Blue Skills Economy: Expert Group on Skills and Career Development
AMC Ltd Chair, Ms.Eleftheriou, attended the 1st meeting of the Blue Skills Expert Group on 1st June in Brussels. This group of 40 experts has been set up by DG MARE to identify skills needs (both sector-specific and cross-sectoral skills) in the maritime sector, which includes aquaculture. Its remit also covers innovative programmes in ocean literacy, the development of internship and mobility programmes, and the development of a maritime entrepreneurship scheme for students.
A key document in this process was published in February 2017, Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills (Maritime Technologies).Responding to skills mismatches at sectoral level. Download here
AMC Directors at EAS 40th Anniversary in Edinburgh
Dr Fitzgerald gave a brief outline of AMC’s history, before he launched the new-look E-Aqualex multilingual learning materials.
Dr. Fitzgerald’s presentation, entitled Bridging the Gaps: Two Decades of Digital Multilingual Tools from AQUALEX Multimedia Consortium in the Aquatic Sciences can be viewed here.
Mrs Eleftheriou’s presentation showed how ground-breaking previous work carried out by AMC Ltd and AQUATT on skills, competences and knowledge in the aquatic sciences sector (in the LEONARDO da VINCI WAVE and VALLA projects) had been used as baseline material in the EU 2020 Programme European Skills/Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO), in a paper entitled Making an Impact on European and International Employment Governance. Abstract can be viewed here.
Winner of 2016 Lindsay Laird Award
AMC Ltd and AQUATT celebrated the 9th anniversary of the Lindsay Laird Award at the EAS 40th Anniversary Conference (Food for Thought ,21-24th September), held in Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, where Lindsay spent most of her professional life as an academic but also working closely with the expanding aquaculture industry on different aspects of salmon production.
There were more than 80 student posters to be judged by Prof. Gavin Burnell, University of Cork, Ireland; Dr Chryssa Doxa, HCMR Crete, Greece; Ms. Margaret Eleftheriou, AQUALEX Multimedia Consortium, Ireland.
CECILIA de SOUSA VALENTE, from Brazil, is the first South American to gain this prestigious award with her interesting study on the comparison of survival rates and transcription profiles of target genes in the Pacific white shrimp kept in biofloc and clear seawater after experimental infection of White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV).
The winner received her prizes, an iPad Mini, books from Wiley Blackwell, Springer Editions and 5M publishing from Dr Bjorn Myrseth, former EAS President.
Advances in teaching and Learning in Aquaculture
Springer: Aquaculture International Special Issue, Vol 23, Issue 3, June 2015
After what has been a long gestation period, the Aquaculture International Special Issue Advances in teaching and Learning in Aquaculture has now been published by Springer International. In the publication, the two guest editors, Margaret Eleftheriou, AMC Ltd and Sonia Seixas, Open University, Portugal provide a testament to the lasting value of the work carried out on a pan-European scale over 18 years by the ERASMUS Thematic Network AQUA-TNET. Links are shown to each chapter below.
http://link.springer.com/journal/10499/23/3/page/1
Foreword: Patrick Sorgeloos, Margaret Eleftheriou
link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10499-015-9901-z (90 downloads)
AQUA-TNET thematic network: an 18-year chronicle of development and achievement in European aquaculture education
doi:10.1007/s10499-014-9857-4 (151 downloads)
Margaret EleftheriouMarieke Reuver
AQUA-TNET: an overview of the development of European Master programmes in the aquaculture sector doi:10.1007/s10499-014-9858-3 (129 downloads)
Odd-Ivar LekangMichael MoultonMargaret Eleftheriou
Designing and building dedicated Ph.D. courses contributing to international EU mobility at doctoral level . doi 10.1007/s10499-014-9841-z (146 downloads)
Peter Bossier & Margaret Eleftheriou
Positioning Lifelong Learning in Aquaculture: Challenges and opportunities.
