I have been invited to give a motivational seminar at the Institute of Zoology in London on Thursday 25th February 2021 and its entitled “Stepping stones and stumbling blocks… My experiences of intersectionality in marine science.” Looking forward to it!
UPDATED: Blog post about the seminar and the talk can be found on the Women in coastal blog!
It’s an exciting time as the Seabed Habitats Seminar Series begins on Tuesday at 1300 GMT. This is a series of 12 online talks on various seabed habitats held on zoom on the last Tuesday of each month. Learn more about this and sign up for updates on the Seabed Habitats blog !
This is the time to be slow Lie low to the wall Until the bitter weather passes
Try, as best you can, not to let The wire brush of doubt Scrape from your heart All sense of yourself And your hesitant light.
If you remain generous, Time will come good; And you will find your feet Again on fresh pastures of promise, Where the air will be kind And blushed with beginning.
John O’Donohue, “This Is the Time to Be Slow.” From To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings. Penguin Random House, 2008.
Maërl or rhodolith beds are seabed habitats of great conservation significance and can be found in the clear waters of Galway Bay and around Ireland. Whilst doing my PhD at the NUI Galway, I met many maerl researchers- I felt compelled to make this documentary. This is the 15 minute version of the film, with the full hour long documentary available via seabedhabitats.org/2014/12/01/maerldocumentary/
Climate Change as a Human Rights Issue: A Business and Human Rights Perspective
This thesis begins by looking at climate change and the silence on human rights, the key climate change agreements and the need for a business and human rights lens to look at climate change issues in the courts. The subsequent chapter discusses the relationship between climate change and human rights, including the overarching right to a healthy environment; the right to life, right to respect for private and family life as civil and political rights; and the right to health, food, water and sanitation as economic, social and cultural rights. It then looks at the latest climate litigation including cases where public citizens have taken legal action against the state (Netherlands, Pakistan, United States, Columbia, Inuit case and many others); followed by the first wave and second wave of strategic private climate litigation against corporations. It then discusses the key legal principles to consider when looking at climate change issues in the courts and key recommendations for further action, followed by a brief conclusion.
This Thursday, I, Siddhi Joshi, and my sister, Shruti Joshi, took over the Flirt FM Breakfast Show (9am- 11am) with a playlist called “The Revolution Begins at Home.” The goal was to empower, entertain and to educate through music- incredible songs all with the theme of “Revolution”! Don’t miss it! Listen below for the full recording:
The Revolution Begins at Home – Siddhi and Shruti Joshi takeover the FlirtFM Breakfast show
The Playlist:
1 Nina Simone – I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
2 Bob Marley & The Wailers – Redemption Song
3 Jefferson Airplane – Volunteers
4 Rage Against The Machine: Take The Power Back
5 Manic Street Preachers – If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
6 Pink Floyd – Song for Palestine
(FlirtFM News)
7 The Cranberries – Zombie
8 Gil Scott Heron – The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Her thoughts carried her like the sea carries a boat
Omnipresent yet unknown
The waves battled
the unspoken ocean of her thoughts.
Gushing bellows of swirling whirlpools
She felt the heavy breeze in her hair;
the salt pierced her face
So fragile were her ideas undiscovered
Confronted with Aura – the breeze became her muse
Deep in conversation
Waves broke out of their amorphous casts
They discussed that land of the past
The last forgotten ocean
Only the Earth had moved as in Gaia’s dream
The changing realm of the abyss
A mystery which remained with her
Looking for clues to uncover these secrets
On her raft she remained
Lost in the sea of words
By Siddhi Joshi
This poem draws on similarities between conversations and the breadth and depth of the sea. As a PhD student studying oceanography, I have been continuously inspired by nature and a large range of natural phenomenon in the sea- of Tethys- the Greek goddess of the sea and her mother Gaia- the goddess of the Earth. Drawing on ideas of scientific discovery, this poem explores the role of conversation in scientific dialogue and this relationship between thought, observation of nature and discovery. I was inspired to write it when reading the book “Vanished Ocean” by Dorrik Stow – a book about the Tethys Ocean and the insights of Greek mythology in the personification of nature and refers to the amorphous casts from Virginia Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse.”
It also draws on my own personal experiences of my journey as a PhD student studying oceanography especially while going on oceanographic expeditions and of subsequent conversations with my supervisor. Although the poem is relatively open-ended, in what the conversation is about- it could be about anything- parallels are drawn between the thought process of scientific discovery; human conversation; conversations with nature; even love…
Meeting Seamus Heaney in Galway at Cuirt International Festival of Literature, I had the opportunity to ask him about this poem and he recalled he wrote it a long time ago in 1985. I mentioned the book and he was very humble and down to earth.