Campus News
A very British obsession
November 2nd, 2014
The weather is a British obsession —and our response over the centuries to snow, floods, droughts, heatwaves and storms provides a rich insight into the lives of people and how communities evolve.
Drawing on historical records and personal recollections, the £1m British Climate Histories project, led by Professor Georgina Endfield from the School of Geography, is hoping to explore how and why response to weather events has become part of our cultural fabric.
Professor Endfield, in collaboration with experts from the universities of Liverpool, Aberystwyth and Glasgow, will be turning the clock back to the 1700s to trace how perceptions of risk, vulnerability and efforts to improve our resilience to extreme weather events have changed over time.
Professor Endfield said: “Through narrative, folklore, myth, legend and poetry — all these different kinds of media — we can learn a lot about what is happening to our weather and how we are affected by and respond to extreme weather events.”
Beginning with an exploration of historical archives — such as testimonies, amateur observations and diaries — researchers will then move onto instrumental weather records and oral histories. They will be talking to communities in selected case study areas to find out how extreme weather events are remembered and the way they become embedded in the fabric of communities.
The case study areas will be:
north, west and southwest Wales, specifically isolated rural communities, small coastal communities, upland farming areas at risk from flooding, drought and extreme winters.
- Areas of East Anglia coast and northwest Scotland that have been identified as being at risk of flooding and storm events.
- central England in areas considered to be vulnerable to flooding, water scarcity and drought
- southwest England in places projected to suffer most acutely from storm events, flooding and heatwaves.
- Funding comes from the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Care for the Future: Thinking Forward through the Past theme.
The team is hoping to create a public database of memories so people can tap into what has happened in their local community and how their lives may have changed as a result.
The work will be completed in conjunction with the Royal Geographical Society (with the IBG), the Met Office (ACRE initiative based at the Hadley Centre) and English Heritage.
Watch more on the project:
tiny.cc/UoNWeather
Tags: Arts and Humanities Research Council, British Climate Histories, Care for the Future: Thinking Forward through the Past, Professor Georgina Endfield, School of Geography
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Code-makers bring images to life
November 2nd, 2014
A new spin-out company from the University is promising to transform the way we digitally interact with products and services by developing the next generation of easier-on-the-eye QR codes.
Aestheticodes has evolved out of a joint project between designers and computer scientists at the University’s Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute.
The company is aiming to revolutionise embedded computer codes which allow the user to access content digitally via their smart device. It designs beautiful images and encodes them, resulting in the same interactivity of a QR code, while offering a more engaging and playful experience.
The technology offers businesses the opportunity for on-brand visual interaction for products, packaging and services and could offer users interaction at museums, galleries and public spaces.
An app can be downloaded on to a smart device and used to scan the aestheticode — the app does not recognise the image but scans its topography.
Richard Mortier, a Transitional Fellow at Horizon, said: “Here we allow everyday objects to become more interactive without compromising on their aesthetics. Graphic designers have produced a wide range of visually appealing motifs and patterns that can be used to trigger delivery of different information depending on the design and the app that reads it – for example, pointing your smartphone at the pattern on a restaurant menu could give you information on that day’s special.”
Aestheticodes offers programming, app development and graphic design services and can produce a full bespoke branding and interactivity service.
The research underpinning the company was conducted with academic partners Central Saint Martins and Brunel University and commercial partner Busaba Eathai.
The researchers are continuing to develop the technology through Horizon, where they are working with ceramic designers to explore the creation of ceramic shapes, patterns and textures that are both aesthetically pleasing and digitally trackable.
Find out more on the company at aestheticodes.com
Tags: Aestheticodes, Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute, QR codes, Richard Mortier
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Naval gazing unlocks ancient battle clues
November 2nd, 2014
Nottingham’s underwater archaeologist Dr Jon Henderson is helping to survey the first ancient naval battle site ever discovered.
At the Battle of the Egadi Islands on March 10 241BC, the Romans defeated the Carthaginians, setting Rome on course to seizing the Mediterranean and becoming an Empire.
