Darwin College Cambridge

24/05/2026

Darwin Fellow and Head of the Laboratory of Viral Zoonotics Professor Jonathan Heeney talks to today's Observer about the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and his ten-year mission to develop a vaccine.

"In sub-Saharan Africa, almost annually there are different outbreaks of Ebola, Marburg, Bundibugyo, Ebola Sudan – all the variants – and some places where they have overlapping outbreaks,” he told the paper.

“So we thought: ‘Why make just one vaccine when you don’t know what disease you’re dealing with, and by the time they diagnose it the horse has bolted?”

Researchers warn that funding cuts have left the west African country vulnerable to the deadly virus and say a vaccine is potentially just months away

22/05/2026

Summer has appeared just in time for tomorrow's graduation, and we can't wait to acknowledge the achievements of another cohort of extraordinary Darwinians.

Ahead of the celebrations we sat down with one graduand, Bronte Evans Rayward, to hear about her journey from history to geography via visual art and storytelling; how a fascination with the early 20th century Antarctic whaling industry equipped her to study environmental narratives in the Falkland Islands; and how, on the other side of the world from all that was familiar, Darwin became her home from home.

https://www.darwin.cam.ac.uk/news/graduation-story-bronte-evans-rayward/

21/05/2026

To mark yesterday's , Darwin PhD student Jacob Pantling talked to the Centre for Climate Repair about his sideline as a Darwin beekeeper; why bees are so crucial to biodiversity, and why Darwin produces the best honey in Cambridge.

https://www.climaterepair.cam.ac.uk/news/ice-ice-bees

21/05/2026

There's a new temporary inhabitant of the Cam... an amphibious excavator is patrolling Darwin's stretch of the water to prepare the riverbed for the installation of platforms as the Pump House build gets underway.

Find out more about our exciting plans and keep up to date with what to expect on site: https://www.darwin.cam.ac.uk/construction-and-degasification-plans/

14/05/2026

International targets to protect 30% of the world's land and sea by 2030 must consider the impact on people living in the proposed conservation areas, says Professor Chris Sandbrook, Darwin Fellow and Director of the Cambridge Conservation Research Institute.

Chris is senior author on a report published this week in Nature Communications, involving an international team of researchers and practitioners. It predicts that almost half the world's population could be directly affected by the proposal, and their support will be crucial to its success.

“If you look at where new conservation sites might be located, these are not empty landscapes - often a lot of people live there, especially in countries like the UK. Planning land-use change to achieve national and global conservation targets must consider the impacts on local people," he said.

"As an example, recent debates about whether to establish a new National Park in Wales highlight the balance that needs to be struck. While supporters say it could reduce flooding, lock up carbon and improve access to nature, critics fear tourism will overload local infrastructure, loss of farmland, and potential impacts on future housing availability.”

Achieving an international conservation target to protect almost a third of the world’s land and sea in the next four years could directly affect the lives of

14/05/2026

Thank you to Professor Fiona Karet for providing a fascinating insight into her longstanding work as a kidney specialist in last night's Erasmus Seminar.

Fiona gives so much of herself to the College and the community that it's easy to forget the intensity and impact of her clinical and research career: working with patients with rare kidney diseases to understand their conditions and their genetic causes; establishing standard-setting clinical practice to provide access to the variety of specialists needed to support their care; and mentoring junior doctors to apply the lessons learned.

Following the lecture the Master, Dr Mike Rands, and Vice-Master Professor Angela Wood took the opportunity to thank Fiona on behalf of the College for her service as Vice-Master over the past seven years, which came to an end this term.

12/05/2026

As Darwin student Kaely Michels-Gualtieri prepares for the opening night of her new musical, she’s no stranger to an audience. Before pivoting to her current combination of academia and musical theatre, she maintained a dazzling career as a trapeze artist, performing with both Ringling Brothers and Cirque du Soleil. But her next act is a passion project that brings together her love of history, musicals and the circus under one sparkly tent.

Barnum. Booth. Lincoln. explores the friendship between the 19th century showman and politician P.T. Barnum, and President Abraham Lincoln, as well as the theatrical careers of Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, and his older brother Edwin.

Ahead of its four-night run at the Corpus Playroom, Kaely talked to us about family summer holidays at the Edinburgh Fringe, taking inspiration from Six, and how P.T. Barnum became the consistent thread of her two very different careers.

https://www.darwin.cam.ac.uk/news/the-darwinian-former-trapeze-artist-putting-a-musical-spin-on-american-history/

08/05/2026

As Sir David Attenborough turns 100 years old, Darwin’s Master Dr Mike Rands reflects on his extraordinary impact, and engagement with conservation at Cambridge, and wishes him a happy birthday on behalf of Darwinians everywhere.

“Today we celebrate the 100th birthday of one of the most remarkable people on our planet, Sir David Attenborough. In my view, he has done more for the protection and restoration of nature than anyone else alive today. Through his storytelling, television programmes, films, books and quiet behind-the-scenes advocacy, he has championed and explained the importance of the natural world - both intrinsic and for the survival of humanity.

I have been lucky enough to know him for over 40 years and have worked more closely with him since he became the Patron of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative here at the University of Cambridge. I was CCI's Founding Director before joining Darwin College and David not only agreed that we could name the CCI home after him, but regularly visits the David Attenborough Building to meet students, academics, conservation practitioners and others to share his passion for nature and hear of the exciting work they are doing.

Sir David described CCI as "an extraordinary marriage between outstanding practical conservationists and inspiring intellectual thinkers which will shape the future of life on Earth". In so doing he set the bar high for CCI, but it is one it continues to rise to.

On behalf of the global community of Darwinians I send our warmest birthday greetings to Sir David and express my deepest gratitude for all he does for the natural world and humanity.”

05/05/2026

We were delighted to be able to celebrate the appointment of Dr Mark Dyer as a Sir George Darwin Fellow Benefactor on Friday night, ahead of the Darwin Dinner.

An alumnus of the College, Dr Dyer joined Darwin in 1984 to pursue his PhD in Molecular Biology. Following its completion he worked as a researcher at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, before holding senior positions at biotech firms Sandoz, Novartis and Cytos Biotechnology.

Now based in Truro, Cornwall, Dr Dyer is a loyal and generous supporter of the College and, in 2023, took the hugely appreciated step of declaring Darwin College a major beneficiary of his Will. This is both a powerful endorsement of the College’s aims and ambitions, and a substantial support to our future, and we are pleased to be able to honour its impact.

Sir George Darwin Fellow Benefactors were created as a new category of membership approved by Governing Body last year to recognise the generosity of significant donors to Darwin.

Photo credit: David Johnson

02/05/2026

Congratulations to all the Darwinians graduating today. We are so proud of all your achievements and delighted to be able to celebrate them with you.

01/05/2026

What an honour to have Satish Kumar address the Darwin community with his thoughts "On Dialogue" on Tuesday. His full presentation is now available to view online.

"On Dialogue" - Satish Kumar