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Issue 142 – Tuesday 1 April 2025

April 1, 2025 • asim086

HeadsUp

I’ve been having annual performance review discussions with senior colleagues earlier this year, ahead of the salary review process in late April. It’s been a pleasure to meet  and have a sustained korero about how things are going and what the year holds for goals and objectives.

It’s also helped provide an ‘ear to the ground’ for the new (well, not-so-new) semester. Not only are student numbers up in many courses, but I also hear of widespread student enthusiasm and their sustained presence in lectures. That is very welcome, given recent years. In return let’s offer strong doses of enthusiasm and engagement.

As I’ve said before, one pair of words I’d love to banish is ‘teaching load’. Do we ever speak of ‘research load’? Whether intended or not there is an implication of burden and a need to endure in that pairing of words. We need to find joy in teaching if we don’t know it already. With very few exceptions, we are contracted to teach 40% (lecturing staff) or 80% (PTFs) of our time. If enthusiastically teaching really feels burdensome and a ‘load’, then we are probably in the wrong profession.  

Our new Dean has two strong messages filtering through to Heads of Schools: we must strive for teaching quality and be vigilant to maintaining a safe working environment.  With respect to the latter, a refreshed School Health & Safety Committee met for the first time last week ahead of the monthly FoS HSW meeting to which all Heads attend. A key message is being observant: if you see something that could be a hazard, report it.   It’s as much what could be as what is a risk.  

Looking ahead, we have graduation on May 15th.  Please plan on being there and register now to be on stage. We owe it to our students and their families to take time out and affirm their efforts. With over 70% of our revenue coming from enrolments, a response of ‘nah I’m too busy with my research’ really isn’t acceptable when graduation is only twice a year. Being present at a ceremony sits firmly at the intersection of teaching and academic citizenship and speaks to values of excellence, affirmation and collegiality.

Oh, and congratulations to Shane, Mark and Karin – all of whom I have heard on RNZ recently speaking to their research on vulcanism, sand dynamics and estuarine processes respectively. If I have missed other instances of media engagement, please let me know.

As the clocks change, enjoy these autumn days and may the enthusiasm of students be matched by yours.

Robin

Head of School

Announcements, Seminars & Events

Coastal and Marine Geoscience Group Meeting / Seminar

When: Wednesday 2 April,12-1pm | Where: Ontology Lab 302.551

School of Environment Seminar Series

When: Wednesday 9 April, 12-1pm | Where: Ontology Lab 302.551

Earth Observation Lab Quarterly Event

Horizon Europe Workshop

The EU’s flagship research and innovation program, promoting collaboration among research, industry, communities, and policymakers to address global challenges.

As interest in Horizon Europe continues to grow and funding calls for 2025 begin to emerge, we are offering support and a series of practical workshops focused on key aspects of networking with potential collaboration partners, developing your profile in Horizon Europe, project development as well as application process. These workshops are designed for researchers and research teams preparing to submit funding proposals for the upcoming 2025 calls.

Online Seminar: What to do if you’re invited to join a Horizon Europe consortium | Thursday, 10 April 2025, 10:00am – 11:00am via zoom.  

There will be a series of short presentations, including from Andrew Sporle – National Contact Point Māori, followed by a 30min live panel discussion answering your questions. Please contact us at international.research@auckland.ac.nz to receive details on how to register and obtain the zoom link. 

Oceanum Datamesh Demo

Seminar and Demonstration 15th April. 1300-1400, 302.586: The team at Oceanum have created a powerful environmental data science platform that accelerates work flows across various disciplines, from oceanography and coastal ecology to climate change adaptation. The OCEANUM.IO platform streamlines data discovery, access, and wrangling for all levels of expertise, overcoming many of the limitations and points of friction in existing data infrastructures. 

By addressing issues like file format incompatibilities and data volumes, OCEANUM.IO enables users to focus on their analysis tasks rather than the underlying data engineering – thereby promoting more effective use of their time. With more than 5000 national and international datasets already registered, and the ability for users to upload their own data, the cloud-based application is actively promoting data democratisation and reducing knowledge disparities.

Easter Tuesday closure of Building 301/302 and fire systems testing

There is a programme of work being scheduled to test the smoke detection and suppression systems in building 302 which will also affect building 301.

Sunday 6th April – access to the building will be available as normal for those with weekend access however there will be some disruption over much of the day (4+ hours) caused by:

  • Smoke detector testing which will initiate the alarm sounder in short bursts
  • Fire curtain testing (on levels G to 6) – this will be mainly silent but will affect building egress

Tuesday 22nd April (Easter Tuesday) – Given the level of disruption, this has been scheduled on the University holiday and the building will be closed for the day.

Access will only be provided to those maintaining critical infrastructure. Please contact David Jenkinson (Technical Services Manager) – d.jenkinson@auckland.ac.nz to arrange special approval.

Understanding how labs can better engage Pacific science learners

Sonia Fonua has received a Faculty of Science SOTL grant (1 year, 5k) to explore how labs can better engage Pacific science learners. If you teach labs and would like to be involved or learn more about it, please email Sonia s.fonua@auckland.ac.nz

Exploring how arts-based creative practices can engage Pacific science learners and upskill science educators

Sonia has also received a University of Auckland TeachWell Grant (two years, 20k) to explore how arts-based creative practices can engage Pacific science learners and upskill science educators. This builds on the FoS SOTL grant which she received last year, so if you were involved in that you are welcome join in again. If you would like to know more information please let Sonia know, really happy to have a chat!

Media contribution by Thomas Dowling

Radar reflectors in the news again! Successful field trials in the sub-Antarctic islands: https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/life-saving-reflector-tested-successfully.

Introductory R Workshop

An introductory R Workshop is being run on Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th of April 2025. The course will be run by the Statistical Consulting Centre (SCC) in the Department of Statistics. Below are the details of the workshop and attachments: R Workshop Registration Form April 2025     Introduction to R schedule

  • Introduction
    • Getting familiar with R
    • Using R Studio and loading projects/scripts
    • Basic functions using R
    • Reading in Data Files (.csv, .xls/.xlsx)
    • Introduction to R Objects. How R thinks (vectors, matrices, basic data formats)
  • Working with data(sets)
    • Cleaning and subsetting
    • Merging datasets and reformatting
    • Grouping variables and summarising
  • R graphics
    • Starting with plots in R (boxplots, histograms, bar graphs)
    • Graphics in R with ggplot2 (customising plots)
  • Data analysis
    • Introduction to performing t-tests, chi-square tests, ANOVA, and general linear models
  • Cost
    • The cost is $400 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 will have to also add GST for this type of payment: please contact Joei Mudaliar j.mudaliar@auckland.ac.nz for further instructions.
    • The payment authorisation form for UoA participants paying from a UoA account is attached.
    • The cost for non-UoA attendees is $650 + GST. Please contact Joei Mudaliar (j.mudaliar@auckland.ac.nz) for payment instructions.

We will be sending out a pre-workshop information email the week prior to the course, however here are some of the details:

  • Location: We will be in room 302.190. Building 302 is on the corner of Symonds St and Wellesley St. The room we will be using is on level 1, room 160.
  • Time and schedule: We will start at 9am and finish at 5pm. Morning and afternoon tea will be provided, and there are cafes nearby for lunch.
  • 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). We will also include some instructions on how to do this in our pre-workshop information email.
  • Access to computers and the internet: We will arrange access to the lab computers for all non-UoA participants. We will also have a guest wireless password for non-UoA participants who are bringing their own laptops. UoA staff and students will be able to access the FoS computers using their normal UoA upi and password.

For any further queries please contact Joei Mudaliar j.mudaliar@auckland.ac.nz

Health Safety & Wellbeing

The new dean is introducing big changes to how the Faculty and the Schools are going to operate and a big part of it is an overhaul to HSW. There are changes in progress to Faculty and School committees. Compliance is being looked at in detail and all the processes to identify and manage risks are being refreshed. This is a process that will take a while, and we can expect few bumps in the road but the end result is going to be a safer environment that we all can be proud of.

FLU VACCINE

Flu vaccine campaign kick starts on April, please see the information in this link: 2025 influenza vaccination for staff and students – The University of Auckland

Reporting incidents

There is systemic underreporting of HSW matters in the School and Faculty. Please follow the link to familiarise yourself with incident reporting. We must not only report incidents with injuries. There are three categories to report:

  • Observation, report an observation when you notice an unsafe condition or a positive comment about facilities, systems or people.
  • Incident: Any mishap that did not involved injury but could have potentially caused harm
  • Injury: Report any injury to an employee, student, contractor or visitor during a work activity. This is also required to be done when working from home. ACC claims will depend on the report. There is not such a thing as a small report.

Spotlight

We want to put the spotlight on two important dates coming up:

2 April is World Autism Awareness Day: please visit the website  Home – Autism NZ to learn more about autism

7 April is World Health Day

 

 

 

 

Funding Calls

Spencer Foundation: Small Research Grants

This fund is intended to support education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education.  This program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not in response to a specific request for a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or location. Goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.

  • Value: up to USD50,000 (circa NZD85,600
  • Duration: up to a maximum duration of 60 months
  • Internal Deadline: 12pm, Monday 7th April
  • Further Information (funding call, guidelines website). 

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST

RSNZ: Catalyst: Seeding (Round1)

Catalyst seeding fund aims to supports activities that initiate, develop and foster collaborations leveraging international science and innovation for New Zealand’s benefit.

Notable eligibility changes for the 2025 funding opportunities: the Catalyst Fund investment plan (released in December 2024) identifies six priority research areas, which are:

  • Quantum technology
  • Health and biomedicine
  • Biotechnologies
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Antarctic research
  • Space and Earth observations

 *Note that 75% of the awarded Catalyst: Seeding contracts will be expected to be made up of proposals that align with the priority research areas. The remaining 25% of awarded contracts can be in any field of research including social sciences and the humanities.

  • Value: Seeding General: up to $80,000 (excl. GST)
  • Duration: for up to two years
  • Internal Deadline: 12pm, Tuesday 08 April 2025
  • Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info). 

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST

RSNZ: Catalyst Leaders (Round 1)

This fund aims to supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding schemes are open in Round 1

  • International Leader Fellowships (up to 3 awards): 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.
  • Julius von Haast Fellowship Award (up to 1 award): Supports an internationally recognised researcher from Germany to undertake research in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for 3 years.
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellowships (up to 4 awards): Supports excellent New Zealand post-doctoral researchers to do research in Japan for 12-24 months.
  • New Zealand – China Scientist Exchange Programme (up to 10 Awards): Supports the development of research linkages with China by enabling New Zealand researchers to visit Chinese research organisations for 2-6 weeks.
  • Value:
    • International Leader Fellowships: up to $50,000 per annum.
    • JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship: Flights, insurance and living allowance.
    • Julius von Haast Fellowship Award: up to $50,000 per annum.
    • New Zealand-China Scientist Exchange Programme: Flights, insurance and living allowance.
  • Internal Deadline: 12pm, Tuesday 08 April 2025
  • Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info). 

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST

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Issue 141 – Tuesday 18 March 2025

March 18, 2025 • asim086

HeadsUp

Along with Tom Baker, over recent months I’ve had the pleasure of participating in a leadership programme named Puhoro. One of its brilliant aspects is that the kaleidoscope of senior university staffing has been given a shake and cohorts are mixed in together from across the range of roles and expertise. Quite aside from the valuable input, it’s offered rich insight into how the university operates through exposure to a diversity people often invisible to most of us who keep the engine room of the organisation ticking over.

Names are invariable chosen carefully. In te reo ‘Puhoro’ means “a type of tattoo design, often found on the thighs and buttocks, which symbolizes strength, resilience, and the interconnectedness of life, often representing the wake left by a waka”.  I wasn’t left with a souvenir tattoo, but a sense that resilience and strength in any large institution like ours is aided by strong relationships and a culture that acknowledges interconnectedness.

The waka reference in the definition was built into the programme with a day devoted to paddling as teams on the harbour. Sadly my participation was ruled out by the recency of surgery but the powerful image of a waka remains as I reflect on more local interconnectedness in our School. A waka’s clear trajectory through the water is reliant on a unified commitment by paddlers with few instructions needed by a navigator.

Once again, I have been struck by how this work ethic prevails as a modus operandi in the School. It’s a gift when, as Head, one needs to step back for a while and reminded that the team keeps paddling with few instructions needed from the sidelines. I am very grateful for that. Certainly, there are ocean swells and the wakes of other vessels to navigate and so always issues to grapple with. That’s organisational life. But as I look back on the last month  I am both grateful for Tom being Acting Head and, more recently, for the ease of being a Head-at-a-distance as I get on my feet again.

To be part of a team in which there is a collective recognition that we all do our bit without being asked or reminded is a gift indeed. As my poet friend Gregory O’Brien expresses it metaphorically “If we all carry each other, no one will have to walk”.

Ngā mihi mahana

Robin

Events & Announcements

All are invited to the School BBQ on Friday 21st March @ 12 noon

Community of Interest: Communicating Research to the Media and the Public (In-person forum 2)

The second in-person gathering is being held for academics interested in joining a network to share experience and advice on communicating research to media and the public.

When: Thursday 27 March, 12-1pm | Where: LG002 Seminar Room, 28 Park Ave, Grafton

Hear from guest speaker Nicola Gaston on her experience with media. Learn how to distil key messages and we can share news on storytelling workshops. The Community of Interest has been developed by academics for academics to offer an open and safe space to talk about communicating with the public and the media about research. Light refreshments will be served. For enquiries, please contact gilbert.wong@auckland.ac.nz

CAPEX 2025

Proposals for CAPEX purchases in the upcoming round are now being solicited.  Please fill out the following form by 31 March.  https://auckland.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4Og4JcE5R8VQlPo

Please provide realistic cost and use estimates and only list people who have been consulted and who support the application.  We’ll be arranging to have a member of the CAPEX committee to have a quick chat with applicants so the committee fully understands the proposal.  If you have questions contact Kevin (k.simon@auckland.ac.nz).

Understanding how labs can better engage Pacific science learners

Sonia Fonua has received a Faculty of Science SOTL grant (1 year, 5k) to explore how labs can better engage Pacific science learners. If you teach labs and would like to be involved or learn more about it, please email Sonia s.fonua@auckland.ac.nz

Exploring how arts-based creative practices can engage Pacific science learners and upskill science educators

Sonia has also received a University of Auckland TeachWell Grant (two years, 20k) to explore how arts-based creative practices can engage Pacific science learners and upskill science educators. This builds on the FoS SOTL grant which she received last year, so if you were involved in that you are welcome join in again. If you would like to know more information please let Sonia know, really happy to have a chat!

ANZIC Prize for Best Student Publication

Attention Post-Grad Students! Do you have a great publication relating to scientific drilling?

ANZIC – The Australian & New Zealand International Scientific Drilling Consortium – is proud to announce their new Prize for Best Student Publication in scientific drilling! As an ANZIC member, students from <<YOUR INSTITUTION>> are eligible to nominate! This award aims to foster community, celebrate excellence, and recognise outstanding contributions to scientific drilling research. This is your chance to gain recognition, connect with leading scientists, and win an all-expenses-paid trip to present at the 2025 ANZIC Forum in Auckland!

Learn more: https://www.iodp.org.au/anzic-prize-for-best-student-publication/

Horizon Europe Workshop

The EU’s flagship research and innovation program, promoting collaboration among research, industry, communities, and policymakers to address global challenges.

As interest in Horizon Europe continues to grow and funding calls for 2025 begin to emerge, we are offering support and a series of practical workshops focused on key aspects of networking with potential collaboration partners, developing your profile in Horizon Europe, project development as well as application process. These workshops are designed for researchers and research teams preparing to submit funding proposals for the upcoming 2025 calls.

Online Seminar: What to do if you’re invited to join a Horizon Europe consortium | Thursday, 10 April 2025, 10:00am – 11:00am via zoom.  

There will be a series of short presentations, including from Andrew Sporle – National Contact Point Māori, followed by a 30min live panel discussion answering your questions. Please contact us at international.research@auckland.ac.nz to receive details on how to register and obtain the zoom link. 

Media contribution by Salene Schloffel-Armstrong and Robin Kearns

DarkSky designation can mitigate ‘privatisation of celestial sphere’

The expansion of satellite activity has, in part, led to the increased push by certain communities to seek DarkSky certification by Salene Schloffel-Armstrong and Robin Kearns 13/4/2025 https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/03/13/darksky-designation-can-mitigate-privatisation-of-celestial-sphere/

Introductory R Workshop

An introductory R Workshop is being run on Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th of April 2025. The course will be run by the Statistical Consulting Centre (SCC) in the Department of Statistics. Below are the details of the workshop and attachments: R Workshop Registration Form April 2025     Introduction to R schedule

  • Introduction
    • Getting familiar with R
    • Using R Studio and loading projects/scripts
    • Basic functions using R
    • Reading in Data Files (.csv, .xls/.xlsx)
    • Introduction to R Objects. How R thinks (vectors, matrices, basic data formats)
  • Working with data(sets)
    • Cleaning and subsetting
    • Merging datasets and reformatting
    • Grouping variables and summarising
  • R graphics
    • Starting with plots in R (boxplots, histograms, bar graphs)
    • Graphics in R with ggplot2 (customising plots)
  • Data analysis
    • Introduction to performing t-tests, chi-square tests, ANOVA, and general linear models
  • Cost
    • The cost is $400 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 will have to also add GST for this type of payment: please contact Joei Mudaliar j.mudaliar@auckland.ac.nz for further instructions.
    • The payment authorisation form for UoA participants paying from a UoA account is attached.
    • The cost for non-UoA attendees is $650 + GST. Please contact Joei Mudaliar (j.mudaliar@auckland.ac.nz) for payment instructions.

We will be sending out a pre-workshop information email the week prior to the course, however here are some of the details:

  • Location: We will be in room 302.190. Building 302 is on the corner of Symonds St and Wellesley St. The room we will be using is on level 1, room 160.
  • Time and schedule: We will start at 9am and finish at 5pm. Morning and afternoon tea will be provided, and there are cafes nearby for lunch.
  • 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). We will also include some instructions on how to do this in our pre-workshop information email.
  • Access to computers and the internet: We will arrange access to the lab computers for all non-UoA participants. We will also have a guest wireless password for non-UoA participants who are bringing their own laptops. UoA staff and students will be able to access the FoS computers using their normal UoA upi and password.

For any further queries please contact Joei Mudaliar j.mudaliar@auckland.ac.nz

Health Safety & Wellbeing

As autumn begins, it’s important to adjust your health routine to stay well during the changing season. Here are some tips to help you stay healthy:

  1. Get Your Flu Shot: Autumn marks the start of flu season, so getting vaccinated can help protect you from the flu. Vaccination for flu virus becomes available on 1 April 2025.
  2. Boost Your Immune System: Eat a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables, stay hydrated, and get enough sleep to keep your immune system strong.
  3. Stay Active: Even as the weather cools, try to maintain regular physical activity. Outdoor activities like walking or hiking can be enjoyable in the crisp autumn air.
  4. Dress in Layers: The weather can be unpredictable, so dressing in layers helps you stay comfortable throughout the day.
  5. Prepare for Allergies: Fall allergies can be bothersome. Keep windows closed on high pollen days and consider using an air purifier.
  6. Stay Hydrated: It’s easy to forget to drink water when it’s cooler, but staying hydrated is just as important in autumn as in summer.
  7. Plan for Daylight Savings: Gradually adjust your sleep schedule to prepare for the time change and ensure you get enough rest
  8. Mental Health: As days get shorter, some people may experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Light therapy and staying active can help manage symptoms.

