Staff Newsletter 19 January 2024

Good morning all  

🎉 LAUNCHING: DEG's Staff Photo of the Week 📷

I am today launching a brand new 'box' in the weekly staff newsletter named 'Photo of the Week' which will include a nature/environment-themed photo. I am kicking things off with a photo that I took yesterday on campus.

Please submit any nature/environment-themed photos for inclusion in the staff newsletter by filling in this very short google form  

This is simply to provide a slice of calmness/inspiration for colleagues to enjoy on a Friday. I hope you enjoy the first photo (of hopefully many) below.

Annabel

Graduation - Thursday 8 February

The planned events for Graduation on Thursday 8th February are as follows:

• Departmental Drinks Reception: 11:30-12:30 in Environment Foyer
• Graduation Ceremony 8: 13:30-15:00 in Central Hall (please arrive by 13:15)
• Central Drinks Reception: 15:00-16:30 in Exhibition Centre 

If you would like to help out at our Dept Drinks Reception, please submit a graduation departmental reception sign up form by midday on Weds 31 Jan. 

Staff who have ordered a gown can collect them from the Bowland Auditorium in the Berrick Saul Building which will be staffed from around 8am on Thurs 8 Feb. 

Reminder of the ongoing initiative to celebrate well-being through creative expression

As we progress through the assessment period, I wanted to extend a gentle reminder about our ongoing initiative to celebrate wellbeing through creative expression. Amidst the stresses of assessment, I encourage you to take some time to capture the essence of wellbeing through photography and creative writing. Your contributions play a pivotal role in promoting and nurturing the importance of wellbeing within our academic community.

You can explore and photograph spaces or moments that resonate with tranquillity, mindfulness, or joy. Whether it's a serene landscape or a simple act of self-care, these images will serve as a source of inspiration for all; or channel your experiences, thoughts, or advice into poems, stories, or reflections that emphasize the significance of wellbeing. Your words have the power to guide and uplift others within our academic sphere.

Please remember to submit your photographs and creative writings by 5pm Friday 2nd February 2024 to Robert Bennett (Robert.bennett@york.ac.uk). Feel free to include a brief description or context for your submission. Your contributions will be featured in our Wellbeing Exhibition, uniting our community to celebrate the diverse facets of wellbeing.

Your insights and creativity are invaluable in fostering a culture of care and support. Let's collectively contribute to reminding ourselves and others about the importance of prioritising wellbeing. Thank you for your participation and for sharing your unique perspectives.

Samarthia Thankappan & Robert Bennett

Seminars restarting Teaching Week 1 (13th Feb onwards)

Our departmental seminars run during teaching weeks and so are currently paused until Teaching Week 1. The first round of seminars will be on the following dates:

• DEG Seminars: Tuesday 13th February, 12:05-13:00
• Sustainability Seminars: Wednesday 14th February, 12:05-13:00
• Sustainability Education Conversations: Wednesday 21st February, 12:05-13:00

Keep an eye on our upcoming newsletters for more details. 

YESI Workshop: Multi-level Analysis of Supply Chain Activities for Sustainability Across Academic Disciplines 

Date: Wednesday 7 February

Time: 13:00 - 15:00

Location: TBC

This workshop aims to bring together academics from various disciplines who share an interest in complex systems and supply chain sustainability. Our objective is to facilitate in-depth investigations into multi-level interactions, such as the intricate relationships between ecosystems and supply chains. While the existence of these interactions is widely acknowledged, comprehensive studies in this area are still lacking. We envision this workshop as a unique platform for collaboration, where participants can identify joint project ideas, explore research opportunities, and foster interdisciplinary partnerships to tackle the pressing challenges of supply chain sustainability. To express your interest in participating in the YESI workshop and to receive further details regarding the workshop, please register here. 

We look forward to your active participation and the opportunity to collectively advance our understanding of supply chain sustainability across academic disciplines.

Jane Güleç - YESI Co-ordinator

YESI Nature and the Bioeconomy Workshop

Date: Thursday 8 February 2024

Time: 13:30-16:00

Location: In person only, B/A/004, Biology Building, Campus West, University of York

The aim of this workshop is to identify research questions and potential research projects at the interface between the bioeconomy and nature. The workshop is aimed at UoY researchers and relevant collaborators who can develop research bids to any upcoming UKRI calls

The bioeconomy refers to economic activity involving the use of biotechnology and biomass in the production of goods, services, or energy. Recent advances in biomass processing, animal husbandry and marine resource use have the potential to alter the UK's land and seascapes over the next few decades, but the future is uncertain and the impacts on nature and biodiversity are unclear.

This workshop will bring together researchers from York working on the future of the bioeconomy, with those interested in biodiversity and nature to establish scenarios of future change that could form the basis of future collaborations. Register for Nature and the Bioeconomy workshop.

Jane Güleç - YESI Co-ordinator

Sexual Violence Awareness Week 2024

Message from our Student Conduct and Respect Team: To mark Sexual Violence Awareness Week 2024, The University of York will be hosting our annual Light Up the Night event, in a display of solidarity with survivors of sexual violence (Monday 5 February). 
It would be great if you could come along, and share this event with your networks. We'll meet at 5pm at Greg's Place, where battery-powered candles will be available, before we walk a pre-mapped route around campus, ending in the Biology Atrium where hot drinks will be served, and there will be an opportunity to learn more about the support provided by the University and local services. The event is free to attend, but please book a place, as spaces are limited.

