In our latest episode of Impacted, we’re exploring the world of textual analysis, social media and big data with David Weir, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Sussex. Research carried out by the Text Analysis Group lab, which David co-founded, revealed that anti-Islamic hate speech spikes on Twitter after acts of terrorism. 

This is just one of the many insights to come out of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media, a collaboration between the University of Sussex and the think tank Demos, which uses Method52, software tools and methodologies developed by the Text Analytics Group.

David Weir

Martin Yeomans is a Professor of Experimental Psychology and Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange with the University of Sussex. He is founder of the Sussex Ingestive Behaviour Group, which conducts research on behavioural nutrition and explores how we develop a liking for different foods and drinks, and how we perceive flavour, among many other topics.

Yeomans has a long history of engaging with the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries internationally and has attracted over £3 million in grant income at Sussex to date. Listen to this new episode of our Impacted podcast to find out more.

Martin Yeomans

Chris Sandom is a lecturer in Biology, specialising in rewilding and paleo ecology. His research seeks to reverse the decline in biodiversity through the restoration of natural processes, typically by species reintroduction, often referred to as rewilding. 

He won a NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship which brought together a network of academics, farmers, policymakers, professional bodies and businesses to exchange knowledge and experience. He talks about his research and the fellowship, giving evidence to a government review and working with a graphic artist to share his research in innovative new ways.

Chris Sandom

The existing narrative around youth culture needs to change drastically, according to a leading historian at the University of Sussex in Impacted, our podcast series about research for real change. Lucy Robinson, Professor of Collaborative History at Sussex, says that most people think students aren’t political anymore – but they are.

Lucy Robinson

Professor Dave Goulson’s research into the impact of pesticides on bumblebees has been widely cited in the media, and has led governments to take action to better protect insects. Dave Goulson, who is a Professor of Biology (Evolution, Behaviour and Environment)at the University of Sussex, is the author of several popular science books, including The Garden Jungle and A Sting in the Tale. 

He founded the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, a charity devoted to reversing bumblebee declines, and the Buzz Club, a citizen science group which aims to involve people in conservation and in science. Find out more about his research on bumble bees and his public engagement and citizen science work in this Impacted podcast.

Dave Goulson

In 2014 Professor James Fairhead's research played a crucial role in responding to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. An epidemic with many similarities to the current Covid 19 pandemic, Ebola threatened both the physical and social body of the infected regions. In this episode of the Impacted podcast we hear about how understanding Human behaviour and cultural motivation is an essential part of mitigating the spread of any disease.

James Fairhead is a Professor Of Social Anthropology at the University of Sussex. His research focuses on environmental and medical anthropology and he has conducted extensive fieldwork principally in West and Central Africa.

The researcher would like to further thank all those involved in the Ebola Response Anthropology Platform, including Professor Melissa Leach (at IDS), Melissa Parker (at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), and Dominique Millimouno for his research scoping exercise that ERAP supported.

James Fairhead

Rob Byrne is a Senior Lecturer at The Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex. He is also a co-convener for the Energy and Climate Change Domain of the STEPS Centre (a research initiative between SPRU and the Institute for Development Studies. 

Working for a number of years in Botswana and Tanzania on various sustainable energy projects, Rob’s background was particularly instrumental in providing real life context for the study of innovation, energy and climate policy. In this episode of the Impacted podcast, Rob talks about just how complex the process of adopting new innovations and technology can be.

Rob Byrne

Michael Gasiorek is Professor of Economics at the University of Sussex, as well as Managing Director of a University spin-out company, InterAnalysis and a Fellow of the UK Trade Policy Observatory (UKTPO). 

A leading authority in understanding the mechanisms by which trade affects peoples lives, Michael’s work has had a significant impact by informing policy makers about the potential risks and benefits of the decisions they make.

Michael Gasiorek

In this first podcast for Falmer magazine, Sussex alumnus and human rights champion Albie Sachs talks to recent graduate and Mandela Scholar Mpogi Mafoko about his Sussex experience, his pursuit of justice, and what the future holds for their home country of South Africa.

Justice Albie Sachs is a lawyer, activist, writer and former judge appointed to the first Constitutional Court of South Africa by Nelson Mandela. Mpogi Mafoko graduated with a Masters in Conflict, Security and Development in 2022.

Read the full story and find a transcript for this episode at: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/alumni/falmer-magazine/people/the-pursuit-of-justice

The pursuit of justice: Albie Sachs and Mpogi Mafoko (Falmer magazine)

Pro-Vice Chancellor for Culture, Equality and Inclusion, Professor David Ruebain, delivers his lecture, first given on 2nd October as part of a series at King's College London. 

Debates about free speech can be polarising and often engage wider issues of identity, belief and safety. Sussex has solid commitments to free speech but its meaning and importance is not always understood and may appear to clash with other requirements and commitments. This lecture explores these issues and seeks to surface delineations and complexities.

Transcript: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/communications/documents/freedom-of-speech-captions-final.pdf

Rob Byrne

University of Sussex

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