Issue 75 – Tuesday 26th April, 2022
Contents
HeadsUp
I was supposed to be on Rakiura this week doing interviews for a project on community impacts of tourism. But with Covid still doing the rounds, it seemed only right to postpone visiting (for the second time). Here on another island, the virus is still getting its claws into people. Yesterday I delivered dinner to the doorstep of a bed-bound PhD supervisee. We’re not out of the woods yet, as they say.
Another proverbial expression comes to mind as I approach colleagues to join an ad hoc appointments committee: Ask and you shall receive. With the School Review having identified GISci as a key growth area for us, I proposed a PTF position in this teaching area. Not only was this approved but I was told by the Dean we could be more ambitious and make the position a lectureship. So, we are underway with a second job search for the year. Who would have guessed!
Speaking of the Review, George and I spent a good deal of time over the last two weeks distilling the deliberations of the Action Area groups according to the required Implementation Plan template. I am hoping all of you will read the penultimate version I’ve circulated for (brief, please!) comments. And, aroha mai again for the very tight timeframe. As one colleague suggested, we need to find a way to convey to readers the distributed and deliberative manner in which our plan was developed. Indeed we will. I suspect that, in proceeding in this manner, our School has allowed more voice in responding to an External Review than many academic units achieve. Again, thanks to all for your efforts. It will be good to have this next stage of the Review behind us as we submit it on 2nd May, the same day as the second half the semester begins and, more momentously, we see a return to in-person teaching.
Other notices:
A reminder: To mark the return to the in-person second half of semester, I look forward to seeing many of you for celebratory drinks – in the 302 6th Floor break-out space from 3pm on Monday 2nd May.
Faculty of Science Student Sustainability Research Awards. Awards of up to $2,000 each are available to postgraduate research students within the Faculty of Science to support students’ living costs. Applications for this round will close at 5pm on Sunday 15 May.
Travel: As the world opens up again please remember that all travel and accommodation must be booked via Orbit (unless they determine that they cannot assist)
Congratulations: Carolyn Lundquist is a researcher/mentor on one of the MBIE VCMF proposals led by a recent postdoc Tom Brough (NIWA) in collaboration with Patuharakeke in Whangarei.
Robin Kearns,
Acting Head of School
Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities
Honours Research Projects and sub-90 points Masters dissertations
Dear colleagues,
Thank you to everyone who supervised and/or examined Honours Research projects and sub-90-point Masters projects/dissertations in 2021. Your time and effort in supervising students and/or examining projects in what was a disrupted year, protracted by deadline extensions, is greatly appreciated. The 2021 cohort should now be all finished and moving onto new things.
In 2022, we have students completing Honours and MENVSCI 30-point research projects, and Bachelor of Advanced Science 60-point dissertations, with submissions in Semester 1 (Monday 27 June) and Semester 2 (Monday 14 November).
For your diary:
- S1 Honours and MENVSCI Oral presentations– Wednesday 8 June. Time and venue to be confirmed.
- S2 Honours, MENVSCI and BAdvSci Oral Presentations – Wednesday 26 October. Time and venue to be confirmed.
These are on the same day as Masters presentations and every effort will be made to avoid clashes.
Finally, if you are supervising Honours/MENVSCI/BAdvSci students this year, please ensure their project is achievable within the one- or two-semester timeframe and that it can be completed under pandemic conditions. Please encourage your student(s) to meet the end-of-semester submission date too, even if Covid-19 extensions are again offered by the Faculty; it is helpful to the students, for getting grades back in time to go on to further study or work, and to those involved in the examination process if we can all stick to the schedule.
Kind regards
Gretel Boswijk
(Honours coordinator)
SouthSci and WeSTEM – STEM Partner Role Description
Participatory science platforms (PSP) connect STEM experts with school and community groups, to explore a research or design question and engage youth in STEM. Please see for more information: SouthSci WeSTEM STEM partner role – 2022.
