There is increasing recognition over the last decade that conservation, while conserving biodiversity of global value, can have local costs. Understanding these costs is essential as a first step to delivering conservation projects that do not make some of the poorest people on the planet poorer. Using examples from Madagascar and Bolivia, we explore the challenges of quantifying the impact of conservation on local wellbeing.
Julia Jones is Professor in conservation science at the School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography, Bangor University. Julia is interested in how people interact with natural resources and how incentives can be best designed to maintain ecosystem services; for example the growing field of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) and how schemes such as REDD+ can effectively deliver global environmental benefits while also having a positive impact on local livelihoods. She also has a strong interest in the design of robust conservation monitoring using different types of data, and in analysing the evidence underpinning environmental policies and decisions.

Telegraph writer Helen Yemm brings her column Thorny Problems to life by answering your gardening conundrums and dispensing invaluable advice in the picturesque setting of the Botanic Garden.

Bookseller and chef turned food writer for The Telegraph, Xanthe Clay shares her tips for successful food writing whilst demonstrating a recipe from The Contented Cook.

Join Great British Bake Off winner, Frances Quinn, as she demonstrates how to decorate gorgeous Confetti Cupcakes with beautiful Marzipan Bees while talking about her design background and Quinntessential Baking cookbook. Save up your questions during the demonstration and join in with a Q&A in which Frances will chat about all things baking and perhaps spill some Bake Off secrets along the way!

Award-winning chef and restaurateur specialising in Italian, vegetarian and seafood cuisine discusses some of his favourite Italian dishes.

Ludo, snakes & ladders and draughts are all popular pastimes, but in the past couple of decades a new generation of board games from designers with backgrounds in maths and science has begun to break the Monopoly monopoly. Perhaps the most successful of these is multi award winning Reiner Knizia, who joins mathematician Katie Steckles and board game lover Quentin Cooper to discuss how you develop a game which is easy to learn, hard to master and fun to play time after time. With a chance to have a go at some of Reiner’s latest creations and other top games afterwards.

Book here: http://www.oxfordshiresciencefestival.com/tuesday.html

‘Gene-editing’ sounds like science fiction, but today it is an emerging reality. This raises hope for treating medical problems, but also opens ethical quandaries about equality, privacy, and personal freedom. Discuss these questions with a panel of experts including geneticist Andy Greenfield, science fiction author Paul McAuley and science policy advisor Elizabeth Bohm. Lisa Melton, Senior News Editor at Nature Biotechnology, will moderate the event, with Ben Davies, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, presenting technical background.

Book here: http://www.oxfordshiresciencefestival.com/wednesday.html

Join us for a sensational evening of cabaret – an alchemy of acts delivered by Science Oxford’s network of creative science performers. If you love science, stage and stand up, you’ll be in your element with our periodic table-themed cabaret including science presenter and geek songstress Helen Arney and compered by award-winning science communicator Jamie Gallagher. See the everyday elements that make up the world around us in a new light, watch in disbelief as gold is created before your eyes, and learn about their origins and how they behave inside our bodies. Get your tickets now – once they are gone they argon!

Delivering reliable drinking water to millions of rural people in Africa and Asia is an elusive and enduring global goal. A systematic information deficit on the performance of and demand for infrastructure investments limits policy design and development outcomes.

Since 2010, the ‘Smart Handpump’ project has been exploring new technologies, methods and models to understand and respond to this challenge. A mobile-enabled data transmitter provides foundational data on hourly water usage and failure events which has enabled the establishment of performance-based maintenance companies in Kenya that are improving handpump reliability by an order of magnitude.

The research is a collaboration between the School of Geography and the Environment and the Department of Engineering Science with a range of partners including government, international bodies such as UNICEF and the private sector. New research involves modelling the accelerometry data from the handpumps to predict aquifer depth. We invite you to test the Smart Handpump in the car park and debate how the ‘accidental infrastructure’ of rural handpumps can spark bolder initiatives to deliver water security for millions of poor people in Africa and Asia.

