Autumn´s 27th article writing day

Today I had this autumn´s 27th article writing day, with some 5 hours devoted to revision of "What can be known about future Umwelten?" I made two key figures (namely "Weak signals in relation to threatened and emerging Umwelten objects" and "Three-dimensional interactive semiotic model of environmental change"; where the latter incorporates the notions "Umwelt transition" and "Umwelt trajectory" within a larger whole) and wrote some 400 words.

Forum for forskning planning meeting

Yesterday I attended a planning meeting for Forum for forskning making plans for events in 2020. Four faculties are involved.

Presentation of sustainability-themed UHR conference at Greenhouse lunch

Yesterday, Thursday November 28th, I talked about the sustainability-themes Universities Norway conference held earlier this week in Oslo for The Greenhouse during the weekly Greenhouse Thursday lunch. Some 10 people attended.

Third gathering of hunting network attended in Oslo

Today I have attended the third gathering of the network "Jakt i endring" (Hunting undergoing change), in Oslo Science Park. The gathering amounted to a day full of presentations, including on preliminary findings from a Q survey conducted within the network on attitudes to hunting and related issues.

Conference of Universities Norway (UHR) attended

Today I have attended the annual UHR conference in Oslo (at Radisson Oslo Plaza). UHR, Universities Norway (the Norwegian name is Universitets- og høyskolerådet, which translates to "the university and university college council"), is a national association for Norwegian universities and university colleges. The topic for this year´s conference has been "Collaboration for a sustainable society". I attended the session "Education for transformation: Whose values and visions are shaping the future" by Karen O´Brien as well as all plenary session. I also attended the conference dinner.

Google Scholar: 386 citations; h-index 10; h10-index 14

On the count of Google Scholars, my academic publications have attracted 386 citations to date. This is up 35 since March. My h-index is 10 (up from 9 in March), and my h10-index 14 (meaning 14 papers have attracted at least 10 citations each). On top, "Umwelt transitions: Uexküll and environmental change" now has as many citations (37) as "Umwelt ethics", which has up to now been my most cited paper.

See my profile at Google Scholar.

"Umwelt transitions: Uexküll and environmental change": According to Springer, this paper has 1.900 downloads and 15 tracked citations.

Number of citations in 2019 is said to be 31.

NASS board meeting chaired

Today I chaired the first board meeting of the new board of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies, elected at this summer´s General Assembly in Stavanger during NASS XI. the meeting took place via Skype. 

Autumn 26th article writing day; 40.000 words written so far this year

Today I have had this autumn´s 26th article writing day, with some 5 hours devoted to revision work on my article "What can be known about future Umwelten?". I deleted ca. 1.100 more words than I wrote; reworked the disposition for the paper; drafted a list of planned figures; and searched for software for making academic graphics.

At 26 article writing days so far this autumn, the semester´s number of article writing days already by far surpasses that of the Spring semester (16 article writing days - I also had several application writing days). Next Spring even more article writing days is planned.

Year totals to date: 42 article writing days; ca. 40.000 words written in article/chapter format (ca. 14.361 words in Spring, 25.906 to date this Autumn).

Autumn´s 25th article writing day

Today I have had this autumn´s 25th article writing day, planning for the next semester´s writing day (see previous post) and working on the revision on my article "What can be known about future Umwelten". For the first time this autumn, the word count (written) was negative, since I deleted more than I added (additions were six new references). 

Writing plan for Spring 2020 composed; fewer conferences next summer

In consequence of my more busy work life now that I am Vice Dean for Research, I have, already, scheduled article writing days for next Spring. Counting 53 writing day as of now (with 2 writing days from home each week as the rule), this is the highest number of writing days I have planned for a semester so far. This Spring my research time was too pressed by the Vice Dean role; this autumn I have protected it a bit more strictly.

It also makes a difference that whereas I attended no less than 5 conferences etc. within five weeks June-July this year, I intend to attend fewer conferences next summer. For now I am just planning attending a symposium in May (invited) and 3 conferences next year (one in July, one in August, one in October, the latter invited). I am open to more if exciting opportunities show up, but don´t want to have as busy a summer next year as I had in 2019 - something that also meant I hardly had time to write this June.

