26th Aer Lingus Young Scientists' ExhibitionAuthor(s): Mary J. P. ScannellSource: The Irish Naturalists' Journal, Vol. 23, No. 5/6 (Jan. - Apr., 1990), pp. 226-227Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25539475 .

Accessed: 16/06/2014 12:17

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The IrishNaturalists' Journal.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.34 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 12:17:35 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Ir. Nat. J. Vol. 23 No. 5/6 1990 226

age sediments Although it is difficult to identify elements of the post cranial skeleton of Pleistocene

bovids this particular specimen (NMING : F19586) compares closely with material already in the

collections and its identification has been confirmed by Dr A. J. Stuart of Castle Museum, Norwich,

Both species of cattle ranged through the Middle and Upper Pliestocene, with the aurochs surviving in

the wild until recent times in eastern Europe.

The finding of such a bone off the SE Irish coast suggests a number of possibilities. It is possible

that cattle were grazing on land exposed beyond the present coast by lower sea-levels at various stages

during the Pleistocene and that deposits of this age are preserved in the Saltee area. It is also possible that the bone might have been moved from its original burial site by Irish Sea ice as is suspected for the

Wexford Gravel molluscan fauna. This fauna may have been transported by Munsterian ice from as

far away as the Clyde area of Scotland (McMillan N, F., 1964 Proc. R, Ir, Acad. 63B: 265-289).

National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 NIGEL T. MONAGHAN

REPORTS OF MEETINGS

26th AER LINGUS YOUNG SCIENTISTS' EXHIBITION

The 26th Young Scientists* Exhibition organized by Aer Lingus was held from 3-7 January 1990 at the Royal Dublin Society's premises in Ballsbridge, Dublin. The Exhibition Director is Ms

Margaret Coyne of Aer Lingus, This year 454 exhibits from all counties in Ireland, with the exception of Sligo, Waterford and

Fermanagh, were staged by 930 exhibitors of whom 57% were women. More than half the exhibits were group projects. The exhibits were in three categories: Chemical, Physical and Mathematical

Sciences; Social and Behavioural Sciences; and Biological and Ecological Sciences; with this last section attracting 179 entries.

The 1990 Aer Lingus Young Scientist of the year was adjudged to be Annagh Minchin, a 15

year-old pupil of Alexandra College, Dublin. Annagh's project represented a two-year study of the

immigrant brown alga Colpomenia peregrina (Sauvageau) Hamei (C, sinuosa auct.). She studied this

plant in particular at Scanlon's Island, Burren, Co Clare and at Lough Hyne, Co Cork but some 35

other sites were visited when plotting the distribution of the species. Seventeen of the locations

represented new sites for C. peregrina around the Irish coast. Studies were also carried out on the

dimensions of individual plants, on the population density at each station and on the nature of the gas in the vesicles. Annagh, who has been a consistent exhibitor (and category award winner) from the age of 13, was presented with the Young Scientists' trophy by An Taoiseach, Mr Charles J. Haughey. She will represent Ireland at the Young Scientist of Europe Exhibition in Copenhagen in October 1990.

The runner-up individual award went to 17 year-old Justine Mcllroy from Loreto College, Coleraine, who entered a project in the Chemistry section on a study of 'Oscillating Chemical Reactions", The top group prize was awarded to Jane Hennessy and Katherine Kelly, both aged 15, from St Pauls School, Greenhills, Dublin. They made a detailed study of the holly leaf miner Phytomyza ilicis Curtis, a common sub-cutaneous pest of the leaves of both wild and cultivated holly Ilex aquifolium L. The project revealed a series of parasites and of parasites on parasites, with

suggestions being put forward for control measures. In addition to the category awards by Aer Lingus, a number of other institutions and

organizations presented special awards. Those of biological interest were: the Institute of Biology Ireland prizes to Matthew Sullivan from the Patrician Academy, Mallow, for a study on

micropropagation and to Jane Hennessy and Catherine Kelly for their leaf-miner project; the Irish Professors of Botany prizes were awarded to Annagh Minchin and to David English, Kevin Corrigan and Bridget Sweeney from McHale College, Achill, for a study of the biological control of potato blight; the An Bord Glas prizes were awarded to Kathy Shannon from the Vocational School, Mallow, for a study of the Blackwater valley wine and also to David English. For his nutritional study of vegetables, Darren O Beirne, St Peter's College, Wexford, was awarded the Teagasc prize; the Insurance Institute of Ireland prize went to Cathal 0 Doherty and Mark Dowling of the Carmelite

College, Castlemartyr for an environmental study; an investigation of mussel growth-enhancing

techniques by Fionnuala Joyce, Colaiste Pobail, Athboy, was awarded an Institute of Food Science and Technology prize, as was the project by Ita Grant and Eimear McNicholl from Loreto College,

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.34 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 12:17:35 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Ir. Nat. J. Vol. 23 No. 5/6 1990 227

Coleraine on the growth rates of bacteria in thawing food; the Teachers Union of Ireland prize was awarded to Conor Darcy, Stephen Byrne and Shane Drumgoole, CB Secondary School, Dundalk, for a study of plants in aquaria.

