HeadSup

Kia orana kōtou,

Great to see so many excellent activities going on in the School. We are trying to get a better system happening in p-cubed so you can click on a calendar entry for an event and get it into your e-calendar. Please bear with us this week while we are in transition – you will need to capture the things you want to do from the posts below.

Two events driven by our PG students are coming up – the Annual Ball, and a newbie, the Film Competition, which hopefully will become a regular event. There are some great prizes so take time to show your creative side and help us show the world what we do. Big ups to our PG geniuses for thinking of this one!

Also on the horizon – the Cumberland Lecture. Kennedy Warne, founding editor of NZ Geographic, will be speaking on a brilliant topic: Place as person, Landscape as identity. This one will be a highlight so don’t miss it.

The 3-year strategic plan is now in rough draft form – you can read it here. We still need to wordsmith it and catch a few omissions/updates. Thanks everyone who has contributed at short notice so far.

If you would like to comment on the draft strategic plan or make suggestions for changes, please send comments to me by email OR feel free to drop-in to the Level 6 common space for a conversation 12-1pm this Tuesday or 12.30-1.30 this Thursday. All feedback on this draft must be in by the end of this week.

Have a great couple of weeks.

Ngā mihi – JR

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Whakawhanaungatanga – communities

Cook Islands Language Week

Click on this link to find out more about Cook Islands Language Week Sunday 4 August – Saturday 10 August 2019

https://www.mpp.govt.nz/language-culture-and-identity/pacific-language-weeks/cook-islands-language-week/

Helpful Resources

We encourage you to speak, use, teach and learn Te Reo Māori Kuki Airani (Cook Islands Language), below are some helpful resources and links:

• 2019 Cook Islands Language Week poster
• 2019 Events Calendar
• Cook Islands Language fact sheet
• Cook Islands Language Educational Resource
• Pacific Language cards (includes all 7 Pacific Languages from our series)

Some more links:

https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/cook-islands-language-week/

https://www.mpp.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Cook-Islands.pdf

The School of Environment Film Competition

For further information please see here.

Engagement Expo

The science student engagement expo on Thursday 18 July was attended by AUGA, where new students starting this semester were invited to join various clubs. We [AUGA] took this opportunity to show off some of the highlights from the past year, and to tease a few of the exciting events we have planned over the coming semester!

Here is a picture of AUGA member Thomas who spent the time talking to the new students

The School of Environment Ball

Save the date – the School of Environment Ball will be held on Saturday 12^th October. We have a team of students and staff working on planning this year’s ball. If you want to be involved please contact Joe on j.fagan@auckland.ac.nz

Cumberland Lecture

Place as person, landscape as identity: Traditional connection and modern legislation: 22 August, 5 pm, PLT2/303-G02

Kennedy Warne, founding editor of New Zealand Geographic, discusses the Whanganui River and Te Urewera legislation granting those geographical entities legal personhood, and reflects on his own evolving conversation with landscape. This will be a great seminar for everyone in the School – all welcome, bring a friend.

 

Safe Travel

We have been made aware of a recent legislative change which appears to raise the potential risk of working in Indonesia. The two links below highlight the issue. If you are aware of any researchers in your faculty who work in Indonesia, could you pass this information on to them. The provisions appear quite onerous and if we get this wrong quite punitive. It may be necessary to seek advice from our legal people before undertaking work there.

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/07/16/house-passes-bill-imposing-criminal-charges-on-foreign-researchers-into-law.html

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/07/indonesia-s-strict-new-biopiracy-rules-could-stifle-international-research

Space survey

This is to advise that Property Services’ Semester 2, 2019 room usage survey will be undertaken on 12-16 Aug for the City Campus. The following room types will be included in the survey:

• Flat-floored and tiered general teaching rooms,
• Meeting rooms of greater than 15 sq mtrs and other selected meeting rooms,
• Specialist teaching rooms with reasonable access,
• Student computer rooms,
• Drawing laboratories, music rooms and other studio spaces,
• Postgraduate offices and similar postgraduate facilities.

 The method of surveying will remain the same as for previous years with surveyors visiting each room on their list each hour between 8.00 am and 6.00 pm, Monday to Friday.

 As usual the surveyors will be provided with a name tag that they must wear at all times and will carry a letter confirming that they are undertaking the survey

New Hire – Senior Technician, Geochemistry

We are happy to announce that we have appointed a new Senior Technician to run our Electron Microprobe Facility.

David Adams will be migrating from Denver where he has been working with USGS; prior to that Macquarie University and the University of Western Australia.  David has extensive experience with running an Electron Microprobe (EPMA) laboratory, LA-ICP-MS, XRF and XRD.  His main role will be to oversee the installation of the new EPMA and to run the facility once established.  He will also be the Schools contact point for iLab, and a backup operator for the ICP-MS.

He tells me that he is looking forward to working with researchers and students again.

David will be joining the Technical team in September.

If you have any questions send Blair an email.

The 2019 Faculty of Science Postgraduate Research Showcase

The 2019 Faculty of Science Postgraduate Research Showcase is coming up on 2-18 September 2019.

Students who are currently enrolled in postgraduate study are eligible to enter their academic posters into this competition. As in previous years, there are significant prizes up for grabs, and the 20 best posters from Science will be entered into the 2019 PGSA Exposure poster competition (7-11 October) where they will be eligible to win further prizes. The Faculty of Science Postgraduate Research Showcase will use the same judging criteria for posters as Exposure.

The deadline for students to have registered online and submitted their posters to the Science Student Centre will be Thursday 29 August 4.00pm

In the coming week, we will send more information about how students can register and submit their posters, as well as providing details for workshops run by The Exposure Committee on creating engaging academic posters.

August Talatalanoa

We would like to invite you to attend the next Talatalanoa, held in the City Campus.

This session will present some of the amazing work that is going on in our facilities and an opportunity to Talanoa about key issues and concerns.

It is a great way to share and learn from each other – everyone is welcome!

Date: Thursday 8 August, 10am-11.30am

Room: Clock Tower 32 (105-032), Auckland Campus

For further information please see here.

Light refreshment will be provided . Please RSVP to Sonia at s.fonua@auckland.ac.nz

 

Travel Improvements Update – What you need to know?

As part of STC’s ongoing efforts to streamline the travel bookings and ensure efficiency,  we are pleased to advise that the travel booking and approval process has been under review, with a view to improve the user experience.  The aim is to reduce administrative re-work, delays and incurred costs when ticketing deadlines are missed, caused by late approvals. This review was triggered, following the ongoing negative feedback received from our customers.

SLT has agreed to rely on, and capture employee declarations that pre-approval has been confirmed before a purchase order is raised, thus allowing us to remove the secondary approval on Travel purchase orders and still be able to identify approvers of each travel requisition.

We have collaboratively worked with the Business Transformation Office on this improvement initiative and have engaged stakeholders across the organisation, creating awareness of the impending Travel improvements for the user’s experience of booking travel.

What you need to know and how will this impact you once we go live:

As part of the process improvements we have increased the PeopleSoft workflow approval limit to $15K.  Proof of pre-approved travel will be captured when submitting a request for travel to STC on the new AEM form by capturing the traveller’s line manager or DFA.  With no secondary approval required, we expect to see an immediate decrease in missed ticketing deadlines and administrative rework.  However, any travel above $15K will still require PeopleSoft secondary approval by the Delegated Financial Authority (DFA).

Through our stakeholder engagement across Group Services teams within Faculties and the DFF/DFO Cop Groups, we have instructed staff to ensure they have their localised approval processes ready, emphasing the need to enter the correct cost centre/project code on the PO form.   This will minimise the need for journal corrections.

All travellers/travel arrangers will notice the following process improvements for when they request a Travel PO to submit to STC:

• 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
• Increasing the PeopleSoft workflow secondary approval limit to $15K.  Any travel above $15K will still require PeopleSoft secondary approval
• Orbit will change the way they work moving forward, streamlining the amount of manual data input required at their end

What we would like you to do:

• We would like you and your Finance teams to continue to review your financial reporting for spikes in ‘travel associated costs’. Transaction reports can be made available to support the investigation, including reports from our vendor – Orbit
• The compliance team will increase background checks and the reporting will be enhanced to provide improved detective controls
• Travellers booking travel will need to obtain approval from their line manager or DFA upfront and capture this within your localised processes as this will be required on the PO form. There will be no need for approval attachments
• Emphasise the need to enter correct cost centres within your local process to minimise the need for journal corrections
• The only attachment required to submit a travel request to STC will be the new order confirmation that will replace the preliminary itinerary.

