Conservation at Cambridge

Subglacial discharge, the release of freshwater from beneath glaciers into the ocean, affects melt patterns beneath Antarctic ice shelves. The added buoyancy at the grounding line accelerates meltwater flow, which directly enhances melt rates and increases entrainment of ambient ocean water. In this seminar, I will present ongoing work on implementing subglacial discharge within the sub-shelf melt model LADDIE2 .0. We will explore how subglacial discharge affects melt patterns beneath different ice shelves, highlighting the magnitude of melt amplification and the most impacted regions. I will also show results from idealised (simplified geometry and forcing) coupled experiments using LADDIE2 .0 and the ice-sheet model UFEMISM2 .0. Interestingly, in these simulations, the strongest initial melt anomalies from including subglacial discharge do not necessarily lead to the greatest long-term ice-sheet mass loss. Instead, the release location of subglacial discharge plays a key role.

• Speaker: Franka Jesse - Utrecht University
• Thursday 06 November 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: BAS Seminar Room 330b.
• Series: British Antarctic Survey - Polar Oceans seminar series; organiser: Katherine Turner.

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Abstract not available

• Speaker: Speaker to be confirmed
• Tuesday 21 October 2025, 15:00-16:00
• Venue: BAS Seminar Room 1.
• Series: British Antarctic Survey - Polar Oceans seminar series; organiser: Katherine Turner.

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The West Antarctic Ice Sheet has experienced sustained mass loss over the past three decades, a trend projected to continue in future climate scenarios. This loss is primarily driven by basal melting along the Amundsen Sea coast, where warm ocean waters interact with floating ice shelves. Internal ice dynamics further modulate the ice sheet’s response to ocean forcing, highlighting the need for coupled modelling approaches.

In this study, I present the calibration of a new coupled ice-ocean model of West Antarctica, covering the region from the Abbot to the Getz basins, including key glaciers such as Pine Island and Thwaites. The ice sheet component is simulated using the ice-flow model Úa, optimised in two stages to match present-day conditions. This is coupled offline to the MIT general circulation model (MITgcm), which incorporates sea ice and ice shelf thermodynamics and is driven by historical atmospheric reanalyses.

We assess the sensitivity of the coupled model hindcast to melt rate parameters in MITgcm and calibrate it against observations of basal melt rates, and changes in ice velocity and ice thickness over recent decades. This represents the first such calibration using both oceanic and glaciological observations. The results presented here will inform optimal melt parameters for other models. Additionally, our historically calibrated model will be used to predict future sea level contributions and help us to better constrain the complex interplay between ice dynamics and ocean forcing in West Antarctica.

Link to the teams meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MjE5MmIxMGYtNzllMC00MmNlLTlhMDMtMmE1MWJjNGVmNzQ4%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22b311db95-32ad-438f-a101-7ba061712a4e%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%229a5b5150-2ddd-43f0-9054-966647264d30%22%7d

PLEASE NOTE If you are external to BAS and wish to attend please email the organisers in advance so they can organise to meet you in reception !!!

• Speaker: Jan De Rydt (University of Northumbria), Brad Reed (University of Northumbria)
• Wednesday 15 October 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: BAS Seminar Room 2.
• Series: British Antarctic Survey - Polar Oceans seminar series; organiser: Katherine Turner.

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Glacierized mountainous areas make up some of the most hazardous landscapes of our planet, and are undergoing profound changes under 21st century climatic warming. The answers to two fundamental questions are required in these areas: (i) what is the baseline hazard and risk, and (ii) are the hazard and risk likely to increase or decrease in coming decades. While these questions remain largely unanswered on a global scale, this presentation delves into the subject through a series of case studies of complex hazards in glacierized and high-mountain areas.

In this talk, I will consider both the gaps in our current knowledge, and how novel techniques and datasets help bridge these. In particular, I will discuss the two-way interactions between landslides and glaciers, improving summit ice volume estimates at glacierized volcanoes, and new optical feature tracking approaches to map slope deformation the scale of mountain ranges. The evolving hazard profile intersects with a growing population and rapidly developing infrastructure networks. As a result, a cross-disciplinary approach is essential to comprehensively analyse and mitigate risk. This talk highlights the significance of addressing these challenges and explores avenues for future research.

