News Archive: October 2018

CodiSTEM (25/10/18)

Over 600 school pupils from North Wales attended the Codi STEM event held at Coleg Llandrillo (Grwp Llandrillo Menai) on Thursday, 25 th October 2018.

Publication date: 30 October 2018

Family habit of inheriting volunteer roles could help small charities

Though many of us live increasingly busy lives, the number of those actively involved in volunteerism in the UK is growing. In fact, every year more than 21m people volunteer at least once . But for many people, volunteering is not just a one off, or infrequent thing. In fact, it can be a legacy, a form of tradition which is often passed down through family generations. This article by Stephanie Jones, PhD student at the School of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences , is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

Publication date: 30 October 2018

The School of Welsh’s Residential Courses at the Urdd’s Glan-llyn Centre return for tenth year

Welsh First Language Courses (19-21 November 2018) and Second Language (21-23 November 2018) Residential courses run in partnership with Bangor University’s School of Welsh and the Urdd’s Glan-llyn Outdoor Centre are well established among pupils and teachers. Now in their tenth year, they offer an annual opportunity for second language and first language students to come together for a packed agenda of discussions on the areas and issues that apply to their Welsh AS/A2 level courses.

Publication date: 30 October 2018

University signs global commitment to bring plastic pollution to an end

As part of its on-going commitment to sustainability, Bangor University is one of the signatories of the New Plastics Economy Global Commitmen t, led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in collaboration with UN Environment and launched at the Our Ocean Conference in Bali (Monday 29 November).

Publication date: 29 October 2018

Cultures, challenges and injustices: Festival of Social Sciences in Bangor

From dance forms to welfare reforms, Bangor University is taking part in the Economic & Social Research Council’s Festival of Social Sciences again this year, and is inviting the public to take part in a wide variety of events.

Publication date: 29 October 2018

Students create exclusive jewellery range

An exclusive range of high quality jewellery by design students at Bangor University is currently on sale at MOSTYN in Llandudno. The contemporary art gallery has worked with BSc Product Design degree course staff and students on a design project to create the range of jewellery items suitable for the MOSTYN shop.

Publication date: 26 October 2018

Bangor University receives two Athena SWAN awards

Bangor University is delighted to announce that the recent Athena SWAN application for an Institution-level Bronze Award has been successful. Furthermore, the School of Ocean Sciences’ application for a department-level Bronze award was also successful. These awards recognise the university's commitment to tackling gender inequality in higher education.

Publication date: 25 October 2018

Bangor Students represent Community Engagement projects in the House of Commons

A group of Bangor University delegates delivered recently a presentation in the House of Commons in Westminster on the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages. The event was chaired by Tonia Antoniazzi, MP for Gower, and attended by other MPs and representatives of the House of Lords, British Council, European Commission, Goethe Institut, Confucius Institute and other institutions and universities from across the UK.

Publication date: 24 October 2018

Magical History Tour

Bangor University are offering the chance to take a magical history tour of the Isle of Anglesey.

Publication date: 24 October 2018

Prepare to be amazed by specimen collections at Brambell Natural History Museum

Brambell Natural History Museum, Bangor University will be joining museums from across the country for this year’s Welsh Museums Festival, which will be taking place from 27 October – 4 November. This wonderful annual event is an opportunity for everyone who lives in Wales, or visiting over the half term, to engage with and explore the fantastic museums we have across Wales. As ever, this year’s event will have a varied programme of events to cater for all tastes, which include exhibitions, re-enactments and workshops, through to Halloween themed activities.

Publication date: 24 October 2018

Harvesting environmental data with an app

Cambodia has one of the most rapidly developing economies on earth. The country is moving from a rural to an industrial and urban economy at great speed, but its government is also eager to be sustainable and not to lose valuable reserves of natural resources, in its drive to develop. New research by social and environmental scientists at Bangor University, (Wales, UK); New York University (USA) and a Cambodian NGO, Keosothea Nou (Society for Community Development, Cambodia), one of 13 new projects funded under the ESRC Transformative research call, will provide an overall snapshot of the country’s environmental resources, and how they are used by different individuals. This information will help the government to develop sustainable policies for the energetic country.

