TEDxUEA: Sustainability
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These TEDxUEA speakers will discuss how sustainable futures depend not only on science and policy, but also on resilience, creativity and human connection.
They'll cover the future of polar bears in a warming climate, how schools can prepare young people for an uncertain future, the overlooked strengths of refugee communities, and why solving environmental challenges starts with understanding people as much as the planet.
TEDxUEA: Original Minds will take place on 11 November 2026 at the Enterprise Centre on UEA's stunning campus in Norwich.
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Dr Alice Godden
Talk: Adapting on thin ice: the genetic future for polar bears
Dr Alice Godden is a Senior Research Associate in UEA’s School of Biological Sciences. She studies how animals adapt to rapidly changing environments, with a current focus on the genetic future of polar bears in a warming world. Combining field ecology, genomics and computational analysis, she explores how species respond to climate change and what this means for conservation. Alice regularly shares her research with public audiences through Norwich Science Festival and Pint of Science.
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Kit Marie Rackley
Talk: Climate change, care, and the future of school
Kit Marie Rackley (they/she) is an award-winning educator, science communicator, and public speaker. At the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, they work on the relationship between climate, education, and wellbeing, supporting schools and policymakers to respond to the realities young people already face. After more than a decade in the secondary classroom, Kit’s work is shaped by a simple but urgent question: what does it mean for education to be responsible when the future itself is uncertain?
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Dr Yafa El Masri
Talk: Can refugees save the world?
Born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, Yafa El Masri brings lived experience of displacement to their work as a Lecturer in Geography and Global Development. She holds a PhD in Geographical Studies and a Master’s degree in Local Development from the University of Padova. Yafa’s research and teaching focus on forced displacement, migration and the everyday lives of displaced communities. She aims to challenge dominant narratives about refugees and contribute to more just futures for refugee and migrant communities.
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Jaz Brook
Talk: Stop saving the planet: the people problem
Jaz Brook is an environmentalist, entrepreneur and campaigner. She founded Youth Climate Solutions and the UK’s first student-run climate week and has supported thousands of young people with climate action, careers and wellbeing. A UEA International Development graduate with first-class honours, Jaz is a finalist for the EAUC Green Gown Awards. As the elected Campaigns and Democracy Officer at UEA Students’ Union, Jaz leads campaigns on the cost of living, student voice and sustainability.