Good morning all 
Thank you very much to all those who have already submitted a photo for 'Staff Photo of the Week' - I look forward to sharing these in future newsletters 📸
Have a great weekend 🌳
Annabel Jackson - PA / Admin to EGLT
Graduation - Thursday 8 February
The planned events for Graduation on Thursday 8th February are as follows:
- Departmental Drinks Reception: 11:30-12:30 in Environment Foyer
- Graduation Ceremony 8: 13:30-15:00 in Central Hall (please arrive by 13:15)
- Central Drinks Reception: 15:00-16:30 in Exhibition Centre
If you would like to help out at our Dept Drinks Reception, please submit a graduation departmental reception sign up form by midday on Weds 31 Jan.
Staff who have ordered a gown can collect them from the Bowland Auditorium in the Berrick Saul Building which will be staffed from around 8am on Thurs 8 Feb.
Feedback on the winter building closure
Thank you for all your feedback so far. We would like to hear from as many staff as possible, so please do short survey on the winter closure by Friday 2nd February. This will help us when deciding on potential future closures. The form is anonymous, but if you have any further queries/comments, please email Lucy at environment-dhfo@york.ac.uk.
Staff Bitesize Training
Please see the below regarding new Staff Digital Skills Bitesize sessions led by the Digital Inclusion, Skills and Creativity (DISC) Team.
The Return of Staff Digital Skills “Bitesize” Sessions! • Semester 2 (Various dates) • Online
Ready to enhance your digital skills? Low on time? Join the DISC team for their online digital upskilling sessions! Bite-sized, hour-long training for topics including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Sites, mail merges, digital accessibility and more! NEW sessions for 2024 include Google Forms, Qualtrics, Sites, and Looker Studio. Visit the mini-site for all details and book your place.
New Google updates Slack channel
There is now a dedicated Slack channel to join: #google-updates
It will be a low-key place for updates/features/training going forwards and you can come/go as you please.
Single Students' Union Elections
Do you know someone who would make a great student representative in the new, single Students' Union? You can recommend them via the Suggest a Sabb form! They don’t need any experience and don’t even need to have been involved in Union activity before. Once you've submitted the form, YUSU will get in touch with them with more information about running in the Elections. It’s a great way to show your support to your peers and encourage them to take on the challenge of running as a candidate! You can Suggest a Sabb until Wednesday 6 March.
Chloe Dickinson, YUSU Student Voice Team
Academic Representation 2024/25
Following the trial of our pilot project and with the new Single Students' Union we are looking at the future of Academic Representation. We are aiming to have consistency across all Departments for the 2024/25 Academic Year. It is important to us that we consider everyones point of view to be able to come to a conclusion that will work best for everyone. Therefore, we have created this Academic Representation Survey for Departmental Staff. Please complete this by 23rd February and share with as many members of staff within your Department as possible. We will be consulting students and current Reps also.
We will also be hosting 2 Staff Networking Events to discuss the future of Academic Representation. Dates, times and locations are listed below, click the links to add the event to your calendar. You only need to attend one.
Hackathon 1 - Tuesday, 26 March, 10:30am – 12:30pm, CL/A/027
Hackathon 2 - Tuesday, 9 April, 11:30am – 1:30pm, SLB/00
Chloe Dickinson, YUSU Student Voice Team
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Sunrise above Planfins de Lechere (2500m, Swiss Alps), over a large snowbed flush wetland📸 Rob Mills |
Do you have a nature/environment-themed photo that you would like to share with colleagues? If so, please fill in this very short google form at a time that suits you
🧵 Crafty lunch! 🧵
A reminder that Crafty lunch has recently returned!
Do come along to the Heartspace in the Environment Building on Wednesdays between 1 - 2pm.
Bring your current projects or get started with a new one.
Supplies will be provided but donations of crafty bits are welcome.
For more info email Jenny Pollard via jenny.pollard@york.ac.uk
DEG Wellbeing Event: Wednesday 7th February, 10:30 – 14:30
As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting mental health and positive well-being, we would like to remind both staff and students about the upcoming Wellbeing Event. This event serves as an opportunity for our DEG community to come together, prioritise self-care, and engage in activities that promote a positive and healthy way of life.
The event is timetabled and shows up on your timetable as Induction activity with activity detail as: Wellbeing exhibition and walk - Meet in the environment foyer.
Highlights & Activities
📅 Between 7th February and 14th February, in the foyer you can enjoy an exhibition of your Campus Wellbeing Spaces from our previous Campus Wellbeing Walk and your Creative Expression of Wellbeing captured through photography and creative writing.
📅 On Wednesday 7th February....
📍 Taking place in the Heartspace:
- 10:30 – 11:30 - Hot chocolate decoration competition
- 10:30 – 12:00 - Experience the calming companionship of Henry and Milo, our two visiting therapy dogs
📍 Taking place in the Foyer:
- 12:00 – 12:15: The launch of our digital guide encouraging you to experience positive spaces across York and to find that special place to boost your wellbeing
- 12:15 – 12:30: Announcement of winners of the Hot Chocolate Decoration, Creative Writing and Photography Competitions
📍 Taking place in the City of York:
- 12:30 – 14:30: Self-Guided Exploration of wellbeing spaces across York
Exhibition Submission Details
We would also like to draw your attention to the approaching deadline for submission of entries for the upcoming exhibition. This is an excellent opportunity for all to showcase your creativity and talents and there will be prizes awarded for the top entries 🥇
Submission Deadline: Friday 2nd February at 5pm
Categories: Photographs and creative writing that captures the essence of wellbeing.
