Issue 17 – Monday 16th September 2019
Contents
HeadSup
Kia ora koutou
It’s a great week for the School. First, on Wednesday at 10.30am we will celebrate Richard Le Heron’s success in being awarded Emeritus Professor status – all welcome, Level 6 break-out space. Second, the results of the MBIE funding round will be formally released today and I’m sure we’ll have an excuse for another celebration. I’ll send an email around when the embargo is lifted.
As most of the staff know, I’m undertaking all the Academic Development and Performance Reviews rather than delegating out. I’m doing it this way because I think everyone deserves to have a conversation about their career with the Head of School. But, this is a big job and I need your help to complete it on time and to make it worthwhile. If you are PTF 1-3, L or SL, your ADPR needs to be completed by 25 October. Samantha is scheduling appointments at the moment. Your self-review must be completed before your appointment with me. In creating objectives and reflecting on your performance, please consider the academic standards for your level and the next level in your career progression, and target accordingly. If you want to hit some service/leadership targets, please go back to the ENV 3-year plan and think about what you are doing in relation to the objectives set out in that document.
This edition of P-cubed is packed with activities and opportunities. Of note, the second of our prestigious School lectures, the Bartrum lecture, is coming up Monday 23 September. Colin Woodruffe will be speaking on coastal environments, sea level rise and the Anthropocene. This should be a great event of relevance to everyone concerned about the impacts of climate change. Please put this one into your diary and encourage students to attend. Also, Spring Graduation is upon us, September 24th. This is always a great event – please join our new graduates for a celebration lunch from 1-2pm. It makes a big difference when we have a good turn-out.
Lastly, for those who lodged ‘Underspend proposals’, I expect to have the results out later this week.
Ngā mihi, JR
Whakawhanaungatanga – communities
National Conservation Week: 14-22 September
Please join us from 14–22 September to celebrate 50 years of Conservation Week! With more than 4,000 species threatened or at risk, nature needs us to take action now. You can take part by doing a conservation activity or attending an event. Click here to see more information.
GNSZ Awards
Nominations and applications for GNSZ awards close 19th September with applications and nominations to James Scott (james.scott@otago.ac.nz).
Click here for more information on the awards and application templates.
What STEM employers want – event for doctoral candidates
Are you aiming for a STEM career after your doctorate? Come along on 19 September, when we’ll hear industry reps and recent PhD grads working in STEM fields discuss their insights into the job search process. After the discussion, enjoy some tasty treats and network with your peers in other faculties. Book now!
Save the date: ENV Postgraduate Wellbeing Week
During the week of the 23rd – 29th September, we will be running a series of drop-in activities for School of Environment postgraduate students. We hope that these events will encourage our students to take a brief break from their studies and be more aware of their Hauora – in particular, their mental wellbeing (Mental Health Awareness Week is the same week).
The theme of each day will focus on a component of a balanced lifestyle, with activities designed with that theme in mind. A highlight will be a specially developed Dance Fit class hosted for us at the university gym on Wednesday 25th.
More details and a full programme for the week will be distributed shortly. In the meantime, mark your calendars and keep some time free on these days!
Volcanology, Geochemistry, & Petrology Research Group
The volcanology, geochemistry, & petrology research group (VGP) meets during the semester.
Our meetings will start again this week on Thursday with two recently completed students Ben Simons and Alex Davidson. To hear them talk, join us on 19 September from 12 to 1 in 302-130.
The following Thursday 26 September will be another meeting in 439-G10 (not our normal location! It’s up the road in the Auckland Bioengineering Institute building; leave a few minutes to get there!), which likely likely be of interest to earth scientists with many backgrounds, especially students. Ashleigh Fromont and Karl Wright from GNS to give a talk titled “Introducing the National Geohazards Monitoring Centre: Using the Earth Sciences to keep Kiwis safe.” She will be summarising the new National Geohazards Monitoring Centre that opened last December, and there is potential to join their team. A flier is posted on our website (below).
As always, everyone is welcome to attend our meetings. For more information, please see our website: vgp.blogs.auckland.ac.nz See you soon!
