Theme: My Seaside Town | Fy Nhref ar Lan y Môr

For the seventh year TEDxAberystwyth is organised by a group of volunteers. The event features thought-provoking talks with novel and stimulating ideas from the arts, science, media, sport, environment, society and beyond.

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 "My seaside town".

Why does local community matter in 2025? How can we live closer together and closer to our surroundings? When the world around us is changing, how can we lean into the local connections to nurture us?

Find out more about our speakers at https://tedxaberystwyth.com/ and on Instagram at @tedxaberystwyth

Arad Goch
Bath street
Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Sy23 2nn
United Kingdom

Alexandra Derwen

Death Doula

Alexandra Derwen is a death doula, grief worker, poet, pilgrim and social entrepreneur living in the Eryri mountains of North Wales. Alexandra has been in service of the dying, dead and bereaved for 30 years and for the past 8 years has travelled internationally teaching and speaking on the subject. Director of a Social Enterprise dedicated to death consciousness and grief literacy, also a founder and co-director of a Community Benefit Society called Earth Hospice, author of three books on the topics of death rites and shared mourning practices, honorary lecturer in spiritual care at Bangor University and a skilled group facilitator, Alexandra’s particular passions include social justice, community care of the dying and the ancient practices of lament and keening. Alexandra’s spare time is spent walking the hills, swimming in rivers, writing poetry and taking long siestas with Gillie and Bungee, 2 now rather elderly Labrador dogs.

Chris Woodfield

Sustainability Trainer and Founder

Chris Woodfield is passionate about facilitating systems change and the transformational shift to a zero carbon and regenerative society. As Co-Founder and Co-Director of Aber Food Surplus, a food not-for-profit in Aberystwyth, Chris is rooted in place-based change and positive local action. He’s a Sustainability Trainer for Cynnal Cymru – Sustain Wales, and the Co-Founder of Venture Shift, a systems transformation initiative within the outdoor sector. He is also the Climate Fresk Volunteer Coordinator, aiming to grow climate education and empowerment across communities in Wales. He delivered a Future Leaders programme at the Sustainable Earth Institute at University of Plymouth. As Better Business and Futures Lead, he provided sustainability and impact consultancy at TYF Adventure. He B Local Wales Co-Chair, supporting and growing the B Corp movement in Wales. An Aberystwyth University graduate, Chris holds an MSc Sustainability & Adaptation from the Centre for Alternative Technology.

Jessica Adams

Principal Investigator & Senior Research Scientist

Dr Jessica Adams is a Principal Investigator in Bioconversion and Biorefining at IBERS, Aberystwyth University, with a specialist interest in macroalgae (seaweed). She has expertise in carbohydrate and higher value compound extractions, novel enzyme discovery and larger (pilot)-scale processing. She is currently working with two Post-Docs, 6x PhD, and 3x undergraduate students on aspects of macroalgal usage, including in bioplastics, gut health and soil amendments. She sits on boards for Algae-UK (BBSRC) and Seafood Innovation Fund (Defra); is the President elect of the learned society the British Phycological Society, is a member of the BBSRC pool of experts; and is Associate Editor for the journals Applied Phycology and the European Journal of Phycology.

Morgan Phillips

Director of Education and Youth Engagement

Dr Morgan Phillips is Director of Education and Youth Engagement at the environmental charity Global Action Plan. He also volunteers at The Glacier Trust, sits on the education committee for Black Mountains College, and is a governor at New Quay Primary School in west Wales. Morgan has held trustee and adviser roles for various organisations including the National Association of Environmental Education UK, Green Schools Project, Solutions for the Planet, and WWF-UK. Previously, Morgan ran the Eco-Schools programme in England, led an intercultural understanding charity, Global Footsteps, lectured on the politics of climate change at Brunel University, volunteered with the Common Cause Foundation, and served as co-director for Nepal-focussed climate change adaptation charity, The Glacier Trust. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Morwenna Lewis

Parenting Coach

Psychotherapist and parent coach

Roberta Mason

Artist

Roberta Mason seamlessly merges her background in science and technology with a deep connection to the ocean and her artistic vision, crafting innovative glass art. After a career in global hardware and software technology companies, she honed her skills at the Royal College of Art, specialising in glass. Her work, inspired by nature, is committed to sustainability. Balancing the energy-intensive nature of glassmaking with the need for climate change mitigation, Roberta explores innovative techniques and responsible practices to reduce her environmental footprint. Through her blog, she shares insights into the intersection of art, science, and sustainability, exemplifying the potential for art to inspire positive change. TEDxAberystwyth is an independently organized non-profit TED-like event, find out more: https://tedxaberystwyth.com/.

Robin Boon Dale

Juggler & Research Scientist

Robin is a performer and researcher whose work includes performative investigation of the physiology, psychology, and philosophy underlying the art of jugging. His award-winning solo show What Stuff Does, has toured internationally for 8 years, and he has performed with Gandini Juggling in their two most iconic shows: Smashed and Akhnaten (The Juggling Opera). He is currently studying for his PhD in computer science at the University of Birmingham.