Submission Process: Email your entries to Robert Bennett (Robert.bennett@york.ac.uk). Include a brief description or context for your submission.
We highly encourage all interested individuals to participate in the exhibition, contributing to the vibrant and creative atmosphere of our community; and the hot chocolate decoration competition. Your active involvement is crucial to the success of these initiatives. Let's come together as a community to celebrate well-being and creativity.
Best wishes, Samarthia Thankappan & Robert Bennett
Webinar on 8th Feb - Empty signifiers: New approaches to discourse analysis in infrastructure research
Date: Thursday 8 Feb 2024
Time: 11:30 - 13:00
Location: Online
Josh Kirshner is hosting a webinar next month through the IGDC seminar series called Empty signifiers: New approaches to discourse analysis in infrastructure. What can discourse analysis reveal into the development of connective infrastructures, past and present?
Yorkshire Universities Student Sustainability Research Conference
Date: Wednesday 21st February 2024
Time: 1 - 2pm
Location: Parkinson Court at the University of Leeds.
The Yorkshire Universities Student Sustainability Research Conference is on Wednesday 6th March in Leeds. Staff and students are invited to attend this free event. You can find out more about the event here and need to register for tickets. Return coach travel from York - Leeds will be provided if required.
The organisers are on the lookout for speaker-session facilitators - if you're interested in facilitating a session on the day please can you let Naomi Holmes (naomi.holmes@york.ac.uk) know so your name and email can be shared with the organisers.
Climate action and hopefulness in teaching
Date: Wednesday 21st February 2024
Time: 1 - 2pm
Location: Online
The next GeogEd Teaching and Scholarship Forum is on Wednesday February 21st 2024, 1-2pm UK time. There will be three presentations and then time for Q and A / discussion. Please do join us if you are able to.
During this session we will hear from three speakers about their work around climate education, with a focus on climate action and hopefulness in teaching.
- Bee Gan, Sheffield Hallam University - 'The Climate Emergency: a collaborative online international learning project'
- Dr Ankit Kumar, University of Sheffield - 'Contingencies of hopelessness and hope in a radical politics of climate justice'
- Prof Larissa Naylor, University of Glasgow - 'Creating windows of opportunity to become 'Sea Level Wise''
Free, online, 21st February, 1-2pm UK time.
Please join via this link.
Sarah Bridle facilitated a networking meeting for more than 70 people interested in forming bidding groups for UKRI's new funding call - Strengthening the resilience of the UK food system.
Piran White, Paul Hudson, Laura Harrison and Lucy Treasure held a workshop with partners NextEnergy Capital in London, as part of our project in the NERC Integrating Finance and Biodiversity programme on nature-positive investment opportunities through solar parks.
PhD researcher Sam Buckton has had a paper published in The Naturalist: Buckton SJ (2023) Yorkshire Plant Gall Recorder's report for 2022. The Naturalist 148(1114), 179-183. Sam also co-facilitated a workshop at Oxford's Saïd Business School for a Transforming UK Food Systems (TUKFS) synergy grant project exploring different concepts and approaches of food system transformation across the different TUKFS projects.
Bryce Stewart, Colin McClean and Bethan O'Leary:
- Have a new paper 'Shifts in the size and distribution of marine trophy fishing world records' based on 3 student dissertations supervised by Bryce has been published in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems.
- The University of York (Paul Drury Bradey) has issued a press release based on the above paper 'Trophy fishing, what’s the catch? Decline in record catches for threatened species, research shows' which has already gathered attention from the Yorkshire Post, BBC Radio York and Yorkvik Radio.
- Science X Daily coverage of Trophy fishing research.
Ellen Harding Smith's fantastic paper on cleaning products and whether green cleaners are a better alternative for indoor air quality was published this week.
Anika Haque presented a paper at the 9th International Water Conference, titled Urban resilience and the social ecosystem in the global South cities.
Well done everyone on your fantastic achievements 👏
Dissertation Surveys - Do your good deed for the week and support our 3rd year students!
Great! Please add it to the Research, Teaching, Outreach and Good News Spreadsheet. Please use the most relevant tab for the activity/news and ensure that the description details are written out in full as you would like it to be presented. If your item does not fit the spreadsheet, please email it to environment-pa@york.ac.uk by 12:00 next Thursday.
Thank you for your help in making the newsletter a great way to catch up on all of the Department's latest news and activities 🙂
Good morning all
🎉 LAUNCHING: DEG's Staff Photo of the Week 📷
I am today launching a brand new 'box' in the weekly staff newsletter named 'Photo of the Week' which will include a nature/environment-themed photo. I am kicking things off with a photo that I took yesterday on campus.
Please submit any nature/environment-themed photos for inclusion in the staff newsletter by filling in this very short google form
This is simply to provide a slice of calmness/inspiration for colleagues to enjoy on a Friday. I hope you enjoy the first photo (of hopefully many) below.
