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Research School for Socio-Economic and
Natural Sciences of the Environment |
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Newsletter October 2017
03 October 2017 |
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Dutch climate experts join forces ›› |
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A better global environment through globalisation ›› |
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Finally political attention for heat stress ›› |
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Hydropower has potential to provide half of global electricity needs ›› |
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Jetske Vaas: On hurrican Irma and not being the Red Cross ›› |
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Overview of PhD graduations upcoming period ›› |
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MOOC: Citizens co-creating sustainable cities, 10 October - 5 December ›› |
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Stable isotope applications in microbiology and environmental studies, 11-14 December ›› |
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Overview of PhD / postdoc courses October-December ›› |
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Overview of recently announced PhD / postdoc courses ›› |
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SENSE Alumni Meet-up, 4 October ›› |
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Overview of upcoming events ›› |
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Vacancies at SENSE Partners ›› |
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Other vacancies in the SENSE field ›› |
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| SENSE News |
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| Dutch climate experts join forces |
Fourteen Dutch knowledge organisations, including SENSE partners Utrecht University and the University of Twente, have joined forces to provide government bodies and companies in the Netherlands and abroad with better policy advice on adapting to the enormous challenges posed by climate change.
On 31 August, they signed agreements to establish the Netherlands Consortium on Climate Change Adaptation (CCCA). The consortium will integrate knowledge and expertise from various sectors and disciplines. This will allow them to respond more effectively to the complex policy questions raised by rapid warming and in the context of global sustainable development goals.
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| A better global environment through globalisation |
 Globalisation has mostly negative connotations with market forces and free trade as the driver of the economy and with major influence over policy and culture. But as Prof. Simon Bush, professor of Environmental Policy, contends in his inaugural address to Wageningen University & Research on 7 September, globalisation can also have a positive impact on the environment. |
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| Finally political attention for heat stress |
| Heat stress is a prominent topic which, according to the Cabinet, deserves serious attention in the decades to come. The State Opening of the Dutch Parliament (Prinsjesdag) will see the publication of the Delta Plan for Spatial Adaptation, a plan that details measures for containing the damage caused by water, heat stress, drought and flooding because of climate change. In a recent letter to the Dutch House of Representatives on the subject, State Secretary for Infrastructure & the Environment Sharon Dijksma refers to work carried out by ESG, including the Climate Effect Atlas, the Impact project in Zeeland, the UrbanClimAd app, the REALCOOL project and the development of an intricate weather forecast model that will eventually be able to predict heat right down to street level. |
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| Hydropower has potential to provide half of global electricity needs |
| According to scientists at Utrecht University, hydropower could provide enough electricity to supply almost half of the world, but this was not widely known up to now as only limited information about the potential was available. The researchers published their findings in the scientific journal Nature Energy on 18 September. |
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| SENSE PhD blog |
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| Jetske Vaas: On hurrican Irma and not being the Red Cross |
 Hurricanes turn everything on its head; metaphorically, but also painfully literally. My fieldwork area, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba, was hit by Irma in the night of Tuesday 5th to Wednesday 6th of September, and images of upside-down cars and torn down houses flooded the media.
I sit at my desk writing this blog, transfering a donation to the Red Cross, liking a concert organised to raise money for St. Maarten on Facebook and wondering how my research, knowledge and contacts could be of help in this situation. Could we for example contribute to nature restoration while testing ways to keep Coralita from taking over disturbed sites? Maybe patching up some fences while we’re at it? Because although I am not the Red Cross, currently all help is needed – also that of scientists. |
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| Upcoming PhD Graduations |
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| Overview of PhD graduations upcoming period |
- Abdulai Salifu
Fluoride removal from groundwater by adsorption technology: The occurrence, adsorbent synthesis, regeneration and disposal
4 October 2017, IHE Delft, River Basin Development
- Pradeep Narrain
Low head hydropower for local energy solutions
9 October 2017, UNESCO-IHE, River Basin Development
- Justine van Eenennaam
Marine snow formation during oil spills: additional ecotoxicological consequences for the benthic ecosystem
10 October 2017, Wageningen University, Environmental Technology
- Yujie He
Removal of pharmaceutical active compounds in constructed wetlands: mechanisms and application
10 October 2017, Wageningen University, Environmental Technology
- Abebe Chukalla
Green, blue, and grey water footprint reduction in irrigated agriculture
12 October 2017, University of Twente, Water Management Group
- Matteo Mattmann
Testing choice theory using discrete choice experiments in Swiss energy policy
17 October 2017, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Environmental Economics
- Elias Nyandwi
Understanding wetlands reclamation and soil-transmitted helminths and schistosomiasis incidence patterns in Rwanda (2001-2012)
19 October 2017, University of Twente, Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Geo-information Management
- Oscar Widerberg
Exploring structure, performance and coordination in a fragmented global climate governance system
25 October 2017, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Environmental Policy Analysis
- Muh Taufik
Hydrological drought and wildfire in the humid tropics
31 October 2017, Wageningen University, Hydrology and Quantitative Water Management
- Joeri Naus
The Social Dynamics of Smart Grids: on Households, Information flows & Sustainable energy transitions
1 November 2017, Wageningen University, Environmental Policy
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| Upcoming Courses |
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| MOOC: Citizens co-creating sustainable cities, 10 October - 5 December |
 Around the world, major challenges of our time such as population growth and climate change are being addressed in cities. Here, citizens play an important role amidst governments, companies, NGOs and researchers in creating social, technological and political innovations for achieving sustainability.