• Speaker: Max Van Wyk de Vries, Department of Earth Sciences / Department of Geography, University of Cambridge
• Monday 20 October 2025, 13:00-14:00
• Venue: MR3, CMS.
• Series: Quantitative Climate and Environmental Science Seminars; organiser: Bethan Wynne-Cattanach.

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Next up in the Polar Ocean Semanar Series we are delighted to welcome Jan De Rydt and Brad Reed from the University of Northumbria. The seminar will take place Wednesday 15th October at 2pm in Seminar Room 2.

Brad and Jan will be visiting BAS from Wednesday to Thursday to evening so get in touch if you would like to organise a chat. We will also be organising a pub trip on the Wednesday evening updates to come!

Jan De Rydt is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at Northumbria University, where he conducts research in polar glaciology and oceanography. He is interested in physical processes that govern the dynamics of glaciers and ice caps, and their interactions with the climate system. He uses a combination of theory, measurements and numerical models to simulate present-day and future changes of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, and understand their complex intereactions with the surrounding ocean. His work aims to enable more robust forecasts of sea level rise over the next decades to centuries, and advance our understanding of the interactions between ice sheets and the global climate system.

Brad Reed is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Northumbria University interested in the behaviour of glaciers and ice sheets. He primarily uses numerical modelling to study the flow of glaciers and how they respond to external conditions. To do this, he also incorporates satellite data and other data sources into the modelling process for validation and comparison.

Link to the teams meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MjE5MmIxMGYtNzllMC00MmNlLTlhMDMtMmE1MWJjNGVmNzQ4%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22b311db95-32ad-438f-a101-7ba061712a4e%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%229a5b5150-2ddd-43f0-9054-966647264d30%22%7d

PLEASE NOTE If you are external to BAS and wish to attend please email the organisers in advance so they can organise to meet you in reception !!!

• Speaker: Jan De Rydt (University of Northumbria), Brad Reed (University of Northumbria)
• Wednesday 15 October 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: BAS Seminar Room 2.
• Series: British Antarctic Survey - Polar Oceans seminar series; organiser: Katherine Turner.

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Next up in the Polar Ocean Semanar Series we are delighted to welcome Jan De Rydt and Brad Reed from the University of Northumbria. The seminar will take place Wednesday 15th October at 2pm in Seminar Room 2.

Brad and Jan will be visiting BAS from Wednesday to Thursday to evening so get in touch if you would like to organise a chat. We will also be organising a pub trip on the Wednesday evening updates to come!

Jan De Rydt is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at Northumbria University, where he conducts research in polar glaciology and oceanography. He is interested in physical processes that govern the dynamics of glaciers and ice caps, and their interactions with the climate system. He uses a combination of theory, measurements and numerical models to simulate present-day and future changes of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, and understand their complex intereactions with the surrounding ocean. His work aims to enable more robust forecasts of sea level rise over the next decades to centuries, and advance our understanding of the interactions between ice sheets and the global climate system.

Brad Reed is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Northumbria University interested in the behaviour of glaciers and ice sheets. He primarily uses numerical modelling to study the flow of glaciers and how they respond to external conditions. To do this, he also incorporates satellite data and other data sources into the modelling process for validation and comparison.

PLEASE NOTE If you are external to BAS and wish to attend please email the organisers in advance so they can organise to meet you in reception !!!

• Speaker: Jan De Rydt (University of Northumbria), Brad Reed (University of Northumbria
• Wednesday 15 October 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: BAS Seminar Room 2.
• Series: British Antarctic Survey - Polar Oceans seminar series; organiser: Katherine Turner.

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Hydrogen could be used as an alternate to fossil fuels if generated sustainably. However, leakage of hydrogen into the atmosphere could have further repercussions on climate change. Atmospheric hydrogen has an indirect greenhouse effect due to its impacts on methane, troposperic ozone and stratospheric water vapour. Understanding the lifetime of hydrogen and its effect on methane is vital to quantify its impact on climate. The main destructive pathways of hydrogen are via OH reaction (30%) and soil update (70%). The OH used in hydrogen destruction  is known to cause a decrease in methane destruction (which is also primarily destroyed by OH), while destruction of H2 by soil uptake is poorly constrained and difficult to model. We implement a hydrogen soil deposition scheme into a model with pre-existing interactive methane to create a fully interactive hydrogen-methane atmospheric chemistry model. We examine the impacts of having both interactive hydrogen and methane and show how it compares to observations.