Annabel
Graduation - Thursday 8 February
The planned events for Graduation on Thursday 8th February are as follows:
- Departmental Drinks Reception: 11:30-12:30 in Environment Foyer
- Graduation Ceremony 8: 13:30-15:00 in Central Hall (please arrive by 13:15)
- Central Drinks Reception: 15:00-16:30 in Exhibition Centre
If you would like to help out at our Dept Drinks Reception, please submit a graduation departmental reception sign up form by midday on Weds 31 Jan.
Staff who have ordered a gown can collect them from the Bowland Auditorium in the Berrick Saul Building which will be staffed from around 8am on Thurs 8 Feb.
Reminder of the ongoing initiative to celebrate well-being through creative expression
As we progress through the assessment period, I wanted to extend a gentle reminder about our ongoing initiative to celebrate wellbeing through creative expression. Amidst the stresses of assessment, I encourage you to take some time to capture the essence of wellbeing through photography and creative writing. Your contributions play a pivotal role in promoting and nurturing the importance of wellbeing within our academic community.
You can explore and photograph spaces or moments that resonate with tranquillity, mindfulness, or joy. Whether it's a serene landscape or a simple act of self-care, these images will serve as a source of inspiration for all; or channel your experiences, thoughts, or advice into poems, stories, or reflections that emphasize the significance of wellbeing. Your words have the power to guide and uplift others within our academic sphere.
Please remember to submit your photographs and creative writings by 5pm Friday 2nd February 2024 to Robert Bennett (Robert.bennett@york.ac.uk). Feel free to include a brief description or context for your submission. Your contributions will be featured in our Wellbeing Exhibition, uniting our community to celebrate the diverse facets of wellbeing.
Your insights and creativity are invaluable in fostering a culture of care and support. Let's collectively contribute to reminding ourselves and others about the importance of prioritising wellbeing. Thank you for your participation and for sharing your unique perspectives.
Samarthia Thankappan & Robert Bennett
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A swan resting on the frozen lake on campus this week.📸 Annabel Jackson |
Seminars restarting Teaching Week 1 (13th Feb onwards)
Our departmental seminars run during teaching weeks and so are currently paused until Teaching Week 1. The first round of seminars will be on the following dates:
- DEG Seminars: Tuesday 13th February, 12:05-13:00
- Sustainability Seminars: Wednesday 14th February, 12:05-13:00
- Sustainability Education Conversations: Wednesday 21st February, 12:05-13:00
Keep an eye on our upcoming newsletters for more details.
YESI Workshop: Multi-level Analysis of Supply Chain Activities for Sustainability Across Academic Disciplines
Date: Wednesday 7 February
Time: 13:00 - 15:00
Location: TBC
This workshop aims to bring together academics from various disciplines who share an interest in complex systems and supply chain sustainability. Our objective is to facilitate in-depth investigations into multi-level interactions, such as the intricate relationships between ecosystems and supply chains. While the existence of these interactions is widely acknowledged, comprehensive studies in this area are still lacking. We envision this workshop as a unique platform for collaboration, where participants can identify joint project ideas, explore research opportunities, and foster interdisciplinary partnerships to tackle the pressing challenges of supply chain sustainability. To express your interest in participating in the YESI workshop and to receive further details regarding the workshop, please register here.
We look forward to your active participation and the opportunity to collectively advance our understanding of supply chain sustainability across academic disciplines.
Jane Güleç - YESI Co-ordinator
YESI Nature and the Bioeconomy Workshop
Date: Thursday 8 February 2024
Time: 13:30-16:00
Location: In person only, B/A/004, Biology Building, Campus West, University of York
The aim of this workshop is to identify research questions and potential research projects at the interface between the bioeconomy and nature. The workshop is aimed at UoY researchers and relevant collaborators who can develop research bids to any upcoming UKRI calls
The bioeconomy refers to economic activity involving the use of biotechnology and biomass in the production of goods, services, or energy. Recent advances in biomass processing, animal husbandry and marine resource use have the potential to alter the UK's land and seascapes over the next few decades, but the future is uncertain and the impacts on nature and biodiversity are unclear.
This workshop will bring together researchers from York working on the future of the bioeconomy, with those interested in biodiversity and nature to establish scenarios of future change that could form the basis of future collaborations. Register for Nature and the Bioeconomy workshop.
Jane Güleç - YESI Co-ordinator
Sexual Violence Awareness Week 2024
Message from our Student Conduct and Respect Team: To mark Sexual Violence Awareness Week 2024, The University of York will be hosting our annual Light Up the Night event, in a display of solidarity with survivors of sexual violence (Monday 5 February).
It would be great if you could come along, and share this event with your networks. We'll meet at 5pm at Greg's Place, where battery-powered candles will be available, before we walk a pre-mapped route around campus, ending in the Biology Atrium where hot drinks will be served, and there will be an opportunity to learn more about the support provided by the University and local services. The event is free to attend, but please book a place, as spaces are limited.
New Human-Animal Interaction Research Group
Are you working on or are interested in human-animal interaction and relationships, past, present and future? We are excited to tell you about our new Human-Animal Interaction Research Group here at UoY and are cordially inviting interested colleagues from all departments and disciplines to join us. Living in the age of extinction, digitalisation and fundamental societal challenges, reflection on and change in the way human and non-human animal lives are interlinked are gaining momentum. Research interest in human-animal interaction and relationships ('anthrozoology') is rapidly expanding, and a number of departments at UoY are already active in this area.
