As part of their involvement with the Climate Ambassadors Scheme, Dr Cathie Wells and Dr Elena Saggioro presented a climate talk to Reading’s University of the Third Age. The presentation was the inaugural annual lecture given in memory of Nina Webb, a keen environmentalist and former member of the u3a Science and Technology Group.
What happened:
The presentation gave an overview of the work of the Walker Institute and the career pathways of Cathie and Elena, before moving into an explanation of how climate storylines can allow uncertainties in climate projections to be illustrated, without the need for probabilistic methods or model averaging. The focus was primarily on the local context and particularly adaptation in the horticultural sector, although work in Iraq and Pakistan was also mentioned.
This was followed by a lively Question-and-Answer session covering everything from the best garden plants to grow in hotter drier conditions to the relative importance of mitigation and adaptation.
The event was well attended and, despite the challenging level of science being debated, the audience remained very engaged.
It was a fast-paced interactive session and many of the audience remained after the main talk to discuss the issues raised.
Outcomes
The group seemed keen to make changes on an individual basis, and have also set up a tree planting scheme.
