News

Call the Midwife at Christmas

Dr Alice Watson explores the significance and enduring popularity of the Call the Midwife Christmas specials, which continue to be at the heart of the BBC’s festive schedule every year. This follows on from Alice's collaborative research projects with the BBC about the impact of the television drama on audiences and the creative fandom community surrounding it. More generally, her research explores geographies of media and popular culture, and focuses on the BBC and its public service broadcasting. 

Image: BBC
IN THE MEDIA

Nearly 8,000 animal species at risk as extreme heat and land-use change collide

Almost 8,000 animal species could be pushed closer to extinction by the end of this century as the interacting effects of climate change-driven extreme heat and human land-use change create increasingly unsuitable conditions across their habitats, according to new research from a international research team led by Dr Reut Vardi of the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford.

Image: Mark Kostich / Adobe Stock
IN THE MEDIA

Plastic Pollution Growing at Troubling Rate With Significant Environmental, Human Health Consequences

A major new report published by The Pew Charitable Trusts and its partners, including Prof. Richard Bailey, "Breaking the Plastic Wave 2025" finds that the scale and impact of plastic pollution is far worse than previously thought, with far-reaching consequences for the environment and human health and well-being. Without action, plastic pollution will more than double over the next 15 years, reaching the equivalent of nearly a garbage truck per second of plastic polluting the environment by 2040, driven by production levels that will rise twice as fast as waste management. But these harms can be dramatically reduced using existing solutions if ambitious, fundamental change is urgently enacted throughout the global plastic system.

Image: marina_larina / Adobe Stock
IN THE MEDIA