The purpose of the new group will be to offer a dynamic platform for interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration, aiming to facilitate the development of collaborative research grant applications and teaching projects, and to foster learning in the human-animal interaction space. To begin with, from around February/March 2024 onwards, we will meet every 3-4 months for an invited talk by internal or external experts and discuss topics such as current and forthcoming human-animal interaction projects and opportunities for collaboration within the group.
If you'd like to join us and haven't registered already, please complete this google form. We look forward to hearing from you!
For any questions, please email dohs-hairy@york.ac.uk or contact Elena Ratschen (elena.ratschen@york.ac.uk).
Sarah Bridle was quoted in the Daily Telegraph in an article about the impact of flooding on supermarket produce.
A recent paper on vertical land movements in the Wellington region was featured in the New Zealand Herald. The study was led by University of Victoria PhD student Dan King, who was co-supervised by Roland Gehrels and Ed Garrett.
Bryce Stewart:
- Research by Bryce and students on Marine Protected Areas around the Isle of Arran was featured on BBC Alba TV (Scotland)
- Research by Bryce and students on Marine Protected Areas around the Isle of Arran is featured in the cover story in the month's Oceanographic Magazine
- Catch 22, the marine conservation film that Bryce appeared in last year, has been nominated at this year's OCFA Charity Film Award
Congratulations to Zheng Fang who has had the second paper from his MPhil published. This one is "Size- and concentration-dependent effects of microplastics on soil aggregate formation and properties" and is published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. It's the smaller microplastics that could have a significant impact on soil physical properties, so as microplastics degrade and get smaller it's more likely that they will have a negative impact. The full paper is available at here.
Congratulations to Nic Carslaw and David Shaw whose final paper from their COST Action has now been published in the new Indoor Environments journal.
Nic Carslaw was invited to Portcullis House to talk about future regulation of indoor air quality by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee.
Anika Haque and YESI published a video vlog on the 'overlapping risks of climate change and urbanization' as part of Anika's YESI knowledge exchange fellowship.
The joys of outreach in this digital age means that Smriti Safaya was able to share her research about the impact of environmental citizen science on how youth think and act pro-environmentally, and youth participatory action research about climate change education with more than 230 Hong Kong school students at 2am (!) on Saturday, 13th January 2024, at a webinar hosted by the student-led 'Zero Plastic League'. She discussed which environmental behaviour psychology factors most influence youth environmental action (ie. more personal time and school field trips in nature, more household-based environmental discussions and green habits, greater knowledge of positive stories of green actions in media), and the practical implications for students and educators. Key takeaways encouraged students to ask their teachers to take them outside (I know I say this a lot!), and Smriti fielded great questions from them about how to tangibly reduce the value-action gap.
Naomi Holmes is part of a team (led by colleagues at Sheffield Hallam) awarded £25000 NERC Growing Shoots partnership funding for the project 'Biomarker Lipids in Urban river Environments: Community Engaged Environmental Science.'
Well done everyone on your fantastic achievements 👏
Dissertation Surveys - Do your good deed for the week and support our 3rd year students!
- Click this link to take a survey on investigating the extent to which social media is a useful tool in raising awareness about the Sustainable Development Goals among young people..
- Click this link to take a survey on consumer awareness and willingness to engage with sustainable fashion approaches.
Multi-level Analysis of Supply Chain Activities for Sustainability Across Academic Disciplines Workshop
Date: Wednesday 7 February
Time: 13:00 - 15:00
Location: ATB/042 Lecture Room, Seebohm Rowntree Building (ATB), Campus West
This workshop aims to bring together academics from various disciplines who share an interest in complex systems and supply chain sustainability. Our objective is to facilitate in-depth investigations into multi-level interactions, such as the intricate relationships between ecosystems and supply chains. While the existence of these interactions is widely acknowledged, comprehensive studies in this area are still lacking.
We envision this workshop as a unique platform for collaboration, where participants can identify joint project ideas, explore research opportunities, and foster interdisciplinary partnerships to tackle the pressing challenges of supply chain sustainability.
To express your interest in participating and to receive further details regarding the workshop, please register here.
We look forward to your active participation and the opportunity to collectively advance our understanding of supply chain sustainability across academic disciplines.
Nature and the Bioeconomy Workshop
Date: Thursday 8 February
Time: 13:30 - 16:00
Location: B/A/004, Biology Building, Campus West
The aim of this workshop is to identify research questions and potential research projects at the interface between the bioeconomy and nature. The workshop is aimed at UoY researchers and relevant collaborators who can develop research bids to any upcoming UKRI calls.
The bioeconomy refers to economic activity involving the use of biotechnology and biomass in the production of goods, services, or energy. Recent advances in biomass processing, animal husbandry and marine resource use have the potential to alter the UK's land and seascapes over the next few decades, but the future is uncertain and the impacts on nature and biodiversity are unclear.
This workshop will bring together researchers from York working on the future of the bioeconomy, with those interested in biodiversity and nature to establish scenarios of future change that could form the basis of future collaborations.
Great! Please add it to the Research, Teaching, Outreach and Good News Spreadsheet. Please use the most relevant tab for the activity/news and ensure that the description details are written out in full as you would like it to be presented. If your item does not fit the spreadsheet, please email it to environment-pa@york.ac.uk by 12:00 next Thursday.
