Naturally Speaking

In the second part of this episode, James Grecian, James Buckley, and Shaun Killen are joined by institute PhD student Darryl McLennan to expand on some of the topics raised in the live show (listen here), and to banter about all kinds of other topics ranging from the effects of climate change on zombies to whether or not zombies have telomeres.

As it turns out, zombies are an amazing platform for talking about all kinds of topics in biology. Grab a nice bowl of brains, sit back, and have a listen!

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Episode 11b: Science of Zombies in Studio Chat and Follow Up

(Feature image: “Turn back infected” by Kevin Tao [CC BY-ND 2.0], via Flickr.)

In this very special episode we chat about the science of zombie-ism! Could zombies actually exist? Do zombies sleep? We discuss all this and more!

The first part of this episode contains the recording from a live event during the Glasgow Science festival, which took place at Nice ‘n Sleazy’s pub here in Glasgow. In this event, moderated by a totally scarifying Zara Gladman, Shaun Killen and Rowland Kao took audience questions regarding zombies and zombie outbreaks.

As it turns out, zombies are an amazing platform for talking about all kinds of topics in biology. In part 2 of this episode, we discuss all kinds of other zombie-related in ssues in science, including the affect of climate change on zombie-ism, how to tag andtrack zombie movements, and whether or not zombies have telomeres. Grab a nice bowl of brains, sit back, and have a listen! 

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Episode 11a: Science of Zombies Live Show

Hello and welcome to our 10th podcast!

In this episode we talk with Jo Halliday and Sunny Townsend about their research into epidemiology, the study of patterns, causes and effects of disease.

Jo talks us through her work on the transmission of disease between people and livestock in Tanzania, and her recent paper in Philospohical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

Sunny explains her work on the spread and transmission of rabies, and a recent paper in the journal Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

Episode 10 – Understanding Infectious Disease

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Enjoy!

How do we understand and quantify the way animals move and interact with their environment?

In the first podcastt of 2013 we talk with Grant Hopcraft and Jason Matthiopoulos who have recently joined IBAHCM and are both interested in spatial and movement ecology.

Grant talks us through his work in the Serengeti and a recent paper in the Journal of Animal Ecology examining the role of body size in determining the distribution of grazers in this large grassland ecosystem.

Jason then explains how to approach analysing this type of data, and we discuss his recent paper in Ecology describing how generalised functional responses can be used to examine species distributions.

Episode 9 – Spatial Ecology Spectacular

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Enjoy!

In the last podcast of 2012 we discuss how to source research funding and how to write successful grant proposals. Tune in for some top tips and advice from Barbara Mable, Neil Metcalfe and Kathy Dunlop!

If you use this photo, please link to www.CGPGrey.com for attribution.

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There are hundreds of organisations that fund research, but here are a few links to the organisations mentioned in this episode:

Kathy also talks about her work with the The Clipperton Project.

After a bit of a hiatus during the summer we’re back with a somewhat fish-themed episode in which we talk with two new faculty members in the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health, and Comparative Medicine at the University of Glasgow. Listen as Kevin Parsons talks about his work looking at the evolutionary biology of fishes, and Shaun Killen tells us about his work in fish physiological ecology and schooling behaviour.

Episode 7 – Fish Evolutionary Biology, Physiology, and Schooling Behaviour

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In this Research Round Table episode we discuss three recent research papers from within the institute: a paper by James Grecian and colleagues examining sex-based differences in foraging behaviour in gannets; a study by Who-Seung Lee, Pat Monaghan, and Neil Metcalfe studying the costs of rapid growth in sticklebacks; and a paper by Annabelle Haudry, Barbara Mable and colleagues investigating the consequences of self-fertilization for genetic diversity in plants.

Episode 6 – Research Roundtable: Gannet Foraging, Stickleback Growth, and Self-Fertilization

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Papers Discussed:

Stauss C, Bearhop S, Bodey TW, Garthe S, Gunn C, Grecian WJ, Inger R, Knight ME, Newton J, Patrick SC, Phillips RA, Waggit JJ, and Votier SC (2012) Sex-specific foraging behaviour in northern gannets Morus bassanus: incidence and implications. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 457:151-162

Lee, W-S, Monaghan P, and Metcalfe NB (2012) The pattern of early growth trajectories affects adult breeding performance. Ecology 93:902–912

Haudry A., Zha HG, Stift M, and Mable BK (2012), Disentangling the effects of breakdown of self-incompatibility and transition to selfing in North American Arabidopsis lyrata. Molecular Ecology, 21: 1130–1142

With several big conferences rapidly approaching, many students will find themselves at their first scientific conference this summer!  In this edition of the Survivor’s Guide to Academia, David Bailey, Rob Critchlow, Zara Gladman, and Shaun Killen chat about how to survive a conference.

Tune in for tips on talks and posters, effective networking, making the most out of social events and other tales of conference hilarity and awkwardness!

Episode 5 – How to Survive a Conference

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