Issue 61 – Monday 2nd August 2021
Contents
HeadsUp
At least on Level 6, last week seemed consumed by conversations about a letter in that very unscientific but high-impact journal, The Listener. The best responses are invariably the most pithy. Rangi Mātāmua, a new Fellow of Te Apārangi / the Royal Society, said “Māori have always been scientists. You don’t navigate that expansive ocean on myths and legends”. Similarly, two Māori and Pasifika high school students were quoted in the NZ Herald on the weekend as saying learning Mātauranga Māori in their science classes had engaged them more deeply because they finally saw themselves reflected in an otherwise Western-dominated subject.
Parking, for a moment, the topic of The Listener letter, another aspect is noteworthy: the speed of reaction. This was nothing short of breathtaking compared to the glacial pace of response to articles in academic journals! Would a letter on this topic by non-academics have generated such interest? Perhaps. But unlikely. What we witnessed was the entanglement of two concepts: authorship and authority.
As academics, we build a reputation in fields of knowledge and become authorities through the cumulative gravitas of authoring publications. While Acting Head of School I’m having a privileged window into that world of career-development and reputation-management through seeing colleagues’ CVs, conducting ADPRs, and – for some – reviewing promotion applications.
The university has – whether we like it or not – aspects of a meritocracy: our standing is related to how outstanding we perform and teachers and researchers. But what of those who less visibly contribute to outstanding research? I was recently given a paper in which the authors argue that “Technicians are a vital, but largely invisible part of institutional research….”. The authors advocate greater recognition for the contributions of technical staff to research outputs.
If authorship is how academics indicate their growing authority in a chosen field, how do other contributors to the scholarly division of labour attain recognition? As the writers of this paper (McLaren & Dent, 2021) point out ‘The acknowledgement section of papers appears just above the references and is generally not indexed’. In other words, even the courtesy of acknowledging technical staff (how many do this?) amounts to barely visible recognition of their labour, analytical insight and interpretive skill when any of these contributions may well have been central to the paper’s production.
Is there a case for including technical staff in the authorship of publications? If their contribution was critical, then why not? There is a politics to authorship. A while ago now, four of us in Geography (both academics and professional staff) published the outcome of an extended korero on this topic (Kearns et al, 1996). We argued that politics reached into not only whose names appear and whose are merely acknowledged (or left off), but also the order of listing.
I for one consider any paper developed from of a student’s thesis should have their name first. Why? It’s a matter of equity. Authorship is a career resource and a recent graduate has the most to gain.
According to the ‘Vancouver convention’ on authorship, anyone should be an author who has made a significant contribution to the production of a published work (design, analysis interpretation, drafting , and responding to critics).
Perhaps we have defaulted too much ethical deliberation to ethics committees. An encouraging step would be more conscious discussions of the politics of authorship. Whether it be in a letter to a magazine or an article in a refereed journal, authorship and authority are entangled.
Coming up
Please support the first of two hui organised by Kimoro, Karen and Mel as part of the Te Manu Whititua, a Māori-led initiative within ENV to assist staff to engage effectively with Māori. Guided by the principle of ako, Te Manu Whititua aims to provide quality space for continuous learning and reflection, inquiry and dialogue, sharing and collaboration. Lunch provided. Thursday 12 August 11-1, the Ontology Lab, 302.551
Whakawhanugatanga – Communities
Funding for class meet and greets
The Student Experience Committee has limited amounts of funding available for class related activities. If you want to have a morning tea or pizza lunch with your semester 2 class then get in touch with Joe asap (j.fagan@auckland.ac.nz). Funds are limited and the Committee would prefer to fund a few small events rather than one big one
Media Release – Envirolink Project
Marta Ribó interview at RNZ
Sally Watson presenting research in NIWA video, with participation of Marta Ribó and Sarah Seabrook
Seeking Study Participants: The Role of the E-Bike in Mode Choice for Commuting in Auckland
Kim Dirks from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (and Sophie Gatman and
Ben Marsh, Part IV Project students) are seeking participants willing to complete an on-line survey
(10-15 minutes) about cycling in Auckland.
