Theme: Ideas from outside your bubble

For the fifth year TEDxAberystwyth is organised by a group of volunteers, led by Clive King. Aberystwyth and its surrounding area have a rich pool of excellent resident speakers, combined with those who have past connections locally. This year’s TEDxAberystwyth theme is "Ideas from outside your bubble".

This year we have a large venue and are also streaming online. Same great speakers, same diversity of subject matter.

The event features thought-provoking talks with novel and stimulating ideas from the arts, science, media, sport, environment, society and beyond. Find out more about our speakers at https://tedxaberystwyth.com/ and on Twitter/Instagram at @tedxaberystwyth

Virtual
Virtual
Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, sy23 3DE
United Kingdom

Andrew Gabriel

Prostate Cancer Patient

Andrew is a prostate cancer patient. Andrew runs several support groups for prostate cancer patients, provides 1-2-1 support, and runs patient workshops. Andrew has also taught an MSc class for prostate cancer clinicians, and helps an NHS CCG and an NHS region with prostate cancer awareness and detection. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Andy Middleton

Founder of the TYF Group

Andy Middleton is a speaker, innovator and catalyst for scaled-up sustainability change. He works on cross-sector projects that reconnect nature, enterprise and wellbeing, recalibrating plans and actions to match the scale of challenge ahead. Andy is Founder and Chief Exploration Officer at the TYF Group, Partner at NOW Partners, CEO at Slipstream Impact and Founding Partner of the Do Lectures. Andy lives on the coast near St. Davids in west Wales, surfing, gardening and grabbing every opportunity for walking conversations about radical change. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Danny Coles

Research Fellow at University of Plymouth

Dr Danny Coles is a Research Fellow at the University of Plymouth, where he is investigating the roles renewable energy technologies can play in the transition to net-zero. He has over 10 years of experience working in nuclear, solar, wind and tidal stream energy. Danny’s research has recently been cited in a House of Commons debate on subsidy support for tidal stream energy in the UK. Danny is also a British Standards Institute committee member, and contributes to standards on tidal stream turbine power assessment, and tidal stream resource assessment. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Hannah Dee

Senior Lecturer at Aberystwyth University

Dr Hannah Dee is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Aberystwyth University. She has a BSc in Cognitive Science (1996), an MA in Philosophy (1998) and a PhD in Computing (2005) all from the University of Leeds. Her research areas are applied computer vision; the detection of shadows and reasoning about shadows; and student attitudes to the study of computer science. She has held postdoctoral positions in Grenoble (France), Leeds, and Kingston upon Thames. She is also a women in computing activist: she founded the BCSWomen Lovelace Colloquium, a national conference for women undergraduates in computer science, and is still deputy chair. She has been on the committee of BCSWomen since 2007. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Jessica Kleczka

Climate Justice Activist

Jessica Kleczka is a social scientist working in climate policy. With a background in psychology and environmental science, her key interest lies in cultural barriers to systemic change. Originally from a coal town in Poland, she is now based in Aberystwyth. Jessica has been involved with a number of grassroots groups as a climate justice campaigner, and also works as a freelance researcher and writer. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Kerry Ferguson

Marketing Director

Kerry is a social media obsessive, passionate about business and community. Kerry is one of two directors for bilingual website design company Gwe Cambrian Web, based in Aberystwyth. She is also a Board Member for Menter Aberystwyth and Radio Aber, a Town Councillor, a tutor at Aberystwyth University and was listed as one of the Top 40 Digital Women to Watch 2021. Always keen on community, Kerry works with a range of organisations and businesses in town to promote Aberystwyth, encourage collaboration and generally see more getting done. She stepped into the world of business in 2013, into a joint business venture with her partner – Gwe Cambrian Web. She spotted a gap in the market in terms of bilingual (Welsh) website design and developers. The business grew very steadily year on year, and by 2015 she was able to leave her “full time” job. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Myra Wilson

Senior Lecturer at Aberystwyth University

Dr Myra Wilson BSc (Aberdeen), PhD (Edinburgh) is a computer scientist and a senior lecturer in computer science at Aberystwyth University. Her research interests are in the broad area of robotics, and she also teaches in the field. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Rachel Hubbard

Organisational, Development & Learning Assistant, Personal Trainer

A graduate of Sports Science, Rachel’s background lies in delivering consistently high standard sessions for both the class member and interested professional. With a background in coaching, and experience as a Course Director with YMCA for 10yrs, Rachel’s experience of delivering courses and monitoring quality has ingrained good fitness coaching techniques and protocols that will support you in your own learning of how to get fitter, combined with the knowledge and proficiency of being able to deliver workshops and lectures. For the past 20yrs, Rachel worked as the programme & membership manager at Aberystwyth University, and Class Tutor. Currently, Rachel is developing a fitness style based on her love of scientific fact and creative style, organising the “Happy Café Hapus” which shows you that getting fitter is always achievable. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Richard Bowman

Royal Society University Research Fellow and Proleptic Reader at the University of Bath

Dr Richard Bowman is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and Proleptic Reader at the University of Bath. Richard leads a research group that develops new microscopes and other optomechanical instruments to answer problems in the physical and life sciences. For the last five years he has led the OpenFlexure project, developing an open-source microscope that can be built anywhere, including a study where it is manufactured in Tanzania and evaluated for malaria diagnosis there. His research uses lab automation as a way to acquire more, higher quality data in problems ranging from plasmonics to parasitology. His specialism is microscopy, and most recently he has focused on creating open source hardware, using 3D printing to make the complicated mechanism of a microscope much simpler to produce. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Rob Randel

Teacher

Rob Randel has been a primary teacher for 15 years. Having promoted high quality and evidence-informed early reading instruction for several years, he has a wealth of experience in advising school leaders and teachers about the science of reading, and how they can best evaluate their current provision. Since 2021, he has been a committee member of the Reading Reform Foundation and an advisory group member to the International Foundation of Early Reading Instruction. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Roger Boyle

Professor of Computing

Roger retired as Professor of Computing at Leeds University in 2010; since then he has spent time swimming, beekeeping, acting, and writing mediocre stage scripts. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Siân Nicholas

Reader in Modern British History

Dr Siân Nicholas is a Reader in Modern British History at Aberystwyth University, where she specialises in modern British history, in particular the social history of the First and Second World Wars, and the history of the mass media, especially the press and broadcasting. She studied History at the University of Cambridge and Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, before completing her DPhil thesis at the University of Oxford. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Terry Mackie

Educator

Cardiff-born Terry Mackie has been involved in education for 45 years, starting as a secondary teacher. He is a specialist in Welsh schooling, having served as a senior LEA officer in Wales and England. He has published extensively in the media and is the author of a critical appraisal of Welsh schools under devolution. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.