Xtrac / Oxford e-Research Centre
October 20, 2016 – 19:00
Oxford e-Research Centre
7 Keble Road, Oxford

Seminar Open to all
This exciting talk from Xtrac – global leaders in racing gearbox design will discuss the challenges of designing a gearbox for a unique hypercar – the Pagani Huayra. Voted in 2015 by IMechE as one of the leading engineering companies, this talk will discuss what sets Xtrac apart from its competitors as well as the challenges that arise when you are involved in a hypercar design project.

Speakers:

Jon Marsh – Chief Designer

Dominic Smith – Head of Advanced Engineering

Paul Pomfret – Assistant Chief Designer

Refreshments will begin at 6.30pm, with the talk starting at 7pm. Booking is not compulsory but is helpful for the organisors.

Join us as we cook up a feast for Edward Jenner and explore the culture of eating and drinking in Georgian England. In this talk, food historians Marc Meltonville, Elena Griffith-Hoyle and Sarah Warren will examine the links between food and politics, society and the economy in the eighteenth century. There will also be a chance to sample a Georgian delicacy.

The Oxford e-Research Centre is pleased to welcome Paul van Veggel, Aerodynamics Operations Manager for Red Bull Racing F1 Team.

He will explain what the Red Bull F1 team does, their work philosophy and describe the opportunities they have for people with a software engineering, mathematics or engineering background. The event is open to all.

Red Bull will also bring parts of the car for people to look at.

The F1 team are looking for a broad set of students this year, for 1 year industrial placements starting summer 2017:

· Aerodynamics Development (both practical and computational)
· Aerodynamics Tools (software development, methodology development, embedded systems and electronics)
· Aerodynamics Design (mechanical design of aerodynamic parts for models and race car, plus CFD models)
· Plus a whole host of other engineering students in electronics, IT, R&D test, Vehicle Design & Vehicle Dynamics.

Open to all. Lunch provided. No booking required.

Martin Barker (Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at Aberystwyth University, Director of the Global Hobbit Project) will be visiting Oxford to discuss the results of the landmark Global Hobbit Project, a research initiative examining the popular reception of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit Film trilogy.

Synopsis:
“Tolkien aficionados may have disagreed somewhat among themselves about the value and achievements of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. But any frustrations – or celebrations – over the 2001-3 films were nothing compared to the overwhelming sense of let-down occasioned by the Hobbit trilogy. But your disappointments are, I am afraid, grist to the mill of an audience researcher like me. In 2014 I led a consortium of researchers in 46 countries across the world, to gather responses to Peter Jackson’s second trilogy. We managed to attract just over 36,000 completions of our questionnaire. Of course, when we conceived and planned the project, we couldn’t know what the films would be like, or what range of responses and debates they might elicit. In this presentation I will (briefly) explain why and how we carried out the research, and offer some of its major findings. These can act, I hope, as a kind of mirror to the depths, and also the significance, of the sense of disappointment experienced by even the most hopeful and forgiving viewers. And they open an important agenda about the changing role of ‘fantasy’ in our contemporary culture.”

Please join us at 7pm on Thursday of 7th Week (November 24th) for a presentation by Daniel Castro Garcia and Thomas Saxby on their recent publication ‘Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015–2016’.

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“The photographs are a protest against those who so
readily attack refugees and migrants entering Europe
without taking into consideration the dangers faced
during the journey.” (Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015–16 by John Radcliffe Studio www.johnradcliffestudio.com)

For more information please read the press release below:

‘Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015–2016’, is a photography book that documents the lives of people at various stages of their migration to Europe. The book is divided into three sections, focusing on migration to Italy from North Africa, migration to Greece and through the Balkans from the middle east, and the migrant camp in Calais known as ‘The Jungle’. Alongside the photography, written texts serve both as a context, and a means to share the stories of the people we met during the project.
The book was created in response to the imagery used in
the media to discuss the issue of migration, which we felt was
sensationalist, alarmist and was not giving people the time and
consideration they deserved. We wanted to approach the subject from a calmer perspective, using medium format portrait photography as a means of meeting the people at the centre of the crisis face to face – and of learning something about their lives.