New Human-Animal Interaction Research Group

Are you working on or are interested in human-animal interaction and relationships, past, present and future? We are excited to tell you about our new Human-Animal Interaction Research Group here at UoY and are cordially inviting interested colleagues from all departments and disciplines to join us. Living in the age of extinction, digitalisation and fundamental societal challenges, reflection on and change in the way human and non-human animal lives are interlinked are gaining momentum. Research interest in human-animal interaction and relationships ('anthrozoology') is rapidly expanding, and a number of departments at UoY are already active in this area.  

The purpose of the new group will be to offer a dynamic platform for interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration, aiming to facilitate the development of collaborative research grant applications and teaching projects, and to foster learning in the human-animal interaction space. To begin with, from around February/March 2024 onwards, we will meet every 3-4 months for an invited talk by internal or external experts and discuss topics such as current and forthcoming human-animal interaction projects and opportunities for collaboration within the group. 

If you'd like to join us and haven't registered already, please complete this google form. We look forward to hearing from you!

For any questions, please email dohs-hairy@york.ac.uk or contact Elena Ratschen (elena.ratschen@york.ac.uk). 

Sarah Bridle was quoted in the Daily Telegraph in an article about the impact of flooding on supermarket produce.

A recent paper on vertical land movements in the Wellington region was featured in the New Zealand Herald. The study was led by University of Victoria PhD student Dan King, who was co-supervised by Roland Gehrels and Ed Garrett.

Bryce Stewart:

• Research by Bryce and students on Marine Protected Areas around the Isle of Arran was featured on BBC Alba TV (Scotland)
• Research by Bryce and students on Marine Protected Areas around the Isle of Arran is featured in the cover story in the month's Oceanographic Magazine
• Catch 22, the marine conservation film that Bryce appeared in last year, has been nominated at this year's OCFA Charity Film Award

Congratulations to Zheng Fang who has had the second paper from his MPhil published. This one is "Size- and concentration-dependent effects of microplastics on soil aggregate formation and properties" and is published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. It's the smaller microplastics that could have a significant impact on soil physical properties, so as microplastics degrade and get smaller it's more likely that they will have a negative impact. The full paper is available at here.

Congratulations to Nic Carslaw and David Shaw whose final paper from their COST Action has now been published in the new Indoor Environments journal.

Nic Carslaw was invited to Portcullis House to talk about future regulation of indoor air quality by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee.

Anika Haque and YESI published a video vlog on the 'overlapping risks of climate change and urbanization' as part of Anika's YESI knowledge exchange fellowship. 

The joys of outreach in this digital age means that Smriti Safaya was able to share her research about the impact of environmental citizen science on how youth think and act pro-environmentally, and youth participatory action research about climate change education with more than 230 Hong Kong school students at 2am (!) on Saturday, 13th January 2024, at a webinar hosted by the student-led 'Zero Plastic League'. She discussed which environmental behaviour psychology factors most influence youth environmental action (ie. more personal time and school field trips in nature, more household-based environmental discussions and green habits, greater knowledge of positive stories of green actions in media), and the practical implications for students and educators. Key takeaways encouraged students to ask their teachers to take them outside (I know I say this a lot!), and Smriti fielded great questions from them about how to tangibly reduce the value-action gap.

Naomi Holmes is part of a team (led by colleagues at Sheffield Hallam) awarded £25000 NERC Growing Shoots partnership funding for the project 'Biomarker Lipids in Urban river Environments: Community Engaged Environmental Science.'

Well done everyone on your fantastic achievements 👏

Dissertation Surveys - Do your good deed for the week and support our 3rd year students! 

• Click this link to take a survey on investigating the extent to which social media is a useful tool in raising awareness about the Sustainable Development Goals among young people.. 
• Click this link to take a survey on consumer awareness and willingness to engage with sustainable fashion approaches. 

Multi-level Analysis of Supply Chain Activities for Sustainability Across Academic Disciplines Workshop

Date: Wednesday 7 February

Time: 13:00 - 15:00

Location: ATB/042 Lecture Room, Seebohm Rowntree Building (ATB), Campus West

This workshop aims to bring together academics from various disciplines who share an interest in complex systems and supply chain sustainability. Our objective is to facilitate in-depth investigations into multi-level interactions, such as the intricate relationships between ecosystems and supply chains. While the existence of these interactions is widely acknowledged, comprehensive studies in this area are still lacking.

We envision this workshop as a unique platform for collaboration, where participants can identify joint project ideas, explore research opportunities, and foster interdisciplinary partnerships to tackle the pressing challenges of supply chain sustainability.

To express your interest in participating and to receive further details regarding the workshop, please register here.

We look forward to your active participation and the opportunity to collectively advance our understanding of supply chain sustainability across academic disciplines.

Nature and the Bioeconomy Workshop 

Date: Thursday 8 February

Time: 13:30 - 16:00

Location: B/A/004, Biology Building, Campus West

The aim of this workshop is to identify research questions and potential research projects at the interface between the bioeconomy and nature. The workshop is aimed at UoY researchers and relevant collaborators who can develop research bids to any upcoming UKRI calls.

The bioeconomy refers to economic activity involving the use of biotechnology and biomass in the production of goods, services, or energy. Recent advances in biomass processing, animal husbandry and marine resource use have the potential to alter the UK's land and seascapes over the next few decades, but the future is uncertain and the impacts on nature and biodiversity are unclear.

This workshop will bring together researchers from York working on the future of the bioeconomy, with those interested in biodiversity and nature to establish scenarios of future change that could form the basis of future collaborations.

Register for Nature and the Bioeconomy workshop.

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