Latest News

Safeguarding our natural resources – how do decision-makers decide?

Human activities are increasingly threatening the very elements that we need for our own survival, from clean water from forests, to ensuring the survival of crop-pollinating insects.

Scientists call these naturally occurring aspects on which we rely ‘ecosystem services’ and many governments are shifting their conservation policies to take these vital ‘ecosystem services’ into consideration.

Scientists are rushing to create ‘models’ which can predict both the availability of these services, sometimes as basic and intrinsic as water, grazing or land for crop growth and the demand for them.

There are now many such models- but they need validating- checking against reality, so that decision-makers know which model would be most suitable for their needs.

Publication date: 24 April 2019

Bangor’s expertise sees John reclaim the joy of speech

Innovative specialisms at Bangor University have meant that a man who lost his voice following cancer treatments two years ago is now able to communicate in his own synthetic voice.

The second episode of the DRYCH series on S4C on Sunday, 28 April, features the story of former University staff member, John Wyn Jones, from Beaumaris, and the efforts of the Language Technologies Unit at Canolfan Bedwyr, Bangor University's Center for Welsh Language Services, Technology and Research, to create a synthetic voice for him.

Publication date: 24 April 2019

DNA analysis finds that type of grass pollen, not total count, could be important for allergy sufferers

As the winter cold is replaced by warmer temperatures, longer days and an explosion of botanical life, up to 400m people worldwide will develop allergic reactions to airborne pollen from trees, grasses and weeds. Symptoms will range from itchy eyes, congestion and sneezing, to the aggravation of asthma and an associated cost to society that runs into the billions.

This article by Simon Creer, Professor in Molecular Ecology and Georgina Brennan, Postdoctoral Research Officer, at the School on Natural Sciences is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Publication date: 16 April 2019

Migrating bats use the setting sun

Bats weighing no more than 6 grams, migrating over a thousand miles from the Baltic to Britain, could be the key to revealing how migrating mammals navigate.

We know more about how birds and reptiles and fish navigate than we do about mammals such as whales or wildebeest, but one part of the puzzle is revealed in the latest edition of Current Biology.

Publication date: 12 April 2019

MOVE - Putting Research into Practice

Haemodialysis patients can now increase their physical activity while receiving lifesaving treatment, thanks to a new website developed by exercise specialists.

Exercise Physiologists, Dr Jennifer Cooney and Dr Jamie Macdonald from Bangor University’s PAWB Centre in the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences put their research into practice by creating MOVE, a website and resources which help people with kidney disease feel better by moving more, despite having to spend a large amount of time being sedentary while receiving their essential lifesaving treatment. 

Publication date: 9 April 2019

Our Planet is billed as an Attenborough documentary with a difference but it shies away from uncomfortable truths

Over six decades, Sir David Attenborough’s name has become synonymous with high-quality nature documentaries. But while for his latest project, the Netflix series Our Planet, he is once again explaining incredible shots of nature and wildlife – this series is a little different from his past films. Many of his previous smash hits have portrayed the natural world as untouched and perfect, Our Planet is billed as putting the threats facing natural ecosystems front and centre to the narrative. In the opening scenes we are told: “For the first time in human history the stability of nature can no longer be taken for granted.”

This article by Julia P G Jones, Professor of Conservation Science, School of Natural Sciences is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Publication date: 5 April 2019

HRH Prince of Wales notes shining example of best practice in sustainable management on expansion of the Cayman Islands Marine Protected Areas

Bangor University working in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy have assisted the Department of the Environment to expand the Marine Parks system in the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, through projects funded by the DEFRA Darwin Initiative. 

The expansion of Cayman’s existing marine parks was approved by the Cabinet and announced during the visit of His Royal Highness, Prince of Wales, on 28th March.  The Environment Minister indicated that “This expansion will serve to protect our local marine stocks, as well as the crucially important coral reef network surrounding our Islands for generations to come.”