Publication date: 23 October 2018

More in depth data is required to reveal the true global footprint of fishing

There has been a lot of debate recently on the extent of the global fishing footprint. A recent paper claimed that fishing affects 55% of the world’s oceans. Given that many people in the developing world rely on fish as their main source of protein, and the increasing preference for luxury fish products in countries such as China, such statistics might seem plausible. This article by Michel Kaiser , Honorary Professor, School of Ocean Sciences , is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

Publication date: 23 October 2018

Edible crabs won't cope with the effects of climate change on seawater – new study

We are only just beginning to learn how aquatic organisms will respond to climate change, and the effect that this will have on their communities and ecosystems. One way to find out more is to look at whether species will be able to compensate for changes in their environment. Particularly if they can survive any immediate fluctuations in temperature, and reductions in ocean pH brought about by increasing levels of atmospheric CO₂. This article by Nia Whiteley , Reader in Zoology (Aquatic), at the School of Natural Sciences is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

Publication date: 23 October 2018

We tracked coral feeding habits from space to find out which reefs could be more resilient

Coral reefs are an invaluable source of food, economic revenue, and protection for millions of people worldwide . The three-dimensional structures built by corals also provide nourishment and shelter for over a quarter of all marine organisms . i,But coral populations are threatened by a multitude of local and global stressors. Rising ocean temperatures are disrupting the 210m-year-old symbiosis between corals and microscopic algae. When temperatures rise, the coral animal becomes stressed and expels its algal partners, in a process known as coral bleaching. This article by Michael D. Fox , Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California San Diego ; Andrew Frederick Johnson , Researcher at Scripps Insitution of Oceanography & Director of MarFishEco, University of California San Diego , and Gareth J. Williams , Lecturer, Marine Biology , Bangor University is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

Publication date: 22 October 2018

Changing Wales: National research centre marks tenth anniversary

The Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods ( WISERD ) is celebrating ten years of influencing policy and debate. A collaboration of five Welsh universities (Aberystwyth, Bango r, Cardiff, South Wales and Swansea), WISERD has carried out a decade of pioneering research, providing important insights into the social and economic challenges facing Wales.

Publication date: 22 October 2018

Emotions: how humans regulate them and why some people can't

Take the following scenario. You are nearing the end of a busy day at work, when a comment from your boss diminishes what’s left of your dwindling patience. You turn, red-faced, towards the source of your indignation. It is then that you stop, reflect, and choose not to voice your displeasure. After all, the shift is nearly over. This may not be the most exciting plot, but it shows how we as humans can regulate our emotions . This article by Leanne Rowlands , PhD Researcher in Neuropsychology, at the School of Psychology is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

Publication date: 19 October 2018

Scientists can now predict coral feeding habits from space

New research has revealed that tropical corals living in more productive waters take advantage of the increased food availability and that these feeding habits can be predicted from satellites orbiting our planet.

Publication date: 18 October 2018

Bangor University hosts Music Masterclasses in China

Iwan Llewelyn Jones, an academic from the School of Music and Media , Bangor University will be visiting China later this month to perform and host masterclasses for music students in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Publication date: 17 October 2018

Quantum Theory and Medieval Welsh Legends at Harvard

This month, Dr Aled Llion Jones from Bangor University's School of Welsh delivered the keynote lecture at the Harvard Celtic Colloquium. The prestigious annual gathering draws scholars of Celtic Studies from across the US and Europe.

Publication date: 17 October 2018

Opening of new Bangor University biotechnology research centre

A research centre that will discover new enzymes with the potential to transform the efficiency of biotechnology industries has just been opened in the presence of research scientists from across Europe, industry representatives and officials from the Welsh Government.

Publication date: 16 October 2018

Celebrating the successes of the Welsh Language Skills Certificate’s latest recipients

As part of the Shwmae Su'mae Week celebrations here at Bangor University, an event will be held to celebrate the work of Bangor Branch students from the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol. It will serve as an opportunity to showcase those students who have successfully obtained the Language Skills Certificate this year. Some of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol’s Ambassadors who are studying at Bangor will also be there.

