Residual Holocene populations in Bassiania: Aboriginal Man at Palana, Northern Flinders Island

The survey and excavation studies in parts of Bassiania examined Aboriginal occupation evidence, and carried out a variety of geological investigations. Further information was obtained in December 1977, when both authors made a short return trip to the area. This paper summarizes the initial results of the archaeological investigations; a fuller account is in preparation

Annual report of the Archaeological Society of Victoria, 1977

Activities of the Archaeological Society of Victoria

Understanding population fluctuations through volunteered geographic information and novel indicators: The experience of Rakiura, Stewart Island, New Zealand

In an era of heterogeneous data, novel methods and volunteered geographic information provide opportunities to understand how people interact with a place. However, it is not enough to simply have such heterogeneous data, instead an understanding of its usability and reliability needs to be undertaken. Here, we draw upon the case study of Rakiura, Stewart Island where manifested passenger numbers across the Foveaux Strait are known. We have built a population model to ground truth such novel indicators. In our preliminary study, we find that a number of indicators offer the opportunity to understand fluctuations in populations. Some indicators (such as wastewater volumes) can suggest relative changes in populations in a raw form. While other indicators (such as TripAdvisor reviews or Instagram posts) require further data enrichment to get insights into population fluctuations. This research forms part of a larger research project looking to test and apply such novel indicators to inform disaster risk assessments

IAU Commission C3 (History of Astronomy): Triennial Report, 2018–2021

IAU Commission C3 (History of Astronomy) started in 2015 as a natural continuation of the previous IAU Commission 41 for History of Astronomy which was established in 1948 and which was extremely successful in supporting research on the history of astronomy, organizing and sponsoring workshops and conferences, promoting research collaborations, forming specialist working groups and fostering the publication of members' research (see Kochhar et al., 2015)

Earthquake Impacts, Organizational Resilience and Recovery of the Accommodation/Food Services Sector in Canterbury, New Zealand: A Comparative Assessment

The purpose of this study is to analyse the felt earthquake impacts, resilience and recovery of organizations in Canterbury by comparing three business sectors (accommodation/food services, Education/Training and Manufacturing). A survey of the three sectors in 2013 of Canterbury organizations impacted by the earthquakes revealed significant differences between the three sectors on felt earthquake impacts and resilience. On recovery and mitigation factors, the accommodation/food services sector is not significantly different from the other two sectors. Overall, the survey results presented here indicate that the Accommodation/Food Services sector was the least impacted by the earthquakes in comparison to the Education/Training and Manufacturing sectors. Implications for post-disaster management and recovery of the accommodation sector are suggested

Outcomes of the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence for Tourism Businesses

The Christchurch earthquake sequence has been on-going since September 4th 2010. The largest two earthquakes, magnitude (M) 7.1 on September 4th and the M 6.3 on February 22nd 2011 caused immediate and significant damage to the city of Christchurch. As a consequence of the earthquakes, the tourism sector in the Canterbury region has been heavily impacted, with broader impacts being felt throughout the South Island. Resilient Organisations and the University of Canterbury began a series of quantitative investigations into the recovery and response of key business sectors to the earthquakes. The purpose of this study was to build on this work by exploring the outcomes of the earthquakes on the tourism sector, a critical economic driver in the region. Two postal surveys were sent to 719 tourism business managers; the first to businesses in the ‘Impact Zone’ defined as areas that experienced Modified Mercalli intensities greater than 6. The second survey was sent to the remaining businesses throughout the Canterbury region (‘Rest of Canterbury’). Response rates were 46% response for the Impact Zone, and 29% for the Rest of Canterbury. Key findings

Insurance in the tourism sector after the Canterbury earthquakes.

The Canterbury earthquakes caused huge amounts of damage to Christchurch and the surrounding area and presented a very challenging situation for both insurers and claimants. While tourism has suffered significant losses as a result, particularly due to the subsequent decrease in visitor numbers, the Canterbury region was very fortunate to have high levels of insurance coverage. This report, based on data gathered from tourism operators on the ground in Canterbury, looks at how this sector has been affected by the quakes, claims patterns, and the behaviour and perceptions of tourism operators about insurance

The 40-ft solar camera of the Lick Observatory

The primary goal of the Lick Observatory’s direct solar eclipse photography program was to secure high resolution\ud images of inner coronal structure and images in which coronal brightness could be studied. Between 1889 and 1932 the Observatory sent out seventeen eclipse expeditions worldwide. During these expeditions, direct coronal photography was a significant part of the program for the first couple of decades. By the end of the expedition series, spectrographic observations became of primary importance, yet direct coronal imaging continued.\ud \ud Lick Observatory astronomer, John M. Schaeberle, conceived and constructed a large portable camera of 5-inch aperture with a focal length of 40-feet, and from 1893 the so-called ‘Schaeberle Camera’ became a hallmark of the Observatory’s eclipse expeditions. In this paper we provide details of the Schaeberle Camera’s design, setup and operation, and we briefly discuss some of the ways in which Lick Observatory staff and other astronomers used the plates obtained during the various eclipse expeditions in their investigations of the solar corona

Fast and slow resilience in the New Zealand tourism industry

In the tourism literature, there is considerable emphasis on resilience to immediate changes (e.g. natural disasters or financial shocks), yet there is merit in conceptualizing resilience as a dynamic long-term state, which exists across different levels of tourism from individual business owners, to destination and national-level activities. The concept of fast- and slow-onset disasters is relevant here (Lew, 2014), where the rate of change has significant implications for tourism destination management and resilience planning. Two New Zealand case study sites are presented below, to illustrate the interesting contrasts between the outcomes of a fast-onset disaster and an emerging slow-onset natural event from a resilience planning perspective. The first case study is from the West Coast of South Island, a peripheral region with a popular glacier and nature-based tourism industry. The second case study is the post-earthquake city of Christchurch. The West Coast case study describes a social-ecological system almost entirely reliant on nature-based tourism to sustain itself, acknowledging the close connection between tourism activity and community resilience against a background of (typically) incremental (although occasionally rapid) environmental change. In contrast, the Canterbury earthquakes affected a largely urban area and the impact of this event on tourism operators was immediate and sustained over many years post-earthquake. We suggest this fast-onset disaster was followed by slow recovery, and a growing awareness of the importance of adaptability and resilience to future events

Exploring the interconnections between resilience and sustainability in the tourism industry, using case studies from nature-based tourism in New Zealand

Over several decades now, ‘sustainability’ has endured as an important concept for tourism scholars. Sustainable tourism destinations are often promoted as the ethical choice for discerning travellers, with some marketers taking full advantage of the rich ambiguity implicit in the term. More recently, ‘resilience’ has generated appeal in the academic tourism literature as a term that might capture core aspects of sustainability, while acknowledging the considerable influences that environmental contexts (social, cultural, economic, ecological and physical) have on the capacity of communities to adapt to changing conditions and ultimately sustain their tourism enterprises. While resilience has been characterised as a survival attribute, with emphasis placed on being future-oriented and adaptive, there is no guarantee that the decisions communities make in the interests of maintaining the short to medium term economic viability of their tourism enterprises will lead to outcomes that are desirable, responsible or sustainable in the long term. Drawing upon recent empirical case studies of protected area tourism on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island, this paper considers the evidence of resilience among tourism stakeholders facing multiple environmental and economic risks, and reflects on the implications for sustainability. Of particular interest are the social adaptations that stakeholders have made as a result of exposure to risk. Through the development of a conceptual model, this paper considers what new insights the resilience-sustainability nexus might offer the study of tourism