New partnership to target environmental issues13 May 2013The University of Bristol has today [13 May] announced it will be working in partnership with a Government research agency to help ensure vital research into the environment, food security and animal welfare is communicated and utilised by policy makers.
Award-winning research is helping insurers better understand flood risk12 March 2013As we saw with Thailand’s monsoon-season deluge and the destructive waters sent ashore by Hurricane Sandy, floods are one of the most catastrophic natural disasters. But by analyzing the science behind the devastation, insurers are learning to more accurately underwrite what has become an increasingly costly peril.
Antarctic lake mission called off27 December 2012In the early hours of Christmas Day Professor Martin Siegert, Principal Investigator of the Subglacial Lake Ellsworth experiment, confirmed that the mission to drill into the lake has been called off for this Antarctic season. Drilling was proceeding well during the weekend after a replacement part was fitted to the boiler used to heat water for drilling.
British team set to access and sample one of the last unexplored environments on Earth12 December 2012This week, a British team of scientists and engineers, led by Professor Martin Siegert of the University of Bristol, realise a 16 year ambition to drill down through over 3 km of Antarctic ice into an ancient buried lake. The team hopes to find signs of life in the water and clues to the Earth’s past climate in the mud at the lake floor.
Health services need to become more sustainable say researchers7 December 2012Health services need to do more to tackle climate change and resource depletion if they are to cope with the soaring prevalence of chronic illness say the authors of a new book.
Government investment announced for National Composites Centre which helps develop environmental technologies5 December 2012Chancellor George Osborne today announced an investment of £28m to enhance the capabilities and capacity of the National Composites Centre which has world-class expertise and industrial-scale facilities that are being used to develop the technologies which will result in more fuel efficient land, sea and air vehicles as well as, for example, the next generation of wind and marine renewable energy devices.
British team embark on ambitious Antarctic mission5 December 2012In December 2012 a team of British scientists, engineers and support staff, led by Professor Martin Siegert of the University of Bristol, will drill through 3km of solid ice into subglacial Lake Ellsworth in Antarctica. Their mission – to search for life forms in the water and clues to past climate in the lake-bed sediments – is one of the most exciting and ambitious explorations of our time.
Accurate flood forecasting gets closer4 December 2012Heavy rainfall and the problems of flooding in towns have never been far from peoples' minds or the news headlines over the past few weeks. Now Cabot Institute Director Paul Bates say that new research will help to accurately pinpoint which individual streets are most at risk from flooding during severe rainstorms.
£2 million for risk management of natural hazards4 December 2012Natural hazards such as earthquakes, ash clouds, floods, droughts and storms can have a catastrophic impact on lives and economies around the world resulting in billions of dollars in financial losses. A new £2 million project, led by Cabot Institute researchers at the University of Bristol, aims to better assess uncertainty and risk of natural hazards.
Cabot Institute Director wins Lloyds Science of Risk Prize30 November 2012Professor Paul Bates, Director of the Cabot Institute and Professor of hydrology at the University of Bristol, has won this year's Lloyd’s Science of Risk Prize in the category of Natural Hazards for his work on flood modelling. He is also co-author of the winning entry for the prize's other category, Climate Change.
A Nature hat trick at the University of Bristol29 November 2012Three papers by researchers from the University of Bristol's Faculty of Science are published in this week's edition of Nature, one of the world's most prestigious scientific journals.
The hidden consequences of helping rural communities in Africa14 November 2012Improving water supplies in rural African villages may have negative knock-on effects and contribute to increased poverty, new research published 14 November 2012 has found.
Successful applicants of Cabot Institute's annual open call announced13 November 2012We would like to congratulate the successful applicants of this year's Cabot Institute open call. The annual open call is the main way to receive interdisciplinary funding from the Cabot Institute.
Real clothes for the Emperor: Facing the challenges of climate change9 November 2012The University of Bristol’s Cabot Institute hosted renowned climate change academic Kevin Anderson for a sell-out annual lecture on Tuesday 6 November. Invited in conjunction with Bristol’s Green Capital Partnership, Professor Anderson provoked and inspired the 450-strong audience in equal measure with strong messages about the scale of likely future climate change and the inadequacy of our current response.
Shortage of plant disease experts threatens tree and crop health5 November 2012Plant pathology has been lost completely or greatly reduced at 11 universities and colleges while fewer than half the institutions which teach biology, agriculture or forestry offer courses in plant pathology, according to a recently published report led by University of Bristol academics
How plants reinforce desertification2 November 2012Research into how fragile dryland ecosystems degrade into deserts has revealed that the transition from grasslands to desert shrubs may be reinforced by the plants themselves. The study, conducted at the University of Bristol, demonstrates for the first time that grass and shrub areas lose very different amounts of nutrients during rainfall events, which may be significant in how desert shrubs persist in these landscapes.
Read all about it! We have published our first magazine!30 October 2012We have published our very first annual magazine showcasing the best of our research over the last year and highlighting some of our key researchers. Read it here!
Bristol volcanologist inducted into American Academy of Arts and Sciences23 October 2012Professor Katharine Cashman, AXA Research Chair, Volcanology Research Group, in the School of Earth Sciences was among 180 influential artists, scientists, scholars, authors and institutional leaders inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at a ceremony on 6 October 2012.
‘Unconference’ to tackle green matters23 October 2012A Green Unconference – a free event organised by an Engineering postgraduate to open up discussion of environmental issues at a local level – is being held near Bristol this weekend (27 October).
How any hen can have beautiful plumage all year round16 October 2012Scientists at the University of Bristol together with the RSPCA and Soil Association have put together a new guide to help make sure laying hens are well-feathered throughout their lives.
Wired 4 Food hacking event a big success28 September 2012Winners of the Wired 4 Food event are announced after a successful hackathon at the University of Bristol.
Environmentalism is not about being rich or poor28 September 2012Higher and lower incomes make little difference to people’s concern about the natural environment, according to new research by Dr Malcolm Fairbrother from the University of Bristol.
Climate change threatens blanket bogs12 September 2012Climate change could shrink the regions suitable for blanket bogs, a rare and ecologically valuable habitat, according to a recent study.
Over £4 million to engineer a new generation of nonlinear dynamic design tools12 September 2012The performance of engineering structures is controlled by how well they behave in their working environment. In many cases, such as wind or wave power generation, medical robotics, aerospace and large civil structures, nonlinear dynamic effects have a big influence on the operational performance. However, understanding and exploiting nonlinear effects in structural dynamics presents serious difficulties and is acting as a bottleneck in the design progress of many structures.
Why is organic gardening better for people and the planet?12 September 2012One of Britain’s leading organic gardeners and a regular panel member of BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time will be speaking about organic gardening at the University of Bristol tomorrow [Thursday 13 September].
Giant ‘balloon of magma’ inflates under Santorini9 September 2012The chamber of molten rock beneath Santorini’s volcano expanded 10-20 million cubic metres – up to 15 times the size of London’s Olympic Stadium – between January 2011 and April 2012, according to a new survey carried out by an international team led by Oxford University and including a scientist from the University of Bristol.
British team set to embark on ambitious Antarctic mission7 September 2012In October a 12-man team of British scientists, engineers and support staff, led by Professor Martin Siegert of the University of Bristol, will make the 16,000 km journey from the UK to go deep into the heart of the frozen continent to collect samples of water and sediments from an ancient lake buried beneath three kilometres of ice. They hope to reveal vital secrets about the Earth’s past climate and discover life forms.
