title: Re-membering those lost: The role of materiality in narrative repair following a natural disaster

authors: Cassim, Shemana

subjects: narrative recovery

abstract: The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami resulted in a tragic loss of life and immense suffering. This thesis explores the ways in which five people from Sri Lanka worked to address the disruption to their life narratives caused by the loss of loved ones as a result of this tragedy. I demonstrate that the reconstruction of life narratives does not aim to cure; instead it helps people make sense of events, and cope and live alongside the aftermath of a disaster. The theoretical framework for this research is informed by narrative research, practice theory and phronesis. Semi-structured and walk-along interview techniques were used to gather the life narratives of the five key informants. Participant accounts were situated within the community setting of the town of Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka. Findings indicate that the significance of public monuments for processes of memorialisation and mourning can be contested compared to what is traditionally understood. I argue that personal material objects, symbolic spaces and everyday practices can serve as metonyms that enable participants to re-story their fractured life narratives. Everyday acts and objects also allow people to re-member loved ones and past lives lost to the tsunami. While language and texts are still important, I go beyond a focus on talk in narrative research in the field of psychology to explore the importance of material objects in sustaining continued bonds with the deceased. Traditional Anglo-American psychological approaches to disaster recovery may be successful in some communities. However, disaster psychology could become more responsive and effective with a greater consideration of the context of culture. This study provides an alternative to the tendency in mainstream psychology to pathologise grief, and highlights the importance of culturally-patterned responses to disaster. I argue that disaster psychology needs to be brought into conversation with other disciplines in order to fully understand how survivors of a tragedy can draw on cultural and community-based resources to build resilience in the face of grief and loss.

text: Re-membering those lost: The role of materiality in narrative repair following a natural disaster The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami resulted in a tragic loss of life and immense suffering. This thesis explores the ways in which five people from Sri Lanka worked to address the disruption to their life narratives caused by the loss of loved ones as a result of this tragedy. I demonstrate that the reconstruction of life narratives does not aim to cure; instead it helps people make sense of events, and cope and live alongside the aftermath of a disaster. The theoretical framework for this research is informed by narrative research, practice theory and phronesis. Semi-structured and walk-along interview techniques were used to gather the life narratives of the five key informants. Participant accounts were situated within the community setting of the town of Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka. Findings indicate that the significance of public monuments for processes of memorialisation and mourning can be contested compared to what is traditionally understood. I argue that personal material objects, symbolic spaces and everyday practices can serve as metonyms that enable participants to re-story their fractured life narratives. Everyday acts and objects also allow people to re-member loved ones and past lives lost to the tsunami. While language and texts are still important, I go beyond a focus on talk in narrative research in the field of psychology to explore the importance of material objects in sustaining continued bonds with the deceased. Traditional Anglo-American psychological approaches to disaster recovery may be successful in some communities. However, disaster psychology could become more responsive and effective with a greater consideration of the context of culture. This study provides an alternative to the tendency in mainstream psychology to pathologise grief, and highlights the importance of culturally-patterned responses to disaster. I argue that disaster psychology needs to be brought into conversation with other disciplines in order to fully understand how survivors of a tragedy can draw on cultural and community-based resources to build resilience in the face of grief and loss.

year: 2013

title: Nitrate removal, communities of denitrifiers and adverse effects in different carbon substrates for use in denitrification beds

authors: Warneke, Sören

subjects: denitrification

abstract: Denitrification beds are containers filled with wood by-products that serve as a carbon and energy source to denitrifiers, which reduce nitrate (NO₃⁻) from point source discharges into non-reactive dinitrogen (N₂) gas. This study investigates a range of alternative carbon sources and determines rates, mechanisms and factors controlling NO₃⁻ removal, denitrifying bacterial community, and the adverse effects of these substrates. Experimental barrels (0.2 m³) filled with either maize cobs, wheat straw, green waste, sawdust, pine woodchips or eucalyptus woodchips were incubated at 16.8 °C or 27.1 °C (outlet temperature), and received NO₃⁻enriched water (14.38 mg N L⁻¹and 17.15 mg N L⁻¹). After 2.5 years of incubation measurements were made of NO₃⁻–N removal rates, in vitro denitrification rates (DR), factors limiting denitrification (carbon and nitrate availability, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, and concentrations of NO₃⁻, nitrite and ammonia), copy number of nitrite reductase (nirS and nirK) and nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ) genes, and greenhouse gas production (dissolved nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane), and carbon (TOC) loss. Microbial denitrification was the main mechanism for NO₃⁻–N removal. Nitrate–N removal rates ranged from 1.3 (pine woodchips) to 6.2 g N m⁻³ d⁻¹ (maize cobs), and were predominantly limited by C availability and temperature (Q₁₀ = 1.2) when NO₃⁻–N outlet concentrations remained above 1 mg L⁻¹. The NO₃⁻–N removal rate did not depend directly on substrate type, but on the quantity of microbially available carbon, which differed between carbon sources. The abundance of denitrifying genes (nirS, nirK and nosZ) was similar in replicate barrels under cold incubation, but varied substantially under warm incubation, and between substrates. Warm incubation enhanced growth of nirS containing bacteria and bacteria that lacked the nosZ gene, potentially explaining the greater N2O emission in warmer environments. Maize cob substrate had the highest NO₃⁻–N removal rate, but adverse effects include TOC release, dissolved N₂O release and substantial carbon consumption by non-denitrifiers. Woodchips removed less than half of NO₃⁻ removed by maize cobs, but provided ideal conditions for denitrifying bacteria, and adverse effects were not observed. Therefore we recommend the combination of maize cobs and woodchips to enhance NO₃⁻ removal while minimizing adverse effects in denitrification beds.

