title: Temporal and spatial variation in active layer depth in the McMurdo Sound Region, Antarctica

authors: Adlam, Leah Seree

subjects: active layer prediction

abstract: A soil climate monitoring network, consisting of seven automated weather stations, was established between 1999 and 2003, ranging from Minna Bluff to Granite Harbour and from near sea level to about 1700m on the edge of the polar plateau. Active layer depth was calculated for each site for eight successive summers from 1999/2000 to 2006/2007. The active layer depth varied from year to year and was deepest in the warm summer of 2001–02 at all recording sites. No trends of overall increase or decrease in active layer depth were evident across the up-to-eight years of data investigated. Average active layer depth decreased with increasing latitude from Granite Harbour (778S, active layer depth of.90 cm) to Minna Bluff (78.58S, active layer depth of 22 ± 0.4 cm), and decreased with increasing altitude from Marble Point (50m altitude, active layer depth of 49 ± 9 cm) through to Mount Fleming (1700m altitude, active layer depth of 6 ± 2 cm). When all data from the sites were grouped together and used to predict active layer depth the mean summer air temperature, mean winter air temperature, total summer solar radiation and mean summer wind speed explained 73% of the variation (R250.73).

text: Temporal and spatial variation in active layer depth in the McMurdo Sound Region, Antarctica A soil climate monitoring network, consisting of seven automated weather stations, was established between 1999 and 2003, ranging from Minna Bluff to Granite Harbour and from near sea level to about 1700m on the edge of the polar plateau. Active layer depth was calculated for each site for eight successive summers from 1999/2000 to 2006/2007. The active layer depth varied from year to year and was deepest in the warm summer of 2001–02 at all recording sites. No trends of overall increase or decrease in active layer depth were evident across the up-to-eight years of data investigated. Average active layer depth decreased with increasing latitude from Granite Harbour (778S, active layer depth of.90 cm) to Minna Bluff (78.58S, active layer depth of 22 ± 0.4 cm), and decreased with increasing altitude from Marble Point (50m altitude, active layer depth of 49 ± 9 cm) through to Mount Fleming (1700m altitude, active layer depth of 6 ± 2 cm). When all data from the sites were grouped together and used to predict active layer depth the mean summer air temperature, mean winter air temperature, total summer solar radiation and mean summer wind speed explained 73% of the variation (R250.73).

year: 2010

title: Becoming PBRF-able: Research assessment and education in New Zealand

authors: Middleton, Sue

subjects: research assessment

abstract: It seems ironic that, designed as they are to quantify, evaluate and reward the research quantum of academic institutions, departments and individuals, research assessment exercises have themselves become objects of their research and critique. As many in this volume and elsewhere attest, the impact of research assessment runs deeper than mere measurement of “what is already there”: such processes are productive, or formative (Henkel, 2005, McNay, 2003; Sikes, 2006). Of course bringing about change is intended in the sense of increasing research quantity, enhancing its quality, etc. However, there are suggestions that by changing the conditions of knowledge production, research assessment exercises may also alter the shape and direction of disciplines by diverting and channelling researchers’ intellectual attention and political engagement, influencing what they study, how they do it, and how they report and write (Beck and Yong, 2005; Bernstein, 2000).

text: Becoming PBRF-able: Research assessment and education in New Zealand It seems ironic that, designed as they are to quantify, evaluate and reward the research quantum of academic institutions, departments and individuals, research assessment exercises have themselves become objects of their research and critique. As many in this volume and elsewhere attest, the impact of research assessment runs deeper than mere measurement of “what is already there”: such processes are productive, or formative (Henkel, 2005, McNay, 2003; Sikes, 2006). Of course bringing about change is intended in the sense of increasing research quantity, enhancing its quality, etc. However, there are suggestions that by changing the conditions of knowledge production, research assessment exercises may also alter the shape and direction of disciplines by diverting and channelling researchers’ intellectual attention and political engagement, influencing what they study, how they do it, and how they report and write (Beck and Yong, 2005; Bernstein, 2000).

