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A list of talks related to sustainability and the environment
URL: http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/index/22840
Updated: 28 min 47 sec ago

Wed 30 Apr 14:00: Unravelling the complexity of root stem cell niche regulation through multi-scale models

Mon, 31/03/2025 - 11:24
Unravelling the complexity of root stem cell niche regulation through multi-scale models

Abstract not available

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Thu 22 May 11:30: TBC

Mon, 31/03/2025 - 10:30
TBC

Abstract not available

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Wed 30 Apr 14:00: External Seminar - Monica Garcia Gomez TBC

Mon, 31/03/2025 - 10:28
External Seminar - Monica Garcia Gomez TBC

Abstract not available

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Fri 04 Apr 13:00: Deep convection and ocean overturning

Mon, 31/03/2025 - 09:56
Deep convection and ocean overturning

The ocean’s circulation plays a pivotal role in Earth’s climate system, with its changes during climate transitions being of critical importance. This study, grounded in the principle of dynamical similarity, employs Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) in an idealized setup to dissect the complexities of ocean circulation, with a particular focus on the North Atlantic and the role of buoyancy and wind in shaping the hydrological cycle.

We begin with a simple system—a non-rotating ocean forced by a single scalar—then gradually introduce complexity by adding constant/variable rotation, wind forcing, and a second scalar. Surprisingly, our results show the spontaneous formation of gyres and a western boundary current, along with full-depth overturning, even without the introduction of wind. Wind forcing further localizes upwelling near the western boundary current and primarily strengthens the gyres while having less influence on overturning circulation. With the introduction of a second scalar (salinity), our results become more representative of the real ocean, reproducing key features such as mode water formation, mid-latitude deeper thermocline structures, and polar haloclines, both with and without wind forcing. Our DNS framework is well-suited for resolving convection processes, including diffusive convection near the poles and salt fingering in mid-latitudes, both of which are crucial for establishing mixed layers and pycnoclines in these regions.

A key highlight of our study is capturing ocean circulation across multiple scales—from basin-scale overturning and gyres to mesoscale eddies, submesoscale dynamics, and millimeter-scale convection. These multiscale interactions regulate heat, salt, and tracer transport. Our highresolution approach explicitly resolves the interplay between large-scale circulation and small-scale turbulent mixing, offering deeper insights into ocean stratification, ventilation, and buoyancy-driven flows, providing critical insights for forecasting the evolving dynamics of the North Atlantic.

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Wed 18 Jun 14:00: Title to be confirmed

Fri, 28/03/2025 - 09:39
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

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Wed 07 May 14:00: Title to be confirmed

Fri, 28/03/2025 - 09:38
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

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Wed 04 Jun 14:00: Title to be confirmed

Fri, 28/03/2025 - 09:38
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

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Tue 06 May 14:30: Big Picture Talk: Bhopal 40 years on - What have we learned?

Thu, 27/03/2025 - 12:00
Big Picture Talk: Bhopal 40 years on - What have we learned?

Our departmental seminar series, Bigger Picture Talks, runs throughout the academic year, inviting thought-leaders from across the world driving significant advances in our impact areas of energy, health and sustainability to share and discuss their work with us.

This talk will hear from alumni Professor Fiona Macleod, Professor of Process Safety at the University of Sheffield, who will talk about safety in the chemical engineering industry, using the worst disaster in history as a lens for why safety matters.

On the night of 2 and 3 December 1984 a toxic gas release from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India caused thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of life-changing injuries. Forty years later, the rusting factory equipment still towers above buried hazardous waste in the abandoned factory. I visited the site of the former Union Carbide site in Bhopal India to try to understand what went so horribly wrong.

1. What caused the worst accident in the history of the chemical industry? 2. Why was the accident never properly investigated? 3. What can we learn about process safety from revisiting the accident? 4. Why has no clean-up been undertaken in 40 years?

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Wed 23 Apr 14:00: Ocean dynamics in the Ross Ice Shelf cavity from in situ observations

Thu, 27/03/2025 - 09:29
Ocean dynamics in the Ross Ice Shelf cavity from in situ observations

