Issue 76 – Monday 9th May 2022
Contents
HeadsUp
I trust you are enjoying being back on campus more. Seeing many of you last Monday afternoon at the welcome back drinks reminded me of the first 3-D movie I saw as a child: it felt both real and unreal at the same time. I’m sure the novelty may wear off, but not for a while. It was a long pause between time in the buildings and occasions like last Monday. Let us never take anything for granted!
During the many weeks off-campus I often took a break walking the beach. I’d often stop, finding myself staring at the waves for no particular reason. It seems a wonder that one always follows another. My fascination for waves has remained long after precise details of their origins and generation learnt in coastal geomorphology have receded.
Waves are such a pervasive metaphor for what rolls our way incessantly. Like organisational change. Three such processes are upon us: one in each of teaching, research and admin. We need to stay alert to ensure they don’t wash over us.
First, the Curriculum Transformation Project. Next week we get the chance to being to consider and react to changes proposed by this university-wide Project. They may yet have implications as deep-reaching on our teaching programmes as the External School Review. Fortunately, in Murray, Mel and Marie we have colleagues deeply immersed in the process who can offer clarifications and elaborations. Please stay tuned for a hui (like those held for the Review but shorter and necessarily very soon) to consider and discuss aspects that will potentially most impact our teaching programmes.
Second, the way in which we present ourselves and the research we do to the world is under change. As Melanie describes below, as Rangahau Chair, we are asked to edit our individual profile which will be a public-facing account of what we do. As I found out last night, material imported certainly needs updating and amending. Again, an important wave of change to ride and not be overwhelmed by.
Third, we also are now seeing the new landscape of Student Service provision. Assistance for a range of areas for which we were accustomed to having familiar in-School face to go to are now being handled by a team. That team does include some people known to us however: Min-Young Lee and Tim Wade-Yeo will be known to many. But here below are the contact email addresses to which we are asked to direct queries. And if there is a domain of assistance not immediately apparent in the list below are asked to inform Sean Maguire, the Academic Services Manager for the Faculty s.maguire@auckland.ac.nz
Non-standard requests that require faculty approvals: scienceprogrammeadvisers@auckland.ac.nz
Student Hubs all student enquiries: studentinfo@auckland.ac.nz
Application for Admissions queries: admissions@auckland.ac.nz
Non-doctoral related support: sciencepg@auckland.ac.nz
Doctoral related support: phdscience@auckland.ac.nz
Regulations Amendments, CUAP proposals: u.taylor@auckland.ac.nz
Timetabling support: sciencetimetabling@auckland.ac.nz
Faculty scholarships & prizes: sciencepg@auckland.ac.nz
So, embrace the waves and see you on campus soon!
Robin Kearns,
Acting Head of School
General Announcements
The 20th May is Pink Shirt Day for Mental Health Awareness. Check in with your desk or office neighbour and see how they’re going 🙂
Over the next couple of weeks look out for the Diversi-Tea cards around the School which you can use to get to know your colleagues.
Pacific Languages Week kicks off from the 8th May, to celebrate our cultural diversity! This event is part of the UNESCO Decade of Indigenous Languages
We’ll have some ways for you to practice your Pacific Language introductions over the next weeks – keep an eye out in the tea rooms on floors 4 and 5 of the School!
On behalf of the School of Environment Equity Committee
Postgraduate Research administration after the reforms (sounds like a Human Geography PhD title)
We have entered the new post-Liana realm of post-graduate research administration. It’s a lesson in just how much work is required in making systems work … and just how good Liana was at that job. Short of somehow stealing her back as the go to person for all queries, here’s a PG research specific guide to complement the more general post-reform guide to administrative roles produced in an earlier issue of P-Cubed:
- Postgraduate student administrative queries – first step is to consult https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/science/current-students/postgraduate-students.html. In practice, that site will direct you to direct most queries to sciencepg@auckland.ac.nz. Academic programme advisors, supervisors, and the relevant postgraduate advisors listed below are also points of contact for academic, pastoral and other queries.
