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News archive 2019

Whale Tail Sculpture displayed at ESI

A creative and environmentally aware teenager from North Devon has designed and built a whale tail sculpture to raise awareness of the impact of single use plastic. The sculpture, which is made from 1500 recycled water bottles, is currently on display in the ESI building on the Penryn Campus until the end of term. 

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Roaming cats prey on their owners’ minds

Many cat owners worry about their pets wandering the streets, but perceive cats hunting mice and birds to be unavoidable instinct, researchers at the University of Exeter have found.

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Exeter researcher awarded Pew Fellowship to discover if commercial fishing harms endangered penguin populations

Experts will work to discover if commercial fishing is harming endangered African penguins by making it harder to forage for food in the ocean.

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Digital Humanities Lab Workshop

The Digital Humanities Lab roadshow visited the Penryn campus on Wednesday 27 February and was hosted by the Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI). The event was planned in collaboration with Penryn Archives & Special Collections, who provided some interesting material for digitisation.

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School pupils join University of Exeter for Environment and Sustainability Day

Year 10 pupils from schools across Cornwall spent the day at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus last week for the annual Environment and Sustainability Day, which was based on the theme: ‘Sustainable Fashion – Catwalk to Global Cat-astrophe’.

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Buying and selling cattle can link individual farms to thousands of other farms with each purchase

Understanding the complex networks of “contact chains” between British farms, could help identify potential routes for spread of infections and improve disease control strategies for the cattle industry.

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Exeter researchers feature in Royal Society special issue on CRISPR

Researchers based at the Environment and Sustainability Institute have guest edited and published in a new special issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

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Exeter hosts Summit on Environmental Intelligence

Some of the UK’s leading academics and stakeholders involved in environmental intelligence have gathered at Exeter to take part in a special event.

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CSM expert named as Distinguished Lecturer

An Exeter mining expert has spoken of her delight after being awarded a significant honour.

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Fishing among worst jobs for health

People working in the fishing industry have among the poorest health of all workers in England and Wales, new research suggests.

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Climate change benefits for giant petrels

Giant petrels will be “temporary” winners from the effects of climate change in the Antarctic region – but males and females will benefit in very different ways, a new study shows.

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Honeybee mite raises bumblebee virus risk

A mite that spreads a dangerous virus among honeybees also plays an indirect role in infecting wild bumblebees, new research shows.

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Penryn students make waves at international solar-powered boat competition

A team of intrepid students from the University of Exeter has been making waves at a special, pan-European eco-racing competition.

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It’s dog eat dog on the canine social ladder

Climbing the social ladder is a ruff business for dogs, new research shows.

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Road verges provide refuge for pollinators

Roadside verges provide a vital refuge for pollinators – but they must be managed better, new research shows.

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Robot cameras reveal secret lives of basking sharks in UK marine conservation first

An autonomous ‘SharkCam’ has been used in the UK for the first time to observe the behaviour of basking sharks in the Inner Hebrides.

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Learn how to avoid fast fashion at Cornish events this month

Experts working to help find ways to stop Britain’s fast fashion addiction will share their findings at a new exhibition touring Cornwall this month.

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The Argument for Sexual Selection in Bacteria

Sexual selection can sometimes explain phenomena that natural selection alone cannot, and some bacteria could also exhibit sexual selection, researchers at the University of Exeter argue.

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Exeter researchers help to raise awareness about the amount of plastic waste generated in labs

Scientists at the University of Exeter’s Penryn campus in Cornwall have taken to social media to help raise awareness of the amount of plastic waste generated in laboratories and encourage more sustainable science.  

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Project launched to study artificial lighting at night from space

Citizen scientists are being urged to help shine a light on one of the most significant, yet often neglected, environmental issues by using photos taken from space.

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Evolving alongside other bacteria keeps hospital bug potent

Bacteria that evolve in natural environments – rather than laboratory tests – may become resistant to phage treatments without losing their virulence, new research shows.

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New B-Lines to put the buzz back into Cornwall

An ambitious new plan for helping our bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other pollinating insects is being launched today by Buglife, the University of Exeter and Cornwall Council.

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University of Exeter hosts schools environment conference in Cornwall

More than 160 secondary school pupils from around the county have attended a schools environment conference at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus yesterday (Tuesday), in association with Cornwall Secondary Schools.

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Millions of seabirds rely on discarded fish

Millions of scavenging seabirds survive on fish discarded by North Sea fishing vessels, new research shows.

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University of Exeter academic wins prestigious research prize

A University of Exeter academic has been awarded the prestigious Fleming Prize by the Microbiology Society.

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Meeting the challenges facing fisheries climate risk insurance

Insurance schemes with the potential to improve the resilience of global fisheries face a host of future challenges, researchers say.

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