Exeter Uni News

Carbon removal projects could prove vital in offsetting methane emissions – the second largest contributor to global warming. Nature-based schemes that aim to remove CO2 through methods such as afforestation and reforestation are criticised for being temporary – the carbon removed is often re-released once projects end – as well as fraught with risk.  But climate change researchers have shown they can play an important role in neutralising the environmental impact of methane. Methane and carbon dioxide behave…

The Earth Rover Program launches globally today (World Soil Day), unveiling “soilsmology”, which promises greatly to improve our understanding and use of one of the world’s most crucial resources – soil. By using the well-established methods of seismology in novel ways, the Earth Rover Program enables us to “see” into the shallowest layers of the soil, revealing its vital signs with unprecedented clarity. Launched with support from the Bezos Earth Fund, the Earth Rover Program – co-founded by…

Being close to a natural habitat such as a forest doesn’t necessarily make farmland more attractive to pollinators, a new study shows.   It is commonly thought that when farmland is close to a natural habitat it is more likely to attract bees and other pollinators, and that more flowers will develop into seeds and fruit.   But a meta-analysis of how distance from natural habitats affects pollination in tropical smallholder farms discovered this is not always the…

The University of Exeter has joined a global movement aimed at transforming the way research is evaluated, making it fairer and more inclusive. The University has signed the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment, a commitment by hundreds of organisations worldwide to recognise the diversity of contributions that go into research. As part of this, Exeter has also joined the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). Historically, research assessment methods have sometimes relied upon publication-based metrics, such as citation…

An Exeter academic expert has co-created an innovative AI training programme to upskill analysts in the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office’s Government Social Research (GSR) AI Accelerator Programme is designed to equip civil service social researchers with the skills to harness artificial intelligence responsibly and effectively in their work, with a view to improving the productivity of the Civil Service. Professor Oliver Hauser, Deputy Director of the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (IDSAI) and Professor of…

Predicting who will develop type 1 diabetes is now cheaper and more accessible, thanks to a new tool based on research conducted at the University of Exeter which could one day help determine who to target with recently approved drugs to delay the disease. In type 1 diabetes, the body’s own immune system attacks insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, which means people need to inject insulin daily. Knowing who is at highest risk of developing type 1…