The future response of ice shelves to climate through ocean warming is a key unknown for climate projections, especially global sea level rise. The Ross Ice Shelf ocean cavity is one of the least observed regions in the ocean, with its broad circulation patterns primarily inferred from remotely sensed estimates of tides, bathymetry, and melt rates. I aim to advance our understanding of the ocean cavity under the Ross Ice Shelf – the southern-most and largest-by area of all Earth’s ice shelves. To achieve this, I analyzed a multi-year hydrographic moored timeseries from the central Ross Ice Shelf cavity (80◦39.497′S, 174◦27.678′E). These data help address three key processes: (i) the general circulation; (ii) the appearance and impact of baroclinic eddy events; and (iii) tidal modulation of the ice-ocean boundary layer structure and the implications for ice melting. In terms of circulation and the inter-annual changes, stronger melting/refreezing occurred between late September 2019 to late December 2019, which is linked to the inter-annual sea ice production in the Ross Ice Shelf Polynya. Notably, cold-water interleaving in the mid-water column exhibits distinct seasonality. An analysis of baroclinic eddies identifies coherent structures that are around 22 km in diameter with a velocity scale of between 0.8 and 1.8 cm/s. The thermohaline structure of the eddies suggests that they have the potential to entrain High Salinity Shelf Water from the benthic water column to the mid-water column. On the question of tidal modulation of the ice shelf-ocean interaction, the results suggest that tides modulate the melt rate by altering the boundary layer structure over a spring-neap cycle. These new findings demonstrate the rich variability within the Ross Ice Shelf ocean cavity, ranging from large interannual-seasonal scales, through to multi-week eddy scales and then down to tidal and mixing timescales.

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Mon 12 May 13:00: CCfCS Polar Symposium

Sat, 22/03/2025 - 18:34
CCfCS Polar Symposium

The Cambridge Centre for Climate Science (in collaboration with the Institute of Computing for Climate Sciences, the British Antarctic Survey and the UK Polar Network) is inviting you to join the CCfCS Polar Symposium 2025. The aim of this event is to connect polar and climate researchers in Cambridge (in both science and humanities) and provide an overview of the work at Cambridge which contributes to understanding and mitigating climate change.

This will be an afternoon of talks from a variety of research institutions and departments in Cambridge, followed by a poster session and workshop aimed at early-career researchers. The event will be a great opportunity to find new collaborators and meet like-minded people interested in polar science and climate change across Cambridge. Early career researchers are particularly encouraged to participate.

Event details:

  • When: Monday 12th May 2025 13:00-18:00
  • Where: British Antarctic Survey, Conference Theatre
  • Registration fee: Free!
  • If you wish to attend (presenting or not) please register here: https://forms.gle/kCLv1QWixdfmKb4ZA

If you are interested in presenting a talk or poster, please provide a title and brief abstract in the registration form. The talks should be short (10-15 mins) and accessible to an interdisciplinary audience. In-person attendance is recommended, as the poster session and catering will only be available in-person, however the talks will be also streamed online for anyone unable to attend in-person. We will provide a more detailed schedule once we have collected all the abstracts. The day will include free hot drinks, cake and snacks, and the event will be followed by a social (TBC).

Abstract deadline: Monday 21st April 2025, 17:00

We look forward to seeing you soon! The Organising Committee Polina, Tarkan, Birgit and Sophie

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Wed 26 Mar 15:30: A Bayesian Neural Network approach to study dissolved oxygen in Southern Ocean water masses

Wed, 19/03/2025 - 15:58
A Bayesian Neural Network approach to study dissolved oxygen in Southern Ocean water masses

Oxygen plays a critical role in the health of marine ecosystems. As oceanic O2 concentration decreases to hypoxic levels, marine organisms’ habitability decreases rapidly. However, identifying the physical patterns driving this reduction in dissolved oxygen remains challenging. This study employs a Bayesian Neural Network (BNN) to analyze the uncertainty in dissolved oxygen forecasts. The method’s significance lies in its ability to assess oxygen forecasts’ uncertainty with evolving physical dynamics. The BNN model outperforms traditional linear regression and persistence methods, particularly under changing climate conditions. Our approach leverages three Explainable AI (XAI) techniques—Integrated Gradients, Gradient SHAP , and DeepLIFT—to provide meaningful interpretations of 2- and 8-year forecasts. The XAI analysis reveals that buoyancy frequency and eddy kinetic energy is a critical predictor for short-term forecasts across the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW), masses. While the LCDW variability emphasizes also a role played by advection processes, such as salinity, over short and long timescales.

