News and Events

Scientists from the University of East Anglia and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas) are forging new links thanks to a new appointment across both institutions. Dr Martin Johnson  has taken up the position of lecturer in marine sciences in a joint post which spans the school of  Environmental Sciences  and  Cefas , which is based in Lowestoft. As well as helping scientists from both institutions work more closely, he will...

This month Dr Milena Wazeck takes up her Newton International Fellowship in the School, working on the project Scientific Uncertainty and Acid Rain Politics in the 1980s alongside Professors Peter Brimblecombe and Mike Hulme. Newton International Fellowships are awarded jointly by the UK’s national research academies – the British Academy and the Royal Society - and provide an opportunity for some of the most talented early career post-doctoral researchers working overseas to carry out world...

Prof Ian Bateman from the School of  Environmental Sciences  has been made an OBE for his services to environmental science and policy since the 1990s. Other recipients are David Howe, Erica Towner and Nichola Johnson. UEA Vice Chancellor Prof Edward Acton said: “I am delighted to hear that the valuable contribution of UEA research to the wider community has been recognised in the New Year’s Honours list. Ian and David have led the way in their respective fields of...

Policy dismantling is a distinctive form of policy change, which involves the cutting, reduction, diminution or complete removal of existing policies. The perceived need to dismantle existing policies normally acquires particular poignancy during periods of acute economic austerity. It is especially productive of political conflict, pitting those who benefit from the status quo against those who, for whatever reason, seek change. However, scholars of public policy have been rather slow to...

Intense but small-scale polar storms could make a big difference to climate predictions according to new research from the University of East Anglia and the University of Massachusetts. Difficult-to-forecast polar mesoscale storms occur frequently over the polar seas, however they are missing in most climate models.  Research published today in  Nature Geoscience  shows that their inclusion could paint a different picture of climate change in years to come. ...

Academics from ENV’s newest research group 3S (Science, Society and Sustainability) have won a prize for their paper on the role of the Transition Towns network in the shift to more sustainable energy systems.  The British Sociological Association’s Climate Change Study Group awarded the paper joint-second prize in its 2012 competition for the best article addressing any aspect of the sociology of climate change that had been published in a peer-reviewed journal between 2010 and...

Global carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) emissions are set to rise again in 2012, reaching a record high of 35.6 billion tonnes - according to new figures from the Global Carbon Project, co-led by researchers from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia ( UEA ). The 2.6 per cent rise projected for 2012 means global emissions from burning fossil fuel are 58 per cent above 1990 levels, the baseline year for the Kyoto Protocol. This latest analysis...

Students studying Sustainable Consumption in ENV were recently treated to the world premier of Theoretical Theatre: Why Academics Disagree, a groundbreaking performance which brings debates about sustainable consumption vividly to life. A team of lecturers, researchers and PhD students joined forces to create the 50 minute semi-improvised piece, which involved performers playing the roles of competing theories, in a chatshow format with a Mastermind-style quiz, and a Question...

New salt marshes created as part of managed coastal realignment are failing to meet European conservation regulations, according to a new study by the University of East Anglia. Under the EU Habitats Directive, new salt marsh must be created each time natural salt marsh is lost to coastal development or to coastal erosion caused by sea-level rise. The new marshes must display “equivalent biological characteristics” to their natural counterparts - but the new findings, published today...

A new research network co-led by the Tyndall Centre seeks to explore how far a more decentralised climate regime, with an emphasis on the national and subnational level, potentially offers scope for policy innovation. Progress in climate change policy seems unlikely to emanate from further negotiations at the global level. Therefore the attention of those who want to understand climate policy innovation should turn their attention to the national and the sub-national levels. It is at...