Sustainable grass farming

“Sustainable grassland farming” suggests a stable, productive system, with limited dependence on external inputs, which is economically viable. Effects on the wider environment, particularly air, water and wildlife, also need to be considered. Many principles contribute o sustainability, this article concentrate on two of them: “healthy soil” and “plant species diversity”

Art Based Research: Screen-Printing as the Artist-Teacher

This Art Based research is indicative of the Artist-Teacher Connection. The art teacher cannot teach without first practicing art. To become a more informed art teacher, one must become a more informed artist. This study is based on the methodology and discovery an Artist-Teacher must take while learning Screen-Printing. A goal of the research is to examine the process, history and content of screen-printing and to apply that new knowledge to teaching. Methodology of the study included heuristic inquiry in the form of interviews, grounded theory as the researcher making art, data and content analysis, which entails the study of screen-printing lessons, procedures and history in electronic and data texts. The data collection methods are videography, photography, social networking and blogging. These methods are intuitive to the researcher and reflect visual culture as it relates to research methods and education. The teaching strategies the researcher learns are those are problem solving and creative thinking

Art Based Research: Screen-Printing as the Artist-Teacher

This Art Based research is indicative of the Artist-Teacher Connection. The art teacher cannot teach without first practicing art. To become a more informed art teacher, one must become a more informed artist. This study is based on the methodology and discovery an Artist-Teacher must take while learning Screen-Printing. A goal of the research is to examine the process, history and content of screen-printing and to apply that new knowledge to teaching. Methodology of the study included heuristic inquiry in the form of interviews, grounded theory as the researcher making art, data and content analysis, which entails the study of screen-printing lessons, procedures and history in electronic and data texts. The data collection methods are videography, photography, social networking and blogging. These methods are intuitive to the researcher and reflect visual culture as it relates to research methods and education. The teaching strategies the researcher learns are those are problem solving and creative thinking

Both a College Woman and a Professional Nurse: College Educated Women who Became Professional Nurses, 1890-1920

Within the context of the rapidly changing society of Progressive Era America, educated women were looking for new occupations which would allow them to exercise their skills as independent thinkers, autonomous workers and group leaders. In such a search, some women found their way to professional nursing and entered hospital-based nurse training programs after their college graduations. This study is a history of these college women who became professional nurses between 1890 and 1920 - a period when both institutions for womenâ??s higher education and professional nurse training were at a transition point. Historians of womenâ??s higher education and historians of nursing alike have yet to focus on this population in their analyses of educated and professional women. However questions about what professional nursing had to offer college women elucidate in new ways the meaning of work to women, female empowerment and the unique opportunities afforded to women through higher education and professional nursing. This dissertation traces the efforts of college women as they looked to nursing as a potential profession through which they could affect social reform and meaningfully engage in the public realm. At the same time, nursing leaders attempted to recruit college women into the field in order to gain professional esteem. Overall the story of college women who became professional nurses from 1890 to 1920 is one of intersection and tension as the leaders of both institutions developed differing and irreconcilable visions of the future of professional nursing

Characterisation of electrospray properties in high vacuum with a view to application in colloid thruster technology

PhDThe operational environment of colloid thrusters is high vacuum (10-3 _ 10-6 mbar) however, much of the experimental data collected to date to identify parameter relationships in cone jet mode electrosprays (ES), such as current-volumetric flow rate scaling laws, has been conducted in atmospheric conditions. This highlights a need for electrospray data under high vacuum conditions. Electrospray experimental data was collected using medium conductivity solutions (0.0025 -0.0160 S/m) of TEG doped with sodium iodide in high vacuum. These sprays were obtained from a stainless steel capillary and a disk counter electrode with central aperture. An online flow measurement system is described, which has been developed during this research to measure the fluid volumetric flow rate, concurrently with applied voltage and spray properties such as spray current and cone, jet and spray geometry. This automated flow measurement system was used to measure flow rates as low as InUs with an absolute accuracy of 0.3nUs and a resolution of 0.03nus. It is identified that this system may be easily adapted for lower flow rates and higher resolutions. The ES data collected demonstrates, for the first time, the detailed dependence of volumetric flow rate upon the applied voltage. The sensitivity of nominal flow rate to applied voltage was found to be higher for lower nominal flow rates. For a volumetric flow rate -4nLIs a 25% a change in flow rate per kV was recorded over a cone-jet mode stability range spanning -1.5kV. This volumetric flow rate voltage sensitivity holds particular significance for colloid thruster systems, which operate at or near minimum flow rate conditions. The current was found to have a power law dependence on flow rate similar to the current scaling laws of F. de la Mora and Gahan-Calvo however the exponent of this power law differs significantly from these scaling laws. A study considering the effect of charge carrier mobility in simple 1: 1 electrolytes shows that the exponent of the power law current-flow rate scaling increased with increasing charge carrier mobility. Contrary to the various scaling laws the spray current was found to be dependent on electrostatic conditions. The sensitivity of the emitted current to the applied voltage was also found to increase with increasing nominal volumetric flow rate. The geometrical parameters of cone angle, spray angle and jet length were measured for varying TEG/Nal solution conductivity. Cone geometry was found to be relatively independent of conductivity in the range tested. Jet length was found to have an inverse relationship with solution conductivity

Integrating willow-based bioenergy and organic dairy production – the role of tree fodder for feed supplementation

Silvopastoral systems that combine livestock and trees offer two main advantages for the animals. First, trees modify microclimatic conditions which can have beneficial effects on pasture growth and animal welfare. Second, trees also provide alternative feed resources during periods of low forage availability. This paper reports on research carried out within the Sustainable Organic and Low Input Dairying (SOLID) project to investigate the multifunctional potential of a novel integrated willow-based bio-energy/organic dairy production system in the UK, especially the role of tree fodder for feed supplementation in organic dairy systems. The nutritional value of two ages (1st and 2nd year re-growth) of short rotation coppiced willow was assessed in two seasons (late spring and late summer) in 2011

A beginner’s guide to evidencing your teaching practice

Katharine and David have won number of awards for excellence in teaching practice, from the Royal Society of Biology (RSB) Higher Education Teacher of the year award to National Teaching Fellowships. They are co-founders of the RSB Bioscience Educator Network, which provides support and mentoring to education-focused colleagues working in UK Bioscience