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Welcome, Welcome Little Women: TCD’s First Female Graduates

Olive PurserIn honour of International Women’s Day, a small exhibition entitled “Welcome, Welcome Little Women” can now be viewed in the Library’s Orientation Space. It is a display of books pertaining to and written by the first female graduates of Trinity, as well as some black and white images relating to them. It symbolises women’s struggle to gain access to third level education in Ireland at a time when it was purely a male sphere.

Photo is of Olive Purser – TCD’s first woman “scholar”. Before the 1960s, women were only allowed to get non-foundation scholarships, not foundation scholarships with added benefits as with the men. According to the Academic Registry, in recent years  a smaller number of female students have applied for the Scholarship Examination than male students, and as a result there is currently a gender imbalance in the number of Scholarships that are awarded. All evidence suggests that female students do as well as male students when they sit the examination; so why are fewer female candidates applying?

Green Week: Go Green 2015. Friday

Green Week Beate's letteringTrinity College Library supports College’s Green Week 2015, 16-20 February.

Recent additions to the Library’s collections.

All titles are available from the Library.

Long-term response of a forest watershed ecosystem : clearcutting in the southern Appalachians / edited by Wayne T. Swank and Jackson R. Webster. Oxford University Press, 2014.

scan0014Location: Berkeley Basement

Shelfmark: HL-360-199

The Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory is a research facility of the USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station. It was established in 1934 and is now world-famous in the research areas of forest hydrology and ecology. With the intended audience of scientists as well as policy makers, this book provides a comprehensive update on research at the facility. The first 11 chapters detail specific responses and recovery of forest and stream processes following cutting. Chapters 12 and 13 look at two additional experimental forests in the Appalachian Highlands Physiographic Division. The final chapter is a synthesis of more than 30 years of research at Coweeta WS7.


The herbaceous layer in forests of eastern North America/ edited by Frank Gilliam. Oxford University Press, 2014. 2nd edition.

scan0002Location: Berkeley Basement

Shelfmark: HL-362-626

A decade after the publication of the first edition, this revised second edition of The herbaceous layer in forests of eastern North America, offers a new look at research by top biologists and ecologists in the area of herbaceous layer structure. Chapters from the first edition have been substantially updated and eight new chapters have been added. These include an overview of reproductive strategies among herb species, an examination of herb layer diversity, as well as an analysis of the effects of disturbances on forest herb communities. This book, with its extensive bibliography, is recommended as an invaluable reference and resource for ecologists, conservationists and forest managers.

Green Week: Go Green 2015. Thursday

Green Week Beate's letteringTrinity College Library supports College’s Green Week 2015, 16-20 February.

Recent additions to the Library’s collections.

All titles are available from the Library.

Alaska’s changing arctic : ecological consequences for tundra, streams, and lakes / edited by John E. Hobbie and George W. Kling. Oxford University Press, 2014

scan0004Location: Berkeley Basement

Shelfmark: HL-360-200

Toolik lake is the site of the Arctic Long Term Ecological (LTER) Project. The project’s aim is to describe the communities of organisms and their ecology, to measure changes, and to make predictions for the area. This book documents the research at Toolik, tracing its research history back to the 1970s, analysing its current condition and making predictions for its future. Leading ecologists, environmental scientists and biologists contribute to this multi-disciplinary text on Alaska’s changing arctic ecosystem, highlighting the potential consequences for arctic Alaska in the light of global warming and climate change.


The Steppe to Europe : an environmental history of Hungary in the traditional age / Lajos Rácz ; translated by Alan Campbell. White Horse Press, 2013.

scan0009Location: Berkeley Basement

Shelfmark: HL-366-589

This climate and environmental history of Hungary, written by Rácz and translated into English by Campbell, provides an environmental and historical study of the Carpathian Basin, a geographical unit, with occasional territorial alterations, of the multi-national Kingdom of Hungary. The analysis begins around the turn of the ninth and tenth centuries and ends at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when Hungary was beginning the Industrial Age as a country with symptoms of over-population and environmental exploitation. Chapters include conquest and settlement, the late Middle Ages, the Ottoman Age and the century of rebuilding. The text is illustrated with detailed maps and figures and includes an epilogue with notes for further study, as well as an extensive bibliography.

Green Week: Go Green 2015. Wednesday

Green Week Beate's letteringTrinity College Library supports College’s Green Week 2015, 16-20 February.

