Street Scene with Schaifetz tailor

Digital image

Women and Children Standing in Lines

Digital image

Girls Learning in a Classroom

Digital image

Elderly Middle Eastern Man Observing a Torah Scroll

Digital image

Elderly Middle Eastern Man Observing a Torah Scroll

Digital image

Uncanny Nature

In Uncanny nature, Merri Randell and Chris Denaro use animation and surreal photography to make us rethink what we understand about nature.

Remote sensing of leaf area index: enhanced retrieval from close-range and remotely sensed optical observations

A wide range of models used in agriculture, ecology, carbon cycling, climate and other related studies require information on the amount of leaf material present in a given environment to correctly represent radiation, heat, momentum, water, and various gas exchanges with the overlying atmosphere or the underlying soil. Leaf area index (LAI) thus often features as a critical land surface variable in parameterisations of global and regional climate models, e.g., radiation uptake, precipitation interception, energy conversion, gas exchange and momentum, as all areas are substantially determined by the vegetation surface. Optical wavelengths of remote sensing are the common electromagnetic regions used for LAI estimations and generally for vegetation studies. The main purpose of this dissertation was to enhance the determination of LAI using close-range remote sensing (hemispherical photography), airborne remote sensing (high resolution colour and colour infrared imagery), and satellite remote sensing (high resolution SPOT 5 HRG imagery) optical observations. The commonly used light extinction models are applied at all levels of optical observations. For the sake of comparative analysis, LAI was further determined using statistical relationships between spectral vegetation index (SVI) and ground based LAI. The study areas of this dissertation focus on two regions, one located in Taita Hills, South-East Kenya characterised by tropical cloud forest and exotic plantations, and the other in Gatineau Park, Southern Quebec, Canada dominated by temperate hardwood forest. The sampling procedure of sky map of gap fraction and size from hemispherical photographs was proven to be one of the most crucial steps in the accurate determination of LAI. LAI and clumping index estimates were significantly affected by the variation of the size of sky segments for given zenith angle ranges. On sloping ground, gap fraction and size distributions present strong upslope/downslope asymmetry of foliage elements, and thus the correction and the sensitivity analysis for both LAI and clumping index computations were demonstrated. Several SVIs can be used for LAI mapping using empirical regression analysis provided that the sensitivities of SVIs at varying ranges of LAI are large enough. Large scale LAI inversion algorithms were demonstrated and were proven to be a considerably efficient alternative approach for LAI mapping. LAI can be estimated nonparametrically from the information contained solely in the remotely sensed dataset given that the upper-end (saturated SVI) value is accurately determined. However, further study is still required to devise a methodology as well as instrumentation to retrieve on-ground green leaf area index . Subsequently, the large scale LAI inversion algorithms presented in this work can be precisely validated. Finally, based on literature review and this dissertation, potential future research prospects and directions were recommended.

Geospatial environmental data modelling applications using remote sensing, GIS and spatial statistics

This thesis presents novel modelling applications for environmental geospatial data using remote sensing, GIS and statistical modelling techniques. The studied themes can be classified into four main themes: (i) to develop advanced geospatial databases. Paper (I) demonstrates the creation of a geospatial database for the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia) in the Åland Islands, south-western Finland; (ii) to analyse species diversity and distribution using GIS techniques. Paper (II) presents a diversity and geographical distribution analysis for Scopulini moths at a world-wide scale; (iii) to study spatiotemporal forest cover change. Paper (III) presents a study of exotic and indigenous tree cover change detection in Taita Hills Kenya using airborne imagery and GIS analysis techniques; (iv) to explore predictive modelling techniques using geospatial data. In Paper (IV) human population occurrence and abundance in the Taita Hills highlands was predicted using the generalized additive modelling (GAM) technique. Paper (V) presents techniques to enhance fire prediction and burned area estimation at a regional scale in East Caprivi Namibia. Paper (VI) compares eight state-of-the-art predictive modelling methods to improve fire prediction, burned area estimation and fire risk mapping in East Caprivi Namibia. The results in Paper (I) showed that geospatial data can be managed effectively using advanced relational database management systems. Metapopulation data for Melitaea cinxia butterfly was successfully combined with GPS-delimited habitat patch information and climatic data. Using the geospatial database, spatial analyses were successfully conducted at habitat patch level or at more coarse analysis scales. Moreover, this study showed it appears evident that at a large-scale spatially correlated weather conditions are one of the primary causes of spatially correlated changes in Melitaea cinxia population sizes. In Paper (II) spatiotemporal characteristics of Socupulini moths description, diversity and distribution were analysed at a world-wide scale and for the first time GIS techniques were used for Scopulini moth geographical distribution analysis. This study revealed that Scopulini moths have a cosmopolitan distribution. The majority of the species have been described from the low latitudes, sub-Saharan Africa being the hot spot of species diversity. However, the taxonomical effort has been uneven among biogeographical regions. Paper III showed that forest cover change can be analysed in great detail using modern airborne imagery techniques and historical aerial photographs. However, when spatiotemporal forest cover change is studied care has to be taken in co-registration and image interpretation when historical black and white aerial photography is used. In Paper (IV) human population distribution and abundance could be modelled with fairly good results using geospatial predictors and non-Gaussian predictive modelling techniques. Moreover, land cover layer is not necessary needed as a predictor because first and second-order image texture measurements derived from satellite imagery had more power to explain the variation in dwelling unit occurrence and abundance. Paper V showed that generalized linear model (GLM) is a suitable technique for fire occurrence prediction and for burned area estimation. GLM based burned area estimations were found to be more superior than the existing MODIS burned area product (MCD45A1). However, spatial autocorrelation of fires has to be taken into account when using the GLM technique for fire occurrence prediction. Paper VI showed that novel statistical predictive modelling techniques can be used to improve fire prediction, burned area estimation and fire risk mapping at a regional scale. However, some noticeable variation between different predictive modelling techniques for fire occurrence prediction and burned area estimation existed.

