Intermediate school's trip to India: Preparing for competence

In November 2010, students from a Palmerston North intermediate school embarked on a 2‐week excursion to India. Qualitative research was carried out before, during and after the trip. Results discussed in this article focus primarily on the students' account of their trip, especially their perceived cultural competence and their explanation for it. Accounts of their competence are also offered by the parents and teachers, for example, they especially valued the students' extensive school‐based preparation. Insights gained from the experiences of this trip may be applied to other, including older, cohorts of students embarking on overseas school field trips.     

ORTHOPHOTOGRAPHY FOR RURAL MAP REVISION

The Ordnance Survey (OS) has recently investigated the potential of orthophotography for revision of 1:2500 scale mapping following advances in technology since an earlier investigation in 1973. The results have been compared with stereoplotting on an automated workstation. The background to the investigation and the existing revision methods used for rural areas are described. Orthophotography was produced on a Zeiss 22 Orthocomp at 1:2500 scale using digital height model data supplied from contours (at a 5 m vertical interval) on 1:10000 scale mapping. A pilot block of 20 km² was revised at Kingsbridge, south Devon to assess three levels of revision (local fit, part remedial, and full remedial), using three techniques (orthophotograph overlay, Stereo-orthophoto Plotter and stereoplotting instrument). The quality of the image of the orthophotographs was below that expected for rectified enlargements and the cost of orthophotograph production made the technique uneconomic compared with existing techniques. Orthophotographs were capable of improving the accuracy of revision mapping, but the most cost effective and accurate method was full remedial revision using a Kern PG2 automated workstation.     

Unravelling the evolution of an Alpine to post-glacially active fault in the Swiss Alps

The Gemmi fault is a prominent NW–SE striking lineament that crosses the Gemmi Pass in the central Swiss Alps. A multidisciplinary investigation of this structure that included geological mapping, joint profiling, cathodoluminescence and scanning electron microscopy, stable isotope measurements, luminescence- and U-TH-dating, 3D ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveying and trenching reveals a history of fault movements from the Miocene to the Holocene. The main fault zone comprises a 0.5–3 m thick calcite cataclasite formed during several cycles of veining and brittle deformation. Displaced Cretaceous rock layers show an apparent dextral slip of 10 m along the fault.A detailed study of a small sediment-filled depression that crosses the fault provides evidence for a post-glacial reactivation of the fault. A trench excavated across the fault exposed a Late-Glacial-age loess layer and late Holocene colluvial-like slope-wash deposits that showed evidence for fault displacement of a few centimeters, indicating a recent strike-slip reactivation of the fault. Focal mechanisms of recent instrumentally recorded earthquakes are consistent with our findings that show that the fault at the Gemmi Pass, together with other parallel faults in this area, may be reactivated in today's stress field. Taking together all the observations of its ancient and recent activity, the Gemmi fault can be viewed as a window through geological space and time.     

U–Pb dating of calcite–aragonite layers in speleothems from hominin sites in South Africa by MC-ICP-MS

Speleothems are found in association with hominin fossil-bearing cave deposits in South Africa and can be used to provide valuable chronological constraints. Such material is generally too old for U–Th dating and, although U–Pb geochronology presents a suitable alternative, bulk U concentrations are typically too low (<0.05 μg/g) to provide useful ages. For this reason, we used a simple non-invasive beta-scanner imaging screening step to identify U-rich (≥1 μg/g) domains that could be analyzed with MC-ICP-MS techniques to provide U–Pb ages. We demonstrate the technique using samples from Sterkfontein cave that exhibit infrequent <1 cm-thick layers with U concentrations ≥1 μg/g. Relict aragonite needles are found exclusively in these U-rich layers. We analyzed material from the same flowstone suite as Walker et al. (2006) and obtained a U–Pb age of ～2.3 Ma that agrees well with their estimate of 2.24 ± 0.09 Ma. We also obtained similar U–Pb (0.164 ± 0.026 to 0.200 ± 0.052 Ma) and U–Th (0.148 ± 0.003 Ma) ages for another sample exhibiting U-rich layers. We recognize that open-system behaviour during the partial transformation of aragonite to calcite is a potential problem and argue, on the basis of geochemistry and age consistencies, that recrystallization took place rapidly after speleothem formation and did not significantly affect the U–Pb ages.     