John Radcliffe Studio is the creative partnership of Thomas Saxby and Daniel Castro Garcia. We specialise in photography, film and graphic design and have spent the last year documenting the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe.

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The Moser Theatre is fully accessible, with access to gender netural toilets, and the event will be **FREE** to attend. Oxford for Dunkirk will be collecting donations before and after the event in aid of La Liniere Refugee Camp, Dunkirk, France: please see our page for more details! (www.facebook.com/oxfordfordunkirk)

Jenny Josephs & Why eating insects might soon become the new normal

By 2050 the global population will reach 9 billion and this will put ever increasing pressure on food and environmental resources. It will be a challenge to ensure global food security without further damaging the environment with intensified farming practices.

One UN backed solution is to focus on alternative sources of protein, such as insects for food and animal feed. About 2 billion of us already include insects in our diets, though it is still a growing trend in the west.

Insects are described as having a variety of different flavours, from mushroomy to pistachio or pork crackling. They are comparable to beef in protein and contain beneficial nutrients like iron and calcium. Their environmental impact is also minimal, requiring far less water and feed than cattle, and releasing fewer emissions.

During this talk, Jenny will explain how insects might replace some of the meat in our diets and also give some tips on how to cook them. You will be invited to sample some tasty bug snacks after the talk!

Bio: After completing a PhD in Visual Cognition at the University of Southampton, Jenny changed course and started The Bug Shack – a business promoting and selling edible insects. Jenny is a regular speaker at Skeptics events and science festivals and she recently returned from a trip to research attitudes towards eating and farming insects in Thailand and Laos.

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7.30PM start at St. Aldates Tavern, and entry is free, although we do suggest a donation of around £3 to cover speaker expenses. We tend to get busy, so arrive early to make sure you get a seat. Come along and say hello! All welcome. http://oxford.skepticsinthepub.org/Event.aspx/8101/Why-eating-insects-might-soon-become-the-new-normal

Join the Facebook event and invite your friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/1317127301666085/

A twenty minute talk to introduce the topic, followed by Q&As and about an hour’s discussion. All welcome.

Nearly 30 per cent of the world’s population is overweight and ‘diabesity’ is an increasing problem: diabetes, brought on by obesity, which in turn causes damage to the brain, heart, nerve and kidneys. So what can we do to prevent it or is it too late? Join ‘fat controller’ Ashley Grossman, professor of endocrinology, as he discusses potential ground-breaking medical techniques to lose weight effortlessly and what it may mean for the future of the human race. Ashley will be chatting to science broadcaster (and his daughter) Emily Grossman

The BLOODHOUND Supersonic Car, launched by Richard Noble and Andy Green in October 2008, is set to take the Land Speed Record into a whole new speed regime. The team, including researchers from Swansea University, plans to take a manned vehicle to 1000mph by 2018, increasing the current Land Speed Record (763mph) by over 30%.

This target presents the team with massive scientific and engineering challenges, not least of which being how the car will stay attached to the ground at such speeds!

The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) research team at The College of Engineering at Swansea University has been working on answering these questions, and predicting the overall aerodynamic behaviour of the vehicle.

The Institute of Mechanical Engineers (Oxfordshire Automotive Division) and the University of Oxford e-Research Centre is pleased to invite Dr Ben Evans, Senior Lecturer at the University of Swansea, to give this exciting talk on the aerodynamics of the Bloodhound SSC project. He will discuss the extreme challenges of designing a car to reach 1000mph. Dr Evans will discuss the aerodynamic work he and his colleagues undertook as well as discussing the overall project.

High Performance Computing was used as an integral component of the design and optimization cycles for the vehicle. In order to achieve the final design predicted lift and drag responses over 14 full vehicle design iterations were carried out and numerous sub-assembly optimization studies.

The design work on this vehicle has inspired the development of novel methods for simulating high speed particle entrainment, mesh-based optimization and CFD data visualization. At the time of writing the BLOODHOUND SSC is being built, with testing due to commence in 2017.