An approach to palaeoseismicity in the Olkiluoto (sea) area during the early Holocene

Olkiluoto Island is situated in the northern Baltic Sea, near the southwestern coast of Finland, and is the proposed location of a spent nuclear fuel repository. This study examined Holocene palaeoseismicity in the Olkiluoto area and in the surrounding sea areas by computer simulations together with acoustic-seismic, sedimentological and dating methods. The most abundant rock type on the island is migmatic mica gneiss, intruded by tonalites, granodiorites and granites. The surrounding Baltic Sea seabed consists of Palaeoproterozoic crystalline bedrock, which is to a great extent covered by younger Mesoproterozoic sedimentary rocks. The area contains several ancient deep-seated fracture zones that divide it into bedrock blocks. The response of bedrock at the Olkiluoto site was modelled considering four future ice-age scenarios. Each scenario produced shear displacements of fractures with different times of occurrence and varying recovery rates. Generally, the larger the maximum ice load, the larger were the permanent shear displacements. For a basic case, the maximum shear displacements were a few centimetres at the proposed nuclear waste repository level, at proximately 500 m b.s.l. High-resolution, low-frequency echo-sounding was used to examine the Holocene submarine sedimentary structures and possible direct and indirect indicators of palaeoseismic activity in the northern Baltic Sea. Echo-sounding profiles of Holocene submarine sediments revealed slides and slumps, normal faults, debris flows and turbidite-type structures. The profiles also showed pockmarks and other structures related to gas or groundwater seepages, which might be related to fracture zone activation. Evidence of postglacial reactivation in the study area was derived from the spatial occurrence of some of the structures, especial the faults and the seepages, in the vicinity of some old bedrock fracture zones. Palaeoseismic event(s) (a single or several events) in the Olkiluoto area were dated and the palaeoenvironment was characterized using palaeomagnetic, biostratigraphical and lithostratigraphical methods, enhancing the reliability of the chronology. Combined lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and palaeomagnetic stratigraphy revealed an age estimation of 10 650 to 10 200 cal. years BP for the palaeoseismic event(s). All Holocene sediment faults in the northern Baltic Sea occur at the same stratigraphical level, the age of which is estimated at 10 700 cal. years BP (9500 radiocarbon years BP). Their movement is suggested to have been triggered by palaeoseismic event(s) when the Late Weichselian ice sheet was retreating from the site and bedrock stresses were released along the bedrock fracture zones. Since no younger or repeated traces of seismic events were found, it corroborates the suggestion that the major seismic activity occurred within a short time during and after the last deglaciation. The origin of the gas/groundwater seepages remains unclear. Their reflections in the echo-sounding profiles imply that part of the gas is derived from the organic-bearing Litorina and modern gyttja clays. However, at least some of the gas is derived from the bedrock. Additional information could be gained by pore water analysis from the pockmarks. Information on postglacial fault activation and possible gas and/or fluid discharges under high hydraulic heads has relevance in evaluating the safety assessment of a planned spent nuclear fuel repository in the region.

