Case study: Making it happen, embedding digital technologies in curriculum activities

Case study on how South Eastern Regional College are taking a strategic approach to managing and developing digital technologies to enhance the student experience.

Case study: Engaging students and staff in online activities

Case study about how East Berkshire College is engaging student and staff in online activities to develop digital literacy skills.

Research Data Management — Activities and Challenges Report on the Knowledge Exchange Workshop

Workshop Research Data Management – Activities and Challenges 14-15 November 2011, Bonn The Knowledge Exchange initiative organised a workshop to highlight current activities and challenges with respect to research data management in the Knowledge Exchange partner countries and beyond. The workshop brought together experts from data centres, libraries, computational centres, funding organisations, publishing services and other institutions in the field of research and higher education who are working to improve research data management and encourage effective reuse of research data. A considerable part of the programme was dedicated to sharing perspectives from these communities, leading to the development of a roadmap of practical actions for the Knowledge Exchange initiative, partner organisations and other stakeholders to progress over the next two years. On the first day, principal investigators and project managers from a great variety of recent projects shared their insights on objectives and methods for improving data management ranging from discipline-specific to more general approaches. A series of short presentations of selected projects was followed by an extensive poster session that functioned as a “trade fair” of current trends and activities in the field of research data management. Moreover, the poster session offered ample network opportunities for participants. The second day was dedicated to intensive group discussions looking at a number of data management challenges. First the most important findings from the "Surfboard for 'Riding the Wave'" report were presented. This included the state of the art on activities and challenges in the field of research data management. The subgroups will concentrate on the following key themes: funding, incentives, training and technical infrastructure. These discussions culminated in the identification of practical recommendations for future cooperation on practical as well as on strategic levels that should be taken forward by the KE partner organisations and beyond. These activities aim to improve the sustainability of services and infrastructures at both national and international levels.

USP1 deubiquitinase: cellular functions, regulatory mechanisms and emerging potential as target in cancer therapy

12 p.

Engaging local communities in aquatic resources research and activities: a technical manual

This document is part of a series of 5 technical manuals produced by the Challenge Program Project CP34 “Improved fisheries productivity and management in tropical reservoirs”. The objective of this technical manual is to relay the field experience of a group of scientists who have worked extensively in small fisheries in sub-Sahara Africa and Asia and lay out a series of simple and pragmatic pointers on how to establish and run initiatives for community catch assessment. The manual relies in particular on practical experience gained implementing Project 34 of the Challenge Programme on Water and Food: Improved Fisheries Productivity and Management in Tropical Reservoirs. (PDF contains 26 pages)

Blue Crab target setting: final report

We have developed a hierarchy of target levels, designated to address sustainability, efficiency, and recovery scenarios. Targets were derived from: 1) reported catches and effort in the commercial fishery, 2) statistics from fishery-independent surveys, and 3) knowledge of the biology of blue crab. Targets that are recommended include population sizes, catches, and effort levels, as well as reference fishing mortality rates. They are intended to be conservative and risk-averse. (PDF contains 182 pages)

Meteorological Buoy Sensor Workshop, Solomons, Maryland, April 19-21, 2006: workshop proceedings

The co-organized Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) and National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) Workshop "Meteorological Buoy Sensors Workshop" convened in Solomons, Maryland, April 19 to 21,2006, sponsored by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Chesapeake Bay Laboratory (CBL), an ACT partner institution. Participants from various sectors including resource managers and industry representatives collaborated to focus on technologies and sensors that measure the near surface variables of wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, humidity and air temperature. The vendor list was accordingly targeted at companies that produced these types of sensors. The managers represented a cross section of federal, regional and academic marine observing interests from around the country. Workshop discussions focused on the challenges associated with making marine meteorological observations in general and problems that were specific to a particular variable. Discussions also explored methods to mitigate these challenges through the adoption of best practices, improved technologies and increased standardization. Some of the key workshop outcomes and recommendations included: 0cean.US should establish a committee devoted to observations. The committee would have a key role in developing observing standards. The community should adopt the target cost, reliability and performance standards drafted for a typical meteorological package to be used by a regional observing system. A forum should be established to allow users and manufacturers to share best practices for the employment of marine meteorological sensors. The ACT website would host the forum. Federal activities that evaluate meteorological sensors should make their results publicly available. ACT should extend their evaluation process to include meteorological sensors. A follow on workshop should be conducted that covers the observing of meteorological variables not addressed by this workshop. (pdf contains 18 pages)

