News in 2013
- Ice2sea: reducing uncertainty around future sea-level rise 19 December 2013 Understanding uncertainty, and communicating the extent of it effectively and rigorously to people who use scientific data and models is the bedrock of Cabot Institute research. Here we highlight the Ice2sea project, a collaboration of 24 research institutes to help improve our understanding how ice sheets and glaciers may contribute to sea level rise.
- Ensuring sustainable and responsible production of healthy food from healthy animals 21 November 2013 A collaboration to research ‘future farming’ systems, sustainable and responsible production of healthy food from healthy animals has been developed.
- Walking Interconnections: Performing conversations of sustainability 16 August 2013 This AHRC funded research project explores the voice of disabled people reflecting on environmental concerns. The project uses walking, conversation and creative activities as methods to trigger exchanges between disabled people and sustainability practitioners, developing dialogues to explore how differences can be kept, and the empathy exchanged.
- Making sense of uncertainty in complex systems 5 August 2013 While most of us begin to feel restless and insecure in the face of uncertainty, Dr Jonathan Rougier seems to thrive in it. A statistician in the School of Mathematics, he specialises in assessing the uncertainty inherent in complex systems - systems that are typical in environmental science
- Molecular biology reveals the survival instinct of plants 5 August 2013 Changes in the genetic make-up of plants are being examined by molecular biologists whose studies represent a major step forward in efforts to understand how shifts in environmental conditions will affect the future growth and survival of crops.
- Geologists delve deeper to understand history of the Atlantic 5 August 2013 For years, geologists, marine biologists and oceanographers have embarked on the ongoing quest to gather evidence of how the Earth has evolved over time. In a bid to go yet further, Bristol scientists are taking an original tack, searching for ancient deep-sea corals that could further reveal the significance of the ocean to large scale global change.
- Volcanological input reduces uncertainty surrounding volcanic ash forecasts 5 August 2013 Models used to predict how much ash is pumped into the atmosphere and where it goes during a volcanic eruption are being informed by world-leading volcanology experts from the University of Bristol.
- Monitoring the world’s forgotten volcanoes from space 5 August 2013 The eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano in 2010 left millions of travellers stranded and cost airlines an estimated €900 million. It was a wake-up call to the world that communities don't need to be perched on the side of a volcano to be profoundly affected by its activity. Geophysicist Dr Juliet Biggs is one of many scientists responding to that wake-up call.
- Model that shakes entire cities improves earthquake risk assessment 5 August 2013 Earthquake disasters have many catastrophic effects - loss of life and injury as well as direct physical and financial loss. In the aftermath of an earthquake event, these direct impacts can induce a cascade of indirect losses and distress that trickle down through society.
- Management of slope stability in communities 5 July 2013 MoSSaiC (Management of Slope Stability in Communities) is an integrated method for engaging policy makers, project managers, practitioners, and vulnerable communities in reducing urban landslide risk in developing countries. Mossaic was begun with the idea of combining research, policy, and humanitarian interests to address rainfall-triggered landslide hazards through community-based implementation of surface water management measures in vulnerable urban communities.
- ICT4Adaptation: ICT for Climate Change Adaptation 26 June 2013 This report describes the outcomes of a short project to explore the potential roles of information and communication technologies (ICT) in climate change adaptation, funded by the Cabot Institute’s Open Call for 2012/2013 .
- Volcanoes and Society report – New Zealand 8 March 2013 Sam Engwell was awarded a a volcanoes and society small award to support an information stay with the volcanology team at GNS Science, New Zealand’s geoscience research institute and also a visit to the University of Auckland. Here she share's her experiences.
- Field assessment of ongoing eruptive activity at Popocatapétl volcano, Mexico 8 February 2013 With support from the Cabot Institute Volcanoes and Society Small Awards, Dr Susanna Jenkins visited the Popocatapétl area in December 2012 with colleagues from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, University of Cambridge, Macquarie University, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris and Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia. Here Susanna reports on their field assessments.
- Cabot Institute Volcanoes and Society Small Awards: Student report 4 February 2013 A report by Earth Sciences PhD student Emma Johnston on the Cities on Volcanoes 7 conference in Colima - Volcán de Colima is historically the most active volcano in Mexico, directly threatening at least half a million people.