Thu 27 Nov 11:30: Developing high performance materials for hydrogen production
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Professor Stephen Skinner, Imperial College London
- Thursday 27 November 2025, 11:30-12:30
- Venue: Open Plan Area, Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows, Madingley Rise CB3 0EZ.
- Series: Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF); organiser: Catherine Pearson.
Fri 23 Jan 17:30: Notes and noises in nature: not a swan song?
Abstract
Nature is full of music, from tiny birds with melodious songs and elaborate repertoires to majestic whales with inaudibly low voices propagating around the globe. As far as we can tell, however, the music is not often just for pleasure and has evolved serving a purpose. Animals are almost continuously busy with their sonic flirts and fights, whether we hear them or not, in air and water, day and night. The acoustic ecology of species-specific habitats has shaped this music over evolutionary time. The circumstances, however, for the function and evolution of animal communication have changed in air and in water, with the global spread of noisy human activities. In the Anthropocene, we can even speak of ‘acoustic climate change’ and attention and action is required for moderating the acoustic future of the earth for the sake of animal song persistence and our own physical and mental health.
Biography
Hans Slabbekoorn is professor in Acoustic Ecology & Behaviour. He did his BSc and MSc in Biology at Utrecht University (1988-1994), and received his PhD at Leiden University (1994-1998). After post-doctoral positions at San Francisco State University (1998-2001) and back at Leiden University (2001-2004), he stayed in Leiden at the Institute of Biology and became Assistant Professor in 2004, Associate Professor in 2012, and Full Professor in 2022. He has been away for brief periods as visiting professor, at Paris Nanterre, France (2011), NFU , Harbin, China (2015), FUB , Salvador, Brazil (2017), and Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Paramaribo (2025). Over the years, he has worked on plants, primates, birds, fishes, marine mammals, and invertebrates. In recent and ongoing projects, he is investigating the effects of noise and light pollution in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and he is particularly interested in applying the one health concept to urban ecology and providing fundamental knowledge to ecological impact assessments of the offshore wind energy transition. Besides research, he is dedicated to teaching and has been responsible for courses on: Behaviour & Conservation, Trends in Behaviour & Ecology, Animal Behaviour and Experimental Design, Advanced Academic Skills, Urban Ecology & Evolution, and seminar series on Human Evolution and Animal Personality.
- Speaker: Professor Hans Slabbekoorn, Leiden University
- Friday 23 January 2026, 17:30-18:30
- Venue: Lady Mitchell Hall, Sidgwick Avenue.
- Series: Darwin College Lecture Series; organiser: Janet Gibson.
Wed 19 Nov 17:30: Nuclear Medicine in Practice: Protons vs Cancer One of three speakers presenting
What is radiotherapy and how do we harness the proton to help battle cancer? I’ll try and shed some light on exactly what we do in a radiotherapy department, how proton therapy converts a particle accelerator into a tool to fight cancer, and what a physicist does day to day in a hospital. I’ll try and give a quick virtual tour of the deepest proton therapy centre in the world, at University College Hospital (UCLH); cover some of the new and upcoming clinical trials and development we are involved in, and maybe show how it’s not that far removed from your own work here at Cambridge.
Andrew Gosling is a senior clinical physicist at the University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Proton Therapy Centre (one of two NHS proton therapy centres in the UK). I joined UCLH in the early stages of the project and has been involved in the preparation, development, commissioning, and now clinical roll out of the proton therapy project at UCLH .
His primary work areas are the proton system dosimetry and commissioning of the treatment planning system, alongside the development of an independent Monte Carlo dose verification system. He has helped develop many of the treatment techniques within UCLH , am involved in various clinical trials, joint first author of the CTRad UK consensus guidelines for reporting proton and photon plans for clinical trials, and is actively developing Python and ESAPI scripts for data analysis and plan assessment.
I previously completed a PhD in Astrophysics at Oxford and worked as a post-doctoral researcher in Oulu (Finland) and Oxford as well as a telescope support astronomer.
One of three speakers presenting
- Speaker: Andrew Gosling
- Wednesday 19 November 2025, 17:30-19:00
- Venue: CUED, LT 6.
