The Centre for Professional Practice will host a presentation on Understanding and Working with Self-harm and Attempted Suicide at Medway campus on Monday 18 June from 10.00-12.00.

The presentation, by Dr Terence Nice, Programme Director (Psychotherapy), at the Centre for Professional Practice, focuses on the assessment and treatment of people who self-harm and attempt suicide.

The presentation looks at the prevalence of self-harm,   national guidelines, causative factors and ways of ameliorating suicidal ideations and diminishing acts of self-harm.  The territory of self-harm and attempted suicide is often paradoxical and labyrinthine, leaving clinicians, practitioners and workers uncertain about how to react positively and respond appropriately.

The presentation is aimed at all those people who come into contact with young or older people who self-harm or attempt suicide.  The presenter is a Lecturer in Psychological Therapies, Highly Specialist Psychotherapist and an active researcher in this field. Dr Nice has also developed a self-harm tool-kit to assist in the assessment and treatment of this group.

Venue: Medway Building, Room M1-22.

Fee: The event has a nominal charge of £10 but is free to University of Kent staff.

How to book: All spaces must be pre-booked, via email: professionalpractice@kent.ac.uk 

For any queries, please email professionalpractice@kent.ac.uk or call 01634 888929.  

Do you travel overseas in the course of your job?  Are you a Travel Planner for your School or Department?  If either of these statements apply to you then you would probably be interested in the updated Travel Health Information on the OH website.

Also, Caroline Groombridge, one of the OHWAs has undertaken additional training in Travel Health and is happy to address any queries you have related to your health while you are away on University related activities. Caroline works part-time so, although you can email her directly, it might be more useful for you to contact OH Admin on ext 4691 or by email on occupationalhealth@kent.ac.uk so a convenient time for you can be slotted into her diary for her to discuss issues with you. This can be by telephone or face to face.

All University staff are invited to a lunchtime BBQ hosted by the Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Karen Cox.

The lunchtime BBQs will take place on the Registry Lawn in Canterbury on Friday 22 June (12.00 -14.00) and outside No 1 Bistro in Medway on Wednesday 20 June (12.00-14.00).

Please register for either Canterbury or Medway and bring your ticket with you on the day.

Canterbury: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/university-of-kent-staff-bbq-canterbury-campus-2018-tickets-45548241015

Medway: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/university-of-kent-staff-bbq-medway-campus-2018-tickets-45548365387

The RSVP for this event is Monday 18 June, please register as soon as possible as this is a popular event.

Vegetarian and vegan food will be provided, but please do register any other dietary requirements.

The BBQs are free events for staff and we hope to see you there.

Please email events@kent.ac.uk if you have any further questions.

The British Ecological Society (BES), in partnership with its publisher John Wiley & Sons, has announced the launch of a new international journal.

People and Nature is an open access journal dedicated to publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed work from research areas exploring relationships between humans and nature.

The journal will be led by Kevin J Gaston, Professor of Biodiversity and Conservation at the University of Exeter. Gaston will work closely with lead editors Robert Fish, Rosie Hails, Kai Chan and Cecily Maller, and an expert board of associate editors drawn from a wide array of fields that intersect with ecology, including economics, law, geography, sociology and the wider arts and humanities.

Recognising the importance of human aspects in all areas of ecology, People and Nature fosters innovation and experimentation. Authors may use quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies.

Dr Robert Fish, Reader in Human Ecology at the School of Anthropology and Conservation, added: ‘Ecological questions are wrapped up inside a wider set of political, social and cultural concerns and conundrums. This journal will be an important venue for debate and innovation in the complex arena of people-nature interactions.’

People and Nature will open for submissions in June.

Available exclusively online, People and Nature will be published in partnership with John Wiley & Sons, alongside five established journals from the BES, namely: Journal of Ecology, Journal of Applied Ecology, Methods in Ecology and Evolution, Functional Ecology, and Journal of Animal Ecology.

Follow @PaN_BES for updates.

Dr Aki Pasoulas, Director of Programmes (Music), Director of Education, and Director of MAAST (Music and Audio Arts Sound Theatre) in the School of Music and Fine Art, has had his electroacoustic composition Irides accepted in the peer-reviewed conference Sound & Music Computing (smc2018) with the general theme Sonic Crossings.

The concert will be held in Limassol, Cyprus, between 4 and 7 July. Keynote speakers include renowned composer Trevor Wishart.

Find out more on the conference website.

Irides (which literally means rainbows), was premiered on 24 April 2017 at the Sound of Memory symposium at Goldsmiths Great Hall, London. It has been subsequently selected for performances at the ISSTA (Irish Sound Science and Technology Association) conference at Dundalk, Ireland, at the Sound/Image conference in London, at the ICMC2017 (International Computer Music Conference) in Shanghai, China, and at the Helicotrema festival in Venice, Italy, in a concert curated by Hildegard Westerkamp.

Aki Pasoulas is an electroacoustic composer, whose works are regularly performed worldwide.

Also see https://www.kent.ac.uk/smfa/news.html?view=2609