These tips can help you enjoy a healthy and vibrant autumn. Do you have any specific concerns or questions about staying healthy this season?

There is also a response in place to fight the current pertussis epidemic, ask the pharmacist if you are eligible for boosters.

Funded vaccines for special groups from 1 July 2024 – Factsheets – Immunisation Advisory Centre

Funding Calls

Spencer Foundation: Small Research Grants

This fund is intended to support education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education.  This program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not in response to a specific request for a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or location. Goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.

  • Value: up to USD50,000 (circa NZD85,600
  • Duration: up to a maximum duration of 60 months
  • Internal Deadline: 12pm, Monday 7th April
  • Further Information (funding call, guidelines website). 

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST

RSNZ: Catalyst: Seeding (Round1)

Catalyst seeding fund aims to supports activities that initiate, develop and foster collaborations leveraging international science and innovation for New Zealand’s benefit.

Notable eligibility changes for the 2025 funding opportunities: the Catalyst Fund investment plan (released in December 2024) identifies six priority research areas, which are:

  • Quantum technology
  • Health and biomedicine
  • Biotechnologies
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Antarctic research
  • Space and Earth observations

 *Note that 75% of the awarded Catalyst: Seeding contracts will be expected to be made up of proposals that align with the priority research areas. The remaining 25% of awarded contracts can be in any field of research including social sciences and the humanities.

  • Value: Seeding General: up to $80,000 (excl. GST)
  • Duration: for up to two years
  • Internal Deadline: 12pm, Tuesday 08 April 2025
  • Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info). 

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST

RSNZ: Catalyst Leaders (Round 1)

This fund aims to supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding schemes are open in Round 1

  • International Leader Fellowships (up to 3 awards): 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.
  • Julius von Haast Fellowship Award (up to 1 award): Supports an internationally recognised researcher from Germany to undertake research in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for 3 years.
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellowships (up to 4 awards): Supports excellent New Zealand post-doctoral researchers to do research in Japan for 12-24 months.
  • New Zealand – China Scientist Exchange Programme (up to 10 Awards): Supports the development of research linkages with China by enabling New Zealand researchers to visit Chinese research organisations for 2-6 weeks.
  • Value:
    • International Leader Fellowships: up to $50,000 per annum.
    • JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship: Flights, insurance and living allowance.
    • Julius von Haast Fellowship Award: up to $50,000 per annum.
    • New Zealand-China Scientist Exchange Programme: Flights, insurance and living allowance.
  • Internal Deadline: 12pm, Tuesday 08 April 2025
  • Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info). 

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST

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Comments Off on Issue 141 – Tuesday 18 March 2025

Issue 140 – Tuesday 4 March 2025

March 4, 2025 • asim086

HeadsUp

There’s pedestrian traffic down Symonds St, so it must be Week 1!  

Wishing everyone a good start to the semester. 

And in the spirit of wishing: may your lecture theatres, labs and tutorials be filled with actual students, and your assignment in-boxes with considered, well-referenced responses.

Tom (Acting HoS)

Announcements 

HONO – is live now!

  • Please click here for the latest information and updates
  • Log in to Hono using your University username and password
  • The quick video guides is also available to assist you in getting help faster or click on the Hono online help
  • First pay run in Hono: Wednesday 5 March 2025
  • Contact Michael Groom if you get stuck with anything

PhD Advisor Change

After 4(!) years Jennifer Eccles passes the PhD Advisor baton onto Luitgard Schwendenmann (l.schwendenmann@auckland.ac.nz) and Martin Brook (m.brook@auckland.ac.nz) as she jets off to Europe of R&SL.  

Luitgard will primarily be managing active student facing activities – confirmations, signing off on annual continuation reviews, being the HoD referee on University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship Extensions applications, and any changes to enrolment (extensions, suspensions, full time/part time, change of supervisors, thesis title etc). Hence if there are any issues Luitgard will be the first point of call beyond your supervision team and it is better to broach any issues sooner rather than later so she will have the opportunity to help early.

Martin will primarily be handling admissions and interfacing with the centralised examination process as needed.

Please note that unfortunately the examinations office have a backlog at the moment and we are managing comms to them so they are working on moving these along rather than just replying to hundreds of emails querying progress. Please flag with Martin if the process is taking longer than:

  • 4 weeks for the thesis to be sent out to examiners
  • Thesis with examiners > 12 weeks
  • > 4 weeks once examination report returned for decision to be made (this can be much shorter but it varies)
  • > 4 weeks  for the oral examination to be scheduled once this decision has been made.

Generally useful documents in the Doctoral space are now hosted on Teams through ENV Group – Files under the path Documents – General – Postgraduate – Doctoral”

LINZ Geographic Information Science (GIS) Scholarships award to 2 undergrad students 

We’re pleased to congratulate the recipients of this year’s Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand Geographic Information Science (GIS) Scholarships. Ka rawe! 🙌📢🎓The scholarships support recipients with their tertiary study fees. We’re proud to be helping develop the next generation of GIS specialists. Congratulations to:

  • Anna Connell – Bachelor of Science (Geography and Environmental Science) at the University of Auckland
  • Joel Plummer – Bachelor of Science (Geography) at the University of Auckland

Facebook LINZ Page Photo

CAPEX 2025

Proposals for CAPEX purchases in the upcoming round are now being solicited.  Please fill out the following form by 31 March.  https://auckland.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4Og4JcE5R8VQlPo

Please provide realistic cost and use estimates and only list people who have been consulted and who support the application.  We’ll be arranging to have a member of the CAPEX committee to have a quick chat with applicants so the committee fully understands the proposal.  If you have questions contact Kevin (k.simon@auckland.ac.nz).

Media contributions by Thomas Dowling

A paper to which Thomas Dowling and Te Kahuratai Moko-Painting contributed on orbital conservation, ended up in top 5% of media attention on all papers worldwide. Newsroom took a version of it here in the NZ media that Thomas wrote along with the UoA media team. 

  • A sustainable development goal for space: Applying lessons from marine debris to manage space debris: 1016/j.oneear.2024.12.004

Opinion: The number of satellites and other objects sent into Earth’s orbit is increasing like never before. Before space ends up awash with debris like the ocean, scientists are calling for global agreements to protect orbital space. The United States and China are in a space race, sending thousands of satellites into orbit every year.

Defence Science and Technology published a short story on the search and rescue with synthetic aperture radar work which Thomas is leading.

Research to help NZ search and rescue efforts

24 February 2025 | OUR SCIENCE. DST’s Sensing and Intelligence Programme is collaborating with the University of Auckland (UoA) to understand whether low cost, low tech, passive RADAR reflectors can improve the probability of detection of small marine craft in distress, by space-based Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems. This research is being done under a programme called SAR4SAR …

www.dst.mil.nz

Outreach

Social media : We’d like to expand the School of Environment’s social media reach to other platforms beyond Facebook, but we need some foundation content to guarantee at least one post a month (ideally one a week!).  Therefore, we need your content to celebrate and elevate your research and community activities. Please send the following to Kenzi Yee kenzi.yee@auckland.ac.nz (and cc: el.sharp@auckland.ac.nz) who is collating posts.

  • Blurb of about ~30 words
  • A representative image
  • Ideally, a link to a website/ Conversation article/ RNZ / Newsroom/ TVNZ/ The Spinoff, but not necessary.

Ngā mihi mahana, Emma

Health Safety & Wellbeing

Autumn can bring a number of health issues, including respiratory infections, allergies, and mood swings. 

  • Respiratory infections
    • Flu: A highly contagious virus that can be reduced with a flu shot 
    • Common cold: Cooler temperatures and indoor gatherings can lead to more colds 
    • Bronchitis and pneumonia: These can become more prevalent as the weather cools 
    • Ear infections: More prevalent during the autumn and winter seasons 
  • Allergies 
    • Fall allergies: Can cause sneezing, congestion, and itchy eyes
    • Asthma exacerbations: Fall allergies can worsen asthma symptoms
  • Mood swings 
    • Some people may experience mood swings and irritability during the fall due to hormonal changes and disrupted routines
  • Other health issues
    •  Sinusitis, Strep, Norovirus/Stomach Bugs, Vitamin D Deficiency, and Pink eye

How to stay healthy in autumn 

  • Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, especially after using public transport, coughing, or sneezing
  • Use tissues to catch coughs and sneezes, dispose of them immediately, and then wash your hands
  • Stay warm
  • Ventilate your space
  • Maintain a regular sleep schedule
  • Eat a balanced diet
  • Engage in relaxation techniques

Funding Calls

Spencer Foundation: Small Research Grants

This fund is intended to support education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education.  This program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not in response to a specific request for a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or location. Goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.

  • Value: up to USD50,000 (circa NZD85,600
  • Duration: up to a maximum duration of 60 months
  • Internal Deadline: 12pm, Monday 7th April
  • Further Information (funding call, guidelines website). 

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST

RSNZ: Catalyst: Seeding (Round1)

Catalyst seeding fund aims to supports activities that initiate, develop and foster collaborations leveraging international science and innovation for New Zealand’s benefit.

Notable eligibility changes for the 2025 funding opportunities: the Catalyst Fund investment plan (released in December 2024) identifies six priority research areas, which are:

  • Quantum technology
  • Health and biomedicine
  • Biotechnologies
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Antarctic research
  • Space and Earth observations

 *Note that 75% of the awarded Catalyst: Seeding contracts will be expected to be made up of proposals that align with the priority research areas. The remaining 25% of awarded contracts can be in any field of research including social sciences and the humanities.

  • Value: Seeding General: up to $80,000 (excl. GST)
  • Duration: for up to two years
  • Internal Deadline: 12pm, Tuesday 08 April 2025
  • Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info). 

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST

RSNZ: Catalyst Leaders (Round 1)

This fund aims to supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding schemes are open in Round 1

  • International Leader Fellowships (up to 3 awards): 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.
  • Julius von Haast Fellowship Award (up to 1 award): Supports an internationally recognised researcher from Germany to undertake research in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for 3 years.
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellowships (up to 4 awards): Supports excellent New Zealand post-doctoral researchers to do research in Japan for 12-24 months.
  • New Zealand – China Scientist Exchange Programme (up to 10 Awards): Supports the development of research linkages with China by enabling New Zealand researchers to visit Chinese research organisations for 2-6 weeks.
  • Value:
    • International Leader Fellowships: up to $50,000 per annum.
    • JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship: Flights, insurance and living allowance.
    • Julius von Haast Fellowship Award: up to $50,000 per annum.
    • New Zealand-China Scientist Exchange Programme: Flights, insurance and living allowance.
  • Internal Deadline: 12pm, Tuesday 08 April 2025
  • Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info). 

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

Publications | Articles

  • Shin, H., Gardner, Z., Solomon, G., & Basiri, A. (2025). Diagnosing Spatial and Temporal Biases of OSM Contributors: Identifying Differences Between Gender and Age from an Online Survey. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 1–21. https://doi-org/10.1080/24694452.2024.2447507
Categories: Uncategorised
Comments Off on Issue 140 – Tuesday 4 March 2025

Issue 139 – Tuesday 18 February 2025

February 18, 2025 • asim086

HeadsUp

The email traffic has increased and meeting frequency heightened. It must be Semester One approaching! At this time, I’d like to thank three groups of colleagues.

 First, the ‘course build’ teams for the new suite of ENV-codes stage 1 courses. These colleagues have devoted a great deal of creativity and time to developing teaching content and architecture to courses for which they won’t be directly contributing. Hence, these colleagues won’t be accruing any credit on the teaching workload model. This is School citizenship in action and we all should be grateful to the course builders among us.

Second, a big thanks to the student advisors who reply to emails and talk with students offering opportunities, alternative and advice, especially at this time of year. I recall when, a good number of decades ago, I arrived on campus as a teenager with only a sketchy idea of what I wanted to study. A patient Arts Faculty advisor outlined the options. Mercifully Geography was in the mix, even though it seemed an afterthought. These conversations can be crucial points of contact so the dedication of all who advise our current and prospective students is appreciated especially this time of year.

Third, appreciation too to Emma Sharp and her Outreach colleagues Kenzie and Thomas. This team has developed a plan for innovative research content to be rolled out regularly via the School’s social media outlets through 2025. The goal is digestible, accessible material deriving from our research projects that might entice prospective students in our direction as well as generally raise the profile of ENV. So, when Emma and team are in touch, please respond affirmatively.

I have been looking forward seeing everyone at the first staff meeting on 26th and welcome back drinks on 3rd. But I’ve had recent news of a late Christmas present so I won’t be with you. This week I am getting a new knee and have been advised to take a fortnight as post-operative medical leave. Tom Baker will be Acting Head. All going well, I will return to HoS duties – but perhaps remotely for a while – on Monday 10th March.

So, I wish everyone well as teaching begins again. Enthusiasm is infectious. May you convey the enthusiasm that led you into the fields you have excelled in and inspire the curious minds you encounter.

Robin Kearns

Announcements & Seminars

HONO – Go live is now Monday 24 February 2025 | Hono Overview

  • Go live for all users: Monday 24 February 2025
  • First pay run in Hono: Wednesday 5 March 2025
  • Leave: if you are taking or booking leave before ‘Go live’ or have taken any leave that wasn’t entered in the system, please email Patricia so that she can submit a service request to get it entered in the system. 
  • Training will continue for all staff as planned

Research Support Update

Kim Le has recently joined the Research Support team as a Research Programme Coordinator (RPC), and will be working with Sophie and Kelly to assist with pre- and post-award research project queries.  Kim will be known to some of you having completed her MSc in Environmental Management (1st class Hons) with Ward Friesen in 2020.  Following this, she returned home to Vietnam to work for non-profit environmental organisations, before relocating to NZ last year with her family.  Before moving across to the research support team, Kim worked as a research assistant at Koi Tū. Kim is located on Level 6 (outside of Robin’s office).

 Visit of Prof. Enzhu Hu (Northeastern University, China)

Melanie Kah is hosting Prof. Enzhu Hu (Northeastern University, China) who will offer two short courses in the next couple of weeks/months. Follow the link for more details on the content:

  1. Meta-analysis
  2. HYDRUS: The Basic Theory of Soil Physics

Open to both staff and research students, please contact Enzhu (huenzhu@gmail.com) directly if you are interested and would like to learn more!

Recent Australia New Zealand Tree Ring Sciences Conference” held at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland

From 21 to 23 January, the “Looking at the wood, seeing the trees and more: Australia New Zealand Tree Ring Sciences Conference” was held at the Clock Tower, here at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland.

This event bought together ~30 scientists and researchers mostly from Australia and New Zealand but also Italy and the UK, to present research based around the common theme of tree rings.

This was the first such meeting held specifically for the Australian and New Zealand tree-ring community. Topics ranged from climate reconstruction to forest ecology to the challenging nature of some Australian and New Zealand species for dendrochronology, requiring novel approaches to establishing chronologies. We also heard about new radiocarbon and stable oxygen isotope research using kauri tree rings, and cultural issues in the context of archaeological dating of wood.

Bad weather stymied our fieldtrip to Cascades Kauri Park but instead we spent the morning in the tree-ring lab where Luitgard and I showcased various kauri-based research carried out here at ENV, followed by a group lunch.

The conference was full of good energy, engagement and conversation (which continued into the evening over dinner and red wine). The student attendees reported that they really enjoyed the opportunity to come together, talk about their work and be reminded that they were not alone in working with sometimes quite challenging species! There is enthusiasm for a repeat event in two years’ time, somewhere in Australia.

The conference was organised by Gretel and Luitgard with help from Liam Casey in Event Services. Alan Hogg (Waikato University), Kathy Allen (University of Tasmania) and Pauline Grierson (University of Western Australia) were part of the conference committee. ENV students Melanesia Boseren, Em Sharp and Mitchell Keys provided great support during the meeting too.

Conference attendees, and not a tree-corer in sight!

Disaster Prevention and Management Seminar Series

AKO

This year, the Student Experience Committee has a budget of $2500.00 towards small class-related catering activities. There will be $1250.00 available in each semester. To maximise this budget and make its distribution as fair as possible, we have created an online form where all interested course coordinators can declare their interest and submit a very brief proposal (100 words) outlining how much they need and for which purpose. The cap for each course is set at $150.00 per semester and applications should be submitted by the 28th of February (semester 1 courses) and the 18th of July (semester 2 courses). Selection will be made by the committee shortly afterwards. Ad-hoc applications throughout the semesters may be considered depending on budget availability.

Here’s the link to the application form: https://forms.office.com/r/s7bvNAcFAP

Student Experience Committee

Outreach

Social media : We’d like to expand the School of Environment’s social media reach to other platforms beyond Facebook, but we need some foundation content to guarantee at least one post a month (ideally one a week!).  Therefore, we need your content to celebrate and elevate your research and community activities. Please send the following to Kenzi Yee kenzi.yee@auckland.ac.nz (and cc: el.sharp@auckland.ac.nz) who is collating posts.

  • Blurb of about ~30 words
  • A representative image
  • Ideally, a link to a website/ Conversation article/ RNZ / Newsroom/ TVNZ/ The Spinoff, but not necessary.

Ngā mihi mahana, Emma

Health Safety & Wellbeing

Protective clothing for fieldwork

  • Gloves, Some activities require protecting your hands
  • hard hats
  • high visibility clothing
  • overalls and protective aprons.
  • Rain gear

Footwear

Tennis shoes and sneakers are comfortable, but they are not, often, the proper type of footwear while undertaking fieldwork. Choosing the right footwear for fieldwork is crucial for comfort, safety, and performance. Here are some key factors to consider:

By considering these factors, you can choose the right footwear to keep you comfortable and safe during your fieldwork. Do you have a specific type of fieldwork in mind?

Waterproof hiking boots are a great option. In warm weather, non-waterproof hiking boots or trail running shoes are good options. Because these are breathable, they will keep your feet drier and cooler than waterproof boots

Funding Calls

 

RSNZ: Catalyst: Seeding (Round1)
Catalyst seeding fund aims to supports activities that initiate, develop and foster collaborations leveraging international science and innovation for New Zealand’s benefit.

Notable eligibility changes for the 2025 funding opportunities: the Catalyst Fund investment plan (released in December 2024) identifies six priority research areas, which are:

  • Quantum technology
  • Health and biomedicine
  • Biotechnologies
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Antarctic research
  • Space and Earth observations

 *Note that 75% of the awarded Catalyst: Seeding contracts will be expected to be made up of proposals that align with the priority research areas. The remaining 25% of awarded contracts can be in any field of research including social sciences and the humanities.
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
·         Seeding General: up to $80,000 (excl. GST) in total for up to two years 12pm, Tuesday 08 April 2025
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info). If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

RSNZ: Catalyst Leaders (Round 1)
This fund aims to supports incoming and outgoing targeted international fellowships for exceptional individuals that cannot be supported through other means. The following funding schemes are open in Round 1

  • International Leader Fellowships (up to 3 awards): 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.
  • Julius von Haast Fellowship Award (up to 1 award): Supports an internationally recognised researcher from Germany to undertake research in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 weeks per year for 3 years.
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellowships (up to 4 awards): Supports excellent New Zealand post-doctoral researchers to do research in Japan for 12-24 months.
  • New Zealand – China Scientist Exchange Programme (up to 10 Awards): Supports the development of research linkages with China by enabling New Zealand researchers to visit Chinese research organisations for 2-6 weeks.
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline:
  • International Leader Fellowships: up to $50,000 per annum.
  • JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship: Flights, insurance and living allowance.
  • Julius von Haast Fellowship Award: up to $50,000 per annum.
  • New Zealand-China Scientist Exchange Programme: Flights, insurance and living allowance.
 12pm, Tuesday 08 April 2025
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info). If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

Spencer Foundation–Vision Grant
This fund aims to fund the collaborative planning of innovative, methodologically diverse, interdisciplinary research on education that contributes to transforming education systems for equity.
Value/Duration: Deadline:
  • Value: USD75,000 (circa NZD 120,000)
  • Duration: up to a maximum duration of 12 months  
 Two-stage Submission deadlines:

  •  EXTERNAL DEADLINE for Intent to Apply: Thursday, February 11, 2025 (12 Noon CT)
  • INTERNAL DEADLINE for Full Proposal: Monday, March 3, 2025 (12 Noon CT)
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, website). If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST (Kelly or Sophie)

 

Marsden 2025 Updates
The Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology announced that the Marsden fund will be changing ahead of the 2025 round. Along with the announcement of the changes, a new Investment Plan (2025-2027) and Terms of Reference have been released by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Due to the changes announced by the Minister, the Royal Society have advised that the Marsden 2025 round will be delayed. At this stage, no new timeline has been provided and we are unsure of the extent of the delay.