- Series: Engineering Department Nuclear Energy Seminars; organiser: Helene Jones.
Wed 19 Nov 17:30: Nuclear Medicine in Practice: From Primary Standards to Primary Care - Metrology in Nuclear Medicine One of three speakers presenting
Nuclear Medicine brings together functional Biology and Physics through the use of radioactivity, creating a powerful diagnostic and therapeutic tool. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is the UKs National Metrology Institute and is responsible for the traceability of measurements made in all aspects of daily life. Measurement is at the core of many processes and by improving the metrology surrounding nuclear medicine, diagnostic and therapeutic outcomes in the clinical environment can become more effective leading to earlier diagnosis of disease and more effective treatments. This talk will take you on a tour of NPLs current research in nuclear medicine and its application in the real world incorporating the importance of fundamental physics research, traceability, uncertainty and accuracy. Andrew Fenwick received a B.Sc.(Hons) in Physics from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 2007 before joining the National Physical Laboratory. Andrew studied part-time at the University of Surrey to achieve an MSc in Radiation Detection and Instrumentation in 2012. His PhD thesis entitled ‘Traceability of 89Zr in Positron Emission Tomography’ was accepted at Cardiff University in 2022. Andrew has worked in a range of fields at NPL including decommissioning, nuclear decay data and standardisation but has specialised in nuclear medicine metrology since 2012. He contributes to the primary standardisation of radionuclides, undertakes nuclear decay data measurements and evaluations, and undertakes research on metrology for imaging and dosimetry in nuclear medicine. He works closely with clinical partners and academia to ensure metrological research is disseminated to users around the world. Andrew is currently leading a European Project to establish traceability in nuclear medicine across Europe (Euramet – ETrain) as well as leading PET /CT projects at NPL . Andrew has contributed to more than 70 peer reviewed articles, with over 550 citations. Andrew is a scientific committee member of the International Committee for Radionuclide Metrology (ICRM) and is a member of the Institute of Physics (IoP), the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM), the British Nuclear Medicine Society (BNMS) and the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM).
One of three speakers presenting
- Speaker: Dr Andrew Fenwick
- Wednesday 19 November 2025, 17:30-19:00
- Venue: CUED, LT 6.
- Series: Engineering Department Nuclear Energy Seminars; organiser: Helene Jones.
Wed 19 Nov 17:30: Nuclear Medicine in Practice: Transition of operations from HFR to PALLAS One of three speakers presenting
The current High Flux Reactor in Petten is approaching its end of economical life. As this reactor produces nuclear medicine used for 30.000 patients per day, it needs to be replaced to ensure uninterrupted supply to hospitals. For this the new PALLAS reactor is currently being constructed and an overlap in the operational life of both reactors is foreseen to enable this uninterrupted supply. The transition of operations should allow for commissioning, product validation and ramp up to reliable production. This has an impact in many fields, for instance production processes, staffing, training, waste management and required utilities. This presentation will focus on the current insights planning and preparing for this transition.
Roland Ruiterman, 48, did his master’s at Delft University of Technology. His career started off as a commissioned officer in the Royal Netherlands Navy. After this he switched to the nuclear industry, working at the Doel NPP and for the last 13 years at NRG PALLAS , mainly in management positions for the High Flux Reactor. His current role is to ensure that the new PALLAS reactor will seamlessly fit into the supply chain, while at the same time phasing out the HFR towards decommissioning.
One of three speakers presenting
- Speaker: Roland Ruiterman
- Wednesday 19 November 2025, 17:30-19:00
- Venue: CUED, LT 6.
- Series: Engineering Department Nuclear Energy Seminars; organiser: Helene Jones.
