the Architecture School coming along to talk about his role as an educator and practitioner, speaking under the title of “Lessons from Architecture: Teaching as Studio Practice”. After a short talk there will be time for discussion and questions about teaching in general, across faculties, schools and courses.
We will be in the Ontology lab and will have biscuits!
RSVP: School of Environment Christmas Party
Dear Staff,
Please join us for School of Environment Christmas party on Friday 4 December. BBQ and drinks will be provided. Partners and children are welcome to attend!
Date: Friday 4 December
Time: 3:00pm – till late
Venue: Nick Lewis’ place – 25 Seaview Avenue, Northcote
Please click here for RSVP by Friday 13 November for catering purpose.
Graduation Ceremony 2020
Here are some of our Earth Science doctoral graduates this week
From back left Paul Oluwunmi, Jie Wu, Sophia Tsang,
Front row from left Gianna Evans, Ayrton Hamilton and Ben Simons
Topics included gas hydrates, paleoclimatology, Volcanology, and mineral resource
Department of Mathematics Seminar
Speaker: Tra Dinh
Affiliation: The University of Auckland
Title: Physics, Math, Computers, and Climate Science
Date: Thursday, 5 Nov 2020
Time: 2 pm
Location: 303-257
In this seminar, I will discuss how climate science is an integrated field of research that combines our physical understanding of the natural world, our skills in mathematics, and the advancement of numerical modelling using computers. I will review the processes that govern the Earth’s climate, including its temperature and water cycle, and discuss the use of climate models and the challenges to model climate and climate change. The content is accessible to the general audience.
For anyone who is interested in reading more, I have compiled a list of five frequently asked questions about the current climate change, which has been published on The Big Q (https://www.thebigq.org/2018/11/12/frequently-asked-questions-about-climate-change-and-the-ipcc-special-report/)
Everyone welcome!
2020 ENV Staff End-of-year Wrap-up
Dear Staff
The End-of-year Wrap-up will be held on Tuesday 17 November from 12:30 – 18:00pm in the Old Government House. Please click here to register by Friday 6 November for catering purpose. Please advise Samantha if you are an apology.
Below is the tentative agenda. More details are coming.
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch VC’s Suite
13:30 – 16:00 Staff Presentations Federations Room
16:00 – 18:00 Drinks & Nibbles Members’ Lounge
Science PG Poster Competition
You are warmly invited to participate in the 2020 Faculty of Science Postgraduate Poster Competition. Showcase your expertise and passion for research! $2000 in prizes
Please see the Science postgraduate-research-showcase-website for more information and how to register.
Important dates
10th November, 4pm: Registration and poster submission deadline
16th – 20th November – Poster Exhibition, Science Foyer.
19th November | Prize giving function
The top-ranked posters (10) from this competition will be automatically entered into the School of Graduate Studies Research Showcase and will be eligible to win further prizes.
There are two other ways you can get involved: submit a research-related image or submit a creative item. All Science Students are welcome to participate. Application for those categories are directly with SGS. More details here.
Ako – Teaching and Learning
Ako Staff Excellence Awards 2020 P-cubed
A great celebration to signal the end of a tumultuous teaching year!
Highlights from the School of Environment Ako Staff Excellence Awards 2020
Awardees include: EARTHSCI 220 teaching team, EARTHSCI 303 teaching team, GISCI 241 teaching team, Ako Committee, Ako Innovation Committee, Sonia Fonua, and Mel Wall.”
Ako GTA Excellence Awards 2020 P-cubed
Thanks to the postgraduates and staff who can to recognise the critical role of our GTAs and TAs in our School. Special mention was made of the following tutors who were awarded an Ako GTA/TA Excellence Awards 2020.
Awardees were Anthony Gampell, Charlotte Milne, Jack Barrett, Ngaio Balfour, Salene Schloffel-Armstrong, and Sophia Tsang.
Rangahau – Research
Te Tumu Herenga | Libraries and Learning Services
Bespoke Data requests from Statistics NZ
University staff and students can access Stats NZ information and data exclusively available to universities made possible through an agreement between the Council of New Zealand University Librarians (CONZUL) and Stats NZ. You can request customised data sets for your research, including data that is not openly made available via the stats.govt.nz website.
Customised data
Universities each have a set allocation of hours for customised data that is available to individuals for specific research purposes. This applies to all datasets produced by Stats NZ for which customised tables can be prepared.
Our current balance is 94 hours. Most requests average between 2-4 hours of work.
Examples of requests
- Figures on the number of Māori that have migrated from Auckland to Northland from 1980 to 2000.
- Occupation fields and cross tab against age, ethnicity and sex, and a breakdown of Auckland, rest of NZ and total NZ, for both 2013 and 2018 census figures.
- Finding data on the number of Pacific academics in higher education in NZ, broken down by institution (i.e. universities, polytechnics, wanaga). What percentage of the academic workforce they comprise.
- Type 1 diabetes incidence data on the Auckland region from 1976-1996 broken down by age (0-4, 5-9 and 10-14), sex and prioritised Level 1 ethnicity.
