Category / Biodiversity, Environmental Change & Green Economy

Dragons’ Den: Pitch to the Editors

BU research, PG research, Research news

Do you have a science news story worthy of appearing in Nature, The Times or Research Fortnight?

Organisers of the UK Conference of Science Journalists are running a ‘Dragons’ Den: Pitch to the Editors’ session, open to students, recent graduates or scientists with a great story.

This is your chance to stand up in front of top journalists and ‘sell’ your story idea. It can be about any aspect of science, as long as it is suitable for Nature, the Times or Research Fortnight. (Do make sure you research the publications before submitting)!

Successful applicants will pitch their story idea to Helen Pearson (Nature), Ehsan Masood (Research Fortnight) and Hannah Devlin (The Times) in front of a live audience at the conference on Wednesday 18th June in London.  

For more information and details of how to apply, visit http://www.ukcsj.org/dragons-den.html. Applications are open until 23rd May.

If you would like to discuss your pitch, email Sally Gates (Research Communications Manager).

Professor Adrian Newton in National Geographic

BU research, Research news

BU’s Professor Adrian Newton has featured in a National Geographic article ‘Apples of Eden: Saving the Wild Ancestor of Modern Apples’.

Reporter Josie Glausiusz explores the endangered wild fruit trees of Central Asia, drawing on Professor Newton’s expertise and experiences working to protect the fruit and nut forests in Kyrgyzstan.

In the article Professor Newton explains the genetic importance of the fruit there: “All of the apples that we’re eating today and cultivating originate from this area. So if we want to add genetic variation to our crops to cope with new pests or climate change, then the genetic resource is these forests. It’s true for apples, apricots, peaches, walnuts, pears. In terms of a wild genetic resource for cultivated fruit trees, there’s nothing like it on the planet.”

Read the full article, ‘Apples of Eden: Saving the Wild Ancestor of Modern Apples’, online here.

BU research featured on BBC’s Monkey Planet

Research news

Research conducted by Bournemouth University’s Alison Hillyer has been featured on a BBC programme looking at primates.

Monkey Planet, currently showing on BBC1, featured research into the Red Colobus monkey and its interactions with another species, green monkeys, and how their relationship has developed through living in the same habitat.  Specifically, the programme showed how the red colobus monkeys form special multi-species associations that are most likely a way of improving predator detection.BU’s research at the site is mostly concerned with the conservation status of Temmincki’s red colobus in the region and is aimed at developing an integrated conservation strategy for the region that involves experts in tourism (Vijay Reddy and Feifei Xu) and primatology (Amanda Korstjens and Alison Hillyer) and is conducted in close collaboration with the local authorities.

The Temmincki’s red colobus monkeys(not to be confused with the Zanzibar Red Colobus) are in need of protection to avoid their extinction. BU students have been invited back to The Gambia in July 2014 for a new inter-disciplinary project that aims to develop a sustainable long-term strategy to support local development and conservation in The Gambia through eco-tourism business.
The programme can be viewed again on the BBC website until 9:59pm on Wednesday 23 Apr 2014.
 

Fusion – Establishment of research collaboration, student and staff exchanges with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

 My application to the Fusion Investment Fund (FIF) has been successful.  The funds will be used to establish research collaboration, student and staff exchanges with the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), South Africa. I will be travelling to the UKZN during Easter this month for an exploratory visit. While at UKZN, I will present a paper to the School of Accounting, Economics and Finance. This will be followed by a series of meetings with students and staff. On my return, I will apply to Bournemouth University to put in place the three relationships.

 A successful establishment of the three aforesaid relationships will have many enormous benefits to the students and staff of BU and UKZN. For example, students should benefit culturally in terms of spending sometime in South Africa and UK respectively due to differences in the two countries’ cultures. In addition to cultural awareness, the staff exchange will benefit the staff involved through observing how lecturers in a different country deliver lectures. Apart from co-authoring academic journal articles, research collaboration between BU and UKZN staff should be beneficial where the research call (e.g. Horizon 2020) requires that researchers from Europe collaborate with a partner from South Africa.