The most notable changes that have been announced are as follows:

  • The Marsden fund has been updated to “focus on core scientific research that helps lift economic growth and contributes to science with a purpose.”
  • The Humanities and Social Sciences panels will be disbanded and no longer supported.
  • The new Investment Plan focuses on supporting research that can be of economic, environmental or health benefit to New Zealand. The new Terms of Reference outline that approximately 50% of funds will go towards supporting proposals with economic benefits to New Zealand.

 

MBIE 2025 Endeavour Fund (Research Programmes)
This fund aims to support ambitious, excellent and well-defined research ideas which have credible and high potential to positively transform New Zealand’s future in areas of future value, growth, or critical need. For the 2024 investment round, the Science Board will aim to fund at least 17 Research Programmes. 
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
  • Total funding pool: $38 million
  • Value: $0.5 million or more per year
  • Duration: 3, 4 or 5 years
  • Registration: 12 noon, Monday 25 November 2024.
  • Full Proposal: 12 noon, Monday 24 February 2025.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info, templates):

If you are interested, please notify your FIRST (research support) of your intent to apply for this scheme to receive important information and updates in relation to this fund

 

New Horizon Europe Calls
In mid-April, the European Commission announced a new selection of funding calls covering the remainder of 2024. The funding call details here Horizon Europe Funding Call List on the Horizon Europe Support Materials page on ResearchHub.

New Zealand can participate in these calls on equal terms as our European counterparts. However, the targeted nature of most of these calls means that it is highly likely that it will be more appropriate for us to partner on these projects, joining European-led bids as a collaborator rather than developing a proposal as a lead.

Anybody exploring these opportunities should contact International.Research@Auckland.ac.nz to arrange a discussion and explore additional support available.

Publications | Articles

  • Ball, L. (2025) Gene technology bill fails to recognise Treaty partnership. Newsroom. 19 January
  • Barrett, J. (2025) Māori communities lead innovative ways of financing housing on ancestral lands. The Conversation. 5 February. 
  • Shorrock, A.E., Strachan, L.J., Barnes, P.B., Bostock, H.C., Moore, G.F., McArthur, A.D., Gamboa, D., Woodhouse, A.D., Bell, R.E., Davidson, S.R., Maier, K.L., and Nodder, S.D. (2025) Coeval transverse and axial sediment delivery to the northern Hikurangi Trough during the late Quaternary, Basin Research, 37:e70019, 1-25.
  • Macnaughtan, M., Pecher, I, Strachan, L.J., (2025) Gas hydrates on New Zealand’s Chatham Rise. An indicator of Gondwanan thermogenic gas expulsion? Marine and Petroleum Geology, 173: 107226.
Categories: Uncategorised
Comments Off on Issue 139 – Tuesday 18 February 2025

Issue 138 – Wednesday 5 February 2025

February 5, 2025 • asim086

HeadsUp

Welcome back to all! Ngā mihi o te Tau Hou! I trust the first weeks of 2025 have been good to you whether they have been mainly devoted to Annual Leave, research activities or teaching Summer School (or some combination).  I have enjoyed encountering colleagues in meetings and along the corridors, catching up on grant-writing efforts as well as holiday adventures.

Now that its February its time for our boots to seriously grip the tracks. Our first staff meeting is 26 February (and please also mark your diaries for a welcome back to the teaching semester staff drinks on Monday 3rd March, 4pm).

Steering Group has already met to confirm our budget for 2025. Nothing too austere this year but some ‘nip and tuck’ has been needed to bring requests into line with what we have been offered. Thanks to Michael Groom for assistance with this process.

Early enrolment data looks promising for the first offering of our new Stage 1 courses. Two have already crested 100 students. Thanks to all for the efforts already undertaken and yet to come in their Semester 1 launch.  The Waipapa Taumata Rau course we are so heavily invested in has crested 1,000 enrolments. This is entirely new territory in purpose and scale. Again, big congrats to all involved. Sadly some of our existing courses continue to languish at the margins of viability.  Hard calls may yet lie ahead.  

In other news, for 2025 we welcome back Jan Lindsay from her AD(Research) role and congratulate Jenny Salmond who is stepping in for Vivien Kirk as Acting AD (Postgraduate) (till mid-year).

By way of reminder, and as you’ll know after all the publicity, PeopleSoft functions such as booking Leave remain unavailable until late this month when the sparkly new Hono system goes ‘live’. If you are taking or booking Leave before then or have taken any leave that wasn’t entered in the system, please email Patricia so that she can submit a service request to get it entered in the system. Once Hono is live we will not be able to backdate any leave you have taken. More generally, in a ‘back to the future’ move, we’ll return to use of a ‘Leave Planner’ sheet this year in an attempt to establish an ethic of Leave Responsibility in the School. I know many became tired of me talking about Annual Leave last year but as a School we are seriously negligent in this regard. I have been told by HR that 36% of staff have unacceptably high Annual Leave balances. Ahead of receipt of your planner, if you currently have more than 80 hours/2 weeks Leave owing, start considering when in 2025 you will take this time.

We can look ahead to the year with both confidence and uncertainty. The churn of change is never far away. I am therefore grateful to all who have already stepped up into new service roles, new teaching areas and, more generally, adopted a forward-looking School-wide perspective. This is no time to circle the disciplinary wagons or operate out of a position of self-interest. 2025 will be, in large part, as good as we make it. 

See you all soon – Robin Kearns

Announcements & Seminars

 

HONO – Go live is now Monday 24 February 2025 | Hono Overview

  • Go live for all users: Monday 24 February 2025
  • First pay run in Hono: Wednesday 5 March 2025
  • Leave: if you are taking or booking leave before ‘Go live’ or have taken any leave that wasn’t entered in the system, please email Patricia so that she can submit a service request to get it entered in the system. 
  • Training will continue for all staff as planned

 

John Morris Afternoon Tea event

Date: Wed 19th February 2025 | Time: 2-3pm | Venue: Level 6 break out space 

Click here to read the brochure Laboratory_Product Portfolio_NZ_Jan2025

 

Disaster Prevention and Management Seminar Series

Communities 

Public Event held at the Auckland Art Gallery on 18 January 2025

A panel discussion on the role of art in inspiring hope and environmental action – featuring four current or former students (Anna Wang, Joshua Wang, Inka Pledis, and Georgia Mae Pringle) we ran at Auckland art gallery on 18 January. 

What are the connections between creativity, hope and climate change? That is what four young people came together to discuss as part of an event “Imagining tomorrow: Creativity, Climate and Hope” hosted by Toi O Tāmaki”. A panel consisting of current and recently graduated University of Auckland students, who work in environmental and climate scientific spaces, were led through a series of questions by Dr Meg Parsons, to inspire and provoke thought in the audience gathered at the gallery. Inka Pleiss, Anna Wang, Georgia Pringle and Joshua Wang shared each how they were inspired to get involved in climate and environmental work, and how they stay inspired and hopeful even when times may seem dire, including actively searching out good news while still staying up to date with the not so good, and finding ways that your skills can help in climate and activism spaces instead of trying to fit a prescribed activist mold. For some this may look like painting posters and for others it’s helping out a local community group manage their volunteer database. Climate and environmental action looks different for everyone and each different skill set is needed for collective action.

A key message from the day was also what scientists and artists can learn from each other. Where scientists have lots of passion and know how, they occasionally lack the communication skills that artists hold central to their work. However, scientists regularly employ creative thinking to solve problems or design projects that will answer those burning questions facing us. The group also agreed the power of laughter and levity was not to be overlooked when having discussions around climate and environmental issues and how comedy can provide the relief you may need to buckle up the shoes for another day of hard mahi. Meg also adeptly led the group through her own reflections and experiences to highlight how positive reinforcement and imagery that provokes hope is a stronger motivator for positive climate actions, and how this was reflected in the work of Olafur Eliasson whose exhibition was the inspiration for the event. Olafur explores themes and imagery relating to climate change and other moments through his life without berating the viewer. It asks the viewer to explore and think while still inviting the potential for hope, action and positive change, a message that the panelists agreed was one to carry forward.
Olafur Eliasson: Your curious journey runs at Toi O Tāmaki – Auckland Art gallery until Sun 23 Mar 2025. Special thanks to Ellie Lim for helping curate the event.

Health Safety & Wellbeing

Field Gear

Choosing the right field-gear helps reducing the risks to you while undertaking field activities, we will explore different items you need to consider. Today is rain protection.

Waterproof vs rain jacket

In a rain jacket, although you will be fine in a drizzle, in a heavy downpour you need shelter. That’s not the case with a waterproof jacket, because it truly holds water outside from coming in contact with your skin.

Funding

Funding Calls

Marsden Fund 2025
The Marsden Fund aims to invest in excellent, investigator-led research aimed at generating new knowledge, with long-term benefit to New Zealand.

Three types of awards are offered:

• Fast-Start: for emerging researchers to give an impetus to their careers by promoting them as sole Principal Investigators (PI) in their own research programme.

• Standard: for established and emerging researchers.

• Council Award: for projects that are interdisciplinary in nature, with larger teams.
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
All grants are for a maximum of three years and are GST exclusive.

• Fast-Start: up to $120K p.a.

• Standard: up to $220-$320K p.a. (varies by panel)

• Council Award: up to $1M p.a.

 12pm, Monday 17 February 2025
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, website):

·         Funding Call

·         Website

·         Guidelines (Fast-Start, Standard)

·         Guidelines (Council)

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST (Kelly or Sophie)

 

Spencer Foundation–Vision Grant
This fund aims to fund the collaborative planning of innovative, methodologically diverse, interdisciplinary research on education that contributes to transforming education systems for equity.
Value/Duration: Deadline:
·      Value: USD75,000 (circa NZD 120,000)

·         Duration: up to a maximum duration of 12 months  

 Two-stage Submission deadlines:

·         EXTERNAL DEADLINE for Intent to Apply: Thursday, February 11, 2025 (12 Noon CT)

·         INTERNAL DEADLINE for Full Proposal: Monday, March 3, 2025 (12 Noon CT)

 
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, website):

·         Funding Call

·         Guidelines/Website

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST (Kelly or Sophie)

 

Marsden 2025 Updates
The Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology announced that the Marsden fund will be changing ahead of the 2025 round. Along with the announcement of the changes, a new Investment Plan (2025-2027) and Terms of Reference have been released by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Due to the changes announced by the Minister, the Royal Society have advised that the Marsden 2025 round will be delayed. At this stage, no new timeline has been provided and we are unsure of the extent of the delay.

The most notable changes that have been announced are as follows:

  • The Marsden fund has been updated to “focus on core scientific research that helps lift economic growth and contributes to science with a purpose.”
  • The Humanities and Social Sciences panels will be disbanded and no longer supported.
  • The new Investment Plan focuses on supporting research that can be of economic, environmental or health benefit to New Zealand. The new Terms of Reference outline that approximately 50% of funds will go towards supporting proposals with economic benefits to New Zealand.

 

Spencer Foundation –  Research Grants on Education: Large
This fund aims to support education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education. The research concept is “field-initiated” with the grant designed to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.
Value/Duration: Deadline:
·         Value: between USD125,000 and USD500,000 (circa NZD205,000 -NZD821,000), depending on the funding tier selected.

·         Duration: up to a maximum duration of 60 months  

 ·         External Deadline for Intent to Apply: 5pm, Thursday, 30 January 2025

·         Internal Deadline for Full Stage: 5pm, Tuesday,14 January 2025

 

Spencer Foundation – Small Research Grants on Education
This fund is intended to support education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education.  The research concept is “field-initiated” with the grant designed to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
·         Value: up to USD50,000 (circa NZD80,000

·         Duration: up to a maximum duration of 60 months

 12pm, Thursday, 28 November 2024
Further Information (funding call, guidelines website):

·         Funding Call

·         Website

·         Guidelines

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

MBIE 2025 Endeavour Fund (Research Programmes)
This fund aims to support ambitious, excellent and well-defined research ideas which have credible and high potential to positively transform New Zealand’s future in areas of future value, growth, or critical need.

For the 2024 investment round, the Science Board will aim to fund at least 17 Research Programmes. 
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
·         Total funding pool: $38 million

·         Value: $0.5 million or more per year

·         Duration: 3, 4 or 5 years

 ·         Registration: 12 noon, Monday 25 November 2024.

·         Full Proposal: 12 noon, Monday 24 February 2025.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info, templates):

·         Funding Call

·         Guidelines

·         Website

·         Registration Template

·         Full Proposal Template

If you are interested, please notify your FIRST (research support) of your intent to apply for this scheme to receive important information and updates in relation to this fund

 

New Horizon Europe Calls
In mid-April, the European Commission announced a new selection of funding calls covering the remainder of 2024. The funding call details here Horizon Europe Funding Call List on the Horizon Europe Support Materials page on ResearchHub.

New Zealand can participate in these calls on equal terms as our European counterparts. However, the targeted nature of most of these calls means that it is highly likely that it will be more appropriate for us to partner on these projects, joining European-led bids as a collaborator rather than developing a proposal as a lead.

Anybody exploring these opportunities should contact International.Research@Auckland.ac.nz to arrange a discussion and explore additional support available.

 

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Issue 137 – Tuesday 10 December 2024

December 10, 2024 • igom365

HeadsUp

The email traffic has slowed. Many of our ENV team are on annual leave, away at conferences, doing fieldwork, or attending to late-in the year to-do lists.  But there remains both a last and first on Wednesday 11th this week: the last Faculty meeting of the year and the first for our new Dean, Professor Sarah Young. As you will have seen in FoS invite, Sarah requests that all staff attend to hear her update and plans.  I hope – or should I risk saying expect? – to see a good turnout from Environment.

What should have been mentioned first in this year’s last Heads-up, however, is some hearty congratulations. We have three academic promotions in the School including two new Associate Professors. James Muirhead received a significant move up the Senior Lecturer scale and both Lorna Strachan and Brad Coombes are now A/P. A hearty well-done for these well-earned accolades and career achievements.   

Also, not a promotion per se, but congrats to Mel Wall for being invited to take on a 0.04 Māori Academic Lead role reporting to the DVC Education. The talent pool in the School is deep!

I’d also like to take this opportunity to offer reiterated thanks and best wishes to Iliane Gomez, our Group Services Administrator, who is leaving us for the other hemisphere. Thanks for all you’ve done for us, Iliane and your constant cheery smile!   

On a more sombre note, even in a quiet time of year there can be a few ‘curved balls’ as they say in baseball. I refer to the announcement by Minister Collins of the disestablishment of the Marsden humanities and social science funding panels and eligibility for grants applications in those domains. This news strikes at the heart of a vibrant and internationally high-ranking part of our School.  Suffice to say the email traffic among us social science Fellows of Te Apārangi/Royal Society and wider networks has been intense. Commendably Tom Baker added to the series of well-crafted commentaries: https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/12/06/marsden-fund-cuts-a-win-for-convenient-evidence/ A point of consensus among commentators from across the spectrum of scholarship is that we will all be diminished by a narrowing of the gate to research funding in Aotearoa.

A plea before the great summer diaspora. In these times when we more-than-ever value every prospective or current student, we cannot afford to leave any of them wondering when we will be next available to reply or meet and talk. So, for anyone with a student-facing portfolio in the School, please find a proxy to be available to offer advice if you will be away beyond Monday 6th January. The time we may be away may also be the very time a prospective student is looking for guidance. Between 5 and 17th January, George Perry will be Acting HoS and may well be open to being named on your e-signature as a contact for advice. Regardless, I ask that all in the School set an auto-reply with a date of return so any enquirer isn’t met with a bewildering silence by way of reply. Students and other enquirers should be able to know when you will return to regular duties.

Finally, I acknowledge that it’s been a big year for us as a School as we’ve been caught up in the churn of change. I hardly need to list them, but “stage1 course-build, optimisation, WTR and CFT” will all be code for processes with which we’ve engaged in the quest to refresh our offerings and potentially boost enrolments. I would like to say 2025 might offer respite from change, but that would be a foolish undertaking. I acknowledge I haven’t got everything right within this churn of change and suggestions for 2025 are always gratefully received. However, bumpy though the years been at times, I’d like to think the good ship Environment is heading in a promising direction with “all hands-on deck”. Thank you all for your contributions to the collective efforts and may you all have a safe and restful break. If you find your way to Waiheke over the next month or so, do be in touch. My dog and I are always on for an extra-curricular catch up with both “annual leave” and “optimisation” firmly banished from the conversation!

Have a great break and, if not before, see you in 2025.

Robin

Announcements

Interactions with School of Graduate Studies and PhD examination timeline expectations

UoA is revisiting its way of managing doctoral processes (recruitment, application, admission, candidature, development, examination etc) including the disestablishment of the “Dean of Graduate Studies” position as of 31st December. While the future direction is decided SGS continue to be understaffed which will  inevitably cause delays, particularly with the processing of exams. Delays are frustrating, but emailing SGS to ask why there are delays with particular students mostly just slows everything down for everyone.  Please funnel any questions/enquiries through the Doctoral Advisor (Jennifer Eccles – j.eccles@auckland.ac.nz).

SGS are currently prioritising the receipt and distribution of theses for examination; to speed things up please ensure the intention to submit and nomination of examiners had already been made at the time of submission. Arguing conflict of interest will also cause long delays. If you can see the thesis has not been dispatched to examiners within four weeks (after the student and supervisors have done what they need to) let the Doctoral Advisor know to escalate through back channels. SGS will aim to process theses received on or before 10th December prior to Christmas. Theses received after this are likely to be reviewed when the team is back after Jan 6th. If the thesis has been out for examination for longer than 12 weeks let the Doctoral Advisor know. If Wahapu shows examination reports have been returned but there has been no decision, please wait for two weeks before flagging this with the Doctoral Advisor.

 

Notice: End-of-Year Lab Closures, Clean-Up, and Reopening Schedule

As we approach the end of the year, the lab closure dates for 2024 have now been confirmed. The last day for lab access will be Tuesday, 17 December, with closures beginning on Wednesday, 18 December.  If you need access beyond this then please discuss this with me and the Technician in charge first. Labs are scheduled to reopen on Monday, 6 January.

All users are expected to assist with cleaning up their workspaces before the labs close. Any unattended samples or materials left in shared spaces without prior arrangement will be disposed of. It is essential that everyone contributes to ensure the labs are properly packed down for the holiday period.

Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring the labs are clean and ready to resume operations in the new year.