What next?

We have an indicative date (end of August 19) of when the changes will be implemented there will be communications going out prior to going live through a number of different channels.For any questions, do not hesitate to call STC and please note this communication is only intended for the Finance and Accounting Community.

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Rangahau – Research

New Research Programme Coordinator

Dr Kelly Kilpin will be starting as the new Research Programme Coordinator in the School of Environment on 5 August.  Kelly has a PhD in chemistry and has held postdoc positions at Otago University and at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland.  She moved into research project management in 2014 managing large research grants at the University of Southampton.  Since Kelly returned to New Zealand this year, she has been working as a technical assistant at Massey University’s Albany campus.  Kelly is looking forward to joining the University of Auckland and assisting the School with its research support needs.

Researchers with queries in relation to National Science Challenge projects can continue to contact Amy Weir amy.weir@auckland.ac.nz.

Geology and Geophysics researchers, please contact Ivana Mlinac i.mlinac@auckland.ac.nz.

Research:

MBIE annual reports due in the MBIE Portal by 30 August

RSNZ Marsden rebuttals expected 14 – 28 August

Meetings, seminars and events

Are you having trouble finding the time or motivation to write?

Come and join us for some “Shut up and write” sessions at Te Tumu Herenga – Libraries and Learning services.

Our new “Shut up and write” workshops are scheduled fortnightly on a Tuesday morning in Kate Edger Information Commons, and provide a great opportunity to focus on those writing goals you need to get done, in the company of other folk doing the same thing.
Bring your keep cup for the tea/coffee breaks during the sessions.

The sessions are aimed at PhD students, but staff and other post-grad students are welcome as well.
You can book online at the workshops page.
(if the sessions look full, please do join the waitlist, as there tend to be spaces that open up closer to the dates)

A few days on Great Mercury Island- a recent research trip by Paul Augustinus

For further reading please see here.

Volcanology, Geochemistry, & Petrology Research Group

The volcanology, geochemistry, & petrology research group (VGP) meets every other week during the semester. Our next meeting will be on 8 August from 12 to 1 in 302-130. (Note the time and location change from last semester!) Phil will be giving a talk entitled “Mantle influence on magmatism at arc volcanoes: can we see it,” and Ian will be presenting after. For more information, please see our website: vgp.blogs.auckland.ac.nz See you soon!

Disaster Prevention and Management Seminar Series

The Disaster Prevention and Management Seminar Series would like to welcome your attendance on the 19th of August, 1 to 4 pm, in the Ontology Lab (302-551) of the University of Auckland city campus (map attached here).

Ksenia Chmutina (Loughborough University), Loïc Le Dé (Auckland University of Technology), Jake Rom Cadag (University of the Philippines Diliman), and Anthony Gampell (The University of Auckland) will be presenting alternative approaches to participatory mapping for disaster risk reduction. This seminar will include hands-on and playful activities for everyone to experience these creative ways of mapping disaster risk.

Details of the seminar can be found here. 

Green Building Certification and the Sustainable City

Arnaud Besse-Ciller (PhD Proposal)

Date/time: Tuesday 6 August,  12:00pm

Location: B302-130

For further information please see here.

Do we under-estimate the social complexity of pest eradications on habited offshore islands?  Learning from national and international eradication cases.

Speaker: Marie McEntee

Date/time: Tuesday 20^th August, from 4.00pm to 5.30pm.

Location: Ontology (302-551)

For further reading please see the NZGS Auck_newsletter August 2019.

A quantitative analysis of the characteristics of the urban boundary layer in an area of complex coastal terrain: Implications for air pollution

Hannah Marley (PhD Proposal)

Date/time: Tuesday 6 August, 1:00pm

Location: Room 302-130

For further information please see here.

Funding Opportunities

RSNZ Catalyst Leaders and Catalyst Seeding

This Catalyst Leaders round is to support excellent PhD students and/or young researchers to attend the HOPE meetings with Nobel Laureates in Japan in 2020.

The Catalyst Seeding round funds new small and medium pre-research strategic partnerships that cannot be supported through other means under three programmes:

• Seeding General ($80,000 in total for up to two years);
• Dumont d’Urville NZ-France Science & Technology Support Programme ($80,000 in total for up to two years);
• NZ – Japan Joint Research Project ($ 30,000 per year for up to two years)

Application due to Research Programme Coordinator and Funds & Submissions by 5pm Tuesday 8 October 2019.

Information on Catalyst Funds and Leaders guidelines and  Seeding guidelines here.

Whaitaketia o Rangahau ki te Ao Māori – Assessing research relevant to Māori

He whakatauki: “Mā te rongo, ka mōhio; mā te mōhio, ka mārama; mā te mārama, ka mātau; mā te mātau, ka ora”

“Through resonance comes cognisance, through cognisance comes understanding, through understanding comes knowledge, through knowledge comes life and well-being”

The purpose of the WORK dens are to provide a ‘think tank’ opportunity for researchers. Please view this as a time to express where your research will be a feature. An opportunity to discuss your idea(s) with Vision Mātauranga advisors and work together to identify ways in how Vision Mātauranga can benefit from your idea(s).

The WORK dens will be held on Thursday 8^th August 10am-12pm and Friday 9^th August 1pm-3pm. Each session will last 30 minutes and will be an informal discussion. You are welcome to bring other members of your team to your session.

To ensure the time is useful for all involved, you will need to prepare a brief outline of your idea. Your outline should show (or say) how your idea will benefit or contribute to Māori. The outline should be at a minimum a paragraph long, with a maximum of half a page.

This is an opportunity for you to safely ‘test the waters’ with your understanding/knowledge of Vision Mātauranga. If you are interested click here to pick a day and time.

Any questions feel free to email us on vmresponsiveness.science@auckland.ac.nz

MBIE Unlocking Curious Minds

Unlocking Curious Minds is a contestable fund that supports innovative, quality projects which provide more New Zealanders with opportunities to learn about and engage with science and technology.

Registration due in the MBIE Portal by 12 noon Thursday 15 August 2019.  If you do not register your project by this date, you cannot start or submit a proposal.

Application due to Research Programme Coordinator and Funds & Submissions by 5pm Tuesday 3 September 2019.

Information and guidelines: Unlocking Curious Minds

New publications

1. Robin Kearns has recently published, with R Foley (Ireland), B Wheeler (England) and T Kistemann (Germany) Blue Space, Health and  Wellbeing: Hydrophilia Unbounded  (Routledge: London & New York)https://www.routledge.com/Blue-Space-Health-and-Wellbeing-Hydrophilia-Unbounded/Foley-Kearns-Kistemann-Wheeler/p/book/9780815359142
2. Itrax μ‐XRF core scanning for rapid tephrostratigraphic analysis: a case study from the Auckland Volcanic Field maar lakes
   Leonie Peti, Patricia S. Gadd, Jenni L. Hopkins, Paul C. Augustinus
   Journal of Quaternary Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3133
   https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jqs.3133
3. Coote, A., Shane, P., Fu, B. 2019. Olivine phenocryst origins and mantle magma sources for monogenetic basalt volcanoes in northern New Zealand from textural, geochemical and d18O isotope data. Lithos 344-345, 232-246, doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2019.06.026
4. Boswijk, G., Fowler, A. 2019. Dendroprovenancing: A preliminary assessment of potential to geo-locate kauri timbers in northern New Zealand. Dendrochronologia 57, 125611, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2019.125611.
5. Bertin, D., Lindsay, J.M., Becerril, L., Cronin, S.J. & Bertin, L.J. MatHaz: a Matlab code to assist with probabilistic spatio-temporal volcanic hazard assessment in distributed volcanic fields. Journal of Applied Volcanology 8:4.https://rdcu.be/bKV2v

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Ako – Teaching and Learning

Māori and Pacific – Future of Tech Event

Discover where your degree and your cultural perspective can take you in the STEM industry!

Date/time: Thursday 15 August, 5-8pm

Location: Unleash Space, Faculty of Engineering Building, Room 402-433

Book your place on the event page on MyCDES

Talofa lava, Bula Vinaka, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Fakatalofa atu, Kia orana, Mālō e lelei, Mālō nī, Kia orana and warm Pacific greetings to you all.

The CDES team would like to invite you all to our very first Māori and Pacific STEM event! This is a fantastic opportunity to hear about the range of career pathways across different organisations and understand the realities of work-life in the STEM industry! You will hear from a diverse panel of Māori and Pacific speakers who will share their career journey and the challenges they face in the STEM industry, followed by networking.