 At an institution level, the relationships should help BU in two main ways. Firstly, student exchange should increase awareness of BU in Africa which may translate into increase in percentage of African students enrolled at BU. Increasing the percentage of students from Africa is important for BU because currently less than 4% of our students are from Africa compared to 8% UK universities average. Secondly, the increase in student population from Africa will also help BU achieve the strategic plan objective of increasing overseas students’ recruitment by 15% by 2015.

 UKNZ is the third largest university in South Africa and a very good university and also shares great similarities in university teaching, research and enterprise activities with those of the Business School, School of Tourism, Design, Engineering and Computing, School of Health and Social Care. Further information about the university can be found on: http://www.ukzn.ac.za/.

 Dr Ven Tauringana, Associate Professor of Accounting – The Business School

Fusion Investment Fund – Bournemouth Bio-Beach

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Fusion

Dr Roger Herbert from the Faculty of Science and Technology has been successfully awarded Fusion Investment Funding for the Bio-Beach project, in collaboration with Bournemouth Borough Council’s Coastal Activity Park.

The project will see academics from the Faculty of Science and Technology combining their ecological and engineering knowledge in order to pump-prime research on sustainable coastal development and improve public engagement in the marine environment. The team (made up of Dr Roger Herbert, Dr Bob Eves, Dr Ben Thomas, Dr Rick Stafford, Dr Genoveva Esteban, Dr Luciana Esteves & Ben Thornes) will be designing, making and installing novel structures to selected groynes and other structures on Boscombe Beach to provide refugia for marine organisms and to fulfil a variety of research aims.

Potentially, these structures will transform the groynes into intertidal reefs, with features designed to increase biodiversity; extending the intertidal range of marine organisms up the beach for the public to see. Next month we will be working with the AspireBU team and two local schools, Avonbourne School and Harewood College, who will be getting involved with the project. They will be designing and making their own structures to increase biodiversity on the groynes and will be monitoring their creations after installation to see how many organisms have colonised them.

Sustainable Design Research Centre New Experimental Resources for Research & Education

BU research, Fusion, PG research

Sustainable Design Research Centre

Faculty of Science & Technology

Newly Added and Commissioned Experimental Resources for Research & Education

The following new equipment have been recently added to the lab resources for both research & education. Two PhD research projects in Renewable Technology (Heat Transfer and Thermodynamic Expansion) and one Research Assistant within SDRC are fully funded by industrial partner FES Ltd [Dr Zulfiqar Khan, PI]. This research informs education within the Design & Engineering Framework, MEng Programme, through Level I Thermo-fluids & Heat Transfer (20 Credit) unit led by Dr Zulfiqar Khan.

These equipment are significant addition for enhancing students’ experience and providing a vehicle for realising BU Fusion initiative.

PIPE FRICTION APPARATUS

The experimentation stand can be used to investigate pipe frictional losses with laminar and turbulent flows. The pipe section is a brass pipe with an internal diameter of 3 mm. The distance between the pressure measuring fittings and thus the length of the experimental pipe section is 400 mm.

The pressure losses for laminar flow are measured using a water manometer. The static pressure difference is displayed. A head tank is available to create a laminar flow and ensures a constant water inlet pressure in the pipe section at a constant water level.

For turbulent flow, the pressure difference is measured using a dial manometer. The head tank is not used to create a turbulent flow. The water is fed directly into the pipe section from the water supply via a bypass. The flow is adjusted using shut-off valves at the beginning and end of the pipe. The water supply is provided either by the Basic Hydraulics Module or from the mains supply in the laboratory.

BERNOULLI’S PRINCIPLE DEMONSTRATOR

The equipment is used to investigate Bernoulli’s law. The measurement object is a Venturi nozzle with six pressure measurement points. The six static pressures are displayed on a board with six water pressure gauges. The overall pressure can also be measured at various locations in the Venturi nozzle and indicated on a second water pressure gauge. Measurement is by way of a probe which can be moved axially with respect to the Venturi nozzle. The probe is sealed by way of a compression gland. Water is supplied either from the Fluid Mechanics Basic Module or from the laboratory mains.

The equipment enables a closed water circuit to be constructed.