Aquatic insects as target organisms for the study of effects of projected climate change in the British Isles

One of the objectives of the Terrestrial Initiative in Global Environmental Research is to assess the sensitivity of British plant and animal species to climate change. The first phase of the program involved the identification of criteria for selecting species suitable for the study of effects of projected climate change in the British Isles. Apart from shallow ponds, annual temperature ranges of 0 to 25 C in temperate freshwater habitats are narrower than those in most temperate terrestrial habitats. Although freshwater organisms have to exist within a narrower range than their terrestrial equivalents, few species can survive throughout their life cycle over the whole temperature range. Field studies on the effects of natural and artificial thermal discharges into streams and rivers have shown that increases in water temperature affect aquatic insects at both the species and community level. Although field data provide valuable information, a more productive approach is to determine experimentally the requirements of different species. Although there are just over 1850 species of aquatic insects in the British Isles, detailed quantitative information on the relationship between temperature and development of eggs, larvae and pupa is available for relatively few species. One exception is the egg stage of stoneflies (Plecoptera). The range for egg hatching in stoneflies clearly show that some species could be threatened while others could benefit from a defined increase in water temperature as a result of climate change. A critical review of the available data on this group would produce a set of equations that could be used to predict the ecological effects of climate change on this group of indicator species.

Panama City Fisheries Resources Office: FY 2006 Annual Report

HIGHLIGHTS FOR FY 2006 1. Captured and tagged 475 Gulf sturgeons in five Florida rivers and one bay. 2. Documented Gulf sturgeon marine movement and habitat use in the Gulf of Mexico. 3. Assisted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with the collection of Gulf sturgeon, implantation of acoustic tags, and monitoring of fish in a study to examine movement patterns and habitat use in Pensacola and Choctawhatchee bays post-Hurricane Ivan. 4. Provided technical assistance to Jon “Bo” Sawyer in completing a study – Summer Resting Areas of the Gulf Sturgeon in the Conecuh/Escambia River System, Alabama-Florida – for acquiring a Degree of Master of Science at Troy University, Alabama. 5. Coordinated tagging and data collection with NOAA observers aboard trawlers while collecting Gulf sturgeon during dredging operations in the coastal Gulf of Mexico. 6. Hosted the 7th Annual Gulf Sturgeon Workshop. 7. Implemented Gulf Striped Bass Restoration Plan by coordinating the 23rd Annual Morone Workshop, leading the technical committee, transporting broodfish, coordinating the stocking on the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river system, and evaluating post-stocking success. 8. Continued updating and managing the Freshwater Mussel Survey Database, a Geographic Information System (GIS) database, for over 800 unique sites in the Northeast Gulf (NEG) drainages in Alabama (AL), Georgia (GA), and Florida (FL). 9. Formed a recovery implementation team for listed mussels in the ACF river basin and oversaw grant cooperative agreements for 14 listed and candidate freshwater mussels in the NEG watersheds. 10. Initiated a project in the Apalachicola River to relocate mussels stranded as a result of drought conditions, and calculate river flows at which mussels would be exposed. 11. Initiated a project in Sawhatchee Creek, Georgia to determine the status of threatened and endangered (T&E) freshwater mussels and target restoration projects, population assessments, and potential population augmentation to lead toward recovery of the listed species. 12. Initiated a study to determine the age and growth of the endangered fat threeridge mussel (Amblema neislerii). 13. Provided technical assistance to the Panama City Ecological Services office for a biological opinion on the operations of Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam and its effects on the listed species and designated and proposed critical habitat in the Apalachicola River, Florida. 14. Assisted with a multi-State, inter-agency team to develop a management plan to restore the Alabama shad in the ACF river system. 15. Conducted fishery surveys on Tyndall AFB, Florida and Ft. Benning, Georgia and completed a report with recommendations for future recreational fishery needs. 16. Provided fishery technical assistance to four National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) (i.e., Okefenokee NWR, Banks Lake NWR, St. Vincent NWR, and St. Marks NWR). 17. Initiated an Aquatic Resources and Recreation Fishing Survey on Department of Defense facilities located in Region 4. 18. Identified 130 road-stream crossings on Eglin AFB for rehabilitation and elimination of sediment imputs. 19. Continued the Aquatics Monitoring Program at Eglin AFB to assess techniques that determine current status and sustainability of aquatic habitat and develop a measure to determine quality or degradation of habitat. 20. Assisted Eglin AFB Natural Resource managers in revising the installation’s Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan (INRMP) and its associated component plans. 21. Coordinated recovery efforts for the endangered Okaloosa darter including population/life history surveys, stream restoration, and outreach activities. 22. Initiated a comprehensive status review of the Okaloosa darter with analyses performed to assess available habitat, preferred habitats, range expansions/reductions/fragmentations, population size, and probability of extinction. 23. Assisted the Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) under a Memorandum of Agreement to develop conservation strategies, implement monitoring and assessment programs, and secure funds for aquatic management programs in six watersheds in northwest Florida and southeast Alabama. 24. Entered into a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Air Force to encourage the conservation and rehabilitation of natural resources at Hurlburt Field, Florida. 25. Multiple outreach projects were completed to detail aquatic resources’ conservation needs and opportunities; including National Fishing Week, Earth Day, several festivals, and school outreach.