Come and hear from Air New Zealand, Microsoft, Xero, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Suncorp NZ, rhipe and Watercare!

If you have any questions about this event, please email Pepe Afeaki: p.afeaki@auckland.ac.nz

Ako Innovation Teaching & Learning Seminar:
Using LEGO to encourage collaboration in an educational environment

Date/time: Friday 23rd August · 11-12pm

Location: Building 302, Room 551 (Ontology Lab)

In this interactive talk, Dr Ksenia Chmutina will reflect on her experience of using LEGO for teaching disaster risk reduction to a group of UG architecture and civil engineering students. The ‘Disaster Risk Reduction is Child’s Play’ project aimed at enhancing collaboration among students who would not traditionally work together in an educational environment – but are highly likely to collaborate in industry. Using LEGO and other modular toys has helped to encourage the dialogue among the students and between the students and staff in a problem-based context, and provided solutions to the challenges that multi-disciplinary group work usually faces.

From the learning perspective, the use of LEGO helped the students to define design as the process of investigating a problem and proposing creative responses through the application of modular models and to apply engineering and architectural knowledge as well as creativity and intuition. We have however discovered that architecture students, who are used to hands-on work, are much more willing to engage with using LEGO; civil engineering students did not feel as comfortable and required more encouragement. This reflected the challenge of the multi-stakeholder collaboration and highlighted that LEGO can help building the bridges between discipline

Dr Ksenia Chmutina Senior Lecturer in Sustainable and Resilient Urbanism, School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Loughborough University, UK

Enquiries: Mel Wall m.wall@auckland.ac.nz

Secondary School Unit Standards for Earth and Space Science

Martin has kindly placed a load of resources for high school Earth and space sciences here:

S:\env\Share\Secondary School Unit Standards Earth and Space Science

Included are exemplars of student work, unit standards, scholarship exam etc. This is a good place to look if you want to understand the educational context of this discipline.

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Classifieds

Job vacancy: Research Assistant for natural hazard research projects (Jan Lindsay)

I am seeking a full-time Research Assistant to work with me on a number of major research projects. The position is for 1 year, starting ASAP, with the possibility of renewal. The successful candidate will become part of the project management teams of both the Determining Volcanic Risk in Auckland (DEVORA) project and the Urban Theme of the Resilience to Natures Challenges National Science Challenge. They will also assist me with tasks related to the International Working Group on Volcanic Hazard Maps. I would also be open to two people sharing this role at 0.5 FTE each.

Main tasks would fall in the areas of communication and outreach (including website maintenance), database management, organisation of meetings and workshops, research and field assistance, and project management support. The candidate(s) should ideally have a bachelors or a postgraduate degree in a relevant field (e.g. Earth Sciences, Geography, Environmental Science, Communication) and some research experience. Candidates should have excellent organisational and oral and written communication skills, and ideally a good understanding of the natural hazard risk research environment in New Zealand. Project management, science communication and stakeholder engagement experience would be desirable, as would experience with Vision Mātauranga and engaging with Māori.

For more information please visit https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CfT6W8qwpfU4Z6qSnam8U9gJm4bBifZc

Or email Jan Lindsay j.lindsay@auckland.ac.nz

Please apply by emailing a Cover letter and CV to Jan Lindsay by Monday 19^th August.

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Copy deadline for next edition of P-cubed: Friday 12:00 16th August, to Samantha: samantha.huang@auckland.ac.nz

HeadSup

Kia ora koutou

Welcome to Semester 2, the big run to the end of the year! It’s great to see all the activity around campus. Please give a warm welcome to all our new and returning students, and especially keep an eye out for the lost ones. Starting out at Uni can be a daunting experience; your friendly greeting can make a big difference.

It’s consultation time. The faculty has kicked off its annual strategic planning exercise and we have 4 weeks to submit our school 3-year Strategic Plan. This plan sets out our objectives and resourcing requirements. Over the next two weeks the Chairs of the various committees and Academic Programme Heads will be drawing together material for the draft plan that will be circulated for comment to staff and PG students in the next edition of P-cubed. There then will be a one week opportunity for consideration and feedback after which the plan will be finalised for submission on 16 August. If you would like to contribute to the 2020 plan, please engage via committees and/or disciplinary groups, or send individual comments directly to me. For reference, our 2019 plan is here.

In developing the strategic plan, we would like to include a short mission/values statement, one that we can develop further over the next 12 months. If you are interested in contributing to this, please see below for further information.

Now is the time to think about short projects or qualifying purchases that need some $$ and which can be receipted before 31 December. If the budget is looking flush as we get late into the 3rd quarter we will start funding these items. ‘Underspend proposals‘ are open to all committees, disciplinary groups (incl. student experience committee) and individual staff. Please see here for details.

Have a great week!

Ngā mihi – JR

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For Your Diary

Deadlines	Date & Location
ENV morning tea – farewell for Vanessa	Wednesday 24th July, 10.30am, Level 6 common space
FRDF grants -contact RPC Ivana Mlinac i.mlinac@auckland.ac.nz for more information.	Wednesday 24th July
NZ Association of Scientist Medals	Wednesday 31 July, 2019
Draft content for ENV strategic plan to JR please, Values content/ideas to Larry please	Friday 2 August
Promotion applications (excluding Professorial applications) – send to JR- Discussion with JR before the deadline is required	Thursday 15  August
Proposals for short-term funding (Underspend proposals) due to JR	16th August
UOA Teaching Excellence Awards	Due Friday 6th September

 

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Whakawhanaungatanga – communities

Shaping our vision and values

The School of Environment sits within a broader organisation with defined missions and values; our mission and values must map onto these broader frameworks, though they can reflect our unique identity.

• What is our mission
• What are our values?

Larry is building a short mission/values statement for the 3-year strategic plan, one that we can develop further over the next 12 months. If you would like to contribute ideas or opinions, please get in touch with him before Friday August 2.  l.murphy@Auckland.ac.nz

The University’s core values are:

• Excellence in teaching, learning, research, creative work and administration
• Respect for each other and for our shared commitment to excellence, collegiality, academic freedom, equity, and the principles of the Te Tiriti ō Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi).
• Service by our staff, students and alumni to high quality learning, the advancement of knowledge and to our local, national and international communities

DRAFT FACULTY OF SCIENCE VALUES

Our Mission: Excellent science – local impact – global leadership

We undertake excellent scientific research and education that are valued for their contribution to evidence-based global discourse and for the way they underpin and support New Zealand and New Zealanders to:

• Understand the processes that shape our physical, natural and social environments and their implications;
• Be responsive and responsible in addressing challenges that might affect them or their environments;
• Live lives that are healthy in mind and body in habitats that are rich and diverse;
• Transform our economy to one that is environmentally and socially sustainable and which is founded on evidence-based research
• Grow a population that irrespective of background is well educated in science, including mātauranga Māori, and its ethical application;
• …and which, through our local actions, provide global leadership.

Our Values

Within this framework we are committed to:

• Quality – valuing quality over quantity in our teaching, research, relationships and cultures.
• Te Tiriti ō Waitangi – respecting its principles, and meaningfully engaging with Māori and Pacific approaches and values in all that we do.
• Equity – supporting all students and staff to reach their potential, irrespective of background.
• Inclusivity – providing an inclusive work and study environment that promotes wellbeing and celebrates diversity.
• Pedagogy – ensuring our teaching programmes respond to international best practice and to the diverse and changing needs of our students.
• Research – promoting thriving research communities, including those based on interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Stakeholders – strengthening our engagement with, and our relevance to, our stakeholders and their communities.
• Sustainability – investing in sustainability in its broadest sense: ethical, emotional, environmental and financial.
• Professionalism – encouraging core values: Integrity, Efficiency, Credibility, Compassion, Passion, Helpfulness.

Promotion Applications 2019 (excluding Professorial applications)

If you are considering applying for promotion, please make sure you are familiar with the content of the Academic Promotions webpage (it contains links to all promotions forms, policies and the standards) and email Samantha (Samantha.huang@auckland.ac.nz ) to schedule a meeting to discuss with JR before submitting your complete applications to her. The deadline of submitting applications is Thursday 15 August. Click here for more details.

Space

Multi-use Laboratory Room 302-586

The ‘document’ lab has been reconfigured to provide a multi-use facility that is suitable for microscope work or small meetings/seminars. Several specialist microscopes are positioned on the back/side walls. Window screens, fold-up chairs and a large smart TV are available.

