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© 2026 Meliora: a podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute
Description
Welcome to the Green Gown Award winning Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability and Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton!
This podcast explores the greatest and most wicked problem that is sustainability, whilst looking at how we are collectively addressing this critical global challenge.
Sustainability needs to be addressed by understanding how the economy, society, culture, politics and environment intersect, and this is the focus that informs each episode of the Meliora podcast.
In each episode, host Professor Simon Kemp and guest hosts are joined by a variety of guests, including academics, students, staff, researchers, alumni, community groups and business leaders.
The aim of the podcast is to shine a light on the vast range of topics surrounding sustainability and to allow listeners to learn about the critical challenges we face, as well as how they can be part of the solution. We also ensure our fantastic students have the opportunity to share their brilliant work with the world.
Podcast host: Professor Simon Kemp, Deputy Director of the Sustainability & Resilience Institute, University of Southampton
Podcast editors: Jack Dinham, Ellie Howell, May Harvey, Lily Killner, Sophie Green, Libby Kale, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton
Podcast communications: Hannah Parish, Alexander Ayerst, Maya Stevens, University of Southampton
Please do get in touch to discuss this podcast and any of the issues we raise by emailing sri@soton.ac.uk
Follow us on instagram and X: @meliorapodcast
118 Episodes
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We are delighted to be joined by the brilliant Rebecca Kinge and Izzy Sargent of the Southampton Climate Action Network (SoCAN) to discuss the crucial work they and community collective colleagues are conducting across the city of Southampton. Although climate focused in the name, their work addresses all the different dimensions of sustainability and this episode explores this through a local community action group. We also get to learn about the sustainability journeys of both Rebecca and I...
In the summer of 2025 the DRAGON-Mekong Institute at Can Tho University Viet Nam and the Sustainability & Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton UK worked together on a research exchange programme for undergraduates, masters students, postgraduate research students, and early career academics. This programme is all about transformative impact in the broadest fields of sustainability centred around the climate change and adaptation challenges facing communities along t...
In the summer of 2025 the DRAGON-Mekong Institute at Can Tho University Viet Nam and the Sustainability & Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton UK worked together on a research exchange programme for undergraduates, masters students, postgraduate research students, and early career academics. This programme is all about transformative impact in the broadest fields of sustainability centred around the climate change and adaptation challenges facing communities along t...
In the summer of 2025 the DRAGON-Mekong Institute at Can Tho University Viet Nam and the Sustainability & Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton UK worked together on a research exchange programme for undergraduates, masters students, postgraduate research students, and early career academics. This programme is all about transformative impact in the broadest fields of sustainability centred around the climate change and adaptation challenges facing communities along t...
This is just a bit of fun. Not a serious sustainability research, education or careers episode, this is an informal recording of some of the Meliora team chatting before, during and after the 2025 Green Gown Awards. We reflect on the podcast journey to this point, discuss our favourite episodes to date & the 2024 awards in the pub before the awards, attend the 2025 ceremony, chat to one of the co-chairs of the EAUC who run the GGA the brilliant Prof Zoe Robinson, the announcement o...
We are delighted to welcome the inspirational and all round wonderful sustainability expert Professor Denise Baden to what is now the 'Green Gown Award Winning' Meliora podcast from the Sustainability and Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton. Denise continues to innovate in her approach to maximising the sustainability impact of her work. We chat about her journey to sustainability, her academic expertise and teaching, creativity leading to research awards, and her curr...
The Meliora podcast is back for a new academic year, and we're joined by the brilliant Jenny Abery (Principal Educator) at the wonderful Hawk Conservancy Trust (https://www.hawk-conservancy.org/) to chat all things wildlife, studying, building a conservation education career, and the lifelong relationships and connections from studying at University. We always love having our alumni join us on the Meliora podcast, and as ever it was an absolute joy to welcome Jenny back. She was always...
Billy Weir MSci Environmental Science joins us again for his episode, this time on his Masters research project "Assessing the impact of Eurasian Beaver (Castor fiber) reintroduction on fish populations in Plymouth, England". Abstract - Rewilding has become an aim for conservation across the globe, and a crucial aspect of that is species reintroductions. Ecosystem engineers such as Eurasian Beavers (Castor fiber) are an excellent example of a species that can return to nature-deprived countri...
Nurulhuda Gumay Riswandi BA Philosophy and Politics joins us to discuss their research project "How can we explore and compare health infrastructures and delivery of healthcare services of two regions affected by conflict and political instability?". This research explores and compares the health infrastructures and healthcare delivery systems of four post-conflict countries: Rwanda and Liberia in Sub-Saharan Africa and Iraq and Kuwait in the Middle East. By using a comparative case study met...