Wed 19 Nov 16:30: Nuclear Medicine in Practice: From Primary Standards to Primary Care - Metrology in Nuclear Medicine One of three speakers presenting
Nuclear Medicine brings together functional Biology and Physics through the use of radioactivity, creating a powerful diagnostic and therapeutic tool. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is the UKs National Metrology Institute and is responsible for the traceability of measurements made in all aspects of daily life. Measurement is at the core of many processes and by improving the metrology surrounding nuclear medicine, diagnostic and therapeutic outcomes in the clinical environment can become more effective leading to earlier diagnosis of disease and more effective treatments. This talk will take you on a tour of NPLs current research in nuclear medicine and its application in the real world incorporating the importance of fundamental physics research, traceability, uncertainty and accuracy. Andrew Fenwick received a B.Sc.(Hons) in Physics from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 2007 before joining the National Physical Laboratory. Andrew studied part-time at the University of Surrey to achieve an MSc in Radiation Detection and Instrumentation in 2012. His PhD thesis entitled ‘Traceability of 89Zr in Positron Emission Tomography’ was accepted at Cardiff University in 2022. Andrew has worked in a range of fields at NPL including decommissioning, nuclear decay data and standardisation but has specialised in nuclear medicine metrology since 2012. He contributes to the primary standardisation of radionuclides, undertakes nuclear decay data measurements and evaluations, and undertakes research on metrology for imaging and dosimetry in nuclear medicine. He works closely with clinical partners and academia to ensure metrological research is disseminated to users around the world. Andrew is currently leading a European Project to establish traceability in nuclear medicine across Europe (Euramet – ETrain) as well as leading PET /CT projects at NPL . Andrew has contributed to more than 70 peer reviewed articles, with over 550 citations. Andrew is a scientific committee member of the International Committee for Radionuclide Metrology (ICRM) and is a member of the Institute of Physics (IoP), the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM), the British Nuclear Medicine Society (BNMS) and the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM).
One of three speakers presenting
- Speaker: Dr Andrew Fenwick
- Wednesday 19 November 2025, 16:30-18:00
- Venue: CUED, LT 6.
- Series: Engineering Department Nuclear Energy Seminars; organiser: Helene Jones.
Wed 19 Nov 16:30: Nuclear Medicine in Practice: Protons vs Cancer One of three speakers presenting
What is radiotherapy and how do we harness the proton to help battle cancer? I’ll try and shed some light on exactly what we do in a radiotherapy department, how proton therapy converts a particle accelerator into a tool to fight cancer, and what a physicist does day to day in a hospital. I’ll try and give a quick virtual tour of the deepest proton therapy centre in the world, at University College Hospital (UCLH); cover some of the new and upcoming clinical trials and development we are involved in, and maybe show how it’s not that far removed from your own work here at Cambridge.
Andrew Gosling is a senior clinical physicist at the University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Proton Therapy Centre (one of two NHS proton therapy centres in the UK). I joined UCLH in the early stages of the project and has been involved in the preparation, development, commissioning, and now clinical roll out of the proton therapy project at UCLH .
His primary work areas are the proton system dosimetry and commissioning of the treatment planning system, alongside the development of an independent Monte Carlo dose verification system. He has helped develop many of the treatment techniques within UCLH , am involved in various clinical trials, joint first author of the CTRad UK consensus guidelines for reporting proton and photon plans for clinical trials, and is actively developing Python and ESAPI scripts for data analysis and plan assessment.
I previously completed a PhD in Astrophysics at Oxford and worked as a post-doctoral researcher in Oulu (Finland) and Oxford as well as a telescope support astronomer.
One of three speakers presenting
- Speaker: Andrew Gosling
- Wednesday 19 November 2025, 16:30-18:00
- Venue: CUED, LT 6.
- Series: Engineering Department Nuclear Energy Seminars; organiser: Helene Jones.
Wed 19 Nov 16:30: Nuclear Medicine in Practice: Transition of operations from HFR to PALLAS One of three speakers presenting
The current High Flux Reactor in Petten is approaching its end of economical life. As this reactor produces nuclear medicine used for 30.000 patients per day, it needs to be replaced to ensure uninterrupted supply to hospitals. For this the new PALLAS reactor is currently being constructed and an overlap in the operational life of both reactors is foreseen to enable this uninterrupted supply. The transition of operations should allow for commissioning, product validation and ramp up to reliable production. This has an impact in many fields, for instance production processes, staffing, training, waste management and required utilities. This presentation will focus on the current insights planning and preparing for this transition.
