No. 4 - September 2012 - Communications and Development ...

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Historic polar weatherdata to be studiedWeather data recorded byearly explorers in the Antarticwill be the focus of a year–longresearch project by UC'sDr Ursula Rack.Dr Rack, adjunct fellow in GatewayAntarctica, is undertaking the project afterbeing awarded a COMNAP (Council ofManagers of National Antarctic Program)Antarctic Research Fellowship for 2012–2013.The fellowship will provide her withUS$12,000 in funding to carry out her work.“I’m very excited about this fellowshipas my PhD was on the social conditionsexperienced by early polar explorers andthis funding will allow me to carry outfurther research in this area,” Dr Rack said.“As a historian this is going to be a veryinteresting project for me and I’m reallylooking forward to getting started.”The Executive Secretary of COMNAP,Michelle Rogan–Finnemore, said theorganisation was delighted that Dr Rackwas the recipient of the fellowship “inparticular, because it is the first time thatthe fellowship has been awarded outsideone of the more traditional sciencedisciplines”.“Dr Rack's research, in a humanitiesdiscipline, is significant and demonstratesthe breadth of Antarctic research beingundertaken within our Antarctic researchprogrammes."Dr Rack said the aim of her projectwould be to reconstruct historic Antarcticclimate data recorded by expeditions duringthe Heroic Age (1899–1920) of polarexploration. This will involve transcribing,translating and analysing archival material— ship logbooks, diaries and meteorologicalrecords — held by the Scott Polar ResearchGateway Antarctica’s Dr Ursula Rack.
Institute at the University of Cambridge,where she will work with the institute’sDirector Professor Julian Dowdeswell, aswell as material held in archival collectionsin Germany.The expeditions Dr Rack will focus on forthis project are those of Captain RobertFalcon Scott, particularly the DiscoveryExpedition of 1901–04, and German polarscientist Erich von Drygalski, who led theGerman South Polar expedition from 1901 to1903 to Wilhelm II Land.However, Dr Rack said, with furtherfunding she would also eventually like tostudy archival material from theexpeditions of William Spiers Bruce, who ledthe Scottish National Antarctic Expeditionfrom 1902–04 to the South Orkney Islandsand the Weddell Sea; the Swedish AntarcticExpedition of 1901–1904 led by geologistand geographer Otto Nordenskjöld andexplorer Carl Anton Larsen to the AntarcticPeninsula; and the French expedition of1903 to 1905 to the Antarctic Peninsula ledby Jean Baptiste Charcot.Dr Rack said the archival material fromthese expeditions offered a unique sourceof historic weather data which could be ofuse to climate change scientists.“They also provide interesting socialdata on how the explorers were affected bythe extreme weather conditions in terms ofthe impact it had on their work, theirinteractions with each other and on theirmental health,” she said.However, Dr Rack said this rich source ofinformation was not easily accessible andher ultimate goal was to make the historicmaterial available to the wider researchcommunity in digital format. She iscurrently working with UC’s Dr AdrianMcDonald (Physics and Astronomy) todevelop a suitable computer program forthe material.“It is crucial that this information ispreserved for future generations as thesedocuments are deteriorating and will notalways be available to researchers.”Dr Rack will begin work on her project atCambridge University in October.UC Flexible Learning Advisor Susan Tull.Funding boostfor research intoflexible learningUsing new technology toimprove the quality ofteaching and learning acrossUC is a project that Susan Tullcan now tackle head on.The UC Flexible Learning Advisor wasrecently awarded US$10,000 from theEcho360 Blended Learning GrantsProgramme for research into the use ofEchoSystem at UC.The Echo360 system includes anautomated lecture capture system that hasbeen implemented across campus, as wellas personal video capture options. Theseallow staff to give students easier access tocourse content, including video footage ofclasses, for study and revision.Mrs Tull said her project combinedresearch on lecturer adoption ofEchoSystem with the development of anactive EchoSystem community of practiceon campus that could improve the qualityof blended learning across the University.“Lecturers have adopted the use of thistechnology as a solution to a variety oflearning and teaching concerns. Byfocusing on the sharing of adoptionpractices around these solutions we hopeto improve the professional growth oflecturers and the quality of blendedlearning,” she said.“The development of a community ofpractice will be encouraged using thesesolutions as a focus point. This communityof practice, which will promotecollaboration within our institution, willhave an online space which is also focusedaround the reasons lecturers implementEchoSystem.”Mrs Tull will work with about seven UClecturers during her research and presenther findings either at an internationalconference or submit them in a journalarticle.“It is really exciting to have the fundingand I’m hopeful it will make a real impactat UC. I am hoping there will be a widerdissemination of good practice in usingEchoSystem across the University ratherthan in little pockets, as it is now,” she said.“If we can develop a community ofpractice using this system across the wholeUniversity then it could have huge benefits.I would like to be able to see somethingwhere lecturers can come and learn fromeach other at their own rate wheneverthey want.”CHRONICLE 47, No.4, September 20125
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