If you want to book this room please see Farnaz or Lynnette in the main office, Level 6. They will record your booking and have a key that you can collect when you need it. All staff and PG students can book this space.

The space is available for use without a booking but obviously bookings take precedence.

IMPORTANT:

The new release of the University Health, Safety and Wellbeing (HSW) Policy:

The H&S policy is now the Health, Safety and Wellbeing (HSW) policy, and replaces all previous versions. The HSW policy includes Governance and Leadership statements, breaks down responsibilities by role, and describes how we manage HSW at The University.

https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/the-university/how-university-works/policy-and-administration/health-and-safety/health-and-safety-policy.html

Accident and near miss reporting:

You should be reporting injuries, near misses, potential incidents, vehicle incidents and anything else of concern.  If in doubt, ask one of the HSW committee members.  Reporting from the School has been a bit slow over the last few months, but we have had a couple of interesting potential incidents reported.

• A cheeky seagull has been stacking pebbles on the 302 L6 building ledge.  This has the potential to cause some harm if one fell off and hit someone below.  This was reported, investigated and is now sitting with property services to rectify (bird netting? Scarecrow?)
• A couple of live shotgun shells were accidentally sent back to the School with some field equipment.  Reported, and shells dropped off to the police.

Reporting procedure can be found below.  Pretty easy, fill in the form and send to a member of the School HSW committee.

https://www.staff.auckland.ac.nz/en/human-resources/health-safety-and-wellbeing/accident-reporting-and-investigation/reporting-procedure-and-purpose.html

Events

Farewell

Morning Tea for Vanessa Castro’s farewell – 10:30am, 24 July, L6 Breakout Space

Cumberland Lecture

Save the date! The Cumberland lecture will be on 22 August, 5 pm, PLT2. Kennedy Warne – Writer, Photographer, and co-founder of New Zealand Geographic – is our Cumberland lecturer. Further details coming soon.

The Earth Sciences Bickie briefing

The Earth Sciences Bickie briefing runs every Thursday morning at 10.30am in the Level 6 Breakout space- B302. All post grads and staff welcome.

Volcanology, Geochemistry, & Petrology Research Group

The volcanology, geochemistry, & petrology research group (VGP) meets every other week during the semester. Our next meeting will be on 25 July from 12 to 1 in 302-130. (Note the time and location change from last semester!) Geoff and Jan will be giving talks about his recent experimental work in Munich and the Resilience to Nature’s Challenges- Urban Phase 2 research programme, respectively. For more information, please see our website: vgp.blogs.auckland.ac.nz See you soon!

FoS Postdoc Society

The Faculty of Science Post-Doctoral Society is a society for Postdocs and Early Career Researchers within the Faculty of Science that has the following objectives:

1. a)            To promote excellent science by providing a community for FoS postdoctoral staff and early career researchers that facilitates networking and collaboration both in and out of the lab.
2. b)            To facilitate training and career development amongst FoS postdoctoral staff and early career researchers; and
3. c)            To promote the interests of and provide a voice for FoS postdoctoral staff and early career researchers within both the School and the University of Auckland.

We are always open to new committee members so if you know any postdocs or early career researcher who are passionate about helping other postdocs/early career researchers and interested in becoming committee members or if you are that person, please contact us at  fos-res-fellows@auckland.ac.nz.  Alternatively, if you would like to find out what it is like being a committee member, please come along to any of our committee meetings held on the first Tuesday of each month at 3pm in the Building 302, 6th floor breakout space (next one is Tuesday 6^th August).

Unfortunately, we don’t currently have an automatic notification when a new postdoc joins the Faculty. We manually add a new person to our emailing list when we can identify one, but it is tricky to track everyone.  So please let us know by emailing at fos-res-fellows@auckland.ac.nz if you would like to be on our mailing list. We run a range of events throughout the year ranging from panel discussions to skills workshops and use this list to advertise events and let you know what’s going on within the society as it happens.

Best regards,

Lena Weissert

Student Levy Consultation

The Student Levy, or Compulsory Student Services Fee, is open for consultation from Monday 1 July – Friday 2 August. There is five $50 Westfield Shopping vouchers to be won.
Complete the Student Levy Survey and tell us how you think the compulsory fee should be spent at the University in 2020. The survey can be found here
Please find the Flyer here

Open Day 2019 – ambassadors

UOA is looking for 200-odd student ambassadors (including UniGuides) to help for a full day on Open Day, doing tasks such as transport coordination, help desks, lecture support, SkyBus help and other misc. tasks. As a thank you for volunteering your time and support, you will be provided with lunch on the day and a Westfield voucher.
More information and sign up form for students: https://forms.gle/aQUr7vCWB66ncKSy5

Datamine graduate recruitment information evening:

Wondering where your degree in science, statistics, computer science or technology can take you? Datamine is on the search for Auckland University students and near-graduates to join their growing team.
Date: Tuesday 6 August
Time: 5pm
Place: 23 Symonds Street, MedChem Lecture Theatre, Science Building.
Spaces are limited. Please book your spot through our website or by contacting Datamine at grads@datamine.com.

Please find the Flyer here

Thank you!

INCREDIBLE SCIENCE DAY 

We would like to thank all of our outreach volunteers from AUGA, DEVORA, QuakeCore, Rū, and UOA geography who helped with several tables at The University of Auckland’s Incredible Science day on July 2nd. There were over 500 students, teachers and parents from around the Auckland region. It was a successful day enjoyed by all. Anna and Shannen.

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Rangahau – Research

PhD student Kate Cocker working with Phil Shane using the electron microprobe at Victoria University in Wellington last week. She is analysing crystals in andesites from Ruapehu volcano. The aim to understand how magma ascends to the surface.

Financial Reports

 The Budget Availability Report (BAR) sent to researchers each month will be retired at the end of July. An enhanced report is available through Strategic Management Report (SMR) research dashboards.

The dashboard provides detailed reports of the HOD and RDA accounts and all research projects that you are a PI on. It has updated data from the previous working day.

An eLearning module entitled ‘Research Funding Dashboards for Researchers’ has been created – with a PI specific view.

The school’s RPCs can help if you have any questions, how to access and interpret the dashboard.

Meetings, seminars and events

Registrations for Exposure 2019 open 29 July

Get ready for Exposure 2019! The University’s biggest postgraduate research expo is back this October. Whether you want to compete in the Poster Session or Oral Presentation Session, prepare your abstract and be ready to submit when registrations open on 29 July.

 In 2018, Science students won first and second place in the poster competition and won second place in the oral presentation.

With a total prize fund of $7,500, can you afford to miss it?

 Find dates, details and resources at auckland.ac.nz/exposure.

‘Ken Cumberland and Historical Geography – (or why I’m an ambivalent social scientist)’

Tuesday 6^th August at 4.00pm in the Ontology Lab on Level 5 of Building 302

Speaker: Professor Michael Roche, Massey University, Palmerston North

Please find the flyer here.

Research Ideas Seminar – Our World and Universe

You’re cordially invited to the second in the series of Our World and Universe seminars on Wednesday 14 August at 2-4pm.

The focus of the seminar will be for YOU to present YOUR current research project ideas – whether it be for MBIE, Marsden, industry or for internal funding. Any project idea is welcome, no matter how new or developed it may be! The main aim is for all of us to share our interests and connect to others outside of our immediate disciplines.

$$$$! – Anyone who gets involved in the session and presents will be eligible to receive SEED MONEY for their project idea: There are two prizes worth $4K (for research staff) and two prizes worth $2K (for postgraduate research students).

And if the money isn’t enough of an incentive, we will have free food and drinks too!

Any topic that relates to the theme in any aspect is welcome. As a reminder, the theme has three main focus areas:

• Earth. The study of our oceans, climate and geological systems; Life and it’s development, from mitochondria to megafauna.

• Space. Remote sensing and space technology; Exploration of the stars, galaxies and supernovae; All things ‘Astro’.

• Fundamental Questions. The origins and evolution of life; The philosophy of biology and enaction; Complex networks and machine learning.

The format of the session will be for you and other members come by, create a quick write up of your idea on a whiteboard on the day, and present these to the room. We ran this format in April in a similar session, and had a great response – if you’d like to take a look, click here to find out more about the talks.

Please RSVP to this email to sign up, with a few words that describe your idea/talk.