Masters Research Seminars 8 June 2022 — Rm 302-G20
Students who started in S2, 2021 will present their preliminary results. These are 10 minute oral talks followed by 5 minutes of questions. They are designed to assist students with the direction that their project is going in. Supervisors should support their students and all staff should support the research culture in our school.. This is an on-campus seminar series. However, we may revert to Zoom if campus access is not possible. Below is a preliminary schedule.
Cheers,
Phil Shane (coordinator)
| Time | Name | Topic | |
| 9.00 | KoKo | Lat | rock mass quality from seismic refraction surveying |
| 9.15 | Adi | Levy | Engineering Geological and Liquefaction Assessment |
| 9.30 | James | Wilson | Rock Characteristics on foreshore morphology |
| 9.45 | Amber | Peek | Environmental Education and Data Generation |
| 10.00 | Kenzi | Yee | Insects as food (for who?) |
| 10.15 | Elliot | Stevens | ‘Voice of the River’ in catchment management |
| 10.30 | Jaynie | Yang | Root production and root exudations in kauri forests |
Another PBRF consultation!
The 4th round of consultation is looking at how the Moderation Team is composed.
There is only one option proposed by TEC – to have two co-moderators with one to be a recognised expert in Mātauranga Māori. We are asked if we support this option and what our preferred model would be if we don’t support it. Also, if there are any changes we’d suggest to the proposed option if we do support it. The university is collecting feedback by 27 April, so if it was possible to get reactions or suggestions by 26 April that would be wonderful. Please send any feedback directly to Robert directly (trebor@cs.auckland.ac.nz).
Smartphone Video DIY workshop
The Rangahau/Research Committee has organized a workshop called: “4 hr Smartphone Video DIY workshop”, where the idea is that people participating try and produce a video about their research so that material can show the research going on in the school, which can be used later for outreach.
It is open to postdoc, staff, and also PhD students as long as participants agree to produce one video about their research that can be used on the University’s social media.
This workshop was organized to be held before the lockdown, so there are some people that already signed up for it. The good news is that there are still 5 spots left. If any of you is interested send me an email at joa.paredes.marino@auckland.ac.nz, those spots will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis
The idea is to have an in-person workshop, here at University, after May 2nd and as soon as we have all the participants sign up.
Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.
Presentation of PhD research in EGU-2022
Niraj Bal Tamang, a third year PhD student at the School of Environment, is presenting his ongoing research titled “Network-scale analysis of sedimentary hotspots in dynamic, seismically-active steepland rivers” in the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2022 at Vienna, Austria. The work is based upon the interaction of the network-scale sediment transport modelling and the individual channel classification in 16 catchments of the upper South Island, New Zealand, from where the sediment transport behavior in the form of sedimentary hotspots will be tied up with the respective channel type and the overall pattern is analyzed to give the response. The presentation (ID EGU22-1395) is scheduled under GM2.1 program within New approaches for monitoring and modelling sediment transport section, at 18:17-18:24 (CEST) on May 26, and also has been highlighted by the session convenors for public interest.
More details about the program and abstract can be accessed through the following link:
Tamang, N. B. and Tunnicliffe, J.: Network-scale analysis of sedimentary hotspots in dynamic, seismically-active steepland rivers, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-1395, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-1395
ENV Health, Safety, and Wellbeing Committee – TIP
Funding
The Research Committee has funding available for activities to benefit Postdocs and RFs and allow them to connect.
To all those who fall into the following categories:
– Postdocs/Research Fellows;
– People conducting research on non-permanent contracts at the post-doctoral level,
We invite you to contact the new RF rep in the Rangahau/Research committee Joa Paredes-Mariño (for RFs/postdocs) joa.paredes.marino@auckland.ac.nz, for further information
3k writing grant available for students
Funds are available to support students writing up their thesis as publication(s). Each grant is worth $3000 (120 hours at 25$ all included). There is no deadline to apply. Applications are evaluated as they come by members of Rangahau (2 weeks turn over max.), until we use all the funds available.
Do you have a good candidate in mind? Please complete this form and submit to melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz.
Funding for class meet and greets
The Student Experience Committee has limited funding available for class related activities. If you want to run a class event, online or otherwise (challenging given the current restrictions), and would benefit from some funds, please contact Joe (j.fagan@auckland.ac.nz). The Committee would prefer to fund several small events rather than one big one (but we are open to suggestions).
