MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands’ war and British identity, a project study financed by the Shackleton Scholarship Fund

The £ 2.500 grant on the war went to a PhD Ezequiel Mercau student at Copenhagen University

Four academic scholarships have been awarded by the Shackleton Scholarship Fund (SSF) for 2013, covering scientific and historical subjects related to the Falkland Islands, with one of them of particular interest since it refers to the Falklands war and British identity

Dr Michael Tabak from the University of Wyoming received £2,000 for a study on the eradication of rats (Rattusnorvegicus) from the Falkland Islands. Part of this work will assess the danger of re-invasion by rats of islands already cleared by determining the ability of rats to swim considerable distances.

Dr Tabak undertook work in the Islands in March 2013 and his project should be complete by March 2014.

Andrew Mathews, who is working for an MSc at Aberystwyth University, plans to spend two months in the Islands from June studying the benthic (seafloor) community structure in the shallow water environment at Adventure Sound. He will work closely with the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute who will contribute office space and other support. He will receive £2,000 from the SSF.

Ezequiel Mercau is a PhD student at Copenhagen University. He was born in Argentina and took a BA in University College Dublin. He has been awarded £2,500 to study his project – the Falklands War and British Identity.

He plans to visit the Islands in October and November 2013 to interview Members of the Legislative Assembly and Islanders generally and to work in the Jane Cameron National Archives.

Finally, Dr Stephen Palmer has been awarded £2,000 to pursue two historical topics: first the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) in Stanley and second, the ships and vessels of the Falkland Islands Company.

Dr Palmer, who was Canon of Stanley Cathedral in the 1990s, will visit the Islands in January 2014. He has received two previous awards from the SSF for research which led to the publication of articles for the Falkland Islands Journal.

No Quality of Life Awards were made this year. These have included top class sports coaches in swimming, golf, fly fishing, shooting and horsemanship; musicians and artists in previous years and are aimed at enhancing the quality of life for Islanders. The SSF would like to remind scholars and other possible applicants that the ‘Flagship’ Scholarship of £10,000 to mark the centenary of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 Endurance expedition is available.

The closing date for applications is September 15 2013. Check out www.shackletonfund.com for more information and to find out what previous scholars have achieved. (PN)