Issue 51 – Monday 15th March 2021
Contents
HeadSup
As salaam alaikum
The 15th March is a date that reminds us to reflect on and reaffirm our values, to consider our place in the world and how we can share it peacefully and responsibly. On Wednesday we will resume our 10.30 am morning teas for all staff and PG students. Please come along if you are onsite. This is a good time to connect and engage with people across the School. We are lucky in ENV. We have a broad range of disciplinary strengths and perspectives, and a great diversity of people – everyone is interesting and has something to offer. Who knows what will happen after a chance meeting over morning tea?
It’s marvellous to be back in Alert level 1. May I remind everyone to continue to follow the hygiene guidelines and if you are unwell please stay home and get tested.
We had great news last Friday: Robin was made He Ahurei a Te Apārangi, a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. This is a huge accolade and we are very proud. Congratulations Robin FRSNZ!
All PG research students and supervisors: I keep getting sent documents to sign in my capacity as HOS. I delegate my responsibilities in this area. To avoid enormous delays or lack of response, please send all docs to env-pgadmin@auckland.ac.nz
Lastly – did you take the video training course late last year or have you taken one before? If so, I am looking for 2-4 people who would like to form the ENV Video Working Group. If you loved making videos and want to contribute to the School’s social media, I have got a great job for you. Please get in touch.
Have a great couple of weeks
JR
Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities
Been in the media, got something cool happening?
If you have a topical paper/book/chapter/report coming out, or have got link to something in the media that features you or your work, send the links through to our ENV Communications email address (env-comms@auckland.ac.nz) so we can sing our, oops, I mean your, virtues far and wide 🙂
Congratulations Lorna Strachan
Lorna Strachan was recently selected to join the Australia New Zealand International Ocean Discovery Program Consortium (ANZIC) Science Committee. The role of an ANZIC Science Committee is to provide expert advice on applications to sail, post expedition grant oversight, legacy grant oversight, committee assessments, governance developments and future strategic plans for IODP.
Events & Seminars
Kāinga Wahine
On Wednesday 17th March we will be holding the first Kāinga Wahine shared lunch, for those identifying as women in the School of Environment: professional staff, postgraduate students, teaching staff, and research colleagues, all welcome
Please spread the word amongst your ENV women friends, colleagues and postgraduate students.
Date/time: Wednesday 17th March, 11:30-12:30pm (hopefully we can catch people before or after lectures/ meetings on the hour).
Place:
• If in person – Ontology Lab (302.551), or,
• If still in Level 2 – Zoom https://auckland.zoom.us/j/8913664680
Bring: a plate to share (only as you are able – this can be a packet of biscuits, or pieces of fruit, or something more elaborate).
Future dates for semester 1:
Wednesday 21st April, 11:30-12:30pm
Wednesday 19th May, 11:30-12:30pm
Wednesday 16th June, 11:30-12:30pm
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Back Office: Conservation
On Friday March 19, Gretel Boswijk will be taking part in a short talk at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki with Paintings Conservator, Genevieve Silvester on the analysis, tree-ring dating and condition of a small Netherlandish panel painting ‘The Music Lesson’ belonging to Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira. Gretel undertook tree-ring dating of the oak panels to assist Genevieve with her investigation into the attribution and date of the painting, and to provide information on where the timber came from. Dendro dating of panel paintings is common in the UK, Europe and America but this was the first time tree ring analysis of a panel painting had been carried out in NZ.
Seismic unrest progression models for reawakening stratovolcanoes
Wednesday 17th March · 8:00 am · 302-551.
Zoom link: https://auckland.zoom.us/j/92390231572
Meeting ID: 923 9023 1572
For Enquiries: env-pgadmin@auckland.ac.nz
Developing a plural knowledge system to understand coastal archaeological vulnerability in Aotearoa
Monday 22nd March · 2:00 pm · 302-551
Zoom link: https://auckland.zoom.us/j/92920952340?pwd=NDIxenRHalY1VStxN2duN2x5VDA0Zz09
Meeting ID: 929 2095
Passcode : 746145
For Enquiries: env-pgadmin@auckland.ac.nz
Masters Student Research Seminars
We will run a seminar series show-casing masters thesis research on 9 June 20201 (9am to 3 pm with lunch; Rm 303-130). This will cover students who commenced thesis studies in semester 2 of last year. Each student will give a 10 minute oral presentation followed by 5 minutes of questions. This is designed to assist students with the direction their project is going in.
