Reading in the news - Fri 29 Aug

Animal Farm: Dr Ollie Douglas (Curator, MERL Collections) spoke to BBC Radio 4 about the historical depiction of farms in George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

Food and farming: PhD student George Allen spoke to That’s Thames Valley TV about why there has been a surge in the number of wasps this summer.

Business and society:

• Dr Bahram Mahmoodi Kahriz (Henley Business School) spoke to BBC Radio Berkshire about how big brands have changed their social media marketing.
• PhD student Samuel Clark (Politics and International Relations) wrote for The Conversation on the negative impact political satire has within a divided political climate.

Heritage and culture:

• Daily Star (in print), BBC Radio Scotland, Smithsonian Magazine, BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire, and BBC Radio Somerset mention a new study from Dr Joanna Baker and Professor Chris Venditti (both Ecology and Evolutionary Biology), finding an evolutionary link between primates’ thumb and brain size. From our story: Primate thumbs and brains evolved hand-in-hand

#PlanetPartners: working with global partners to protect the environment

• Further coverage from Daily Mail, Newsdrum, TheWeek, Kompas, DevDiscourse, EuropeSays, India Today, BBC Radio Berkshire and various other outlets on a new study from Joana Medeiros (Meteorology) which found that global warming is making the atmosphere less stable and worsening air turbulence. Additional quotes from co-author Professor Paul Williams (Meteorology). From our story: Turbulent flights to continue as warming world shakes skies
• Dr James O’Donoghue (Meteorology) is quoted by EcoNews about scientific observations of Neptune.
• EuropeSays, Meteored, and Archynetys quote professor Bill Collins (Meteorology) on research into the unexpected warming impacts from ozone. From our story: Ozone will warm planet more than first thought
• Dr Stephen Burt (Meteorology) and Dr Jess Neumann (Geography and Environmental Science) are quoted by The Reading Chronicle about how this summer is set to be the hottest on University records. Dr Neumann spoke to Heart Radio Berkshire. From our expert comment: Summer 2025 set to be hottest on University records
• Quanta Magazine feature comments from Professor Mark Pagel (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) on new evolutions of trees occurring suddenly and rapidly.

Other coverage:

• Dr Caroline Foulkes (Institute of Education) is quoted by The Henley Standard on GCSE results from a local school.
• Sussex Exclusive highlights students who will be joining Reading in September.
• Reading Today mentioned that the Readipop festival will be taking place in the Student Union.
• The Reading Chronicle mention the University in an article about new bus routes being introduced in September.
• Azereth Dimphana, who is currently studying an Executive MBA at Henley Business School, is profiled by TimesLive.

Alumni:

• Jon Gibbard, who has an MBA from Henley Business School, wrote for Environmental Analyst on ways businesses should be engaging with clients.
• Nigerian Rapper Folarin Falana, who studied law, has wedding photos featured in Nigerian Tribune.
• Farmers Guardian highlight Ellen Frost, who is studying Marketing Consumer Behaviour.