Radio broadcasting for fisheries development in Nigeria: Kainji Lake experience

The impact of radio as a medium of communication in all human endeavours cannot be over emphasized. It is the cheapest means of reaching large number of people in illiterate society. Thus, the Kainji Lake Fisheries Promotion Project used radio in reaching fishers around Kainji Lake basin (Nigeria). Two radio stations namely Radio Niger (Koro station in New Bussa) and Federal Radio Corporation (FRCN), Kaduna were used. Open broadcast using Hausa language, which is commonly spoken among the target group, was used for the broadcast.A total of 152 programmes were produced and broadcasted 720 times.After five years of broadcast, impact assessment studies were carried out using focus group discussion method in 25 randomly selected fishing villages out of 309 villages. The paper reports the result of the impact of the radio broadcast on fishing and related activities and how this affects management strategies adopted by the Project

Involvement of fishermen children in fishing activities in Lake Chad region

Five fishing villages in Lake Chad Basin region of Borno State (Nigeria) were assessed for the roles of children in fishing activities in the area. The villages surveyed include: Bundaram, Yobe, Daba masara, Dumba and Doro. The results show that the children were largely between 12-18 years of age in the villages. Generally, the younger children (less than 12 years) participate in activities that require no technicality and little physical strength, while the older children (12 years and above) engage in skillful fabrication of gear and fishing activities. Some activities in the surveyed villages were gender specific. Such activities include fish processing (smoking) which is exclusive for female and few male children, who carry out preliminary cleaning of fish before any processing method is applied. 80% of the children in the five fishing villages claimed proper understanding of the techniques and procedure involved in most fishing activities. About 65% of the children sampled showed willingness to become full time fishermen while 22% were uncertain and claimed that they do not know what the future holds for them. 15% of them resolved to migrate to town so that they could live a city life

The survey of Lake Victoria's fishers

The findings are presented of a survey conducted regarding the fishers of Lake Victoria, which examined the relationships affecting supply flows of raw material on to the market, and also the characteristics of fishing activities and their effects on fish quality and distribution. Fish marketing plays a vital role in the lives of much of the lake basin's population, both in terms of employment and nutrition. The results of the survey comprise, in part, a base-line data set which will facilitate further research, analysis and management decision-making in relation to stakeholders of the lake's resources. Data collection, methods and research difficulties encountered are described and details given of a profile of a boat owner/renter and aslo of a profile of a crew member. The survey shows that Lake Victoria's fishery is one of very limited diversity. The fishers recount that they consistently target one or more of the 3 most common species within the lake (Nile perch, tilapia and dagaa) and very rarely consider any other species type. The largest proportion of fishers on the lake are Nile perch fishers; there is considerable demand for this species, and hence fishers have little incentive to either target alternative fish species, not to try and establish firm marketing outlets through the creation of arrangements with their principal buyers. In Kenyan waters, however, the number of Nile perch fishers is equaled by the number of dagaa fishers; this fish now commands a considerable portion of the market for fish from Lake Victoria through its availability as well as its relatively low prices. The tilapia fishery is in decline, and all 3 riparian states would not appear to be attracting investment almost certainly as a result of declining catches. For many of those working in Lake Victoria's fishery, the problems faced appear most often to be associated with the vagaries of an unstable market which may rise or fall depending on the state of the international market or the state of access roads to fish landings. (PDF contains 42 pages)