Reading in the news - Wed 18 Mar

Centenary celebrations continue: Further coverage of the University’s centenary celebrations was featured by ITV News, who interviewed former Student Union Secretary Maureen Rolley. ITVX featured interviews with Professor Robert Van de Noort, Vice-Chancellor, and Guy Baxter, Head of Archives Services (pictured). Professor Peter Miskell (Henley Business School) spoke to BBC Radio Berkshire. From our story: University of Reading hits 100 with global celebrations 

Health and wellbeing:

• Dr Simon Clarke was quoted by Metro and ITV (republished by MSN) on the outbreak of meningitis in Kent. Dr Clarke also spoke to Talk TV, ITV News, ITV Meridian East (pictured), BBC Radio 5 Live. The Independent and (republished by MSN, AOL, Yahoo News, Inkl, UK Times, and Newswav) quoted Dr Ian Jones (both Biomedical Sciences) on the spread of the virus. From our expert comment: Meningitis outbreak 

Food and farming:

• Professor Simon Mortimer (Sustainable Land Management) provided an overview of the University’s crop research unit forFarming Today.  

#PlanetPartners: working with global partners to protect the environment

• Reading Today and Earth.com quoted Dr Matthew Greenwell (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) on his study into colour-changing katydids. From our story: Bright pink insect stands out to blend in, scientists say 
• A study from Professor Chris Merchant (Meteorology) into the rates of ocean warming was highlighted by Daily Mail and CPG. From our story: Ocean-surface warming four times faster now than late-1980s 
• Dr Jamie Thompson (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) was quoted by EurkAlert, Phys.org, Reading Today, and Mirage News on research into the evolution of cacti. With additional mentions in Life Technology. From our story: The cactus on your desk is an evolution speed machine 

Business and society:

• Dr Emma Street (Henley Business School) was quoted by Reading Today about tackling bike theft.  
• Additional comments from Dr Yoshikatsu Hayashi (Biomedical Engineering) were featured by Fok on a computer chip which learned to play videogames. 

Alumni:

• Yasmeen Qannati, Law graduate, has been promoted to Legal Counsel Manager at BNET, reports Legal Era.