It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, April 21, 2023
Greener batteries
More sustainable and less expensive: organic high-capacity battery
Our modern rechargeable batteries, such as lithium-ion batteries, are anything but sustainable. One alternative is organic batteries with redox-organic electrode materials (OEMs), which can be synthesized from natural “green” materials. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a Chinese team has now introduced a new OEM for aqueous organic high-capacity batteries that can be easily and cheaply recycled.
Traditional inorganic electrode materials in commercial batteries involve a whole spectrum of problems: limited resources, toxic elements, environmental problems, partly unacceptable mining conditions, limited capacity, difficulties in recycling, and high costs. No sustainable batteries can be developed on a large scale based on these electrodes, though they are needed for an energy transition.
Organic batteries with OEMs are still at the very beginning of their long road toward practical application. A team led by Chengliang Wang at Huazhong University of Science and Technology has now taken a significant step in this direction. The goal is to use OEMs in batteries with aqueous electrolytes. These are “greener”, more sustainable, and less expensive than the conventional organic electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries.
The team chose to use azobenzene, a material that can be produced inexpensively on a large scale and is insoluble in water while being highly soluble in organic solvents. Whereas most other functional groups can only transfer one electron, the azo group (–N=N–) in this molecule is able to reversibly transfer two electrons, which contributes to a high capacity. Comprehensive analyses demonstrated that, during the discharge process, the azobenzene is converted to hydroazobenzene after absorbing two of the electrons—through the rapid, reversible binding of two protons (H+). Prototype coin cells and laminated pouch cells of various sizes with azobenzene OEMs and zinc counter-electrodes reached capacities on the scale of ampere hours, which were retained over 200 charge/discharge cycles.
In contrast to polymeric OEMs, the small azobenzene molecules can be inexpensively recycled with a simple extraction using commercial organic solvents. The electrode material is air stable in both its charged and discharged states and can be recycled in yields of over 90% in every state of charge. The recycled products could be directly reused as OEMs with no loss of capacity.
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About the Author
Chengliang Wang is a Professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). He focuses on novel conjugated organic and polymeric materials for optoelectronics and batteries.
Swedish obstetricians and gynecologists are noticeably more emotionally stable and conscientious compared to the majority of the Swedish population. Based on the doctors' personalities, their decision-making styles differ in emergency situations. The research study from Lund University is now published in Scientific Reports.
Personality is usually summarized in five traits - the so-called "big five": Emotional stability (neuroticism), extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness. Our personality then shapes our decision-making style. In a research study from Lund University, Swedish obstetricians' and gynecologists' personality profiles and clinical experience are linked for the first time to their decision-making styles in acute childbirth situations.
”Obstetricians and gynecologists have a personality profile that differs significantly from the population at large. On average, 85 percent of Sweden's population has significantly lower emotional stability, extroversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness than the obstetricians in our study. It's hard not to be surprised when the differences are so clear”, says Petri Kajonius, associate professor of personality psychology and behavioral measurement at Lund University.
It is our personality that defines what we will enjoy in our professional life, and the consequence is likely a self-selection of people who seek a certain profession. Swedish obstetric-focused physicians' personalities make them comfortable in an environment where a childbirth situation can quickly shift to something acute and potentially escalate into a crisis. Here, traits such as emotional stability and conscientiousness are prominent:
”Neuroticism is the opposite of emotional stability and is characterized by anxiety and vulnerability to stress. Someone with high neuroticism may have a harder time handling stress in acute situations, but a small amount of it can increase the inclination to collaborate and make decisions together with others, which can be advantageous”, says Gabriel Raoust, doctoral student at Lund University and consultant in obstetrics and gynecology at Ystad Lasarett, Sweden.
It has been previously established that women exhibit greater levels of neuroticism than men, which coincides with the fact that they are often more inclined to cooperate and less prone to taking risks. The study also showed that the more clinically experienced doctors are - especially men - the more comfortable they are taking the lead and making individual decisions. Traits like agreeableness combined with conscientiousness are beneficial in situations where one must follow checklists and procedures while interacting with others on the team.
“To increase understanding of decision-making processes and the factors that influence doctors' behavior, it is important to realize that it is normal that there are different personalities. An individual-centered or team-based approach depends on the person's "big five" personality and can be surprisingly relevant even in a highly organized and protocol-driven environment like acute obstetrics”, concludes Gabriel Raoust.
