The University has been awarded a highly prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for the work of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE). The official announcement took place at St James’s Palace on Thursday 21 November 2019.

The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes are awarded, within the honours system, for exceptional contributions by institutions in the higher and further education sectors and will be presented by The Queen at Buckingham Palace on 20 February 2020.

Since its foundation, DICE has been a leader in its field, and instrumental in supporting applied research and capacity building in this area. It is the largest UK higher education institute to undertake this work, offering interdisciplinary undergraduate and postgraduate courses in wildlife conservation. To date, over 1000 conservationists from over a 100 countries have trained with DICE.

Professor Karen Cox, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University, said: ‘I am absolutely delighted that DICE should receive such an accolade. It is a much-deserved tribute to the exceptional work of its students, staff and alumni and the outstanding contribution they make to global conservation.’

Professor Bob Smith, Director of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, said: ‘We are very honoured to receive such a prestigious award. The Prize acknowledges the hard work that has taken place over the last 30 years, and will support our future endeavours as we seek to grow our impact across the globe.’

DICE leads projects in over 50 countries, including research on human wellbeing and nature, human-elephant conflict, oil palm deforestation, online illegal trade in protected species, national park planning and ecotourism projects and the mapping of biodiversity through eDNA. This work is supported by funding from a range of sources including NERC, Natural England, the government’s Darwin Initiative and the Global Challenges Research Fund, part of the UK’s official development assistance.

This award is the third Queen’s Anniversary Prize to be presented to the University, with previous awards recognising the work of the Kent Law Clinic and the Tizard Centre.

Free tickets for students will be given out on Monday 25 Nov at 12.45pm at the Grimond Foyer; and Tuesday 26 Nov at 5.45pm at the Aphra Foyer (far end of Grimond Building). Max 2 or 3 tickets per student with ID. Distributions will continue for 45 mins after the advertised times, or until stocks have run out.

The University Carol Service in Canterbury Cathedral, featuring the University Chamber Choir and the Gospel Choir of New Life Church, is on Monday 2 December at 8pm. See the website for full details.

Opportunities exist for students to be helpers and greeters as this large scale event, which is fun and rewarding. Training provided, and a guaranteed seat. Please email Stephen Laird for more details.

There are a few ways to enter the London Marathon 2020, one of which is by raising money for a charity. Politics and International Relations student and Kent Sport auxiliary Gianluca (Luca) Paci has put himself forward as a 2020 London Marathon participant, running for the charity Ambitious about Autism.

Originating from Essex, Luca has a twin brother Giuseppe who was diagnosed with autism when he was just shy of two years old. Luca is familiar with the direct impact that the lifelong diagnosis has on a family and aims to help support the charity Ambitious about Austism. The charity provides services for families and individuals impacted by the lasting condition while also raising awareness and understanding of what autism is. They strive to help autistic children and young adults to learn, thrive and achieve their potential through specialist education and support.

‘Having been in London on Marathon day in the past, the atmosphere is electric. The sense of community and togetherness is something special, with so many people running and supporting such good causes. By taking on a tough task like the London Marathon in aid of Ambitious about Autism, I am able to promote the cause and will hopefully gain donations from people who otherwise would not donate to such a charity. The marathon is an extremely tough challenge and this provides further incentive for people to support my fundraising effort,’ said Luca.

With Luca’s links to Kent Sport, his training for the Marathon has already begun. He typically runs three to seven miles recreationally, but will start to ramp up his efforts as the April date approaches. Luckily, Luca is surrounded by experts who are trained to help athletes and novices achieve their goals and ambitions.

If you’re interested in learning more about Luca and his brother’s story or would like to donate, please visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/GianlucaPaci.

If you’d like to receive specialist support from a Kent Sport Fitness Instructor such as personal training or an initial fitness consultation, visit or stop by the Sports Centre and/or The Pavilion reception to find out more. If you aren’t a Kent Sport member, see all the membership benefits.

To stay up to date with Kent Sport news, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter UniKentSports. If you have any questions you can email sportsenquiries@kent.ac.uk.

On Tuesday 19 November 2019, the School of Arts will host a panel discussion entitled ‘Is Extinction Imminent? Imagining Existential Risk in a Time of Climate Emergency’, which will take place in the Aphra Theatre at the University of Kent from 1pm to 3pm. The event will be chaired and hosted by Francesca Laura Cavallo, PhD candidate in History and Philosophy of Art.

The programme will feature the screening of Himali Singh Soin‘s short film we are opposite like that (Frieze Artist award 2019), and a panel discussion with Lucia Pietroiusti, Curator of General Ecology at the Serpentine Galleries in London; Simon Beard, Academic Programme Manager and Senior Research Associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge and a representative from Extinction Rebellion.

Extinction Rebellion activists took London by storm in April and October 2019 by framing their joyful pacifist action with die-ins and doomsday narratives. In academic terms, meanwhile, the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk – a multidisciplinary team of scientists at Cambridge – has been urging attention to what philosopher Nick Bostrom dubbed ‘global catastrophic risks’, in a famous article (Bostrom, 2013). As both agree that threats to the survival of humanity must be tackled immediately, the challenge is the speculative nature of long-term forecasting and the need to communicate urgency for what transcends one life span. Artistic practice, on the other hand, has long engaged with speculative futures, paid attention to the signs of endangered life and encouraged reflection on what may be, stretching our perception of geological deep time into a future behind our lifetimes. As Jacques Attali put it: ‘Like everything that is out of our control, the long term is frightening – unless it fosters a form of utopia that would allow us to believe that, purely by dint of our will, tomorrow will be the best of the past and the present combined’ (Attali, 2015).

In more practical terms, alarming visions of environmental disaster are tempting, suggesting shaking the public from complacency and short-term thinking, even as they bypass any uncertainty and inevitably (over?) simplify. Yet, at least before the impact of Extinction Rebellion, stark and immediate portrayals of climate change threats have not clearly been effective.

The event is open to all and free tickets can be booked through the Eventsbrite page.

The event is generously supported by the School of Arts Graduate Study Committee, with special thanks to Studio 3 Gallery, Aesthetics Research Centre, Yasmine Rix and the Critical Studies for Risk and Uncertainty Research Centre.