H�sk�lasetur Vestfjar�a - News

A Conversation: Is Personalized Medicine in Your Future?

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:15:00 +0000

In this week Lunch Lecture Dr. Betty Gallucci will speek about personalized Medicine.
The prospects of personalized medicine became a reality with the sequencing of the human genome. Pharmacogenetics promised to tailor prescribed medications to an individual patient. By knowing the individual's genetic make-up the physician would be able to choose the right medication in the right dosage. By knowing the genetics of a patient's tumor, the right drugs would be chosen to target an individual patient's tumor. But is personalized medicine a naïve notion? Is personalized medicine realistic considering the interconnection between a person's genes, cells, metabolism, environment and community? What is the reality? Should the conversation be about patient-centered medicine?
Dr. Betty Gallucci is the Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the School of Nursing at the University of Washington, Seattle Washington. Her area of interest includes understanding the experience of minority students in the professional nursing program and teaching assessment skills to undergraduate nursing students. Her clinical area of interest focuses on the oncology patient and understanding how tumor biology, immunology and genetics impact cancer therapy.
The Lunch Lecture is held in the University Centre and is open for public. It starts at 12:10 and the talk will be in english.

Local Effects of Small Port Expansion

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:09:00 +0000

Today, Thursday February 2, at 16:00, Liene Tiesnese will present her master's thesis entitled Local effects of small port expansions and consequent changes in port-town relationship. The case of Salacgriva, Latvia. The talk will be in English and is open to the public.

Liene‘s instructor is Dr. Miaojia Liu, Chief Education Officer at BIMCO (Baltic and International Maritime Council) and the external reader is Salvör Jónsdóttir, M.Sc. in Urban and Regional Planning.

Further information on upcoming presentations.

Abstract
The permanent pressure on world's ports to increase their capacity through more efficient and less labor-intensive equipment reduces the positive impact ports used to have in the local settlements. This research is formed as a case study of a small regional port of Latvia, Salacgriva, and the problem looked upon in this study deals with small port-town relationship issues. Through global port development trends and potentials, the role of Salacgriva port is revealed. The main goal of this research is to describe changes that small port expansion would introduce in port-town relationship in the selected case in times when urbanization of port territories and waterfront is globally widespread. The concept of functional beauty is revealed as an opportunity for more successful future port-town integration.

Whale Watching and the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:01:00 +0000

Today, Wednesday February 1, two master's thesis presentations will be conducted at the University Centre. At 14:00. Sara Martin will present her thesis An Assessment of Unregulated Whale Watching Activities on Skjalfandi Bay, Iceland and at 16:00 Vilma Inkeri Kuliala presents her thesis Wilderness and Human Influence in the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve. Both presentations will be in English.

Sara has already given an open talk on her topic this fall at the University Centre. Her advisor is Brad Barr an instructor at the Coastal and Marine Management program and the external reader is Gísli Víkingsson a specialist at the Marine Research Institute of Iceland. Her project focuses on assessing the impact of whale watching activities in Skjálfandi Bay, N-Iceland. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of whale watching on the animals themselves.

Vilma's project examines the appropriateness of the Ib category for Wilderness reserve, for the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve, as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The advisor of the project is Brad Barr and the external reader is Dr. Þorvarður Árnason, manager of the University of Iceland Research Centre at Hornafjörður.

Abstract
The Hornstrandir nature reserve in Westfjords, Iceland is planned to become a Wilderness reserve, an Ib category park as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This study examined the appropriateness of the IUCN category for the reserve, by gathering stakeholder opinions on how much different human impact aspects present on the reserve affect their wilderness experience. The vast majority of the stakeholders considered wilderness experience easily achieved in Hornstrandir, despite the presence of old farmsteads and summer houses. However, concerns were raised over the presence of motorized vehicles, especially low flying aircraft, as well as the growing number of tourists. The introduction of the official IUCN categorization was considered by the stakeholders as an auspicious tool for enforcing control over potentially harmful human influences.

However, the presence of the farmsteads and summerhouses is somewhat in conflict with the category Ib definition. It is recommended that zoning is used, to exclude these most built-in areas from the category assignment. These areas can then be used for the necessary visitor infrastructure, such as campsites and ingress sites for providing instructions for "wilderness-friendly" visiting.

Further information on upcoming presentations at the University Centre can be found here.

Accumulation of Organic Matter in Aquaculture: Challenges and Solutions

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:15:00 +0000

This week sees two master's thesis presentations about green innovation in aquaculture. Today, Tuesday January 30, at 14:00 Dafna Israel will present her master's thesis titled Can Artificial Reefs Reduce the Accumulation of Feeding Remains? This Thursday, February 2, at 13:00, Alex Allison will present his master's thesis titled Organic Accumulation under Salmon Aquaculture Cages in Fossfjörður, Iceland.