Supervisors will be introducing their students. The topics will be grouped into disciplines allowing associated staff to attend and moderate the seminars.
This is an on-campus event. It does not involve Zoom-style or digital presentations from off-campus sites.
Bickie Briefings
When & Where?
Every week from 10.30-11.00 am starting Thursday 04 March onwards, Level 6 common space unless otherwise advised.
Who?
Everyone – all post-graduate students and staff are welcome, please come.
Why?
Find out what’s happening and what’s coming up in the next week, hear about our successes, and help build our Earth Sciences Community. And there will be bickies of course!
Aotearoa Bike Challenge
The Aotearoa Bike Challenge began Monday 1st February!
The Aotearoa Bike Challenge is a fun, free, competition to encourage more New Zealanders to experience first-hand the joys and benefits of riding a bike. There are many prizes up for grabs and it only takes a 10 minute bike ride to enter the prize draws.
Register now at aotearoa.bike. In February, you’ll have loads of chances to win amazing prizes for riding and encouraging others to ride too! If you are logging your first ride make sure you identify a UoA encourager to maximize our points – Jennifer Eccles or anyone else you have heard about this from!
SoE BBQ & Volleyball Tournament
Welcome to the first sporting event of the year competing for the SoE JR shield! Advertised to all SoE students but would be amazing to see some staff at the event!
Job Opportunity
Assistant/Associate/Full Professor – Chair in Mineral Resources Geology at Oregon State University
Application URL: https://jobs.oregonstate.edu/postings/97932
For full consideration apply by 4/30/2021, applications close 6/30/2021
The College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS) invites applications for a tenure-track (Assistant/Associate/Full Professor) faculty position to fill the newly created Barrow Family Endowed Chair in Mineral Resource Geology. Areas of research focus could be rooted in field-and laboratory-based investigations of ore genesis, evolution, and exploration. Specific areas of interest include the role of fluids in crustal processes, structural and tectonic controls on magma and fluid flow, magmatic and hydrothermal processes that determine the concentration and dispersion of mineralized materials, geothermal or active magmatic or metamorphic systems, or related fields. Research strategies should integrate field mapping and investigations with petrology, structural geology, remote-sensing, high-temperature and isotope geochemistry, and/or other lab-based or modelling approaches.
Rangahau – Research
Research and Funding Opportunities
Te Whitinga Fellowship – supporting 30 excellent Early Career Researchers for two years
- Eligibility: Applicants must be either Aotearoa New Zealand citizens, or permanent residents. Applicants must have a PhD conferred on or after 01 January 2017 (Exemptions may apply). Applicants should not currently hold a research role, unless that role is fixed-term and due to end before 31 December 2021.
- Grant Value: $75,000 towards the researcher’s salary, $75,000 in organizational overheads, $10,000 for research-related expenses for two years at 0.8 FTE.
- Guidelines here and for further information visit the website here.
- Internal Deadline: Monday, 12 April 2021.
- To register: email submissions@auckland.ac.nz: your title, full name, email address, faculty and department and include Te Whitinga Fellowship in the subject line.
Market Economics Geography Masters Research Scholarship
The Scholarship was first established in 2011 and is funded by Market Economics Ltd, an independent New Zealand based consultancy that specializes in market and economic analysis and environmental and ecological research.
The main purpose of the Scholarship is to encourage postgraduate research into the field of human/economic geography, including GIS, by rewarding demonstrated ability and lowering financial barriers.
Application status: Apply now
Applicable study: MA or MSc in Geography with a research focus on quantitative analysis in human or economic geography or GIS
Opening date: 23 February
Closing date: 6 April
Tenure: One year
For: Assistance
Number on offer: One
Offer rate: Annually
Value: Up to $5,000
Royal Society Te Apārangi Catalyst: Seeding
Catalyst: Seeding facilitates new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships with international collaborators that cannot be supported through other means. Funding is for research exchanges, research activities, and expenses related to hosting workshops for new strategic research partnerships with international collaborators.
