Hard things take time, impossible things take a little longer
This quote seems appropriate as we round off this academic year, where at times we felt we needed our crampons and ice axes to navigate relocating from the University of Brighton’s Eastbourne to Falmer Campus, get used to our new sport and exercise science labs in the Meads Building and reconsider how we would teach, research and perform our wider knowledge exchange responsibilities. It is safe to say we have had a busy, but ultimately very successful year. Yes, there were plenty of contingency plans put in place as we delivered two environmental physiology modules without an environmental chamber, but when the chamber arrived it was worth the wait and we are delighted with the new facilities.
I am pleased to share that as of yesterday, our new dual capability thermal and hypoxic environmental chamber had the artwork added that acknowledges the major funding that the Wolfson Foundation awarded to support research into health impacts of climate change on vulnerable groups and all the work that the Environmental Extremes Lab carries out. The actual chamber has been in operation for a few months now, supporting a range of teaching, research and consultancy work. A full PhD study led by Thomas Goepp, supervised by Dr Thomas Rupp and our own Dr Mark Hayes, equivalent to 350 hours of data collection has benefitted from the new chamber, as have plenty undergraduate 2nd year self-designed study students, 3rd year dissertation students and MSc research project students. Mark seemed to live in the environmental chamber for a two week period as he supported Chris Larmour with heat acclimation ahead of his Badwater Ultramarathon. We had a great day showcasing some of these activities to the CEO of the Wolfson Foundation, Paul Ramsbottom, when he visited at the end of April. He particularly enjoyed receiving an ice pop as he sat in the chamber at 35°C and we talked about the benefits of acute cooling during hot weather events!
The Meads building provide an excellent range of high spec sport and exercise science labs as one of our Technical Instructors and EEL member, Bill Norton, shows off. We have got used to the layout, the flow and the students and staff love the feel of the new labs and what they have to offer.
Behind the scenes, we have still been working hard towards our vision and starting to realise the ambitious plans we set out to secure the funding from the Wolfson Foundation. Experimental work is currently underway using the new chamber on a study looking at the potential benefits of
ice slushies on gut health in older people during periods of hot weather. We have been working with
East Sussex County Council on their Climate and Health Impact Assessment. We have run a number of Beat the Heat outreach workshops in the last term where our MSc students have had the opportunity to share their knowledge with school children. It was great to attend
The Physiological Society’s Thermal Physiology in Health and Disease Conference at Brunel University and catch up with collaborators, past and present.
Dr Oli Gibson, another former PhD student of ours, did a great job with the organising committee at hosting the event. Our support towards altitude awareness charity,
Para-Monte, continues and we work closely with them as they consider their next steps in making people
altitude aware worldwide.
Dr Ash Willmott, a former PhD student coming out of EEL, was in fact showcasing a recent study on
load carriage and susceptibility to acute mountain sickness that we carried out on behalf of Para-Monte at this year’s European Congress of Sport Sciences in Rimini. We have been supporting
Dr Jess Mee, and another former EEL PhD student, through a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship that we are part off, as she looks at how to help
females remain healthy in the heat. The Environmental Extremes Lab was also represented at the
Global Climate and Health Summit that The Physiological Society hosted just yesterday and the day before, so are ensuring we join the global call to action to influence policymakers.
So, as our own university’s 10-year strategy is launched in the last few days – Distinctively Brighton 2035 – the Environmental Extremes Lab also enters a new chapter in its evolution. We are transforming what we have grown in knowledge, experience and through reflecting on our practice over several decades to better understand how to live, work and safely engage in physical activity whilst in extreme environments, prioritizing risk stratification and mitigation / therapeutic strategies to benefit at-risk populations. More to come and share in the autumn, but for now some well-earned rest to recharge the batteries!