Publication date: 4 April 2019

Dr Hayley Roberts appointed as Royal Commissioner

Bangor Law School is delighted to announce that Dr Hayley Roberts has been appointed as a Royal Commissioner for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. Commissioners are appointed by HM The Queen, on the advice of the Welsh Government and the Secretary of State for Wales, under a Royal Warrant. 

Publication date: 4 April 2019

Student research on freshwater microplastics hits the headlines

Research conducted by students at Bangor University, working with Friends of the Earth, has attracted global media attention.

Bangor University was commissioned by the environmental organization, to measure the amount of plastics and microplastics in British lakes and rivers- and what they found was widely reported in print and broadcast media across Britain and beyond.

Publication date: 3 April 2019

Food banks are becoming institutionalised in the UK

I was one of 58 academics, activists and food writers who published a stark open letter warning against food banks becoming institutionalised in the UK. We believe the country is now reaching a point where “left behind people” and retailers’ “leftover food” share a symbiotic relationship. Food banks are becoming embedded within welfare provision, fuelled by corporate involvement and ultimately creating an industry of poverty.

This article by Dave Beck, Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, Bangor University  is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Publication date: 2 April 2019

Solving one of the great mysteries surrounding the moon

Dr Mattias Green of Bangor University, in collaboration with researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London, have netted a research grant worth £520K from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to tackle a major question in the understanding of the history of the moon.

Publication date: 2 April 2019

British Science Association | March newsletter

Publication date: 1 April 2019

The arts can enhance relationships between dementia care staff and care home residents

The arts have been shown to affirm dementia care staff skills and confidence, enabling meaningful exchanges with residents that can be creative, ‘in the moment’, spontaneous and improvised.

A partnership between Bangor University’s DSDC Wales Research Centre (the research group from Ageing & Dementia at Bangor in School of Health Sciences), Dementia Positive, TenFiveTen Consultancyand Flintshire County Council Social Services resulted in an 18-month research project which developed and tested Creative Conversations, an art-based staff development programme for the dementia care workforce.

Publication date: 1 April 2019

New study models the proposed reintroduction of the Eurasian lynx to Scotland

Experts have used an innovative approach to model the proposed reintroduction of the Eurasian lynx to Scotland.

Researchers used state-of-the-art tools to help identify the most suitable location for lynx reintroduction in Scotland – and how this choice might affect the size of a population and its expansion over subsequent decades. Significantly, they believe their model will inform and enhance decision-making around large carnivore reintroductions worldwide.

Publication date: 29 March 2019

Trial to answer dilemma of treating childhood epilepsy

One of the largest ever clinical trials in children with epilepsy, which has just been launched, aims to find out which treatment approach works best for children and their families. The nationwide CASTLE trial, led by Professor Deb Pal from King’s College London and Professor Paul Gringras from the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, and in collaboration with Professor Dyfrig Hughes from Bangor University, is one of the only trials to compare antiepileptic drugs against active monitoring with no medication.

Publication date: 28 March 2019

New study calculates alcohol cancer risk in cigarette equivalents to help communicate risk

The well-established link between cancer and tobacco may provide a way to help communicate the links between moderate levels of alcohol and cancer, and raise public awareness of alcohol-associated cancer risks, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Public Health.   

A team of researchers at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Bangor University and University of Southampton have estimated the risk of cancer associated with drinking moderate levels of alcohol, and compared this to the risk of cancer associated with smoking.

Publication date: 28 March 2019

Registration is now open for the following WISERD training events that will be taking place in Bangor during May.

Publication date: 22 March 2019

PGR Training skills sessions offered by CAHB

Publication date: 20 March 2019

Uncoupling the link between snake venom and prey

What was fast-becoming received wisdom among herpetologists, namely that snake venom composition normally reflects the variety of their prey, has been disproved in one common species of North American rattlesnake.

Many recent studies had identified links between the type of prey and the type of venom that had evolved in venomous snake species world-wide. This was thought to reflect natural selection to optimise venom for different prey, and sometimes evolutionary ‘arms- races’ between snake and prey species.

Publication date: 13 March 2019

Start your journey now to becoming a data scientist!

Publication date: 17 December 2018