- Numbers of tertiary students using public transport to travel to university in Auckland
To make requests for research data contact Dr Donna MacColl from Research Services at donna.maccoll@auckland.ac.nz
MBIE College of Assessors
MBIE are seeking to expand their College of Assessors for the Endeavour funding mechanism
Assessor criteria:
- To assess Excellence assessors must be “Qualified, Meritorious, Current and Connected”
- To assess Impact assessors must be “Knowledgeable, Experienced, Acknowledged in the Relevant Community, Connected, and either have an understanding of the New Zealand and sector-specific context and what science could be of high-impact to New Zealand, as well as an international perspective, and/ or have previously been involved in transformative outcomes e.g. rapidly changing companies, start-ups, emerging sectors, entrepreneurship, experience in transformational leadership or leading change.”
- MBIE are working to strengthen their capacity to have reviewers experienced in te Ao Māori and Kaupapa Māori research design reviewing proposals that have this focus.
Other areas that do not yet have proportionate representation include social science, and general diversity (most recent stats on gender split F 28%/ M 72%).
How to express interest:
Assessors are selected based on the above criteria, and then on the content of the proposals submitted to the Endeavour Fund in a given round. Individuals interested in joining the College of Assessors can express their interest by sending their CV and other relevant information to submissions@auckland.ac.nz
Research Data Management (RDM)
RDM Project Overview
RDM is increasingly recognised as a critical knowledge area for researchers as funders, publishers, and ethics committees introduce more stringent requirements regarding Data Management Plans and the collection, storage and sharing of research data.
The RDM Project is part of the University Research Delivery Programme seeking to develop an integrated Research Data Management framework that is consistent with international standards, including FAIR data principles to improve data sharing and the principles of Māori Data Sovereignty. The project is sponsored by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and includes an Advisory Panel chaired by Professor Mark Gahegan and a Māori Data Sovereignty Kāhui chaired by Andrew Sporle.
For more information about the project and the survey, please contact Nick Kearns.
Engagement Session
The presentation slides delivered to the School of Environment on the 5th November are attached RDM-Project_SCI-Environment_2020-11-05 and the recording is available here –
Survey
The University is asking researchers, postgraduate research students, and those that work with research data (e.g. data managers, technicians, statisticians, research software engineers, research assistants) to complete the following short survey on current RDM policies, processes, platforms, services and support.
Qualtrics survey link: http://tiny.cc/UoA-RDM2020-survey
Your responses will be used to guide future work to improve both the ease and quality of RDM at the University. This survey is anonymous and should take approximately 20 minutes to complete.
Research and Funding Opportunities
Winter 2020 funding: Laura Bassi Scholarship
The Laura Bassi Scholarship, which awards a total of $8,000 thrice per annum, was established by Editing Press in 2018 with the aim of providing editorial assistance to postgraduates and junior academics whose research focuses on neglected topics of study, broadly construed. The scholarships are open to every discipline and the next round of funding will be awarded in December 2020:
Winter 2020
Application deadline: 25 November 2020
Results: 20 December 2020
All currently enrolled master’s and doctoral candidates are eligible to apply, as are academics in the first five years of their employment. Applicants are required to submit a completed application form along with their CV through the application portal by the relevant deadline. Further details, previous winners, and the application portal can be found at: https://editing.press/bassi
Postgraduate scholarship programme
DOC offers postgraduate research scholarships for conservation related research in natural and social sciences. These help achieve New Zealand’s conservation goals.
Applications close 1 December 2020.
https://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/research-and-development/postgraduate-scholarship-programme/
The New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute (NZARI) – Early Career Researcher Seed Grant
NZARI is seeking investigator-initiated proposals for seed projects (1 year in duration and requests of up to $25,000 excl. GST)
Deadline: 16 November 2020
Guidelines and further information: https://nzari.aq/supporting-research/request-for-proposals
Amelia Earhart Fellowship
Events
Research Awards
Please join us at School of Environment Research Awards Function will take place on the 10th of November from 11:00 – 13:00 in 302:140.
6th ENV seminar
1st of December, Tuesday 1pm
Join us on Tuesday the 1st of December from 1:00 pm to learn about research your colleagues do. All staff members and students from the School of Environment are warmly invited to attend this brilliant seminar. As you may be already aware we are running the seminars every three months and so far they have been incredibly fascinating.
In the upcoming ENV Seminar, we will have three or four presenters: Ingo Pecher, Jen Eccles and Jenny Salmond plus Martin Brooks.
New Publications
- Enrique Isla, Marta Ribó, Pere Puig. Environmental controls on particle fluxes in the Gulf of Valencia, NW Mediterranean. Marine Geology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2020.106377
ENV IT Committee Updates
IT Committee – Software expenses in 2021
A reminder that if you are planning to request any software, limited hardware, or (new:) data, funded by ENV’s School IT budget in 2021, please send the following information to Ingo, i.pecher@auckland.ac.nz, by Fri 13 Nov:
– Requestor
– Names of staff supporting request
– Name of software/hardware/data package
– Cost (good approximation in NZD is sufficient at this stage)
– Amount of co-funding from research projects
– Classes for which software is requested
– Justification, including what would happen if you did not get the software/hardware/data
Please also do so if you request renewal of software used in 2020. We will not automatically roll over license expenses.
