SCIENCE FOR SUSTAINAIBILTY GROUP SHORTLISTED FOR PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL AWARD

Keele's Science for Sustainability group, Professor Mark Ormerod, Dr Zoe Robinson and Lucy Gallagher, School of Physical and Geographical Sciences, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Sustain Magazine Awards for Sustainability, Business and the Built Environment in the Communication category for their highly original and innovative work, in developing effective strategies and approaches to communicating climate change, sustainable energy approaches and sustainable living to schoolchildren, school teachers and the wider public over the last two years.

The Science for Sustainability group is competing against some big names, which have also been shortlisted in the Communication category, including M&S and Valpak Ltd.  The awards ceremony will take place in London on Tuesday, 3 March.  For more information about the Science for Sustainability project, visit: http://system.newzapp.co.uk/GLink.asp?LID=MTgxMzg5NSw5.

£300K INVESTMENT TO TRANSFORM KEELE HALL BANQUETING SUITE

Keele Hall is undergoing a £300,000 transformation that will create the largest banqueting suite in Staffordshire.

The significant refurbishment will see the current split level banqueting suite expanded into one large level space, meaning the room will be able to accommodate up to 750 guests for corporate events and celebrations. The extended space will also be large enough for cars, making it perfect for auto launches and will have significant stand space available for exhibitions.

The renovation work, which began on 24 December and will be completed in March, will be carried out by local companies, providing significant investment for the Staffordshire business community.

Marcus Wilson, Sales and Marketing Manager for Keele Conferences, said: "This is a massive project for Keele Hall and we're excited to be working with local companies to create a spacious and modern facility."

LAKE REFILLS AFTER DESILTING

Work on the top lake at Keele has now been completed and it has started to refill.

Wrekin Construction Company Limited started work in October to restore the lake to its former beauty, preserving the original construction details of this historical site.

The 12-week project involved building a concrete curtain wall in front of the original weir, using a construction method that would not disturb the original wall and would be invisible when complete.

The lake had been dredged twenty years ago but had since re-silted to a depth of one metre. The weir controlling the water level had eroded and leaked water around the weir and through the dry stone construction. During the project 80 loads of silt per day were removed from the lake and hauled to a prepared area at the old sewerage works.

All works were carried out from the west side of the lake due to the presence of Japanese Knot Weed on the eastern bank. A seven metre exclusion zone was adhered to whilst a specialist company supervised the removal of the roots within the silt.

KNIGHTHOODS FOR KEELE GRADUATE AND FORMER HEAD OF EDUCATON

Keele graduate, Nick Partridge, Chief Executive of The Terrence Higgins Trust, the HIV and AIDS charity, and Professor Tim Brighouse, former Head of Education at Keele, both received knighthoods in the New Year honours for their achievements. Both men also hold honorary degrees from Keele.

Professor Sir Tim Brighouse was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by the University in 2003 for his outstanding contribution to education in Britain. Sir Nick Partridge was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by Keele in 2008, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the public understanding of HIV and AIDS. He graduated from Keele in 1978 with a degree in International Relations.

Sir Nick  Partridge has worked for the Terrence Higgins Trust since 1985 and was appointed Chief Executive in 1991.

He has been a consistent voice in the media coverage of AIDS and sexual health in all its aspects from health promotion, social care and advocacy to research and treatment issues.

Professor Sir Tim Brighouse is one of Britain's most respected educationalists. Most recently he served as London Schools Commissioner, working to improve education in the Capital. Before that his career started in the classroom and has taken in the role of Professor of Education at Keele, as well as Chief Education Officer in both Oxfordshire and Birmingham local authorities. For further information see here: http://system.newzapp.co.uk/GLink.asp?LID=MTgxMzg5Niw5.

MATHS DAYS AT KEELE

More than one hundred year 10 and 11 pupils from local schools have attended three KS4 Maths Days. The events, hosted by the Widening Participation Unit, included interactive sessions, Making the Point. Drawing the Line and Deal or No Deal, which were led by Doug Averis and Dr David Bedford. The days were rounded off with a campus tour delivered by a team of undergraduate student mentors. Not only did the days assist the pupils with their current studies at GCSE level, but gave them a chance to see what Keele, and Higher Education in general, had to offer. A fun, interesting and informative time was had by both the pupils and teaching staff alike.

£1/3 MILLION GRANT FOR EPSAM STUDY

Dr Susana Teixeira, Research Institute for the Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics, with Professor Trevor Forsyth and Professor Neil Isaacs, has been awarded £378,000 by The Science and Technology Facilities Council for a project titled "Structural Studies on the interaction between membrane proteins and lipids".

Membrane proteins play a diversity of roles in living systems - from structural support in the cell to signalling pathways, immune response, molecular transport, catalysis and photosynthesis. While membrane proteins are themselves difficult to purify, they can be isolated from their natural environment with the aid of detergents. Lipid membranes are, however, complex environments that are difficult to mimic and the direct environment where membrane proteins function remains poorly characterised and understood.

In collaboration with the groups of Professor Isaacs and Professor Richard Cogdell at Glasgow University, Dr Teixeira and Professor Forsyth are using deuteration facilities and neutron diffraction instruments at the Institut Laue Langevin (Grenoble, France) to study the interaction between lipids and the Reaction Centre, an integral membrane protein present in purple bacteria.

The Reaction Centre is part of a light harvesting complex that converts photons into chemical energy that the cell can use directly. They are taking advantage of the unique ability of low resolution neutron crystallography to identify and characterise the lipids bound to the protein in the crystal form. This will provide further insight into the symbiotic relationship between proteins and lipids in the membrane, where a delicate dynamic system defines and sustains life from microorganisms to humans.

NATIONAL HYDROLOGICAL SOCIETY MEETING

Dr Stefan Krause, School of Earth Science and Geography, co-organised the British Hydrological Society National Meeting on "Hyporheic Hydrology: emerging ideas and management implications" in Birmingham.

Although a national meeting, the conference attracted the interest of a high number of overseas researchers. Keele presentations included a poster first authored by Applied Environmental Science student Emma Naden on "Scales and Patterns of Nitrate Transport and Transformation in the Hyporheic Zone of a Lowland River", which raised great interest, particularly with regulating bodies like the Environment Agency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.