Journal Editors Workshop – Auckland Monday 26 August

The Journal Editors Workshop will be held across 2 locations: (View online)

AUCKLAND
Monday 26 August
9.00am – 11.30am
Auckland University of Technology

WELLINGTON
Tuesday 27 August
9.00am – 11.30am
Victoria University of Wellington

Featured speaker: Dr Anthony Dona

What you will discover at the workshop:

• Journal Selection Criteria and Improving your Publication – Understand how journals are selected and analysed in Web of Science.
• Enhancing your Impact Factor and the State of Open Access – Understand how to use the Impact Factor Metric, and its limitations. Learn about other valuable bibliometric indicators and the trends of these in open access journals.
• Find Peer Reviewers and Publons Profiles – Discover where academics are editing and reviewing journals like your own.

Please register here.

Marine Geosciences Talk

 Wed 24/7, 1-2 pm

CAG01/114-G01 (Commerce A)

 Fish predators maintain estuarine biodiversity and benefit a critical ecosystem engineer

 Joseph Reustle
Smee Marine Ecology Lab
Texas A&M University

A Prognosis on Privacy: Are We Equipped for Emerging Challenges?

 David Swanlund is a visiting PhD Candidate from Simon Fraser University in Canada. He will be giving a talk on modern Geo Privacy issues and solutions next week. David’s excellent work has been published in Progress in Human Geography and the Annals of the AAG, and his has most recently won an award for his talk at the Spatial Knowledge and Information conference in Canada.

 The abstract for his talk is as follows:

Whether it’s Cambridge Analytica, revelations about government surveillance, or the seemingly endless breaches of corporate databases, privacy is often marked by scandal. As a result of this constant exposure, surveys show that members of the public are increasingly worried about their privacy and are feeling less confident that they understand how corporations and governments are collecting, analyzing, and sharing their data. But what exactly is privacy anyways, where are its edges, and why do privacy scholars so often disagree over these seemingly basic questions? Moreover, why might we look at privacy through an explicitly spatial lens (i.e. geoprivacy), and what does spatial data reveal about us that other forms of data do not? Finally, what can we as researchers do to better protect the spatial privacy of the individuals in our datasets? This presentation will explore each of these questions, and in doing so will outline emerging problems in the study, protection, and even conceptualization of privacy.

 Hope you will be able to join us in the Ontology Lab for a talk that is sure to be of interest for all of the school of environment as we all have data that requires security and has privacy considerations. If you think others outside of the school would be interested, please feel free to invite them as well. There will be cookies! 

Details:

Thursday, July 25. 

Talk 2-2:30, discussion thereafter.

Ontology Lab,B302, Level 5. Rm. 551

Funding Opportunities

RSNZ Rutherford Foundation 2019

The objectives of the Rutherford Foundation Fellowships and Scholarships are to support the education and development of promising excellent early career researchers with the potential to excel in a research environment.

Due to Funds & Submissions by 5pm Tuesday 23 July 2019.

Information and guidelines : Rutherford Foundation

 FRDF

 The updated documents for the 2019 Round are now available on the Faculty of Science intranet

https://www.sciencestaff.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/research/faculty-research-development-fund.html

Applications are due by 5pm on Wednesday 24^th July and should be submitted via the RFM – contact your RPC Ivana Mlinac i.mlinac@auckland.ac.nz if you have any queries.

Vice-Chancellor’s Strategic Development Fund (VCSDF).

Applications must support the University’s Strategic Plan and have sufficient impact to justify immediate funding. Applications can be made by any individual staff member or group of staff, academic unit or service division.

VCSDF applications close at 5pm on Friday 16th August.

More information and an application form are available on the staff intranet at Vice-Chancellor’s Strategic Development Fund 2019

New publications

1. Simon-Kumar, R., Collins, F.L. & Friesen, W. (eds) (2019) Intersections of inequality, migration and diversification: the politics of mobility in Aotearoa/NewZealand. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
2. Friesen, W. (2019) ‘Quantifying and qualifying inequality among migrants’ in R. Simon-Kumar, F.L. Collins, & W. Friesen (eds), Intersections of inequality, migration and diversification: the politics of mobility in Aotearoa/NewZealand. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 17-42.
3. Shirley, G., Wylie, E., & Friesen, W. (2019) ‘The branding of post-conflict tourism destinations: theoretical reflections and case studies’, in A. Neef and J.H. Grayman (eds), The tourism-disaster-conflict nexus. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Ltd, pp 119-139.
4. Underhill-Sem, Y, Marsters, E., Bedford, R., Naidu, V. & Friesen, W., (2019) Are there only winners? Labour mobility for sustainable development in the Pacific. New Zealand Institute for Pacific Research, Auckland. 48 pp.
5. PhD student Megan Tuck has just published a paper in Geology. The paper has been covered by various media organisations. Link to one piece below.Tuck, M. E., Kench, P. S., Ford, M. R., & Masselink, G. (2019). Physical modelling of the response of reef islands to sea-level rise. Geology.https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/114265809/some-islands-get-higher-migrate-as-sea-levels-rise-storms-intensify-auckland-university-researchers

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Ako – Teaching and Learning

Teaching Excellence Awards

Applications are being called for The University of Auckland Teaching Excellence Awards. There are five Teaching Excellence Awards available, in the following categories:

• Sustained Excellence in Teaching (two awards)
• Early Career Excellence in Teaching (two awards)
• Leadership in Teaching and Learning (one award)
• In the 2019 round, applications are invited for formal leadership in teaching and learning*

In a particular year, if an award is not made in one or more of the categories, an award may be re-assigned to another category if the next best ranked application in that category is of sufficient merit. The Awards are contestable across the University and carry with them a medal and a monetary prize of $6,000.

Selected recipients of University of Auckland Teaching Excellence Awards will usually be considered for nomination by the University for the national awards. The University, however, reserves the right to approach other staff to nominate for the national awards.

The ‘Information to applicants’ and application forms are available on the University’s Teaching and Learning website at:

http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/excellence-innovation/

For guidance and advice on preparing a teaching portfolio, potential applicants can:

–       view the portfolios of the University’s national Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award winners as an example of best practice

–       consult the online resources available on the Centre for Learning and Research in Higher Education (CLeaR) website

–       submit a request for a consultation with CLeaR

The closing date for applications is Friday 6 September 2019 with the Teaching Excellence Awards Secretary, Susan McDowell-Watts, s.mcdowell-watts@auckland.ac.nz

For any enquiries – contact Claire Walters, Academic Reviews Manager, Office of the Vice-Chancellor, c.walters@auckland.ac.nz

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Classifieds

Free 3-seater sofa

In great condition, except for the cat damage to the arms and the base :-(. Don’t take it if you’re allergic to cats. But, if you  need a couch for the flat this could be a goodie. Email JR.

Are you good at graphics? Want some work?

If you make great visual posters and want some paid work, I’m keen to have a chat to you. Email JR.

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Copy deadline for next edition of P-cubed: Friday 12:00 2nd August, to Farnaz: f.sheikh@auckland.ac.nz

HeadSup

Kia ora koutou

It’s Matariki –  Māori New Year – a time for remembering those who have gone before us, celebrating new life and planting new crops. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the care that has been shown since the Christchurch massacre, and the efforts that have been made to reassert the values that we would like to underpin our society. Teaching semesters are a demanding time for staff and students alike, with no end of work from start to finish. This one has been harder than most but we are almost done, with just a few exams left. As we move beyond Matariki, I hope everyone finds time to recharge ready for a productive and rewarding Semester 2.

In amongst the hard work it is always great to find joyful moments. The Pecha Kucha presentations (and MC) at the recent ENV staff retreat were a highlight – who knew dogs could be so versatile? Special thanks to our brave presenters – you were brilliant and most assuredly have alternate careers in stand-up comedy. For those interested, I have collated the ‘framing’ responses from JC’s activity here. If you have comments or corrections please send them through to me – there will be misinterpretations of intent so do set me straight where I have strayed. We will follow up on some of the priorities over the next few months.

If you are in the office on Wednesday 3 July please join me at 10.30 am for a morning tea to celebrate the end of Semester 1 and to welcome Sonia Fonua, our new PTF in Pacific pedagogy and Environmental Science, into the school.

