New Look for 'nri.org' in 2003

December 2002

In January 2003, NRI will launch a restructured 'nri.org' website. The new site will reflect the significant changes that NRI has undergone in the past 18 months. Just as importantly, it will be aimed at a wider audience, with:

• more information about what NRI is and what we do;
• highlights and topical issues featured on the home page; and
• greater use of multiple levels, hyperlinks and glossary entries to allow visitors to decide how much (or how little) detail they want to see.

Once the new site is running smoothly, we will be working to increase the amount of information available to visitors. For example, we intend to add pen-sketches summarizing the skills of every member of NRI so that visitors to the site can see the very wide range of professional expertise and geographical experience of our natural and social scientists, together with the specialist talents and considerable experience of our managers, administrators and technicians. Similarly, we intend to make many more of our new in-house publications and reports available on-line via the website.

In recent months, the members of the 'nri.org' core team - Web Editor (Chris Haines), Webmaster (Helen Bowles) and Systems Development Manager (Alan Bourne) - have been working with the Director and Group representatives to reshape the site, update or rewrite existing pages, and add much new material. Chris Haines says: "We believe the new site will be more interesting for a wider range of potential visitors and we want it to become increasingly a source of information about natural resources development issues, as well as being a showcase for NRI's work and expertise. The development of the new site is obviously an ongoing project and we still have much to do to improve it over the next few months: we will be very pleased to receive feedback (to the contacts listed below) from visitors who encounter any problems or notice any inconsistencies in the information.

Please contact Helen Bowles if you have any comments on site navigation and layout, or Chris Haines with feedback on site content.

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'Making Ends Meet' Radio Series

August 2002

'Making Ends Meet' is a multi-media project which is a collaboration between NRI and the BBC. Funding for NRI's participation in the project has been provided by DFID. The project has at its core a series of radio programmes that were first broadcast on the BBC World Service in August 2002.

The intention is to explore the lives of people in remote communities around the world, to look at how they make a living, and to examine how their lives and livelihoods are related to those of people in the outside world. Four very different communities were chosen for the variety of their geographical locations, their types of livelihood, and their relationships with the outside world: a fishing village in the Danube Delta, Romania; Gosh, a mountain village in Armenia; a community in Northern Ghana with a hippopotamus sanctuary established nearby; and a community of Buddhist nuns in the Sagaing Hills in Upper Myanmar (Burma).

'Making Ends Meet' Site

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NRI Scientist Reaches BBC Science Presenter Finals

31 July 2002

An NRI plant chemist beat 1500 other hopefuls to make it to the finals of BBC Talent's 'Science on Screen' initiative, designed to find a new presenter for BBC science programmes.

"A friend of mine showed me the advertisement," explained Dr Phil Stevenson, Reader in Plant Chemistry at NRI, "and as I already have some experience of science-presenting on the satellite science channel Einstein TV, it seemed like an opportunity too good to miss." The field of applicants was narrowed down to 140 for the first auditions. In these, Phil presented a mock TV report about the use of viruses to control insect populations and, after further short-listing in a one-day workshop on broadcasting techniques, he was delighted to be one of the six selected for the final competitions 'on air.'

There were three televised heats with two candidates per show. Phil presented a report about a device to enable dentists to detect how heavily people smoke by analysing their saliva, which could be useful in encouraging people to cut down. The device didn't actually work, so he had to improvise! Phil won his heat and made it to the last three for the final programme, where he interviewed a man who had invented an iron that doesn't need an ironing board. Although Phil wasn't the overall winner, he has been invited back to discuss programme ideas with the specialist factual department at the BBC, with the possibility of taking some of his ideas to pilot programmes and possibly to national television in the future.

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Royal Visit to NRI on 28 March 2002

28 March 2002

Her Majesty arrives accompanied by Prof Rick Trainor, the Vice- Chancellor of the University of Greenwich © University of Greenwich

On 28 March 2002 the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh honoured NRI by a Royal visit. There was an opportunity for the Royal party to meet with NRI scientists and students in the Ward Room of the Pembroke building on the Medway Campus of the University of Greenwich.

The Royal visit was arranged to coincide with the inauguration of Universities at Medway in which the Universities of Greenwich and Kent will combine to provide increased higher education opportunities by working together on the Medway Campus. In addition the Medway Children's University were also involved in the visit.

The visit was a tremendous success and enabled everyone partaking to have an opportunity to be presented to either the Queen or Duke of Edinburgh. It was a wonderful opportunity for the scientists and students of NRI to have the opportunity to promote their work in such a high profile way. The Institute also took the opportunity to invite a number of colleagues from other institutions and Government Departments to join them in what was a tremendous day of celebration for the work of NRI.

The Director of NRI is introduced to the Queen © University of Greenwich	The Queen chatting with scientists and students © University of Greenwich	The Duke of Edinburgh discussing the merits of artificial cows © University of Greenwich

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