News coverage about the Bank of England is closely linked to the parliamentary oversight of the institution and to the Bank’s own account-giving activities, analysis shows.
Media articles are also more likely to be about the Bank’s policy decisions, especially during times of economic turbulence, according to the study.
Researchers found evidence of ‘reinforced accountability’, with coverage levels linked to both parliamentary hearings and the Bank’s own account-giving speeches.
The study, published in the journal Governance, was carried out by Dr Christel Koop, from King’s College London, and Dr Michele Scotto di Vettimo, from the University of Exeter.
They found more articles about the Bank were published when there are greater changes in bank rates, when new liquidity injections are announced, and when UK banks were bailed out as well as higher levels of unemployment.
The researchers examined 13,986 articles in The Times, The Guardian, and the Daily Mail about the Bank of England from May 1997 to the end of 2020. They compared this to information about various economic indicators and policy decisions.
They also used parliamentary hearings with bank officials and speeches by individual central bankers to assess whether media coverage magnifies both formal account-holding and voluntary account-giving of the Bank, a concept they call ‘reinforced accountability’.
Dr Koop said: “The Bank’s news coverage can be traced back to its policy decisions, especially when the latter respond to economic turbulence. Yet coverage is not as closely linked to the Bank’s performance on policy outcomes; nonetheless, it is traceable to both currency rate changes and unemployment levels.
“Both the number of parliamentary hearings and the number of central bank speeches were strongly and positively associated with coverage volume. This shows media outlets not only fulfill their watchdog role by covering the decisions and, to some extent, policy outcomes of the Bank, but also reinforce formal account-holding in parliament and voluntary account-giving by the Bank.”
Dr Scotto di Vettimo said: “When assessing the relative importance of the different variables on media coverage of the Bank the biggest impact on coverage volume were those related to policy decisions and to reinforced accountability. More specifically, though rare, decisions to bail out UK banks are the most important determinant of coverage volume followed by announcements of new liquidity injections. Speeches and hearings have roughly the same impact on coverage volume. The least impactful predictors are the changes in the bank rate, the changes in the pound-dollar exchange rate, and the unemployment level.
“Media accountability works fairly well in the case of the Bank. Coverage levels can be traced to key decisions and, to some extent, policy outcomes. There are good reasons to take reinforced accountability seriously: our findings suggest that it constitutes an important element of the media’s role in the accountability landscape. This is also encouraging from the perspective of ‘collaboration’ between the different forums and dimensions. Such collaboration may strengthen the accountability expectations of non-majoritarian institutions; expectations which can themselves contribute to the ultimate goal of careful and accurate decision-making.”
A new study finds that first-generation college graduates are more likely to come from families that have higher incomes and more resources than families in which neither parents nor children graduate from college. The study highlights the challenges facing young people who want to attend college, as well as how difficult it is for individuals to move up the socioeconomic ladder.
“A college degree is often a ticket to the middle class, but not everyone has the same chance to obtain one,” says Anna Manzoni, first author of the study and an associate professor of sociology at North Carolina State University. “We know that parents’ education matters, as the children of college-educated parents graduate from college at higher rates than the children of parents without a bachelor’s degree. What differentiates the students who become first-generation college graduates from those who don’t?
“This study shows that it is mostly students whose parents have high levels of resources for their educational background who graduate from college – hardly a ringing endorsement of an open system or a meritocracy.”
For the study, researchers drew on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a nationally representative panel study that followed people in the United States from youth through adulthood. Specifically, the researchers drew on data regarding 5,752 students whose parents did not have college degrees and 3,128 students who had at least one parent with a college degree. The researchers looked at educational outcomes for the students, as well as at each student’s family resources – which was based on the income and occupation of each student’s parents.
The findings were straightforward.
“First-generation college graduates are often the advantaged members of their disadvantaged class,” Manzoni says. “Their parents, although did not graduate from college, are disproportionately from higher-income families, work in jobs with more authority and autonomy, have higher expectations that their children go to college, and live in higher income neighborhoods.”
The study also looked at factors that might explain why some people whose parents are college graduates do not themselves graduate from college. The findings were essentially the opposite of what researchers saw among first-generation college graduates.