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_YTZhNzA2OTMtM2I0ZS00ODI4LTk1YjMtZWU5ZGNiOGVjOGQw%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2249a50445-bdfa-4b79-ade3-547b4f3986e9%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%228b208bd5-8570-491b-abae-83a85a1ca025%22%7d

• Speaker: Dr Megan Brown, University of Cambridge
• Tuesday 02 December 2025, 11:00-12:00
• Venue: Chemistry Dept, Unilever Lecture Theatre and Teams.
• Series: Centre for Atmospheric Science seminars, Chemistry Dept.; organiser: Yao Ge.

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TBC

• Speaker: David Abrahams, DAMTP, University of Cambridge
• Friday 05 December 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Venue: MR2.
• Series: Fluid Mechanics (DAMTP); organiser: Duncan Hewitt.

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TBC

• Speaker: Quentin Kriaa, DAMTP, University of Cambridge
• Friday 07 November 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Venue: MR2.
• Series: Fluid Mechanics (DAMTP); organiser: Duncan Hewitt.

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Over the time-scales of seconds to years that are associated with processes such as seismic wave propagation, tidal deformation, and rotational variations, the Earth’s crust, mantle and inner core are viscoelastic solids, while the outer core and oceans are compressible fluids whose viscosity’s are sufficiently low as to be commonly neglected. Were it not for the presence of the fluid regions, an essentially complete mathematical description of the dynamics could be developed, and the numerical solution of the resulting equations would present no essential difficulties. In this talk I will discuss some of the remaining challenges, both theoretical and computational, that arise within these applications due to the presence of fluid regions and point to some possible methods for their resolution.

• Speaker: David Al-Attar, DES, University of Cambridge
• Friday 17 October 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Venue: MR2.
• Series: Fluid Mechanics (DAMTP); organiser: Duncan Hewitt.

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The response of the polymeric stress in the Oldroyd-B model to various planar flow kinematics is probed. By focusing on the two invariants of the conformation tensor©, namely the trace (tr) and determinant (det), (or, equivalently, the sum and the product of the two eigenvalues) the domain of realisable stress states are mapped. Previous theoretical bounds have been (re)proposed for 2D flows, viz det C 1 and therefore tr C 2 (det C)1/2 ((Hulsen (1988), Hu & Lelièvre (2007), Yerasi et al (2024)).

For all steady homogeneous 2D flows, including flows tending to solid body rotation, steady shearing, planar extension (and all flows in between these bounds), plus fully developed channel flow (i.e. inhomogeneous shearing) and flows next to all continuous walls without sharp corners, we show that tr C = 2 det C. Start-up shearing and planar extension are seen to approach the steady flow relationship in a differing manner, whilst large amplitude oscillatory shearing (LAOS) and extension (LAOE) exhibit rich kinematics. We find the lower theoretical bound (tr C 2 (det C)1/2) is only approached for strongly time varying extensional kinematics (LAOE with De~O(0.1)) and many other flows appear bound by tr C = 1 + det C (start up extension, LAOS ).

Limited results from more complex benchmark flows involving mixed shear and extension (steady in a Eulerian sense), including flow past a confined cylinder in a channel, the cross slot and flow in a 4:1 contraction fall within the bounds of those “simpler” kinematics. Extensions of the approach to more complicated models, such as the simplified Phan-Thien and Tanner and the FENE -P models, will also briefly be discussed. The results here may be useful in determining bounds for numerical computations or providing information regarding what rheological tests produce similar stress state responses to more complex flows.

• Speaker: Robert Poole, University of Liverpool
• Friday 28 November 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Venue: MR2.
• Series: Fluid Mechanics (DAMTP); organiser: Duncan Hewitt.

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The currently ongoing climate change and the debate about possible measures to be taken to limit the consequences of climate change, requires to know and understand the future response of the climate system to greenhouse gas emissions. Classical measures of climate change such as the Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity are inherently linear and unable to account for abrupt transitions due to (interacting) tipping elements.