doi 10.1007/s10499-014-9826-y (198 downloads)
Sonia Seixas & Margaret Eleftheriou
Generic skills needs for graduate employment in the aquaculture, fisheries and related sectors in Europe. doi 10.1007/s10499-014-9843-x (401 downloads)
Cristina Pita, Margaret Eleftheriou, Eleni Mente, Jaime Fernásndez- Borrás, M. Begoña Santos, Susana Gonçalves, Sónia Seixas, Graham J. Pierce
Student mobility measures in the aquatic sciences: the development of the AQUA-TNET Education Gate doi:10.1007/s10499-015-9896-5 (92 downloads)
Lluis Tort, Margaret Eleftheriou
Margaret Eleftheriou and Annie Heral
Evaluation on the use of e-learning tools to support teaching and learning in aquaculture and aquatic sciences education. doi:10.1007/s10499-014-9828-9 (309 downloads)
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10499-014-9828-9
Sonia Seixas, Clive Dove, Bernd Ueberschär, John Bostock
Innovation and educational changes: two e-Learning cases in aquaculture
doi:10.1007/s10499-014-9850-y (296 downloads)
Sónia SeixasSathappan SaravananSusana Gonçalves
Investing in the human capital of the aquatic food sector: AQUA-TNET and the road ahead doi:10.1007/s10499-015-9915-6 (154 downloads)
PESCALEX Language Learning YouTube videos: French, Polish, Greek, Turkish
In accordance with our policy of promoting language learning in the less widely spoken European, targeting those languages important in the aquatic sciences, AMC has made and circulated YouTube video versions of the PESCALEX Language Game which was begun in the EU LdV project PESCALEX and further developed in the ERASMUS Thematic Network AQUA-TNET.
The Game tells the story of a young French student, Jean Martin as he arrives in Heathrow Airport and makes his way to an aquaculture work placement in rural England.
The storyline follows his arrival and the kinds of events that he would be likely to encounter as he travels to his destination, the Blue Trout Farm, situated somewhere in rural England. The dialogues, recorded by native speakers, are framed in simple language which reflects everyday situations and incidents.
In this way the Language Game gives users an attractive visually presented storyline and native speaker recording of the spoken dialogues which can improve the language learning process for the complete beginner.
PESCALEX Language game - French
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RG71MViGPA
PESCALEX Language game in Polish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI0BnqicwoI
PESCALEX Language game in Greek
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q-48tkJZ4o
PESCALEX Language game in Turkish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r_F6eQPqaE
Winner of 2015 Lindsay Laird Award
AMC and AQUATT are pleased to announce the winner of the 2015 Lindsay Laird Award for the best innovative aquaculture student poster at the 2015 Aquaculture Europe Conference (AE2015):
ANDREA FRANKE from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany, with her poster entitled
"Does poly- ß- hydroxybutyrate stimulate the immune system of European sea bass larvae?", an investigation into the effect of the bacterial energy storage compound poly-ß-hydroxybutyrate on the immune response of sea bass larvae on a gene expression level.
She received an iPad mini, sponsored by AMC and AquaTT, and book prizes from Wiley-Blackwell and 5M publishing.
Past winners have come from Germany, Spain, Czech Republic and three from Portugal.
To learn more about this award and past winners, please visit: www.aqualex.org
To learn more about Lindsay Laird, please visit: : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsay_Lairds
Susannah Priede and Andrea Franke, GEOMAR, Kiel, Germany, winner of the 2015 Lindsay Laird Award.
Richard Fitzgerald: in memoriam
It was with a deep sense of shock, and great sadness, that we at AMC Ltd learned of the sudden death on December 5 of one of our longest-serving directors, Dr Richard Fitzgerald. Years before the company was established in 1996, Richard was one of the first partners in the LINGUA project AQUALEX which owed much of its early success thanks to his erudition (always lightly worn with many a witty remark) and his strong motivation to produce an accurate, up-to-date and multilingual aquaculture glossary. From1996 when he became a founder Board Member, a position he retained until his untimely death, he never stopped working to promote the company and its aims. One of his last public presentations was made at the 40th EAS International Conference in Edinburgh in September 2016, where he launched the E-Aqualex Aquatic Sciences e-learning Toolset with verve and enthusiasm.
