University of Cambridge

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In this episode we talk to Tyler Shores about digital fatigue and distraction, and how we can all take care of our digital wellbeing.

We also talk about his experience of setting up an entirely online high school, and how we can think about online learning in a much more holistic way.

In this episode we talk to Ibrahim Rahman about how he’s been raising money for Cambridge City foodbank and helping Muslim families struggling with hardships during the pandemic.

We also talk about his journey from Wimbledon to the social media team at the university, and how he’s been using his expertise to help Cambridge Central Mosque engage with the community during lockdown.

We talk to Nicole Horst about her journey from the body shop of a car manufacturing plant to a research project studying obsessive compulsive disorder, and about finding her true passion for advocacy and supporting other young researchers.

As this is our first episode recorded remotely during the coronavirus lockdown, we also talk about her role in a volunteering project that’s supporting NHS workers with vital protective equipment.

To find out more about donating PPE supplies, contact [email protected].

ExoMars is Europe’s first Rover mission to Mars, a mission in search of life, past or present, to answer one of humankind’s oldest questions: are we alone in the Universe? Abbie Hutty, Platform Delivery Manager, discusses the mission’s aims and objectives, the major challenges and design drivers of a mission to Mars, and how the team are engineering solutions to meet those challenges.

How much garlic did the medieval Irish use in baking bread? The answer to this and other questions about daily life in medieval Ireland can be found in written and material sources used to construct the past. Sharon Arbuthnot and Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, and Aidan O’Sullivan and colleagues, University College Dublin, bring to life the everyday objects of medieval Ireland.

By 2050, the global population is estimated to hit 10 billion, and we're going to need to feed them all. Around a third of our food depends on pollinating insects, but they're in decline. Hamish Symington explores how food relies on insects, and how research at the Department of Plant Sciences aims to make flowers more efficient at being pollinated, helping to feed all those mouths in future.

An asteroid impact 66 million years ago may have wiped out the giant dinosaurs, but it also resulted in the rapid evolution of birds. From this point onwards, bird body size and genomes were changed forever. Dr Daniel Field, Department of Earth Sciences, explores the evidence and sheds light on the way modern animals may respond to Earth’s current biodiversity crisis.

Horizons Public Lecture

Nick White, Head of University Catering Service, Emma Garnett, Department of Zoology and Amy Munro-Faure, Environment and Energy Section, discuss how a Sustainable Food Policy at the University of Cambridge, which includes removing beef and lamb from the menu and promoting plant-based food options, has dramatically reduced food-related carbon emissions.

What does the future hold for China in a world of global trade wars, rising concerns about human rights and regional expansion in the form of the Belt and Road Initiative? With historian Professor Hans van der Ven, human rights expert Professor Eva Pils, Agnes Chong, visiting at POLIS and Bhavna Dave from Soas . Chaired by Rana Mitter

Talk recorded at event Wednesday 23 October: 6:00pm - 7:30pm

St John's College Fisher Building, St John’s Street, CB2 1TP

When he’s not monitoring seals from space, Prem Gill is laying down Grime tracks featuring the voices of seals and live-streaming his Antarctic expeditions to secondary school students in the UK. He hopes that his efforts will encourage others from ethnic minority or working-class backgrounds to consider a career in polar science.

My PhD research, which is jointly funded by the Scott Polar Research Institute, British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and World Wildlife Fund, uses satellite images to study Arctic seals. By monitoring the seals, we can gain a greater understanding of their habitat preferences and population trends. Through this analysis we can learn more about the health of the entire Arctic ecosystem.

This is crucial because what happens in the polar regions, effects the whole world. The Arctic and Antarctica act like a thermostat for the planet. If you can monitor what's going on in these areas, you can get an idea of what's going on globally, which has huge implications for assessing the effects of climate change.

What comes to mind when you hear the words ‘polar scientist’? A sepia-tinted photograph of a Victorian explorer? A modern-day researcher in a brightly coloured padded jacket and sunglasses? You probably wouldn’t picture someone who looks like me. I’m first?-generation British-Indian working class.

In the 200 years since Antarctica was first discovered, there have been huge strides in terms of women in polar science. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for people from ethnic minority backgrounds. I’m working to change that.

I know from experience that a number of factors can stand in the way of young people like me from pursuing a career in something like polar science– this could be cultural expectations, financial pressures or quite simply not having role models that look like you.