Staff Newsletter 6 October 2023

Good morning folks! Last chance to sign up for the World Mental Health Day Celebrations next Wednesday - more details can be found below 🙂

I hope Semester 1 is going well 💻

Annabel Jackson - PA / Admin to EGLT

New Core Values poster! 

⬅️ Keep an eye out for new Departmental 'Core Values' posters which can now be found dotted around the building 🙂

Click here to view the poster as a PDF and feel free to use this within teaching materials etc.

A reminder that all staff should be listing these Core Values within email signatures. In Gmail, go to Settings → General → Signature and copy and paste the following wording:

The core values of our Department are:

We are a friendly and helpful community

We make a positive difference

We strive for environmental sustainability

We are inclusive and celebrate diversity   

We are curious and always learning

Staff Digital Skills training - next Tuesday

Click here to sign up to Google Docs and Drive Training taking place on Tuesday 10 October at 10:00.

During this in-person session, we will look at using Google Docs and Drive effectively for collaborative working. We will cover using version history, sharing permissions, organising files, moving items and sharing links. There will be some practical exercises along with deciding how to choose between using My/Shared Drive for managing file ownership.

The Return of Staff Digital Skills “Bitesize” Sessions! • October - December (Various dates) • Online
Ready to enhance your digital skills? Low on time? Join the DISC team for their online digital upskilling sessions! Bite-sized, hour-long topics including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Sites, mail merges, digital accessibility and more!

Click here to visit the mini-site for all details and book your place.

-Digital Inclusion, Skills and Creativity (DISC) Team

Open CPR sessions - 16th October

SJA First Aid Society are running free Restart a Heart Day sessions where any university student or staff can come and learn CPR (adults, children, infants) and to use an AED. 

Sessions are run on Monday the 16th October at 1pm, 2:30pm, 4pm, or 5:30 pm in SLB/001.

The session will last about 75 minutes. University students can book onto the sessions via our page on YUSU. University staff can email us at sjafirstaid@yusu.org to book onto sessions. All sessions are free! 

Free Writing Skills sessions

Mark Illis, Royal Literary Fund Fellow, is offering free writing skills sessions. Mark is based in Derwent College, within the English Department. 

He is at the university on Mondays and Tuesdays, and he can offer students one-to-one meetings to help them with their writing skills. This is a free and confidential service provided by the RLF, and it's available to students at any level and in any discipline within the university.

He is not interested in the substance of students’ essays, dissertations or theses, but as a professional writer he is able to help you with planning, structure, grammar, editing and general issues relating to clarity. 

Click here to see his flyer with more information about his work, including an email address for bookings. 

YESI Research Theme Lead roles

Recruitment Announcement: Co-Leads Needed for the YESI Research Theme on Environment and Health (x2)

The YESI Research Themes are a reflection of the critical environmental challenges facing humanity, while also leveraging York's academic strengths in sustainability research. Currently, the Research Theme leads are as follows:

• Environment and Health – Professor Pete Coventry
• Food, Water, and Waste - Professor James Chong and Dr. Liz Rylott
• Resilient Ecosystems – Professor Colin Beale and Dr. Julia Touza

We are in search of two Co-Leads for our 'Environment and Health' theme as the current position holder's three-year term is nearing its end. Successful candidates will become integral members of the YESI team, contributing to shaping the institute's strategic direction under the leadership of Professor Lindsay Stringer.

To qualify, you should be an internationally recognized researcher with expertise in the broader fields of environment and/or health, commensurate with your career stage. We are seeking inspirational, collaborative, interdisciplinary leaders who can effectively harness these research strengths. Applications are encouraged from all three faculties, and they are open to permanent University of York staff at various career stages, ranging from lecturer to professor, including permanent research fellows at Grade 7 or higher. The term for this role is three years.

Interested applicants are required to submit a CV and a statement (up to 2 pages) outlining how they meet the role description and presenting both short-term (initial 6 months) and long-term visions for the theme. Additional details about the theme lead role can be found here.

Next ViPs meeting

The next Yorkshire Palaeogroup (YPG) meeting will be hosted in the Northwest via the University of Salford and Simon Hutchinson.

It will be a hybrid meeting (if there is enough interest in an in-person dimension to the event) or online only (via Teams) and held from 14:00 to 17:00 on 15^th November 2023.  

As usual, we aim to offer a friendly and open environment to discuss all things palaeo welcoming short presentations (10 or 20 minutes) by research postgraduates, academics, professionals, retirees and others.