The Exhibition was a resounding success. Aer Lingus are due great praise for mounting this annual event. It provides a platform on which pupils from all parts of Ireland can present the results of

experiments from both the organic and the inorganic world, can match their skills with other pupils whilst learning much from the social contacts and associated events the Exhibition provides.

Aer Lingus also provided exciting special feature displays in the Main Hall The Experts in Aircraft Management (TEAM) demonstrated a scale model of Boeing 747-400 jet engine to be used in a new venture at Dublin Airport

? the servicing of international aircraft. There were seven exhibits

featuring the top award winners at the 1989 Young Scientist of Europe Exhibition which was held in Brussels. As well as last year's Irish award winners, Sinead Finn and Grace 0 Connor from Thurles, there were projects from the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain and Italy. The last was of biological interest. Lina Tomasella, who is studying physics at Padua University,

demonstrated the effects of fluorescent dyes on aquatic invertebrates in the region between Venice and Trieste. Videotel showed models of their screenphone service which they plan to introduce in the near

future. Students from Dublin City University issued a daily newspaper produced by desktop publishing techniques and including contributions from both contestants and judges. Eolas, the Irish

Science and Technology Agency, presented a series of lectures including a talk on genetic engineering

by Professor D. McConnell of TCD. The general public came in great numbers to view the projects. It was heartening to hear a 13

year-old girl explaining to urban dwellers the connection between badgers and cattle diseases and to

see parents introducing young children to the exhibits and explaining such demonstrations as an

electron micrograph of an insect's head. ??^,?rr* B v MARY J. P. SCANNELL

A WEEKEND FOR TRAEGERS': THE FIRST ANNUAL CLARE ISLAND SYMPOSIUM, HELD 21-24 JULY 1989 ON CLARE ISLAND CO MAYO

That there has been a revival of interest in the study of islands and their flora and fauna is certainly a truism, if recent events are anything to go by. People like Tony Whilde of the Corrib Conservation

Centre and Leo Hallissey of the Connemara Environmental Education Centre who organize

respectively the island ecotours and the annual Inishbofin Summer Schools have noted an increase in

the numbers of applicants to their courses. As Robert Lloyd Praeger said in his general introduction to

the Clare Island Survey, "Islands and their flora and fauna have always been of special interest to the

naturalist". What has happened is that, besides naturalists, a growing number of writers such as Tim

Robinson (writing on Aranmore, the largest of the three Aran islands) and documentary makers such

as David Cabot (on Inishkea) have helped focus a rising popular awareness of islands, their life and

their heritage.

Bearing all this in mind, symposium organizers, Ciara Cullen and Peter Gill, felt it was time to

offer people interested in islands the opportunity of exploring the unique environment of Clare Island

through an interdisciplinary study of its natural and human heritage. One of the aims of the symposium

was to explore the possibilities for the future appreciation and management of this heritage for both

islander and visitor alike.

Such was the level of interest that the symposium was rapidly oversubscribed, leading to some

disappointment among later applicants. As can be imagined on an island at the peak of the holiday

season, bed spaces are not easily come by without prior planning. In this the organizers were lucky in

having the willing help and co-operation of Mr and Mrs O'Grady, owners of the Clare Island Hotel

which became the centre of the weekend's activities.

Friday, 21 July. In her introductory talk, Ciara Cullen outlined the aims of the weekend, explaining to the

audience that they were all 'Praegers', a colloquial term still used by islanders for any visitor to the

island. Ciara Cullen also gave the Oxford English Dictionary definition of a symposium as an "...

ancient Greek drinking party, with conversation, etc., after a banquet" and hoped that we would not

lose sight of this definition over the coming days. Co-organiser Peter Gill's talk entitled 'Islands as microcosms' introduced the visitors to a

phenomenon that becomes apparent only when one has stayed some time on an island. There is a

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.34 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 12:17:35 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions