Carnegie Trust success for coral reef team

Dr Heidi Burdett, a MASTS Research Fellow in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DEES) has been successful in securing a Collaborative Research Grant from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, together with Drs Nick Kamenos (University of Glasgow) and Sebastian Hennige (Heriot-Watt University).

Millions of people around the world depend on coral reefs for their livelihood. However, in recent years the 'health' of corals, and their associated ecosystems, has deteriorated in many areas putting communities at risk. This Carnegie-funded project will investigate the response of tropical corals to environmental change, helping us to better understand the observed deterioration in coral reef ecosystems.

Related article: Effects of reduced salinity on the photosynthetic characteristics and intracellular DMSP concentrations of the red coralline alga, Lithothamnion glaciale. Marine Biology 162:1077–1085: DOI 10.1007/s00227-015-2650-8

Cape Colony historical find

Dr David Culpin, of the School of Modern Languages, in the Special Collections of the National Library of South Africa, in Cape Town where he found a very important book describing the shipwreck of a French vessel on the coast of southern Africa in 1829, and the survivors' 200 mile walk to safety. The book gives a rare account of encounters between Europeans and the indigenous Xhosa population as well as offering an eye-witness description of several towns in South Africa just a few years after their establishment. In addition, this account is the first book in French and the first travel narrative ever to have been published in Cape Colony. Following this discovery, Dr Culpin is working to produce modern critical editions of this text, in English and in French. The project is funded by the British Academy and the Carnegie Trust.