Possible experiments:

  1. Demonstration of Bernoulli’s law
  2. Pressure measurements along Venturi nozzle
  3. Determination of flow rate factor K

[The above information are provided by GUNT Publication-no.: 917.000 01 A 150 12 (A) Experiment instructions HM 150.01 Pipe Friction Apparatus & Experiment Instructions HM 150.07 Bernoulli’s Principle Demonstrator].

If you have interest in Renewable Technology research & education and would like to find more about the activities within the Sustainable Design Research Centre, then please contact.

Dr Zulfiqar Khan (Associate Professor)

Director SDRC

Website & BRIAN Training Sessions

BU research, Guidance, Research news, Research themes, Training

Screen shot of new website

Due to popular demand we are hosting  training sessions for the new research webpages together with BRIAN training.

These sessions are open to all BU academic staff, post graduate research students and those supporting researchers in their communications activity.

During the session you will learn the following:

Research Webpages

  • Why BU has new research webpages
  • How you can upload content to the website
  • How the site can be used most effectively to maximise exposure of BU research.

BRIAN

  • What is BRIAN and why is it important
  • How to set up and maintain your BRIAN profile
  • How to ensure your details are correct
  • How to request a photo is uploaded
  • How BRIAN links to your external staff profile

To book on one of the following sessions please use the links below…

Thursday 27th March 2pm in P421 Poole House, Talbot Campus

Thursday 17th April 2pm in P421 Poole House, Talbot Campus

We hope to follow these with a session at the Lansdowne Campus (room pending). If you would be interested in a Lansdowne session or you have any queries, please  email Shelly Maskell on smaskell@bournemouth.ac.uk

2014 sees a surge in engagement with eBU

BU research, PG research, Publishing, Research news

Through immediate internal publication and open peer review, eBU is ideally placed to support the developmental needs of authors at any career stage, and I’m pleased to say that, so far, the 2014 issue has seen a levels of engagement from across the career spectrum. eBU has had two working paper submissions so far in 2014 (and there are plenty more in the archived 2013 issue!).

Firstly, under the Lifelong Health and Wellbeing theme, Sheetal Sharma (HSC) and colleagues submitted a paper titled Eliciting Nepali women’s views on childbirth and the newborn. A full text file of this paper has been openly reviewed and can be viewed here – http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/17.  I understand Sheetal has just submitted this paper to an external journal, so best of luck and we await with great excitement to hear the outcome!

Secondly, under the Education, Learning and Practice theme, Jonathan Williams (again HSC) has submitted a paper titled Is student knowledge of anatomy affected by a Problem-Based Learning approach? A full text file of this paper can be read here – http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/24.

eBU was also delighted to be able to support outputs from the 2014 PGR conference, and a number of PGRs have decided to use eBU to showcase their work. Why not take a look at the following abstracts and posters:

Business, Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth

Alice Bonasio – PGR Conf 2014 Abstract: Customer Engagement Through Crowd-Funding and Social Media: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/21

Lifelong Health and Wellbeing

Ben Hicks – PGR Conf 2014 Abstract: Using commercial computer game technology to benefit men with dementia residing in rural areas of Dorset: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/19

Sheetal Sharma – PGR Conf 2014 Abstract: Pregnant and ‘dirty’ for 40 days: A qualitative study of childbirth practice, beliefs and myths in Nepal: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/20

Jonny Branney – PGR Conf 2014 Abstract: Is spinal manipulation associated with changes in cervical inter-vertebral motion?: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/23

Research Methods and Practice

Jenny Roddis – PGR Conf 2014 Poster: Experience of interviewing: face-to-face vs. telephone: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/22

Technology & Design

Manuel Salvador – PGR Conf 2014 Poster: Automating Data Pre-processing for Online and Dynamic Processes in the Chemical Industry: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/18

eBU news, updates and success story!

BU research, PG research, Publishing, Research news, Research themes

eBU news: updates and achievements

It’s been a while since I posted about eBU. Since my last post there has been some exciting updates and progress to report. There are some new faces to welcome, a reminder to encourage students to submit, news that eBU is supporting outputs from the PGR conference and will support outputs from an exciting new conference, and…  (drum roll…) a paper originally submitted to eBU has been published in an external journal!

