Integrated Project Teams: The MoD's New Hot Potato?

Since the announcement of Smart Procurement, much has been written on the potential benefits that IPTs will hopefully bring. It is supposed that they will improve the interface with industry, create a better understanding of requirements and establish an environment where industry is motivated to perform and so reduce cost, risk and time into service while improving product quality. The formation of a team should provide continuity, consistency, flexibility and ~ increased performance due to the integration of a wide-range of functional activities and decision-making, as well as increased motivation. These may well be gallant objectives, but how achievable are they? What obstacles does the MoD face in the implementation of the IPTs? Have they grasped a 'hot potato'

Eelgrass Habitat Creation in Nantucket Harbor, Massachusetts

In response to eelgrass habitat losses associated with development and marine activities in and around Nantucket Harbor, a plan to restore a meadow by transplanting eelgrass to previously vegetated areas was developed in conjunction with the Nantucket Land Council. Over 6,000 eelgrass shoots were sustainably harvested from an extensive bed within the Harbor that was located just west of First Point and near the inlet to Nantucket Sound. Four weeks following collection, impacts from our collection were shown by a 24% decline in shoot density, but live eelgrass cover did not decline significantly. After 12 weeks, no effects of collecting could be measured at the donor site for shoot density or cover. Plants had difficulty establishing within the restoration area due in part to extensive phytoplankton and macroalgal blooms that dramatically shaded the transplants for the initial three months following transplanting. After the first growing season, few of the 6,000 plants had survived, but those plants that survived became well established and grew through the second growing season in 2011. The significance of the macroalgae was documented through estimates of percentage cover, whereas light measurements showed the decline in water clarity from phytoplankton blooms to less than 10% ambient. Combined with our planting and monitoring results, our observations suggest that reestablishment of eelgrass beds in Nantucket Harbor is not limited by the distribution of seedlings, but by shading from phytoplankton and macroalgal blooms that resulted in levels of light too low to support eelgrass establishment during the summer months in 2010

Wetlands Evaluation for Philbrick\u27s Pond Marsh Drainage Evaluation North Hampton, NH

Philbrick’s Pond is a lagoon type estuary that formed landward of barrier beach spits in North Hampton, NH. Its inlet was stabilized and restricted by the road that is now Route 1A or Ocean Boulevard. Water flow from the Gulf of Maine passes through a culvert running under Route 1A and into a small waterway and is further restricted as it runs through a clay pipe under an old trolley berm. The lagoon is characterized as a 29 acre tidal marsh. The goal of the overall project is to evaluate the condition and hydrology of the two restrictions recognizing the conflicting needs for improved drainage from upstream flooding and limiting tidal flooding associated with extreme (i.e., storm surge) and normal flooding events due to sea level rise. The tidal marsh itself is a resource held in the public trust and therefore should be protected from any negative impacts associated with current conditions or predicted impacts due to future alternatives that may be chosen by the Town and its residents. Ditching of the marsh in the mid twentieth century rerouted drainage paths (e.g., Chapel Brook) and has resulted in large areas of vegetation loss between ditches in the past 60 years, as first reported by Short in 1984. The objectives of this report on the tidal marsh are threefold: 1) to evaluate the health of the tidal marsh by comparing existing and new data in Philbrick’s Pond with conditions found in the Little River tidal marsh just to the south; 2) characterize the relative benefits to the tidal marsh for the hydraulic alternatives evaluated by the hydrologic modeling; and 3) recommend management actions to restore marsh health using small scale drainage improvements (also known as runneling)

The Economic Casualties of Retiring Because of Unemployment

This research reports on one aspect of a multimethod study which investigated the effect of involuntary retirement on retirement income. Using the Survey on Ageing and Independence 1991, a secondary data analysis was carried out which examined the economic effects of retiring because of unemployment. This analysis was followed by interviews with 33 men and women whose retirement was induced by unemployment. In the secondary analysis, when the respondents who retired for reasons of unemployment were compared to those who retired for other reasons, there was little doubt that the unemployment retirees were disadvantaged on human capital variables, in terms of their work history, and ultimately, in their retirement income, whether personal or household. Returning to work part-time after retirement did not appear to raise their incomes which were lower than the incomes of those who retired for other reasons. Furthermore, they were more likely to receive government transfer payments such as disability benefits or social assistance. When the factors that significantly contributed to their income in retirement were considered they were a function of personal wealth such as investments and a private pension. The public pension system did not have a significant influence on their retirement income. In the convenience sample, all respondents reported that unemployment lead to a drop in retirement income. For those most severely hit by unemployment, the transition period was extremely stressful with people reporting high levels of anger, depression, and sadness and constant worry about their straitened circumstances. People coped with their drop in income by changing their lifestyle, giving up valued assets like their homes and dipping into their savings and RRSPs. These strategies, in turn, depleted their resources for retirement and caused considerable consternation about what they saw as an uncontrollable and unforeseeable future. People also relied heavily on social assistance and disability benefits to survive until the age where they were eligible to draw down their retirement benefits. When they had to draw down their retirement pensions earlier than expected, they were frustrated because they had to accept lower pensions, a feeling that was compounded when they discovered that, if they were lucky enough to secure part-time work, this resulted in further reductions in their pensions. The incongruity of government retirement policy threats of cutbacks to pensions or raising the age of retirement -- did not escape most retirees in our sample and served to create more uncertainty and stress for an already economically distressed group of Canadians.retirement income; SAI; unemployment