“Students who do not graduate from college, although their parents did, are often the most disadvantaged segment of the advantaged class,” Manzoni says. “Their parents tend to have lower income and work outside the most authoritative jobs.”
What’s more, the researchers also found that many of the things people think contribute to a child graduating from college don’t seem to have any effect.
“The study finds that it doesn’t matter if parents who did not graduate from college talk to their children about school and work, or work on school projects with them,” Manzoni says. “It also doesn’t matter if these parents put their kids in schools with low class sizes, more experienced teachers, or in schools that have more funding. And for children of parents who have a bachelor’s degree, it doesn’t matter if their parents put them in schools with high achieving peers, small class sizes, and more experienced teachers.”
The researchers also found that it didn’t matter if students were white, Black or Hispanic if their parents had access to the same resources.
“Among other things, this study tells us that graduating first-generation college students doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a level playing field,” Manzoni says. “People with access to more resources have a clear advantage, regardless of their parents’ educational background.”
WASHINGTON—The Endocrine Society today endorsed the Improving Needed Safeguards for Users of Lifesaving Insulin Now (INSULIN) Act of 2023, a bipartisan insulin affordability bill introduced by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME). This legislation would cap out-of-pocket insulin costs for those with private insurance, ensure patients can share in insulin rebates and discounts, and promote competition in the insulin market.
These measures would protect access to life-saving insulin for more than 7 million people nationwide who rely on the medication to manage their diabetes. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 37.3 million people nationwide—about 11 percent of Americans—have diabetes.
“People with type 1 diabetes depend on insulin to stay alive since their bodies cannot produce this hormone. Privately-insured individuals with diabetes cannot wait any longer for Congress to take action to address their insulin costs,” said Joshua J. Joseph, M.D., M.P.H., Endocrine Society Clinical Affairs Core Committee Chair. “We are pleased to endorse this comprehensive legislation, which will make insulin more affordable for those who rely on it.”
Building upon a bill that was released last year, the INSULIN Act addresses the underlying problems in the insulin market that contribute to escalating prices. The INSULIN Act aligns with recommendations in the Society’s Insulin Access and Affordability Position Statement, which calls for lowering the price of insulin through rebate reform and limiting co-pays to no more than $35 per month for insulin. The bill includes several policies to improve insulin access and affordability, including:
Ensuring group and individual health plans waive any deductible and limit cost-sharing to no more than $35 per month or 25% of list price, for at least one insulin of each type and dosage form.
Mandating Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) pass through 100% of insulin rebates and other discounts to insurance plan sponsors so that patients can share in any savings.
Promoting competition from generic and biosimilar drugs.
To encourage competition in the insulin market, the bill calls for measures to ease the approval process for generic and biosimilar drugs, easing formulary access for biosimilar drugs in Medicare Part D, and requiring a report to Congress on issues and market dynamics.
Although the discovery of insulin occurred over a century ago, the price of insulin nearly tripled between 2002 and 2013, and the trend upward has continued over the past decade. In 2021 alone, nearly one in five American adults with diabetes—about 1.3 million people—rationed their insulin to save money, according to a study.
Progress is being made to improve insulin access. The Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law last year, included a provision to cap insulin prices for individuals insured by Medicare. Three major insulin manufacturers have recently announced plans to lower prices on insulin products.
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Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world’s oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.
The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.
International report explores community legal services for better access to justice
York U legal expert co-authored report analyzing research from three African countries and Canada, highlights benefit of grassroots support in addressing global justice crisis
TORONTO, April 21, 2023 — Community legal clinics, paralegal services, social workers and others assisting those who cannot easily access legal help, are a few ways of narrowing the gap in accessing justice that’s prevalent across the globe, says York University legal expert Professor Trevor Farrow, co-author of a new international report released today.
The research is part of Community-Based Justice Research (CBJR) project, funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre. The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (CFCJ), based at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, played a lead role in co-ordinating the project.
According to Farrow, associate dean of research at Osgoode, the inaccessibility of legal services is a common issue, be it in Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Canada, or rest of the world. In fact, the United Nations has identified access to justice as a global crisis that – through its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – requires collective efforts and shared solutions, continues Farrow.
