Date/Time
Date(s) - Wed 26 October
18:00
Location
Lecture Theatre Three (GBLT3), Old Government Buildings, VUW
Note: additional short lecture added
171st Annual General Meeting (2022)
Royal Society of New Zealand Wellington Branch
(not to be confused with the Royal Society Te Apārangi)
The Annual Report (containing the financial Report)
is with the auditor and will be circulated before the meeting.
PLEASE CONSIDER SERVING ON COUNCIL IN 2022-23. WE NEED YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT
Also note that under the constitution any matters of general business must be notified to the Secretary at least 2 weeks before the meeting, Since we don’t have a secretary (volunteer?) please send them to the treasurer
treasurer.RSNZ.wellington@outlook.com
PRESENTATIONS
After a short AGM
The Annual Report, the financial Report and the minutes
of the last (deferred) AGM will be taken as read.
They are available on the website:
https://www.royalsocietyofnewzealandwellingtonbranch.org/
the AGM will be followed by:
PRESENTATIONS
Short Lecture from Solomon Gurmu Beka on his Ph.D Research
Solomon Gurmu Beka is a Ph.D. Candidate in Aviation Medicine at the University of Otago, under the supervision of Dr. Robin Griffiths. Solomon is from East Africa, Ethiopia. Solomon served at Ethiopian Air Force Hospital, mainly as a Consultant Emergency Surgery Professional Specialist and Aviation Medical Examiner for the last seven years and he is a Public Health Expert. Solomon studied at the University of Gondar and Wollo University, Ethiopia. He did research and thesis at both Universities for the fulfillment of his undergraduate and post-graduate studies consecutively. Additionally, he is the President of the Ethiopian Emergency Surgery Association (EESA) and a Member of the Board of Directors at the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES). He has participated in different clinical and public health services, health-related volunteer services, and research activities, and published in different international journals.
Solomon’s Research
His dissertation focuses on developing tools for flight safety risk mitigation strategies in airline aviation personnel. Solomon will conduct a systematic literature review, and then results with high statistical predictive values from reviewed literature will be considered. A modified Delphi survey design will be used to develop a screening tool that is acceptable and practicable for aviation medical assessment by a group or panel of informed individuals or specialists in the field of aerospace medicine. These experts will contribute their opinion to develop a screening tool. Finally, the proposed tool developed from the feedback of experts will be tested with participants for validation through a cross-sectional study. The acceptability and feasibility of the proposed screening tool will be tested with a mixed methods study approach within other aviation personnel settings.
Short Lecture from Maria Rabino-Neira on her Ph.D Research
Maria Rabino-Neira is an International Humanitarian lawyer (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Magister in Conflicts & Terrorism (University of Auckland, New Zealand). She has previously engaged in peace-building processes, humanitarian interventions and transitional justice tribunals. Maria has also worked in several international organisations, including the United Nations Mission in Colombia, World Vision New Zealand and the New Zealand Red Cross. Currently, she is doing her Ph.D in the School of Law at the Victoria University of Wellington, under the supervision of Dr Alberto Costi and Dr Marnie Lloydd.
Maria’s Research
The Rules of Armed Conflicts or International Humanitarian Law (IHL) are a set of principles and rules that aim to limit the effects of armed conflict and provide a balance between the military necessity and the humanitarian necessity to protect the victims of war. Despite these efforts, over the last two decades, an increased tendency to normalize violence against neutral actors and direct attacks against civilians, medical units and humanitarian workers has been recognized in those armed conflicts with designated terrorist organizations. These situations not only reflect the insufficient compliance with the humanitarian principles by non-state armed groups but also embody the limitations of counter-terrorism frameworks to mitigate terrorism in armed conflicts. Scholars at Harvard Law School have recognized that “If the current trajectory continues, two possibilities seem likely to come to pass. One is that counterterrorism measures may further constrain the practical scope of impartial humanitarian activities. A second is that an ever-expanding counterterrorism system will ultimately redefine what constitutes legitimate humanitarian activities.” (Lewis, D. and Modirzadeh, N., 2021: 10-11).
Maria’s research investigates the interplay between International Humanitarian Law and the Counter-terrorism normative framework to understand better how the protection of humanitarian workers can be improved in armed conflicts with terrorist organizations. This research aims to influence the policy frameworks and behavioral conduct of relevant actors, such as military forces and non-state armed groups, and enhance compliance to the humanitarian principles to prevent aid workers from being targeted and killed in war.
Short Lecture from Kaita Hummel-Jibiki and Simon Langham on their Prizewinning Science Fair Entry
This year the Branch awarded a prize of $750 for overall runners-up. Our winners were Kaita Hummel-Jibiki and Simon Langham from Tawa College. They received their prize at the award ceremony, held on Saturday 27 August at Victoria University of Wellington, Old Government Building.
Kaita Hummel-Jibiki and Simon Langham are year twelve students at Tawa College. Their project used microbes as bio-indicators of water quality. They say that they are looking forward to studying science in the future. Here is their summary:
Their project, called Resilient Rotifers, focused on constructing a rudimentary way of analyzing water samples via rotifers found in the water. Rotifers are microscopic aquatic invertebrates that are found worldwide. Their physical appearance and characteristics, along with their quantity in certain samples, are so great that they are perfect for use as bio-indicators of water quality. By searching over 12,900mm2 for samples from various populations, they formulated a comprehensive data report which allowed them to identify specific patterns. These patterns were so prominent that a simple flowchart could be constructed. A user would be informed of the approximate pH-level, salinity-level, oxygen-level, nutrient-level, and many more key characteristics of their sample, all on the basis of the quantity and quality of rotifers found in their samples.