- Staff administrative queries
- Matters to do with Honours and all sub-90 point masters theses – Gretel is normally the first port of call
- Matters to do with 90 and 120 masters theses – Phil Shane is first port of call
- PhD matters – Wahapū is the formal interface with the University for most students now and Jennifer Eccles is your contact in the School. For any students still on the old system please liaise with Jennifer.
- Anything that asks for an HoD (or nominee) signature – Nick Lewis is your first port of call
- Fire-fighting
- Masters’ supervisors will be receiving AS512 forms from sciencepg@auckland.ac.nz. Please complete Part A of the forms as quickly as possible and email to Phil Shane (ie recommend examiners and fill in any fields that are incomplete in terms of co-supervisors, student name and ID number, thesis title etc). DO NOT send AS512 forms to Robin. Phil will initiate the process of HoD nominee sign-off.
- More to come I’m sure….
- New processes are being developed centrally to administer Masters programmes, and we can expect to see something akin to Wahapū – especially given the changes to postgraduate programmes being signalled from Curriculum Transformation initiatives
Nick
Associate Professor, School of Environment
Geocomputation lab update
The School of Environment’s Geocomputation Lab has reopened following a major upgrade. The lab now features 16 new, high-spec workstations to support the computational needs of researchers in the School. A variety of specialist CAD, GIS, photogrammetry, data analysis, coding and transcription software is installed.
To learn more about this facility and to discuss how it can be of use in your next project, contact the technician in charge Thomas Mules.
Milk options update
Hi all,
Thanks to the work from Indigo there is now lactose free, soy milk available for floor 4-6 within building 302 (primarily delivered to level 6).
Deliveries of milk occur every Thursday and Sunday.
Hope you enjoy!
Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities
10th ENV seminar: 9th of May, Monday 16:00 – 17:00 on Zoom + drinks in OGH 😊
Join us next Monday, May, 9 from 4 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 amazing presenters: Carolyn Lundquist, Larry Murphy and Joa Paredes Marino and their talks will be followed by in person and real drinks in OGH.
9th of May, Monday 16:00 – 17:00 on Zoom Location: Zoom Meeting
https://auckland.zoom.us/j/8698433089
Sustainability Research Awards for Students
A reminder that we welcome applications for the 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 the student’s living costs.
The awards are open to applications from postgraduate Honours, Masters or PhD students who are currently undertaking their research project and are enrolled in the Faculty of Science (or whose primary discipline is administered through the FoS). Preference will be given to projects that are likely to lead to tangible impacts such as changes in culture, practice or process, or in facilities and capabilities that improve sustainable outcomes. Preference will also be given to non-doctoral students and those without an existing stipend.
For students who have not yet commenced their research project we ask that you instead wait to apply in our second 2022 round, which will open in October 2022.
Applications for this round will close at 5pm on Sunday 15 May.
For more details and the application form, please check this link: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/science/about-the-faculty/sustainability/sustainability-network-research-awards.html
Newsletter of the Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Geographical Society
Find the latest newsletter here where you will be able to find the “Geography Auckland Dialogues” event information that will take place on Tuesday 17th of May.
Critical Questions for Urban Coastal Adaptation webinar and workshop Malcolm Fraser from the i4 Programme (a collaborative network focussing on data science and artificial intelligence ) is preparing for a digital workshop for the Urban Coastal Adaptation to discuss what key questions should be asked about using data for urban coastal regions facing climate change concerns. 18th May, 1PM.
Here is all the information plus the invite link: https://www.i4.community/events/critical-questions-for-urban-coastal-adaptation
Halfway through transition period to public launch! 18% of faculty of science profiles have been reviewed!
We encourage everyone who has not done it yet, to complete the review of their profiles by the end of May, as Discovery Profiles will be visible publicly from early June. It is likely that irrelevant information was imported from your original profile. You may also want to update this profile picture you uploaded at the time you joined UoA! 😊
There are plenty of learning and support resources available. For more information please see the Discovery Profiles News and FAQs pages, or contact the Staff Service Centre.
Thanks for your continued support of this initiative.
