SYDNEY (Reuters) ? Three Australian environmental activists were detained on board a Japanese whaling ship on Sunday after boarding in protest at Japan's annual whale cull in the Antarctic, anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said.
The three activists from Forest Rescue, an Australian group specializing in direct action to prevent logging, boarded the ship early on Sunday with assistance from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Sea Shepherd said in a statement.
U.S.-based Sea Shepherd is tailing Japan's whaling fleet as it heads towards the Southern Ocean to try to prevent the cull.
The statement described the activists as "prisoners now detained on a Japanese whaler."
Speaking while en route to the Antarctic, Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson told Reuters by satellite phone that the activists were still on board the Shonan Maru 2. He said the Japanese vessel had been sent to disrupt Sea Shepherd's longstanding campaign to stop the cull.
There had been no contact from the Japanese and the activists' radios appeared to have been seized, Watson said from aboard the Steve Irwin, one of two ships heading south with the aim of preventing the hunt from taking place.
"The Shonan Maru won't talk to us. They don't respond to our radio calls," Watson said. "They are chasing us."
A New Zealand-based spokesman for Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research, which coordinates the annual hunt, confirmed the three men were on the Japanese boat and uninjured. He did not rule out that they might be taken to Japan.
"The three men are on board," spokesman Glenn Inwood told Reuters. "They are being questioned now and they remain on the vessel."
The Japanese boat, he said, was 40 km (24.9 miles) off the Australian coast when the trio boarded it.
Forest Rescue spokesman Michael Montgomery had earlier said the action was to protest at inaction by the Australian government to stop the hunt and to demand the departure of the whalers from Australian waters.
"We don't need to kill these beautiful creatures any more," he told Reuters.
Sea Shepherd said the three activists came in a boat from Australia's western coast and approached the Shonan Maru 2 in the dark, with assistance from two Sea Shepherd boats.
"The three negotiated their way past the razor wire and spikes and over the rails of the Japanese whaling vessel," the statement said. "They are being held in Australian territorial waters by an invading Japanese vessel containing armed Japanese military personnel."
They carried with them a message reading: "Return us to shore in Australia and then remove yourself from our waters."
Whaling was banned under a 1986 moratorium, but Japan continues to hunt hundreds of whales annually under a loophole that allows whaling for "scientific" purposes.
Even though we're pretty damn sure we know what Nokia's gonna announce—and AT&T and Microsoft have officially confirmed it's officially an LTE Windows Phone—we're still pretty excited. Live coverage starts now. [Giz Live] More »
ARENAS - Dennis Manuel Arenas, a former resident of Farmington, NM recently went home to be with his Savior Yeshua/Jesus, on Friday, January 6, 2012. He is survived by his loving wife, Patricia Arenas; two sisters, Theresa Padilla and husband Jerome and Margaret Keller and husband Glen; two brothers, Patrick Arenas and wife Nona and Bill Arenas and wife Sally. He was blessed with six beautiful children from a previous marriage with Leona Krivokapich: Theresa, Damian, Katrina, Dennis Jr. and wife, Laura, Rachel, and Kristin and husband, David; 17 wonderful grandchildren; and many more family members and friends. Dennis was preceded in death by his mother, Maria De la Cruz Haws; father, Paul Rudy Arenas; and two grandchildren, Austin Paul Leon Arenas and Eric Rae Arenas. His last five years he came to know his savior Yeshua the Messiah. He was a leader in the Ha Derek Ministry that brought the gospel to the four corners area. He loved this ministry and one of his last wishes was that it would continue. In lieu of flowers, make your donations to: Ha Derek Ministry, 2621 Cagua Dr. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110. Memorial Services will be held Tuesday, January 10, 2012, at 5:00 p.m. at the Olive Tree Fellowship, 2621 Cagua Dr. NE. Graveside services will be held Wednesday, January 11, 2012, 11:15 a.m., at Santa Fe National Cemetery.
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The real India story: PM calls malnutrition a shame read.ht/H4r #ManmohanSingh #malnutrition #htIl y a environ 3 heuresvia TweetDeckRetweeted by 5 people
PORTLAND, Maine ? The New England Board of Higher Education is honoring a Maine program that targets high school students who are undecided about higher education but who have the potential to succeed in college.
The board says Early College for ME will be awarded its Maine State Merit Award at the 10th annual New England Higher Education Excellence Awards on March 2 in Boston.
Early College for ME serves more than 1,700 high school students a year, providing support and guidance throughout the college planning process.
Students also get to take up to two community college courses during their senior year, and scholarships of up to $2,000 to the community colleges.