Both cyclists and non-cyclists are invited to participate. Participants who complete the survey will
be invited to go into a draw for one of six $50 vouchers.
If you are interested in participating, please click on the following survey link:
https://auckland.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_43dxj8G308QNars
If you have any questions regarding the survey, or would like more information about the study,
please contact any of the researchers (k.dirks@aucland.ac.nz, sgat260@aucklanduni.ac.nz, or
bmar212@aucklanduni.ac.nz).
Approved by the University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee on 28/05/2021 for
three years. Reference Number UAHPEC 21954.
Tech Notice Board
School of Environment Lab User Survey
The School Technical Team are currently trying to gain an idea of lab-users’ experiences of gaining access and working within the ENV laboratories.
If you are a lab user, we would appreciate if you could please complete a our short survey: https://auckland.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0lnqpudH8CYsEnQ
ENV Labs and fieldwork reminder
I thought it was about time for a quick reminder about accessing ENV labs and undertaking fieldwork. As always if you have queries or concerns please email Blair or pop into his office (302.415). You will also receive an invitation to a survey in the next few weeks which the techs are using to capture feedback about our lab spaces; what’s good, what’s missing and what can be improved. I urge you all to complete this as this feedback will help us shape the future direction of the labs and assist with purchasing the right equipment for each space.
All of the information for accessing labs and undertaking fieldwork is in the aptly named “School of Environment Laboratory and Field Safety” canvas course; if you do not have access then please send Blair an email and he will add you. This course contains information on a range of health and safety topics relevant to the School, as well as showcasing some of our facilities and technical capabilities. You are able to take part in our online inductions to gain laboratory access and complete any annual refreshers (where required). These are regularly being updated and refreshed so they are as accurate as possible. All of our laboratory inductions are online so you can do these well in advance of when you need access. Some of you may have also noticed that the labs on L4 of 302 are currently being changed to swipe access; due to be complete in a couple of weeks. You will automatically be shifted over, however you will need to return your lab keys before your access is activated. Standard building access to our spaces is Monday-Friday between 7.30am and 6.00pm. If you wish to work outside of these times then let Blair know and he’ll send you the form to complete.
Field activity is any work carried out for the purpose of teaching, research or representing the University off-site; including site visits and reconnaissance trips. A field activity plan is required where facility for health and safety is not managed by another institution. Any time you wish to undertake field work or a site visit you need to complete a Field Activity Plan and have it signed off. Either Blair or Andres can sign as the HSW approver. When assigning your home-base contact, check-in person and UoA emergency contacts please remember to actually ask the person first and check they are available. In the coming months field activity plans will be moving to an online system; you’ll receive an email from Blair when this goes live.
A last reminder; please do not take any items/equipment/consumables from laboratories without talking to the technician-in-charge first. We have had a run recently of items being shifted to other labs (and offices) without approval. This can hinder or halt the work of others in our shared spaces and creates unnecessary work for staff who have to track the items down. ENV Lab polices are backed by UoA policies and procedures as well as those we are required to follow by regulatory bodies. While sometimes it may feel like there is too much paperwork, or too many requirements, please note that we are doing what is required to keep all of our users (staff, students, contractors, visitors) safe. If you are having issues or feel like you are stuck just pop in and see Blair; his door is usually open.
Job Opportunities
Assistant Technologist – currently advertised
We have just advertised and are looking for an enthusiastic and keen learner to join us as an Assistant Technologist to operate and maintain the School of Environment X-ray analytical Research Laboratories in our Microcharacterisation Facility.
This person will be responsible for the ongoing maintenance, technical support and operation of key research equipment, including, but not limited to:
• Wavelength Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRF) – our new 4KW Bruker Tiger S8 (arriving November)
• Cox Analytical Itrax Core Scanner
• X-ray Preparation facilities (in the new lab currently being built).
• Potential to learn and be a backup operator for the Electron Hyper-probe.
Would you please circulate this among your students and groups; it’s a graduate level position.