In this presentation I will discuss more general notions of climate sensitivity defined on a climate attractor that can be useful in understanding the response of a climate state to changes in radiative forcing. For example, a climate state close to a tipping point will have a degenerate linear response to perturbations, which can be associated with extreme values of the climate sensitivity. While many identified tipping elements in the climate system are regional and may have no direct impact on the global mean temperature, cascades of tipping elements can potentially have an impact, initiated by the threshold of the leading tipping element in a cascade.

I will also showcase a few examples of large scale climate tipping elements and their interactions, in particular related to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and polar ice sheets.

• Speaker: Anna von der Heydt, Utrecht University
• Friday 14 November 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Venue: MR2.
• Series: Fluid Mechanics (DAMTP); organiser: Duncan Hewitt.

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TBC

• Speaker: Matilda Backholm, Aalto University
• Friday 31 October 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Venue: MR2.
• Series: Fluid Mechanics (DAMTP); organiser: Duncan Hewitt.

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Turbulent convection processes are ubiquitous in nature and technology. We study the structure of thermal and viscous boundary layers in three-dimensional Rayleigh-Bénard convection, a paradigm of these natural flows, for a range of Rayleigh numbers that spans 6 orders of magnitude by means of direct numerical simulations. The configuration is a plane layer of aspect ratio 4 with periodic boundary conditions at the sides – the configuration that comes close to the original configuration studied by Lord Rayleigh and others. Velocity fluctuations dominate the near-wall regions at all Rayleigh numbers. A global mean flow, which is a prerequisite for several theoretical models of turbulent heat transfer, is practically absent. Rather, the velocity field close to the wall can be decomposed into regions that are dominated by local, differently oriented and transient shear motion with shear-free regions in between. Thermal plumes are found to be organized in a self-similar hierarchical network, which gets coarser with increasing distance from the wall. The thermal boundary layers are marginally stable; the critical wavelength bounds the mean thermal plume spacing in the hierarchical network for all Rayleigh numbers from below. Our studies thus underline that the character of the near-wall layers in plane-layer Rayleigh-Bénard convection differs from those of canonical wall-bounded shear flows.

• Speaker: Jörg Schumacher, Technische Universität Ilmenau
• Friday 24 October 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Venue: MR2.
• Series: Fluid Mechanics (DAMTP); organiser: Duncan Hewitt.

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We assess a prognostic formulation of triple coherence relating to energy exchange between mesoscale eddies and the internal wavefield and compare with observations from the Sargasso Sea.

We break new ground in the following ways: (1) We utilize concepts from Open Quantum Systems to arrive at the essential results presented in Muller 1976, JFM , where eddy induced internal wave-stress perturbations are damped using a nonlinear relaxation time scale approximation. The broad brush take on Open Quantum Systems is that there is a system (ray tracing), a bath (the background internal wavefield) and a system bath interaction (nonlinear relaxation). We avoid the asymptotic expansion involving small perturbations to wave phase speed that is the basis of Muller.

(2) We define the background internal wave spectrum based upon a regional characterization of the wavefield in the Sargasso Sea. This differs from the canonical description referred to as GM76 in crucial respects.

(3) We use recent theoretical work on both extreme scale separated interactions and the internal wave kinetic equation to properly define nonlinear relaxation time scales.

Agreement of the prognostic formulation with data is remarkable and is consistent with eddy-wave coupling dominating the regional internal wave energy budget, as in the diagnostic study of Polzin 2010, JPO , using data from the Local Dynamics Experiment of PolyMode III , circa 1978-1979. Extraction of eddy energy happens at the horizontal and vertical scales that characterize baroclinic instability and potential vorticity fluxes. The goodness of this effort reinforces a prior hypothesis (Polzin and Lvov 2011, RoG) that the character of the internal wavefield in the Sargasso Sea is set by this interaction, which, in turn, serves as an amplifier of tertiary energy inputs from larger vertical scales that characterize internal swell. With this knowledge and confidence, we then speculate on the role that this coupling plays in mesoscale eddy dynamics in the Southern Recirculation Gyre of the Gulf Stream. In this instance our interest is the potential enstrophy budget, in which enstrophy is the square of the perturbation potential vorticity and, as is energy, an inviscid invariant.