Welcome aboard!

Heather Savigny has joined me as a co-editor. I have met with Heather a few times now, and it is obvious that she is passionate about developing writing and scholarly skills. On this basis, Heather is a perfect addition to the team. We have both met with the new PVC Prof John Fletcher, and I’m glad to say that, like his predecessor, he is very supportive of eBU. Shelly Maskell from R&KEO has also come aboard and will provide vital support in helping develop eBU.

Encourage students to submit

One immediate challenge for eBU is not appeal to students. eBU launched a bit too late last year to appeal to students who would have made important submissions at the end of last academic year (dissertations etc), but hopefully we will be well placed to appeal to them this year! So I urge all academic staff to encourage students who produce good quality to a) encourage them to spend a little bit more time and format their work into a publishable output and b) offer some support to this end.

PGR conference

eBU is well placed to help early career researchers and students make that leap into the ‘publish or perish’ world of academia. On this basis, it is a tool that PGRs should take advantage of. We are actively encouraging people who presented their work at the PGR conference to submit their work to eBU. We have received a good number of abstracts and posters already, and eBU will be a great platform to showcase this work BU wide. Outputs associated with the PGR conference to have deadlines, and these are:

  • Please submit posters before Friday 14th March.
  • Please submit abstracts before Friday 14th March.
  • Please submit conference papers before 12th April

I would encourage those who made an oral presentations to write it up as a conference paper. There is guidance for PGRs on myBU and on the Graduate School website, but do feel free to get in touch with any questions. We don’t generally set deadlines, so please remember that you can submit any other papers you might have in the pipeline (e.g. review papers) at any time, and we will guarantee a quick internal and open peer review.

Future scope

Congratulations to Luciana Esteves from ApSci, who has been successful in winning some Fusion funding to kick-start an annual undergraduate research conference at BU – SURE@BU. This is something to look out for in the future, but it is worth stating now that eBU will play a key role in the publication of conference abstracts, posters, conference papers etc.

Success!!!

I’m glad to report that one of the submissions to eBU has been published by an external journal, and I believe others will shortly follow suit. The successful paper in question is a paper that I wrote with colleagues. However, it is a useful little case study to illustrate how and why eBU works.

Myself and colleagues in HSC and outside (University of Exeter, University of Plymouth and Westbourne Medical Centre) submitted a grant application in the second half of last year. In most grant applications you have opportunity to summarise the key literature, and this one was no different. Unfortunately whilst the grant application was unsuccessful, I took a senior colleagues advice and spent a little bit of time turning the application into a paper. After a few weeks I submitted it to eBU (the phrase ‘put your money where your mouth is’ comes to mind!). As I had a bit of a vested interest it was processed by editorial colleagues and reviews were uploaded after a few weeks. It really helped having two sets of informed but fresh eyes scrutinise the paper, and changes were made on the basis of these reviews. The paper was submitted to a journal and accepted with suggestions for minor changes.

When I wrote this article I was a Research Assistant here and, like many early career researchers, I had aspirations of becoming published in peer reviewed journals. One of my trepidations was getting that first publication. I’m now a PhD student here, and I’m sure the floodgates will open (along with another colleague have since have had another accepted!) as I now have many ideas for potential papers and now – thanks to eBU – I have no fear of the unknown!

Andy Harding

Doctoral Researcher and eBU co-editor

 

Upcoming event for staff and students: Simon Phelps ‘Starting & Growing a Business’

Research news

The Centre for Entrepreneurship is delighted to host a presentation by Simon Phelps a BU graduate and founder of Fluvial Innovation Ltd. Simon founded Fluvial Innovations Ltd alongside Bournemouth University in 2006. Fluvial Innovations Ltd designed, developed and patented the modular flood barrier – Floodstop.

