Poster Presentations
(In alphabetical order, based on first names)
Third World Approaches to International Law: The Responsibility to protect and Regional Organisations
Amber Smith, Postgraduate Research Student, Law School
Third World Approaches to International Law: The Responsibility to Protect and Regional Organisations seeks to provide an alternative to humanitarian intervention / the responsibility to protect.
At present, the responsibility to protect is administered through the United Nations Security Council, which has been criticised for being ineffective, too selective and for using its power to Veto to the detriment of States (such as Syria). Weaker States within the international arena are often at the mercy of Security Council decisions and have little, if any, say on whether and how intervention will be carried out.
This research shall propose that intervention should be carried out by Regional Organisations rather than the Security Council and it will create the mechanisms (financial, resources and voting) to enable this to be successful, and importantly to include the voice of weaker States. It will be argued that Regional Organisations also offer comparative advantages to intervention, such as their ties to the States involved and their proximity to conflict.
The methodology will be largely doctrinal but will also use qualitative methodology through analysis of documents and carrying out a case study of the African Union. A Third World Approach to International Law shall be applied throughout, arguing that the current system is imbedded in imperialism and has colonialist origins.
This research will conclude that if we do not fix a system that is broken, then the international community is failing in its duty to protect. The way to fix this is through the proposed mechanisms.
Macroecological patterns of biodiversity acroos the Tree of Life: Uruguay as a model region
Florencia Grattarola, Postgraduate Research Student, School of Life Sciences
Biodiversity is declining at unprecedented rates in a rapidly changing world in which most species remain to be discovered and 95% of the reported diversity remains unassessed. Thus, it is essential that countries generate mechanisms to quantitatively measure biodiversity and monitor its changes. Uruguay, in particular, covers a peculiar area where multiple bioregions of South America geographically converge, potentially driving unique biodiversity hotspots. However, whether such hotspots exist in this country remains an open question, given the exceptionally limited knowledge about larger-scale biodiversity patterns. Our over-arching aim is to quantify the patterns and processes of biodiversity in Uruguay across the Tree of Life by addressing a series of key questions about the organisation of biodiversity through space and across lineages, with an underlying ambition to make effective and reliable contributions to understanding and conservation planning of this biodiversity under global change. To accomplish this, we plan to i) generate a new public and open-access scientific resource, and ii) create a collaborative association to collect all biodiversity data of Uruguay. To answer our main research questions, we will use geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial statistical methods. Progress so far includes the creation of the Uruguayan Consortium of Biodiversity Data and the first version of the database, including over 120,000 tetrapods occurrence records covering 688 terrestrial and marine species. This is the most comprehensive database of Uruguay’s biodiversity collected to present-day. Supported by this data we have now started to elucidate the main patterns behind the biodiversity in Uruguay.
Conclusions and potential relevance: The effect of the companion depends on the nature of the stressor. Future work will seek to better understand the role and the action of the companion as a social buffer.
Exploring the origins of the Fossdyke Canal through sedimentary archives
Josephine Westlake, Postgraduate Research Student, School of Geography
The city of Lincoln is situated at the confluence of the River Witham and the Fossdyke canal, an artificial waterway connecting the River Trent to the Witham via Brayford Pool. It is generally believed that the Fossdyke was constructed during the Roman Period but this is solely on the basis of an inscribed statuette recovered during the dredging of the canal at Torksey in the 18th century. The earliest documented record of the Fossdyke is in Symeon of Durham’s AD 1121 Historia Regium Anglorum et Dacorum. This paper summarises new research on the Fossdyke based on radiocarbon dating of sediments infilling an old river channel near Burton Waters, which was cutoff and disconnected from the River Till. One explanation for this could be its diversion into the newly constructed canal. If correct, the dates indicate this section of the Fossdyke was built during the early Iron Age, well before the Roman occupation. Consequently pre-Roman river engineering in the region, and perhaps more widely in England, could have been more widespread and on a larger scale than hitherto appreciated.
Prison Voicemail: Maintaining family ties in prison custody
Lauren Mumby, Postgraduate Research Student, School of Psychology
Background: Farmer (2017) recommended that the maintenance of relationships with families and significant others amongst prison populations must become the ‘golden thread’ of detention and rehabilitation. Prison Voicemail is an innovative service which supports contact with families and significant others while in prison through the exchange of voicemails.
Methods: 77 families and 81 prisoners provided feedback about Prison Voicemail using surveys. 18 family members participated in telephone interviews.
Results: The results provided evidence of the positive impact that Prison Voicemail has on prisoners and their social contacts with regard to increased contact, improved relationships, improved health and wellbeing amongst all parties, the resolution of practical issues arising and improved behaviour.
Conclusions: Prison Voicemail offers a sustainable and effective method of increasing communication. This has been shown to have a positive impact on various factors important to prisoners and their family and friends.
Architecture, Artefacts & Aspirations of Justice: The Design of the Criminal Courts of England & Wales
Lorna Cameron, Postgraduate Research Student, School of Deisgn
The 6 year courts reform programme has begun with the closures of over 200 courts. Information as to how their work and functionality will be replaced is scarce. The cost cutting reforms will provide greater access in the online context and consequently less access to a physical court. There is potential for adverse effects on access to justice and the rule of law, to public perceptions of justice and to the rule of law.
The research question is: How can the interior architecture create a sense of place in the courts of the future?