year: 2009

title: Ngā Wai E Rere Nei: The Physical and Symbolic Representations of Embodied Waters of Birth and Mourning

authors: Dixon, Ngahuia Mereana

subjects: Women water procreation tears

abstract: Recently, there has been considerable public debate and much consternation, especially amongst Māori, about the future New Zealand’s waterways. Māori have strongly held views, tikanga and cultural knowledge, about waterways and their deep connection to iwi (tribal/community) identity, history and sense of well-being. The waterways in public discussion are lakes, rivers, harbours and the ocean.  
This thesis examines deeper aspects of tikanga that relate to Māori concepts of waterways and oceans, but more specifically to the waterways of the human body which I refer to as embodied waters.  Māori cultural concepts of water and tikanga that is applied to water, is interconnected to the wider body of knowledge or mātauranga, in which water, is fundamental to concepts of human and environmental life and death. The thesis examines the tikanga, meaning knowledge, values and practices, regarding the embodied waters, related to human procreation and death. 
The research examines the rich Māori knowledge base, relating to concepts such as te whare tangata, waiū, te ūkaipō, roimata and hupe which still have symbolic and material significance in Māori beliefs, values and practices. The research drew upon kaupapa Māori research approaches, as a way to examine tikanga, from a contemporary Māori perspective. My research examined recorded oral traditions and literatures, including whakatauākī, whakapapa, waiata mōteatea, haka and pūrākau, alongside other research literature in the field. The research approach also included an auto-ethnographic component that has enabled me to connect my own observations and practices, with this literature, to demonstrate how tikanga in relation to this knowledge is applied. The research focuses on two main iwi contexts, Tauranga where I was born and raised, and Waikato, where I have lived since I married into the iwi.   
The thesis reveals the interconnected philosophies, cultural concepts, values and practices that are embedded in language, rituals, traditions, stories and symbols. I argue that these tikanga, give coherence and guidance, to contemporary practise especially in the context of cultural revitalization, where communities are seeking to restore certain tikanga. The thesis also finds that the tikanga relating to embodied waters, for human life and death, still give meaning to the people and communities, who continue to adhere to tikanga, those traditions providing a cultural framework for understanding their identity.

text: Ngā Wai E Rere Nei: The Physical and Symbolic Representations of Embodied Waters of Birth and Mourning Recently, there has been considerable public debate and much consternation, especially amongst Māori, about the future New Zealand’s waterways. Māori have strongly held views, tikanga and cultural knowledge, about waterways and their deep connection to iwi (tribal/community) identity, history and sense of well-being. The waterways in public discussion are lakes, rivers, harbours and the ocean.  
This thesis examines deeper aspects of tikanga that relate to Māori concepts of waterways and oceans, but more specifically to the waterways of the human body which I refer to as embodied waters.  Māori cultural concepts of water and tikanga that is applied to water, is interconnected to the wider body of knowledge or mātauranga, in which water, is fundamental to concepts of human and environmental life and death. The thesis examines the tikanga, meaning knowledge, values and practices, regarding the embodied waters, related to human procreation and death. 
The research examines the rich Māori knowledge base, relating to concepts such as te whare tangata, waiū, te ūkaipō, roimata and hupe which still have symbolic and material significance in Māori beliefs, values and practices. The research drew upon kaupapa Māori research approaches, as a way to examine tikanga, from a contemporary Māori perspective. My research examined recorded oral traditions and literatures, including whakatauākī, whakapapa, waiata mōteatea, haka and pūrākau, alongside other research literature in the field. The research approach also included an auto-ethnographic component that has enabled me to connect my own observations and practices, with this literature, to demonstrate how tikanga in relation to this knowledge is applied. The research focuses on two main iwi contexts, Tauranga where I was born and raised, and Waikato, where I have lived since I married into the iwi.   
The thesis reveals the interconnected philosophies, cultural concepts, values and practices that are embedded in language, rituals, traditions, stories and symbols. I argue that these tikanga, give coherence and guidance, to contemporary practise especially in the context of cultural revitalization, where communities are seeking to restore certain tikanga. The thesis also finds that the tikanga relating to embodied waters, for human life and death, still give meaning to the people and communities, who continue to adhere to tikanga, those traditions providing a cultural framework for understanding their identity.

year: 2013