Meliora: a podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute

We are joined by Heléna Pūce, one of the up and coming Sustainability stars in the South of England, on the Meliora Podcast from The Sustainability and Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton to discuss her journey from her undergraduate studies, masters degree, her first role with Siemens and her current position of Senior Environmental Advisor at DP World Southampton. We also addre...

We are joined for this episode of the Meliora podcast by Samuel Inkster, Grace Cheung, Mohammad Idrus and Adchaya Apputhurai, four University of Southampton undergraduate students from Enactus Southampton to discuss their inspiring 'Seeds for Thought' programme where they are applying innovative approaches in tackling childhood obesity. In this episode Samuel, Grace, Mohammad and Adchaya...

One of the leading Sustainability practitioners in the South of England, Jason Light joins us on the Meliora Podcast from The Sustainability and Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton where we chat about how he developed his high impact sustainability career across local authorities and the NHS, his wonderful approach to 'nudging' senior leaders to sustainability change, h...

There are many exciting ways to learn about sustainability, so we thought we would attempt a rather different episode of the Meliora podcast. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit is a two-hour class as part of the UOSM2043 Global Sustainability Challenges module at the University of Southampton where students work in groups to represent different parts of the world and reach agreement o...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast from The Sustainability and Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton we chat with the brilliant Dr Keiron Roberts about how he developed his career as an academic, his work on decarbonisation in the Port of Portsmouth and microplastics, and how he was lucky enough to go and work in Antarctica!  This is a great episode where we get to chat to one...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton we embark on a wide-ranging discussion around climate anxiety and the challenges of multigenerational sustainability with our SRI Director Prof Craig Hutton, and our Communications Interns Alex Ayerst and Hannah Parish. This is a thought provoking episode and we recognise that...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton we welcome not just one, but two of our brilliant academics Dr Vicky Dominguez Almela and Dr Sien Van Der Plank to discuss their fascinating work investigating how Sargassum is affecting coastal communities in West Africa and the Caribbean. You will be thinking 'I never k...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton we welcome the brilliant academic Dr Ellie Atayee-Bennett to discuss her work on the links between faith, veganism and sustainable behaviours. Our chat covers Ellie's whole journey, how and why she became interested in sustainability, her fascinating research, her links t...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton we have a great chat with two leading lights in the growing field of sustainability in sport - Caroline Carlin and Cece Liu. Our relaxed chat covers Caroline and Cece's backgrounds, how and why they became interested in sustainability, their work at Southampton FC and uni...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton we have a lovely, fascinating chat with another of our most wonderful and high-impact alumni - the amazing Stephanie Todd, Strategic Operational Lead for Sustainability at Kingston University. Our relaxed chat covers Stephanie's background, how and why she became dedicate...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute (SRI) at the University of Southampton we explore the intersections between theatre and sustainability.  We are joined by Victoria Briggs to discuss the development of her ambitious and exciting new theatre project, Earth Mother.    This is an eye-opening discussion addressing an area of critical importance i...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute (SRI) at the University of Southampton we (virtually) travel to Ghana for a discussion on Climate Change and Health research, collaboration, community engagement, and outcomes with Dr Michael Head and Jessica Boxall .    This is a fascinating discussion with many lightbulb moments that are only possible throu...

In this student episode of the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute (SRI) at the University of Southampton we explore the work of the University of Southampton Environmental Science Student Society (EnvSoc) with the President and Committee members.   Through this episode, six of the committee members discuss the society, its current goals and potential goals for the f...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute (SRI) at the University of Southampton we have a big panel discussion about the SRI visit to the 2024 Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Assembly at the University of Manchester, UK. The Tyndall Centre is "a partnership of universities bringing together researchers from the social and natural sci...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton we have a lovely, relaxed chat with another of our most wonderful and entertaining alumni, the amazing Bitsy Pout. Our chat covers Bitsy's background, how and why she became dedicated to nature and wider sustainability issues, how she decided to become an Environmental Sc...

Welcome to Season 4 of the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton .  In this first episode of the season we return to 'Careers in Sustainability' with a great chat with Kate Otto and Samantha James, two inspirational sustainability advocates, teachers and leaders at the largest Sixth-Form College in the UK, Barton Peveril Colle...

It is with a heavy heart that we close the student takeover season of the Meliora podcast with an episode all about our amazing co-creators, editors and interns Lily Killner and Sophie Green who are about to graduate and leave us :( In this episode we chat about how Sophie and Lily applied for an internship that wasn't actually quite what they were sold, how clueless we were with everything w...

In this Student Takeover episode of the Meliora podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute (SRI) at the University of Southampton we are joined by our SRI Work Placement student and guest editor Alisha Ashworth who discusses the work of the SRI and the future of our world with our Director Prof Craig Hutton. We address a wide range of topics from the perspective of young people goi...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium we are joined by Francois-Xavier Lecomte (MSci Marine Biology with Oceanography) to discuss his dissertation 'Relationships between top marine predators and oceanographic features in the Southern Ocean'.  In the dynamic Southern Ocean, marine predators movement behaviours are intricately shaped by oceanographic conditions....

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium we are joined by Aeronautics and Astronautics student Manisha Mahesh Kumar to discuss her dissertation 'Route Optimisation for Space Debris Removal'. Manisha discusses her unique approach for space debris removal and remediation with particular focus of SDG9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure and SDG11: Sustainable...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium at the University of Southampton, we are joined by Hannah Portman (BSc Geography) for an exploration of her dissertation research titled: “The Rice Industry in the Mekong River Delta in a Changing Climate”. Rice is a vital commodity for ensuring food security as it is a staple food source for more than half of the world’s population...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium at the University of Southampton, we are joined by Isabelle Horrocks (BA Geography) for an exploration of her dissertation research titled: ‘Exploring the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis on sustainable consumption practices among students’.  Over recent years, the combination of stagnant wage growth and a sharp rise in inflatio...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium we are joined by Holly Hoban (BSc Environmental Science) to discuss her Independent Research Project ‘Spotting Resilience: Measuring the Effect of Vegetation Turing Patterns in Dryland Ecosystems.’  Since the development of aerial photography, striking vegetation patterns such as spots, stripes and labyrinths have been identified an...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium we are joined by Debjyoti “Deb” Sengupta (MEng Mechanical Aerospace Engineering) to discuss his Group Design Project 'Venus Specialised Exploration Rover (VESPER)'. As per the scientific community, there is a consensus that Venus, often referred to as Earth’s evil twin, may allow us to understand our planet in a way that c...

In this episode of the Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium at the University of Southampton, we are joined by third-year BSc Environmental Science student Sarah Ait Mouhoub for an exploration of her dissertation research titled: "Exploring Algeria's Offshore Wind Potential for Sustainable Energy Development."  Sarah's dissertation explores the potential for deploying off...