Registration is required.

The BLOODHOUND Supersonic Car, launched by Richard Noble and Andy Green in October 2008, is set to take the Land Speed Record into a whole new speed regime. The team, including researchers from Swansea University, plans to take a manned vehicle to 1000mph by 2018, increasing the current Land Speed Record (763mph) by over 30%.

This target presents the team with massive scientific and engineering challenges, not least of which being how the car will stay attached to the ground at such speeds!

The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) research team at The College of Engineering at Swansea University has been working on answering these questions, and predicting the overall aerodynamic behaviour of the vehicle.

The Institute of Mechanical Engineers (Oxfordshire Automotive Division) and the University of Oxford e-Research Centre is pleased to invite Dr Ben Evans, Senior Lecturer at the University of Swansea, to give this exciting talk on the aerodynamics of the Bloodhound SSC project. He will discuss the extreme challenges of designing a car to reach 1000mph. Dr Evans will discuss the aerodynamic work he and his colleagues undertook as well as discussing the overall project.

High Performance Computing was used as an integral component of the design and optimization cycles for the vehicle. In order to achieve the final design predicted lift and drag responses over 14 full vehicle design iterations were carried out and numerous sub-assembly optimization studies.

The design work on this vehicle has inspired the development of novel methods for simulating high speed particle entrainment, mesh-based optimization and CFD data visualization. At the time of writing the BLOODHOUND SSC is being built, with testing due to commence in 2017.

Studying or working in a science or engineering subject? Interested in how to close the gender gap, and want to hear great role models speak about their experiences?

Join Oxford Females in Engineering, Science and Technology (OxFEST), alongside OxWIB and OxWomIn, on Saturday 18th February for our annual conference at the Oxford Maths Institute! We’ll be hosting inspiring women from industry and academia who are breaking boundaries in their fields. The day will involve talks, workshops on diversity, entrepreneurship and communication, and a panel discussion on promoting women in STEM. Breakfast, lunch, refreshments and prosecco will be provided! This is a great opportunity to be inspired, add to your skills, make new connections and get involved.

We are proud to introduce our first speaker: Anne-Marie O. Imafidon MBE. Anne-Marie is a computing, mathematics and language child prodigy who graduated from Oxford aged 20 and was awarded an MBE for championing women in STEM in her organisation Stemettes. You can read about her recent thoughts on the glass ceiling here: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/…/the-glass-ceiling-is-made…

Like our Facebook page for more updates as we reveal our other amazing speakers: https://www.facebook.com/oxwomanempowerment/

Tickets are heavily subsidised and cost just £8 for the whole-day program and food and drink. Get yours here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/breaking-boundaries-shatteri….

We look forward to welcoming you on the day!

Lord Browne of Madingley is presently Chairman of L1 Energy, the Chairman of Trustees of both the Tate and the QEII Prize for Engineering, and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University.

Guest Speaker: Professor Charles Spence

We all think that we can taste what is on the plate or in the glass, but a growing body of research suggests otherwise. Chefs and restaurateurs are increasingly focusing on ‘off-the-plate’ dining, and the insights gained there are now being applied to enhance the food and drink we experience in the air, in hospitals, and in the home.

For Dr Kanade, good research derives from solving real-world problems and delivering useful results to society. As a roboticist, he participated in developing a wide range of computer-vision systems and autonomous robots, including human-face recognition, autonomously-driven cars, computer-assisted surgical robots, robot helicopters, biological live cell tracking through a microscope, and EyeVision, a system used for sports broadcast. Dr Kanade will share insights into his projects and discuss how his “Think like an amateur, do as an expert” maxim interacts with problems and people.

Dr Takeo Kanade is the 2016 Kyoto Prize Laureate for Advanced Technology.

A number of developments such as the Arab Spring and on-going famines in Somalia and South Sudan have led to renewed interest among both scholars and policymakers in the role of food insecurity and food-price related grievances as catalysts of conflict. In this lecture Prof Gunnar Sørbø, Senior Researcher at Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), will address such linkages, using case material mainly from Sudan and Somalia, with a particular focus on food insecurity as a risk multiplier and the implications for choice of interventions.

