Staff Good News

• Jasper Kenter has a new publication: 
  Slater, A.-M., Irvine, K.N., Byg, A.A., Davies, I.M., Gubbins, M., Kafas, A., Kenter, J.O., MacDonald, A., O'Hara Murray, R., Potts, T., Tweddle, J.F., Wright, K., Scott, B.E., 2020. Integrating stakeholder knowledge through modular cooperative participatory processes for marine spatial planning outcomes (CORPORATES). Ecosystem Services 44, 101126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2020.101126
  
  
• A huge congratulations to those staff members who have been promoted:
  • Julia Touza has been promoted to Reader.
  • Jasper Kenter has been promoted to Reader.
  • Fiona Dickson has been promoted to Senior Lecturer.
  • Simon Croft (SEI-Y) has been promoted to Research Fellow.
    
    
• Rob Marchant reports that Rahab Kianyanjui from the National Museums of Kenya who has been awarded £10000 from the British Ecological Society grant to document the historical ecology of South Aberdare ranges over the past 1000 years. They will study plant microfossils (pollen, phytoliths, spores and charcoal) to determine vegetation changes and cultural materials at a number of sites to document the extent of occupation and impact of this on current forest composition and distribution.
  
  

• Congratulations to Nic Carslaw, whose US consortium bid was funded. She is co-PI along with one of her US colleagues and there are 5 co-Is on the grant, all in the US. She's really chuffed as this is the third round of funding for their consortium and she's still the only person in the UK to receive funding through this mechanism. The project goal of MOCCIE3 is to continue to develop comprehensive, integrated physical-chemical models that include a detailed representation of gas-phase, particle-phase, and surface chemistry in indoor environments to simulate how occupants, indoor activities, and buildings influence indoor processes. MOCCIE3 is worth $1.29M and will support the research of 7 research groups. At York, MOCCIE3 will support a PhD student and 10% of Nic's time as one of two project PIs.

PhD and Student Good News

• Congratulations to Mahmuda Islam who has passed her MSc by Research with minor corrections on Thursday 18th June. Many thanks to Sylvia and David Manning (Newcastle) for acting as the examiners.
  
  
• Rebecca Newman had her first PhD publication in February, and has shared this beautiful photo of her daughter, Esme Rose, with us! Esme is doing well, holding her head up and has just discovered her hands and feet.
  

General Announcements / Events

• PGRs & ECRs: Consider speaking at and attending the York Postgraduate Interdisciplinary Forum. For a quick introduction to what this is all about, check out this 3-min video and the details on our GSA page.  Each seminar will feature speakers from the Sciences, Social Sciences and Arts and Humanities addressing the same broad theme, creating opportunities for cross-faculty discussion across a virtual platform.  Any postgraduate or early career researcher to present an aspect of their research in fifteen minutes to a supportive audience from mixed academic backgrounds. This is a great opportunity not only to stay involved with the academic community in these strange times, but also to engage with scholars outside of your discipline and to find potential collaborations where you might least expect it.  Submit your entry with a 100-150 word description using this Google form.

  
  

• Thank you to all who have contributed to the Beth Fields fundraising page. It's gone off to an excellent start. There are three good causes: the Beth Fields Award, a tree memorial and the York Opportunity Scholarship fund. Donations are accepted for another four weeks.
  
  
• Don't forget the pub quiz, tomorrow evening from 7pm. Nic will send around a link tomorrow. We now have 12 teams signed up and one more potential team brewing (let Nic know if interested, but be quick).
  

EGLT News

• This week, we discussed the staff volunteering scheme; EGLT would be happy to support any staff member who wants to participate. Nic suggested the idea of outdoor teaching for primary school children.
  
  
• At both EGLT and our contingency meetings, we are continuing to discuss the safety precautions we will be taking for face-to-face teaching, including maintaining social distancing (2m) and adjusting rooms to allow for this.
  
  
• At the SLM yesterday it transpired that teaching staff may get their offices back at the start of autumn term. Charlie is pushing for this, though there are no definite plans in place as of yet.

Student Services News

• Save the date! We have decided to have a Departmental ‘End of Year’ celebration for all students and staff on 17 July from 2pm. More communications will follow, but please put this in your calendar. There will also be a reception following the ‘Virtual Graduation’ on 28 August and graduating students have been assured that we will have an on-campus celebration when conditions allow.
  
