2023 | Cabot Institute for the Environment

Pioneering study signals new era of environment-friendly programmable bioelectronics 26 July 2023 Researchers have created a unique microscopic toolkit of ‘green’ tuneable electrical components, paving the way for a new generation of bioelectronic devices and sensors.

Bats struggle during organic farming transition 25 July 2023 Bat activity falls as farms make the transition to organic agriculture, new research shows.

Bristol weather expert wins prestigious national accolade for advancing understanding of extreme heat and health 19 July 2023 A leading climate scientist from the University of Bristol, has today won an award in recognition of his pioneering work to advance understanding of global weather extremes and their impact on society.

University of Bristol-led energy research centre bolstered by £5 million Government funding 12 July 2023 The Supergen Energy Networks (SEN) Hub, set up to help facilitate transition to a fully sustainable energy sector, has received substantial financial backing from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Knowledge powerhouses urged to join pioneering Africa-led mission to level up global research and restore Africa’s rightful place 11 July 2023 Global institutions are today being called on to back a bold, transformative plan for Africa to take its rightful role in research alliances, driving forward social justice, advancing science, and supercharging global scholarship.

Warmer and murkier waters favour predators of guppies, study finds 5 July 2023 Changes in water conditions interact to affect how Trinidadian guppies protect themselves from predators, scientists at the University of Bristol have discovered.

Pioneering initiative launched to improve early warnings and resilience to changing tropical cyclones 4 July 2023 A new £4.8 million international project is set to help limit the devastating impacts of tropical cyclones in southern Africa.

Just add water – garden ponds and bird baths help wildlife thrive, finds study 29 June 2023 Providing water sources in residential gardens helps wildlife thrive, according to new University of Bristol-led research. The study, published in Urban Ecosystems, compared the quantity and variety of wildlife visiting urban lake water sources and residential gardens in England and found no difference in the number of small-bodied wildlife that visited.

Study of deep-sea corals reveals ocean currents have not fuelled rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide 26 June 2023 Pioneering analysis of deep-sea corals has overturned the idea that ocean currents contributed to increasing global levels of carbon dioxide in the air over the past 11,000 years.

University of Bristol’s wind tunnel network receives Government backing 20 June 2023 The University of Bristol’s pioneering wind tunnel facilities have been awarded a portion of UK Research and Innovation’s £23 million, to transform UK research capability in fluid dynamics.

Bristol space-based solar power project receives £353k funding boost 15 June 2023 A team from the University of Bristol will play a pivotal role in the UK’s bid to develop space-based solar power - technology which has the potential to significantly boost the country’s energy security.

1in5 project on climate and biodiversity embraced by leading schools of psychology 15 June 2023 Schools of psychology at Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Manchester universities have embraced the 1in5 project on climate and biodiversity. 1in5 is a framework to allow the academic community to focus some of its collective brainpower on environmental change.

Carbon-saving coating for commercial greenhouses could boost food production by a third 7 June 2023 A University of Bristol spin-out which has developed an innovative temperature-responsive coating for greenhouses has secured a £1.6m investment.

Human factors affect bees’ communication 5 June 2023 Human influences have the potential to reduce the effectivity of communication in bees adding further stress to struggling colonies, according to new analysis.

New study shows how adaptations to living in a cold climate promoted social evolution 1 June 2023 For the first time ever, scientists have uncovered evidence that a species’ long-term adaptation to living in an extremely cold climate has led to the evolution of social behaviours including extended care by mothers, increased infant survival and the ability to live in large complex multilevel societies.

Five Bristol academics awarded funding to work with Catapult Centres via Researcher in Residence scheme 31 May 2023 Five Bristol academics have recently won funding from the national Research in Residence (RiR) funding competition which funds academics to work on an innovation project in partnership with the Catapult Network.

Leading ecologist from the Cabot Institute for the Environment elected as Royal Society Fellow 12 May 2023 A University of Bristol academic who has provided insight into how networks of interactions between species impact the environment has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.

New partnership will create and deliver agricultural and veterinary medicine programmes in Sharjah (UAE) 3 May 2023 The University of Bristol and the Royal Agricultural University have signed an agreement with the University of AlDhaid, to deliver new education and research programmes in sustainable agriculture and veterinary medicine.

University of Bristol collection awarded UNESCO status 27 April 2023 The Wildlife Filmmaking Oral Histories Collection held by the University of Bristol’s Special Collections team has been added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Memory of the World Programme.

Research reveals countries where record-breaking heatwaves are likely to cause most harm 26 April 2023 A new study has highlighted under-prepared regions across the world most at risk of the devastating effects of scorching temperatures.

