Assessing Arctica islandica as a proxy for Scottish marine climate change

This thesis investigates the potential of the bivalve Arctica islandica (Linnaeus, 1767) from fjordic sites in NW Scotland for reconstructing past marine environmental /climatic variability. Using dendrochronological and sclerochronological techniques, six master chronologies were created which when compared show little common variability between the sites, indicating no common response to regional scale forcing. The chronologies were compared to local and regional scale SST and land based datasets, with no significant, time stable responses to climate found. It is clear the growth/climate response of A. islandica from these sites is complex, potentially due to the shallow nature of the sample sites, direct local drivers such as food availability and, potentially, anthropogenic activity in the region. Geochemical analyses of the shell material were undertaken to examine the timing and magnitude of the radiocarbon bomb-peak and the stable carbon isotope signature of the oceanic Suess Effect. The timing of the radiocarbon bomb-peak in Loch Etive does not appear to match previously published results from other marine locations and are a potentially serious challenge to the assumption that A. islandica GI are always annual features. Results comparing δ¹³C values and the age of the specimen when these values are incorporated into the shell material strongly indicate an ontogenetic control over δ¹³C, meaning the Suess Effect could not be effectively investigated. To take these ontogenetic influences into account it is suggested that any data from the juvenile period of shell life is not used. Analysis of shell biometrics and morphology indicate significant relationships between shell age and height and age and weight, however the errors for these are large (±78 years and ±80 years respectively). These results indicate that despite large errors shell height, as a predictor of age, has the potential to be used for in situ population studies."Funding for the NERC SCUBA diving was undertaken under the NERC grant No: NE/NFSD/2008/02, while radiocarbon dating for the site C7 samples was undertaken as part of grant number 1438.1009. The site C2 radiocarbon analysis was carried out under allocation number 981.0402." -- Acknowledgement

The Rise and Fall of a Collaboration: Reflections on the benefits, challenges and lessons learned from a joint England-China teaching initiative

UK Higher Education Institutions are increasingly working with overseas institutions as a means of increasing numbers of international students. Transnational education (TNE) initiatives can take many forms, from overseas campuses, ‘flying faculty’ delivering teaching overseas, to arrangements giving advanced standing for students from a particular overseas programme to enter higher years of a programme in the UK (e.g. a 3+1 programme). This paper describes a model where ‘flying faculty’ from an English university deliver teaching at an overseas institution as part of years two and three of a student’s degree. The students then study at the English university for the fourth (final) year. This initiative was the first of its kind for the English university and in a discipline area with limited previous experience in international teaching collaborations. This paper reflects on the different stages of the lifecycle of this collaboration from its establishment, its management and delivery, to its eventual termination. The paper identifies some of the benefits and challenges of the initiative and the solutions devised by the programme team