We argue that this nonlinear relaxation effectively provides a local eddy enstrophy damping consistent with potential vorticity flux observations from the Local Dynamics Experiment. This happens at spatial scales somewhat smaller than the energy extraction scale and locates the end of the potential enstrophy cascade in the spectral domain as the energy containing scale of the internal wavefield. We offer insight into how such speculation might acquire firmer ground by ​ describing how to incorporate modulations of the lower bound of internal wave frequency by potential vorticity perturbations into the existing formulation. In the context of a formal WKB approximation, the current formulation stands as a ‘geometric optics’ approximation controlling system behavior whereas modulations of the waveguide are a ‘physical optics’ correction.

Regardless, the dynamical consequence is that wave-eddy coupling is responsible for the maintenance of gyre scale potential vorticity gradients that are crucial to Rossby wave propagation and Earth system behavior.

• Speaker: Kurt Polzin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• Friday 10 October 2025, 16:00-17:00
• Venue: MR2.
• Series: Fluid Mechanics (DAMTP); organiser: Duncan Hewitt.

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Abstract:

Two-way feedbacks between atmospheric composition changes and climate dynamics have gained increasing attention due to its critical role in weather and climate prediction. In this talk, I will provide a broad overview of the field’s development and highlight where chemistry-climate interactions are considered most significant. I will present a range of examples based on advanced modeling and newly developed observational climate data records to illustrate chemistry–climate coupling across timescales from S2S weather patterns to long-term climate trends. These include the influence of dynamical processes and abrupt events—such as sudden stratospheric warmings and the Hunga Tonga eruption—on stratospheric composition anomalies and their feedbacks on meteorological and climate phenomena. I will also discuss the impacts of stratospheric ozone depletion and recovery on climate radiative forcing and atmosphere–ocean dynamics. Finally, I will present a storyline approach to future air pollution and how air pollution impacted methane (and thus climate) over the recent past. Collectively, these findings emphasize the critical feedback loops between atmospheric composition and climate dynamics via radiative processes and underscore the need for realistic representation of composition anomalies in weather forecasting systems and climate models.

Short bio:

Prof. Dr Michaela I. Hegglin holds an MSc in Environmental Science (2000) and a PhD in Atmospheric Science (2004) from ETH Zurich in Switzerland. After seven years at the University of Toronto as Postdoc and Research Associate she moved in 2012 to the Meteorology Department at the University of Reading where she progressed through the ranks and was promoted to Full Professor in 2022. Since March 2022 she took on the position as Director of the Institute of Climate and Energy Systems – Stratosphere (ICE-4) at the Research Centre Julich, Germany, and holds a Full Professorship at the University of Wuppertal.

Michaela’s main expertise lies in Earth observations, atmospheric chemistry and transport, upper troposphere and lower stratosphere processes, stratospheric ozone, air pollution, chemistry-climate coupling, and Earth-system model evaluation. She has occupied numerous leadership roles within Future Earth, the World Climate Research Programme, and the World Meteorological Organisation/United Nations Environment Programme (WMO/UNEP) Scientific Assessments of Ozone Depletion, and is currently Principal Investigator of the European Space Agency’s Water Vapour Climate Change Initiative.

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_Y2VhNTk0OWMtNDc4Mi00YzVjLTkzYTUtNGM3MjU4OTYzMTJl%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2249a50445-bdfa-4b79-ade3-547b4f3986e9%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%228b208bd5-8570-491b-abae-83a85a1ca025%22%7d

• Speaker: Prof Michaela I. Hegglin, Director at the Institute of Climate and Energy Systems of the Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany)
• Tuesday 21 October 2025, 11:00-12:00
• Venue: Chemistry Dept, Unilever Lecture Theatre and Teams.
• Series: Centre for Atmospheric Science seminars, Chemistry Dept.; organiser: Yao Ge.

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Abstract

Nature is full of music, from tiny birds with melodious songs and elaborate repertoires to majestic whales with inaudibly low voices propagating around the globe. As far as we can tell, however, the music is not often just for pleasure and has evolved serving a purpose. Animals are almost continuously busy with their sonic flirts and fights, whether we hear them or not, in air and water, day and night. The acoustic ecology of species-specific habitats has shaped this music over evolutionary time. The circumstances, however, for the function and evolution of animal communication have changed in air and in water, with the global spread of noisy human activities. In the Anthropocene, we can even speak of ‘acoustic climate change’ and attention and action is required for moderating the acoustic future of the earth for the sake of animal song persistence and our own physical and mental health.