According to earlier research from the CFCJ, approximately 50 per cent of adult Canadians will experience a legal problem in any given three-year period. “Like the rest of the world, there is an access-to-justice crisis in Canada,” notes Farrow, who also serves as chair of the CFCJ. “Law and legal issues are everywhere, but very few people can afford legal help.”
Grassroots-level support can help change this situation for the better, says CFCJ Senior Research Fellow Ab Currie, who also co-authored the report.
“Getting access to trained social workers at drop-in shelters, support workers at community centres, paralegals, religious advisors and many others who work and interact with people where and when they most need help, are primary goals and benefits of community-based justice,” explains Farrow. “The core idea is to find ways to get legal services and law-related help to people in the places that they live and work, and to identify – and ideally avoid – legal problems or to help address them before they get worse.”
“Generally, there’s a benefit to having these services in the community and the recent research indicates that the cost-benefit analysis is positive for these community justice services,” he adds. “There are also non-financial benefits of trust, access and awareness when it comes to supporting local help for local communities.”
South African researcher Busiwana Winne Martins, of the Centre for Community Justice, agrees. “Because support workers are close to the community, they understand their problems and socio-economic conditions,” she says. “They share the same geographic space and culture and can negotiate plural legal systems and determine how to straddle the formal law and traditional African customary law.”
“People who work in the grassroots justice structures, especially community-based paralegals, are able to translate difficult legal and bureaucratic language into frames that local people can understand and help them to resolve their justice issues, she adds.
Farrow agrees that managing problems within a community and with the help of community members, is often simpler, quicker and allows for community values and interests to be present in the process. “Community justice initiatives can provide exciting opportunities for innovative and inclusive problem-solving that allows for important justice options and strategies,” he notes.
To help solve the access-to-justice crisis, Farrow concludes, “community-based justice provides significant and exciting opportunities for meaningful assistance – in addition to numerous other options and processes, including strong legal institutions.”
With the addition of access-to-justice to the United Nations SDGs, calling on all nations to work toward equal access by 2030 is a significant move and driver for action, according to the report.
About York University
York University is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. York's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. York’s campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.
About Osgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, founded in Toronto in 1889, is among the oldest, largest and most distinguished law schools in Canada, with a diverse and accomplished alumni community of more than 18,000 worldwide.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
John Schofield, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, 416-736-5820, jschofield@osgoode.yorku.ca.
Gloria Suhasini, York University Media Relations, 647-463-4354, suhasini@yorku.ca.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Content analysis
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
People
ARTICLE TITLE
, Exploring Community-Based Services, Costs and Benefits for People-Centered Justice
Study shows how machine learning can identify social grooming behavior from acceleration signals in wild baboons
IMAGE: A BABOON IS GROOMED BY A SMALLER BABOON IN THE MIDDLE OF A ROAD.view more
CREDIT: CHARLOTTE CHRISTENSEN
Scientists from Swansea University and the University of Cape Town have tracked social grooming behaviour in wild baboons using collar-mounted accelerometers.
The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, is the first to successfully calculate grooming budgets using this method, which opens a whole avenue of future research directions.
Using collars containing accelerometers built at Swansea University, the team recorded the activities of baboons in Cape Town, South Africa, identifying and quantifying general activities such as resting, walking, foraging and running, and also the giving and receiving of grooming.
A supervised machine learning algorithm was trained on acceleration data matched to baboon video recordings and successfully recognised the giving and receiving grooming with high overall accuracy.
The team then applied their machine learning model to acceleration data collected from 12 baboons to quantify grooming and other behaviours continuously throughout the day and night-time.
Lead author Dr Charlotte Christensen of the University of Zurich said: "We were unsure whether a sensor on a collar would be able to detect a behaviour that involves such subtle movements, but it has worked. Our findings have important implications for the study of social behaviour in animals, particularly in non-human primates."
Social grooming is one of the most important social behaviours in primates and, since the 1950s, has become a central focus of research in primatology.
Previously, scientists have relied on direct observations to determine how much primates groom each other, and whilst direct observations provide systematic data, it is sparse and non-continuous, with the added limitation of researchers only being able to watch a few animals at a time.
Technology like the one used in this study is revolutionising the field of animal behaviour research and allowing exciting new areas of investigation.