European mountain vegetation shows effects of warmer climatePublic release date: 8-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ottar Michelsen ottar.michelsen@ntnu.no 47-735-98719 Norwegian University of Science and Technology
The decade from 2000 to 2009 was the warmest since global climate has been measured, and while localized studies have shown evidence of changes in mountain plant communities that reflect this warming trend, no study has yet taken a continental-scale view of the situation until now.
With the publication of "Continent-wide response of mountain vegetation to climate change," scheduled for Advance Online Publication (AOP) in Nature Climate Change on 8 January, researchers from 13 countries report clear and statistically significant evidence of a continent-wide warming effect on mountain plant communities.
The findings are "clearly significant," says Ottar Michelsen, a researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and one of the article's co-authors. "You can find studies that have shown an effect locally, and where researchers try to say something more globally, but in this case, when you have so many mountains in so many regions and can show an effect, that's a big thing."
The article describes the results of a comprehensive effort to measure plant community changes in the mountains over the whole of Europe, with nearly a decade of time between the sampling efforts. Researchers looked at 60 summit sites and 867 vegetation samples from 17 mountain areas across Europe in 2001 and then revisited the mountain sample sites in 2008. In Norway, researchers studied mountain plots in the Dovre region of central Norway.
By comparing the vegetation found in the sample plots in 2001 and 2008, the researchers were able to see a clear shift in the species in the plots towards species that preferred warmer temperatures.
More specifically, the researchers assigned what they called an altitudinal rank to all 764 plant species included in the study. The rank reflects the temperature at which each species has its optimum performance. And because altitude and temperature are directly correlated in each mountain area (the higher your altitude in the mountains, in general, the colder it will be) the location on the mountain where a plant is found reflects its response to the actual temperature at that location.
By summing the altitudinal ranks for the species in the plots, the researchers then used a mathematical formula to give each plot a "thermic vegetation indicator". The indicator was calculated for each plot for 2001 and 2008, and the change in the indicator over the 7 years between sample periods showed researchers whether the mix of plants in each plot had stayed the same or shifted on average to plant types that preferred either colder or warmer temperatures. They then combined the data for the 17 mountain areas for the two time periods to get a continental-scale view of what kind of change, if any, might be underway.
"The transformation of plant communities on a continental scale within less than a decade can be considered a rapid ecosystem response to ongoing climate warming," the researchers wrote. "Although the signal is not statistically significant for single mountain regions, it is clearly significant when data throughout Europe are pooled."
The finding is significant both because the shift in plant communities could be clearly detected over time, but also because it suggests that plants adapted to colder temperatures that are now found in alpine plant communities will be subject to more competition, which "may lead to declines or even local disappearance of alpine plant species," the researchers note. "In fact, declines of extreme high-altitude species at their lower range margins have recently been observed in the Alps."
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
European mountain vegetation shows effects of warmer climatePublic release date: 8-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ottar Michelsen ottar.michelsen@ntnu.no 47-735-98719 Norwegian University of Science and Technology
The decade from 2000 to 2009 was the warmest since global climate has been measured, and while localized studies have shown evidence of changes in mountain plant communities that reflect this warming trend, no study has yet taken a continental-scale view of the situation until now.
With the publication of "Continent-wide response of mountain vegetation to climate change," scheduled for Advance Online Publication (AOP) in Nature Climate Change on 8 January, researchers from 13 countries report clear and statistically significant evidence of a continent-wide warming effect on mountain plant communities.
The findings are "clearly significant," says Ottar Michelsen, a researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and one of the article's co-authors. "You can find studies that have shown an effect locally, and where researchers try to say something more globally, but in this case, when you have so many mountains in so many regions and can show an effect, that's a big thing."
The article describes the results of a comprehensive effort to measure plant community changes in the mountains over the whole of Europe, with nearly a decade of time between the sampling efforts. Researchers looked at 60 summit sites and 867 vegetation samples from 17 mountain areas across Europe in 2001 and then revisited the mountain sample sites in 2008. In Norway, researchers studied mountain plots in the Dovre region of central Norway.
By comparing the vegetation found in the sample plots in 2001 and 2008, the researchers were able to see a clear shift in the species in the plots towards species that preferred warmer temperatures.
More specifically, the researchers assigned what they called an altitudinal rank to all 764 plant species included in the study. The rank reflects the temperature at which each species has its optimum performance. And because altitude and temperature are directly correlated in each mountain area (the higher your altitude in the mountains, in general, the colder it will be) the location on the mountain where a plant is found reflects its response to the actual temperature at that location.