Ngā mihi – JR

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For Your Diary

Deadlines	Date & Location
Nomination of Examiners for Masters students- to m.johannisson-wallman@auckland.ac.nz	28th June 2019
Application to be on the Rhodes selection panel	end June – to j.harding@auckland.ac.nz
Distinguished Visitor Awards- contact RPC Ivana Mlinac i.mlinac@auckland.ac.nz for more information.	1st July 2019
Professorial promotion applications – send to John Hosking, see here for info	1st July 2019
Feedback due on draft Code of Conduct – see here	14th July 2019–to claire.hall@auckland.ac.nz
Approved staff unavailability form (AS-87) for 2020- to m.johannisson-wallman@auckland.ac.nz	15th July 2019
Māori & Pacific Welcome, Semester 2	Wednesday, 17th July, 9-10am Waipapa Marae
FRDF grants -contact RPC Ivana Mlinac i.mlinac@auckland.ac.nz for more information.	24th July
NZ Association of Scientist Medals	31 July, 2019
Other Events
“Demystifying research support in the Faculty of Science”. –  room 423-340	2nd July  (Tuesday) 11– 12pm

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Whakawhanaungatanga – communities

Spaces and systems

IMPORTANT: Environment Vehicle Hire booking 

The vehicle booking site has been moved to the new URL. Please start using the new URL.

https://carscience.fos.auckland.ac.nz

New multi-use room

The new multi-use room, 302.586 (formerly Document Analysis Lab) is available for use. While microscopes are set up in this space permanently, the School has an ad-hoc booking system for other users. There is a whiteboard on the door where anyone can book the room. The room has blockout curtains, chairs (10) and a mobile smart TV. If you have any questions about using this space please direct them to Blair (b.sowman@auckland.ac.nz). Please leave the room tidy and clean.

Events

The Earth Sciences Bickie briefing

The Earth Sciences Bickie briefing runs every Thursday morning at 10.30am in the Level 6 Breakout space- B302. All post grads and staff welcome.

University of Auckland Senior Common Room (aka the Staff Club)

School of Environment staff that participated in the recent School retreat at Old Government House (OGH) will be familiar with the facilities available. However, few are probably aware that the facilities are maintained by the Senior Common Room (SCR). Membership of the SCR is open to all staff (professional and academic) and PhD students for the price of $4.43/fortnight for the former and $25/year for the latter. Given the cost of the subsidized (to members) beverages on offer your membership dues will be recouped in a few visits. Note that membership also entitles you to 10% discount on food and drinks purchased from the Montana Café (sorry, not the Buttery Bar).

To ease the process of joining the SCR please find the Staff and PhD membership forms.

Staff: simply type in your details and decide whether to pay automatic fortnightly deductions of $4.43 from your salary by emailing the completed membership form to: scradmin@auckland.ac.nz. Alternatively you are welcome to pay the annual subscription in full at the SCR bar.

PhD students: pay the annual subscription at the SCR bar. The completed form can be handed over to the bar staff with the receipt signifying payment, or, email copies of both to: scradmin@auckland.ac.nz

The SCR looks forward to welcoming more ENV staff and PhD students as members.

Congratulations

PhD success

On Friday 14th Linda Madden successfully passed her PhD oral examination. Her thesis is Pet Names: A critical Geography of Non-human Identity Construction in Auckland City – Linda Madden (supervised by Robin Kearns and Ward Friesen)

Outreach

Linking with secondary schools

The PORO lab hosted Danielle Meek, a year-12 student from Carmel College. Danielle contacted Mila to have a 2 day work experience opportunity in an area she is passionate about pursuing. We measured physical properties a few of rocks from Bothers Volcano and she met with PhD students: Jonathan, Shreya and Steve. She hopes to become an undergraduate student in geophysics/earthscience in a year and a half!

Volunteer position

The DEVORA (Determining Volcanic Risk in Auckland) and AUGA (Auckland University Geoscience Association) are participating in the Incredible Science Day held at The University of Auckland on July 2nd and we are looking for volunteers. We will be showing groups of intermediate-aged school kids the wonders of volcanoes, earthquakes, rocks and fossils, and even some geography! No experience is required, and we will teach you what you need to know.
The event runs from 10-2, so please get in touch (contact smil265@aucklanduni.ac.nz) if you have a spare couple of hours!

Our website content

Over the last few weeks, the Comms and Marketing team have been working with JR to migrate the School of Environment website content to the new University format. The first section of this work is now complete and Emily Gordon has added the Environment homepage to the Faculty of Science main menu.

You can find the new homepage by navigating to Science on the University website (https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/science.html ) and clicking the Environment link from the About the Faculty drop-down menu.

Our next step is to set up redirects to link the classic pages to the new content. This change will affect several pages on the old site including, our department, our people, future undergraduates, future postgraduates, and current students. It will not affect the research section or course pages at this stage.

Once the redirects are in place, you may find that some of your bookmarks automatically redirect to the new content.

Please be aware that, due to the nature of the new site many pages will look different and some content may be located in a different place from where it was historically. We have done our best to ensure that all pages are redirected to the most appropriate alternative.

If you have any problems finding something try using the website’s search function in the first instance. If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, or you notice any inaccuracies, please contact Emily Gordon (emily.gordon@auckland.ac.nz) or Cate Hennessy (c.henessy@auckland.ac.nz), who looks after the School of Environment web pages.

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Rangahau – Research

Funding Opportunities

Faculty Research Development Fund (FRDF)

The updated documents for the 2019 Round are now available on the Faculty of Science intranet
https://www.sciencestaff.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/research/faculty-research-development-fund.html 

Applications are due by 5.00 pm on Wednesday 24th July and should be submitted via the RFM – contact your RPC Ivana Mlinac i.mlinac@auckland.ac.nz if you have any queries.
Note the application form is not the same as last year so please use the 2019 version.

Vice-Chancellor’s Strategic Development Fund (VCSDF)

Applications must support the University’s Strategic Plan and have sufficient impact to justify immediate funding. Applications can be made by any individual staff member or group of staff, academic unit or service division.
VCSDF applications close at 5pm on Friday 16th August.
More information and an application form are available on the staff intranet at Vice-Chancellor’s Strategic Development Fund 2019

RSNZ Rutherford Foundation 2019

The objectives of the Rutherford Foundation Fellowships and Scholarships are to support the education and development of promising excellent early career researchers with the potential to excel in a research environment.
Due to Funds & Submissions by 5pm Tuesday 23 July 2019.
Information and guidelines : Rutherford Foundation

Kate Edger Post Doctoral Awards 2019

To assist women who have qualified to graduate with a doctoral degree within the last two years to carry out research on a specified, independent project at an approved Institute in the Auckland area.
Due to Funds & Submissions by 5pm Tuesday 11 July 2019.
Information and guidelines: Kate Edger

Undergrad students Scholarships

The closing date is on 30th June 2019

Dulcie Bowman Memorial Scholarship

A Scholarship of $4,500 to support women students with a hearing disability who are enrolled in undergraduate or postgraduate study.

For more details please click HERE.

Professor Michael Walker Scholarship for Māori and Pacific Students
A $3,000 Scholarship for Māori and Pacific students currently enrolled in their final year of undergraduate study and who are enrolling full-time or part-time in postgraduate study in the following year.

Fore more details please click HERE

Meetings, seminars and events

“Demystifying research support in the Faculty of Science”.   Jan Lindsay, Associate Dean Research

Learn more about funding and support available for researchers. Get to know the ‘RPC’s – SoE research support team (Vanessa Castro, Ivana Mlinac and Amy Weir) and how they can assist you.

2nd July  (Tuesday), 11– 12pm, Room 423-340 (across the road from 23 Symonds street)

 #SummerOfSolutions United Nations initiative

This global call-to-action invites young technologists, designers, entrepreneurs, and other creative minds to imagine and build open-source technology solutions for tackling global challenges. The 2019 focus is on climate change, and solutions are expected to enable circular economies, develop ethical fashion, and improve climate information.

This initiative is organized by the United Nations Secretary-General ‘s Envoy on Youth, the United Nations Technology Innovation Labs, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Unite Ideas platform of the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology.

The best #SummerOfSolutions will be featured at the United Nations Climate Action Summit 2019 (New York, USA), 23 September 2019, and may have the potential to receive support to become real enterprises.

Participation can range from simply submitting an idea to developing full fledge solutions, but in every case, getting involved should prove rewarding for both students and faculty.

Details, registration information and challenge deadlines are available through the Unite Ideas platform: https://uniteideas.spigit.com/.

The three challenges have already kicked off and the competition is ongoing! The first deadline is this July 3rd. 