This MOOC will teach you about the dynamics of co-creation and the key principles of citizens interacting with service providing companies, technology and infrastructure developers, policy makers and researchers. You will gain an understanding of major types of co-creation and their interdependency with their socio-technical and political contexts. You will become equipped to indicate how you can use co-creation to develop innovative technologies, policy arrangements or social practices for a sustainable city in your own community. You will demonstrate this by developing an action plan, research proposal or project idea. |
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| Stable isotope applications in microbiology and environmental studies, 11-14 December |
| Stable isotope concepts currently are being used for the investigation of microbial processes in natural and contaminated environments. Stable isotope fractionation allows characterizing microbial reactions in laboratory studies as well as in the environment, e.g. for the investigation of the fate of groundwater contaminants. Stable isotope tracer concepts furthermore provide insight in microbial networks and interactions and degradation pathways in e.g. bioreactors and gut microbiomes. This four day course intends to provide an overview of current stable isotope applications and concepts in form of lectures, case studies and exercises and laboratory visits. |
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| Overview of PhD / postdoc courses October-December |
- R and Big Data
5-6 October 2017, Wageningen
- MOOC: Citizens co-creating sustainable cities
10 October - 5 December 2017
Global Environmental Governance Today – Actors, Institutions, Complexity (NEW)
16-20 October 2017, Sweden
- Multivariate Analysis
17-26 October 2017, Wageningen
- Bioeconomy - an Introduction
18-19 October 2017, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- Delft Software Days
23 October - 3 November 2017
- Introduction to R for statistical analysis
23-24 October 2017, Wageningen
- Risk Assessment
23-27 October 2017, Wageningen
- Bayesian Statistics
25-26 October 2017, Wageningen
- PCDI course Employability Outside Academia
27 October, 24 November and 5 January (all Fridays), Utrecht
- Advanced Short Course on "Where there is little data: how to estimate design variables in poorly gauged basins"
30 October - 10 November 2017, Delft
- SENSE Writing Week
30 October - 3 November 2017, Ommen
- Speciation and Bioavailability of Metals, Organics and Nanoparticles
6-10 November 2017, Belgium
- Which regulation do we need for bioaccumulation and toxicity assessment? (NEW)
8 November 2017, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- Linking Community and Ecosystem Dynamics
12-17 November 2017, Schiermonnikoog
- Introduction to Time Series Analysis (NEW)
14-17 November 2017, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- Generalized Linear Models for Evolutionary Ecologists (NEW)
20-24 November 2017, France
- Processes in Soil - fluid flow, solute transport and matter turnover (NEW)
27-29 November 2017, UFZ Leipzig, Germany
- Molecular Methods in Ecology and Evolution (NEW)
27 November 2017 - 27 January 2018, Groningen
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| Overview of recently announced PhD / postdoc courses |
- Advanced Qualitative Research Design and Data Collection
8 January - 16 February 2018, Wageningen
- Practical Bioinformatics for Biologists
8 January - 3 February 2018, Groningen
- Introduction to Zero Inflated Models with R - Frequentist and Bayesian approaches
29 January - 2 February 2018, Wageningen
- Academic Publication and Presentation in the Social Sciences
19 February - 16 March 2018, Wageningen
- Institutions and Societal Transformation
20 February - 13 March 2018, Wageningen
- Social orders, Institutions and Long-Term Economic Development
23 February - 16 March 2018, Wageningen
- Mathematical Models in Ecology and Evolution
19 March - 30 June 2018, Groningen
- NCAS Atmospheric Measurement Summer School
14-25 May 2018, Scotland, UK
In case you are interested in either participating or teaching a course that is currently not in the programme, please do not hesitate and contact SENSE education coordinator Monique Gulickx (monique.gulickx@wur.nl). |
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| Upcoming Events |
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| SENSE Alumni Meet-up, 4 October |
| On the 4th of October, 2017, recent and future SENSE PhD graduates are coming together to do some professional networking and exchange experiences. The event is co-hosted with the P-NUT PhD day on "Professional Career Development", with inspiring talks and free workshops on personal branding, finding a job in the industry, starting your own business, working out your internet presence and more. Lunch, dinner and pubquiz are included. To participate, register at https://www.utwente.nl/p-nut/Events/PhD_day/ (write SENSE in the field "what is the name of your organization") and send an e-mail to e.pavlidou@utwente.nl. |
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| Overview of upcoming events |
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- Dag van de Omgevingswet 2017
5 October 2017, Utrecht
- Utrecht Sustainability Lecture Benjamin Sovacool: "Theorizing theories: Agency, structure, and meaning in sociotechnical transitions"
12 October 2017, Utrecht
- 7th Annual European Biomass to Power Conference
8-9 November 2017, Denmark
- Current Themes in Ecology 2017 "Innovation in Conservation: Fundamental science as a basis for sustainable conservation"
29 November 2017, Lunteren
- Conference Imagining a Different Future: Overcoming Barriers to Climate Justice
8-9 February 2017, Australia
- Cities and Climate Change Science Conference
5-7 March 2018, Canada
- International Energy Policy & Programme Evaluation Conference
25-27 June 2018, Austria, CALL FOR ABSTRACTS, application deadline 15 October
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| Full list of interesting upcoming events: |
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| Job vacancies |
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| Vacancies at SENSE Partners |
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| Other vacancies in the SENSE field |
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| More vacancies |
| During the month new vacancies are regularly posted on the SENSE vacancy page. |
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