The Malta Independent on Sunday
Award of the IOI Elisabeth Mann Borgese Bursary, 2020-2021
The Elisabeth Mann Borgese (EMB) Bursary of the International Ocean Institute (IOI) was established as a means of demonstrating recognition to the host country of the IOI – Malta – for hosting the IOI Headquarters and for providing facilities for IOI staff and offices at the University of Malta’s Msida Campus. The bursary is financed through the IOI and constitutes a further recognition and acknowledgement of the role of IOI founder Prof. Mann Borgese and of her considerable achievements.
The 2020 EMB bursary is being awarded to Joanna Causon Deguara, a PhD student with the Department of Geography under the main supervision of Dr Ritienne Gauci (University of Malta) and Dr Robert Inkpen (University of Portsmouth). The research carried out by Causon Deguara is titled, Assessing erosion and mobility of boulder-sized clasts along selected rock coasts of the Maltese Islands and it aims to assess in detail the extent of storm wave impact on the erosion of rocky coasts by observing occurrences of boulder detachment and transportation and monitoring their frequency. The EMB bursary funds will further extend the scope of this current work by enabling enhanced monitoring capabilities through the use of specialised software and hardware.
The award ceremony for this year’s bursary was held on 28 September, with an outdoor event held fittingly at the memorial of Elisabeth Mann Borgese at the Arvid Pardo Study Area on Campus. Present at the ceremony were pro-rector Professor Joseph Cacciattolo, Professor Louis Cassar, Antonella Vassallo (IOI managing director) and Causon Deguara, the current EMB bursary award winner.
The 2019 EMB bursary awarded to Anna Lucia Cantafaro to carry out research on deep-water benthic assemblages within the 25nautical mile Malta Fisheries Management Zone is nearing completion and Cantafaro is expected to successfully conclude the research associated with the EMB bursary in the coming days. The aim of this research was to undertake a detailed study on the ecology of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) around the Maltese Islands, allowing for a greater understanding of the factors determining their occurrence patterns and assessment of the status of the habitat-forming species.
For further information about the IOI and its programmes please contact ioihq@ioihq.org.mt or view the IOI HQ website http://www.ioinst.org/