Roland Ruiterman, 48, did his master’s at Delft University of Technology. His career started off as a commissioned officer in the Royal Netherlands Navy. After this he switched to the nuclear industry, working at the Doel NPP and for the last 13 years at NRG PALLAS , mainly in management positions for the High Flux Reactor. His current role is to ensure that the new PALLAS reactor will seamlessly fit into the supply chain, while at the same time phasing out the HFR towards decommissioning.
One of three speakers presenting
- Speaker: Roland Ruiterman
- Wednesday 19 November 2025, 16:30-18:00
- Venue: CUED, LT 6.
- Series: Engineering Department Nuclear Energy Seminars; organiser: Helene Jones.
Mon 17 Nov 14:30: Luca Guglielmi-Modelling Neuronal Morphogenesis Across Species: a Purkinje Cell’s Journey to Utmost Complexity; Susannah McLaren-Spatially organised cell behaviours in morphogenesis and symbiosis
Name: Luca Guglielmi
Affiliation: Postdoc at MRC LMB
Title: Modelling Neuronal Morphogenesis Across Species: a Purkinje Cell’s Journey to Utmost Complexity
Abstract:
The human cerebellum contains approximately 80–90% of all neurons in the adult brain. During evolution, its expansion contributed substantially to the remarkable size of the human brain and to the emergence of complex behaviours such as tool-making and language. Species-specific differences are particularly evident in cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs), the largest and most elaborate neurons in the human brain, which display disproportionate dendritic complexity compared to other species. However, the mechanisms underlying PC scaling remain poorly understood, as reproducing advanced stages of cerebellar development in vitro has remained a major challenge. By balancing self-organization with guided differentiation, I have established a new in vitro model of cerebellar development that enables the study of late gestational stages previously inaccessible. Under these conditions, PCs undergo conserved morphogenetic transitions across distinct developmental phases in vitro, progressing on species-specific timescales that closely mirror in vivo trajectories. By combining quantitative morphometry with cross-species comparisons, I am investigating the human-specific mechanisms driving disproportionate PC morphogenesis and their contribution to cerebellar growth and evolutionary scaling.
Name: Susannah McLaren
Title: Spatially organised cell behaviours in morphogenesis and symbiosis
Abstract: How do different organisms interact to unlock new possibilities for life? The symbiosis between cnidarians, including corals and sea anemones, and algae provides a striking example. Algae residing inside the host’s cells provide key nutrients derived from photosynthesis, enabling survival in nutrient-poor environments and unlocking the existence of the planet’s most biodiverse ecosystems – coral reefs.
This photosynthetic symbiosis is highly sensitive to the physical environment. Many symbiotic partnerships break down under light and heat stress in an event called ‘bleaching’, where algal symbionts are lost from the host. However, some partnerships can persist under environmental change, raising the question – how do corals and algae build a symbiosis for survival in a given environment?
Using high-resolution imaging, molecular biology approaches and physical perturbations we are exploring how multicellular cnidarians and their single-celled algal partners interact to build a symbiotic relationship as the host develops from a ball of cells into an adult polyp. We reveal that symbionts are not passively accommodated but dynamically patterned within the host during morphogenesis and show that this organisation can be remodelled under environmental change. Overall, our work aims to reveal fundamental principles of how interacting organisms dynamically shape each other’s biology to survive in challenging ecological niches.
- Speaker: Luca Guglielmi; Susie McLaren
- Monday 17 November 2025, 14:30-15:30
- Venue: in person @PDN (Brayn Matthews in Physiology Building) and online.
- Series: Morphogenesis Seminar Series; organiser: Jia CHEN.
Mon 01 Dec 19:30: From Planets to Exoplanets: the search for life, with the James Webb Telescope and others
Is there life beyond planet Earth? – one of the great questions of all time. In the last twenty years we have come a long way towards answering this question. We find living organisms in extreme environments on Earth, evidence for possible habitats in unexpected places in our solar system and nearly 6000 planets orbiting other stars. By careful observation we know something about the physical properties of these planets, whether they are dense and rocky like our Earth or gas giants like Jupiter. The James Webb Telescope is opening a new dimension of research as it enables us to detect molecules in the atmosphere of some of these planets. This talk will bring us up to date with the latest findings.
