Farming expert to
advise Government on GM crops
Jules Pretty, Director of the
University’s Centre for Environment and Society, has been appointed to the
Government’s committee which advises ministers on genetically modified crops. He has
been chosen for his expertise on sustainable agricultural systems and farming practice.
The new membership of the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) was
announced to Parliament on 18 June by the Environment Minister Michael Meacher.
Jules Pretty already acts as a consultant to the Department for International
Development (DFID) and for various other governments. He is also a member of the advisory
committee for DFID on Biodiversity Policy and Practice.
Essex
scientist prepares for the total solar eclipse
Marcos Peñaloza is eagerly preparing
for 11 August when he will be in Romania to observe the total eclipse of the sun.
Mr Peñaloza has been awarded funding by NATO to travel to Romania, which he believes
will be the best probable observation site - as it lies in the path of totality and also
has good weather prospects.
Mr Peñaloza is a PhD student of the Aerosol Science and Environmental Chemistry Group
in the Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, who came to Essex from the
Department of Physics of the University of the Andes, Venezuela. He said: ‘Originally
or historically speaking partial and total solar eclipses have been the exclusive concern
of astronomy and astrophysics. However, over the decades of this century, these phenomena
have been taken seriously into account by the atmospheric and environmental sciences to
study the response of the atmosphere during the interesting and particular circumstance in
which solar light is partially or totally being blocked by the moon.
‘A total eclipse of the sun is about as close to a controlled experiment as an
atmospheric research can hope for. Sunlight diminishes at a uniform and predictable rate,
and near totality, the dark umbra of the moon sweeps across the top of the atmosphere is a
narrow predictable path.
‘This will give us the opportunity to observe and measure the optical, thermal,
pressure and other atmospheric physical/chemical effects, owing to the absence of
sunlight.’
Charity
funding for investigations into stillbirth
A team of scientists, led by Dr Chris Cooper
in Biological Sciences, is investigating the mechanisms and prevention of stillbirth and
brain damage in babies.
The major new project funded by medical charity Tommy’s Campaign aims to discover
the processes at work in controlling the flow of oxygen to the brain and to intervene at
an earlier stage in pregnancy to prevent brain damage or death occurring.
Pictured is Julie Bowen, of Delphi plc, a computer personnel recruitment consultancy,
handing over a cheque for £3,490 to Dr Cooper.
The donation was used by Tommy’s Campaign as part of their £81,000 grant to the
project.
The money from Delphi plc was raised by charity work within the company organised by an
employee, Valerie Allen, whose son was stillborn.
Delphi’s generous contribution was used to buy a new helium Dewar for the
Biomedical Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Facility.
This will enable the machine to run continuously to handle the 300 blood samples from
the umbilical cord of newborn babies that the project will analyse.
New Capital Building
Programme Unveiled
Plans for an ambitious new capital building
programme have been unveiled, which could dramatically improve the campus environment for
the start of the new millennium. The exciting new proposals have been made possible by the
current strong financial position of the University, together with new opportunities which
have recently emerged to bid for special Government funding for capital projects.
The programme, which was put before University’s Council in April, is designed to
address the shortage of laboratory and office space, especially in growing areas like
Sports Science, the Institute of Social and Economics Research (ISER) and Management; to
improve the Student Union facilities; and to enhance the overall appearance of the campus
itself.
The first proposal is for the creation of a ‘state of the art’ Information
Networks Research Centre for the Computer Science and Electronic Systems Engineering (ESE)
departments. A second project proposes the establishment of an ISER-Data Archive linked
social science research building. The construction of these projects will depend on
whether the University is successful with two bids for part of the newly established £700
million Joint Infrastructure Fund, put together by the Government and the Wellcome Trust,
which is intended to ease the financial problems facing many universities when trying to
update their research infrastructure.
Click picture for full size South Courts Phase 3 location plan
The second phase of the major refurbishment to the central squares on campus has also
moved forward. At a recent meeting, Andrew Nightingale (Estates Officer) presented the
Consultant’s plans for the face-lift of Square 4, which will be completed during the
long vacation. It is proposed that the refurbishment will complement what has already been
carried out on Square 3, including similar seating and lighting and the same basic palette
of materials. Phase III of the South Courts project was also approved at the Development
Committee meeting and AMEC Limited was appointed to undertake a project for 512 en-suite
study bedrooms at the west end of the site.
Awards
for environmentally-aware school children
Students, teachers and parents had the opportunity
to view the winning entries of a new competition for local schools, at an awards evening
at the University on 22 June.
The essays and posters by the winners and the runners-up, which were on display in the
Lecture Theatre Building foyer, clearly showed the depth and extent of children’s
concerns for environmental issues.
More than 450 entries were received from schools across North Essex and South Suffolk
in response to the competition, jointly organised by the Centre for Environment and
Society (CES) and the Science Centre at the University.
The entrants selected a topic from seven themes that covered a range of environmental
matters from local to international significance.
The topics included:
- The Global Environment
- Wildlife and Habitats
- Food and farming
- The Coastline
Dr James Morison, from the University’s Department of Biological Sciences and a
judge of the competition said:
‘The standard of entry was very good and we received a very big response from a
range of schools from across the region.
The competition, which will be run biannually, was sponsored by comedian and author Ben
Elton, the Essex and Suffolk Wildlife Trust, the Soil Association and Eastern Counties
Newspapers Ltd.