Biography

Hans Slabbekoorn is professor in Acoustic Ecology & Behaviour. He did his BSc and MSc in Biology at Utrecht University (1988-1994), and received his PhD at Leiden University (1994-1998). After post-doctoral positions at San Francisco State University (1998-2001) and back at Leiden University (2001-2004), he stayed in Leiden at the Institute of Biology and became Assistant Professor in 2004, Associate Professor in 2012, and Full Professor in 2022. He has been away for brief periods as visiting professor, at Paris Nanterre, France (2011), NFU , Harbin, China (2015), FUB , Salvador, Brazil (2017), and Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Paramaribo (2025). Over the years, he has worked on plants, primates, birds, fishes, marine mammals, and invertebrates. In recent and ongoing projects, he is investigating the effects of noise and light pollution in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and he is particularly interested in applying the one health concept to urban ecology and providing fundamental knowledge to ecological impact assessments of the offshore wind energy transition. Besides research, he is dedicated to teaching and has been responsible for courses on: Behaviour & Conservation, Trends in Behaviour & Ecology, Animal Behaviour and Experimental Design, Advanced Academic Skills, Urban Ecology & Evolution, and seminar series on Human Evolution and Animal Personality.

• Speaker: Professor Hans Slabberkoorn, Leiden University
• Friday 23 January 2026, 17:30-18:30
• Venue: Lady Mitchell Hall, Sidgwick Avenue.
• Series: Darwin College Lecture Series; organiser: Janet Gibson.

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Abstract

From the first lullabies that soothe an infant to the anthems of adolescence, song traces the map of our becoming. More than entertainment, it is a medium through which children learn to attend, remember, speak, and feel with others. This lecture follows development from infancy through adolescence to show how song supports language growth, memory formation, emotional regulation, and social connection. I will use brief examples from Arabic, French, and American children’s songs. These examples will show how familiar repertoire reflects cultural identity in language, imagery, and style. They will also show shared design features such as repetition, small pitch ranges, and a steady beat, which support learning and belonging. Drawing on music education, psychology, and neuroscience, I will outline what changes across stages and what endures: the voice as the most immediate instrument, rhythm as an organizer of attention, and shared singing as a practice that builds trust and community. Practical implications for families, schools, and community programs will include simple routines that nurture resilience and inclusive classrooms. In an age of uncertainty, song remains a durable resource for growth and cohesion, binding individuals to themselves, to one another, and to the wider world.

Biography

Dr Ibrahim H Baltagi is a music educator and lecturer at the Lebanese American University and Head of Music at Al Makassed schools in Beirut. He has taught at The Ohio State University and Baldwin Wallace University. He earned a PhD in music education from The Ohio State University and holds certificates in the Kodály method and Orff Schulwerk approach. He has led workshops in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Cyprus, and the United States. His scholarship includes chapters in the International Handbook of Research in Arts Education, peer reviewed publications, and regular conference presentations on song and child development. His work with UNICEF Innocenti focuses on music, learning, and childhood wellbeing, and he has been featured as a music expert in UNICEF parenting masterclasses. He is the author of the Music Garden series and Let’s Read and Write Music, available in Arabic, English, and French. These series provide a pathway for learning through singing, movement, instruments, and creative music making, with emphasis on music literacy, performance, listening, and joyful classroom practice.

• Speaker: Dr Ibrahim Baltagi, Lebanese American University
• Friday 06 February 2026, 17:30-18:30
• Venue: Lady Mitchell Hall, Sidgwick Avenue.
• Series: Darwin College Lecture Series; organiser: Janet Gibson.