Please fill out this MS Form if you would like to offer something, want to come along or want the link to attend online. Further information / questions: s.m.hutchinson@salford.ac.uk

DEG World Mental Health Day Celebration 🧠

On Wednesday 11th October, as part of our annual activities in EDC, the Department will be celebrating World Mental Health Day 2023.

Details are as follows:

12 - 1pm: Lunch for the first 40 people who sign up! 🍴

1 - 2pm: Guest Speaker Dr Nick Rowe MBE (Professor in Arts and Mental Health) in ENV/005 Lecture Theatre 

2pm: Mindful Walk (lead by Rob Bennett) - meet in ENV/005 for a Brief to the Walk.
Our environment and the places we experience can have a profound and positive effect on our sense of wellbeing and mental health. This guided walk around the university campus will encourage you to take time to explore different places around the university and to reflect on how they may boost your sense of wellbeing. You will be encouraged to photograph places that appeal to you, and these will be used to celebrate the positive potential around us and to encourage others to explore and experience these special places.

Please sign up by filling out this short form by Friday 6th October.

We hope to see you there 😊

🏆 Making the Difference Awards are back so it's time to get nominating! 🏆

The University recognises and values the hard work, commitment and achievements of all staff. The 'Making the Difference' awards are intended to provide recognition to any member of staff whose contribution on a one-off or short-term basis has been exceptional or outstanding and is worthy of particular note. The scheme provides staff, managers and colleagues with the opportunity to nominate an individual or a team for a recognition payment worth up to £250 per person (subject to normal pay deductions, e.g. PAYE). (The university also recognises and values outstanding contribution of a sustained nature. Staff should refer to details of the 'Rewarding Excellence' scheme for information about awards of that kind.)

For more information about MTD awards, including the criteria, all past nominations and winners, please visit our Making the Difference Wiki Page. Please note that nominees must have been in post for a minimum of 6 months to be eligible to win an award. 

If you would like to nominate someone for a Making the Difference Award, please click here to fill in the form. 

Deadline for nominations: Friday 3rd November 17:00

Seminars taking place next week 🎓

All are welcome to attend so please do join us and offer your support!

DEG Seminar  Date / Time: Tuesday 10th October at 12:05 Location: Hybrid (ENV/005 and Zoom - click here to join) Speaker name: Thomas Smith Title: For Peat’s Sake”: Why are tropical peatlands burning, and what are the impacts? Blurb Dr Thomas Smith is Associate Professor in Environmental Geography at the Department of Geography & Environment at the London School of Economics. Tom is a geographer and environmental scientist, specialising in interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the role of biomass burning in the Earth system. Thomas will discuss wildfire driven haze pollution in Southeast Asia; a man-made environmental disaster. Naturally, the tropical rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia are fairly drought-resistant, storing moisture in deep peaty soils. Yet, vast swathes of this unique ecosystem, home to Sumatran tigers and orang-utans, are being badly degraded by unsustainable illegal logging and conversion to plantations by the palm oil and paper industries. The loss of forests and the draining of soils by networks of canals drastically increases landscape susceptibility to fire. During long dry seasons, such as the exceptional dry season of 2015, fires burn and smoulder their way through the exposed peatlands that were once protected by forests. It is these fires that lead to dangerous air quality across the Southeast Asian region. The talk will explore some of Dr Smith’s research projects concerned with fire and post-fire emissions from fire-affected tropical peatlands and how his work has established links between pollution and intensified unsustainable agriculture in the region. The talk will also touch on new interdisciplinary research into the perception of the ‘haze’ problem in southeast Asia and how this may or may not compound the underlying causes of environmental change. Click here to watch the recording of last week's DEG Seminar entitled 'Climatic controls on surface meltwater ponding across Antarctica, 2006-2021' Passcode: 4fR1pR+@

Sustainability Education Conversations The Teaching and Scholarship Seminar series has a new name: Sustainability Education Conversations with a focus on best practice in the education and teaching of environment and sustainability and is a collaboration between ESAY's Community of Learning and Teaching Practice, DEG (Liz Hurrell) and York's science education group (Lynda Dunlop).  The first seminar will take place on 11th October (details below) and will include Professor Simon Kemp from the University of Southampton speaking about: "Education for Sustainable Development: engaging with staff, quality assurance, curricula and the student experience." Date / Time: Wednesday 11th October at 12:05 Location: Zoom - click here to join Speaker name: Prof Simon Kemp Title: Education for Sustainable Development: engaging with staff, quality assurance, curricula and the student experience. Blurb Professor Simon Kemp is an award-winning academic based at the University of Southampton, recognised for his student-focused work in ESD and employability through the Times Higher Education ‘Most Innovative Teacher of Year’, a National Teaching Fellowship, and the Green Gowns ‘Sustainability Professional of the Year’ awards amongst others. He is the University Lead in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as part of the Southampton Sustainability Strategy where he is responsible for the embedding of sustainable development across the whole of the university curricula and student experience.