PhD submission seminar

The PhD Student Committee invites everyone to the Research Seminar by Paul Oluwunmi presenting the work of his PhD after thesis submission. Come along and learn about “Numerical modelling of the response of marine gas hydrate bearing sediment to dissociation after depressurization; case studies for tectonic uplift, sealevel lowering, and gas hydrate production.” and celebrate Paul for this great achievement.
Please see details HERE.
Tuesday, July 9th at 4-5pm in 302-G20

Also, one of his publications has now been published online. It is open-access available at: https://www.sci-dril.net/25/47/2019/

Publications:

Towards characterising rhyolitic tephra layers from New Zealand with rapid, non-destructive μ-XRF core scanning

LeoniePeti, Paul C.Augustinus, Patricia S.Gadd, Sarah J.Davies

You can read the full paper HERE

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Ako – Teaching and Learning

Ako Innovation Committee: Teaching & Learning Fund

The purpose of this fund is to promote the development of innovative teaching and learning practices within the School of Environment which promote a culture of teaching excellence. These funds will be distributed in one contestable round, with grants of up to $6000. The total pool of funds available in 2019 is $12000. Grants to individuals or groups of teaching active staff will be used to fund small-scale teaching initiatives that have an impact on teaching practice for the benefit of learners.
All applications should be received by 15/07/2019.
See Ako Innovation Committee Teaching & Learning Fund: Grant Guidelines and 2019 Application Form for AKO Teaching and Learning Innovation Grant.
https://www.coursebuilder.cad.auckland.ac.nz/flexicourses/4101/publish/1/14.html
Any questions please contact Mel Wall.

IODP Expedition 386: Japan Trench Paleoseismology

Applications are invited from scientists in countries participating in IODP to join the Science Party for IODP Expedition 386: Japan Trench Paleoseismology.

Scientists with expertise relevant to the objectives of the proposal may apply. DEADLINE 5 July 2019

For more information and to apply HERE

Computer lab. images for semester two:

If there are any requests for software titles to be added to the Science Computer lab image for semester 2 2019 could we please have these forwarded to Sean Davidson directly , s.davidson@auckland.ac.nz , by 4pm, Friday the 28th June
with me (Ingo Pecher) on cc (i.pecher@auckland.ac.nz)

We will then make a test image available for acceptance testing between the 8th and the 12th July.

Information Required:
* Software name and version
* Environment in which the software should be installed (i.e. Windows/Linux/)
* Exact location that the installer and any support files can be accessed from
* Any customization’s required in installing the software (We will run the installer and select all default values unless advised otherwise)
* Licensing details of the application (is it a site license or are there a certain number of licenses? If the latter, who/where can it be used?)
* Contact details of the staff member who will test the application once it is installed and be notified of changes and updates. Additionally please provide the name of any person who can assist  with the install/configuration
* Instructions on where to download/obtain any additional custom made/home-made files needed – for example URLs
* (optional) Courses these applications will be used in
* (optional) Rooms that these applications will be used in

CALL FOR GEOSCIENCE SOCIETY OF NZ AWARD NOMINATIONS

For specific details on each award and nomination templates, visit:

http://www.gsnz.org.nz/information/awards-i-101.html

Send nominations and applications to: james.scott@otago.ac.nz by 19th September 2019.

 

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Copy deadline for next edition of P-cubed: Friday 12:00 5th July, to Farnaz: f.sheikh@auckland.ac.nz

HeadSup

Kia ora koutou

Well done everyone getting to the end of the teaching semester. Once the marking and exams are done I hope everyone gets the chance to have a good break before Semester 2 kicks-off. If you are an academic, a research fellow or a research assistant on contract, you will be accruing annual leave. If you are not saving it up for later in the year, this is a great time to take a few days off to recharge the batteries. If you a PG student with exams coming up fast, good luck and study hard.

I’m pleased to announce that Dr James Muirhead has accepted the Earth Sciences post and will be starting in mid-January 2020. We had a high number of applicants (103) for this position and a good share of excellent ones. In making the selection, the committee prioritised early career and expertise in structural geology and tectonic geomorphology. These attributes were in addition to collegiality, potential or demonstrated ability in teaching, and good values around diversity and inclusivity. James’ track record is outstanding for an early career academic and I’m delighted that he has accepted our offer. Unfortunately we have been unsuccesful in securing a new Professor for the Environmental Management position. Annie will call a meeting for those with an interest in this position to discuss options for moving forward.

Can you save our bacon? Today is the deadline for confirming the School’s contribution to ‘Incredible Science’, the annual Faculty of Science showcase for 10-12 year olds to be held on Tuesday 2 July. Usually Kate Kenedi and Neville Husdon run the day, but both are on leave this year. Mila has put her hand up to participate but we need a volunteer to coordinate the day. If you are a motivated and well-organised PG student or staff member and can devote a bit of time to this worthy cause I would love to hear from you today.

Two opportunities to ‘tautoko’ your colleagues are in this edition of p-cubed: please think about encouraging applications for the NZ Association of Scientists awards, and for the positions on the Rhodes scholar selection panel. Sometimes a little encouraging nudge can help someone have the confidence to step forward.

Lastly, the deadline for feedback on the draft ‘code of conduct’ is coming up fast. The purpose for of this code is to clarify and maintain a standard of behaviour of all members of the University of Auckland. I encourage everyone to read this document and provide feedback as appropriate.

Ngā mihi – JR

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For Your Diary

Deadlines	Date & Location
Feedback due on draft Code of Conduct – see here	14 July 2019 – to claire.hall@auckland.ac.nz
Application to be on the Rhodes selection panel	end June – to j.harding@auckland.ac.nz
Professorial promotion applications – send to John Hosking, see here for info	01 July 2019
NZ Association of Scientist Medals – applications due	31 July, 2019
Other Events
Workshop: The Writing Habits of Successful Academics, click here to register	18 Jun, 1pm in 302-140
Ako Innovation: Blended Learning Workshop	18 Jun, 10-12pm in 302-140
ENV Staff Retreat – see agenda and background info here	12 June, 8.30-5pm, Old Government House

 

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Whakawhanaungatanga – communities 

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Tom Baker who has been elected to the Council of the Royal Society Te Apā​​rangi for a three-year term as Councillor representing early career researchers.

PhD Student Megan Tuck won one of the top student paper awards at the 2019 Coastal Sediments Conference at St Pete Beach, Florida. There were over 60 student papers from around the world presented at the conference.

Mighty congratulations to Mary-Anne and Sam, and welcome Rhett Robert Clive, who arrived on 5 June, healthy and happy at 2.85kg.

News

School of Environment Dodgeball Tournament

Team Geography managed to dodge, dip, duck, and dive its way to winning the recent School of Environment Dodgeball Tournament. While geography took the honours, defeating a combined GISCI-ENVSCI team in the final, the highlight of the tournament was the performance of JR. Representing AUGA there was a moment when she found herself as the only person left on her side of the court. Completely outnumbered, JR used her knowledge of fluid flow and her ability to identify vectors, to dodge a barrage of red missiles. After lasting a remarkably long time she eventually took a hit, but not before she had gained the respect of everyone present. It would be wonderful if more staff would follow JR’s example and join in on these sports events. It really does help to foster healthy relationships between staff and students within the school.

Competition results after two events: Geography 5 points, Geospatial Club 5 points, AUGA 2 points, ENVSCI 2 points.

Geography Association Quiz

On Wednesday 5th June, 13 teams battled it out for glory in the Geography Association Quiz. In a close fought contest, the very serious  “Finalfinalteamnamev2.tif” (66 points) held on to win, finishing just ahead of “GA QUIZ: a comprehensive analysis of Joe Fagan’s ability to teach” (65 points). Taken for Granite (60 points) came in third. Hampered by their lack of youth, the two staff teams finished well off the pace. A big thank you to the GA crew for organising an excellent event and to everyone who came along.

On telly: Beneath New Zealand

Beneath NZ II started screening on prime last night – about volcanoes. Episode 3 is about Auckland and features Jan Lindsay.
https://www.primetv.co.nz/beneath-nz

National awards and service opportunities

2019 Science Medals – nominations open

Applications are invited for the following 2019 Science Medals from the New Zealand Association of Scientists (NZAS)

Marsden Medal – awarded for a lifetime of outstanding service to the cause or profession of science, in the widest connotation of the phrase.

Shorland Medal – awarded to an individual or to a team in recognition of major and continued contribution to basic or applied research that has added significantly to scientific understanding or resulted in significant benefits to society.

Hill Tinsley Medal (formerly known as the Research Medal) – awarded for outstanding fundamental or applied research in the physical, natural or social sciences published during the year of the award or the preceding three calendar years. Applicants will normally be within their first 15 years after graduating PhD as at 1 January 2019, unless career breaks extend this period.

Cranwell Medal (formerly known as the Science Communicator Medal) – made annually to a practising scientist (or group of scientists) for excellence in communicating science to the general public, in any area of science or technology. Nominations are sought from scientific organizations, scientific associations and individuals.