The site, off Sicily, is being surveyed by the Soprintendenza del Mare, Sicily, and RPM Nautical Foundation with the help of underwater archaeology techniques developed in Nottingham.
Working at depths of up to 120 metres they are surveying an area of 5sq km, which is littered with the relics, including bronze battle rams.
Dr Henderson, from the Department of Archaeology, said: “It is quite surprising that despite all the literary references and the importance of naval battles and sea power in the ancient world we have never found a battle site before.”
Stories told by Sicilian divers of ancient lead anchors on the seabed off the Egadi Islands off Sicily’s northwest coast guided reasearchers to the battle site, where so far 11 battle rams have been brought up. Previously only three of these rams had ever been recovered in the world. The rams, cast on the bow of ships, will significantly increase understanding of ancient ships.
The research vessel Hercules uses an ongoing
multi-beam survey together with remotely operated vehicle (ROV) verification to producing an accurate map of the undersea geography.
Dr Henderson, pictured at Egadi, is using sector-scanner technology developed for the marine offshore industry to map the site in even more detail. He tested it in shallow water at Pavlopetri — the world’s oldest known underwater city. He said: “To fully understand the remains on the seabed and reconstruct the actual battle itself it is vital that we record the exact positions of the wreckage. I think this technology has the potential to transform the way underwater sites are surveyed.”
With funding from the Honor Frost Foundation artefacts brought to the surface inside amphora (juglike containers used to transport products) are being analysed at Nottingham.
Dr Henderson will be giving the second Honor Frost annual lecture Coming of Age: Underwater Archaeology in the 21st Century at the British Academy at 6pm, Thursday 12 December. To register attendance go to: http://2ndhffannuallecture.eventbrite.com/
Watch: Video shot at Egadi: tiny.cc/UoNEgadi
Tags: Battle of the Egadi Islands, Department of Archaeology, Dr Jon Henderson, Honor Frost Foundation
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Teacher’s legacy of world-famous choir
November 2nd, 2014
Many tributes have been paid to the distinguished choral director Pamela Cook. She was due to receive an Honorary Degree at the July Degree Congregations, but was too ill to attend. She died shortly afterwards.
Pamela Cook, who was 76, lived and spent most of her working life in Mansfield. Her early career was as a contralto singer and vocal coach. She taught singing in the Music Department at the University throughout the 1970s, and from 1975 taught at other educational institutions, including the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester) and the Birmingham Conservatoire (now part of Birmingham City University), where she was Senior Lecturer in Voice.
However, it was as the director of the girls’ choir Cantamus, which she founded in 1968, that she was best known. Between 1971 and 2013, the choir won 26 first prizes at 21 international festivals in Europe and in the Far East. Perhaps the choir’s greatest achievement was winning the title of Olympic Champions at the World Choir Olympics, Xiamen, China, in 2006. She also directed choral workshops in Europe, Canada, Israel, Japan and the USA.
Miss Cook served on the jury of many international competitions, including the BBC Choir of the Year. She had also been a commentator for The Cardiff Singer of The World for BBC Radio 3. In 2003 she became a Vice-President of the Association of British Choral Directors.
Miss Cook received many honours. She was awarded the MBE in 1984, was made an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 1990, and was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Birmingham Conservatoire in 1993. In 2010 the Royal Academy of Music elevated her to the rank of Fellow, an honour limited to 300 musicians throughout the world.
The University extends its condolences to Pamela’s husband, Geoffrey.
John Morehen, Emeritus Professor of Music
Tags: BBC Choir of the Year, Cantamus, Emeritus Professor of Music, Music Department, ohn Morehen, Pamela Cook, Royal Academy of Music, World Choir Olympics
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Lab raises bar for sustainability
November 2nd, 2014
Construction has begun on the £20m GlaxoSmithKline Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry.