Joelle Foster BSc Psychology joins us to discuss her research project titled "An investigation into music engagement in adults in the UK and its relationship with general levels of nostalgia and mental well-being". Research on music listening is vast in showing the mental health benefits of such a practice. Nostalgia has also shown great effect in eliciting positive emotions. Emerging research looks at music-evoked nostalgia but not much research has been conducted on music composers in this ...
We’re joined by three of our students - Jack Carter and Shaska Nicholson, who are studying BSc Biology, and Montasir Ahmed, who is studying BSc Pharmacology to discuss their research project ‘The Use of GenAI in Higher Education’ Over the past 6 months, they have been working on their Capstone Research Project as part of their School of Biological Sciences ‘Science Communication’ module. They investigated how students in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton are u...
Joseph Gray, BA Geography, joins us to discuss his research project 'Exploring how international visitors perceive the sustainability of transport at Milford Sound & the role of COVID-19 in reimagining travel at the site.' Abstract: Environmental sustainability contradictions are at the heart of national park tourism. Increased transport accessibility allows tourists to experience the natural character but causes environmental degradation. COVID-19 was an unprecedented moment that catalys...
James Machay, BA Geography, joins us to discuss his research project 'The Catalyst for change - exploring sustainability and pressures in non-league football'. Abstract - Attentiveness towards sustainability has expeditiously intensified due to the evolving climate emergency. Yet non-league football remains neglected in academic and media discourse regarding its capacity to become more sustainable. With non-league clubs at the heart of communities and climate change posing an imminent threat ...
Sophie Vokes, BSc Geography joins us to discuss her research project "Does Crymlyn Bog follow the traditional theory of hydrosphere wetlands?" Abstract This study employed macrofossil analysis to investigate environmental changes in Crymlyn Bog (Swansea) and assessed the site's compliance with the conventional hydrosphere hypothesis of wetland succession. Based on distribution and abundance, macrofossil remains from the peat cores were identified and documented, with a particular emphasis on ...
Eleanor Toppin, BA Geography, joins us to discuss her research project 'A Comparative Study: Exploring Student Consumer Perspectives on the Transition from Non-Ethical to Ethical Fashion Purchases'. Despite many students having an ethical mindset, they often fail to translate their intentions and attitudes into ethical purchases. This study aims to understand whether sustainability- based education can bridge these behavioural gaps in ethical fashion consumption. It examines students’ desire ...
Sam Atkinson, BSc Geography, joins us to discuss his research project "Is the Siberian Boreal Forest nearing a Tipping Point?" Abstract Increasing air temperatures, drought and wildfire is impacting the health of the Siberian Boreal Forest, with the boreal biome being predicted to be replaced by grasslands/steppe. Multiple scholars have referred to this transition as a 'tipping point' however few studies have tested whether any signals of a tipping point are present. Using remote sensing, the...
Heidi Wheatley, BSc Environmental Science, joins us to discuss her research project "Invasive non-native species impacts on invertebrate communities". Abstract Invasive non-native (INN) plants pose an increasing ecological threat worldwide, creating monocultured plant communities and causing ripple effects across various species. Invertebrates are particularly affected due to habitat and food resource alteration, leading to changes in ecosystem services and trophic cascades. However, not all ...
Darius Printer, BA Geography, joins us to discuss his research project "Left Behind Places as an Explanation for Geographies of Political Discontent - explaining right-wing populism rising trends" Abstract My Thesis is about mapping political discontent in the UK through the rise of RUK. Using ArcGIS I plotted left-behind neighbourhoods identified by the OSCII study in 2019 who were concerned with the most deprived areas in the UK in order to allocate the Stronger Towns Fund of £2 billi...
Julia Dines, BSc Environmental Science, joins us to discuss her research project "Growth vs Conservation - how can trekking tourism in Nepal adapt to a sustainable future?" Abstract The Himalayas are facing an ultimatum: limit trekking or lose the beauty of the mountains to environmental degradation, water contamination and waste accumulation. This research project aims to identify ways in which stakeholders can adapt their practices to protect the Himalayas, and their livelihoods, against cl...
Ethan Dennis, BSc Psychology joins us to discuss his research into the role of sub-clinical narcissism in the climate crisis, investigating the research on the relationship between narcissism and pro-environmental behaviour, and how this can be remedied. Three types of narcissism are examined: grandiose, vulnerable and communal. Literature suggests grandiose narcissists are detrimental to the environment, with communal narcissists claiming to be more environmental than they actually are...
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