2019 BARTRUM LECTURE
Unearthing the past to foretell the future: Coastal environments, sea-level rise and the Anthropocene
Colin D. Woodroffe – School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Australia
Location: MLT3 (303-101)
Date: Monday, September 23
Time: 5 pm, with drinks and nibbles to follow in 302 6th floor break out space
About the lecturer
Professor Colin Woodroffe is a coastal geomorphologist with research interests in the morphology, stratigraphy and sedimentary dynamics of coasts. He is Chair of the International Geographical Union’s Commission on Coastal Systems. He was a Lead Author on Chapter 6, Coasts and low-lying areas (working group 2) of the Fourth Assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007, for which the IPCC was jointly awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize (together with Al Gore). He has served on the Scientific Steering Committee of the Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) core project of IGBP.
Click here for more information.
Free Hearing Tests for Children
How to successfully publish a scientific article?
The presenter will be Thierry Corrège, editor of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
The session will be held twice on 26 September 2019 , at 8:00 (GMT) and 16:00 (GMT), to maximize international participation. More info in the link
http://pastglobalchanges.org/calendar/upcoming/127-pages/1974
Research Presentations by BSc/BA Geography and Earth Sciences Honours
Our BSc/BA Geography and Earth Sciences Honours students will present their research on September 27th from 9:30 to 3pm in 201E-301. It is important for the collegiality of our School that Geography and Earth Sciences staff attend the talks and support our Honours students!
Below is the close to finished presentation schedule.
2019 HOCHSTETTER LECTURE: Earthquakes, geometry, the mantle wedge and tsunami
Bill Fry, GNS Science
7.00 pm Monday 7 October
Auckland Museum, Auditorium – Entry via the Grand Foyer
Click here for more information.
2019 COMPLEMENTARY HOCHSTETTER LECTURE: Rapid characterisation of the earthquake source
Bill Fry, GNS Science
11 am Tuesday 8 October
University of Auckland Science Centre, 23 Symonds St
Medium Chemistry Lecture Theatre/301-G053
Click here for more information.
Call for nominations: NZ Universities Women in Leadership (NZUWiL) Discipline Pod Programme
The NZ Universities Women in Leadership (NZUWiL) Steering Group is hosting its third Discipline Pod Programme at the University of Auckland from 10 – 12 February 2020. This programme is aimed at providing discipline specific development and national networking opportunities for early career academic women from the 8 NZ Universities. The focus of this programme is on disciplines with particular equity and/or human capital challenges.
The discipline areas for the 2020 programme are Geography, Geology, Environmental Sciences and related disciplines such as Botany and Ecology. 20 participants from the 8 NZ universities will be selected with the aim to include a mix of participants across the targeted disciplines.
Note: Nominations from women in roles such as post doctorate research, research fellows and senior tutors will be considered, however priority will be given to permanent, tenured academics.
Calls for nominations open on Tuesday, 10 September 2020. See the links below for the nomination form and other supporting information.
The School of Environment encourages self-nominations and will cover the programme fee of $1,450+GST if selected by the NZUWiL Steering Committee.
Nominations close on Monday, 14 October 2019.
Please click the below files for more information.
Nomination Form 2020 – Discipline Pod Prog
Flyer Notice – 2020 NZUWiL Discipline Pod Prog
Guidelines for Selecting Participants NZUWiL Pod
Prog Objectives & Benefits NZUWiL Pod
Esri Ocean and Atmospheric GIS Forum: November 5 – 7, 2019
There are a variety of technical workshops available to you when you join us at the 2019 Esri Ocean and Atmospheric GIS Forum, on the Esri campus in Redlands, California. With the help of professional instruction at each of these half-day sessions, you will discover and adopt new ways of finding solutions and advanced workflows. There is a $25 fee for each workshop. Space is limited.
Here are the technical workshops available to you on November 7:
- Insights for ArcGIS with Ocean Data
Insights allows you to quickly discover the secrets your data holds and find answers using exploratory analysis. - Field Operations and Story Maps
Get an introduction to several field apps, including Survey123 for ArcGIS, Collector for ArcGIS, and ArcGIS QuickCapture. Learn how the new ArcGIS StoryMaps tools and technology combine maps, photos, text, and other media in a single interactive application. - Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS and Configurable Apps
Learn how to create and publish web apps quickly—no coding required. Discover why configurable apps are the fastest and easiest way to go from a map to a shareable app. - Using Drone2Map for ArcGIS
Join Esri Drone2Map product team members as they detail the workflows for producing 2D and 3D data products from drone imagery. - ArcGIS Pro Basics for Science
Designed for existing ArcMap users, you will learn the basic operational, analytical, and workflow features of ArcGIS Pro.