Winds of Change 2022 – Applications Now Open for postgraduate students
Now in its third year, the Winds of Change programme has established a strong network of young leaders who come together online to investigate common climate change issues and how sustainable development strategies can be created for the future.
Who can apply?
Current and recently completed postgraduate students with an interest in climate change and a general background in the sciences, business, science communication, or the humanities. We will also consider applications for undergraduates in their final year of study that have demonstrated independent research experience. We expect that these candidates will discuss aspects of this research experience in their applications.
If you know potential candidates, encourage them to apply here by the 3rd of June: https://airtable.com/shr4YV9esGIabvDSG
Geologize Practical Geocommunication online course
Last year, we acquired a 12 month site-license allowing all UoA staff and students, and limited alumni FREE access to Geologize’s critically acclaimed and widely accredited course, ‘Practical Geocommunication’. You also have FREE access to Geoscience Outreach in Schools mini-course (by Out There Learning Ltd) as part of the package until June 2022. All together this is worth $720 NZD per person, so please take advantage of this. Otago University are also now offering the course.
The training helps geoscientists become more effective and powerful public ambassadors for our field, something the geosciences urgently need. It will also look great on your CV, so there is nothing to lose and everything to gain from this opportunity. And as Warren Buffet, the famous American investor said “The one easy way to become worth at least 50 percent more than you are now, is to hone your communication skills”.
HOW TO ENROL ON THE COURSE
UoA’s unique access code is: auck-pggz-2122
1) Head over to https://training.geologize.org/courses/auckland (Links to an external site.)
2) Click on ‘UNIVERSITY ACCESS’
3) Register (Free. This MUST be your university address)
4) Click on the link ‘Have a coupon?’
5) Enter the code above. This will apply the discount.
6) Start learning!
The number of times this coupon can be used is limited to the those at UoA, so please do not share this code to those outside our institution. If you attempt to enrol with a non-UoA e-mail you will be unenrolled.
Learners follow the course at their own pace and you will have lessons, quizzes, assignments and the opportunity to interact directly Dr Haydon Mort, the course teacher through the forums. A certificate is provided at the end of the course, with the seals of the many international organisations who endorse this course.
Enjoy!
Martin Brook
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)
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 |
Kia Ora Disaster Researchers!
Welcome to the Disastrous Doctorates 2022 has a new date! The DD2022 symposium is rescheduled for 11-13 July. It will be hosted by The University of Auckland in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. At this time, this conference is moving forward with in-person attendance.
Please follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the most up-to-date information.
Disastrous Doctorates is an annual multi-day symposium for PhD students enrolled at a New Zealand university who are directly studying disaster-related topics. It is organized by PhD students for PhD students. The symposium provides a forum for students to network and learn from each other and subject experts, share best practices and learn helpful tips on managing a PhD career and beyond. We welcome students from across the full range of disciplines, including social sciences, engineering, geology, geography, and law.
Please register on the link below;
Official Registration Form – Disastrous Doctorates (wordpress.com)
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
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.
Dustsafe Aotearoa: our new community programme
Are you interested to know the concentration of metals in your home dust and/or, would you like to support colleagues (Emma and Melanie) and PG student (Declan) in mapping metals in home dust across Aotearoa NZ?
It is a free and easy! You just need to complete a short survey online and bring your dust to reception Level 6 (we are happy to get your whole vacuum bag if that’s easier).
Feel free to share this opportunity with your family, friends and broader community. It is a time-limited programme, so we hope to receive your sample soon!
Check out the details on our website at http://dustsafe.auckland.ac.nz.
Funding
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.
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/
2023 MBIE Endeavour Fund Support Sessions
Details on the support for MBIE Endeavour Fund 2023 is available on the Research Hub. There are a number of other events and workshops on offer, details of which can be found on the Research Hub.
The Research Committee Funding available
This is 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).
Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Publications
S.J. Watson, M. Ribó, S. Seabrook, L.J. Strachan, R. Hale & G. Lamarche (2002) The footprint of ship anchoring on the seafloor. Scientific Reports, 12:7500
Please email content to Iliane Gomez Vilchis for next edition of P-cubed by Friday