title: Outdoor learning in Aotearoa New Zealand: voices past, present, and future

authors: Cosgriff, Marg

subjects: culture

abstract: Many of the principles and practices that have influenced outdoor education in Aotearoa New Zealand find their genesis in the United Kingdom and North America. In recent times, many of these foundational assumptions have been called into question. This paper highlights how emerging 'local' voices are questioning and reframing how outdoor education is conceptualised and practiced. In large part this is due to a sense of distinctiveness borne from the bicultural foundations that underpin governance and policy-making. This paper explores how outdoor educators are developing pedagogies that acknowledge the particularities of our context, particularly the bicultural foundation of Aotearoa New Zealand. The paper highlights how social and cultural influences shape educational policy and how outdoor educators are responding, both theoretically and practically, to meet the needs of learners in an increasingly diverse society.

text: Outdoor learning in Aotearoa New Zealand: voices past, present, and future Many of the principles and practices that have influenced outdoor education in Aotearoa New Zealand find their genesis in the United Kingdom and North America. In recent times, many of these foundational assumptions have been called into question. This paper highlights how emerging 'local' voices are questioning and reframing how outdoor education is conceptualised and practiced. In large part this is due to a sense of distinctiveness borne from the bicultural foundations that underpin governance and policy-making. This paper explores how outdoor educators are developing pedagogies that acknowledge the particularities of our context, particularly the bicultural foundation of Aotearoa New Zealand. The paper highlights how social and cultural influences shape educational policy and how outdoor educators are responding, both theoretically and practically, to meet the needs of learners in an increasingly diverse society.

year: 2012

title: Comparative fish abundance in the shallow Waikato lakes Whangape and Hakanoa

authors: Hicks, Brendan J.

abstract: The Waikato-Tainui College for Research and Development contracted the University of Waikato to conduct boat electrofishing estimates of the fish abundance in lakes Whangape and Hakanoa; both are shallow, riverine lakes in the lower Waikato River floodplain and are about 2,000 years old. Lake Whangape (latitude 37.46853°S, longitude 175.05120°W) is a large (1,450 ha), shallow (maximum depth 2.7 m) lake to the west of the Waikato River; Lake Hakanoa (latitude 37.55258°S, longitude 175.16859°W) is a 52-ha lake in suburban Huntly with a maximum depth of 2.5 m.
We fished 10 sites for 10 mins in both lakes Whangape and Lake Hakanoa; sites fished were 253-609 m long (1,012-2,436 m² in area) in Lake Whangape and 125-276 m long (500-1,104 m² in area) in Lake Hakanoa.
No submerged aquatic macrophytes were seen in either lake. Fishing was conducted close to the water's edge in Lake Hakanoa, but the shallow margins in Lake Whangape restricted fishing at most sites to 30-70 m from the shoreline. The shoreline was much more accessible in Lake Hakanoa, and was dominated by raupo (Typha orientalis) with willows (Salix spp.) in places. Submerged tree trunks and logs in Lake Hakanoa made navigation difficult in parts of the lake margins.
We caught a total of 118 fish in Lake Whangape, where shortfin eels (Anguilla australis) were the most abundant fish, and 594 fish in Lake Hakanoa, where gambusia (Gambusia affinis) the most abundant species. In Lake Whangape, shortfin eels comprised the greatest total biomass (12.4 kg), with koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) almost equally abundant (11.4 kg). In Lake Hakanoa, koi carp were most abundant (74.4 kg), followed by shortfin eels (22.1 kg).
Fish were unevenly spread among sites in Lake Whangape and koi carp were relatively sparsely among sites. In Lake Hakanoa, in contrast, fish were more evenly spread among sites, but with higher concentrations of catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus) and goldfish (Carassius auratus) at a few sites. Biomass of fish caught in each of the ten 10-min fishing shots reflected the numerical distributions, with some wide variations between sites. Fish densities were generally lower in Lake Whangape than in Lake Hakanoa; however, common smelt (Retropinna retropinna) and grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) occurred in Whangape but not in Hakanoa. Areal fish biomass was dominated by shortfin eels and koi carp in Lake Whangape, but koi carp dominated the fish biomass in Lake Hakanoa, despite the smaller number of carp than eels. This was because of the large mean weight of koi carp (about 1,000 g) compared to the smaller shortfin eels (mean weight about 200 g in both lakes).