Advanced Analytical Workflows for Ocean and Atmospheric Science
Join us to discover the latest in scientific applications for ocean GIS. Learn about new, advanced analytical workflows and multidimensional data and geoprocessing tools.
Please click here to learn more.
Geosciences 2019: Reporting World-Class Research Results
The annual conference this year is in Hamilton with earlybird registration and abstract submission currently open (deadline 30th September).
Click here to see more information.
Health and Safety
Please send Blair any H&S matters you would like raised at the next School committee meeting.
A brief reminder of the requirements for field work, driving and lab access below.
Field work
Field activity is any work carried out for the purpose of teaching, research or representing the University off-site, where facility for health and safety is not managed by another host institution.
Any time you wish to undertake field work you need to complete a Field Activity Plan, have this signed off by your supervisor, and signed off by Blair, before you undertake the work.
If you are unsure if your work requires a field activity plan then please ask Blair first.
Driving assessments and ENV vehicles
You will need to undergo a driving assessment if you wish to drive any of the School vehicles. Assessments are booked through Blair and there is no cost to you.
The use of private vehicles for University work is only approved in exceptional circumstances. The School has a fleet of vehicles to use which includes 2x Utes, 1x Van and 1x 7 Seater SUV.
All of the vehicles have automatic transmissions and can be booked through https://carscience.fos.auckland.ac.nz Vehicles have fuel cards and are billed against the charge code you supply when making the booking.
Lab access
Standard building access to our spaces is Monday-Friday between 7.30am and 6.00pm.
The labs will all be locked and you will need a key or swipe permission to access them. Blair sign’s off the access forms, so if you need approval contact him.
Inductions for the labs are held regularly, below is a list of the general induction dates for this year and the Technician who is taking it. If you wish to attend then please let the Technician know in advance.
October 9 – David
November 13 – Neville
December 11 – Natalia
Electrons are go!
In the basement of 302 one of the most exciting #unboxing events of 2019 is going on. Engineers from JEOL Ltd are unpacking and constructing our new JOEL JXA7530F, Hyper Probe, Field-Emission Electron Microanalyser/Microprobe (or “the probe”). On site currently is Masaya Kurobe and two of his colleagues will arrive next week to continue. This is quite the logistical undertaking, with the construction and commissioning of our new instrument set to take at least 7 weeks in the best-case scenario. This is the only Hyper Probe in the country and one of only a few in Australasia. Once we are up and running, with this instrument we will be able to analyse the chemistry of almost any solid-state material over areas as small as only tens of nm2. If you were wondering how many square nanometres might fit on the head of a pin – its 5,026,560,000…
The instrument uses a very stable beam of electrons from its field-emission source and then accelerates and focuses them down a magnetic tunnel/tower on to a solid sample under high vacuum. By precisely measuring the energy of the beam impacting on the sample and then detecting the characteristic energy and wavelength of X-Ray radiation given off by the “excited” solid, we can non-destructively determine its chemical composition. With the configuration we ordered, including the most advanced and sensitive large-crystal detectors in the spectrometers, we can examine elements between Be and Pu on the periodic table, with precisions down to 10 ppm, depending on the phase. We can also use this instrument to make high-resolution chemical maps samples and detect processes such as chemical diffusion, pivotal to studies of many geological and geochemical processes.
Currently Blair Sowman is rushing about figuring out logistics of this enterprise, juggling contractors, deliveries, cooling water, gas, power, UPS and all the other myriad of things that makes an instrument of this scale and complexity function. In the meantime, Shane Cronin is trying not to hop about too excitedly, while he scours the world for a range of standard materials to enable us to quantitatively investigate problems from age-dating of volcanic rocks through to tracking down rare earth elements in ores and compositions of stalactites, teeth, ceramics and metals. With a new technician to run this on the way, the School of Environment geosciences group are in for a sudden electron-jolt into a new era of science and discovery…
Windows 7 to 10 upgrade coming soon
We have been notified there are a number of computers in our faculty that are currently running Windows 7 operating system. While some of these machines are due to be replaced there are others that need to be upgraded to Windows 10.
