Posts tagged: ELS

We are thrilled to be hosting around 130 international delegates today and yesterday in our New Adelphi building for the 5th UK DNA Working Group Meeting.

The DNA Working Group provides an open and transparent forum for government agencies, academics and wider stakeholders to discuss priorities for DNA based method development, share learning and progress, explore technical challenges, develop collaborative opportunities and leverage research funding effectively.

Professor Stefano Mariani, Dr Allan McDevitt and Dr Owen Wagensteen from the School of Environment & Life Sciences are leading this event as part of the Scientific Committee along with colleagues from the Environment Agency, Marine Scotland and Natural England. The meeting is being run in parallel with the SeaDNA Project and you can keep abreast of the exciting and impactful programme by following #UKDNAWG on Twitter. read more

Award-winning researcher, Dr Mike Wood, is back in Chernobyl.  This time he’s accompanied by fellow Salford academic, Dr Neil Entwistle, as they undertake fieldwork in Chernobyl’s ‘Red Forest’ for their latest NERC grant.

The Red Forest is the most anthropogenically contaminated radioactive ecosystem on earth.  Located just a few kilometres from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant where the 1986 accident occurred, this 4 – 6 square kilometres area of coniferous forest was killed by high radiation levels.  Before the trees died, their needles turned a red/orange colour and the area was named the Red Forest.  In the 30 years since the accident, the area has transitioned into a deciduous woodland (deciduous trees are more resistant to radiation than conifers). read more

Photo of a flooded Irwell by Dr Luke Blazejewski

Researchers from UPRISE are collaborating with colleagues from the School of Environment and Life Sciences, Research and Innovation and SHUSU (Sustainable Housing & Urban Studies Unit) on a HEIF-funded project to explore local and regional approaches to ecology and flooding.  This project will involve engaging with organisations, agencies and communities in the Salford and wider Manchester region to understand how ecological principles can be applied to the issues surrounding floods, and the wider functioning of a city.  This diverse partnership draws from a pool of expertise, and demonstrates precisely the interdisciplinary approach required to look at 21^st century urban issues – keeping in spirit with the ICZ strategy of the University of Salford. read more

Last night, the University of Salford’s Dr Mike Wood collected the Research Project of the Year award at the esteemed Times Higher Education Awards in London. The awards, now in their twelfth year shine a spotlight on the outstanding achievements of those working in UK higher education.

Dr Mike Wood from the School of Environment and Life Sciences collected the Research Project of the Year award for his work around the Chernobyl disaster. His research hugely increased understanding of how nuclear radiation affects animal life and used a ground-breaking technique to provide new evidence about what happens to the diversity and abundance of large and medium-sized mammals after radiation exposure. read more