- Grant Value: $80,000
- Project Duration: Up to 2 years
- Funders website (including guidelines, FAQ’s)
Internal Deadline: Wednesday 7 April
Please contact your RPC for details on how to register for the portal.
Royal Society Te Apārangi Catalyst: Leaders
Catalyst: Leaders supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means.
Funders website contains further eligibility details and guidelines. Please contact your RPC for details on how to register for the portal
- International Leader Fellowships
Supports exceptional individuals from any country outside New Zealand to catalyse science and innovation capability and capacity development in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for up to 3 years.
- Grant value: Up to $50,000 per annum for up to three years (comprising of $20,000 stipend, $20,000 research and travel allowance, $10,000 host institution administration)
- JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships
Supports excellent post-doctoral researchers to do research in Japan for 12-24 months. Preferred start is 1 September 2021 but no later than 30 November 2021.
- Grant value: Round trip air-ticket (based on JSPS regulations, Monthly maintenance allowance of ¥362,000 (~ NZ $5160), Settling allowance of ¥200,000 (~ NZ $2850). Overseas travel, accident and sickness insurance is covered
Internal Deadline: Wednesday 7 April
Food and Health Seed Fund Application
Thanks to continued support from the Faculties of Business and Economics, Engineering, Medical and Health Sciences and Science, the Food and Health Programme is again able to run a seed funding round to provide up to $10,000 seed funding (per project) for cross-disciplinary/cross-faculty, food and health related projects this year.
To apply, please complete Food and Health Programme Seed Fund Application, and email to Dee Nolan d.nolan@auckland.ac.nz, by Noon, Tuesday 16th March 2021. Successful applicants will be notified late March. Projects will be required to be completed by the end of this calendar year.
Further details on criteria and conditions of award can be found on Page 6 of the application form or here,
Please contact Dee Nolan directly if you have any queries.
Laura Bassi Scholarship
The Laura Bassi Scholarship, which awards a total of $8,000 thrice per annum, was established by Editing Press in 2018 with the aim of providing editorial assistance to postgraduates and junior academics whose research focuses on neglected topics of study, broadly construed. The scholarships are open to every discipline and the next round of funding will be awarded in April 2021:
Spring 2021
Application deadline: 31 March 2021
Results: 25 April 2021
All currently enrolled master’s and doctoral candidates are eligible to apply, as are academics in the first five years of full-time employment. Applicants are required to submit a completed application form along with their CV through the application portal by the relevant deadline. Further details, previous winners, and the application portal can be found at: https://editing.press/bassi
New Publications
Valentine Ibeka (2021): Race, emotionalized bodies and migration research: doing fieldwork in the West as a Black African Male, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2021.1894914
Jamie Howarth, Alan Orpin, Yoshihiro Kaneko, Lorna Strachan, Scott Nodder, Joshu Mountjoy, Philip Barnes, Helen Bostock, Caroline Holden, Katie Jones, and M. Namik Çağatay (in press) Calibrating the marine turbidite paleoseismometer using the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. Nature Geoscience.
S.E. Grasby, D.P.G. Bond, P.B. Wignall, R. Yin, L. Strachan, S. Takahashi (in press) Transient Permian-Triassic euxinia in the southern Panthalassa deep ocean. Geology.
ENV IT Committee Updates
Software for teaching in 2021 – please reply ASAP
This is only for software needed for teaching (labs. and FlexIT).
Last September, IT asked us to send software requests for 2021. If you need anything beyond what you have requested back then, please contact me ASAP (say, Wed., 20 Jan., COB). I will compile a list via the IT Committee, hoping IT can accommodate late requests.
Please provide as much information as possible from the list below:
| Requester Name |
| Requester Username |
| Faculty |
| Software Vendor |
| Software Name |
| Software Version |
| Course Name |
| Lab Location(s) |
| Teaching Week Required |
| Comments\Customisations\Modules etc |
| Tester Installation |
| Source Files Location |
| *FlexIT? |
| License Owned |
*Please be ready for another lockdown…
Even if it is the same software as last year, IT need to know – software will not be carried over from last year. IT needs more time than in previous years to make sure software works off FlexIT.
Thank you, Ingo
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 Martin for next edition of P-cubed by Friday 25th of March 2021