Senior author Dr Ines Fürtbauer of Swansea University said: "This is something our team have wanted to do for years. The ability to collect and analyse continuous grooming data in wild populations will allow researchers to re-examine long-standing questions and address new ones regarding the formation and maintenance of social bonds, as well as the mechanisms underpinning the sociality-health-fitness relationship."
Two baboons holding on to each other, sitting on a rock surrounded by grass.
Two baboons sitting on a rock and looking out at the land below them.
CREDIT
Charlotte Christensen
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Founded in 1920, Swansea University is a world-class, research-led, dual campus university offering an exceptional student experience to more than 22,000 students. The University celebrated its centenary in 2020 and commemorative events to mark the occasion will continue in 2021. The 2014 Research Excellence Framework ranked Swansea University 26th in the UK for research excellence, and in 2018 the University achieved a gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Swansea is a UK top 25 institution, having climbed to 24th the Guardian University Guide 2021, and was ranked 6th for overall student satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2020. Swansea currently offers around 450 undergraduate courses and 350 postgraduate courses.
IMAGE: THE NEW TRAP PROGRAM BUILDS ON VIMS’ SUCCESS IN LEADING A MULTI-YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE VIRGINIA MARINE RESOURCES COMMISSION AND VIRGINIAN WATERMEN TO REMOVE MORE THAN 34,000 DERELICT OR “GHOST” CRAB POTS FROM THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. HERE, WATERMAN EC HOGGE HANDLES A DERELICT POT RETRIEVED FROM THE YORK RIVER, A MAJOR TRIBUTARY OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY.view more
CREDIT: VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has recommended William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science as home base for a new national program focused on protecting U.S. coastal waters from derelict fishing gear.
The $8M provided by NOAA to implement the 4-year program is the largest single grant award in VIMS’ 83-year history. Many of these dollars will be passed on to program partners through an annual grant competition. Formally known as the Nationwide Fishing TRAP Program—“TRAP” for Trap Removal, Assessment, & Prevention—the effort includes funding for commercial and tribal fishers to remove derelict pots from Virginia’s waters.
William & Mary’s strategic plan, Vision 2026, positions the university to address global challenges in areas including water and data. Provost Peggy Agouris says “The TRAP program is a great example of critical thinking with data. Combining quantitative expertise with human understanding in this way is required to design innovative solutions for the complex challenges facing society today and in the future.”
Dr. Derek Aday, VIMS Dean & Director, agrees. “Water is one of the world’s most threatened and valuable resources. The TRAP program represents the kind of innovative approaches we need to solve global issues related to conserving our marine resources and increasing the resilience of coastal communities.”
Derelict gear refers to fishing equipment that has been lost, abandoned, or otherwise discarded in the water, commonly due to storms and boat traffic. It can harm ecosystems and economies by trapping and killing targeted and bycatch species, damaging marine habitats, and competing with actively fished gear.
The TRAP Program will fund removal of the pots and traps used to harvest crabs and lobsters, and establish a Derelict Trap Policy Innovation Lab to synthesize the collected data to inform prevention and mitigation policies at the state and federal levels.
The brainchild of Drs. Kirk Havens, Donna Bilkovic, and Andrew Scheld, the TRAP program builds on VIMS’ success in leading a multi-year partnership with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and Virginian watermen to remove more than 34,000 derelict or “ghost” crab pots from the Chesapeake Bay. Scientists in this Virginia Marine Debris Removal Program also pioneered methods to assess the economic and ecologic impacts of the derelict pots and the benefits of their removal.
A 2016 study estimated that pot removals during the initial program increased baywide harvests by 38 million pounds, putting an extra $33.5 million into the pockets of Bay crabbers. The same analysis revealed that removing just 10% of derelict crab pots and lobster traps on a global basis could increase landings by 293,929 metric tons, at a yearly value of $831 million.
Havens, Director of the Center for Coastal Resources Management (CCRM) at VIMS, says “By coordinating the removal of derelict traps nationwide, we can leverage our experience and expertise to benefit coastal ecosystems and economies from Maine to Alaska.”
Waterman Clay Justis, who works pots along Virginia’s Eastern Shore, has seen these benefits first-hand. “When I was part of the removal program,” he says, “I pulled up lost pots that contained blue crabs and other animals. Removing lost pots helps clean the Bay and prevents those pots from continuing to capture and kill marine life. I haven’t pulled any pots out of Pocomoke Sound since before COVID. I bet it’s loaded now.”
