Lancaster University students under lockdown launch a new blog about the environmental challenges facing the world, from air and noise pollution to agriculture, diet, climate change and conservation.

Do ladybirds like rock ‘n roll music? What is the biggest action individuals can take to combat climate change? Does living in a major European city damage your health? Are supermarkets a force for good or evil?

These are some of the serious environmental questions tackled in an accessible way by first-year undergraduate students in a new blog launched this month. Despite being locked down and starting their university careers at a distance, the students have tackled subjects that span the globe.

Environmental Challenges 101 features more than 30 blogs written by students studying Geography, Environmental and Earth Sciences and Ecology and Conservation at the Lancaster Environment Centre. They were asked to write an article based on a published research paper from anywhere in the world, as part of the interdisciplinary Global Environmental Challenges course – one of the core modules which introduces students to the skills required and approach needed to address contemporary environmental issues.

Ecologist Dr Emma Sayer, convenor of the course, said: ‘I wanted to do something new to help motivate the students despite the challenging circumstances under which they’ve started university. So I decided to set a piece of coursework that is a little bit more fun and ‘useful’ and asked them to write a blog post about a piece of relevant research.’

Emma and LEC.101 Senior Tutor Dr Jacqui Owen were impressed by the range, insight and enthusiasm shown in the resulting blogs, with many students doing ‘a stellar job’. They decided to set up a blog site to showcase the students’ work to a wider audience.

You can access the Environmental Challenges 101 blog here.

Find out more about studying Geography, Ecology and Conservation or Environmental and Earth Sciences at Lancaster University.