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Isolation can affect our well-being negatively. To prevent the spread of the infection COVID-19, many workers, including university lecturers, are required to work from home. In order to maintain high levels of well-being and team cohesion, academics at the University of Derby Online Learning initiated a virtual huddle to briefly socialise and check on their colleagues’ well-being every morning. This piece of field notes reports the context (COVID-19 in the United Kingdom), the details of this morning socialization, the first-hand experience of attending this huddle, and possible applications. Perceived positive impacts of our huddles include better well-being, cultivating compassion in team culture, and enhanced team cohesion. These advantages can be also useful in student supervision, wider socialization with colleagues to counter the silo mentality, and other occupational sectors. Our field notes will be helpful for lecturers and other types of employees who work collaboratively yet in isolation during this uncertain and challenging time of crisis.

Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils has been linked to history of exposure to PAHs and prevailing environmental conditions. This work assessed the capacity of indigenous microorganisms in soils collected in Livingstone Island (South Shetlands Islands, Antarctica) with no history of pollution (∑PAHs: 0.14-1.47 ng g(-1) dw) to degrade (14) C-phenanhthrene at 4, 12 and 22 °C. The study provides evidence of the presence of phenanthrene-degrading microorganisms in all studied soils. Generally, the percentage of (14) C-phenanhthrene mineralized increased with increasing temperature. The highest extent of (14) C-phenanhthrene mineralization (47.93%) was observed in the slurried system at 22 °C. This work supports findings of the presence of PAH-degrading microorganisms in uncontaminated soils and suggests the case is the same for uncontaminated Antarctic remote soils.

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