Floodstop was specifically designed to fill a gap within the market for a functional and rapidly deployable flood barrier and is used throughout the UK, US and parts of Europe. Awards for Floodstop include Winner of Climate Week – Best Climate Ready Initiative 2013 and Emergency Planning Society’s Most Innovative Product of the Year 2009. To find out more about Floodstop or Fluvial please visit the website: www.fluvial-innovations.co.uk

Join us to hear more about Simon’s journey from being a Bournemouth University Student to running Fluvial Innovations as a growing and sustainable business. You will get a chance to hear about the steps Simon took along the way and find out about his up and downs on the road to success.

This event is for Bournemouth University Staff and Students only.

To book please visit: bit.ly/1lwiaFV 

BU Social Science Input at Tasik Chini, Malaysia

BU research, Fusion, Uncategorized, Women's Academic Network

A very significant aspect of our Fusion Funded Study Leave has been our invitation to spend time as Visiting Professors at the Tasik Chini Research Centre, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.  This Research Centre is primarily a natural science-based one, which is now expanding its remit to embrace social science, and which focuses on Tasik (Lake) Chini in the State of Pahang, about 4 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur. This lake, one of only two freshwater lakes in Peninsular Malaysia, is composed of a very large area of 12,568 acres, and in terms of beauty and grandeur was not dissimilar to England’s Lake District.  Google the lake and a serene vision will appear of placid waters smothered in ravishing pink and white water-lilies in a valley of opulent, teeming rain forest and rimmed by green mountains. A veritable paradise, seemingly, and also the traditional ‘native’ lands of a community of indigenous, ‘first-people’, of Malaysia, the Jakun tribe of the Orang Asli (original people).

 

Hardly surprisingly maybe that this wonderful area received coveted UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status due to its lush diversity of flora and fauna. However, although once a popular eco-tourist destination, very few tourists are spotted now and the trade has virtually died off. The reason being that the lake itself is dying with total and irreversible collapse of the ecological system predicted by 2030.  Unrestrained mining of the mineral-rich soil in the area has led to mass deforestation, while logging, itself, and destruction of the colossal swathes of the forest has made way for Oil Palm plantations. Contaminants from mines in very close proximity to the lake have caused considerable pollution and the replacement of local flora with a pernicious species of aquatic weed and algae.  To add to a catalogue of disasters, and against the wishes of the those Orang Asli communities who managed to hear of it (as they were not formally consulted) and Malaysian environmentalists, an ill conceived dam was placed in 1994 at the juncture of the Tasik Chini and the great Pahang River. This served to prevent the annual ebb and flow of the lake that made boating of tourists difficult at times but was essential to the ecosystem of the area  The lake is now stagnant, polluted and  the fish, upon which the Jakun relied on as fisher folk, frequently unfit to eat, their flesh being tainted and their bodies invaded by parasites.

 

Our role as social scientists invited to work with the Tasik Chini Research Centre is to help to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge of the problems here and the local communities. Our work is to aid amplification of their voices in speaking of their experiences of trying to survive in traditional native lands that have been violated and usurped.  With our fourth intensive field trip to Tasik Chini coming up this week and a packed itinerary of interviews and focus group discussions planned with the local villagers, our ethnographies are rapidly developing. The Orang Asli people have much to be angry about and although too often treated as backward and uneducated in Malaysia itself, they have impressed us considerably with their passion for their lands, their rage and grief at the destruction, their eloquence, their gracious hospitality to us – and their ability to organise their communities and their protests up to the highest levels of Government. Truly they are a great if much abused people and we count it a pronounced honour to be so warmly welcomed by them, and regard this as some, and maybe, the most important work of our careers.

 

We hear much in the UK of the trite, overused and sometimes disingenuous phrase ‘making a difference’ when applied to higher educational endeavour and these experiences have brought into sharp relief the differences between its application to the banal and to the truly tragic. This area is part of the traditional land of the Jakun, and as such should be protected and preserved. But much more than this it is an international site for the earth’s future generations and we must, as academics, plough back what little knowledge we have into securing this heritage.

 

Sara Ashencaen Crabtree and Jonathan Parker

Building capacity for Sustainable Development through ERASMUS

EU, Fusion

 

Through the ERASMUS mobility fund, I shall be visiting the Universidade da Beira Interior in Portugal, in May this year. The purpose of the trip is to share best practice in relation to sustainable development, explore how attitudes to energy conservation and ‘green behaviours’ differ from the UK,  and  through collaboration, build capacity for change. 

