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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe disturbances in the work of hundreds of millions of people around the world. One of the groups affected is the academic staff at higher education institutions, whose original business model, i.e., presence teaching, suddenly changed to online learning. This has, in turn, exacerbated pre-existing problems such as shortage of time, busy schedules, and challenges to a work-life balance. Since academic staff plays a key role in respect of teaching and research, often acting as leaders in their fields, it is important to reflect on the influences of the lockdowns on their work routines. In order to address this research need, this paper reports on a study that examined the impacts of the lockdowns on the work of academic staff at universities. Using a bibliometric analysis and investigation of a set of case studies, the study sheds light on the difficulties encountered and the means deployed to address them. Our study did not identify a one-size-fits-all response to manage the manifold changes brought on HEIs by the COVID-19 pandemic. Selected arising priorities include creating a culture of educational resilience through a container of complementary measures.

In Fiji, like most Pacific Island countries, there have been numerous reports of degradation of coastal resources, including adverse changes in abundance and stock distribution of numerous aquatic species associated with the coastal habitat. To develop effective management plans, assessment of existing coastal resources is pertinent. High spatial resolution satellite imagery, combined with geographic information systems allow for efficient and synoptic mapping of coastal resources to provide a baseline for developing effective and improved management plans. The purpose of this study was to develop a baseline habitat map of the intertidal benthic cover in Komave Village, Coral Coast, Sigatoka, Fiji. Resource mapping was based on high resolution (2 m) WorldView-2 imagery. Ground-truthing was attained by means of on-site data logging of the intertidal resources, image capturing and GPS recording. Based on these records, the benthic cover was classified into seven classes: 'coral,' 'algae,' 'brown algae,' 'volcanic rocks,' 'sand and gravel,' 'sea grass,' and 'bare.' Ground referencing points were randomly assigned for either supervised classification training or accuracy assessment. A community participatory research approach was used to conduct interviews to assimilate information on fishing sites and coastal land use activities. This exercise explored the social-ecological approach in natural resource management and how it can become an important tool in coastal conservation practices. The coastal resource map generated through this study serves as a baseline for monitoring the status and spatial distribution of the coastal resources in Komave. Annual mapping of the resources and enrichment of maps along with iterative village consultation will enable managers to develop and gauge the effectiveness of coastal management plans. This high resolution map is particularly relevant to Fiji as it is the first of its kind for the country. This work also serves to reduce the global information gap of coastal resource status for Fiji.