Director's Blog

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!