The global expansion of urban populations has occurred alongside the growth of digital technologies in our daily lives. As a result, cities are increasingly embedding these technologies within the urban environment. This session is designed to get students thinking about the opportunities and challenges technology provides for the design and management of 21st century cities, as well as the implications for themselves and others as digital citizens.

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The aim of this session is to look at the main issues confronting food production in the early 21st century. Problems of sustainability, sovereignty and security are examined and how alternative food networks may provide a solution to overcoming some of the major issues, from the local to the global.

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Volcanoes in many parts of the Earth erupt beneath ice.  This talk explores exactly what happens by using examples from Antarctica, Iceland and Canada that have been studied by Dr Skilling, and focuses on why SE Iceland is a particular area of concern for aviation hazards.

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Venus is shrouded in a blanket of thick carbon-dioxide but with radar we are able to peer into its depths.  Such studies have shown us that Venus has the most spectacular volcanic landscape in the solar system, including what are likely to be active volcanoes.  If correct, these would be our closest extra-terrestrial active volcanoes.

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Geological commodities under-pin many aspects of modern life.  These include traditional commodities such as oil and gas, metals and minerals, but also water resources and soils.  But geological processes can also be hazardous with for example landslides, eruptions, and earthquakes.  This talk explores the role of geology in society.

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Modern technology is allowing us to examine rocks in new ways, unlocking the secrets locked within.  In this talk, Dr Pirrie will introduce some of the new methods of examining rocks and explore what these technologies mean for the geologist of the future.

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When Charles Darwin first explored the origins of species and natural selection, he had no idea how important his theories would be to scientists over 200 years later. 

DNA is the building blocks for all life on earth, and the evolution of species is a direct result of the molecular variation in populations which allow then to adapt to ever changing environments. 

This talk explores the role DNA plays in the evolution of species and how important our understanding of genetics is in the modern world.

Date: On request

Location: At your school or college

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Over 1.5 million species have been described, each one adapted to life in its own unique way. 

This talk explores the variety and diversity of life on earth, demonstrating how biogeography affects the dispersal of species around our planet and how climate change is ultimately impacting on the survival of species. 

Date: On request

Location: At your school or college

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The Well-being of Future Generations Act will influence every aspect of development within Wales and will help to ensure the long-term sustainability of Wales. It is a policy that has been labelled ‘ground-breaking’ on a global scale. This session is designed to get students thinking how the act will impact upon their lives, and consider new and interesting ways in which Wales can ensure that it delivers on the act’s the seven sustainable goals.

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Volcanoes explode for one reason:  rapidly expanding steam.  The steam could come from heating of surrounding water, but much of it comes from water that was dissolved in the magma (molten rock).  Hard to imagine water dissolving in magma, but it does.  We will explore the many ways in which this steam is generated and how it causes the magmas to explode.

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South East Iceland includes some of the most active volcanoes in the world, the largest volume historical lava eruption on Earth (Laki 1783-84) and the famous Eyjafjalljokull volcano that erupted in 2010.  We will explore why this area produces such frequent and large volume eruptions and why these are of such concern to European airspace and public health (including the UK).

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Sedimentary rocks and fossils allow past environments and climates to be unlocked.  In this talk we travel to the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, where within the James Ross Basin an astonishing sequence of rocks allow environments from the last 100 million years to be unravelled.

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Who would ever expect that a geologist might assist a murder investigation? In this talk Dr Duncan Pirrie draws on his experiences of over 100 major criminal investigations where he has used geology to assist the police in their investigations.

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This session will demonstrate how pottery can be analysed as an earth material to see where people moved around in the past - in this case early 1800's Botswana and people’s movement across the Kalahari desert. 

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Flight is an incredible evolutionary strategy adopted across several taxonomic group including avians, mammals and insects. 

This talk will focus mostly on flight in birds and cover the evolution of flight, biomechanics, feathers and adaptations for flight in different avian species. 

The ability to use flight as a survival strategy has a huge number of benefits, so it raises some big evolutionary questions, why have some birds evolved to be flightless while others spend almost their entire lives in the air? 

Date: On request

Location: At your school or college

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The use of media platforms has become increasingly important in our modern world, and our ability to document our planet using the technology at our fingertips is revolutionising the way we communicate science on a global scale. 

This talk discusses how modern technology has revolutionised the way we communicate science to the public and the impacts that scientific understanding can have on global conservation problems such as plastics, climate change and habitat destruction. Yet, in a digital age some of the more traditional skills of scientific illustration remain relevant and are still one of the best ways to communicate critical information about species.

Date: On request

Location: At your school or college

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