The main problem is to determine how interior architecture affects and creates the courts as the places where justice and the rule of law are given effect.
The main premise is that the tangible and intangible materiality of the courts have a profound effect upon experiences and perceptions of justice, and on effective communication of and access to justice.
The aim of the research is to explore the interface between the intangible ideology, the pursuit of justice and the rule of law, and the materiality and sense of place of the courts. To recognise justice as an aspiration, and understand the rule of law as intangible cultural artefact, allows a new consideration of the materiality, socio-political codification and relevance to society, where the architecture of the courts are a physical interface with society.
The Development of a 3D Database of Female Bodies with Varying Body Shape and Composition
Nadia Maalin, Postgraduate Research Student, School of Psychology
A variety of different methods have been used over the years to assess perceptual body image, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Weaknesses include: ecological validity, unrealistic representations of human body shape and weight change and a lack of control for confounding variables such as skin colour and texture.
To overcome some of these methodological deficiencies, 3D scanning technology will be combined with body composition data to develop a large database of high-quality, photo-realistic, ecologically valid and biometrically accurate 3D body stimuli. The combination of these technologies will enable us to model human body shape change across a range of different heights, ages, body mass indexes (BMIs) and body compositions, as such, we can take into account individual differences in body shape and composition which has largely been ignored in previous psychological research. 3D body scans and body composition data have been collected from over 270 females aged 18 – 71 years old, with a range of BMIs from 17 to 38.
The data from this study can be used to develop scales that can be used in future psychological and epidemiological research to improve the assessment of body image and body size perception in health and disease.
The decline of global pollinators in the Anthropocene
Ratheesh Kallivalappil, Postgraduate Research Student, School of Life Sciences
Pollination plays a key role in the functioning of ecosystems globally. Therefore, the endangerment and extinction of pollinator species are predicted to cause harmful effects and collapse of complex ecological networks. Indeed, a large proportion of the human diet depends directly or indirectly on animal pollination.
Both invertebrates and vertebrates pollinate a variety of angiosperms and play a crucial role in the maintenance of biodiversity. While much research has been focused on insect pollinators, the role of vertebrate pollinators is not as widely recognized. Vertebrates pollinate a wide variety of plants including some economically important crop species in tropical countries, so declining pollination services in these tropical cultivated goods may result in substantial losses in revenue. Here, I present the first global study of the endangerment level of vertebrate pollinators using the IUCN extinction risk assessment method.
The potential pollinators species have been identified from various primary, peer-reviewed literature sources, compiling a dataset consisting of 1,530 vertebrate pollinator species from all over the planet. The result shows asymmetric pattern of threat within the vertebrate groups, mammals are highly threatened relative to birds and reptiles, however, the number of species with declining populations is rising within all groups, and endemic pollinators are more threatened than non-endemic pollinators. Hotspots of high extinction threat for vertebrate pollinators are shown in the southeast of Australian continent and Madagascar.
Investigation of subsurface agricultural field drainage of Lincolnshire and the impact on sediment loading in Lincolnshire watercourses
Snezana Lee, Postgraduate Research Student, School of Engineering
Drainage systems face major problems in their functioning, resulting in partially or fully blocked pipes, gradually degrading a system’s operation capacity. Consequently, fields suffer from reduced drainage rates and waterlogging. These conditions have a negative impact on soil functions and soil loss, contributing to lower yields, poor access and field workability. Subsurface drainage systems are conduits for suspended sediment and as such contribute to sediment load in water bodies. Sediment loss from agriculture is a major contributor to diffuse water pollution and has an adverse effect on topsoil loss, maintenance of dams, lakes and reservoirs, and reduction of flood water storage capacity.
This project will investigate the extent and condition of subsurface agricultural drainage in Lincolnshire, identifying and trialling innovative engineering solutions and technologies that will reduce sediment loss from field drains to watercourses. The aim is to undertake laboratory investigations in pipe design and test their hydraulic performance, identify primary sediment source in the catchment and model impact of subsurface drainage on flood risk. Field experiments of potential innovative technologies will be undertaken to test for identified mitigation measures for sediment control generated through drainage pipes.
The Evaluation and Assessment of Body Image Perception and Distortion in Men
Sophie Mohamed, Postgraduate Research Student, School of Psychology
Body image matters to all of us. Influenced by bio-social factors as diverse as genetics, the mass media, family and peers, and even children’s toys, the internalisation of negative body ‘ideals’ can be detrimental to health for both men and women. Perceptual body image distortion (BID) is characterised by a discrepancy between a person’s perceived and actual body size and shape. Historically, body image research has focused predominantly on females, however BID and eating disorders are becoming more and more prevalent among men. BID has been assessed in the past using a variety of scales, but these are often severely limited by poor imagery and do not account for sex differences in human body composition. Therefore, there is a need to develop new biometrically accurate, ecologically valid stimuli with which to measure men’s estimates of body size and shape.
This study seeks to address this ‘stimulus problem’ by collecting accurate measurements of body shape and composition, using a state-of-the-art 3D body scanner and bio-impedance scale. This data is being used to investigate how male body size and shape varies with body composition and how different components of body composition vary with distinct body mass index (BMI) categories. This will ultimately lead to the development of new stimuli for use in body image research and clinical health settings, to support the treatment of BID and associated negative health behaviours in men.
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