text: Comparative fish abundance in the shallow Waikato lakes Whangape and Hakanoa The Waikato-Tainui College for Research and Development contracted the University of Waikato to conduct boat electrofishing estimates of the fish abundance in lakes Whangape and Hakanoa; both are shallow, riverine lakes in the lower Waikato River floodplain and are about 2,000 years old. Lake Whangape (latitude 37.46853°S, longitude 175.05120°W) is a large (1,450 ha), shallow (maximum depth 2.7 m) lake to the west of the Waikato River; Lake Hakanoa (latitude 37.55258°S, longitude 175.16859°W) is a 52-ha lake in suburban Huntly with a maximum depth of 2.5 m.
We fished 10 sites for 10 mins in both lakes Whangape and Lake Hakanoa; sites fished were 253-609 m long (1,012-2,436 m² in area) in Lake Whangape and 125-276 m long (500-1,104 m² in area) in Lake Hakanoa.
No submerged aquatic macrophytes were seen in either lake. Fishing was conducted close to the water's edge in Lake Hakanoa, but the shallow margins in Lake Whangape restricted fishing at most sites to 30-70 m from the shoreline. The shoreline was much more accessible in Lake Hakanoa, and was dominated by raupo (Typha orientalis) with willows (Salix spp.) in places. Submerged tree trunks and logs in Lake Hakanoa made navigation difficult in parts of the lake margins.
We caught a total of 118 fish in Lake Whangape, where shortfin eels (Anguilla australis) were the most abundant fish, and 594 fish in Lake Hakanoa, where gambusia (Gambusia affinis) the most abundant species. In Lake Whangape, shortfin eels comprised the greatest total biomass (12.4 kg), with koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) almost equally abundant (11.4 kg). In Lake Hakanoa, koi carp were most abundant (74.4 kg), followed by shortfin eels (22.1 kg).
Fish were unevenly spread among sites in Lake Whangape and koi carp were relatively sparsely among sites. In Lake Hakanoa, in contrast, fish were more evenly spread among sites, but with higher concentrations of catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus) and goldfish (Carassius auratus) at a few sites. Biomass of fish caught in each of the ten 10-min fishing shots reflected the numerical distributions, with some wide variations between sites. Fish densities were generally lower in Lake Whangape than in Lake Hakanoa; however, common smelt (Retropinna retropinna) and grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) occurred in Whangape but not in Hakanoa. Areal fish biomass was dominated by shortfin eels and koi carp in Lake Whangape, but koi carp dominated the fish biomass in Lake Hakanoa, despite the smaller number of carp than eels. This was because of the large mean weight of koi carp (about 1,000 g) compared to the smaller shortfin eels (mean weight about 200 g in both lakes).

year: 2016

title: A single mechanism can explain the speed tuning properties of MT and V1 complex neurons

authors: Perrone, John A.

subjects: speed tuning

abstract: A recent study by Priebe et al., (2006) has shown that a small proportion (27%) of primate directionally selective, complex V1 neurons are tuned for the speed of image motion. In this study, I show that the weighted intersection mechanism (WIM) model, which was previously proposed to explain speed tuning in middle temporal neurons, can also explain the tuning found in complex V1 neurons. With the addition of a contrast gain mechanism, this model is able to replicate the effects of contrast on V1 speed tuning, a phenomenon that was recently discovered by Priebe et al., (2006). The WIM model simulations also indicate that V1 neuron spatiotemporal frequency response maps may be asymmetrical in shape and hence poorly characterized by the symmetrical two-dimensional Gaussian fitting function used by Priebe et al., (2006) to classify their cells. Therefore, the actual proportion of speed tuning among directional complex V1 cells may be higher than the 27% estimate suggested by these authors.

text: A single mechanism can explain the speed tuning properties of MT and V1 complex neurons A recent study by Priebe et al., (2006) has shown that a small proportion (27%) of primate directionally selective, complex V1 neurons are tuned for the speed of image motion. In this study, I show that the weighted intersection mechanism (WIM) model, which was previously proposed to explain speed tuning in middle temporal neurons, can also explain the tuning found in complex V1 neurons. With the addition of a contrast gain mechanism, this model is able to replicate the effects of contrast on V1 speed tuning, a phenomenon that was recently discovered by Priebe et al., (2006). The WIM model simulations also indicate that V1 neuron spatiotemporal frequency response maps may be asymmetrical in shape and hence poorly characterized by the symmetrical two-dimensional Gaussian fitting function used by Priebe et al., (2006) to classify their cells. Therefore, the actual proportion of speed tuning among directional complex V1 cells may be higher than the 27% estimate suggested by these authors.

year: 2006