title: An Incident Control Centre in action: Response to the Rena oil spill in New Zealand

authors: Hunt, Sonya

subjects: Incident Control Centre

abstract: Following the Rena grounding and oil spill in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, an Incident Command Centre was established which, among other tasks, coordinated a volunteer clean-up effort. We interviewed volunteers and organisers to gain insight into the efficacy of the volunteer coordination effort. Volunteers praised the system of communication and the involvement of indigenous groups. They expressed a desire for better training, more flexibility and community autonomy, a quicker uptake of volunteer support, and the use of social media. Locating the Incident Command Centre in a single site aided interaction between experts, and the sharing of resources. Overall, the volunteer coordination was considered a success.

text: An Incident Control Centre in action: Response to the Rena oil spill in New Zealand Following the Rena grounding and oil spill in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, an Incident Command Centre was established which, among other tasks, coordinated a volunteer clean-up effort. We interviewed volunteers and organisers to gain insight into the efficacy of the volunteer coordination effort. Volunteers praised the system of communication and the involvement of indigenous groups. They expressed a desire for better training, more flexibility and community autonomy, a quicker uptake of volunteer support, and the use of social media. Locating the Incident Command Centre in a single site aided interaction between experts, and the sharing of resources. Overall, the volunteer coordination was considered a success.

year: 2014

title: Adaptations to submarine hydrothermal environments exemplified by the genome of Nautilia profundicola

authors: Campbell, Barbara J.

subjects: hydrothermal environment

abstract: Submarine hydrothermal vents are model systems for the Archaean Earth environment, and some sites maintain conditions that may have favored the formation and evolution of cellular life. Vents are typified by rapid fluctuations in temperature and redox potential that impose a strong selective pressure on resident microbial communities. Nautilia profundicola strain Am-H is a moderately thermophilic, deeply-branching Epsilonproteobacterium found free-living at hydrothermal vents and is a member of the microbial mass on the dorsal surface of vent polychaete, Alvinella pompejana. Analysis of the 1.7-Mbp genome of N. profundicola uncovered adaptations to the vent environment—some unique and some shared with other Epsilonproteobacterial genomes. The major findings included: (1) a diverse suite of hydrogenases coupled to a relatively simple electron transport chain, (2) numerous stress response systems, (3) a novel predicted nitrate assimilation pathway with hydroxylamine as a key intermediate, and (4) a gene (rgy) encoding the hallmark protein for hyperthermophilic growth, reverse gyrase. Additional experiments indicated that expression of rgy in strain Am-H was induced over 100-fold with a 20uC increase above the optimal growth temperature of this bacterium and that closely related rgy genes are present and expressed in bacterial communities residing in geographically distinct thermophilic environments. N. profundicola, therefore, is a model Epsilonproteobacterium that contains all the genes necessary for life in the extreme conditions widely believed to reflect those in the Archaean biosphere—anaerobic, sulfur, H₂- and CO₂-rich, with fluctuating redox potentials and temperatures. In addition, reverse gyrase appears to be an important and common adaptation for mesophiles and moderate thermophiles that inhabit ecological niches characterized by rapid and frequent temperature fluctuations and, as such, can no longer be considered a unique feature of hyperthermophiles.

text: Adaptations to submarine hydrothermal environments exemplified by the genome of Nautilia profundicola Submarine hydrothermal vents are model systems for the Archaean Earth environment, and some sites maintain conditions that may have favored the formation and evolution of cellular life. Vents are typified by rapid fluctuations in temperature and redox potential that impose a strong selective pressure on resident microbial communities. Nautilia profundicola strain Am-H is a moderately thermophilic, deeply-branching Epsilonproteobacterium found free-living at hydrothermal vents and is a member of the microbial mass on the dorsal surface of vent polychaete, Alvinella pompejana. Analysis of the 1.7-Mbp genome of N. profundicola uncovered adaptations to the vent environment—some unique and some shared with other Epsilonproteobacterial genomes. The major findings included: (1) a diverse suite of hydrogenases coupled to a relatively simple electron transport chain, (2) numerous stress response systems, (3) a novel predicted nitrate assimilation pathway with hydroxylamine as a key intermediate, and (4) a gene (rgy) encoding the hallmark protein for hyperthermophilic growth, reverse gyrase. Additional experiments indicated that expression of rgy in strain Am-H was induced over 100-fold with a 20uC increase above the optimal growth temperature of this bacterium and that closely related rgy genes are present and expressed in bacterial communities residing in geographically distinct thermophilic environments. N. profundicola, therefore, is a model Epsilonproteobacterium that contains all the genes necessary for life in the extreme conditions widely believed to reflect those in the Archaean biosphere—anaerobic, sulfur, H₂- and CO₂-rich, with fluctuating redox potentials and temperatures. In addition, reverse gyrase appears to be an important and common adaptation for mesophiles and moderate thermophiles that inhabit ecological niches characterized by rapid and frequent temperature fluctuations and, as such, can no longer be considered a unique feature of hyperthermophiles.

year: 2009

title: Whakatautika: Generating balance in the business and activity of fishing at Moana New Zealand - A case study on Indigenising the blue economy in Aotearoa

authors: Mika, Jason

abstract: This report sets out the results of a case study on Moana New Zealand, an iwi (tribal) owned fishing company formed out of the Treaty of Waitangi fisheries settlement and a whānau (family) owned inshore fishing enterprise known as The Rawlinson Group (TRG). The research is part of an Indigenising the blue economy project funded by Ngā Moana Whakauka Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge. This case study draws on the knowledge and experience of Moana New Zealand and TRG to understand relationships between iwi and whānau scale enterprises in the Māori marine economy (MME). TRG is a Māori-owned family inshore fishing business which has been operating for 30 years. As first-generation fishers, the Rawlinson whānau have prioritised both strategic and family decisions that have established their business and assured their role in Aotearoa New Zealand’s commercial fishing industry. The case study sought to learn how Māori marine-based enterprises apply mātauranga Māori to achieve multidimensional wellbeing, human potential, and relational balance with Tangaroa.

text: Whakatautika: Generating balance in the business and activity of fishing at Moana New Zealand - A case study on Indigenising the blue economy in Aotearoa This report sets out the results of a case study on Moana New Zealand, an iwi (tribal) owned fishing company formed out of the Treaty of Waitangi fisheries settlement and a whānau (family) owned inshore fishing enterprise known as The Rawlinson Group (TRG). The research is part of an Indigenising the blue economy project funded by Ngā Moana Whakauka Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge. This case study draws on the knowledge and experience of Moana New Zealand and TRG to understand relationships between iwi and whānau scale enterprises in the Māori marine economy (MME). TRG is a Māori-owned family inshore fishing business which has been operating for 30 years. As first-generation fishers, the Rawlinson whānau have prioritised both strategic and family decisions that have established their business and assured their role in Aotearoa New Zealand’s commercial fishing industry. The case study sought to learn how Māori marine-based enterprises apply mātauranga Māori to achieve multidimensional wellbeing, human potential, and relational balance with Tangaroa.

year: 2024