Director's Blog

If you'd like to forward your thoughts and views to me on any of my postings, please email these to david.gray@nafc.uhi.ac.uk

I look forward to reading your comments.

You can visit my blog archive by following the links to the right in the drop down menu...

Friday 3rd September 2010

 OK...third time lucky! I've tried to update my blog 3 times today and with each of the first 2 attempts I clicked the "update" button and POOF...my fabulous writings disappeared into the ether...never to be seen again. Hey ho!

The good news is that our visitor from The University of New Brunswick has finally arrived safely in Shetland. Andrew Flewelling flew into Sumburgh airport at 19.40 on the 26th August after a shattering 24 hour journey. He has spent the last week getting settled in to what is to be his home for 4 months, following our induction programme, meeting the team at this end and opening a bank account (very important).

Andrew also took one of our vehicles (along with our Business Development Manager, Alan Bourhill) out for a trial run due to the fact that previously he had only driven Left-hand drive cars on the right side of the road...he had also very little experience of using a manual "stick shift" gear selection car. All 3 (Andrew, Alan and the car) returned in one piece which I put down as a successful outcome...Andrew had a huge smile on his face so I take it he quite enjoyed himself.

The students are back and The Centre has a real buzz about it. Today was the first day of the new term for the school pupils from the local schools who come here to study on the National Progression Awards or Skills for Work programmes with us as part of their school curriculum.

People often ask me "when do you start up again after the summer?". The answer is quite simple...we never actually stop for the summer. Whilst the schools are closed we carry on with the research and consultancy work, supporting local industries through delivering trainign courses and professional development programmes...so we are pretty much an all year round operation...just like the marine industries we are here to support.

Monday 23rd August 2010

The Minister heard about the current KTP applied research project, a partnership with Shetland Aquaculture that is investigating and developing the practical aspects of the use of Ballan wrasse as cleaner fish for the biological control of sea lice on farmed salmon – sea lice being one of the major concerns currently faced by the aquaculture industry.  The Centre is monitoring sea lice abundance on actual commercial salmon housed with ‘cleaner fish’ within a sea-based trials site in Shetland.  All results will be fed back to industry via training workshops. KTP Associate Noelia Rodriguez, Manager Kenny Gifford and Dr. Clive Talbot, the principle academic for the project, were on hand to update the Minister on progress.

Management and husbandry protocols for the fish, as well as ensuring their welfare, are of utmost importance and the Minister also took a tour around the on-site marine hatchery, where Ballan wrasse broodstock is being housed, to see first hand how the Broodstock team operates.

Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham said:  “The work that the NAFC Marine Centre is doing to protect Scotland’s aquaculture is an example of how the understanding of sea-lice and disease control is growing and strengthening.

“Aquaculture counts for almost 40 per cent of Scotland’s total food exports and has aspirations to grow by £150 million and create up to 400 jobs in the next five years.
 
“As a result, we have an aquaculture sector in Scotland we should be greatly proud of and I am heartened by the action the industry is taking to protect the future of the sector.”

Dr Martin Robinson added: “We seek to design, develop and deliver work programmes that provide answers to the gaps in current knowledge, technology or best practice.  Our Aquaculture Development staff work hard to support industry growth and innovation in their field and all projects are geared towards the sustainability of aquaculture in Shetland and wider Scotland.”

Wednesday 18th August 2010

I'm back in the office today after two weeks leave...so apologies for the lack of blog activity. You can now all stop sending me your "polite" reminder emails!!!

Those of you who read my blog on a regular basis will know that we have a collaborative research project with The University of New Brunswick in Canada looking at fungal endophytes which naturally occur in our local seaweed. A PhD student from Canada, Andrew Flewelling, will be based here with us for up to 6 months collecting samples and carrying out extraction and isolation before sending them back to New Brunswick for further analysis.

Andrew was supposed to be arriving here with us in July but we hit upon one or two issues with his entry visa. The UK Border Agency were unsure how to designate Andrew...was he a student or a visiting researcher? After many, many emails, telephone conversations and finally a visit from The UK Border Agency we finally agreed that the project should be "Government Approved" and this then allowed a visa to be issued.

