Reading in the news - Fri 21 Aug

Business and society:

• Dr Peter Scarfe (Psychology) was quoted by New Scientist and Upday (republished by Head Topics) on AI watermarks for bot-created text and pictures.
• Professor Stuart Green (Built Environment) was quoted by Construction News and Infrastructure Now about increasing self-employment in construction.

Heritage and culture:

• Slovenská Akadémia reported on a 1,200-year-old board game discovered by Dr Tim Penn (Classics).

Health and wellbeing:

• PhD student Hannah Christina Uranus (Psychology) wrote for Tribun News (republished by MSN, Head Topics and OB News) about the benefits of taking part in nature-based activities, quoting Professor Ciara McCabe (Psychology) and mentioning research by Professor Tom Oliver (Ecology).

Food and farming:

• Natural Brands reported on a chocolate bar developed by Master’s student Maha Khan (Agriculture, Policy and Development) made entirely of British ingredients, quoting Professor Carol Wagstaff (Agrifood Futures). From our story: First 100% British chocolate bar made since 1932
• Further comments from Dr Andreas Karatzas (Food and Nutritional Sciences) on rising salmonella cases were featured by The Independent (republished by Newswav and Newsbreak).

#PlanetPartners: working with global partners to protect the environment

• DIY Investor highlighted a study by Dr Alba Fuertes (Built Environment) into heat risks on construction sites. From our story: Construction sites are not ready for extreme heat
• Regius Professor Hannah Cloke (Meteorology) was quoted by World Today News on recent dry conditions across Europe.

Other coverage:

• Student Tiam Koravand spoke to BBC Radio Berkshire about her time as Student Union President and Reading’s live music scene.

Alumni:

• Law graduate Farah Al Qubtan wrote for Mondaq about foreign investment.
• Audit Specialist and Henley Business School graduate Michelle Moodley wrote for Internal Audit about professional skepticism.
• Mining Weekly highlighted that Nonkululeko Ripinga, Engineering Manager at Kathu, studied at Henley Business School.
• Motlalepula Ratlhagane, Financial Director at Manitou and Henley Business School graduate, has been nominated for the 2026 CFO Awards, reports CFO South Africa.