Regards,

Blair 

Technical Manager, School of Environment

 

Software purchases or renewals in 2025

This is the final call for software purchase or renewal requests due in 2025. If there are software titles that you require for teaching or research purposes, please let us know using this form.

Please submit all titles that will require a contribution from the School’s software budget next year – regardless of whether they are new, existing or upgrades. If we do not receive a request for a particular title, we will assume that it is no longer required and reallocate the budget accordingly.

 

Emma, Mark, Megan, Murray won the Terry Healy Coastal Project Award from the New Zealand Coastal Society for their work on developing a national historic coastal change dataset for Aotearoa New Zealand

 

‘Learning Auckland’ through teaching:

Reflection on my first year as an Aucklander

Hyesop Shin

Landed in the last week of March 2024, right in the middle of a supremely busy semester 1, felt like jumping into another world of wonder. Coming from the stormy Scottish Highlands, the sight of the Sky Tower piercing the skyline and the stunning Pacific Ocean rolling in was…well, surreal. It was easy to grasp why Auckland was being the most liveable city in the world 2021 (I know it dropped to 9th this year). As a geographer, I was curious to know more about the city than what the internet told me.

It didn’t take long to notice a hot topic around here: traffic. Like the British’s endless conversations about the weather, traffic seemed to be the common topic for everyone (at least from the conversations I had!). Lucky for me, I got to dive right into this topic by supervising some student projects focused on Auckland and transport. Narrowing down our group focus on public transport, the group and I investigated some fascinating subtopics that revealed some insights about the city.

One of the projects asked, “Can Aucklanders easily reach greenspaces and community amenities using public transport?”. A quick online survey with 60 participants came out with a mixed bag. Only about a quarter of people used public transport or walked to get to greenspaces; most just hopped in their cars. West Aucklanders particularly struggled with access, as supermarkets such as Costco and Pak’n Save tend to be larger and located in areas less suited for walking or public transport. On the flip side, respondents located in central Auckland enjoyed corner shops within a 15-minute walk. Additionally, some mentioned that the liquor ban in West Auckland triggered them to travel to the North or Central, which they found challenging using public transport (Public transport? Nope, that’s car territory). Another interesting finding was that those greenspaces near main roads such as Cornwall Park were more frequently visited and enjoyed by the public.

Another group of students turned their attention to Waiheke Island’s transport scene. One project examined the effects of Fullers360’s pricing policies on residents’ affordability using 90 questionnaire responses. Surprisingly, affordability wasn’t the biggest concern. 60% of people spent less than 5% of their monthly income on ferry rides, and the following 28% spent around 5-10%. Then what did annoy people? Service quality, with complaints about cleanliness and punctuality. Another project tackled how seasonal tourism impacts bus use on the island. Using 2.5 years of bus ridership data, it turns out that ridership shoots up during summer months while punctuality takes a noticeable drop. We also found that residents from the west of the island (Fullers’ ferry terminal) to the central hub including the library and eateries enjoyed better accessibility to bus stops. However, residents in the far eastern and southern areas of the island often had to walk over 1km to the nearest bus stop, likely contributing to higher car dependency in these regions.

Phew, what a year! I’ve learnt so much about Auckland’s transport system through these projects and more, and it’s clear there’s so much more to discover. From its traffic problems to its dreams of becoming a green and sustainable city, Auckland has become my living, breathing classroom. Looking ahead, I am eager to learn more about this city not only through my GIS software, but also through the lens of the people, their environment and more.

Outreach

The Outreach Committee thanks all members of our School in their efforts to communicate the work we do this year. This includes all those who have taught, presented, written about, had conversations about, been involved in Outreach events on, and have been enthusiastic about, our diverse mahi!  

 

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities 

 

 

We are still on the lookout for writers for our upcoming edition! Volume 4 Edition 5 will be showcasing indigenous science research and concepts that are being worked on within the faculty. If you or someone you know are working on related topics, or are unsure whether your work fits within this scope, we would love to hear from you. Feel free to DM us on social media if you have any questions, use the application form below, or send us an email!

Abstract applications close 15th of December 2024. https://forms.gle/WtKErUmX9dY9wk2w8 

 

 

 

E-bike offers

Check out the e-bike deals for University staff.

Electric bike team

Electric Bike Team has a great deal for staff wishing to purchase one of their bikes. Look now: Electric bike team

Big Street Bikers

Looking to buy an e-bike? Big Street Bikers has discounts and some freebies for University staff. Check it out: Big Street Bikers

 

Doctoral Development Offerings

An overview of the many UoA Doctoral Development offerings that candidates and supervisors may want to consider has been compiled here.

 

Co-funded University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarships

Guidelines have now been drafted for the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship scheme to co-fund scholarships with industry or philanthropic partners to seed new collaborations. If you are making connections where some money to support a student may be possible, please come and chat to Jennifer Eccles asap about whether this could be an option.  

 

FUNDS FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH HAPORI MAORI

School of Environment has a small budget for enabling engagement with Maori, particularly through koha or contributions that may be needed to initiate research relationships. In disbursing that putea, priority is given to academic staff working on behalf of groups of staff or students, pre/consultation activities for ethics approval and collaborations that are not readily funded through other mechanisms. As it is desirable to utilise the budget before the end of the academic year, however, all well-reasoned proposals will be considered. If interested, email a brief, one paragraph description of a proposed activity and a budget for how funds will be utilised to Brad (b.coombes@auckland.ac.nz). Although there are no prescribed maxima or minima for these grants, the limited scope of the overall budget will likely preclude grants in excess of $1000. Applicants should also be mindful of UoA guidelines or policies for gifting and koha.

 

Post Graduate Wellbeing … where to go

If you are currently coordinating a PG course, could you please post the inforgraphic slide to your Canvas course page so students will know the resources that are available throughout the University. 

Funding

Funding Calls

Marsden Fund 2025
The Marsden Fund aims to invest in excellent, investigator-led research aimed at generating new knowledge, with long-term benefit to New Zealand.

Three types of awards are offered:

• Fast-Start: for emerging researchers to give an impetus to their careers by promoting them as sole Principal Investigators (PI) in their own research programme.

• Standard: for established and emerging researchers.

• Council Award: for projects that are interdisciplinary in nature, with larger teams.
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
All grants are for a maximum of three years and are GST exclusive.

• Fast-Start: up to $120K p.a.

• Standard: up to $220-$320K p.a. (varies by panel)

• Council Award: up to $1M p.a.

 12pm, Monday 17 February 2025
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, website):

·         Funding Call

·         Website

·         Guidelines (Fast-Start, Standard)

·         Guidelines (Council)

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST (Kelly or Sophie)

 

Spencer Foundation–Vision Grant
This fund aims to fund the collaborative planning of innovative, methodologically diverse, interdisciplinary research on education that contributes to transforming education systems for equity.
Value/Duration: Deadline:
·      Value: USD75,000 (circa NZD 120,000)

·         Duration: up to a maximum duration of 12 months  

 Two-stage Submission deadlines:

·         EXTERNAL DEADLINE for Intent to Apply: Thursday, February 11, 2025 (12 Noon CT)

·         INTERNAL DEADLINE for Full Proposal: Monday, March 3, 2025 (12 Noon CT)

 
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, website):

·         Funding Call

·         Guidelines/Website

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST (Kelly or Sophie)

 

Marsden 2025 Updates
The Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology announced that the Marsden fund will be changing ahead of the 2025 round. Along with the announcement of the changes, a new Investment Plan (2025-2027) and Terms of Reference have been released by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Due to the changes announced by the Minister, the Royal Society have advised that the Marsden 2025 round will be delayed. At this stage, no new timeline has been provided and we are unsure of the extent of the delay.

The most notable changes that have been announced are as follows:

  • The Marsden fund has been updated to “focus on core scientific research that helps lift economic growth and contributes to science with a purpose.”
  • The Humanities and Social Sciences panels will be disbanded and no longer supported.
  • The new Investment Plan focuses on supporting research that can be of economic, environmental or health benefit to New Zealand. The new Terms of Reference outline that approximately 50% of funds will go towards supporting proposals with economic benefits to New Zealand.

 

Spencer Foundation –  Research Grants on Education: Large
This fund aims to support education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education. The research concept is “field-initiated” with the grant designed to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.
Value/Duration: Deadline:
·         Value: between USD125,000 and USD500,000 (circa NZD205,000 -NZD821,000), depending on the funding tier selected.

·         Duration: up to a maximum duration of 60 months  

 ·         External Deadline for Intent to Apply: 5pm, Thursday, 30 January 2025

·         Internal Deadline for Full Stage: 5pm, Tuesday,14 January 2025
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, website):

·         Funding Call

·         Website

·         Guidelines

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

Spencer Foundation – Small Research Grants on Education
This fund is intended to support education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education.  The research concept is “field-initiated” with the grant designed to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
·         Value: up to USD50,000 (circa NZD80,000

·         Duration: up to a maximum duration of 60 months

 12pm, Thursday, 28 November 2024
Further Information (funding call, guidelines website):

·         Funding Call

·         Website

·         Guidelines

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

MBIE 2025 Endeavour Fund (Research Programmes)
This fund aims to support ambitious, excellent and well-defined research ideas which have credible and high potential to positively transform New Zealand’s future in areas of future value, growth, or critical need.

For the 2024 investment round, the Science Board will aim to fund at least 17 Research Programmes. 
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
·         Total funding pool: $38 million

·         Value: $0.5 million or more per year

·         Duration: 3, 4 or 5 years

 ·         Registration: 12 noon, Monday 25 November 2024.

·         Full Proposal: 12 noon, Monday 24 February 2025.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info, templates):

·         Funding Call

·         Guidelines

·         Website

·         Registration Template

·         Full Proposal Template

If you are interested, please notify your FIRST (research support) of your intent to apply for this scheme to receive important information and updates in relation to this fund

 

New Horizon Europe Calls
In mid-April, the European Commission announced a new selection of funding calls covering the remainder of 2024. The funding call details here Horizon Europe Funding Call List on the Horizon Europe Support Materials page on ResearchHub.

New Zealand can participate in these calls on equal terms as our European counterparts. However, the targeted nature of most of these calls means that it is highly likely that it will be more appropriate for us to partner on these projects, joining European-led bids as a collaborator rather than developing a proposal as a lead.

Anybody exploring these opportunities should contact International.Research@Auckland.ac.nz to arrange a discussion and explore additional support available.

 

Announcements  

Funding Application Process Changes for UoA Researchers
The UoA will be launching new research security processes.  These are aimed at complying with NZ’s Export Control legislation as well as preventing espionage and foreign interference in our research activities within a shifting domestic and international security environment. Researchers will be expected to participate in the new screening process when submitting research proposals to funders and conduct associated risk management assessments post-award. These changes take effect from 01 January 2025.

The information sessions are open to all Faculties/LSRIs and will be held on multiple dates (To RSVP for sessions use this link).  A recording of the information session will be made available online for those unable to attend in person. 

1. Click on the link.  You should see this image pop up:

2. Download the file then open it.

3. Accept the meeting and it should update in your calendar.

If your teams have questions or concerns, please contact Ben Turley (researchrisk@auckland.ac.nz).

Health, Safety and Wellbeing 

Updates from HSW

December 10th is the international day of Human Rights, and we want to mention it in this space, Because the United Nations Human Rights Council also adopted a resolution in 2021 recognizing the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a human right and we want to extend it to the place where you study too.

December 10th commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations in 1948. This day underscores the importance of fundamental rights and freedoms that every individual is entitled to, regardless of nationality, gender, ethnicity, or religion. Health and safety are integral components of these rights. Ensuring safe and healthy working conditions is a fundamental human right, as it directly impacts an individual’s well-being and dignity. we highlight the critical role that health and safety play in upholding human rights, emphasizing that a safe and healthy environment is essential for everyone to live with dignity and respect. This celebration serves as a reminder that protecting human rights includes safeguarding the physical and mental health of all individuals.

Following with Human rights, Decembre 18th is International Migrants Day. The school with its diverse population has a strong representation in this category. This day celebrates the contributions and resilience of migrants worldwide. In a diverse environment like the School of environment; this day holds special significance as it highlights the rich cultural tapestry woven by people from different backgrounds. It is an opportunity to recognize the positive impact of migration on communities, economies, and societies. Celebrating this day in a diverse setting foster understanding and appreciation of different cultures, promotes inclusivity, and encourages dialogue about the challenges and opportunities that migration brings. By acknowledging the experiences and contributions of migrants, we can build more cohesive and supportive communities that value diversity and human rights.

Christmas Safety

The Christmas period in New Zealand is a time of joy and celebration, but it’s also important to stay safe during this festive season. With summer in full swing, many people head outdoors to enjoy the warm weather, so it’s crucial to practice sun safety by wearing sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses. If you’re traveling, ensure your vehicle is well-maintained and take regular breaks to avoid fatigue. Be mindful of water safety when swimming at beaches or pools, and always supervise children around water. Additionally, with the increase in social gatherings, it’s important to drink responsibly and never drink and drive. By taking these precautions, you can enjoy a fun and safe Christmas period with your loved ones.

 

 

Whooping Cough Alert

Aotearoa New Zealand is in the early stages of a whooping cough (pertussis) epidemic, and it’s expected to stick around for up to a year. Babies, especially Māori and Pacific, are most at risk of getting seriously ill.

Spread – highly contagious
Whooping cough spreads easily and can be dangerous for babies.  Sadly, last year three babies lost their lives to it, and about half of babies under 12 months who catch it need hospital care.

Risk Review for those working with high-risk groups.
Te Whatu Ora encourage all staff—especially those in healthcare, maternity care, or frontline roles—to keep their vaccinations up to date for whooping cough, flu, and measles.

How you can help:
Vaccinations are the best way to protect yourself, your whānau, and others in our community.

Those eligible for free vaccine:

  • Pregnant people: Free from 13 weeks (ideally between 16–26 weeks).
  • Babies: Vaccinations at 6 weeks, 3 months, and 5 months, with boosters at 4 and 11 years.
  • Kids under 18: All children can get a free vaccine.
  • Adults aged 45 and 65: Free booster at these ages if eligible.
  • Unimmunised or partially immunised adults (or no record of vaccines) A funded primary course of 3 doses of Tdap vaccines (at a minimum of 4-week intervals).

Vaccinations are available at City Campus Pharmacy they will be able to provide free advice, or you can attend your local health provider.

For those not eligible for free vaccination City Campus Pharmacy can offer vaccination for $55.00.

Publications | Articles

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Comments Off on Issue 137 – Tuesday 10 December 2024

Issue 136 – Monday 25 November 2024

November 25, 2024 • igom365

HeadsUp

We’re into to that ‘last of the year’ stage. Christmas/New Year and summer breaks await. Last chance soon to seek reimbursements and arrange expenditure (see earlier comms for dates). Last opportunities to do Lab work before the holiday close-down (also earlier comms). For some, a last chance to book annual leave before another niggly email reminder! And, on Wednesday, the last of the School’s end-of-year occasions with the annual party down the hill at the bowling club. I look forward to seeing many/most of you there. We invest in these expressions of School-as-community, so please do be beneficiaries of efforts at planning and come along.

The party is an opportunity to celebrate the year and all it brought us. But also, there will be a tinge of sadness with the opportunity to offer a farewell. Iliane has served us so well and enthusiastically as GSA and has decided to relocate to London. Her last day will be in December for the CoB for the year. Thanks for all the ways you’ve brought life to the School, Iliane!

Meanwhile, as we complete last things for 2024 space opens for activities that have otherwise been on hold or constrained by teaching schedules. Last week I joined a number of others at the truly wonderful NZ Geographical Society Conference in Tauranga Moana. It was a reminder of what great work we do and that we can cross the world at great expense of time, finance and carbon but sometimes the most rewarding conferences are only down the road.

Others have been doing great mahi further afield. Karin Bryan and Giovanni Coco have been at the launch of the China-NZ Catalyst strategic alliance project with Hohai University and East China Normal University.  James Muirhead is preparing for two months in Antarctica. Just two examples. There’s a diaspora underway now that close-to-home obligations are complete. 

We have the Hono system back on track to start in the new year and a close-down period ahead so there’s a flurry of activity getting contracts in place etc. Please don’t leave any administrative requests into December. And when opportunities for Hono training come your way, do sign in.

 Before such challenges, however, I know we all will be grateful for a summer break. And I am very appreciative that George Perry’s Leave plans are such that he is willing to deputise, allowing me to tune out from HoS vigilance as much as is feasible for the first three weeks of January.

 So, may attention to last things for 2024 proceed well for you all and do please plan to take the break you need over December/January.

Robin Kearns HoS

Announcements

Great news!  We have had 3 funding successes in the 2024 Continent and Ocean Research & Education (CORE) Funding round, awarded by the Australia-New Zealand International Drilling Consortium (ANZIC).  Our successful recipients were:

  • PI Lorna Strachan ($25K) “Has the Hikurangi Subduction Margin undergone profound changes in accelerated Pacific Plate subduction during the last 1 Myrs?”
  • AI Paul Agustinus (($20K Aus; PI Simon Haberle, ANU) “Geophysical Survey of Lake Kutubu, Papua New Guinea – a potential ICDP coring site”
  • AI Lorna Strachan ($25K, PI Greer Gilmer, GNS) “Do Fiordland (NZ) sediment cores contain an untapped record of past earthquakes?”

These proposals support research from both legacy data of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) consortia, and development of new data sets to support future, often career-defining, proposals and expeditions.  If you want to learn more about these and other funding opportunities (from undergrads to established researchers) check out the ANZIC and GeoDiscovery NZ websites.   

For those who are unaware, the UoA is one of 5 member institutions in NZ (along with GNS, NIWA, VUW, UoO), which provides us full access to more than  60 years of legacy data, and allows us to lead and develop future global research proposals.  There are many opportunities to get involved in one of the biggest science consortiums on the planet!

 

Supervisors of Honours and Masters (30 and 60 pt) dissertation students:

  1. After the examinations are complete, supervisors can request feedback from the reports. Please contact Melissa for this.
  2. There are no longer word limits for the 30 and 60 pt dissertations, only guidance, and the webpage has been revised to reflect that.

 

 

Outreach

Outreach opportunities for staff and students: 

Highlighting your research

Have you recently published a blog piece/ generated any film footage/ given an interview/ written something for mainstream media, about your research? Could we give it a little mention on our School of Environment socials? See some recent examples here. 

Please send your news to Emma  el.sharp@auckland.ac.nz so we can share it more widely! Please also send a useful image (of yourself/ the thing being studied) and complete the following prompts:

[Researcher name/s] from the School of Environment investigated [the problem] and found [this finding]. This helps us know [what?] and is relevant to [recent event/ issue/context]. Read more here/ see photo of [x]: [link]

Note: Academic articles are interesting but get less takeup from social media so if you have something in a ‘predigested’ form (e.g. a news link to the debate or problem, that’s helpful, and the article would have to be open access).

Graduates out in the world

For staff: If you have students who have completed their degree and moved onto new pursuits, and they might like to do a ’10 minutes with [name]’ written interview that we might post on social media to show what our graduates get up to, then put them in touch with Emma el.sharp@auckland.ac.nz

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities 

 

 

Coastal and Marine Geoscience Group Meeting/Seminar

The next Coastal-Marine Geoscience Group seminar will be held on Wednesday 4th of December at 12:00pm to 1:00 pm in the Ontology Lab (302-551).  

News will be shared and a talk given from Murray Ford, “Tropical storm variability in the western Pacific and impacts on atoll islands”

This will be the final seminar of the year, providing an ideal opportunity to reconnect with everyone!

