Oil Spill Response Capacity in Nunavut and The Beaufort Sea

WWF-Canada commissioned a series of reports to identify barriers that will prevent northern communities from effectively responding to a shipbased oil spill. Parallel reports for the western Beaufort region and Nunavut outline these barriers. A third report provides a framework for developing realistic oil spill response plans for Nunavut communities. To effectively address the issues of oil spill response capacity in the North, engagement with communities is crucial to developing a framework that works within the Arctic context

Perceptions from Across the Pond: Building Cultural Competence from Study Abroad Experiences

At Marquette University, there is a large gap between the number of students who show an interest in studying abroad and those who actually participate in the study abroad process. In order to gauge why this discrepancy occurs, students’ mindsets and perceptions about studying abroad are analyzed in relation to varying degrees of cultural competence. This paper addresses the need for research about cultural competence, ultimately addressing how Marquette students value cultural competence and how this value connects to their decision to study abroad. By recognizing the worldly benefits gained from study abroad experiences, the idea of cultural competence can be built in students’ minds and continually developed throughout their lives. Research is conducted through a mixed-method approach, which consists of interviews, archival data, and auto-ethnographical features. By organizing and analyzing data according to students’ previous knowledge about study abroad, the balance between collaborative efforts by Marquette faculty and the individual actions taken by students is recognized as essential for the development of well-rounded, culturally competent individuals. In a world marked by recent political change, it is important to continually articulate the importance of cultural competence, the importance of students’ discovering their own identities in relation to the larger world around them. Thus, proposals for change are discussed in order to increase participation in Marquette study abroad programs.https://epublications.marquette.edu/english_3210ur/1033/thumbnail.jp

Characterisation of gold from Fiji

This is a study of the variation in chemistry and inclusion mineralogy of bedrock and placer gold from Fiji. It forms part of a large project, undertaking gold characterisation from a wide range of geological environments in Ecuador, Zimbabwe, Malaysia and Fiji. The work was carried out under the Overseas Development AdministratiodBritish Geological Survey Technology Development and Research programme (Project R5549) as part of the British Government’s provision of technical assistance to developing countries. For the Fijian component of the project, samples were collected from river gravels, primary ore, and table concentrates. In total thirty-five samples from five localities were examined. Data collected from these samples are represented by over 100 point analyses of gold, identification of associated minerals, and microgeochemical maps of gold-mineral intergrowths. A framework for identifying possible sources of alluvial gold is given. This was achieved by characterising bedrock gold mineralisation from a variety of epithermal and porphyry environments. The environments studied included alkali (the Emperor Gold Mine), high-sulphidation (the Mount Kasi prospect) and telescoped (the Tuvatu prospect) systems. A study of placer gold from the Waimanu alluvial deposit, the only alluvial gold deposit in Fiji, showed two distinct sources of gold: one, a low-silver type, associated with Cu-Fe sulphides, can be related to the nearby Namosi porphyry copper deposit. The other source, a high-silver type with abundant tellurides, indicates an alkali epithermal association, suggesting a source similar in style to the mineralisation observed at Emperor Gold Mine. The identification of two bedrock sources for the Waimanu alluvials clearly shows that there must be a, yet unknown, alkali epithermal (Emperor) source within the Waimanu catchment. This demonstrates the power of alluvial gold characterisation and its role in gold exploration. An important implication of these results is that future exploration within the area should be focussed on locating this “Emperor type” source

Oceanus.

v. 25, no. 2 (1982