This year's FOSS4G SoTM Oceania conference was a mix of online and physical events scattered all over the continent. In Auckland we were lucky enough to have our own hub which I had the opportunity to join - and I was lucky enough to give a short talk.
After some delay due to COVID-19 and the NZ lock-downs, I am happy to report that my thesis on sediment dynamics in the Firth of Thames was finally published.
I spent the last couple of weeks in Southland as I attended the NZ Coastal Society conference in Invercargill.
As part of the 2019 School of Environment Postgraduate Research Showcase I decided to submit a poster presenting my on-going research.
One of my favorite papers last year was "Aquatic Ecological Assessment" taught by Dr. Kevin Simon. As part of this course I did an analysis using data collected by the Auckland Council from a set of freshwater streams in the Auckland region. The report makes use of several macroinvertebrate biotic indices: macroinvertebrate community index (MCI), semi-quantitative macroinvertebrate community index (SQMCI), taxa richness (TR) and the percentage of Ephemeroptera (mayfly), Plecoptera (stonefly) and Trichoptera (caddisfly) (%EPT). I used R to perform all the calculations and to generate all the graphs and plots included in the analysis.
Someone (no idea who!) nominated my mate Sean and I for a "Love your place" award. We were nominated under the category of "Kahikatea" for our work with the NZ dotterel at Piha. According to Ecomatters, the organisers of the event, the Kahikate award is given to an outstanding individual volunteer taking action on a local environmental issue.