All welcome to attend – please email Edouard Basquin at ebas390@aucklanduni.ac.nz if you wish to attend and don’t have the calendar invite already. 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrating Our Researchers – Research Awards

The Postgraduate Research Symposium and ENV Research Awards Ceremony were held last week. A huge thank you to all those who presented talks or posters (and those who won!) and those who came to celebrate our researchers.       

We are pleased to congratulate the winners of the ENV awards:

 

School-wide awards

              Hiroki Ogawa School Citizenship Award – Heather Paterson-Shallard  

              Early Career Research Award – Dr Joa Parades Marino

              Engagement with Indigenous Knowledge and Values Award – Debbie Larkins  

              Transdisciplinary Research Award – Dr Tom Dowling

              Research Communication Award (3 awards this year, sponsored by the Outreach Committee) – Annahlise Hall, Dr Salene Schloffel-Armstrong and The Politics, Economies and Place Research Group

 

Discipline awards – ENVSCI

Honours thesis award – Sophie Kolston

30 pt masters thesis award – Vanessa Castro

Masters thesis award – Nicole Whitelock

PhD thesis award – Nadia Dikareva

Postgrad paper award – Eduardo Gomez de la Pena

 

Discipline awards – EARTHSCI              

Honours thesis award – Alex Gold

Masters thesis award – Natasha Ngadi

PhD thesis award – Jimmy Yang

Postgrad paper award – Janki Patel

 

Discipline awards – GEOG       

Honours thesis award – Lianne Edwards-Maas

Masters thesis award (GIS) – Jaxon Ingold

PhD thesis award – Mike (Zheng) Chen

Postgrad paper award – Bethany Cox

 

Postgraduate Research Showcase 2024

This year’s Postgraduate Research Showcase attracted 20 entries (7 oral presentations and 13 posters) that highlighted the diverse research interests of the School. The quality of the oral presentations was uniformly high and the posters were engaging, interesting and informative. The oral presentations were judged by academics from different disciplines in the School and the posters were judged by attendees via an online poll. The Showcase was a celebration of the excellent work being undertaken by our research students and was a great occasion for everyone to experience a rich array of topics.

 

Oral Presentation- Winners

PhD Students- Awards

  Student Title
1 Nargiss Taleb Compostable Products in Aotearoa New Zealand: The hidden additives and their implications.
2 Ellie Buttle Slippery chemicals in (and out of) place 
3= Jack Barrett Uncovering diverse economies of kāinga housing
3= Wendy Fan Revealing hazardous mineral fibres in ambient air: understanding the nature of exposure

 

Masters and Honours Students- Awards

  Student Title
1 Richard Beauchamp Estimating recreational fishing effort using smartphone location data
2 Zoe Armstrong Oxygen fugacities of early arc magmas – insights from the Solander Islands and Mariana forearc
3 Kate Seth The Effect of Plastic on the Radiative Properties of Sand and Water

 

Poster Presentations- Winners

PhD Students- Awards

  Student Title
1 Laura McDonald Not to be sneezed at: A case for pollen monitoring in Aotearoa
2 Siqi Yang Using infrared spectroscopy to determine the chemical composition of kauri leaf litter in kauri forests affected by dieback
3 Elizabeth Williams The spatial and temporal patterns of forest succession following landslide disturbance in the Aotea and Coromandel regions

 

Masters and Honours Students- Awards

  Student Title
1 Debbie Larkins Engagement Beyond Inclusion: Reframing Citizen Science in Aotearoa New Zealand
2 Dominique Stallard Exploring the variability of trace element biosignatures as a function of textural sinter lithofacies throughout hot spring settings
3 Em Sharp Reassessing the Potential of Podocarpus totara (tōtara) for Tree Ring Dating

 

1 Bedroom Rental Available (Lease Takeover) 30 Beach Rd, Britomart 595$ per week

We are looking for someone to take over our lease (4 months remaining) from January 20th 2025. The lease is a fix term lease finishing 11/5/2025, and will roll over to periodic lease from that date unless you give written notice. Email Karin Bryan for further details.

 

Looking for a furnished flat/home in Auckland

Hi, I’m Itxaso (she/her), a Marie Slodowska Curie Fellow in the School of Environment of the UoA. My partner Raúl and I have just moved to Auckland for 1.5 years, and we’re looking for a friendly place to call home. We prefer a furnished private flat or home with 1-2 bedrooms. Our budget is up to $500/week. We’re tidy, respectful, and non-smokers. If you have or know of a suitable place, please reach out to iruizuri@gmail.com.

 

Industry and Research Commercialisation

Entrepreneurship beyond your studies

Stephen Lo from UniServices is running a panel discussion on 28 November on entrepreneurship as a career path. See the poster below. This is for Masters, PhD, Postgrads.

Panel Discussion:

Exploring entrepreneurship as a career path beyond PhD
Join us on this panel discussion that explores the journey of those who went from completing their PhD to becoming an entrepreneur

If you are studying as a postgraduate student (Masters and PhD level) or doing research as a postdoctorate, this event is for you.

This panel discussion brings in three PhD alumni from The University of Auckland who took on the entrepreneurial journey. This will provide you good insight about entrepreneurship as an option outside of academia.

By attending this event, you will get to hear firsthand from our panel speakers about:

·         Why they chose that pathway

·         The impact they are producing for New Zealand and the world

·         The knowledge and skills developed through their PhD programme which translates to their success as entrepreneurs

·         The challenges they faced and how they overcame it

Details of the Event:

·         Date: Thursday, 28th November

·         Time: 11am – 1pm (lunch will be catered at 12:15pm)

·         Location: 303-155 (Room 155, Level 1, Building 303, Faculty of Science)

·         This event is FREE to attend

During lunch, there is an opportunity to talk our team at Auckland UniServices to find out more about the support that is offered to students and staff at The University of Auckland regarding entrepreneurship, innovation and commercialisation.

We have limited spaces, so please register early!
Click here to register

 

Deep/Clean Tech Lunch

There’s a special end of year event on 26 November that Faculty of Science is contributing to.

Date: Tuesday 26 November

Time: 16h30 to 19h00

Venue: Mezze at Durham Lane

RSVP essential, by return email to kevin.sheehy@vuw.ac.nz  Please indicate any special dietary requirements in your RSVP.

We are teaming up to bring you an evening of mezze, drinks and excellent entrepreneurial company with our co-hosts for the evening:

  • University of Auckland Faculty of Science
  • Dodd Walls Centre for Quantum and Photonic Technologies
  • Newmarket Innovation Precinct
  • Tātaki Auckland Unlimited

Come along to catch up with deep tech and Cleantech entrepreneurs, and as usual for our final event of the year will be including investors and a wider range of support agencies to come along and discuss progress for the year and ambitions for 2025. With 2024 going down in history as the year that OpenStar achieved first plasma, CoP29 finally approved the ground rules for global trading of carbon credits, the cleantech industrial revolution is truly getting momentum.

 

 

 

We are still on the lookout for writers for our upcoming edition! Volume 4 Edition 5 will be showcasing indigenous science research and concepts that are being worked on within the faculty. If you or someone you know are working on related topics, or are unsure whether your work fits within this scope, we would love to hear from you. Feel free to DM us on social media if you have any questions, use the application form below, or send us an email!

Abstract applications close 15th of December 2024. https://forms.gle/WtKErUmX9dY9wk2w8 

 

 

 

E-bike offers

Check out the e-bike deals for University staff.

Electric bike team

Electric Bike Team has a great deal for staff wishing to purchase one of their bikes. Look now: Electric bike team

Big Street Bikers

Looking to buy an e-bike? Big Street Bikers has discounts and some freebies for University staff. Check it out: Big Street Bikers

 

Doctoral Development Offerings

An overview of the many UoA Doctoral Development offerings that candidates and supervisors may want to consider has been compiled here.

 

Co-funded University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarships

Guidelines have now been drafted for the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship scheme to co-fund scholarships with industry or philanthropic partners to seed new collaborations. If you are making connections where some money to support a student may be possible, please come and chat to Jennifer Eccles asap about whether this could be an option.  

 

FUNDS FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH HAPORI MAORI

School of Environment has a small budget for enabling engagement with Maori, particularly through koha or contributions that may be needed to initiate research relationships. In disbursing that putea, priority is given to academic staff working on behalf of groups of staff or students, pre/consultation activities for ethics approval and collaborations that are not readily funded through other mechanisms. As it is desirable to utilise the budget before the end of the academic year, however, all well-reasoned proposals will be considered. If interested, email a brief, one paragraph description of a proposed activity and a budget for how funds will be utilised to Brad (b.coombes@auckland.ac.nz). Although there are no prescribed maxima or minima for these grants, the limited scope of the overall budget will likely preclude grants in excess of $1000. Applicants should also be mindful of UoA guidelines or policies for gifting and koha.

 

Post Graduate Wellbeing … where to go

If you are currently coordinating a PG course, could you please post the inforgraphic slide to your Canvas course page so students will know the resources that are available throughout the University. 

 

Rangahau – Research

Join us for a Morning Tea hosted by the Rangahau Committee to celebrate our collective research successes!

🗓 When: Wednesday 4, November

⏰ Time: 10:30

📍 Where: 6th floor

Come along to enjoy good company, delicious treats, and a chance to toast the achievements of our research community.

We look forward to seeing you there! 🌟

Katarzyna Sila-Nowicka, PhD (she/her)

Senior Lecturer in GIScience | School of Environment | Faculty of Science | The University of Auckland

Office 413, Building 302, 23 Symonds Street

Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand

Katarzyna.sila-nowicka@auckland.ac.nz

 

Funding

Funding Calls

Spencer Foundation –  Research Grants on Education: Large
This fund aims to support education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education. The research concept is “field-initiated” with the grant designed to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.
Value/Duration: Deadline:
·         Value: between USD125,000 and USD500,000 (circa NZD205,000 -NZD821,000), depending on the funding tier selected.

·         Duration: up to a maximum duration of 60 months  

 ·         External Deadline for Intent to Apply: 5pm, Thursday, 30 January 2025

·         Internal Deadline for Full Stage: 5pm, Tuesday,14 January 2025
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, website):

·         Funding Call

·         Website

·         Guidelines

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

Spencer Foundation – Small Research Grants on Education
This fund is intended to support education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education.  The research concept is “field-initiated” with the grant designed to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
·         Value: up to USD50,000 (circa NZD80,000

·         Duration: up to a maximum duration of 60 months

 12pm, Thursday, 28 November 2024
Further Information (funding call, guidelines website):

·         Funding Call

·         Website

·         Guidelines

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

MBIE 2025 Endeavour Fund (Research Programmes)
This fund aims to support ambitious, excellent and well-defined research ideas which have credible and high potential to positively transform New Zealand’s future in areas of future value, growth, or critical need.

For the 2024 investment round, the Science Board will aim to fund at least 17 Research Programmes. 
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
·         Total funding pool: $38 million

·         Value: $0.5 million or more per year

·         Duration: 3, 4 or 5 years

 ·         Registration: 12 noon, Monday 25 November 2024.

·         Full Proposal: 12 noon, Monday 24 February 2025.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info, templates):

·         Funding Call

·         Guidelines

·         Website

·         Registration Template

·         Full Proposal Template

If you are interested, please notify your FIRST (research support) of your intent to apply for this scheme to receive important information and updates in relation to this fund

 

New Horizon Europe Calls
In mid-April, the European Commission announced a new selection of funding calls covering the remainder of 2024. The funding call details here Horizon Europe Funding Call List on the Horizon Europe Support Materials page on ResearchHub.

New Zealand can participate in these calls on equal terms as our European counterparts. However, the targeted nature of most of these calls means that it is highly likely that it will be more appropriate for us to partner on these projects, joining European-led bids as a collaborator rather than developing a proposal as a lead.

Anybody exploring these opportunities should contact International.Research@Auckland.ac.nz to arrange a discussion and explore additional support available.

 

Announcements  

Funding Application Process Changes for UoA Researchers
The UoA will be launching new research security processes.  These are aimed at complying with NZ’s Export Control legislation as well as preventing espionage and foreign interference in our research activities within a shifting domestic and international security environment. Researchers will be expected to participate in the new screening process when submitting research proposals to funders and conduct associated risk management assessments post-award. These changes take effect from 01 January 2025.

The information sessions are open to all Faculties/LSRIs and will be held on multiple dates (To RSVP for sessions use this link).  A recording of the information session will be made available online for those unable to attend in person. 

1. Click on the link.  You should see this image pop up:

2. Download the file then open it.

3. Accept the meeting and it should update in your calendar.

If your teams have questions or concerns, please contact Ben Turley (researchrisk@auckland.ac.nz).

Health, Safety and Wellbeing 

Updates from HSW

We are still searching for student Rep to the HSW SoE Committee, great experience possibility of training and great skill to have. Please contact Andres Arcila-Rivera ( a.arcila@auckland.ac.nz )

 

Keeping yourself safe during downtime

The silly season is here and the amounts of BBQ. Charcoal is the tastiest, but gas BBQ is very convenient. Some tips to help with the safe use of gas is:

  • Store the bottles in well-ventilated area preferably outside.
    • the propane gas cylinders storage (LPG cylinder storage) should always be kept away from high traffic areas to minimize any chance of accidental impacts.
    • Indoor LPG-propane gas storage should always be avoided.
    • The LPG-propane cylinder storage area should be flat and firm, such as a concrete slab and be in a location with good drainage, as propane gas cylinders should not be allowed to remain in standing water.
    • The area around the LPG-propane gas cylinder storage area should be free from any ignition sources, including electrical componentry, and the surrounding area should also be free of any flammable materials.
    • Propane cylinders should not be placed near any artificial heat source.
  • Keep the bottles upright
  • All bottles should be treated as if they were full, with the valve remaining closed when disconnected.

NZFS recommends the following about BBQs:

  • BBQs are potentially dangerous when used carelessly or when consuming excessive amounts of alcohol. Treat your BBQ the same way you would a stove: don’t drink and fry and avoid leaving cooking unattended.
  • Ensure you regularly check and maintain any fittings and connections. Use the soap bubble test to make sure there are no leaks.
  • Leave plenty of clear space around the BBQ. Make sure there is no nearby debris that could catch fire.
  • Supervise children at all times when using the BBQ.
  • Remove all excess fat from the BBQ after each use.

To check for gas leaks in the connections or along the hose do the soap bubble test:

Whenever you connect a gas cylinder to a BBQ, make sure it’s hand tight. You can do this by turning the gas cylinder on and then pouring a little soapy solution (1/4 cup of water and a squirt of liquid suds) over the valve.

If any bubbles are created, you may have a gas leak. Turn the valve off and replace the cylinder O-ring.

Publications | Articles

  • Kalatehjari R., Najafi EM, Asadi A, Brook M. (2024). New Zealand pumicite as a precursor in producing alkaline cement with aluminate-based activators. Case Studies in Construction Materials, 21: e04008.
Categories: Uncategorised
Comments Off on Issue 136 – Monday 25 November 2024

Issue 135 – Monday 11 November 2024

November 11, 2024 • igom365

HeadsUp

November is always a busy month for School ‘happenings’. Last week we had the new Dean’s visit, the New Stage 1 course workshop, the year’s last staff meeting and Nick Lewis’ Professorial Inaugural. Next up we have the Ako-sponsored ‘The Teaching Year’s Over’ and Research Showcase events on Tuesday and Thursday this week The list goes on. These opportunities remind us that we are a School that values a sense of community, celebrating success, and the importance of reconnecting after busy weeks and months. While there are always opportunities to be elsewhere on such occasions, please take advantage of coming along to these events.

The results of this year’s Marsden Fund awards offer another reason to celebrate. In the first instance, the PIs deserve fulsome congratulation. Yet rarely is there a grant for which any one person can take sole credit. Instead, just like the saying that it takes a village to raise a child so too it takes a constellation of contributors to get a grant over the line: research collaborators, in-School research programme coordinators and partners /families who perhaps sustain less attention than usual as the final push to grant submission approaches. Hence very big congratulations to our colleagues Karin Bryan and Michael Rowe for leading successful full bids and to recent PhD graduate Leanne Makey on her award of a Fast-Start.

To state the obvious, Marsden grants are big wins – not just for the investigators’ careers but also for the School as a whole. They add to our collective mana and, ultimately, our funding. They give Faculty confidence to invest in us. I look forward to toasting these just-released successes at our forthcoming gatherings. And for those who missed out or are developing ideas for next year’s call for EoIs, please make the most of the ‘Marsden Club’ opportunity to workshop ideas offered by Rangahau.

Robin Kearns      

Head of School

Announcements

Digital Capability Coaching

The university (Eleanor and Gill) are offering UoA staff the opportunity to improve their digital capability and confidence. To learn more about their service please see the images/slides below. If you would like assistance using digital tools (eg TEAMS, Excel, Word, or any of the MS 365 applications) please get in touch!

  1. Book a session 
  2. Or to enquire about a group session, email digitalcoach@auckland.ac.nz           

Ngā mihi,

Gill Hotter (she/her) and Eleanor Almeida (she/her)

Digital Capability Coaches

 

Outreach

Outreach opportunities for staff and students: 

Highlighting your research

Have you recently published a blog piece/ generated any film footage/ given an interview/ written something for mainstream media, about your research? Could we give it a little mention on our School of Environment socials? See some recent examples here. 

Please send your news to Emma  el.sharp@auckland.ac.nz so we can share it more widely! Please also send a useful image (of yourself/ the thing being studied) and complete the following prompts:

[Researcher name/s] from the School of Environment investigated [the problem] and found [this finding]. This helps us know [what?] and is relevant to [recent event/ issue/context]. Read more here/ see photo of [x]: [link]

Note: Academic articles are interesting but get less takeup from social media so if you have something in a ‘predigested’ form (e.g. a news link to the debate or problem, that’s helpful, and the article would have to be open access).

Graduates out in the world

For staff: If you have students who have completed their degree and moved onto new pursuits, and they might like to do a ’10 minutes with [name]’ written interview that we might post on social media to show what our graduates get up to, then put them in touch with Emma el.sharp@auckland.ac.nz

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities 

 

On behalf of the Rangahau Committee and the School of Environment, we would like to invite you to this year’s Postgraduate research showcase and Rangahau awards on 14th November!

This is a chance to celebrate all the amazing work that staff and students across the School of Environment! Kicking off at 10am, we have our Postgraduate Research Showcase where PhD and Masters students will present their research, highlighting their contributions to the world of knowledge.

We have seven oral presentations and 13 posters that will cover a broad range of research topics currently being undertaken in the School. Here is your chance to find out about, and celebrate, the exciting research our postgraduate students are engaged in.  (Room details will be provided nearer to the event).

After a break for lunch, you’re invited to join us in 303-G16 for the Rangahau awards to celebrate all of the incredible work done in the School of Environment. We will be presenting school-wide awards to outstanding members of our school, followed by a summary of the publication, funding and communication successes for 2024. We will also have presentations from staff and students showcasing their work. 

Please RSVP to the calendar invite for the research awards, as attendee numbers are limited.

 

Seminar: Prof Bryan Brooks:  TUESDAY 19 November, 2 PM, 303-G01

Prof. Bryan Brook is a Distinguished Professor of Environmental Science and Public Health at Baylor University (USA) and Editor In Chief for Environmental Science & Technology Letters. His research interests include water quality, environmental chemistry/toxicology, urbanisation, one health among others. He is part of a Catalyst Leader project and is interested in exploring options to orientate the sustainable management of chemicals and waste toward indigenous knowledge.  

https://environmentalscience.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/person/bryan-w-brooks-phd

https://pubs-acs-org.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.3c04600

This is a co-organised seminar with SCS, so there will be molecules, but not only! I asked Bryan to tailor a talk for our diverse audience. I hope to see many of you on  TUESDAY 19 November, 2 PM, 303-G01

Please contact Melanie if you would like to meet up with Bryan before/after the seminar.