By summing the altitudinal ranks for the species in the plots, the researchers then used a mathematical formula to give each plot a "thermic vegetation indicator". The indicator was calculated for each plot for 2001 and 2008, and the change in the indicator over the 7 years between sample periods showed researchers whether the mix of plants in each plot had stayed the same or shifted on average to plant types that preferred either colder or warmer temperatures. They then combined the data for the 17 mountain areas for the two time periods to get a continental-scale view of what kind of change, if any, might be underway.
"The transformation of plant communities on a continental scale within less than a decade can be considered a rapid ecosystem response to ongoing climate warming," the researchers wrote. "Although the signal is not statistically significant for single mountain regions, it is clearly significant when data throughout Europe are pooled."
The finding is significant both because the shift in plant communities could be clearly detected over time, but also because it suggests that plants adapted to colder temperatures that are now found in alpine plant communities will be subject to more competition, which "may lead to declines or even local disappearance of alpine plant species," the researchers note. "In fact, declines of extreme high-altitude species at their lower range margins have recently been observed in the Alps."
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Utah biologist wins 2011 AAAS Public Engagement with Science AwardPublic release date: 8-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lee Siegel lee.siegel@utah.edu 801-581-8993 University of Utah
Nalini Nadkarni honored by world's largest general science group
Jan. 9, 2012 University of Utah biology Professor Nalini Nadkarni is being honored by the world's largest general science society the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) with the group's 2011 Public Engagement with Science Award. The AAAS has issued the news release below:
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has named Nalini M. Nadkarni as the recipient of the 2011 AAAS Public Engagement With Science Award, recognizing "her unique, persistent and innovative public engagement activities that have served to raise awareness of environmental and conservation issues with a broad and exceedingly diverse audience."
Those nominating Nadkarni for the award included the AAAS Committee on Science and Technology Engagement with the Public as well as Peter Raven, a renowned naturalist, past AAAS president and president emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Nadkarni a professor in the Department of Biology and director of the Center for Science and Math Education at the University of Utah has helped to build bridges between science and society, and between humans and nature, Raven said. "Few people in the world can boast both the scientific pedigree and the innovative science outreach work of Nalini Nadkarni," Raven wrote in a letter of support. "Her combination of creativity and enthusiasm brings scientific information to public audiences who have little or no access to science education."
In particular, said Shirley Malcom, director of education and human resources at AAAS, Nadkarni's outreach efforts "have brought an awareness of environmental issues to people in settings ranging from prisons and churches, to boardrooms, bookstores, legislatures and rap music stores."
Nadkarni established the successful Sustainable Prisons Project, while working for the Evergreen State College, to bring science and scientists to incarcerated men and women in state prison. With funding from the Washington State Department of Corrections, Malcom explained, Nadkarni and her team promote sustainable strategies such as recycling, organic gardening, composting and beekeeping. The program also encompasses education in the form of science lectures and green-collar job training, and conservation efforts such as restoration projects. She engaged inmates as partners in the scientific and conservation process, and ensures that results are disseminated widely to other prisons around the nation.
Another initiative by Nadkarni, supported by a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2001, resulted in the creation of Tree-Top Barbie as a strategy for teaching girls about the possibilities of careers in science. Her latest project, the Research Ambassadors Program, funded by the National Science Foundation, helps researchers transform their view of public outreach by overcoming barriers to public engagement. She also is the founder of the International Canopy Network, a nonprofit organization established to help foster communication among researchers, educators and conservationists.
Her many honors have included the Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship, the University of Miami's Distinguished Visiting Professor Award, the J. Sterling Morton Award from the National Arbor Day Foundation, and the Grace Hopper Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the 2010 Public Service Award from the National Science Board.
Nadkarni has raised awareness of forest science and conservation through mainstream environmental media. She has written for popular audiences, served on newspaper boards and offered interviews on National Public Radio as well as for TED lectures. Further, she has collaborated on children's books, winning the Outstanding Science Trade Book by the National Science Teacher Association for her acclaimed 2008 book, "Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees."
Nadkarni earned her bachelor's degree with honors from the University of British Columbia and her Ph.D. degree from the University of Washington in Seattle. She has published more than 90 scientific articles and two scholarly books. She has been the principal investigator on more than 30 research grants from the NSF, the National Geographic Society and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. In the 1980s, she was one of a small group of ecologists who pioneered the emerging field of forest canopy studies. Her work documented the critical roles that canopy-dwelling organisms play in whole-forest ecology. Her studies show that treetop communities are vulnerable to human disturbances such as forest fragmentation and global climate change.
The AAAS Award for Public Engagement with Science, established in 1987, recognizes scientists and engineers who make outstanding contributions to the "popularization of science." The award conveys a monetary prize of $5,000, a commemorative plaque, complimentary registration and travel to the AAAS Annual Meeting. The award will be presented at the 178th AAAS Annual Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which will take place Feb. 16-20, 2012.