RGS / GeogEd Teaching & Learning events - Reminder

For colleagues new to teaching geography at university:

• New to teaching geography at university, Thursday 26 October, 10:30 – 4:30 (in person at the RGS-IBG, £25) – a one-day workshop for new geography lecturers, teaching-fellows, and other early career academics teaching in geography departments post-PhD. Book here: https://www.rgs.org/events/autumn-2023/new-to-teaching-geography-at-university/

For colleagues interested in work based learning / employability:

• Work-based learning and employability in geography and related programmes (TeaS) Wednesday 15 November, 1 – 2pm – A session co-delivered by Dr Helen King (Northumbria University) and Dr Rebecca Jones (Bangor University) and is focused on helping colleagues develop and deliver work-based learning and employability initiatives for students on geography and related programmes.

October careers fairs

Grad Jobs and Placements Fairs

Tuesday 10th October, 11am-3pm, Exhibition Centre, Campus West

Wednesday 11th October, 11am-3pm, Exhibition Centre, Campus West

More information can be found by clicking here.

-Careers and Placements

• Our wonderful Director for Students, Samarthia Thankappan is back with her weekly audio messages for students. Click the link below to listen to Samarthia's first message of the new Semester:
• S1 Week 1 Message from DfS
• S1 Week 2 Message from DfS

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  Congratulations to Lindsay Stringer who is coauthor on a paper in Nature Sustainability that sets out a research agenda for work on the relationships between land degradation and migration. The full reference is: Hermans K, Müller D, Byrne D, Olsson L, Stringer LC. 2023 Land degradation and migration. Nature Sustainability.

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• Giovanna Massei has recently:
• Been invited to co-author a chapter of the 3rd edition of the book “Rodent Pests: Ecology and Management”. Cahpter's working title “Emerging technologies for rodent management” to be published in 2025.
• Been invited to join the Advisory and Review Board for the Pathways Europe 2024: Human Dimensions of Wildlife Conference “Revisiting What is Wild for Coexisting”to be held in October 13-16, 2024, in Córdoba, Spain
• Been interviewed by a journalist for The Observer and The Daily Telegraph picked this up from The Observer.
• Signed a contract on “Pilot project for the administration of an oral contraceptive in wild boar”, led by the Institute of Animal Health Latium and Tuscany (Italy) and funded by the Italian Ministry of Health, with UoY (Giovanna Massei) as co-PI. Total value £250,000, UoY: £59,700.

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  Josh Kirshner has participated in several events for the annual meeting of the UKRI GCRF project, 'Community Energy and the Sustainable Energy Transition (CESET) in Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique,' which is in its final year. These included the following:
• Served as discussant and chair in an international conference, “From market to social value: Reimagining the role of community energy in sustainability transitions,” hosted by Sheffield University. Speakers included academics from the Universities of Addis Abba and Makelle (Ethiopia), Mzuzu (Malawi), Cape Town (SA), Utrecht (Netherlands), and Strathclyde, Manchester and Oxford (UK), and project developers, utilities, cooperatives, gender inclusion activists and civil society orgs in southern/eastern Africa and the UK.
• Was an invited panellist for ‘Building international collaborations in low carbon energy’ at the ‘Building Resilient Energy Communities’ conference, hosted by the LCEDN (Low Carbon Energy for Development Network) and Loughborough University. The keynote speaker was Youba Sokona, a Malian expert in energy and climate politics in Africa and vice-chair of the IPCC since 2015.
• Facilitated sessions at a collaborative writing workshop in Grindleford, Peak district, with CESET UK and in-country partners.
• Accompanied partners on site visits to Allerton Waste Recovery Centre, Hockerton Energy Project and Westmill Wind Farm and Solar Park to explore UK community energy and related infrastructure.

