Confrontation on Sandy Neck: Public Road Access Rights, Endangered Species Protections, and Municipal Liability

Sandy Neck’s barrier beach in Barnstable, Massachusetts provides critical habitats for piping plovers and other threatened species listed by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA). To protect the species, the Town must regulate vehicle access to the beach and the nearby cottages. The cottage owners assert that the regulations amount to a regulatory taking of their access rights to the cottages. This Note proposes alternatives for the Town to protect the threatened species, without working a taking of the cottage owners’ access rights, recommending that the Town apply for an incidental take permit under ESA, eliminate restrictions on guest access, and hire additional pilots to guide cottage owners around piping plovers on the trails leading to the cottages

A statistical analysis of the auroral boundaries; their response to geomagnetic dynamics and their use in auroral forecast verification

The aurora and associated current systems are hazardous to space and ground-based infrastructure. In this thesis, the auroral boundaries determined from satellite images have been used to evaluate the performance of an operational auroral forecast model and explore the location and dynamics of the auroral boundaries in the context of the wider magnetosphere. The performance of the OVATION-Prime 2013 auroral forecast model is compared against the observed auroral boundaries. The analysis shows that the model performs well at predicting the location of the auroral oval, however the performance is reduced during periods of higher geomagnetic activity and in the high latitude nightside auroral oval. The model also underpredicts the probabilities of aurora occurring. The results of this analysis provide a benchmark against which future generations of auroral forecast models can be assessed. The lower model performance in the high latitude nightside sectors is likely due to substorm activity and so the statistical motion of the poleward auroral boundary and open-closed field line boundary (OCB) during substorms is analysed. The results show that the OCB does not contract uniformly after substorm onset. In sectors closest to the onset sector, the OCB contracts immediately while in sectors further from onset the OCB contracts later, distorting the shape of the OCB. However, the total nightside flux content of the polar cap decreases immediately at onset, in contrast to recent studies. Finally, the alignment between the equatorward auroral boundary and the plasmapause is explored. The statistical locations of the equatorward auroral boundary and the ionospheric projection of the plasmapause are compared. The two boundaries are found to be statistically offset in all sectors by 4 – 11°, suggesting that the equatorward auroral boundary does not map to the plasmapause. However, the separation between the two boundaries decreases with increasing levels of geomagnetic activity

Beyond the Illustration of Research Data: Using professionally facilitated image making techniques to enable participants to describe, enhance and extend data originally captured using traditional text-based methods of research

Using professionally facilitatedimage making techniques to enable participants to describe, enhance and extend data originally captured using traditional text-based methods of research. The Growing Up with Cancer project design • Young people’s experiences of dealing with cancer, its treatment and long terms consequences at the same time as they are growing up • 19 young people aged 16‐29 years who were diagnosed with cancer between the ages of 11‐22 years • Interviewed about their experiences of growing up with cancer • Created self‐portraits about their experiences of growing up with cancer • Interviewed after completed self‐portrait The benefits of a creative process for a research project • Different to a ‘hit and run’ single interview • Process provided an extended opportunity –and for some, multiple opportunities –to reflect on their experiences • Created different way to think about self and experience • Young people decided what they wanted to represent and how –not all the portraits are simply about cancer • Creative process more than a catalyst for a subsequent interview • Self‐portraits engage research audiences in different way to traditional research output

Economics of the Variable Rate Technology Investment Decision for Agricultural Sprayers

Producers lack information about the profitability of variable rate technology (VRT) for agricultural sprayers. An economic framework was developed to evaluate the returns required to pay for VRT investments. Payback variables included input savings, yield gains, and reduced application costs. We illustrate the framework with two example investment scenarios.capital budgeting, decision aid, farm management, precision agriculture, map-based, sensor-based, site-specific management, variable rate technology, Farm Management, Q10, Q16,

Model based methodology development for energy recovery in ash heat exchange systems

Flash tank evaporation combined with a condensing heat exchanger can be used when heat exchange is required between two streams and where at least one of these streams is difficult to handle (in terms of solid particles content, viscosity, pH, consistency etc.). To increase the efficiency of heat exchange, a cascade of these units in series can be used. Heat transfer relationships in such a cascade are very complex due to their interconnectivity, thus the impact of any changes proposed is difficult to predict. In this report, a mathematical model of a single unit ash tank evaporator combined with a condensing heat exchanger unit is proposed. This model is then developed for a chain of the units. The purpose of this model is to allow an accurate evaluation of the effect and result of an alteration to the system. The resulting model is applied to the RUSAL Aughinish Alumina digester area

Students as producers and active partners in enhancing equality and diversity: ‘culturosity’ at Canterbury Christ Church University

Equality and diversity of truths, of opportunity, of outcome, of dignity and of identities lie at the heart of the idea of university (Wolff, 1992, p. 68). However, despite the fact that the UK ‘has well-established equality law and practice’ and the Equality Act 2010 requires universities to implement changes that protect their students and employees from various forms and effects of discrimination, ‘inequality remains, albeit often in more complex and subtle forms than have been understood before’, argues David Ruebain (2012, p. 3). This study contributes to the discussion about equality and diversity practices in the university context by proposing strategies to embed into students’ learning community equality and diversity and subsequent graduate attributes. The case study is the Culturosity Project: an equality and diversity training initiative co-created by Dr Kasia Lech and a group of final-year students and graduates from Drama and Performing Arts programmes and delivered – as a Canterbury Christ Church University Partners in Learning project – to L4 and foundation-year students. The project was first delivered in 2015 and has now become part of student induction at the CCCU Faculty of Arts and Humanities