All welcome. More details, including a booking link, are here .
- Speaker: Dr. Robin Catchpole, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge
- Monday 01 December 2025, 19:30-21:00
- Venue: Location: Wolfson Lecture Theatre, Churchill College, and Zoom.
- Series: Cambridge Society for the Application of Research (CSAR); organiser: John Cook.
Wed 19 Nov 15:30: Polar Oceans Seminar Talk - Bethan Wynne-Cattanach
NB!!!! if you wish to attend and are external to BAS please let the organisers know ahead of time so they can let you in at reception
Hello everyone,
Next up in the Polar Oceans Seminar Series we have a talk from Bethan Wynne-Cattanach from the University of Cambridge, presenting at 2pm on the 19th of November 2025 in Seminar Room 1 on Large-eddy simulations of the ice-shelf-ocean boundary layer beneath basal terraces.
Abstract: Ocean-driven melting at the base of ice shelves is a primary driver in the acceleration of the flow of grounded ice into the ocean, leading to sea level rise. Observations have shown that basal topography beneath rapidly melting ice shelves in warm cavities is complicated, including topographic features such as terraces which are large enough to disrupt the ice-ocean boundary layer and control melt rate. However, these features are too small to be resolved in large-scale climate models, and our current understanding from observations is limited. To address this, we use 3-dimensional, turbulence permitting large-eddy simulations of the ice-ocean boundary layer to examine the influence of basal terraces on ocean turbulence and ice melt. We implement the basal topography using an immersed boundary method and the size of the terrace is chosen to be representative of those observed within an ice base channel of Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf. We focus on the dynamics driven by the buoyant melt water plume along the terrace, and vary the height of the terrace relative to the boundary layer thickness to investigate different flow regimes.
Feeling fintastic about this, Kat and Nico
- Speaker: Bethan Wynne-Cattanach (University of Cambridge)
- Wednesday 19 November 2025, 15:30-16:30
- Venue: BAS Seminar Room 1.
- Series: British Antarctic Survey - Polar Oceans seminar series; organiser: Katherine Turner.
Mon 17 Nov 13:00: Dynamics of fire and ice: wildfire weather and ice-sediment interactions
This talk focuses on examples of coupled particle-fluid interactions on our planet that can produce dramatic emergent behaviour of societal and climate importance. The most extreme wildfires are increasing in intensity and frequency and create their own weather. Here, progress towards understanding the self-organisation of wildfire smoke from the surface to the stratosphere will be presented. Topics include aerosol-filled vortices, self-reinforcing instabilities associated with wildfire smoke, and physics of wildfire-driven plumes. The last part of the talk is on fast-flowing ice on Earth that typically occurs over beds with thin layers of deformable sediment, such as ice streams and surging glaciers. Mechanisms by which ice can ‘surge’ forward quasi-episodically with order-of-magnitude accelerations in ice velocity are debated. Using a physically consistent model for the ice-sediment interface, a stability theory for surge behaviour will be presented. The talk will conclude with an outlook on the dynamics of wildfire and ice.
- Speaker: Kasturi Shah, DAMTP, University of Cambridge
- Monday 17 November 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: MR3, CMS.
- Series: Quantitative Climate and Environmental Science Seminars; organiser: Bethan Wynne-Cattanach.
Mon 01 Dec 19:30: The search for life (TBC)
All welcome. More details, including a booking link, are here .
- Speaker: Dr. Robin Catchpole, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge
- Monday 01 December 2025, 19:30-21:00
- Venue: Location: Wolfson Lecture Theatre, Churchill College, and Zoom.
- Series: Cambridge Society for the Application of Research (CSAR); organiser: John Cook.
Wed 19 Nov 14:00: Polar Oceans Seminar Talk - Bethan Wynne-Cattanach
NB!!!! if you wish to attend and are external to BAS please let the organisers know ahead of time so they can let you in at reception
Hello everyone,
Next up in the Polar Oceans Seminar Series we have a talk from Bethan Wynne-Cattanach from the University of Cambridge, presenting at 2pm on the 19th of November 2025 in Seminar Room 1 on Large-eddy simulations of the ice-shelf-ocean boundary layer beneath basal terraces.