Dr Fitzgerald was a much-loved colleague, always generous with his time and his store of knowledge, which was by no means confined to his scientific interests. The world will be a poorer place without him. The photograph illustrates, in a typical gesture, his openness of heart and mind.
Read article in Irish Times
Promotion of Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity
The Promotion of Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity through the aquatic sciences ERASMUS network Aqua-tnet.
The first article in the Special Issue of Aquaculture International The Promotion of Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity through the aquatic sciences ERASMUS network AQUA-TNET by Margaret Eleftheriou and Annie Heral has just been published and is available as 'Online First' on SpringerLink: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10499-014-9812-4
Abstract
The ERASMUS academic network AQUA-TNET, prompted by reports of a lack of concern regarding language training provision for exchange students which had been raised in successive European Universities Association Trends reports, carried out a detailed examination of the language training provided by its partners for exchange students through its Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity group. The group carried out several European-wide surveys to ascertain whether the reported lack of concern was also evident in the AQUA-TNET partnership. The results of these surveys reveal some disparity between staff and student perceptions of language provision for exchange students. The group also investigated the incidence of English as the main delivery language for aquatic science courses, as well as the need for language provision at the basic rather than the intermediate or advanced level, as advocated by the academic sector. The AQUA-TNET Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity group’s activities were responsible for several studies and reports used to inform or update the network on developments relevant to their language learning policies: desk study on marine science courses in the AQUA-TNET network; review of European schools’ language (and science) policies; reports on EUROPASS, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the use of the Internet for delivery of multilingual language learning. The needs analysis derived from the student survey on online language course provision led to changes in the chosen online language course.
Read more: Promotion of Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity
Winner of Lindsay Laird Award 2014
AquaTT and AMC are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2014 Lindsay Laird Award for the best innovative aquaculture student poster at the 2014 Aquaculture Europe Conference (AE2014) is Marina Machado from Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Portugal, with her poster entitled “Dietary Methionine Supplementation but not Tryptophan Improve Cell Mediated Immunity of European Seabass Dicentrarchus labrax”.
The aim of Marina’s study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of the amino acids methionine (MET) and tryptophan (TRP) on the European sea bass cellular and humoral (immune system) status, in order to develop functional feeds for this species. She receives an iPad mini, sponsored by AquaTT, and a book prize from Wiley-Blackwell.
During this year’s competition, more than 100 student posters were evaluated by a team of three judges: Kjell Maroni (Director R&D aquaculture, Norwegian Seafood Research Fund & President of the European Aquaculture Society (EAS) Board, 2012-2014), Dr Elena Mente (Associate Professor, University of Thessaly (Greece) and Board member of the EAS), and Marieke Reuver (Programme Manager, AquaTT and Director of AMC). The award was presented to Marina in absentia by Kjell Maroni during the wrap-up session of the AE2014 conference.
To learn more about Lindsay Laird, this award and past winners, please visit: www.aquatt.ie or www.aqualex.org
Springer Language Article Publication
Margaret Eleftheriou has co-authored a paper along with Annie Heral, entitled
The Promotion of Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity through the aquatic sciences ERASMUS network.
The paper is the first to appear online in the Special Issue of the Springer journal AQUACULTURE INTERNATIONAL.The article is available as 'Online First' on SpringerLink:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10499-014-9812-4
Annie Heral, a language teacher based in Bourcefranc-le-Chapus, France has been involved for several years in the PESCALEX Concept and is the author of the PESCALEX Language Game.
You can view four early versions of the Language Game, in French, Polish,Greek and Turkish on YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RG71MViGPA French
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI0BnqicwoI Polish
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