title: A question of scale: How turbulence around aerial roots shapes the seabed morphology in mangrove forests of the Mekong Delta

authors: Mullarney, Julia C.

abstract: Mangrove forests are highly productive ecosystems that provide many physical, societal, and ecological services in tropical and subtropical regions. Accurate prediction of the morphological evolution for these areas, in the face of global sea level rise and changes in sediment supply, requires understanding of interactions between vegetation growth, water flows, and sediment transport. Data presented from a wave-exposed mangrove forest in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, include unique measurements that resolved water flows in and around the aerial mangrove roots (known as pneumatophores) over scales from a few millimeters to hundreds of meters. Flows were highly turbulent, with turbulence values sometimes as large as those measured in surf zones. These energetic processes appear to stir up sediments, with small scour troughs observed around individual pneumatophores, and larger-scale scour around clusters of pneumatophores. The vegetation fringe (the boundary between forest and mudflat) was a particularly dynamic area, with elevated turbulence levels, greater vegetation densities, coarser sediments, and occasional wave breaking. Intense turbulent dissipation at the fringe then reduces the energy of shoreward-propagating waves, sheltering the forest interior. The small-scale processes appear to be linked with forest-wide patterns of sediment transport and deposition. We discuss these links in the context of the biophysical interactions that control the changing shapes of deltas worldwide.

text: A question of scale: How turbulence around aerial roots shapes the seabed morphology in mangrove forests of the Mekong Delta Mangrove forests are highly productive ecosystems that provide many physical, societal, and ecological services in tropical and subtropical regions. Accurate prediction of the morphological evolution for these areas, in the face of global sea level rise and changes in sediment supply, requires understanding of interactions between vegetation growth, water flows, and sediment transport. Data presented from a wave-exposed mangrove forest in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, include unique measurements that resolved water flows in and around the aerial mangrove roots (known as pneumatophores) over scales from a few millimeters to hundreds of meters. Flows were highly turbulent, with turbulence values sometimes as large as those measured in surf zones. These energetic processes appear to stir up sediments, with small scour troughs observed around individual pneumatophores, and larger-scale scour around clusters of pneumatophores. The vegetation fringe (the boundary between forest and mudflat) was a particularly dynamic area, with elevated turbulence levels, greater vegetation densities, coarser sediments, and occasional wave breaking. Intense turbulent dissipation at the fringe then reduces the energy of shoreward-propagating waves, sheltering the forest interior. The small-scale processes appear to be linked with forest-wide patterns of sediment transport and deposition. We discuss these links in the context of the biophysical interactions that control the changing shapes of deltas worldwide.

year: 2017

title: Re-situation challenges for international students ‘becoming’ researchers

authors: Franken, Margaret

subjects: Educational challenges

abstract: This paper presents data generated during a semester-long programme to support international students from countries in Melanesia and Asia embarking on masters research in education in a New Zealand university. All were scholarship recipients. The researcher-and facilitator-of the programme, was interested in documenting and understanding the nature of the students' experience as they planned and wrote research proposals. The process of developing a research proposal, as one of the early stages of 'becoming' a researcher, highlighted a number of challenges for the six case study students. The challenges are viewed from a transition or 'resituation' perspective (Eraut in Stud Contin Educ 26(2): 247-74, 2004, 2008) rather than an adjustment one. A resituation perspective assumes that students brought with them "personal expertise, practical wisdom and tacit knowledge" (Eraut 2008, p. 42) which needed to be reconciled with what was demanded of them by different aspects of the research planning process. The resituation challenges experienced by the students included situating a perceived problem or issue in the research literature; reconciling personal research goals with the limitations of one's own agency as a researcher; integrating new learning with research goals; and reconciling the new role or identity as a researcher with the previous role as colleague or community member. The paper presents a case for providing a context for postgraduate students in which explicit recognition of what they bring to the research task, and acknowledgement of the resituation challenges can take place.

text: Re-situation challenges for international students ‘becoming’ researchers This paper presents data generated during a semester-long programme to support international students from countries in Melanesia and Asia embarking on masters research in education in a New Zealand university. All were scholarship recipients. The researcher-and facilitator-of the programme, was interested in documenting and understanding the nature of the students' experience as they planned and wrote research proposals. The process of developing a research proposal, as one of the early stages of 'becoming' a researcher, highlighted a number of challenges for the six case study students. The challenges are viewed from a transition or 'resituation' perspective (Eraut in Stud Contin Educ 26(2): 247-74, 2004, 2008) rather than an adjustment one. A resituation perspective assumes that students brought with them "personal expertise, practical wisdom and tacit knowledge" (Eraut 2008, p. 42) which needed to be reconciled with what was demanded of them by different aspects of the research planning process. The resituation challenges experienced by the students included situating a perceived problem or issue in the research literature; reconciling personal research goals with the limitations of one's own agency as a researcher; integrating new learning with research goals; and reconciling the new role or identity as a researcher with the previous role as colleague or community member. The paper presents a case for providing a context for postgraduate students in which explicit recognition of what they bring to the research task, and acknowledgement of the resituation challenges can take place.

year: 2012

title: Te Mata Ira—Faces of the Gene: Developing a cultural foundation for biobanking and genomic research involving Māori

authors: Hudson, Maui

abstract: Te Mata Ira was a three-year research project (2012–2015) that explored Māori views on genomic research and biobanking for the development of culturally appropriate guidelines. A key component of this process has been to identify Māori concepts that provide cultural reference points for engaging with biobanking and genomic research. These cultural cues provide the basis for describing the cultural logic that underpins engagement in this context in a culturally acceptable manner. This paper outlines the role of two wānanga (workshops) conducted as part of the larger project that were used to make sense of the Māori concepts that emerged from other data-collection activities. The wānanga involved six experts who worked with the research team to make sense of the Māori concepts. The wānanga process created the logic behind the cultural foundation for biobanking and genomic research, providing a basis for understanding Māori concepts, Māori ethical principles and their application to biobanking and genomic research.

text: Te Mata Ira—Faces of the Gene: Developing a cultural foundation for biobanking and genomic research involving Māori Te Mata Ira was a three-year research project (2012–2015) that explored Māori views on genomic research and biobanking for the development of culturally appropriate guidelines. A key component of this process has been to identify Māori concepts that provide cultural reference points for engaging with biobanking and genomic research. These cultural cues provide the basis for describing the cultural logic that underpins engagement in this context in a culturally acceptable manner. This paper outlines the role of two wānanga (workshops) conducted as part of the larger project that were used to make sense of the Māori concepts that emerged from other data-collection activities. The wānanga involved six experts who worked with the research team to make sense of the Māori concepts. The wānanga process created the logic behind the cultural foundation for biobanking and genomic research, providing a basis for understanding Māori concepts, Māori ethical principles and their application to biobanking and genomic research.

year: 2016