Abstract: Ocean-driven melting at the base of ice shelves is a primary driver in the acceleration of the flow of grounded ice into the ocean, leading to sea level rise. Observations have shown that basal topography beneath rapidly melting ice shelves in warm cavities is complicated, including topographic features such as terraces which are large enough to disrupt the ice-ocean boundary layer and control melt rate. However, these features are too small to be resolved in large-scale climate models, and our current understanding from observations is limited. To address this, we use 3-dimensional, turbulence permitting large-eddy simulations of the ice-ocean boundary layer to examine the influence of basal terraces on ocean turbulence and ice melt. We implement the basal topography using an immersed boundary method and the size of the terrace is chosen to be representative of those observed within an ice base channel of Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf. We focus on the dynamics driven by the buoyant melt water plume along the terrace, and vary the height of the terrace relative to the boundary layer thickness to investigate different flow regimes.
Feeling fintastic about this, Kat and Nico
- Speaker: Bethan Wynne-Cattanach (University of Cambridge)
- Wednesday 19 November 2025, 14:00-15:00
- Venue: BAS Seminar Room 1.
- Series: British Antarctic Survey - Polar Oceans seminar series; organiser: Katherine Turner.
Thu 29 Jan 11:30: TBC
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Oliver Buxton, Imperial College London
- Thursday 29 January 2026, 11:30-12:30
- Venue: Open Plan Area, Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows, Madingley Rise CB3 0EZ.
- Series: Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF); organiser: Catherine Pearson.
Mon 01 Dec 14:30: Patterns and form:Lessons from plants.
Name: Neha Bhatia Affiliation: Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK
Title: Patterns and form:Lessons from plants.
Abstract:
Nature has provided us with many beautiful patterns and forms to admire—for example, patterns on butterfly wings, stripes on a Zebra, striking arrangements of leaves and flowers in plants, and diverse leaf shapes. A fundamental question in biology is how living forms are generated and diversified during evolution. Plants offer an attractive system to study this problem as they continue to develop their organs post-embryonically, allowing us to investigate organ initiation and follow their development over time. In my talk, I will discuss how the combined use of different techniques such as advanced microscopy, genetics and computational approaches can help us understand the genetically controlled mechanisms of patterning and growth that underlie the generation of plant forms.
- Speaker: Neha Bathia
- Monday 01 December 2025, 14:30-15:30
- Venue: in person at Level 2 meeting room, Gurdon Institute and online.
- Series: Morphogenesis Seminar Series; organiser: Jia CHEN.
Mon 01 Dec 13:00: Special event: Good COP, Bad COP: post-COP30 reflections
Good COP , Bad COP brings you an expert panel to discuss the highs and the lows of the world’s biggest climate conference. After the 30th “Conference of the Parties” (COP), we’ll ask: what really happened? What was agreed, and what was left unspoken? And after all these years, what do we do next?
Prof Piers Forster, former interim chair of the UK’s Climate Change Committee, will be joined by:
- Dr Natalie Jones, International Institute for Sustainable Development
- Dr Joanna Depledge, Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance
- Prof Emily Shuckburgh, Cambridge Zero
- Sienna Bassi, Cambridge Climate Society
The event will be chaired by Prof Jerome Neufeld.
Join us at the Department of Engineering to have your questions answered. Refreshments will be provided afterwards.
- Speaker: Prof Piers Forster, University of Leeds
- Monday 01 December 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Dr Constance Tipper Lecture Theatre, Department of Engineering.
- Series: Quantitative Climate and Environmental Science Seminars; organiser: Dr Kasia Warburton.
