News Archive

Reading in the news - Thu 26 Mar

COVID-19:

• Dr Simon Clarke (Biomedical Sciences) was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's World at One on the new antibody testing the UK government is talking about making widely available to the British public. Dr Clarke was also interviewed on Sky News on developing a vaccine for COVID-19.
• Dr Al Edwards (Pharmacy) was interviewed on Deutsche Welle about how well prepared Africa is for the coronavirus pandemic. This interview has been aired multiple times in the last 24 hours. Dr Edwards was also quoted in The Independent (print also) for a piece on antibody tests. The article is reproduced on MSN.com.
• Prof Ian Jones (Biomedical Sciences) was quoted in The Times (print also) for a story on traces of the virus found on a cruise ship 17 days after it was evacuated. Prof Jones was also quoted in Mail Online on antibody tests.
• Dr Hannah Newton (History) spoke to Sky News about current measures to delay the spread of COVID-19 and historical comparisons with the lockdown of plague victims in the 17^th century.
• Prof Patricia Riddell (Psychology) has written a piece for The Conversation on how people are responding differently to the new lockdown rules.
• Dr James Reade was interviewed on Al Jazeera about the impact of COVID-19 on sport.
• Prof Rajneesh Narula (Henley Business School) spoke to CGTN Europe about the impact of COVID-19 on international trade.
• BBC Radio Berkshire and The Breeze have covered the news that the University has made car parking spaces available to NHS staff working at Royal Berkshire Hospital. Read our news story here.
• Prof Hannah Cloke (Geography) is quoted in Times Higher Education for an article on the current pressure on researchers during this current crisis.
• A concerned father of a student at Reading spoke to LBC about the impact on his son's studies.

Air pollution: Comment from Prof Bill Collins (Met) on air pollution in the capital reducing is featured in Mail Online. 

Rainfall rescue project: Prof Ed Hawkins has today launched the Rainfall Rescue project, which is asking citizen scientists to help digitise rainfall data from the last 200 years. The project launch has seen coverage in BBC South, BBC online, Guardian, ITV.com, Mail Online, The I (print), The Times (print), Yahoo News, Irish Examiner, The Scotsman (print also) and local news outlets across the UK. Read our news story here.

Other coverage

• Prof Arlene Astell (Psychology) is quoted in a BBC Online article on how artificial intelligence is helping the elderly combat loneliness.
• A Telegraph (print) article on productive working environments cites a study by Prof Derek Clements-Croome (SCME), which found that there is a clear relationship between indoor air pollution and human productivity.
• An obituary in The Telegraph for author and herb expert Jessica Houdret mentions that she did a degree in English Literature at Reading as a mature student.