Agile Rabbit

Dr Ceri Lewis (University of Exeter) talking at Exeter Intrepid Explorers in March 2018. Ceri Lewis shares her stories of her exciting field work in the arctic on the Catlin Arctic Survey. The Catlin Arctic Survey was an exciting multidisciplinary expedition, in which scientists and explorers investigated ocean acidification processes and their impact on marine organisms. The field trip involved camping on the sea ice in unheated tents at -40°C while collecting vital data. Ceri talks about the importance of the science conducted on this expedition, the challenges of working at a low temperature and key findings of her work.

Previously this series of talks was under the branding of Intrepid Explorers Exeter

Steve explains how he has pioneered new ways of listening to the ocean and of interacting with fish (including underwater puppetry), to understand whole soundscapes and to unlock the language of fish. He also discusses his engagement with key marine industries, which aims to reduce and manage human noise pollution in the quest for quieter seas. Steve’s research was featured in David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef series in 2015, and his work on underwater noise pollution screened in the final Episode of Blue Planet II.

Previously this series of talks was under the branding of Intrepid Explorers Exeter

Can our economic, social, and environmental systems work so that the most responsible choices we make are also the easiest, cheapest, and most obvious?

Often when we are faced with environmental or social problems, we find that changing our own actions can initially feel satisfying, but this can sometimes lead to a feeling that the difference we are making has little impact on the wider issues that we were aiming to resolve. Should we hold out hope for a cumulative effect, or do we need the wider mechanics of our society to alter to engender meaningful change? Or is waiting for society to change a way of absolving personal responsibility?

Natalie Bennett, former leader of the Green Party, explores these question in this Agile Rabbit talk, followed by questions and bar-room discussion and socialising.

World famous anthropologist Maurice Bloch asks : why is it so easy, when we go to somewhere which the tourist industry would describe as very exotic, to get on with people?

Part of the answer is that remote people are much less different than we might, at first, believe and that modern society is much less different than is often assumed. This argument is illustrated with examples from Madagascar.

In this Agile Rabbit podcast, Professor John Ellis CBE from CERN asks the fundamental questions about the Universe and our place within it ~ questions that humans have been asking for hundreds of thousands of years.

John Ellis is a theoretical physicist interested in particle physics, astrophysics, cosmology and quantum gravity. For many years he worked for CERN, the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva.

Pen Hadow is one of the world’s leading explorers. In 2003 Pen Hadow became the first person to trek solo, and without resupply, across the Arctic Ocean’s sea ice from Canada to the North Geographic Pole – a feat that has never been repeated.

But of the 850 hours spent hauling his sledge, over 30 hours were in the water. It led to a revelation that big environmental changes were taking place. The sea ice cover, previously in effect creating a protected marine reserve, was now receding. With it, the habitat was going, one that provides to a unique ecosystem that includes some of the largest, the longest-living, best-loved, and the least-researched animals on Earth.

Pen reflects on the significant discoveries made by Arctic Mission last summer, and encourages all who listen to consider that exploration has never been more important or urgent in human history, if we are to live sustainably.

Previously this series of talks was under the branding of Intrepid Explorers Exeter

Dr. Inma Adarves-Yorno is a mindfulness meditator, TED speaker, researcher, and trainer. She has witnessed the transformational power of mindfulness when aligned with a meaningful social identity. In this talk, Inma tells the fascinating story of the successes and failures of a mindfulness movement in Kenyan prisons.

The first part of Inma’s story will focus on the largest maximum security prison where the ingenious mindful leadership programme was born: inmates were transformed onto mindful leaders. She will also talk about disappointing long term impact in a female prison, where ‘mindful screaming’ was born and a seemly great failure in the worst prison in Kenya. Inma details how mindfulness is now moving beyond prisons walls to elsewhere in Kenyan society.

Want to learn more about mindful leaders in Kenya? -----> http://sites.exeter.ac.uk/mindfulleaderskenya/

Previously this series of talks was under the branding of Intrepid Explorers Exeter