The Univeridade da Beira is located in the North of Portugal. They have undertaken quite unique projects in relation to conserving their estates – which comprise former factories and even a monastery –  but they have done far less in terms of educating students for sustainable development. Previous collaboration with Portugal has resulted in a number of papers in relation to the green agenda; current work is focusing on energy and Fairtrade.

ERASMUS offers a great opportunity to develop relationships with European partners; it is also very useful for academics who wish to develop their langauge skills.

Website training sessions

BU research, Training

Screen shot of new website

I just wanted to remind colleagues that we are hosting training sessions for the new research webpages on Friday 7 February and Friday 14 February.

These 90 minute sessions are open to all BU academic staff, post graduate research students and those supporting researchers in their communications activity.

During the session you will learn the following:

  • Why BU has new research webpages
  • How you can upload content to the website
  • How the site can be used most effectively to maximise exposure of BU research.

Sessions are informal and if they fall over lunchtime, do feel free to bring a sandwich!

To book on one of the following sessions please use the links below…

Friday 7 February 2014 12:00-13:30 – S103 Studland House, Lansdowne Campus

Friday 14 February 2014 10:00-11:30 – P131 Poole House, Talbot Campus

Friday 14 February 2014 14:30-16:00 – P131 Poole House, Talbot Campus

If you have any questions about the website or training sessions, please email the research website team.

 

Erasmus students enjoying microbial life!

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Featured, Featured academics, Funding opportunities, Research news

The new Faculty of Science and Technology has started the new year welcoming three new Erasmus students through the TECHNO 1 and 2 (Erasmus Mundus Partnership) and the Erasmus Practicals placements, respectively. Two of them are being hosted by Dr Genoveva Esteban, Conservation Ecology and Environmental Science Group:  Hai Luu, from Tra Vinh University, Tra Vinh province in Vietnam has a Techno 2 studentship until mid June; Sara Giménez, from University Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain, has a placement studentship for three months. Hai and Sara are working with Genoveva on unicellular organisms from freshwater habitats and from soils; these microscopic organisms can be used in the assessment and monitoring of water and soil quality.  Hai says: “TECHNO project brought me a great opportunity to study in an advanced education environment. Also, I am really interested in research on single-celled organisms and hope to learn from Dr Genoveva Esteban’s experience”.   Sara adds “This opportunity allows me to meet some fantastic people and get unique experiences, and on top of this I am getting fascinating scientific knowledge”.

The persons in charge of TECHNO 1 and TECHNO 2 at BU are Dr Demetra Andreou (Lecturer in Environmental Science), Dr Emilie Hardouin (Associate Lecturer in Conservation Genetics) and Mrs Heather Cashin (Senior Programme Administrator).

From left to right, Sara Giménez, Genoveva Esteban and Hai Luu at East Stoke Fen Nature Reserve near Wareham.

New research web pages and removal of old pages

Research news, Training

On Monday 27 January the Digital Communications Team will integrate the new research web pages into the main BU site.

This will include a link from the homepage and from the School pages. (School copy has been developed with the Deans and DDRs to introduce the new site, provide an overview of the School’s research and outline the research themes the School is involved in).

The Digital Communications Team will also start removing the old research pages on Monday. This will include removing the research centre pages, which have either been moved to the new site, elsewhere, or identified as no longer required.

In addition to notification from Professor Matthew Bennett and the Schools, the research website team have tried to speak to all staff in person to ensure required content is moved across and outdated content is removed. This has been a massive exercise and apologies if we have missed anyone. If you do have any concerns regarding your pages, please email the website team as soon as possible. All old content will be moved onto an internal BU server, where it will be kept for a period of six months before being finally deleted.

Screenshot of the new research website

Feedback from researchers already using the new site is that it is very flexible, quick and easy to use and allows easy integration of a variety of different media content types.

If you would like to find out more about using the new site or joining us for a training session, please read my blog post from earlier in the week.