Publication date: 16 October 2018

German Studies Conference introduced Alexander Kluge to Wales

The Department of Modern Languages and Cultures at Bangor University was delighted to host the annual conference of the Association for German Studies in Great Britain and Ireland (AGS) on 29-31 August 2018.

Publication date: 16 October 2018

Welsh learners presented with their certificates on Shwmae Su’mae Day

A number of University staff who have been undertaking Welsh language courses have received certificates for their efforts today as part of Shwmae Su'mae Day , a day that promotes the use of Welsh by encouraging everyone to start chatting with simple greetings in the language.

Publication date: 15 October 2018

Prestigious International Fellowship for promising young researcher

A post-doctoral researcher at Bangor University’s School of Natural Sciences , has been awarded a prestigious European Commission Horizon2020 funded Marie Sklodowska Curie Global Fellowship . The fellowship, which allows for international mobility and knowledge exchange will enable Dr Karina Marsden of Bethesda to spend two years working in The University of Melbourne, Australia, before returning to Bangor University for the final year of her research project. It was awarded following a successful joint application by Bangor and Melbourne universities.

Publication date: 15 October 2018

Another Award for Bangor University’s Student Accommodation

Bangor University’s student accommodation has been awarded ‘Best Student Halls ’ by a major source of information for prospective students. Student Crowd ( https://www.studentcrowd.com/ ) provides a space where students can review their university resources, and where potential students can learn about the universities they’re interested in, from real student feedback.

Publication date: 15 October 2018

Are electric fences really the best way to solve human-elephant land conflicts?

Conflict between humans and elephants has reached a crisis point in Kenya. As the elephants have begun to regularly raid farms in search of food, it has become not uncommon for local people to attack and kill them in retaliation. Between 2013 and 2016 , 1,700 crop raiding incidents, 40 human deaths and 300 injuries caused by wildlife were reported in the Kajiado district alone. This article by Liudmila Osipova , PhD Researcher, Bangor University is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

Publication date: 12 October 2018

Waste Awareness Week #WAW18

Last week, Bangor University ran its second ever ‘Waste Awareness Week’ (WAW) between Saturday the 29th September and Friday the 5th October 2018. The campaign was launched to share ideas and raise awareness about the importance of resource efficiency both in the University and in Bangor City, to reduce our environmental impacts both locally and nationally and to encourage our students to become responsible global citizens. The Sustainability Lab worked in partnership with Campus Life , Halls of Residence , Student Housing , Catering , the International Office , Gwynedd Council , the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) and British Heart Foundation Cymru (BHF) to run an exciting range of WAW activities and events during the week. These included a beach clean, waste awareness visits in student halls and private accommodation, waste career talks, a campus cleaning event, an information sharing day, recycling quizzes, a debate night, a film night and an eco-craft night, along with other smaller idea-sharing events.

Publication date: 12 October 2018

Bangor University research informs national policy and provides the evidence base for Wales’ first Rural Education Action Plan

Cabinet Secretary for Education Kirsty Williams has today (11/10/18) launched the Welsh Government’s new Rural Education Action Plan that introduces a range of initiatives and measures for educational improvements and experiences across rural school areas of Wales. The action plan forms a pivotal part of the transformation reforms outlined in Education in Wales - Our national mission 2017-21 that sets out Welsh Government’s strategy on how they aim to improve the school system by 2021 and details activities which will transform policy into practices in our schools. The action plan draws upon evidence and recommendations made in a research report led by Gwilym Siôn ap Gruffudd of Bangor University’s School of Education and Human Development. The report: Rethinking Educational Attainment and Poverty- in Rural Wales (REAP) was commissioned by Regional Education Consortia ERW and GwE as a result of a competitive tender process.

Publication date: 11 October 2018

High-res data offer most detailed look yet at trawl fishing footprint around the world

About a quarter of the world's seafood caught in the ocean comes from bottom trawling, a method that involves towing a net along the seabed on continental shelves and slopes to catch shrimp, cod, rockfish, sole and other kinds of bottom-dwelling fish and shellfish. The technique impacts these seafloor ecosystems, because other marine life and habitats can be unintentionally killed or disturbed as nets pass across the seafloor. A new analysis that uses high-resolution data for 24 ocean regions in Africa, Europe, North and South America and Australasia shows that only 14 percent of the overall seafloor shallower than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) is trawled. Most trawl fishing happens in this depth range along continental shelves and slopes in the world's oceans. The study focused on this depth range, covering an area of about 7.8 million square kilometers of ocean.