So...Andrew will be joining us in the next few days...better late than never and I know that he is really enthusiastic about the trip and the project so we look forward to welcoming him to Shetland. I might even ask him to add a blog entry to let you all know how he's doing.

Tuesday 20th July 2010

Staff member says "So whats all this then David?" whilst peering into a toolbox sat on the table in my office. "Ah! Thats my research equipment" I reply. With a puzzled look the staff member starts pulling out random bits and pieces from the box...a red head torch...araldite glue...a sewing tape measure...dymo tape....small temperature probes...his eyebrows just get higher and higher until they virtually disappear into his hair line. "Hmmmm...I'm not even going to ask" he says, turns and leaves the office.

I wouldn't mind if this was a one off isolated occurrence...but I'm sad to say that its not. It happens on quite a regular basis...heaven only knows how the discussion went in the staff room over morning coffee!

To explain...I carry out research into the foraging (feeding) behaviour and activity of herbivorous intertidal molluscs (snails) which are very important in maintaining the ecosystem on our rocky shores. My animal of choice is the limpet and I've been intrigued by their behaviour for years. Why? well read on and I'll tell you...if nothing else you'll get some good answers for the next time you play Trivial Pursuit!

Limpets are known for their homing behaviour. They have a set place on the rock surface (their home scar) where their shell perfectly matches the shape of the rock surface which means that when they clamp down onto the rock they will not lose too much water during low tide...which is a great evolutionary mechanism but it only works if they go back to exactly the same spot every single time...and they do it. How they do it we are still not sure about and there are many theories but the most accepted one is that they are somehow using their trails of mucus which they lay down whilst moving...kind of like a road map.

They also have an internal body clock, which works a bit like an alarm clock and tells them when they should be moving and feeding and when they should return home. This is REALLY clever as it means that they can predict when the tide is going to come back in and ensure that they are not stranded away from their home scar during periods of detrimental external conditions (could be low tide, could be high tide...depends upon the limpet species).

Limpets mostly (although not always) move at night and so the need for the red head torch. White light upsets them and they clamp down and stop moving whilst they seem to ignore red light. The araldite glue is so that I can stick labels onto the shells of individual limepst so that I can then recognise them again and obtain a record of their activity over a period of time. Dymo tape is a fab invention which allows you to stamp numbers into a plastic tape which can then be cut into little bits and stuck on the shell...and it lasts for years!

So there you go...its all quite straightforward really..well...thats what I always find myself muttering to myself under my breath at 2 in the morning, red light strapped to my head, up to my thighs in freezing cold sea water measuring limpet movement. I'm always looking for volunteers to help out...for some reason most people only come out with me once.

Monday 12th July 2010

I was away from the office last week attending "Institutional Audit Training" for The QAA (The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education). I've worked for the QAA since 2000 as a subject specialist for Biosciences, a specialist Institutional Auditor for Collaborative Provision and an Institutional Auditor....whats that? You don't know what I'm going on about?...tut tut.

The QAA is the agency that is responsible for checking to make sure that Universities within the UK are maintaining the high standards expected of them whilst also ensuring that their students are getting the learning opportunities which they deserve (and are paying for). Unlike other sectors this is carried out through a peer review process with colleagues from other Universities undertaking the "checking" or to give it its grand name "auditing"...and thats what I do. I form part of a team of auditors from other Higher Education Institutions and we visit Universities to measure whether they are managing their quality and standards appropriately.

The down side to this (yes there is one!) is that whenever the audit process changes all us auditors have to go for "retraining"..so this was my third training event. It is fantastic continuing professional development and an opportunity to meet colleagues from other institutions and discuss the challenges we are all facing.

Trained Institutional Auditors are actually in high demand as Universities are keen to utilise their experience and knowledge in preparing for audit. I have been involved in preparing a number of universities for audit over the years.

So having spent 5 days south what did I learn? Well...its amazing how quickly you get used to life up here without traffic, noise and pollution....and people pushing and shoving and generally not being very friendly at all. Taking all of this into account you can imagine the smile on my face when the wheels of the flybe aeroplane touched down at Sumburgh airport!