In her project, Dafna Israel looks at ways to reduce the accumulation of excess feed discharge from mariculture cages. Such accumulation can cause eutrophication of nutrients at the environment surrounding the cages.

The advisor of the project is is Dr. Dror Angel, lecturer at the Department of Maritime Civilizations, University of Haifa. The external reader of the paper is Theódór Kristjánsson, Phd candidate and project manager at Stofnfiskur hf in Iceland.

Further information on upcoming presentations at the University Centre can be found here.

Can Artificial Reefs Reduce the Accumulation of Feeding Remains?

DAFNA ISRAEL

Abstract

The extensive growth of mariculture has been known to generate negative impact on the environment near mariculture cages. One of such negative impacts is organic enrichment. The magnitude of this impact depends on many factors: the type of fishes being cultivated; their feedings; density in the cages; topography of the site; sea bottom; and direction and strength of the water current.

Suggestions have been made to use artificial reefs as bio filtration for the excess of feeding remains from mariculture netpens. So far, four different localities have used artificial reefs in order to examine their effectiveness in terms of reduced impact from excess feeding remains. Those localities are in Israel, Hong Kong, Chile, and Spain. However, no research has been conducted in higher latitude region, or in a fjord environment.

In this research, two artificial reefs were built and deployed; one bellow mariculture netpen: artificial reef farm (ARF), and one in a control site 241 meters away: artificial reef control (ARC). In order to assess their biofiltration capability, 32 plates, made from the same material as the reefs' tubes, were attached to the reefs. In each sampling dive, that took place every two weeks during the research period, four plates were removed and examined in a laboratory. In addition, wild stock assessment was conducted by the divers.

Our results show that the reefs attracted both invertebrates, sessile and motile, as well as wild fishes. The succession of sessile species appeared from the fourth sampling dive and onwards. During the research, the presence of sessile species increased in number and in size. Motile species were also present in both reefs; their succession was early as they appeared by the first sampling dive. The number of motile species was greater in the farm site. Wild fishes were present only in the farm site, while hydrozoa was present only in the control site and grew extensively on the reef. Overall, biodiversity was greater at the farm site than the control site.

It can be concluded that the organisms found on the reefs, and the wild fish around it, showed the reefs' capability of being used as biofiltration as they succeeded to attract organisms that fed off the feeding surplus from the netpens. However, the full extent of their filtration capability is still to be determined.

Military Heritage Sites: Feasible Tourism Attractions?

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:05:00 +0000

Lauma's advisor is Dr. Marc L. Miller, a professor at the University of Washinton, Seattle and the external reader is Dr. Gavin Lucas, Associate Professor at the University of Iceland.

Lauma will give the lecture in person in room 3. Everyone is welcome.

Further information about the content of the presentation:

Underutilized Military Heritage Sites at the West Coast of Latvia: Feasibility Study for Creating a New Tourism Attraction

LAUMA GULBE

Abstract
During the Soviet period numerous buildings and infrastructure elements were built on the west coast of Latvia solely for border protection and military purposes. Today the original purpose of their existence has outdated, many sites have been completely abandoned, others are currently underutilized. This master's thesis focuses on two military heritage sites there - former Frontier Surveillance Facility in Mazirbe, and former Zenith Missile Brigade at Cirpstene. Local conditions have been studied for both of these sites in order to understand how they can be used as tourism attractions with relatively small investments, or how they can serve as a starting point for planning bigger investments for more significant projects in tourism industry.
Literature review as a part of this thesis focuses on topics such as war; peace; philosophy of tourism; sustainable development; and military heritage tourism. A short introduction to the tourism industry in Latvia is also given, regarding its contribution to the national economy; coastal zone policy issues; and military heritage tourism initiatives.
In order to carry out feasibility studies for the two military heritage sites, three subsequent research methods have been used: Review of applicable legislation and local level land use plans; qualitative interviewing of the key stakeholders; and stakeholder analysis.
During this study, it was found out that there exist legal, social and economic obstacles for realizing the full potential of the two military heritage sites. But there are also opportunities that have not been fully embraced so far.
The study concludes that both sites hold a potential for creating a tourism attraction - only the feasible approaches differ. Thesis outcomes include deeper analysis of findings and well as utilization suggestions for each of the military heritage sites.

Overview of upcoming master's thesis presentations at UW

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:48:00 +0000

These days (January 23 to February 13, 2012) are largely devoted to the first round of master‘s thesis presentations at the Coastal and Marine Management program. Eight students are currently being evaluated for their work on their 45 ECTS master's thesis.

The topics are diverse, and we encourage those who can to attend. Overview of seven scheduled presentations can be found below.

More information about the contents of each presentation will be posted in the coming days.