Would a Q&A session on publishing for research students and ECR be of interest? (use of AI to write manuscripts? how to make a story attractive and impactful?). I will organise if there is sufficient interest. Please get in touch! melanie.kah@auckland.ac.nz

Cheers,

Melanie

 

 

Coastal and Marine Geoscience Group Meeting/Seminar       

The next Coastal-Marine Geoscience Group seminar will be held on Wednesday 20th of November at 12:00pm to 1:00 pm in the Ontology Lab (302-551).  

News will be shared and a talk given from Emma Ryan, “Can we measure mm-scale coral reef growth using photogrammetry?’ and Emma Bruder, “Fine-scale Physical Characterization of the Seascape and Impacts on Spatial Distribution and Connectivity of Marine Populations: A Comparative Approach Between Port-Cros (Mediterranean Sea) and Hauraki Gulf (South Pacific) Marine Reserves“.

All welcome to attend – please email Edouard Basquin at ebas390@aucklanduni.ac.nz if you wish to attend and don’t have the calendar invite already. 

 

 

 

 

 

Sustainability Teaching Network November seminar

Seminar Details:

Date: Friday 15 November 2024

Time: 1pm-2pm

Location: Online via Zoom

Join Zoom Meeting https://auckland.zoom.us/j/93440020521?pwd=bWZFekdDV2pVRmdlTlpNcWorMHlkdz09

Meeting ID: 934 4002 0521

Passcode: 547112

Given the timing of the meeting, you are welcome to eat lunch while you listen to the presentations.

Speaker blurbs and bios:

Gigi Lim: Fostering Collaboration and Transdisciplinary Skills: The Key to Sustainable Solutions

In an era where sustainable solutions are essential to address complex socio-ecological and geopolitical challenges, fostering collaboration and transdisciplinary skills is key. This presentation, Fostering Collaboration and Transdisciplinary Skills: The Key to Sustainable Solutions, explores how Higher Education can utilize networked knowledge systems to prepare future leaders to engage with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and navigate a rapidly changing world. Using a case study assessment on collaborative learning, this presentation illustrates how collaborative learning not only equips students with the skills necessary for problem-solving across disciplines but also cultivates attitudes of cooperation, shared responsibility, and systems thinking. These competencies are critical for effective sustainability practices, as they enable students to approach global issues with a mindset geared toward collective action, innovation, and ethical stewardship. By integrating these principles into contemporary programs, Higher Education can produce graduates equipped to address the challenges of sustainable development with both technical proficiency and a collaborative spirit.

Bio: Gigi Lim, Senior Lecturer at the School of Nursing, is a registered nurse in New Zealand with over 30 years of experience, including international work in the USA and the Philippines. Committed to equity and sustainability, she began her career leading community health initiatives on maternal and child nutrition, empowering mothers to tackle malnutrition with locally sourced foods. Her Master’s research under Professor John Raeburn focused on skill-building for the unemployed, while her PhD examined prescribing competencies. Currently, Gigi teaches interprofessional collaboration and sustainable healthcare practices to prepare nurse prescribers for complex challenges in collaborative prescribing, aiming to improve patient outcomes.

Trudi Aspden: Reducing the Environmental Harm of Our BPharm Pharmaceutical Compounding Classes: Making a Start by Trudi Aspden, Ellen Zhao, Amy Wei, Lynn Gregory, Susan Liu and Stella Dawkins

Pharmacists are dedicated to optimising health outcomes through the effective use of medicines.  One example of this is compounding, where pharmacists prepare formulations tailored to individual patients, using tools like a mortar and pestle or an ointment slab. This practice has been a part of pharmacy for centuries and still occurs today. Compounding remains an essential skill to teach pharmacy students but, like all areas of healthcare, we must consider and reduce the environmental impact of this practice while ensuring that neither the learning experience nor patient outcomes are compromised.

This short talk will describe how the School of Pharmacy compounding teaching team, primarily comprising pharmacy technicians, has successfully reduced the environmental impact of teaching BPharm students how to extemporaneously compound medicinal products.

Bio: Trudi Aspden is a senior lecturer in pharmacy practice in the School of Pharmacy, FMHS. She primarily teaches in the early years of the BPharm programme, with a focus on supporting students to develop the foundational skills essential for pharmacists.  In recent years, along with colleague Dr Sara Hanning, she has introduced aspects of environmental sustainability into her teaching. This has involved making changes to both teaching content and delivery.

 

IEEE Explore Database Training

IEEE Explore is offering an upcoming Zoom workshop  for the University of Auckland on The Literature Review Process on Tuesday, November 12, 3-4pm NZ Daylight Savings Time.

This workshop will help you hone your research skills and feel more confident when using this database to further your research.

Access the link below on the day to attend the workshop.

Zoom Link: https://ieee.zoom.us/j/92606478460?pwd=UIaf2HctCLoAbZxFbaT843Cc5XCA6U.1

This session showcases the literature review process using IEEE Xplore Digital Library’s 6+ million publications, and demonstrates how students and researchers would leverage on the platform’s features to filter and locate the most relevant and impactful references for their coursework and research. Topics covered include:

  • Introduction to IEEE and IEEE Xplore Digital Library
  • IEEE Xplore Digital Library: Content &Feature Highlights
  • Literature Review with IEEE Xplore (Live Demo)
  • Advanced searching in IEEE Xplore
  • Personal account with IEEE Xplore: reference management, etc.
  • Discussion, Q&A
Tuesday Nov 12, 2024 ⋅ 3pm – 4pm (New Zealand Daylight Savings Time)

 

You liked our Whose lecture is it anyway? event last year… you’ll like this 3-minute research competition this year…’ We’ll add more details in the future.

 

E-bike offers

Check out the e-bike deals for University staff.

Electric bike team

Electric Bike Team has a great deal for staff wishing to purchase one of their bikes. Look now: Electric bike team

Big Street Bikers

Looking to buy an e-bike? Big Street Bikers has discounts and some freebies for University staff. Check it out: Big Street Bikers

 

Doctoral Development Offerings

An overview of the many UoA Doctoral Development offerings that candidates and supervisors may want to consider has been compiled here.

 

Co-funded University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarships

Guidelines have now been drafted for the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship scheme to co-fund scholarships with industry or philanthropic partners to seed new collaborations. If you are making connections where some money to support a student may be possible, please come and chat to Jennifer Eccles asap about whether this could be an option.  

 

FUNDS FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH HAPORI MAORI

School of Environment has a small budget for enabling engagement with Maori, particularly through koha or contributions that may be needed to initiate research relationships. In disbursing that putea, priority is given to academic staff working on behalf of groups of staff or students, pre/consultation activities for ethics approval and collaborations that are not readily funded through other mechanisms. As it is desirable to utilise the budget before the end of the academic year, however, all well-reasoned proposals will be considered. If interested, email a brief, one paragraph description of a proposed activity and a budget for how funds will be utilised to Brad (b.coombes@auckland.ac.nz). Although there are no prescribed maxima or minima for these grants, the limited scope of the overall budget will likely preclude grants in excess of $1000. Applicants should also be mindful of UoA guidelines or policies for gifting and koha.

 

Post Graduate Wellbeing … where to go

If you are currently coordinating a PG course, could you please post the inforgraphic slide to your Canvas course page so students will know the resources that are available throughout the University. 

 

Rangahau – Research

“Efficiency & Effectiveness Workshop”, organized by the Rangahau Committee:

We would like to invite you to the following workshop that have been organized for the Research fellows at the School of Environment, and funded by the Rangahau Committee. 

The workshop will focus on “Efficiency & Effectiveness”, and it is organized as  virtual Weekly mini workshops:

60–90 minute workshops will cover the subtopics spread out over four weeks. The first workshop will be 90 minutes, while the other three are planned for 60 minutes each. However, all sessions are scheduled for 90 minutes to allow extra time for questions and follow-up discussions if participants wish to stay longer.

Efficiency covers:

  • Work organisation – how to better store, and therefore find the information you need, in order to work more efficiently
  • Finding Flow – how to optimise your work in order to find more time in a ‘flow state’
  • Strategies to minimise work habits – including those for handling of information, distractions, interruptions & procrastination

Effectiveness covers:

  • Importance of progress individually and as a team
  • Prioritising & time management – what work to do when & in what size chunks
  • Planning – strategies to plan projects and/or plan your work day & workload

There are also elements of wellbeing that are woven into these discussions, physiological factors & burnout prevention.

Dates: 

  1. Friday 25 Oct
  2. Friday 01 Nov
  3. Friday 08 Nov
  4. Friday 15 Nov

Time (to be decided between the following options)

  • Option 01: 9:30 to 11:00 am
  • Option 02: 12:00 to 1:30 pm

This workshop is intended for Research Fellows, final-year PhD students, and staff.

If you’re interested in attending, please send an email to joa.paredes.marino@auckland.ac.nz with a brief paragraph explaining your motivation to participate. Please indicate as well the time that suits you better. Spots are limited.

Cheers,

Joali on behalf of the Rangahau Committee.

 

Funding

Funding Calls

Spencer Foundation –  Research Grants on Education: Large
This fund aims to support education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education. The research concept is “field-initiated” with the grant designed to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.
Value/Duration: Deadline:
·         Value: between USD125,000 and USD500,000 (circa NZD205,000 -NZD821,000), depending on the funding tier selected.

·         Duration: up to a maximum duration of 60 months  

 ·         External Deadline for Intent to Apply: 5pm, Thursday, 30 January 2025

·         Internal Deadline for Full Stage: 5pm, Tuesday,14 January 2025
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, website):

·         Funding Call

·         Website

·         Guidelines

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

Spencer Foundation – Small Research Grants on Education
This fund is intended to support education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education.  The research concept is “field-initiated” with the grant designed to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education.
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
·         Value: up to USD50,000 (circa NZD80,000

·         Duration: up to a maximum duration of 60 months

 12pm, Thursday, 28 November 2024
Further Information (funding call, guidelines website):

·         Funding Call

·         Website

·         Guidelines

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

Near-miss funding round 2024
This fund aims to provide support to PIs, for applications from the University of Auckland, Faculty of Science for major grants (≥ $100,000), who successfully progressed to the second stage of a major external funding round but missed out at the final stage. The faculty envisage being able to fund up to 5 applications in the 2024 round.
Value/Duration: Deadline:
Grants up to $10,000 for research activity Applications are due by 5pm, Monday 25th Nov 2024
Further Information:

·        Full details including guidelines and the application form are available on the research page of the staff intranet

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST (Kelly or Sophie)

 

Faculty of Science Commercial Seed Funding
This fund aims to support early-stage work that will make a difference to the tech development pathway.

A range of commercial R&D or skill development activities could be supported, including experiments to determine whether a particular idea is commercially feasible, development of initial proof-of-concept results for commercial funding applications, IP and Freedom to Operate searches, or market research. Researchers may also apply for this funding to support their personal development.
Value/Duration: Deadline:
Grants up to $10,000 for research activity

(The total budget for this round is ~$25k)

 Applications are due by 5pm, Monday 25th Nov 2024
Further Information:

·        Guidelines & Applications

*Applicants should submit a proposal via email to FoS-researchadmin@auckland.ac.nz

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST (Kelly or Sophie)

 

MBIE 2025 Endeavour Fund (Research Programmes)
This fund aims to support ambitious, excellent and well-defined research ideas which have credible and high potential to positively transform New Zealand’s future in areas of future value, growth, or critical need.

For the 2024 investment round, the Science Board will aim to fund at least 17 Research Programmes. 
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
·         Total funding pool: $38 million

·         Value: $0.5 million or more per year

·         Duration: 3, 4 or 5 years

 ·         Registration: 12 noon, Monday 25 November 2024.

·         Full Proposal: 12 noon, Monday 24 February 2025.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info, templates):

·         Funding Call

·         Guidelines

·         Website

·         Registration Template

·         Full Proposal Template

If you are interested, please notify your FIRST (research support) of your intent to apply for this scheme to receive important information and updates in relation to this fund

 

The George Mason Centre for Natural Environment
This fund aims to support projects that enhance the aims of the George Mason Centre and focus on environmental solutions. The Expert Advisory Panel will be looking to foster connections between projects that lead to thematic research and to expanded funding opportunities for research and application.
Value/Duration: Deadline
·         Value: up to $10,000

·         Duration: 1 year

 12 Noon, 5 November 2024
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info, templates):

·        Application Form 

·        Guidelines

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

   

New Horizon Europe Calls
In mid-April, the European Commission announced a new selection of funding calls covering the remainder of 2024. The funding call details here Horizon Europe Funding Call List on the Horizon Europe Support Materials page on ResearchHub.

New Zealand can participate in these calls on equal terms as our European counterparts. However, the targeted nature of most of these calls means that it is highly likely that it will be more appropriate for us to partner on these projects, joining European-led bids as a collaborator rather than developing a proposal as a lead.

Anybody exploring these opportunities should contact International.Research@Auckland.ac.nz to arrange a discussion and explore additional support available.

 

Announcements 

RSNZ Marsden Support Sessions 2025
Support for the 2025 RSNZ Marsden round is currently underway.  The Domestic Portfolio in the Research Funding team will be hosting a 1-hour session with past Marsden winners (Standard and Fast-Start) and previous Marsden panellists, to answer any questions and provide insights regarding the development and assessments of Marsden expressions of interests and proposals. They can also offer advice in preparing the application, novelty/scholarly impact, and Vision Mātauranga

Key Information Dates: Wednesday 20th of Novermber

Time: 1:00 pm – 2:00pm

Location: Online via Zoom Link

Audience: Open to UoA research staff applying for the 2025 Marsden round.

Registration: please register “Here”

Please reach out to submissions@auckland.ac.nz  if you have any questions and/or concerns.

 

Funding Application Process Changes for UoA Researchers
The UoA will be launching new research security processes.  These are aimed at complying with NZ’s Export Control legislation as well as preventing espionage and foreign interference in our research activities within a shifting domestic and international security environment. Researchers will be expected to participate in the new screening process when submitting research proposals to funders and conduct associated risk management assessments post-award. These changes take effect from 01 January 2025.

The information sessions are open to all Faculties/LSRIs and will be held on multiple dates (To RSVP for sessions use this link).  A recording of the information session will be made available online for those unable to attend in person. 

1. Click on the link.  You should see this image pop up:

2. Download the file then open it.

3. Accept the meeting and it should update in your calendar.

If your teams have questions or concerns, please contact Ben Turley (researchrisk@auckland.ac.nz).

Health, Safety and Wellbeing 

Updates from HSW

Summer is just around the corner, and you can do some of the following to help you through this time of the year:

  • Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, including water and flavoured water. You can also eat foods with a high-water content, like watermelon and cucumber. 

 

 

  • Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose-fitting clothing. 

 

  • Keep your home cool: Use an air conditioner, weather-strip doors and windows, and cover windows with drapes or shades. You can also use a dehumidifier to keep indoor humidity levels between 40% and 50%. 

 

  • Prepare your car: Check your oil, coolant, and tire levels, and top up your screen wash. 

 

  • Prepare a grab bag: Keep a bag with basic supplies like bottled water, medicines, a torch, radio, batteries, copies of important documents, and a change of clothes. 

 

  • Prepare your closet: Go through your closet, get rid of or donate what you don’t want, and buy any new clothing you need. 

 

  • Plan trips: Plan trips and consider visiting a new city or going hiking. 

 

  • Maintain a bedtime routine: Maintain a consistent bedtime routine for parents and children to get enough quality sleep. 

 

  • Be aware of others: Look out for others in your community, especially older people, young children, babies, and those with health risks

Publications | Articles

  • Mueller A, Simmons L, Brook MS (2024) Engineering geomorphology of coastal landslides at Limestone Downs, North Island, New Zealand. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology 57(4): qjegh2024-046.
Categories: Uncategorised
Comments Off on Issue 135 – Monday 11 November 2024

Issue 134 – Tuesday 29 October 2024

October 29, 2024 • igom365

HeadsUp

Hearing Masters/ Hons presentations, DCOs appearing in my email inbox, being consulted on catering for the end of year party…all signs that year’s end is fast approaching.  Even the supermarkets have starting stocking Christmas fare. And in the last announcement of spring, the pipiwharauroa, (shining cuckoo) has returned from the tropics and started calling in the bush.

Labour Weekend offered a taster of summer holidays to come.  Like most public holidays the meaning is sadly lost over time. In this case an extra day to sleep in or go to the beach is actually a commemoration of the struggle for an eight-hour working day (NZ workers were among the world’s first to claim this right).  Although this was gained in in 1840, Labour Day wasn’t celebrated in New Zealand until 28 October 1890. While many of us work a longer day than eight hours at times, its surely good to know we don’t have to. So we should be grateful for more than a day off.

There have been other hard-won rights. In the US annual leave (AL) is only 2 weeks. Here we have five. Think of the uproar if the university proposed to cut back from five weeks to just a fortnight a year. Yet, as most of you know only too well, I have to persuade some colleagues to book AL. With summer approaching, it is seriously time to book time off or it may, with consultation, be booked for you. We owe it to ourselves and those close to us to take what time we are eligible for. I know most of us love our jobs, but surely not so much that we forego booking leave…

This is a time many of us ‘go to ground’ with exam marking, conferences and fieldwork.  Next week we have a triumvirate of School events: on Monday a visit from Sarah Young, the new Dean; and on Wednesday, an all-staff showcase for the new stage 1 offerings followed by our last staff meeting of the year. The latter two have been scheduled back-to-back to ease scheduling. I look forward to seeing most of you at those occasions next week.

Till then, enjoy planning and booking AL. And listen out for the pipiwharauroa singing as it searches for other birds’ nests to lay in.

Robin Kearns

Announcements

Digital Capability Coaching

The university (Elanor and Gill) are offering UoA staff the opportunity to improve their digital capability and confidence. To learn more about their service please see the images/slides below. If you would like assistance using digital tools (eg TEAMS, Excel, Word, or any of the MS 365 applications) please get in touch!

  1. Book a session 
  2. Or to enquire about a group session, email digitalcoach@auckland.ac.nz           

Ngā mihi,

Gill Hotter (she/her) and Eleanor Almeida (she/her)

Digital Capability Coaches

 

Short-Term Job Opportunity – Collections Assistance Needed!

We have an exciting opportunity for two students to join us in preparing for a significant move in 2025. As part of this process, we need some help bagging up our school collections located at an offsite warehouse.

What the role involves:
You’ll be working with us to carefully pack and organise collections, making sure everything is ready for transport. The role is expected to last around 2–3 months and can be offered on either a fixed-term or casual basis, depending on what works best for us.

Interested?
If this sounds like something you’d like to be part of, please get in touch! We’d love to chat further and provide more details on the job, as well as discuss the next steps.

Feel free to contact me directly:

Blair Sowman
Technical Manager, School of Environment
Phone: (09) 373 7599 Ext. 84128

Outreach

Outreach opportunities for staff and students: 

Highlighting your research

Have you recently published a blog piece/ generated any film footage/ given an interview/ written something for mainstream media, about your research? Could we give it a little mention on our School of Environment socials? See some recent examples here. 

