Archive for Interesting sites

Draft guidelines for making information accessible

The CIARD (Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development) is a consortium of organizations invloved in agricultural development.  It just produced draft guidelines for best practices for making information accessible. To From the CIARD website:” To ensure that public domain research outputs – in the form of information, data and knowledge – form part of a global ‘knowledge commons’ for agriculture, these outputs should be created, assembled, handled and disseminated in ways that ensure that they will be as Available, Accessible and Applicable as possible.”

The checklist could also apply to those of us involved in fisheries, aquaculture and oterh natural resource information.

http://www.ciard.net/index.php?id=604

Janet Webster

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Waypoint Newsletter

The latest edition of “Waypoint”, the Australian Institute of Marine Science’s quarterly online newsletter, is ready for navigation.

To go direct to the newsletter, please follow this link: http://www3.aims.gov.au/docs/publications/waypoint/014/index.html

Key coordinates to visit include:

New WA Marine Bioresources Library to aid medical research

A huge step forward in understanding the nature of Western Australian marine biodiversity and facilitating sustainable use of it was marked in March 2009 with the opening of the state’s first Marine Bioresources Library, known as WAMBL. For more details, please go to: http://www3.aims.gov.au/docs/publications/waypoint/014/headlines-01.html

Research reveals cyclone’s ravages on the Reef

The Great Barrier Reef was severely buffeted by Severe Tropical Cyclone Hamish, which roared down a substantial part of the reef system, causing widespread though variable damage and in some places reducing coral cover from 70 per cent to 10 per cent. For more details, please go to: http://www3.aims.gov.au/docs/publications/waypoint/014/headlines-02.html

Sponge farming takes off at Masig Island

The establishment of Australia’s first sponge farm at Masig Island in Torres Strait highlights the impact and uptake of AIMS’ sponge farming research. For more details, please go to: http://www3.aims.gov.au/docs/publications/waypoint/014/headlines-03.html

Environment Minister announces multimillion dollar boost to CReefs

An influx of resources worth a total of $2.7 million to support the CReefs project that is systematically surveying life on Australian reefs has been announced by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts the Hon Peter Garrett MP. For more details, please go to: http://www3.aims.gov.au/docs/publications/waypoint/014/headlines-04.html

In brief

AIMS has welcomed the announcement in July that the Great Barrier Reef is among the finalists for the title of “New 7 Wonders of Nature”.  AIMS Western Australia staff have moved into the new temporary headquarters of the University of Western Australia’s Oceans Institute.  AIMS has taken out a prestigious national award for its occupational health and safety regime associated with the Scott Reef Research Project off the Western Australian coast. For more details, please go to: http://www3.aims.gov.au/docs/publications/waypoint/014/in-brief.html

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AIMS Waypoint Quarterly Newletter

The latest edition of “Waypoint”, the Australian Institute of Marine Science’s quarterly online newsletter, is ready for navigation.

To go direct to the newsletter, please follow this link: http://www.aims.gov.au/waypoint

Key coordinates to visit include:

$55m infrastructure project fires up tropical marine science

The $55 million federally funded Tropical Marine Research Facility Project at AIMS will greatly increase understanding of Australia’s complex marine ecosystems and support jobs, particularly in regional areas.

A major part of the project will be the Australian Tropical Oceans Simulator, which will enable AIMS scientists and their collaborators to conduct experiments to understand and predict the effects of global and local change on the marine environment.

For more details, please go to: http://www3.aims.gov.au/docs/publications/waypoint/013/headlines-01.html

Despite fears, coral reefs have not been overgrown by seaweed

A global survey of coral reefs has shown that, while reefs face many threats, fears of a takeover by seaweed have so far not been realised.

AIMS scientist Dr Hugh Sweatman and his US colleagues have published a paper that questions a common view that many reefs that were once lush coral communities are now overgrown by seaweed.

For more details, please go to: http://www3.aims.gov.au/docs/publications/waypoint/013/headlines-02.html

Baby fish shaped by mothers’ stress

Stressed reef fish mothers produce highly active babies, and this affects survival and has important implications for fish populations in a changing environment, according to new research.

Dr Monica Gagliano, a research fellow with the AIMS@JCU joint venture, worked with colleague Dr Mark McCormick from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies on a study that deepens understanding of how stress affects the dynamics of wild fish populations and hence how fish may cope with increasing human-induced stresses.

For more details, please go to: http://www3.aims.gov.au/docs/publications/waypoint/013/headlines-03.html

The secret life of tropical sponges comes to light

They are sea creatures that have no neural system, just sit still in one place, and are far less studied and understood than more charismatic species such as corals. But a new scientific study has revealed just how remarkable tropical marine sponges really are – and how their young perform amazing feats to ensure the survival of new generations.

AIMS sponge ecologist Dr Steve Whalan, with colleagues from AIMS and James Cook University, has published a paper documenting the first ever study of sponge larvae from release to settlement and so sheds new light on what happens in the early stages of the lifecycle.