Some of the 822 Stone crab traps (plastic) and Spiny lobster traps (wood+plastic) retrieved in 12 hrs at an event organized by Ocean Aid 360 in Florida.
Derelict gear can harm ecosystems and economies by trapping and killing targeted and bycatch species, damaging marine habitats, and competing with actively fished gear. Here, an oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau) is trapped within a derelict or "ghost" crab pot pulled from Virginia's York River, a major tributary of Chesapeake Bay.
CREDIT
Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
Program operation and benefits
The TRAP program will initially focus on the gear used to catch crabs (blue, Dungeness, and stone) and lobsters (American and spiny). According to Scheld, a fisheries economist at VIMS, these trap and pot fisheries bring in more than $1B per year, almost 20% of the total annual landings value of all US fisheries. As the TRAP program develops, it may expand to additional species captured using these two gear types.
Bilkovic, CCRM assistant director, adds, “There have been many excellent efforts to deal with derelict fishing gear in U.S. waters, but to address the issue most effectively, it’s critical that these efforts are coordinated and standardized at a national scale. That will allow us to determine where the gear is coming from and where it’s ending up; to accurately assess its ecological and economic impacts; and to recognize high-use conflict areas. This is information that can ultimately help us develop effective prevention measures.”
“We’ll develop and implement a national competition to fund sub-awardees who present effective proposals for removing derelict fishing traps in their own region or state,” says Havens. The competition will be offered annually in years 2 through 4 of the TRAP program. Program administrators anticipate awarding 6-15 sub-grants per year, with total funding on the order of $1.5M annually.
To be successful, proposals will need to include plans for collecting trap-removal data in a standardized format so they can be compiled and analyzed to better understand the scale of the issue and to inform state and federal responses. TRAP scientists and their communication partners, which include media firm Greenfin Studios and Kenah Consulting, will develop a website to share these data with policymakers and the public. This online information hub will provide users with details on trap removals and program participation. The site will also house a data and mapping dashboard similar to what VIMS currently provides for coastal shorelines and the earlier Virginia Marine Debris Removal Program.
Ashley Spivey, executive director of Kenah and a Pamunkey Indian tribal member, says “Kenah builds long-term relationships with Tribes through respect, discretion, and honesty. Our team looks forward to facilitating engagement with indigenous communities across the United States that may have an interest in the removal of derelict traps from U.S. and Tribal waters.”
The NOAA funding opportunity was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, who strongly supported the IIJA and its Marine Debris Program provisions, and was Virginia’s Governor during the initiation of VIMS’ derelict crab-pot removal program in 2008, says “I’m proud to have worked with VIMS to secure this funding to help keep Virginia’s waterways clean, while supporting our watermen. This is critical to protect our environment and economy.”
Virginia Congressman Rob Wittman says, “The Chesapeake Bay is cleaner, and our marine communities are better off now thanks to the many contributions of VIMS. By working with watermen to remove derelict crab pots, the program will benefit both our local economies and the health of the Chesapeake Bay.”
“This funding is further recognition of the important role VIMS has in Virginia and builds on their recognition as a nationwide leader on coastal issues,” adds Virginia’s Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources Travis Voyles. “By supporting our watermen and further protecting our marine resources, the TRAP program will be a win-win for the Commonwealth.”
Virginia State Senator Monty Mason says, “I have absolute faith that this program at VIMS will produce meaningful research and solutions to keep our water resources clean.”
Havens says that potential applicants for future TRAP awards include organizations that already have experience in removing derelict traps, as well as those that can demonstrate sufficient capacity to implement a successful removal project. VIMS will again lead pot-removal activities in Virginia waters.
One such partner is the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation, which has worked with lobstermen for more 15 years to remove and recycle thousands of lost lobster pots. Erin Pelletier, the foundation’s Executive Director, says “Data collection not only needs to be increased but standardized as well.”
Another gear-removal partner is Natural Resources Consultants (NRC) of Seattle, which has teamed with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, NGOs, Treaty Tribes, and other agencies to remove more than 6,000 derelict Dungeness crab and shrimp pots from Puget Sound during the last two decades. Kyle Antonelis, NRC vice president and senior fisheries analyst, says “We look forward to continuing these partnership efforts and strongly support a national program to standardize data collection.”