text: Nitrate removal, communities of denitrifiers and adverse effects in different carbon substrates for use in denitrification beds Denitrification beds are containers filled with wood by-products that serve as a carbon and energy source to denitrifiers, which reduce nitrate (NO₃⁻) from point source discharges into non-reactive dinitrogen (N₂) gas. This study investigates a range of alternative carbon sources and determines rates, mechanisms and factors controlling NO₃⁻ removal, denitrifying bacterial community, and the adverse effects of these substrates. Experimental barrels (0.2 m³) filled with either maize cobs, wheat straw, green waste, sawdust, pine woodchips or eucalyptus woodchips were incubated at 16.8 °C or 27.1 °C (outlet temperature), and received NO₃⁻enriched water (14.38 mg N L⁻¹and 17.15 mg N L⁻¹). After 2.5 years of incubation measurements were made of NO₃⁻–N removal rates, in vitro denitrification rates (DR), factors limiting denitrification (carbon and nitrate availability, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, and concentrations of NO₃⁻, nitrite and ammonia), copy number of nitrite reductase (nirS and nirK) and nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ) genes, and greenhouse gas production (dissolved nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane), and carbon (TOC) loss. Microbial denitrification was the main mechanism for NO₃⁻–N removal. Nitrate–N removal rates ranged from 1.3 (pine woodchips) to 6.2 g N m⁻³ d⁻¹ (maize cobs), and were predominantly limited by C availability and temperature (Q₁₀ = 1.2) when NO₃⁻–N outlet concentrations remained above 1 mg L⁻¹. The NO₃⁻–N removal rate did not depend directly on substrate type, but on the quantity of microbially available carbon, which differed between carbon sources. The abundance of denitrifying genes (nirS, nirK and nosZ) was similar in replicate barrels under cold incubation, but varied substantially under warm incubation, and between substrates. Warm incubation enhanced growth of nirS containing bacteria and bacteria that lacked the nosZ gene, potentially explaining the greater N2O emission in warmer environments. Maize cob substrate had the highest NO₃⁻–N removal rate, but adverse effects include TOC release, dissolved N₂O release and substantial carbon consumption by non-denitrifiers. Woodchips removed less than half of NO₃⁻ removed by maize cobs, but provided ideal conditions for denitrifying bacteria, and adverse effects were not observed. Therefore we recommend the combination of maize cobs and woodchips to enhance NO₃⁻ removal while minimizing adverse effects in denitrification beds.

year: 2011

title: Think globally, act locally: Collective consent and the ethics of knowledge production

authors: Hudson, Maui

abstract: Ethical review is an integral part of the process of developing research and considering issues associated with the production of knowledge. It is part of a system that primarily legitimises western traditions of inquiry and reinforces western assumptions about knowledge and its benefit to society. Around the world the process of colonisation has excluded indigenous understandings. In New Zealand, Māori (indigenous) knowledge has been similarly marginalised; this pattern is also reflected within ethical review. Māori values, while acknowledged, are not yet considered to have equal weight in ethical deliberations. The notion of collective rights and the possibility of developing processes to allow collective consent to be recognised and mandated by ethics committees have been raised by communities but largely ignored by the ethical review system. While kaupapa Māori researchers espouse the benefits of closer community involvement, policy makers and ethics committees have focused on “consultation” as the mechanism which confirms proof of engagement, the establishment of community support, and the relevance of the project. This article highlights the potential of the concept of collective consent in negotiations between researchers and communities.

text: Think globally, act locally: Collective consent and the ethics of knowledge production Ethical review is an integral part of the process of developing research and considering issues associated with the production of knowledge. It is part of a system that primarily legitimises western traditions of inquiry and reinforces western assumptions about knowledge and its benefit to society. Around the world the process of colonisation has excluded indigenous understandings. In New Zealand, Māori (indigenous) knowledge has been similarly marginalised; this pattern is also reflected within ethical review. Māori values, while acknowledged, are not yet considered to have equal weight in ethical deliberations. The notion of collective rights and the possibility of developing processes to allow collective consent to be recognised and mandated by ethics committees have been raised by communities but largely ignored by the ethical review system. While kaupapa Māori researchers espouse the benefits of closer community involvement, policy makers and ethics committees have focused on “consultation” as the mechanism which confirms proof of engagement, the establishment of community support, and the relevance of the project. This article highlights the potential of the concept of collective consent in negotiations between researchers and communities.

year: 2010