Postgraduates Driving Sustainability at UoB
23 November 2022 saw the return of our ‘UGS Talks’ series, with an online session ‘Postgrads Driving Sustainability’. Broadcast live from Westmere House, attendees tuned in for an interactive Q&A alongside fascinating presentations highlighting the real-world impact that our postgraduates can have, no matter their field of study.
Introduced by Postgraduate Dean, Professor Duncan Shepherd, the event kicked off with a presentation from Professor of Hydrology and Director of the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action (BISCA), Professor David Hannah. With an insightful look at a collaborative project involving a number of postgraduate researchers, postdocs and Marine Scotland Science, Professor Hannah discussed the importance of protecting rivers from high water temperature extremes.
Final year PhD student, Natalia Hartono (Mechanical Engineering, EPS), then provided a fascinating overview of her research as part of the circular economy, highlighting the importance of remanufacturing as critical for environmental protection and natural resource conservation.
Natalia was joined by MSc student Sophie Feltz (Meteorology and Climatology, LES), UGS Scholars Sustainability Champion. Alongside an academic interest in the climate system, ecology and conservation, Sophie discusses her plans to support sustainability initiatives alongside UGS and the wider university. You can find out more about sustainability initiatives at UGS here.
Our final panellist, first year PhD student Thomas Bobo (Political Science and International Studies, CoSS), rounded off the presentations with an interesting talk on his research around the intersection between the environment and conflict, specifically civil wars. Thomas’s discussion on the relationships between politics and the environment provided a great example of the range of disciplines that sustainability falls under, and the breadth of human activity that can impact the world we live in.
Audience contributions to a panel Q&A helped to stimulate an important conversation between postgraduates that spanned a range of disciplines, and even helped to foster potentials for collaboration amongst our postgraduate community. Described as ‘very interesting’, ‘insightful’, and ‘a great event’ by our attendees, you can watch the webinar here.