David Lloyd, who was promoted to Professor of Mathematics in 2021, gave his inaugural lecture yesterday (Wednesday 15 June). The title was “Snakes on a Plane“. Dave gave a history of Turing patterns, and then morphed the talk into his current research on the development of mathematical theory to explain the formation of patterns in the plane, particularly patterns with hexagonal symmetry, and the emergence of “snaking” that such patterns exhibit. This theory can be used to explain the formation of fairy circles (localised patches of vegetation regions in Namibia), and patterns in the visual cortex. The event page is here, Dave‘s research page is here, and the image below shows Dave warming up the crowd.