Please send your news to Emma  el.sharp@auckland.ac.nz so we can share it more widely! Please also send a useful image (of yourself/ the thing being studied) and complete the following prompts:

[Researcher name/s] from the School of Environment investigated [the problem] and found [this finding]. This helps us know [what?] and is relevant to [recent event/ issue/context]. Read more here/ see photo of [x]: [link]

Note: Academic articles are interesting but get less takeup from social media so if you have something in a ‘predigested’ form (e.g. a news link to the debate or problem, that’s helpful, and the article would have to be open access).

Graduates out in the world

For staff: If you have students who have completed their degree and moved onto new pursuits, and they might like to do a ’10 minutes with [name]’ written interview that we might post on social media to show what our graduates get up to, then put them in touch with Emma el.sharp@auckland.ac.nz

Earthfest 

GSNZ is planning Earthfest – a national Earth and Space Science Hui in Dunedin on November 23 and 24 (weekend prior to the GSNZ conference). It’s for high school teachers and university geoscientists to get together, develop relationships, and workshop getting more students into geoscience. Mila Adams and Giovanni Coco will be attending and it would be great to have others there too. Sponsorship from Industry and NZGeolS.

 

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities 

IEEE Explore Database Training

IEEE Explore is offering an upcoming Zoom workshop  for the University of Auckland on The Literature Review Process on Tuesday, November 12, 3-4pm NZ Daylight Savings Time.

This workshop will help you hone your research skills and feel more confident when using this database to further your research.

Access the link below on the day to attend the workshop.

Zoom Link: https://ieee.zoom.us/j/92606478460?pwd=UIaf2HctCLoAbZxFbaT843Cc5XCA6U.1

This session showcases the literature review process using IEEE Xplore Digital Library’s 6+ million publications, and demonstrates how students and researchers would leverage on the platform’s features to filter and locate the most relevant and impactful references for their coursework and research. Topics covered include:

  • Introduction to IEEE and IEEE Xplore Digital Library
  • IEEE Xplore Digital Library: Content &Feature Highlights
  • Literature Review with IEEE Xplore (Live Demo)
  • Advanced searching in IEEE Xplore
  • Personal account with IEEE Xplore: reference management, etc.
  • Discussion, Q&A
Tuesday Nov 12, 2024 ⋅ 3pm – 4pm (New Zealand Daylight Savings Time)

 

We would like to request your nominations for the School of Environment Equity Awards for 2024.

These awards are an ongoing effort to acknowledge, recognise, and reward the amazing work in equity that people are doing in our school – whether they are academic staff, professional staff or post-graduate students. The awards will be held at an end of year Equity event on Wednesday 13th November.

Details: 

We have four School Equity Award categories.

  • Equity in Service Award
  • Equity in Teaching Award
  • Equity in Research Award
  • Equity in the School of Environment Award 

Please make your nominations using this Google Form:

Deadline for nominations: End of day Friday 8th November.

Thank you for helping recognise the equity efforts in our School. We look forward to reading the nominations.

Ngā mihi nui,

Heather (on behalf of the Env Equity Committee)

 

Coastal and Marine Geoscience Group Meeting/Seminar               

The next Coastal-Marine Geoscience Group seminar will be held on Wednesday 6th of November at 1:00pm to 2:00 pm in the Ontology Lab (302-551).  

News will be shared and a talk given from Yiming Wu, “Impacts of exotic saltmarsh removal and native saltmarsh restoration on bed level change and surficial sediment distribution in an estuary wetland”

and Maurizio D’Anna, “Reshaping the understanding of beach response to Sea Level Rise for equilibrium shoreline models“.

All welcome to attend – please email Edouard Basquin at ebas390@aucklanduni.ac.nz if you wish to attend and don’t have the calendar invite already. 

 

NZSA Space Scholarships – NASA internships – applications for 2025 close 3 November

Applications are currently open for the New Zealand Space Scholarship. It is aimed at students who will be studying at a post-grad level in 2025 and who are interested in working on NASA projects in the U.S. next year. Applications close 3 November 2024. 

Successfully applicants will have the opportunity to work on space-related projects at either NASA’s Ames Research Center or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. While there, they’ll be guided by NASA mentors, gaining hands-on experience in their fields of study and access to advanced research facilities.

The New Zealand Space Scholarship covers return airfares to the United States and accommodation costs, plus an allowance for living expenses.

More information, including eligibility criteria is available online: https://www.mbie.govt.nz/science-and-technology/space/nasa-internships

And interested students can apply online: https://jobs.mbie.govt.nz/job-invite/15694/

 

You liked our Whose lecture is it anyway? event last year… you’ll like this 3-minute research competition this year…’ We’ll add more details in the future.

 

E-bike offers

Check out the e-bike deals for University staff.

Electric bike team

Electric Bike Team has a great deal for staff wishing to purchase one of their bikes. Look now: Electric bike team

Big Street Bikers

Looking to buy an e-bike? Big Street Bikers has discounts and some freebies for University staff. Check it out: Big Street Bikers

 

Doctoral Development Offerings

An overview of the many UoA Doctoral Development offerings that candidates and supervisors may want to consider has been compiled here.

 

Co-funded University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarships

Guidelines have now been drafted for the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship scheme to co-fund scholarships with industry or philanthropic partners to seed new collaborations. If you are making connections where some money to support a student may be possible please come and chat to Jennifer Eccles asap about whether this could be an option.  

 

FUNDS FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH HAPORI MAORI

School of Environment has a small budget for enabling engagement with Maori, particularly through koha or contributions that may be needed to initiate research relationships. In disbursing that putea, priority is given to academic staff working on behalf of groups of staff or students, pre/consultation activities for ethics approval and collaborations that are not readily funded through other mechanisms. As it is desirable to utilise the budget before the end of the academic year, however, all well-reasoned proposals will be considered. If interested, email a brief, one paragraph description of a proposed activity and a budget for how funds will be utilised to Brad (b.coombes@auckland.ac.nz). Although there are no prescribed maxima or minima for these grants, the limited scope of the overall budget will likely preclude grants in excess of $1000. Applicants should also be mindful of UoA guidelines or policies for gifting and koha.

 

Post Graduate Wellbeing … where to go

If you are currently coordinating a PG course, could you please post the inforgraphic slide to your Canvas course page so students will know the resources that are available throughout the University. 

 

Rangahau – Research

“Efficiency & Effectiveness Workshop”, organized by the Rangahau Committee:

We would like to invite you to the following workshop that have been organized for the Research fellows at the School of Environment, and funded by the Rangahau Committee. 

The workshop will focus on “Efficiency & Effectiveness”, and it is organized as  virtual Weekly mini workshops:

60–90 minute workshops will cover the subtopics spread out over four weeks. The first workshop will be 90 minutes, while the other three are planned for 60 minutes each. However, all sessions are scheduled for 90 minutes to allow extra time for questions and follow-up discussions if participants wish to stay longer.

Efficiency covers:

  • Work organisation – how to better store, and therefore find the information you need, in order to work more efficiently
  • Finding Flow – how to optimise your work in order to find more time in a ‘flow state’
  • Strategies to minimise work habits – including those for handling of information, distractions, interruptions & procrastination

Effectiveness covers:

  • Importance of progress individually and as a team
  • Prioritising & time management – what work to do when & in what size chunks
  • Planning – strategies to plan projects and/or plan your work day & workload

There are also elements of wellbeing that are woven into these discussions, physiological factors & burnout prevention.

Dates: 

  1. Friday 25 Oct
  2. Friday 01 Nov
  3. Friday 08 Nov
  4. Friday 15 Nov

Time (to be decided between the following options)

  • Option 01: 9:30 to 11:00 am
  • Option 02: 12:00 to 1:30 pm

This workshop is intended for Research Fellows, final-year PhD students, and staff.

If you’re interested in attending, please send an email to joa.paredes.marino@auckland.ac.nz with a brief paragraph explaining your motivation to participate. Please indicate as well the time that suits you better. Spots are limited.

Cheers,

Joali on behalf of the Rangahau Committee.

 

Funds are available to support students writing up their thesis as publication(s).

Each grant is worth $3000 (120 hours at 25$ all included). There is no deadline to apply. Applications are evaluated as they come by members of Rangahau (2 weeks turn over max.), until we use all the funds available.

Do you have a good candidate in mind? Please complete this form and submit to katarzyna.sila-nowicka@auckalnd.ac.nz

 

Funding for Research Retreats

The Rangahau Committee has a small amount of funding set aside to sponsor Research retreats (e.g grant writing workshops, paper writing).  This can be up to 2k per team, with a minimum 2 SoE participants.

If you have an idea that you would like considered, please submit a short paragraph explaining the intention and benefits of the retreat to katarzyna.sila-nowicka@auckland.ac.nz.

 

Proposal development support

The Rangahau Committee has a small fund set aside to help with proposal development (e.g. writing support, support to scope proposals etc.).  If you have an idea that fits within this scope please get in touch with Kelly Kilpin to discuss further.

 

Funding

Funding Calls

Near-miss funding round 2024
This fund aims to provide support to PIs, for applications from the University of Auckland, Faculty of Science for major grants (≥ $100,000), who successfully progressed to the second stage of a major external funding round but missed out at the final stage. The faculty envisage being able to fund up to 5 applications in the 2024 round.
Value/Duration: Deadline:
Grants up to $10,000 for research activity Applications are due by 5pm, Monday 25th Nov 2024
Further Information:

·        Full details including guidelines and the application form are available on the research page of the staff intranet

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST (Kelly or Sophie)

 

Faculty of Science Commercial Seed Funding
This fund aims to support early-stage work that will make a difference to the tech development pathway.

A range of commercial R&D or skill development activities could be supported, including experiments to determine whether a particular idea is commercially feasible, development of initial proof-of-concept results for commercial funding applications, IP and Freedom to Operate searches, or market research. Researchers may also apply for this funding to support their personal development.
Value/Duration: Deadline:
Grants up to $10,000 for research activity

(The total budget for this round is ~$25k)

 Applications are due by 5pm, Monday 25th Nov 2024
Further Information:

·        Guidelines & Applications

*Applicants should submit a proposal via email to FoS-researchadmin@auckland.ac.nz

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST (Kelly or Sophie)

 

MBIE 2025 Endeavour Fund (Research Programmes)
This fund aims to support ambitious, excellent and well-defined research ideas which have credible and high potential to positively transform New Zealand’s future in areas of future value, growth, or critical need.

For the 2024 investment round, the Science Board will aim to fund at least 17 Research Programmes. 
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
·         Total funding pool: $38 million

·         Value: $0.5 million or more per year

·         Duration: 3, 4 or 5 years

 ·         Registration: 12 noon, Monday 25 November 2024.

·         Full Proposal: 12 noon, Monday 24 February 2025.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info, templates):

·         Funding Call

·         Guidelines

·         Website

·         Registration Template

·         Full Proposal Template

If you are interested, please notify your FIRST (research support) of your intent to apply for this scheme to receive important information and updates in relation to this fund

 

The George Mason Centre for Natural Environment
This fund aims to support projects that enhance the aims of the George Mason Centre and focus on environmental solutions. The Expert Advisory Panel will be looking to foster connections between projects that lead to thematic research and to expanded funding opportunities for research and application.
Value/Duration: Deadline
·         Value: up to $10,000

·         Duration: 1 year

 12 Noon, 5 November 2024
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info, templates):

·        Application Form 

·        Guidelines

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

Ember Innovations – Research Grants
Ember Innovations proudly presents two distinct research grant opportunities for University of Auckland research projects that align with our commitment to innovation, mental health, and honouring lived experiences (B)

(B). Lived Experience Research Grant: For research in any discipline/category led by a researcher with personal experience of mental distress or substance, or non-substance harm
Value/Duration: External Deadline
·         Value: $50,000 (ex GST)

·         Duration: up to 3 years

 5pm, Tuesday 31 October
Information Workshop will be held at The University of Auckland on 23rd September 2024 at 1pm – 2:30pm with light refreshments and networking until 3pm, at University of Auckland Campus 49 Symonds St – link to workshop registration is here.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):

·         Funding Call

·         Guidelines

·         Website

 If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

   

The Transdisciplinary Ideation Fund (TIF)
The Waipapa Taumata Rau (TIF) is a fund that encourages research staff from across the University to develop cross-faculty research partnerships, aspiring toward high-quality Transdisciplinary research outputs, research learning initiatives, and successful applications to external research funders.
Value/Duration: Deadline
 

·         Grants of $20,000. Up to 15 projects will be funded.

 5pm, Thursday 31 October 2024
TIF workshop: encourages new cross-disciplinary research collaborations and is designed for academic staff who are intending to pursue transdisciplinary research. (Please register bid via registration link provided)

Date and Time: Friday 13 September 2024, 9am to 12pm (morning tea provided)

Location: B201-342, 10 Symonds Street
Further Information:

·         Funding Call

·         Full details including guidelines and the application form are available on Research Hub

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

New Horizon Europe Calls
In mid-April, the European Commission announced a new selection of funding calls covering the remainder of 2024. The funding call details here Horizon Europe Funding Call List on the Horizon Europe Support Materials page on ResearchHub.

New Zealand can participate in these calls on equal terms as our European counterparts. However, the targeted nature of most of these calls means that it is highly likely that it will be more appropriate for us to partner on these projects, joining European-led bids as a collaborator rather than developing a proposal as a lead.

Anybody exploring these opportunities should contact International.Research@Auckland.ac.nz to arrange a discussion and explore additional support available.

 

Announcements 

Research Impact Survey
The Research & Innovation Office and Research Services are collaborating on a project to design a resource for researchers around capturing and evidencing research impact. We are hopeful that we can design a tool or module that will become an important part of the research impact toolkit for researchers, helping them to feel better equipped to plan and communicate their potential impact effectively.

·         The survey link is: https://forms.office.com/r/VyM2tpnzpe

 

Health, Safety and Wellbeing 

Updates from HSW

With Spring well under way outdoors activities are around us. However, a reminder that work and recreational activities require adequate gear to avoid unnecessary injuries.

If you have allergies, refrain from taking unprescribed medicines. Ask your physician for the right type of antihistamines for you, some cause drowsiness and it’s use can cause fatal accidents or can reduce your productivity dramatically.

 

Managing Spring Allergies Safely

Spring is a beautiful season, but for many, it brings the challenge of allergies. Here are some tips to help you manage your symptoms safely and effectively:

Safe Use of Antihistamines

Antihistamines are a common remedy for allergy symptoms like sneezing, itching, and runny nose. Here are some guidelines for their safe use:

  • Consult a Healthcare Provider: Before starting any medication, it’s important to talk to your doctor, especially if you have other health conditions or are taking other medications.
  • Follow Dosage Instructions: Always adhere to the recommended dosage on the package or as prescribed by your doctor. Overuse can lead to unwanted side effects.
  • Be Aware of Side Effects: Some antihistamines can cause drowsiness. If you’re taking a new medication, see how it affects you before driving or operating heavy machinery.
  • Non-Drowsy Options: If drowsiness is a concern, look for non-drowsy antihistamines, which are less likely to affect your daily activities.

Monitoring the Pollen Index

Keeping an eye on the pollen, use Metservice,  index can help you manage your exposure to allergens:

  • Check Daily Reports: Many weather websites and apps provide daily pollen counts. High pollen days might be a good time to stay indoors or take extra precautions.
  • Plan Outdoor Activities: Try to schedule outdoor activities when pollen levels are lower, typically after rain or in the late afternoon.
  • Keep Windows Closed: On high pollen days, keep windows and doors closed to prevent pollen from entering your home.

Additional Tips

  • Shower and Change Clothes: After spending time outside, shower and change your clothes to remove pollen.
  • Use Air Purifiers: Consider using air purifiers with HEPA filters to reduce indoor allergens.
  • Stay Hydrated: Drinking plenty of water can help thin mucus and keep you hydrated.

By following these tips and staying informed, you can enjoy the beauty of spring while keeping your allergies under control. 🌸

Deliberate actions to increase optimism will boost your mood.

 

Categories: Uncategorised
Comments Off on Issue 134 – Tuesday 29 October 2024

Issue 133 – Monday 14 October 2024

October 14, 2024 • igom365

HeadsUp

To say we live in challenging times is both an understatement and a truism. By way of one example, Saturday’s NZ Herald ran a story whose headline referred to the new Waipapa Taumata Rau Stage 1 offering as “University of Auckland’s Treaty of Waitangi course”.

That sort of inflammatory reductionism is seriously unhelpful. Did the journalist even see the course outline? I doubt it. Or if they did, there’s a selective amplification at work. At a recent presentation to Heads on the course pilot reminded me, the investment in development has been considerable, the course has been deeply thought-through and some of the university’s best educators are involved. And the level of over-simplification in that headline is akin to saying Geog 104 ‘Cities and Urbanism’ is “the university’s gentrification course”:  a picking out of one topic and universalising it.

I suspect this is the sort of course that many if not most students will appreciate: small studio classes that allow getting to know others and cohort-building ; exposure to a range of ways of thinking and scientific approaches; and an understanding of the nature of the place where we find ourselves: Tāmaki Makaurau. Auckland as a place cannot be understood without knowledge of both the geological substrates and the socio-cultural underpinnings of Māori/Tauiwi relations. Hence Te Tiriti’s inevitable and irrevocable place in a course about being at this university in this place and time.

When I went to McMaster University in Ontario in the early 1980s, this is exactly the sort of course I yearned for. Instead I had to seek out knowledge of the place and its history myself, piecing together the jig-saw of First Nations and settler history in that setting of the Great Lakes and Niagara Escarpment. I eventually found my way to an Iroquois Longhouse and met Ojibwe artists whose work depicted the ultimate interconnectedness of all beings (rock and water bodies included). But of necessity that was my extracurricular journey as an international student.

Now, 40 years later, our university is piloting a course that introduces critically aware thinking and 21st century ways of embracing diverse knowledges. And that our School,  Te Kura Mātai Taiao, is a major ‘shareholder’ in both its pedagogic architecture and its EFTS-generating delivery is a point of pride as Head of School. I hope for many of you too. And so when the course (and its emergent sibling iterations in other Faculties) gets dismissed as “the Treaty course”, it’s simply a travesty and shallow journalism.

Let the students who take this course be the judge of its quality and may politics focus on the critical issues of life and livelihood (for people and the natural environment) at this time.

Other matters

A big thanks to everyone who was eligible for an ADPR. I’m finally turning to completing my own having had the last of 62 ADPR conversations on Friday. Mine will be with the new Dean, Sarah Young.

Speaking of which, Sarah has requested a short tour of our School’s premises and facilities on 4th November, so I may stop by with her to say hello if your office door is open.

Occasionally we (myself included, often) need to invoke policy in our administrative undertakings. I’ve been reminded that at times, outdated policies are being cited.  Before proceeding with any policy-relevant communication, please consult the Policy Hub on the Staff Intranet and find the current version there.

Occasionally, too, you may wish to invite a colleague or postgrad student from elsewhere to be a visitor in our School. Increasingly these visitations seem to be increasing in duration. We have limited capacity to host more guests at present, so please contact me to discuss before extending any invitations.

In case they are not already in your diary, we have two more important events for early November: On Wednesday 6th, at 945 am there will be the second of the year’s showcases for our new Stage 1 courses. Please be there as well as on the next evening, Thurs 7th when we have another inaugural lecture: this time its new professor, Nick Lewis.

 Finally, last Monday was Dean Sarah Young’s first day and last Wednesday the University Council deliberated on, among other matters, the CFT and optimisation process. In both cases, we need to exercise some patience until policy directions in the Faculty and University become apparent. We do have clarity, however, that the WTR courses as a first-year requirement are firmly on track, opening for enrolment on November 1st. While optimisation might have been a driver for some of our recent course changes, it was not the only one. Any over-hasty reversal of decisions and recommendations run the risk of a back-to-the-drawing board situation and ultimately more work for all. As the late Prime Minister David Lange memorably said, there are times we need to pause and, metaphorically, “have a cup of tea”.  Now is such a time and the pause need not be extended. Simply long enough we can ensure we are moving in an acceptable direction.

