Disclaimer & Copyright Notices; Optimized for the MS Internet Explorer
S.M. Mandaville Professional Lake Manage. (limnes
chebucto.ns.ca)
Updated: April 25, 2007 
For the long period of 1988 to end of 2005, I, Shalom Mandaville, cooperated variously with numerous parties who approached me for scientific info pro bono although many of them were deriving tangible benefits. Commencing with Christmas-2005, this can no longer continue! There is no other associate who has the time to effectively address your query since all of them have their own priorities in their respective scientific and engineering professions.
For select examples of requests received, see the related website; those are a small proportion (5%) of requests received via email! Many other enquiries received have been via extensive phone calls. Also see tangible benefits derived by various entities from our research!
this section is of vital importance
Due to the almost exponential increase in requests that I am receiving from citizens, Government officials, and from the academia and their students via both emails and phone, I can no longer respond individually unless the queries are simple and I am available at the time.
Our scientific work is carried out, in several cases, as unpaid volunteers. With exceptions, several of the pragmatic beneficiaries of our scientific research inclusive of well funded Government agencies have not reciprocated in a meaningful manner when we need `partnerships' from them. Hence this one-sided situation cannot continue any longer.
Exceptions are when they accrue from any meaningful partnerships of both parties! Otherwise, HONORARIUMS will be required in advance! This is primarily because I am not on salary or a beneficiary of the rich benefits that many others in society who approach me enjoy!
After considerable headaches, especially over the last ten (10) long years and expenditure of scores of hours, I have established that plagiarism has been running rampant among so-called professional consultants and that includes even a few professors who conduct paid consulting work on the side away from their teaching duties.
I am alarmed that the vast majority of the users of my extensive archive MS Excel data modules are totally ignoring the cautionary notes placed on every one of them. These Excel modules are the intellectual property (IP) of applied limnologist, Shalom M. Mandaville!
The Cautionary Notes have been to the effect:-
These continuous archiving efforts are as a result of intense volunteerism and are not intended for any other's financial gain! The primary purpose is to document the water quality. Consult the owner, S.M. Mandaville at "limnes
These restrictive covenants were indeed dictated to me by a professor who taught Intellectual Property (IP) Law at Dalhousie Law School around the late 1990s or 2000. Prior to that, similar covenants were also affixed. One would presume that even some one with a Grade-12 education would understand them; it is the mystery of the century why professionals and well paid bureaucrats cannot understand them!
Similarly, you are welcome to utilize any of our formal submissions to various Government agencies and you do not need my permission either.
The rare exceptions are where certain written agreements were made between us and the recipients; in such cases, the covenants in the agreements have to be followed to the word.
But please do not plagiarize our miscellaneous info which has occurred with some hired consultants to the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), and the Nova Scotia Department of Environment & Labour (NSEL), alas! And Government agencies in Nova Scotia are loathe to taking action although the consultants were working for them, i.e., although the agencies were pragmatic beneficiaries.
Further, I had donated copies of several versions of our CD+R and DVD+R disks containing a host of scientific info to the following at the HRM, and the vast majority of questions I receive are already answered there:
It is cautioned that depending on the circumstances, I may even forward your email to them and it is up to them to respond to you directly.
In a few cases, e.g., the Woodens River Watershed Environmental Organization (WRWEO), it took a whopping forty (40) long hours when around seven (7) of their members bombarded me with all sorts of questions over a three (3) year period. Further, one of their Directors at the time, Mr. Tim McGee, sent me an email in year 2000 giving a firm commitment of compensating me for my professional time, a commitment which his group did not keep to this day although they have received considerable amount of funds from various sources to engage the service of consultants to carry out their sampling programs, alas! I had also attended lengthy meetings of representatives of their group to respond to their questions.
There is another reason for this. When my team asks them for any pragmatic assistance, they rarely reciprocate as has transpired in the case Prof. Bill Freedman, Chair of Dalhousie Biology Department during 2005; we lost a significant research project since Prof. Freedman was not willing to partner with us in sharing university facilities with us, even outside of normal class hours. We were not asking him for any financial partnerships. That is inspite of the fact that undergraduate as well as graduate students from his department have approached me for asking for all sorts of assistance dating as long back as 1991!
That also transpired with several other professors at the Dalhousie University and at other local universities. There have been a couple of happy exceptions though but the vast majority of the experience has been negative.
Further, when we invite your professors to volunteer with us, either they decline outright or ask for consultation fees although they are all extremely well paid with rich fringe benefits.
In addition, except on two occasions, they would not even send us copies of student reports although we had donated scientific data and reports of considerable cost.
Hence, it can no longer work one way!
I am sorry it has to be that way from Christmas 2005 onwards!
Re the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM):-- our direct/indirect contributions in the range of $400,000 to $500,000 to the HRM; contact us (limnes
Re the Nova Scotia Department of Environment & Labour (NSEL):-- See our web page titled, "Select dealings with the Nova Scotia Department of Environment & Labour (NSEL)".
For select examples of requests received, see the related website; those are a small proportion (5%) of requests received via email! Many other enquiries received have been via extensive phone calls. Also see tangible benefits derived by various entities from our research!
It is cautioned that we reserve the right to place any requests inclusive of follow up emails on the internet, subject to our volunteer time! If you do not agree with this methodology, kindly do not contact us! We are not public servants or politicians, and we have absolutely no obligations except to ourselves and to our partners!
We do not appreciate receiving any abrasive or other emails from people for whom we spend an inordinate amount of time in responding to their concerns of their local lakes; it is true, some of our emails have detailed anecdotes inclusive of `emotional critiques' but that is the modus operandi we follow!
Hence, we do not appreciate receiving emails from select academia who preach to us separation of science and spiritualism and please preserve those views to such contrary minded individuals! This event transpired in the case of a publicly funded academic at Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, Canada, who found the need to bother us during June 2004, alas! In future, such emails may be forwarded to the offending academic's university board of governors 
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