Applications close August 12 – https://smrtr.io/68yft
2021 ANZIC Science Committee
The Australia New Zealand IODP Consortium (ANZIC) is seeking four new representatives to serve on the 2021 ANZIC Science Committee.
(From ANZIC’s announcement):
“The role is extremely rewarding and a significant boost to broadening your knowledge, skills and national network across IODP. ANZIC are looking for representatives that are willing to embrace the collaborative, collegiate and constructive ethos of the review process.
The roles of the Science Committee are:
Scientific Oversight
a) Setting the criteria for ANZIC IODP Expeditioner selection reflecting IODP policy and guidelines.
b) Assess and rank applicants for Expeditioner status and support by ANZIC.
c) Set the criteria for ANZIC post-expedition and legacy project support, reflecting IODP policy and guidelines.
d) Assess and rank applications for ANZIC post-expedition and legacy project support for advice, reflecting appropriate support of post-expedition and legacy grants.
e) Set criteria, assess and rank applicants for other calls for scientific funding support (e.g. workshops) supported by ANZIC.
f) Execute effective scientific governance of ANZIC.
The Science Committee will also set scientific criteria for assessing and ranking any other matters that the ANZIC Program Scientist or the ANZIC Governing Council delegates to the Science Committee.”
If interested, please contact Ingo Pecher (i.pecher@auckland.ac.nz) or Lorna Strachan (l.strachan@auckland.ac.nz). Deadline for an Expression of Interest at the ANZIC Office is 16 August.
Pasifika Internship Opportunities @ Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research
Our land, our future – this is the essence of why Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research exists. At Manaaki Whenua we undertake research that focuses on preserving New Zealand’s rich biodiversity, improving biosecurity, and protecting the health of the land, fresh water and soil resources we need for a prosperous future. We recognize the importance of partnerships, the special role of Māori, and the need to ensure that all New Zealanders have the knowledge, understanding, and tools to truly live-in harmony with our precious environment. We are recognised nationally and internationally for the quality of our research and work with a wide range of organizations within New Zealand and globally.
Manaaki Whenua has two Pasifika internships available this summer, over the ten-week period starting early December – through to the end of February with 2 weeks off for Christmas. One of these positions has been earmarked for our herbarium located in Lincoln. Our herbarium has species from all around the world but specialises in indigenous and exotic plants of the New Zealand region and the South Pacific. Our second opportunity will most likely be in Auckland.
The internships are full time (37.5 hours per week) and the pay rate is $22.75 per hour, so a net pay potential of just over $6,000 for the summer.
Ideally, we are seeking Pasifika students who are studying Science, we are open to which year of study etc. In the event we have more than two relevant expressions of interest we would look to offer an addition internship/s where possible. EOI to be emailed to: Temo Talie taliet@landcareresearch.co.nz
Events & Seminars
Te Manu Whititua : Enabling Staff to improve engagement with Māori
Socio-economic adaptation to ongoing Taranaki volcanism – A Co-Creating Systems Dynamics approach
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Disasters and the “Other Gender”: Exploring the Experiences of the Hijra Community in Disasters in India
Staff Equity Workshop & Lunch: Equity in out practice
Last call for tickets to the School of Environment Ball
Last call for tickets to the School of Environment Ball happening on Saturday 7 August from 7:30pm at Phoenix Cabaret. Ticket sales are online at https://forms.gle/esnCQrBaMEt4X6se6 and are open to all interested over 18 years of age.
School of Environment student tickets are $45pp, SoE staff tickets are $55pp, and non-SoE tickets are $55pp.
Please see the event page on the RTEA Facebook or contact rteauoa@gmail.com for more information.
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Transdisciplinary Ideation Workshops
The next workshop in the series will focus on two priority themes within Taumata Teitei: Advancing Just, Cultured and Engaged Communities and Innovating Contemporary, Distributed, Secure Knowledge Systems. It will explore transdisciplinary research in association with these themes, socialize potential collaborators and support staff towards submitting applications to the Waipapa Taumata Rau Transdisciplinary Ideation Fund.