As Microsoft will cease to support Windows 7 in the coming months it is necessary that these machines are upgraded to Windows 10 at the earliest. The upgrade to Windows 10 will also better protect the University network from cyber security threats.
If your computer is one of the machines that needs to be upgraded, you will be informed by email and will be able to start the upgrade yourself.
IMPORTANT: Standard devices connected to your computer such as regular printers, USB memory sticks and headsets should not be affected by the upgrade. However if you have any specialist or non-standard devices connected, the technology team need to know, to ensure there are no compatibility issues with Windows 10
If you are using a non-standard device connected to your computer please complete the following survey
If the upgrade is not completed and no further information is received from you, the computer will be automatically upgraded to Windows 10.
For further information please visit: Windows 7 to 10 Upgrade project site
Business Transformation Office
Important reminder from Facilities
Please hand back all keys to the Facilities team when you have finished your studies or no longer use the lab or office.
It is important that we remove your name from the key or keys that are assigned to you. This is a security and safety measures that we take to ensure that only people with permission can enter into a lab or room. Returning the keys for reuse also keeps us in line with the University’s sustainability commitments.
The Facilities team is located in building 302 level 6 reception.
We thank you for your cooperation.
Improvements to the Travel Purchase Order Request Process
The Shared Transaction Centre (STC), Procurement and Central Finance team have implemented some changes to improve the travel purchase order process.
Following are the main changes:
For staff:
- New digital PO Travel request form
- New Orbit email with improved messaging and a link straight to the new digital form located on the intranet portal page
- New Orbit Confirmation document replacing the preliminary itinerary which will be used to attach to the new Travel PO request form
- Prior approval must be obtained from your line manager before booking travel by completing the Faculty of Science staff travel approval request form
- Automatic production of Purchase Orders, as no secondary approval required
A reminder of the process:
- Prior to booking travel, continue to obtain approval from your line manager as per current process
- If travel is funded by your research grant, you will also need to obtain prior approval from your Research Programme Coordinator (RPC) as you will need to enter their Username on the approval form
- Book your travel using the Orbit Travel Portal or an Orbit Travel Consultant (details on the Travel and accommodation page on the Staff Intranet)
- Orbit will send you an email containing a link to the new digital Purchase Order Request form as well as an order confirmation document
- From the Order Confirmation, check all travel itinerary details are correct including the name on the travel booking matches the name on the passport
- Open the link received on the email with your order confirmation document. Complete the digital Purchase Order Request form and attach your order confirmation document (no other documentation required)
- Press submit. Once submitted your request goes directly to the Shared Transaction Centre for processing. No further approvals are required
- If any changes to your travel are needed, contact Orbit as you currently would and repeat step 6 and 7 above.
If you have any queries or would like your GSC to raise the Travel PO please contact your GSC. For more information on the changes and updates visit the intranet.
For students:
- New digital PO Travel request form
- New Orbit email with improved messaging and a link straight to the new digital form located on the intranet portal page
- New Orbit Confirmation document replacing the preliminary itinerary which will be used to attach to the new Travel PO request form
- Prior approval must be obtained from your Supervisor before booking travel by completing the Faculty of Science student travel approval request form
- Automatic production of Purchase Orders, as no secondary approval required
A reminder of the process:
- Prior to booking travel, continue to obtain approval from your Supervisor as per current process
- Book your travel using the Orbit Travel Portal or an Orbit Travel Consultant (details on the Travel and accommodation page on the Staff Intranet)
- Orbit will send you an email containing a link to the new digital Purchase Order Request form as well as an order confirmation document
- From the Order Confirmation, check all travel itinerary details are correct including the name on the travel booking matches the name on the passport
- Open the link received on the email with your order confirmation document. Complete the digital Purchase Order Request form and attach your order confirmation document (no other documentation required)
- Press submit. Once submitted your request goes directly to the Shared Transaction Centre for processing.