Thank you for your help in making the newsletter a great way to catch up on all of the Department's latest news and activities 🙂
Afternoon all 🌱 Plenty of funding opportunities and dissertation surveys to keep you busy this week.
Have an excellent weekend 😎
Chloe Mitchell - PA to HoD
Feedback on the winter building closure
Now that the building is back to being fully open, we would like to hear your feedback: please fill out this short survey on the winter closure. This will help us when deciding on potential future closures. The form is anonymous, but if you have any further queries/comments, please email Lucy at environment-dhfo@york.ac.uk.
New PGR Reps
It's official! We have new PGR (post-graduate researchers) reps who have taken over from Katie and Charlie (Obroma is staying on!). Thank you to Katie and Charlie for all the work you have done for the department last year and for your support and advice in this transition period. We (the new reps) are: Jake Spong, Marianne Lotter-Jones, Sangita Ganesh, and Obroma Agumagu. We look forward to representing all the PGRs this year.
Flat on Scarcroft Road available 26 Jan - 1 Apr
Hello. I will be away for fieldwork from January 26th-April 1st, possibly a bit longer. This leaves a bunch of plants abandoned in a lovely 1 bedroom flat (plus sofa bed) on Scarcroft Rd, i.e. near the hipster mecca of Bishy Road. I thought I'd probe with folks at E&G in case the timing aligns with someone visiting the university or in other ways finding themselves in need of subletting a place. Let me know t if you want more info, pictures or have any leads or questions. Thanks!
Hanna Pettersson - PDRA LCAB
Seminars restarting Teaching Week 1 (13th Feb onwards)
Our departmental seminars run during teaching weeks and so are currently paused until Teaching Week 1. The first round of seminars will be on the following dates:
- DEG Seminars: Tuesday 13th February, 12:05-13:00
- Sustainability Seminars: Wednesday 14th February, 12:05-13:00
- Sustainability Education Conversations: Wednesday 21st February, 12:05-13:00
Keep an eye on our upcoming newsletters for more details.
CSEFEWS Presentation next Wednesday - All welcome!
Title: Stuckness and Sustainability
Speaker: Prof. Dan van der Horst, University of Edinburgh
Date: Wednesday 17 Jan
Time: 14:00-15:00
Format: Online, Zoom link
Abstract: We are living through a dual scientific revolution of our understanding of the natural world and the accelerating ways in which ‘modern’ humans are impacting on it. I don’t think it is controversial to posit that the gap between knowing and acting (wisely) is growing. A key role for environmental social science is to examine the non-technical barriers to a transition to a more environmentally sustainable society, and to assess or critique the effectiveness and justice implications of policies and technologies ostensibly deployed to get us there. Over the past 20 years, much of my research has focused on the understanding the spatio-temporal patterns of (non-)adoption of climate change mitigation measures, and the moral, social and environmental consequences of these patterns. In this talk, I utilise and perhaps even develop (you be the judge) the concept of ‘stuckness’ in the context of sustainability transitions, adding a spatio-temporal sensibility to potential categorizations of relative and absolute inaction. By doing so, I may retrofit a more coherent narrative to my own (messy) learning journey to date, and hopefully find some interesting connections with the work of colleagues at York.
YESI Workshop: Multi-level Analysis of Supply Chain Activities for Sustainability Across Academic Disciplines
Date: Wednesday 7 February
Time: 13:00 - 15:00
Location: TBC
This workshop aims to bring together academics from various disciplines who share an interest in complex systems and supply chain sustainability. Our objective is to facilitate in-depth investigations into multi-level interactions, such as the intricate relationships between ecosystems and supply chains. While the existence of these interactions is widely acknowledged, comprehensive studies in this area are still lacking. We envision this workshop as a unique platform for collaboration, where participants can identify joint project ideas, explore research opportunities, and foster interdisciplinary partnerships to tackle the pressing challenges of supply chain sustainability. To express your interest in participating in the YESI workshop and to receive further details regarding the workshop, please register here.
We look forward to your active participation and the opportunity to collectively advance our understanding of supply chain sustainability across academic disciplines.
Jane Güleç - YESI Co-ordinator
YESI Nature and the Bioeconomy Workshop
Date: Thursday 8 February 2024
Time: 13:30-16:00
Location: In person only, B/A/004, Biology Building, Campus West, University of York
The aim of this workshop is to identify research questions and potential research projects at the interface between the bioeconomy and nature. The workshop is aimed at UoY researchers and relevant collaborators who can develop research bids to any upcoming UKRI calls
The bioeconomy refers to economic activity involving the use of biotechnology and biomass in the production of goods, services, or energy. Recent advances in biomass processing, animal husbandry and marine resource use have the potential to alter the UK's land and seascapes over the next few decades, but the future is uncertain and the impacts on nature and biodiversity are unclear.
This workshop will bring together researchers from York working on the future of the bioeconomy, with those interested in biodiversity and nature to establish scenarios of future change that could form the basis of future collaborations. Register for Nature and the Bioeconomy workshop.
Jane Güleç - YESI Co-ordinator
Panel discussion: 'Post-COP28 Debrief: Does the agreement go far enough?'
