Future Talks
Southsea Coastal Scheme - Designing Sea Defences
Rupert Teasdale, Project Manager, Coastal Defences and Thomas Green – Coastal Scientist, Royal HaskoningDHV
21st June 2021 7:30pm by Zoom
The Southsea Coastal Scheme is a nationally significant Flood and Erosion Risk Management project led by Portsmouth City Council to upgrade the ageing coastal defences along the seafront at Southsea, reducing the risk of flooding to more than 10,000 homes and 700 businesses. The talk will cover the background of the Scheme and provide an overview of the stages and process that are undertaken to deliver a coastal and flood protection scheme of this scale. It will focus on the processes to incorporate climate change predictions into the design, ensuring the Scheme maintains the same standard of protection for its 100-year design life.
Banking the World’s Seeds
- conserving and enabling the use of plant diversity for innovation and adaptation
Rachael Davies, Germination Specialist – Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.
19th July 2021 7:30pm by Zoom
The Millennium Seed Bank represents the greatest concentration of living seed-plant biodiversity on earth. This wild seed bank is a global resource for conservation and sustainable use of plants. It currently holds nearly 40, 000 species and over 2 billion seeds. The talk will cover aspects of seed collection, curation and germination as well as an overview of the work done by the MSB partnership and how seeds banks provide options for the future survival and use of plants.
The Gut Microbiota in Health and Disease:
Living together - our gut and its microbes
Katie Guzzetta, PhD Candidate at APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork
20th Semptember 2021. 7.30pm by Zoom
Trillions of microorganisms live on your skin and inside your body, with the majority residing in your gut. These microbes play crucial roles in supporting your body's functions, from digesting food to educating your immune system. Increasingly, distinct gut microbial populations have been linked to disorders from depression to autism and Alzheimer's Disease. Researchers now question whether changes in the gut microbiota underlie and contribute to various disease states. This talk will highlight current perceptions and research in this field, and discuss the impact on human health and potential microbiota-based treatments for diseases, with an emphasis on brain health.
Future Rail Power Options
David Shirres, Retired Network Rail engineer and Editor of Rail Engineer magazine
18th October 2021. 7.30pm by Zoom
The presentation will consider how rail can support UK decarbonisation context and the challenges of weaning transport off petroleum. It will consider the required mix of electrification, hydrogen and battery trains as well as traction technologies required during the transition to net zero. In doing so it will consider the advantages and disadvantages of each type of traction.
To Be Arranged