How to apply:

• Interested applicants should apply directly, rather than seek a nomination.
  • Please submit electronic applications. See the guidelines from the links below and email applications to: awards@scientists.org.nz and tobuchananp@LandcareResearch.co.nz by 31 July, 2019.
• Individuals or Scientific Teams (of up to five people) may apply for the Shorland and Cranwell Medals
  • Applications submitted in previous years will remain valid for five years from the original submission date (except for Hill Tinsley Medal applicants if the 15 year post-PhD limit is exceeded), but a previously submitted application should be updated annually using the current format.

For instructions and guidelines, please see:https://scientists.org.nz/2019-awards-applications or the guidelines attached to this email.

NZ Rhodes Scholars – nominations open for selection panel

See here and here for detail. Please send nominations directly to Jane Harding as NZ Secretary for the Rhodes Trust – j.harding@auckland.ac.nz.

Meetings, seminars and events

How the other half lives: A round-table discussion on collaborating across the social/natural science divide

Geography Auckland (NZGS Auckland Branch) newsletter

Please note the June Dialogues:

Date:     Tuesday 18 June

Time:     4.00pm to 5.30pm

Place:    Building 302, Room 551 (Ontology Lab)

Who:     Tom Baker and panel (Jan Lindsay, Richard Le Heron, Mark Dickson, Nick Lewis)

HR Services- Open Day (for staff)

The HR Services Team will be hosting an Open Day on Thursday, 18th of July 2019 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM in Building 302, Room 140.

This drop-in session is for employees who may have any questions in regard to things like staff benefits (superannuation), leave, retirement or anything else relating to their employment with the University.

The HRS team may also be able to assist staff and shed light on some other HR processes and workflows.

They will also have a Recruitment Consultant on hand to answer any Advertised Recruitment related queries.
For future details please click here

EAP Services e-flyer

Topics in this edition include:

• Learn encouraging tips for self-motivation
• How to improve the quality of your sleep
• Sharing happiness and the value of a smile

See here.

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Rangahau – Research

Funding Opportunities

RSNZ Rutherford Foundation 2019

The objectives of the Rutherford Foundation Fellowships and Scholarships are to support the education and development of promising excellent early career researchers with the potential to excel in a research environment.

Information and guidelines : Rutherford Foundation

 Kate Edger Post Doctoral Awards 2019

To assist women who have qualified to graduate with a doctoral degree within the last two years to carry out research on a specified, independent project at an approved Institute in the Auckland area.

Information and guidelines: Kate Edger

Pacific research, Consultancies, Teaching, Supervision

Request for information (Urgent, rather than gentle, reminder!)

I am working on a report which includes a section on the involvement of School of Environment in the Pacific islands in relation to research, consultancy, teaching and any other linkages. This includes the pre-ENV departments of Geology, Geography etc. By “Pacific” I am meaning Pacific islands i.e. NOT including NZ, Australia, Philippines etc.
Specifically it would be good to have information on you and/or colleagues in relation to:
1) Research: location, topic, how funded, dates, resulting publication(s) .
2) Consultancy: with what agency in the Pacific? location, dates, resulting reports
3) Teaching: Is there any “Pacific islands” content in the courses you teach? or in earlier versions of courses you or your predecessors taught? What is the nature of content? Were there many Pacific students in these courses?
4) Supervision: Masters and PhD theses supervised on a Pacific topic; student name and topic
5) Other linkages: with institutions not covered in the above categories? Nature of linkages etc.
As well as research etc. in the Pacific itself, please include any involvement with Pacific issues in Aotearoa NZ, and with Pacific communities in Auckland/ NZ. Also, if you are old enough to remember the 1990s, 1980s, or even the 1970s, are you aware of the Pacific work in these eras (not necessarily involving yourself)?
I appreciate your help in this; please forward this information directly to me w.friesen@auckland.ac.nz
Cheers,
Ward

Dr. Wardlow Friesen
Associate Professor of Geography
School of Environment
The University of Auckland

Meetings, seminars and events

Marine Geosciences Group meeting

Tue. 11 June, 12-1 pm (note, new time), 303-G14

Francesco Turco, who is visiting us from the University of Otago, will give a presentation on “Geostatistical methods applied to seismic data: trace interpolation and seismic inversion”

Doctoral Morning Tea | International Student Life by School of Graduate Studies

If you’re an international doctoral candidate, the next Doctoral Morning Tea is for you! Our panel of candidates from across the globe (and University) will discuss what it’s like to study for a doctorate as an international candidate. Come along on 20 June for networking, snacks and to hear and share stories, struggles, tips and tricks. Book now!
https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/doctoral-morning-tea-international-student-life-tickets-56769430896
Date and Time
Thu., 20 June 2019
9:30 am – 11:00 am
Location
iSpace (Kate Edgar Bldg Level 4)
UoA City Campus
9 Symonds Street

Towards the unbiased processing of temporal location data using machine learning

Kamil Smolak is visiting us from Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences in Poland. His talk is titled ‘Towards the unbiased processing of temporal location data using machine learning’.

Thursday 13 June, 11:00am in Building 302, Room 551 (Ontology Lab)

He will discuss the ways of predicting human mobility using geo-located data (data from mobile phones and GPS) as well as the limits of existing human mobility models.

If you are interested in meeting him for a more detailed discussion, he would be happy to do so at any time before his talk. He is based in the room 302:430.

Learning from our lakes
Biological community shifts resulting from natural and anthropogenic disturbances

Katie Brasell (PhD Proposal) Tuesday, 11th June · 12 pm · Room 302-130

 

Introductory R Workshop

The second Introductory R Workshop for 2019 is being run on July 8th and 9th. This will be led by Kevin Chang and supported by other Statistical Consultancy Centre staff.

The workshop is limited to a maximum of 40 participants. Therefore if you would like to attend please register ASAP.

As per our previous Introductory R workshops, the cost is $300 for UoA students and staff; you can pay using your PRESS account, research grant, or other UoA account. You can also opt to use a debit/credit card (however we would have to also add GST, sorry). You can find the payment authorisation form here.

The cost for non-UoA attendees is $500 + GST.

Location: Building 302 room 190.

Time and schedule:  9am till 5pm. For more details please click here

Computers: We will be using a Faculty of Science computer lab. You are also welcome to use your own laptop, however please make sure that you have downloaded R and RStudio onto your machine before the workshop (they are free to download).

Colombian National Geothermal Meeting

Research and Development to Action- November 25-28

Please click here for more details.

Publications:

Nano-enabled strategies to enhance crop nutrition and protection

Melanie Kah , Nathalie Tufenkji & Jason C. White
Nature Nanotechnology 14, 532–540 (2019)

This link should bring a pdf of the paper (https://rdcu.be/bFEMx) please try as it may be associated with some personal rights.
The two following links should redirects to the issue page where the cover appears: https://www.nature.com/nnano/ or https://www.nature.com/nnano/volumes/14/issues/6

Hartley Travers Ferrar (1879-1932) and his geological legacy in Antarctica, Egypt and New Zealand

Martin Brook and Susanna Ferrar

Earth Sciences History 38, 43-58 (2019)

See here for a copy of the paper

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Ako – Teaching and Learning

Academic matters

Masters Thesis Examiner Nominations

All staff supervising Masters Students submitting in July are requested to nominate the examiners. An AS-512R, examiner nomination form needs to be completed for each submitting student by Friday the 28th of June 2019 and submitted to Mick Johannisson-Wallman at m.johannisson-wallman@auckland.ac.nz
If you or potential examiners are going to be away in the preceding weeks, please ensure that you submit your nominations early.

You can access via the following link: AS-512R Masters Thesis or Research Portfolio worth 90 points or above (PDF)

Meetings, seminars and events

Examiners’ Meetings

For details on Semester 2 Examiners’ Meetings, and advice on preparing for these and submitting final grades, please see the ENV Academic Guide.

Blended Learning Workshop

The Ako teaching and learning innovation committee will be hosting a workshop on “Blended Learning” on the 18th of June from 10-12 in the 302-140 (MDL lab). This session is dedicated to sharing ideas on how to effectively integrate various teaching and learning tools and strategies within your courses. Topics covered include: blended learning resources available at UoA, enhancing motivation, using analytics, Canvas hacks, managing group work online, among others.

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Copy deadline for next edition of P-cubed: Friday 12:00 21st June, to Farnaz: f.sheikh@auckland.ac.nz