News: February 2015

Jamie Woodruff - My Life at Bangor

Watch the Video Profile of Jamie Woodruff as he talks to BangorTV about his experiences as a Computer Information Systems student at Bangor. He tells us more about his interest in Ethical Hacking and the support he's received from the Miles Dyslexia Centre.

Publication date: 27 February 2015

Royal visit for University Research Station

HRH The Princess Royal visited Bangor University’s Henfaes Research station, Abergwyngregyn today (Friday 27 th , 2015). Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, who was accompanied by Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant for Gwynedd, Mr Edmund Seymour Bailey, received a showcase visit to the University’s Research station to see some of the ground-breaking research carried out at the research facility.

Publication date: 26 February 2015

Waste-biogas is at least ten times more effective than crop-biogas at reducing greenhouse gas emissions

In a paper just released in the leading bioenergy journal Global Change Biology Bioenergy, researchers from Bangor University and the Thünen Institute in Germany conclude that crop-biogas and liquid biofuels are at best inefficient options for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, per hectare of land used and per £ public subsidy required. At worst these options could actually lead to higher global GHG emissions owing to indirect land use change caused by displacement of food production. In comparison, waste-biogas and Miscanthus (woody grass) heating pellets achieve at least ten times more GHG mitigation per tonne of dry matter biomass and per hectare of land used, respectively, leading to cost-effective GHG mitigation.

Publication date: 26 February 2015

Food across the generations

Takeaways, supermarkets, fast foods, runner beans from Kenya and pizza in the freezer. We just can’t do without them today can we? Who can imagine a world without a wide selection of prepared foods? Cast your mind back a couple of generations and this vast choice of food was unimaginable. On Thursday, 26 th February there will be a cross generation community lunch held at Busy Bees café, Penrhyndeudraeth between 12-2 o'clock to discuss the food of yesterday and today.

Publication date: 19 February 2015

Tides stir up deep Atlantic Heat in the Arctic Ocean

Researchers have identified how warm Atlantic water that is flowing deep into the Arctic Ocean is mixing with colder waters above to contribute to sea-ice loss in the Arctic. The results, published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience (16.2.14 10.1038/ngeo2350 ), show that tidal flows in the Arctic are causing deep, warm water (originating from the Gulf Stream) to mix with cold, fresh water lying above, in turn contributing to melting the floating sea-ice.

Publication date: 16 February 2015

SENRGy wins prestigious Commonwealth Scholarships for MSc Tropical Forestry

Bangor University’s School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography (SENRGy) is delighted to announce funding for a further 10 scholarships for its MSc Tropical Forestry (distance learning) beginning in September 2015.

Publication date: 13 February 2015

Top 30 world place for Bangor University in World GreenMetric Ranking

Bangor University has been ranked in the top 30 in the world for its ‘greenness’. The latest UI GreenMetric World University Ranking compared 360 universities in 62 countries on their efforts towards campus sustainability and environmentally-friendly university management.

Publication date: 11 February 2015

New more efficient method of sampling biodiversity showcased in major UK estuaries

Two of the UK’s major estuaries have proved to be a successful testing-ground for an effective new method of ‘health-checking’ aquatic biodiversity, which could lead to faster and more efficient sampling for other sites. “Bio-monitoring” or assessing the impacts of human activities in the natural environment is often achieved by monitoring biological diversity. Existing methods rely on manual identification, but that takes time, resources and often focuses on larger creatures, that sometimes may not be able to reflect accurately the health of particular habitats.

Publication date: 9 February 2015

Move over smart cities – the Internet of Things is off to the country

Bangor University is about to take the concept of smart cities out of town. The Internet of Things - which enables object-to-object communication over the internet and real time data monitoring - has typically been associated with urban environments and until now the countryside has been left out in the cold.

Publication date: 6 February 2015

Tiny organisms could change the face of coastal science

New scientific research published in the journal Nature Communications, led by researchers at Bangor University in collaboration with scientists from the National Oceanography Centre Liverpool and the Universities of St. Andrews, Hull, Leeds and Plymouth, has discovered that ‘sticky’ sugars produced by micro-organisms have a remarkably large effect on the movement of sand and mud in aquatic environments.

Publication date: 6 February 2015

Sacred values are crucial for conservation of remaining forests in Ethiopia

Forests that are sacred to local people are less likely to suffer deforestation according to results of research by Bangor University.

Publication date: 4 February 2015

David Miller Travel Bursary Award

The David Miller Travel Bursary Award aims to give two young plant scientists or horticulturists the opportunity of overseas travel in connection with their horticultural careers.

Publication date: 4 February 2015