Which crops are urban bees buzzing for?
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This email is being sent to all University of Sussex staff.
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Wednesday 24 September 2025
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What it means to join a REF panel |
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Eleven Sussex experts have been appointed as members of the sub-panels for the criteria-setting phase of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2029.
The REF is the UK’s national system for assessing the quality of university research, a process that shapes funding and influences how research is valued.
For the first time, academics were selected through an open application process. This change from previous rounds is designed to reduce barriers and attract a broader, more inclusive pool of candidates.
Two of the new panel members explain why they put themselves forward.
Professor Annemie Maertens, Department of Economics, said:
"I am thrilled to have been invited to participate in the REF. I believe the REF can be a significant driver for change. This is a unique opportunity to help shape the research culture in the UK, in particular in relation to diversity and interdisciplinarity. In a way, one of the goals for the REF could be to start conversations about what a great research culture looks like and how we can get there."
Professor Seb Oliver, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences said:
"I feel very honoured to have been selected to be on the physics REF panel. I was recently on one of the panels assessing submissions to the REF People Culture and Environment pilot exercise. This was extremely interesting and helped me to fully appreciate how the REF process can have a beneficial influence on the research landscape.
"I have now spoken to many people who have been on REF panels and, while all acknowledge the amount of work involved, they have conveyed how enriching it was to explore the best research in the UK. I hope to use this opportunity to help recognise and reward the best research practice." |
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What urban farmers can teach us about pollinators |
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Training urban farmers to track insect visits to food crops can boost awareness and engagement, but without expert oversight, results can be misleading. These were the findings from a new University of Sussex study on pollination in urban food production.
Researchers worked with allotment holders and community growers in cities across the UK. |
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They asked them to record pollinator activity on raspberries, squash, and tomatoes using a specially developed method. They then compared growers’ records with those of trained researchers.
Both groups found raspberries and squash to be pollinator favourites, while tomatoes attracted the fewest insects. But farmers’ data sometimes overstated patterns, often due to misidentification or recording surveys even when no insects were present.
“Urban food production depends on pollinators, but getting access to different growing sites can be challenging,” said Dr Beth Nicholls, Principal Research Fellow. “Citizen science with allotment growers themselves, for example, can bridge that gap. But our study shows it works best when paired with methodological support and ongoing dialogue.”
Participants reported that the project deepened their understanding of pollination, led them to plant more bee-friendly flowers, and even encouraged a more inclusive attitude towards garden pests. |
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What your nose could reveal about your stress levels |
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Diagnosing mental health conditions like anxiety and depression is notoriously difficult, but research led by Professor Gillian Forrester at the University of Sussex suggests that our noses could hold the key.
When we’re stressed, the body redirects blood flow to our eyes and ears, sharpening our senses for potential threats. This leaves the tip of the nose colder, a subtle change detectable by thermal cameras. Known as the “nasal dip”, the effect has been observed in both humans and non-human primates, hinting at an evolutionary root to the stress response. |
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Current ways of measuring stress rely on subjective surveys or biological markers like blood pressure and heart rate, both limited and often impractical. Thermal imaging, by contrast, is non-invasive, continuous and requires no machines, wires or awkward questions.
Professor Forrester says: “In the very near future, we could be monitoring the temperature of our nose as a kind of biofeedback to help us understand and modify our stress states. We could track stress in babies before they learn to speak, and in patients who struggle to communicate. We could detect harmful levels of stress in high-pressure environments like emergency rooms, trading floors or even zoos.”
Read the full article in New Scientist. |
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Comment: how Inca terraces and trees could help the Andes survive climate change |
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By Alex Chepstow-Lusty
Many tropical glaciers in the Andes are expected to disappear in the next few decades, according to a study in the Journal of Water and Climate. Change. Their meltwater sustains millions of people, feeding crops in the dry season, supplying Peru’s capital Lima and other big cities. As glaciers vanish, floods and droughts are becoming more extreme. |
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But my new research into ancient climate-smart agriculture, with Professor Mick Frogley and other collaborators, suggests solutions may lie in environmental knowledge that the Incas and their predecessors developed centuries ago.
In January 2010, record rainfall caused massive flooding in the Cusco region of Peru, 25,000 people were left homeless, 80% of harvests were destroyed and total losses were estimated at US$230 million (£170m).
This disaster took place in the heart of what was the Inca Empire, which once supported up to 14 million people before European conquest and colonisation. So, could some of this modern-day catastrophe have been avoided if the landscape still retained its natural tree cover – forests and high-altitude vegetation that slow water and reduce erosion?
I was part of a team of researchers from the University of Sussex, the International Potato Center in Lima and Cusco-based NGO Ecoan, who examined microfossils such as pollen in sediment cores from Lake Marcacocha, near Cusco. These act as an environmental archive, recording shifts in vegetation, farming and climate over centuries.
The evidence shows that from around the year 1100, during a period of global warming known as the Medieval Climatic Anomaly, Andean communities moved higher up into the mountains. They built terraces, irrigated slopes, and planted trees such as alder to make the soil more fertile and provide wood.
The Andes are at the sharp end of climate change. The glaciers are retreating, rainfall is becoming more erratic, and disasters like the Cusco floods will happen more often. But history shows societies have adapted before.
Dr Alex Chepstow-Lusty has explored this idea further – this is just an extract. Read the full article on The Conversation.
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BBC Science Focus Magazine featured Dr Gillian Sandstrom’s research showing that small, everyday interactions, like chatting with strangers, boost wellbeing. She also discussed the benefits of “social fitness” in The Psychologist and on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle.
Professor Robert Barrington wrote in Politics Home urging statutory reforms to the UK’s ethics and integrity framework, arguing that independent oversight and enforceable sanctions are essential to restore public trust.
The Guardian reported on the collapse of a major immigration law firm’s legal aid contract. Dr Jo Wilding said the outcome was predictable, calling for vulnerable clients to be supported by expert non-profits rather than overstretched commercial providers.
Finally, Dr Qingxiu Bu wrote in Global Policy Journal on how China’s dominance in green technologies is fragmenting global trade and threatening the clean energy transition. |
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Help us shape future editions. We would really value your feedback and ideas for content that you would like to see. Please send your thoughts to Campaigns@sussex.ac.uk. |
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