Robin Kearns

Announcements

ITRAX Core Scanner works !!!

ITRAX Core Scanner at University of Auckland combines high-quality optical images from an RGB line camera with crossed polarising filters, X-ray radiography images, and scanning XRF. This instrument truly excels when it comes of speed and data quality, particularly in scanning at the millimetre level and in sub-millimetre increments. There is variation in the scanning step size within the 10-0.2 (0.1) milli-metre range. This adaptability enables both comprehensive high-resolution scans and rapid overview scans.

Features

  1. Sample types include wet, split sediment cores in liners, slabs, drill cores, and other flat samples.
  2. Measurements of magnetic susceptibility.
  3. Sample length is up to 185 centimetres.
  4. The integrated x-ray radiography is a helpful addition to the XRF because it provides a picture of the frequently subtle chemical and density fluctuations throughout the sample, making layered structures visible.
  5. The crossed polarising filter on the RGB camera reduces surface effects from things like water on the sample surface.
  6. The sample surface is not touched during the non-destructive measurements.
  7. From Mg to U are the elements that are detectable. The selection of anode element for an X-ray tube affects the detection limits.
  8. Following the analysis, all other data, including the concentrations, are available immediately; no calibration is required.

Please contact me (Dr. Harpreet Singh Kainth) (harpreet.singh.kainth@auckland.ac.nz) for more information about the brief details of the XRF instrument.

 

Have you borrowed a USB transcription pedal or audio recorder from the School?

We are hoping to track down any audio recorders or USB transcription foot pedals that may have been borrowed from the School in recent years. If you have one in your possession, or know where some might be hiding, please get in contact with Thomas (thomas.mules@auckland.ac.nz)

Requests for software purchase or renewal in 2025

We are now seeking requests for software purchase or renewal in 2025. If there are software titles that you require for teaching or research purposes, please let us know using this form.

Please submit all titles that will require a contribution from the School’s software budget next year – regardless of whether they are new, existing or upgrades. If we do not receive a request for a particular title, we will assume that it is no longer required and reallocate the budget accordingly. Any questions please contact Blair Sowman.

Outreach

Outreach opportunities for staff and students: 

Highlighting your research

Have you recently published a blog piece/ generated any film footage/ given an interview/ written something for mainstream media, about your research? Could we give it a little mention on our School of Environment socials? See some recent examples here. 

Please send your news to Emma  el.sharp@auckland.ac.nz so we can share it more widely! Please also send a useful image (of yourself/ the thing being studied) and complete the following prompts:

[Researcher name/s] from the School of Environment investigated [the problem] and found [this finding]. This helps us know [what?] and is relevant to [recent event/ issue/context]. Read more here/ see photo of [x]: [link]

Note: Academic articles are interesting but get less takeup from social media so if you have something in a ‘predigested’ form (e.g. a news link to the debate or problem, that’s helpful, and the article would have to be open access).

Graduates out in the world

For staff: If you have students who have completed their degree and moved onto new pursuits, and they might like to do a ’10 minutes with [name]’ written interview that we might post on social media to show what our graduates get up to, then put them in touch with Emma el.sharp@auckland.ac.nz

 

Graduates out in the world

If you have completed students who you are in contact with who have moved onto new pursuits and they’d like to do a ’10 minutes with [name]’ written interview that we might post on social media to show what our graduates get up to, then put them in touch with Emma el.sharp@auckland.ac.nz

 

Earthfest 

GSNZ is planning Earthfest – a national Earth and Space Science Hui in Dunedin on November 23 and 24 (weekend prior to the GSNZ conference). It’s for high school teachers and university geoscientists to get together, develop relationships, and workshop getting more students into geoscience. Mila Adams and Giovanni Coco will be attending and it would be great to have others there too. Sponsorship from Industry and NZGeolS.

 

Whakawhanaungatanga – Communities 

 

 

 

Coastal and Marine Geoscience Group Meeting/Seminar               

The next Coastal-Marine Geoscience Group seminar will be held on Wednesday 23rd of October at 12:00 to 1:00 pm in the Ontology Lab (302-551).  

News will be shared and a talk given from Nancy Luca, “Cross-Slope exchange processes and AABW production in the Ross Sea” and Clare Gorman, “Reconstructing ocean-climate history on the Chilean margin”. All welcome to attend – please email Edouard Basquin at ebas390@aucklanduni.ac.nz if you wish to attend and don’t have the calendar invite already. 

 

 

 

 This Wednesday we are holding our final Launch Event of 2024! We are so excited to bring you Volume 4 Edition 4, and all the fascinating science articles featured this quarter.

Last chance to pick up a printed copy of our magazine and chat with the team before the end of semester – and the year. So we hope you swing by!

 

We would like to request your nominations for the School of Environment Equity Awards for 2024.

These awards are an ongoing effort to acknowledge, recognise, and reward the amazing work in equity that people are doing in our school – whether they are academic staff, professional staff or post-graduate students. The awards will be held at an end of year Equity event on Wednesday 13th November.

Details: 

We have four School Equity Award categories.

  • Equity in Service Award
  • Equity in Teaching Award
  • Equity in Research Award
  • Equity in the School of Environment Award 

Please make your nominations using this Google Form:

Deadline for nominations: End of day Friday 8th November.

Thank you for helping recognise the equity efforts in our School. We look forward to reading the nominations.

Ngā mihi nui,

Heather (on behalf of the Env Equity Committee)

 

You liked our Whose lecture is it anyway? event last year… you’ll like this 3-minute research competition this year…’ We’ll add more details in the future.

 

Speaker: Professor Kenneth Gould, Department of Sociology and the Urban Sustainability Program, Brooklyn College, City University of New York

Title of Talk: The consequences of public investments following coastal climate disasters

Date: Tuesday October 15

Time: 17:00 to 18:00, with a reception held afterwards

Location: Room B15, Library Building (building 109) 

RSVP for lecture and reception: https://perverse-adaptation-public-lecture.eventbrite.co.nz

Presentation Description: 

Governments provide the leading and largest responses to climate-change-related coastal disasters. They decide whether to reinvest and rebuild, to what degree, and in what ways. Public post-disaster investment shapes the future of post-disaster locales. In this presentation I problematize public investment in vulnerable ecological zones and connect states’ choices to the long-term climate adaptation trajectories of urban coastal zones. States use four strategies: a “do nothing” approach, managed retreat, accommodation with limited structural mitigation, and massive coastal reconstruction. Based on an analysis of the New York City area following Superstorm Sandy, I outline the consequences of each strategy and their implications for coastal resilience in climate vulnerable locales around the globe. States’ climate disaster responses can lead to “perverse adaptation,” which increases population densities in climate vulnerable locations. Post-disaster public investment for massive coastal reconstruction commits the state to further investments over time, requiring larger shares of total public resources. The conclusions raise questions regarding the use of public funds and the necessary conditions to make sound climate adaptation investments.

 

UoA Scientific Review: 2025 Executive Applications Now Open!!

💫 We are recruiting exec members for 2025 💫

UoA Scientific has several positions open for 2025! Are you a people person who likes making connections? A visual person with great aesthetic taste? A logical person with an eye for detail? Any skills or experiences can fit one of the roles on offer. We recruit executives in all stages of study, from first-year to postgraduate. Come join a vibrant, rewarding team that engages with all corners of Science at the University of Auckland.

To learn more about how the club runs and apply for an interview, visit the link below:

https://forms.gle/RfhmcyBor71xqBm39

 

E-bike offers

Check out the e-bike deals for University staff.

Electric bike team

Electric Bike Team has a great deal for staff wishing to purchase one of their bikes. Look now: Electric bike team

Big Street Bikers

Looking to buy an e-bike? Big Street Bikers has discounts and some freebies for University staff. Check it out: Big Street Bikers

 

Doctoral Development Offerings

An overview of the many UoA Doctoral Development offerings that candidates and supervisors may want to consider has been compiled here.

 

Co-funded University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarships

Guidelines have now been drafted for the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship scheme to co-fund scholarships with industry or philanthropic partners to seed new collaborations. If you are making connections where some money to support a student may be possible please come and chat to Jennifer Eccles asap about whether this could be an option.  

 

An introductory R Workshop is being run on Thursday 24th and Friday 25th of October 2024. The course will be run by the Statistical Consulting Centre (SCC) in the Department of Statistics.

What’s covered in the workshop?

Introduction

Getting familiar with R

Using R Studio and loading projects/scripts

Basic functions using R

Reading in Data Files (.csv, .xls/.xlsx)

Introduction to R Objects. How R thinks (vectors, matrices, basic data formats)

Working with data(sets)

Cleaning and subsetting

Merging datasets and reformatting

Grouping variables and summarising

R graphics

Starting with plots in R (boxplots, histograms, bar graphs)

Graphics in R with ggplot2 (customising plots)

Data analysis

Introduction to performing t-tests, chi-square tests, ANOVA, and general linear models

The cost is $400 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 will have to also add GST for this type of payment – please contact Joei Mudaliar j.mudaliar@auckland.ac.nz for further instructions).

The payment authorisation form for UoA participants paying from a UoA account is attached.

The cost for non-UoA attendees is $650 + GST. Please contact Joei Mudaliar (j.mudaliar@auckland.ac.nz) for payment instructions.

We will be sending out a pre-workshop information email the week prior to the course, however here are some of the details:

Location

We will be in room 302.160. Building 302 is on the corner of Symonds St and Wellesley St. The room we will be using is on level 1, room 160.

Time and schedule

The approximate schedule for both days is attached (since this is the schedule from our previous course, it may yet be altered very slightly).

We will start at 9am and finish at 5pm.

Morning and afternoon tea will be provided, and there are cafes nearby for lunch. 

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).

We will also include some instructions on how to do this in our pre-workshop information email.

Access to computers and the internet

We will arrange access to the lab computers for all non-UoA participants.

We will also have a guest wireless password for non-UoA participants who are bringing their own laptops.

UoA staff and students will be able to access the FoS computers using their normal UoA upi and password.

I hope you can make it on the 24th and 25th October 2024, and we look forward to seeing you there.

Ngā mihi (Kind regards),

Joei Mudaliar | Kairuruku Ratonga ā-Rōpū (Group Services Coordinator)

Department of Statistics | Faculty of Science

The University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau

 

FUNDS FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH HAPORI MAORI

School of Environment has a small budget for enabling engagement with Maori, particularly through koha or contributions that may be needed to initiate research relationships. In disbursing that putea, priority is given to academic staff working on behalf of groups of staff or students, pre/consultation activities for ethics approval and collaborations that are not readily funded through other mechanisms. As it is desirable to utilise the budget before the end of the academic year, however, all well-reasoned proposals will be considered. If interested, email a brief, one paragraph description of a proposed activity and a budget for how funds will be utilised to Brad (b.coombes@auckland.ac.nz). Although there are no prescribed maxima or minima for these grants, the limited scope of the overall budget will likely preclude grants in excess of $1000. Applicants should also be mindful of UoA guidelines or policies for gifting and koha.

 

Post Graduate Wellbeing … where to go

If you are currently coordinating a PG course, could you please post the inforgraphic slide to your Canvas course page so students will know the resources that are available throughout the University. 

 

Rangahau – Research

“Efficiency & Effectiveness Workshop”, organized by the Rangahau Committee:

We would like to invite you to the following workshop that have been organized for the Research fellows at the School of Environment, and funded by the Rangahau Committee. 

The workshop will focus on “Efficiency & Effectiveness”, and it is organized as  virtual Weekly mini workshops:

60–90 minute workshops will cover the subtopics spread out over four weeks. The first workshop will be 90 minutes, while the other three are planned for 60 minutes each. However, all sessions are scheduled for 90 minutes to allow extra time for questions and follow-up discussions if participants wish to stay longer.

Efficiency covers:

  • Work organisation – how to better store, and therefore find the information you need, in order to work more efficiently
  • Finding Flow – how to optimise your work in order to find more time in a ‘flow state’
  • Strategies to minimise work habits – including those for handling of information, distractions, interruptions & procrastination

Effectiveness covers:

  • Importance of progress individually and as a team
  • Prioritising & time management – what work to do when & in what size chunks
  • Planning – strategies to plan projects and/or plan your work day & workload

There are also elements of wellbeing that are woven into these discussions, physiological factors & burnout prevention.

Dates: 

  1. Friday 25 Oct
  2. Friday 01 Nov
  3. Friday 08 Nov
  4. Friday 15 Nov

Time (to be decided between the following options)

  • Option 01: 9:30 to 11:00 am
  • Option 02: 12:00 to 1:30 pm

This workshop is intended for Research Fellows, final-year PhD students, and staff.

If you’re interested in attending, please send an email to joa.paredes.marino@auckland.ac.nz with a brief paragraph explaining your motivation to participate. Please indicate as well the time that suits you better. Spots are limited.

Cheers,

Joali on behalf of the Rangahau Committee.

 

Funds are available to support students writing up their thesis as publication(s).

Each grant is worth $3000 (120 hours at 25$ all included). There is no deadline to apply. Applications are evaluated as they come by members of Rangahau (2 weeks turn over max.), until we use all the funds available.

Do you have a good candidate in mind? Please complete this form and submit to katarzyna.sila-nowicka@auckalnd.ac.nz

 

Funding for Research Retreats

The Rangahau Committee has a small amount of funding set aside to sponsor Research retreats (e.g grant writing workshops, paper writing).  This can be up to 2k per team, with a minimum 2 SoE participants.

If you have an idea that you would like considered, please submit a short paragraph explaining the intention and benefits of the retreat to katarzyna.sila-nowicka@auckland.ac.nz.

 

Proposal development support

The Rangahau Committee has a small fund set aside to help with proposal development  (e.g. writing support, support to scope proposals etc).  If you have an idea that fits within this scope please get in touch with Kelly Kilpin to discuss further.

 

Funding

Funding Calls

MBIE 2025 Endeavour Fund (Research Programmes)
This fund aims to support ambitious, excellent and well-defined research ideas which have credible and high potential to positively transform New Zealand’s future in areas of future value, growth, or critical need.

For the 2024 investment round, the Science Board will aim to fund at least 17 Research Programmes. 
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline
·         Total funding pool: $38 million

·         Value: $0.5 million or more per year

·         Duration: 3, 4 or 5 years

 ·         Registration: 12 noon, Monday 25 November 2024.

·         Full Proposal: 12 noon, Monday 24 February 2025.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info, templates):

·         Funding Call

·         Guidelines

·         Website

·         Registration Template

·         Full Proposal Template

If you are interested, please notify your FIRST (research support) of your intent to apply for this scheme to receive important information and updates in relation to this fund

 

The George Mason Centre for Natural Environment
This fund aims to support projects that enhance the aims of the George Mason Centre and focus on environmental solutions. The Expert Advisory Panel will be looking to foster connections between projects that lead to thematic research and to expanded funding opportunities for research and application.
Value/Duration: Deadline
·         Value: up to $10,000

·         Duration: 1 year

 12 Noon, 5 November 2024
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info, templates):

·        Application Form 

·        Guidelines

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

Ember Innovations – Research Grants
Ember Innovations proudly presents two distinct research grant opportunities for University of Auckland research projects that align with our commitment to innovation, mental health, and honouring lived experiences (B)

(B). Lived Experience Research Grant: For research in any discipline/category led by a researcher with personal experience of mental distress or substance, or non-substance harm
Value/Duration: External Deadline
·         Value: $50,000 (ex GST)

·         Duration: up to 3 years

 5pm, Tuesday 31 October
Information Workshop will be held at The University of Auckland on 23rd September 2024 at 1pm – 2:30pm with light refreshments and networking until 3pm, at University of Auckland Campus 49 Symonds St – link to workshop registration is here.
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):

·         Funding Call

·         Guidelines

·         Website

 If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

  

Spencer Foundation – Research-Practice Partnerships: Collaborative research for educational change
This fund aims to support education research projects that engage in collaborative and participatory partnerships
Value/Duration: Internal Deadline:
·         Value: up to USD400,000 (circa NZD 660,000

·         Duration: up to 3 years

 ·         Intent to apply: 5pm, Friday, 13 September 2024

·         Full proposal:  12pm, Monday, 21 October 2024
Further Information (funding call, guidelines, registration info):

·         Funding Call

·         Guidelines

·         Website

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

The Transdisciplinary Ideation Fund (TIF)
The Waipapa Taumata Rau (TIF) is a fund that encourages research staff from across the University to develop cross-faculty research partnerships, aspiring toward high-quality Transdisciplinary research outputs, research learning initiatives, and successful applications to external research funders.
Value/Duration: Deadline
 

·         Grants of $20,000. Up to 15 projects will be funded.

 5pm, Thursday 31 October 2024
TIF workshop: encourages new cross-disciplinary research collaborations and is designed for academic staff who are intending to pursue transdisciplinary research. (Please register bid via registration link provided)

Date and Time: Friday 13 September 2024, 9am to 12pm (morning tea provided)

Location: B201-342, 10 Symonds Street
Further Information:

·         Funding Call

·         Full details including guidelines and the application form are available on Research Hub

If you are interested, please also get in touch with your FIRST.

 

New Horizon Europe Calls
In mid-April, the European Commission announced a new selection of funding calls covering the remainder of 2024. The funding call details here Horizon Europe Funding Call List on the Horizon Europe Support Materials page on ResearchHub.

New Zealand can participate in these calls on equal terms as our European counterparts. However, the targeted nature of most of these calls means that it is highly likely that it will be more appropriate for us to partner on these projects, joining European-led bids as a collaborator rather than developing a proposal as a lead.

Anybody exploring these opportunities should contact International.Research@Auckland.ac.nz to arrange a discussion and explore additional support available.

 

Announcements 

Research Impact Survey
The Research & Innovation Office and Research Services are collaborating on a project to design a resource for researchers around capturing and evidencing research impact. We are hopeful that we can design a tool or module that will become an important part of the research impact toolkit for researchers, helping them to feel better equipped to plan and communicate their potential impact effectively.

·         The survey link is: https://forms.office.com/r/VyM2tpnzpe

 

Health, Safety and Wellbeing 

Updates from HSW

 

Publications | Articles

  • Murray Hamilton, M.L., Dopheide, A., Leonard, J. Padamsee, M., Schwendenmann, L (2024). Phyllosphere of Agathis australis Leaves and the Impact of the Soil-Borne Pathogen Phytophthora agathidicida. Microbial Ecology 87, 125 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-024-02441-9
  • Sharp EL, Kah M, Tsang S, Martin A, Turnbull R. (2024) Committing to Diversity in Participants, Participation and Knowledge Production: Place-based Insights from the Community Science of Soilsafe Aotearoa. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
  • Fan, W., Gualtieri, A.F., Dirks, K.N., Young, P.G., Salmond, J.A. (2024) ‘Investigating deposition of fibrous zeolite particles on leaf surfaces: A novel approach for detecting airborne hazards’. (Journal of Hazardous Materials. Sep 26:480:135982. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.135982)
  • Patel, H., Davy, P., Tollemache, C., Talbot, N., Salmond, J., Williams, D.E., (2024) ‘Evaluating the efficacy of targeted traffic management interventions: A novel methodology for determining the composition of particulate matter in urban air pollution hotspots’. (Science of the Total Environment, 951; 175414 Nov 2024)
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