Monitoring salmon aquaculture waste: The contribution of First Nations’ rights, knowledge, and practices in British Columbia, Canada

British Columbia's current approach to monitoring salmon aquaculture waste is disconnected from political and legal trends towards the recognition of Aboriginal rights in Canada. Drawing on insights from collaborative monitoring in northern Canada and interviews with 23 Kwakwaka’wakw clam-diggers and cultural specialists (2006–2007), preliminary directions for integrating First Nations’ values, knowledge and stewardship practices into marine environmental monitoring are identified. Kwakwaka’wakw monitoring practices include the use of qualitative individual, community and population scale indicators and the integration of traditional knowledge as baseline data about the healthy conditions of traditional food resources.     

Distinguishing breeding populations of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) using trace elements

The knowledge of connectivity among breeding and overwintering populations of migratory bird species is critical for the conservation of their habitats. Conventional field work for the tracking of migratory birds involving bird banding often yields poor results due to low recovery rates, or is expensive when satellite tracking methods are used. Intrinsic tools such as genetic markers, stable isotopes, strontium isotopes and trace elements have been successfully used for tracing origins and/or migratory pathways of bird populations. We studied elemental signatures in the tail feathers to group breeding populations and an overwintering population of Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). Tail feathers from five locations in Canada and the U.S. were analyzed using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). We used 18 elements to discriminate between Mallard populations. Linear discriminant analysis on a selected set of elements demonstrated that 93% of the Mallards could be accurately located back to their predicted locations. Mallard feathers from Arkansas (an important overwintering area), grouped together with any combination of elements as predictors. We predicted the breeding locations of overwintering Mallards from Arkansas. Our results confirm that the LA-ICP-MS technique shows high potential to estimate the origin of migratory animals.     

Geographies of energy transition: the case of high-performing commercial office space in the central business districts of Sydney and Melbourne,Australia

As a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement, Australia committed to reduce emissions significantly by 2030. In a country highly urbanised and dependent on fossil fuels as its primary energy source, one key avenue for meeting these commitments is energy transition in the built environment. Australia has emerged as a leader in the design and construction of high-performance buildings in the premium commercial office sector. In this paper, we address a significant gap in understanding the diverse mechanisms through which building energy transition is being constituted in this sector, focusing on Sydney and Melbourne. In the absence of substantive publicly available data, we draw on mixed methods comprising a database developed around high-performing CBD office buildings and qualitative interviews with a range of sectoral stakeholders. We characterise the building stock in each city, and document five trends constituting energy transitions. We demonstrate that building energy transitions are not only shaped purposefully by dominant governance regimes but also by opportunistic responses to specific material and commercial conditions and legacies in each city. Thus the urban built environment affords significant opportunity for energy transitions, but pathways towards such transitions are necessarily multiple and ultimately shaped by material as well as institutional geographies.     

The Symbolic Wolf: A Construal Level Theory Analysis of the Perceptions of Wolves in the United States

Charismatic wildlife can be difficult to manage due to the controversies they generate among stakeholders, which may be rooted in their symbolic meaning. Using construal-level theory, we coded the images of gray wolves mentioned by respondents to a national survey (n?=?621) and an issue public survey (n?=?447) as symbolic (abstract) or corporeal (concrete). We analyzed the relationship between these representations of wolves and several perceptions that may perpetuate social conflict. Most people thought of wolves abstractly, and abstract thoughts were associated with positive feelings toward wolves and agreement with existence beliefs regarding wolves. Concrete representations were associated with identifying as a gun or property rights advocate, hunter, or farmer/rancher. Given these disparate views of wolves, engaging stakeholders through collaborative processes designed to foster a shared understanding of this species, while addressing the concerns of those groups, could be useful in reducing conflict concerning wolf management.