###
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org) as well as Science Translational Medicine and Science Signaling. AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1 million.
For more information on AAAS awards, see www.aaas.org/aboutaaas/awards/.
University of Utah Public Relations
201 Presidents Circle, Room 308
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-9017
(801) 581-6773 fax: (801) 585-3350
www.unews.utah.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Utah biologist wins 2011 AAAS Public Engagement with Science AwardPublic release date: 8-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lee Siegel lee.siegel@utah.edu 801-581-8993 University of Utah
Nalini Nadkarni honored by world's largest general science group
Jan. 9, 2012 University of Utah biology Professor Nalini Nadkarni is being honored by the world's largest general science society the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) with the group's 2011 Public Engagement with Science Award. The AAAS has issued the news release below:
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has named Nalini M. Nadkarni as the recipient of the 2011 AAAS Public Engagement With Science Award, recognizing "her unique, persistent and innovative public engagement activities that have served to raise awareness of environmental and conservation issues with a broad and exceedingly diverse audience."
Those nominating Nadkarni for the award included the AAAS Committee on Science and Technology Engagement with the Public as well as Peter Raven, a renowned naturalist, past AAAS president and president emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Nadkarni a professor in the Department of Biology and director of the Center for Science and Math Education at the University of Utah has helped to build bridges between science and society, and between humans and nature, Raven said. "Few people in the world can boast both the scientific pedigree and the innovative science outreach work of Nalini Nadkarni," Raven wrote in a letter of support. "Her combination of creativity and enthusiasm brings scientific information to public audiences who have little or no access to science education."
In particular, said Shirley Malcom, director of education and human resources at AAAS, Nadkarni's outreach efforts "have brought an awareness of environmental issues to people in settings ranging from prisons and churches, to boardrooms, bookstores, legislatures and rap music stores."
Nadkarni established the successful Sustainable Prisons Project, while working for the Evergreen State College, to bring science and scientists to incarcerated men and women in state prison. With funding from the Washington State Department of Corrections, Malcom explained, Nadkarni and her team promote sustainable strategies such as recycling, organic gardening, composting and beekeeping. The program also encompasses education in the form of science lectures and green-collar job training, and conservation efforts such as restoration projects. She engaged inmates as partners in the scientific and conservation process, and ensures that results are disseminated widely to other prisons around the nation.
Another initiative by Nadkarni, supported by a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2001, resulted in the creation of Tree-Top Barbie as a strategy for teaching girls about the possibilities of careers in science. Her latest project, the Research Ambassadors Program, funded by the National Science Foundation, helps researchers transform their view of public outreach by overcoming barriers to public engagement. She also is the founder of the International Canopy Network, a nonprofit organization established to help foster communication among researchers, educators and conservationists.
Her many honors have included the Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship, the University of Miami's Distinguished Visiting Professor Award, the J. Sterling Morton Award from the National Arbor Day Foundation, and the Grace Hopper Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the 2010 Public Service Award from the National Science Board.
Nadkarni has raised awareness of forest science and conservation through mainstream environmental media. She has written for popular audiences, served on newspaper boards and offered interviews on National Public Radio as well as for TED lectures. Further, she has collaborated on children's books, winning the Outstanding Science Trade Book by the National Science Teacher Association for her acclaimed 2008 book, "Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees."
Nadkarni earned her bachelor's degree with honors from the University of British Columbia and her Ph.D. degree from the University of Washington in Seattle. She has published more than 90 scientific articles and two scholarly books. She has been the principal investigator on more than 30 research grants from the NSF, the National Geographic Society and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. In the 1980s, she was one of a small group of ecologists who pioneered the emerging field of forest canopy studies. Her work documented the critical roles that canopy-dwelling organisms play in whole-forest ecology. Her studies show that treetop communities are vulnerable to human disturbances such as forest fragmentation and global climate change.
The AAAS Award for Public Engagement with Science, established in 1987, recognizes scientists and engineers who make outstanding contributions to the "popularization of science." The award conveys a monetary prize of $5,000, a commemorative plaque, complimentary registration and travel to the AAAS Annual Meeting. The award will be presented at the 178th AAAS Annual Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which will take place Feb. 16-20, 2012.
###
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org) as well as Science Translational Medicine and Science Signaling. AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1 million.
For more information on AAAS awards, see www.aaas.org/aboutaaas/awards/.
University of Utah Public Relations
201 Presidents Circle, Room 308
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-9017
(801) 581-6773 fax: (801) 585-3350
www.unews.utah.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 8-Jan-2012
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