Publication date: 9 October 2018

Tanzania to adopt new policies to safeguard fish stocks

The Tanzanian Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries is to adopt recommendations for conserving the unique genetic diversity of tilapia for food security. The recommendations are based on the findings of research led by Prof George Turner at Bangor University's School of Natural Sciences , in collaboration with colleagues at Bristol University, the Earlham Institute at Norwich and at the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (Tafiri), funded by the Royal Society, the Leverhulme Trust, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Publication date: 8 October 2018

Four Bangor University students compose 100 poems in 24 hours

On this year’s National Poetry Day, four Bangor University students took up Literature Wales’ annual challenge to compose 100 original poems in 24 hours.

Publication date: 5 October 2018

Tree Sparks goes from strength to strength

An eco-awareness company set-up by a Forestry student following a period of ill-health has been given a seal of approval from an influential business network in the region.

Publication date: 4 October 2018

Great Heritage Funding crucial to world leading hypoxia research at Bangor

In collaboration with Dr Jamie Macdonald and Sam Oliver at the School of Sport and Exercise Science, Dr Paul Mullins from the School of Psychology has been studying the effects of hypoxia on cerebral physiology for the past 7 years. In this time, they’ve have had two very successful PhD students, and some ground-breaking discoveries about how the human brain copes with lowered oxygen availability. Research of this type is extremely important to understand what happens in the brain during periods of hypoxic exposure weather due to clinical complications, or because you are a climber at the top of the world up a mountain.

Publication date: 4 October 2018

Research by Canolfan Bedwyr’s Language Technologies Unit informs European agenda

Research and expertise by Canolfan Bedwyr's Language Technologies Unit were referenced the European Parliament recently, as Plaid Cymru's European MP, Jill Evans, credited the work of the Unit as being at the forefront of minority language technology. The MEP presented findings of the recommendations made by the Digital Language Diversity Project (DLDP) in its report on ensuring linguistic equality in the fields of digital technology. Following the speech by Jill Evans MEP, the head of the Language Technologies Unit, Delyth Prys, and the Unit's Chief Software Engineer, Dewi Bryn Jones, were invited to speak at a conference on language technologies and digital equality within a multilingual Europe.

Publication date: 4 October 2018

Universities must look at local employment markets when building their graduates' skills

Students are often reminded that a degree is “not enough”, and that they will also need “employability skills” – a complex combination of personal attributes, discipline-specific knowledge and generic talents – to succeed after university. They are encouraged while studying to develop skills such as problem solving, self-management and the ability to work as part of a team. This article by Teresa Crew , Lecturer in Social Policy, School of History, Philosophy & Social Sciences is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

Publication date: 4 October 2018

Why we should give prejudiced students a voice in the classroom

In the space of a few years, Britain’s political landscape has changed. Now, generally, young people are proportionately more likely to have socially liberal and socialist views, and want to remain part of the EU. Meanwhile, older demographics proportionately voted for Brexit , and were said to be largely responsible for voting the Conservatives into office in 2017. T his article by Corinna Patterson , Lecturer in Sociology, at the School of History, Philosophy and Social Science is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

Publication date: 3 October 2018

Fulbright enables Triple Harp research

An American student has just embarked on a postgraduate research degree at Bangor University having received a highly prestigious Fulbright Award .

Publication date: 2 October 2018

Tours of Bangor University’s art and ceramic collections accompanied by poetry

Guided tours of Bangor University’s Art and Ceramic Collections will be held in conjunction with English Literature at Bangor University t his October and November. The aim is to raise awareness of these important collections, with highlights including a mural by Edward Povey in Powis Hall, art and ceramics in the University’s Council Chamber Corridor and a chance to see and learn about works of arts by other renowned artists such as Kyffin Williams, Brenda Chamberlain, Peter Prendergast and Frederick William Hayes.

Publication date: 2 October 2018