  
• Our Board of Examiners meetings were held this week for progressing students, with ratification taking place on Friday 26 June. Exam boards for finalists are scheduled for w/c 6 July.
  
  
• The opportunity to nominate students for the Beth Fields award will close on 30 June. Nominations can be made by students and staff using this form.
  

Staff Good News

• Claire Hughes has been asked to join the University's newly-established Online Learning Expert Panel (OLEP). OLEP has been established to provide a source of expertise and advice for the continuing development of resources available for staff as the Covid situation evolves over the coming months. The group will report to the Academic Contingency Group to support the University’s response to Covid-19.
  
  
• Bryce Beukers-Stewart was recently grilled by possibly his toughest interviewer yet... Jenny Pollard's 8 year old son Sam. Bryce kindly agreed to answer Sam's questions for his school project on Oceans. To check out the 30 minute interview in all it's megalodon glory click here. HUGE thank you to Bryce for kindly agreeing to answer the questions and taking time out of his busy schedule to make a fidgety 8 year old's day!
  
  
• Jessica Thorn et al have published a new paper entitled Indigenous uses of wild and tended plant biodiversity maintain ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes of the Terai Plains of Nepal.

PhD Good News

• Congratulations to Mike Bungard, who has passed his PhD viva last week with minor corrections! His thesis is on Predictive Modelling for Anuran Responses to Climate Change in Tropical Montane Ecosystems.
  
  

Research

• A reminder that we now have research support again in the form of Josie Thomas. Please continue to send requests for support around research grant applications and other related matters to environment-research@york.ac.uk. Thanks to Anwen Hughes and Robyn Inglis for stepping in to support us over the last few weeks.
  
  

• Please remember to respond to the request for information over returning to the labs by noon on Friday.

SEI-Y

• We are all very pleased to welcome Frances Dixon who started on Monday 1st June as SEI York Communications Specialist. Frances is a communications professional with extensive experience in designing and implementing communication strategies to increase the impact and uptake of environmental research. She will be applying this expertise to a number of specific York projects as well as raising the overall impact of our work.
  
  

Student Services Team

• In a PSS catch-up on Monday it was great to catch up with Michelle Barton and baby Arthur. Zoe’s littl’uns made an appearance too!

• The recent online exams seemed to be a success overall, with 93% of UG students - from a population which included those who are currently on leave of absence - submitting their papers before the deadline.

  
  

• The Student Services Team are looking for ways to reduce workloads - especially academic burdens. If you have any ideas or if you want to discuss how we can support you more effectively, please get in touch!

General Announcements / Events

• Preeyus Patel, one of our alums, has started a website to share environmental news. Please find the links here.
  
  

• We held a very productive workshop on 2nd June to define what we mean by 'solutions-based teaching' and what it would mean for us to make it our USP. The workshop was organised by Claire Hughes, Ioan Fazey and Charlotte Hartley, and facilitated by Lindsay Coomer (HR Leadership and Staff Development Adviser) . Participants were from within the Department and wider University and included Sylvia Toet, Karen Parkhill, Alistair Boxall, Jasper Kenter, Jen Gibbons (Law), Barry Lee (Philosophy) and Katy Mann-Benn (ASO). We will be using ideas from the workshop to put together an initial framework for 'solutions-based teaching' for wider discussion.

  
  

• Mark Tolley has developed a new look for the Staff and PhD Student Directory is now live on the E&G web page. He asks if you could perhaps check your entry in the directory and let him know if there are any details you'd like to change in either your entry in the directory or your profile in general. Any suggestions for visual or usability improvements also gratefully received.

  
  

• A reminder that notes on what we have discussed at our contingency meetings can be found on the 'allstaff' channel on Slack.
  
  

• A reminder that self-nominations for the role of Chair of the Natural Sciences Board of Studies need to be submitted by 12pm on Friday 19th June. All academic staff who are members of the Boards of Studies in the nine academic departments that contribute to Natural Sciences are eligible for election. Nominees may wish to have a discussion with their Head of Department before applying. If there is more than one nomination, then each applicant will be invited to submit a supporting statement of no more than 100 words which will be circulated in confidence to the members of the Natural Sciences Board of Studies, who will then vote to decide the successful candidate. If you would like to discuss the role in more detail, please contact either Katherine (katherine.selby@york.ac.uk) or Roddy (roddy.vann@york.ac.uk).