Mysterious underwater acoustic world of British ponds revealed in new study 25 April 2023 The previously hidden and diverse underwater acoustic world in British ponds has been revealed by a team of researchers at the University of Bristol.

Researchers discover significant deep-sea coral reefs in Galápagos expedition 25 April 2023 Scientists from the University of Bristol are part of an expedition which has made a ground-breaking discovery of extensive, ancient deep-sea coral reefs within the Galápagos Marine Reserve (GMR).

Earth Day 2023: explore how climate change is affecting our health 21 April 2023 This Earth Day we are raising awareness of how our changing climate is affecting our health, and what we are doing at University of Bristol to understand and address these challenges.

New just net zero policy project awarded £150,000 19 April 2023 Senior research fellow Dr Colin Nolden has been awarded £150,000 by the British Academy, through a Net Zero Policy Programme, to lead a 15 month project as Principal Investigator. The project - Implementing effective and just net zero policies (IMPERFECT) starts on 1 May 2023.

New quantum sensing method holds promise for improving greenhouse gas detection 4 April 2023 An innovative technique to detect and characterise molecules with greater precision has been proposed, paving the way for significant advances in environmental monitoring, medical diagnostics, and industrial processes.

Research finds global emissions of several banned ozone-destroying chemicals are increasing 3 April 2023 New analysis has found increasing emissions of several ozone-depleting chemicals despite their production being banned for most uses under the Montreal Protocol – and a loophole in the rules is likely responsible.

University of Bristol researchers to help enhance radiation monitoring systems in Chornobyl 3 April 2023 A team of Bristol scientists will reinstate and improve radiological monitoring systems within the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (ChEZ) and inside the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP), impacted by the Russian invasion.

Mock COP gives students the opportunity to experience an intergovernmental climate negotiation 31 March 2023 On Tuesday 28 March, pupils from eight Bristol state schools were transported to the centre of international politics on climate change policy, as part of a ‘Mock COP’ negotiation at the University of Bristol.

Bristol project to re-energise battery industry receives investment from energy storage reader 30 March 2023 Research to improve battery performance has received backing from the Faraday Institution, a leader in energy storage.

University of Bristol scientists will plunge to Titanic depths on submarine as part of a Galapagos science mission 29 March 2023 A team of researchers will voyage more than a mile beneath the Pacific Ocean in submersible The Alvin, famous for diving to the wreck of RMS Titanic in 1986.

Pioneering survey into censorship of the climate crisis in global storytelling 16 March 2023 For the first time ever authors, journalists, film makers and scientists from across the world are being asked to share their experiences of pressure to remove or soften the exploration of the climate crisis in their work.

New research shows recovering tropical forests offset just one quarter of carbon emissions from new tropical deforestation and forest degradation 15 March 2023 A pioneering global study has found deforestation and forests lost or damaged due to human and environmental change, such as fire and logging, are fast outstripping current rates of forest regrowth.

Extinction vulnerability during ancient biodiversity crises is unpredictable 15 March 2023 Evidence from past extinctions cannot be used as a definitive way of predicting future biodiversity loss, scientists have found by using AI.

Cow dung possible sustainable material of the future, study finds 13 March 2023 Livestock dung could be used to create the next generation of cellulosic materials, according to a new report.

Sea temperatures control the distributions of European marine fish 10 March 2023 An analysis extending from southern Portugal to northern Norway highlights the importance of temperature in determining where fish species are found.

Specialists across Africa given plant-health training boost 10 March 2023 The University of Bristol’s CONNECTED Network has trained 21 plant scientists from 11 countries in ‘Vector and Virus Diagnostics’ in Nairobi, Kenya.

Bristol welcomes UK Space Agency CEO to mark ‘Space West’ launch 8 March 2023 Dr Paul Bate, Chief Executive of UK Space Agency, visited the University to meet some of the academics at the heart of research into next-generation space technology.

Pioneering analysis projects extreme rainfall in UK may be more common and erratic over next century as impact of climate change intensifies 7 March 2023 A new set of 100-year climate projections has been created to assess the likelihood of heavy rain downpours in the UK, which can cause flash flooding, over the coming years and decades.

Pioneering study shows flood risks can still be considerably reduced if all global promises to cut carbon emissions are kept 7 March 2023 Annual damage caused by flooding in the UK could increase by more than a fifth over the next century due to climate change unless all international pledges to reduce carbon emissions are met, according to new research.

New tool to value health of urban developments 3 March 2023 A new tool to value the health effects of urban development proposals has been revealed by researchers at the Universities of Bristol and Bath and published in Frontiers in Public Health.

News in 2023