Reading in the news - Wed 24 Mar

COVID-19: expert comment on the pandemic

• Professor Ian Jones (Biological Sciences) is quoted by and on criticism of vaccine trial data used by Oxford/AstraZeneca; and , and on attitudes towards the Russian Sputnik V vaccine
• Dr Simon Clarke (Biological Sciences) spoke to and about the possibility of Brits taking foreign holidays this summer.
• Dr Al Edwards (Pharmacy) is quoted by and on the prospect of people soon regularly testing themselves for coronavirus using rapid tests.
• PhD researcher Amie Bolissian (History/Centre for Health Humanities) spoke to BBC Radio Berkshire about how history will remember the Covid-19 pandemic.

UK wildfire danger: Sky News, Absolute Radio, , , , Daily Express (in print), , and more than 100 regional titles across the UK report a new study led by Professor Nigel Arnell (Meteorology) forecasting ‘exceptional’ wildfire danger, currently rarely seen in the UK, could occur every other year by the end of the century due to climate change. Read our news story.

Farmer representation: Farming Today on BBC Radio 4 interviewed Professor Richard Ellis (Agriculture) about the future of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board following a ballot in which the majority of potato growers voted to end it.

#UniForReading: reaffirming our role as a civic university

• The reports on a study caried out by the University’s Whitley Researchers with Reading Voluntary Action into the experience of young people in Reading, which will be discussed at an upcoming Reading Borough Council committee meeting.

Other coverage

• Professor James Reade (Economics) writes for on sport economics conferences taking place online in the coming weeks, and research that has been carried out during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
• mentions analysis by Charlotte Diffey (Archaology) of crops stored more than 3,500 years ago in Turkey, to understand how people were fed and how crops were taxed.
• A feature on spring gardening mentions Reading botany graduate and now renowned rose expert Michael Marriott and his current work.