President’s Symposium, May 2022
The subject of our 2022 Symposium is
Devon in 2050
Hosted by our 2021-22 President, Dr Robin Wootton PhD, FLS, Hon. FRES, it was held on Saturday 14 May 2022 at Petroc College, Tiverton.
What will Devon be like, physically and as a place to live, three decades hence?
The last thirty years have seen extraordinary scientific and technological advances: in genomics and genetic manipulation, pharmaceuticals, computing, satellite navigation and worldwide instantaneous communication. But they have also made us acutely aware of previously underestimated adverse consequences of past revolutions in industry, agriculture and mobility: climate change, mass extinction, overpopulation and the global spread of disease.
This symposium brought together two conservationists, a geologist, a molecular biologist, a sociologist and an expert in artificial intelligence and robotics to discuss aspirations, threats and solutions – and to attempt to predict the future!
Programme
| 9:30 –10:00am | REGISTRATION and COFFEE | |
| 10:00 –10:15am | Welcome and introduction: Recently, in the early nineties… | Dr Robin Wootton, DA President & Honorary Fellow (Insect Biomechanics), University of Exeter |
| 10:15 –10:50am | Climate change and its impact on Devon’s landscape and seas | Emeritus Professor Malcolm Hart, University of Plymouth |
| 10:50 –11:25am | Stepping through the looking glass: what the future may hold for Devon’s seas in 2050 | Dr Keith Hiscock, Marine Biological Association, Plymouth |
| 11:25 –11:40am | BREAK | |
| 11:40 –12:15pm | Devon 2050: an embattled insect stronghold | Dr Clive Betts, Chair of Ambios and Consultant Entomologist |
| 12:15 –12:50pm | What will Devon be like in 2050? Insights from the social sciences | Professor Jane Elliott CBE, University of Exeter |
| 12:50 –2:00pm | LUNCH | |
| 2:00 –2:35pm | A long-term vision for truly sustainable robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) | Professor Alan Winfield, University of the West of England and Bristol Robotics Unit |
| 2:35 –3:10pm | Gene Genie: What are your three wishes? | Emeritus Professor John Bryant, University of Exeter |
| 3:10 –3:40pm | PANEL DISCUSSION | Chaired by Dr Robin Wootton |
| 3:40 – 4:00pm | TEA |