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Abstract

Between 1936 and 1948, Palestinian music experienced a transformative period shaped by the establishment of the Palestine Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Near East Broadcasting Station (NEBS). These radio stations became influential cultural platforms that enabled Palestinian musicians to explore, refine, and project a national identity through music. They created an ecosystem in which diverse traditions could intermingle, inviting voices from across Palestine and the broader Arab region to contribute to a vibrant musical landscape. Within this environment, vocal genres underwent significant evolution, as traditional folk melodies expanded into shaʿbī songs and new forms such as the Palestinian Qaṣīda emerged. Instrumental compositions also flourished, crafted for both local and Western ensembles, while choirs and children’s programming deepened the reach of musical production. Palestinian musicians simultaneously engaged with Egyptian popular styles and preserved classical traditions, including the muwashshaḥāt. The opportunities for recording and broadcasting provided by PBS and NEBS not only elevated the visibility of Palestinian musicians but also ensured the preservation and dissemination of their works. This cultural renaissance, marked by innovation and cross-cultural exchange, fostered a distinctive Palestinian musical identity that reflected both regional diversity and local creativity.

Biography

Issa Boulos is an internationally acclaimed composer, lyricist, researcher, and songwriter whose works have been performed worldwide. Trained from an early age in piano, ‘ūd, and voice, he later studied composition with Gustavo Leone, Athanasios Zervas, and William Russo at Columbia College Chicago, followed by Robert Lombardo and Ilya Levinson at Roosevelt University. He earned his PhD in ethnomusicology from Leiden University. Boulos is known for blending traditional instruments with contemporary innovation, creating music for orchestras, chamber, and mixed ensembles, as well as hundreds of songs, several of which became hits. His commissions include four works for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a project with the Silk Road Ensemble, and scores for award-winning films, documentaries, plays, and musicals. His career spans the United States, the Middle East, and Europe, earning recognition for both performance and scholarship. He directed the Middle East Music Ensemble at the University of Chicago for nearly a decade, co-founded the Qatar Music Academy in 2010 and served as its Head of Music, and co-founded the Palestinian Institute for Cultural Development (NAWA). Today, Boulos is Manager of the Harper College Community Music and Arts Center, adjunct music faculty, and a board member of organizations including Amwaj Choir.

• Speaker: Professor Issa Boulos, University of Chicago
• Friday 06 March 2026, 17:30-18:30
• Venue: Lady Mitchell Hall, Sidgwick Avenue.
• Series: Darwin College Lecture Series; organiser: Janet Gibson.

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Abstract

We have no shortage of evidence about the importance of song in the ancient world, including written descriptions of music in literature, songs embedded in narratives, standalone hymnic texts, and collections of psalms and hymns. While we can only imagine the melodies and modes of performance, the surviving texts reveal an imaginal world in which the divine and the human were inextricably interwoven. In Greco-Roman antiquity we see how songs of one time and place became an evocative source for later generations to reflect on their particular realities in light of larger forces they saw at work in the world, including in the divine benefactions of their rulers. Early Jewish and Christian psalms and hymns show that their authors had complex ways of reworking traditions and themes to meet the needs of a new era, both religiously and politically. This lecture explores the rich treasury of ancient religious song, looking especially at how songs functioned for the communities that preserved them. We will pay attention to the affective dimensions of ancient songs, their power to shape a community’s perception of reality, and their suitability to serve as vehicles of resistance through the reimagining of earlier images and forms. If we listen carefully, even today we can hear echoes of religion and resistance in the songs of antiquity.

Biography

Matthew E Gordley is a scholar of Christianity and Judaism in antiquity who has been researching and writing on the influence and impact of ancient song for more than two decades. His work on early Christian and Jewish psalms and hymns seeks to situate these poetic compositions within their ancient historical and cultural contexts so that they may be more fully appreciated by readers today. His scholarly monographs on the subject include The Colossian Hymn in Context (2007), Teaching through Song in Antiquity: Didactic Hymnody among Geeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians (2011), and New Testament Christological Hymns: Exploring Texts, Contexts, and Significance (2018). His latest book, Social Justice in the Stories of Jesus: The Ethical Challenge of the Parables (2024), uses a similar historical and cultural approach to understand how the stories Jesus told continue to engage and challenge readers to this day. He earned a PhD from the University of Notre Dame and currently serves as Interim Provost and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Carlow University (Pittsburgh, PA), where he also holds a tenured faculty appointment as Professor of Theology.

• Speaker: Dr Matthew Gordley, Carlow University
• Friday 13 February 2026, 17:30-18:30
• Venue: Lady Mitchell Hall, Sidgwick Avenue.
• Series: Darwin College Lecture Series; organiser: Janet Gibson.

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