The latest landmark development on the award-winning Innovation Park on Jubilee Campus will provide unrivalled facilities for chemistry and incorporate the latest technologies to allow it to be carbon neutral over its lifetime.
The building is set to achieve a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) rating of ‘Outstanding’ and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) ‘Platinum’ rating. It is set to reach carbon neutral status after 25 years.
The laboratory will be built by construction partner Morgan Sindall from natural materials and its energy needs will be met by renewable sources such as solar power and sustainable biomass. Excess energy created by the building will provide enough carbon credits over 25 years to pay back the carbon used in its construction.
Chief Estates and Facilities Officer Chris Jagger said: “We are very excited about the start of construction on the GSK Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry. The building is part of our on-going strategic capital development plans and investments to continuously improving the teaching and research facilities across all of our campuses. This unique building is also a reflection of our commitment to sustainability and will set new standards for the development of ‘green’ laboratories in the future.”
Morgan Sindall Area Director Richard Fielding said: “The laboratory is a UK first and is set to push the boundaries of sustainable construction and we’re proud to have been appointed to construct this outstanding facility.”
The building, which has been designed by the Fairhursts Design Group, will occupy 4,500 sq m over two floors. In addition to laboratory space for around 100 researchers, it will also contain dedicated instrument rooms, a teaching laboratory for advanced undergraduate classes, and space for a range of outreach activities.
The laboratory is being constructed in partnership with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, the University’s largest ever fundraising appeal. The Campaign facilitated a £12m grant from GSK as part of their ‘green chemistry’ commitment first announced in 2010.
Work is expected to be completed in early 2015.
Tags: Chief Estates and Facilities Officer Chris Jagger, GlaxoSmithKline Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry, Innovation Park, Morgan Sindall Area Director Richard Fielding
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Elephants sowing seeds for future
November 2nd, 2014
Lindsay Brooke joins researchers on a field trip in the rainforests of Malaysia.
“There’s one!” We have been out all night in the Malaysian tropical rainforest searching for elephants and now, at four o’clock in the morning, we get our first sight of one.
Researchers from MEME, the Management and Ecology of the Malaysian Elephant, together with Perhilitan, Malaysia’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks, are fitting wild elephants with specially designed collars packed with satellite and cell phone technology. The aim is to learn more about the Asian elephant, and crucially how to mitigate the growing problem of human-elephant conflict. I have been invited to join MEME on a field trip: it was to be a remarkable three days.
Hunted for their tusks and stripped of their natural habitat to make way for crops, roads and new settlements the Asian elephant is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
What becomes of these elephants and the effect that will have on the ecology of Malaysia’s rainforest is the focus of MEME’s research. The work requires time, personal sacrifice, diplomacy and, as I was to discover, long hours of what can often prove to be unrewarded effort.
Four hundred kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur, close to the Thai border in the state of Perak is the Royal Belum State Park. From here we took a boat across the vast Temenggor Lake to a place where wild elephants come to take minerals from the ground. This ‘salt lick’ is deep in the heart of the Temenggor forest – claimed to be one of the world’s oldest tropical rainforests. When they come here the elephants are photographed and filmed by a set of automatic cameras strategically placed in the trees around them.
The pictures are critical to MEME’s research, which is being led Dr Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz from the School of Geography at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC).
Dr Campos-Arceiz said: “This is a very personal kind of project. It is something we believe in and the work fulfils us. MEME is acutely aware that the Asian elephant is in trouble and its distribution is shrinking. We want to contribute to the long-term conservation of Malaysian elephants and the best we can do is to obtain scientific evidence to help the government make better-informed decisions. Ultimately, we’ll need to find ways for human-elephant co-existence in these landscapes.”
Eager to know what secrets the cameras hold, Ahimsa is soon uploading the files to his laptop. He’s delighted to find that elephants and a couple of rarely seen Sun Bears have trouped past, triggering the cameras. The pictures give MEME a unique insight into the social structure of the Asian elephant. They can also assess the health of the elephants.
