Meliora: a podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute
Welcome to the Green Gown Award winning Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability and Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton!
This podcast explores the greatest and most wicked problem that is sustainability, whilst looking at how we are collectively addressing this critical global challenge.
Sustainability needs to be addressed by understanding how the economy, society, culture, politics and environment intersect, and this is the focus that informs each episode of the Meliora podcast.
In each episode, host Professor Simon Kemp and guest hosts are joined by a variety of guests, including academics, students, staff, researchers, alumni, community groups and business leaders.
The aim of the podcast is to shine a light on the vast range of topics surrounding sustainability and to allow listeners to learn about the critical challenges we face, as well as how they can be part of the solution. We also ensure our fantastic students have the opportunity to share their brilliant work with the world.
Podcast host: Professor Simon Kemp, Deputy Director of the Sustainability & Resilience Institute, University of Southampton
Podcast editors: Jack Dinham, Ellie Howell, Mya Harvey, Lily Killner, Sophie Green, Libby Kale, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton
Podcast communications: Tyler Domone-Hollands, Hannah Parish, Alexander Ayerst, Maya Stevens, University of Southampton
Please do get in touch to discuss this podcast and any of the issues we raise by emailing sri@soton.ac.uk
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Meliora: a podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute
Sadie Entwistle: Why the UK needs to plant more seagrass and protect what we already have. Projecting carbon stocks and storage rates of a UK subtidal seagrass bed
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We are joined by Sadie Entwistle (MSci Marine Biology) to discuss a fascinating research project "Why the UK needs to plant more seagrass and protect what we already have. Projecting carbon stocks and storage rates of a UK subtidal seagrass bed"
In this student takeover episode of the Meliora Podcast, Sadie joins us to discuss the hidden potential of seagrass ecosystems in mitigating climate change. We address how seagrass restoration as a nature-based solution can be used to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 13 (Climate Action) and 14 (Life Below Water). The importance of the seagrass beds in storing atmospheric carbon for decades to centuries is explored, as well as why the UKs seagrass ecosystems are needing protection under a changing climate and increasing human disturbance.
Sadie’s research project titled “Projecting carbon stocks and storage rates of Zostera marina beds, Studland Bay, UK” provides novel estimates of the amount of carbon stored per year, and across the entire meadow, at Studland Bay (Dorset, UK). She takes us through the rationale for the research, how the project was born, and the methods used to obtain results using the ICUN’s Blue Carbon Manual. We discuss how these results differ from the few existing studies found elsewhere in the UK, and what this may mean for the future of seagrass restoration.
You can explore Sadie’s research further by accessing her Linkedin for a full PDF of the study. Sadie Entwistle - www.linkedin.com/in/sadie-entwistle-082673395
For more information of the methods used, please follow the link to the ICUN’s Coastal Blue Carbon Manual:
https://iucn.org/content/coastal-blue-carbon-manual
Guest: Sadie Entwistle, MSci Marine Biology
Host: Prof Simon Kemp
Producer & Editor: Jack Dinham
The Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium is part of the 2026 Student Takeover Season where we celebrate the fantastic sustainability research work of our Undergraduate Students.