Date / time: Tuesday 16 January / 12.30pm – 1.45pm GMT
Location: Oxford Martin School Lecture Theatre & Online
Abstract: COP28 closed with an agreement, that for the first time in three decades, includes oil and gas. But what does the agreement mean in real terms? And is keeping the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach? Join us as our panel of academics share their thoughts after attending COP28 and look forward to what it means for COP29 and the world over the coming years.
Panel:
- Professor Myles Allen, Director, Oxford Net Zero
- Dr Abrar Chaudhury, Senior Associate, Oxford Net Zero
- Professor Benito Müller, Convener International Climate Policy Research, Environmental Change Institute (Chair)
- Dr Nicola Ranger, Director, Oxford Martin Programme on Systemic Resilience
This talk is in conjunction with Oxford Net Zero and Oxford Climate Research Network.
- To register to attend in-person in Oxford: https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/events/cop28debrief/
- To register to watch live online on Crowdcast: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/cop28debrief
- To watch later: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PeN8fmhwoM
YUSU Exhibition - Perceiving Nature: Exploring Representations of the Natural World (31 Jan - 16 Feb)
Location: Norman Rea Gallery, Uni of York
With this exhibition our aim is to come to terms with the symbiosis between humans, plants and animals and how that is expressed and understood within art. For thousands of years artworks have represented nature in a variety of ways: flowers, plants and animals have been utilised to symbolise ideas pertaining to folk culture, mythology and religion. The natural world in art exists almost as a means of communication, with flowers and plants becoming words in a visual language. We are seeking to reframe the world that we see everyday and open our minds up to more diverse ways of capturing it. We want to explore everything that is folk, rustic and rural: landscapes, spirituality, surreal artworks, and liminal natural scapes, with work about the cosmos, the elements, and more.
Our Opening Night will take place on Wednesday 31st January from 6.30-9pm, and will feature immersive soundscapes and other interactive aspects. We would appreciate it if you could share this event with those in your community - staff, students, and anybody interested alike - and we hope to see many of you there!
Elena Savvas, Head of Press and Publicity and Emilia Sogaard, Head of Blog, YUSU
NERC Advanced Training course - Wearable technology for personal sensing of air pollution and other environmental exposures
This is a 5-day training course from 19th – 23rd Feb 2024, hosted at Imperial College London, targeted at PhD students and Early Career researchers.
Thanks to NERC, we are offering 20 fully-funded positions (est. £2,500 per person) for UKRI researchers nationwide. This includes fully-covered London accommodation, refreshments, a drink reception and a networking dinner. There is also an EDI accessibility fund upon request.
A few keynote speakers include –
- Prof. Frank Kelly, Battcock Chair in Community Health & Policy, Imperial College London;
- Dr. Gary Fuller, UKRI Clean Air Champion, Imperial College London;
- Prof. Ben Barratt, Professor in Environmental Exposure, Imperial College London.
Highlights of the course include a visit to London’s air quality supersite (Europe’s largest), an interactive coding session using R, hands-on wearable sensor training, a few gamified teaching sessions and the co-design of a wearable sensor project. At the end of the training session, students, in groups, will present their developed projects to an expert panel and potentially win an award! More information can be found on www.wearabletraining.org, and applications can be made via the ‘Apply here’ tab. The application deadline is 15th January 2024.
- LinkedIn post on wearable technology / air pollution
- Twitter post on wearable technology / air pollution
Yiting Bao - Associate Lecturer in Environment and Health, University of Exeter
Darpan Das was invited to give a research talk in Adamas University, India. He spoke about "Personal Exposure Assessment, Low-cost sensors and Citizen Science: A possible Recipe to Compat Air Pollution in India".
Tazeen Khan (former PhD student) had the first paper from her PhD published. In brief, the presence of microplastics in soil can lead to reduced plant growth and in this paper "Polyethylene microplastic can adsorb phosphate but is unlikely to limit its availability in soil" Tazeen tests the hypothesis that this is due to the microplastics adsorbing nutrients, reducing their availability to plants.
Ed Garrett and Naomi Holmes have joined the executive committee of the Quaternary Research Association, Ed as Editor of Quaternary Newsletter and Naomi as Outreach Officer.
Kevin Hicks made an appearance on Countryfile. Kevin talked about ammonia in agriculture as part of a feature on air pollution.
Lisa Emberson has had new research published on the impact of rising air pollution on India’s crop yields and food security.
Anika Haque:
- was interviewed by one of the leading national newspapers in Bangladesh post receiving the AXA IM research award. The interview featured Anika's work on urban climate resilience in the global South.
- and Prof Helen Elsey published a YESI policy brief on 'Addressing the overlapping risks of climate change and urbanization and building a response to gendered well-being in Dhaka, Bangladesh'.
- and YESI published a video vlog on the 'overlapping risks of climate change and urbanization' as part of Anika's YESI knowledge exchange fellowship.
Andy Dougill, Gideon Baffoe and Ellie Jew have been awarded a World Universities Network Reseacrh Development Fund grant for a project on 'Technologies for African Food System Transformations' in collaboration with the Universities of Ghana, Pretoria and Leeds.
Andy Dougill is an author on a Nature Food paper on "Stakeholder-driven transformative adaptation is needed for climate-smart nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa".
Richard Friend is a co-author for an Op-Ed in the Bangkok Post (Thailand's main English language newspaper) "Rethinking cities' links to water".