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  Dave Shaw presented on Indoor Air Quality and the INGENIOUS project at Bradford College as part of an Applied Creativity Lab designed to help young people develop critical thinking and idea development skills.

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  Kate Arnold, along with collaborators from across the World Universities Network, led a workshop on 'Longer-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic: Ensuring support of doctoral and early career researchers' at the Vitae International Researcher Development Conference.

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  Adrian Gonzalez, along with Georgia Ramsay (PGCE Curriculum Area Leader for Geography, UoY), recently published a peer-reviewed paper entitled "Collaborative approaches to sustainability education" in the Teaching Geography Journal (48:3). The paper describe how they looked at engaging trainee teachers with sustainability education and increasing their confidence in teaching about sustainability. Further work and research on this project is scheduled to commence this academic year.

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  Liz Hurrell presented at the XXIX International Scientific Conference "Problems of continuous Geographic Education and Cartography' organised by the Department of Physical Geography and Cartography of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Liz presented on "Climate hypocrisy, sustainability and undergraduate field trips" with Adrian and Daryl as co-authors. The presentation was based on a book chapter that Liz, Adrian and Daryl will be submitting this month.

Well done everyone on your fantastic achievements 👏

UKRI Realising the Health Co-Benefits of Net Zero - info and ideas sharing session 11th October

UKRI is seeking to establish a set of transdisciplinary research hubs that will provide policy-relevant evidence and deliver high impact solutions-focused research and innovation, with the overarching goal of realising the health co-benefits of the UK’s transition to net zero, in order to protect and promote the physical and mental health of the UK population.

The hubs (up to £6m over 5 years) will be focused around the following challenge areas within the net zero and health space.

Ahead of this deadline, YESI and the RIDT are running an informal online session for York researchers on Wednesday 11th October, 2-3.30pm, which will provide a brief introduction to the call, before opening the discussion up to participants to share their ideas, and discuss with colleagues and members of the RIDT any emerging partner or support needs.

Please register your interest via the session's website - the zoom link will be circulated on the 10th October to those who have registered.

Funding Available for Small Research Projects on Inclusive Trade

The CITP is delighted to announce that it is now inviting applications to the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy Innovation Fund.

The CITP Innovation Fund is designed to support research projects that advance our understanding of inclusive trade policy, and could include theoretical work, methodological innovation and emerging empirical developments. Interdisciplinary research is encouraged.

The CITP wishes to support projects that:

• Are proposed and led by Early Career Researchers or in which the professional development of Early Career Researchers is a major part.

• Develop and sustain strong partnerships with partners in academia, the private, third and public sectors.

• Relate to and complement the existing core research programme and that fit the general guidance (see website).

The fund supports small research projects that cost between £10,000 to £40,000 fEC and of maximum 12 months.

We strongly encourage smaller applications of around £20,000 as we are very limited in the number of large applications that can be awarded.

The deadline for applications is 12 noon, Friday 3rd November, 2023.

The call and application form are available on the CITP website. If you have any questions please contact the team via: info@citp.ac.uk

2024 L’Oréal-UNESCO UK and Ireland For Women in Science Rising Talent Programme

L'Oréal-UNESCO UK has announced its annual £15,000 grant in partnership with the Royal Society to support women's research in STEM.

Eligible domains: Engineering, Life Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science, Physical Sciences, Sustainable Development Webinar on the funding programme: please register here to join the 2nd webinar on the 17th of October at 16:30pm Grant value: £15,000 (up to 5 endowments per year)

Application's deadline: 25 October 2023 at 17:00 GMT

If you are interested and eligible, please reach out to Sharon Godwin (sharon.godwin@york.ac.uk) and me. The CFP team is already familiar with the programme and can assist you in submitting your application.

Horizon Europe Funding Opportunity Database

Research Innovation & Development Manager, Dr Robyn Cooper Inglis, has created a sheet to monitor upcoming Horizon calls. This has been embedded in the existing Environmental Funding Opportunity Database.

This database contains information pertaining to deadlines, topics and available funds. With the UK now having rejoined Horizon Europe, this resource will be particularly useful to staff.

Great! Please add it to the Research, Teaching, Outreach and Good News Spreadsheet. Please use the most relevant tab for the activity/news and ensure that the description details are written out in full as you would like it to be presented. If your item does not fit the spreadsheet, please email it to environment-pa@york.ac.uk by 10:00 next Friday.

Thank you for your help in making the newsletter a great way to catch up on all of the Department's latest news and activities 🙂