Date/time	Name and title of thesis	Reader	Advisor
23/1/12 15:00 GMT	Benjamin Dippo Microplastics in the Coastal Environment of West Iceland	Dr. Helgi Jensson	Dr. Jörundur Svavarsson
30/1/12 16.00 GMT	Lauma Gulbe Underutilized Military Heritage Sites at the West Coast of Latvia: Feasibility Study for Creating a New Tourism Attraction	Dr. Gavin Lucas	Dr. Marc L. Miller
31/1/12 14.00 GMT	Dafna Israel Can Artificial Reefs Reduce the Accumulation of Feeding Remains?	Theódór Kristjansson	Dr. Dror Angel
1/2/12 14.00 GMT	Sara Martin An Assessment of Unregulated Whale Watching Activities on Skjálfandi Bay, Iceland.	Gísli Víkingsson, cand. Scient,	Brad Barr, PhD candidate
1/2/12 16.00 GMT	Vilma Inkeri Kulliala Wilderness and Human Influence in the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve	Dr. Þorvarður Árnason,	Brad Barr, PhD candidate
2/2/12 16.00 GMT	Liene Tiesnese Local effects of small port expansion and consequent changes in port-town relationship. The case of Salacgriva, Latvia	Salvör Jónsdóttir	Dr. Miaojia Liu
13/2/12 16.00 GMT	William Davies Applying a Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) to the Westfjords, Iceland: a preliminary assessment	Dr. Patricia Manuel	Dr. Mike Phillips

Lunch Lecture: One perspective to journalism � work in disaster situations

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:43:00 +0000

Journalism in a disaster situation is the subject Sigríður Guðfinna Ásgeirsdóttir is will talk about in this Friday´s Lunch Lecture. The speech is based on her master´s theses in jornalism from the Univeristy of Iceland.
The paper discusses the work of journalists in disaster situations, if there is possible to train journalists for such work, wheather there is understanding of their work in the community and the impact it has on the journalists themselves.
The Lunch Lecture is open for public and starts at 12:10. The talk will be held in Icelandic.

Microplastics in Coastal Environments: a Problem in West-Iceland?

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:25:00 +0000

This Monday, January 23, at 15:00, the first master's thesis presentation of the year will take place in the University Centre.

Benjamin Dippo, a master's student in Coastal and Marine Management, will present and defend his master's thesis "Microplastics in the Coastal Environment of West Iceland". The presentation will be conducted in English. Everyone welcome to attend.

Benjamin's advisor is Dr. Jörundur Svavarsson from the University of Iceland, and his second reader is Dr. Helgi Jensson, senior consultant at the Environmental Agency in Iceland. They will all be present via teleconferencing equipment.

About the project
The wide range of applications and increased uses of plastic materials on a global scale has resulted in these materials being carelessly discarded in all types of environments. Growing accumulations of discarded plastic waste are showing signs of potential human health impacts and sever consequences for worldwide ecosystems. There is a lack of knowledge about the presence of these materials in the Icelandic setting. The objective of this study is to document the types, quantities and distribution of microplastics in relation to a hypothesis that marine debris will travel along ocean currents from the urbanized area around Reykjavik, into more remote locations of Faxaflói and Breiðafjörður Bay. This project is designed to assess if the global trend of highly urbanized areas acting as large contributors to marine plastics in remote regions is evident in the Icelandic setting.

General observations taken while conducting field research are used to develop a greater understanding of how this type of marine debris might affect other aspects of the surrounding environment. The overall objective of this work is to shed light on a coastal marine issue that is receiving global attention, but not being investigated in the Icelandic landscape. The use of a cheap, effective and reliable sampling protocol will hopefully initiate further research and promote the establishment of future long-term monitoring programs for microplastics in the Icelandic environment.

Iceland - all year round

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:16:00 +0000

Icelandic tourism is facing major challenges that involve increasing the number of visitors coming to Iceland outside the traditional summer tourist season and improve profitability of the tourism sector.
In this week's lunch lecture, Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir will go through some reports on the matter and present the main results. She will highlight what is of particular interest to the Westfjords.
The Lunch Lecture is open for public and is held in the University Centre cafeteria. It starts at 12:10 and will be in icelandic.

The EU-Norway mackerel allocation conflict with Iceland and the Faeroe Islands in the light of the Law of the Sea

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:56:00 +0000

Additional Lunch Lecture on Thursday with Peter Ørebech: While dwelling in Ísafjörður for teaching a course on the Law of the Sea at the University Centre of the Westfjords, Peter Ørebech, professor at the Tromsø University-based Norwegian College of Fisheries Sciences will give a talk in an extra- lunch lecture on Thursday, 19.01.2012.

The topic is not less than the mackerel allocation conflict between Iceland and the Faroe Islands on the one hand and Norway and the EU on the other hand.

Peter Ørebech is leading the NFH-research group in value chain analysis, but his research interests include also Fisheries Law, European Union law, law of the sea as well as history of the law. Peter Ørebech knows Ísafjörður mostly through former students who have taken courses in Tromsø, but experiences now teaching in Ísafjörður in an international group.

Thursday, 19.01.2012, 12-13
The lecture is open and will be given in English.