Rob Marchant:
- was involved in a multi-author publication led by Hayley Clements around a new dataset published in Nature - Scientific Data on 'The Impacts of land use on the abundance of sub-Saharan Africa’s fauna and flora: The bii4africa dataset'.
- was involved in a new publication led by Paramita Punwong in Quaternary Science Advances on a 'Multi-proxy reconstruction of the late Holocene vegetation dynamics in Krabi mangroves, Thailand Andaman Sea'.
- and Edem Mahu led a paper published in The Holocene on 'Change in Oyster Environments through High-Resolution Geochemical Analysis of Late Holocene Sediments from Coastal Ghana'.
Well done everyone on your fantastic achievements 👏
RGS-IBG Grants Programme 2024 – call for applications
Postgraduate grants – most around £2k. Unless specified the grants are open to applications from across the breadth of geography.
- Monica Cole Research Grant (deadline 3 February 2024) (for physical geography)
- Henrietta Hutton Research Grant (deadline 3 February 2024)
- Frederick Soddy Award (deadline 3 February 2024) (a larger grant up to £6k for research on a region)
Grants for early career researchers (post PhD). Unless specified the grants are open to applications from across the breadth of geography.
- RGS-IBG Small Research Grants (deadline 3 February 2024) open to topics across geography and related disciplines, including:
- Jasmin Leila Award (for research into transnational communities, medical and health geography and any aspects of music, theatre, fashion and/or dance and their geographies)
- Rob Potter Award (for research into geographies of development, transnational migration and identities. Preference will be given to research on the contemporary Caribbean, with studies of Mexico, Latin America and small island nations also welcomed.)
- Innovative Geography Teaching Grants (deadline 15 February 2024) (for a teacher-higher education team)
Dissertation Surveys - Do your good deed for the week and support our 3rd year students!
- Click this link to take a survey on the willingness to pay for the conservation of Flamborough Head's kelp forests in Yorkshire in the context of ecosystem services.
- Click this link to take a survey on Public Perception of Hydrogen-Fuelled Vehicles.
- Click this link to take a survey on the public's general anxiety and how this has been affected by the uncertainties that have led to the cost-of-living crisis.
Establishing a Baseline for Evidence and an Action Plan for Regenerative Farming in York and North Yorkshire
Deadline: 12 noon on 31 January 2024.
Call for Proposals for the Mahidol-York Seed Grant 2024 is open
The Mahidol-York Seed Grant 2024 is now open for applications. Three projects at York will be funded, which each receiving £10,000. Applications must have a co-principal investigator from each university, however, a faculty member can serve as Co-Principal investigator on no more than one application per application cycle.
The grant is intended to:
- Encourage effective collaboration between academic teams from both institutions to drive outstanding research
- Expand research efforts in areas of shared interest, emphasizing scale and focus
- Foster engagement at all academic levels by ensuring diverse research team compositions
- Provide international research training opportunities
- Establish a strong foundation for continued research collaboration, securing external funding
- Support the development of long-term strategic research alliances between the two universities
- Actively promote and facilitate academic exchanges for research visits between the two institutions.
Applications close 31/01/2024.
Please get in touch with Lingzi (lingzi.cook@york.ac.uk) if you have any questions or need more information.
Great! Please add it to the Research, Teaching, Outreach and Good News Spreadsheet. Please use the most relevant tab for the activity/news and ensure that the description details are written out in full as you would like it to be presented. If your item does not fit the spreadsheet, please email it to environment-pa@york.ac.uk by 12:00 on Thursday 18th January.
Thank you for your help in making the newsletter a great way to catch up on all of the Department's latest news and activities 🙂
Happy New Year everyone! 🥳 The recording is now available for the second of our Professorial Inaugural Lectures given by Ioan and Nic. Scroll down to "Department Events" for the link.
Don't forget to add any news you have to the Research, Teaching, Outreach and Good News Spreadsheet. Equally, if you spot an upcoming conference or activity which you think may be of interest to others in the department, drop an email over to us: environment-pa@york.ac.uk
Wishing you an excellent start to 2024 😎
Chloe Mitchell - PA to HoD
Deadline for swapping POVD/Open Day slots - 24 Jan
As you know we are switching to a fairer system for the staffing of Post-Offer Visit and Open days. The rota for 2023/24 is now complete and was emailed out to all staff on 20 Dec. Please click on the link to plan ahead and make a note of your allocated slots in your diary/calendar.
The slots have been allocated by programme leaders based on preferences/constraints and the new open day rota policy. If you are happy with your slots you don't need to do anything else. If you are assigned a slot for which you are not available it is your responsibility (not the PL's) to swap it with someone else in your teaching group. You'll have until 24 January to arrange this as the rota will be fixed from that date.
Well-run POV and Open Days days are critical for successful recruitment of our future students, especially in the current financial climate. Many thanks for your help and support!
Prof. Roland Gehrels, Head of Department
Semester Dates and Teaching Weeks
If you need a reminder of the teaching weeks for Semester 2, you can find the dates on this UOY Semesters Guide Poster. Teaching week 1 will be on the week beginning Monday 12th February.
Coffee Mornings now on Wednesdays 10:30
Our weekly coffee mornings have moved to Wednesdays from now until the end of the academic year. By switching the day of the week each semester, it is hoped this will make it possible for part-time members of staff to come along should they wish.