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Thu 20 Mar 11:30: Novel Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Production

Tue, 18/03/2025 - 11:00
Novel Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Production

Abstract not available

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Thu 20 Mar 11:30: Catalysts for Hydrogen Production

Mon, 17/03/2025 - 12:24
Catalysts for Hydrogen Production

Abstract not available

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Thu 20 Mar 11:30: NO SEMINAR

Mon, 17/03/2025 - 09:19
NO SEMINAR

Abstract not available

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Thu 24 Apr 11:30: Interaction of Mechanical Ventilation and Natural Convection

Mon, 17/03/2025 - 09:19
Interaction of Mechanical Ventilation and Natural Convection

Abstract not available

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Fri 21 Mar 11:00: The New Nuclear Era: Robotics, AI, and Cybersecurity in Advanced Reactors

Fri, 14/03/2025 - 14:48
The New Nuclear Era: Robotics, AI, and Cybersecurity in Advanced Reactors

As nuclear energy expands its capacity and operational scope to meet evolving energy needs and combat climate change, reducing operation and maintenance costs is crucial. While robots have been used in the past for cost reduction in applications such as surveys, their potential in nuclear power plant operations remains under-explored. Robotics, together with AI/ML, can enhance advanced online monitoring and diagnosis systems, thereby improving operational efficiency and reactor economics. This integration increases sensing capabilities, reduces human labor, and decreased human exposure to hazardous conditions. A 3D Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) digital twin has been developed to advance these capabilities. With digitalization and advanced ML/AI application, cybersecurity has become a pressing challenge. A comprehensive cyber-attack detection platform has been developed using both network and process data, employing supervised and unsupervised learnings. By combining IT and operational technology (OT) information, this platform provides high situational awareness.

Bio: Dr. Fan Zhang is an Assistant Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She received her Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering and a concurrent M.S. degree in Statistics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2019. Dr. Zhang directs the Intelligence for Advance Nuclear (iFAN) lab in developing research which uses AI/ML to enhance cybersecurity and optimize nuclear power plant operations, such as digital twins, predictive maintenance, autonomous controls, and robotics. She has been actively involved in IAEA nuclear cybersecurity research and education. Dr. Zhang is the recipient of the 2021 Ted Quinn Early Career Award from the American Nuclear Society for her contributions in the fields of instrumentation & control and cybersecurity. In 2022, she was awarded the inaugural Distinguished Early Career Award from the U.S. DOE Office of Nuclear Energy. She has also been selected to the Class of 2023 Volunteer 40 Under 40 for her professional achievements and broad research impact. In 2023, Dr. Zhang was invited by National Academy of Engineering (NAE) to as a participant to the EU-US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium as one of highly accomplished early-career engineers. Dr. Zhang is a Georgia Tech College of Engineering Cybersecurity Fellow.

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Mon 17 Mar 13:00: Volcanic fissure localisation and lava delta formation: Modelling of volcanic flows undergoing rheological evolution

Thu, 13/03/2025 - 16:02
Volcanic fissure localisation and lava delta formation: Modelling of volcanic flows undergoing rheological evolution

In this talk, I will present two volcanologically motivated modelling problems. In the first, I will detail how thermoviscous localisation of volcanic eruptions is influenced by the irregular geometry of natural volcanic fissures. Fissure eruptions typically start with the opening of a linear fissure that erupts along its entire length, following which activity localises to one or more isolated vents within a few hours or days. Previous work has proposed that localisation can arise through a thermoviscous fingering instability driven by the strongly temperature dependent viscosity of the rising magma. I will show that, even for relatively modest variations of the fissure width, a non-planar geometry supports strongly localised steady states, in which the wider parts of the fissure host faster, hotter flow, and the narrower parts of the fissure host slower, cooler flow. This geometrically-driven localisation differs from the spontaneous thermoviscous fingering localisation observed in planar geometries, and is potentially more potent for parameter values relevant to volcanic fissures.

The second problem concerns lava delta formation. A lava delta arises when a volcanic lava flow enters a body of water, extending the pre-eruption shoreline via the creation of new, relatively flat land. A combination of cooling induced rheological changes and the reduction in gravitational driving forces controls the morphology and evolution of the delta. I will present shallow-layer continuum models for this process, highlighting how different modes of delta formation manifest in different late-time behaviours. In particular, I will derive a steady state shoreline extent when the delta formation is driven only by buoyancy forces, and late time similarity solutions for the evolution of the shoreline when the viscous lava fragments and forms `hyaloclastic’ debris on contact with the water.

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Fri 04 Apr 13:00: Title to be confirmed

Wed, 12/03/2025 - 15:22
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

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Wed 23 Jul 14:00: External Seminar - Dr Oswaldo Valdes-Lopez TBC

Tue, 11/03/2025 - 12:26
External Seminar - Dr Oswaldo Valdes-Lopez TBC

Abstract not available

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Thu 05 Jun 11:30: Optimization of deep ocean meridional circulation by turbulent mixing

Mon, 10/03/2025 - 09:55
Optimization of deep ocean meridional circulation by turbulent mixing

Abstract not available

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