2023 CapEx applications now open
https://auckland.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9Rew1VYtLrpvkGO
Applications will close 5pm Friday April 29th.
Any questions can be directed to Blair Sowman.
COVID-19 Hardship Fund – New closing date for Tranche 1: 29 April 2022
Support for critically impacted research projects through the COVID-19 Hardship Fund.
2021 was a challenging year for our University research community, navigating through a prolonged COVID-19 disruption. We acknowledge that many Researchers have been assessing the 2021 impacts on projects and taking the time to consider research plans in the context of COVID-19 Protection Framework settings.
Tranche 1 funding is targeted at Principal Investigators of externally funded research projects impacted by COVID-19 and ending before 31 Dec 2022.
James Cook Research Fellowships
The James Cook Research Fellowships are awarded to researchers who have achieved national and international recognition in their area of scientific research. Funding is for Senior Researcher Fellowships in Biological, Engineering and Physical Sciences for up to $110,000 for two years.
Internal Deadline: 5pm, Tuesday 03 May 2022. Email the following information to the Funds Advisor Team via submissions@auckland.ac.nz for James Cook Fellowship portal access: title (e.g. Dr, A/P, Professor), full name, email address, faculty, and department. Guidelines available here.
Plastics Innovation Fund
***Application Deadline 20 June 2022***
The purpose of the Plastics Innovation Fund is to support projects that will minimise plastic waste and its harm on the environment. The fund is seeking to fund projects that find ways to use less plastic and make what we do use reusable or recyclable. It is targeted at projects that: minimise plastic waste; support circular solutions; protect the environment from harm; support the reduction of imported plastic; and improve the behaviour of people and businesses (up the waste hierarchy). For further information visit the funder website or refer the Funder guidelines. You can also view a One-hour webinar about the fund
FoS New Staff Grant
Eligible new staff will be able to apply for a New Staff grant of $20k.As we are transitioning to a new internal funding process, all new staff who have joined the Faculty since 1 January 2020 will be eligible to apply in 2022. Applications are now open and the closing date for submission is 30th June 2022. Full details, guidelines and the application form are available on the Faculty of Science Staff Intranet – New Staff Research Grant page.
Call for Applications: New Zealand-German Academic Exchange Programme
Education New Zealand supports early-career researchers from New Zealand to collaborate on research projects in Germany. The call for the Programmes for Project-Related Personal Exchange (PPP) opened on 6 April 2022 (CET). You can find more information about the programme, application requirements, and the link to the application portal on the Education New Zealand Scholarships and Grants site.
Applications will close on 30 June at 11:59 PM NZT.
For any questions, please contact Jina Kim, International Networks Coordinator on jina.kim@auckland.ac.nz
Background information:
New Zealand-German Academic Partnership Event recording of the event.
For more information on the PPP mobility scheme, including requirements for applicants, please follow: https://www.daad.org/en/ppp/
Outreach activities funding
The ENV Outreach Committee is providing contestable funds for School of Environment staff members (including research and teaching fellows) to support outreach projects. The project can be of any nature to promote SoE rangahau/research or the science behind our majors. Activities could involve kura/schools, the public and whakawhanaungatanga. The funds can cover travel, materials, RA time, venue hire, etc. Initially the funds are capped at NZD 1000 per project, but if the call is undersubscribed, we can raise this limit.
To apply, please fill this Application Form and email it to Mila Adam (l.adam@auckland.ac.nz) by May 20th. Funds need to be used by October 2022 and activities can start by June 1st.
Publications
Sharp EL, Brierley B., Salmond JA and Lewis, N. (2022) Geoethical Futures: A Call for More-Than-Human Physical Geography. Environment and Planning F: Philosophy, Theory, Models, Methods and Practice 1(1)
Isley C, Fry K and Sharp EL and Taylor M (2022) Bringing citizen science to life: Evaluation of a national citizen science program for public benefit. Environmental Science & Policy. 134, 23-33.
Please email content to Iliane Gomez Vilchis for next edition of P-cubed by Friday