To present "The ethics of laying hen genetics" at GroupHouseNet final dissemination event in Paris December 10th

I am scheduled to present our paper "The ethics of laying hen genetics" at the Final Dissemination Meeting of the COST action "GroupHouseNet", which takes place in Paris on December 10th. The paper is co-written with Mia Fernyhough (first author), Mike Toscano, Christine Nicol and Teun van de Braak - and will shortly appear Open Access in Journal of agricultural and environmental ethics.

20th gathering in biosemiotics to be held at Palacký university July 8-12th 2020

The call for papers for the 20th gathering in biosemiotics, to be held at Palacký university in Olomouc, Czech Republic July 8-12th 2020, has been released, see conference webpage. Abstract deadline is February 28th.

8th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference held; panel chaired

Today the 8th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference (Dyreetikkonferansen) was held, at Litteraturhuset in Oslo. I have been one of four members of the organizing committee. My role today was limited to chairing a panel discussion (see image). This year´s topic was "Menneskets mest avlede venn? Dagens hundeavl i etisk lys" (Human´s most bred friend? Current dog breeding in ethical light). Some 150 people attended the conference, including two school classes.

Photo: Anne Hilde Røsvik.

Laying hen ethics article proof-read

I have just completed proof-reading of our article "The ethics of laying hen genetics", which will soon appear Open Access in Journal of Agricultural and Environmental ethics.

Council for animal ethics meeting attended; pyton snake held

Today I have attended the second meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics in this period, at Adamstuen. The meeting included a lecture on reptiles, and a guided tour at Oslo reptilpark, where I held a pyton snake.

"What can be known about future Umwelten?" to be revised

I have received reviewer comments from The American Journal of Semiotics, with an invitation to revise and resubmit my paper "What can be known about future Umwelten?".

Hoffmeyer editorial proof-read

Today I have proof-read our editorial "Jesper Hoffmeyer´s biosemiotic legacy" (co-written with Alexei Sharov and Timo Maran) which will shortly appear in Biosemiotics.

Three meetings and then off

Today I have attended the faculty leadership group meeting, chaired the first meeting of the new ph.d. committee (for the ph.d. in social sciences), and attended a meeting deciding on (proposals for) estimation of work hours for some ph.d.-related tasks.

A forum and a meeting

Today I attended the biannual "Lederforum" (leadership forum) at University of Stavanger, which was focussed on strategy. I also attended a meeting of the steering group for the NORPART project "Cuban and Nordic welfare" (our first since this Spring).

Hearing statement on open science composed

Two days ago I composed the hearing statement of Faculty of social sciences on the University of Stavanger´s new policy for open science (brief comments to the recommendations of a working group).

Leadership group gathering in Twente attended; University of Twente visited

Thursday and Friday this week, i.e. November 14-15th, I attended the leadership group gathering of Faculty of social sciences in Enschede in the region of Twente in the Netherlands. The program included discussing strategy and visiting the University of Twente - where we had 7-8 appointments including being shown around at two labs. In particular, we met with people representing Faculty of Behavioral, Management and Social Sciences (BMS).

Party leader Ropstad cites my demography chapter in Bergens Tidende chronicle

CORRECTION: The newspaper says they added the link, not Ropstad.

***

Kjell Ingolf Ropstad, party leader for Kristelig folkeparti (the Norwegian Christian Democrats) has written a chronicle published in Bergens Tidende today entitled "Skaper vi menneskeverd, redder vi miljøet". In a paragraph about the environmental movement´s attitude to population growth, he cites a book chapter of mine (see link below):

Det kanskje mest bekymringsfulle, er når det tas til orde for drakoniske tiltak for å redusere verdens befolkning. Den norske økofilosofen Arne Næss mente at verden ikke tålte en befolkning på mer enn 100 millioner. På 1960-tallet førte alarmismen i boken The Population Bomb av den amerikanske befolkningseksperten Paul Erlich til at Vesten (herunder Norge) sponset «befolkningstiltak» i India og andre land som førte til grove brudd på menneskerettighetene.

Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten 2014. Statistikerens guide til utopia II: En demografisk analyse av øko-visjoner om befolkningsnedgang i det tredje årtusen [The statistician's guide to utopia II: A demographic analysis of eco-visions of population decline in the third milennium]. In the Festschrift Motmæle: En antologi til Kjersti Ericsson, Cecilie Høigård og Guri Larsen [Speaking out: An anthology for Kjersti Ericsson, Cecilie Høigård and Guri Larsen] (eds Heidi Mork Lomell and Liv Finstad), p. 435–453. Oslo: Novus forlag. Tilgjengelig via UiS Open Research Archive: http://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2367876/T%25C3%25B8nnesen.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

His assertion that Arne Næss thought 100 million people was all the Earth could take is not entirely accurate. What he did say at one point is that he thought a world population of 50 to 100 million people would be sufficient to maintain cultural diversity (and that a lower world population would be acceptable for humans and beneficial for non-humans overall).

Ropstad´s reference to my chapter refers to my Academia.edu page, where the chapter is also available.

Editorial on legacy of Jesper Hoffmeyer accepted for publication

Our editorial "Jesper Hoffmeyer´s biosemiotic legacy" has been accepted for publication in Biosemiotics. Handling editor was Kalevi Kull.

"The ethics of laying hen genetics" accepted for publication

Our article "The ethics of laying hen genetics" has been accepted for publication in Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics.

Enschede

Today I have travelled from Stavanger to Enschede in the region Twente in the Netherlands, to take part in the faculty leadership group gathering over the next two days.

Autumn´s 24th article writing day

Today I had this autumn´s 24th article writing day, with close to 5 hours devoted to my article "Wasted growth".

Half writing day - autumn´s total 23

Today I had half an article writing day, with some 3 hours devoted to my article "Wasted growth", and some 500 words added. Worked with calculations of nonincome HDI today. So far this autumn I have had 23 writing days.

Two meetings

Today I have attended two meetings, first appointments committee meeting regarding Head of department for Norwegian School of Hotel Management, then an information meeting centrally in relation to the NOKUT inspection next week. The latter was held in conjunction with the rector meeting (for 1 hour plus lunch).

Half writing day - new total 22,5

Today I had half an article writing day, reorganizing some writing day plans for the next couple of months and doing a little work on my article "Wasted growth". Now the fun part begins, with calculations of non income HDI and, soon, wasted growth.

Total number of article writing days this autumn is up to 22,5.

Interview on radio show "Ekko" on so-called pest animals

On October 23rd I was interviewed live on national radio, on NRK P2´s Ekko. Program host was Martin Jahr, and the topic "skadedyr" ("pest animals"). The episode featuring the interview can be heard here.

Public lecture on humans as global species given at Museum of Archaeology

On Tuesday November 5th I gave a public talk at Museum of Archaeology in Stavanger entitled "Mennesket som global art" (The human species as global species), as one of this autumn´s "tirsdagsforedrag" (Tuesday lectures). Some 55 people attended. The event lasted for some 90 minutes including questions/comments.

Photos: Helge Sivertsen

Writing day - autumn´s total now 22

Today I had half a writing day devoted to my article "Wasted growth", with some 400 words composed. Total number of article writing days this autumn is up to 22.

Two meetings or so

Today I have attended the faculty leadership meeting at Faculty of social sciences, and a meeting related to call for applications for the position as leader of Network for welfare research.

Writing day - autumn´s total now 21,5

Today I had a writing day with some 5 hours devoted to my article "Wasted growth", and some 600 words composed. Total number of article writing days this autumn is up to 21,5.

First "new" Forum for forskning chaired

Today I chaired the first Forum for forskning at University of Stavanger in the new forum series. This forum´s topic was open access publication. There was also a debate on the Dora declaration. Some 40 people attended.

A meeting or two

Today I attended the Faculty of social sciences´ leadership group meeting - which included a meeting with the Pro-rector for innovation and society Rune Dahl Fitjar.

Planning meeting

Today I have attended a planning meeting concerning tomorrow´s Forum for forskning, which I will be chairing (see also previous post).

Ad for public lecture on global species

This ad is in Stavanger Aftenblad today, ahead of my public lecture tomorrow at Museum of Archeology.

Two meetings and 50 emails to go

Today I have been attending a planning meeting for the faculty´s "fagdag" next year, and an info meeting in relation to the establishment (starting today) of research schools in the ph.d. program in social sciences.

50 emails to go...