A few additional points:
– This only affects funding from the School budget (not research projects) with focus on teaching.
– Contribution from research budgets is expected, if funded research projects are using the requested software/hardware/data.
– Most of our software expenses are annual renewals. If we fund your request for 2021, do not automatically expect continuation in 2022.
– Hardware is very limited and falls under Capex and IT purchasing rules (computers e.g., cannot be purchased). Just submit your requests though; we will have a look.
– Data requests are new – let’s see how this goes.
Please contact Ingo for enquiries.
Update as of 12 August (8 PM)
Back in lockdown…. We have managed before! Please watch this space. We will do our best to provide you with up to date information. Please keep Ingo Pecher (i.pecher@auckland.ac.nz) and Michael Martin (michael.martin@auckland.ac.nz) on cc for ENV-IT related questions.
IT are doing a tremendous job enabling us to work remotely and deliver our classes online. We here compile what we think is the latest and most accurate information. Any information from Connect (University IT) overrides what is in these pages.
A few key points, for now:
- Please prepare for a prolonged period of on-line only access starting today (Wed) at noon.
- From JR’s message from last night: “For teaching staff and GTA/TAs: as before, if you require your computer and can access it before midday please do so. Please complete the online form for taking kit off campus when practical.”
- Any IT equipment you take home: complete the Off-Campus IT Asset Registration Form (or search for Off-Campus IT Asset Registration Form).
- Make sure you have installed FortiClient (VPN), VMWare for FlexIT, and 2-step authentication.
- FlexIT has evolved tremendously in the past couple of months. Check it out, also for teaching purposes.
- We just had a meeting re. software requirements for a possible future (…) lockdown. In particular, we have decided to get a license for SketchFab e.g., for virtual field trips. More soon.
- Remote working issues: Please refer to the remote working page. If you do not find the answers to your questions, please log a call on the IT Portal for any IT-related issues or contact the Staff Service Centre for other queries. Please minimize personal requests – IT will be extremely busy.
Other information
Need to store and share research data? Request Research storage or UoA Dropbox for research
Queries about virtual machines? Virtual machine consult or Nectar Research Cloud?
ResearchHub: connects people, resources, and services -research-hub.auckland.ac.nz
Remote working issues: Please refer to the remote working page. If you do not find the answers to your questions, please log a call on the IT Portal for any IT-related issues or contact the Staff Service Centre for other queries.
Two-factor authentication: Authy
YubiKeys work but of course require a USB port.
VPN: Instructions on how to install
VPN, Linux: FortiClient is running fine on Linux. Check the VPN link listed above.
VPN, Mac desktops: (information from April, may be outdated). Students may need IT to make their machines mobile and install FortiClient directly from the website. They will also need to set-up two-factor authentication by downloading an app like “Authy” on their phones and then setting up their University of Auckland account. I suggest people do this part before IT gets to them to make the process faster. To do that, they can use the instructions on this page:
To get a mobile account set up, log a service request or go to one of the service kiosks. It is unclear how this is being done remotely but I am sure this can be done. Please let me Ingo (i.pecher@auckland.ac.nz) know if you have managed to install FortiClient on their macs remotely.
FlexIT and Remote Access
FlexIT is straight-forward for remote access to computing power and programs. Alternatively, check if your project/group or so has a virtual machine. Remote desktop access to specific machines can be set up by IT but may note be reliable. Check the Staff Service Center https://uoaprod.service-now.com/sp.
Remote access is possible to some workstations in the geocomputational lab for research, and on a needs basis. This may be a viable solution for specialized data analysis. Please look into alternatives: It is unclear however, if/how on-site desktops can be maintained, if needed..
FlexIT access and requests: Use the FlexIT form in the IT Portal to request access as a staff member, to ask for an application be added, or to report any issues or faults.
FlexIT, Linux: Please check FlexIT link: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/my-tools/flex-it.html. It does not have any information on Linux but should be useful for “translation”.
Depending on your browser (in particular, Firefox), you also need to do the following, from https://communities.vmware.com/thread/595554.
“…tested with the Horizon 4.8.x and 4.10.x clients and Firefox v64.0. Both are 64bit versions, running on Ubuntu 18.04.1
- Download the client from the VMWare Horizon Client for 64-bit Linux
- In Firefox, open about:config and click through the warning.
- Add a new boolean entry called network.protocol-handler.expose.vmware-view and set the value to false
- Create a file called `test.html` somewhere on your computer and put the following in it:
test - Open the file in Firefox and click on the link, which should prompt you for a path to open the link.
- Select /usr/bin/vmware-view and it should work for future uses! “
(1) was provided by UoA but I think it works with generic software from VMWare as well.
Check with Ingo (i.pecher@auckland.ac.nz) if you run into problems.
Software licenses: Software vendors have relaxed their licensing to allow students to install software at home, rather than relying on Flex IT. There is a running list here https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/my-tools/flex-it/install-software.html
Please email content to Bizza for next edition of P-cubed by Friday 20th November