For more details, please go to: http://www3.aims.gov.au/docs/publications/waypoint/013/headlines-04.html

CReefs marine science project inspiring BHP Billiton staff

The Australian resources company, BHP Billiton, has a growing pool of marine science knowledge and appreciation in its ranks, thanks to a successful employee engagement program in the Australian node of the international CReefs project.

BHP Billiton is a partner in the four-year $3.4 million project, along with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and AIMS. CReefs is the coral reef component of the Census of Marine Life, a global scientific initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution and abundance of marine life.

For more details, please go to: http://www3.aims.gov.au/docs/publications/waypoint/013/headlines-05.html

In brief

AIMS appoints a new science leader for WA. CReefs scientists take up temporary residence at Ningaloo Station for the latest expedition. Female whale sharks at Ningaloo Marine Park are being electronically tagged to discover their migratory pathways.

For more details, please go to: http://www3.aims.gov.au/docs/publications/waypoint/013/in-brief.html

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Ocean in Google Earth

The National Science Foundation Contributes to Newest Version of “Google Earth”

Photo of Ross Ice Shelf at Cape Crozier.

Google today released the newest version of “Google Earth,” which contains a feature called “Ocean in Google Earth” that enables users to dive beneath the surface of the sea and explore the world’s oceans.

“Ocean in Google Earth” includes videos, photos, diagrams and texts that vividly illustrate glacial, geological and ocean processes influencing the behavior of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in Antarctica.

The material, which was provided by

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114084&govDel=USNSF_51


Explore the ocean

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Science for those with short attention spans

While we were in Fiji for the IAMSLIC conference, the HMS Director, Steve Palumbi, was also flying through FIji on his way to Tuvalu to film another short movie for his MicroDocs project.  This project was released a few weeks ago at URL:

http://microdocs.stanford.edu/

All the movie clips are between 2 and 4 minutes based on the habits of today’s younger generation.  Accompanying those clips is background information with lots more detail including references.  The site was also designed to help K through 12 science teachers.  For a press release about the site, to to URL:

http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/october15/microdoc-101508.html

Most of the clips are from south seas islands and other exotic locations, so many of those that attended this years conference might find their island featured.

Joe

Hopkins Marine Station

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“The Encyclopedia of Life, Biodiversity Heritage Library, Biodiversity Informatics and Beyond Web 2.0”

Please see the following article by WHOI’s Cathy Norton in the recent issue of First Monday:

http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2226/2013

Abstract;
E.O. Wilson, the noted entomologist at Harvard, “wished” for an authoritative encyclopedia of life that would be freely available on the worldwide web for the entire world. On 9 May 2007, The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) was launched as a multi–institutional initiative whose mission is to create 1.8 million Web sites detailing all the known attributes, history, and behavior, about every known and described species and portraying that information through video, audio, and literature, via the Internet. A major contributor to the Encyclopedia is the Biodiversity Heritage Library that is currently scanning all the core biodiversity literature.

Posted by: Peter Fritzler, UNC Wilmington

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New Free Electronic Journal

The Oceanographic Environmental Research Society has a new electronic journal called Journal of Marine Animals & Their Ecology.  This ejournal is in its infancy (only one issue so far) and it will be interesting to see if it survives.  I already sent an email to Vicki Soto at ASFA to see if they plan to pick it up for indexing.  The URL to the journal is:

http://www.oers.ca/journal/journal.html

– Joe Wible

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Periodic Table of Videos

Here is an article on how new Web 2.0 technologies are being utilized for chemical education. Folks at the University of Nottingham in the UK have created the “Periodic Table of Videos” which you all might find useful in basic chemistry courses.

 

Here’s a news story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7507986.stm

 

Periodic Table of Videos: http://www.periodicvideos.com/ or http://www.youtube.com/periodicvideos

Posted by: Peter Fritzler, UNC Wilmington

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Developing World Needs Its Own Science Journals

Comment: Developing World Needs Its Own Science Journals (from the New Scientist)

The most vital debates at scientific conferences rarely take place during the formal sessions. At the World Health Organization (WHO) meeting of African health ministers in Algiers last month, the hot topic during the lunch breaks was the desperate need to improve the state of academic publishing in developing countries. This might seem a surprising choice, given the pressing challenges facing these nations. But the lack of local journals in which to publish scientific research, in particular in fields such as health, has serious consequences. Local journals exist in developing countries, but many are failing. … These journals are locked in a vicious circle. Researchers think there is little value in publishing in them, preferring the cachet of globally recognised journals, meaning that they struggle to publish papers of the quality needed to attract future authors. See: http://snipurl.com/2zpqe

Posted by: Peter Fritzler, UNC Wilmington

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BeachMap—A Tool to Find Beach Information

If you’re a family going to Oahu where do you find out which beaches offer parking? BeachMap is a user-created site for beach information designed to test a new way to reach and interact with people interested in beaches. In the future it may include water quality data or something else users are seeking. Find a beach. Enjoy a beach.” Source: Surfrider Foundation

 

Access: http://www.surfrider.org/beachmap/

 

Posted by: pfritzler

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