If one of your new year's resolutions is to spread kindness and joy, then do sign up to the Coffee Morning rota and you will be blessed with eternal glory..... Or at least first access to the leftover biscuits 🍪 😏
Seminars restarting Teaching Week 1 - 13 Feb onwards
Our departmental seminars run during teaching weeks and so are currently paused until Teaching Week 1. The first round of seminars will be on the following dates:
- DEG Seminars: Tuesday 13th February, 12:05-13:00
- Sustainability Seminars: Wednesday 14th February, 12:05-13:00
- Sustainability Education Conversations: Wednesday 21st February, 12:05-13:00
Keep an eye on our upcoming newsletters for more details.
| 🧵 Crafty lunch is returning!! 🧵From Wednesday 17th January 2024, the crafty lunch will be returning! Come along to the Heartspace (first floor) in the Environment Building between 1 - 2pm. Bring your current projects or get started with a new one. Supplies will be provided but donations of crafty bits are welcome. For more info email Jenny Pollard via jenny.pollard@york.ac.uk We hope to see you there |
Professorial Inaugural Lecture No.2 - Recording now available
If you missed the excellent lecture given by Prof. Nic Carslaw and Prof. Ioan Fazey just before Christmas, you can catch up by clicking on this link: Prof. Inaug. Lecture No. 2 - Recording.
We will have 3 more pairings before the end of the academic year so keep an eye out for dates and details.
Conference (Southampton, UK): Going green: Debating the socio-economic impacts of achieving Net Zero - 24 Jan
We would like to invite you to the SDSN UK ‘Going green: Debating the socio-economic impacts of achieving Net Zero’ conference taking place on Wed 24th January in Southampton. The conference is hosted by the Sustainability and Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton in partnership with University of Strathclyde Centre for Sustainable Development and the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP), host institution of SDSN UK. I have attached here the abstract for the event and the link to the Eventbrite page for signing up to the SDSN event is here.
The conference will bring together researchers – both established and early career - policy makers and industry professionals with the aim to mobilise collective knowledge and experience to identify the most pressing, cross-sector research questions surrounding a Net Zero future. The conference will include a plenary session, small group discussions as well as a poster event where early career researchers will have the opportunity to showcase their work. Small travel grants will be made available, particularly aimed at early career researchers.
We would be delighted to have you join us. If you have colleagues whose work focusses on decarbonisation in the UK and who would be interested to attend, do pass on the invite. We are also very keen to have PhD students and ECRs attending so feel free to share this with those who would find this of interest.
Sustainable Development Solution Network (SDSN UK)
International Conference (Kraków, Poland): EARTH AS A HUMAN-ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEM: CHALLENGES AND DYNAMICS, 6-8 May
For the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, 2024 will be a special year as we shall celebrate 175th anniversary of the institute's establishment. We wish to celebrate the jubilee with various activities organized all year long. We cordially invite you to participate in the international conference titled:
The conference will be divided into five thematic sessions:
- Session 1: Urban ecosystem: Services and conflicts - Keynote speaker: Prof. Dagmar Haase, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany
- Session 2: Soils in the Anthropocene: Hazards, challenges and opportunities - Keynote speaker: Dr. Estela Nadal-Romero, El Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología, IPE-CSIC, Zaragoza, Spain
- Session 3: Dynamic land use changes: opportunity for rewilding? - Keynote speaker: Prof. Jens-Christian Svenning, Aarhus University, Denmark
- Session 4: Climate change: Detection and impacts - Keynote speaker: Prof. Stefan Brönnimann, University of Bern, Switzerland
- Session 5: Tourism (Re)configured: Geographical Thinking in Tourism Studies - Keynote speaker: Prof. Chiara Rabbiosi, University of Padova, Italy
Come to Kraków in May 2024 and bring your ideas for future geographical research and collaboration!
Anita Bokwa - Director of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Jagiellonian University
Bobby Farnan and Jon Ensor have had a journal article published: New in Political Geography. Struggles for equality and rights are bound up in urban participatory planning. This complicates dynamics of co-production and political subjectivisation for marginalised communities.
Jonathan Green and Katie Noble contributed to a UNEP report on the potential environmental, health, social, and animal welfare implications of the uptake of novel meat and dairy alternatives.
Kevin Hicks, Chris Malley, Johan Kuylenstierna, Eleni Michalopoulou and Connie O'Neill all contributed to the CCAC's Integrated assessment of air pollution and climate change for sustainable development in Africa. Thirty-seven actions in five key sectors could be the key to tackling climate change and air pollution simultaneously in Africa.
Sam Buckton has recently:
- been invited to contribute to writing a new 5-year management plan for St Nicholas Fields Local Nature Reserve in York.
- been invited to review drafts of IPBES' current transformative change assessment.
Steve Cinderby, Gary Haq and Howard Cambridge have had a journal article published: New in Cities: Expanding accessible mobility solutions and improving the climate resilience of transport can help address issues of inclusion and equity in African cities.
Well done everyone on your fantastic achievements 👏
Great! Please add it to the Research, Teaching, Outreach and Good News Spreadsheet. Please use the most relevant tab for the activity/news and ensure that the description details are written out in full as you would like it to be presented. If your item does not fit the spreadsheet, please email it to environment-pa@york.ac.uk by 12:00 on Thursday 12th January.
Thank you for your help in making the newsletter a great way to catch up on all of the Department's latest news and activities 🙂