This research spotlight event is open to all students within the College of Life and Environmental Sciences.
Book your place now.
Join us for talks over two days, both from within your own subject area and from across the College. Explore a fantastic range of topics, discover new ones, and expand your horizons in your degree and beyond.
As part of UoB Xtra, we’ll be celebrating our themes of Lifestyle and Human Health and Resilient Environments and Health. With talks on everything from climate change to healthcare, hangovers, bacteria, elite athletes, and controlling pain, there’s something for everyone.
Programme
09:00–10:00: Higher, faster, stronger: the physiology of high altitude for improving sports performance, Dr Jamie Pringle
Higher, faster, stronger: the physiology of high altitude for improving sports performance. Sports performers use altitude training as an essential part of their preparation for breaking records and winning medals. This session will look at the body’s physiological response to altitude – the thinner air of the mountains – and reveal why this is as important to pushing the limits in sport, as it is to survival in health.
10:00–11:00: Bacteria: how they rule the world, Prof Steve Busby
Bacteria are arguably the most abundant living species on earth, and yet their importance is often ignored by humans, who think of them only as the cause of some diseases. The session will give a gentle introduction to bacteria, give an overview of their place during the evolution of life on earth, and try explain why they 'rule the world'.
11:00-12:00: The developing brain and babies' secret knowledge of language, Dr Barbara Pomiechowska
12:00-13:00: A disgusting blot on the landscape”? The quest for arcadia and Britain’s inter-war Plotlands housing movement, Dr Adam Sheppard
In the 1920s and 30s the UK went through a period of revolutionary change, with political, social, technological, legal, economic, and environmental transitions being experienced. During this time a radical housing movement was observed along areas of coast and in the countryside; unauthorised and unplanned ‘plotland’ villages started to appear through land speculation, with self-build properties creating informal settlements that were derided and castigated by many. Yet these places, now mostly lost from history, were a representation of the zeitgeist and reflected a desired for an alternative way of living that still resonates with some today.
13:00-14:00: The Air We Breathe, Prof Bill Bloss
Is our air clean - or not ? Air quality in Birmingham is better than in living memory – and probably better than it has been for several hundred years, especially for those living in cities. However, poor air quality in the UK still leads to several months reduction in life expectancy, averaged across the population. This talk covers the source of air pollution, current levels in cities like Birmingham, and in our homes, and the impact of measures like Clean Air Zones. We use research from the University air quality supersite to show the impact from the resurgence of wood-burning, at recent measurements of indoor air quality, and explore implications of the shift to electric vehicles for cleaner air and health.
14:00-15:00: What impacts student wellbeing: An exploration of the risk and protective factors that can affect young people’s mental health, Prof Jon Catling
'In the current generation of young people it is apparent that there are a greater range of factors that cause both stress and anxiety than previous generations. We will explore a range of lifestyle factors that can have both positive and negative effects on wellbeing, the role of resilience in wellbeing and explore how interventions can have a positive impact on young people’s mental health.
15:00-16:00: The Bacterial Supply Chain: Phospholipid Trafficking in Gram-Negative Bacteria, Dr Tim Knowles
16:00-17:00: "Hangxiety" - Why does alcohol make us feel hungover and anxious? Dr Sally Adams
What is a hangover? Why do they make us feel so awful? In this talk I will be answering these questions, using scientific evidence to explain the physical and psychological next day effects of alcohol. I will also be exploring the phenomenon known as "Hangxiety" to uncover why we might feel anxious, regretful and low the morning after the night before.'