- If any changes to your travel are needed, contact Orbit as you currently would and repeat step 5 and 6 above.
If you have any queries please contact your Group Services Administrator (GSA).
Reminder of Earth Science Bickie briefing
Earth Science Bickie briefing every Thursday morning at 10.30am in the Level 6 break out space. All post grads and staff welcome.
Rangahau – Research
Want to get top-quality funded PhD students? China Scholarship Council (CSC) recruiting fairs
The University of Auckland will once again be sending some representatives to the China Scholarship Council (CSC) recruiting fairs in China in October this year. I am writing to ask whether you would like your current research projects to be included in the material we are preparing for the CSC fairs.
If you are interested in this opportunity, please send the following information to sciencephdforms@auckland.ac.nz by 25th September.
-The name of the researcher or researchers associated with the project, their email addresses, and Department/School
-A name for the project and a short paragraph about the project
Format:
- 2-3 projects per page
- No pictures
- Max 4 projects per main supervisor
It is possible to advertise more than one project per supervisor. Projects do not need to have student stipends associated with them – stipends and fees are paid by the scholarship.
Research Contract Financial statements
You may have noticed that you have stopped receiving monthly BAR reports – financial details for your research contracts can now be viewed in the Strategic Management Reports (SMR). These allow you to see all your contracts, view expenses and commitments for each project, and download a full transaction list. Balances and transactions for your RDA and HOD accounts can also be found on SMR.
Career Tools have put together a short (20 min) online course: Research Funding Dashboards for Researchers, but if you would like any training in using SMR, please contact your RPC – Kelly Kilpin, Ivana Mlinac or Amy Weir . If there is enough interest, we will look to organise a training session.
Interesting Library Resources for ENV – Oxford Bibliographies
The Oxford Bibliographies are a really useful resource for researchers who are moving into a new area of study, or new cross-disciplinary collaboration. They can be particularly valuable for PhD candidates and post-graduate students embarking on their research projects.
The Bibliographies are written by experts in the field and are an excellent introduction and research guide, combining aspects of annotated bibliographies and encyclopedia. In the bibliographies, experts not only list the articles and other resources they consider essential to the field, but describe why they are relevant.
I have found them not only useful as introductions to research fields, but also to research methodologies or frameworks.
Examples include two written by our own researchers
– Sediment Budgets and Sediment Delivery Ratios in River Systems
– Sediment Regime and River Morphodynamics
(by Jon Tunnicliffe and Gary Brierley)
As well as popular research theories and methodologies e.g.
Te Tumu Herenga – Libraries and Learning Services subscribe to both the Geography and Environmental Science bibliography collections, but other collections of interest we can access include Anthropology, Communication, International Law, International Relations, Political Science, Public Health, Sociology, and Social Work.
Meetings, seminars and events
MBIE Endeavour Fund Roadshow Series 2020
The MBIE roadshow will be in Auckland on 15 and 16 October with the presentation at the University of Auckland on October 16th from 9-11:00am
This is your opportunity to find out what you need to know before applying for funding. Come a long and learn more about the Endeavour Fund including:
- Feedback from 2019 round
- Impact categories (Protect and Add Value & Transform)
- Investment signals
- Assessment process
- Eligibility criteria
- Funding available
There is no charge for the Roadshows, but places are limited so you must register here
School of Environment Research Awards Function
12 November, 11-1 pm, 302-140
Please book your calendar to attend the School of Environment Research Awards Function. A great opportunity to learn about the work and achievements of our colleagues and students. More information will follow soon.
Contact: melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz
Funding Opportunities
The Deep South: Domains – Request for proposals
The mission of the Deep South Challenge: Changing with our Climate (Te Kōmata o Te Tonga) is to enable New Zealanders to anticipate adapt, manage risk, and thrive in a changing climate. A high level of engagement with communities, iwi/hapu and other stakeholders will be expected. The foci of the work will cover four domains; Māori, Communities; Infrastructure, and National Economy
There are two separate request for proposals running: one for Māori, and another for Communities, Infrastructure and National Economy Domains. However, research that addresses the objectives of both RfPs in one proposal is also welcomed.