Our next stop is the site of a sulphur spring, where animals visit to drink essential minerals dissolved in the warm bubbling water. The elephants leave behind enormous piles of dung. Everyone is put to work sifting through each and every pile looking for seeds. If it is really fresh the dung is checked for parasites and samples are taken for DNA and hormone levels which can assist in determining stress levels.
The elephant is a key biological species in the ecology of Asia’s tropical forests and plays a major role in the dispersal of seeds. It is capable of digesting some of the largest seeds in the forest, and across the forest floor mangos and other jungle plants sprout from old droppings. Checking the dung helps MEME learn more about the importance of the elephant and the role it plays in the ecology of Malaysia’s shrinking rainforest.
By early evening we are heading back to the field centre in Gerik, but our day is far from over.
Our journey is broken when we spot Awang S Kedah, the bull elephant tagged two days before. In broad daylight he gives us a rare opportunity to photograph and video him before he disappears from sight.
At 10pm two new collars have been loaded into the back of the MEME jeep and we are on the road again. It is the last night of collaring for a few weeks. We drive in convoy along one of Malaysia’s main highways using searchlights to scour the vegetation for elephants. Just before dawn an elephant is spotted. The convoy pulls up and a darting gun is loaded with sedative. Even though they’ve done this many times before, there’s still a sense of excitement at the prospect of recruiting another elephant into the MEME study.
But it isn’t to be. The elephant has gone. In fact, elephants prove elusive on six out of the seven nights. However, on one night alone they had managed to tag two elephants, including our friend Awang S Kedah, and that is more than good enough for Ahimsa and his colleagues.
There are now seven collared elephants roaming the Malaysian tropical rainforest. The aim is to have 50, providing what could prove essential information in the future survival of these animals and establish a balance so man and elephant can live alongside one another.
For more information about the work of MEME go to:
www.meme-elephants.org
www.facebook.com/MEME.project
Tags: Dr Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, Lindsay Brooke, Malaysia, MEME, School of Geography, the Management and Ecology of the Malaysian Elephant, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
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Dear John…
November 2nd, 2014
We are living in an age when we are more likely to fire off an email or a quick text than to commit pen to paper and post a letter.
Now, a new literary journal at The University of Nottingham is reflecting on the timeless art of letter writing — in whatever format it happens to take.
The Letters Page, which saw its first edition published this month, is edited by Jon McGregor, bestselling Nottingham author and Professor of Creative Writing (Writer in Residence) in the School of English.
The journal was launched by Vice-Chancellor Professor David Greenaway, who symbolically posted out printed copies, as well as sending the first pdf version to subscribers via email.
Professor McGregor said: “Letters are the oldest form of writing, and a key part of literary culture. Through The Letters Page, I hope we can explore what letter writing means to writers and readers today. After a lot of work behind the scenes, I’m very excited by the first issue.”
The Letters Page came about when Professor McGregor began to explore the possibility of creating a new literary journal through a blog.
He invited responses in the form of handwritten letters sent through the post.
Professor McGregor said: “The medium became the message, and the idea of The Letters Page — a literary journal in letters — was born. Most of the letters we received were legible, most of the letters had something interesting to say about letter writing; a select few stood out, I felt, as fine pieces of writing regardless of form.
“In future we will be taking that ‘regardless of form’ to heart and looking for fine pieces of writing — essays, stories, poems, memoir, travelogue, reportage —which just happen to fit the generous parameters of the letter format.”
The first issue features correspondence from as far afield as Canada and the US, Spain, France, Germany, Cyprus and the Republic of Ireland.
Submissions are now open for the second issue, loosely based around the theme of penpals.
The development of a new literary journal for creative writing was one of Professor McGregor’s key missions when joining the University. The journal will act as a vehicle for students to learn about reading and editing and assessing high quality work.
To download the current issue of the The Letters Page, subscribe, and find out how to submit your writing, visit www.theletterspage.ac.uk
Twitter: @TheLettersPage
Tags: Jon McGregor, The Letters Page
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