Half article day; two article projects likely cancelled

Today I have had half an article writing day, with a little preparation done for my chapter "Neurosemiotics across species". I also realized that two year-old article projects (with data collection dating back some five years), "Proto-language in wolves" and "Synchronicity in human perception of animals", will likely not materialize, for one thing due to a poorly planned research design during data collection.

Project extension for wolf study

Project end for the research (sub)project "Representations both Problematic and Romanticizing of Large Mammals especially Wolves" has been extended to June 30th 2019. The remaining two articles will likely only be completed next Spring.

EMP151 presented at UiS EEA funding info day

I have just presented experience as Norwegian project leader for the Norwegian-Estonian research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis" at University of Stavanger´s EEA funding info day, organised by UiS´ Research and Innovation Department and International office. Some 35-40 people are attending.

See also EMP151 project summery at EEA Grants.

To share experiences on EEA funding info day at UiS

I have agreed to give a brief presentation of my experiences with EEA research funding at University of Stavanger´s upcoming EØS funding info day May 3rd. This concerns my role as Norwegian project leader for the Estonian-Norwegian research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis".

NSD approves project extension

The use of research data in the subproject of EMP151 "Animals in changing environments" called "Representations both Problematic and Romanticizing of Large Mammals especially Wolves" has been extended for a 6 month period until the end of June. Articles are still in process.

"Animals in changing environments" research project formally closed at UiS

The Norwegian part of the EEA research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis" has now been officially closed at the University of Stavanger administration. The final payment from our Estonian partner came a week or two ago.

Final conference of Estonian-Norwegian research programme attended in Harju, Estonia

Today and yesterday I have attended the final, concluding conference of the Estonian-Norwegian research programme. Representatives of some 13 bilateral research projects have been present, including Timo Maran and myself from ours, "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis". The conference was held on Laulasmaa Spa Hotel in Harju quite close to Tallinn.

Feedback to NSD on EMP151 research

I have just given feedback to NSD concerning extended time for use of data collected during interviews Spring 2015 (use until end of 2017).

Final Estonian-Norwegian Research cooperation conference

My registration for the concluding conference of the Norwegian-Estonian Research Cooperation has been confirmed. The conference will occur at September 21-22nd at Laulasmaa Spa and Conference Hotel.

EMP151 field work summary composed and distributed

I have earlier this Spring composed a 7 pp. popular science summary of field work conducted in Norway Spring 2015 as part of the research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis". Today I distributed it via email to interviewees. The video-recorded interviews were about wolves and related animals.

Popular scientific summary of field work prepared

The last week or so I have prepared a 7 page PDF document with text, images and links that sums up field work on people´s perception of wolves and related animals carried out at various locations in Norway in Spring 2015 as part of the project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis", specifically the subproject "Representations (both Problematic and Romanticizing) of Large Mammals, especially Wolves". The document will be distributed and made publicly available shortly.

Dissemination article published by ScienceNordic.com in 2016

The research dissemination article "Researchers: Facts alone are not enough in the debate about wolves", by Benedicte Pentz, appeared on ScienceNordic.com on May 7th 2016. The article features an interview with me on field work carried out in Spring 2015. Similar articles have appeared on uis.no, phys.org and forskning.no.

Estonian webpage of "Animals in changing environments" updated

The Estonian webpage (in English) of the Norwegian-Estonian Research Cooperation Programme grant EMP151 "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis" has been updated with further information, summing up research done in the project.

Academic reporting related to EMP151

The last week I reported academic research activities to the Estonian science agency ETAG and to the Estonian Research Information System (ETIS), in relation to our project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis" (EMP151).

Research status report

Yesterday I gave a brief status report to the Norwegian Personvernombudet for forskning in relation to field work in "Animals in changing environments" (EMP151). Research is still ongoing.

Financial reporting for EMP151 finished

The last few weeks I have been involved in financial reporting for the year 2016 for the Estonian-Norwegian research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis" (EMP151). Today I was notified that the financial report from UiS for 2016 has been approved.

Dissemination piece on wolves and sheep in DN

Today my dissemination piece "Ulv og sau - et naturlig par?" [Wolf and sheep - a natural couple?] is published in Dagens Næringsliv, a major national Norwegian daily newspaper. My University of Stavanger affiliation is credited along with the research projects "Animals in changing environments".

The research dissemination is behind a payment wall. I have repeated the text in my Norwegian blog Utopisk Realisme.

"The semiotics of predation and the nature of human beings" presented at UiS research seminar

On Friday December 16th, in the 4th and final Norwegian research seminar of the Estonian-Norwegian research project "Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis", at University of Stavanger, I presented my paper "The semiotics of predation and the nature of human beings".

See also:

Estonian guests; 4th EMP151 research seminar

4th Norwegian EMP seminar held at UiS

Dissemination text on wolves and sheep rejected, resubmitted

My dissemination piece "Ulv og sau - et naturlig par?" [Wolf and sheep - a natural couple?] was rejected by Aftenposten Innsikt, but has since been shortened somewhat and submitted elsewhere.

See also:

Dissemination article on wolves and sheep

Interview in Vårt Land published

On December 28th a 6-page feature story was published by the Norwegian national daily Vårt Land, a Christian newspaper, entitled "For dyrenes skyld" [For the sake of the animals] and featuring interviews with me and three others (under the vignette "Tema: Dyrevelferd" [topic: animal welfare]). I did the interview in the name of Minding Animals Norway and University of Stavanger.

There was a note on the story on the front page, reading "Flere bryr seg om dyrene" [More people care about the animals].