Helen’s (additional) post at Gresham College as the Frank Jackson Foundation Professor of the Environment involves delivering a programme of lectures, all of which are free to view online.
The 2025-26 lecture series is titled “Notes from a Large Planet: a citizen’s guide to the Earth”. It explores the interconnected systems that make our planet habitable. From the flow of energy and recycling of matter to the vital roles of oceans, air, land, ice, and life itself, the series offers a big-picture view of Earth as a living, dynamic system. Each lecture reveals how natural processes underpin our survival—and how our actions are altering them.
We are part of our planet, not separate to it or just perched on top of it. This lecture will consider the two primary rules of Earth: that energy continually flows through the system (in from the Sun and then out again to space) and that matter/atoms must be continually recycled and use these to build up an outsider’s view of our planet.