Recent additions to the Library’s collections.

All titles are available from the Library.

Environmental diplomacy: negotiating more effective global agreements / Lawrence E. Susskind, Saleem H. Ali. Oxford University Press, 2015. Second edition.

scan0013Location: Berkeley Basement

Shelfmark: HL-368-88

Susskind and Ali address important global environmental issues. Their book provides a comprehensive overview of the geopolitics of negotiating international environmental agreements, with this second edition providing an added perspective from the Global South and an informed analysis of the role of science in environmental politics. Individual chapters relate to current weaknesses in environmental treaty-making, representation and voting, the need for a better balance between science and politics, the advantages and disadvantages of issue linkage, monitoring and enforcement in the face of sovereignty and finally issues around reforming the system.


Fire on earth: an introduction / Andrew C. Scott, David M.J.S. Bowman, William J. Bond, Stephen J. Pyne, Martin E. Alexander. Wiley-Blackwell, 2014.

scan0012Location: Berkeley Basement

Shelfmark: HL-359-710

Fire on earth is a study of the physical, geological, biological and historical aspects of fire on our planet. The text of contemporary thought in this important research area seeks to answer fundamental questions, such as, why planetary fire exists, how it works and why it looks the way it does. Each chapter is written by leading experts, illustrated with full colour images and supported with suggestions for further reading and investigation.

Green Week: Go Green 2015. Tuesday

Green Week Beate's letteringTrinity College Library supports College’s Green Week 2015, 16-20 February.

Recent additions to the Library’s collections.

All titles are available from the Library.

Plant behaviour and intelligence / Anthony Trewavas. Oxford University Press, 2014.

scan0003Location: Berkeley Basement

Shelfmark: HL-366-646

In this book, Professor Anthony Trewavas addresses the controversial topic of plant intelligence. The book contains 26 short chapters, designed to be read either independently, or as a unit. Three main concepts are covered: that plant cells may have self-awareness; that they respond to challenges with behavioural changes; and that they do this in a way that implies intelligent behaviour. Trewavas presents an introduction to plant behaviour for a broad readership, intentionally keeping technical content to a minimum. The text is also recommended as a suitable reference text for undergraduate and graduate students of plant evolution and ecology.


The environmental legacy of the UC natural reserve system / edited by Peggy L. Fiedler, Susan Gee Rumsey, and Kathleen M. Wong. University of California Press, 2013.

scan0005Location: Berkeley Basement

Shelfmark: HL-360-207

In this text, Fiedler, Rumsey and Wong present a beautifully illustrated guide to the world’s largest university-administered natural reserve. The NRS at the University of California has provided an irreplaceable resource and source of research, education and public service for over 50 years. This book provides an overview of its origins, establishment and evolution, detailing how the reserve conserves landscape, preserves natural diversity and records human history.

Green Week: Go Green 2015. Monday

Green Week Beate's letteringTrinity College Library supports College’s Green Week 2015, 16-20 February.

Recent additions to the Library’s collections.

All titles are available from the Library.

Woodpeckers of the world: the complete guide / Gerard Gorman.  Christopher Helm, 2014.

book imageLocation: Berkeley Basement

Shelfmark: HL-362-629

From the tiny Piculets of tropical forests to the enormous Imperial woodpecker, world-renowned expert, Gerard Gorman, provides a comprehensive and beautifully illustrated guide to all 239 species of woodpecker on the planet. The introductory chapters cover taxonomy, distribution, anatomy and morphology, habitat, behaviour, plumage and moult, food and foraging, flights, calls, drumming and the importance of woodpeckers. Next, a detailed analysis of each species is presented, under the headings of identification, vocalisations, drumming, habitat, range, food and feeding, taxonomy and similar species. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography for further information and research.


Orchidaceae / William Louis Stern, Emeritus Professor of Botany, University of Florida ; with an introduction by Alec M. Pridgeon, Sainsbury Orchid Fellow, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Oxford University Press, 2014.

book imageLocation: Berkeley Basement

Shelfmark: HL-362-628

Professor Stern is among the world’s leading authorities on plant anatomy.

Orchidaceae, Volume X in the series Anatomy of the Monocotyledons, is the result of over 30 years of orchid anatomy research. This book details the structures and relationships among the cells and tissues of the plant’s leaves, stems and roots. Its text is accompanied by numerous photomicrographs and original line drawings, and is supported by an extensive bibliography.