To register for this workshop please click the link below:
• Advancing Just, Cultured and Engaged Communities and Innovating Contemporary, Distributed, Secure Knowledge Systems
13 August 8:30am-12pm. Location: Epsom Campus (6EN).
Greetings from CSIR-North East Institute of Science & Technology (NEIST) Jorhat, Assam, India
The prevalent unprecedented situation due to the CoVID-19 pandemic have significantly impacted academic and research activities, including research exchange and collaborations across the globe. In course with this, the Geoscience & Technology Division (GSTD) of CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat had started an annual INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL WORKSHOP, on “Global Seismology & Tectonics” (IVWGST), targeting the undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG) and PhD students, besides academicians and scientists of geosciences and allied branches of science & engineering (Physics/Geology/Geophysics/Seismology/Environmental Science/Geography/Civil Engineering/Earthquake Engineering etc).
1st IVWGST-2020 was conducted during September’ 2020, which was attended by more than 1000 thousand participants from 25 countries. This year, IVWGST-2021 shall be conducted from 20-30th September 2021, featuring resource persons from diverse forums as per the schedule mentioned in the Brochure.
Important Information regarding IVWGST-2021:
(1) The registration for the Workshop is free.
(2) Registration timing: 20th July to 20th August, 2021. (No requests for late registration shall be entertained)
(3)The link for registration is: https://forms.gle/NmEbXHUd4SejxmzQ9
(4) The virtual workshop will be held via Microsoft Teams (MS Teams). The participants are requested to download and install Microsoft (MS) Teams software in their desktop or mobile devices. (https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-365/microsoft-teams/download-app)
(5) The MS Teams links for the respective sessions will be provided to the registered participants through email. We request not to share the link(s) with anybody who is not registered for the Workshop.
(6) E-certificate shall be provided to registered participants upon request, if they have attended at least 80% of the virtual workshop.
(7) Interested participants are encouraged to submit an abstract of their research (however not mandatory), neatly written within a page, in Microsoft (MS) Word template (Title of the Paper, Full Name of Author(s), Affiliation with complete address, Abstract, Keywords) to the email address of the organizer, i.e. santanuivwgst@neist.res.in, on or before 14th September 2021. The selected abstracts shall be published in the e-abstract volume of the workshop. The decision of the organizing committee shall be considered final in case of any disputes, if any.
Please forward the information to your colleagues/friends/family members/students you think might be interested in joining the workshop series and direct them to sign up for the mailing list by visiting our website/link as mentioned above.
For further queries and inconveniences in registering etc., the organizing committee may be reached at santanuivwgst@neist.res.in
Ako Innovation
Transdisciplinarity – what does this mean in a teaching context? We want to hear your perspective.
‘Transdisciplinarity’ is often framed as a taken-for-granted virtue in the contemporary teaching and research sector and features prominently in the University of Auckland’s Strategic Plan, Te Taumata Teitei. Yet academic units and individual staff are grappling with precisely what transdisciplinary practice looks like, particularly in the teaching environment. The School of Environment with its strong disciplines across the natural and social sciences is potentially well suited to work in the complex and messy space of transdisciplinary science, but how this is playing or will play out in its teaching remains unclear. How does the School of Environment (ENV) and its staff understand and practice transdisciplinarity? How might it/we frame or change our practices in the future?
As successful recipients of an ENV Ako Innovation Teaching Grant we have developed a research project to explore ENV academic staff’s understanding and practice of transdisciplinarity in a teaching context. Over the next few weeks we will be approaching a range of staff across the disciplines to invite you to participate in a short 15-30 minute individual recorded interview. This can take place either online or in-person. All information will be collated so no individuals or individual courses can be identified. We will feed back the results of this work to staff later in the semester. If you would like to participate in this research, please contact any member of the project team: Marie McEntee, Tom Baker, Lorna Strachan, George Perry or Nick Lewis.
Rangahau – Research
Funding Call for Research Fellows
School of Environment Research Fellow Funding Support
• One application per Research Fellow is allowed per year.
• A maximum of $2,000 is available per applicant.
Funding to support Research Fellows on their career and professional development. This funding can be used for:
– Open-Access or publication fees of manuscripts (recently submitted, accepted or require minor revisions for acceptance) or just published.
– Attendance of meetings/conference/training (on-line and in person)
– Analytical expenses and consumables.
– Software licences for research-related work.
– One-off data purchases.
Applications are accepted until the 16th August 2021 12:00pm (midday).
PhD opportunity
Are you looking for a PhD programme in computational geophysics or know someone who is? The Rapid Characterisation of Earthquakes and Tsunamis (RCET) programme is looking for PhD students to join our team! We have five fully funded positions at Otago University. Available projects include: 1) tsunami early warning, 2) seismic imaging of large earthquakes, 3) improvements in earthquake magnitude determination, 4) exploration of earthquake energy release, and 5) broadband modelling of the seismic wavefield. The students will be co-supervised by Assoc. Prof. Andrew Gorman (Otago) and Dr Bill Fry (GNS). If you’d like more information (about the grant, how to apply, etc.), please reach out to Sophia Tsang (s.tsang@auckland.ac.nz).
Postgraduate scholarship programme
There are 10 DOC scholarships worth up to $15,000 each. Full-time students are funded for one year and part-time students are funded for up to two years. For more information click here.
Publications
Hope, J.A., Giovanni, C., Ladewig, S.M. and Thrush, S.F., 2021. The distribution and ecological effects of microplastics in an estuarine ecosystem. Environmental Pollution, p.117731.
Vitousek, S., Cagigal, L., Montaño, J., Rueda, A., Mendez, F., Coco, G. and Barnard, P.L., The application of ensemble wave forcing to quantify uncertainty of shoreline change predictions. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, doi: 10.1029/2019JF005506
Lavin CP, Gordó-Vilaseca C, Costello MJ. 2021. Global fisheries in a warming world. In: Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, Elsevier, 2021, ISBN 9780124095489, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-821139-7.00096-9
Lien, A.M., Conix, S., Zachos, F.E., Christidis, L., van Dijk, P.P., Bánki, O.S., Barik, S.K., Buckeridge, J.S., Costello, M.J., Hobern, D., Montgomery N., Pyle R.L., Thiele, K.R., Thomson S.A., Zhang, Z-Q., Garnett, S.T. 2021. Towards a global list of accepted species IV: Overcoming fragmentation in the governance of taxonomic lists. Organisms Diversity & Evolution . https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-021-00499-8
Conix, S., Garnett, S.T., Thiele, K.R., Christidis, L., van Dijk, P.P., Bánki, O.S., Barik, S.K., Buckeridge, J.S., Costello, M.J., Hobern, D. and Kirk, P.M., 2021. Towards a global list of accepted species III. Independence and stakeholder inclusion. Organisms Diversity & Evolution, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-021-00496-x
Thiele, K.R., Conix, S., Pyle, R.L., Barik, S.K., Christidis, L., Costello, M.J., van Dijk, P.P., Kirk, P., Lien, A., Thomson, S.A. and Zachos, F.E., 2021. Towards a global list of accepted species I. Why taxonomists sometimes disagree, and why this matters. Organisms Diversity & Evolution , 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-021-00495-y
KEARNS, R. (2021) Geographical metaphors in everyday life. In Covid-19 and Similar Futures: Pandemic Geographies (eds.) Andrews, G. , Crooks, V. Pearce, J. and Messina, J. Springer, Switzerland, pp 185-193
IT Committee
In order to ensure computer labs. of your classes can be run remotely, please let the students check if required software works off FlexIT. Be aware, staff may have different levels of access to FlexIT software. Information on FlexIT can be fount at: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/my-tools/flex-it/flexit-guide.html
More 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
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about-us/about-the-university/identity-and-access-management/two-factor-authentication/download-authy-for-desktops.html
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 P-cubed-content for next edition of P-cubed by Friday