Speaker: Mike Taylor; University of Bristol Earth Sciences. 

The necks of sauropod dinosaurs were by far the longest in history, exceeding 15m. By contrast, the neck of the giraffe, the longest of any animal alive today, reaches only 2.4m. 

Mike will be looking at aspects of the anatomy of really big animals, including dinosaurs and modern mammals, to see how dinosaur evolution found solutions to problems that stymied it in the mammalian world.

Speaker: Professor Richard Pancost, Professor of Biogeochemistry at Bristol University.

Richard uses the latest chemical techniques to analyse organic matter in natural materials.  They allow him to discover facts about past climates, microbial adaptation to the environment and biogeochemical processes. He will be describing his work as a ‘paleo-detective.

Richard will also describe his role as Director of the Cabot Institute, which explores fundamental, applied and multidisciplinary approaches to understanding, adapting to and governing with environmental uncertainty.