Mon 24 Nov 14:30: Meng Zhu-Maternal oxygen levels regulate the timing of limb development in amniote species; Alex Plum-Morphogen patterning in dynamic tissues
Name: Meng Zhu Affiliation: Tabin lab, Harvard University
Title: Maternal oxygen levels regulate the timing of limb development in amniote species
Abstract:
Heterochrony, or the alternation of developmental timing, is an important mechanism underlying changes during evolution. A notable example involves the timing of amniote limb formation, where avian species display synchronized growth of the forelimbs and hindlimbs, while mammalian species show a marked delay in hindlimb development relative to forelimb. This is hypothesized to have evolved in the context of an energy trade-off involving constrained nutrient supplies in the early development of eutherian mammals, yet the molecular basis of the delay is poorly understood. We here show that mammalian limb heterochrony is evident from the time the limb buds are first initiated, and is associated with heterochronic expression of T-box transcription factors. This heterochronic change relative to non-mammalian embryos is not due to changes in cis-regulatory elements controlling T-box gene suppression, but unexpectedly, is regulated by the differential oxygen levels to which avian and mammalian embryos are exposed at prelimb initiation stages. By integrating RNA -sequencing analyses with genetic assays, we found that hypoxia’s impact on hindlimb development is at least partially mediated through the expression of NFKB transcription factor, cRel. Taken together, these results provide mechanistic understanding of an important example of developmental heterochrony and exemplify the importance of the maternal environment in regulating the timing of embryonic development. In addition, our results help to explain the limb-type specific venerability to gestational hypoxia.
Name: Alex Plum Affiliation: University of California San Diego (Biophysics PhD student)
Title: Morphogen patterning in dynamic tissues
Abstract:
Embryogenesis integrates morphogenesis—coordinated cell movements—with cell differentiation, often informed by morphogen patterning. While largely studied independently, morphogenesis and patterning often unfold simultaneously in early embryos. Yet how cell movements affect morphogen transport and cells’ exposure over time remains unclear, as most pattern formation models assume static tissues. Here we develop a theoretical framework for morphogen patterning in dynamic tissues,
recasting advection-reaction-diffusion equations in the cells’ moving reference frames. This framework (i) elucidates how morphogenesis mediates morphogen transport and compartmentalization: cell-cell diffusive transport is enhanced at multicellular flow attractors, while repellers act as barriers, affecting cell fate induction and bifurcations. (ii) It formalizes cell-cell signaling ranges in dynamic tissues, deconfounding morphogenetic movements to identify which cells could communicate via morphogens. (iii) It provides two new nondimensional numbers to assess when and where morphogenesis affects morphogen transport. We demonstrate this framework by analyzing classical patterning models with common morphogenetic motifs as well as experimental tissue flows. Our work rationalizes dynamic tissue patterning in development, constraining candidate patterning mechanisms and parameters using accessible cell motion data.
- Speaker: Meng Zhu; Alex Plum
- Monday 24 November 2025, 14:30-15:30
- Venue: Online.
- Series: Morphogenesis Seminar Series; organiser: Jia CHEN.
Mon 01 Dec 13:00: Special event: Good COP, Bad COP: post-COP30 reflections
Good COP , Bad COP brings you an expert panel to discuss the highs and the lows of the world’s biggest climate conference. After the 30th “Conference of the Parties” (COP), we’ll ask: what really happened? What was agreed, and what was left unspoken? And after all these years, what do we do next?
Prof Piers Forster, former interim chair of the UK’s Climate Change Committee, will be joined by:
- Dr Natalie Jones, International Institute for Sustainable Development
- Dr Joanna Depledge, Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance
- Prof Emily Shuckburgh, Cambridge Zero
- Sienna Bassi, Cambridge Climate Society
The event will be chaired by Prof Jerome Neufeld.
Join us at the Department of Engineering to have your questions answered. Refreshments will be provided afterwards.
- Speaker: Speaker to be confirmed
- Monday 01 December 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Dr Constance Tipper Lecture Theatre, Department of Engineering.
- Series: Quantitative Climate and Environmental Science Seminars; organiser: Dr Kasia Warburton.
Mon 17 Nov 13:00: Landscapes of fire and ice: dynamics of wildfire weather and ice-sediment interactions
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Kasturi Shah, DAMTP, University of Cambridge
- Monday 17 November 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: MR3, CMS.
- Series: Quantitative Climate and Environmental Science Seminars; organiser: Bethan Wynne-Cattanach.