Māori Domain – We are looking for research projects that will contribute substantive and transformative outcomes for Māori and for wider Aotearoa New Zealand. These must fit within the Challenge’s mission, to enable New Zealanders to anticipate adapt, manage risk, and thrive in a changing climate.
Communities, Infrastructure and National Economy Domains –We are calling for research that focuses on: making and improving projections of New Zealand’s future climate; the impacts and implications of climate change for Aotearoa New Zealand; and enabling adaptation to climate change. Research proposals should address the research themes of multiple impacts, effective adaptation, water and land and the economy.
The full details for the request for proposals can be found on the Deep South website.
Closes: 5pm Monday 30 October
New PhD Students
Yitong Zhao joined the School of Environment in September as a PhD student working with Sam Trowsdale on the Chinese Sponge City programme.
New publications
| 1. | Mineralisation and release of 14C-graphene oxide (GO) in soils | Navarro, D.A., Kah, M., Losic, D., Kookana, R.S., McLaughlin, M.J. | 2020 | Chemosphere, 238, art. no. 124558. |
| 2. | Directional multi-scale analysis and simulation of urban expansion in Auckland, New Zealand using logistic cellular automata | Xu, T., Gao, J. | 2019 | Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 78, art. no. 101390. |
| 3. | Engineering characteristics of soils prone to rainfall-induced slope failure in viti Levu, Fiji | Ram, A.R., Brook, M.S., Cronin, S.J. | 2019 | Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 52(3), pp. 336-345. |
| 4. | Effects of mis-alignment between dispersal traits and landscape structure on dispersal success in fragmented landscapes | Atkins, J.L., Perry, G.L.W., Dennis, T.E. | 2019 | Royal Society Open Science, 6(1), art. no. 181702. |
| 5. | Neoliberal social housing policies, market logics and social rented housing reforms in New Zealand | Murphy, L. | 2019 | International Journal of Housing Policy. |
| 6. | Introduction to Special Issue on Gas Hydrate in Porous Media: Linking Laboratory and Field-Scale Phenomena | Ruppel, C.D., Lee, J.Y., Pecher, I. | 2019 | Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. |
| 7. | Feminist geographies in Aotearoa New Zealand: cultural, social and political moments | Adams-Hutcheson, G., Bartos, A.E., Dombroski, K., Le Heron, E., Underhill-Sem, Y. | 2019 | Gender, Place and Culture, 26(7-9), pp. 1182-1197. |
Ako – Teaching and Learning
Majors and Modules Week
In the week of 23-27 September (teaching week 8) the Science Centre will be inviting undergraduate students for a ‘check-up’ on their programmes – to check that they are on track for their intended major and whether they have considered any of the new Modules.
The School of Environment’s Advisors will be standing by to support this and Stage I lecturers will be asked to display a slide advertising this in classes.
School of Environment Teaching and Learning Showcase and Inaugural Ako Awards
Date: Friday 15 November
Time: 11am -1 pm
Venue: 302-551
Please book your calendar to attend the School of Environment Teaching and Learning Showcase. The event will include short presentations from staff on innovative teaching and learning. The Showcase will also include the Inaugural Ako Awards which acknowledges teaching excellence within the School. The event will include lunch! More information will follow soon.
Contact: m.wall@auckland.ac.nz
Classifieds
Job vacancy:
Ten Sixty Four Gold, operating in Central Queensland, is exploring for predominantly Intrusion-Related Gold Systems. Ten Sixty is very small and just getting started having picked up ground, done some initial desktop work to find overlooked potential, and an initial field recce of some of these targets. Now they are planning some initial soil programs, which is where a grad student comes in. There is field and desktop work until the end of the year, and probably more work after that for the right person. The reason they are keen for a grad instead of a fieldy is to train them up in the GIS and data stuff. The project geologist is after someone who’s fit and keen and ready to learn. This is a really good opportunity for someone to get a kick start at learning the trade.
If you are interested, send your CV to Mike Carswell (mcarswell@vitrinite.com.au).
Copy deadline for next edition of P-cubed: Friday 12:00 27th September, to Farnaz: f.sheikh@auckland.ac.nz