Join renowned chef Tom Kerridge and nutrition scientist, Susan Jebb, to discuss connections between emotions, food and weight. Tom explores how a diet of meat, eggs, fish, nuts and dairy can help us lose weight. Tom and Susan will discuss how the type of food on our plates affects our health and the tips and tricks that can help us to lose weight – and keep it off.

Tom Kerridge is a Michelin-starred chef appearing on Great British Menu, MasterChef and Saturday Kitchen. Between 2013 and 2016, Tom lost 11 stone (70 kg.) By developing and following a diet designed to boost dopamine levels, the reward hormone responsible for making us happy, Tom was able to maximize his enjoyment of food and so satisfy his appetite while eating less.
Susan Jebb is Professor of Diet and Population Health at the University of Oxford and a former government advisor on obesity and food policy. Her research puts different types of diets and behavioural techniques to the test. She was featured in the BBC Horizon series What’s the Right Diet for You?

A one-off screening of recent documentary release Citizen Jane: Battle for the City. The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring four local experts talking about how the themes in the documentary relate to issues for our own city — both past and present.

The panel is made up of four women who will discuss the issues raised in the film from four different perspectives — urban planning, architecture, local history and art.

Dr Sue Brownill, an urban policy expert at Oxford Brookes University, will chair the discussion and will be joined by: Dr Annie Skinner, local historian and author of ‘Cowley Road: a History’; Dr Igea Troiani, Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Oxford Brookes; and Rachel Barbaresi, an artist with interest the social aspects of urban space whose work is currently on show at Modern Art Oxford’s Future Knowledge exhibition.

Join us for the first in Blackwell’s free summer series of lunchtime events, where we will be joined by Greg Garrett author of ‘Living with the Living Dead’.
The zombie apocalypse is one of the most prominent narratives of the post 9/11 West, represented by popular movies, TV shows, games, apps, activities, and material culture. Greg explores why stories about the living dead serve a variety of functions for consumers and explains how representations of Death and the walking dead have appeared in other times of great stress and danger, including the Middle Ages and World War One.
Greg Garrett blogs on books, culture, religion, politics, travel, and food for The Huffington Post. He is the author or co-author of twenty books and one of America’s leading authorities on religion and culture.

Join us for what promises to be an amazing evening filled with passion and opportunity to have fun!

The evening will feature a panel discussion on the experiences of the generation that became known as the Windrush generation.
The experiences from post-Windrush generations in the United Kingdom will be discussed by Professor Patricia Daley, Nigel Carter, Junie James and Hannah Lowe.

This will be followed by an evening of celebration of culture including African dance, Asian drums, poetry from Siana Bangura and spoken word including creative work from Brookes students.

Food and refreshments freely available.

Book here or contact Pam Fortescue pfortescue@brookes.ac.uk to register your interest.

What does it mean to be a feminist? Who can be a feminist? And is there a right and wrong way of doing it?

Join us on a unique journey through feminist history, adding your voice as we discuss key moments in literature, art, politics, music, sport, and science to develop our understanding of feminism.

You’ll discover knowledge you didn’t realise you had as we join together the pieces of feminist history and women’s achievements in this fun, interactive workshop.

We will identify different stages and criticisms of feminism and consider intersections with race, LGBTIQ, age, and disability politics. We look for silences and unacknowledged voices, and consider the privileges and biases in our own perspectives.

TOAST is a great story as well as a great beer – join us at Oxford Hub for a lunch time drink and some social enterprise conversation with Rob Wilson, entrepreneur and Chief Toaster.
Rob will be telling us more about his quest to end food waste, one beer at a time, telling us more about the TOAST rev-ALE-ution and sharing his advice for budding social entrepreneurs in Oxford.
Feel free to bring your own lunch for this talk at the Oxford Hub living room in Turl Street.
Price of ticket includes a TOAST ale to enjoy with lunch or take home!