Temple Emanuel (Andover, Mass.) records, 1939-2001; and Part II (addendum), undated 1952-2004

Temple Emanuel was founded in 1920 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. It began by serving a small immigrant Jewish community that has since grown to an affluent and lively congregation of about 600 families. This growth occurred largely under the tenure of Rabbi Harry A. Roth, who lead the congregation from 1962 until 1990 and oversaw the temple’s move to Andover, Massachusetts. This collection includes correspondence, photographs, and sermons.

Jewish Memorial Hospital and Rehabilitation Center (Roxbury, Mass.) records, undated, 1915-1999

The records provide material relating to the accreditation, fundraising, management, planning, policies, programs, and public relations of a hospital that continues to serve the Greater Boston area. The records includes correspondence of various Presidents, Board Members, and Executive Directors; Board and committee minutes; scrapbooks, photographs, videotape, and film created by the Public Relations department; records of various Auxiliary groups; correspondence, reports, surveys, and other documents relating to the Pediatric Rehabilitation Program; and artifacts such as plaques, portraits, and silverware.

Hannah Ruth London papers, 1919-1990.

The collection consists primarily of research notes for Ms. London's published works on portraits, miniatures and silhouettes of American Jews. The notes contain family histories of the subjects as well as information on the artists, and are arranged both by subject and artist. The collection also contains published articles on the subject by London, and photographs and lantern slides of the artwork that have been removed to the picture collection.

The radical in arts education research

Arts education research, as an interdisciplinary field, has developed in the shadows of a number of research traditions. However amid all the methodological innovation, I believe there is one particular, distinctive and radical research strategy which arts educators have created to research the practice of arts education: namely arts-based research. For many, and Elliot Eisner from Stanford University was among the first, arts education needed a research approach which could deal with the complex dynamics of arts education in the classroom. What was needed was ‘an approach to the conduct of educational research that was rooted in the arts and that used aesthetically crafted forms to reveal aspects of practice that mattered educationally’ (Eisner 2006: 11). While arts education researchers were crafting the principles and practices of arts-based research, fellow artist/researchers in the creative arts were addressing similar needs and fashioning their own exacting research strategies. This chapter aligns arts-based research with the complementary research practices established in creative arts studios and identifies the shared and truly radical nature of these moves. Finally, and in a contemporary turn many will find surprising, I will discuss how the radical aspects of these methodologies are now being held up as core elements of what is being called the fourth paradigm of scientific research, known as eScience. Could it be that the radical dynamics of arts-based research pre-figured the needs of eScience researchers who are currently struggling to manage the ‘deluge of Big Data’ which is disrupting their well-established scientific methods?

headspace Digital Art Exhibition

headspace Digital Art Exhibition is a curated collection of artwork created during a youth arts project and research in which young people’s improved mental health wellbeing and mental health literacy were the focused outcomes for the project. The project aimed to improve mental health literacy, and offer greater opportunities for creative expression supporting young people facing mental health challenges. The Inside project aimed to build dialogue related to youth, arts, mental illness and recovery, through a partnership approach. The partnership approach involved artists and health workers in two separate headspace youth mental health services and aimed to provide opportunities to explore the potential of an arts and health framework. The project ran over ten weeks at both centres, incorporating themed activities such as unleashing inner selfie (sketching, photography and digital manipulation); creating dioramas (found object, three dimensional modelling); creating avatars (sculptural and digital animation); and digital narrating and poster creation (visual, written and spoken texts). Two professional artists facilitated the project, one in each location alongside headspace health workers at weekly workshops. A research component explored the appreciation of how artsbased workshops can be used alongside more traditional responses in youth specific mental health services. Both headspace centres had previously provided unstructured art activities as a way to showcase their services to young people, increase access, and to create a welcoming ‘safe’ youth friendly environment. However, these activities were generally extemporaneous and not specifically evaluated. The digital art exhibition collectively shares the artwork created by the young people and reveals the inter-relationships between risk and resilience and overcoming the odds. Inside unleashed possibilities for a sense of well-being and even happiness into the future.

A process of engagement: Engaging with the process

Photography is now a highly automated activity where people enjoy phototaking by pointing and pressing a button. While this liberates people from having to interact with the processes of photography, e.g., controlling the parameters of the camera or printing images in the darkroom, we argue that an engagement with such processes can in fact enrich people's experience of phototaking. Drawing from fieldwork with members of a film-based photography club, we found that people who engage deeply with the various processes of phototaking experienced photography richly and meaningfully. Being able to participate fully in the entire process gave them a sense of achievement over the final result. Having the opportunity to engage with the process also allowed them to learn and hone their photographic skills. Through this understanding, we can imagine future technologies that enrich experiences of photography through providing the means to interact with photographic processes in new ways.